It seems that the ghost of Jose Mourinho will forever be hanging over Chelsea managers for years to come.
Not only was his record in his three years at the club prolific, winning 71% of his 120 games in charge, but he brought consecutive premiership titles to the club along with two league cups and an FA cup.
It is certainly a reputation that I wouldn’t want to live up to and many high profile managers have failed in their attempt, remember Phil Scolari anyone?
But is it fair that new manager Carlo Ancelotti is coming under intense scrutiny from both the media and his own chairman, despite remaining strong title contenders and having one eye on this year’s FA cup?
It is just another example of the impatience of premier league chairmen that, after Chelsea were dumped out of the Champions league by Mourinho’s Inter team; Roman Abramovic hauled the squad in for a lecture about under-performance.
I’m sure anyone can understand the frustration of being knocked out of the most prestigious trophy in European football by the manager you sacked three years before, but the fact remains surely the Chairman should be supporting the team not putting them down.
Now I’m not one to admit I’m a Newcastle fan but they are a shining example of what happens when the chairman and managerial staff clash.
A team which has been established in the top flight for as long as anyone cares to remember suddenly finds themselves with four managers in one season and, lo and behold, relegation was the price.
And at the other end of the scale it just takes one look at Chelsea’s biggest title rivals Man United, to realise that their immense success and domination of both English and European football was all achieved in the 24 year, and counting, reign of manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
So what give Abramovic, and sections of Chelsea fans, the right to demand instant success from a manager that has only been in charge for less than a year?
And let’s not forget that Ancelotti hasn’t had the easiest of times at Chelsea this season with the African Cup of Nations depleting his squad, a transfer embargo and the high profile personal problems of John Terry and Ashley Cole.
Ancelotti’s press conferences have not been so much about his football tactics or position in the league and more about whichever drama has occurred overnight involving one of his players.
And now he himself, a highly respected and successful manager, has to answer awkward and embarrassing questions about the safety of his job.
Ancelotti has publically dismissed rumours that he is leaving Chelsea, whether mutually or by the dreaded axe of Abramovic which has claimed many high profile managers in the last 5 years, a clear disruption to himself and his team at such a pivotal point in their season.
To me it is a crying shame that such a highly respected and successful manager like Ancelotti is being treated this way and, reportedly, has to fight for his job.
They say a week is a long time in football but a year is nothing in management and Ancelotti has barely had the chance to flex his muscles in the transfer market.
Events like these show the greed and impatience of football, in no other business would a new manager or CEO face losing their position after just a year for doing a respectable job.
And it begs the question: Just how many world class managers are Chelsea going to lose faith in before finding one that they will give the opportunity to last more than a season?
I hope for their sake that the fans won’t have to get used to another new face at the helm of their club anytime soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment