Axe Falls at Chelsea & Portsmouth

I woke up to hear and then read the news this morning that Tony Adams had been sacked as the manager of Portsmouth after only 22 games in charge. Not a massive shock, but a mild one I felt. Sure they have been doing poorly recently and are sitting above the relegation zone. But they have had some terrible luck recently and his hands were tied during the Winter transfer window as the club had to sell, yet he couldn't use any of the money that was brought in. It just seems to be an unfortunate case that he came to a top job too soon and perhaps still had more to learn. He possibly had too much on his plate too. When he was mainly a defensive coach earlier on in the season, Portsmouth's defence was solid enough, but some of the displays recently have been absolutely shocking, so there must have been some neglect of those duties. The worrying thing for the fans is that they will now be on their 3rd manager this season and it will need to be a good appointment as surely survival is the only objective at this stage.

So I go out to class with that on my mind and what a difference a few hours make, because when I return home to hear news that is shocking.

This afternoon, Chelsea also sacked their boss as it was decided by their Russian owner that Luiz Felipe Scolari, someone who won the World Cup with Brazil, was deemed surplus to requirements after only 7 months in the job. Now Chelsea have had a fairly poor season, particularly their home form, but the board have ideas above their station if they think that a new guy can come in and thrust them up to the top spot in the league. They still have the Champions League to play for and honestly, they should be throwing all their eggs in that basket. If Scolari had of won that trophey then he might have got some stay of execution. Why not wait until the end of the season and evaluate things then?

Various names have been touted as replacements such as current West Ham boss & Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola (still a bit unproven), Avram Grant (a guy they sacked in the summer he led them to a whisker of a domestic and European Cup double; great decision that was to let him go then) and Guus Hiddink (a very good boss, but current manager of Russia). It is simply a sensational turn of events.

It all reminds me of that now famously laughable quote by that useless turncoat of a current Chief Executive Peter Kenyon when he stated that 'in a few years Chelsea will be the best team in the world'. He was a guy that left Manchester United (my team of choice) for Chelsea a few years back when the rich Russian billionairre entered town. I'll hold back my chuckles for a moment while we just compare things on the very slim chance Kenyon comes across this...

Last 2 Seasons - Trophies Won
Manchester United - 2 League Titles (with another very likely), 1 European Cup, 1 World Club Championship
Chelsea - 0