Deja' Vu at Chelsea. Will Carlo follow Jose?

Everywhere this morning in the papers, on the Internet and being covered by every other possible media outlet is the "strong rumour" that Carlo Ancelotti has contacted the LMA about this position at Chelsea and his intention to resign. Chelsea of course have come out and "rubbished" reports of Carlo's exit but you have to wonder what is going on as the feeling of Deja'Vu casts our minds back to three years ago.

Back in 2007 the Jose Mourinho saga filled the press as he left Chelsea and was a shock to Chelsea fans and everyone. Jose had a run of games where Chelsea never performed and cost him his job. A key point to remember was the fact that Abramovich brought Avram Grant into the club to work with Mourinho which wasn't a decision made by Jose.

Yes I know it was slightly different as Chelsea had slipped down the table and hadn't retained the title for a third season in a row but you have to wonder after losing three in the last four games in addition to the Ray Wilkins situation if Carlo is feeling as though he wants to jump before he is pushed!.

Carlo spoke of handling the "expected" criticism after the defeat to Birmingham and said:

"I am prepared for criticism and this is the life of the coach, When the team doesn't win, there is more responsibility on the coach but this is normal. This is my job for the team. I am not having good results so it is normal to have more responsibility, but I do not have a problem with the supporters and I have no problem with this.

It is very difficult every year, and you have to move on from a difficult moment. We are capable of moving on quickly because it is true we played really bad against Sunderland but against Birmingham we played well.

We know very well that we have lost three games in four and this is not good for Chelsea. For this reason I have to take responsibility but I am not worried about the team because I think we will be able to play good football again, and we have look forward to the next games against Zilina and Newcastle."

I have to say first of all as I stated in my match report from the Birmingham game that Chelsea played much much better and if it wasn't for Ben Foster we would have won the game easily. If Chelsea had won the game you have to wonder whether or not we would be reading more this weekend on the fact that Arsenal couldn't hold to a lead once again.

Instead today the focus this lunchtime will be on Carlo Ancelotti's pre-match press conference ahead of Zilina tomorrow and you can bet your life that the match tomorrow will be of little significance as the question's will be on Carlo and his position at the club.

I wrote an article the other day stating that you get the impression Carlo has been told more or less to "Bite your lip and get on with it" and maybe, just maybe it rings true much more that we are led to believe. Within that article I state my opinion on the appointment of Michael Emenalo as his new assistant and how simply can't understand it. If anyone saw the TV coverage of the Birmingham game and especially the focus of the Chelsea bench during the game you will agree that it didn't look a comfortable situation at all.

It's my personal opinion (and feel free to comment and leave your thoughts on the Carlo and Chelsea situation at the moment) that there is a problem between Carlo and the board and after Carlo confirming the other day that he doesn't have "total control" of first team affairs, there maybe substance behind these rumours. To me he doesn't seem happy.

With regards to the playing side of things I really believe that this week Chelsea will turn a corner and get back on track. I cannot under-estimate how pleased I was with the way we played on Saturday. Chelsea had been lack luster and sluggish against Sunderland and Liverpool just like we had been against Manchester City but at Birmingham we played like we are used to seeing Chelsea play.

We still sit top of the Premier League (OK joint top with United) which is hard to believe after the way we played against Liverpool and Sunderland but remains a major positive as we look to come through the current "blip" we are having at the moment which all teams in the League will have at some stage.

However, such is the nature of the beast these days in football you have to wonder if Carlo will be leading the side through the situation we are faced with at the moment and out the other side or if the Abramovich empire at the club makes yet another decision "in the best interest" of the club that see's Chelsea's Premier League and Champions League title push another step away from our grasp once again!.

KTBFFH