Carlo On Terry, Butch, and Sir Alex

[NoFear 23]

CARLO ANCELOTTI has launched a passionate defence of Chelsea captain John Terry.

Despite Chelsea's historic Double last season, Terry came under fire from all sides.

Revelations about his private life led to Ancelotti's fellow Italian, Fabio Capello, stripping Terry of the England captaincy, and he carried his indifferent club form into the World Cup.

But in his new autobiography, Chelsea boss Ancelotti singles out the 29-year-old defender as the heartbeat of his debut season success at Stamford Bridge.

He also reveals the debt he owes to Ray Wilkins - and how Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson snubbed him after the game which tilted the title race decisively in Chelsea's favour.

Ancelotti said: "John Terry is the captain of all team captains, he was born with the captain's armband on his arm.

"Even without the band, it's as if he wears it anyway, and that's how it ought to be. He's different from all the others, Chelsea is his home, it always has been, ever since the youth squad.

"One word from him, and the locker room holds its breath. He's the first one to sit down at meals, the first one to stand up.

"Being part of this club is his mission, that's how he was made. He pays close attention to the performances of the youth team, he keeps up, he knows all the scores, he misses nothing (although he often loses at ping-pong in the dining room - and when that happens, watch out).

"He works twice as hard as everyone else, he has the sense of responsibility of someone who runs a company, a people, a philosophy that above all has to win.

"There is no room for second place; there can only be room for us."

The Italian also has high praise for the man who helped him translate the winning formula he devised in his homeland into English - assistant boss Wilkins (with Ancelotti, below).

Ancelotti added: "One of the reasons I fit into the locker room was thanks to the fundamental role played by Ray Wilkins, my number two and my friend. It's one thing to translate words - plenty of people can do that - but translating feelings is the gift of only a select few.

"Ray is one of those select few, always present, noble in spirit, a real blue-blood, Chelsea flows in his veins.

"His heart beats in two languages, and that helped me.

"Without him, we couldn't have won a thing, and in particular we would not have started the year at supersonic speed." Chelsea did start well, but by the middle of March, their juggernaut had started to stall. A 4-2 home defeat by Manchester City - Wayne Bridge and all - was followed by defeat in the Champions League against Inter Milan and former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

But a training ground meeting, where Chelsea's senior players took the lead, set Ancelotti and his team up for a glorious end to the season.

"We did our calculations right after we were catapulted out of the Champions League by Inter, at a moment in the season that was so precarious it could easily have slid into disaster," said Ancelotti.

"In the past, Chelsea had always had a hard time recovering from roundhouse punches like that, so the day after our defeat we all gathered in the locker room of our training grounds in Cobham.

"The venerable old men all spoke - Terry, (Didier) Drogba, (Petr) Cech, and (Frank) Lampard (another magnificent example of English leadership - when I see him on the field, it makes me happy). I was proud of us in that twenty minutes, we understood that we had lost a great deal but that we could win much, much more.

"I was very clear in what I had to say: 'The Premiership and the FA Cup are still ours for the taking. Only six teams have managed to pull off a double in 140 years, but it's our turn now.'"

At that point, we pulled out our timetable. Numbers and statistics, written so clearly that no one could possibly misunderstand.

"The number of training sessions remaining: 50. The number of days we could still devote to achieving our objectives: 60, more or less. The number of games left to play: 11."

After the false start of a 1-1 draw against Blackburn, Chelsea won seven of their final eight league games.

The key game in dethroning Manchester United as champions was the 2-1 win at Old Trafford - and United boss Ferguson knew it.

"Our success at Old Trafford was the one that got us the League title, even though in the end Ray Wilkins and I were forced to drink to our victory alone," said Ancelotti.

"As is the tradition, a few minutes after the final whistle we went to Sir Alex's room to drink the usual glass of wine. We walked in, and silence reigned.

"He sat there staring at a television screen; the set was tuned to a horse race, his greatest love.

"We were strictly relegated to the background, to some place beyond and behind the background.

"We stood awkwardly for a while without saying a word, uncertain what to do, and finally did what we had come to do. We drank a glass of wine, to our own health. Bye-bye.

"Even though I won the three games I played against him that season, I still consider Ferguson to be a master of soccer, an example I have always looked up to, in some ways, unattainable. (Unattainable in the sense that I don't have a passion for racehorses.)"

One thing Ancelotti does have a passion for is food, and he repeatedly makes jokes at his own expense about it. But what is next on his football menu, after the Premier League and FA Cup?

"Now I want the Champions League," he said.

Carlo Ancelotti will donate all royalties from the sale of the book to Fondazione Stefano Borgonova, a charitable foundation set up for his former team-mate at Milan, and dedicated to finding a cure for ALS, a neurogenerative disease, from which Borgonova suffers.

Source

A bit long but nice read.... Its from NOTW so not sure how true the transcript is...

[BomTrett 50]

Love it. The praise of John Terry, is great. He just continues the point that we all love him, dont give a fuck whats hes done off the pitch or petty fans booing him for the sake of booing him, he's our captain and a Chelsea god.

