Ancelotti chose his words carefully in a press conference yesterday, during which he was quizzed about his recently departed assistant. It's been suggested that he did play a role in saving Wilkins's job earlier this year, but that proved to be only a temporary stay of execution.
Let's face it, when owner Roman Abramovich is paying you in excess of £5 million a season, you'd be an idiot to start questioning his decisions in public. So whatever Ancelotti really thinks, he'll be keeping his lip buttoned if he knows what's good for him. Wilkins, of course, was earning a considerably more modest £350,000 a year.
This might sound odd coming from a fan of Ray "Butch" Wilkins, but I'm cheered by the fact that his sacking attracted as much outrage as it did. It would have been sad if the end of his long association with Chelsea had passed unnoticed because some Premier League footballer's latest sexual indiscretions were plastered all over the tabloids. There's no room for sentiment in football and, for once, I think Chelsea might have been right to look to the future.
Judging by its toothless performance in yesterday's 3-0 home defeat by Sunderland, Chelsea has no reason to feel complacent about its current position on top of the league. A few more humiliations like that one, and we'll be seeing Carlo Ancelotti and Butch Wilkins reunited once more—on a park bench.
Article comments
1 - charlie doherty
Great article. Love the Lemonheads reference in the title too.
2 - Susannah Straughan
Thanks. Glad someone got that reference!
3 - charlie doherty
I'm from Boston, as you know, and a big fan of a lot of local bands, including those guys (and Juliana Hatfield). I even covered a Lemonheads show for Blogcritics a couple of years back.
Not long after that, they played the entire "It's A Shame About Ray" album live, with the exception of the "Mrs. Robinson" cover (which they've always refused to play live for whatever reason). It was a really cool show in a small Boston club too.
4 - Susannah Straughan
Just read your review of the Lemonheads gig from 2007. Sounds like a great night and I definitely prefer their version of Mrs Robinson -- one of my least favourite S&G songs, even if it is from The Graduate.