Under fire Ancelotti admits I’m no longer in control
Last night Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti consulted with the League Managers’ Association (LMA) to discuss his position at the club.
The Italian has seen his side lose ground at top of the table after losing three of their last four games. The latest setback was a 1-0 away defeat at Birmingham.
The former AC Milan manager has been very upset since the shock departure of assistant coach Ray Wilkins. Wilkins has now been replaced by unknown Nigerian Michael Emenalo, without the consent of Chelsea boss.
Under these circumstances, the manager has been put under lot of pressure. Ancelloti told reporters at a press conference that he did not have full control over the affairs of the team, and claimed that he was just a technical director at the club – not
the main man.
He said, "You compare me with (Sir Alex) Ferguson, it's a different position. Ferguson has total control of the team. I have just technical direction. Full stop. OK?"
After the recent run of defeats, United are now level on points with Chelsea, and only trail the Champions on goal difference.
But the Italian is not making any excuses for his teams recent failures, and admits that it is the coach’s responsibility if the team loses. Ancelloti added that it was his responsibility to get the team performing again, and said that he was open to criticism.
The Chelsea boss admits that this is a difficult time for the club, but they are capable of overcoming this crisis. He said that whereas Chelsea lost to Sunderland because they played poorly, that was not the case against Birmingham.
The manager also clarified that these defeats had nothing to do with Wilkins departure. He insisted, "This is not the reason we lost. We lost because we have scored just one goal in four games. We have to improve, to stay more in focus. We didn't score against
Birmingham because we were unlucky. We conceded just one opportunity and they scored. We had 10, 12 opportunities to score but we were not able to take them.”
The Italian says that while he is not happy with the recent run of results, he is also not worried about his team because they have the potential to come back strongly.
The Former AC Milan boss won the Premier League and FA Cup double last year, in his debut season at Stamford Bridge. Recent events at Chelsea, such as Wilkins sacking, seem to suggest that decisions are made by the board rather than the manager.
The Club yesterday openly admitted that the Italian had been hired as a coach, and not as a manager. Ancelotti also claims that he was used to such a role while he was in charge of AC Milan. The club has quashed rumours that Ancelotti’s contract negotiations
have stalled after recent developments, and said that these talks would commence at the end of the season
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