And also nice to see him give praise to Ray wilkins, you do get the feeling that Ray is a big help to Ancelotti, in understanding what sort of club Chelsea, and also the obvious of helping him with the language barrier.

Think i might buy this autobiography, i get the feeling it'll be a good read

[LDN Blue 7,903]

The thing I love JT is, he hasn't let the booing affect his footballing ability. We all saw yesterday all the crunching vital tackles he put in, this season he'll be very important as a defender as well as leader.

Was proud of our fans yesterday! Even in a stadium dominated by Wigan supporters you could hear the support for John Terry & Ashley Cole.. Great stuff to hear

[BRMC 12]

Sounds like a good read and with the proceeds going to charity i think i`ll buy one.

I thought the bitter fergie part was pretty funny, with him refusing to talk to them so they just had a drink anyway and left.

[zolayes 14,489]

Carlo just oozes class ,,something Fergie knows nothing about

[NoFear 23]

Carlo sometimes acts as if he is too good to be true.. The man just would not criticize anyone. Even when Fergie fails to pay attention to them, he just says horse racing is Fergie's biggest passion and that he is a great manager.. I wonder what would Jose's response would be if it had happened to him Not that Im taking a sly dig at Jose !! Just pondering on their contrasting personalities..

[AlexRO 1]

Terry is the new Chuck Norris !

[Rambo 1,729]

Good read, and he's right, without Ray Wilkins Chelsea probably wouldn't have been as successful last season.

[Madmax 9,219]

We're lucky to have JT. The man has so much passion for Chelsea, it's unbelievable. Frank is an able deputy, like Carlo points out. Sir Red Nose is a twat, again, like Carlo points out

[caesarblues 51]

another good read

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/7983105/Chelsea-manager-Carlo-Ancelotti-writes-book-to-help-a-stricken-former-AC-Milan-team-mate.html

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Fantastic read. Absolutely brilliant, and what a fantastic cause as well. My Carlo Approval Rating has just gone beyond 100.

[zolayes 14,489]

another good read

http://www.telegraph...-team-mate.html

a superb read ,,thanks for posting the link

[caesarblues 51]

cheers zolayes

carlo is the best!

hehe...my fren make this ava for me:carlo:

[Madmax 9,219]

I love this guy. He's a really classy person and is exactly the kind of guy we needed after the Mourinho era. We're lucky to have him.

[EskWeston 696]

All these Carlo interviews are excellent, he comes across very well and seems to be a decent man. He is doing very good things for this club and i hope he stays around for a long time and builds something truly special for the club.

[Fulham Broadway 16,801]

Comes across as a ....

...very nice man

[zolayes 14,489]

All these Carlo interviews are excellent, he comes across very well and seems to be a decent man. He is doing very good things for this club and i hope he stays around for a long time and builds something truly special for the club.

now says he will be ready to leave Chelsea ....................IN TWENTY YEARS TIME.....

[caesarblues 51]

Henry Winter: Chelsea in danger of becoming a model club under Carlo Ancelotti

It was just an aside by Carlo Ancelotti, a remark lobbed into a discussion about the stresses of international management compared to club strains.

By Henry Winter

Published: 6:45AM BST 07 Sep 2010

Chelsea's new book club: Carlo Ancelotti with his biography The Beautiful Games of an Ordinary Genius Photo: ACTION IMAGES Chelsea’s personable manager argued that he might change “if in the future I train the [italian] national team’’. Not for a while. Please. The Azzurri can wait.

The Blues are going places under Ancelotti, preferably Wembley on May 28 for the Champions League final. Through his engaging character, and shrewd tinkering of the team, Ancelotti has made Chelsea a delight to watch.

They are winning in style. And more cost-effectively. Chelsea have knocked more than £400,000 a week off their wage bill with the summer’s departures of Michael Ballack, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Joe Cole.

While revelling in the first team’s success, the club are also excited about the progress of some of their youngsters, particularly defender Nat Chalobah.

Only 15, Chalobah is captain of England’s Under-17s and made his debut for Chelsea reserves last week, giving a mature, disciplined performances as the holding midfielder in a 1-1 draw against Everton.

Attractive first team, newly sensible fiscal policies and English tyros pushing through: Chelsea are in danger of becoming a model club.

Moving 'upstairs’ will only lead to downfall of drama

Increasingly mindful of its members’ public image, the League Managers Association currently conducts “an in-depth study into the technical area’’.

The LMA wants to know whether managers would prefer a broader view from a calmer vantage point up in the gods (as many rugby union coaches do).

Any move 'upstairs’ for Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger and David Moyes should be resisted. Part of the match-day drama is provided by the vivid sight of managers patrolling the dugout, occasionally exchanging pleasantries or barbs with their counterparts. Television loves it, fans enjoy it.

Most managers are usually sporting to each other at the final whistle, their handshake being a welcome sign of respect. Putting managers up in the stands would lose that special moment.

:cfc: