Official - Carlo sacked

[Fulham Broadway 16,838]

The worrying thing with Roman is that he is prone to snap decisions that have big implications....look at the way we were getting our house in order financially and that in Jan Boom he goes and splashes the cash again because his patience wore thin....he has not made the knee jerk reaction over Ancellotti after the other night, but a few bad league results could see him gone very soon.....To be honest I don't think Ancellotti is that bothered either way....

Thats true. Think that is the Russian way of doing things or hes just an autocrat. I used to despise the way the media used to say it's ''Romans plaything'' -but I'm statrting to think thats an apt description. That said its a far better position to be in than a Glazer/Lerner/Kroenke/ Debt Franchise.

Ancellotti is chilled/cool Italian stylee, and when hes pushed out..... a shrug, a raised eyebrow, and a few million in the bank. hes not bothered. To be manager of Chelsea is precarious but very lucrative.

We do need some continuity though -a manager with a track record , left uninterfered with, and his own team round him.

[steve5221 91]

Thats true. Think that is the Russian way of doing things or hes just an autocrat. I used to despise the way the media used to say it's ''Romans plaything'' -but I'm statrting to think thats an apt description. That said its a far better position to be in than a Glazer/Lerner/Kroenke/ Debt Franchise.

Ancellotti is chilled/cool Italian stylee, and when hes pushed out..... a shrug, a raised eyebrow, and a few million in the bank. hes not bothered. To be manager of Chelsea is precarious but very lucrative.

We do need some continuity though -a manager with a track record , left uninterfered with, and his own team round him.

Agreed that is the way forward - the big question is who is the man??. If Ancellotti goes then you know Roman will want to bring in another big manager who has experience in europe but not in England, that in it's self is always a risk....Personally i'd like to see us go for Martin O Neill, if not him then David Moyes, but It won't happen...

[spuz 143]

Thats true. Think that is the Russian way of doing things or hes just an autocrat. I used to despise the way the media used to say it's ''Romans plaything'' -but I'm statrting to think thats an apt description. That said its a far better position to be in than a Glazer/Lerner/Kroenke/ Debt Franchise.

Ancellotti is chilled/cool Italian stylee, and when hes pushed out..... a shrug, a raised eyebrow, and a few million in the bank. hes not bothered. To be manager of Chelsea is precarious but very lucrative.

We do need some continuity though -a manager with a track record , left uninterfered with, and his own team round him.

Him getting sacked would see him earn the same amount as working for another year. So,no he's not bothered.

[Fulham Broadway 16,838]

Him getting sacked would see him earn the same amount as working for another year. So,no he's not bothered.

Exactly. Whats a few million when youre minted ?

Bottom line. Abramovich has too many yes men millionaires hanging on his word. We need someone with a pair to say ''hang on a minute -you cant just dispose of people if you want a rich vein of form for the club''.

Biggest fuck up was sacking Jose, and then trying to cover it up by having a constant stream of possibles.

[Henri 115]

When of the biggest problems with Chelsea, imo, is that the club never try to do something for itself. We ate always trying to buy superstars, like Torres. Why not try to buy one player that is good and cheap?

Lampard and Drogba werent superstars when they first arrived. We lost that. Now the board and even the supporters only want superstars. Same to managers. I always hear this kind of thing "whos better than Carlo to replace him?". Im sure there are many, why no try a new manager, like Barça did with Guardiola?

[/quote

Chelsea is a buyer club, we dont have the patience to let our own brood grow, because we all want titles and more titles. Its pretty sad but true.

[Henri 115]

Exactly. Whats a few million when youre minted ?

Bottom line. Abramovich has too many yes men millionaires hanging on his word. We need someone with a pair to say ''hang on a minute -you cant just dispose of people if you want a rich vein of form for the club''.

Biggest fuck up was sacking Jose, and then trying to cover it up by having a constant stream of possibles.

Come on!, If you sleep with the devil, your sooner or later has to to fuck him. nobody is gonna piss him off, nobody!.

[Fulham Broadway 16,838]

Come on!, If you sleep with the devil, your sooner or later has to to fuck him. nobody is gonna piss him off, nobody!.

Hes good in one way because you know he wants the club to be successful and loves the club and he has loads of cash.

