Finally, the worst kept secret in football was revealed with the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as the new manager of Chelsea, as he was awarded the task of trying to replace Guus Hiddink.
Is he the man for the job?
Well, his greatest problem is clear - the language barrier. However, news of his problems have been widely exaggerated by the media. He gave his first interview in complete english for Chelsea TV after signing up to the Russian Revolution and while his English was far from perfect, it was of a good enough standard to survive at half-time when you need to tell Drogba to keep his mouth shut and his head in the game.
However, is that it? Is that the end of his problems? I'm not too sure.
Ancelotti is a good manager, but one Serie A title in his whole stay at AC Milan does not say much for the man. Yes, he won two Champions League Titles, but he lost another.
One thing that you can be sure of, is that he had, and still has, many friends at AC. It is said that many players were in tears when he announced that he was leaving the club, including hard man Gennaro Gattuso.
What is my gut instinct?
I think that Abramovic will get what he wants - a Champions League trophy.
However, I feel that this appointment will be doomed to failure on the domestic front. I can't see Ancelotti leading the side to success in the Premier League, but the Champions League? That is a completely different prospect.
For Chelsea, the Champions League has always been their Holy Grail, just like Liverpool and the Premier League title...the trophy that they want so desperately that always avoids them.
Their side is good enough to get to the semi-final - they have proved that enough times in the past, but I feel that Ancelotti's know-how of the European game will enable them to pass the final hurdle.
That is, if Abramovic doesn't get bored and wield the sword before Ancelotti gets that far.
Anything is possible...after all, this is Chelsea.
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