Can Hiddink rescue ailing Chelsea?

Guus Hiddink will coach Chelsea for the rest of the season while retaining his role as manager of the Russian national team. Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images The Limey's Mailbag Keep the banter flowing to The Limey. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

To our knowledge, Roman Abramovich has never sung Oops!... I Did It Again at karaoke while wearing a Britney Spears wig. But it would be apt, since the Chelsea owner hastily and mistakenly sacked a manager for the third time in 17 months.

Earlier this month, Luiz Felipe Scolari went the same way as José Mourinho and Avram Grant before him. Well not quite the same way, given Mourinho's domineering Inter Milan side is on top by nine points in Serie A, while Grant currently is mixing in blatantly touting for a new job in TV punditry appearances with unwitting impersonations of Baron von Greenback, the megalomaniacal frog from the 1980s British cartoon Danger Mouse.

Mourinho's organizationally brilliant team, despite two successive EPL titles and an FA Cup triumph, didn't consistently offer the flamboyance of its leader's own endearingly arrogant showboating persona. But, unlike Abramovich, the fans who idolized him and saw his potential could forgive this and the two Champions League campaigns that ended in the semis.

Perhaps Abramovich overestimated the extent to which his funding guaranteed success, perhaps the two strong personalities clashed. But following a poor run of Premier League results early last season, the axe fell in November 2007. Mourinho's sacking was met with widespread disappointment inside and outside the club, but most disappointingly, soccer fans were left pondering the possible permutations of the unplayed endgame in Mourinho's titanic struggle for dominance with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Inter Milan's forthcoming Champions League visit to Manchester United on Feb. 24 is thus the jewel of the round, but it'll also highlight the lost drama of the Special One's presence in the EPL. Although Arsenal's Arsène Wenger vexes Ferguson, and Liverpool's Rafa Benítez tries to engage engage in mind games, neither battle intrigues like the mutual respect and camaraderie generated by Ferguson and Mourinho's realization that theirs was a rare war fought between two men who stood enviably at the top of the game.

Mourinho probably would have won the Champions League eventually, while his removal was also detrimental to Chelsea's strategic commercial development. His attitude and media presence generated interest in Chelsea, adding personality and warmth, important qualities when trying to create a global brand from a traditionally mid-sized club. Appointing the gray, pragmatic and little-known Grant as his successor was clearly a backwards step in this regard, one the Chelsea fans recognized all too clearly.

Yet despite an uneasy relationship with the fans, Grant's short-lived tenure was statistically successful. During his reign, Chelsea had more EPL points than eventual champion Manchester United, while only John Terry's fateful slip in Moscow separated the Blues from Champions League glory. Who didn't feel for Grant when this wasn't enough? Indeed, that Scolari's reign ended with Chelsea in fourth place underlines Grant's relative success.

As Chelsea's form under Scolari worsened, his relationship with the fans deteriorated. But why sack an internationally experienced manager with the Champions League knockout rounds looming, especially given that Michael Essien's imminent return would be an enormous boost? Had Chelsea finally achieved European glory this season, third or fourth place in the EPL would have been forgiven. And there was time for this experiment, given that Arsenal's errant form offered comfort that the ignominy of fifth place and the UEFA Cup next season was unlikely.

Despite speculation, it's unlikely locker-room unrest played a significant part in Scolari's downfall. His relationship with Didier Drogba may have been becoming untenable, but the temperamental Drogba is notoriously difficult to please.

Perhaps Scolari's signings worried Abramovich? Deco seemed an astute buy, but low on confidence and often played out of position, he found it difficult to penetrate massed English defenses. Meanwhile, given his torrid spells at Barcelona and Inter, winger Ricardo Quaresma was a peculiar choice for Chelsea, suggesting Scolari lacked an appreciation of alternative options. This view is reinforced by Scolari's only other signing: the free transfer of aging midfielder Mineiro. That made former Portugal coach's total inflow during his time at Stamford Bridge two Portuguese players and one Brazilian.