The Board

[Thor 2,173]

7 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

Straw man argument.

It really isn't. 

The same people who said "we need this guy and we're good" are the ones now being feeble and giving up after 2 games into the season. I mean jeez - we won the league with Conte after a horror start. 

We haven't even had our signings properly get integrated or play. We have injuries. Give it a rest. 

None of you want to give anything some time. Pep came in and lost the league after Man City had just previously won it. Like... chill. 

[robsblubot 3,263]

Just now, Thor said:

It really isn't. 

The same people who said "we need this guy and we're good" are the ones now being feeble and giving up after 2 games into the season. I mean jeez - we won the league with Conte after a horror start. 

We haven't even had our signings properly get integrated or play. We have injuries. Give it a rest. 

None of you want to give anything some time. Pep came in and lost the league after Man City had just previously won it. Like... chill. 

Some people did, others didn't. It's a bit more nuanced than that. My stance for example has not changed at all. Did not care about WHU result that much either. I think the ceiling of this team is simply not high enough for what the club requires.

Nobody will "give it a rest" 🙄 -- we want the club to be competitive and be successful. This is a competition not a "best in the show" for young adults. It's not about if Mudryk haircut is cool, but rather can he compete at this level? will he ever be able to?

You can give these players 6 years and without the proper support they will NOT progress. Some may not even reach the potential they actually have, while others never really had that potential to begin with.

[Thor 2,173]

3 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

Some people did, others didn't. It's a bit more nuanced than that. My stance for example has not changed at all. Did not care about WHU result that much either. I think the ceiling of this team is simply not high enough for what the club requires.

Nobody will "give it a rest" 🙄 -- we want the club to be competitive and be successful. This is a competition not a "best in the show" for young adults. It's not about if Mudryk haircut is cool, but rather can he compete at this level? will he ever be able to?

You can give these players 6 years and without the proper support they will NOT progress. Some may not even reach the potential they actually have, while others never really had that potential to begin with.

We're a preseason in with a manager known for developing talent. We haven't even seen all our signings actually play a full game yet. We haven't been able to play the formation we've played in preseason. Just give it a little... 

Once the signings who are meant to be starters get in, then less pressure on some of the current guys and better suited on the bench as impact roles, then the system starts making sense. The hard work and repetitive positive motions become results, etc. 

Would it have been great to have them do what Cesc and Costa did the first game they played? Sure. But - these are younger players, there has been more disruption, and they are getting there. We've looked better. That is a start. 

[robsblubot 3,263]

3 hours ago, Thor said:

We're a preseason in with a manager known for developing talent. We haven't even seen all our signings actually play a full game yet. We haven't been able to play the formation we've played in preseason. Just give it a little... 

Once the signings who are meant to be starters get in, then less pressure on some of the current guys and better suited on the bench as impact roles, then the system starts making sense. The hard work and repetitive positive motions become results, etc. 

Would it have been great to have them do what Cesc and Costa did the first game they played? Sure. But - these are younger players, there has been more disruption, and they are getting there. We've looked better. That is a start. 

That's your opinion; it's fine. I disagree that it will solve the problems the team has. The roster is unbalanced IMO.

It's not the "manager" who develops talent. You can have a manger who is terrible at that, like Mourinho, but it's a number of different factors that help or hurt talent development. Besides, if we don't win, Poch will get sacked like every other manager.

For example, if the team remains uncompetitive for a long time, at the very least, the players will see little Champions League action, which would deprive them of that important experience. Hard to imagine good performers would remain happy in such situation and may force an exit; can't think a player like Enzo would be OK missing CL year after year, for ex.

I don't even know how a long period of unsuccess would affect player's image rights and sponsorship deals.

Edited August 21, 2023 by robsblubot

[Blue Armour 4,176]

8 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

Its been a difficult first 12 months but 2 games into the season, the change of manager and players, not quite panic stations yet.

Things were always going to get worse before they got better considering his meddling last season and ripping apart a whole footballing infrastructure that had worked to various levels of success with Roman, Petr and Marina. That set us back a bit as he just ripped out the whole thing as opposed to changing wee bits at a time, keeping some continuity. Not to mention the changes of experienced players for a lot of young players. 

Wasn’t impressed with him re Tuchel sacking, Potter or Lampard appointments and the going into the changing room etc but he has put his money where his mouth is. Just signs though that you cannot just throw money at things and expect it to work instantly too.

Will be a make or break 12 months though, if this season isn’t relatively successful ie a top 6 finish then questions again will be asked of the leadership, the direction, the signings etc. We cannot just blame the players or managers this time round as we’ve basically “removed the weeds from the garden” so to put it as people were utterly convinced that there was a lot of players who were causing huge issues as opposed to leadership decisions - which isn’t exactly fair either on the players as they didn’t decide to have 4 different managers last season or recruit £600-700m of players in 2 windows.

Yep, fully agree.

There are many things that I find disagreeable over the past few months (and of course last season)

But not quite panic stations yet. Too soon, and we still have the window open to make one smart buy.

I'm annoyed with  how long we've taken to get midfield reinforcements in, and essentially threw away the opportunity to start our season with a win against good opposition.

