The Times
June 12, 2008

Luiz Felipe Scolari appointed new Chelsea manager

Matt Hughes

Luiz Felipe Scolari, the man who turned down England, will instead
become the new manager of Chelsea. Scolari has been given a four-year
contract worth £6.5million a year and will report for duty on July 1,
two days after the European Championship final, which he hopes to be
contesting as coach of Portugal.

Scolari, 59, has been viewed as the leading candidate since Avram
Grantwas sacked last month, but the timing of Chelsea's announcement
last night was extraordinary, coming less than two hours after the
Brazilian guided Portugal to an impressive 3-1 win over the Czech
Republic in Geneva.

Chelsea claimed that they had made a low-key announcement so that it
would cause minimum disruption to Scolari's work, but the Portugal
camp in Neuchâtel will be besieged over the next few days and the
development could damage their chances of winning the tournament.

"Felipe has great qualities," a Chelsea statement read. "He is one of
the world's top coaches with a record of success at country and club
level, he gets the best out of a talented squad of players and his
ambitions and expectations match ours. He was the outstanding choice.

"Out of respect for his current role as head coach of the Portuguese
national team, and to ensure minimum disruption to this work, there
will be no further comment from Chelsea FC, nor from Felipe about his
new role until his employment with us commences."

Scolari became favourite to land the job as soon as Chelsea made it
clear that they were looking for a disciplinarian to replace Grant and
has been the only credible candidate since the withdrawals of Guus
Hiddink, Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti.

Contrary to popular belief, Frank Rijkaard and Roberto Mancini were
not given serious consideration and although Ancelotti was offered the
job, recruiting a man of Scolari's stature should put an end to
accusations that they ended up with their second-choice candidate.

Unlike when he was offered the chance to manage England two years ago,
Scolari's desire for the job was such that he was willing to negotiate
during Euro 2008 - talks have been taking place with Chelsea over the
past few days. Jorge Mendes, the Portuguese agent who also represents
José Mourinho, Grant's predecessor, has been a regular visitor to
their training camp, negotiating on behalf of Chelsea. Scolari's wages
represent a three-fold increase on his salary as coach of Portugal.

In addition to his coaching credentials after leading Brazil to the
victory at the 2002 World Cup, Chelsea believe Scolari can take on Sir
Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, on and off the pitch.
Their first battle is likely to happen soon - Scolari is believed to
have been advising Cristiano Ronaldo to leave United for Real Madrid
during private conversations over the past few weeks.


Luiz Felipe Scolari finally lifts Chelsea into world premier league
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent

There has been something uncommonly relaxed about Chelsea these past
few days. Amid the incessant speculation, the endless lists of names
in the frame, rumours of clandestine meetings in Milan and summer
trips abroad with more of a whiff of subterfuge than the smell of
coconut oil, the men in charge of a club that would be big have kept
their counsel. Now we know why.

They had him. They had the guy. They had landed the big one. Chelsea
succeeded where the FA failed two years ago; they had impressed when
nine months ago they merely confused. They had got Luiz Felipe
Scolari, World Cup winner, a man at the top of his profession. In the
bag, on the hook, done and dusted.

Chelsea would not confirm when the deal was completed, but the
suggestion is at least a week ago and probably before the European
Championship finals began.

There were suggestions last night that Chelsea had jumped the gun and
made the announcement without asking Scolari's permission, causing
embarrassment in his adopted Portugal, after a win that ensured his
team progressed to the last eight of the tournament, but this was
strongly denied in London. It would make no sense to do that, anyway.
Not having come this far.

The club have hardly covered themselves in glory or presented a
coherent strategy over the past year, but this one feels right. It
takes a huge personality to confront the pressure and demands of the
regime at Stamford Bridge, to balance the yearning for a beautiful
game with the insistence that it must also be a winning one, and if
any manager has the wit to pull it off, it is Scolari.

José Mourinho was a man who responded to the intensity of his
situation and thrived on it, for two years at least, while Avram Grant
was not. Scolari has more of Mourinho in him than he does Grant,
tempered by something that is going to be invaluable in the coming
years: experience. At the age of 59, he has been around the block long
enough to have kept his passion, like Sir Alex Ferguson, but not his
impetuosity.

Chelsea are not getting the man who raised his hands to journalists or
was regarded in his early days in Brazil as a brute, always ready for
confrontation. In the main, Scolari is wiser (although he was fined
about £10,000 for throwing a punch at a Serbia opponent during a
European Championship qualifier last year, such transgressions are
increasingly rare). His teams are gentler, too. Grêmio, the club at
which he made his name, became champions of South America with a
fierce, uncompromising style.

Scolari, who hails from the south, Rio Grande do Sul, was called "The
Argentinian" as a result, which in Brazil is about as big as an insult
gets.

This reputation was put to rest in 2002, when he won the World Cup
with a joyous Brazil team that found room for the three Rs: Ronaldo,
Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. If there is a criticism of his present
Portugal team it is that they lack a midfield destroyer. One may say
that he has changed.

