Ancelotti Sacked!!! Official...................

[Unknown_Genius]

Not surprised at all. This is how football is going to be from now on. Isn't Guardiola the longest serving Barcelona coach in the modern era, with 3 years? You might think thats just a "foreign thing", but it will be the same here. Once Sir Purple of Nose retires, United will go through managers like Chelsea if they don't bring success quickly. We have great owners, and our Chairman is the best in the country, in my opinion, but I can see us going down this trend too. We can debate the rights and wrongs of this kind of approach, but thats how it is nowadays. Same with players. Gone are the days when most players will play their whole career at one club (or maybe two, when they were coming to the end).

 

[Damocles]

I dunno, I guess I thought you'd understand more on here.

When City sacked Hughes, I saw the same thing happen that I'd seen happen at Chelsea.
They always berate the decision and it took ages before they stopped saying that Hughes would have done better.

Ancelotti wasn't sacked because he finished 2nd, there are loads of mistakes & opposition fans know this. Everyone was laughing that Sturridge was scoring at Bolton and we spent all that money on Torres, he didn't give him a sniff.

We lost 4 times out of 5 this season to United and if you saw the performance they comprehensively beat us.

I followed Juve & Milan whilst Carlo was there inadvertently, it's the same thing over and over again. Mancini is more of a winer than Carlo is.
You'll find winning managers have great win ratio's i the league, cup competitions aren't good barometers.

I think the bad decision was hiring Carlo, I was pleasantly surprised we won the double, but even last year I knew we weren't great, we started well & finished well, just like this season. We were dross in the middle of the season when it started to get cold in both seasons.

Very bad motivator that cannot command a win. But great guy & as a coach at a particular level he has something to offer, just not at a club that want to win year in year out, unless. he has a truly amazing squad to work with..

Madness; utter, utter madness.

Carlo is one of the greatest coaches in the world, and the shit he has put up from dickhead owners at both Milano and Chelsea means that he has the professionalism and patience of a saint.

He's been a manager for about 15 years and has won 2 Champions Leagues, 2 Leagues, the World Club Cup, won Manager of the Year twice including the Best Coach in the World.

You judge managers on what they have won, and the reality is that he won the double last year, then finished 2nd this year. Saying truisms like "there have been a few mistakes" is daft; every coach on the planet makes mistakes, even Guardiola, Ferguson and Mourinho.

The fact that you think Chelsea are "above the level" of Carlo shows you everything that you need to know about Chelsea. Carlo managed Milano for 8 years, to great success.

 

[Castiel]

Madness; utter, utter madness.

Carlo is one of the greatest coaches in the world, and the shit he has put up from dickhead owners at both Milano and Chelsea means that he has the professionalism and patience of a saint.

He's been a manager for about 15 years and has won 2 Champions Leagues, 2 Leagues, the World Club Cup, won Manager of the Year twice including the Best Coach in the World.

You judge managers on what they have won, and the reality is that he won the double last year, then finished 2nd this year. Saying truisms like "there have been a few mistakes" is daft; every coach on the planet makes mistakes, even Guardiola, Ferguson and Mourinho.

The fact that you think Chelsea are "above the level" of Carlo shows you everything that you need to know about Chelsea. Carlo managed Milano for 8 years, to great success.

I wouldn't call Carlo a world class manager by any stretch. AC Milan were left in a difficult situation when he came to Chelsea, a situation they're still recovering from. Clear evidence of that being what Spurs did to them in the CL. For a European powerhouse to be dismantled by Spurs in such a fashion exasperates the lack of long term foundation his legacy left there.

I realise that it isn't fair to pin Milan's failures on Carlo when he wasn't in charge at the time, and I'm certainly not doing that. However, that was largely his squad just as this Chelsea is largely Mourinho's squad. One of his biggest problems is handling transition. He never gave new talents a chance in both Milan and Chelsea when both clubs were crying out for it. He's afraid to change the status quo.

Carlo’s departure was always going to be a sad affair, not least because of his affability and genuine niceness, which in itself did not make Roman’s decision to dispense with his services wrong, it only made it seem that way. However if you had watched Chelsea every week since his arrival, you would understand fully why he was let go. His team selections and tactics were often found wanting. He lost 4/4 rounds in our important CL knockout ties.

You say you judge managers by what they've won (in the past). Its much more reasonable to me to judge them on what they're doing; and his attempts to build on his progress were futile in almost every aspect.

 

[taconinja]

Friend, Carlo Ancelotti is world class. Did he deserve to be fired? I can't answer that as I'm not privy to the inner workings of Chelsea.

But he's world class.

What happened in Milan isn't down to Ancelotti. That club and almost all the Italian clubs have a rot in them that is systemic at this point. It starts at their tops, too. The owners have to shoulder the blame in the Italian leagues.

If you're going to pin the blame on him for your youth not succeeding, that's something you can argue, but it's pretty obvious that your owner is scatter-shot and likes to make big signings and doesn't care much about youth signings. You have one of the least experienced backroom staffs in the Premier League, and they aren't Ancelotti's either. I have nothing against Chelsea. Don't mind if you win the Premier League or Champions League or whatever. Good for you if you do. I think, however, that your club is at a precipice. You haven't went over it, but what happens over the next couple seasons will determine your medium term fate.

In fact, I'm going to amend my previous statement. Ancelotti needed to be fired because Abramovitch obviously isn't going to listen to him. That's what you need. The question becomes can you find that?

 

[persvenality cult]

Madness; utter, utter madness.

Carlo is one of the greatest coaches in the world, and the shit he has put up from dickhead owners at both Milano and Chelsea means that he has the professionalism and patience of a saint.

He's been a manager for about 15 years and has won 2 Champions Leagues, 2 Leagues, the World Club Cup, won Manager of the Year twice including the Best Coach in the World.

You judge managers on what they have won, and the reality is that he won the double last year, then finished 2nd this year. Saying truisms like "there have been a few mistakes" is daft; every coach on the planet makes mistakes, even Guardiola, Ferguson and Mourinho.

The fact that you think Chelsea are "above the level" of Carlo shows you everything that you need to know about Chelsea. Carlo managed Milano for 8 years, to great success.

I wouldn't call Carlo a world class manager by any stretch. AC Milan were left in a difficult situation when he came to Chelsea, a situation they're still recovering from. Clear evidence of that being what Spurs did to them in the CL. For a European powerhouse to be dismantled by Spurs in such a fashion exasperates the lack of long term foundation his legacy left there.

I realise that it isn't fair to pin Milan's failures on Carlo when he wasn't in charge at the time, and I'm certainly not doing that. However, that was largely his squad just as this Chelsea is largely Mourinho's squad. One of his biggest problems is handling transition. He never gave new talents a chance in both Milan and Chelsea when both clubs were crying out for it. He's afraid to change the status quo.

Carlo’s departure was always going to be a sad affair, not least because of his affability and genuine niceness, which in itself did not make Roman’s decision to dispense with his services wrong, it only made it seem that way. However if you had watched Chelsea every week since his arrival, you would understand fully why he was let go. His team selections and tactics were often found wanting. He lost 4/4 rounds in our important CL knockout ties.

You say you judge managers by what they've won (in the past). Its much more reasonable to me to judge them on what they're doing; and his attempts to build on his progress were futile in almost every aspect.

Don't kid yourself; AC Milan were in dire straits because Berlusconi's cash had dried up completely just at the moment they needed to rebuild. Ancelotti had to field a team packed with 34+ year olds.

Maybe Chelsea and Ancelotti were going nowhere together (although I would hardly blame Ancelotti for the most part of that)... but it's downright stupid to talk up his inadequacies in order that you can blame him for your current 'plight'. He is, by any measure, a fine manager. Two champions leagues puts him in a group of three. His diplomatic style was widely acclaimed as being the catalyst for your wildly succesful first season together. In that list of 5 managers, he was the first to succesfully marry a more expansive outlook with a level of success commensurate with your wage bill. (I would freely admit that City still have some way to go here)

On a side note it is amusing to see Abramovich, a fairweather friend to FFPR, spend so heavily. I can easily understand your loyalty to him, but you'd be fools not to see that he is indecisive and comes up with a new 'long-term' plan every 18 months.

 

[Castiel]

Friend, Carlo Ancelotti is world class. Did he deserve to be fired? I can't answer that as I'm not privy to the inner workings of Chelsea.

But he's world class.

What happened in Milan isn't down to Ancelotti. That club and almost all the Italian clubs have a rot in them that is systemic at this point. It starts at their tops, too. The owners have to shoulder the blame in the Italian leagues.

If you're going to pin the blame on him for your youth not succeeding, that's something you can argue, but it's pretty obvious that your owner is scatter-shot and likes to make big signings and doesn't care much about youth signings. You have one of the least experienced backroom staffs in the Premier League, and they aren't Ancelotti's either. I have nothing against Chelsea. Don't mind if you win the Premier League or Champions League or whatever. Good for you if you do. I think, however, that your club is at a precipice. You haven't went over it, but what happens over the next couple seasons will determine your medium term fate.

In fact, I'm going to amend my previous statement. Ancelotti needed to be fired because Abramovitch obviously isn't going to listen to him. That's what you need. The question becomes can you find that?

