Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire

[The only place to be 11,313]

I don't doubt Roman's passion for the game or the club. I saw his reaction when we lost in Moscow and again when we won in Munich. Whilst the article is too emotional there is a semblance of truth there. For every step we take forward we take three or four steps back. Fingers crossed the next ten years is better than the first.

He's a guy running a business. Show me one person who doesn't make mistakes in the first ten years?

And he probably did the right things to get us to the level where we could win titles, but it's shifting from a business based on outside investment to one that can be self-sustaining that is tricky and that's where we've fallen down.

There are so many positive signs though with the signings we've made and the performance of our young kids (our future) that people need to take a long-term view of things rather than simply calling for 'the board' to be sacked without being able to explain why.

The main thing needs to be sorting out the managerial situation.

[Leif 6,006]

I do actually agree that while Roman is the best thing to ever happen to us, he does actually need to go. He is SO out of touch that it's hard to believe. Everyone has contrasting opinions, but completely honestly, I'd rather be trophy-less Arsenal who invest in and use youth (which brings pride to the club), have stability (which brings around more passionate & permanent fans), have a plan (which usually means no huge slumps out of nowhere) and compete as a proper football club - not a football business.

I honestly would rather that than having a new face at the helm every season, buying the 'best' players available for every position (it really isn't needed. Arsenal, Barcelona, Tottenham, Bayern, Dortmund, Juventus, Milan - they all do well without that trait) & having a board who know nothing about football yet win a trophy every season or 2. I really would prefer the first option.

I want the atmosphere of Anfield, the resourcefulness of Arsenal, the pride of Bayern Munich and the stability of Barcelona.

Oh, and I want back the fortress & 'never-say-die' attitude of Chelsea.

It's not impossible - if you have a plan and a fucking decent board.

You can say "Oh, Lukaku and De Bruyne are having good loan spells." Yeah, so what? What's your point? Is that going to prevent the board from going out and buying Falcao because he scored loads of goals, thus destroying Lukaku's chance here? Is that going to prevent the board from just outright selling De Bruyne? No, because they're clueless.

What do we honestly have to be excited about, hm? I don't think I'll feel even a shred of excitement unless 'you-know-who' returns or we somehow start competing for the PL & CL titles again, but even with that, none of our policies will change and we'll still have the atmosphere of a library.

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

Come on. You're trying so hard to excuse Roman when even he would say the buck stops with him. You call these people sycophantic scroungers, but HE HIRED THEM. If you think he's such an insecure billionaire (because there are so many of them) then why would his next hirings be any different?

So you dont think he should be excused then.

Pretty discgraceful when ''we dont know what he does or thinks''. Come on innocent until proved guilty -he has hired these parasites but we all want his money right ? For the good of the club right ?? Give the bloke some slack we all make mistakes

[The only place to be 11,313]

I do actually agree that while Roman is the best thing to ever happen to us, he does actually need to go. He is SO out of touch that it's hard to believe. Everyone has contrasting opinions, but completely honestly, I'd rather be trophy-less Arsenal who invest in and use youth (which brings pride to the club), have stability (which brings around more passionate & permanent fans), have a plan (which usually means no huge slumps out of nowhere) and compete as a proper football club - not a football business.

I honestly would rather that than having a new face at the helm every season, buying the 'best' players available for every position (it really isn't needed. Arsenal, Barcelona, Tottenham, Bayern, Dortmund, Juventus, Milan - they all do well without that trait) & having a board who know nothing about football yet win a trophy every season or 2. I really would prefer the first option.

I want the atmosphere of Anfield, the resourcefulness of Arsenal, the pride of Bayern Munich and the stability of Barcelona.

Oh, and I want back the fortress & 'never-say-die' attitude of Chelsea.

It's not impossible - if you have a plan and a fucking decent board.

I love how you accuse Roman of being out of touch, and then say we should be more like Arsenal. :lol2: :lol2:

So you want the atmosphere of Liverpool (no league title in how many decades), the resourcefulness of Arsenal (selling your best resources and not replacing them is resourceful?), the pride of Bayern (can't argue with that) and the stability of Barca (that stability followed a lot of instability).

Is there anything about Chelsea that you like?

As for a plan, we do have one. For the first-time in a while it's a long-term plan based on bringing through young players. We weren't doing that even a few years ago, and it's not surprising because Roman's investment in youth is less than a decade old so now is about the time you'd expect them to start coming through.

Going back to the Arsenal point though, they don't bring through much youth now. They're success this season (such that it is) is based as much on expensive signings who are about 27 than it is youth products. You're talking about Arsenal from about five years ago aren't you?