For Chelsea, this is a grand coup. Never has one appointment
contrasted so greatly with its antecedent. When Grant replaced
Mourinho in September, the decision was mystifying. Little-known,
unheralded, uncomfortable from the start, he was identified only as a
friend of Roman Abramovich, the owner, and distrusted accordingly.
Scolari is the polar opposite. From no track record to the ultimate
track record: from a dour persona to a great room-filler; from a pal
of the boss to a step into the unknown.

Who knows how Scolari will respond to the challenge of Premier League
football, of a transfer budget that will be beyond any previous
experience, of a squad of players that is very much in flux. With
Grant, Abramovich probably knew what he was getting. With Scolari, who
does?

The Brazilians thought that they knew him six years ago when he was
widely predicted to turn out a World Cup team of solid pragmatism.
Instead he grew to be the great romantic. Chelsea were keen to point
out last night that this manager ticked all the boxes: a world-class
CV, the ability to deliver outstanding, entertaining football and a
reputation for getting the best out of top players. Hidden in that
statement may also be a coded message that they got it wrong the
previous time; not that anyone at the club will admit it.

Maybe Grant was always intended to be the caretaker, although the
terms of his contract make him a very expensive one; maybe, deep down,
the executives at Chelsea always knew that it was going to take a man
of strong character and experience to take Mourinho's work on; maybe
they just had to let the owner get his faith in a friend out of his
system.

Whatever the reason for the change in direction, it is an aberration
that has been corrected. Big clubs need a big presence on the
touchline and the training field and Grant was not that. The players
say he was the most nervous man in the dressing-room before the
Champions League final against having beaten Sven-Göran Eriksson's
England on the way.

Chelsea see Scolari as a man able to take on Sir Alex Ferguson on and
off the pitch and their first battle is likely to happen soon,
although before he locks horns with the Manchester United manager, the
Brazilian will need to improve his limited English.

A serious battle may be brewing as Scolari is believed to have been
advising Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal winger, to leave Old Trafford
for Manchester United last month and he lacked the authority to deal
with the most senior figures in the team. Scolari will never be found
wanting in that way. At half-time against the Czech Republic
yesterday, with the scores level, he took the mighty Cristiano Ronaldo
to task over aspects of his performance. Portugal won 3-1.

As the team bus pulled away from Stade de Genève last night after the
match, written on the side was the message, "This coach is driven by
the will to win". Above, Scolari sat proudly in his front-row seat. It
is that energy, that ambition, that determination, which Chelsea
believe they have signed up for next season.

Abramovich will have left Geneva a contented man and it is Scolari's
job to keep him that way. Having endured a time with the world's most
football-obsessed nation on his back, he may think he has seen
everything, although those who have followed Chelsea this past year
still think that he could be in for the odd surprise. Real Madrid
during private conversations over the past few weeks. United have
reported Real to Fifa for what they perceive as a deliberate attempt
to unsettle Ronaldo and are likely to have strong words with Chelsea
if he does express a firm desire to leave.

The appointment of Scolari also raises the intriguing possibility of
Abramovich realising his dream of having several Brazil stars playing
for Chelsea, with Kaká, the AC Milan midfield player, top of their
shopping list.

Chelsea plump for pragmatist
Russell Kempson

Chelsea unashamedly view themselves as a big club, one of the biggest
in the world, and in "Big Phil" - Luiz Felipe Scolari - they would
appear to have got the right man. In contrast, Avram Grant, his
affable predecessor, was little more than a shrinking violet.

Grant always appeared uncomfortable in the spotlight, squirming if the
interrogation of the media became too intense, yet Scolari will give
as good as he gets. It should be entertaining, too. He has a
combustible streak that frequently explodes.

His fierce temper - he also has a charming side - was illustrated in
September last year at the end of Portugal's European Championship
qualifying match against Serbia, a 1-1 draw. When Ivica Dragutinovic,
the Serbia defender, slapped Scolari on the hand, the Brazilian-born
coach grazed him in the face with a left hook.

Uefa, the sport's European governing body, fined Scolari SwFr20,000
(about £10,000) and banned him for four matches. After he had
apologised, the suspension was halved. He was also fined €35,000
(about £28,000) by the Portuguese football federation.

Chelsea will not mind the occasional outburst. After all, José
Mourinho, from whom Grant took over last season, was not noted for the
coolest of demeanours. And if not bringing the suave sophistication of
Mourinho back to Stamford Bridge, Scolari, even with his limited
English, should bring harmony back to the ego-laden multinational
squad.

Scolari, 59, who holds Italian citizenship through his grandfather,
should also bring a touch of flair and fantasy to the side, qualities
that Roman Abramovich, the billionaire Chelsea owner, craves for. The
functional traits of Mourinho and, to a lesser extent, Grant, should
be a thing of the past.

Although Scolari has won nothing with the Portugal national side – yet
– he is seen as a fatherly figure who engenders team spirit with an
arm on the shoulder or, if necessary, a firm rebuke. And he seems to
know when it is the right moment; his timing is everything.

