Official: Chelsea sign Enzo Fernandez on an Eight and a Half Year Contract

[Chelsea_Matt]

On 23/07/2024 at 10:14, Mark Kelly said:

Enough bad decisions: Accountability and communication is needed, now... The treatment of Trevoh Chalobah is a symptom of a bigger problem THE SCORE JUL 23     READ IN APP   I’ve defended the ownership of the club since the beginning. I did and still can see their long term vision for the club, for success investing the best young talent in the world and developing them into an elite team, and I understand it takes time. I also understand how when we don’t have Champions League money, in the short term, we might need to sell some players, maybe ones we don’t want, in order to comply with the rules. That’s just reality. However, the news about Trevoh Chalobah being left behind from the US tour to intentionally force him out of the club, is a tipping point for me. Trevoh has done nothing wrong for Chelsea. He went on loan, he developed, he earned his spot in the squad and the team, and has generally performed when he’s played for Chelsea. He’s a leader, a good pro and sets a good example. He’s won two trophies at Chelsea as a starter, the European Super Cup and Club World Cup. He’s been at Chelsea his whole life. There’s no reason to sell him. I’d arguably keep him over Conor Gallagher, given his versatility and our desire for “swiss army knife” players. He can play RCB, RB, and DM well. He has played in a back 3 and a back 4. He’s excellent on the ball. He’s arguably ready made for Maresca’s system. There’s other players we can sell for the same money (about £25-30m). But that’s not even the worst thing. The worst thing, is no player who has given what he has for the club, who has won things as a starter, who has been loyal and professional and expressed no desire to leave, should be treated like this. He’s being forced out of the club. This is bad in itself, but its a symptom of a bigger problem at the club. One of lack of communication, no accountability and poor handling of players and staff at director level. This, as it often seems to be, is largely the responsibility of Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, the two sporting directors. This falls under their remit, so it’s their responsibility. It’s become clear to me that at least one if not both of them have no idea how to manage people or have healthy human relationships. This is not how you treat people, generally. It’s cold, heartless and disrespectful. Personally, my view is if they really can’t see how good Trev is, they clearly aren’t the experts they claim to be, because we can all see how good Trev is, and the intangibles he has. But this cuts a lot deeper, to some concerns many fans have. I see a LOT of fans on twitter. I listen and I talk to several. One of the most rational, patient, intelligent fans I know, who’s always backed the owners, told me today is he is now afraid for the future of the club. They, as well as many fans, are concerned that the necessary focus on increasing revenue has gone too far, and taken priority over the football, and the good of the team. Making Chelsea profitable and financially compliant IS important, but the football should ALWAYS be the focus and main goal. We have a CEO in Chris Jarosek, who made fun of the clubs fans, who calls us customers, and who is freezing a lot of fans out with price rises (I only caveat that by saying the price rises themselves were expected, but it was handled poorly), got rid of subsidised away buses, and has shown he has no knowledge of football or football culture, or how to run a football club. A football club is not like a normal business, it takes specific skillset, and although he has business acumen, he’s not a football person. We have sporting directors who are excellent at spotting talent and pretty good at making smart signings, but have no idea how to either run an elite sporting operation or manage people. They often appear to treat our players like commodities, not human beings. Some owners and directors read this, so take note. You are losing the fans. More than you think. Many fans are beginning to feel like the owners just don’t care about success on the pitch, don’t respect either fans or players, and only care about money. Whether it’s true or not, with respect, people like Jarosek and even Behdad Eghbali at times come across