Roman Abramovich Thread

[Vesper 30,224]

Ornstein: Chelsea bidders consider Paul Mitchell

https://theathletic.com/3253363/2022/04/18/ornstein-Chelsea-bidders-consider-paul-mitchell-the-arsenal-way-cultural-review-burnley-want-interim-manager/

After six weeks of frenetic activity since Roman Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale, the bidding process to replace him culminated on Thursday. Next, the preferred candidate will be selected.

Abramovich’s reign at Stamford Bridge is nearing its end and reports suggest that a takeover will be finalised in May, pending approval from the UK government and the Premier League.

The interested parties were condensed into a final four and then, following the deadline for offers, the Ricketts family, who run the Chicago Cubs baseball team, opted to withdraw their proposal.

That leaves a battle between groups led by Todd Boehly, Stephen Pagliuca — co-owners of the LA Dodgers and Boston Celtics respectively — and British businessman Sir Martin Broughton.

Each of them will be formulating detailed plans and ideas for Chelsea on and off the pitch, with a key area under consideration believed to be who takes responsibility for driving the football operation.

This column reported last Monday that the prospective buyers had all expressed a wish to retain long-serving director Marina Granovskaia should they win and that will be among many key calls.

Another role said to be high on the agenda is that of technical director, a post that has not been occupied on a permanent basis since Michael Emenalo left Chelsea in late 2017.

If the vacancy needs to be filled, several names are sure to enter the picture and The Athletic has established that a name figuring prominently in preliminary conversations is Paul Mitchell.

Two of the original quartet competing for Chelsea are believed to be closely monitoring Mitchell’s situation and could contact the Englishman if they take control.

The former Wigan Athletic and MK Dons player is currently sporting director at AS Monaco — he actually succeeded Emenalo — having earlier held senior positions at MK Dons, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and RB Leipzig before joining the Ligue 1 side in June 2020.

Recent speculation indicated Mitchell was set to depart after a change in the political climate around the club, yet that is known not to be the intention of Monaco president Dmitry Rybolovlev.

Claims of his exit surfaced on March 20 when Monaco stunned Paris Saint-Germain to begin a run of four consecutive wins. They are now sixth in the table and only three points behind potential Champions League qualification, with one of the youngest line-ups in the French top tier.

Mitchell has two years left on his deal and it is understood Rybolovlev invited him to a meeting on April 3, when Monaco beat Metz in the only match Mitchell has not attended since moving from Leipzig, to insist the Mancunian is critical to a project that will continue without any such changes.

In his time at the Stade Louis II, Mitchell has been central to a rebuilding effort that has benefited from a fraction of the budget that preceded his arrival. Monaco sources credit him for transforming the age, profile and performance metrics of their squad, integrating far more academy graduates, markedly improving the injury record and revamping a culture that some feel had become “sinister”.

He has also overseen progress at Cercle Brugge, the Belgian team also owned by Russian oligarch Rybolovlev, and their best league finish for a decade was achieved in the 2021-22 season.

Mitchell was an option deliberated by Newcastle before choosing to stay at Monaco — they took Dan Ashworth from Brighton instead — and he has been repeatedly linked to Manchester United.

United’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick knows Mitchell well from their period together with Red Bull and has endorsed him to the Old Trafford hierarchy if they seek to enhance their existing structure.

[Superblue 6,372]

Definitely a move that needs to be made, there needs to be a much more joined up approach at the club and if we start to move away from the profile of player we usually look at and instead are maybe looking at players still to be moulded and developed but with a lot of potential I think we have the right manager in place to develop such players. The obvious example of that would have been grabbing Tchouameni last summer when he was a much rawer prospect but in a much cheaper deal. This season he has gone a way to fulfilling the potential he has and has developed further but he'll cost an awful lot more. We may need to start identifying some players at an earlier stage moving forward if transfer budgets won't be potentially as high or flexible as they may have been previously.

If we were to bring in a technical director though they have to work with Tuchel and not against him. For all the benefits that some of these people can bring there can also be power struggles, blaming for bad signings, etc when things go wrong. I'm not expecting Tuchel to get carte blanche but he needs to be an important voice within any transfer committee and the signings need to suit around his style and philosophy. We may never know the true in's and out's of Lukaku's transfer but the key take is that he is such an ill fit for a Tuchel team and we can't afford to make mistakes like that.

Tuchel does need some freedom as to who he wants to keep or sell from the current squad. Some of that may be working alongside the board as may be dependent on alternatives (for example say selling Jorginho, to bring in a new centre midfielder like Tchouameni), but he needs to be backed with who he does and doesn't want in his squad makeup for next season. If he wants to keep Timo, then keep him. I get the impression he thinks highly of RLC and feels he can unlock something inside of him. If he wants him as an option within the squad then back him and keep him. If he wants Lukaku out, then cut out losses and sell him for as much as we can.