Scolari is not afraid to veer from the straight and narrow, either, by
experimenting with more "wacky" ideology if he thinks it will inspire
his players. At the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and Korea, he gave
each member of his squad a copy of The Art Of War, a treatise on
military strategy by Sun Tzu, the 6th-century BC Chinese philosopher.
Buying into his philosophy, the squad became known as the "Scolari
Family".

Born in the south of Brazil in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Scolari
quickly became regarded as a straight-talking, nononsense character
full of truculent opinions that he was never scared to air. He was a
vigorous, if mediocre, central defender during his playing days, yet
always appeared well-suited for the peculiar demands of coaching.

In that field, he made his name with Grêmio, a side who bore all the
hallmarks of a typical British team. They were tough, aggressive,
strangled the life out of opponents and arrowed in a series of crosses
to a big centre forward.

It was not pretty but effective. Pragmatism rules, OK? Scolari won the
Copa Libertadores, the South American Champions League, with Grêmio
and Palmeiras. Sure, he managed to ruffle a few feathers along the
way, but the Brazilian FA was impressed.

Again, though, when Scolari took charge of the Brazil national team in
2001, he declared that he would do it his way or not at all. He strode
in with self-assurance and no little courage, determined that although
Brazil had a reputation for playing the "beautiful game", he would do
anything to achieve success.

Having revived Brazil's faltering qualification campaign for the 2002
World Cup finals, he set about winning the trophy. He might have upset
many along the way, by switching from his favoured 4-4-2 system to a
formation with three centre backs, but it worked. There was no room
for the traditional No 9 of his formative years and, ignoring the
anger of the close-knit Brazilian coaching fraternity, he went with
the attacking trio of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.

A year later, he began his stint with Portugal, again adapting his
psychology – and coaching style – to suit his new environment.

At Chelsea, Scolari should be wary. Was it not the intrusion of the
media outside his home in Portugal in April 2006 that turned him off
the idea of succeeding Sven-Göran Eriksson as the head coach of
England? In London, the paparazzi will be camped outside his new home
every day.

Scolari should also clarify his brief with Abramovich and insist on
having a free rein in player recruitment and team management. "He
should do well . . . as long as he is allowed to manage," Graham Rix,
the former Chelsea assistant manager, said.

Another warning came last night on the worldwide web in the form of
the entry in Wikipedia within minutes of the announcement of Scolari's
appointment. In the "teams managed" section, it read: "2008 –
Abramovich's Lapdog".

Search to fill the hot seat
Kaveh Solhekol

Sept 20, 2007 José Mourinho loses his job two days after Chelsea fail
to beat Rosenborg in a Champions League group match at Stamford
Bridge. Avram Grant, the director of football, becomes first-team
coach. Chelsea fans protest at his appointment.

Oct 11 Henk ten Cate, the Ajax coach, leaves Amsterdam to become
Chelsea's assistant first-team coach.

Feb 24, 2008 Tottenham Hotspur beat Chelsea 2-1 in the Carling Cup
final at Wembley.

March 8 Chelsea knocked out of the FA Cup by Barnsley.

April 30 Chelsea beat Liverpool 3-2 at home to secure aggregate win
and reach the Champions League final in Moscow.

May 11 Chelsea can regain the Barclays Premier League title on the
final day of the season, but Manchester United win to finish two
points ahead of Grant's team.

May 21 Chelsea draw 1-1 with United in the Champions League final, but
lose on penalties after John Terry misses a crucial kick.

May 24 Grant's contract is terminated "by mutual consent".

May 25 Guus Hiddink, Roberto Mancini, Frank Rijkaard, Mark Hughes,
Carlo Ancelotti, Mourinho and Luiz Felipe Scolari linked with the
vacant post.

May 29 Ten Cate loses his job.

June 2 Mourinho replaces Mancini as Inter Milan coach.

June 3 Carlo Ancelotti turns down Chelsea's £7 million-a-year offer.

June 8 Chelsea fail in a second attempt to get Ancelotti.

June 10 Scolari says that he would like to work in a different country
next season.

June 11 Chelsea announce that Scolari will take over at Stamford
Bridge on July 1.

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Telegraph:

Luiz Felipe Scolari named as Chelsea manager
By Rod Gilmour

Chelsea's search for a new manager has come to an end after they
clinched the signing of Brazilian World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe
Scolari.

Just over two weeks after sacking Avram Grant following Chelsea's
Champions League final defeat by Manchester United in Moscow, the
Portugal manager has been appointed to take over at Stamford Bridge.

It is thought Chelsea moved quickly to secure the deal with the
59-year-old manager, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002, after
AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti rejected a £7?million a year offer
from club owner Roman Abramovich last week.

And while a deal with Scolari looked to have been clinched behind the
scenes, the club and the coach were reluctant to go public until his
involvement in Euro 2008 was brought to an end.

Portugal all but secured their place in the knockout phase with a 3-1
victory over the Czech Republic, but it still remains unclear why the
club had decided to announce the appointment.

In a statement Chelsea said: "Chelsea Football Club are delighted to
confirm that Luiz Felipe Scolari will be the club's new manager from
July 1, 2008.

"Felipe has great qualities. He is one of the world's top coaches with
a record of success at country and club level. His ambitions and
expectations match ours. He was the outstanding choice.

