Two hours after Chelsea lost to Everton in the last match of this Premiership campaign, the following statement was released by the club.
“Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Carlo Ancelotti parted company with the club today (Sunday, 22 May).
The owner and board would like to thank Carlo for his contribution and achievements since taking over as manager in July 2009, which included winning the Double for the first time in the club’s history.
However, this season’s performances have fallen short of expectations and the club feels the time is right to make this change ahead of next season’s preparations.
Carlo will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge, where he will be given the reception and respect his position in our history deserves.
Chelsea’s long-term football objectives and ambitions remain unchanged and we will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager.
There will be no further comment until that appointment is made.”
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A Letter to the Chelsea Management
The Management,
Chelsea Football Club,
Stamford Bridge, Fulham Road,
London, SW6 1HS
To whosoever it may concern,
So, you have done it. You have fired the most graceful football manager today, in the most disgraceful of manners. This was the same man who won us our very first double in his début season – a feat never achieved by a foreign manager in England. The same man whose conduct had been impeccable despite repeatedly being put under tremendous pressure by you. The same man who was signed just two years back, after being courted for over an year. The same man who is respected the world over for the magnitude of his achievements in football. The same man who was loved by us, the fans.
This is not the first time you have insulted someone who deserved nothing but respect from the club – Jose Mourinho, Ray Wilkins, and now Carlo Ancelotti.
In your statement, you’ve said “This season’s performances have fallen short of expectations and the club feels the time is right to make this change ahead of next season’s preparations.” Well, let me just tell you something about your own performance – former CEO of the club had claimed that by 2010, we would break-even. I don’t even have to tell you how miserably you have failed at that. You say that the club feels the time is right; you couldn’t have chosen a more worse time. The manager had one more year to go in his contract. Last season a process was begun, a process of transformation. Quite a few players left the club, and thereafter a couple of them were signed. This summer, you could have chosen to support the manager and let him complete that process. But, you have chosen to abandon everything midway. Players such as David Luiz and Ramires are Carlo’s buys without the shadow of a doubt. Now, you have put them in a position in which Malouda found himself in once Mourinho was fired. The new manager may or may not want to build his plans around them. You end the horrible sentence with the word preparation. I ask again, do you even realise that you run a football club? A team is built over years of hard work and patience, a team is moulded into a desired shape over time. Compare two months which the new manager will get with two years (under Carlo) now.
Moreover, you didn’t leave any stone unturned in your endeavour to disrupt Carlo’s plans this season. If injuries to key personnel weren’t enough, the Italian had to deal with undesired and unwarranted interference from you. You fired his lieutenant, his trusted ally – someone who was an integral part of his plans. The team didn’t win for a considerable time in the aftermath of that decision. Then you installed an absolute nobody, who had zilch experience of football management, as his replacement. Then, there was the traditional Chelsea pressure on him to play certain players, thus disrupting his plans further. Even then, he managed to give Man United a run for their money in the title race.
Do you fine gentlemen realise that the players, some of them who are untouchables here, have horribly under-performed this season? If the team fails to achieve the targets that you have set, your axe falls on just the manager, while there are others, more guilty individuals who always go unpunished. There are a few on this team, who more often than not fail to play for the shirt. Yet, it’s the manager who finds himself banished. This is not how a successful club is run. A manager needs solid backing from the management in the form of job security for him to do what you expect him to do. You don’t need to look further than Manchester United for finding all the answers. You couldn’t handle the fact that the club defeated us both in the league and in Europe, right? Had that football club fired Sir Alex Ferguson in the first six years wherein he didn’t win a trophy, the club wouldn’t have become the most successful club in the history of English football. While, considering the present times, we fans don’t expect you folks to stick with the same man for 25 years, we certainly want you to persist with someone for at least 5 years, if you have decided to hire him.
After what has happened today, I don’t know who would be the next manager of Chelsea Football Club; quite frankly, a part of me isn’t even bothered about it. However, I would honestly request you to not hire someone whom you are not ready to persist with for sometime, at least till the end of his contract.
Sir, the discontent amongst the supporters is growing. A considerable section of the fan base is not happy with the business that their beloved club has become. If you don’t mend your ways, the day is not far when the discontent takes the form of a protest. For the sake of the club, let it not reach that point.
This is all I wanted to say on the behalf of the fans.
PS: Thank You, Carlo, for everything. We fans apologise for this grave mistake on the part of the club. We hope that you get the respect that you truly deserve in your next club. As far as the fans of this club are concerned, we will always love you. Best of luck, Don Carlo.
Signing off,
A heart-broken Blue