Carlo Ancelotti’s wonderfully detailed descriptions of his clandestine meetings with Roman Abramovich have opened the door to another world, but as he romanticises the Chelsea owner’s spy-style antics the AC Milan manager appears to have overlooked one crucial factor. Much like James Bond films any story involving Abramovich tends to contain one hell of a body count.
Ancelotti will not be punished for his indiscretion – despite revealing far more than any other Abramovich’s employees have ever dared in the six years since he bought the club – but whether his reputation survives intact after working for him at close quarters remains to be seen. Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari have all been discarded by Abramovich in the last five years, with only Guud Hiddink leaving the club on a high.
In his new autobiography, Preferisco La Coppa, Ancelotti attempts to paint a flattering picture of Abramovich, praising his timidity, knowledge and hunger, but by revealing snatches of his conversations with the Russian he ends up doing precisely the opposite. “I find I can chat easily with Abramovich,” Ancelotti writes, to his obvious surprise, though it is unlikely the relationship will be so cosy if Chelsea fail to beat Burnley at home next season, (as Scolari did in this season’s Carling Cup incidentally.)
The most revealing passage of dialogue in the book comes from a secret meeting at the King George V hotel in Paris last year, in which Abramovich was expressing frustration at Chelsea’s failure to win a trophy last season. Ancelotti is impressed by what he perceives as the billionaire’s hunger and determination to succeed, but as a potential employer Abramovich comes across as hopelessly impatient and impossible.
“We’ve just lost the League and the Champions League final, I can’t be satisfied,” he tells Ancelotti, overlooking the fact that he sacked the most successful manager in the club’s history a month into the season and appointed a novice in his place, who somehow contrived to get the team to within one penalty kick of winning the greatest prize in the game. If Avram Grant was expected to win everything in half-a-season when pitted against a far superior Manchester United squad then God knows what demands will be made of Ancelotti before he finally signs his contract.
While Abramovich’s disregard of Grant’s achievements comes as little surprise – he had just sacked him after all – his attitude towards some of the club’s players is profoundly shocking, even allowing for the fact that he thought he was speaking in private. “Chelsea have no personality,” Abramovich complains to Ancelotti, a grievous insult to the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and many others, who by dint of their commitment and professionalism kept Chelsea in the hunt for honours to the bitter end last season in spite of the suicidal actions of the club.
Like many vastly wealthy men, Abramovich comes across as a spoilt brat with impossible demands, who is chasing a dream that cannot be realised. Even more worrying than this however is his continued faith in Andriy Shevchenko, whom he laments about not being the same player for Chelsea, a slide he is anxious for Ancelotti to correct. (Ancelotti’s response at Milan was interesting incidentally, revealing him to be far more of a pragmatist than Abramovich – Shevchenko started just two Serie A matches this season).
For all his attempted flattery, the real truth about Ancelotti’s fascination with Chelsea is contained in a single word, when he describes the Abramovich’s offer as “indecent.” With a £6million-a-year salary on offer Ancelotti could accept the job as early as next Monday, but he should not allow himself to be blinded the money and the intrigue as history shows that life in the hot-seat at Stamford Bridge is no picnic.
Like many ambitious moguls who have confronted 007, Abramovich is not so timid when it comes to pulling the trigger.
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