Ancelotti suffers harsh fate

I feel a bit sorry him, despite loathing all that is Blue in London. I like the point about his different style to Mourinho - I certainly felt no animosity to him at any point in his career, and now that he has left Chelsea, I can openly like him.

Do you think any manager would be immune from Abramovich's 'All or Nothing' approach?

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

At least Abramovich waited until the season was over. He could easily have sacked him straight after the Manchester United game.

I wonder what he will do when Chelsea do manage to win the Champions League. Sell up maybe?

Carlo has been very harshly treated we at Arsenal have gone six years with no silverware but still retain Arsene Wenger.... rightly or wrongly.
I wish Carlo Ancelotti well and sincerely hope the russian never gets his hands on the champions league trophy.
With all his millions if only he had a bit of patience and backed his managers, I am sure Chelski would of one more silverware maybe even that elusive European Champions Cup.

Chelsea have become an utter mess. The owner's policy on manager's has always been questionable, but once the spending became sporadic and unstructured it was always going to lead to an aging, thin squad. 71 points is a poor return, but the management should have seen it coming. I'm not talking about Ancelotti, but the people who hire and fire. What was Frank Arnesen doing? Chelsea could about to become a classic example of when a rich club that has bought success stops spending its money, goes back to what it was. The residual affect that the success this squad has had may not last very long.

An important decision is now on the cards for Chelsea. If they feel they can get a better manager then so be it. But they must also realise that a substantial investment in playing staff is required, as well as the responsibility that must be taken by the current group of players. There's no doubt that he has been undermined by them at certain points, with a lack of confidence stemming from entrenched beliefs about themselves and their manager.

Chelsea aren't in a bad position right now, but 12 months on they may have been overtaken by a number of sides.

Oh and a word on Torres. 1 goal in 18? Big problem for Chelsea.

A great day for ManU, Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Spurs...and Roma.

Chelsea have fired a world-class manager and there's no guarantee they will find another one.

After all the drama for survival why is the blog this week about ancelotti? Wouldnt' it be more interesting to discuss the future of the clubs down the bottom-those that survived and those that have to rebuild in the championship- rather than the future of yet another top flight manager shown the exit?

Sure, he was a good manager. Like lots of other fans I(Man U fan) liked him as well. And sure it hurts to see a good manager go. But lets face it, HE WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. But that does not mean he was not good!

glad to see him gone..
won the double with barely any controversy or injury, but had no back-up plan this season if the players weren't doing it, or got injured, and that's what served him. had no answer when there were injuries, someone of Mourinho's of Ferguson's stature would have won the title with arguably the most talented squad in the league

Ancelotti was a good guy and always honest.
this sacking is up there with PR gaffs of the season and i'm an arsenal season ticket holder alas i have been on the receiving end of a few recently.

shame on you roman. shame on you

I agree that Ancelotti conducted himself with a great deal of dignity in his dealings with the press and i feel he has been the victim of some misfortune with regards to injuries to key players

However, a fruitless season was always going to end this way for him, and i suspect the moment he lost to United in the league he knew his time was coming to an end. In fact, it was the United games which essentially sealed his fate in my opinion.

Yes, they won the Stamford Bridge tie, but everyone seems to forget they were comprehensively outplayed in the first half of that game, only to come back and win with some favourable decisions (Luiz not getting sent off, generous penalty etc.). The other 3 games played were all heavily in Manchester United's favour. I dont think Roman would have enjoyed being dumped out of Europe by a team widely considered to be "in decline", especially after buying in a decent centre back, and the world class Torres to add firepower.

I always thought the Wilkins factor was quite a significant one - why unsettle the dressing room mid-season?! Why not wait until the end of the season to make those changes. I think Phil you said at the time that something like this shouldn't affect a team, but i disagree - Butch was a popular figure, and a bridge between the manager and the team; being bilingual in Italian probably helped Ancelotti get his points across.

I do wonder where next for Chelsea on the manager front - isn't this post becoming a bit of a poisoned chalice for managers to take?? I mean Ancelotti was supposed to be a friend of Roman, and his preferred choice of manager when he was appointed - this seems to have similar parallels to Guus Hiddink, who i suspect is the favourite for the role once again. But will he be dispensed of in a similar fashion if Chelsea do not get the results Roman wants?? Then where do they turn??

Abramovich and his ruthless quest for the Champions League has fallen short again. They've probably missed their chance, they are no longer the richest club and will probably never win the CL. Who will Chelsea get to replace Ancelotti? I'm sure Chelsea would be well down the list of dream jobs for any top manager.

I feel really sorry for Carlo he truly was a wonderful manager and a wonderful human being. I believe that the players are more to blame than the manager, 69 goals compared to 103 last season shows the difference in performances this season. He also had to deal with his assistant being given the boot. I dont think many managers could have coped with that upheaval.

Anyways i hope mourinho returns :)

this is an outrage. An undoubted insult and disrespect for a man who has delivered much more than trophies in his two seasons in charge. At Milan, he was trusted despite having the odd bad season and this trust was repaid handsomely with two champions league wins and three finals in 6 seasons. Today is a sad day for Chelsea. a very sad day indeed.

Ancelotti will find another job no problem his CV has been advanced by his spell at chelsea with the double last season. At AC milan he only won 4 or 5 major trophies but he was there 8 seasons so this won't be his first trophy less season

Although footballing wise it's a very poor decision but Abramovich has poured millions into the club and a return is expected. Saying that you would think a double in your first season would buy you a bit of lee-way.

Interesting to see who takes over Hiddink will probably be first choice but he won't leave Turkey until after euro 2012 qualifiers are over in November. Van Basten hasn't got much club managerial experience other than a stint at Ajax and he is also very combative and egotistical so if he takes over I wouldn't be surprised if he clashes with some of the personalities at Chelsea (players or owner)

A terrific coach, world-class pedigree, but unfortunately that isn't enough to save you from the axe.

I'm not sure where Chelsea go from here.... apart from a new breed of young European coaches (Deschamps, Villa - Boas etc.) there isn't many names that spring to mind regards the managers job. And as Deschamps and Villa - Boas both seem set to stay at their clubs for at least another season, think even for Abramovichs standards he may have moved too quickly here.

