Former Chelsea midfielder, Terry Venables, has defended his former club’s sacking of Carlo Ancelotti, although admits to feeling sorry for the Italian losing his job only 12 months after securing the first double in the Stamford Bridge outfit’s history.
Speaking at Stamford Bridge in his role as an ambassador for 188BET ahead of this Saturday’s Champions League Final between Manchester United and Barcelona, Venables agreed that the former AC Milan coach has every reason to feel disappointed following his swift departure from West London and that perhaps misfortune played a part following an erratic season at Chelsea.
“Well let’s try and be fair about it because everyone is going to be going on about this and I think [Carlo] Ancelotti is very unfortunate to have lost his job to say the least. But you have also got to say he has done a great job. He has won the double, he has come second in the Premier League when the middle section [of the recently finished season] was poor, but he got them to come on again and there were injuries as well. It wasn’t his fault, so he has done a really good job,” the ex-England manager stated.
Having spent nearly thirty years as a manager, it is clear that Venables acknowledges the astonishing work of Ancelotti in achieving so much in such a short space of time, but recognises that the modern managerial environment is controlled by chairmen, a point that has been illustrated most frequently at Chelsea since Roman Abramovich assumed control of the club in 2003.
“We have also got to say that the eight years that the chairman [Roman Abramovich] has been there, it has been the best eight years Chelsea has had in the whole of their history,” Venables explained. “He is the biggest player in that. He is the one that without him we wouldn’t have had those eight years. I have got no doubt about that. So you have to say, well credit your dues, he is the head of the big business, and like all big businesses you have to make big decisions.
“It doesn’t mean it is right [sacking Ancelotti] it doesn’t mean it is wrong, it means it is very very tough. The only thing that counts is he has done the job and he wants to entrust someone else now. If he wants to entrust someone else he is taking a risk. If it sinks, you can say ‘well we tried and tested it, wanted him in the beginning, and he didn’t do it,’ and he feels confident with it in his hands. It’s his decision.”
Although Chelsea’s Russian owner now faces the task of discovering his sixth manager in as many years, Venables believes that Ancelotti will be back in management very soon.
“Ancelotti is going to be ok, he has done a great job, everyone feels sorry for him, and I do to. But he is going to go somewhere else, he understands. And like he says, maybe he would agree, sitting down in the cold of day, it is his [Abramovich’s] business. So I think that is the fair way of looking at it. And if someone says it is really outrageous and you say well, in the cold light of day, that’s how I would look at that.”
“Terry Venables is a 188BET ambassador. The In-Play betting specialists are offering great value odds on a host of markets for the Champions League Final. To check them out and for a free £25 bet go to www.188promo.com/terry”
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