Chelsea owners and board

[Mark Kelly]

2 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

Interesting in getting a straight up sense of where people think the owners are at and where we are heading at this moment. 

Seemed to me even for long spells under Potter there was a lot of confidence in the owners.

Now it seems at an all time low and only getting worse.

Are there some believers left? That we can become a modern day incredibly well functioning football club at the top of the league?

Or are they out of their depth? Do they simply not know enough about football, have so much hubris we are doomed under them?

Or does it remain to be seen? Is there (still) an opportunity for them to learn on the job? Or are they going to ruin us and we should look for new owners already?

Everything they have done has backfired so far BUT they made those mistakes in the honest  belief they were improving things. 

Boehly is being portrayed in the media as an idiot on purpose and it is trickling down and influencing our views on him. 

Most of the mistakes he made were made at the very start of his tenure when he literally had nobody to help him and had to appoint himself as director of football as there was nobody else available. 

The people who advised him then are the villains of the piece, those who influenced his decision to get in Potter and sign Sterling are the ones we should have the pitchforks out for but saying that, many of us were happy with those decisions at the time. 

I think too much too soon was the real downfall, taking on big issues all at the same time and having to rush everything. 

I'm behind them now and believe things can only get better now. 

[Blue Kratos]

23 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Everything they have done has backfired so far BUT they made those mistakes in the honest  belief they were improving things. 

Boehly is being portrayed in the media as an idiot on purpose and it is trickling down and influencing our views on him. 

Most of the mistakes he made were made at the very start of his tenure when he literally had nobody to help him and had to appoint himself as director of football as there was nobody else available. 

The people who advised him then are the villains of the piece, those who influenced his decision to get in Potter and sign Sterling are the ones we should have the pitchforks out for but saying that, many of us were happy with those decisions at the time. 

I think too much too soon was the real downfall, taking on big issues all at the same time and having to rush everything. 

I'm behind them now and believe things can only get better now. 

I really hope you're right Mark, I really do.

[ROTG]

9 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Everything they have done has backfired so far BUT they made those mistakes in the honest  belief they were improving things. 

Boehly is being portrayed in the media as an idiot on purpose and it is trickling down and influencing our views on him. 

Most of the mistakes he made were made at the very start of his tenure when he literally had nobody to help him and had to appoint himself as director of football as there was nobody else available. 

The people who advised him then are the villains of the piece, those who influenced his decision to get in Potter and sign Sterling are the ones we should have the pitchforks out for but saying that, many of us were happy with those decisions at the time. 

I think too much too soon was the real downfall, taking on big issues all at the same time and having to rush everything. 

I'm behind them now and believe things can only get better now. 

Mark. Let be honest here, when RA took over the club, Roman and his advisers went and hired a known DoF / chef executive in Peter  Kenyon  who rebuilt the structure of the club outside of the public eye. 

[Mark Kelly]

1 hour ago, ROTG said:

Mark. Let be honest here, when RA took over the club, Roman and his advisers went and hired a known DoF / chef executive in Peter  Kenyon  who rebuilt the structure of the club outside of the public eye. 

 

1 hour ago, ROTG said:

Mark. Let be honest here, when RA took over the club, Roman and his advisers went and hired a known DoF / chef executive in Peter  Kenyon  who rebuilt the structure of the club outside of the public eye. 

I think that's sort of what he's done hasn't he? 

I know he's definitely appointed a head of playing staff so..maybe that's who will be running things going forwards?

[ChelseaJambo]

10 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Everything they have done has backfired so far BUT they made those mistakes in the honest  belief they were improving things. 

Boehly is being portrayed in the media as an idiot on purpose and it is trickling down and influencing our views on him. 

Most of the mistakes he made were made at the very start of his tenure when he literally had nobody to help him and had to appoint himself as director of football as there was nobody else available. 

The people who advised him then are the villains of the piece, those who influenced his decision to get in Potter and sign Sterling are the ones we should have the pitchforks out for but saying that, many of us were happy with those decisions at the time. 

I think too much too soon was the real downfall, taking on big issues all at the same time and having to rush everything. 

I'm behind them now and believe things can only get better now. 

If it quacks like a duck and all that.

[thevelourfog]

13 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Boehly is being portrayed in the media as an idiot on purpose and it is trickling down and influencing our views on him. 

I read and watch very little football media and I think he's been a complete idiot. I'm really confident that's my own independent thought.

Like you, I think there's a good chance he's experienced the last year as a chastening rather than an attack he needs to double down on, but if you accept advice from charlatans, that still really is on you. Especially when there are plenty of non-charlatans you could have leaned on and instead either alienated or actively got rid of.

I have hope for the future, but think you have to call a spade a spade.

[boratsbrother]

First things first and for where we currently are that means stopping the clubs decline. If they fail to do that then relegation would be very likely and all bets would be off.

I've said it before, but my big worry is the lack of real quality in our squad. It's still fillled with far too many who are 5 or 6/10 level. Unless there's very significant improvement from our young signings I can't see us being anywhere near top four.