Will certainly miss him for the wry sense of humour he has, and just genuinely seems like a classy guy too, his reputation won't be tarnished barely at all from his time at Chelsea.

keep hearing van basten being linked with us with hiddink as director of football!whats that all about?van basten is an awful manager just ask ajax fans!and how long did roman want carlo for?he chased him for years then sacks him after 2 seasons,really thought carlo was going to build a new team in the next 5 years,we have no right to think we can win tropheys every year, there was 18 teams behind us in the league,aint that bad is it?about time some off the players took some off the blame as they were the same team that was winning 4,5,6 nils at start of season,

I think it's good for Carlo himself that he left. Chelsea don't deserve a manager of his calibre. I have no respect for a team who sacks their manager for not being able to adapt his team formation and tactics to a player who's arrived halfway through the season which the manager didn't want originally - perhaps Carlo should have known better recalling when Roman brought in Shevchenko and Ballack against Jose Mourinho's wishes in 2006. It appears to me Roman has always had his eyes on Guus Hiddink and surely no one else can manage Chelsea the way Roman wants.

Anyway, I'm sure Carlo will find a club who wants him - West Ham or Juventus..

I would prefer if Phil had done a blog on Carlo's awful tactics over the past season. It becomes very clear that John Terry and Ashley Cole want to play the same one two through ball after the first 6 times. Ashley Cole refuses to take a throw in before the cameraman has cut to look at someone famous in the crowd and returned to him. Our CF is constantly dropping off to recieve these throw ins. Our two center backs don't understand the idea of having one man take the player and the other act as a defensive sweeper, causing us to constantly have a changing 'last man' which is a nightmare against any form of pace, see Hernandez. Branislav Ivanovic gets himself booked far too quickly and then makes very silly tackles which could see him sent off, case in point Rooney when Man Utd. wrapped up the league, and his disgraceful behaviour towards the referee the week after where he refused to speak to the ref. Those are all defensive problems that a fan can see would be used to exploit chelsea, why couldn't ancelotti?

In midfield Ancelotti seems intent on making us play the way Milan did, with a deep lying playmaker, which has subsequentally attempted to ruin young Josh Mceachran's career. He played in the style of Jack Wilshire, in that he liked to get forward and be playing the incisive passes but now hes playing as a CDM, which is ne of the most physically challenging positions for a youngster to play. He has destroyed Michael Essien, and by this i mean his best game for Chelsea was in a CL game against Liverpool at Anfield where he shadowed Gerrard and made him look a very ordinary player, he is not the creative genius that we need, he is a workhorse. He is very talented but he doesn't have a great eye for a pass and his shooting is actually rather poor, looking at the number of shots that fly miles over. His tactics seems to take players who have fantastic ability or potential and take that away from them. The main qualm I have is that there isn't a player at Chelsea that has improved under Ancelotti. He gave Drogba more freedom to do what he does, and he gave Cole more freedom, but he didn't really improve them. I cannot think of a player that is a genuinely better player than before he arrived.

The strikers is a terrible conundrem. Daniel Sturridge goes on loan and scores more goals than three of our best strikers score put together. He did it in the CL and in the FA cup and yet cannot get a game. Even as a Chelsea fan you can't help but feel sorry for young players at our club. They are good enough%2

Delusional owner with no idea how to run a football club, accountable to no-one apart from himself. Good for Chelsea's rivals though!

#CHAMP19ONS!!!!!!

Live by the sword, die by the sword.
If you're a Chelsea fan you are probably pulling your hair out but can't complain that the man who has bankrolled your success is now trying to run the club like willy wonka and his chocolate factory.
As for Ancelotti he will just wander over to Italy with a nice fat payoff and his dream job.

It's a stab in the back, and he shouldn't lose any dignity with this. Can't see who chelsea can find who would be better. Also, the squad is dwindling in quality and match changers due to age and lack of replenishing the squad, as has already been highlighted. I was a fan of Torres, and more than anything I hope he gets his act together, but he looks completely gone. Next season, Chelsea and Arsenal should watch out (if arsenal don't sign anyone) with the re-rise of liverpool, city and totenham! The Champs league places are up for grabs!!

In one respect, I find it amazing that Abramovich hasn't learned his lesson from the last time he stuck his nose into the running of the team and lost Mourinho and then went 3 seasons without a league trophy. Also, just look up to the north east and ask Newcastle what happens when you chop and change managers every five minutes.

On the other hand, I am completely not surprised. He is a rich man with tunnel vision and who thinks he is always right plus has no one to answer to. This is the problem with billionaires coming in and buying these clubs who have no experience in football and/or an affinity for the team (eg an actual club supporter). They start playing fantasy football with their cash, mess their new toy up and then throw a tantrum when it goes wrong and blame someone who is ultimately not responsible.

If Chelsea continue down this road (and I believe they will, I don't see a new team [and it will have to be a NEW team] gelling straight away) then they are going to end up like Newcastle or worse. Abramovich's patience won't hold out forever and he can't compete with Man City financially, who at least seem to have some semblance of patience and understanding that it takes time to build a footballing empire, as much as it pains me to say that.

Guys, van Basten is absolutely not the manager you want. He is seriously useless and tactically very poor. He is stubborn and inexperienced. Failed horribly with Holland and Ajax.

Get him and you will have a very bad season ahead of you.

My condolences up front for next season.

So another head rolls from the merry-go round which is Roman Abramovich and Chelsea. A decent honest manager gone, but was it his fault? There is no denying that Chelsea did not perform to their capabilities, but I believe it was the sacking of Wilkins which cost Chelsea. Ancelotti did well to claw back a fifteen point deficit and set up a title-deciding clash with United, a game they ultimately lost. The future for Chelsea looks bleak, on the managerial front the name being touted is Van Basten. Surely too inexperienced, and with Abramivoch's patience I don't think he would make it to Christmas. With Terry, Lampard, Drogba all growing old and the latter set to leave there is a desperate need for a root and branch restructuring of the football club. Chelsea are linked with players like Kaka: surely past his peak and will be akin to signing Fernando Torres. They need a good bunch of British players who are tried and tested in the Premier League.

A modest and humble personality in addition to “measured dignity and calm approach”, will win you much support from the British media and sympathy from the fans, but these alone are not good enough from a business point of view.

Sometimes I think It is the sad reality, whether we like it not, success on the pitch is the only parameter used to measure how successful or unsuccessful a manager is and in effect determines whether he carry on with the club as a manager or not. But you look at Arsenal and you must think that might not be the case

Shame to see him go, but I am over the blue moon with City finishing above Arsenal. This has been one of the best seasons in terms of entertainment; the top four demolished, Chelsea and Arsenal winless, Liverpool off their birch (sadly), Wolves and Wigan stay up, and City won silverware what a season, bring on next season quick.

It's funny and cruel how quickly things change in football. As a Chelsea fan I am exasperated but used to this sort of knee-jerk reaction from the board and more specifically Abramovich. Roman has two faces: the fan and the businessman. Sometimes you will see him full of excitement watching Chelsea, just as an ardent fan would, but then you'll see him as a businessman who hires and fires with little sentiment.