[mkh 600]

3 hours ago, Vesper said:

Ornstein: Chelsea-Bieter ziehen Paul Mitchell in Betracht

https://theathletic.com/3253363/2022/04/18/ornstein-Chelsea-bidders-consider-paul-mitchell-the-arsenal-way-cultural-review-burnley-want-interim-manager/

Nach sechs Wochen fieberhafter Aktivität, seit Roman Abramovich Chelsea zum Verkauf angeboten hatte, gipfelte das Bieterverfahren, um ihn zu ersetzen, am Donnerstag. Anschließend wird der Wunschkandidat ausgewählt.

Die Amtszeit von Abramovich an der Stamford Bridge nähert sich ihrem Ende, und Berichte deuten darauf hin, dass eine Übernahme im Mai abgeschlossen sein wird, vorbehaltlich der Zustimmung der britischen Regierung und der Premier League .  

Die interessierten Parteien wurden zu vier letzten zusammengefasst, und nach Ablauf der Angebotsfrist entschied sich die Familie Ricketts, die das Baseballteam Chicago Cubs leitet, dafür, ihren Vorschlag zurückzuziehen.

Damit bleibt ein Kampf zwischen Gruppen, angeführt von Todd Boehly, Stephen Pagliuca – Miteigentümer der LA Dodgers bzw. Boston Celtics – und dem britischen Geschäftsmann Sir Martin Broughton.

Jeder von ihnen wird detaillierte Pläne und Ideen für Chelsea auf und neben dem Spielfeld formulieren, wobei ein Schlüsselbereich darin liegen soll, wer die Verantwortung für den Fußballbetrieb übernimmt.

Diese Kolumne berichtete letzten Montag, dass alle potenziellen Käufer den Wunsch geäußert hatten, die langjährige Direktorin Marina Granovskaia zu behalten,  falls sie gewinnen sollten, und das wird einer von vielen wichtigen Anrufen sein.

Eine weitere Rolle, die ganz oben auf der Agenda stehen soll, ist die des technischen Direktors, ein Posten, der nicht dauerhaft besetzt wurde, seit Michael Emenalo Chelsea Ende 2017 verlassen hat.

Wenn die Stelle besetzt werden muss, werden sicherlich mehrere Namen ins Bild kommen, und The Athletic hat festgestellt, dass ein Name, der in den Vorgesprächen eine herausragende Rolle spielt, Paul Mitchell ist.   

Es wird angenommen, dass zwei der ursprünglichen Quartette, die um Chelsea kämpfen, Mitchells Situation genau beobachten und den Engländer kontaktieren könnten, wenn sie die Kontrolle übernehmen.

Der ehemalige Spieler von Wigan Athletic und MK Dons ist derzeit Sportdirektor beim AS Monaco – er trat tatsächlich die Nachfolge von Emenalo an – nachdem er zuvor leitende Positionen bei MK Dons, Southampton , Tottenham Hotspur und RB Leipzig innehatte, bevor er im Juni 2020 zur Mannschaft der Ligue 1 wechselte.    

Jüngste Spekulationen deuteten darauf hin, dass Mitchell nach einer Änderung des politischen Klimas im Club abreisen würde, aber es ist bekannt, dass dies nicht die Absicht von Monacos Präsident Dmitry Rybolovlev ist.

Behauptungen über seinen Abgang tauchten am 20. März auf, als Monaco Paris Saint-Germain verblüffte und eine Serie von vier Siegen in Folge begann. Sie sind jetzt Tabellensechster und haben nur drei Punkte Rückstand auf eine mögliche Champions-League-Qualifikation, mit einer der jüngsten Aufstellungen in der französischen Top-Liga.   

Mitchell hat noch zwei Jahre Zeit für seinen Vertrag, und es wird davon ausgegangen, dass Rybolovlev ihn zu einem Treffen am 3. April eingeladen hat, als Monaco Metz in dem einzigen Spiel besiegte, an dem Mitchell seit seinem Umzug aus Leipzig nicht teilgenommen hat, um darauf zu bestehen, dass der Mancunian für ein Projekt von entscheidender Bedeutung ist das wird ohne solche Änderungen fortfahren.

In seiner Zeit im Stade Louis II spielte Mitchell eine zentrale Rolle bei den Wiederaufbaubemühungen, die von einem Bruchteil des Budgets profitierten, das seiner Ankunft vorausging. Monaco-Quellen schreiben ihm zu, dass er das Alter, das Profil und die Leistungskennzahlen ihres Kaders verändert, weit mehr Akademieabsolventen integriert, die Verletzungsbilanz deutlich verbessert und eine Kultur überarbeitet hat, die manche für „unheimlich“ halten.