"Out of respect for his role as head coach of the Portuguese national
team, there will be no comment from Chelsea FC nor from Felipe about
his new role."

Scolari, known as 'Big Phil', was brought on board as Portugal manager
in 2003 and came within a whisker of winning Euro 2004, falling to
Greece in the final.

They made the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup, including
knocking-out England in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

His record with Portugal is currently 72 matches, 42 wins, 18 draws
and only 12 defeats.

If he takes Portugal all the way to the final on Jun 29, he will start
his new job just two days later at Stamford Bridge.

Scolari's previous managerial postings include Palmeiras, Cruzeiro,
Brazil and Portugal, a position he held for five years.


Luiz Felipe Scolari will fill Special One Jose Mourinho's shoes as new
Chelsea manager
By Henry Winter

Luiz Felipe Scolari, the man Chelsea believe will drive them to a
bright new future, last night stood outside the Portugal team bus that
bore the motto: "This coach is driven by the will to win." Chelsea
have just appointed a manager of Jose Mourinho's ambition in Gene
Hackman's body.

Scolari's hunger for victory exudes every move he makes on match day,
the way he patrols the dug-out barking orders to his players. Charisma
in a tracksuit, he is always aware of how a game's fortunes can
fluctuate. When Portugal's first goal went in against the Czech
Republic in Geneva, Scolari eschewed joining in the extended
celebrations and instead shouted instructions at Paulo Ferreira, who
must feel his Chelsea future looks rosier.

The Brazilian, who will need to improve his English, fits in with
Roman Abramovich's desire for a manager who is strong on discipline
and outstanding at setting up his team well, tactically and
temperamentally. On the eve of Portugal's quarter-final triumph over
England at the 2006 World Cup, Scolari's team-talk was influenced by
his enthusiasm for Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Chinese treatise much
beloved by modern military and business leaders.

John Terry, Joe Cole and Ashley Cole will be handed copies of a tome
that shaped the Vietcong's thinking. Part of The Art of War focuses on
Scolari's commitment to preparing his team with almost obsessive
detail, focusing on his players' strengths and his opponents'
weakness. "If you know both yourself and your enemy," advises Sun Tzu,
"you can come out of hundreds of battles without danger." Another
section deals with "the fiery attack", stressing the need for a range
of weapons in overcoming the foe. Abramovich will appreciate Scolari's
willingness to vary his attack, stirring an element of "fantasy" into
his team's footballing DNA, particularly by unleashing attacking
players from the deep.

For an owner like Abramovich, who craves stylish football that was
lacking in the more functional but successful era of Mourinho, Scolari
promises real entertainment. The Russian was present in Stade de
Geneve last night when Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma
scored and delighted the Portuguese faithful.

As Brazil swept to victory at the 2002 World Cup, Scolari had stars
such as Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Ronaldo lighting up the Far Eastern
skies. A touch of the West End's theatrics is about to be staged at
the Bridge playhouse in south-west London.

Scolari is a showman, his press conferences being a mix of verbal
pyrotechnics and rambling answers. His arrival in the Premier League
will have an impact on the race for the title, particularly if Ronaldo
leaves Manchester United. Big Phil versus Sir Alex sounds almost like
a prize fight and the technical areas for Chelsea-United fixtures will
be fascinating.

Scolari will stand up to anyone. A ruthless streak courses through the
man. He shows little sentiment when needing to leave a player out,
such as Romario before the 2002 World Cup despite the clamour of the
Brazilian public. He once punched a reporter he disagreed with, and
kicked balls on to the pitch to waste time in one game.

The drive for silverware ensures Scolari also boasts a pragmatic side.
Palmeiras and Gremio were tough campaigners, occasionally cynical
under Scolari. His teams are mixtures of steel and silk with the
accent, again echoing The Art Of War, on strength through "unity".

Abramovich wants a coach who will coax and coach the best out of his
players, making them live up to their potential. One of the issues
with Scolari's predecessor, Avram Grant, is that he rarely looked
comfortable working with strong personalities like Didier Drogba, who
was clearly uninspired by the man who followed the Special One.

Drogba is set for pastures new, rightly so after his appalling
behaviour in the Champions League final, but he might have responded
to Scolari's man-management which blends the sergeant major with the
favourite uncle. Scolari knows how to appeal to players' egos, but his
no-nonsense streak will keep the millionaires in line. With Scolari
taking over at the Bridge, Sven-Goran Eriksson left London at the
right moment. Now the manager of Mexico, the Swede was outwitted three
times in successive tournaments by Scolari.

Applying the basis of "if you can't beat him, recruit him", the FA
sought to persuade Scolari to become Eriksson's successor but messed
up their approach.

Chelsea have succeeded where Soho Square failed. The Premier League
has just become an even livelier place with Phil "will to win"
Scolari.