But someone some day has to say leave the mangement to a a manager and his team

[zolayes 14,489]

seems everyone can see what Roman can't ...changing managers every two years isnt the way to achieve long term success. He need only look at

Man Utd to see that ...Personally I would stay with Carlo but he must be given more power and an assistant of HIS choosing

[zolayes 14,489]

seems everyone can see what Roman can't ...changing managers every two years isnt the way to achieve long term success. He need only look at

Man Utd to see that ...Personally I would stay with Carlo but he must be given more power and an assistant of HIS choosing

[spuz 143]

Whoever advises Roman on who to appoint as manager needs sacking first off.

[magic weeds 446]

You know somebody who was under the tutelage of Mourinho will have something about him.

I doubt Ancelotti would have led Porto to the league title with 5 weeks to spare and to the semis of the Europa league.

.... and they are undefeated both un the league and Europa. I watch Porto every week. some nice football they play.

Just to say, our team is very shit. Right now if we played against Porto or Benfica, we would get hammered. they have speed and techniques. the same CANNOT be said of our team who just sit there and do nothing. I can't understand how we have scored so few goals this season, and mostly, defenders bailing us out. not forgetting penalties. TORRES, Drogba, ANELKA and KALOU = <8 goals in 10 matches. STURRIDGE = 6 goals in Eight matches. FFS, how can that be explained??

All in all, i would be happy to see carlo stay, butnot Malouda and Anelka

[Krypt 241]

Whoever advises Roman on who to appoint as manager needs sacking first off.

Who says anyone advises him... reports are gathering that Carlo will defiantly be out at the end of the season. we will just have to wait and see if this is true after our remaining 7 games.

[spuz 143]

Who says anyone advises him... reports are gathering that Carlo will defiantly be out at the end of the season. we will just have to wait and see if this is true after our remaining 7 games.

If nobody does advise him,then somebody really needs to start advising him.

You can't appoint somebody because they're a 'champions league manager'. As we've found out this and last season,there's no such thing.

[ZanSnake 1,211]

we have this month and the next till the end of the season - and the clear fact that we aren't in any finals or in the better shape looks like it is certain for Carlo to be gone. I wouldn't really let him go personally, i would give him more free choice in transfer and the coaching staff, but encourage him to make the youth be involved, also i would sign Borini to a contract - but that seems likely for whatever reasoning.

But, if we did sack Carlo, and pay off the millions of pounds to let him go, who would be the best viable choice to replace him? I can't really say much towards this because i can't know what type of person Roman would be looking for, probably someone like Rijkaard who has won the CL in the past, or Guardola (can't speel for shit, so excsue me for the bad spelling), who is a young talented manager making wonders at Barca, but would he be a viable condidate?

I still have faith Carlo, but it is all done to what Roman sees - and if Carlo was his first choice to replace Hiddink, then i am sure he will give Carlo another chance. He did give us a record breaking season in his debut season with the club, doesn't that go with an honour?

[Guest justin_3d]

I've read many articles about Ancelotti's so called 'resignation' to the fact the board want him gone. I know a lot can happen between now and summer, but I genuinely can't think of who would replace him.

Hiddink: Doesn't seem to be willing to break his contract with Turkey, and the earliest we could see him leave would be November.

Mourinho: Would obviously want to win something at Madrid (CL) and I would expect him to honor his contract until he does so.

Benitez: Readily available, but I doubt his appointment would go down well with the fans. His transfer policy is also very questionable.

Villas-Boas: Seems very good tactically. Unproven in any other league so would be a big risk. Not that i'm doubting the professionalism of our players but I find it hard to see him handling the egos of our big name players.

Rijkaard: Had a bad spell at Galatasaray, but has a good/calm nature and I imagine him to be the kind of man that Roman would want coaching the team.

Lippi: Wouldn't become a long term option.

Don't forget, the Chelsea job is probably the hardest in England, the pressure on Ancelotti has been enormous. He has delivered the double to us and as Chelsea fans we should show him the respect he deserves.

We all knew at the start of the season, that there would be a period of transition in the squad that we would have to endure. We knew that an ageing, threadbare squad with 5 youngsters being promoted was not as strong as last season. In the summer (2010), Ancelotti was told that the purse strings would be tightened and signings would be limited. This meant that our experienced players were too old, and our youngsters had absolutely zero experience, we had no in between anymore. With the emergence of teams such as Tottenham/others lower in the table, we've seen a much smaller gap between the so called 'top 4 teams' and the rest of the division, added to a gruelling league schedule, it is not surprising the position that we found ourselves in.

