Carlo Ancelotti has revealed Fabio Capello was once spooked by a ‘ghost’ at large around AC Milan’s training ground.
As if Capello was not already haunted by enough spectres, like Wayne Rooney’s nocturnal agenda, Chelsea’s Double-winning manager has now lifted the lid on an era when Don Fabio was a ghostbuster distracted by other things going bump in the night.
In a passage from his hilarious memoirs, published yesterday in English, Ancelotti recalls how Capello - battling to restore his reputation after England’s World Cup flop - was once troubled by the supernatural. The coach’s room at Milanello, the Rossonieri’s space-age training facility, has its own sense of history, and Ancelotti revealed: “The first time I walked into that room, I had a distinct impression. I could see an array of presences. I was sleeping in the bed that had belonged to Nereo Rocco, Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello.
“In the old days, Capello - under the influence, I believe, of the director of the sports centre, Antore Peloso - used to claim that there was a ghost, wandering freely down the hallway, especially after sunset.
“I never understood which was crazier, Don Fabio or that ghost, who had decided to pick on him of all people. It really got to be a problem.
“I can still see Capello, shoulders thrown back, chest swelling with righteous indignation: ‘Be gone, go **** yourself, evil spirit. This is not a team of dead men’.”
To prove his point, Capello went on to win four Serie A titles and the Champions League as Milan coach, and Ancelotti supplemented that ghostly anecdote about his predecessor at the San Siro with a show of support for his compatriot yesterday.
The England coach has endured a torrid backlash since the Three Lions were humiliated in South Africa, and Ancelotti fears Capello has fallen victim to an all-too-familiar syndrome: a hero in victory, a chump in defeat.
Promoting his autobiography at Stamford Bridge, he said: “I was surprised because before the World Cup Capello was a god, and all of a sudden he was not good enough to manage the national team.
“We have a phrase in Italy, which I don’t want to translate, that when you win you are a good guy, and if you lose, you are a bad guy, or a testa di cazzo (not a term of endearment) as we say.
“But I do not agree with this perception - for me, Capello has been a fantastic coach and he will show this again in the future. Did the players let him down? I don’t know - but there was a lot of expectation around the England team in South Africa.
“I think they had a problem physically. The most important player was Rooney, but he was not 100 per cent fit.”
Ah, yes - Wayne Rooney. The latest member of Capello’s devalued galacticos to indulge in dangerous liaisons with the slapperati.
Ancelotti proved himself to be an outstanding manager in a pastoral sense, as well as a master tactician, at the Bridge last season when he steered John Terry and Ashley Cole through turbulent times in their private lives.
He said: “I’m not interested if a player goes to sleep at eight o’clock or 12 o’clock - I’m only interested in them doing their best in training or on the pitch.”
And what about who they go to bed with at eight or 12? “I’m not a policeman - I don’t get involved in the private life of players and it’s difficult to judge them because I don’t want other people to judge my private life.”
On the home front, Ancelotti has been told by Chelsea oligarch Roman Abramovich to concentrate on winning the Champions League this season, a prize the Blues were denied by their former messiah Jose Mourinho six months ago.
Mourinho and Ancelotti were once bitter rivals, but the pair hatched a ceasefire in the bowels of the San Siro and the Blues boss said: “There are days when it feels like I am living a dream, even if getting knocked out of the Champions League against Inter is a regret that will always be with me.
“Against Inter, not against Mourinho. In Italy, we said plenty of harsh things to one another, we didn’t particularly like each other, but ever since I’ve been in England my view has changed.
“He made history at the club where I work, his archive of training has been useful to me more than once, and so he deserves total and rapt attention.
“We called a truce before the first leg of our Champions League match. We met in a corridor at the San Siro and we made a pact:’No more bickering, no more controversy.’
“When I won the Premier League, he wrote me a text message: ‘Champagne.’ When he won the Scudetto in Italy, I sent him a message back: ‘Champagne, but not too much.’ I don’t think Jose and I will ever be friends, but now we have a real and reciprocal respect.”
