Who to blame for the worst season in the Roman era ?

[Korea 734]

eh, is any of the loanees going to come back next season.

I'm pretty sure Lukaku is going on loan again and its realistically possible with KDB as well..

[Hamilton 2,120]

We probably don't know untill we have a manager..

[ZanSnake 1,211]

COME ON GUYS!

You seriously don't know!

It's so simple!

It's this guys fault...

If he became manager when i wanted him to, we wouldn't be in this mess!

Fucking Batman and his Gotham City bullshit!

[bushman 2,043]

Whom to blame ?

The way I see it.

Nobody but the clueless board.

Roman buys players, spends plenty of money, just about every year. No blame here as far as I am concerned.

Coaches. Well, certainly they must be responsible for the way the team performs. However, the team is depleted & no matter what any coach may do, we cannot expect miracles out of the thin squad.

Players must be bought, in the summer. At least 2-3 top ones & hopefully someones who can stand the physical side of EPL competition. No more samba boys, I feel. Physically proficient only, those that can challenge the rough tackles of EPL.

That´s the only way Chelsea can be successful in challenging for major trophies. CL, PL in that order. Anything else is just secondary in my view.

[The only place to be 11,313]

To a certain extent, yes that might be true. But at the end of the day, Roman isn't receiving monetary compensation to do a job. I can see why *some* of the blame needs to be attributed to him for decisions regarding managerial appointments/firings and the whole Torres situation.

But to argue that he is fully to blame for this mess of a season and not the board, is absurd and removes accountability from people who are getting paid a shit load of money to ensure that x, y, z is being done. We know that Roman is involved with club affairs, but it's not like he's micro-managing everything relating to transfer dealings. Is it his fault that we don't have good enough players for the pivot? Or that 25 million was squandered on another attacking player when there are holes in other areas? Isn't that why he has a technical director getting a nice salary to ensure that the squad is in good shape to mount title challenges?

And how hard did we go after Modric? He's the player we all saw as the answer for that pivot position and we tried to get him, so it's not like we didn't identify areas that we needed to improve upon within the squad. That 'other attacking player' might turn out to be the guy we need in that position too.

I think this current board can be accused of focusing too much on the medium to long-term, but that's because the previous bunch of idiots didn't. They happily bought in ready-made players like Shevchenko, Sidwell, Boulharouz, PIzarro, Anelka, Belletti, Malouda etc. rather than looking to either develop young players from the academy (which in fairness they probably couldn't) or buy in through the market. Now we're actually doing that but we're lacking players in the 25-29 age range because we didn't do the right things 7 years ago.

And that's why we're having a bad season now. Shock, horror, a guy who only had 3 years experience of owning a club made mistakes. Fortunately he seems to have learnt from them which is why I still believe we have a strong future, but this season is about as bad as it gets for this club nowadays.

[bushman 2,043]

To bring players from academy is not the answer.

There is no player there who could bulk up the midfield.

[FabHazard 655]

DOUBLE PIVOT and Lack of squad depth.How can we compete in 7 competitions with 16 players?Still this is transitional season and i am impressed by the potential of this younger side with likes of mata,hazard etc.Just buy 2 cms for double pivot and 1 quality cb and we are done.Bring back players on loan to improve depth.Buy any 2 of benat/modric/moutinho/xabi alonso and a cb.add schurrle for depth

[bushman 2,043]

Still, those mentioned above is not the answer.

Tough, rugged, strong players are needed for the midfield.

I remember Essien in his younger days, that´s what is need for Chelsea, I feel.

[FabHazard 655]

Still, those mentioned above is not the answer.

Tough, rugged, strong players are needed for the midfield.

I remember Essien in his younger days, that´s what is need for Chelsea, I feel.

may be but we must sort out this problem.we must buy a cm. Capoue,cabaye,gundagon, bender are also some options

[bushman 2,043]

may be but we must sort out this problem.we must buy a cm. Capoue,cabaye,gundagon, bender are also some options

It´s hard for me to say as to whom to buy but one thing I feel the team needs players who could challenge the roughness of PL.

I have seen way too many tackles where Chelsea players are being bounced off like dolls & end up kissing the pitch, wondering what happened, then.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Those two bolded statements aren't contradictory?

It's so easy to blame his advisors, but the other accusation laid at their feet is that they're nothing but 'yes men'. People criticising them can't have it both ways.

Roman wanted Guardiola. Roman wagered this club's immediate future on getting Guardiola. Funnily enough, that has consequences.

