The Board

[quickpassnmove 924]

If true, more responsibility and blame for Granovskaia, so one step closer to her being gone.

[Blusan Alamb 295]

Bad news for Conte if Marina gets more power. Emenalo was siding with Conte in this three-way power struggle.

[DDA 9,985]

23 hours ago, Styles said:

Left on his terms like a real man. Even down to the end he kept his dignity and never once embarrassed the club.

And who can blame him for leaving? Four years of working with clowns like Mourinho and Conte would drive anybody crazy. Kudos to him for lasting this long.

He deserves so much better and I'm sure he will be a success wherever he goes.

Thank you, thank you and thank you.

Conte is not a clown. Mourinho, yes. Conte, No.

[LAB 1,030]

Not sure now if this is good news. We just have to wait and see, but power concentrated in a single person doesn't sound good to me.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Quite seriously, do the people who hate him and are happy to see him leave know why they are happy?

Just to take a step back and take an overview of his role and time at the club: When he was promoted to Technical Director in 2011, we had an aging squad with an alarming player power playing a dying style of football while the club was synonymous with ridiculous over-spending in the transfer market on big names that made it virtually impossible for any youth player to break through.

Over the past 6 years, we've moved steadily towards younger squads, with more flamboyant and modern style of football. The player power in the dressing room is all but gone as the Costa saga proved. We've finally reached the stage where our youth academy is actually turning a profit as we've seen this summer with Christensen, Ake and Chalobah. We've also become one of the most astute clubs in the transfer market, especially on selling players that we no longer need (so much so that opposition fans accuse us of bribing other clubs into buying our players!  ).

Despite the drop in our budget (relatively to the rise of prices) and our inability to compete financially with the Manchester clubs, we've still managed to steadily improve our team with FFP-compliant low net spending (even lower than Arsenal!) which has allowed us to remain the most successful team in England during these years. 

I know, I'm painting quite a rosy picture here, and of course there has been many mistakes and blunders, but I think it is undeniable that when looking at the overall trends the club has moved in those general directions in the right way in the past 6 years which have arguably been the most successful period in the clubs history with 2 PLs, the holy grail, a EL, the FA cup, and the league cup.

Now, I'm in no way attributing all of that or any of the above solely (or even mostly) to Emenalo, but when I look at the progress and achievements of the club since 2011, I can only sincerely thank Michael for any part he played in helping us get to where we are now and wish all the best with his life after CFC. 

[Tomo 21,751]

18 minutes ago, CHOULO19 said:

Quite seriously, do the people who hate him and are happy to see him leave know why they are happy?

Just to take a step back and take an overview of his role and time at the club: When he was promoted to Technical Director in 2011, we had an aging squad with an alarming player power playing a dying style of football while the club was synonymous with ridiculous over-spending in the transfer market on big names that made it virtually impossible for any youth player to break through.

Over the past 6 years, we've moved steadily towards younger squads, with more flamboyant and modern style of football. The player power in the dressing room is all but gone as the Costa saga proved. We've finally reached the stage where our youth academy is actually turning a profit as we've seen this summer with Christensen, Ake and Chalobah. We've also become one of the most astute clubs in the transfer market, especially on selling players that we no longer need (so much so that opposition fans accuse us of bribing other clubs into buying our players!  ).

Despite the drop in our budget (relatively to the rise of prices) and our inability to compete financially with the Manchester clubs, we've still managed to steadily improve our team with FFP-compliant low net spending (even lower than Arsenal!) which has allowed us to remain the most successful team in England during these years. 

I know, I'm painting quite a rosy picture here, and of course there has been many mistakes and blunders, but I think it is undeniable that when looking at the overall trends the club has moved in those general directions in the right way in the past 6 years which have arguably been the most successful period in the clubs history with 2 PLs, the holy grail, a EL, the FA cup, and the league cup.

Now, I'm in no way attributing all of that or any of the above solely (or even mostly) to Emenalo, but when I look at the progress and achievements of the club since 2011, I can only sincerely thank Michael for any part he played in helping us get to where we are now and wish all the best with his life after CFC. 

I think MOST of the hatred towards him was for two reason's. Him replacing Wilkins as assistant, which while Ray was a great player for us and i appreciate him as part of our history, every time i listen to him speak football my first thought in my mind is idiot and that included his post match interviews with us. Hiddink and Carlo are quite mild mannered so probably tolerated the bizzare things he came out with but lord knows what Jose, Conte or even Benitez would have made of him.

Secondly was his interview after Jose got sacked, which was very poorly timed and worded yes but if someone still thinks sacking Jose was the wrong decision i'd love to hear from them. The average Chelsea fan tends to act with the heart over head method, which is positive in many ways but can also tend to make us look a bit silly at times, ala booing our player's home game after Jose's sacking and some ridiculous comments about Lamps and Cole when AVB left.

[Jase 43,479]

 

 

[quickpassnmove 924]

3 hours ago, Tomo said:

I think MOST of the hatred towards him was for two reason's. Him replacing Wilkins as assistant, which while Ray was a great player for us and i appreciate him as part of our history, every time i listen to him speak football my first thought in my mind is idiot and that included his post match interviews with us. Hiddink and Carlo are quite mild mannered so probably tolerated the bizzare things he came out with but lord knows what Jose, Conte or even Benitez would have made of him.