[bushman 2,043]

check my profile newbie

check what ? just cos you are here from 2009 ? Still a kid compare to me.

[zolayes 14,489]

check what ? just cos you are here from 2009 ? Still a kid compare to me.

check my age ...

[The only place to be 11,313]

So you dont think he should be excused then.

Pretty discgraceful when ''we dont know what he does or thinks''. Come on innocent until proved guilty -he has hired these parasites but we all want his money right ? For the good of teh club right ?? Give the bloke some slack we all make mistakes

I'm not the one who said the guy who wrote the piece had 'nailed it'. You're the one who did that and you've been walking it back ever since.

My view on Roman is that he's made plenty of mistakes, but that he's human and that he's been trying to run this club properly in recent years. Still, the signings of Torres (for which Carlo gets a free pass but others don't) and the hiring of Benitez (who I defended at the time because he seemed like the best option) were indefensible in hindsight.

But I made a point to put them into context with the other things we do. I look at the Lukaku and Courtois signings and think we're replacing key players. I look at the performance of our youth team and think we're doing exactly the right thing in the academy. I look at the signings of Azpi, Ba and Moses and think we're finally moving away from the high-priced 30 year olds we used to sign. I look at the continuing moves to secure a bigger stadium and think this is a guy in it for the long-haul. I look at the contracts we've offered to players like Mata and Cahill and think we're finally looking to balance the books.

Right now, we're in about as bad a spot as we've been for years. But I truly think we have something very special coming together that will start with the appointment of the right manager. Until I don't think that then I'm not going to call for heads to roll because I personally see no reason to.

And I'm going to continue to read things through and compare them with my own thoughts and feelings before I say someone's 'nailed-it'.

[bushman 2,043]

check my profile newbie

check my age ...

75 year old acting like 10 year old.

[Leif 6,006]

So you want the atmosphere of Liverpool (no league title in how many decades)

The atmosphere at a club has nothing to do with the trophies. That would be like a Liverpool fan saying "we should be much quieter at Anfield so the players can concentrate. That's how Chelsea get all their trophies!!!", no?

As for the points regarding Arsenal, did they not finish higher than us in the league last season? I don't think it's bad to aspire to be like a team who plays better football and finished higher in the league. Also out on loan they have Ryo, Joel and Afobe, all of which are expected to actually be a part of Arsenal one day, unlike 98% of anyone we've ever loaned out.

Instead of going out and splashing a cool £35m or whatever it was on Hazard and £20m on Oscar, they've brought through Wilshere, bought Oxlade-Chamberlain (who's probably had about the same impact Hazard has had with us IMO yet cost just a 3rd or something of Hazard), Gibbs, Coquelin, etc.

When players who are ex-Arsenal go on to win trophies elsewhere after failing to do-so with Arsenal, when they talk about their past, there's always a spark in their eye. A spark of happiness. They're proud to say "I played for Arsenal." Whenever ex-players of ours in the Roman era bring up "I played for Chelsea" I expect and have experienced seeing them feel awkward saying so. Notice how whenever Ashley Cole speaks of his past, just about everything positive he says is about "Arsenal" and fuck all about Chelsea? There's more to football than trophies.

[zolayes 14,489]

75 year old acting like 10 year old.

now I know you are just a troll

[Leif 6,006]

Is there anything about Chelsea that you like?

Not anymore really. Love the past though. Lampard & Terry will be gone soon, leaving just Cech from the legends era. Sure, I love Mata and..oh and Cole, but the other aspects of the club would have me considering myself a lunatic to say I liked.

Chelsea is like a wife you've been with for years. You're now used to it and love it, but that doesn't mean you like it's traits still. I'm not going to just divorce old Chelsea and marry on-the-rise Tottenham or prettier Arsenal, am i?

[Styles 9,790]

He's a guy running a business. Show me one person who doesn't make mistakes in the first ten years?

And he probably did the right things to get us to the level where we could win titles, but it's shifting from a business based on outside investment to one that can be self-sustaining that is tricky and that's where we've fallen down.

There are so many positive signs though with the signings we've made and the performance of our young kids (our future) that people need to take a long-term view of things rather than simply calling for 'the board' to be sacked without being able to explain why.

The main thing needs to be sorting out the managerial situation.

Agreed. The issue is the players that should be bridging the gap in the meantime aren't performing for a number of reasons and they have been short on numbers all year. To be fair that's good enough reason alone as to why the board should be sacked (failing to provide numerous managers with enough players to compete properly in a season). This is Ron Gourlay speaking after Munich:

"We've got Fernando Torres. And Fernando Torres is the man that we will go forward with and Fernando Torres will score us the goals," Gourlay said. "Have no doubt that Fernando Torres is a world-class centre-forward and Fernando Torres will score goals for Chelsea."

