Chelsea are close to securing a replacement for Guus Hiddink as further reports have emerged that AC Milan’s, Carlo Ancelotti, will step into the Stamford Bridge role at the end of the season.Ancelotti is rumoured to be increasingly unsettled at Milan and with Hiddink poised to return to his full time post with the Russian national side, Chelsea have been forced to rapidly seek alternatives for the managerial role.
According to English newspaper reports today Ancelotti has agreed a deal in principal to become Chelsea boss when the current season finishes. The problem is that Milan insist their man is going no where and appear likely to be as uncooperative as possible if Chelsea try to force the move through.
Speaking in the Italian media, Milan’s head, Silvio Berlusconi, said: “After Inter drew with Chievo on Sunday I thought we had been given another chance, but Juventus's equaliser against us has blown our chances.”
“It's all Ancelotti's fault. With the players we have we could easily go head to head with Inter. Lots of times this season we have made tactical mistakes. We should have used Ronaldinho more. Too often we gave away goals in the last few minutes of the match. If we lose the Scudetto then it is all down to Ancelotti.”
Ancelotti would be a very high calibre replacement for Hiddink and one that does not know the English game at all well. However, he obviously has a gifted eye in terms of transfers and the European game. He made the move of Ronaldinho to Milan a reality and has been in charge of one of the only teams to break English dominance in the Champions League in recent years.
The most probable reason as to why possible negotiations are cauisng so much unrest at Milan is the simple fact that the season has not finished yet and Milan still have important games to play for. The gap between themselves and their city rivals, Inter, has been huge this season and many blame this on Ancelotti’s constant distractions.
Whether or not he is the best man to take charge of Chelsea is debateable. They would do well tp negotiate with the Russian FA and try to get Hiddink to stay on in a permanent role. This is for the simple reason that yet another new manager would otherwise come in and change things around yet again.
This seems pointless when Chelsea seem to have setled under a simple system and under a manager who does not appear to have a big head. Given the choice Hiddink would probably like to stay there if his Russian ties were taken away. After all England is one of the few countries he hasn’t made it in yet and the players all seem to like him.
The introduction of Ancelotti could turn out to be a master stroke but it could also turn out to be disastrous. There seems no point in throwing away a gifted boss without a fight and destroying what has become a settled team. The fact that Chelsea missed out on the Champions League final by seconds should not be something that is factored in.
No comments:
Post a Comment