Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire

[The only place to be 11,313]

He was let go when we needed to keep him

Would much rather have King K than Torres right now.

Panic buy after bad negotiations for real targets

Amazingly successful ? Youre having a bubble. We should have 2 players for every outfield position and 3 keepers. We have Turnbull as No 2. If Courtois was in the squad it would keep Cech on his toes who at the moment all he has to do is turn up to be selected. We will now probably lose Courtois to Barca as they want him to replace Valdes.

Apart from lukakuu and Courtouis, De Buyne and Bruma should never have been loaned out and will more than likely in the Chelsea tradition be sold off.

All in all the club has 23 players out on loan and the Fat Ringmaster has said the ''squad isnt strong enough''. No the loan system is not ''amazingly succesful'' -it is the mentality of Emenalo or [insert fuckwit board member here] taking items to Cash Converters or a pawn shop

M view on the loans is that it was us playing catch-up after years of mismanaging young players. We simply haven't brought through the young players we need to supplement or replace the first-teamers. Now we're trying to get this group of 18-22 year olds up to speed and experienced enough to play a part at this club.

You say Lukaku was needed, but if you actually look at his thread on this forum then you'll see people saying he wasn't ready, that the loan was needed and even some members saying he was already a busted flush. That's what I mean by misremembering history, because it really doesn't service this discussion. He was wasted last year because AVB said he had a role for him in the squad (same goes for Josh). This year he's become the heir to Drogba.

Does he become that without this loan? I don't know.

Again, the 23 loans issue was something Bushman brought up and I think you're both being unfair. Besides Essien (who has had a bad injury record and poor form for about FOUR YEARS) there aren't many people who you would have said could have contributed before the start of the season. Now we're realistically talking about at least half-a-dozen contributing to the first-team squad next season. Is that not successful?

I can't believe you're criticising the Courtois loan though. We bought a young Belgian keeper with potential. We now have a Europa League and Super Cup winning keeper who is arguably the best young keeper in Europe. Next year he might even have Champions League experience if he stays there and even if we sold him we'd make at least THREE TIMES what we paid for him. You're right about us missing him against Brentford though.

I think this sums up the debate though. You're criticising him for something short-term when I'm praising him for what might be major long-term benefits. I'd really advise you look at the Lukaku thread from around July to August of last year because I don't think you realise just what the feeling was around him then. Compare it to now and see if that loan was good.

[bushman 2,043]

Personally, I believe Emenalo had done an admirable job in scouting & recommended many young talented players.

As the director of football, he is a failure. The job is just out of his depth, in my view.

[Fulham Broadway 17,362]

Now we're realistically talking about at least half-a-dozen contributing to the first-team squad next season. Is that not successful?

Not until it actually happens. There is nothing to suggest the players will be brought back. From previous history they will be sold off like all the other products from Cobham Farm, and the club will seek out Waitrose eggs.

It doesnt matter if we get three times what we paid for Courtois, I would rather have the club successful than flog off talent to contribute to Gourlays bonus.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Not until it actually happens. There is nothing to suggest the players will be brought back. From previous history they will be sold off like all the other products from Cobham Farm, and the club will seek out Waitrose eggs.

It doesnt matter if we get three times what we paid for Courtois, I would rather have the club successful than flog off talent to contribute to Gourlays bonus.

And if it doesn't happen then I would have to re-assess my views on the job that's being done. But you've gone from talking about what has happened to what might happen - I agree that right now it's probably to soon to properly assess the job Emenalo is doing but based on what he's working towards I don't think it's right to call for him to be sacked.

[bushman 2,043]

Well said. To sell Courtois & get more money than what the club paid for is not the right way to go.

Keep the players but give them a proper chance to play for Chelsea.

Roman does not need money, he has plenty.

The club must utilize those young talented players soon.

[Changingman_2000 876]

Lukaku should have been kept this season. Ba has been another Chelsea mistake and won't be around long. Makes me laugh, all the fans that were purring when we signed him. No more than a Ben Haim, Kezman type of signing. Was never, ever going to good enough, long term for us.