Obviously we had a few injuries (Lampard/Drogba/Alex) at a difficult point in the season, but in no way do I consider a possible 2nd/3rd, even 4th position in the table and CL quarter final exit a bad season to the extent that some others do, when you consider what Ancelotti was working with. How do you drop Frank Lampard, a Chelsea legend and one of our most consistent players, for a 18 year old youth academy product at a crucial point in the season?

I genuinely hope that the board sees some sense, injects some youth into the squad and gradually integrate them into the team, but also provides signings that combine youth with experience. We've seen how well Luiz and Ramires have done since their arrival, and these are exactly the types of signings we should be looking at, 23/24 year olds that will be here for the long term.

Ancelotti deserves at least one season, even two, to build a team that is his, and not having to work with what he has inherited from previous managers. I feel that as Chelsea fans we've had everything too easy as of late, relying on the current squad and expecting them to carry on performing forever because it's what has worked in the past. Obviously it would be befitting of the players if they were to win the Champions League finally, but sometimes it doesn't work out as we would like. We are in a period of transition, it happens to every club. Keep the faith.

Good post.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Id willing accept Hiddink, Mourinho or Boas but please God not Rijkaard, the man is a disaster, Id have Benitez over Rijkaard any day of the week.

[Krypt 241]

I think one of the main issues this year, is after the double last season , anything but the same this season has made carlo's job harder. we where always going to have seasons like this and we will have more thats football. i say give Carlo another year unless we can lure hiddink or jose back.

[Guest justin_3d]

Id willing accept Hiddink, Mourinho or Boas but please God not Rijkaard, the man is a disaster, Id have Benitez over Rijkaard any day of the week.

Guus can't come in the summer, neither Mourinho.

Boas...not sure, but he needs to coach in CL first. His team will make it to the CL next season and then you can judge.

If Carlo is to get sack then the only man i would want is Marcelo Bielsa.

Other then that, no better available and Carlo has to stay.

Two good articles about my perfect candidate:

Marcelo Bielsa's 'madness' bears fruit for Chile

The former Argentina manager's attacking philosophy and faith in youth has put Chile on course for the 2010 World Cup finals

• Paul Doyle
• guardian.co.uk,
• Saturday 5 September 2009 18.41 BST Article history

Marcelo Bielsa has transformed Chile since taking over the side in 2007. Photograph: Marco Muga/EPA

Argentina's wobbles aside, the story of the region's qualifying campaign has been provided by Chile, who are well on the way to their first appearance at the finals since 1998 – under an Argentinian manager. Marcelo Bielsa (right), nicknamed "The Madman" because of his disciplinarian nature and obsession with the minutiae of matches, is highly respected in his homeland thanks to his work in developing young talent but he stepped down after six years as coach of Argentina's senior team in 2004.

He took charge in Chile three years later, just in time to rescue them from a poor start to the qualifiers. Bielsa again demonstrated his acumen in nurturing youngsters by dispensing with older players and putting his trust in many of the youngsters who propelled Chile to third place in the 2007 Under-20 World Cup, including the exciting midfielders Alexis Sánchez and Gary Medel.

Inexperience has led to inconsistency but in general the new-look team have excelled and Bielsa's determination to attack even in away matches helped Chile to win in Paraguay's notoriously difficult Defensores del Chaco stadium as well as in Peru. Chile also scored a home victory over Argentina. On Wednesday they travel to Brazil, the likely group winners, but even if they lose there they should take enough points in their remaining games to make it to South Africa.

---------------------------------

Bielsa's early exit such a waste for Chile

Post categories: Football

Tim Vickery | 10:00 UK time, Monday, 8 November 2010

A successful and promising relationship has come to a premature end with the news that Marcelo Bielsa will not continue as coach of Chile.

There is little point in appointing a foreign coach unless he brings something fresh - which the eccentric, but highly respected Argentine certainly has in the course of his three years in charge.

He took Chile to their first World Cup since 1998, winning more away games than anyone else in the qualification campaign. In South Africa in 2010, Chile quickly became the neutral's favourite. In a tournament dominated by caution, Chile's carefree attacking approach was a joy to behold.

The performances of the team said more about Marcelo Bielsa than they did about Chilean football.

He coaxed from his players a faithful representation of the approach that has made him one of the most interesting coaches around over the last 20 years.