But still time to rectify.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2023 by Blue Armour

[Vesper 27,437]

Chelsea Supporters’ Trust criticises club after coach travel subsidy removed

https://theathletic.com/4814759/2023/08/29/Chelsea-coach-travel-spending-supporters/

The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust (CST) has criticised the club for its decision to remove the full coach subsidy for domestic away travel.

Chelsea announced on Monday that they had “made the difficult decision to remove the coach subsidy for domestic away travel”. Coaches will still be provided for selected games for both the men’s and women’s teams, with the cost of coach travel announced when tickets go on sale.

The first coach offered was for Chelsea’s trip to Bournemouth on September 17. This would have cost £29 ($36) per person, however, the CST agreed to subsidise this game for anyone who wants to travel, making the fare £10.

Chelsea added that “it was not financially sustainable to continue to offer subsidised coach travel” and that from their away fixture against Burnley, supporters will be advised of the coach cost when it goes on sale.

CST said the “appalling decision will force those who rely on the service to pay significantly more to travel to away fixtures”.

The decision comes just weeks after Chelsea broke the British transfer record after signing Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion for £115m. That beat the record they broke initially when they bought Enzo Fernandez in the January transfer window from Benfica for £106m.

Despite recouping around £270m this summer by selling players such as Kai Havertz, Mount and Mateo Kovacic, the west London club have spent more than £900m in three transfer windows since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover.

The CST statement read: “Despite representations from The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust (CST) and coach users, Chelsea FC has unfortunately decided that maintaining the £10 subsidy is not ‘financially sustainable.’ It is important to note that this decision was made in the same year that the club broke the transfer record twice. It is widely rumoured that the coach subsidy budget was approximately 250k.

“Earlier this month, The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust met with club officials in response to online rumours that the coach subsidy would be removed for the 2023-24 season. Chelsea FC clarified that at the time a decision had not been made but confirmed that they were evaluating the subsidy budget.

“During the meeting, The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust made representations to the club. The Trust stated that removing the subsidy entirely would adversely impact the following user groups (not exhaustive): Young supporters, supporters who use wheelchairs and mobility scooters, people who are unable to drive due to cost or medical conditions, supporters who are ambulant disabled, supporters who require to be dropped off very close to the stadium, vulnerable supporters, supporters who rely on this affordable mode of transport to support the club.”

In addition to consulting with the fan advisory board, Chelsea also canvassed views from supporters’ groups and coach users, who were encouraged to contact the club via supporters’ groups and share their thoughts.

“The overwhelming majority of respondents who rely on the service communicated to the club that the coach subsidy must remain in some way and that removing it entirely would outprice supporters and would have disastrous consequences,” The CST statement added.

“Despite the significant feedback from the CST and coach users, the club has subsequently decided that maintaining the subsidy is not financially sustainable. On Friday, the CST again met with the club to communicate that at a time when they should be taking active steps to make football affordable for more people, the decision to remove the subsidy in full is totally unacceptable. This decision also contradicts the commitment to inclusivity that the club guaranteed during takeover discussions held last Spring.

“It appears that during a cost-of-living crisis, Chelsea FC are happy to increase the financial burden on many supporters by penny-pinching.”

 

[Fernando 6,387]

Helping with away support is vital. They are amongst the best. 

While we increase money for home games, we should continue to help the away supporters. 

Very bad move from the club me thinks. 

[TheHulk 1,431]

Guess the other one didn't go through.

[Jype 6,398]

15 minutes ago, TheHulk said:

Guess the other one didn't go through.

The full article says the negotiations for Riyadh Air are for next season and the IA sponsor for this year is still on.

[Vesper 27,437]

4 hours ago, TheHulk said:

Guess the other one didn't go through.

I posted the full article hours ago in the kits forum

[DDA 9,570]

Everyone raves about this Joe Sheilds fella yet when looking at who he has scouted and brought through the ranks at Southampton and City, most of them have been busts. You love to see it.

[Vesper 27,437]

4 hours ago, DDA said:

Everyone raves about this Joe Sheilds fella yet when looking at who he has scouted and brought through the ranks at Southampton and City, most of them have been busts. You love to see it.

His record is shit compared to the Brighton blokes

[Vesper 27,437]

On 08/08/2023 at 23:48, Vesper said:

Ares Management, who are going to invest over a billion quid in us, are big boys.

around 341 billion USD (and very likely more as that figure is from September 30, 2022, the end of the last fiscal year) in assets under management

https://www.aresmgmt.com/

all combined, the ownership side will now have what is closing in on half a TRILLION USD in AUM

that is crazy money

💸💸💸

 

 

                  

 

would also be a good kit logo

 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,937]

Neil Bath given more authority in the club.
 

 

[OneMoSalah 8,619]

On 09/09/2023 at 01:14, Vesper said:

His record is shit compared to the Brighton blokes

All of their records are shit here barring a handful of players out of about the 173 signings we’ve made this last 3 windows.  

[Vesper 27,437]

EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea announce THREE new executive appointments to their board - with president of business Tom Glick departing the club after little more than a year in the role

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12594273/Chelsea-executive-appointments-board-Tom-Glick.html

[DH1988 1,203]

Perform or you're gone, at least some of Roman's attitude remains, even if it's not in the areas we are used to seeing, pitchwise.

[Vesper 27,437]

dedicated to our physios..................................

DEMENTED ARE GO - Bodies In The Basement 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Vesper