The link between Chelsea and Carlo Ancelotti seems to have been around for years without him actually ending up in the Chelsea hotseat. So with the managers post about to be vacated yet again, it’s hardly a surprise to read that it’ll be Ancelotti stepping in to take over from Guus Hiddink.
Is there more chance of it happening now than there was last season when the AC Milan manager ruled himself out during the early stages of our annual ‘guess the manager’ competition? Well, with Berlusconi recently blaming him for Milan’s failure to beat Mourinho’s Inter to the Serie A title, you’d have to think so.
Milan’s vice president, Adriano Galliani, has insisted Ancelotti will remain at Milan, stating “Carlo has a contract with us until 2010 and he will be on the bench of the Rossoneri next season. I spoke earlier to president Berlusconi and he was absolutely astonished to read what had been written.” Ancelotti himself has again dismissed any link with us and the vacant managers post, suggesting “It is not a problem which concerns me, I don’t have to give my availability and the time has not yet come for me to be replaced at Milan.”
However, with Berlusconi making his displeasure painfully obvious at the end of another trophyless campaign, maybe Ancelotti was just testing the waters to see what sort of response his apparent loyalty received. Unfortunately for him, if that was the case, the fact that Berlusconi and the Milan faithful have indicated their lack of support for him now might not have given him quite the reaction he was hoping for.
So, with Abramovich rumoured to be ready to give the next Chelsea manager the sort of funds he didn’t seem to trust either Avram Grant or Luiz Felipe Scolari with, will Ancelotti fancy the Chelsea hotseat if Berlusconi sacks him – or even walk into it before Milan have the chance to hand him his P45? Either way, with him due to hold discussions with Berlusconi today, it won’t be long before we find out.
Personally though, despite his Serie A and Champions League titles, I still don’t fancy Ancelotti at Chelsea. For a start, I can’t see us playing the most breathtaking football under him, but even more of a problem than that is his limited English and the fact that he’s never managed outside Italy – a little too reminiscent of our previous manager if you ask me.
Blue is the colour
