An Open Letter to the Owners
The Time for Action is Now
Dear Clearlake / Ownership group,
Right from the start of the tendering process for submitting bids for Chelsea in spring 2022, I supported your bid for Chelsea Football Club. All the way through I advocated for you. I backed you. I told others how great you would be for Chelsea.
Last season I continued to defend you. Even in one of our worst seasons ever when we had near relegation form at some point, I defended you and the project, publicly and privately.
This season that has continued. I’ve backed you because I can see what you’re tying to do. Because somehow I still, even now, believe that you have the right ambitions for Chelsea - to win, to be competitive, to be successful.
I’ve been one of your biggest defenders but I’m now out of answers. I can’t disrespect fellow fans who are angry at how things are at the club, both on and off the pitch, especially on the men’s side, by continuing to blindly defend you. We’ve been mid table and one of the worst teams in the Premier League for 12 months, ever since the new sporting directors came in in Jan 2023. And given the quality in our squad, and the money spent, there is simply no excuse for it.
2023 has arguably been the most depressing year to be a Chelsea fan for as long as I remember, and people need to be held accountable and face consequences.
I accepted this season we’d likely finish 6th/7th, but make some progress on the pitch despite a few defeats. That was fine for me. Still would be. I don’t have impossibly high expectations.
But we’re nowhere near even that. We’ve made a cup semi final, which is great. But in the league, despite some positive underlying metrics at the beginning, we’ve got worse since the Newcastle defeat. There’s no clear style of play. Some players have improved but others have dropped their performance level.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino has to take some blame, but to be fair to him, you didn’t listen to him in the summer when he demanded some PL experience and some captains. And that is costing us.
The people in charge of our football operation, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, as talented as they are at spotting young talent, have no experience of building a successful trophy-winning team, yet alone of running a massive club like Chelsea - and it shows.
What is communicated from them and from the top is a sense of arrogance, as if somehow you know better than everyone else how to run a successful football club, when no one at the club bar Neil Bath, Emma Hayes and Paul Green have any experience of this.
The culture the Sporting Directors are setting is simply not the standard of Chelsea and bears no connection to what the club is really about. Twice now Behdad Eghbali has had to intervene in big deals to get them over the line, so poor have been their negotiating skills. Their team building strategy has been poor despite signing some top talent. And the decision to potentially sell our best player this season, Conor Gallagher, is another case of incompetence, to help pay for other mistakes they’ve made.
Not to mention there is a complete lack of accountability by the sporting directors and even from the owners. The fans are smart, we know whats going on and why, and we won’t be fooled by some new signings, the problems go deeper and we all know it.
But you have an even bigger problem. I have loved and followed Chelsea for 35 years and yet right now, I feel total apathy about the club. I feel no connection to the club, the owners, the people running the club and even some of the players. It doesn’t even feel like Chelsea anymore. I know I’m not alone in this either, many long term fans have simply lost their feeling for the club, and feel the club they love has gone.
Fans confidence is at an all time low and fans are sick of seeing a team which doesn’t show the pride, commitment, character and consistency of what Chelsea fans expect.
I don’t need us to be a top 4 team right now, I need us to be a team I can get behind, can be proud of and will fight for the badge even in defeat. I want some leaders in this team, I want us to keep our best academy talent not sell it. I want Chelsea people in positions of power at the club - directors, assistant coaches, involved in team building. People who GET the club.
As owners you need to surround yourself with better people. Hire serious people with proven experience and success at big clubs and give them the power to build this club and this team. Some names? Luis Campos, Dan Ashworth, Paulo Maldini for starters. These are all sporting directors with a proven track record of building successful teams.
Align a serious director of football with the talent spotting ability of Joe Shields - unquestionably the best hire since you took over the club - and our new scouting team, it could be a hugely successful move.
Next, make a decision on the manager. You either back Pochettino by keeping Conor Gallagher and backing his judgment, or sack him. If you sack him, appoint a serious manager, not a yes man, someone proven but who plays a brand of football which is a match with this squad (and the PL), and let him challenge you. Listen to him on what it takes to build a successful team and club.
Ask the honest opinion the fan board and the likes of Daniel Finkelstein and Barbara Charone, two long time Chelsea fans who care deeply about the club and know what it means, and listen to them.
And finally, for goodness sake, communicate with us fans. Admit you messed up, admit you got it wrong, tell us what you want to achieve, make your ambitions clear. Do it on the club channel directly and honestly. Do it at meetings with CPO and fans groups. Apologise. The fans deserve this. Without us this club won’t work. We know what this club means, listen to us and apologise for what’s happened.
I and the majority of our fans are tired of our club being a laughing stock. Tired of other fans and media mocking us on a daily basis. Tired of not caring about our team. I personally am tired of fans talking relegation battles two years in a row due to poor form.
As owners you need to take responsibility and make the changes necessary to get us winning again and restore the connection between club, team and fans.
The time for waiting is over. The time for patience is done.
Chelsea fans expect and demand some changes quickly. Please don’t keep ignoring the fans. Give us our Chelsea back.
I still believe your intentions are good, and you have the right ambitions, but you’ve got to start acknowledging the mess you’ve made and putting it right. Fans are watching to see what you do.
The time for action is now.
Kind regards,
The Score (on behalf of Chelsea fans).
I find this article kiddish, reactionary and scapegoating to make us feel better, time of instant gratification that we live in. As a fanbase we were all cheerleading when the new management came in and signed players left, right and center. We were just happy that we have owners who are willing to spend, unlike other owners. The decision, good or bad or whatever was made to go young, don’t think that’s changing anytime soon. It’s a “project” which is applicable to the fanbase as much as to the players, owners, sporting directors. But, can we keep our heads ? Like for everybody here, it’s tough for me as well. But, growing steel is longer process, applicable to the fanbase as much as to the players.
I think this echoes so much of the support (myself included), sensibly and eloquently put, thank you for being all of our (those that truly care) voices.