CARLO ANCELOTTI BIDS FAREWELL

Carlo Ancelotti made a significant impact in the FA Premier League when he upstaged his contemporaries by winning the FA Premier league and FA Cup double during his first season as our club’s manager. He was born on 10 June 1959 in Reggiolo, Italy and is affectionately known by our supporters as The Fantastic One. The 52-year-old has two children. A daughter named Katia and a son named Davide who is a professional footballer in Italy. It’s said though that in 2008, he separated from his wife after being together for 25 years.

Carlo Ancelotti labored in the midfield during his playing days beginning with a stint at Parma in 1974, before switching to AS Roma, where he captained them to an Italian Championship in the early Eighties. By 1987 to 1992 he was part of the legendary AC Milan team who won consecutive European Cups in 1989 and 1990.  He made 26 international appearances for Italy scoring one goal and was included in the FIFA 86’ and 90’ World Cup squads. His managerial career began with Regina in 1995 where he guided the club to promotion to Serie A during his first spell in management. He would later manage Juventus and AC Milan, where he would win the Italian Championship (Scudetti) and two Uefa Champions League trophies.

After Philippe Scolari’s disastrous campaign as our manager during the 2008/09 season, which funnily enough coincided with Jose Mourinho winning another Serie A

Championship. Roman Abramovich acting on the advice given to him by Fabio Capello (current England gaffer) proudly announced on 1 June 2009, that Carlo Ancelotti would be our club's new manager. The oligarch probably desperately seeking stability and a bit of experience agreed to The Fantastic One’s exorbitant salary of £9m a season over the three year term.

Considering that this was Carletto’s first attempt at managing abroad he faired pretty well and only enhanced his reputation. During his first season in charge, he captured the club’s historic FA Premier League and FA Cup double. He even broke a couple records in the process when Chelsea FC became the first club to score more than a hundred goals in the league during the season.

So why did it go so horribly wrong during his second season in the hot seat?

Firstly, I think that he became too complacent after winning the league by a point on the final day of the season.  He then only registered nineteen first team players (three of them being goalkeepers) and did not take injuries and a dip in form into account. This resulted in complaceny and affected the team's morale and chemistry.

Secondly, the sacking of assistant coach Ray Wilkins during our poor moments did not help us. The outcome being the link between the calm manager, staff and players came to an end.

And finally, the death of his dad in September 2010 with whom he shared an intimate relationship must have hurt him.

Thank you Carlo Ancelotti a.k.a. The Fantastic One for bringing respect, dignity and class back to Stamford Bridge.