Ancelotti leaves Milan to clear way to Bridge

godtabh

Carlo Ancelotti has announced his contract at AC Milan has been terminated by mutual consent, and the Italian club have wasted no time by immediately installing Leonardo as his replacement.

The news clears the way for the Italian coach to be installed as Guus Hiddink's replacement at Chelsea.

Club vice-president Adriano Galliani confirmed former AC Milan and Brazil playmaker Leonardo, who has been working for the club as technical area activities manager, will be his successor.

Galliani said on Sunday evening: "Leonardo is our new coach and will be presented at the San Siro tomorrow at midday.''

It had been widely expected that Ancelotti would leave the San Siro at the end of the Serie A season. Milan claimed second spot on the final day of the season with a 2-0 win at Fiorentina.

The 49-year-old has been consistently linked with Chelsea, though he refused to confirm he had agreed to take over at Stamford Bridge.

He had another year on his contract but Milan's failure to mount a serious challenge to Inter Milan at the top of Serie A meant he had been under pressure.

He told Sky television: "In agreement with the club, we have decided to bring forward the expiry of my contract. This beautiful adventure at Milan is over.

"I can't say anything else official. I have not made any agreement with any other club.

"I am certainly not staying in Italy. But it is not certain that I am going to London for sure.'' However when he was told "good luck" in English, he replied: "This I won't understand until I arrive."

He was Serie A's longest serving manager having been appointed in 2001 after a spell at Juventus and led the Rossoneri to one Serie A title and two Champions League triumphs.

He had previously served the club with great distinction as a player for over 15 years.

Chelsea are on the lookout for a new permanent coach after sacking Luiz Felipe Scolari in February.

Leonardo, meanwhile, joined Milan from Paris St Germain in 1997 and remained at the San Siro for four seasons before going back to his native Brazil.

He returned to Milan in 2003 before hanging up his boots after making 60 appearances for his country.

Since then he has spent his time working in the media and helping out with various charities.

He was named as part of Milan's technical staff early last year.

Looks certain now

el rabitos

yeah, end of an era now, longest reigning manager in serie a.

amazing record in the champions league, pity he couldnt duplicate that in the league.

good luck to leo, he'll need it methinks.

jesus_thats_gre

Not quite sure what to make of him joining Chelsea.

DM_7

Cue half of serie A being linked to Chelsea. It will be interesting to see what players will be brought in.

SlickRic

my guesses...

pirlo
seedorf
del piero
inzaghi

all the aul' ones.

DM_7

Will Sheva be back at Chelsea next season?

Originally when i heard the news, just for a second i thought, ooh maybe he is leaving so he isn't tasked with replacing the old guys. Then I thought of Deco, Ballack and Sheva.

Adebayor to Chelsea is the other rumour I would expect.

Trippie

ADP or inzaghi wont leave italy.The Pirlo and Seedorf swap rumour has been getting more attention recently. Havent they already signed Zhirkov though so there will be competition in midfield. Adebayor seems a done deal as well so i doubt he will have too much cash to go wild with.

SlickRic

Trippie wrote: »

Adebayor seems a done deal

excuse me?

Trippie

SlickRic wrote: »

excuse me?

I meant him leaving Arsenal and if chelsea do buy him like it was hinted at recently

SlickRic

Trippie wrote: »

I meant him leaving Arsenal and if chelsea do buy him like it was hinted at recently

i know.

but claiming its basically a done deal is news to me.

gossip, yes.

done deal, no.

PHB

This is bloody interesting.

Really no idea what will happen. Obviously Ancelotti is coming to Chelsea now, but who he brings in, who leaves, i've really no idea. Kaka is even a possibility. He's a fantastic CL manager while not quite as a good as league manager. I'm happy about that in one sense, that they won't be anywhere near as ruthless as Mourinho was in the CL. I think it'll take Ancelitto time to adjust to the higher consistancy required from a team in the PL. But in the CL, Chelsea with the right signings could be something.

Beyond that, he can make the whole 4-4-2 with no wingers type system work pretty well.

Should be very very interesting.

If he's stupid enough to sell Essien, and I mean mind numbingly stupid, I'll be happier than any other transfer dealing United do.

SlickRic

PHB wrote: »

If he's stupid enough to sell Essien, and I mean mind numbingly stupid, I'll be happier than any other transfer dealing United do.

nobody's that stupid.

any reason to believe he would?

CHD

If Abramovich is stupid enough to sanction a swap deal for Essien bringing in two old about to be has beens in Seedorf and Pirlo and sign Adebayor i will go to London and beat him up. I will prob be killed though.

DM_7

CHD wrote: »

If Abramovich is stupid enough to sanction a swap deal for Essien bringing in two old about to be has beens in Seedorf and Pirlo and sign Adebayor i will go to London and beat him up. I will prob be killed though.