The load policy is flawed, in my opinion. All our eggs in one basket this season with Torres, who is sadly shot, a spent force. And Roman really should have learned his lesson after Shevchenko.

[bushman 2,043]

To loan Lukaku from the start of this season was the right choice. It would have been useless for him to sit on the bench.

However, in January I would have recalled him to play for Chelsea. Well, it did not happen.

As for BA. It was a good deal, an urgent one to replace Sturridge. Will he stay for long ? Only time will tell. I´d like to see him stay but another striker must be added. Lukaku is my choice.

[Changingman_2000 876]

Patrick Barclay just been on talkSPORT, opinionated that the Benitez appointment was a serious blunder by the club. Jason Cundy last night said that the appointment was flawed from day one. We buy all these wonderful attacking players - then appoint a very, very pragmatic manager. In short, we have been absolute pony since this cunt arrived.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Lukaku should have been kept this season. Ba has been another Chelsea mistake and won't be around long. Makes me laugh, all the fans that were purring when we signed him. No more than a Ben Haim, Kezman type of signing. Was never, ever going to good enough, long term for us.

The load policy is flawed, in my opinion. All our eggs in one basket this season with Torres, who is sadly shot, a spent force. And Roman really should have learned his lesson after Shevchenko.

I want Lukaku back, but I want this Lukaku not the one we had 6 months ago. The problem is I don't know if he's the same guy without his loan to West Brom. Look at the thread before his loan - people were moaning about his touch, his technique and whether he would be a bust.

Now look at what people are saying about him. This was a good move by the club after the disastrous handling of him by AVB.

As for Ba, he's been good for us but suffers from the same problem the rest of the team does - the midfield. They don't effectively move the ball forward so he's either isolated or chasing long or high balls. That's the one area where the board can certainly take some criticism because we simply don't have a playmaker in the double pivot (sorry Frank).

[bushman 2,043]

Well said. Frankie might be a legend but most of the times he has problems of moving the ball forward.

[Styles 9,790]

Lukaku should have been kept this season. Ba has been another Chelsea mistake and won't be around long. Makes me laugh, all the fans that were purring when we signed him. No more than a Ben Haim, Kezman type of signing. Was never, ever going to good enough, long term for us.

The load policy is flawed, in my opinion. All our eggs in one basket this season with Torres, who is sadly shot, a spent force. And Roman really should have learned his lesson after Shevchenko.

What a load of rubbish. You clearly don't have a clue.

[Changingman_2000 876]

What a load of rubbish. You clearly don't have a clue.

Well I'm glad you have stated your position. In YOUR opinion, I don't have a clue. We are all entitled to opinions, otherwise this would be very, very fucking boring. Thankfully I won't respond to your condescending post.

[bushman 2,043]

Roman empire should strike again, soon.

I wasn´t so surprised in Di M´s sacking. After all, 2 wins in 8 games & it was clear Di M wasn´t Roman´s choice to be manager.

Now, Chelsea have Rafa on board. Here, I too doubt he was Roman´s choice. Apparently, the director of football pushed for him.

Under Rafa Chelsea have played 15 league games won 6 drew 5 & lost 4, that´s mid table standard but not Chelsea´s one.

Roman needs to act now & get rid of him, he clearly is the worst manager in the Roman era.

[bushman 2,043]

I am a bit surprised not to see any comments on the latest idiotic behavior at Stamford Bridge.

I mean to airbrush Di M picture out of the photo is not a small matter, I feel.

How could this be allowed ?

[Santiago. 1,500]

Lukaku should have been kept this season. Ba has been another Chelsea mistake and won't be around long. Makes me laugh, all the fans that were purring when we signed him. No more than a Ben Haim, Kezman type of signing. Was never, ever going to good enough, long term for us.

The load policy is flawed, in my opinion. All our eggs in one basket this season with Torres, who is sadly shot, a spent force. And Roman really should have learned his lesson after Shevchenko.

