To be Frank, it's got to be Rijkaard

Dutch master: Frank Rijkaard can combine the elusive quality of winning games with the sexy football that Roman Abramovich craves

Scott Minto|Former Chelsea Defender

13 April 2012

Even if Chelsea had won the Champions League Final, I believe Avram Grant was going to be sacked. Despite the good results under the Israeli, owner Roman Abramovich had seen enough to believe that Grant could never take the Blues down the road to long-term success.

Now the Russian oligarch - who has made such a success in his business and political life - must choose his next football appointment very carefully.

Chelsea don't want to be a club that changes its leader on a yearly basis like European giants Real Madrid in the past. Champions League winners Manchester United, along with Arsenal, are the two most successful teams of the last decade in this country - and the reason for that is stability.

Many different voices at the Bridge, from chief executive Peter Kenyon to director of youth development Frank Arnesen, will offer their opinion on who the new boss should be. But there's only one man who will make the final decision. And after putting more than £500million into Stamford Bridge, Abramovich is entitled to take his time and pick who he likes. But my choice would be Frank Rijkaard.

The Dutchman preaches the kind of football philosophy that is closest to what Abramovich wants to see and, if he's anything like his fellow countryman Ruud Gullit, I can talk from experience that the players would love playing for him. My time under Ruud was one of my most enjoyable experiences in football. He made everything about the game a joy, and I am sure that Rijkaard would do the same.

It can be no coincidence that three Dutch players that formed the axis of the great AC Milan side of the late 1980s, Gullit, Rijkaard and current Holland boss Marco Van Basten, have all gone on to create sides that have played open, expansive football. Barcelona were the best club side on the planet when they beat Arsenal in the Champions League Final in 2006. Rijkaard combined that elusive quality of winning games with the 'sexy' football that Abramovich has been searching for since he fell in love with the game at Old Trafford in 2003 when watching United win a seven-goal thriller with Real Madrid only to go out of the Champions League on aggregate.

But he was recently sacked as Barcelona boss after a poor season in La Liga. And criticism of a lack of discipline, especially with Ronaldinho, won't help his cause.

However, I don't believe he would have that problem at Chelsea. The Brazilian superstar only appeared to start going off the rails when Henk ten Cate left the Nou Camp to take over as Grant's No2.

Ten Cate faces a decisive meeting with Kenyon tomorrow. If he stays at the club, that might be a pointer to who is coming next as he formed a successful partnership with Rijkaard in Spain.

Rijkaard has cut short his summer holiday in anticipation of a call coming from Chelsea, but Abramovich knows he has other options.

Guus Hiddink was my choice for the England job before Steve McClaren was appointed. He's been successful coaching national teams, taking Holland and South Korea to World Cup semi-finals as well as helping Australia qualify for the finals for the first time in 32 years.

At club level, he's won the European Cup in 1988 with PSV Eindhoven and is a great tactician who is already friends with Abramovich. However, if he is to be the next boss, no decision will be made until Russia are out of Euro 2008.

Then there is Luis Felipe Scolari. The fiery Brazilian is a World Cup winner and could well take Portugal to Euro success this summer. Team spirit is important to him and he is a great motivator, but his lack of the English language is a major negative.

Roberto Mancini is also a high calibre candidate. He has led Inter to three successive Serie A titles and is as cool as a manager as he was as a player. Despite his agent's denials, I'm sure he would love to manage Chelsea, especially if Jose Mourinho takes his job this week. Blackburn boss Mark Hughes is another possible. I was lucky enough to play with him - and what a player! He could trap a 50-yard ball with three defenders hanging off him.

He's learned from Sir Alex Ferguson how always to back his players in public, even if the evidence shows otherwise.

Hughes already has an affinity with the Chelsea fans after supporting and playing for them, and his backroom staff of Eddie Niedzwiecki and Kevin Hitchcock also have strong links with the club. They would all prove a popular choice amongst the fans.

Mourinho's name has also been mentioned, but that's a ship that has sailed never to return.

Grant was always going to find it hard to follow the 'Special One'. The next man in the hot-seat needs to capture the fans imagination - and Rijkaard can do just that.

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