I wouldn't book a plane ticket.

Essien is not going anywhere.

SlickRic

CHD wrote: »

If Abramovich is stupid enough to sanction a swap deal for Essien bringing in two old about to be has beens in Seedorf and Pirlo and sign Adebayor i will go to London and beat him up. I will prob be killed though.

man, i didn't realise that was the swap deal people were talking about.

f*ck me that'd be dumb.

selpher

Any chance he'll go to Real instead?

Local-womanizer

Remember Perez is taking over at Real tomorrow and Carletto has said on a number occasions he would be more than happy to take the Real job.

I think he will be waiting to see how things play out,he basically is in the driving seat from that perspective.

CHD

Pellegrinni (sp?) is getting the Madrid job isn't he?

Local-womanizer

CHD wrote: »

Pellegrinni (sp?) is getting the Madrid job isn't he?

I heard somewhere that Villarreal are looking for something in the region of 4 mill for him.

el rabitos

hard to believe Ancelotti will get the same amount of time and good grace at either chelsea or real that was afforded to him at milan.

they'll be looking for succes as soon as the first ball is kicked, and not just that, they want to be entertained too, especially in the case of real.

i think he'd be best served holding out for a return to roma, could be some movement there this summer too.

godtabh

I think he could have the same impact as Rafa had on Liverpool in his first season in the CL with Chelsea.

Good look to him. Always seemed a decent person

el rabitos

kearnsr wrote: »

I think he could have the same impact as Rafa had on Liverpool in his first season in the CL with Chelsea.

Good look to him. Always seemed a decent person

this is true, but the question is, would chelsea accept the 5th place finish or anything close?

CHD

el rabitos wrote: »

this is true, but the question is, would chelsea accept the 5th place finish or anything close?

Can't see that happening tbh. Chelsea squad is a hell of alot better.

PiE

I really can't see Ancelotti's style suiting the PL.

mike65

Confirmed, 3 year contract.

gucci

mike65 wrote: »

Confirmed, 3 year contract.

Your a betting man mike, how long do you see it lasting?

TwoShedsJackson

CHD wrote: »

If Abramovich is stupid enough to sanction a swap deal for Essien bringing in two old about to be has beens in Seedorf and Pirlo and sign Adebayor i will go to London and beat him up. I will prob be killed though.

Pirlo turned 30 2 weeks ago, I wouldn't call that old for the position he plays, as for calling him a 'has been' :rolleyes:

ShooterSF

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

Pirlo turned 30 2 weeks ago, I wouldn't call that old for the position he plays, as for calling him a 'has been' :rolleyes:

So was Deco when he signed and Sheva. I've always been of the opinion that 30 is too old to come from Italy or Spain to a faster paced league and adapt. Also a swap deal for probably Chelsea's best player is crazy.

Dave!

gucci wrote: »

Your a betting man mike, how long do you see it lasting?

til Hiddink's contract expires with Russia?

mike65

gucci wrote: »

Your a betting man mike, how long do you see it lasting?

Tricky, it strikes me that Ancelotti knows his own mind and won't put up with too much interference (actually how he put up with Silvio beats me!) and that he may find that the EPL is not Serie A the hard way (the fixture list alone could have a big bearing on how well he copes). But Roman A/Peter Kenyon will not want to end up doing a 08/09 again so they have to be patient. So I think he'll last the season at least unless things really do go horribly wrong - thats most likely if he attempts to make wholesale changes to the squad, which RA wouldn't sanction anyway he being down to his last few billion.

Regarding Hiddink I dunno why they didn't simply use Wilkins until they can bring him back.

Guy:Incognito

No one reckons Ronaldinho could follow him?

Boggles

He is a cup specialist, Chelsea (Roman) want the Champions League, anything less than a win next season and he could be gone.

el rabitos

Stekelly wrote: »

No one reckons Ronaldinho could follow him?

i reckon he'll stick with milan now leo is the coach, hopefully he can get some consistancy out of him.

Bubs101

Stekelly wrote: »

No one reckons Ronaldinho could follow him?

Doubt it, he wasn't a fixture in the first team. TBH, there are very few of the AC team who'd get into the Chelsea team so I hope he leaves them well alone

Theresalwaysone

I reckon the fact that Leonardo is taking over at Milan isnt been given enough attention.

Dont be at yourself

Leonardo to be next season's Pep?

jesus_thats_gre

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Leonardo to be next season's Pep?

I would doubt it..

el rabitos

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Leonardo to be next season's Pep?

unlikely, but i do get the impression that the idea is to employ a young popular figure to reinvigorate a team with a reputation now for being fairly old, which is true to an extent.

hopfully this will lead to kaka staying put and not having that shitehawk at real turn his head

leninbenjamin

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Leonardo to be next season's Pep?

