Findcate

Roman Abramovich has told Chelsea’s board to find a managerial hard man to replace the sacked Avram Grant. The club have yet to identify who will become their third manager in nine months, but they have put together a shortlist focusing on renowned disciplinarians, believed to include Guus Hiddink, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Marcello Lippi, with Mark Hughes the home-grown candidate.

Pini Zahavi, who for several years has acted as a buying agent for Chelsea, is pushing the credentials of his friend Sven-G?ran Eriksson, whom Abramovich has attempted to hire on two previous occasions, but the former England manager’s reputation for indulging his players would appear to rule him out this time. Frank Rijkaard and Roberto Mancini, who have won domestic titles with Barcelona and Inter Milan respectively, also fall into this category.

However, the intervention of Abramovich could change that. Hiddink has not signed a two-year contract extension that was agreed with the Russian FA in March and, as a guest at the Champions League final last week, told a packed Luzhniki Stadium in English that he still hoped to work in the Barclays Premier League.

Hiddink is perhaps the only candidate to fulfil all of the criteria that the Chelsea board have been given in their search for a manager. His track record, coaching skills and tactical acumen are impeccable he has taken four countries to leading finals and won the Champions League with PSV Eindhoven as is his English.

Tags: acumen, avram grant, barclays, barclays premier league, cate, champion, champions league, champions league final, chelsea, contract extension, disciplinarians, domestic titles, england manager, felipe scolari, frank rijkaard, hard man, hiddink, inter milan, luiz felipe scolari, luzhniki stadium, marcello lippi, mark hughes, premier league, roberto mancini, roman abramovich, shortlist, zahavi

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Just so long as Abramovich does not expect wins of this magnitude to become a habit. At heart this is still the Chelsea of Mourinho, based on sound defensive principles with Mikel’s assiduous tracking-down of Elano, City’s Brazilian inspiration, as crucial as their attacking excellence. Impressive though it was, moreover, Saturday’s performance needs to be kept in perspective. City’s manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, was not being disingenuous when he declared “we made Chelsea look better than they are today”.From Chelsea’s point of view what made the result significant, in addition to the winning margin, was the eagerness with which their players sought further goals long after the contest had been decided. This would not have been Mourinho’s way. Once Didier Drogba’s second goal had given Chelsea a 3-0 lead before the hour the game would have been rapidly wound down as the team played out time.Grant sees things rather differently which is why he is now in charge. “We are concentrating on attacking football,” he said. “How to move right, how to behave right, how to get the best out of the players and make them better. I know we cannot do it in every game over the 90 minutes but I think we need in modern football for people to come and have fun.”Under Mourinho fun was strictly rationed, like sweets in wartime, and despite Grant’s good intentions Chelsea will still experience occasions when the frolics have to take second place to achieving a satisfactory result. Nevertheless, Stamford Bridge should be in for a few more fun days to judge from the way the full-backs, Juliano Belletti, Paulo Ferreira and, when fit, Ashley Cole, are allowed to overlap in attack whereas previously they were tethered to the halfway line.Saturday’s success, however, was rooted more in Chelsea’s mastery of the midfield in which Frank Lampard was outstanding with Michael Essien not far behind. There was a telling moment in the ninth minute when Dietmar Hamann completely sold himself as he went to challenge Lampard and found himself tackling thin air. Seven years earlier, on a similar grey October afternoon at Wembley, Hamann had set in train events which led to Eriksson becoming England manager when he ran the midfield for Germany in a World Cup qualifier and scored the winner, Kevin Keegan resigning when the game ended. Now Hamann suffered echoes of Germany’s 5-1 defeat by Eriksson’s England a year later.Manchester City remain a pratfall waiting to happen but their early-season form under Eriksson had been impressive, not least because of the discipline and composure he had brought to the defence.”Maybe there has been too much talk about us playing good football,” he said, “and I will not blame anyone for that but if you don’t defend well then these things will happen that have happened today. If you give Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Joe Cole all the time and space we gave them they will kill you, and they killed us. I am not talking about the four defenders. If you defend in football today you have to defend with 11. We did exactly the opposite.”Bereft of midfield cover City’s back four were drawn and quartered, most notably by Lampard’s superb diagonal ball, which sent in Drogba for Chelsea’s second, his cushioned pass having set up Essien for their first. Drogba scored again after Lampard, who looked offside, had seen his shot parried by Joe Hart, and the Ivorian’s nod-down released Cole to score a fourth. Essien then created a fifth for Salomon Kalou and a sixth for Shevchenko.By this time Javier Garrido, allegedly City’s left-back, might as well have worn a notice saying All Through Traffic. Not that Chelsea needed any guidance. They were having fun.Man of the match Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Tags: ashley cole, chelsea, england manager, ford, goran eriksson, henk, lampard, pace, spira

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The club admitted that Drogba’s absence was a result of an interview with France Football magazine in which he described Chelsea as “broken” after the departure of Jose Mourinho. “Given what has happened, it would have proved a distraction for a positive story,” an official said. The 29-year-old Ivorian subsequently issued a statement saying he regretted his comments - which included an attack on Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, for getting rid of Mourinho - but he gave no guarantee that he would still be at Stamford Bridge next year.He said: “On reflection, I regret making the comments I made in a recent interview public at this time. I am a Chelsea player and will be 100% committed and supportive to my manager, my team-mates and the club. I will not be discussing my future any further until I meet privately with the club at the end of the season.” He had told France Football that he would like to play in Italy or Spain for Milan, Inter, Barcelona or Real Madrid. Chelsea’s manager, Avram Grant, said Drogba’s outburst was “internal business” and he would talk to the striker privately. He added that he had a “happy” relationship with the Ivorian and that there were no problems in the Stamford Bridge dressing room. He said: “I know that this is not the first time he [Drogba] has said it, but I have not seen him yet. It is internal business. I cannot tell you anything until I speak with him. I don’t like to speak about players in the papers, I like it to discuss it with them.”I have read many things that were not true, because I was in the dressing room. This attitude has brought us good results in a very difficult time. I am very happy with the attitude of the players until now and I am sure that it will continue.” Those players have now started working with Henk ten Cate, who moved to Chelsea as assistant manager alongside Steve Clarke from Ajax, where he had been head coach. Grant claimed the Dutchman would improve the quality of Chelsea’s football. “Our vision is to play efficiently but with style,” he said. “We know our vision but need the people who can do it, and Henk can. I think the football is going to be entertaining as well as winning.”Ten Cate will be in the visitors’ dugout when Chelsea visit Middlesbrough today, a fixture which the then Premier League champions lost 2-1 last season. “It is not easy to play there,” admitted Grant. “Last year we lost and they always seem to give us a difficult game.”Grant did not confirm whether Drogba would start the match, but in any case his side must cope without John Terry or Ashley Cole, who both picked up injuries while on international duty with England. The Israeli refused to countenance excuses based on the injury list for any slip-up at the Riverside today. Chelsea are seventh in the league, seven points behind the leaders, Arsenal, having played a game more, and can ill afford any more setbacks.”We have a big squad and we need to handle these injuries,” said Grant. “The players need to come on to the pitch and show they have character.”The Israeli backed his predecessor to make a successful England manager should Mourinho replace Steve McClaren after the international team’s 2-1 defeat in Moscow on Wednesday left qualification for Euro 2008 out of their hands. “Yes, he [Mourinho] is a very good manager,” Grant said in response to a question about the Portuguese’s suitability as an international coach. He also had words of support for Frank Lampard, who has endured another difficult time with England. He was booed by home supporters at Wembley after coming on as a substitute against Estonia last Saturday and was part of the team beaten in Russia this week.”Frank is a strong character and he wants to play for England,” said Grant. “I want him to play for England because he deserves it.”

Tags: ajax, ashley cole, attitude, avram grant, cate, champion, chelsea, dutchman, england manager, euro 2008, ford, henk, john terry, lampard, premier league, real madrid, roman abramovich, steve clarke, ten cate

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