The only manager who held his ground was Mourinho who managed a season of winning the FA Cup and League Cup in 2007, before being sacked a month into the start of the following season. Clearly Roman was not to give the same benefit of the doubt to Ancelotti, which I think is grossly unfair.

Last season the squad was very well balanced, despite the constant banging on about it becoming an ageing one. The lack of input from Abramovich in the summer proved to be costly because by the time we got Luiz and Torres the damage had been done in the league, plus any tinkering with the squad to accommodate the latter did no good whatsoever to the rhythm of the team. The sacking of Ray Wilkins was further proof of Roman's volatile nature and I just think it was totally unnecessary and egotistical.

As always the next manager will have his work cut out for him and I see no real obvious candidates right now. Hiddink is fantastic, but is not getting any younger and I don't have full confidence in van Basten being a top club manager. Frank Rijkaard is a decent shout as he has won many trophies, including the coveted Champions League and plays attacking football. The chances of getting a British manager are very slim.

I am sure other fans wanted us to keep carlo as he didn't have a kalou half the time it was so frustrating as a fan.

He won us the double and he always conducted himself with dignity and never got himself involved with mind games but he never had a plan b half way through the season i could of managed us . The team picked itself and after 60 minutes bring on kalou then after 70 minutes swap Paulo for bosi or vice versa depending on who started , then possibly bring on Josh.

When the chips were down he didnt have plan b

Look at his record with milan a team of

Dida
Maldini Nesta Stam Cafu
Gattuso Pirlo Seedorf Kaka
Sheva Crespo( cant think of another milan striker realise crespo was only there for 1 season)

Only won the league once and this year with a good squad he messed it up badly

Bring back Hiddink

Ruthless as the sacking may have been - it came at a right time. Ancelotti looked a disinterested, passive figure - and has long been saying that he didn't care if he got sacked.

I am not sure how Chelsea fans tollerated his constant rambling about returning to manage Roma. When Kalou mentioned his admiration for Wenger, he got slated. Seems the same criticism didn't apply to Ancelotti?

Yes he won the double, and also led the club to a worst finish in Abramovich. We've seen the good, the bad and the trully awful. Of all Chelsea managers under Abramovich, only Luiz Felipe Scolari managed a worse match win record, yes even Avraam Grant did better. In fact nearly 30% of 69 goals Chelsea scored this season came in first 5 games of the season. Astonishing.

For a manager who was brought in specifically to land the Champions League once and for all - Chelsea were humbled, almost embarassed in both campaigns first against Inter and then the bitter rivals Man Utd. When in the past Chelsea fans could claim injustice of Frisk or Ovrebo or the ghost goal. These past two seasons Chelsea were simply well and trully beaten by better teams.

Ancelotti has since blamed the lack of depth and experience for this season's downfall and a lot of journos picked up - that poor Carlo didn't have a bench full of seasoned internationals to pick from in first half of the season.

"The only sure thing will be that, next season, there will be five players from the academy in the [first-team] squad," said Ancelotti. "Some other players will move on. It's not because we don't have the money [to compete in the transfer market] but because we want to give strength to our academy. We have very good young players and this is the time to put them in the squad for next year. They are all able to be members of Chelsea's first-team set-up." (April 24th, 2010)

Ancelotti knew what was coming and he promised himself that they youth would be part of the team. Instead Borini, van Aanholt, Bruma, McEachran, Sturridge, Bertrand have been restricted to a total of just 3 Premier League starts between them.

Instead of embedding the youth from day one. Jack Wilshere for example started the opening game of the season against Liverpool. Ancelotti waited for an injury crisis to force his hand. And even then he elected to play Paulo Ferreira at centre back with Jeffrey Bruma fit and available on the bench as Chelsea were humbled 3-0 by Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. Stamford Bridge - fortress no more.

His lack of plan 'B', his poor tactical selections, shipping out all the youngsters on loan in January, playing the same 13 or 14 players and his general lack of passion or interest - have cost us dear this season.

People who claim him to be some sort of a genius or fantastic manager - your clubs are welcome to him. Thanks for the double, but Ancelotti was never the man to oversee a transition and build a new winning side capable of lifting trophies. Instead we were heading the same way as his AC Milan did, out of Champions League places with players well past their best and no replacements.

Ironic perhaps, since he has left, AC Milan have gone from Europa League to Serie A title holders.

Well, well, well...

In last 10 years we have seen many managers being fired after few season. Once the managers tried to rebuild their team in season by season but they happened not very often recently due time being tick by owners. We look at the comparison between 1960s to 1990s and between 1990s to present, the owners of clubs from foreign are vast increasingly over the years and therefore their main priority are profits and reputation. It takes Alex Ferguson 5 years to win first major titles for more than 15 years but only one trophy and onwards, they revives the greatest club of all times, first time since the era of 1968s. This shows, at that time, just not only Man Utd, the owners, mostly from local, were very commitment and loyal to their clubs and were calm approach.

However, of course, the growth of foreign intervention in England made the clubs more tights and pressures and this comes from Chelsea (Roman), Man City (Dubai family), Blackburn (Indian) and Liverpool (doubles Gs). Man Utd and Arsenal obviously have a foreign owners but Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have been in for very long times and the owners cannot put them asleep because this would proves very unpopular amongst fans and the reputation the managers have.

It was actually quite sad to see some decent manager such as O'Neil, Sam Allarcdy, Chirs Hughton and Mark Hughes (Man City time) to leaves ordered from their owners immediately rather than sit down and discussion in the end of season. The clubs seriously need to be careful with the process of the clubs rather than allows the foreign owners or possibly British owners come in because of their money that could spend huge amount of sums.

I, a truly Manchester Untied fan, really sad to see Carlo go and knowing never come back here again. His personality was fantastic, he was very cool and calm approach especially in interview. I wish him all the best of future!

PS: I am no xenophobia!

@30

Man Utd fan sad to see the manager who handed them the title and the safe passage to Champions League final... no surprises there. Ofc he is happy that unlike Jose he didn't stand up for Chelsea, didn't complain, didn't fight for the club.

Rival fans seem to be a lot more sad to see Ancelotti go.

@31

I really do not know why I feel sad about him but his personality and his respect approach to opponents have won over me. He, i agree with you, different to Murinho who always grab the mini television and showed to the referee - hilarious I quite admit.

If Roman had kept Mourinho, he'd almost certainly have that Champions League trophy he craves by now.

