Chelsea need to be patient

So Chelsea have yet another new manager, ushered in, no doubt, with yet more fanfare and oily platitudes from Bruce Buck and Peter Kenyon.

Chelsea FC/Other

Ancelotti has signed on the dotted line.

Although the move has been no secret, it's still a little odd that they've gone for Carlo Ancelotti. He was allowed to leave by Milan because they were unhappy with his team's performance, and at Chelsea he'll find a group of players similar to the ones so clearly unequipped to challenge Inter in Serie A.

Like Milan, Chelsea's squad is comprised mainly of those towards the end of the careers, and in need of reinvigorating in order to compete with the younger, faster and more dynamic teams who have been beating them to the biggest trophies over the last few seasons.

That said, there are a handful of world class players at the Bridge - certainly more than at the San Siro - and although the extent to which Roman Abramovich is prepared to dip into his depleted bank account to finance any acquisitions is unclear, he'll certainly provide more funds than Silvio Berlusconi has done in recent years.

It's hard, though, not to wonder whether the problems Chelsea experienced after appointing Luis Felipe Scolari will reoccur. A particular type of knowhow is required in order to succeed in England, and very few managers - foreign or otherwise - have achieved immediate success.

The only one to do so in the last decade - Jose Mourinho - was helped by retaining Steve Clarke as his assistant, and appointing the right number two will be crucial in allowing Ancelotti to introduce his own methods whilst retaining the team's mojo.

One thing Ancelotti will need is time. If he's permitted to bring in new players, the likelihood of them gelling immediately is slim. If he isn't, he'll still need to introduce his own ideas to improve the side; it has been three seasons since they won they won the league, and although they've been close, that they haven't is no coincidence - quite simply, they've not been good enough.

It's possible that those running the club have learnt their lessons after sacking four managers in five years, but should Chelsea fail to win the Premier League or Champions League next season, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see Hiddink return after next summer's World Cup.