Secondly was his interview after Jose got sacked, which was very poorly timed and worded yes but if someone still thinks sacking Jose was the wrong decision i'd love to hear from them. The average Chelsea fan tends to act with the heart over head method, which is positive in many ways but can also tend to make us look a bit silly at times, ala booing our player's home game after Jose's sacking and some ridiculous comments about Lamps and Cole when AVB left.

I doubt that it's one moment for anyone who did not like Emenalo.

For me it's the general ineptitude at Chelsea that fails to build a strong squad 2 men deep across the formation with quality throughout year after year after year. Combine this with the fact that we had a well-rounded squad in 2005 and our relative strength at that moment put us on solid ground in England and across Europe then compare those early Abramovich years to what we've seen since and for me CFC haven't not risen to expectations since. Do I care if my disgust is misdirected because I don't know who is making the decisions at Chelsea? No. Why give a fuck? What I saw through the years was a number of years wherein Chelsea failed to surround Drogba with top talent after Robben and Duff departed and now we're seeing it again with Hazard.

No one demonstrates vision and execution at a club that many of us (one decade ago) thought WOULD reflect Roman's supposed ambitions and the hope of fans around the globe. At what point did Chelsea became a consistent threat to the big clubs across Europe while being able (not every single match) to shift into total football gear domestically regardless of who is packing it in deep defensively? 

Emenalo did things for the club, but he wasn't the one to make the difference for the 1st team squad (on and off the pitch and throughout the squad).

I'm tired of seeing squad shortcomings then bullshit about expectations and blaming managers. Someone at this club needs to take responsibility and execute a vision that gets reflected through quality on the pitch.

[Fulham Broadway 17,365]

.....the palpable delight

[CHOULO19 24,332]

12 hours ago, Tomo said:

I think MOST of the hatred towards him was for two reason's. Him replacing Wilkins as assistant, which while Ray was a great player for us and i appreciate him as part of our history, every time i listen to him speak football my first thought in my mind is idiot and that included his post match interviews with us. Hiddink and Carlo are quite mild mannered so probably tolerated the bizzare things he came out with but lord knows what Jose, Conte or even Benitez would have made of him.

Secondly was his interview after Jose got sacked, which was very poorly timed and worded yes but if someone still thinks sacking Jose was the wrong decision i'd love to hear from them. The average Chelsea fan tends to act with the heart over head method, which is positive in many ways but can also tend to make us look a bit silly at times, ala booing our player's home game after Jose's sacking and some ridiculous comments about Lamps and Cole when AVB left.

I do love Ray, but he does come off like an idiot!  

As for Jose, they never got along (I wonder whom of the two is more to blame there ) but as far as we can tell Michael always put the interest of the club ahead of this 'rivalry' as he proved when he formally asked to terminate his contract with the club in 2013 to facilitate the return of Jose.

The problem is, a lot of people are worried about Granovskaia taking over his duties because they say that we need someone who's played the sport in that position instead of bureaucrat. And I can see the logic in that argument. But many of those same people were the biggest bashers and critiques when we did have an ex-professional in that role in Michael. 

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

On 11/7/2017 at 9:15 AM, Leif said:

The more Conte and Marina speak face to face without a diplomatic middleman, the more chance they have of finding a common ground IMO.

Or the quicker it all falls apart

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

22 hours ago, Jason said:

Uh oh.

It may get even worse. Rightful moaning about are recent penny pinching seem to come down to Marina who is great at getting deals but not great at buying! 

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

I don't know how much Marina knows about football (because her background is business, not football, not because she's a woman).  I know that deals take forever to get done, but I can't really argue with the fees we pay and receive.

60M for Oscar

60M for Costa who had burned his bridges and made it clear he was only going to one place.

 

[xPetrCechx 13,582]

[quickpassnmove 924]

Interesting January window.

Is Marina under MORE PRESSURE regardless of additional duties?

[robsblubot 3,595]

here's a crazy idea: you negotiate and close any deals *prior* to when the transfer window opens; only making them official during the window. Then, even (gasp!) when you cannot land the initial targets, say they prefer to go elsewhere, you have time to seek alternatives. 

Considering the way we respect the absolute rule of law, the FFP, it seems we are unable to talk to players or agents until the window officially opens...

[BlueLyon 9,359]

8 hours ago, xPetrCechx said:

Come jaunary 31st, we will be panic buying again probably lol.

[the wes 7,212]

Lampard does not rule out filling the vacant technical director role, but admits that being Chelsea manager would be his dream job

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/11119366/frank-lampard-keeps-chelsea-options-open-after-michael-emenalo-exit

[Fernando 6,602]

That would be great if he gets that role. 

We need Chelsea man, and smart man. Lampard is that. 

[Leif 6,006]

5 hours ago, the wes said:

Lampard does not rule out filling the vacant technical director role, but admits that being Chelsea manager would be his dream job

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/11119366/frank-lampard-keeps-chelsea-options-open-after-michael-emenalo-exit

Well everyone needs to take steps. Being technical director, and then waiting for the next manager of ours to be sacked, would give him that opening as interim manager.
He should go for it. I've full faith he can get up to speed re: the technical director role quickly. And i'm pretty sure potential transfer targets could have a 'thing' for clubs that actually keep their legends around. An example being, knowing that Real Madrid still keep Raul around would make me/others feel more assured that we're joining a quality arrangement. Faces you grew up watching being staff at the club you're playing for is surely going to give a beautiful tingly feeling.