Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba
Chelsea's Drogba and Lampard gesture after English Premier League soccer match Reuters

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is on a mission to rid the Blues' camp of staff and players who have failed to deliver this season.

The club, in a Telegraph report, is being described as a "hungry new team" after the sacking of Portuguese manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Several high-profile players, including Frank lampard, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda are in danger of being shown the door, following poor personal and collective performances. Apparently even skipper and club legend John Terry is not immune.

The club's owner was reportedly furious over AVB's managerial failures and told the club's players at a meeting following the sacking that he was very disappointed in all of them... and they were now playing for their future in the team.

However, Roberto Di Matteo (the interim manager) later confirmed that both his and the players' futures were safe, till the end of the season.

"It has been a very difficult 24 hours for a lot of people at the football club. Our duty is to look forward and to try to get the results that we need in the league, the Champions League and in the FA Cup," said Di Matteo, on Monday night, to Chelsea TV.

Although Abramovich has not confirmed the players he intends to weed out, it is speculated that Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel, Jose Bosingwa and Paulo Ferreira, whose contracts expire this season, are most likely to lose out.

It is also being speculated that Chelsea will now target Edinson Cavani (a striker at Napoli), Lucas Moura (a midfielder with Sao Paulo), Luka Modric and Joao Moutinho (a midfielder at Porto).

Meanwhile, the League Managers' Association's (LMA) chief executive, Richard Bevan, after the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas, tagged Chelsea an "embarrassment".

"What's for sure is the club, despite unlimited wealth, haven't yet worked out how to build a successful football club," the Telegraph quoted Bevan as saying. He also pointed out that having eight different managers in a span of nine years was embarrassing for the owner, the club, the fans and the league.

Chelsea's next round of fixtures include the FA Cup (Round Five replay) against Birmingham City, a league match against Stoke City and a Champions League Round of 16 tie against Napoli on 6 March, 10 March and 14 March respectively.