KamikazeBlue

How did you reach at that conclusion? That is some comprehension skills you got there, mate. Edit: He was such a liability that we won only 12 of the 15 games that he started for us in midfield. We won the fucking UCL with bosingwa as a defender.That does mean anything about his abilities as a defender..

Replace Schurlle with de bruyne and we can start jizzing all over...

This warranted a new thread due to impending meltdown related to the rooney transfer saga.. Sam Wallace @SamWallaceIndyChelsea: 'The terms of [Rooney] offer are confidential but for avoidance of doubt ... didn't include transfer or loan of any CFC players' 5:27 PM - 17 Jul 2013 This should go to the headline/breaking news section.Mods do the needful... Chill guys..emenalo got this..

Time for another thread.. Post your favourite sexy football girls in this thread. Be it woman football players or female football fans or models wearing jerseys.. C'mon let the juices flow.. :tophat: :tophat: :tophat:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2nks20l.gif

With Kalas,Ginkel and Schurrle added to the squad we are now the most handsome squad in the world ...

Big Data and development performance systems at Chelsea An interesting read Source:bigdatainsightgroup.com There has been a growing fascination in data among football fans in recent times, so much so that it is becoming somewhat of a sexy subject for the next generation of tweeting and blogging supporters. Companies such as Squawka and Opta have only helped to bring consumer friendly, real-time data analytics and visualisations further into the mainstream, too. It’s not just the arm chair pundits who are eager to glean new insights from clever statistical analysis either; many of the world’s leading football clubs are also realising the value that data can offer to the way they run their clubs and manage their players. The work the ‘development performance systems’ department, of which Ben Smith is a part, delivers at Chelsea FC demonstrates the varied benefits provided by the intelligent use of data. Moreover, while some business people may scoff at what inspiration they can take from a football club, there is plenty to be learned from the way Chelsea collects, analyses and feeds the insights from data back into its training and match operations. Anyone who pursues even a parting interest in football will know that when in June 2003 the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC, the south-west London club underwent a significant transformation. In the intervening nine and a half years since the takeover, there has been an increased emphasis placed on performance – something big data plays an integral part in. “When Mr Abramovich initially took over there was an understandable priority on the first team,” Smith says. “Shortly after the focus was expanded to include developing our own 1st team players and the club began putting a lot of focus on improving the quality of the academy.” For Smith, the reasoning behind applying big data analytics to help in the process of monitoring and improving player performance and progression is clear. He states: “The professionalisation of sport has been dramatic over recent years and it’s only going to continue. There’s a huge amount of money and drive within the industry today; the rewards are massive for those getting things right and they’re substantial for getting it wrong – data analytics helps us ensure we do the former and avoid the latter.” Since embarking on his role at Chelsea, Smith notes that “there has been a massive influx in data’s involvement in the sport. I think it’s already providing an opportunity to go into incredible depth in really interesting areas. But it’s very important from our perspective to stay focused on what we’re trying to achieve and not getting lost in a wealth of irrelevant data.” Tackling big data There are two main types of data put to use in player development. The first of these is what Smith refers to as ‘objective data’. This comprises of physical measurements which track the movements and conditions of each player – such as heart rate and GPS – during training sessions and matches. This data set is generated through a variety of sensors worn by the players wirelessly transmitting masses of data every second. The second type of data the club collects and uses is ‘qualitative data’. This is made up of staff assessments on each player, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they feel they’re performing and progressing. The big data elements of the work come from the unique challenges these two different data sets present. On the one hand they must be able to collect, store and analyse the massive amount of objective data being generated by all the players involved in a training session or match. Combined with this there is the added challenge the qualitative data presents which, although much smaller, comes in varied and complex forms such as text, making it more difficult to analyse and report on. Furthermore, timing is a critical aspect of the task of turning all this data into something insightful and valuable for Chelsea's staff. Smith says: “After every training session or match we have around an hour turnaround time on our data to put it into an engaging report that will tell that team’s coach: ‘this is your key information about the individual and team’.” These reports, like