as not having any kind of understanding or respect for football culture. This may be just an issue of communication, but that’s the impression given. People like Barbara Charone and Daniel Finklestein, both non executive directors and long time Chelsea fans, are doing an amazing job in their respective roles. They are the only ones in senior roles who seem to have a deep passion, love and understanding of Chelsea FC and football culture. They should be listened to and be given a lot more influence, for me. Many fans are tired of PR briefings which are clearly not the truth. We’re not fools, we can tell. We’re tired of being patronised. We’re tired of the ownership not communicating honestly and properly with us. The letters in the programme notes last season were positive and a step forward, and I’m grateful for this, but that was not and never will be enough. Given what's happened on the pitch in the last two years, fans are owed an explanation for many decisions, an apology for the mistakes, and some insight into the ambitions, goals and vision for Chelsea, directly to fans on the club channels. This is now non negotiable. Fans are running out of patience. Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart should be held accountable for the last 18 months and for treatment of some players and staff. Yes, they have done some good things, I would never deny this, I’ve even talked about on this site. This isn’t a witch hunt and I’ll always try to be balanced. Some of the hires and signings they’ve made have been positive for Chelsea. But, there have been some major mistakes, and Winstanley and Stewart need to own their mistakes, take responsibility and show they’ve learned their lessons. Aggressively forcing players out of the club who don’t want to leave, who’ve been good servants and good professionals, with poor disrespectful treatment is classless, and in my view, not in the spirit of Chelsea. Whatever people thought of Mauricio Pochettino as a coach, they did the same with him by essentially not communicating with him for months and never backing him. They’ve been openly trying to sell Conor Gallagher for 18 months. There were even some unconfirmed stories (I’m not saying these are true, but these stories did surface at the time), on how the departure of Jim Fraser, a long time servant to the club, was not handled well. This shows a pattern of behaviour, and its not healthy or acceptable. This is not elite level executive management of a football club. This is not how big, ambitious, serious football clubs operate. If you want to sell a player or want a manager or staff member out, no problem, but handle it with class and dignity. I still believe in the owners ambitions and vision for the club, but the optics are awful right now and the treatment of some staff - including players - by those at the top, doesn’t appear to be good at times. If it is, and there’s another side to the story, then fine, but its certainly not the impression being given to fans. If this season doesn’t go well again, the fans aren’t going to just take it, and a change of manager won’t cut it either. There will need to be changes at a higher level and if no explanation is forthcoming, fans won’t be hesitant to show their feelings, hopefully in a respectful but decisive way. We are not customers. We love our club. We have a lifetime emotional investment in the club. We’re going to be here, and we want the best for our club. The fans' voices must always be respected and listened to. We really do want to work with the owners for the benefit of the club, we want to collaborate and get behind our team. But we need to know what's coming from the club is professional, to a high standard of football and professionalism, demonstrating clear ambition, and in good faith. We need to be able to trust the owners and directors. I still trust the owners ambitions and know our sporting directors can spot talent and buy smart well. I have full faith in Joe Shields more than anyone, and am glad he is getting more influence. But I’m starting to lose trust in our two sporting directors to run the club well. Many fans have lost trust in the entire ownership, and it will take a lot to win it back. I’d like to think both owners, directors and fans all want what’s good for Chelsea. But there are legitimate and founded concerns, which must be addressed. The Score

