A quick trawl through the chat-rooms and the phone-ins will reveal that the jury is very much out on Carlo Ancelotti as Chelsea manager. The new man has something to prove; as has his employer, Roman Abramovich.
It is not just Ancelotti that will be under scrutiny next season. The relationship between Abramovich and his Stamford Bridge public has moved on, too. They are no longer supine and pathetically grateful for his intervention and his millions. They are no longer prepared to overlook a history of decision making that has become increasingly erratic since the departure of Jose Mourinho.
The fall-out between Abramovich and Mourinho, and the appointment of Avram Grant, was officially the end of the honeymoon period. The supporters sided with Mourinho, and certainly did not warm to his replacement, who was seen as Abramovich’s stooge. The cooling of their ardour runs deeper than this, though. When he first arrived, Abramovich’s investment was phenomenal and supporters are prepared to overlook a lot if the owner is throwing his personal fortune at the club. Claudio Ranieri was a popular guy, too — but Chelsea fans quickly became comfortable with his dismissal once Abramovich delivered a revitalised squad, a special Champions League-winning manager and two Premier League titles.
In recent seasons, though, the wow factor has been missing. Abramovich’s influence has been seen as indulgent and compared unfavourably to developments elsewhere. Manchester City’s spending power is greater; the Glazer family at Manchester United are less obtrusive; despite incessant rumours of financial instability, Liverpool’s Americans somehow found the money to sign Fernando Torres, arguably the greatest striker in the world; even Arsenal, who have had to fight to maintain elite status in the Premier League, have bought Andrei Arshavin, whose four goals at Anfield constitute a greater single impact than has been made by any recent Chelsea signing.
So Abramovich needs his latest plan to work. There is little doubt that Ancelotti is his man, the manager he wanted a year ago when Luis Felipe Scolari came to the club. Scolari, it transpires from reading Ancelotti’s autobiography with its tales of clandestine meetings with Abramovich in Geneva and Paris, was probably second choice and the impatience demonstrated in his dismissal halfway through the season was perhaps that of an owner who was never convinced from the start. We must believe he is now: although Chelsea’s insistence that Ancelotti works with a residue of backroom staff from a previous regime is puzzling. Surely it would be wiser to give him free rein to bring in his team and work his way? Abramovich must hope this is an incidental detail, easily overcome.
It may appear that if Ancelotti does not deliver there is an easy option in the return of Guus Hiddink, who is expected to be free after the World Cup in 2010 – or even before if his Russian team do not make it through the play-offs — but that would still leave a credibility issue. This is Chelsea’s fifth manager in 21 months, and Abramovich needs success if he is not to achieve reduced status as the thinking man’s Flavio Briatore.
Martin Samuel is the chief sports writer of the Daily Mail, where his column appears on Monday and Wednesday