those in any business, are vital to the process of reviewing the successes and failures of ongoing objectives, thus enabling any problems are addressed moving forwards. “Real-time is always our preference,” Smith continues, “and if we can’t do that then we want to be as quick as possible. Often there is a small window of opportunity from when the players leave the field in which staff want the information, before their attention moves onto the next task. We always try to be prepared for when a coach wants to engage with the information – it has to suit and work around them.” To help them in their goal of delivering as close to real-time insights as they can, the development performance systems team performs all the management of their data onsite. “The hardware,” he explains, “is based at our training facilities at Cobham [in Surrey] as well as at the club’s stadium Stamford Bridge [located just off west London’s prestigious King’s Road]. There is also an in-house IT team which supports performance systems analysts.” And while the analysis is largely done on-site too, specialist consultants around the world are also called upon, particularly for the analysis of the objective data. “To simplify the process of using external data specialists,” Smith continues, “we have automated the process, via a ‘black box’ in our servers, of getting the data from the games or training sessions and sending it immediately for expert analysis. Their results, reports and insights are then fed back in to us as soon as they’re completed.” Turning football coaches into fans of data Beyond the complexity and time constraints placed on the analysis, another major obstacle faced in the job – like that faced by so many people entrusted with big data within an organisation, football club or otherwise – is to make data useful, accessible and engaging to colleagues who have little interest or experience in dealing with numbers. In the context of football clubs and their coaches, however, this issue probably becomes somewhat exacerbated. As already mentioned, delivering performance reports from training sessions and matches promptly is one important way of making it useful to the coaching staff; for it to be beneficial to them they need it in their period of reflection, not when future plans and preparations have already begun. One key tool used at Chelsea to make big data analytics valuable is visualisation software. Smith says: “Visualisation is a critical issue in football because you’re dealing with people who don’t typically have experience in data and often are not particularly passionate about it – you have to bring the information to life. “Numbers are really, really dry and people from a coaching background, even the modern coaches, are not often data driven. If you can present the numbers in a way that means they quickly understand its direct relevance to the things they’re trying to achieve then they will appreciate the significance of what it’s telling them. “We’ve got a fantastic set of staff at the club, really progressive and great coaches, but everyone has their own characteristics. It’s about understanding the ways which are going to deliver something meaningful to that individual, and data visualisations are really important because if you give our coaches a series of numbers it doesn’t have a huge amount of significance to them. But when you start to put it in a way which is aligned with the way their coaching brain works then it has a much stronger impact.” Through comprehensive reports on each player, which marry together the objective data about their physical conditioning and positioning on the pitch with the subjective reports from the expert coaches, a holistic picture can be built up for each player over time. For the coaches at Chelsea FC, Smith says, big data “tells part of the story in incredible depth. However, it’s a very complicated picture when you look at the performance and progression of a player and that’s ultimately what ensures the coaches have the final say on what we do; they can bring together all the factors, some of which you can’t measure.” In much the same way, getting insights from data can also play an important supporting role for scouting teams. Smith explains that although you would never sign a player based purely on stats and facts, it can narrow down targets and effectively help the club “decide how to deploy a scouting networking to get the most out of its available time”. Blood, sweat and tears... and data But it is not, of course, just the coaching and scouting staff that benefit from the big data analytics being carried out at the club, the players are also reaping the rewards of the work across the club. He says: “Every one of Chelsea’s Academy players from the age of nine has a personalised development programme. “It’s really important to look at and treat our players as individuals so that they’re managed in the appropriate way to match their specific needs, whether that’s physically, mentally, medically or technically. If we treat all the players the same then we will deliver a successful programme to a few but be wide of the mark for many.” In addition, by allowing players to see an objective breakdown of their own performance – including things like key decision outcomes, how they performed their positional responsibilities, and physical conditioning throughout – they gain a much broader