Chelsea

Scolari The 'Worst' Chelsea Boss In Abramovich Era

The stats are in, and the jury is out on the Blues' new boss after Sunday's derby defeat doomed them to their worst start since 2003...

Dec 2, 2008 4:55:53 AM

Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari struggles on the sidelines as he watches his side crumble to yet another home defeat, this time to Arsenal (PA)

Teams

Chelsea

Players

Luiz Felipe Scolari

Chelsea might be just one point from the top of the table, but that hasn't stopped The Sun turning up the heat on manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

However, and most atypically, the London tabloid has provided statistical evidence to support its claims that the Brazilian is the Blues' poorest performing boss since Roman Abramovich bought the club five years ago.

Their recent loss to Arsenal means Chelsea have won 59.1 per cent of their games since Scolari took charge at the start of the season, a figure which does not compare favourably with his predecessors.

Avram Grant, who vacated the hot-seat just prior to the ex-Selecao coach's arrival, boasted a win ratio of 63.6 per cent after 15 Premier League games. But the veteran Israeli's record pales in comparison to that of the two Stamford Bridge bosses who went before him.

Claudio Ranieri had led the Londoners to victory 77.3 per cent of the time at the same stage of the 2003-04 season, and yet the resulting second-place finish wasn't enough to save him his job.

The Tinkerman, currently at Juventus, was replaced by Jose Mourinho, who now coaches Inter Milan - and the Portuguese gaffer tops the list of Abramovich-era managers with 78.2 per cent.

Thus, Scolari clearly has some work to do to please the higher-ups at Chelsea, a task that will only be made tougher by his non-existent transfer kitty this January.

However, it is unlikely the Russian owner or the chief executive, Peter Kenyon, will be too concerned with facts and figures if their is some new silverware in the trophy cabinet come May.

Cecil Braun, Goal.com