First off, NO FORWARD will be good for us unless we make drastic changes to either A, our formation, or B, get quality deep lying midfielders to lead transition if we must continue the 4231. I tell you, it is a joy to watch Lampard/Mikel/Ramires pass side to side, not finding space to retrieve a pass and constantly going out of position. Not passing from deep to find a teammate or just to create a pin point pass to the attack or to lead a counter for that matter. No one to hold possession and to create a rythm for the team to hold momentum which would actually benefit our attackers and create more chances. Its brilliant. An absolute blast to watch.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I found the article a joke. I'm mixed between anger and pity for the writer. Using words like "Devil" to describe Roman was just unnecessary and then some of the suggestions were even stranger.

First of all, replacing Rafa with Hiddink won't happen. Why? Well is the author forgetting Mr Hiddink's currently coaching Anzhi right now? I don't think he's leaving the Russians for us again. It was different last time where he actually had time to coach us. Then calling for Roman's head. Well Roman's made some pretty foul mistakes during his tenure. Mourinho. But he has always tried to do it for the greater good of the club and when he's f'cked up, he's often tried to correct things.

Then Roman, walk away. Sell the club. Move away from everything Chelsea. I trust you to sell to the right people but your time is done.

"sell to the right people" - who exactly is that? Americans who will take out huge loans against the name of the club? Rich Arabs who are going to build an unsustainable project on-top the one we already have? No. Roman is the "right people" thanks.

Yes, Roman, strategy. All top ‘businesses’ have it. Lots of top clubs have it. Even Arsenal have it. You don’t though

So now the man who built up his own wealth doesn't have a "Strategy"? Okay. Oh and how nice to point out Arsenal.. They're REAL inspiration aren't they?

Then replace Emenalo with Hiddink.

This was particularly amusing because it demonstrates to me another fan who's picked a random name out from club hierarchy and pointed the finger at. I'd love to hear his reasoning for this. What did Emenaldo do wrong? Why can Hiddink do better exactly?

The board are a collective of frauds, charlatans and yes-men, lining their pockets with money from the fans whilst not giving a shit about them.

I'd love to have heard this person's reaction when he heard we signed Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Azpilicueta etc.

[Rmpr 8,977]

I found the article a joke. I'm mixed between anger and pity for the writer. Using words like "Devil" to describe Roman was just unnecessary and then some of the suggestions were even stranger.

First of all, replacing Rafa with Hiddink won't happen. Why? Well is the author forgetting Mr Hiddink's currently coaching Anzhi right now? I don't think he's leaving the Russians for us again. It was different last time where he actually had time to coach us. Then calling for Roman's head. Well Roman's made some pretty foul mistakes during his tenure. Mourinho. But he has always tried to do it for the greater good of the club and when he's f'cked up, he's often tried to correct things.

"sell to the right people" - who exactly is that? Americans who will take out huge loans against the name of the club? Rich Arabs who are going to build an unsustainable project on-top the one we already have? No. Roman is the "right people" thanks.

So now the man who built up his own wealth doesn't have a "Strategy"? Okay. Oh and how nice to point out Arsenal.. They're REAL inspiration aren't they?

This was particularly amusing because it demonstrates to me another fan who's picked a random name out from club hierarchy and pointed the finger at. I'd love to hear his reasoning for this. What did Emenaldo do wrong? Why can Hiddink do better exactly?

I'd love to have heard this person's reaction when he heard we signed Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Azpilicueta etc.

[Peace. 4,352]

@The only place to be (and @LDN Blue).

Ima try and explain you what Emenalo did wrong, into my eyes.

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First off all, for what thing(s) can we give him credit ?

Well, I don't follow at all our loaned players, so I cannot say whether they have been success or failure. I trust you on here, hence I'll give you that : Emenalo has done a good job.


I also give you that our transfert philosphy has changed. I do not know whether it's thank to him, but since he is the director of sportif, the credit goes to him.



And finally, I'll also give you that he wasn't helped by the short-term mentality that his predecessors had.



