Scolari joins Adams on the managerial scrapheap

Portsmouth have become familiar with being upstaged and this afternoon was no exception with the news of Tony Adams' sacking overshadowed by Chelsea's decision to sack Luiz Felipe Scolari a matter of hours later.

It is, sadly, a sign of the times that we have become accustomed to in recent years with the increasing frequency of managerial changes that is manifesting itself within the top flight. Much has been made of the financial impact that relegation and, in Chelsea's case, the failure to qualify for Champions League football can have on clubs and it is this that has ultimately cost Adams and Scolari their jobs.

Adams had only been in charge of Portsmouth for three months which, even in the current managerial climate, is an extremely short tenure. His predecessor at Pompey, Harry Redknapp, gained 18 points from 13 games before his switch to Tottenham Hotspur. Adams earned 19 in 22 games which goes some way in illustrating the grim situation the FA Cup holders have found themselves in. Hardly stunning form but it is hard not to sympathise with Adams who lost his first choice striker (Jermain Defoe) and his star midfielder (Lassana Diarra) for a total sum of £35m of which only £3m was spent on new players. Adams' record as manager prior to these two sales at the start of the January transfer window was 14 points from 15 games - worse than Redknapp's but not exactly embarrassing.

What proved to be Adams' last game in charge was against Liverpool which, coincidentally, was his first as Portsmouth manager and for anyone who witnessed the dying embers of his managerial stint at Fratton Park will surely extend further sympathy. Having lead 2-1 against Liverpool until five minutes from time it was horrendous defending, bordering on criminal, that cost Portsmouth the game and Adams his job with Pompey eventually losing 3-2.

It is a similar situation that has developed at Chelsea in as much as it seems that the players are immune from any criticism and take no responsibility in their recent run of poor performances which has resulted in the shock sacking of Scolari. The news came two days after Chelsea were held to a goal-less draw at home to Hull City - a game which they should really be winning if they are to claw back ground lost in their title challenge.

Scolari arrived with a big reputation and this came as no surprise having won the World Cup in 2002 as manager of Brazil and having an impressive record as manager of the Portuguese national side. But in Chelsea he was taking on a side which had a collection of players who, on paper, should be world-beaters but, in reality, have failed to sustain the level of performances that saw them win back-to-back league titles under Jose Mourinho, the former Chelsea manager.

Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, has been known to be a fairly erratic chairman in his handling of managers. The departure of Jose Mourinho as Chelsea manager towards the end of 2007 was said to be mutually consented when the reality would suggest Mourinho was sacked by Abramovich following a string of poor, but not terrible, run of results. Sections of the Stamford Bridge crowd were also showing signs of unrest and mocking Mourinho in what proved to be his final matches as Chelsea boss - you can be sure that the same 'fans' were calling for the return of Mourinho in Scolari's last match.

In both scenario's you can't help but notice that it is, ironically, poor management that has cost both Adams and Scolari their jobs - management from the top that is. Tony Adams, although having managerial experience with Wycombe Wanderers, was thrown into an impossible job as he was always going to be compared to Redknapp who, in truth, exceeded all expectations with Portsmouth. To add to his woes, Adams was given a paltry sum of money to spend on new players and it is Portsmouth who have failed Adams as he was not ready to manage a Premiership side at this stage of his career.

And in Chelsea you have a hierarchy who appear to get cold feet when their side under-perform for a couple of games when the simple facts are that Scolari guided them into the knock-out stages of the Champions League, the fifth round of the FA Cup and are by no means out of the title race. How long before Chelsea are longing for the return of Scolari?

Crikey O' Riley

This afternoon Chelsea met Liverpool at Anfield in an encounter that many believed would go some way to determine who Manchester United's main contenders for the Premier League title would be.

Having been absolutely outplayed by United when Chelsea went to Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago they would have been keen to set their stall out early and frustrate a Liverpool side that have drawn 5 of their twelve home games this season.

It was by far a vintage Chelsea performance but then consistency has eluded them, somewhat, this season and, without causing their opponents too many problems, were quite comfortable in frustrating Liverpool who, by all accounts, were all over the visitors.

Chelsea created few chances but, with Didier Drogba and Deco among the substitutes, they might have considered a late assault if the scores had remained level. But what Chelsea hadn't counted on was the referee, Mike Riley, sending off Frank Lampard for a tackle he couldn't have been any closer to unless he was on the receiving end of it - Lampard becoming the 4th player in 16 Premier League games to be shown a red card by Riley.

The sending off was farcical and Lampard can count himself extremely unlucky to have been given his marching orders for a tackle that replays showed (not that anyone needed one) him clearly winning the ball in a challenge with Xabi Alonso, the Liverpool midfielder.

This was a match that Chelsea manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, billed as a 'make or break' game for his side's title chances and he was understandably frustrated at a refereeing decision that ultimately allowed Liverpool to benefit from their numerical advantage - eventually running out 2-0 winners thanks to Fernando Torres' late brace, the first of which was scored in the 89th minute.

Torres' second was scored a minute later with Ashley Cole, the Chelsea left-back, caught in possession by Yossi Benayoun who then squared the ball for Torres to score one of the easiest goals he is ever likely to score. But by this stage the result was a formality, the damage had already been done and as Scolari said in his post-match comments: "When he (Lampard) was sent off it changed the game for us one million percent. We lost the middle and did not have the ball. They created more chances and had more possession. And they were able to score the goals after that decision."

What makes Mr Riley's performance even more worrying was the fact he overlooked a blatant red card offence when Jose Bosingwa, the Chelsea right-back, put his boot into the back of Benayoun and then pushed him over. The FA will surely exercise retrospective action if the incident doesn't appear in the referee's match report.

In truth, Liverpool did dominate a Chelsea side that has looked out of sorts for too long and they threw caution to the wind after Lampard's sending off which is what they didn't do against Arsenal back in December. Yet if they are to prove that they are improving their weaknesses they must go to Portsmouth on Saturday knowing that anything less than 3 points is a failure - which has been something of an achilles heel in recent seasons.