The Italian, the man so coveted by Roman Abramovich down the years, has steered Chelsea to the brink of a Barclays League and FA Cup Double - an achievement that even the 'Special One' could not bring to Stamford Bridge.

Now that they have wrapped up the league title there is just the matter of beating Portsmouth in the FA Cup final at Wembley on May 15 - surely a formality for a man of Ancelotti's tactical supremacy.

And all this in his first season at a club where two of its stars hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Ancelotti's calm exterior was tested to the limit when captain John Terry was stripped of the England captaincy following newspaper allegations over his private life.

The Italian then had to play father figure to Ashley Cole when the England left-back's marriage to Cheryl hit the rocks.

But Ancelotti kept his focus throughout the troubles insisting that he did not care what his players got up to in their spare time.

Abramovich believed that Ancelotti could redefine his beloved Chelsea from the dogmatic, safety-conscious legacy of Mourinho into an attacking force.

The Russian billionaire wanted his football played with a swagger and Ancelotti has certainly delivered that.

Three times this season Chelsea smashed seven goals at home with Ancelotti's 'Christmas Tree' formation making way for a 4-3-3 system that has paid dividends in the second-half of the season.

Ancelotti even had to admit defeat in playing Frank Lampard out of position early in the season.

The Italian's reward for returning the England midfielder to his more happier central position was 27 goals.

Pressure for Ancelotti, he says, is 'the engine of life' and he has withstood plenty of that in his debut season.

But he has steadfastly refused to play mind games with Sir Alex Ferguson, and also rejected the chance to re-ignite his feud with Mourinho during their Champions League tussle with Inter and continue to keep his players focused on the job in hand.

Only the defeat to Inter in the last 16 knockout round of the Champions League has blotted Ancelotti's copybook.

But he remained unruffled even when the media scrum began to suggest that he would be out of the door at the end of the season because of the failure to win the Champions League.

The Italian has the ear and, more importantly the support of Abramovich, and his future was never in doubt.

A meeting with the players after their defeat to Inter and draw against Blackburn proved to be the turning point for the coach and the team.

Instead of moaning about their loss of form, Ancelotti told his players to go out and win the Double.

His relationship with the players is clearly a close one and judging from the number of jokes on the training ground, his relaxed demeanour has worked wonders.

"I have a good relationship with the players," said Ancelotti.

"My job is to maintain a good atmosphere in the squad. We have to be fresh and relax, though not too much. We have to believe that we are able to win."

One of the keys to his success has been a rotation policy that, to a man, has been accepted by the players.

The entire Chelsea squad have felt involved this season, except those with long-term injuries, and that is some achievement when you consider the number of big egos at Stamford Bridge.

Yet Ancelotti has kept them all motivated and ready to step in when required, evidence provided by Salomon Kalou's hat-trick against Stoke in their 7-0 success.

The Italian is now just one step away from making history for Chelsea and should he do so, then Abramovich will feel justifiably proud of his decision to land the 'silver fox'.