Drogba´s future at Chelsea in doubt

Didier Drogba’s future at Chelsea has been thrown into doubt after the Ivory Coast striker was again excluded from Luiz Felipe Scolari’s squad for the dramatic 2-1 win over Stoke.

Drogba had been dropped for the midweek FA Cup victory over Southend in the wake of a lacklustre display in last weekend’s heavy defeat against Manchester United.

And the decision of Scolari to include teenagers Franco Di Santo and Miroslav Stoch on the substitutes bench ahead of Drogba underlined how far the former Marseille star has fallen out of favour.

The gamble looked set to backfire on Scolari when his side trailed struggling Stoke to Rory Delap’s 60th minute opening goal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

But Juliano Belletti and Frank Lampard scored in the final four minutes to complete a remarkable win that bought Scolari some much-needed breathing space.

And the Brazilian coach defended his stance after seeing Stoch and Di Santo appear as late substitutes as Chelsea staged their late rally.

“I didn’t have Drogba on the bench, I had Stoch and Di Santo and they gave me what I wanted,” Scolari said. “I didn’t have Drogba on the bench because it was my choice.

“Nothing has happened between me and Drogba. He is training every day. It is only my choice. Next week I will decide whether to play him or stay with the same 18 players. It is my choice.

“I don’t have anything against Drogba, I don’t have anything against any player in the club. I choose my players. I am the coach and my choice is final. And my choice was to use Di Santo and Stoch.”

Scolari refused to be drawn on whether Drogba would leave this month, insisting that decision was in the hands of the club’s chief executive Peter Kenyon.

But the manager repeated his claim that a number of his squad have been targets for other clubs and invited Chelsea’s rivals to firm up any interest with attractive bids.

He added: “It’s not my business to buy or sell, that’s the business of Peter Kenyon. Three months ago many coaches in the world sent a message to my players saying call, I want you, I love you. Now is the time. Come and pay the money to Chelsea.

“But if you ask John Terry if he wants to go ‘no, because I love Chelsea’. If you love Chelsea stay here and see the job through. If not, go.

“This is my idea now. Now is the time for other clubs. A loan? No. Zero money? No. The money can be right for anybody.”

Scolari had lost skipper Terry in the warm-up to a back problem that the manager said should be cleared up inside a week.

And he had been hit by the news that England midfielder Joe Cole has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee ligament injury.

But he could at least draw comfort from Lampard’s performance and claimed the midfielder would get his vote as the world’s best player.

Scolari said: “If one day after two or three years I go back to take charge of a national team and I have the chance to vote for a player, my player is Lampard because he is not just a player, he is a man who likes his job, likes to play every day.

“That’s what you need from a player. Before I had some impression about his qualities. Now I don’t have an impression, I know.”