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**Sir X** · January 11, 2009, 10:21 AM

Scolari will never be the Special One after Mourinho era

By Rob Draper

Last updated at 10:57 AM on 11th January 2009

When John Terry leads out his Chelsea team at Old Trafford today, Jose Mourinho will look down from the stands and Roman Abramovich will tune in from a luxury holiday resort. But it is Luiz Felipe Scolari who will be burdened with the responsibility of actually delivering the victory that the current Chelsea boss admits is necessary.
The fate of Chelsea managers has seemed to be dependent on the result of the next fixture for at least two years, given the capricious nature with which the club hire and fire their coaches. Yet, should Scolari lose the next two games, he will know that his time at the club is likely to be marked. The Manchester United fixture precedes an unpalatable FA Cup replay at Southend on Wednesday, defining a pivotal four days for the club in their new era of austerity.

Struggling to be heard?: Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari directs

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On the day that Mourinho has chosen to return to English football, ostensibly to check the form of United in the run-up to the Champions League clash with his Inter Milan side, the shadow of the former manager still looms large at Stamford Bridge.
Idolised by several Chelsea players, his medal tally of two league titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups was always going to be a hard act to follow. Avram Grant was never likely to be big enough to do so; World Cup winner Scolari should be, but there are signs that he does not enjoy universal support in the dressing room, or at least among those close to the players and familiar with its goings-on.
When Scolari calls a private meeting at Chelsea, often the details end up in the Press in what appears to be an attempt to undermine him. The intensity of training sessions has been questioned by players, with a delegation led by club captain Terry and Frank Lampard. Scolari and the players themselves insist these are normal, constructive discussions. Yet at times it seems communication breaks down. Last weekend, when he attempted to deliver instructions from the touchline during the dismal 1-1 draw at home to Southend, some Chelsea players appeared not to be able to hear their manager.
Perhaps it was because of the crowd noise at Stamford Bridge, though that was only generated by the Southend fans. Chelsea supporters described the atmosphere in the home end as the most passive in living memory and Southend players seemed to be able to respond well enough to their boss, Steve Tilson. Scolari believes his players are loyal. 'They support me on the pitch every game,' he said. 'They try. Sometimes we are not as good as we want. But they try every game, every week. They train very well. They try not only to support me but also Chelsea.'
Of the leaks from the dressing room, he said: 'Maybe the agents want to give some news. But that is for (the purposes of) the agents, not for the club. I know what happens in my meetings, I know what I need for my players. After, what happens outside is not a problem.
'I am the man here. I am the boss here. I need to look for the path we need to follow and not look to the left or the right, (just because) some players or some man says this or that.' A successful coach around the world, Scolari at least has years of experience of these matters on which to fall back, but he himself has talked up the imperative of a victory at Old Trafford to alleviate the pressure.
'We need to think of winning because we are four points in front of them but they have two games in hand,' he said. 'Those games are not against us, so it is not in our hands. But here, or in Brazil or in Kuwait it's the same. I am now 60 years old, I have 42 years in football, 17 as a player and 25 as a coach. If you do not win, it does not change.'
Whatever feelings his players may have about Scolari, they will have to lump it for now. Even Abramovich, who has employed four different managers in his five years at the club, would not be foolish enough to change mid-season, when the club are second in the League and still in the FA Cup and Champions League. However, in the past few months, a proud, impregnable home record has been surrendered, and the team have won just two League games in seven, looking vulnerable in all areas.
Defenders look perplexed by crosses and set-pieces and the midfield is often failing to break down ultra-defensive teams. More damagingly, the club have taken just one point from home games against their principal rivals, United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Even Abramovich's long-term commitment to the club was questioned again last week, though sources close to the billionaire owner insist that January is traditionally the silly season as regards his tenure.
Credit crunched: Abramovich is on holiday

The Russian oligarch regularly takes his holiday over the Orthodox Christmas, which is on January 7, meaning he misses games at an intense time of the Premier League season.
'These stories come out every year at this time,' said a source close to the owner. 'And every year since he's been at the club he's taken a holiday at this time.'
Abramovich will be back watching games later this month and his recent attendance at an unglamorous midweek Champions League game in Bordeaux did not suggest a man out of love with the club.
Like many businessmen, Abramovich has become impoverished over the past 12 months - even if that does only mean he down to his last few billion! His representatives dispute the figures in Russian newspaper Izvestia, which calculated his assets had declined this year from £15.42bn to £2.16bn. They point out that the peak figures were only notional values of shares in companies.
As Abramovich has no intention of selling his assets, which are well diversified around the world and include some robust industries, such as gold mines and steel production, there is no reason there should be a sudden withdrawal of the £578m he has loaned to the club.
'He's taken a big hit, like most of the Russian oligarchs,' said a respected independent business expert in Moscow. 'But he started with nothing. He knows how to make money in different conditions and he sees this as an opportunity as much as a crisis. Chelsea and his yachts are part of his life. He won't give them up.'
Nevertheless, Chelsea have entered a distinct phase in their history, whereby the company will be expected to fund itself without relying on the owner's generosity.
In November, 15 international scouts were sacked and long-term construction projects, such as a nightclub conversion at Stamford Bridge and the construction of a house at the Surrey training ground, were halted.
The £12m raised from the Wayne Bridge transfer is likely to hoarded for the summer, when the club will only be able to spend what they make. But it could take an outlay of £60m to rejuvenate what currently look like an old team, which is inconceivable if Chelsea are to live within their means.
As Mourinho gazes down from the stands at Old Trafford today, he will doubtless reflect that no one could ever again match the sustained success of The Special One at Chelsea. For once, he may be right.

