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Blue Co out and some of the players to follow hopefully.

Oh fuck here come the spelling Police.

Chelsea now face a humbling reality, there must be consequences The people who got us into this state need to leave the club https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/Chelsea-now-face-a-humbling-reality Simon reported the other day, that Chelsea are now in a position where first and even second choice targets don’t want to join us anymore. If that is correct, it’s an embarrassing and shameful state of affairs, created by the Sporting Directors and their shocking recruitment and managerial appointments. The proud name of Chelsea Football Club is being dragged through the mud, and for a fan for over 40 years, its painful and upsetting to see. I hate to say this, but as a fanbase, we’ve sadly got to recognise where we are, and that to get back to the top again is going to take time and work. This means we need to lower expectations in terms of what kind of coach we can attract and what players we’ll be able to sign. It may well be we still appoint the top choice, Xabi Alonso, but even if we do, there’s a lot of work to do to get us where the club should be - challenging for the PL and CL titles every season. Sadly, that’s the reality our Sporting Directors have created for us. How they’re still in jobs is beyond me, the damage they’ve single-handedly done to our club on so many levels is incalculable. Respectfully, they owe fans an apology and their resignations. As I’ve said before, my first choice for Chelsea manager is Xabi Alonso, and Si’s report today gives me hope that’s still possible. If they’re willing to give him the influence he’s demanding, there’s still a good chance we can appoint him. That would be a game changer for Chelsea if it happens. But its still a big if. If Alonso eventually rejected us - and lets hope he doesn’t - I do have hope Andoni Iraola might join us however, because Fabrizio Romano said a couple of weeks ago he’d be keen on the job. He keeps getting linked to us (the only name Fabrizio links us with). He was linked with Man Utd, but they are being reported to go for other managerial targets, with Michael Carrick odds on favourite. The other club he’s been linked with is Crystal Palace, and although one Spanish journalist reported today that he is likely to join them, its not been reported by legitimate sources at time of writing (could change very quickly, but not currently). Arne Slot is likely staying at Liverpool, so that job probably won’t be available for him (or Xabi Alonso) either. The negative reception by many to the idea of Andoni Iraola coming to Chelsea makes no sense to me. He’s only lost 7 PL games this season (that’s only 2 more than Arsenal), with 3 games to go. He’s on a 16 game unbeaten run, the current longest in the PL this year and 6th in the league with a tiny budget. Bournemouth are probably going to qualify for Europe for the first time in their history, having lost all their best players in the last 12 months. Iraola’s managerial career includes two semi finals in Spain, beating Barcelona 3 times, beating Real Madrid, Arsenal (x3), Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd. He’s consistently made the best of what he has and been successful, gaining respect of the players and his peers, never questioning the higher ups or really being involved in transfers. He’s also a calming influence, doesn’t have an unhealthy ego which could cause problems, and could give some much needed stability. Andoni Iraola plays a brand of football much more likely to please match-going fans too. Many match-going fans I know are tired of the constant sideways and backwards passing of Pep/Maresca ball. I personally don’t have a preferred playing style, I’m open to the Maresca type football or Iraola’s style. But I think fans would enjoy their football under Iraola. The liklihood of playing one game a week next season also negates one of the concerns about him having never managed two games a week, for now. Andoni Iraola is not my or most people’s first choices for the new manager - I think almost everyone now wants Xabi Alonso, and rightly so in my view - but for where we are as a club, I think he’d be a good fit. I believe Iraola, if appointed by Chelsea, could get us back to a baseline of consistent top 4 status, maybe winning some cups, and some stability. And frankly that’s what we need right now, talk of winning the league or Champions League is far off currently, even if we appoint Xabi Alonso it will take time to get there given the state of the club right now. In terms of player signings, that may well change depending on which manager we appoint, with the right manager, it may help us attract players. But if our first choices do reject us, we’re going to have to be smart. However, there’s some good players available if you look in the right places. Nathan Ake, linked to us this week by Simon and apparently interested in joining us as one of our two CB signings, would be smart. He is someone with experience, Chelsea know-how, and leadership, who has won it all. He can be a solid squad and rotational player in multiple positions. Again, one game a week makes the injury concerns less of an issue for me. The other CB position will be more of a challenge. If, for example, you rule out Jan Paul Van Heycke and Maxine Lacroix (and again, our ability to get them may change depending on the new manager), we may end up looking at Murillo from Nottingham Forest by default. We could attempt to get Antonio Silva from Benfica, who is allegedly available more cheaply. Some of the potential relegated teams have some talented players in midfield and attack, and we’ve been linked with some of them recently by Simon. The likes of Mateus Fernandes and Joao Gomes in midfield are both talented players. Alex Scott from Bournemouth and Noah Sadiki from Sunderland are other midfield options, though neither from a relegation threatened team. In attack, Mateus Mane, Crysencio Summerville and Jarred Bowen in attack, from clubs in the bottom three, all are good players with PL experience. Yes, they aren’t our first choices but they are talented players, and in particular in attack, are arguably better than some of our current options. Up front, we may have no choice but to bring back Nicolas Jackson to compete with Joao Pedro in attack. There’ve been reports Jackson is willing to come back, and frankly 10 goals from him as a backup striker is better than what we’ve had this season. I don’t see another backup striker who is worth investing in that would join us, especially when we have big transfer priorities elsewhere. Thankfully goalkeeper Mike Penders and winger Geovany Quenda are already ours, and both will improve our squad in key positions. If a GK is still needed, then James Trafford will be available and has PL experience. I’d also not underestimate the Valentin Barco signing, he’s a massive talent with the ability to break down low blocks, there’s a good chance he can have a positive impact too. In terms of players leaving, my mind is if they aren’t fully committed to Chelsea after one bad season - which they are partly to blame for - then let them go. The likes of Reece James and Moises Caicedo undoubtedly had better offers but both were fully committed to Chelsea and signed new deals, which looks an even bigger achievement in hindsight. Levi Colwill is apparently in talks over a new deal too. These are three elite footballers who we can build around. Much of our squad have shown an abysmal attitude and lack of commitment, especially in the last two months, and frankly I’d not be sad to see many of them go. Again, this is partly on the Sporting Directors who assured us of players characters and ‘character checks’ upon signing certain players, but, yet again, have clearly failed miserably in those assessments. Players appearing to down tools with weeks to go in the season - regardless of the considerable physical and mental fatigue which they’re clearly struggling with - isn’t the attitude I want from any player at Chelsea. There’s simply no excuse to be that unprofessional, or to just give up when you go behind in games, regardless of player unhappiness. They’re well paid professionals, there’s no excuse to down tools. I don’t want a squad of mercenaries, I want people committed to the long haul at Chelsea, who’ll stick with us after a down season. People who will never give up and fight to the end, through the worst times. People with the right attitude and character. Right now that matters more than anything else. Its really sad that this is the state of affairs at our club. What we’re going through right now is very humbling, and it’s not easy when you’ve been where we have been, to be in this state. Most fans, including myself, are fuming right now, and rightly so. Make no mistake, there need to be real consequences. The people who got us here need to be out of the club. They’ve done enough damage already and should be ashamed of themselves. If they don’t go, then we’ve learned nothing. This is elite level sport, there have to be consequences for this level of poor performance. Ultimately, we have to swallow our pride, make the best decisions we can and hope that the next coach can rebuild the club and get us back to a baseline level of being a regular Champions League team. Only then, can we think of moving back to the level we all want and should be, title challengers and Champions League contenders. I have no idea if or when that will happen at this point though. We just have to hope that this season is the low point, and we learn the lessons and begin to get it right. The Score

