MoroccanBlue

diarrhea

Roman Abramovich has dramatically relinquished the running of Chelsea in an attempt to distance the club from the controversy surrounding him as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calls for him to be sanctioned. Abramovich will remain as Chelsea’s owner and, providing he is not sanctioned, can still invest money into the club, but he has handed the running and decision making to the trustees of the club's charitable foundation, which is headed by Bruce Buck. In his statement to announce the change, Abramovich made no mention of the war in Ukraine and did not condemn the actions of Russia president Vladimir Putin, which could lead to more calls for him to face sanctions. Other than Buck, the trustees include manager of Chelsea women, Emma Hayes, chief executive ofKick It Out Piara Power, along with Paul Ramos,John Devine and Sir Hugh Robertson. Chelsea remain insistent that the club is not and will not be for sale, but the move is likely toencourage interested groups and individuals to test Abramovich’s resolve with takeover bids. Football decisions, such as transfers, player contracts and the future of head coach Thomas Tuchel will be the responsibility of director Marina Granovskaia and technical and performance advisor Petr Cech. Neither Granovskaia nor Cech are among the trustees. Chelsea insist that Abramovich’s decision to step back has not been made in an attempt to avoid sanctions, but instead to protect the club at a time when it was in danger of suffering reputational and strategic damage. In a statement, Abramovich said: "During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities. I have always taken decisions with the club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC. "I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the club, players, staff, and fans."

Yeah that’s how I see it. Probably encouraged by his advisors and attorneys.

He's only stepping aside as the clubs chief, he's still going to own the club, just not run it anymore.

Klopp confirmed.

Liverpool are starting their 2nd choice keeper tomorrow.

For all we know he could be completely against Putin’s plans.

Borna Sosa is genuinely a fast Alonso. Tailored for our system imo.

@Blues Forever Ditto me. Thank you.

Depends on the bidder. Maybe the £2bn valuation is a good thing. Imagine a Kroenke type figure or the Glazers. As sketchy as Roman looks on the outside, there was never a doubt in my mind he didn't care about the club. Neutrals loved to play the "we are his play thing" card, yet since his tenure no owner has shown more commitment and assurance than he has. I personally hope there isn't any substantial evidence tying Roman to Putin's plans. If there is, god help us on what happens next considering we have to accept the punishment.

Ziyech is actually a very good presser. What Mount excels at is disrupting the opposition midfield. Can see Tuchel starting either but Mount would definitely be on Fabinho's arse all game. Kante with Thiago too. Sarr, CHO, James

Not sure why no one is mentioning it but his goal against Watford was class. The control and composure in the box.

It's amazing how good a club that is heavily invested on can look when they don't have European football. We won the title in 2017 because of that.

We'll be fine. Arsenal will likely pip 4th by the way things are looking.

They have Liverpool, United, and Spurs yet to play.

Can someone educate me on this? If we knew Putin/Russia would react this way by having NATO in Ukraine, why did they proceed on doing so?

Nothing has been proven though? There was suspicion/links that Roman was using political influence, and he received the necessary punishment of being barred from the UK until further notice. Now they want to seize his assets when they still haven’t proven anything, such as direct links to Putin? Cries of desperation really.

Wasn't just Chilwell's injury. Shoehorning Lukaku after the Juventus game was the nail in the coffin. Had Chilwell and James been fine, along with Tuchel using Lukaku sparingly, I think we'd still be roughly 5-7 points adrift, but the G/D would be far, far better.

We win our game in hand its only 7 points tbf, which is impressive considering the circumstances. We saw how Liverpool utterly collapsed when VVD and Gomez were out for the season. Think if we finish off the season still in that range it can be something to hopefully build on. Or we just take further steps backwards and make a team around Lukaku.

Just relegate the cunts. They show up twice a season only and both times against us.

Pulisic has to start. If Tuchel has to shoehorn Lukaku, fine, but please put Pulisic on TAA. Alonso to provide the width on the left. Hopefully Rudiger has his batman mask ready for Sunday. Need another CL final display.

He's tied up for 5 years with Saints so they won't sell. His buy back for 35 million is activated in summer 2023.

I'm not so sure. Lukaku would thrive in the Bundesliga given how that league is mostly about direct/counter attacking football. Add the fact Bayern build their team around the CF, I can see the possibility of Bayern being interested. Only issue is that it will be a massive step down given aside the goals, Lewa is a fantastic "footballer" whereas Lukaku isn't.

Mental no clubs were in for him. Think it was between us and Atalanta I think?

Think Barca's terms are too attractive. 2 years with option to extend. Think now is the best time to cut ties with Azpilicueta personally. Great man but the gulf in quality compared to him in James is massive. Kounde would probably offer a lot more at RCB and RWB given his ability on the ball. Then we can activate Livramento's buy back in 2023 if he's good enough.