understanding of their own game and how they can improve in the future. ‘Knowledge is power’, as they say, and here data can empower the players in their quest to improve and develop into the stars of tomorrow. When it comes to managing the physical aspect of the game, big data is extremely valuable too. Smith says: “All the players go through different rates of physical development which means that understanding the physical exertions that are placed on their body is extremely important. The objective data we collect and analyse allows us to understand their physical development and, more importantly, it tells us what we need to do in the short, medium and long term to that player’s programme to maximise their training but also to minimise their risk of injury.” Indeed injury prevention and rehabilitation is one area of football in which Smith believes big data can be “exceptionally useful”. He explains: “By using data we can reliably predict when someone is entering a ‘high risk injury zone’. And because we know how to manage the different demands of match and training scenarios, we can lower their workload or alter their training schedule accordingly. And then when they’re returning from injury we can understand how far along that recovery path they actually are, as opposed to simply assessing ‘do they look ok on the eye?’ “It’s all about the quality and depth of data; when you’re doing preventative and rehabilitative work regarding injuries, the depth of data you get surpasses what you can do with the naked eye.” What other businesses can learn When asked what he thinks the business world can learn from the data-based work taking place at Chelsea FC, Smith modestly states: “It’s difficult for me to answer having had very little experience outside of football.” He does, however, explain the key mantras they stick to which help them turn data into a valuable asset at the club. And these dos and don’ts certainly ring true off the football pitch and in the business environment. The first piece of advice Smith has is to ensure that data doesn’t completely upset an organisation’s staff or processes. Although big data is a disruptive force which can transform an organisation, it is still important to maintain the principles and ethos that are critical to the character and success of your organisation. He also stresses the importance of aligning any big data projects with your business objectives so that time and manpower is allocated as effectively as possible in order to help achieve the organisation’s bigger goals. In his own words: “It’s really important for us to view data and analytics in a supporting role within the club. We have very clear objectives of what we need to do and we have to understand how data can support those things. “Everyone has to have a very clear intention of why we’re doing something and what we’re ultimately trying to achieve. We then focus on what we need from the data to help everyone in their roles. “Furthermore,” Smith continues, “it’s incredibly important to know what data you have at your disposal and what you could potentially do with it. When you combine these things to understand the relevance of the data you have to what you’re trying to achieve it simplifies any data project – the task of using the right sets of data to support the decision-making and development processes becomes far more effective and efficient. Of course it also spares you the time of messing around with the wrong or less useful sets of data.” This is certainly a best practice tip that experts have often shared with Big Data Insight Group. Any big data or advanced analytics project needs to be aligned with the organisation’s business objectives. Moreover, understanding the data you have and then ensuring it is visualised in the right way and delivered to the right people when they need it is a certainly going to be a productive process to underpin any successful big data initiative. Becoming clinical with big data The involvement of data within sport is growing all the time. It’s not just football that now realises that it would be foolish not to use big data to uncover things that even the most experienced physios, coaches and managers can’t spot or predict. It is not going to render the Sir Alex Fergusons or Jose Mourinhos of this world obsolete but it is certainly going to prove, and is already proving at many clubs, an invaluable tool to aid player growth and progression behind the scenes. Indeed, while things like the famous book-turned-film Moneyball may have helped to further popularise the subject and to get fans and onlookers doing number crunching of their own, football clubs are now using data in such an advanced and business focussed way that it rivals any other sector. Chelsea's work behind the scenes pays testament to the value and worth of doing just that. From creating comprehensive, in-depth player reports which can support or positively challenge a coach’s expert judgement, through to creating highly personalised training regimes for every player to accelerate their development and helping in injury prevention and rehabilitation, big data analytics substantially enhances the work that happens on and off the pitch at the club. In a game when the margins for error are so small, and the rewards for the victor are so great, it is no surprise that big data has already become a marquee signing at Stamford Bridge.