Er hat auch die Fortschritte bei Cercle Brugge überwacht, dem belgischen Team, das ebenfalls dem russischen Oligarchen Rybolovlev gehört, und das beste Ligaergebnis seit einem Jahrzehnt wurde in der Saison 2021/22 erzielt.

Mitchell war eine Option, die von Newcastle erwogen wurde, bevor er sich entschied, in Monaco zu bleiben – sie nahmen stattdessen Dan Ashworth aus Brighton – und er wurde wiederholt mit Manchester United in Verbindung gebracht .    

Der Interimsmanager von United, Ralf Rangnick, kennt Mitchell gut aus ihrer Zeit zusammen mit Red Bull und hat ihn in die Hierarchie von Old Trafford aufgenommen, wenn sie versuchen, ihre bestehende Struktur zu verbessern.

I hope Chelsea gets one of Campos, Edwards, Mitchell or with outsider Ramon Planes because of little English skills.

I also hope that Marina and Cech can keep their roles.

McLachlan and Crew Out

[Strike 7,493]

Boehly sounds the closest to FSG's style of running a club.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

8 minutes ago, Strike said:

Boehly sounds the closest to FSG's style of running a club.

I like in several videos Boehly has talked about getting the best people in place and let them run the day to day operations and his team does everything they can to improve the team and facilities. These interviews were related to the Dodgers and Lakers so it was not him trying to say the right thing to acquire Chelsea.

[OhForAGreavsie 6,077]

8 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

We may need to start identifying some players at an earlier stage moving forward if transfer budgets won't be potentially as high or flexible as they may have been previously

The transfer budget can be smaller and, effectively, larger at the same time. Just cut out the enormous waste of the Roman era. Spend less get more. If the incoming regime can't do better in the transfer market for CFC than has been done in the past 20 years then we are selling to the wrong people.  

8 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

If we were to bring in a technical director though they have to work with Tuchel and not against him. For all the benefits that some of these people can bring there can also be power struggles, blaming for bad signings, etc when things go wrong.

I used to laugh when people held up Ferguson and Wenger as examples that clubs did not need Directors of Football because both of those men were perfect examples of exactly the opposite. I don't know what their actual job titles were but, in reality, each was the director of football in their club. They had the final say in all football matters barring, I suppose, the budget, and even that would have been influenced by them. I make this point because I feel that TT can become that person for CFC and I would not like to see someone parachuted in who then blocks TT's natural development into the rule.

Edited April 18, 2022 by OhForAGreavsie

[Vesper 30,224]

6 hours ago, mkh said:

I hope Chelsea gets one of Campos, Edwards, Mitchell or with outsider Ramon Planes because of little English skills.

I also hope that Marina and Cech can keep their roles.

McLachlan and Crew Out

Ramón Planes, close to returning to Getafe

https://www.estadiodeportivo.com/noticias-futbol/getafe/2022/04/06/ramon-planes-cerca-volver-getafe/389672.html

[Superblue 6,372]

35 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

The transfer budget can be smaller and, effectively, larger at the same time. Just cut out the enormous waste of the Roman era. Spend less get more. If the incoming regime can't do better in the transfer market for CFC than has been done in the past 20 years then we are selling to the wrong people.  

Completely agree. One only has to look at what our perceived strike rate is for, say the top 20 most expensive players in the Roman era vs the rest. Maybe sometimes you get players like an Azpi or an Ivanovic who are bought in for much less money and hype and as a result they can sit out the side a little longer and develop and adapt, but we've generally done pretty decent business when we've been "finding value" in our buys, and such shocking business more often than not on big money signings it's puzzling why we'd go back to that well time after time.

44 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

I used to laugh when people held up Ferguson and Wenger as examples that clubs did not need Directors of Football because both of those men were perfect examples of exactly the opposite. I don't know what their actual job titles were but, in reality, each was the director of football in their club. They had the final say in all football matters barring, I suppose, the budget, and even that would have been influenced by them. I make this point because I feel that TT can become that person for CFC and I would not like to see someone parachuted in who then blocks TT's natural development into the rule.

It's a difficult one and I feel the club needs to find a balance. I agree with you on Fergie and Wenger but look at the trouble both clubs have had since then to replace them. I think there still needs to be some accountability with a manager if things aren't going well or signings are poor. I would love Tuchel to be that manager that breaks the short term mould at the club and stays here another 3, 4, 5 years building on what he has done so far. But Tuchel's track record in the transfer market across his clubs is hardly something for him to crow about (although again we come back to what influence he had at these clubs with regards to recruitment - especially at PSG and here with Lukaku), so we do have to still be careful with giving someone that much power and carte blance within the club.