Also if Enzo can be abit Billy Big Bollocks behind the scenes because he's got a World Cup winners medal.then both Xabi and Cesc can open their treasure chests,match and raise with the same and much more.

Season ticket holders bailing out and the CST being ignored - do they even want a fan connection? Hideous trail of events yesterday that just angered fans even more https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/season-ticket-holders-bailing-out At this point, it has me wondering, do Blueco even want a fan connection? Do they not understand just how important the match-going fan is? Obviously EVERY fan is important and spends money on the club. But they are physically losing season ticket holders - I’ve seen it with my own eyes. At this rate, Stamford Bridge is just going to be full of tourists and corporate buddies. No real fans will be going to games anymore, it’s literally got to that state. I actually think Blueco are expecting and planning for a boycott…. Just look at some of these replies to this post yesterday regarding the new ticketing announcements. And I didn’t even screenshot half of them, there was loads more similar replies of fans saying they wont be renewing ST’s next season. It’s absolutely hideous. They honestly think fans are stupid… They are doing all they can to make fans hate them even more. I’ve seen so many match-going fans completely lose interest. Even my Dad turned off the Forest game at half time the other day, and he’s been supporting Chelsea for well over 60 years. So many fans claim that Blueco are just all about profit and don’t care about fans. Well, they’re not doing much to refute those claims here, are they? It’s disgusting. And what’s even more disgusting is ignoring a fan group who have actually been very professional and respectful when speaking about the owners. Imagine not taking the time to even send a response…. Ignorance and arrogance. It’s so toxic, and Blueco have done this. I guess they’ve been too busy pumping out PR rather than replying to the CST. If you want to see more evidence of the anger on the ticket announcements, check out the replies to this post too. I’ve never been more disconnected to my club and it pains me on the daily. I’ve had to check out because I cannot invest myself in it emotionally anymore. I prefer to just laugh. But deep down, it’s not fucking funny…

Xabi or Cesc would be fine with me. Only downside for me would be a continuation of a aspect of our play that can make my brain bleed,The emphasis of playing it out from the back. So would mean a major overhaul from our defense for it to atleast not drag us down as it has.where as if we wouldn't be prepared to overhaul and needed to get the best out of what we got.then Iraola would be a better fit.

💣🔵Andoni Iraola is very attracted to Crystal Palace's sporting project. The Eagle's financial offer is considerable, and he seems very willing to accept it. (@MatteMoretto)

bear in mind

Also another good thing about Alonso and probably Cesc is that it might make better players want to sign for us just to play under some legends like them but of course with the dumbfucks working at this club they will probably target only clowns.

I agree. Those are my top 3. AND SACK ALL OF THE FUCKING DIRECTORS WINSTANLEY, STEWART, SHIELDS, SAM JEWELL, etc Roberts the GKer coach needs to fuck off as well

He is shite, sell him ASAP.

To be fair if the board get him and allow him to work I might get appease a little...still they are not good owners because of the debt they have put us on. But if they want a return they need to change that nonsense and back a good manager. Alonso is a good manager because what he did with Leverkusen dethroning the powerful Bayern, only Klopp did. So Alonso has the air of greatness to me. Not saying he will be like Klopp but he can definetly compete up there and thus would be good replacement for Maresca. BUT only if the club stop with the nonsense of buying young players. They need to work with the manager and back him.

This would be important for any managerial appointment. Lot of clubs have sporting directors but nowhere else do they seem to be in the limelight as much as they are at Chelsea or seem to have the kind of power they do here.

Think Bilbao and now Palace are realizing, Iraola has interest from lot of big clubs. From what is known about the process so far, it seems to be between Alonso and Iraola for us.

EXCL: Manager candidates being put off by state of affairs, many players up for sale, First choice summer targets not keen on joining, Plan C targets being approached.... Inside Chelsea: The state of play https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/excl-manager-candidates-being-put Things are really not looking good for Chelsea right now, and the fact that Champions League football has all but slipped away and the issues with front of shirt sponsors, means that any big summer plans are in real jeopardy. The current state of the club is also effecting the manager search, our first choice targets for summer recruitment, the amount of players we need to sell, and of course, the overall feeling around the club. Obviously reality speaks truths. Chelsea are currently 9th in the Premier League and in a really bad place. This summer, make no mistake, they need to SELL a lot of players. It’s not exactly sell to buy, but if they want to do anything close to the plans they have in place right now, then they are going to need to sell some players, and not just fringe players either. SPTC Sources understand that Chelsea are open to offers for the majority of the first team squad other than the ‘indispensables’ such as Reece James and Moises Caicedo. Many players are unhappy and are expecting to leave come the end of this season, hence why many seemed to have already checked out. Chelsea’s financial situation has been described to me by sources as ‘a real mess’ and will now be effected even more by lack of UCL and the FOS sponsor issues. And due to all of this as well, our sources have heard that due to all of the above and all the uncertainty and ill-feeling around the club, it is putting off Chelsea’s top manager targets to come in. Some have already rejected Chelsea’s approaches, sources say. New managers will be forced to work under restrictions as Chelsea will be forced to for backup options or even Plan C options for summer targets. I’m told that we can all but forget the lists we put out recently of our top summer targets, because as well as managers, many players are not interested in coming to Chelsea right now due to the issues and also the low wages that we offer. We are likely to be forced to rely on players we already own from Strasbourg, transfers like Valentin Barco for example, as well as moving for players from relegated Premier League sides this season. With some of the big names we have seen linked with Chelsea, many of them are getting better offers elsewhere, so Chelsea cannot compete. You’ve even seen this week that Chelsea players will lose out on big bonuses for not getting UCL, this drastically brings their wages down even more - another reason many players are being put off making moves here. Players are looking for stability, and they see the opposite at Chelsea. They see other clubs being ran much better and are more appealed by that. Can a new manager coming in make a difference? Perhaps. But the feeling right now is that Chelsea is not a desirable place to come at all, for managers and players. Chelsea are reaching out to a number of players from clubs who are going to be relegated this season. So we will be really looking into opportunities and players who will be cheaper and on shorter contracts. Sorry I can’t deliver better news right now, but this is the current state of affairs. FA Cup win, strong finish to the season, and a top manager coming in might change our fate and outlook, is all I can offer you right now. But does anyone have any hope of all of that happening? I know I don’t.

💣📋🔵Xabi Alonso, an early contender to replace Liam Rosenior at Chelsea. (@mcgrathmike)

4-0 Scousers.....I won't be watching there is a much bigger game happening at the Riverside tomorrow....Boro v Southampton

More like a sideways move. Still surprised that Bilbao went with the ex-dortmund guy ahead of Iraola.

Marco Silva lol

Pretty good to see Cesc's transition. Seems to be shareholder with lot of control over club decisions at Como - will be good if he continued there longer or moved to another club before looking at the big jobs

Xavi is a joke of a coach, were fucked with him, Alonso or Cesc for me even Iraola is okay.

How about they keep Gordon and they can have Delap for free.

Happy with Xabi, Xavi or Cesc. I think these are perfect candidates for us. Players who have played recently, and that our younger guys will all have tremendous respect for and actually want to play for. Not only that - all of them have shown they can win on player and coach level.

40m + Delap for Anthony Gordon ?

Come on Fabregas...