Lets not forget Abramovich has given Chelsea the most successful period in their history.

Ancelotti seems a decent bloke to me, but did appear to have had enough, perhaps he knew he was going.

But he doesn't need our sympathy, these managers have riches beyond belief and he will soon be earning millions again.

Another dark day for footballing humility. Mr Nice guy at Chelsea sacked, Blackpool down and Blackburn still there, their owners never deserved to remain at top level after their outrageous comments and own sacking of Allardyce.

Mediocre PL season remembered for just managerial sackings, the only justified ones were at Liverpool (win win) and West Ham (too late). Hopefully next season this sacking spree will stop as managers will be allowed to at least breath for a few months, and the news can focus on the actual football.

Have to agree with most people on here that it seems harsh to sack Ancelotti. I thought that for the most part he did well, yes he struggled to bring the players confidence back up when they went through their bad patch, but why were they having that bad patch....because the players got complacent. it was the same team that at the start of the season was winning 4, 5 and 6-0. then they just stopped playing.

where do they go from here??
IMO they will try and get hiddink in, then in 2 years, he will have done nothing and ambamovich will have no one else to turn to so will appoint himself manager! haha, mind you, it seems that he is already picking most of the team!

but they really do need to get some new players in, but they need to be youngsters, with a bit of experience. and they need to be given time to develop. Can't always expect the players to just go and win every competition every year!

But i do think it's gonna be a while before CFC win anything else.

"It's always late when we cry."
Chain of commands at Chelsea starts and stops with Mr. Abramovich, money talks.
The problem is, Mr Abramovich ambitions of winning the Champions League, is not proportional to his knowledge of how to create a team of football to win it.
Money by itself doesn't talk for that.
Only 50% of his buys at January did work, David Luis was needed.
Torres not, at least for immediate results.
He should know that forwards needs much more time to adapt, if so, than defenses.
Chelsea football style wasn't proper for him to shine immediately.
Chelsea middle field players were not good enough, or compatible, with Torres way.
Torres created a problem for Ancelotti instead of solve them.
There are so many things to correct with Chelsea kind of football, they really walk the ball very nicely around.
I did comment before, that Chelsea will not win nothing this season, I'm not happy with that, just to say that it is always easy to comment AFTER.
Planning. planning and planning, chains of command in place, and, please, Mr. Abramovich, before starting spending, ask to the manager what does he needs
to be a winner?
Good coaches are crucial and the number one fundamental need, without of them
billions will not be enough.
It was to late,

Carlo's a real gent, so he was never going to fit in at Chelsea. Top manager, top bloke. Better off not having his name associated with them any longer. I knew he was gone when they were showing the 2-1 defeat to Man U on Chelsea TV during the Everton game. Abramovich is little more than a sideshow now in an increasingly crazy league. Thankfully, there are still some gentlemen left in the EPL but for how much longer?

Makes me laugh. People have said for ages that Stevie G and Frank Lampard couldn't play together for England because they were too similar. Yet when Torres was at liverpool, he combined perfectly with Gerrard almost straightaway.

But now everyone is saying that Lampard isn't a good enough passer to play with torres. So are these players really that similar? or is it just that Lampard isn't good enough?

"It takes a leap of the imagination to believe a coach with Ancelotti's track record and proven ability to deliver success, as he did at Chelsea only 12 months ago, has diminshed powers and should pay for one fruitless season with his job."

Mhh, let's see, Scolari had won WORLD CUP, let alone a fluked double. Was the Scolari sack unfair?

Hodgson did not even complete a season at Liverpool, one of the 'Big Four'.

I side with the owner in this decision, only hoping that he'll get a decent manager as a replacement.

I do like Carlo Ancelotti as a person, but he is not tactically astute, and he is very risk-averse, lacking the guts to bench 'big-name' off-form players, failure to introduce youth players, even in useless match like Sunday's.

May be some 'big team' who needs a proven double-winner may want to hire Carlo? Liverpool comes to mind with their 'Holy Grail" of their own: Premier League title.

@ 40

Why would Liverpool try and sign Ancelotti when Dalglish has just signed a 3 year contract? Puzzling comment

The sacking of the Chelsea Manager shows how hard life is in the Premier League. Some other Managers did worse in the same League.

As a Chelsea fan, I'm almost certain that sacking Ancelotti is a big mistake.

We have to face the fact that our squad was just not good enough this year. In goal, Petr Cech has never rediscovered that incredible form prior to his head injury. Both John Terry and Ashley Cole are fantastic players but both are in their final years as players. The same can be said about Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. These players are the spine of our team and all are in the decline.

I think our midfield was the area that most let us down. Kalou & Malouda? Would these players get a game for United? We all know the answer to that. Ramires doesn't excite me, the same going for Mikel. Essien is really the only world class midfielder we have and even he had a poor season by his standards.

As for the new signings, Luiz shone early but hints of inconsistency crept in later into the season. The less said about Torres the better; his signing was a complete error of judgment on Abramovich's part. It was quite clear that Ancelotti did not want the transfer to occur, much like the Mourinho / Shevchenko episode. That amount of money could have been spent on 2 or 3 top quality players in positions we actually needed to reinforce.

All of the above was not Ancelotti's fault. Yes, some of his team selections & formations were suspect, however particularly when it came to accommodating for Torres, but it really came down to a lack of quality on the field as well as numerous injuries.

Where to now? I would love to see Guus back at the Bridge but the job is a poisoned chalice and there's no way he would consider taking the position on a full-time basis. Failing that, Mourinho would be my next choice but that's probably less likely to happen than Hidddink. After that, I really couldn't care less. We need some sort of stability so when we do come through seasons like the last, we aren't showing our manager the door.

More importantly, the squad well & truly needs a shake up and we need to buy some younger players (as opposed to promoting our youth players). A new centre back, a new central midfielder, some sort of cover on the wings (I can't actually think of a current right-sided Chelsea player) and a new striker, as well as retaining Sturridge for the season would be ideal.

Finally, I couldn't agree more with #33. If Mourinho was still at the club, there's no way Abramovich would still be chasing his Holy Grail.

Chelsea finished only below Manchester United. Not a Fan of Chelsea. But look at Arsenal they lost to Birmingham in the League Cup Final and fall to fourth place in the League. Arsene Wenger is still Arsenal Manager.

