Carlo Ancelotti looks back over his career and ahead to Bayern Munich. “At Chelsea I won the Double. Sacked. At Real Madrid La Decima. Sacked.”
The former Milan tactician is well-loved by fans and highly successful, yet struggles to hold down a job when there is the slightest downturn.
He has already signed a contract to take over from Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich next season, as the Spaniard is heading to Manchester City.
Carlo Ancelotti looks back over his career and ahead to Bayern Munich. “At Chelsea I won the Double. Sacked. At Real Madrid La Decima. Sacked.”
The former Milan tactician is well-loved by fans and highly successful, yet struggles to hold down a job when there is the slightest downturn.
He has already signed a contract to take over from Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich next season, as the Spaniard is heading to Manchester City.
“At Chelsea I won the Double. Sacked. At Real Madrid I won La Decima. Sacked,” he smiled in an interview with The Times newspaper.
“There is no manager in their career that has not been sacked. Ferguson was sacked, Lippi sacked, Capello sacked, Mourinho sacked, Benitez.
“The only one not sacked is Guardiola, but he’s still really young. He has plenty of time. One day he will come into our club, the Sack Club.
“One of my favourite sayings is from The Godfather: ‘It’s not personal, it’s strictly business.’”
At times just the threat of dismissal can be enough, such as when PSG told him to win a futile Champions League tie.
“If I don’t do a good job, then just fire me, don’t give me stupid ultimatums.”
Ancelotti was asked what he wanted etched on his gravestone. “Good man, good manager.”
He reveals that his glittering management career almost included Manchester United, but that the job went to David Moyes instead.
“I had already spoken to Real Madrid. For the experience, a manager has to go to Madrid. If it hadn’t been for that, I would have come, 100 per cent.”
The Italian has written another book full of amusing anecdotes, this time titled ‘Quiet Leadership – winning hearts, minds and matches.’
Sometimes this quiet and even paternal approach can be judged as weak by club owners, including Roman Abramovich.
“I’ve heard it before and I’ve heard it since, but he was wrong – they are all wrong. It happened at all of them: Pal,a. Milan, Paris, Chelsea.
“Always in a difficult moment someone says: ‘You give the players too much freedom, you have to whip them.’ In Italy, they call it la frusta. But that’s what you do to horses.
“They appoint me for being camp. Then they sack me and say ‘too calm!’
“I think you grow your personality from the experiences you had in the beginning of life. I grew up in a family really quiet, really humble. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we were peaceful. We had food to eat, but not lots to spend on clothes or anything, so we didn’t worry about that. I grew up in a peaceful way, no fights.
“The man, the manager I am, is formed by those experiences. I have the character of my father. He was really patient.
“When he had the farm, he had cows, He made milk to make Parmigiano, but to be paid, you have to wait one year and a half for the end of the process. For over one year, you have to check everything, wait. That’s patience.
“Modern football is the opposite. Football has no patience. If you aren’t patient, you can fight every day. You can fight with the press, the owner, the players and another manager. You can fight with the doctor sometimes…”
Despite the snipe at Jose Mourinho, Ancelotti assures their quarrel is behind them after an exchange of congratulatory messages.
“We said, ‘OK, we are old men, we have to stop this.’ That’s all settled now. We have no necessity to fight. As I write in the book, we aren’t the most important people. That’s the players.
“My happiness is working day by day with staff and players. Relationship with the players. That’s what it all comes back to.”