Can Ancelotti cut it in the Premier League?

The attributes required to be a Premier League manager are many and the men who possess them are few.

Of the 12 managers who got their first taste of Premier League management in the 2008/09 season, only four now remain in the job they were appointed to undertake. Five of them occupied the bottom seven positions in the final standings and two of them were relegated.

Barring any major upheavals the 2009-10 season will begin with three managers who are new to England’s elite level. Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Martinez and Owen Coyle will all face extremely varied challenges and expectations but ultimately they will need to overcome many of the same hurdles.

Ancelotti arguably faces the most daunting of tasks as Chelsea’s fifth manager in two years. Clearly he has the tactical nous to handle the challenges that lie ahead, a Serie A title and two Champions League triumphs speak for themselves.

Neither will he be overwhelmed by the prospect of managing some of the bigger egos; Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Beckham and Kaka all played during his tenure at Milan. So that’s two key attributes ticked off.

The third is perhaps the most daunting task; handling the English media. In Italy the papers pour over every tactical decision made, and they will be relentless in doing so right up until the day of your next game where the process begins again.

In England the papers will spend a day at most looking at where it went right or wrong out in the middle, the remainder of the week Ancelotti will have to fend off questions surrounding his and his player’s private lives.

Jose Mourinho’s ability to deflect the media spotlight away from the players was a key factor in his success. If Chelsea – 3.45 to win the Premier League – are to challenge for the title Ancelotti must learn to tame the beast and learn quickly.

Martinez has served his apprenticeship in the lower echelons of the football league and has a League One title to his name with Swansea. As manager of Wigan – 5.7 to be relegated – he will not face the intense media scrutiny as is accustomed to a top four club, it will still be infinitely different to what he was used to at Swansea.

The Spaniard must earn his pay in the tactical and motivational departments. He has proved that he can pit his wits against the best managers in League One and The Championship. But the relentless pressure of competing with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Rafael Benitez and Arsene Wenger is entirely different.

Owen Coyle completes the trio and has arguably the hardest task whilst facing the least amount of pressure. Burnley – 1.66 to be relegated – will hope to emulate the achievements of Stoke last season, who were also written off as no hopers at the beginning of the campaign.

But Coyle will not be under any pressure to do so, they outperformed expectations last year and even the most eccentric of Clarets fans wouldn’t have dreamt of this scenario 12 months ago. He faces a similar task to Martinez as the tactical element of the game will be his biggest challenge, but with the pressure off he can manage with a similar freedom to that which Tony Pullis enjoyed and embraced last season.

The number of managerial casualties in the Premier League highlights the magnitude of the task that lies ahead for the newcomers. Whether they possess the required attributes is a matter of conjecture at this stage, the acid test begins on August 15th and the Premier League doesn’t take any prisoners.

Any chinks in their armour will be aired to the world and any blemishes in their character will be clear for millions to see, the strong will survive and the weak, well the weak will be flushed out in the ruthless nature that the Premier League demands.

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