With the London side's European dream in tatters, Vialli said that the club still had plenty to play for.

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Italian pair Alessandro Costacurta and Gianluca Vialli have already been linked with the post, as has former Leicester manager Martin Allen.

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In his book The Italian Job, Gianluca Vialli studied manager turnover in the top two divisions in England and Italy between 2000 and 2004.

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He managed QPR and Fulham in the mid-1990s before two spells as Chelsea's assistant coach, helping Gianluca Vialli in 1999 and 2000 before rejoining in September 2008.

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Among the well-known names from the world of sport who will be involved are footballers Sir Bobby Charlton, Alan Hansen, Johann Cruyff, Marco Van Baasten, Gianluca Vialli, Kenny Dalglish and Gary Lineker.

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The managerial merry-go-round spun ever faster in British football in 1998, beginning in February with the shock announcement that Ruud Gullit had left Chelsea and Gianluca Vialli would become the new player-manager.

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Vialli has no major injury worries for the game, although full-back Albert Ferrer did leave training early on Monday night with what appeared to be a lower back problem, while George Weah is ineligible.

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Dan Petrescu looks to have recovered from a foot problem which means Vialli has two major decisions - whether to play a three-man central midfield with Gus Poyet in a free role or a normal 4-4-2 formation and also whether to field Jon Harley or Celestine Babayaro at left-back.

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