I hear ya Danny but it's such a shame that TT did whatever he did because I thought we had our next big thing on our hands there and that consistency and stability would come back to our club.I was surprised that Potter replaced him though as I never thought the guy would hack it at our place. What I can't understand is that according to most reports, including Si and the likes of Rob and others with connections to our club on here, is they all say pochettino is respected and liked by the players! If that's the case why don't they put a shift in for him out on the pitch?
Very well written Danny and I think as a fan of more than 50 years I can appreciate your concerns. My first match at the bridge was in 1980 and then Ken Bates took us on a wonderful journey after that he sold to Roman and you know the rest. I am worried by the current owners lack of direction, I mean who sacks TT who won us the Champions League and the club World Cup and replaces him with Graham average Potter ffs? The same people then employed Frank Lampard who won one game in 11? And who exactly is buying the players? Did any of those various managers fancy them or were they just thrust upon them? Like you I didn't want Poch as manager as I think all his previous sides had a soft underbelly and bottled it in big matches like the League Cup final against us the Champions League final and the run in to the league that they eventually lost to Leicester! Don't know quite where we go from here or even if a new manager would make a great difference with the current shambles at the club
TT went for not football reasons sadly, if people knew why they would agree! The mad thing is we were better under potter and would have done better than poch has done this year! Potter was dealt a bad hand last year. The problem is if poch goes (he defo should) who do we get and do we trust them to get it right fuck no!
Danny, great article, and completely aligned to my views (also supporter and season ticket holder of similar length, if that matters).
Can’t fault the ambition of these owners, even though they have made mistakes. The stadium issue needs to be sorted and I think Earls Court (sadly, in a way) is likely to be best option if feasible.
On the pitch, they’ve made a lot of mistakes but also bought some good players who will come good. I don’t think we can have both Madueke and Mudryk, both development players, in the squad at the same time. Carney needs to play once fit as he looks like a proper player.
I want Poch to do well and I am not Poch out, but also I don’t think he’s doing a good job at the moment for the reasons you mention. I agree that this squad seems built for de Zerbi. We will probably need to take stock at the end of the season.
Brilliant article Danny! I could not find one thing I disagreed with and, as my family will tell you, I am an argumentative sod on a good day ...... and a curmudgeonly sod the rest of the time!
An interesting morning experience reading an entire article with which I disagree with every point described 😂 apart from perhaps the communication and the sports director. I follow Chelsea and set my days so as not to miss a single match; I follow every article I can read throughout the day. The vision that in my opinion is missing in this analysis is that you should try to watch the most important foreign football matches such as Italy or part of Germany or Spain. English football (except for sometimes incredible inexperience in managing the defence) is extraordinary from the point of view of intensity and the game produced. Even Chelsea compared to Milan Inter Juve or whatever is at a higher level and more fun to watch. Of course we have chosen this blessed new project of working with young talents but we have to wait for the end of the season and see if we win something and place ourselves between fifth and seventh place. If it went like this for the first year of the project it would be a great thing. In any case, Casadei should be added to the list as he is a great growing talent and let's avoid thinking about DeZerbi who, as in the famous film, is just "all talk and badges". Compared to Italians like Conte, Ancellotti or Pioli it's not even worth thinking about. In any case, thanks for the analysis you wrote, it helps to think about all the points that are not just the field. However, I think that the experience of the owners counts in corporate management and given who they are and the results they achieve we can hope well.
These are football cycles. I think we need to understand something more from the internal cups and from next season - if nothing happen then you are absolutely right.
So just potentially wait for another 18 months of mediocrity when there is 0 signs that we are getting better or improving. As I said there is 0 it believe in or get behind at the moment
Danny some of the problems were there before the current owners and we were heading south under Roman in his latter days. TT had and had his issues and there is a good chance he will move on again at the end of the season. Let’s not forget he fell out with PSG.
Danny no article is long when its as well written and presented as your is and I find it hard to disagree on your points of view, so I won’t even try. Excellent. Now Si over to you to make sure its gets in front of the right person😁
Some great points here but sorry to say the issues start with the ownership. They are the single biggest reason we are in this mess. They never went for any top footballing operator be it the CEO or the football director. Roman went for Kenyon. They went for an ex City CEO who was never as good. Owners set the tone at the top. They set the culture. The winning culture came with Roman. There is no such thing now. Chelsea have had people like Matthew Harding, Bates & Roman who deeply cared about the club. Now we have private equity vultures who want to keep the Opex down. While there should always be a salary structure & incentives but top players demand good wages. Will the sell Enzo, Caicedo & James once they get even better & ask higher wages?
Another thing is people like Eghbali who I liken to our own version of Moshiri loves to poke his nose everywhere. The guy loves spotlight football brings hence you see him making transfer decision like going for Mudryk to get one over Arsenal and Lavia after his ego got bruised by Liverpool bidding for Caicedo. I think it’s a big reason why no top manager or SD will work for him.
Unless they learn from their mistakes & fix up we will never be a top club again irrespective of the coach, players or tactics.
Hi Danny I liked your article because more often than not it struck a cord.
I did read somewhere that Enzo played in the World Cup for Argentina in the forward position and that was regarded as his best position, I’m not sure that’s correct but it’s come up several times.
Where the recruitment dept have fallen down is in 3 areas most of all given the injuries they have failed to provide backups or even starters in those positions.
Left back,
Right back
Striker
Our defense is overloaded with Center Backs of which we have 6 although Fofana is long term injured and Chalobah seems intent on being injured to avoid playing. Disasi looks a lot better as a right back tbh but people would complain if Gusto then played left back even if it meant Colwill & Silva started in the middle.
Finally Striker whilst I rate Jackson it’s clear we needed a striker back up or starter and overpaying in the summer for an “elite” striker will just add to the problem imho.
I tend to be more patient than most having supported Chelsea for 54 years but haven’t got to the ground to watch a match as often as I like.
I still have faith as we are going through a transition and you mention Ange the Tottenham as being a better manager I still remember our game earlier in the season where after the sending off’s he basically lined them up 8.0.0.1 and I don’t believe he would last a week at Chelsea.
Great feedback Andy to a thought provoking article from Danny. Whilst I don’t agree with all of it I understand the sentiment.
I would be against another Brighton manager. I think he will fail in his next job. Signs are there this season. Overpaying ignores there are two sides in a negotiation and we all wanted (or so it seemed) the three players mentioned.
Personally I think the jury is out and time and patience is required.
This from a supporter of 50+ years and a season ticket holder for 40+ years.
As an Argentina (though I’m from India) from 1990 I watched most of the games of Argentina in last World Cup. We can’t compare that midfield to ours at all !!! Alexis, de Paul , Enzo trio gelled really well. And Enzo was their DLP but not as DM. Whenever he advanced with the ball, the other two covered his space really well which our team can’t do at the moment.
Brilliant article Danny, you articulate everything very nicely.
We need Pochettino gone. and with him sack Laurel & Hardy as well. and bring in a Top experienced DOF and let him find the next Manager.
I hear ya Danny but it's such a shame that TT did whatever he did because I thought we had our next big thing on our hands there and that consistency and stability would come back to our club.I was surprised that Potter replaced him though as I never thought the guy would hack it at our place. What I can't understand is that according to most reports, including Si and the likes of Rob and others with connections to our club on here, is they all say pochettino is respected and liked by the players! If that's the case why don't they put a shift in for him out on the pitch?
IMO it’s because that is what the club are letting out and trying to show not what is actually happening
Very well written Danny and I think as a fan of more than 50 years I can appreciate your concerns. My first match at the bridge was in 1980 and then Ken Bates took us on a wonderful journey after that he sold to Roman and you know the rest. I am worried by the current owners lack of direction, I mean who sacks TT who won us the Champions League and the club World Cup and replaces him with Graham average Potter ffs? The same people then employed Frank Lampard who won one game in 11? And who exactly is buying the players? Did any of those various managers fancy them or were they just thrust upon them? Like you I didn't want Poch as manager as I think all his previous sides had a soft underbelly and bottled it in big matches like the League Cup final against us the Champions League final and the run in to the league that they eventually lost to Leicester! Don't know quite where we go from here or even if a new manager would make a great difference with the current shambles at the club
TT went for not football reasons sadly, if people knew why they would agree! The mad thing is we were better under potter and would have done better than poch has done this year! Potter was dealt a bad hand last year. The problem is if poch goes (he defo should) who do we get and do we trust them to get it right fuck no!
Totally agree with everything written here. And I really don’t like saying it but I’ve totally lost confidence with Poch 😔
Danny, great article, and completely aligned to my views (also supporter and season ticket holder of similar length, if that matters).
Can’t fault the ambition of these owners, even though they have made mistakes. The stadium issue needs to be sorted and I think Earls Court (sadly, in a way) is likely to be best option if feasible.
On the pitch, they’ve made a lot of mistakes but also bought some good players who will come good. I don’t think we can have both Madueke and Mudryk, both development players, in the squad at the same time. Carney needs to play once fit as he looks like a proper player.
I want Poch to do well and I am not Poch out, but also I don’t think he’s doing a good job at the moment for the reasons you mention. I agree that this squad seems built for de Zerbi. We will probably need to take stock at the end of the season.
Thanks for the article and UTC
Wow what a brilliant article spot on in every part let’s hope someone that makes the decisions sees it . Thanks so much for sharing it .
Brilliant article Danny! I could not find one thing I disagreed with and, as my family will tell you, I am an argumentative sod on a good day ...... and a curmudgeonly sod the rest of the time!
Great article to read
Hi Danny liked your opinion on all the stuff but I think amorim or naglessman would be my choice
I would love Nagelsmann but sadly never going to happen after he rejected us! He was who I wanted in the summer.
If the board wants best for the club they should go for naglessman as his Germany stint also ends post euro 24.