Now if you want to look at the players we let go then fine, but be honest about it. You say Lukaku could have helped, but do you mean the Lukaku before his loan or the Lukaku we have now? People were writing him off in the summer, now people are saying we shouldn't have let him go.

The same goes for Essien. Are you saying we should have kept a player on the wage bill who has had TWO major knee injuries and played less than 21 games in THREE of the last FOUR seasons? Or do you want the Essien that we have now, apparently fit and available?

Calling for the board to be sacked is easy. No board is popular because they spend most of their time saying 'no' to things, and most fans haven't got a clue what they do. You'll never run short of likes calling for the board to be sacked, especially if it gives people someone to blame who isn't a billionaire that happens to bankroll your club.

You make a good argument, but one entirely based on paper speculation. Are you sure Roman wanted Guardiola? Did you ask him yourself, or did the tabloids tell you?

[Spike 12,049]

You make a good argument, but one entirely based on paper speculation. Are you sure Roman wanted Guardiola? Did you ask him yourself, or did the tabloids tell you?

Personally I got a text message. It was in Russian, but I decyphered it.

[The only place to be 11,313]

You make a good argument, but one entirely based on paper speculation. Are you sure Roman wanted Guardiola? Did you ask him yourself, or did the tabloids tell you?

It was the biggest open secret in the game for about 12 months. Every decision, be it players we bought in or the players we let go to clear space for future transfers was being made in order to get Guardiola.

There's enough blame to go around, including the current board, the past board and some of the playing staff, but ultimately it comes down to what Roman did in the first five years of his ownership. But people make mistakes, especially when they're relatively inexperienced and the good thing is he doesn't seem to be making the same ones. In fact, he seems to be trying to rectify one of his bigger mistakes by re-hiring Jose.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

It was the biggest open secret in the game for about 12 months. Every decision, be it players we bought in or the players we let go to clear space for future transfers was being made in order to get Guardiola.

There's enough blame to go around, including the current board, the past board and some of the playing staff, but ultimately it comes down to what Roman did in the first five years of his ownership. But people make mistakes, especially when they're relatively inexperienced and the good thing is he doesn't seem to be making the same ones. In fact, he seems to be trying to rectify one of his bigger mistakes by re-hiring Jose.

In that, I do agree with you. But only time will tell if he does indeed re-hire Mourinho. Abramovich swings the axe as the club owner, but short-termism has worked well in the first part of his ownership. I think now he realises he needs to switch his eye from the short-term, having seen Chelsea established as a current English footballing superpower, and look to the bigger picture. About bloody time as well. Let's just hope he shows the necessary patience and allows the next manager a minimum of three seasons. Anything else will be a disaster, this club needs time to start again.

[coolhead23 1,147]

TBH everyone is to be blamed, when we are in together the credits and blames has to be taken collectively.

Owner and Board: No one knows if Roman is the one who approves everything or is it the board/advisors making the call. When everyone was aware that we would be playing 7 competitions this season when didnt the board get in enough players or send out players, clearly a thin squad today.

U had the holy grail delivered by the manager who was make shift manager, why cant have faith in him? Did u give him the job just because he won it. The board could have taken the tough decision of opting a new manager at the start to have the built up process going rather than sacking him 2-3 months in the job and then be clueless. Were they afraid that everyone would talk bad about them if RDM was not appointed the manager after the cup win if that was case why sack him and become a laughing stock. And why Rafa after sacking RDM? Total chaos at times.

Managers: RDM had the world at his feet after the Champions league victory and i expected him to be smart to do something different when he was appointed the manager. But he did what everyone does when appointed the manager, impress the boss! Playing attacking football and try to become Barca, there was no plan B in that strategy plus we were no Barca. I dont completely blame him for doing that but he should had a plan B and should have rotated the squad accordingly.

The less said about Rafa is better i believe.

Players: There are so many times during the season the players have given the feeling that they just dont want to play out there or dont give it a damn (i m earning my wages who the h*** cares). Are u in a state of mourning? When you wear the jersey and take the field u are expected to give more 100% day in day out thats the reason u have been hired. I dont buy the theory that they are tried and cant perform at the highest level. These are super athletics who are payed hell lot of money and nurtured & trained to keep going at the highest level. And it hurt when they dont even try.

Fans: Lots and lots of expectation specially from a team who were suppose to be in transition. Right at the start of the season, fans were looking at a repeat for champion league success along with the premier league title.