The beauty of being a billionaire is just because you have no real idea how to play properly, you don't have to listen to anyone when it comes to playing with your toys.
The record: Six managers gone (including two of the most successful in the club's history)
This year: he sacked a well-respected assistant mid season, foisted a crocked 50 million pound striker on the manager mid season and doesn't take into account injuries to key players in one of the smallest and oldest Premier League squads. Yet despite all this ... their season really hinged on losses in two key games to the eventual Premier League champions and Champions League Finalists and there shouldn't be any shame in that. It would seem Mr Abramovich really has no idea. I'm willing to bet Chelsea never win the Champions League until someone (Hiddink maybe) takes Roman aside and tells him impatience and money will get him instant gratification with most things but not the Champions League. Moreover, he's probably running out of managers who'd be willing to take on the task. Then again, it's a pretty good payday and you don't have to plan anything long term.

The burning question: E adesso, chi?

It's been common knowledge for the last few weeks that Carlo Ancellotti would be sacked at the end of the season, if Chelsea didn't win anything. I hope he sues Abromovich for as much as he can. The very least the MAN deserved was the consideration of being notified of his dismissal, first. This epitomises Abromovich as a ruthless businessman. All teams competing for trophies, such as the Premiership, the FA Cup (now demeaned by the FA into a secondary competition) and European competitions, need talent and amongst other things a little bit of luck, to see them through the times, when things aren't going well. I hope Chelsea continue to win nothing, with Abromovich as owner. I love the talents of Terry, Lampard, Drogba and company, they are all a credit to their profession and a great team. It's a pity Abromovich can't be fired when he makes mistakes. As Phil McNulty stated, "Mr Ancellotti's dismissal will not deter other good teams from taking him as coach." He should be very proud of the way he has handled this situation. Good luck to him. Fottball needs quality competition and this will not encourage the Chelsea players to be loyal to a man who cuts peolpe the way HE has done. From a sincere Man U fan.

Shame on the owner; interfering in team matters drove out Jose Mourinho, interfering in team matters drove out Ray Wilkins earlier this year, now unrealistic expectations drives out Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti is a great coach, he coached them to the Championship last year so he must be doing something right, and he is a class guy who has behaved with quiet dignity throughout this whole sorry debacle.

If they win nothing next year, will anyone cry (apart from Chelski fans)? Probably not. If they win nothing next year, will the owner take the blame? Probably not.

What a damning indictment of the " win at all cost " mentality of owners like Abramovich et al . I weep for the state and attitudes in modern football . Having a mega rich foreign owner comes with a heavy cost indeed ,
Mr Ancelotti is a world class manager , as his record clearly shows . How on earth do you justify sacking a man of that pedigree after one season without a trophy ? Chelsea finished second for Chrissakes ! And they had injuries to key players this season . The world's gone barmy .

Chelsea need to plan, no team can be consistently champions if they keep changing managers, And that is a fact. Winning one champions league will not mean anything, except for luck! It takes a long time to build a structure and a culture at a club. Every time a new manager comes in the plan and culture will change, specially in a club with very little tradition. Carlo I wish you the best, Abramovich you have no idea about how to run a club!!! Don't get involved, this is not the Russian mob you can't do as you please! I hate to say it but Man city seem to be more stable and look to have a better future than Chelsae.

Having owners that simply want to buy success at any price without their club generating financial self sufficiency is never going to work.The more owners with money to burn,the more losers .
Chelsea and Man City are treating the EPL as a plaything.
I hope QPR don't join them even though they are my team.
The sooner the EPL enforce financial constraints the better for all.

Carlo said he wanted to stay at work in England, I hope so. I have no clue though what exactly that may mean. Top Man. Gentleman. I wish him the best.

Speaking as a Chelsea fan Im becoming increasingly disheartened with Abramoviches approach to running the football side of this club. He is clearly a proud man but he is also very rash. He runs the club like King Henry ran his marriages. One wrong move and he cuts the head off and starts again. This is making more of an embarrassment of the club than losing a few games.

People can say "oh he owns the club its his money he can do what he wants" but in that case if they dont need the fans then why do they charge so much for tickets and release new kits after 1 year rather than 2? The fact is the fans put as much in that club as Abramovich does. In January, before Torres and Luiz, the club had broken even financially.

Its not Chelsea anymore, its Abramovich FC. If the fans stopped turning up and it was just Abramovich on his own then he would soon realise that money wont buy him respect and adoration. Nor will it buy him long term success without leaking more and more money.

Next thing to tick off on the list of wasting away Chelseas future success is to sell Daniel Sturridge for £6 million or so to Bolton only for him to end up at a big club like Man Utd in a years time for £25-30 million scoring more than he even did for Bolton on loan. Its something that seemingly happens often with Chelseas young prospects like G.Johnson and L. Diarra. I mean we supposedly plan to push these youngsters through and make some real Chelsea stars but theyll never amount to anything if there is no consistency in management throughout their development. It worries me how many managers we have gotten through for no apparent long term reason. Its only a matter of time before youngsters and managers a like will be deterred from the club while it is building such a poor reputation for stability and consistency.

With the new UEFA Financial Fair Play rules due in in a couple of seasons, if Abramovic wants to buy the Champions League he's going to have to get a move on!

@ 53 Goatbot

Just a quick notice, Diarra and johnson were not ever "chelseas young prospects" They were players already developing their skills at decent clubs who were bought just because they had played well and abramovich wanted to spend some money, much like the reason Scott Parker went there, and Geremi. Chelsea went through a phase of buying any player that was in good form just so other teams wouldn't be able to play them.

And what brilliant decisions they turned out to be. Johnson left after hardly playing, Geremi eventually left after hardly playing, Scott parker left after hardly playing, Diarra left after hardly playing.

"Its only a matter of time before youngsters and managers a like will be deterred from the club while it is building such a poor reputation for stability and consistency."

This happened years ago. Youngsters will only go to chelsea for the money nowadays. Not because they think they will develop their game. Especially now that wilkins is not longer there

@41; it is because Carlo Ancelotti won a double only 12 months ago, and Liverpool wants to win a half of the double (Premier League) it has not won. How long did you give Roy? How long was his contract? Why didn't you wait until the contract elapses?

Look, most of these comments are because you do not like Chelsea / Abramovich, because his investment has meant for SEVEN consecutive seasons, the Premier League title has been a duopoly of Manchester United and Chelsea. The fact that he continues to bankroll Chelsea, means that your favoured teams are not likely going to win it very soon. That's why you hear "buying the title". As if he uses the money to bribe refs and FA in order to win. If all the money go to buying players, pay wages and hire+fire managers, how does that amount to 'buying the title'?

Now that Manchester City have tasted victory (FA cup, 3rd place with the same points as second placed team), it's going to be a three-horse race, led by City followed by who?