[xceleryx]

12 hours ago, boratsbrother said:

First things first and for where we currently are that means stopping the clubs decline. If they fail to do that then relegation would be very likely and all bets would be off.

I've said it before, but my big worry is the lack of real quality in our squad. It's still fillled with far too many who are 5 or 6/10 level. Unless there's very significant improvement from our young signings I can't see us being anywhere near top four.

It's been like this for years to be be fair, we've just had a top quality manager squeezing every little bit he could from those on hand until nothing else came out. That's when the cracks begun to reopen and that's been fast tracked by the events in the last 12 months. 

As I've addressed before the silver-lining is that a lot of the deadweight that've underperformed for years on end now are approaching the back end of their contracts, so in the next 12-24 months we're likely to look a lot different to what we do now.  As is the risk with banking on potential alone, it's never a sure thing that players develop as envisioned or even at the same right as each other. The one thing ownership, or the footballing department that's been hired now, need to be mindful of is investing solely in young talent alone. We still need to have a sprinkling of more senior and developed players to retain some balance, otherwise we'll end up like Arsenal in Wenger's latter years where it was a super young side that lacked some more senior figures. 

[Max Fowler]

On 07/05/2023 at 04:29, xceleryx said:

The one thing ownership, or the footballing department that's been hired now, need to be mindful of is investing solely in young talent alone. We still need to have a sprinkling of more senior and developed players to retain some balance, otherwise we'll end up like Arsenal in Wenger's latter years where it was a super young side that lacked some more senior figures. 

Have to say one thing I think is not talked about is losing Kovacic, Jorghi and potentially Mount within less than a year of the board taking over. Three of the best characters with the most experience (albeit Mount still young) in a side that looks devoid of those qualities.

Is there an issue with the board wanting to move on players to avoid them running their contracts down? On paper I thought it was a smart move to let Jorghi go for some actual cash - now I fear we are prioritizing this over actually keeping experience in the squad.

Maybe Kova was bound to leave after Tuchel departed, and this is just a transition period. But it's honestly strange to think we would lose such good characters given how few we actually have in the team. Okay it looks like we have prioritized keeping Kante...

[Mark Kelly]

3 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Have to say one thing I think is not talked about is losing Kovacic, Jorghi and potentially Mount within less than a year of the board taking over. Three of the best characters with the most experience (albeit Mount still young) in a side that looks devoid of those qualities.

Is there an issue with the board wanting to move on players to avoid them running their contracts down? On paper I thought it was a smart move to let Jorghi go for some actual cash - now I fear we are prioritizing this over actually keeping experience in the squad.

Maybe Kova was bound to leave after Tuchel departed, and this is just a transition period. But it's honestly strange to think we would lose such good characters given how few we actually have in the team. Okay it looks like we have prioritized keeping Kante...

I don't think being banned from negotiating contracts during the sanctions has helped much , then the priority when TB etc bought the club was to sign some players as we had already lost three of our first team  defenders  for a combined £7M

[Max Fowler]

6 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I don't think being banned from negotiating contracts during the sanctions has helped much , then the priority when TB etc bought the club was to sign some players as we had already lost three of our first team  defenders  for a combined £7M

That explains losing Rüdi Mark - but I can't help thinking we could be doing more to keep Jorghi, Kova and Mount.

Fair enough if we get Rice or someone in - someone with real character who can replace an ageing Jorghino who we all thought was past it anyway.

It's the fact we seem to be willing to let our players with most character go and replacing them with talented players (even the likes of Enzo) who don't have that profile.

[ROTG]

29 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

That explains losing Rüdi

Rudi head was turned well before the sanctions by RM and regardless who owned the club his mind was made up on leaving for RM.

[Max Fowler]

5 hours ago, ROTG said:

Rudi head was turned well before the sanctions by RM and regardless who owned the club his mind was made up on leaving for RM.

Yeah but it might have helped us do something about it.

Anyway - the overall point wasn't about Rüdiger - it was about Jorghi, Kova, and Mount. 

Three players who could all have left in the summer having been absolutely critical as good characters who take responsibility - if we let them go will we replace them with similar profiles?

[xceleryx]

16 hours ago, ROTG said:

Rudi head was turned well before the sanctions by RM and regardless who owned the club his mind was made up on leaving for RM.

That's your view, which goes entirely against the words and timeline explained by Rudiger himself.  

Given Rudiger had little to gain by spinning a web of lies, and no club statement came to refute any of what was shared, I dare say it's how things actually panned out. 

[xceleryx]

17 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

That explains losing Rüdi Mark - but I can't help thinking we could be doing more to keep Jorghi, Kova and Mount.

Fair enough if we get Rice or someone in - someone with real character who can replace an ageing Jorghino who we all thought was past it anyway.

It's the fact we seem to be willing to let our players with most character go and replacing them with talented players (even the likes of Enzo) who don't have that profile.

We're not really "willing" to let such players go, we're being put in a position where a decision has to be made. As known by now the club has been trying to extend Mount's contract for years, going back to Roman's days of ownership. He, for whatever reason, has continued to drag his feet. No extension puts us in a position of having to sell, as we simply cannot afford an asset like Mount to leave for nothing in 12 months time. 

Similar circumstances surround Kovacic, where his contract dictates what we're going to do. Without an extension he's going to be sold, and rightly so. 

It's tough enough as it is to find replacements just on a quality, much less also trying to find them with the mentality qualities that're needed also.  

[thevelourfog]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/may/12/chelsea-law-firm-tom-glick-response-to-female-agent-catalina-kim

Hadn't actually seen Glick's verbatim responses to Kim before. What a bellend, he'd have gone alone with Willoughby if up to me.

It's pitched as an aside, but Clearlake's operating executive coming in as CEO feels pretty significant to me. A first indication that Boehly and Eghbali aren't really calling the shots that Clearlake can and will take control when it wants.

[My Blood Is Blue]

17 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/may/12/chelsea-law-firm-tom-glick-response-to-female-agent-catalina-kim

Hadn't actually seen Glick's verbatim responses to Kim before. What a bellend, he'd have gone alone with Willoughby if up to me.

It's pitched as an aside, but Clearlake's operating executive coming in as CEO feels pretty significant to me. A first indication that Boehly and Eghbali aren't really calling the shots that Clearlake can and will take control when it wants.

I think it’s a good thing… but could easily be a bad thing. It keeps Boehly and Eghnali on their toes, but we don’t want constant change at the top either.

[paulw66]

On 13/05/2023 at 05:00, xceleryx said:

That's your view, which goes entirely against the words and timeline explained by Rudiger himself.  

Given Rudiger had little to gain by spinning a web of lies, and no club statement came to refute any of what was shared, I dare say it's how things actually panned out. 

What isn't arguable is that at the time of the sanctions, Rudi was already into his last 6 months. Criminal.

He should have been signed up or sold in the summer of 2021. 

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, paulw66 said:

He should have been signed up or sold in the summer of 2021. 

I doubt the club thought anyone was going to get offer him £400k per week. 

[paulw66]

1 hour ago, ROTG said:

I doubt the club thought anyone was going to get offer him £400k per week. 

Doesn't matter. You don't let a key player get to that position 

[xceleryx]

8 hours ago, paulw66 said:

What isn't arguable is that at the time of the sanctions, Rudi was already into his last 6 months. Criminal.

He should have been signed up or sold in the summer of 2021. 

Here's where context around Rudiger is super important. 

2020/21 - Lampard was heading into his second season in charge, with a logjam of CB's at the time Rudiger was the one being shopped around in the summer after falling out of favour - a move to Tottenham being a destination floating around from memory. A move never happens and by the time Lampard gets fired at the back end of January, Rudiger was in the final 18 months of his contract. Tuchel takes over, Rudiger regains a more prominent place in the side and we finish out the season with.

2021/22 - In more normal circumstances Rudiger would've begun contract talks in the prior summer, but as he was deemed surplus under Lampard that was never going to happen. His situation completely changes with Tuchel now in charge, however Rudiger enters the season with 12 months left on his deal. Marina begins talks in August according to Rudiger, initial offer isn't one that satisfies and rather than continuing talks Marina goes into radio silence mode for months. Talks don't recommence until January, Rudiger now in the final 6 months of his contract and free to talk to other teams outside of the PL. Both parties talk some more, then the unforeseen sanctions hit and halt everything. Ultimately, Rudiger left in uncertainly and no idea when the sanctions get lifted to recommence negations opts to secure his future with a move to Real Madrid. 

Marina dropped the ball badly by not pushing on with talks when they first started, full well knowing by January he'd be free to talk to other sides. Of course, she wasn't to know the sanction were going to hit and that removed months worth of time where talks could've resulted in a new deal being struck. 

It was a perfect storm in many ways with a combination of elements all contribution in how the situation transpired. I do believe that if the sanctions hadn't occurred Rudiger would've remained.

 

[Bison]

Nice to see things are continuing to go well. 

 

[Bob Singleton]

1 hour ago, Bison said:

Nice to see things are continuing to go well. 

 

Presume this is to do with the way he originally handled Catalina Kim's complaint regarding Damian Willoughby

[Chelsea_Matt]

Can’t say I’m exactly impressed with the Todd ‘n’ Eggy show tbh despite their no doubt good intentions. 

[thevelourfog]

12 hours ago, Bison said:

Nice to see things are continuing to go well. 

 

Given he's a total bellend (basing just on how he handled the Kim stuff, and I'm perfectly comfortable with that) and it doesn't seem we've managed to secure any great sponsorship income, it's probably the right thing to move him on. But it's the same issue as Potter ... The wrong person brought in in the first place and doing a load of damage. I personally hope Jurasek is coming in because Clearlake aren't impressed with what Boehly and Eghbali have done and want more control.