The Board

[Blue_Fox_ 2,086]

It could be that we had some kind of assurances from Everton regarding Stones and that they've fucked us over in the last moment.

Some article, somewhere, maybe even on this forum, mentioned that Everton told Chelsea a bid of 36 would have sealed the deal. However Everton then refused to sell.

[termninja 5,290]

Some article, somewhere, maybe even on this forum, mentioned that Everton told Chelsea a bid of 36 would have sealed the deal. However Everton then refused to sell.

Indeed, it's completely possible. I guess it was Martinez who created chaos behind the scenes like threatening to quit which forced the owners to keep John. Also it could be that Lukaku and Barkley threatened also to leave if they sold Stones or something like that.

Shame how it all went....

[Fulham Broadway 17,298]

Some players let go would probably walk into this team now -de Bruyne, Sturridge, lukaku, Mata, Luiz, even Schurle.

Before Mourinho is blamed, its the board who make the final decisions. It does seem though that Mourinhos stubborn team selections eg fabregas, Ivan, are a reaction to the enforced lack of transfer activity over the Summer. Just as he threw his toys out the pram when Sidwell, Pizzaro and Ben Haim were foisted upon him.

Ok Mourinho has some input into who signs, but lets not forget no Chelsea manager has had a free rein in choosing players -the last manager able to do that was Hoddle.

[didierforever 7,349]

Some players let go would probably walk into this team now -de Bruyne, Sturridge, lukaku, Mata, Luiz, even Schurle.

Before Mourinho is blamed, its the board who make the final decisions. It does seem though that Mourinhos stubborn team selections eg fabregas, Ivan, are a reaction to the enforced lack of transfer activity over the Summer. Just as he threw his toys out the pram when Sidwell, Pizzaro and Ben Haim were foisted upon him.

Ok Mourinho has some input into who signs, but lets not forget no Chelsea manager has had a free rein in choosing players -the last manager able to do that was Hoddle.

so what you are saying is that since jose did not get exactly what he wanted, he is intentionally harming the club.

[Fulham Broadway 17,298]

so what you are saying is that since jose did not get exactly what he wanted, he is intentionally harming the club.

Hes obviously not happy with upstairs not splashing the cash the way the Arabs do at Citeh, that has fed the media treat, and has filtered all the way down to some people here as well.

[didierforever 7,349]

Hes obviously not happy with upstairs not splashing the cash the way the Arabs do at Citeh, that has fed the media treat, and has filtered all the way down to some people here as well.

you did not answer my question.

just because he is "unhappy" with not getting his way, is he intentionally harming the club by choosing under-performing players again and again.

[Fulham Broadway 17,298]

you did not answer my question.

just because he is "unhappy" with not getting his way, is he intentionally harming the club by choosing under-performing players again and again.

So it seems...

[didierforever 7,349]

So it seems...

i love jose. i still do. just like i love iva. what they have done for the club will go down in history.

but i have to say i have lost all my respect for jose. this is not the way anyone should be managing a team. petty squables with the board should not be the reason you make your team suffer. i am sorry but that is not what should be happening. the CLUB comes first and foremost. nothing else even comes close to it.

sorry to say this, but JOSE OUT.

[Special Juan 28,087]

How do you solve a problem like Mourinho? Right now, as well as the players, he is a problem. His selection of players especially Ivanovic leaves a massive question over him.

People claim the players are a problem, Mourinho is just as big a problem.

[Fulham Broadway 17,298]

i love jose. i still do. just like i love iva. what they have done for the club will go down in history.

but i have to say i have lost all my respect for jose. this is not the way anyone should be managing a team. petty squables with the board should not be the reason you make your team suffer. i am sorry but that is not what should be happening. the CLUB comes first and foremost. nothing else even comes close to it.

sorry to say this, but JOSE OUT.

Feel your pain But for me that is premature, but Bruce Buck and the board will dispense at the end of the season if we're mid table. Citys Arab owners, and even the Man Utd board wouldnt have blinked at giving Everton 50m for Stones if thats what was needed.

There are problems, no one is denying it. Jose always started at the back-start with the defence. Terrys leadership missing is like losing two players. Your hero Drogba leaving -noone can properly fill the big mans boots -but its fucking schoolboy stuff as well like having players on the posts at corners.

Anyway Mourinho to me is by far the best option, and we would finish mid table if he was sacked now. Thered be all the bollocks about the new manager 'bedding in', 'its a season and half of transition' etc.

The people upstairs , out of the media and fans spotlight, need to look at themselves as well.

[didierforever 7,349]

Feel your pain But for me that is premature, but Bruce Buck and the board will dispense at the end of the season if we're mid table. Citys Arab owners, and even the Man Utd board wouldnt have blinked at giving Everton 50m for Stones if thats what was needed.

There are problems, no one is denying it. Jose always started at the back-start with the defence. Terrys leadership missing is like losing two players. Your hero Drogba leaving -noone can properly fill the big mans boots -but its fucking schoolboy stuff as well like having players on the posts at corners.