Hi all. Flaunt your chelsea related collections here.. basically anything that has been signed by any CFC related player or rare pieces you have in your collection.. Hope everyone will contribute.. P.S I live far way..I dont have any.. Post your pics.. not comments..

Now we have a buyer for torres!!!

Robben left for Chelsea for a better career? No boy. He was let go by Chelsea due to his injuries and inconsistencies.Not the other way round.Thats just not the Russian Style.Its difficult getting in, and more so getting out ..

Part 3: The rise of Emenalo and the good things In July 2011, when he was appointed, Emenalo explained the recruitment process as follows: 'The final decisions about who comes in and who doesn't will be the manager's to make but to arrive at that stage there will be a lot of working together and I would imagine I will be part of that process of working together to make that happen.' Two important points can be taken from this. One: that the final decision regarding recruitment still lies with the manager (at least the permanent ones). And Two: that leading up to that decision point, there is a process which involves a number of people, including the Technical Director. This is essential to understand: player recruitment at Chelsea is a collective process, not the remit of an all-powerful individual whether that is an old-style manager like some people would prefer, or alternatively an individual Technical Director. The former approach is a very English, some would say, 'old fashioned' approach to recruitment. Across the continent it is expected that crucial decisions about signing up such high earners should be agreed collectively. Better decisions are arrived at this way - especially for a club like Chelsea with an historically high turnover of managers. Interestingly, despite the prevailing mythology of Roman buying players over the current manager's head, this collective approach with the manager having the final say has been in place for a very long time. Even going back to Claudio Ranieri's short reign under Roman, Bruce Buck stated: 'The process is that Mr A and Mr Ranieri and the directors and the chief executive of course consult on what is appropriate or what is necessary and what is desirable'. Later, when Frank Arnesen first joined the club the Times outlined the limits of Arnesen's role: 'Arnesen, 48, will pinpoint players to sign, but any potential transfers would be pursued only after consultation with Mourinho and the board'. And even Roman himself explained the process in a rare interview from 2006: "I cannot say I'm completely not involved in buying players, but my role would be significantly lower than that of the manager's. You cannot compare them. To give an example, this would be an impossible situation when a manager does not want a player to be bought and I try to impose ideas. It would not work." Even Shevchenko? 'Any player, Shevchenko included', Roman confirmed. In fact, even after Ray Wilkins had been sacked (and perhaps had good reason to be unhappy at the way the club conducted its business) he categorically denied that the manager is excluded from these decisions. He said: "In the time that I was on the coaching staff, it was always the coach that selected the players. "I know for a fact that Carlo wanted Fernando Torres and David Luiz so Mr Abramovich went out and got them". Crucially, it is clear that the club's collective approach to recruitment now involves Mike Forde, whose role albeit low profile to the point of invisibility, is critical. On paper, Forde looks to be Emenalo's boss although this has never quite been confirmed. Even if the two just work alongside each other it is clear that Emenalo's team of scouts interact closely with Forde's 'psychological, medical and performance profiling of new players' including the 'cutting edge use of quantitative data to present the club with positive recruitment choices'. As Forde states: "As it's become a more data-rich environment, the recruitment process has become less risky because you've got data points to compare apples with apples." He has also been quoted saying that: "99% of player recruitment is who you don't buy" So while it seems clear