I don't think AC will be capable of matching Barca's achievements this season while Berlesconi maintains such a high level of involvement with the club. He buys players they don't need, and then tries to get the rest on the cheap.

they are due for a bit of an overhaul anyway due to the age in some key positions, they don't have the youth of Barca so it could be a turbulent few years for AC. They've got the experience, but they need to get a bit more youth in to attack consistently on all front imo. Plus if Kaka does actually leave they will be really lacking creativity up front, and they haven't the wide players who might immediately compensate for his departure.

I'd say Leonardo will be given his chance, but he has a lot more work to do than Pep.

TwoShedsJackson

ShooterSF wrote: »

So was Deco when he signed and Sheva. I've always been of the opinion that 30 is too old to come from Italy or Spain to a faster paced league and adapt. Also a swap deal for probably Chelsea's best player is crazy.

He'd be mad to sell or swap Essien, no question about that, but Pirlo would be a good acquisition.

jesus_thats_gre

---

Lampard

---

---

Pirlo

---

Essien---

Would be quite the midfield...

mike65

Just listening to the Guardian pod, James Richardson is rather sceptical, could be Big Phil 2 he suspects.

Mr Alan

mike65 wrote: »

Just listening to the Guardian pod, James Richardson is rather sceptical, could be Big Phil 2 he suspects.

have been thinking the same myself to be honest.

jesus_thats_gre

Have been hoping it but I don't know enough about what he done in Italy and with who to make a decision.

Supermanscat

Any link for that pod?

I think the same too, don't think he will be all that successful at all, or at least to Romans standards!

mike65

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/audio/2009/jun/01/football-weekly-podcast-carlo-ancelotti-chelsea?commentpage=1&commentposted=1

leninbenjamin

mike65 wrote: »

Just listening to the Guardian pod, James Richardson is rather sceptical, could be Big Phil 2 he suspects.

nah, he's a completely different manager. Scolari's frailties were there to be seen from the beginning, his Portugal side has always been disporganised at the back (remember how poor Carvalho looked at times in Euro 2008?) His performances were no where near what he gives for Chelsea), and repeatedly crashed out of competitions due to poor organisation for set pieces. It was obvious (indeed search my post history :P) that Scolari wasn't going to bring what Chelsea needed.

Ancelotti's teams are completely different. Scolar's teams never had the composure that Ancelotti's have. Ancelotti's are much better organised, and even though he never achieved the level of sustained success with Milan some would demand, he knows how to send out a team to win a game, how to get teams playing possession football, while at the same time he knows how to organise defences, and (judging on some buys like Kaka, Pato and the transformation of Pirlo, which may not be the entire picture) knows how to spot talent imo.

Now in saying that, I'm not necessarily saying Ancelotti will bring Guaranteed Success, but he's definitely one of the better men who were available for the job and i'd fancy him to last a fair bit longer than 6 months.

godtabh

leninbenjamin wrote: »

I don't think AC will be capable of matching Barca's achievements this season while Berlesconi maintains such a high level of involvement with the club.

Do to conflict of interests he has nothing to do with the day to day stuff at Milan apparently. Its either to do with the fact he is the PM and/or his tv interests. As far as I know Gillani (sp) has the power there

Local-womanizer

kearnsr wrote: »

Do to conflict of interests he has nothing to do with the day to day stuff at Milan apparently. Its either to do with the fact he is the PM and/or his tv interests. As far as I know Gillani (sp) has the power there

Yep,Silvio is too busy running the country to be invovled with Milan.The Italians would not be impressed if the country is in a recession and he was pouring money into a football club.

Galliani runs the club on a day to day basis.Although Silvio has mentioned he wants Milan back to their best as he is sick of seeing Inter lift the Scudetto and English and Spanish teams lift the CL.

leninbenjamin

kearnsr wrote: »

Do to conflict of interests he has nothing to do with the day to day stuff at Milan apparently. Its either to do with the fact he is the PM and/or his tv interests. As far as I know Gillani (sp) has the power there

ha. all that means is that he has no official position. you can be damn sure he'll be on the phone to what's his face (Galliani?) every few days. remember the chairman in Spain who signed himself up as a Physio so he could be on the touchline? there are ways around everything

Local-womanizer

leninbenjamin wrote: »

ha. all that means is that he has no official position. you can be damn sure he'll be on the phone to what's his face (Galliani?) every few days. remember the chairman in Spain who signed himself up as a Physio so he could be on the touchline? there are ways around everything

But Kearnsr is touching on the fact that Silvio is unwilling to spend.And he is more concerned with everything else going on in his life at the moment,mainly his wife leaving and that fling with an 18 yr old.

His daughter,who owns a huge company that part fund Milan has also said she is not going to give any more money to the club.He said it himself he is stepping back while he sits in office.

Anyway,all that might not matter as there are some Arabs interested in taking over the club and Galliani neither confirmed or denied a possible takeover,so who knows.