Anyway Mourinho to me is by far the best option, and we would finish mid table if he was sacked now. Thered be all the bollocks about the new manager 'bedding in', 'its a season and half of transition' etc.

The people upstairs , out of the media and fans spotlight, need to look at themselves as well.

i cant blame the fans one bit.

i just cant.

its not the loss that hurts. believe me.

i honestly thought we were quite good yesterday until the 60th minute. mikel, ramires, willian, azpi, begovic, costa all had atleast a 8/10 performance in them till that time. that is 6 out 11 players that i think were very good. but what do u expect to happen when you have ivanovic letting brahimi go past him 4/5 times in a game? what are GC and zouma supposed to do?

when evra had a decline, it made rio-vidic look incompetent at times. any CB in the world would struggle if one of your fullbacks has been as atrocious as iva. and was it the first time? was it a surprise?

then why was he on the pitch. cesc is hopeless as a no.10 we all know that. cesc is even worse as a DLP, we all know that too. how many times have we fallen behind this season. how many times has jose taken out matic/a defender and put cesc as a DM to play from deep. has it EVER worked? why did he do the same thing today. as soon as mikel came off, we lost our solidity in mid (and yes, we had solidity until 60th minute - the first goal was a iva blunder and the 2nd goal was from a corner).

jose has made selection mistakes, tactical mistakes, our play has been poor, there has been no progression. i feel the fans are totally justified in critisizing him.

[Fulham Broadway 17,298]

i cant blame the fans one bit.

i just cant.

its not the loss that hurts. believe me.

i honestly thought we were quite good yesterday until the 60th minute. mikel, ramires, willian, azpi, begovic, costa all had atleast a 8/10 performance in them till that time. that is 6 out 11 players that i think were very good. but what do u expect to happen when you have ivanovic letting brahimi go past him 4/5 times in a game? what are GC and zouma supposed to do?

when evra had a decline, it made rio-vidic look incompetent at times. any CB in the world would struggle if one of your fullbacks has been as atrocious as iva. and was it the first time? was it a surprise?

then why was he on the pitch. cesc is hopeless as a no.10 we all know that. cesc is even worse as a DLP, we all know that too. how many times have we fallen behind this season. how many times has jose taken out matic/a defender and put cesc as a DM to play from deep. has it EVER worked? why did he do the same thing today. as soon as mikel came off, we lost our solidity in mid (and yes, we had solidity until 60th minute - the first goal was a iva blunder and the 2nd goal was from a corner).

jose has made selection mistakes, tactical mistakes, our play has been poor, there has been no progression. i feel the fans are totally justified in critisizing him.

Ivanovich is a puzzler. He must have some photos of Jose hanging out the back of Eva.

[King11Didier 916]

This is how I imagine all the people who work in our board:

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

I'm impressed with their patience.

[bethos1 802]

They deserve at least as much blame as Mourinho for this crisis, I find it absolutely insane that we still have the likes of Mikel and Ramires as options for our midfield. If Matic isn't playing at his best we're fucked...

[didierforever 7,349]

They deserve at least as much blame as Mourinho for this crisis, I find it absolutely insane that we still have the likes of Mikel and Ramires as options for our midfield. If Matic isn't playing at his best we're fucked...

what is surprising is that if jose had shown a little more faith in rambo and mikel, we wont be in this condition. but apparently playing cesc-matic pivot is the way to do everything in life.

[bethos1 802]

what is surprising is that if jose had shown a little more faith in rambo and mikel, we wont be in this condition. but apparently playing cesc-matic pivot is the way to do everything in life.

Yea Fabregas should've been dropped but playing Mikel-Ramires wouldn't change that much imo, it's still not good enough for a team like Chelsea, we should've replaced at least one of them last summer or even before. We don't have a good enough back up for Matic when he isn't playing at his best. The Matic-Fabregas pivot will only work when everyone is playing at his best, imo he should've stopped using it since January. We should really stop playing with a 4-2-3-1, we don't have players for that system and it's costing us...

[didierforever 7,349]

Yea Fabregas should've been dropped but playing Mikel-Ramires wouldn't change that much imo, it's still not good enough for a team like Chelsea, we should've replaced at least one of them last summer or even before. We don't have a good enough back up for Matic when he isn't playing at his best. The Matic-Fabregas pivot will only work when everyone is playing at his best, imo he should've stopped using it since January. We should really stop playing with a 4-2-3-1, we don't have players for that system and it's costing us...

morgan, kondogbia, imbula, bastian, vidal etc etc. how many very good midfielders switched club. yet, the only one we wanted was a 100million pogba. i dont think jose even wanted a midfielder.

4-2-3-1 is jose's formation and i totally agree that 4-3-3 would suit us better. again on jose.

as for mikel-rambo, they are good enough to beat palace and soton at home plus newcastle away.