LONDON, Feb 10: Chelsea sacked manager Luiz Felipe Scolari on Monday after seven months in charge, saying that results and performances “appeared to be deteriorating at a key time in the season.”

A poor run of form culminating in Saturday’s 0-0 home draw with Hull City has left Chelsea in fourth place, seven points behind leaders Manchester United having played a game more.

Brazilian Scolari, who led his country to victory in the 2002 World Cup and Portugal to the Euro 2004 final, took over at the start of the season after Avram Grant was sacked.

A statement on the club’s website said: “Unfortunately the results and performances of the team appeared to be deteriorating at a key time in the season.

“In order to maintain a challenge for the trophies we are still competing for we felt the only option was to make the change now. The search for a new manager has already started and we hope to have someone in place as soon as possible.”

Assistant coach Ray Wilkins will take charge on a temporary basis.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to have worked at Chelsea and in English football,” Scolari said. “It was a very valuable experience. I’m sorry that it has not been a longer-lasting relationship.”

Chelsea are through to the knockout stages of the Champions League and still in the FA Cup but he has paid the price for months of flat performances and disappointing results.

On Tuesday, Russian coach Guus Hiddink in an interview said he is in talks with Chelsea to take over as manager until the end of the season while continuing as Russia coach.

Hiddink said he was approached by the Premier League club to coach the team after Scolari was sacked on Monday.

“I have to admit it’s a complicated situation involving the Russian national team and Chelsea,” the Dutchman said in an exclusive interview.

Hiddink said he had a special relationship with Chelsea’s billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

“I must say that this is an exceptional situation. If it was any other club aside from Chelsea my answer would be a straight ‘No’,” he said.

“But Chelsea is different because I have good relations with the [club] owner. So I would like to help them [Chelsea] in this situation if I could.”

Asked if this would involve working as a consultant for Chelsea’s coaching staff, Hiddink said: “No, this would be a full managerial role, a day-to-day job. But this would only be for the next two or three months until the end of the season,” he added.

“Of course when Russia would play [World Cup qualifiers] I would go there to coach them during that [international window] as there won’t be any [league] games during that time.

Hiddink also said he was fully committed to helping Russia to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals.

Asked if he knew about Scolari’s fate, he said: “Well, you have your contacts and I have mine. I did get a phone call from them [Chelsea management] and we discussed the situation but we haven’t come to a final decision just yet. But the situation can change any day or even any hour.”

Scolari started brightly with six wins and two draws from his first eight league games.

But Liverpool won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in October to end Chelsea’s 86-match unbeaten home league run and their form dipped alarmingly with another home loss to Arsenal and a series of uninspiring draws.

Scolari was known as an emotional man during his days as an international coach but, struggling to master English, he was unusually calm on the touchline as Chelsea laboured.

He was unable to get the best out of striker Didier Drogba when he returned from injury and his glittering midfield rarely gelled into a smooth unit.

Scolari’s substitutions were also questioned by fans, who taunted him on Saturday with cries of “you don’t know what you are doing”.

The London club, who won back-to-back titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and 2006,

slipped further back in the

standings when they lost 3-0 to United and 2-0 to Liverpool recently.—Reuters