that no player should ever be purchased solely on the basis of a statistical analysis, that same process can be very effective at filtering out unsuitable players. Surprisingly, perhaps the best summary of the Director of Football role (which at Chelsea appears to be shared between Forde and Emenalo) that I have seen came from Lee Congerton who used to work under Arnesen at Chelsea and who is now with him at Hamburg. Last year he explained that there is a misconception about the role: "I think it is frowned upon a lot in Englandbecause the managers don't really understand what the role is. InEnglandit's perceived that the sporting or technical director is signing players that he wants to play in the team. But we don't bring a player here that the coach doesn't want - ultimately he has to play them in the team. What we do is try to minimise the risk, so that we know the player and gather detailed information on them because the coach also has to understand that the sporting director has a responsibility to the organisation." To illustrate his point Congerton runs through the process behind signing the Latvian striker Artjoms Rudnevs from Lech Poznan this month. Statistics have become more important in recruitment and Rudnevs' numbers, sourced from a database of 10,000 European players, were "exceptionally high". Arnesen and Lee Congerton at Hamburg. The next stage is to view video clips and, if Congerton likes what he sees, as was the case with Rudnevs, a scout will go to watch the player and compile a dossier listing everything from language skills to alcohol consumption. Congerton and Arnesen finally travelled in person to see Rudnevs in action before discussing the merits of signing the player with the manager, Thorsten Fink. EDITORS NOTE: Frank Arnesen has today been SACKED by Hamburg SV. At Chelsea, there is strong evidence that this current approach to recruitment is working well despite the widespread whingeing amongst fans about the malign influence of Emenalo (interestingly, Forde's role is rarely mentioned despite him being the nominal head of player recruitment). For clarity, here are the facts; since Emenalo and Forde both assumed their current roles in July 2011, the club has spent just under £170m on 18 first team players (and first team prospects) and, taking a cursory look, only Marko Marin (£6.5m) and Ulises Davila (£1.8m) are probably worth less now than when Chelsea bought them. All of the other players have appreciated in value - some very significantly (including Courtois, Lukaku, Mata, Cahill, De Bruyne, Thorgan Hazard and Azpilicueta). This is a remarkable success rate - especially compared with the club's historically patchy record of recruitment - and it is proof that the current approach is working. That said, perhaps the club's strategy on loaning players and balancing the squad still needs further improvement (or perhaps it just needs to be explained better). Maybe it needs the added influence of a strong manager? So, what does Jose have to fear from working with Emenalo and Forde? Nothing. Or at least nothing substantial. It is very important that the three quickly establish a constructive working relationship. But, assuming they can, Jose will find himself working with individuals who may not have had a substantial track record before they came to Chelsea but who have absolutely made their mark since then with a superbly performing Academy and, as noted above, a highly effective approach to player recruitment. At the same time, in Michael Emenalo, Jose will be working alongside a Roman loyalist who appears to have no ambitions to extend his power at the club by limiting or encroaching on the power of the manager. At the same time, Emenalo can really help Jose by acting as that crucial buffer between a combustible manager and an easily disillusioned owner. On paper it should work. In reality, no one knows. Jose could blow-up unexpectedly, Roman could parachute another obscure coach in as an all-powerful Director of Football and push Emenalo and Forde aside, or we could be introduced to an entirely new scenario in the soap-opera. As we know, Chelsea has unpredictability in its blood. But, at the moment, the signs look good.