The rise and rise of 'Big Phil'

1948: Born in Rio Grande do Su, Brazil Played: as a defender with
Aymore, Caxias, Novo Hamburgo, Juventude and CSA
1991: Coached Criciuma to the Brazilian Cup
1993: Coached Gremio to the Brazilian Cup
1995: Won the Copa Libertadores de America
1996: Claimed Brazilian national championship
1997: Joined Palmeiras
1999: Won the Copa Libertadores de America
2000: Joined Cruzeiro
2001: Appointed coach of Brazil
2002: Guided Brazil to World Cup success
2002: Took over as manager of Portugal
2008: Confirmed as new manager of Chelsea

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independent:

Chelsea name Scolari as new £6.25m pa manager

By Jason Burt in Klagenfurt
Thursday, 12 June 2008

Chelsea have appointed Luiz Felipe Scolari as their new manager and
will pay the Brazilian an astonishing £6.25m-a-season over the next
three years in what is one of the biggest deals ever agreed in world
football.

The announcement caused consternation in Portugal, where Scolari is
the coach of the national team who yesterday beat the Czech Republic
3-1 in their quest to win the European Championships.

At first Scolari's advisers, wrong-footed by the suddenness of the
announcement, denied that a deal had been struck with Chelsea. They
even claimed he would renege on any offer if it was made public, as he
once did when Benfica named him as their coach, but they were
embarrassingly forced to back-track after the Premier League club made
an unequivocal announcement on their web-site.

Even so Scolari has not yet signed a contract. His negotiations are
being handled by the agent Jorge Mendes, who has developed into one of
the most powerful men in football and who, ironically, also represents
Jose Mourinho who was sacked by Chelsea last year. Mendes was still
talking to Chelsea last night as to whether Scolari would sign a two
or three-year deal but the likelihood was that he would agree the
longer contract. What was certain, however, was that he will be the
next Chelsea manager.

The Independent, which maintained that Scolari was always the
frontrunner for the post, revealed on 29 May that he had been
contacted by Chelsea and was the favourite to succeed Avram Grant who
was sacked after an unhappy eight months in charge following Jose
Mourinho's dismissal.

Indeed The Independent contacted Scolari the day after Grant was
sacked to ask whether he would be interested in the Chelsea post. He
said he would – but didn't want his interest to be made public. He
also said he would be comfortable with the conditions set down by the
club owner Roman Abramovich who has made clear that he wants a
disciplinarian coach but also one who is willing to discuss team
matters and selection with him.

Scolari was excited by the prospect of taking over but did not quite
believe that Chelsea wanted him. No-one else was offered the job.

The deal to hire Scolari was struck in Geneva on Tuesday evening when
Scolari met Frank Arnesen, Chelsea's head of youth development and
chief scout, and the main power broker at the club, and Pier De
Visser, the 73-year-old Dutchman who holds the unofficial title as
Abramovich's scout.

Abramovich himself was in Geneva yesterday and had lunch with his
advisers before travelling to watch the Portuguese play at the Stade
de Geneve. The win means they qualify for the last eight of the
competition and the impressive way they have performed so far has also
helped Scolari's cause. Scolari will take over at Stamford Bridge as
from 1 July with his contract with the Portuguese Football Federation
set to expire –on 29 June – after this tournament finishes.

In a statement Chelsea said: "Felipe has great qualities. He is one of
the world's top coaches with a record of success at country and club
level. He gets the best out of a talented squad of players and his
ambitions and expectations match ours. He was the outstanding choice.
Out of respect for his current role and to ensure minimum disruption
to this work there will be no further comment from Chelsea nor from
Felipe about his new role until his employment with us commences."

Scolari, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 before leading
Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, was set to become England manager
in 2006 but changed his mind at the last moment. The 59-year-old
freely admits that part of his motivation for accepting Chelsea's
offer is the contract he has been given.





Abramovich's silent and swift coup brings Scolari to Chelsea

By Sam Wallace
Thursday, 12 June 2008

As he sat in a restaurant by the lakeside in Geneva yesterday, Czech
supporters drinking at the tables around him oblivious to the Russian
billionaire among them, Roman Abramovich knew that the hard work of
the summer was already done. He had appointed Luiz Felipe Scolari as
his fourth Chelsea manager and this one – the timing of it especially
– was to be the biggest shock of the tournament so far.

As far as drama went, it was comparable to John Terry slipping over as
he stepped up to take the winning penalty in a Champions League final,
a coup that a club as leaky and prone to factionalism as Chelsea must
have thought they could never pull off. After his team beat the Czech
Republic, Scolari attended his post-match press conference at the
Stade de Geneve as normal, he answered questions on Deco, he spoke
about the spirit of his team and he pulled those funny expressions
that are his trademark when the translation in his earphones became
too difficult to follow. What he failed to mention was that he had
just been made the new manager of Chelsea.

That news broke later, barely an hour after full-time, as Scolari was
leaving the stadium. Earlier in the day the Brazilian had left notes
in each of his Portugal players' rooms telling them that after almost
six years in charge of the national team he would be leaving to join
Chelsea and he added how much he had enjoyed being their coach. The
club claim that Scolari was entirely happy with the timing of the
announcement that came just as Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal had
started to look like a team who were capable of winning Euro 2008.

