Chelsea have come under fire from both the League Managers' Association chief executive, Richard Bevan, and their former manager Luiz Felipe Scolari following the decision to sack André Villas-Boas after only 256 days in charge.

Roman Abramovich was today searching for his eighth manager since taking control at Stamford Bridge in 2003, and while Bevan claimed the club is becoming an "embarrassment" to the Premier League, Scolari warned it would be "hell" for whoever Abramovich appointed next.

Scolari, who like Villas-Boas was dismissed by Chelsea following reports of a dressing-room revolt, said: "England has clubs like Arsenal, where Arsène Wenger has been for several years, yet has won only two or three championships. Chelsea's culture is very different, but this move is strange – although it's not so strange tome because of what I went through there.

"Some things are known, like the relations with the owner, who has the relationship with some players before the coach. Villas-Boas was a champion and he will continue to be. He needed to replace at least seven or eight players, even since I was there, but he failed. It will be hell for whoever succeeds him."

Meanwhile Bevan told Radio 5 Live: "What's for sure is the club, despite unlimited wealth, haven't yet worked out how to build a successful football club. Looking for what is an eighth manager in nine years is a serious embarrassment to the owner, the club, the fans and the league."

The assistant first-team coach, Roberto Di Matteo, has been put in charge on an interim basis until