Everyone does not point to the fact this season Chelsea had a bad patch, not even seen during Scolari era. May be, just may be, changing managers is the reason Chelsea win trophies and other teams do not?

Keep it up Roman, success, not sentiments, should drive Chelsea forward.

PS. Why nobody says Carlo Ancelotti is now richer to the tunes of millions?

Abramovich; just another example of a guy with a pile of money that can't grasp the concept that money is only part of the equation. True, he owns the team and can do what he likes, but he should leave the football decisions to people who know what they are doing. He has clearly demonstrated that he does know what he is doing, Shevshenko is a great example of that. This coaching job will become will become a black hole which is a shame.

As a long suffering Arsenal fan I wish Abramovich owned the Gunners so I could finally see the "Professor", traded for a "Manager"

Phil, your humanity has finally come out in this blog. Carlo is a class act, earlier in the season he commented that his role was only technical nothing else. I admire him for even wanting to stay at Chelsea under these circumstances. Really, it is the owner that should be sacked. The truth is it seems like Abramovich behaves like a spoiled child if he doesn't get what he wants he throws a tantrum and meddles were he should not. He goes through people like objects or pawns. This does not happen at Manchester United and hence look at the success they have had as the owners leave the running of the club to those who know most about it. A great expression is "What goes around comes around". Here is a prediction, Chelsea will finish lower in the table next year than this year. Wilkins and Ancelotti are about the most decent, honourable men in the game, it is unfortunate that they were not treated as such. In many ways a sad commentary of the modern game of football.

@ 56

Roy hodgson was appointed by the former owners and had an awful record with the club. He hasn't got a great record at most of the clubs he's been at, especially the big one's. I respect everything Roy can do at making teams hard to beat on limited funds with average players. But he couldn't do that at Liverpool.

Kenny has come in and made the average players that we have in our squad believe they are better and made them play better.

Why would we now change our manager for ancelotti? He has a great record but the owners, fans and players all know that King Kenny is the way forward.

in repsonse to you saying it will now be a 3 horse race, i hope your not including chelsea in that?? because if they keep this squad then they will again win nothing.

"May be, just may be, changing managers is the reason Chelsea win trophies and other teams do not?"

This is a joke right?? your being funny?? because i think you'll find that Man Utd have had the same manager for like 20 seasons and i think i'm right in saying that they beat you to the premiership, oh....and knocked you out the CL. but well done on winning things this year. Congratulations...

@56 "success, not sentiments, should drive Chelsea forward"
Its only money that drives Chelski forward and red rom has that in abundance. Ferguson never won anything in his first 4 years @ Man U , yet now he has his 12th english title , if Ambrammamaoviddhhhcch was running Man U back then they would probably be in the Salford and District league. The cheque book is gonna be going soon UEFA shop chop coming in , keep out of the red and in the , you get nothing if your check comes back.

@ 60 Murry1975

Completely agree. Good post!!

ambramovich will elave when the financial fair play comes in because there is no way that chelsea will be in the CL because they will not be able to balance the books and keep buying the players they need to make the team any good!!

Phil, As a Chelsea supporter we don't have two choices we have none. Abramovich runs the club as he wishes with no respect for the club, it's fans and the players. Whilst his arrival has bought trophies it hasn't bought respect and we are a laughing stock.
Personally, I would prefer to not have Abramovich, his money and his lack of understanding of football.
Abramovich out. A decent owner owner with a long term vision in.

Wonderful to see wee Kenny and the Scousers miss out on European football after going down at Villa. Best and most under reported news story of the day!

Those who are saying Ancelotti's heart wasn't in it are right and it's entirely understandable. When Torres arrived, the message got home to Carlo that he wasn't really the manager. Abramovich sucked the morale out of Ancelotti and the club and it showed. Abramovich doesn't want a manager; he wants a lap dog.

What goes up, must come down. It's over for Chelsea. It has played its part in the killing of football and it's over to Manchester City to finish the job. The torch of the "most hated club" in football has now passed to them. When football players start costing half a billion pounds and earn a million pounds/week, I'll know it's finally time to pull the plug on this circus.

By the way. Ancelotti is the best manager for a long term project and how can Abramovich argue with the the trophies he has won at Milan and even last year.
God help us if we get Van Bastin after what he did at Ajax.

60

Why the hell do you compare Ferguson to Carlo? Fergie did not spend 100 million in the transfer market and win nothing, did he? Most people that wanted Carlo to stay are rival fans as they no the only way Chelsea were heading from here was down.

- The guy played United 5 times and lost 4 and won 1 Controversially.
- Played Liverpool 2 times and got out played and lost twice
- Played Everton 3 times and lost twice and deserved to lose the other
- Awful tactics/Same subsituations

By the way it dosen't matter if he was a nice guy because my brother is a nice guy but he got fired from work when he made mistakes.

PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER PLEASE COME TO INTER !!!

While I feel he did not actually do a very good job at Chelsea, I wonder if its his tactical nous that is to blame, or the fact that in England man-management is the most important tool in a manager's arsenal, which Italian managers seem to not only not have but also not be interested in at all. His style is possibly more suited with Italian football.

Having said this, I wonder if maybe he should go to Roma for the betterment of the serie A. Inter can lure a good coach any time, Milan are a decent side now, now Roma with Ancelotti, and Juve with hopefully someone good...that would make for a great season next year.

@65 , sorry to here about your bro losing his job .

Chelsea are like Newcastle.. but with money

@ 65

Why the hell do you compare Ferguson to Carlo? Fergie did not spend 100 million in the transfer market and win nothing, did he? Most people that wanted Carlo to stay are rival fans as they no the only way Chelsea were heading from here was down.
____________________________________________________________________

I think you'll find there have been times when fergie has spent money then won nothing. This doesn't make him a bad manager. In this day and age you have to spend money to build teams, which fergie is very good at, but smetimes it can take a couple of years.

and lets be fair, how many of the transfers has ancelotti had control over?? i'm willing to bet not a lot of them. I bet he didn't want Ballack to go last year. Or torres to come in January.

It's the players and the owner that have let chelsea down, not ancelotti. if Dalglish wasn't at Liverpool i'd be more than happy to have Ancelotti. brilliant manager. just ask your players. Lampard and terry have both said what a fantastic manager ancelotti is.

Good riddance!!! Ancelotti should have been sacked long ago because of his poor squad selection. Why on earth could he prefer a midfield of Obi Mikel and Michael Essien and leave out the talented Ramirez and Kalou?

