Yesterday Chelsea sacked Avram Grant. Not a great surprise, it must be said. But this morning the League Managers Association chief Richard Bevan told Radio Five Live that Avram Grant was under “heavy communication” from owner Roman Abramovich when it came to on-field matters.

He went onto to suggest that Avram Grant was a close friend of Roman Abramovich & was apparently aware of the situation when he took over as Chelsea manager.

Bevan stated in an interesting interview, that Abramovich wanted 30% involvement with the football side of business at Chelsea.

I don’t think this started with Avram Grant but was clearly the reason why Jose Mourinho’s position as Chelsea manager became untenible.

Chelsea were runners up in the Champions League, Premier League and League Cup this year. But as the late great Billy Bremner once said, ‘you get nowt for coming second!’ And because of Chelsea’s short termism, Avram Grant now finds himself surplus to requirements. But let’s not feel too sorry for Avram Grant. After all, he knew what to expect as he had been brought in from Portsmouth by Abramovich and would have been privvy to what was going on behind closed doors at Stamfoed Bridge, before he took the job.

But now, it is not simply gossip or rumour, Abramovich does interfere with team selection, and does have a say in which players to buy. It was clear to see at the press conferences unveiling big stars like Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack that Jose Mourinho was not happy with players being brought in to his squad.

Avram Grant’s main problem was not the fact that he came second in the Premiership, Champions League and League Cup, but that he was always simply a puppet. And now the puppet has turned into a patsy. I wonder if Chelsea had won the Champions League & Premiership this year if Peter Kenyon & Roman Abramovich would have taken the credit. As it was, Peter Kenyon led Chelsea up to get their losers medals in Moscow; and even more annoying, had a medal placed around his neck! What was all that about?

So where next for Chelsea? Will they honestly be able to attract a top class manager - the likes of Sven Goran Ericksson, Guus Hoodink, Frank Rijkaard or Mark Hughes (the names already in the media hat) - and expect to be able to intefere in team selections?

I believe Ericksson would allow anything as long as he was paid enough, but I really can’t see Mark Hughes or Frank Rijkaad, young managers who have a long career ahead of them, taking the risk of being blamed for poor judgement, if it all goes wrong, as I’m sure it will if Abramovich continues to stick his nose into things he doesn’t understand, rather like a schoolboy saying ‘it’s my ball!’

So remember, you heard it hear first. If anyone fits the bill to be the next Chelsea manager under the present interfering regime, it’s Sven Goran Ericksson.