One person who won’t be joining the queue at Eastlands for a fresh Robinho number 10 shirt is the newly-minted Brazilian’s mentor and Chelsea manager, Felipe Scolari. Big Phil was under the impression that Robinho was eager to come and play for him at Stamford Bridge, and was bitterly disappointed to discover that it was actually the money that Robinho was after all along.
According to Marca, Scolari called Robinho to share his thoughts:
“I went out on a limb for you, I got a great contract for you at Chelsea, but you let me down. You don’t do that.”
Coach Scolari held back slightly on his bollocking in order
Humble Blues gaffer implies Robinho will be joining a lesser club
Luiz Felipe Scolari had already played down the idea that he is a ‘Special One’, and in a press conference yesterday, he delivered a hard truth an opinion that will have made Chelsea’s PR team drop their clipboards, bluetooth headsets and double orange mocha frappuccinos in shock:
“Robinho is a great player, a very good player who plays in the best team in the world, Real Madrid. One of the best teams in the world. And also in the national team of Brazil. But we will see.”
Nice recovery, Phil. Who were the other best teams you were thinking of? Barcelona? Manchester Utd?
Can you guess which of these players is Luiz Felipe Scolari? Hint: It’s the guy who looks exactly like Luiz Felipe Scolari does today.
The Chelsea gaffer played for four Brazilian clubs (Caxias, Juventude, Novo Hamburgo and CSA) during the seventies and eighties, and was known as an ‘uncompromising’ defender. His game centred around brute force rather than skill, and was therefore affectionately known as ‘wooden leg’.
Big Phil hasn’t been getting more aggressive with age - he was frequently criticised by the Brazilian media for getting into brawls during matches.
Luis Felipe Scolari met his many of his squad for the first time yesterday, and things are certainly looking promising for the Blues: the Brazilian has already introduced Deco to the camp, and Rom’s bottomless kitty could bring in the likes of Kaka, Ronaldinho, Arshavin and Eto’o.
However, Scolari has been out of the domestic game for nearly eight years, and it could take him months to acclimatise to the nuances of the English game. Only one man has ever been able to lift the Premier League trophy in his first season at a club - a cocky Portuguese chap who came fresh from winning two consecutive league titles, the UEFA Cup and the Champions league with his previous outfit.
So will Big Phil’s pedigree and Chelsea’s limitless resources be enough to secure the Blues their third Prem title this century? Let us know what you think with votes and comments below.
So Chelsea ended months of umming and ahhing last night by appointing Luiz Felipe Scolari as their new manager. The Portugal boss told us that talk of Cristiano Ronaldo’s post-Euro 2008 future could disrupt the team, but he appears to have no qualms over making his own departure public midway through proceedings.
But are Chelsea making a big mistake passing up the opportunity to appoint Roberto Mancini, who won three straight league titles at Inter Milan, or Frank Rijkaard, who won a La Liga/Champions League double while playing utterly sexy football?
Yes, Scolari won the World Cup while managing Brazil, but with the players he had at his disposal and the terrible showings by France, Argentina, Italy and Spain, was that really an amazing feat? After all, it had been done four times before and will be done again many times in the future.
Would Chelsea fans be so welcoming if Otto Rehhagel - the man who took Greece to Euro 2004 glory at Scolari’s expense - was appointed? Probably not, even though his achievement was arguably more impressive than that of the Gene Hackman look-alike.
Avram Grant’s appointment was met with disgust by Chelsea fans but even he had won league titles in Europe (well, Israel, but they play in the Champions League) and achieved reasonable success in international football - going unbeaten with the Israeli national side in a World Cup qualifying group containing France and Switzerland.
After weeks of big names and endless speculation, The Spoiler can’t help but feel Chelsea settled for the wrong man.
Have the Blues made the right call in appointing Scolari? Let us know with a vote and comment below.
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