Carlo Ancelotti says he is 'lucky' to still have job
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has admitted he is "lucky" to still have a job after his team's poor run of form.
The Premier League champions have won one of their last eight league games and are fifth in the table ahead of Wednesday's game with Wolves.
"I know that a lot of coaches would have been sacked for these results," said the Italian. "I am a lucky man.
"In a restaurant you pay the bill when you've finished eating. At the end of the season the club can judge my job."
Chelsea travel to Molineux nine points behind league leaders Manchester United attempting to shake off the disappointment of conceding an injury-time equaliser in the 3-3 home draw with Aston Villa on Sunday.
Defender Branislav Ivanovic will return to the side after suspension but they are still without injured centre-back Alex and midfielder John Obi Mikel among others.
As Ancelotti seeks refuge from the crisis that engulfs his club, the Chelsea boss has hinted that he will be reinforcing his squad in the January transfer window, but he is still confident his current players can win the title.
"We are not desperate," added Ancelotti. "Everything is OK. We are able to come back for the title also without any new players.
"When the Champions League comes back we need to have a squad without injury. It is important that Alex comes back fit to play.
"In February when the Champions League comes back we want to be in the FA Cup and the Premier League [title race], every game will be important so we need to have a squad fit and without injury."
The Chelsea boss has experimented with youngsters Jeffrey Bruma, 19, Gael Kakuta, 19, and the excellent Josh McEachran, 17.
But with McEachran offered just 57 minutes of Premier League action this season and Bruma only making his first start against Aston Villa last weekend, their inability to filter into the side quickly exposes a glitch in the master plan Ancelotti and Roman Abramovich plotted last summer.
"Last year we decided to put more young players in the team and to manage the club and the squad better," said Ancelotti, whose only major signing last summer was midfielder Ramires from Benfica. "But this is not the reason that we are not doing well.
"They are in the squad because we have trust but they are young," explained the Italian. "But we don't want to put too much responsibility on them."
Rather than blaming Chelsea's shortcomings on his young players, Ancelotti believes his team are just not getting the rub of the green.
"We lost some confidence in some games, like against Sunderland," said Ancelotti of the 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge. "But the biggest game we lost confidence in was against Birmingham because we played one of our best games of the season and lost.
"It was not easy to move on from that because when you lose when you play badly it is easy to manage. But it's difficult to manage when you play at your best and you lose."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/9339162.stm
