Jose Mourinho.
That's the problem with success and money. Abramovich is wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, so money is never going to be an issue, even if the credit crunch has taken a sizeable chunk out of his fortune.
But with Mourinho around to spend that money at Chelsea, the success came all too easily as well. Two league titles in two years, the League Cup, an FA Cup, two Champions League semi-finals.
It came so easily that Abramovich began to believe that anybody could lead Chelsea to success so, with his relationship with the self-styled Special One as cold as a Siberian winter, he ditched the man with the special formula.
Avram Grant came in and failed to inspire his players to glory, even though he went pretty close in the Premier League and in Europe.
So out he went and in arrived Scolari, the tough guy who led Brazil to the World Cup and turned Portugal into one of the powerhouses in the world game.
Scolari, so the theory went, would prove that Mourinho was not so special after all by restoring Chelsea to the position of power they held under the controversial Portuguese coach.
Funny how the best laid plans tend to go wrong isn't it? With the Premier League season beyond its halfway stage, Chelsea are falling away in the title race just when they would usually hit the accelerator.
Scolari's players resemble a group of strangers wondering what to do next and rumors of discontent in the dressing-room underpin the perception that all is not well at Stamford Bridge.
There is no doubt that many of the players, Frank Lampard, John Terry and overseas stars such as Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba, were besotted by Mourinho. Grant wasn't up to standard in their eyes and Scolari is beginning to look like he is being stuck into the same box.
As for Abramovich, he no longer seems prepared to throw the cash around and the balance of transfers since last summer -- £8m spent, £26m raised by sales -- suggests that the days of big-spending are long gone. There are even rumors that the £12m banked by selling Wayne Bridge to Manchester City will not be given to Scolari for new players.
For a while, Chelsea appeared unstoppable. Even Manchester United couldn't compete when the Stamford Bridge billions entered the transfer bidding war.
But under Sir Alex Ferguson, United somehow turned the tide and they are now back as the top dogs, not only in England, but in Europe and the world!
And when Chelsea visit Old Trafford on Sunday, it is the Blues that go into the game one defeat away from a crisis. Lose that one and the knives will well and truly be out for Scolari.
The arrogance that Mourinho instilled into his team is a thing of the past and Scolari's outfit simply lacks the invincibility of his predecessor's.
Having been held at home by Southend United in the FA Cup at the weekend, Chelsea are hardly going to United in form and striker Salomon Kalou admits that they simply have to get back on track against the champions.
Kalou said: "The most important game is Manchester United.
"We are a little bit frustrated after what happened against Southend, but we have to do the job in the next game because the United match is crucial.
"If they win, they can go ahead of us, so it's very important to keep our mentality. If you allow them to get in front it is always difficult to catch them."
Whether Chelsea have it in them to win at Old Trafford remains to be seen. Ferguson labeled them an aging team before the start of the season and his words are now beginning to ring true.
Chelsea are running out of steam far too early and United are lying in wait to pick them off.
Three points for Ferguson's men and you can see no way back for Chelsea. And the fear for Scolari must be that his fate will be intertwined with that of his team.
In other words, if Chelsea end another season without silverware, it will be all change at Stamford Bridge -- on the pitch, in the dug-out and, who knows, maybe even at the very top.