 

Absolute snakes tbh. I wouldn’t turn my back on any of the leadership team if they were two days’ dead. ☠️🚩💯

Edited July 24 by Chelsea_Matt

[Sleeping Dave]

2 hours ago, Alex said:

There's a few sensible points here, but also some batshit ones. The latter being that Fofana is anyway at fault here, or that you should try and pick apart a player's heritage and make him play for a country he may never have even visited or has two grandparents from. The song is also very racist. In the light of the general unhappiness from some areas of the population about immigration the idea is you want immigrants to acclimatise and adopt their new nations culture and values., also denying them the right to do that would be downright unlawful anywhere even in tinpot regimes.

Let me clarify a few things. Firstly, I do not think a paid club representative like Wesley Fofana should out another paid club representative on social media. It’s supposed to be handled internally. It’s grossly unprofessional imo. 

Secondly, I’m not defending the stance that if your heritage is from another country you shouldn’t be allowed to represent your family’s new country - quite the opposite in fact. I strongly support that practise. 

However, when one is dealing with an issue that spans over different national cultures and values I think it is important to at least try and understand where the other side is coming from. Needless to say, any reference to a persons skin colour is deemed racist in Western Europe. Perhaps that is the right way, but I think it is presumptuous to expect the rest of the world to agree with the western stance. There are countless of examples of the rest of the world not agreeing with the western stance as we speak, but I don’t want to steer the discussion that way as we then will inevitably have to touch on the subject of politics. 

Regardless, this has been a shit show all around and I expect more from our players. 

[chara]

37 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Regardless, this has been a shit show all around and I expect more from our players. 

Agree absolutely with the first part,,sadly I HOPE for more from our players but the history of player behavior over the years...as a group..not just Chelsea,,is one of "disappointing" off field displays covering a myriad of unseemly and foolish actions.... not a "profession" known for sensible and intelligence responses,

Less politely a lot of not very bright lads out there,,,notable exceptions of course.

[Ham]

Instant karma for the empty bus crowd;

 

 

[east lower]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Instant karma for the empty bus crowd;

 

 

What, they didn’t have a vali-bag!!

I’m not sure if I believe him.

[Guest Alex]

22 hours ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Let me clarify a few things. Firstly, I do not think a paid club representative like Wesley Fofana should out another paid club representative on social media. It’s supposed to be handled internally. It’s grossly unprofessional imo. 

Secondly, I’m not defending the stance that if your heritage is from another country you shouldn’t be allowed to represent your family’s new country - quite the opposite in fact. I strongly support that practise. 

However, when one is dealing with an issue that spans over different national cultures and values I think it is important to at least try and understand where the other side is coming from. Needless to say, any reference to a persons skin colour is deemed racist in Western Europe. Perhaps that is the right way, but I think it is presumptuous to expect the rest of the world to agree with the western stance. There are countless of examples of the rest of the world not agreeing with the western stance as we speak, but I don’t want to steer the discussion that way as we then will inevitably have to touch on the subject of politics. 

Regardless, this has been a shit show all around and I expect more from our players. 

Well we'll have to disagree on Fofana, I think he's got every right to speak out against something he sees (and is ) wrong. It's wrong  sweep things under the carpet and I don't think that's who we are as a club either. 

[Guest Alex]

Did anyone see the Morocco Argentina game yesterday?

I missed it, I was out with my French neighbour and all his French mates. It sounded scandalous. On the group chat we have, with a few  Moroccans on it too, everyone is talking about Argentina and how aggreived they are at the behaviour of the Argentinian players and fans.

I don't think this is something that is just going to blow over. There's a real sense of anger in France.

[Mark Kelly]

3 minutes ago, Alex said:

Did anyone see the Morocco Argentina game yesterday?

I missed it, I was out with my French neighbour and all his French mates. It sounded scandalous. On the group chat we have, with a few  Moroccans on it too, everyone is talking about Argentina and how aggreived they are at the behaviour of the Argentinian players and fans.

I don't think this is something that is just going to blow over. There's a real sense of anger in France.

I think there was a report of the Argentinian national anthem being booed. 

[Guest Alex]

22 hours ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Needless to say, any reference to a persons skin colour is deemed racist in Western Europe. Perhaps that is the right way, but I think it is presumptuous to expect the rest of the world to agree with the western stance. There are countless of examples of the rest of the world not agreeing with the western stance as we speak, but I don’t want to steer the discussion that way as we then will inevitably have to touch on the subject of politics.

Come off it, they weren't just 'referencing a person's skin colour', they were being racist and it's not 'political' to say that's wrong.

[Guest Alex]

7 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I think there was a report of the Argentinian national anthem being booed. 

Lol and your point being? In France crowds boo at everything, including their own team (been to hundreds of sports matches in France), it's cultural. Kickers in rugby never get silence in France.

[Ham]

1 minute ago, Alex said:

Come off it, they weren't just 'referencing a person's skin colour', they were being racist and it's not 'political' to say that's wrong.

The way I read the song was that it was mainly aimed at France not being able to produce any actual french born players first and foremost and needing to import quality players from wherever.  As such, that particular aspect is not insulting to black African players per se. Quite the opposite. France needs them desperately.

Of course there are other bits which are quite specifically racist and homophobic (at Mbappe's expense).  No doubt about that. 

[Guest Alex]

17 minutes ago, Ham said:

The way I read the song was that it was mainly aimed at France not being able to produce any actual french born players first and foremost and needing to import quality players from wherever.  As such, that particular aspect is not insulting to black African players per se. Quite the opposite. France needs them desperately.

Of course there are other bits which are quite specifically racist and homophobic (at Mbappe's expense).  No doubt about that. 

The chant says 'they' and then 'like Mbappe'. It's racist and insulting to a specific demographic of French society which is why all the Frenchies I know, including the French Moroccans who are also obviously of African heritage are so annoyed about it.

And France's youth development system is the best in the world right now, that's the production line that everyone wishes they had. They're certainly not desperate about anything.

 

 

[Guest Alex]

A little bit of history... Britain and France desperately needed workers to make up for the shortfall of men after all the deaths of WWII, both drew from their colonies (before the inevitable collapse of colonisation).

Just happens that the countries that France drew the workers from countries that like a sport where you kick an inflated (formerly) leather ball into a net rather than from countries where people prefer chucking a smaller leather ball at three pieces of wood, while a man with a willow bat tries to whack it away.

[Guest Alex]

53 minutes ago, Ham said:

France not being able to produce any actual french born players first and foremost and needing to import quality players from wherever. 

And I would eat almost any hat of your choosing (maybe not a deerstalker) if the vast majority of the players we're discussing weren't born in France, or at least raised there. It sounds like you're suggesting France is picking and choosing quality players from abroad, but if they're not born or raised there, or have French heritage, then they don't qualify for France.

[Mark Kelly]

1 hour ago, Alex said:

Lol and your point being? In France crowds boo at everything, including their own team (been to hundreds of sports matches in France), it's cultural. Kickers in rugby never get silence in France.

No point Alex just joining in. 

Lesson learned. 

Edited July 25 by Mark Kelly

[Guest Alex]

8 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

No point Alex just joining in. 

Lesson learned. 

Lol, misconstrued that Mr Kelly, I'm sorry. Thought you were off on a tangent about the Moroccans booing the anthem since that sounds like one of the minorly crazy things about that match.

[Guest Alex]

Bringing it all back home to Fernandez, Chelsea will first reconcile this behind closed doors between the players. A cleverly constructed show of unity will be crafted, not sure there will be a statement from him, maybe just the club. There will, almost certainly, eventually be some public hugging in a goal celebration. Doubt we'd go down the same path as Mutu.

I think he will have to get used to sporadic booing though.

I'm not a fan of booing, but certainly loved indulging in it at David Warner. Of course in revenge at Broady getting booed so often down under for not walking at Trent Bridge. He punched Joe Root in the Brighton Walkabout and was one of the two ringleaders in the sandpaper scandal. Have to hand it to him that he turned his pockets out in front of us though (to show he had no sandpaper), which was the perfect reaction, and hilarious.

Edited July 25 by Alex
Typo

[Ham]

1 hour ago, Alex said:

And I would eat almost any hat of your choosing (maybe not a deerstalker) if the vast majority of the players we're discussing weren't born in France, or at least raised there. It sounds like you're suggesting France is picking and choosing quality players from abroad, but if they're not born or raised there, or have French heritage, then they don't qualify for France.

To be honest I don't know enough about precisely how most of the French players of African descent qualified to play or the percentage of french born players in recent years. 

I'm reminded of the time Zola Budd ran 2 seconds inside the qualifying time for a British passport. We've got form in this country. 

[east lower]

8 minutes ago, Alex said:

I think he will have to get used to sporadic booing though.

He’ll get absolutely slaughtered at 19 of the 20 PL grounds and a fairly frosty one at the 20th would be my guess.

[east lower]

19 minutes ago, Alex said:

I'm not a fan of booing, but certainly loved indulging in it at David Warner. Of course in revenge at Broady getting booed so often down under for not walking at Trent Bridge. He punched Joe Root in the Brighton Walkabout and was one of the two ringleaders in the sandpaper scandal. Have to hand it to him that he turned his pockets out in front of us though (to show he had no sandpaper), which was the perfect reaction, and hilarious.

Warner - Typical bully, pick on the little fella.

Wonder if he’d have been as brave with Freddy or a Peterson?

Edited July 25 by east lower

[Guest Alex]

9 minutes ago, Ham said:

To be honest I don't know enough about precisely how most of the French players of African descent qualified to play or the percentage of french born players in recent years. 

I'm reminded of the time Zola Budd ran 2 seconds inside the qualifying time for a British passport. We've got form in this country. 

Zola Budd? Before my time, googling it, it seems a hugely political row about immigration giving nationality to a supposedly good athlete who didn't perform as expected. Don't know anything about it.

Fact is though, in sport the rules are clear and pretty strict.

The only way countries pick and choose if the player is abroad is if there's an eligible grandparent. Squabbling like that happens when a player's become good already like choosing England over Wales. Britain and EU countries have strict immigration laws where you have to qualify by nationality, (five years of being there) and can't just hand out passports to anyone, however good they are.

 

 

[Guest Alex]

13 minutes ago, east lower said:

Warner - Typical bully, pick on the little fella.

Wonder if he’d have been as brave with Freddy or a Peterson?

Warner's a tiny fellow himself, Rooty's taller, but yeah small-man-syndrome bully.

Peterson, the man who's brave batting changed cricket, very complex individual. Met him first at a party and then at a corporate event and the last time was in the Hollywood Arms with Ian Bell. If we all have those sorts of friends to borrow that phrase from Goodwill Hunting that would 'take a baseball bat to someone's head for you' (or something like that), I get the impression he doesn't have one. 😂 Certainly not Bell(y). 

[east lower]

12 minutes ago, Alex said:

Warner's a tiny fellow himself, Rooty's taller, but yeah small-man-syndrome bully.

Peterson, the man who's brave batting changed cricket, very complex individual. Met him first at a party and then at a corporate event and the last time was in the Hollywood Arms with Ian Bell. If we all have those sorts of friends to borrow that phrase from Goodwill Hunting that would 'take a baseball bat to someone's head for you' (or something like that), I get the impression he doesn't have one. 😂 Certainly not Bell(y). 

I’d heard Peterson wasn’t particularly well liked and was ‘odd’. Big lump though.

My uncle is still doing a bit of bowling coaching for Surrey U18’s, so have met a few myself. He used to lodge and sponsor Sri Lankan players, so met a couple of their test players too. Lovely, gentle men but fiercely combative when playing.

Alec Stewart sat directly in front of us at Wembley a few years back, pure gent and massive Chelsea fan.

[Guest Alex]

5 minutes ago, east lower said:

I’d heard Peterson wasn’t particularly well liked and was ‘odd’. Big lump though.

Did you hear that Strauss moment on Australian commentary? All the fallout from the 'KPgenius' twitter account. Andrew Strauss is a very lovely man, definitely one of life's good guys.

Never met Stuart, I'm totally partisan Surrey, so him being a Surrey legend and a Chelsea fan means it's love even if I've never met the chap.

[Guest Alex]

36 minutes ago, Alex said:

 

Peterson, the man who's brave batting changed cricket

Meant 'whose' obvs, typo