Watching from the stands with Frank Arnesen, Chelsea's chief scout,
and Piet de Visser – the veteran former Dutch coach who is regarded as
Abramovich's personal adviser on football – the Chelsea owner
witnessed a performance from Scolari that was typical of the man. He
was prowling the edge of his technical area for most of the match, he
celebrated the goals Portugal scored by throwing his arms around his
players. At one point it looked like he might even run onto the pitch
to tackle Milan Baros as the Czech striker broke through. In short he
was passionate, involved and victorious – all the qualities that
Chelsea require in a manager.

In so many respects, Scolari fits the blueprint perfectly for the kind
of man Abramovich wants. He is a World Cup winner, a man who takes no
nonsense from anyone and who has made a habit of humiliating the
England team on a regular basis. With Brazil he knocked England out
the 2002 World Cup and his Portugal teams beat Sven Goran Eriksson's
teams at Euro 2004 and in the 2006 World Cup. He turned down the
Football Association before that last tournament when they thought
they had an agreement to make him England manager. In short, many
regard him as managerial gold.

And yet. The questions over Scolari, the doubts that said he was never
likely to make a suitable Chelsea manager are as real now as they were
when he turned down the England job two years ago. He is not regarded
as the greatest tactical brain in European football: in fact the
Portuguese regard him as a man who plays more upon the heart of his
players than their brains. He places a great deal of importance on the
espirit de corps, on the strength of the group and loves the
short-term impact that he can have on a group of international players
over the course of a tournament.

Can he sustain that over a season in the full glare of publicity that
accompanies the manager's job at Chelsea? Managing in the Premier
League, enthusiasm and force of character will get him only so far. As
Jose Mourinho proved, there is a science to breaking Manchester
United's stranglehold over English football and it is hard-won. At 59,
Scolari has not been in club management for seven years.

And furthermore, how will he stand up to the scrutiny of his family
that has to be born by every public figure in British life? This is a
man who still walks on the beach every morning near his home in the
coastal resort of Cascais outside Lisbon. In Neuchatel, the
picturesque Swiss town that has been home to the Portugal squad for
this tournament, he attends mass and goes swimming in the lake. It is
not the simple life that he will find in west London or the leafy
stockbroker suburbs around Chelsea's training ground in Cobham in
Surrey.

Scolari was so brittle in the face of the press interest when he had
provisionally accepted the job as England manager that it was thought
to be a factor in his subsequent rejection of the FA. Scolari - "Big
Phil" to those who know him best - regards himself as an honest,
straight-talking Brazilian from the south of the country, Porto Alegre
to be precise. It is the same region that produced Ronaldinho. He last
managed a club in 2001 when he was in charge of Cruzeiro and before
his stunning victory in the 2002 World Cup he was generally regarded
as a dour, defensive coach out of kilter with the more joyful approach
to football in his native Brazil.

Nevertheless he has had his successes. He won the Copa Libertadores -
South America's equivalent of the Champions League – with Gremio and
then Palmeiras in 1999. He subsequently lost the world club
championship to Manchester United. Bizarrely he also had a stint in
charge of the Kuwait national team and he says that he has never been
afraid to travel to get work but then he has never been paid quite as
much as the £6m that Chelsea are understood to be paying him.

A devout Catholic, he prays to Our Lady of Fatima every day and also
has a fondness for the saint the Brazilians call Nossa Senhora
Caravagio. He keeps images of those two in his pocket during games.
But it is likely to be an altogether more earthly reason that made up
Scolari's mind when he decided that Abramovich's offer was simply too
good to turn down.

Money. It is what drags everyone into Chelsea in the end. Abramovich
has promised Scolari an annual salary which would take him about five
years to earn from the much less wealthy Portuguese football
federation. He is understood to earn a relatively modest €1.5m for his
job as Portugal manager but supplements that handsomely with earnings
from endorsements such as Nike and a major Portuguese bank. He also
travels extensively for speaking engagements. As an international
manager beloved of the Portuguese people he has the time to do so. As
manager of Chelsea, his every waking moment will be suffused with
delivering Abramovich's dream of the Champions League. And he will be
expected to win it more than once.

He has never seen eye to eye with Mourinho since he failed to select a
number of Porto players for the Euro 2004 squad but the two are
thought to be on better terms than they were a few years ago. No doubt
Scolari would be interested to hear the Portuguese coach's version of
life at Chelsea but he will be too proud to ask. The two men do have
one thing in common however: neither of them amounted to anything as
footballers. Scolari was an unremarkable central defender for the team
Maceio in Brazil but quickly moved into coaching.

Scolari will need to do all things that Abramovich has required of his
three previous managers: success, attacking football and the ability
to get along with a Russian billionaire who does not like to be denied
anything. The Brazilian once summed up his philosophy thus: "I've
battled for everything in my career as a player and a coach. I evoke
discipline and also enthusiasm. If I can get that through to the
players, we'll start to win." At Chelsea, it is likely to be a good
deal more complicated than that.

Big Phil will leave no one in doubt who is in charge

By James Lawton
Thursday, 12 June 2008

There is one major point to be made in favour of Luiz Felipe Scolari
as manager of Chelsea – as there was when he came into the running as
England's coach at the fall of Sven Goran Eriksson.

