Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire

[zolayes 14,489]

Oh yea. It only took Chelsea to win PL some like....? I let you fill it here.

Chelsea for the first 50 years of their existence won precisely nothing. Finally, in 1955 the league championship was won. Then in 1970 FA Cup & dick for another 26 years. League cup in 1998 & FA Cup in 2000. Then Roman came on & you became a fan.

no I was a fan when we were really shit ,,,glory hunters like you came with the Russian

[The only place to be 11,313]

Some people are so scared of Roman walking away they're afraid to criticise him when he fucks up.

Exactly.

The thing is, when I see Roman in his box I see a guy who genuinely enjoys owning a football club. That doesn't mean he hasn't made mistakes but I genuinely think we're heading in the right direction and that we'll achieve success built on sustainable grounds.

But I expect more articles like the one in the OP if we fail to get into next season's Champions League.

[manpe 10,861]

Youve just said in the Sack Benitez thread you dont celebrate goals any more. Think how the people that actually go and have for decades feel. There are a lot boycotting as well.

Still nice pic of Torres with a Donkeys head -who do you think wanted that player? who do you think thought -right if I get Benitez in he will get the best out of Torres ?

I don't know who, I really don't. I think it would be premature for Roman to leave. I for one am eager to see what happens after this season, I want this nightmare of a season to pass by as fast as it can. If nothing will change in the club's thinking, I might just join the "Roman out" party, but not now.

[bushman 2,043]

no I was a fan when we were really shit ,,,glory hunters like you came with the Russian

When I was watching football you were building sand castle or most likely weren´t even planned.

So don´t fucking tell me about glory hunters!

[Styles 9,790]

Exactly.

The thing is, when I see Roman in his box I see a guy who genuinely enjoys owning a football club. That doesn't mean he hasn't made mistakes but I genuinely think we're heading in the right direction and that we'll achieve success built on sustainable grounds.

But I expect more articles like the one in the OP if we fail to get into next season's Champions League.

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.

[Fulham Broadway 16,953]

I don't know who, I really don't. I think it would be premature for Roman to leave. I for one am eager to see what happens after this season, I want this nightmare of a season to pass by as fast as it can. If nothing will change in the club's thinking, I might just join the "Roman out" party, but not now.

I might be wrong I dont think any one wants Roman out here ? , but what I would like to see are some football people immediately below him who have the balls to say whats what. At the moment its marketing, accounting, and sycophantic scroungers.

Yes we need businees people -but people like Ancelotti, Wilkins, Arnesen, Mourinho should not be dispensed of because of bruised egos, thinking money can buy anything and everything.

There comes a point when any person of any footballing merit wont come to SW6 for all the Roubles in Russia unless they are mercenaries who want a short contract -thats what we have now -but theres a reason those people settle for a short contract a) loads of money and b ) theyre generally mediocre

[bushman 2,043]

No one buys & spends a billion not to have passion for football. Chelsea is Roman´s baby. There is no doubt about it.

He will do everything to remedy this shitty situation, I feel.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I might be wrong I dont think any one wants Roman out here ? , but what I would like to see are some football people immediately below him who have the balls to say whats what. At the moment its marketing, accounting, and sycophantic scroungers.

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?

[zolayes 14,489]

When I was watching football you were building sand castle or most likely weren´t even planned.

So don´t fucking tell me about glory hunters!

check my profile newbie

[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 16,953]

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.