Ex-Chelsea players are united in their praise for the appointment of Luiz Felipe Scolari as new manager.

"He's got a fantastic CV and he's doing a brilliant job at the moment for Portugal," said Scott Minto, the former Chelsea left-back. "I think he will be popular. I think the only thing is - and I'm not sure how good his grasp of English is - that he will have to learn the language pretty quickly. But Fabio Capello has done that and I think once Scolari does that he can communicate his thoughts to the Chelsea fans and they will listen to him and love him. He'll be as controversial as [Jose] Mourinho."

Minto was not the only person to draw comparisons with Mourinho. Colin Lee, who enjoyed seven years as a player with Chelsea in the 1980s and remains in close contact with several of the backroom staff at Stamford Bridge, including Steve Clarke, predicted that Scolari would be keen to spend as much time as possible on the training ground, much like the "Special One".

"I would think he will be hands on like Mourinho was," said Lee. "And I think the players will respond to that.

"Sometimes it's very difficult to judge a person unless you work with them, but the impression you get from the new manager is that he's a very passionate person who wants his players to show that same passion. I like that type of thing. He's got masses of experience and you would imagine that he's got a tremendous knowledge of players worldwide so that can only be good for Chelsea. For the club to progress further, I think it's a wise appointment."

Former Blues midfielder Nigel Spackman also gushed: "It's about time they got someone but I think it has been worth the wait.

"I am sure there have been other managers Chelsea have tried to tempt but in the end I think he's the right man at the right time to take Chelsea forward. The pressure will be on Scolari to do well but he's had that pressure before and he's stood up to it. I think it's a great signing. You only have to look back a couple of years and England wanted him."