There were stories of Di Matteo wanting another striker in the summer and being rebuffed. The decision was clearly made that Torres would be given every chance to succeed fail. Five months later we're out the Champions League, no hope of the title and end up buying a striker in the January transfer window. Who is making these decisions if it isn't the manager? Quite clearly 'the board'.

We have hoovered up a lot of young talent and it's promising but for a club that has for years failed to develop and integrate young players we have to see real progress before we go putting all our eggs into that basket.

[Leif 6,006]

Liverpool have fallen. Arsenal have fallen. AC Milan have fallen. Juventus had fallen. Tottenham have risen. Manchester City have risen. PSG have risen. Valencia have fallen. Lyon keep yo-yo-ing. Inter Milan have fallen. Borussia Dortmund have again risen.

Yet people think we're some exclusive magic club that'll never fall and just somehow sit at the top of the football world without merit? No. We can and will fall unless things change soon.

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

I'm not the one who said the guy who wrote the piece had 'nailed it'. You're the one who did that and you've been walking it back ever since.

My view on Roman is that he's made plenty of mistakes, but that he's human and that he's been trying to run this club properly in recent years. Still, the signings of Torres (for which Carlo gets a free pass but others don't) and the hiring of Benitez (who I defended at the time because he seemed like the best option) were indefensible in hindsight.

But I made a point to put them into context with the other things we do. I look at the Lukaku and Courtois signings and think we're replacing key players. I look at the performance of our youth team and think we're doing exactly the right thing in the academy. I look at the signings of Azpi, Ba and Moses and think we're finally moving away from the high-priced 30 year olds we used to sign. I look at the continuing moves to secure a bigger stadium and think this is a guy in it for the long-haul. I look at the contracts we've offered to players like Mata and Cahill and think we're finally looking to balance the books.

Right now, we're in about as bad a spot as we've been for years. But I truly think we have something very special coming together that will start with the appointment of the right manager. Until I don't think that then I'm not going to call for heads to roll because I personally see no reason to.

And I'm going to continue to read things through and compare them with my own thoughts and feelings before I say someone's 'nailed-it'.

Yes hindsight is wonderful - so now you dont think Benitez is any good, do you still say Lampard should go ?

[The only place to be 11,313]

The atmosphere at a club has nothing to do with the trophies. That would be like a Liverpool fan saying "we should be much quieter at Anfield so the players can concentrate. That's how Chelsea get all their trophies!!!", no?

As for the points regarding Arsenal, did they not finish higher than us in the league last season? I don't think it's bad to aspire to be like a team who plays better football and finished higher in the league. Also out on loan they have Ryo, Joel and Afobe, all of which are expected to actually be a part of Arsenal one day, unlike 98% of anyone we've ever loaned out.

Instead of going out and splashing a cool £35m or whatever it was on Hazard and £20m on Oscar, they've brought through Wilshere, bought Oxlade-Chamberlain (who's probably had about the same impact Hazard has had with us IMO yet cost just a 3rd or something of Hazard), Gibbs, Coquelin, etc.

When players who are ex-Arsenal go on to win trophies elsewhere after failing to do-so with Arsenal, when they talk about their past, there's always a spark in their eye. A spark of happiness. They're proud to say "I played for Arsenal." Whenever ex-players of ours in the Roman era bring up "I played for Chelsea" I expect and have experienced seeing them feel awkward saying so. Notice how whenever Ashley Cole speaks of his past, just about everything positive he says is about "Arsenal" and fuck all about Chelsea? There's more to football than trophies.

If you want an atmosphere like Anfield, go to Anfield.

Yes they finished above us in one season. They've had eight years without a trophy though, and they've sold their best player on at least two occasions. They have three players out on loan who could be part of the first team - we have Lukaku, De Bruyne, Courtois, Kalas, Chalobah and Omeruo who I expect to be part of the first-team. We haven't done well in bringing players through in the past but I expect that to change much like our transfer policy has.

If you think Oxlade-Chamberlain has had a good season, then you either don't watch Arsenal or don't know many Arsenal fans. He's had a poor season and a lot of fans are blaming Wenger for that. Gibbs is a decent left-back but no better than Bertrand. In fact I'd hazard a guess Oscar has score more Champions League goals than those players have Champions League starts.

The last paragraph is bollocks. Ashley loves Chelsea and doesn't tend to talk in glowing terms about the Arsenal fans who labelled him Cashley.