Ancelotti denies quit talk

Carlo Ancelotti insists he remains in charge of Chelsea and has denied he ever considered his position as coach over the weekend.

Chelsea slumped to their third defeat in four games with a 1-0 reverse at Birmingham on Saturday and the rumour mill went into overdrive last night when Ancelotti was said to have offered his resignation to the club.

Ancelotti was also alleged to have rang the League Managers Association (LMA) about resigning.

But the Italian cleared the air today during the club’s press conference ahead of their Champions League game against Group F whipping boys MSK Zilina tomorrow night.

“I don’t know if it’s enough to clarify my position today to close these rumours and speculation,” said Ancelotti.

“These rumours are totally untrue. I don’t know why they came out. I didn’t speak with the LMA.

“They called me last night when I was at home, quiet, to find out what was happening.

“These rumours are totally untrue. I have my contract until 2012, here, in this club. I’ve said a lot of times that I’d like to stay here.

“I love not just this club, but these players. I have a lot of confidence in these players, in this squad, so there’s no reason to change my ideas.

“I don’t know if this is enough to speak about all this. I think that when the team don’t reach the right results, obviously the coach is under pressure.

“Obviously I am under pressure because I’d like Chelsea to win every game, but just this. I am focused on my job to make us play better than we are at this moment. Just this.

“There was, last night, an LMA dinner with the coaches and they wanted to know about these rumours. I said to them that this is totally untrue. I read in the papers today that I called them. That’s untrue. I didn’t call nobody.”

And he underlined that at no stage over the weekend had he ever considered his position.

“There is no reason to think about this, my position. My position in the club is very clear.

“I am the coach and I have to train my players to maintain the team, the club, at the best level. Now, this moment is not so good on the pitch and we have to do better there.

“Obviously I understand very well because I had a lot of occasions like this in my career. The coach is in trouble when the team doesn’t produce results, but this is my life. I like my life. I’m not disappointed about this. I’m disappointed because Chelsea have lost three in four games, and this is not good: for me, the players, the club, for my job. We want to do better there.”