Posted December 28, 201014 yr God forbid Roman doesn't do it, if he does who comes in ? Zola and Clarke Super Dan Petrescu Robbie Di Matteo and Eddie Newton Martin O'Neill .......... cannot resist a bit of debating Christmas fun !
December 28, 201014 yr If Carlo is sacked it would be another stupid decision by the people who 'run' our club. I dont even want to think about it! Edited December 28, 201014 yr by BlueDay
December 28, 201014 yr If we're going to continue to play long ball, we might as well get it right .... Big Sam. Heaven help us. Seriously though the only person to get us out of our predicament is the man in charge. He needs to be able to liase with the board about the way forward, have the balls to tell them if he disagrees with policy and they have to act on his recommendations. The next 4 mths of the season could be pivotal to the clubs future, champions league football is a must given our wage bill and overall expenditure. The nightmare scenario is we uncover a couple of gems from the youth team only to have them cherry picked by clubs with better resources than ourselves to balance the books. We have to act now to maintain the top 4 status we have earned.
December 28, 201014 yr Sacking Carlo is not the way forward. He has already proven he is a great manager with last seasons performance. Maybe Roman wants Hiddink in. None of us knows what goes on behind closed doors but I think those people have made some very bad moves. I.e sacking Jose and Butch. Lets hope they sort the back room suff out asap. I dont want Carlo to go. Lets do our job and show our continued support to the team.
December 28, 201014 yr Ok,feel free to shoot me down in flames but here's a thought: maybe Ancelotti isn't the right man for the job, maybe he's getting an easy ride because we won the double last season - and perhaps we just got lucky. It could (and almost certainly has) been argued that a good manager with the players at his disposal, would have had the league wrapped up well in advance. And who did we beat in the Final? Bottom of the table Portsmouth. Not exactly the stiffest of opposition. Let's look at his team selections. Paulo Ferreira in the centre of defence, Kalou in the starting lineup come what may, along with several other untouchables. Is our squad really that severely depleted? Why did Lampard play the whole game yesterday? What does Ancelotti offer? After each defeat he says that the team were "unable to play their football". He says the team aren't 100% committed, that the players lack confidence and self-belief. Does he have the ability to change things around, to make match-winning substitutions? Arguably not. Look at the number of times we've failed to come from behind. Does Ancelotti possess the ability to instill belief and confidence, to motivate the team, to get the players to give 100% .. to get them to wake up? We're currently half way through a Premiership season and we're waiting for the players to wake up. I don't know about anyone else but I find that astounding. Discuss. Edit: something I forgot to include: Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is still considered by the club's hierarchy as the right man for the job - even though he has overseen the Blues' poorest run of league results in 12 years. (Press Association) Edited December 28, 201014 yr by Hutch
December 28, 201014 yr Good points Hutch, and certainly something that we've all been asking in one way or another over the past few weeks. It's almost like the Avram Grant syndrome again. That anyone could have got us to the CL final with that team!! However, I don't think this is the case. What I do question though is why has there been such an amazing fall from grace amongst our team? We were scoring for fun, looked unstopable, and then all of a sudden we seem to be in a huge sulk, and not sure where the net is? We certainly have the players, even with a few injuries to win some of the games we lost (ok Foster had a one man show against us when we played Birmingham). Also we seem to have great youngsters that are not getting a chance, when I feel some of the untouchables need a rest on the bench. However, when he was at Milan it seemed like Carlo put out mostly the same, older players time and time again. I fear that this is Carlo's weakness; an inability to change things.
December 28, 201014 yr Ok,feel free to shoot me down in flames but here's a thought: maybe Ancelotti isn't the right man for the job, maybe he's getting an easy ride because we won the double last season - and perhaps we just got lucky. It could (and almost certainly has) been argued that a good manager with the players at his disposal, would have had the league wrapped up well in advance. And who did we beat in the Final? Bottom of the table Portsmouth. Not exactly the stiffest of opposition. Let's look at his team selections. Paulo Ferreira in the centre of defence, Kalou in the starting lineup come what may, along with several other untouchables. Is our squad really that severely depleted? Why did Lampard play the whole game yesterday? What does Ancelotti offer? After each defeat he says that the team were "unable to play their football". He says the team aren't 100% committed, that the players lack confidence and self-belief. Does he have the ability to change things around, to make match-winning substitutions? Arguably not. Look at the number of times we've failed to come from behind. Does Ancelotti possess the ability to instill belief and confidence, to motivate the team, to get the players to give 100% .. to get them to wake up? We're currently half way through a Premiership season and we're waiting for the players to wake up. I don't know about anyone else but I find that astounding. Discuss. Edit: something I forgot to include: Ancelotti did brilliant while he still was in charge of things at Stamford Bridge. He is our best manager we have had since Mourinho(that includes Hiddink) but Roman has once again fecked it up with the man in charge. He pissed off Mourinho, and he left the club soon after. Carlo should not be blamed for anything happening to this club at the moment if you ask me. As long as he was i charge we were strolling in the league, scoring goals like no one else and letting in a goal was a rarity. Ancelotti is not the man to leave a club helpless halfway through a season but i think he`s off before next season kicks off. I love Roman, and he saved our club about seven years ago but right now he is one of our biggest problems aswell. You don`t go over the managers head, and fire his most trusted man in the club. Carlo is pissed off, and who can blame him. He is forced to use the likes of Ferreira, Kalou and so on btw. Our squad is super-thin, and it was never going to last through a season anyway.