Is it really Ancelloti's false? Every time Chelsea lost everyone said it's the manager's false. No one noticed about how bad Frank lampard, Michael Essien were playing lately and how bad Malouda and Kalou played. Chelsea did not win anything this season because they don't have a complete squad, they don't have real wingers and full back who can provide good crosses. And one more thing if they want to win champion's league, they have give the manager power to control the squad and let him decide which player he wants and which player he doesn't because manager is the person who know what is good and what is bad for his system and tactic.

Frank Rijkaard is very welcome because of his youth policy and beautiful football. Guus Hiddink can then stick to his advisory role.

- The guy played United 5 times and lost 4 and won 1 Controversially.
- Played Liverpool 2 times and got out played and lost twice
- Played Everton 3 times and lost twice and deserved to lose the other
- Awful tactics/Same subsituations

-------------------------------------------------------------

A win is a in, I'm sure man utd have won their fair share of games controversially. Fergie does spend money... what is your point exactly?

@65
Back to the point , neither did Carlo , Abramovich did. Do you remember this has happen at Chelsea before ?
£50m on Nando (didnt know he liked peri-peri that much), a few years back he bought another striker called Shevchenko £30m , both buys were made without the apparent approval of the managers , both managers failed in thier atempts to intergrate these players into thier squads . Then both managers after an indifferent season got the bullet . Its like if Im at work and the boss comes in on his day off with his ideas I do them and then get the blame for the err he made ? No my boss is man enough to put his hands up and go "my fault there".
Ferguson spent high in his first years in charge, Gary Pallister being the most expensive player between English clubs being an example £2.3m this was like buying a defender now for £22m (can you think of one?) . £1m players were not that common back then and Ferguson spent about £20m in transfers in 4 and 1/2 years . So if consider the market value then and now he spent about £180m-£200m and eventually won an FA Cup (ahh , didnt he do well). Abramovich is entitled to do as he pleases , its his club, not the fans or the managers , but when UEFA say you cant play CL football because you have not spent within your means he will shot out of there like a Soyuz , back to Eurasia and buy a club that plays in the AFC CL and win that , then again maybe not.

@ 70 malembe

Good riddance!!! Ancelotti should have been sacked long ago because of his poor squad selection. Why on earth could he prefer a midfield of Obi Mikel and Michael Essien and leave out the talented Ramirez and Kalou?
_______________________________________________________________

Maybe because you need midfielders who can defend as well as pass, not just get the ball and run into a dead end all the time (Kalou). Plus he's a winger more than a central midfielder so why wuold he swap essien and mikel for a winger?

Plus, the midfield have been awful for the second half of the season. Man Utd have had one of their weakest midfields for 15 years this season and they still walked all over chelsea. Had the measure of you in every position. as did Liverpool and we had a half fit Stevie G and Lucas in there!

@69.At 04:57 23rd May 2011, Liverpaul85 wrote:
Do you remberer Veron , Forlan , Djemba , Kleberson... God some players there!!!!

@ 76 Murry1975

Exactly!! every manager makes mistakes! But after winning the double last year Carlo definitely doesn't deserve the sack just because he couldn't integrate Abramovich's to(y)rres into the club

Dalglish in 87 aswell , won nothing after winning the doublethe previous year , was it buy-buy ? Then two titles and FA Cup in the next three years . Good things take time , unfortunately not every board at a club see it that way .And before anyone points out about Liverpool sacking Woy he was appointed by dumb and dumberer as a manager just so they could sell a functioning football club .

Carlos is a gentleman manager. Premier league takes a bit more than that to succeed at the very top. Besides he never found a combination for his priciest acquisition.

@ 78

I was really disappointed when they appointed hodgson, he just didn't have the calibre needed to be in the top 4. Couldn't get the players onside (which is partly their fault) and made some really poor mistakes in the transfer market. Konchesky!! REALLY??!!

Rather than him being sacked, i would rather have not seen him appointed. At least with Ancelotti, they had ambramovich's second choice (hiddink being first, by all accounts). So to sack him after winning 2 trophies in 2 years just shows hoe inept abramovich is as a owner!

@ 79 Sevenseaman

I think you mean he never found a combination for Abramovich's priciest acquisition. ancelotti wanted torres in the summer, not in january. by that point it was down Abramovich!

Two things have stunned me at liverpool in the least few years , one was hodgson being appointed then his wheeling and not so dealing , and during Rafa's time the purchase of Robbie Keane, again this a point when the board buys the manager dies . Could not figure it out , why ? I have met him , nice lad , not as funny as Dunney but nice all the same , just i could not understand that , like what the ...?
Then , as I said , the manager takes the blunt of it . It showed poor understnading of football by the owners , just as Abramovich has done here . All the Chelsea fans who are glad of seeing the back of Ancelotti should be wary of who is going to come in and for what reasons , most class managers would not tolerate this leave of board room interference . Only a "coach" might , but then again he would want upwards of £5m/year and a four year contract . And thats another thing how much has Abramovich paid out in compensetion to managers now ? £100m+ ??

I must admit i was excited about keane when he came, i knew it was a massive price for him, but he had always scored goals everywhere he had been so i thought he could at least get a few for us. Just don't think it helped that Torres was injured when Keane arrived and they didn't get to build an understanding in pre-season. But that is what you need, pre-season to work on things. organise your players, find the best 11 in the best formation, then, once you have that, you can look at what your plan b will be and your plan c.

As for who will go in there. i think it will be Hiddink, but if not him. i reckon Riijkard!

And you know that frank arnesen will be sniffing around somewhere. Btw, on a seperate note, is the weasel that is Peter Kenyon involved at chelsea still??

An absurd decision, it is impossible to win a major trophy every season (although Jose might have something to say about that) as proved by managerial greats of the past, chelsea have an aging squad which they significantly weakened last summer and are in the process of rebuilding, Abramovich visibly annoyed the players and management with the sacking of Wilkins and yet Carlo pays with his job, unbelievable, they are now no more than a mangers pension plan, a joke to real football clubs everywhere and I seriously doubt if any manager with his head screwed on would be interested in the job now.

@83 Liverpaul you are wee yourself laughing , he is no longer with Chelsea , the last thing I heard him invovled with was the 2018 World Cup bid for England.....

Unfortunately RA has not learned that European football is different to the English game. This is why so many European managers and players fail in the UK. Guus, Jose and possibly Mancini the exceptions.
Guus Hiddink as football director. Look to home grown for manager.
Hodgson more unlucky than unskilled, Hughes sacked too soon by Man City, O'Neill, Alladyce and Moyes look what these guys have done with lesser players.
Personally I would love to see Moyes at the Bridge but I do not think it will happen.