It is that he is not for nothing known as Big Phil.

He is perhaps not the wisest or most self-controlled of football's top
echelon coaches – as recently as last September he was eager to punch
out a Serbian player after a fractious qualifying game – but the coach
of Portugal, and World Cup winner with Brazil, has passed all the
tests in the vital matter of controlling a team – and leaving nobody
in no doubt who is in charge of all aspects of the operation of a
team.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and his chief gofer Peter Kenyon have
made free with the pride and the dignity of all three managers in the
era of the oligarch.

It was Kenyon, if you remember, who advised the first victim, Claudio
Ranieri, that it wouldn't be enough to eventually shoulder the likes
of Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsène Wenger out of pole position in the
Premiership. His team also had to win by scores of 5-0, with at least
one of the goals coming ideally, from a distance of around 30 yards.

Hugely entertaining, for anyone who has had any contact at all with
Scolari, is a picture of Kenyon, perhaps wearing the medal he so
proudly collected in the eyes of a vast audience last month in Moscow,
offering the same working instructions to Scolari.

In the end even the Special One, Jose Mourinho, felt the stabbingt
knife of humiliation after annexing English football power in his
first two years.

And what can we say of the regime of his successor Avram Grant? Only
that it could not have been founded in less satisfactory circumstances
– or less in sync with the classic running of a successful club. Grant
was injected into Mourinho's regime in a way which would not have been
countenanced by Ferguson or Wenger for more than the time it takes to
say goodbye. When Grant emerged with the prize of Mourinho's office,
and proceeded to chase Manchester United to the line in both the
Premiership and Champions League, his rewarded was to treated with no
more respect than an office boy, a retainer who was required to doff
his cap not just to the man who paid his wages but, at times, it
seemed, to both the players and the fans.

That kind of situation would be tolerated by Scolari for just as long
as it took him to make new arrangements.

This might sound a somewhat peripheral to the effectiveness of Scolari
as the new manager of Chelsea but, of course, it is utterly central to
his prospects.

He has, you can be sure, made it clear that if he will manage the club
in his own way, and with his own reputation in mind, rather than the
whims of the executive office. This is how Ferguson started off at Old
Trafford, and survived some lean days, and how Wenger has consistently
made it clear is the only reason he stays at Arsenal in the face of a
hundred options across the football world.

Scolari understands that the strong men win in football and he is
perhaps entitled to believe that his credentials in that matter are
beyond any critical examination. The most passionate and inflamed
football nation in the world, his native Brazil, bayed for his head
when he defied their yearnings for the return of the great hero
Romario. Scolari said the folk hero simply didn't figure in his plans.

Among the threats and the burning effigies was the threat of a public
lynching. Scolari shrugged his shoulders and said he would go his own
way. The result was Brazil's first World Cup win in eight years.
Whether he has the patience for the day to day operation of a major
European Club nearly a decade after he walked away from the domestic
Brazilian game is one legitimate question. But while we are finding
out that answer, there will not be enquiries about his nerve or his
pride. Maybe for the first time in time of Abramovich, Chelsea have a
manager who truly walks the walk as well as talks the talk.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Guardian;

Chelsea sweep Scolari into the Bridge· Portugal coach will take over
as manager on July 1
· Brazilian signs four-year contract worth £27m
David Hytner in Geneva The Guardian, Thursday June 12 2008

Luiz Felipe Scolari was last night named by Chelsea as their new
manager, on a four-year contract worth in the region of £27m, putting
to an end the club's pan-European hunt for a successor to Avram Grant.

The Portugal manager, on duty here at the European Championship - his
team beat the Czech Republic 3-1 yesterday to qualify for the
quarter-finals - will officially take up the post on July 1. He has
stressed that Portugal retain his full focus and he is determined to
leave them with the first major trophy of their history. But a new
chapter in his colourful career looms, with a return to club football
and one of the biggest jobs in the modern game.

Scolari, who has never previously managed at a European club, has been
on the international scene since 2001, first with his native Brazil,
whom he guided to glory in the 2002 World Cup, and then with Portugal,
whom he took to the Euro 2004 final and the 2006 World Cup
semi-finals. His contract with the Portuguese FA, though, expires
after this championship and it had become increasingly apparent that
he would not sign another one and would head for Stamford Bridge.

On the eve of the tournament last Friday he had made it clear that he
was receptive to an approach from Chelsea and that, although he would
not allow anything to deflect him from his international purpose, he
would be prepared to listen and even agree a deal during these finals.

That has happened. Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's billionaire owner, was
at the Portugal-Czech game in Geneva and, after he left and Scolari
had finished his post-match press conference, the London club issued a
statement in which they pronounced themselves "delighted" at the
relatively swift, if hardly seamless, hunt for Grant's successor. The
Israeli was removed from his position on Saturday May 24. There was
the suggestion last night that Scolari gave Chelsea the go-ahead to
make the announcement once he knew that Portugal had qualified for the
latter stages of the tournament.

