Carlo Ancelotti has given the world an insight into how Roman Abramovich rules the roost at Stamford Bridge with an iron fist.
Ancelotti joined Chelsea in the summer of 2009 and he guided the club to a domestic double in his first season.
The Italian was hugely popular with the players and amongst the supporters, but he was sacked the following year after the club failed to retain their title.
However, in his recently published memoirs, Ancelotti confessed that his relationship with the Blues’ wealthy owner was always on the brink of spiralling out of control.
“We won the first game of the new season [2010/11] 6-0” the former AC Milan coach writes in the Times. “But I was still summoned to Abramovich’s house that night to receive a ‘dressing down’, as they say in England, for the performance.”
Ancelotti goes onto discuss how the remainder of the season panned out and he added “In April, we played Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-finals, with the feeling that we would have to win to save our season.
“The night before the second leg, Abramovich addressed the players, telling them they had to win or there would be huge changes to the team.
“He told me individually that if we lost then I was not to bother coming back to work. I wasn’t sure if he was serious. We lost and I did go back to work, though I felt like a dead man walking.”
Ancelotti was eventually shown the exit door at the end of the season and since his departure Abramovich has continued to ruthlessly chop and change managers.
The Stamford Bridge faithful will now be praying that incoming boss Antonio Conte is given the necessary time to reinvigorate the current team.
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