Frank Lampard and John Terry were upset over Chelsea's sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari last night.

The Times says despite having reservations, Terry and Lampard felt that Scolari was capable of turning things around and should have been given more time, but, unfortunately for the Brazilian, such a view was not universally held by their team-mates.

It has not quite descended into a state of civil war, but even from the outside the tensions are obvious. In essence Chelsea's players are divided in two, between those who play for the club and the fans, such as Terry and Lampard, and those who have developed the bad habit of playing for themselves.

In this context it is understood that several of the club's foreign players have been to see senior boardroom figures in the past few weeks to complain about Scolari's methods and are not displeased by his departure. While there is no suggestion that Abramovich bowed to this latest outbreak of player power, with the fear of failing to qualify for the Champions League the decisive factor behind his decision, such scheming does illustrate some of the problems that will face Scolari's successor.