By Chris Wright
Coming as a surprise to precisely nobody, Real Madrid have tonight relieved Carlo Ancelotti of his duties for the heinous crime of finishing two points shy of first in La Liga and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League this year.
Of course, Ancelotti won ‘La Decima’ and the Spanish Cup with Real last season but that was…well, y’know, last season.
Speaking at a news conference, Real president Florentino Perez admitted that it had “not been an easy decision” to sack Ancelotti before teasing that a new manager would be appointed “next week”.
“What did Ancelotti do wrong? I don’t know,” Perez added. “The demands here at Real Madrid are very high.”
“The affection that the players and the fans have for Carlo is the same as the affection I myself have for him.”
This coming almost five months to the day that Flo told MARCA he wanted Ancelotti to become ‘Real Madrid’s version of Sir Alex Ferguson’.
And so the world turns and another Real Madrid manager bites the dust. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Next up will be Rafa Benitez, or so the bookies would have us believe – which seems like Real are swapping their Alfa Romeo for a nice economic second-hand Volkswagen Passat estate, but then what do we know about anything?