Ancelotti May Have Been Roman's Biggest Mistake

albert flapchop (Fulham) says...

Chelsea. Ho ho ho...

Posted 12:59pm 25th February 2013

bbelief34 says...

The Buck stops with Roman. Player Power looks apparent, especially after yesterdays 2-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium. The second goal, the marking and certain set pieces that were way off the mark, suggested that, as Terry's sitting on the bench, that now the players have their scapegoat aswell as the fans, BENITEZ. I don't believe that such big game yesterday would combinate into some many Chelsea players having 'an off day' The mangerial merry go round at Chelsea has been their downfall and scuppered their development. They should just give the job to Terry and Lampard and be done with it.

Posted 5:18am 25th February 2013

sokakrazi says...

Yeah!, it was a decision that was truly difficult to understand, especially if you add the fact that Carlo's contract will expire at the end of the next season..... You will think Roman is in a good position to review the situation and decide, but it seem the urge to mimick real Madrid was too enticing.

Posted 2:29pm 23rd February 2013

Synergy says...

@zedohelay (Chelsea)> You do realize that I am not an investigative journalist. So its not upto me to provide proof about anything. If you Chelsea fans need proof ask Paul Little & all the other journos who have said the same thing about the Chelsea players cartel removing any manager who they don't like.

When one rag says it, its a rumor, when a few say it, it could still be passed off as "stories to sell papers". However when so many sports journos many of who have inside sources in club dressing rooms (unlike fans like you and me) subscribe to it, then you know there is truth in the same.

As a fan its easy to see when a team has quit on its coach. They stop playing as hard. They won't put in as much effort and it becomes obvious to fans who watch the team regularly that they have quit on the coach. This phenomena is not restricted to Chelsea as many teams do the same in all team sports. Chelsea players just are the most high profile and have done it the most and to some of the biggest named coaches in the game.

Posted 5:51am 22nd February 2013

zedohelay (Chelsea) says...

@ shagwa - Tal Ben Haim, Jiri Jarosik, Boulahrouz, del Horno, Sidwell and Mineiro were all players that a blind man could have told you weren't good enough to play for Chelsea. At least Kezman had a superb scoring record before he was bought and didn't cost the earth - he also scored quite a few in pre-season before Chelsea switched to 4-3-3/4-5-1 and required a beast like Drogba upfront, with no use for an old-fashioned little poacher. Shevchenko had just scored 28 goals for Milan, so was hardly a busted flush when he joined us, but was wasted in some weird 4-1-2-1-2, with four central midfielders and no width - Jose's protest at being told to play with two strikers. I think the scattergun approach has come from Roman's desire to sign stars, coupled with Kenyon trying to live up to some stupid prediction on Chelsea breaking even by 2010, by signing a fair bit of dross and too many changes in managers.

Posted 3:54pm 21st February 2013

luca_85 (Chelsea) says...

@ HarryBoulton - I think 99% of Chelsea fans were gutted when Jose was sacked, Hiddink was also loved by blues and he wasn't actually sacked. Apart from that though you are right about the others.

Posted 2:57pm 21st February 2013

shagwa (Chelsea) says...

Not sure where the scattergun approach of Chelsea in the transfer market comes from. Torres was obviously horrendously overpriced and sliding backwards at the time, as was Shevchenko, but aside from those two there really haven't been many failures. Yossi Benayoun was probably the least useful acquisition during that time and given he was Joe Cole's replacement in the squad, it's hard to criticise that decision. It should be noted that every time Roman has stepped in and made someone a priority target, the player has underperformed woefully. I am trying to block the Mateja Kezman period out of my mind. Possibly the worst purchase made in the Premier League era.

Posted 2:37pm 21st February 2013

zedohelay (Chelsea) says...

@ Synergy - you repeating what earlier articles have suggested, despite not having any any evidence to them, and then repeat a later article, inferring the same thing, without any evidence, doesn't actually make it more compelling. You do realise that, don't you?

Posted 2:22pm 21st February 2013

zedohelay (Chelsea) says...

Roman's biggest mistake was giving Wilkins the elbow - Ancelotti had said that his success with Chelsea was as much down to Ray as himself - as from that moment on, Ancelotti totally lost interest, even saying in interviews that he wasn't bothered about if he was kept or sacked. @ HarryBoulton - are you saying that thousands of people should all share the same opinion? You say that every Chelsea fan was happy with the sackings of each manager and then you say we're split into two groups who either support the players and Roman, or the sacked manager. It runs counter to your claim that we've all been happy with the sackings. Or is it the bit in the middle where you say "At every turn there was someone, somwhere, who was happy with it for some reason." - which doesn't actually sound unreasonable to me, or different from a group of supporters for any club you care to name. So which is it? Most of the Chelsea fans I know were pleased with the getting rid of Scolari and Grant, undecided on AVB as they felt he had potential but was being stubborn and using his squad poorly, and disappointed with the sackings of Mourinho, Ancelotti and Di Matteo. Some felt that Mourinho's ego was causing more trouble than he was worth and as an employee, needed to do as he was paid to do (play the attacking football Roman wanted). I agree with that, but also feel that if Jose's football wasn't to his liking, he shouldn't have employed him in the first place. I always liked Ancelotti, but when Roman fired his right hand man, he should have stood by Wilkins and said "you fire him, you fire me" and assert his own authority. He either gets what he wants or walks away with his head high, having won the double in his first season and stayed loyal to his man, Hiddink, incidentally, wasn't sacked and is thought of with great affection.

Posted 2:22pm 21st February 2013

Griff (Manchester United) says...

Nothing wrong with tiggers, Harry. They're wonderful things.

Posted 1:10pm 21st February 2013