Well we'll have to save a difference of opinion on exactly the scales of Ancelotti's managerial prowess. My judgements on him are based mainly on his performance at Chelsea.

I'm not going to get into the intricacies of the Italian league, because its another topic entirely, and you are right in saying that there is a fundamental issue at work there.

However our youth record is pretty good, contrary to popular belief. Wind back the clock to when Mourinho first arrived. Many of his untouchables were unproven youngsters then, Cech being a good example. A relatively unknown keeper from France who became IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper in his first season here I believe. We bought Sturridge from you if I recall correctly. The issue we have with the youth is that Ancelotti played the out of form regulars over them time and time again, even against Everton when the team clearly didn't care (it looked like a friendly) and nothing was on the line.

I can understand why he was let go having watched his performances over two seasons. I don't feel it was the right decision just yet, but I can fully understand why it happened. I hope he finds himself in a successful position in the future.

 

[taconinja]

Well we'll have to save a difference of opinion on exactly the scales of Ancelotti's managerial prowess. My judgements on him are based mainly on his performance at Chelsea.

I'm not going to get into the intricacies of the Italian league, because its another topic entirely, and you are right in saying that there is a fundamental issue at work there.

However our youth record is pretty good, contrary to popular belief. Wind back the clock to when Mourinho first arrived. Many of his untouchables were unproven youngsters then, Cech being a good example. A relatively unknown keeper from France who became IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper in his first season here I believe. We bought Sturridge from you if I recall correctly. The issue we have with the youth is that Ancelotti played the out of form regulars over them time and time again, even against Everton when the team clearly didn't care (it looked like a friendly) and nothing was on the line.

I can understand why he was let go having watched his performances over two seasons. I don't feel it was the right decision just yet, but I can fully understand why it happened. I hope he finds himself in a successful position in the future.

Problem is it's hard to tell when the older players were played because of Ancelotti or because of Ancelotti being told to play them. I find it hard to believe he kept Torres out there so often and so long just because he wanted to do so.

 

[Castiel]

Problem is it's hard to tell when the older players were played because of Ancelotti or because of Ancelotti being told to play them. I find it hard to believe he kept Torres out there so often and so long just because he wanted to do so.

Well it'd be easy to give that more credence if it wasn't for the issue of Zhirkov and Malouda. Malouda has been in woeful form all season, Zhirkov has put in excellent performances on the few times he has been selected. Roman is a known admirer of Zhirkov and yet he isn't played. If Roman played favourites with who he wanted on the pitch, surely Zhirkov would be selected over Malouda (which incidentally would have helped us).

Ancelotti has admitted that it was his mistake to use Torres over Drogba in the CL tie against United, and it was a huge mistake. All this aside, I don't think he's a bad manager by any means. A lot of our performances during his time here have been astonishingly good with cricket scorelines. The issue is, he seems to lack a plan B when things don't go well.

 

[taconinja]

Problem is it's hard to tell when the older players were played because of Ancelotti or because of Ancelotti being told to play them. I find it hard to believe he kept Torres out there so often and so long just because he wanted to do so.

Well it'd be easy to give that more credence if it wasn't for the issue of Zhirkov and Malouda. Malouda has been in woeful form all season, Zhirkov has put in excellent performances on the few times he has been selected. Roman is a known admirer of Zhirkov and yet he isn't played. If Roman played favourites with who he wanted on the pitch, surely Zhirkov would be selected over Malouda (which incidentally would have helped us).

Ancelotti has admitted that it was his mistake to use Torres over Drogba in the CL tie against United, and it was a huge mistake. All this aside, I don't think he's a bad manager by any means. A lot of our performances during his time here have been astonishingly good with cricket scorelines. The issue is, he seems to lack a plan B when things don't go well.

Possibly. I tend to lean towards he knew he was being let go at the end of the season. From the outside, it appears that you guys had several factions each pulling their own direction. You need a manager who is on the same page as the owner and that the owner will listen to even if he doesn't like it. I think for that reason Hiddink is your best option. Reports are that he and Abramovitch have a rapport.

 

[Castiel]

Possibly. I tend to lean towards he knew he was being let go at the end of the season. From the outside, it appears that you guys had several factions each pulling their own direction. You need a manager who is on the same page as the owner and that the owner will listen to even if he doesn't like it. I think for that reason Hiddink is your best option. Reports are that he and Abramovitch have a rapport.

That I can agree with unconditionally. Whoever we get next I just hope its resolved quickly so the club can move on. Judging by how quickly Carlo was dismissed I suspect they have his successor lined up.