December 28, 201014 yr Ok,feel free to shoot me down in flames but here's a thought: maybe Ancelotti isn't the right man for the job, maybe he's getting an easy ride because we won the double last season - and perhaps we just got lucky. It could (and almost certainly has) been argued that a good manager with the players at his disposal, would have had the league wrapped up well in advance. And who did we beat in the Final? Bottom of the table Portsmouth. Not exactly the stiffest of opposition. My feeling is last season was a very good season for a manager in a new league and one with the bulk of the squad being the same one that had not won the title since 2006, Mourinho failed with it in his third season as did Grant Scolari/Hiddink, the best players have all aged since then and although they had their almost seasonal stutter Carlo steadied them and pushed them on. As for the F.A. Cup, a great trophy to win and you can only beat what you're up against...Portsmouth made the final on merit and played well, I think our opponents yesterday would have been pleased to have been there. Let's look at his team selections. Paulo Ferreira in the centre of defence, Kalou in the starting lineup come what may, along with several other untouchables. Is our squad really that severely depleted? Why did Lampard play the whole game yesterday? I can understand the selections and from my seat at home I might be inclined to try throwing a couple of youngsters in but in reality and if I was in charge and thinking about being in charge next season, I think I would be picking players close to the selections Carlo has been making, I am just starting to see the decline in Kalou reaching a level where I would be putting Sturridge ahead of him and that is because as I have said elswhere that when Kalou misses chances I am happy that he has been getting in the positions, of late though (Spurs and Arsenal games) I feel he hasn't got into the positions he has been and has looked even less confident giving me the feeling he is scared of picking up the ball in a position where he might miss..speculation and gut feeling obviously but I think its time Sturridge (who I have not seen enough from to have put him ahead of Kalou before now) deserves his chance about now. I also worry for Mikel, he started this season looking like he would at last live up to expectations but lately he has looked pretty bad, I would play Ramires ahead of him in at least some games as with Essien and Lampard I doubt we will often need a Holding player. Lampard and the full match again I mentioned in another post and all I can think is with Bolton coming up he wants Frank fully sharp and believed that he trained well and hard enough with the postponed UTD game to have played that long without any ill effects, I also would imagine Carlo clasping at a straw we have all clutched of late believed even a not fully sharp Frank could be the talisman we needed to get back in late on. What does Ancelotti offer? After each defeat he says that the team were "unable to play their football". He says the team aren't 100% committed, that the players lack confidence and self-belief. Does he have the ability to change things around, to make match-winning substitutions? Arguably not. Look at the number of times we've failed to come from behind. I don't read a lot into what Managers say after a defeat, usually they either blame the Ref for a turning point or say their team deserved a draw but rarely tell it how it is, we have one with a Language problem who for me still speaks more truth than most of his counterparts. Failing to come from behind in my opinion is down to squad depth and quality, Carlo usually puts out the best availlable eleven and when things go right we win and often handsomely, however when thigs don't go right the bench is not of high enough quality to change a game and rarely unless Kalou has not started can you look at it and feel a player could come on and create or score a Goal, I would say a change of formation may be a way to go and I wouldn't mind giving the Diamond another try mid game but it was usually a tactic that had us win and close games out a bit more than giving us more scoring opportunities so Carlo likely and possibly rightly feels his 4-3-3 has the best chance of producing, I feel there does need to be another plan formation wise though and am a little surprised that in this lean spell we've seen no change. Does Ancelotti possess the ability to instill belief and confidence, to motivate the team, to get the players to give 100% .. to get them to wake up? We're currently half way through a Premiership season and we're waiting for the players to wake up. I don't know about anyone else but I find that astounding. Discuss. Again this is a topic we have every season and a change of Manager usually changes the players mentality for the short term, we soon are asking the question about the next man and the only commen denominator I can see here is the players, in my opinion we need the players to know that when it all gos wrong they are responcible as well and the Manager is here for the long term, I sometimes feel they can get into some bad form and just sit back and wait for the Manager to be changed so that it was all down to him and they pull themselves together for a while with some renewed interest...That obviously could be total bollocks and I could be way off the mark but the idea has crept into my head before and its hard to keep seeing Managers do well for a few months and then it all fall to pieces and wondering why. Edit: something I forgot to include: Some points to get our teeth into before we start the long road to recovery though Hutch. Edited December 28, 201014 yr by Chippy