MAN UTD(4-3-3): Van der Sar; Neville, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra; Park, Carrick, Anderson; Ronaldo, Berbatov, Rooney
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, A. Cole; Ballack, Mikel, Lampard (right); Anelka, Drogba, J. Cole

Live on Sky Sports 1 at 4.0pm

**Sir X** · January 11, 2009, 10:24 AM

Football rich list: Roman Abramovich knocked off top spot by Manchester City owner

By Martin Lipton 7/01/2009

Roman Abramovich officially lost his place as football’s richest man last night - as the new world order saw Manchester City named as the dominant financial force.
Chelsea’s owner has headed the annual rich list of football owners, published in Four Four Two magazine, since arriving out of nowhere to oversee his blue revolution in 2003.
But five years later and having spent £600million on players, wages and Stamford Bridge, Abramovich has lost top spot to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the money man behind Manchester City. The transfer of power from Russian to Middle East oil is stark proof of the sheer scale of funds that City boss Mark Hughes has at his disposal.
Abramovich is now not even the wealthiest club boss in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, having been overtaken by Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the major investor at QPR. Yet David Beckham’s status as the richest player remains unchallenged with a fortune estimated at £125m, more than three times that of nearest - and distant - challenger Michael Owen.
The new sea change at the top is no surprise but suggests why Chelsea have entered a new era of relative austerity as they seek to become "self-funding" by the end of the next financial year.
While Abramovich’s estimated wealth once stood at £7billion, he is believed to have lost a third of that in the world economic downturn.
That helps to explains why the Russian oligarch has turned off the money taps at the Bridge, telling boss Luiz Felipe Scolari there will be no money available in the transfer window, with even the £12m raised by the sale of Wayne Bridge placed on hold until the summer.
Sheikh Mansour’s elevation to the top of the list, compiled by FourFourTwo magazine, is no surprise after his incredible takeover at City.
Even before his buy-out of Thaksin Shinawatra was completed, Sheikh Mansour, estimated to be worth £15bn, had gazumped Chelsea to land Scolari’s prime target, Real Madrid striker Robinho, in a British record £32.5m deal.
That is just the start of a spree likely to surpass even Abramovich’s outlay of £121m in his first year as Blues owner.
Bridge is set to be followed into Eastlands by a clutch of new signings as Sheikh Mansour gives Hughes the heaviest purse in the history of the game, despite a run of poor results including the FA Cup embarrassment by Nottingham Forest.
But the list suggests City could be given a run for their money by the new West London moneybags at Loftus Road if Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa can steer Rangers into the Premier League.
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In addition to Mittal’s £12.5bn, fellow director Bernie Ecclestone is worth £2.4bn while Italian Flavio Briatore is also in the super-rich clan, although so far spending at the club has been kept at minimal levels.
And the accumulation of capital in London sees Spurs shareholder Joe Lewis fourth on the list with £2.5bn, with potential Arsenal owners Stan Kroenke of the US and Russian Alisher Usmanov sixth and seventh respectively.
Despite the huge outlay planned at City, Abramovich’s cloth-cutting may be a more realistic gauge to the future, suggests Tom Cannon, professor of strategic development at Liverpool University.
He said: "Season ticket numbers will probably be down by about 10 per cent.
"But renewals will be down by at least 15 or 20 per cent. That’s where the problems will be as you go down the divisions."
Further down the list, England boss Fabio Capello is said to be worth £25m, due to his £6m salary and £10m art collection, meaning he is richer than all his players except Beckham, Wayne Rooney (£35m) and Rio Ferdinand (£28m).
Arsene Wenger is in the familiar position of staring up at Sir Alex Ferguson, worth £22m compared to the Arsenal boss who has £14m.
And one man who can enjoy an easy retirement is Robbie Fowler, worth £28m through property investments, although their value may have fallen over the past year.
See the Players' Rich List in pictures
Rich List Top 20
1 Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Man City) £15billion
2 Lakshmi Mittal and family (QPR) £12.5bn
3 Roman Abramovich (Chelsea) £7bn
4 Joe Lewis (Tottenham) £2.5bn
5 Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone (QPR) £2.4bn
6 Stanley Kroenke (Arsenal) £2.245bn
7 Alisher Usmanov (Arsenal) £1.5bn
8= Lord Grantchester & the Moores Family (Everton) £1.2bn
8= Dermot Desmond (Celtic) £1.2bn
10= Lord Ashcroft (Watford) £1.1bn
10= Malcolm Glazer and family (Man Utd) £1.1bn
12 Simon Keswick (Cheltenham) £966m
13 Trevor Hemmings (Preston) £900m
14 Mike Ashley (Newcastle) £800m
15 Randy Lerner (Aston Villa) £750m
16 Tom Hicks (Liverpool) £700m
17 The Walker Family (Blackburn) £660m
18 Mohammed Al Fayed (Fulham) £650m
19 Sir David Murray (Rangers) £600m
20 Steve Morgan (Wolves) £400m

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