As if Capello was not already haunted by enough spectres, like Wayne Rooney’s nocturnal agenda, Chelsea’s Double-winning manager has now lifted the lid on an era when Don Fabio was a ghostbuster distracted by other things going bump in the night.
In a passage from his hilarious memoirs, published yesterday in English, Ancelotti recalls how Capello - battling to restore his reputation after England’s World Cup flop - was once troubled by the supernatural. The coach’s room at Milanello, the Rossonieri’s space-age training facility, has its own sense of history, and Ancelotti revealed: “The first time I walked into that room, I had a distinct impression. I could see an array of presences. I was sleeping in the bed that had belonged to Nereo Rocco, Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello.
“In the old days, Capello - under the influence, I believe, of the director of the sports centre, Antore Peloso - used to claim that there was a ghost, wandering freely down the hallway, especially after sunset.
“I never understood which was crazier, Don Fabio or that ghost, who had decided to pick on him of all people. It really got to be a problem.
“I can still see Capello, shoulders thrown back, chest swelling with righteous indignation: ‘Be gone, go **** yourself, evil spirit. This is not a team of dead men’.”
To prove his point, Capello went on to win four Serie A titles and the Champions League as Milan coach, and Ancelotti supplemented that ghostly anecdote about his predecessor at the San Siro with a show of support for his compatriot yesterday.
The England coach has endured a torrid backlash since the Three Lions were humiliated in South Africa, and Ancelotti fears Capello has fallen victim to an all-too-familiar syndrome: a hero in victory, a chump in defeat.
Promoting his autobiography at Stamford Bridge, he said: “I was surprised because before the World Cup Capello was a god, and all of a sudden he was not good enough to manage the national team.
“We have a phrase in Italy, which I don’t want to translate, that when you win you are a good guy, and if you lose, you are a bad guy, or a testa di cazzo (not a term of endearment) as we say.
“But I do not agree with this perception - for me, Capello has been a fantastic coach and he will show this again in the future. Did the players let him down? I don’t know - but there was a lot of expectation around the England team in South Africa.
“I think they had a problem physically. The most important player was Rooney, but he was not 100 per cent fit.”
Ah, yes - Wayne Rooney. The latest member of Capello’s devalued galacticos to indulge in dangerous liaisons with the slapperati.
Ancelotti proved himself to be an outstanding manager in a pastoral sense, as well as a master tactician, at the Bridge last season when he steered John Terry and Ashley Cole through turbulent times in their private lives.
He said: “I’m not interested if a player goes to sleep at eight o’clock or 12 o’clock - I’m only interested in them doing their best in training or on the pitch.”
And what about who they go to bed with at eight or 12? “I’m not a policeman - I don’t get involved in the private life of players and it’s difficult to judge them because I don’t want other people to judge my private life.”
On the home front, Ancelotti has been told by Chelsea oligarch Roman Abramovich to concentrate on winning the Champions League this season, a prize the Blues were denied by their former messiah Jose Mourinho six months ago.
Mourinho and Ancelotti were once bitter rivals, but the pair hatched a ceasefire in the bowels of the San Siro and the Blues boss said: “There are days when it feels like I am living a dream, even if getting knocked out of the Champions League against Inter is a regret that will always be with me.
“Against Inter, not against Mourinho. In Italy, we said plenty of harsh things to one another, we didn’t particularly like each other, but ever since I’ve been in England my view has changed.
“He made history at the club where I work, his archive of training has been useful to me more than once, and so he deserves total and rapt attention.
“We called a truce before the first leg of our Champions League match. We met in a corridor at the San Siro and we made a pact:’No more bickering, no more controversy.’
“When I won the Premier League, he wrote me a text message: ‘Champagne.’ When he won the Scudetto in Italy, I sent him a message back: ‘Champagne, but not too much.’ I don’t think Jose and I will ever be friends, but now we have a real and reciprocal respect.”
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