With Roman Abramovich now recruiting for his seventh manager in eight seasons was it right to show Carlo Ancelotti the door after only two years at Chelsea?
It was back in April that I suspect Carlo Ancelotti’s time at Chelsea had finally run out. Beaten convincingly, for the second time in as many weeks by Manchester United and once more denied Roman Abramovich’s Holy Grail, in the Champions League crown, the season looked to be dead. They were tossed a brief sniff of hope by Arsenal when United, defeated at The Emirates, lost points and allowed the blues back into the title race only to yet again be outplayed at Old Trafford in May and all but concede the title to Sir Alex Ferguson’s team, eventually finishing nine points behind the newly crowned champions on level points with Manchester City.
The Russian billionaire couldn’t wait much longer after Chelsea’s defeat at Everton on the final day of the season, sending Ron Gourlay, chief executive at the club, to do his dirty work while the soon to be ex-manager was still inside the walls of Goodison Park.
Ancelotti comes across as a man of class and dignity. He has made friends in the premiership in his time here and has earned the respect given to him by many. He was even seen in a London pub, soon after returning from Liverpool on Sunday, with John Terry, Frank Lampard and other members of the squad and staff, bidding farewell before he returned home.
In terms of Honours too the history speaks for itself. Ancelotti was only the second non-British manager to win both the Premier League and F.A. Cup in the same season, the first being Arsene Wenger, although Carlo did it in his first season here. His second season saw his Chelsea finish second in the league and knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by Manchester United, who may just win the trophy on Saturday. All in all it’s not been a bad couple of years for the Italian.
Cracks began to appear when he refused to stand up to Abramovich last summer, when five of Chelsea’s senior squad players were released in favour of bringing through youngsters from the youth set up. The departure of Ray Wilkins too, a great coach and a liked figure at Chelsea, was a huge blow to the team and yet barely anything was said. However, other than coming second to a team that has generally played a lot better than them this season, it is hard to highlight anything that Ancelotti has got drastically wrong while in charge at Chelsea.
In coldly sacking the Italian, Abramovich has this week exposed just how impatient and illogical he actually is. The more regularly the managerial farce occurs at Chelsea, the less likely the big names of the managing elite are going to want to take the chance on a season or two under the Russian.
Andre Villas-Boas, the ex assistant of Jose Mourinho, and newly crowned Portuguese and Europa League Champion with current club Porto is touted as a possible successor, but other than the obvious financial advantages there seems no reason for him to return to Stamford Bridge when he can lead Porto in the Champions League and defend their national title next season.
Guus Hiddink looks more likely to replace Ancelotti, having worked at Chelsea before in 2009, however the Dutchman is tied down to an international contract with Turkey for the time being. Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard have also been mentioned as possible candidates.
Whoever eventually does take up the reigns at Chelsea next season it seems the task that awaits them is a reasonably difficult one. Rebuild an ageing team with exciting young players, bring back the attractive attacking football that the fans want to see played every week and most of all win the Champions League. If these three goals are not achieved then I can’t see the next manager at Stamford Bridge lasting longer than two seasons.
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.
To have a peak at the top SEVEN available FREE TRANSFERS this summer, click here.
What’s the worst that could happen? Massive payoff and a job elsewhere.
Of course, the article is a nonsense. Ranieri was not an Abramovich appointment. So let’s make that SIX, not seven managers. Then, Hiddink was always a temporary appointment, for a few months only. So let’s make that five permanent appointments, not six. Then, Grant was a stop-gap, taking the reins after Mourinho’s departure, for the remainder of the season only. So the numbers are decreasing by the moment.
However, let’s not forget that even in their months in charge, Hiddink won an FA Cup and Grant reached a Champions League Final (which Mourinho couldn’t manage). So even Abramovich’s temporary appointments have been successful.
As for Mourinho, would anyone say Abramovich made a bad appointment? Can anyone say Ancelotti was a bad appointment, winning the double? So the one and only bad appointment was the useless Scolari – and a correction was made speedily. Not a bad track record of manager appointments.
Instead of attempting to ridicule Abramovich, the article writer should congratulate him on knowing when to bring in and when to remove a manager. Chelsea would have gone backwards with Ancelotti next season. Abramovich recognised this and acted. If Arsenal had been so perceptive, they would not have gone six seasons without a trophy.
And let’s not forget the handsome rewards Chelsea managers have received when leaving – many millions and their reputations in high standing.
If Abramovich had listened to the fools who said he was harsh in removing Grant after a CL Final, the Israeli coach would not have immediately gone on to relegate Portsmouth and West Ham. Yes, history would have been very different.
Yes who could possibly want to earn £5 million managing one of the worlds top teams and then get paid off £3 million in your hand when the owner sacks you. You’d have to be stark raving mad to do that….oh hang on