Ultimately I think it boils down to the job spec of the director of football. If they are someone who heads up the scouting department, and can bring in new ideas (the moneyball idea that seems to have served Liverpool pretty well as an example) is definitely a positive. As has just been mentioned above, our recruitment hasn't exactly been efficient and that's based on bigger budgets. Can our scouting department and someone like Scott McLachlan operate under stricter budgets or possibly identifying a different profile of transfer prospects?

However, I still feel the director of football shouldn't be headed above the manager, and in many situations they can be given far too much power. What we need is someone able to shake up and sort out our scouting and recruitment but work alongside Tuchel. Tuchel should always get the final say on, and be in full agreement with who comes in and out of the club. I don't want someone sat above him making decisions on who is brought into and moved out of the club. There has to be a balance - it's a fine balance, but it's one the club should strive towards.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

Reports from Sky the decision will be by the end of the month…..oy! Not sure what to think of this?

 

 

[Superblue 6,372]

 

[Superblue 6,372]

For those superstitious type just to note that according to reports Boehly was at last nights game and has now been to oversee the home games against Arsenal and Madrid, the two biggest clusterfuck defensive performances I've seen for a long time.

Pagliuca has been to one game per reports which was the 6-0 win against Southampton.

I think if Boehly goes to West Ham too he wants to pray we actually win a game under his watchful eye, otherwise murmurs of a curse might start to escalate!

[Fulham Broadway 17,333]

Turning into a right circus....

[Fulham Broadway 17,333]

BREAKING NEWS: Sir Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams join Sir Martin Broughton's bid to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich, 'pledging £10m each', as the £2.5bn bidding war nears its conclusion

[Superblue 6,372]

9 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

BREAKING NEWS: Sir Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams join Sir Martin Broughton's bid to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich, 'pledging £10m each', as the £2.5bn bidding war nears its conclusion

This would worry me as it makes you wonder just how many people are involved in a bid like this if you've got such minority investors. The club might as well be floated on the stock exchange instead.

I would assume there's probably a bit more to it than just their money to have high profile sports people involved but so far the Broughton bid has been the least transparent (whilst it's universally accepted Harris and Blitzer are significantly involved, no one has been honest enough to confirm it). There has been talk that it's well funded but unlike the other 2 it's yet to really see where that funding on a bigger scale is coming from.

 

[Jype 6,398]

4 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

This would worry me as it makes you wonder just how many people are involved in a bid like this if you've got such minority investors. The club might as well be floated on the stock exchange instead.

I would assume there's probably a bit more to it than just their money to have high profile sports people involved but so far the Broughton bid has been the least transparent (whilst it's universally accepted Harris and Blitzer are significantly involved, no one has been honest enough to confirm it). There has been talk that it's well funded but unlike the other 2 it's yet to really see where that funding on a bigger scale is coming from.

 

LeBron James owns a tiny minority stake of Liverpool through FSG, who have around 30 partners overall. The likes of Hamilton or Williams being included in Broughton's consortium is just like that, doesn't mean anything really.

Would imagine all of the remaining bidders have at least a couple dozen people involved with varying degrees of involvement. What matters most is who owns the controlling stake and who they put in place to take care of the club's major decisions.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

My patience is running out with being Next Week FC. The new buyer needs to be named and we need to move on.

[milka 3,393]

 

[OhForAGreavsie 6,077]

On 21/04/2022 at 09:59, Superblue_1986 said:

For those superstitious type just to note that according to reports Boehly was at last nights game and has now been to oversee the home games against Arsenal and Madrid, the two biggest clusterfuck defensive performances I've seen for a long time.

Pagliuca has been to one game per reports which was the 6-0 win against Southampton.

I think if Boehly goes to West Ham too he wants to pray we actually win a game under his watchful eye, otherwise murmurs of a curse might start to escalate!

Nothing to do with these coincidences but I'm ok with both of these bids.

Curious that it's wall to wall Americans in the running to buy the club.

[Superblue 6,372]

27 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

Nothing to do with these coincidences but I'm ok with both of these bids.

Curious that it's wall to wall Americans in the running to buy the club.

My gut feeling for preference (and to be fair we're only given a limited sample of information regarding the bids) would be Boehly, then Pagliuca, then Broughton.

With regards to how valuable we appear to be for Americans - I can remember reading something early on in the process to suggest that the American line is that Chelsea at the price we are is a steal and with longer term in mind, could easily be 2 or 3x the price in another 10-15 years time. Boehly himself in an interview a few years ago mentioned football clubs aren't investments to return 30% each year but they're a stable asset to hold so I think he carries the same idea that if he can continue to grow the club and keep it challenging for trophies and amongst the top clubs in Europe then the club's value will grow in time.