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Fergie will be 'astonished' if Chelsea sack Ancelotti

Sir Alex Ferguson does not expect Chelsea to remove Carlo Ancelotti © Getty Images

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Sir Alex Ferguson believes it would be "an astonishing decision" for Chelsea to sack Carlo Ancelotti if the club's title dreams die at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

Chelsea will go top of the table on goal difference with a win against Manchester United but, with two games remaining, a defeat would almost certainly leave them trophyless for the season.

Prior to their unlikely title resurgence, and in the wake of a Champions League exit at the hands of United, it was widely expected that Roman Abramovich would dispose of Ancelotti's services at the end of the campaign, despite the fact that he won the Double in his first season in England.

Ferguson says that sacking a manager of Ancelotti's standing would be a bizarre course of action to take.

"He has done well," Ferguson said. "I don't know where that atmosphere [of uncertainty] around him comes from, but it always seems to be there. The rumour mill at Chelsea seems to be working overtime, but the guy has won two European titles, he has won the Scudetto, and the Double with Chelsea, so you cannot question that record.

"Being knocked out of Europe affected them, but I cannot understand these stories. It would seem quite an astonishing decision. It is the rumour mill that happens in football. It sometimes comes from agents, sometimes it comes from people inside a club. But he has held his dignity well, he really has, and I do not see why he should have to answer the question."

Ancelotti feels that even winning the title may not be enough to guarantee his future at Stamford Bridge for another season. When asked if Abramovich could sack a manager who had just won the title, he replied: "In Italy, it's happened. I would like to stay. But I am very quiet and calm about it. At the end of the season, the club will take a decision.

"If they consider my job to have been good, I will stay. If not, they can change. But, for now, the problem is not whether I stay or if I go. It's whether we win at Manchester. We will see after the end of the season, maybe the week after. That's what they've said to me. That's when we will speak about the future."

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