Who will be the next manager of Chelsea?

Million dollar question: Now that Guus Hiddink is gone, who will be the next manager of Chelsea?

We all know the fickle-mindedness of Chelsea club owner Roman Abramovich, When he first came in, he sacked Claudio Ranieri when the Italian has been doing well, and consequently sacked 2 more world class coaches in Jose Mourinho and Luis Felipe Scolari. Frankly, with Roman at the club, expect a few more sacks in the next few seasons... the owner has no sense of what it means to run a successful football club. If all he needed was an obvious clue, just look at the current BPL champions Man Utd, Arsenal not so long ago, and the Liverpool of the 80s. Dynasties are built into a club from the youth system, and longevity of the manager is crucial in seeing the vision of the club come to past. No prize for guessing why Sir Alex and Arsene Wenger have been 2 of the more successful managers in club history; they were trusted to do their job.

Even though it looks increasingly likely that Carlo Ancelotti is the top pick for the Chelsea job, I highly doubt he will do a good job. Why? Because Chelsea is a players' club; John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba have too much say at the club. A manager who cannot communicate in English, lest motivate this gang inherited from Mourinho cannot succeed in getting the best out of them. Look at Scolari, his English wasn't that bad, but he couldn't get along with the players and that cost him his job. Hiddink did relatively well because he probably is the most affable and likeable man in football, look at him motivate and guide his moderate players from all over the world to greatness in World Cups, from South Korea to Australia to now Russia.

No manager will succeed unless his players back him up. IF Carlo Ancelotti signs eventually, he needs to rid the players who are still stuck in the age of Jose Mourinho and bring in his trusted subjects. Sell Drogba, exchange him for Inter want-away Ibrahimovich. Sell Ballack, bring in Pirlo. Sell Malouda, bring in Kaka. Revive the magician in Deco, bring out the best in Bosingwa, Essien and Anelka. Build on the respect of Terry and Lampard, recognize they are indispensable and club motivators, command the tactics to be used but trust the execution with them. Hire a proven footballing mind to be the director of football; who is solely responsible for building the youth system.

But the hardest part of it all? Getting the clueless owner to leave you to do your job. Unless Abramovich retains his powers to just signing chequebooks for the club, Chelsea will forever be stuck in the group of has-beens and rich owner football clubs. Their fortunes will end with Abramovich's short-lived and shallow interests.