Leading soccer manager sacked for coming second

ELEANOR HALL: Second isn't good enough. It's a mantra professional coaches understand and it's just been enforced in a ruthless way by the Chelsea Football Club.

The club sacked coach Carlo Ancelotti overnight, despite winning two titles with him a year ago.

As Michael Atkin reports it highlights the highly competitive nature of European football, where wealthy private owners demand instant results.

MICHAEL ATKIN: Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti took the football team to unprecedented heights last season - winning both the English Premier League and the FA Cup.

SOCCER COMMENTATOR: There is the final whistle. Chelsea do the double for the first time in their history.

MICHAEL ATKIN: But just one year later, the team is in disarray after Ancelotti lost his job. Speaking after Chelsea's loss to Everton to end the season, it was clear he had no idea he was about to be sacked.

CARLO ANCELOTTI: I said I would like to stay but I have to accept the decision of the club. Now they have time to judge my job, if they decided that I have to stay, I will stay.

MICHAEL ATKIN: But shortly after the Italian was told finishing second to rivals Manchester United wasn't good enough. Chelsea released this statement to justify the sacking.

EXTRACT FROM STATEMENT FROM CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB: This season's performances have fallen short of expectations and the club feels the time is right to make this change ahead of next season's preparations.

MICHAEL ATKIN: It's sparked a furious debate in football circles about whether he deserved to go. It's been described as damaging to the game by the Managers Association and former Chelsea player Graeme Le Saux said it was bad for the players.

Damien Lovelock is a football commentator with Sky News. He says while the sacking is harsh by Australian standards, European football is a tough business where they expect results.

DAMIEN LOVELOCK: AFL, NRL even the A-League, oh yes, terribly, terribly poorly treated. By European standards especially in the elite competitions, not at all. It is worth the most money therefore it has the least margin for error. If you look at their season, I mean last year he comes in and they win two trophies so that is great.

This year that doesn't matter. Unless he had the most incredible bad luck with injuries or something, last year's great now do it again. You know, do better.

MICHAEL ATKIN: Chelsea is one of a growing number of European football teams with wealthy foreign owners. Ambitious Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is desperate for Chelsea to succeed in the European Champions League and when it didn't happen this year - he intervened.

Damien Lovelock says the owner's impatience destabilised the team.

DAMIEN LOVELOCK: Abramovich sacks the assistant coach, Ray Wilkins who is probably the most popular guy at the club, doesn't give a reason, didn't even tell Ancelotti he was going to do it. Ancelotti reads about it in the paper. It was extremely unpopular with the players and guess what - that is when the slump started.

He then signs Fernando Torres who has been out of form for nearly two years, signing a guy like that when you have still got Didier Drogba in your team and Nicolas Anelka who were getting the job done for you, doesn't exactly promote team harmony.

I think that's the biggest problem at Chelsea.

SOCCER COMMENTATOR: What a season for Chelsea and Carlo Ancelotti.

ELEANOR HALL: Not any more, Michael Atkin reporting there.

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