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Chelsea Make The Right Decision

Well, Steve Clarke’s shoes weren’t left empty too long were they?

It seems that in the wake of Clarke’s departure, Chelsea must’ve been pretty keen to get Scolari some back up and pretty much as expected, it comes in the form of an old Chelsea boy – although maybe not the one some of us thought it would be. Not that I’m complaining.

Ray Wilkins spent six years with us as a player, and a captain, before defecting to Manchester United. Although to be fair to him he did come back to us, assisting Gianluca Vialli for a spell. His playing career also saw him at Rangers and AC Milan, whilst his career in management has seen him at QPR and Fulham, before working alongside Vialli at Watford and Dennis Wise at Millwall.

The 52-year-old, who’s been doing his bit for Sky Sports, says of his appointment  “I’ve been looking to get back into coaching for a long time, but unfortunately haven’t been able to get through a door. Football now is almost like a closed shop, so anybody who’s out of the game is finding it nearly impossible to get back in, me included. I’m absolutely delighted.” Wonder how many times we’ll hear that phrase this year?!

Scolari is reported to have been equally as ‘delighted’, having been hugely impressed by Wilkins’ overall experience and sound knowledge following their initial meeting on Tuesday. Scolari clearly recognised the importance of an experienced English assistant and having failed to persuade Clarke to hang around, was given a list of possible replacements to choose from. Wilkins’ knowledge of the Premier League and European football saw him offered the job on the spot following a chat with the Chelsea boss.

It’s assumed that pretty much like his predecessor, rather than being used in a coaching role, Wilkins will be the link-man between Scolari and the players and will also utilise the experience he’s picked up over the years. And on this, he says “I was on the pitch a lot more as a coach with Luca. I will probably be helping Felipe more with background work, preparing team talks and DVDs. I will be preparing things on set-pieces and how the opposition play, that sort of thing. Although Felipe’s language is improving by the minute, it can be difficult for him to get his message across, so I will be taking on that mantle.”

The appointment of Ray Wilkins, as well as being very timely, with the Manchester United game upon us, is a pretty shrewd one as far as Chelsea are concerned. And amongst some pretty questionable decisions, this one has to be regarded as unusually clever on Chelsea’s part. With the well known and well trusted Steve Clarke’s departure, the lads needed a replacement they could warm to. Wilkins is certainly a familiar face, will have a respected knowledge of the game and a down-to-earth delivery of whatever message Scolari wants to get across.

Good appointment, I hope it works out.

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