What were your overall impressions of Scolari?

I thought he came across very well, he was genial and charming and he seemed like a guy that was comfortable with being in front of the spotlight at a big club.

He mentioned that he had managed under big pressure in Brazil in 2001. When he took over and they were struggling to qualify for the World Cup that was a huge situation.

The attention and the pressure he would have been under at that time was immense. And once you have coped with that, even the attention you will receive as Chelsea manager won't compare. I thought he looked very much like a guy that could handle himself and handle the situation.

Do you think he has got the personality to cope with the scale of the job?

He is a big character. Felipao, which was his nickname in Brazil, refers as much to a man's character and his status as anything thing to do with his size. Felipao, 'Big Phil', it's about being a big guy, a big personality and a big player. And that's what Chelsea have got.

They have got a guy who looks as if he should be where he is. He should be in that chair, he should be in that position. It is a huge club in terms of its ambitions. And he looks exactly like the sort of guy that should be in charge of it. In the same way that Mourinho walked in the door and clearly felt at home.

Some people seem to shrink when they come to a big club and are put in the spotlight and other people grow. I think Sir Alex Ferguson always said about Manchester United shirts that some people put it on and became six inches shorter, and others put it on and grew six inches taller. Ferguson said that Cantona seemed to become a bigger man as soon as he put a Manchester United shirt on.

It's that sort of guy that Chelsea need and it's that sort of guy that they have got.

How did you think he handled the ongoing speculation surrounding Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba?

He was very careful to point out that he handled the football and the club handled the business, he was quite adamant about that and made that point several times.

From his point of view, a football point of view, he wants to keep Lampard and he wants to keep Drogba. They are both outstanding players and one can see why he feels that way.

But in the next breath he points out that it's a business decision, and he doesn't do the business. So although him revealing that Lampard has said he wants to stay at Chelsea is a step in the right direction in terms of resolving this contractual issue, by the same token, Scolari is not the guy with his hand on the money box.

The bottom line with Lampard is that we are no further forward, because all you have got is the manager saying we don't want to sell him. Well, no manager in their right mind would want to sell Frank Lampard.

What will Scolari have to do to keep his job next season?

He has to win trophies. Mourinho always said that Arsene Wenger was in a different position to everybody else, in that he didn't need to win trophies, but I'm not even sure that Arsene doesn't need to win a trophy sooner or later. But certainly the manager of Chelsea needs to win trophies, that's the expectation. So Scolari needs to be able to do that.

Finally, were you surprised by how well he came across in English?

No, because we had been told that he spoke English well. We heard that with Fabio Capello as well, but when he turned up his English wasn't as good as everyone thought it was. Scolari has had a number of weeks to prepare, his English was of a reasonable standard anyway, he has got a translator with him who he can refer to if he is unsure of anything.

I thought his English was excellent really. Certainly in terms of communicating with the players it was without a doubt adequate enough to get his point across on the football field. Nuiances of certain questions won't be clear to him for a little while yet and it's obviously going to improve. But I thought it was excellent and it was certainly good enough to get him through as a coach and get his message across.