Part 2: about the fucker Frank Arnesan who pushed Mou out of the club with a lot of politics To understand the need for stability, it is necessary to look back at Jose's previous time with the club and to understand exactly why it ended in such acrimony and discord. And also to explain why the club now, with Emenalo (and Forde) working quietly behind the scenes, is a very different beast from those heady days. Jose's title when he was first appointed was 'Manager & First Team Coach' and it was made clear from the start that he would have a club-wide role. At the time he said: "The methodology to make the team work is what I really love in football. But a successful team needs many other things which creates a wonderful atmosphere for the team to develop well. So I have to be in many other things around the football team and many other areas around the club. I have to be participating in very important club decisions and in many important club areas, and in this aspect I feel I'm a lucky person." For whatever reason (and it's hard not to find fault with the club's decision making throughout this period) less than a year later the situation had changed. Chelsea poached Frank Arnesen from Spurs and by September 2005 he was in post as Head of Development & Scouting. In theory this post was supposed to focus on the Academy and youth team scouting but Arnesen is an arch-political operator (incidentally, with a history of friction with his managers including Hiddink at PSV Eindhoven and Santini at Spurs). Sith. In the following two years Arnesen managed to expand his remit into first team recruitment aided by his previous business history with Peter Kenyon and the time he had spent with Roman's personal scout Piet De Visser at PSV (allegedly, PDV was the one who first recommended Arnesen to Roman). Remember, this was the period when Roman had become disillusioned with the quality of Mourinho's player recommendations - including Del Horno, Wright-Phillips and Maniche amongst others - and the time was ripe for the Dane to extend his influence. This inevitably led to a series of clashes between Mourinho and Arnesen over the direction of the club and who should shape its future. Sadly for us all, Roman sided with the Arnesen faction. By early 2007 the situation was coming to a head. Mourinho was increasingly resentful of Arnesen's influence and was further angered by Roman's suggestion that Jose's assistant Steve Clarke should be sacked and replaced by a little known Israeli coach called Avram Grant - primarily to work one to one with Andriy Shevchenko. Abramovich had first met Grant around 2004 - introduced by the infamous super-agent Pini Zahavi - and by February 2006 the relationship had developed to such an extent that Roman spent several days with Grant in Tel Aviv accompanied by none other than one Frank Arnesen. Now, in early 2007 he was being proposed as a coach to work alongside Mourinho. On that occasion, Jose Mourinho managed to fend off that threat but the tension was ongoing for the next six months while Peter Kenyon did his level best to keep the peace between the factions. I got your back. In July 2007, after much speculation, Grant was confirmed as Chelsea's new Director of Football with a remit to 'be responsible for all the professional matters in Chelsea and [act] a coordinator in all football matters'. Jose put a brave face on it stating at the time that it was: "not my job to speak about what he [Grant] has to do in the club. He's here to give support to different areas in the club, and for me that's not a problem. If the club wants to bring people to make the club better, and from my point of view, don't interfere with the power I have in relation to my job, then I welcome and try to help them adapt to a club like Chelsea". But the writing was on the wall and with reports of Grant soon grilling players over the quality of Mourinho's training sessions, in retrospect it was not that much of a shock that Mourinho and the club parted ways in September. Grant, of course, was the inevitable heir apparent. Still later, after Grant was gone, Frank Arnesen's influence served to undermine Scolari then worked effectively, albeit very temporarily, with Hiddink (though how much did Arnesen's presence lead Hiddink to refuse the permanent Chelsea role?). By summer 2009 Arnesen had managed to navigate his way onto the Football Club Board and into a new role as Sporting Director. Interestingly, after Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as manager Arnesen felt no need to butt heads with the new man. Instead, the two formed a close bond and become good friends. Perhaps this was because Ancelotti was completely open about being 'a coach' rather than 'a manager' and was very used to working in a situation at AC Milan where players were bought for him rather than by him. Apparently Carlo was perfectly content for Arnesen to continue his empire building while he just got on and coached. By the autumn of 2010 Arnesen's power reached an absolute peak when Peter Kenyon (whom Arnesen had also been having a long-term power battle with) was pushed out as Chief Executive. Fragile Allegiance Inevitably, by that stage even Roman seemed to have become bored with Arnesen's manoeuvrings. The club were allegedly sounding out Txiki Begiristain as a potential replacement and on 27 November 2010 Frank Arnesen announced his intention to leave the club at the end of the season (rumours suggest he was given little choice in the matter). Before then however, by January 2011, he had effectively already been eased out and both Forde and Emenalo began to take on an increasing influence. So; compare this saga to Jose's situation now. He is not coming into his new management role having been promised wide-ranging powers. He is coming into a club with an established backroom team which has apparently been doing its job fairly effectively for over two years. In addition, he will not, as things stand, be appointed with one job description and then have that job description systematically stripped, adapted and undermined by new appointments with overlapping roles. More importantly, both Emenalo and Forde - along with other key figures like Marina Granovskaia and Eugene Tenenbaum - appear to be unwavering Abramovich-loyalists as opposed to established football figures with previously forged alliances and a tendency towards empire building and extending their influence. There is no reason to think that Mourinho can't work in this context. In fact he may find it very refreshing that he doesn't have to navigate through the political jungle of power blocs and Dutch and Russian - and Portuguese - factions this time. Instead, he can work with a club that seems more coherent and stable (at least behind the scenes) than at any time since Roman first took over in summer 2003.