So all in all, we have improved under him : we seem to care a lot more about our youths, we seem to no longer target 30 years-old finished products, and instead, to target young players with potential (and who cost less). As he is credited for the bad things, we also gotta give credits for the good things. Credit where it's due.

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Now, what did he get wrong, to my mind ? The fault I umpute to him are :

• A failure in our Mercato (in regard of the short-term) for which our current problems are partly due.
• To not have strengthened the striking force. Or rather, to not have purchased a striking force, since we didn't have any strikers. Indeed, at the start of the season, we had two strikers. The first one has been dog shit ever since he joined the club (so for the 18 months before the summer — even 24 months because he was also shit at Loserpool) — even though, the board (thus Emenalo) decieded to give him the key of our attack. The second one was not a lonely striker (so no suited to our formation) and it seems that he was out of favors anyway. Major error.
• To not have brought in players actually suited to play into the midfield-two. It's arguably the more important area of the formation, at least into my eyes. Even though, we started the season neither with players suited to play there, nor good enough to play there — or both. Throughout the season we could have notice that the double-pivot had let us down. Major error.
• To not have brought in enough players to improve our squad depth. At the start of the season, we had 21 players and we were engaged in 7 competitions. Obviously, we were aiming to try and win each of them. Although, not the squad depth nor its quality were good enough to achieve that. We didn't have the tool to fulfill our aims, but we have overlook that fact and tried to win everywhere. We tried to bit more than we could chew. The board didn't give us the weapons to accomplish what they were asking us to. Another error.
• To have let Essien and Meireles leave without buying any replacement for them — remember the concerns over the squad depth.

You might tell me that the problem of the squad depth, is rooting deeper than this summer. Of course, it's started long before this summer. But with the decisions he took this summer (or which he didn't take), he did nothing to improve that ! We can even say that, in some ways, he has ultimately weakened the squad.




There's another thing that I'd like to point out. You are telling that Emenalo is to be given credit for our successful loans. I cannot deny that. Although, as I've aforementioned, we have a big problem as for the quantity of players : our squad has not enough depth. And now I read somewhere that we have 23 players who are loaned out. Yes, you read it right, 23 players. Do I have to remind you that we have 21 players in our squad ? We have more players out on loan than players in the squad. And funnily enough our struggles are in part due to our lack of depth. Isn't there something wrong ?



I am not suggesting that they would have made us a lot better as a team ; most of them were/are not good enough. And I am not into a position to work out whether those loaned players could have made us better or not, had they stayed here.



I just think that it's a good question to ask ourselves. Is it normal to have more players out on loan than players in the squad while we are lacking depth ? Food for thoughts.



Just a quick reminder of what he also did last season. We were desperatly crying for a central midfielder. All summer long we were chasing Modric. Even it was more likely that Levy wouldn't sell than would sell, we put all our eggs in that basket. And we eventually ended up with Meireles as a "panick buy".

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So yeah, he has done good things. But he has also done a lot of bad things. Basically, he has made good thing for the long-term ; but has made bad things for the short term. And unfortunatly, without the short-term there's no long-term. It seems that the board has realized that their short-term thinking doesn't work and thus has decided to shift to a long-term thinking. But it seems they are always in the extremes : it's either 100% short-term, or 100% long-term. And, in this transition from short-term thinking to long-term thinking, they did forget to take a middle step, they did want to go too much quickly. We're lost in translation lol. Although I do not think Emenalo is the only one culprit for this.

I am not saying that he should be fired or not because of that. I am just trying to expose what are his faults into my mind — since you were wondering what people were reproaching him.

I hope my sayings have been relevant

[Rmpr 8,977]

@Peace., out of likes!

Excellent, excellent post. I will give it a like once I have it...

[Peace. 4,352]

@Peace., out of likes!

Excellent, excellent post. I will give it a like once I have it...

Tssss, everybody should keep in stock some "likes" for me. That behaviour is intolerable !

Joking, thanks