"Felipe has great qualities," read the Chelsea statement. "He is one
of the world's top coaches with a record of success at country and
club level, he gets the best out of a talented squad of players and
his ambitions and expectations match ours. He was the outstanding
choice."

Chelsea have learned the lessons from the failed experiment with
Grant, who went tantalisingly close to winning the Champions League
and maintained a strong if ultimately unsuccessful challenge for the
Premier League title but who lacked the personality, authority and
standing in the game to continue long-term as the figurehead of the
club.

Abramovich demanded that the new man be able to instil discipline in
the dressing room and imbue the club with dignity. He had to have a
proven track record at a significant level and, crucially, be able to
establish a positive relationship with the owner, who takes an active
interest in playing affairs. Scolari said with a smile on Friday that
he understood American English but struggled with the English accent
and preferred to answer questions via an interpreter. That will change
as he steps up his language tuition.

Abramovich had considered Carlo Ancelotti but when the Milan manager
made it clear he wanted to remain at San Siro, and other prominent
figures such as Guus Hiddink of Russia made plain their commitment to
their existing jobs, the way was paved for Scolari. "It would be hard
to leave [Portugal]," the 59-year-old had said on Tuesday. "But I'm a
professional. I lived and I can live anywhere in the world. I have to
be prepared for anything."


Hiring Scolari is tacit admission of error by Abramovich
Kevin McCarra The Guardian, Thursday June 12 2008

If Chelsea supporters hated the lack of a strong leader, they would
have been exultant over last night's appointment. Whatever else
happens, there will no longer be talk of players calling the shots.
Indeed Luiz Felipe Scolari can be unduly forceful. During Portugal's
Euro 2008 qualifiers he took a swipe at the Serbia player Ivica
Dragutinovic at the end of a match. A four-game ban ensued.

The Chelsea fans must be warming to him already. Ever ready for the
battle and in possession of a dominant personality, he sounds
reminiscent of a native Portuguese manager at Stamford Bridge.

He is not really a continuation of Jose Mourinho by other means.
Nobody could imagine Mourinho saying, as Scolari did of the
Dragutinovic spat, "I am not infallible." There is no craving for
publicity in Scolari and when he turned down the England job the
rejection was attributed to his aversion to being compelled to live
continually in the public gaze.

Chelsea have wooed him more persuasively and, it is assumed,
expensively.There should be short-term dividends for the club. The
Portugal centre-back Ricardo Carvalho, for instance, may be persuaded
to lose interest in the notion of being reunited with Mourinho at
Internazionale. Might he not be happy to work more closely with the
current manager of the Portugal team who were, before this upheaval,
doing rather well at Euro 2008? Beyond that, Scolari should be
equipped to contribute to the regeneration of a Chelsea squad that has
a staleness about it.

After a far-travelled career, he may be more adaptable than the Milan
coach, Carlo Ancelotti, would have been. Under the direction of the
Portugal coach, Deco has started to excel once more and played
beautifully in the 3-1 victory over the Czech Republic in Geneva last
night. A midfielder who had almost vanished at Barcelona held the
attention of everyone. He is capable of doing likewise in London and
that may be relevant if Frank Lampard is to act on his reported
hankering to experience life at a foreign club.

Interesting as the possibilities are, these are details. The
fascinating aspect is the methods Scolari will adopt at Chelsea. Roman
Abramovich, in settling on this candidate, has taken the remarkable
step, for a billionaire, of conceding tacitly that he might have been
in error. The pragmatism that was apparently odious in Mourinho must
be in fashion once more.

No one has been known to fault Scolari for a naive idealism. He is in
favour of whatever happens to work. Had Abramovich begun to set out
his vision of aesthetic grandeur and exuberant entertainment, this
individual would have looked at him quizzically. Portugal might be fun
at present but it is a wonderful accident that Cristiano Ronaldo
happens to be on the scene.

Though Scolari has a handsome record, an approach that made him a
success since his time as a club manager in his homeland has no
romance to it. He is a World Cup winner but no one gets too nostalgic
over Brazil's impact in South Korea and Japan when that other Ronaldo
emerged from all the injuries to demonstrate an unimpaired scorer's
instinct. If Scolari was lucky to be around for that re-emergence, it
is no bad thing to be fortunate.

Chelsea, of course, will be a challenge for him. Apart from anything
else he has scant English. The last manager to be affected by that
disadvantage there was Claudio Ranieri, who needed a season to settle.
Such patience cannot be extended at the contemporary Chelsea, a club
that won nothing at all last season.

Scolari would not have been sought after if there had not been a
considerable task to be addressed there. Nor would he, in those
circumstances, have had what must be an extraordinary offer laid
before him. The terms have sufficed to make him depart from his
previous practice, when the FA was rebuffed, of declining to commit
himself until the present phase of his work with Portugal was
finished.

Perhaps Chelsea made their oddly timed announcement because the story
was about to break in any case. We now wait to see how Portugal fare
under a man perceived to have abandoned them. Scolari is volatile and
it will be informative to watch how he copes.

The major doubt, after all, is whether he can deal with the permanent
spotlight that is trained on Chelsea all year long. The next week or
two at Euro 2008 will be valuable practice for him.