Credits: Rod Crowley @ bluetinted Part 1 So now it seems but a matter of days. The Special One, currently Public Enemy No.1 in Spain, is on the verge of a dramatic return to the club that he left in acrimony six years ago. But there is apparently one remaining problem. We keep being told in countless newspaper articles that the one sticking point stopping Jose from agreeing to return is the prospect of working with Michael Emenalo, Chelsea FC's infamous Technical Director. We are told that Jose fears his interference, that he resents having to report to a former U12 Girls Soccer Coach and that he objects to having to hand over control of transfers to the Nigerian. Fans endlessly parrot these complaints and have come to use Emenalo as a convenient scapegoat for every club decision they disagree with. Persisting with Torres? That's Emenalo's fault. Loaning out the likes of Lukaku and De Bruyne? Emenalo. Choosing Benitez to replace Di Matteo? Of course - it has to be Emenalo. But the plain fact is the vast majority ofChelseasupporters don't have the first clue about what Michael Emenalo actually does. Perhaps the easy scapegoat is because of his association with Avram Grant. Or possibly it is his virtually non-existent coaching track record. Or maybe it's just that people can't quite work out how he has secured himself a senior position at one of the biggest football clubs in the world. Whatever it may be, it seems a good time to set the record straight. To separate the truth from the Emenalo mythology and to review the facts (or at least those we know) rather than just the rumour and prejudice. Firstly, what does Michael Emenalo actually do? The statement when he was appointed confirms his role encompasses the following: · He supports the work of the first team manager · He leads the club's international and domestic scouting network · He assists in driving the technical programmes of the club's Academy and international youth network. The role is further described as 'a vital role that will assist the overall long-term football strategy of the club'. To shed further light on Emenalo's remit, it might be useful to compare it directly to the roles of the two people who are always cited as his predecessors as Chelsea 'Director of Football'. First, however we must note that Emenalo's job title itself is different. His post is as 'Technical Director' while Avram Grant briefly held a post named 'Director of Football' from July 2007 then, exactly two years later, Frank Arnesen assumed the role of 'Sporting Director'. The posts have different job titles because, quite simply, they are different roles. For example, Grant, on his appointment was said to be 'responsible for liaison on, and co-ordination of, football matters across the various areas of Chelsea FC' and he also sat on the Football Club Board. But to fully understand the extent of Grant's (very short-term) remit, it is essential to note that he became Director of Football while Arnesen simultaneously held a less senior role as the club's Head of Development & Scouting (a post he had held since his appointment in 2005). Frienemies? Following Grant's elevation and subsequent departure, Arnesen's role developed and expanded from previously focussing solely on the Academy and youth recruitment to him gradually assuming a much more influential role in first team recruitment and wider club matters. As if to confirm this, Arnesen was invited to join Football Club Board himself in April 2009 (while Michael Emenalo has never been part of the Football Club Board). As noted above, this was actually a few months before Arnesen officially became Sporting Director in the July of that year. At this point Arnesen was asked to 'continue with his roles relating to the Reserves and Academy' but also 'take on responsibilities relating to the co-ordination of first team activity and supporting the first team manager'. So, if you are still following this, the clear difference is that while Emenalo's role is to support (note, not oversee) the work of the manager plus look after scouting and the Academy; he does not have a remit to co-ordinate either 'first team activity' or 'football matters across the various areas of Chelsea FC' unlike his so-called predecessors Grant and Arnesen had. He is also, crucially, not a full member of the Football Club Board again unlike Grant and Arnesen. Therefore, it can only be concluded that Emenalo's role as Technical Director is less senior than either Grant or Arnesen were in their roles. In fact it is more closely aligned with Arnesen's old role of Head of Development & Scouting with a bit of extra 'support for the first team manager' thrown in. Mike Forde Incidentally, it may well be that the even more mysterious figure of Mike Forde has assumed that missing football co-ordination role. Forde is on Football Club Board and his role is grandly titled 'Director of Football Operations'. He is apparently 'responsible for all areas of performance and team operations relating to the first team, including player recruitment; medical, sport science, psychology and performance analysis.' That sounds more like the remit of a Director of Football to me. One other aspect may be worth addressing. Although it is not specifically referred to in the summary of his job description, Michael Emenalo has also taken on a liaison role between the manager and the board and, infamously, between the manager and the owner himself. Now it would seem logical to assume that this forms part of Emenalo's remit to 'support the work of the first team manager', but many people have chosen to interpret it either as the manager having to 'report to' the Nigerian or, on a more base level, Emenalo simply being Roman's 'spy in the camp'. I would argue that both of these interpretations are mistaken. To begin with, it simply is not true that the manager has toreport tothe Technical Director. Emenalo is not in any sense the manager's line manager. As has always been the case, the manager reports to the club's CEO. Instead, what happens is that Emenalo is in place in order that the manager canreport throughhim. Thus, when Roman or the board have questions for the manager, Emenalo can take those questions to him and report back with his answers. Equally, if the manager wishes to raise an issue with the board or with the owner, Emenalo can act as the go-between. It is telling that none of the three managers since Emenalo became Sporting Director have grumbled about his role (even through the usual veiled moans via friends in the press). In fact they seem to have viewed it as quite a natural arrangement. AVB stated at one point: "I have not spoken to him [Abramovich], I have spoken to persons near to him. I speak to the people close to the owner to transmit the message. People like Emenalo. That is the normal way we communicate." And at his unveiling, Benitez 'repeatedly referred to Emenalo's key role as the conduit to the owner on footballing matters: "The main thing is that I have spoken to Michael Emenalo, the technical director, and he's my link." This role as a 'buffer' between the owner/board and the manager may seem odd, but when you look at the history of political tensions, professional feuds and petty factionalism that has served to undermine our managers during the Abramovich era it doesn't seem so strange. In fact having Emenalo in place as that buffer arguably introduces a level of professional distance and dare I say it, stability, at the heart of the club that was missing before.

I was referring to his number of posts..

I was referring to his number of posts..

you were in a coma this year.werent you??

you were in a coma this year.werent you??

"I think it's normal that they talk about Ancelotti. That's normal, if I go to Chelsea, or here or there... that's normal for people to talk abut that. We will make it official when me and the president sit down and decide what to do.

Its like: "Surrender bitches.We have the Kraken coming on soon"