Cheslea has sent manager Avram Grant on his way, days after losing the Champions League and only a few months after taking over upon Jose Mourinho's resignation (link)

The Blues became fractious under his watch, and several players loyal to Mourinho are expected to leave the power this summer, including Drogba, Carvalho, and Essien. Drogba criticized his teammates leading up to the Champions League final, and the consensus among the supporters is that that goes back to Grant.

Despite only losing two EPL matches during his tenure, the net result were 2nd place finishes to Man United in both the EPL and CL, as well as (and perhaps more glaringly) the League Cup, which they dropped to Tottenham over the winter.

Mancester City's embattled boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is among the candidates that have been linked to the Blues, and a change in style may help avoid a mass exodus from Stamford Bridge this summer.

I was surprised when I read this

Even more surprising was how (and when) they filled the vacany:

(link)

Basically, on the day that Portugal clinched advancement in the Euro tournament, they lost their coach.

Nice timing, Chelsea!!!

Yeah big Phil Scolari is a big hire... Phil turned down the England gig last year and now has Chelsea should be good.

Just a few months after bringing in Scolari, Chelsea have fired him.

Ray Wilkins will step in and lead the 4th place team in the EPL, coming off a home draw with 12th place Hull City.

The highly-regarded Blues had been struggling recent weeks with two wins and eight points in their last six League matches, but were still alive in the Champions League and FA Cup tournaments.

Some early favorites to replace him, former Blues players Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke, as well as Russia coach Guus Hiddink and former Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini, have already been ruled out.

Two names of potential replacements that are still under consideration are Frank Rijkaard and Avram Grant, whose displacement by Chelsea has already been chronicled here.

How much pressure will this new person be under and what money would you need to take the job.

I can answer both questions with two words: A lot

Hiddink is going to try and combine the Russian gig with "temporary" manager status at Chelsea, and he gets a relatively light first test away to Watford in FA Cup play on Saturday. But then they're away to Aston Villa the following weekend, and have Juventus coming in for Champions League right after that.

I don't envy him the size of the task ahead.

I will be very interesting to see what lineup he puts out and how much control he is given. When he had the aussie gig he was very much we do it this way or sit on the sideline and watch. so it should make for good viewing over the coming weeks

Chelsea have more money than sense, it cost them £12 million to get rid of Mourinho, despite him being the most successful manager in the club's history, and now they have sacked Scolari after 35 or so games, crazy.

Thanks to Guus Hiddink, Chelsea salvaged their season by claiming the FA Cup. That didn't stop him from ending his temporary gig as Manager, and now Carlos Ancelotti, who only resigned from AC Milan on Sunday, is now expected to take over.

As with any change in leadership, there will be players leaving and arriving. The word around Stamford Bridge is that he'll have somewhere between £50-100 million to spend on new players.

Here's a rundown of players expected to move on, as well as those who might replace them:

OUT?: midfielders Florent Malouda, Deco, Salomon Kalou and Joe Cole

IN?: Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), David Villa (Valencia), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid) and potentially coming with him from Milan, Andrea Pirlo and Kaka

For the record, David Beckham has said he is NOT interested in going back to England, and rumor suggests that if he doesn't go back to LA, could wind up returning to Real Madrid.