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Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.Ancelotti awaits news on future shortly before he is sacked
Chelsea have sacked manager Carlo Ancelotti.
The announcement was made two hours after Chelsea's final-day 1-0 defeat by Everton, confirming the club's second-place finish in the Premier League.
The 51-year-old had one more year left on his contract at Stamford Bridge.
A club statement read: "This season's performances have fallen short of expectations and the club feels the time is right to make this change ahead of next season's preparations."
Speculation had been mounting that Ancelotti would be sacked following Chelsea's first season without a trophy in three years.
The west London club missed out on the Premier League title as Manchester United clinched their 19th title last week, further compounded by early exits in the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup during the season.
The Blues, who were Premier League and FA Cup champions last season, finished nine points behind United and only ahead of third-placed Manchester City on goal difference.
Former manager Avram Grant suffered similar treatment when Chelsea finished second in the domestic table and the Champions League final in 2008.
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Last year was really good, this year was not so good
Carlo Ancelotti just before his sacking
And ambitious owner Roman Abramovich, who bank-rolled an audacious £50m move for striker Fernando Torres during the January transfer window, will scour home and abroad in search of a successor capable of recapturing the Premier League from Manchester United, as well as the much-coveted Champions League trophy.
"Chelsea's long-term football objectives and ambitions remain unchanged and we will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager," read the club statement.
Ancelotti had reiterated his ambition to remain at Chelsea, but insisted the decision was entirely down to the club's demanding hierarchy.
"I am now on holiday - but I am not sure how long my holiday will be!" he said in his final media conference shortly before he was sacked.
"We haven't arranged any meeting but I think in the next week, now the season is finished, the club can address my job and they will take a decision.
"I have to wait and see what happens. I don't have to say anything to the club - they can judge me on my job for two years."
Ancelotti led Chelsea to the Double in his first season
Ancelotti had been coveted by Abramovich after spending eight years in charge at AC Milan, guiding the Italian giants to two Champions League titles in 2003 and 2007.He signed a three-year contract in June 2009, taking over from interim boss Guus Hiddink, who had guided Chelsea to the FA Cup before returning to take charge of the Russia national team.
Ancelotti's first season in English football began in spectacular fashion, winning the Premier League and FA Cup - sealing the former with a thumping 8-0 victory against Wigan on the final day of the calendar.
But his second year in west London proved significantly more challenging as he was twice thwarted by Manchester United domestically and in the Champions League, where they suffered a quarter-final exit to Sir Alex Ferguson's team.
Ancelotti lost assistant manager Ray Wilkins in November when the club decided not to renew the former England midfielder's contract.
"Last year was really good, this year was not so good," added Ancelotti.
Chelsea's attentions will now turn to finding Ancelotti's successor, with Porto's highly rated Andre Villas-Boas, Hiddink and former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard all in the frame.
Dutchman Hiddink, who has a close relationship with Abramovich, revealed he still has an advisory role at Chelsea.
Since I left two years ago I've been advising the club on things concerning the squad," he wrote in De Telegraaf.
"Sometimes I become a sounding board. It costs me very little time and I can combine it well with my position with Turkey. There is no conflict at all."
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