Filed under: Chelsea, Premier League, Football
You don't need a degree in political double-speak to draw the conclusion there is a strong possibility Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea will have parted company before the start of next season.Fortunes at Stamford Bridge may have been transformed in recent weeks but the rate of decline during a disastrous mid-season has clearly left its mark on the club's hierarchy.
Invited to comment on Ancelotti's future, Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay offered BBC's Sportsweek programme a less than ringing endorsement of the manager.
"Carlo has a contract until end of 2012," Gourlay said. "Let's see where we are at the end of May then we'll judge the coach and other people at the football club."
So much for last season's success in winning the Premier League and FA Cup double, so much for a track record of success at AC Milan. Ancelotti, it seems, is only as good as his next three months.
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Outwardly, the Italian remains unconcerned about his position, fending off questions about Gourlay's comments with good humour.
"Hmmm. I don't understand," he said, when quizzed after the victory over Manchester City that moved Chelsea third, before quickly adding: "I'm joking. I don't know what he said.
"I'm working here. I'm happy to work here. You know my contract finishes in 2012 and I don't need to speak now about my contract. There is a year to run. I don't need to speak about my contract now.
"That will finish in 2012. Then we will take a decision. I'm happy in this moment. So I think we will continue. If one party - the club or myself - is not happy to continue, I think we'll have to see."
Ancelotti has never been anything less than realistic about the difficulties he and his side have faced this season and he also acknowledged a more trigger-happy employer - like many in Italy for example - might have shown him the door when the team was on the slide.
"I know very well that this team slept for two months and, in that moment, I had fantastic support from the team," he said.
"A lot of coaches that sleep for two months, at this moment, are at home watching the game on television. I am here. Fortunately."
He will not be quite so inclined to offer his gratitude if his end of term report concludes is accompanied by his P45. It is by no means certain that will happen, particularly if Chelsea continue to improve and finally succeed in their quest to win the Champions League.
Victory in Europe's premier competition would not have saved Avram Grant, however, and may not be enough to keep Ancelotti in his job.
While the manager's position has been questioned from the moment it became clear Chelsea's stutter was turning into a full scale slump, the decision of Roman Abramovich to sanction the £73 million double of purchase of Fernando Torres and David Luiz was interpreted as a sign that the owner had faith in his manager.
With Ramires, last summer's major signing, also coming good, Ancelotti's stock might be considered to have risen. Apparently not, and his failure so far to draw the best from Torres will not be doing him any favours.
So the prospect of another managerial change hangs over Chelsea and even if the Italian remains in post, Gourlay's comments have done nothing to change the view of the club apparently addicted to instability.
The course of this season has underlined the need to freshen up the first team squad while backroom changes will also be made this summer with an overhaul of the club's youth system and the departure of Frank Arnesen, the sporting director.
At other clubs, such changes might be driven by the vision of the manager. Not at Chelsea. And any doubts about who makes the decisions were blown away by the dismissal of Ray Wilkins as assistant manager, against Ancelotti's wishes.
If Ancelotti goes, a new manager will come in with new ideas and, with key players growing older, is likely to face a more testing bedding in period than the Italian did last season. And Abramovich would be well advised to think twice before he sanctions another major upheaval.
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