Carlo Ancelotti’s time at Stamford Bridge has come to an end after a season in Chelsea ended trophyless, the manager failed to deliver on the high expectations placed on him by owner Roman Abramovich. When Ancelotti was given the job he was expected to win them the Barclay’s Premier League and get Chelsea to the UEFA Champions League Finals and win it in the process. In his first season at the club the Italian managed to win the double of the Premier League & FA Cup, a first in the history of the club.
This season was all to different for the London based club as they stormed out the gates and were destroying their opponents in fashion and had opened up a nice lead at the top of the table but that didn’t last too long as the club started to have some slip ups. One of the major talking points of this season was the firing of Ancelotti’s assistant manager Ray Wilkins last November, the reason for Wilkins departure is still unclear.
Chelsea had become very inconsistent after a bright start to the season and lost their grip of pole position in the league, things were going from bad to worse for the Blues and rumors of the manager possibly losing his job started to surface. With Chelsea still competing in the Champions League winning it seemed to be Ancelotti’s lifeline at keeping his job as Chelsea manager. Anchelotti’s fortune took a u-turn as the Blues started to regain the form they showed in the earlier parts of the season and mounted a run towards regaining their league title while getting the right results in the Champions League aswell.
This resurgence was just what the manager needed as Chelsea cut a once 12 point gap between them and now Champions Manchester United down to 3 points, with Chelsea managing a controversial but important 2-1 victory over United at Stamford Bridge, giving Carlo Ancelotti another lifeline in the process. This resurgence took a blow when Chelsea were eliminated in the hands of Manchester United from the Champions League 3-1 on aggregate leaving the Blues with only the league to play for.
The final chance of Ancelotti keeping was ended once again in the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford after a 2-1 loss to the now Barclay’s Premier League Champions. Now six points behind United with two games left Chelsea’s title hopes were all but over as United only need one more point to secure a record 19th league title which they got at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers. During a press conference leading up to Chelsea’s final match of the season against Everton at Goodison Park Ancelotti said:
“The club have to judge my job, be objective. If they decide to change it’s not a problem. You won’t see me crying or doing something. I will accept the decision of the club and find another ‘solution.”
Chelsea went on to lose the match 1-0 to a Jermain Beckford goal, a goal which was the final blow to the career of Carlo Ancelotti as the manager of Chelsea, the Blues finished the season in 2nd place above Manchester City only goal differential. I’m sure Carlo Ancelotti won’t find it hard getting another job anytime soon and a return to Italy looks likely to be the place for him.
Awkwardly Talented 