Chelsea unashamedly view themselves as a big club, one of the biggest in the world, and in “Big Phil” - Luiz Felipe Scolari - they would appear to have got the right man. In contrast, Avram Grant, his affable predecessor, was little more than a shrinking violet.

Grant always appeared uncomfortable in the spotlight, squirming if the interrogation of the media became too intense, yet Scolari will give as good as he gets. It should be entertaining, too. He has a combustible streak that frequently explodes.

His fierce temper - he also has a charming side - was illustrated in September last year at the end of Portugal’s European Championship qualifying match against Serbia, a 1-1 draw. When Ivica Dragutinovic, the Serbia defender, slapped Scolari on the hand, the Brazilian-born coach grazed him in the face with a left hook.

Uefa, the sport’s European governing body, fined Scolari SwFr20,000 (about £10,000) and banned him for four matches. After he had apologised, the suspension was halved. He was also fined €35,000 (about £28,000) by the Portuguese football federation.

Chelsea will not mind the occasional outburst. After all, José Mourinho, from whom Grant took over last season, was not noted for the coolest of demeanours. And if not bringing the suave sophistication of Mourinho back to Stamford Bridge, Scolari, even with his limited English, should bring harmony back to the ego-laden multinational squad.

Scolari, 59, who holds Italian citizenship through his grandfather, should also bring a touch of flair and fantasy to the side, qualities that Roman Abramovich, the billionaire Chelsea owner, craves for. The functional traits of Mourinho and, to a lesser extent, Grant, should be a thing of the past.

Although Scolari has won nothing with the Portugal national side – yet – he is seen as a fatherly figure who engenders team spirit with an arm on the shoulder or, if necessary, a firm rebuke. And he seems to know when it is the right moment; his timing is everything.

Scolari is not afraid to veer from the straight and narrow, either, by experimenting with more “wacky” ideology if he thinks it will inspire his players. At the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and Korea, he gave each member of his squad a copy of The Art Of War, a treatise on military strategy by Sun Tzu, the 6th-century BC Chinese philosopher. Buying into his philosophy, the squad became known as the “Scolari Family”.

Born in the south of Brazil in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Scolari quickly became regarded as a straight-talking, nononsense character full of truculent opinions that he was never scared to air. He was a vigorous, if mediocre, central defender during his playing days, yet always appeared well-suited for the peculiar demands of coaching.

In that field, he made his name with Grêmio, a side who bore all the hallmarks of a typical British team. They were tough, aggressive, strangled the life out of opponents and arrowed in a series of crosses to a big centre forward.

It was not pretty but effective. Pragmatism rules, OK? Scolari won the Copa Libertadores, the South American Champions League, with Grêmio and Palmeiras. Sure, he managed to ruffle a few feathers along the way, but the Brazilian FA was impressed.

Again, though, when Scolari took charge of the Brazil national team in 2001, he declared that he would do it his way or not at all. He strode in with self-assurance and no little courage, determined that although Brazil had a reputation for playing the “beautiful game”, he would do anything to achieve success.

Having revived Brazil’s faltering qualification campaign for the 2002 World Cup finals, he set about winning the trophy. He might have upset many along the way, by switching from his favoured 4-4-2 system to a formation with three centre backs, but it worked. There was no room for the traditional No 9 of his formative years and, ignoring the anger of the close-knit Brazilian coaching fraternity, he went with the attacking trio of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.

A year later, he began his stint with Portugal, again adapting his psychology – and coaching style – to suit his new environment.

At Chelsea, Scolari should be wary. Was it not the intrusion of the media outside his home in Portugal in April 2006 that turned him off the idea of succeeding Sven-Göran Eriksson as the head coach of England? In London, the paparazzi will be camped outside his new home every day.

Scolari should also clarify his brief with Abramovich and insist on having a free rein in player recruitment and team management. “He should do well . . . as long as he is allowed to manage,” Graham Rix, the former Chelsea assistant manager, said.

Another warning came last night on the worldwide web in the form of the entry in Wikipedia within minutes of the announcement of Scolari’s appointment. In the “teams managed” section, it read: “2008 – Abramovich’s Lapdog”.