Ancelotti blue as Chelsea’s festive frustration worsens

LESS than a month after ruthlessly dismantling Arsenal in their own backyard, Chelsea will now head into the New Year with alarm bells ringing, while even Carlo Ancelotti’s confidence is certain to be tested to the limit.

Suddenly, the prospects of a first Premier League title in four years does not look so much of a cakewalk after a worrying hiatus at the halfway stage of the season. This average performance at resurgent Birmingham City means Ancelotti, the Chelsea manager, has only guided his side to one win in seven matches and next month will present his most severe challenge yet since his appointment.

With the talismanic Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou both heading off to the African Cup of Nations, the current absence of Nicolas Anelka and Michael Essien being so keenly felt, plus the suspension of Florent Malouda, it will not get much easier for the urbane Italian.

But it was the sight of his two core players, John Terry and Frank Lampard, that painted the most clear picture at St Andrew’s that all is not well. Terry, who cut a figure of pent-up frustration all afternoon during this excruciating stalemate, trudged around the centre-circle at the final whistle cursing at nobody in particular. He bore the look of a player running out of patience with the personnel around him.

And there was Lampard’s disconsolate walk of shame, as he was surprisingly substituted 11 minutes before the end, that could well become a symbol of where it all went wrong for Ancelotti at the end of the campaign, should he finish without a league title.

Add into the mix it was the first time that Chelsea have failed to score in a staggering 34 games since drawing 0-0 in the Nou Camp, and Alex Ferguson has probably already detected the first signs of a collapse. Certainly, this is the stage of the year when titles are won and lost – and Chelsea are veering dangerously towards the latter.

Take nothing away from Birmingham in this game, however. Alex McLeish is mounting a compelling case to be named the Premier League’s manager of the year after leading an array of waifs, strays and has-beens into unchartered territory.

Indeed, one wag at St Andrew’s even remarked at the final whistle that this result was a case of two points dropped in their bid to snatch a Champions League place last season.

While that was undoubtedly tongue in cheek, McLeish’s sterling work this term is serious stuff.

The arrival of ambitious owner Carson Yeung in October, after almost two years of flirting, must have only increased McLeish’s concerns that his reign was approaching its denouement, but the Hong Kong billionaire has arguably helped galvanise a club sorely in need of energising.

Since Yeung’s grand entrance, at a packed press conference at St Andrew’s, Birmingham are yet to lose, and face Stoke today on the back of a 10-match unbeaten run. That excellent record is only one short of a club record set in the 1906/07 season.

However, McLeish is still adamant that Ancelotti can push his mentor Ferguson all the way in the race for the Premier League. He said: “I know how it feels when you are with a team that’s used to winning and you drop points. You start to look at the dressing room and think: ‘Who’s going to win this for us?’ “But they have so much quality that they will start winning again. They will roll their sleeves up. They are still top of the league. There’s a long way to go.

“The expectation levels at the big clubs are higher. I know the pressure from my Rangers’ time.

“But you are talking about quality managers. Ancelotti and Ferguson, these guys have been through it before. Their focus isn’t due to outside forces. It’s pressure from within and that’s what drives them.”

It could have been even more memorable for McLeish, had Christian ‘Chucho’ Benitez’s goal late in the first half not been erroneously disallowed for offside. Birmingham did require Joe Hart, the goalkeeper on loan from Manchester City, to produce a stunning audition for next year’s World Cup Finals as he produced excellent saves from Daniel Sturridge, Lampard and Kalou.

But as time ran out on Chelsea there was a disturbing lack of urgency and they were forced to settle for a point.

Ancelotti appears to have reached the crossroads this season.

The next few weeks will reveal if he is in danger of hitting a dead end.