@86 Moyes would be good if he was allowed to run the football side , but he definitly would tell Abramovich where to go ..
Has to be a continetal manager/coach , would not be overly shocked of a Gullit-van Basten management team it would be some lovely football and the rows would be off the richter scale. Its really a poisoned chalice now for who ever comes in .
Roy Keane there would put a smile on my face lmao , yeah that would me some soap-opera then .

A lot of re-building is now needed at Chelsea now Ancelotti has gone. People complain about his lack of plan B, but what other plan could you possibly have with such a thin squad. This has happened because of Abramovich's reluctance to give a manager time. If he had given Mourinho or ancelotti a bit more freedom and time, they couldv'e kept the structure stable whilst also adding in the odd player every season to make sure the squad doesn't end up like what it is now - and that is an aging spine through the team, with no replacements coming through.

IMO there is only one option now and that is another spending spree whilst bringing in a experienced manager who is good in the market.

I can't wait to see what enfolds this summer, and the top four next season. If spurs get a good keeper and a 20-goal striker in theyll finish in the top three. If liverpool get some wingers in they'll finish in the top four. Wenger needs to stop with the policy and dig in to the transfer fund and get a GK, DC, DM and a good back up striker. Whereas Chelsea need to start thinking about replacing Lampard and terry.

Personally I can see Arsenal and Chelsea finishing outside the top 4.

Rafa to Chelsea!!!


@ 70 malembe

Good riddance!!! Ancelotti should have been sacked long ago because of his poor squad selection. Why on earth could he prefer a midfield of Obi Mikel and Michael Essien and leave out the talented Ramirez and Kalou?
_______________________________________________________________
Talented and kalou don't belong in the same sentence

@ 85 Murry

Was he really involved in England's 2018 bid?? Well then there is no shock that we didn't get it!

@87
i don't think that Moyes would be given a chance at chelsea. Not a big enough name and hasn't had to deal the ego's that are at chelsea. Really good manager and I personally think he would do well at a big club, but needs to get more experience in Europe. IMO.

William Gallas commented when he left Chelsea that they had loads of money but "had no class". We assumed it was an embittered player. Sadly no.

The undignified shafting of a very dignified man at the bottom of a staircase one hour after the season ends speaks volumes for how the club operates. He deserved better and so do we. How can we expect to achieve sustained success with this short term attitude? The Abramovich era may end one day in an almighty mess.

@89
Rafa???? hes gonna end up at liverpool when dalglish retires!!!

This is the price that Chelsea pay for having someone who has no football knowledge whatsoever running the club. Just a quick question to any Chelsea fans, would you trade in Abramovich's billions for some stability at your club? The main problem for Chelsea is that they have no respect from other teams because of their owner. I have always been a fan of Chelsea's football (as a Man United fan) because of the likes of Gianfranco Zola and Roberto Di Matteo but I just can't like them with this muppet in charge.

The thing I find funniest is that by sacking Ancelotti, Abramovich has moved even further away from the prize he wants the most! Every time a new manager is brought in and 1 ruthlessly sacked, it takes yet another step back. The Champions League is always won by a team that has had time together and time with the manager. It would take a huge stroke of luck to win it in anyone's first season.

It's hard to imagine why any capable manager would want the Chelsea job. Even Berlusconi recognised that not every season would be a successful one. Ancelotti went two seasons at Milan without winning anything of note after a successful first couple of seasons before picking up the Champions league again.

Pat Nevin may be right that accepting Abramovich's money means accepting his role in management of the club but Chelsea fans might do well to look at Man U - loaded with debt but consistent winners. If Abramovich was in charge at Man U would he have sacked Alex Ferguson for failing to win anything last season?

And what exactly will Van Basten bring if he appoints him. A great player but his record as manager is thin to say the least.

If Houlier isn't up to returning to management how about Ancelotti for Villa? It would be great to see him stay in the EPL.

On the one hand, its Abramovich's club and he can hire and fire whoever he wants, to an extent. Also you could strongly argue that without him Chelsea wouldn't have won half the trophies they have in the last 10 years.

On the other hand, Manchester United have still won more major trophies than Chelsea in that same period, and they stuck by their manager during seasons where the trophy return was lesser/non existant.

Tells a tale, really. If Sir Alex had been working under Roman Abramovich he would most likely have been gone in 2005 or 2006.

Whoever takes over at Chelsea has the unenviable task of rebuilding an ageing squad knowing that the only thing it appears will satisfy Abramovich is winning the Champions' League — and who wins that every year? The new manager will also, apparently, have little or no control over which players come and which players go.

I would love to know who sanctioned all the players leaving at the end of last season. It looked like Abramovich had decided to cut the wage bill regardless of the depth of the squad he left behind, in which case Ancelotti was always going to struggle to maintain Chelsea's position. Having got that wrong, Abramovich has possibly repeated the mistake he made with Shevchenko in signing Torres — again a deal that Ancelotti did not appear to decide upon.

Well, next season is going to be very interesting at The Pensioners (the old nickname becoming apt now). Perhaps there will be a masterful reconstruction of the team over the summer under a new Director of Football and talented coach; or perhaps it will be a mess and Chelsea will fall out of the 'big four', where they have been suspended by Abramovich's money since he arrived.

95.At 07:06 23rd May 2011, northernsuperspur wrote:

Tells a tale, really. If Sir Alex had been working under Roman Abramovich he would most likely have been gone in 2005 or 2006.
___________________________________________________________

I disagree, only because if fergie had the kind of financial backing of abramovich, he would win everything every year. Everyone knows that if fergie was manager at any of the top 4 clubs this they would have won the league. (and that from a LFC fan. A pained LFC fan!)

Chelsea's rivals revel in taunts claiming they are a club without history. Ancelotti created it by winning the Premier League and the FA Cup in his first season, but it counted for nothing when his second ended in empty-handed disappointment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
And Dave sexton didn't? Really lazy journalism!

utterly ridiculous by Abramovich, good managers keep coming to Chelsea and get themselves sacked. Reason, Abramovich wants the Champion's League, it's about time he realised the problem is not the manager but rather the players. Time for Terry, Lampard and co. to move on!

Clearly there is more to it than simply no trophy this year. Frankly Ancelotti has done himself no favours with the impression he has given to the press this season. You noted his dispondence since the United game but he' been at it all season really and if a manager seems unmotivated or lacking in confidence then that rubs off on the players.

Ancelotti is a good manager but he has never been one witha real vision which is what Chelsea need. They need another Mourinho in the sens eof havig someone with a vision of the team he wants to create and the passion to force it to happen. There are several coaches out there who could offer them that if they can convince them to come, Villas Boas is one, Joachim Loew is another.