I'll just say that I am a Chelsea fan, and I really did love Ancelotti's class and the way he handled himself, but the more time I've now spent thinking about his time at the club, I wouldn't say he has done a great job. I am grateful to him for bringing us the double but overall, I would say I'm neither shocked nor disappointed at his departure.
I'm pretty sure that Chelsea's owner is after a European title. Has the past ~ years not taught him that sacking managers isn't the way to do this?
I'd not be happy if I were a Chelsea fan.
Romanovich hasn't got to where he is by making decisions on a whim and acting like a child - he is shrewd and sharp. It may look like he's taking a "trial and error" approach with the managerial position at Chelsea, but with his ambitions, and the nature of top flight football, another season going like this one did would be an absolute disaster. To this date the only two mistakes I would say Roman has made since coming to the club was signing Shevchenko and sacking Mourinho - this decision wouldn't come close to being a mistake in my mind, and I'm sure Roman will never be made to regret it. He is certainly not making these decisions based on money - he is doing it because he wants Chelsea to be better, so as a fan of the club I really can't be unhappy with his decisions. Perhaps the way he goes about it isn't the best, but it's all part of the package with Roman. Much rather him than the Glazers or even FSG.
Ancelotti was paid millions a year to bring success to Chelsea. In his first year he earnt his money. In his second year he may as well have not even been there at all.
Looking back at his two years in charge, even in the first year Ancelotti did not completely cover himself in glory. With the squad we had and the lead we had at Christmas, the fact it went to the final day shows we nearly blew it. In the FA Cup final we were by far a better team than Portsmouth, yet, but for a tame penalty from Boateng, we could easily have lost that match. He never really showed off his tactical astuteness that Italian managers apparently have in abundance - he simply had the best squad in the country last year and that's what got him over the line. This season the squad was tested on many more occasions, and every single time the manager failed the test.
Romanovich is not stupid. He recognised that Ancelotti needed to go for those reasons I stated, not for the way the less-informed media will paint it as, which is simply that "he doesn't have a trophy to put in the cabinet". If we had finished second in a competitive league playing good football (ie United champions with 90 points, Chelsea second with 87) and hadn't been so completely outclassed in the Champions League, there's no way he would've gone. It's not a trophyless season that got Ancelotti sacked. It's the way the quality of the football and the never-say-die attitude of the club completely disappeared while he was in charge, and to this day it hasn't returned.
We lost 9 league matches this season - that's almost a quarter of our matches. We may have finished second, but only with 71 points - if somebody told me we'd finish with 71 points at the beginning of the season, I'd have been resigned to a 5th or 6th place finish. If somebody told me we'd finish 32 points ahead of relegated teams, I'd have worried about finishing in the top 8. Add to that the most dull, uninspiring football we've seen played by Chelsea since before Roman came (heck, no, we've been pretty entertaining since 1996), and that is not something the club should accept simply because "we did well last year".
