[size=18pt]Chelsea consider promoting Michael Emenalo to replace Ray Wilkins[/size]

Chelsea are considering promoting Michael Emenalo to replace Ray Wilkins, who left the Premier League club abruptly as assistant manager on Thursday

Whether Emenalo, the "head opposition scout", who was first employed by Avram Grant, but who is also highly rated by club owner Roman Abramovich, directly replaces Wilkins is yet to be decided but he does appear set to join Carlo Ancelotti's coaching set-up.

Chelsea are keen to promote from within after Wilkins, 54, was summonsed to meet chief executive Ron Gourlay on Thursday and told that his contract was not being renewed. He left the club "with immediate effect".

A brief statement was then posted on the club's website with a comment from Gourlay which read: "On behalf of everyone at the club I would like to thank Ray for everything he has done for Chelsea Football Club. We all wish him well for the future."

Given the depth of Wilkins' ties with Chelsea, stretching back to the early Seventies, his appointment as the club's youngest-ever captain, and the two years he has recently spent assisting first Luiz Felipe Scolari – after Steve Clarke's departure – the Guus Hiddink and now Ancelotti then it appeared to be a sudden, unhappy breakdown in the relationship.

Certainly Wilkins appeared unaware of his fate as he sat on the bench at Stamford Bridge for Wednesday night's Premier League victory over Fulham and was then at the training ground in Cobham, Surrey, on Thursday to watch the reserves beat a Bayern Munich second string. Ancelotti was also in attendance and it is believed that Wilkins was asked to see Gourlay during the game.

The exact terms and length of his contract have not been revealed but from Chelsea's statement it is clear the deal was up for renewal. The club maintained last night that Wilkins had left because it was decided there needed to be a reorganisation of Ancelotti's backroom staff and that the manager had been fully consulted.

The club were adamant that there had been no bust-ups or disagreements but that, following a review of the club, including the football side of the business, by Gourlay, it was deemed that Wilkins was no longer needed.

It was explained that a significant part of his job – he was employed quickly to help out Scolari after Clarke quit to join West Ham – was to communicate with the players as the Brazilian's English was not good enough. Language is less of an issue under Ancelotti.

However, that explanation does not square with what Ancelotti wrote about Wilkins, a fluent Italian speaker, in his recently published autobiography. "Ray is one of those select few, always present, noble in spirit, a real blue-blood, Chelsea flows in his veins. His heart beats in two languages, and that helped me. Without him, we couldn't have won a thing, and in particular we would not have started the year at supersonic speed."

Ancelotti had Bruno Demichelis as his assistant, in charge of the sports science part of the club, who he brought with him from AC Milan and there had been talk of him creating a role for Paolo Maldini at Chelsea last year but the former Italy defender wanted to take a break from football.

Now rather than promote, for example, Paul Clement, who conducts much of the first-team coaching, it is understood there could be a role for Emanalo, a former Nigerian international, who played under Grant in Israel, but who has impressed Abramovich with the work he has done at Chelsea since he joined.

He has coached in the United States and despite his recent work as a scout, which has involved working on potential transfer targets, its believed he wants to get more involved in that side of the club.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8127546/Chelsea-consider-promoting-Michael-Emenalo-to-replace-Ray-Wilkins.html

Oga Sag, so you dey around? Why we nor see you for the AWC threads abi shey na becos nor be age grade competition?

semid4lyfe:

Oga Sag, so you dey around? Why we nor see you for the AWC threads abi shey na becos nor be age grade competition?

You no see me there as it is not a tournament I have access to view.

I will support them if it is not age-grade.