His idea is always to attack, no matter where the game is played and who the opponents might be. He wants the play to take place in the opponent's half of the field. Whatever the shape of the side - 3-3-1-3 is his favoured formation - there are a number of constants; his team will always seek to play at a high tempo, with a central striker and two wingers and the aim of creating two-against-one situations down the flanks.

The out-going Bielsa is a man of principle and there appears to be no turning back

Before working with Chile, Bielsa was in charge of his native Argentina from 1998 to 2004. In a very significant way, Chile was easier for him.

Argentina has a highly developed sense of its own footballing identity, to which the number 10 is crucial. Juan Roman Riquelme, with his elegant, foot-on-the-ball playmaking, is the guardian of the flame. Bielsa, though, had no place for him. Rather than the changes in rhythm that Riquelme inspires, the coach was looking for all out dynamism - which left him open to criticisms that he was trying to Europeanise the national team.

During his reign it was common for club coaches in Argentina to differentiate themselves from Bielsa by stressing their commitment to 'the pause' - the moment when the old-style number 10 slows the game down in order to rethink the attack. In Argentina, then, Bielsa often found himself swimming against a powerful current.

He had no such problem in Chile. "There's been no continuity," I was told a few years ago by Elias Figueroa, one of Chile's all-time greats. "We've tried to imitate Argentina. We've tried to imitate Brazil. We've tried to imitate Germany and Spain." From Bielsa's point of view, this lack of fixed identity was a plus point. It meant that his approach would meet with less cultural resistance.

Late 2007 was also a good time to take over. Humiliated on the field in that year's Copa America and with disciplinary problems off it, Chile appeared to have hit rock bottom. The only way was up - and giving momentum to the rise was the fact that an excellent generation of youngsters had just reached the semi-finals of the World Youth Cup.

They were to prove Bielsa's raw material. His bold gameplan requires a high level of fitness. He inherited an exciting group of players with young legs and open minds, and made a team of them. Versatile defenders or midfielders Arturo Vidal, Gary Medel and Mauricio Isla, central midfielder Carlos Carmona and, above all, wonderful little right winger Alexis Sanchez were all graduates from the World Youth Cup campaign who became stalwarts of the senior side.

Bielsa's option to stand down is frustrating for two reasons. Firstly, because he and his young side could have gone on to achieve much more. And secondly, because their time together could have been even better.

Three goals in four World Cup games was a disappointing return for a side of such attacking ambition. They would surely have scored more had centre forward Humberto Suazo been fully fit. Top scorer in the South American World Cup qualifiers, he was recovering from an injury when he was unwisely risked in a warm-up match. Injured once more, he was nowhere near 100% in South Africa.

In retrospect, Mauricio Pinilla should have been in the squad. Once briefly in Scotland with Hearts, Pinilla has been once briefly with a lot of clubs in a number of different countries. The striker came close to throwing away his own career with his wild-child antics. But he has always been a highly gifted player, potentially of genuine world class - as he has hinted in Italian football over the last 18 months. Especially in the absence of a fit Suazo, Pinilla would have been a useful option in South Africa.

He has been recalled for next week's game at home to Uruguay, seemingly Bielsa's swansong in charge of Chile. The idea of Alexis Sanchez and Pinilla operating together is an appealing one for Chile fans - but after next week it will not be Bielsa's job to get their talents to combine. He is leaving because Harold Mayne-Nicholls was not re-elected last week as president of Chile's FA. Before the election Bielsa made it very clear that he would not work with the opposition candidate Jorge Segovia.

Mayne-Nicholls, though, only carried the votes of six of Chile's First Division clubs. Segovia won the other 12, including the Santiago big three of Colo Colo, Universidad de Chile and Universidad Catolica. The election was, and continues to be controversial, with conspiracy theories flying around and claims that Segovia might be prevented from taking office on complicated legal grounds.

Mayne-Nicholls, though, has made it clear that he will not be coming back. One of the major complaints about him was the grumble that he prioritised the national team and his Fifa work over the domestic championship. He recently served as the chairman of the Fifa inspection committee which visited the countries bidding to stage the World Cups of 2018 and 2022.

Polished and articulate, he cut an impressive figure. But he has been cast out by an internal revolt at the very moment when his international prestige was at its highest. As a result, the national team is parting company with one of the world's most respected and interesting coaches. Chile's new regime will have to come up with something special to make up for the loss of Marcelo Bielsa.