UEFA CL PHOTO TRIBUTE: FINAL SIXTEEN

SCOLARI CLEARS THE AIR

Chelsea mentor Luiz Felipe Scolari did not expect that his first season at Stamford Bridge would be stormy. Losing the leadership board in the Premier league, talks of player revolt and a poor showing lately had made the Brazilian maestro the favorite target of the hard-hitting British media.

After dominating early in the EPL, the blues suddenly found themselves running second to Liverpool with 42 points and three points behind the reds in the over-all standings no thanks to an on-and-off form in their last six outings which saw them win twice, drew thrice and lost once. The speculation that everything is not good at the Chelsea camp even grew wilder with the news that the veterans of the squad led by John Terry, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole are not happy with the way Scolari is running the club. Then came the 1-all standoff with non-league club Southend in the FA Cup. But despite the seemingly never-ending woes that had hit Chelsea lately, Scolari had remain unfazed by all the bizarre happenings.

In an interview with renown football writer Henry Winter, Scolari finally opened up and bare his soul on the current issues with Chelsea:

"The players love me because I never, never say: 'You are wrong'. It is our mistake. The players love me because I defend them every day and I give my best for them every day. My players don't come into my office and say: 'I love you'.

But I feel my relationship with my players. Every day, in your house, your son does not come and say: 'I love you'. Every day, your wife does not come and say: 'I love you'.

No. You know she loves you. You know your son loves you. I know the players love me because we've had situations where it is possible to help them. In the training in the last three or four days there was a fantastic team spirit. Very, very good training -- different than before.

This season we have made mistakes at corner kicks three or four times. I accept one or two. Four? No. We need training so we don't make more mistakes. All the coaches in the world do this but at Chelsea, if you have one meeting, it's a terrible situation. I'm not here to fight against Jose. Why think about records? I think about winning the Champions League, Premier League or FA Cup."

So there goes Scolari, still in high spirits and full of fight in his battle for survival with the proud Chelsea Football Club.