December 28, 201014 yr Ok,feel free to shoot me down in flames but here's a thought: maybe Ancelotti isn't the right man for the job, maybe he's getting an easy ride because we won the double last season - and perhaps we just got lucky. It could (and almost certainly has) been argued that a good manager with the players at his disposal, would have had the league wrapped up well in advance. And who did we beat in the Final? Bottom of the table Portsmouth. Not exactly the stiffest of opposition. Let's look at his team selections. Paulo Ferreira in the centre of defence, Kalou in the starting lineup come what may, along with several other untouchables. Is our squad really that severely depleted? Why did Lampard play the whole game yesterday? What does Ancelotti offer? After each defeat he says that the team were "unable to play their football". He says the team aren't 100% committed, that the players lack confidence and self-belief. Does he have the ability to change things around, to make match-winning substitutions? Arguably not. Look at the number of times we've failed to come from behind. Does Ancelotti possess the ability to instill belief and confidence, to motivate the team, to get the players to give 100% .. to get them to wake up? We're currently half way through a Premiership season and we're waiting for the players to wake up. I don't know about anyone else but I find that astounding. Discuss. Edit: something I forgot to include: Carlo's performances have been just as bad as the squad's performances over this stretch but I really believe his hands are somewhat tied with the squad he has. If you think about Man U, they have about 8 players on the bench with premiership experience that can come on and make a difference. The other thing is that they have the critical ingredients you need to win on a consistent basis. Chelsea is short handed both in their starting eleven and with the options they have on the bench. Ancelotti has no one to rely on in terms of creativity and no natural wingers to speak of such as Bale, Walcott, Lenon, Nani, Valencia etc. That being said, Carlo has players such as Sturridge and Kakuta that have similar abilities yet he does not trust them. He doesn't seem to want to give them prolonged time on the field to make errors and be confident they won't be taken off at the half or benched for the next 5 matches. Our poor results is a blend of a lack of talent and a lack of confidence from the manager.
December 28, 201014 yr I've just shot you down!!! Ok, I asked for that! Some interesting responses here. In case it wasn't clear, I think I need to emphasise that I don't necessarily agree with all the points I made earlier, well not completely anyway. But I do have my doubts, which I think is understandable in the circumstances. I agree with Chippy to some extent about manager's post-match comments, but my point was also in reference to Ancelotti's pre-match comments. It seems it's the same thing every week. Maybe it's just me, but I'd like to hear a little more about the need for change, a little more urgency if you like. However, when he was at Milan it seemed like Carlo put out mostly the same, older players time and time again. I fear that this is Carlo's weakness; an inability to change things. This is also my greatest concern. Ancelotti speaking about the Bolton game: We have to wake up. Now we are sleeping and maybe I have to be the first to wake up.'We don't have the possibility to change a lot of players, we have to look for the next games,' he responded. 'The most important thing is to recover because we don't have time, and maybe we can use a different shape on the pitch. 'I think I can use some young players, I have confidence in them, Kakuta played very well [against Arsenal], and also if some players are not able to recover I have to change. 'I think that it is a good mix. Obviously we have young players and have to stay quiet with them, to give them more experience. 'The squad is good, we had a lot of problems because we had a lot of injuries - Terry, Alex, Lampard, Drogba, Benayoun, Zhirkov. 'We lost confidence, lost games, it was difficult to put in young players to give them total responsibility. It's hard to put them on the pitch in a difficult moment.' Here he expresses a willingness to use some of the younger players, singling out Kakuta for praise. Is there a hint from Ancelotti that McEachran might start tomorrow? We'll have to wait and see. Also I think it would be a massive mistake to sack Ancelotti. What's needed is the full backing of the board. If he wants new players in January, give him the funds. If he wants his own backroom staff, bring 'em in.
