Buck Blown Away By Scolari

Scolari has wasted no time making his mark at Chelsea since officially taking up the reins this month, drafting in Deco from Barcelona and shipping out Steve Sidwell to Aston Villa during first 10 days in charge.

Many more changes are expected as the Brazilian, who has expressed his intent to promote the club’s youth prospects, begins to fully assert his authority over the playing squad.

The former Portugal coach has made just as big a splash outside Stamford Bridge, having charmed press and public alike with his linguistic skills and charisma.

And Buck admitted he has been just as impressed as everyone else: “My first impression was how good his English is. I thought it was important, we are in England and it's an English club.

“I knew he could speak English at the press conference, I knew he would wow everybody and he did. The press are always suspect about managers that seem to have everything translated, but I think they were quite impressed with the way Felipe handled English, and the way he handled them.

“He has been there, done that, and has been very successful as a manager over many years. But I also think he is a very genuine man, he is down to earth and he is very knowledgeable.

“He just seems like a very good man and he will definitely have the respect of all our players, and it's just onwards and upwards.”

Clash

One of the hot topics arising from Scolari’s appointment is the potential for a clash between he and Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s billionaire owner.

The Russian oil magnate has often been accused of using the Blues as his plaything, stepping on the toes of previous managers – most notably Jose Mourinho – in order to achieve his vision.

Chelsea’s supposed interest in Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin sent up early warning signals all across Europe, as it was decidedly reminiscent of the sort of infatuation that brought Andrei Shevchenko to Stamford Bridge in 2006.

Buck admitted it will be interesting to see the sort of rapport Scolari and Abramovich build up during the course of the season, but he believes both parties are passionate and professional enough to steer clear of any problems.

Important

“It really does fascinate the media and all of us, but I think that at any club the relationship between the owner and the management is important,” Buck said.

“At Chelsea Football Club, Roman is the owner and he loves Chelsea, he loves football and he wants to be knowledgeable on the football side of things.

“So his relationship between himself and the manager is important and I think that sometimes in the press we hear that Roman is picking the team or Roman's meddling or Roman is doing this or Roman's doing that, and that's not it at all.

“You know he just wants to understand what's going on and be part of the football. I think Felipe is confident enough of his own skills and own ability for his relationship with Roman to be superb.”

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