An interesting morning experience reading an entire article with which I disagree with every point described 😂 apart from perhaps the communication and the sports director. I follow Chelsea and set my days so as not to miss a single match; I follow every article I can read throughout the day. The vision that in my opinion is missing in this analysis is that you should try to watch the most important foreign football matches such as Italy or part of Germany or Spain. English football (except for sometimes incredible inexperience in managing the defence) is extraordinary from the point of view of intensity and the game produced. Even Chelsea compared to Milan Inter Juve or whatever is at a higher level and more fun to watch. Of course we have chosen this blessed new project of working with young talents but we have to wait for the end of the season and see if we win something and place ourselves between fifth and seventh place. If it went like this for the first year of the project it would be a great thing. In any case, Casadei should be added to the list as he is a great growing talent and let's avoid thinking about DeZerbi who, as in the famous film, is just "all talk and badges". Compared to Italians like Conte, Ancellotti or Pioli it's not even worth thinking about. In any case, thanks for the analysis you wrote, it helps to think about all the points that are not just the field. However, I think that the experience of the owners counts in corporate management and given who they are and the results they achieve we can hope well.
That’s for your opinion. Want about the club at the moment makes your confident that we will return to the top?
These are football cycles. I think we need to understand something more from the internal cups and from next season - if nothing happen then you are absolutely right.
So just potentially wait for another 18 months of mediocrity when there is 0 signs that we are getting better or improving. As I said there is 0 it believe in or get behind at the moment
Danny some of the problems were there before the current owners and we were heading south under Roman in his latter days. TT had and had his issues and there is a good chance he will move on again at the end of the season. Let’s not forget he fell out with PSG.
i dont disagree with at all! but when you have the chance to gut the club and rebuild it like they did and be worse than before makes 0 sense
Great article and I think you were spot on with everything you said
Very good article. Identical to my view on many issues.
Danny no article is long when its as well written and presented as your is and I find it hard to disagree on your points of view, so I won’t even try. Excellent. Now Si over to you to make sure its gets in front of the right person😁
It definitely has been!
Some great points here but sorry to say the issues start with the ownership. They are the single biggest reason we are in this mess. They never went for any top footballing operator be it the CEO or the football director. Roman went for Kenyon. They went for an ex City CEO who was never as good. Owners set the tone at the top. They set the culture. The winning culture came with Roman. There is no such thing now. Chelsea have had people like Matthew Harding, Bates & Roman who deeply cared about the club. Now we have private equity vultures who want to keep the Opex down. While there should always be a salary structure & incentives but top players demand good wages. Will the sell Enzo, Caicedo & James once they get even better & ask higher wages?
Another thing is people like Eghbali who I liken to our own version of Moshiri loves to poke his nose everywhere. The guy loves spotlight football brings hence you see him making transfer decision like going for Mudryk to get one over Arsenal and Lavia after his ego got bruised by Liverpool bidding for Caicedo. I think it’s a big reason why no top manager or SD will work for him.
Unless they learn from their mistakes & fix up we will never be a top club again irrespective of the coach, players or tactics.
Hi Danny I liked your article because more often than not it struck a cord.
I did read somewhere that Enzo played in the World Cup for Argentina in the forward position and that was regarded as his best position, I’m not sure that’s correct but it’s come up several times.
Where the recruitment dept have fallen down is in 3 areas most of all given the injuries they have failed to provide backups or even starters in those positions.
Left back,
Right back
Striker
Our defense is overloaded with Center Backs of which we have 6 although Fofana is long term injured and Chalobah seems intent on being injured to avoid playing. Disasi looks a lot better as a right back tbh but people would complain if Gusto then played left back even if it meant Colwill & Silva started in the middle.
Finally Striker whilst I rate Jackson it’s clear we needed a striker back up or starter and overpaying in the summer for an “elite” striker will just add to the problem imho.
I tend to be more patient than most having supported Chelsea for 54 years but haven’t got to the ground to watch a match as often as I like.
I still have faith as we are going through a transition and you mention Ange the Tottenham as being a better manager I still remember our game earlier in the season where after the sending off’s he basically lined them up 8.0.0.1 and I don’t believe he would last a week at Chelsea.
Great feedback Andy to a thought provoking article from Danny. Whilst I don’t agree with all of it I understand the sentiment.
I would be against another Brighton manager. I think he will fail in his next job. Signs are there this season. Overpaying ignores there are two sides in a negotiation and we all wanted (or so it seemed) the three players mentioned.
Personally I think the jury is out and time and patience is required.
This from a supporter of 50+ years and a season ticket holder for 40+ years.
Craige I’m trying to cut down the length of my replies but you’ve picked the points I left out because I didn’t want to swamp people.
Danny spoke from the heart and as I said in my comment much of it touched a cord.
As an Argentina (though I’m from India) from 1990 I watched most of the games of Argentina in last World Cup. We can’t compare that midfield to ours at all !!! Alexis, de Paul , Enzo trio gelled really well. And Enzo was their DLP but not as DM. Whenever he advanced with the ball, the other two covered his space really well which our team can’t do at the moment.
Aneesh important insight thank you