Interim Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink is adamant that he will be leaving at the end of the season to concentrate on the Russia job.

Chelsea fans who had been hoping the Dutchman would decide to stay must now start contemplating a fourth manager in two years.

Frank Rijkaard is unemployed and the style of football his Barcelona side managed when winning the Champions League in 2006 would definitely go down well at the Bridge, especially after some dour displays in recent times.

On the downside, the Dutchman had a little run in with Chelsea when they met Barca in Europe a few years back while his agent has said he is enjoying a break from the game.

Roberto Mancini also has great pedigree and would seem available having been sacked by Inter Milan at the end of last season despite leading them to a third straight scudetto. (more…)

The worst kept secret in football has finally been made public - Jose Mourinho is Inter Milan’s new coach.

Rumours the former Chelsea coach would take over at the San Siro have been rampant for months and they intensified when Roberto Mancini was sacked last week despite leading the side to a third straight Serie A title.

The newspapers were so confident Mourinho would be appointed that they had already started guessing who he might buy.

Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard remain close to their former boss and reports say they are on his target list.

Mourinho also managed Deco in Porto’s 2004 Champions League-winning side so the Barcelona midfielder is being tipped to come to Italy.

But do Inter need improving after three scudettos in a row? Luis Figo was poised for retirement but the arrival of compatriot Mourinho may spell another season. 

Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been linked with a move away but would he forego the chance of working with one of the world’s most charasmatic coaches?

Some say Serie A was dull last season. With Mourinho around, next term will be anything but. 

PHOTO: Jose Mourinho officiates during a Portuguese veterans’ match, May 18 REUTERS/Nacho Doce

After sacking Avram Grant following the club’s first Champions League final, nothing at Chelsea should surprise us.

But Jose Mourinho possibly going back as coach? Even in the wacky world of Stamford Bridge, it is surely just paper talk and fantasy.

Mourinho is a shrewd man and he will know as well as anyone that coaches very rarely succeed in a second stint at a club. (See our blog from when Kevin Keegan was reappointed at Newcastle.)

The dynamics of Chelsea are also very different from when he took over in 2004.

Back then, Claudio Ranieri had already laid the foundations of a Premier League-winning side. Arjen Robben and Petr Cech were signed for the next season before Mourinho arrived. The Portuguese also had bags of cash to bring in Drogba, etc etc.

This time it would be different. Chelsea could lose Drogba and a number of other players, meaning a large rebuilding job would have to be undertaken, just when Roman Abramovich’s appetite for investment appears to have waned.

Remember as well that it was only in September that Mourinho’s relationship with the Chelsea hierarchy completely collapsed. Media reports say Abramovich has since had some “cosy chats” with his former coach and even bought him a car, but working together again would bring the same tensions, the same clashes of ego.

Assuming the second coming for Mourinho is not about to take place, where does that leave us?

Frank Rijkaard, Roberto Mancini, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Russia coach Guus Hiddink have all been mentioned as possible candidates but the best answer to Chelsea’s problems might well be Marcello Lippi, who has been out of work since Italy’s World Cup triumph two years ago.

Lippi, incidentally one of the few coaches to enjoy success in a second spell when he returned to Juventus, has been waiting for a perfect opening.

He said he would have talked to Barca if they hadn’t appointed Pep Guardiola. He has also said he wouldn’t fancy learning English. Yet England coach Fabio Capello’s first English interview at the weekend was impressive.

Lippi’s language barrier would be easier to overcome than all of Mourinho’s baggage.

Mark Meadows, Milan

 PHOTO: Jose Mourinho while manager of Chelsea at last year’s FA Cup final, Sep 20, 2007 REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Zlatan Ibrahimovic had been out injured for a month and a half, about the time Inter Milan had managed to flitter away an 11-point lead in Serie A.

On Sunday the Swede climbed off the bench to bag both goals in a 2-0 win at Parma which relegated the hosts and gave Inter their 16th scudetto and third in a row on the last day of the season.

A few months ago we asked why Ibrahimovic did not have the kudos of some of Europe’s other top strikers. With Euro 2008 to come, maybe the Swede is beginning to change opinions.

Inter coach Roberto Mancini did not talk to reporters after Inter’s triumph, sparking fresh speculation he would not be continuing at the San Siro. Is Zlatan Jose Mourinho’s sort of player?

Mark Meadows, Milan