December 28, 201014 yr I won't go into whether or not Ancelotti should be sacked as it has been covered in other threads. But taking Star's original question my prediction would be that the job would go to Michael Emanelo on a caretaker basis for the rest of the season. Crazy? Absolutely bonkers for sure but I believe this scenario could very well happen. Seeing him on the bench reminds me of watching Avram during Jose's last days. I think he wants the job and I'm sure he has been working on Roman. The fact that he has even got the assistant job with his qualifications confirms to me that he is liked by somebody on the board. I hope it doesn't happen though.
December 28, 201014 yr Some very, very disturbing rumours doing the rounds on certain twitter-pages about Ancelotti negotiating his compensation and that Pep Guardiola is lined up as his replacement after the season. Picked up from Tor Kristian Karlsens norwegian twitter-page. Got a lot of connections after being scout for a large number of big clubs aswell as being head scout for a few aswell.
December 28, 201014 yr Some very, very disturbing rumours doing the rounds on certain twitter-pages about Ancelotti negotiating his compensation and that Pep Guardiola is lined up as his replacement after the season. Picked up from Tor Kristian Karlsens norwegian twitter-page. Got a lot of connections after being scout for a large number of big clubs aswell as being head scout for a few aswell. I hope to God that this is just a rumor. Please, please, please, don't let this occur. Carlo is good for us, and he needs to stay.
December 28, 201014 yr Some very, very disturbing rumours doing the rounds on certain twitter-pages about Ancelotti negotiating his compensation and that Pep Guardiola is lined up as his replacement after the season. Picked up from Tor Kristian Karlsens norwegian twitter-page. Got a lot of connections after being scout for a large number of big clubs aswell as being head scout for a few aswell. Certain twitter pages, eh. The same rumours have been intermittently splashed all over various tabloids and certain gossipy type sites. Not to mention the Rumours section of this site: Pep Guardiola Carlo to get the sack? A Norwegian scout's twitter page is hardly worth it's own brand new scaremongering thread now is it?
December 28, 201014 yr If, and it's a big if at the moment, that ends up being the case. We will once again of shot ourselves in the foot. These rumours are hardly a surprise though, our record with managers proves that.
December 28, 201014 yr If we can win against Bolton, then we have Villa (also in poor form with an "on the chopping block" manager in Houllier), Wolves (Bottom), Blackburn (again manager upheaval) and then back to Bolton. Add in there a trip to Ipswich (again we SHOULD win this), that could be a great little run of games to get the confidence back. What we don't need is to cut Carlo at this time heading into a set of games that we have a realistic chance of getting results out of. Carlo must stay
December 28, 201014 yr if we got rid of carlo mid season would we finish champions? i don't think so.Would our squad be any stronger? .We need stability and foreward thinking to salvage not only what's left of this season but the seaons to come,lets get behind the guy instead of looking for a so called quick fix.
December 29, 201014 yr What man, with the possible exception of Jose Mourinho, could save our season at this point? I think we all knew this kind of slump would happen sooner or later; the fact that it happened on Ancelotti's watch is by no means a sackable offence. Give him the backing he needs, and give him another chance to set out the team he wants. I am perfectly aware that he has hardly covered himself in glory with some of his tactics and substitutions, but give the man a chance.
December 29, 201014 yr Rafa is unemployed at the moment. Just saying.... Seriously, these rumours have been around for awhile and with every lost point they have intensified. It's only natural. And to be honest, if money isn't a problem then I really can see us sacking Carlo. After all, Jose won is 6 titles in 3 years and still got the sack. But if we do sack Carlo (I hope we don't) then it really is time to take a look at the club and change things. Things are looking a bit odd over there and we should look to reassess things. Make sure our finances are on top and such. Then when we start looking for a new manager I hope we get a younger one, like we did with Jose, so he might be able to stay for awhile. Then we have to give him more power. He need to be more in control and not just the guy who sets our tactics and names the line up. We don't want another Wilkins incident. And back him up. If things are rough then give him support and the means to change things. If we fail to win anything in one season then just move on. We really can't afford to sack managers every season. But, as I said, I hope we keep Carlo. He did really well in his first season and this season had to fight with injuries the likes of which we haven't seen in a very long time. It's not his fault we have a small squad or youngsters who aren't ready. He didn't get our players injured. I doubt any manager could have done a better job. Now the injury list are starting to look a bit better and now we'll see if we can get back on track. If this continues for the rest of the season then lets see if things have to change in the summer.
December 29, 201014 yr Not sure if I want a new manager if Carlo is sacked. Perhaps an interim manager (is Guus available?). No need to rush the decision because I think the club has alot of things to work on first.
