Source: Daily_Mail
IAN RIDLEY: Smarten up, Carlo, or risk becoming a fashion victim
One Italian has arrived elegantly, even making a Manchester Cityscarf look like a fashion item, while another here for just six monthsis starting to look a little dishevelled. [LNB]Perhaps Roberto Mancini will find out soon enough, like CarloAncelotti, that with all the money in the English game these days comesan unforgiving coldness when form dips with temperature.[LNB] Out of fashion: Carlo Ancelotti Height of Fashion: Roberto Mancini[LNB]The view of the Stamford Bridge touchline has shown Ancelotti's tieaskew, a bit like his Chelsea team, and overcoat too tight, resemblinghis tactics.[LNB] It was all highlighted by the presence of the terminally cool Jose Mourinho up in the stands for the Fulham derby. [LNB]Mourinho couldn't resist promoting his desire to return to Englishfootball in interviews, dropping in, too, that this was still virtuallyhis Chelsea side. [LNB]Ancelotti bit back, saying that this is actually Roman Abramovich's team. [LNB]This on top of Ancelotti's disdain for Arsene Wenger's assertion that he knew Chelsea would wobble. [LNB]If the former Milan manager is looking a little baffled by thisverbal jousting, wait till Sir Alex Ferguson gets going as endgameapproaches. [LNB] More from Ian Ridley, Mail on Sunday Sports Reporter... Ian Ridley: Protect Lionel Messi and he could become greater than Pele and Diego Maradona26/12/09 IAN RIDLEY: Don't blame Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, greedy Premier League are the problem 19/12/09 IAN RIDLEY: Why salary cap would stop Premier League ship from sinking12/12/09 IAN RIDLEY: Don't believe the hype as Fabio Capello's England could still make a mess of it all in South Africa next summer05/12/09 EXCLUSIVE: England's 2018 World Cup bid team want Frenchman Wenger21/11/09 Arsene Wenger is the right kind of hero in England's hour of need21/11/09 IAN RIDLEY: At home or in a far off Galaxy, they're still all howling out for Mr Wolf14/11/09 IAN RIDLEY: Can Liverpool really afford NOT to sack £4m-a-year Rafa Benitez?07/11/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE If Ancelotti gets there, that is. It may sound ridiculous that thejob of a table-topping coach could be under threat, but it is based ontwo things: Chelsea's twitchy trigger finger - as £40million spent oncoaching staff pay-offs under Abramovich illustrates - and the chillingechoes of last season. [LNB]Then, Luiz Felipe Scolari appeared in a blaze of Brazilian sunshine to bring the beauty that Abramovich wanted for his money. [LNB]And who dares deny the owner's desires when he has now, remarkablyand generously, converted a total of £710m pumped in from loans intoequity? [LNB]He who pays the piper . . . At first all was sweetness and light forScolari, but a patchy December was followed by a gloomy January.[LNB]As February arrived, defeat at Liverpool did for him, official confirmation of his departure coming after a home draw with Hull. [LNB]So to this campaign, and Ancelotti also began well. But December was patchy again, when they should have been pushing on after victory at Arsenal. [LNB]Now for January, and there should be chances for League redemption at Hull then Sunderland (h), Birmingham City (h) and Burnley (a). [LNB] Gambling on fitness: Joe Cole[LNB]Yet, each fixture contains pitfalls. And waiting at the beginning of February, as a then in-form Liverpool were last season? [LNB]Enter Arsenal, with Cesc Fabregas likely to be back. The extra burden for Ancelotti is the absence of key players in Didier Drogba and Michael Essien at the Africa Cup of Nations, along with useful squad men in John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou. [LNB]With Petr Cech and the central defensive pairing of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho appearing mistrustful of each other, and Frank Lampard showing a return of just one goal in open play so far this season, suddenly that fabled Chelsea spine looks less solid. [LNB]The creativity of Joe Cole is desperately needed but his fitness is questionable. [LNB]Ancelotti insists he will not buy big but instead rely on young players like Daniel Sturridge. [LNB]By warning not to expect too much of them, Michael Ballack has voiced openly the sceptical feelings of senior players.[LNB] If Chelsea, therefore, do sign players in this window, the conclusion can only be that they are not Ancelotti recruits but those of Abramovich and the sporting director Frank Arnesen. [LNB]In which case, the writing is indeed on the wall. April the cruellest month? [LNB]For managers, January comes close as the opportunity arrives to hire a new man - as Chelsea did last year with the again available Guus Hiddink - to salvage a wasteland of a season or prepare for the next. [LNB]Ancelotti must sharpen up his dress code.[LNB] Most footballers are knobs, according to Joey Barton. They certainly have their knockers. [LNB]Finally, it seems Barton is getting his act together after owning up to years of what was often alcohol-fuelled bad and violent behaviour and receiving treatment from the Sporting Chance clinic. [LNB]Many will be sceptical and Barton has had many chances, but he has kept trying. [LNB]You hope a more noted resident of Newcastle will take encouragement. [LNB]As Paul Gascoigne contemplates entering Celebrity Big Brother, someone close should tell him that while a group environment might be good for him, it should not be on car crash reality TV but in a treatment centre. [LNB] [LNB]
