Chelsea owners and board

[Bert19]

On 27/06/2023 at 22:40, chara said:

There's Ham being coy again! (Pure Gold once more mate!)

Carp is part of a traditional Polish Xmas dinner. I was intro’d to it by my Wife a few years back. 
 

And once was more than enough for me. Horrible stuff! 

On 30/06/2023 at 13:45, Bob Singleton said:

Personally, as a fan, I'd rather the club signed "hungry" players that are OK with lower wages but bigger bonuses than players happy to take big wages and do little in return for them.

 Nail hit firmly on the head here Bob. 
 

i’d also point out that if any of these lads have a really good next 12-24 months, they will likely be getting new deals with big increases anyway as that’s how PL football tends to work 

[ROTG]

2 hours ago, Bert19 said:

i’d also point out that if any of these lads have a really good next 12-24 months, they will likely be getting new deals with big increases anyway as that’s how PL football tends to work 

Or they will be sold, If the club are coping the RB Leipzig model. 

[Bob Singleton]

Looks like FC Strasbourg Alsace (now owned by BlueCo) are about to appoint Patrick Vierra as head coach.
Given there could well be some player movements from CFC to Strasbourg (loans or sales with beneficial buy-back clauses), I think it's a good move to have someone with knowledge of the PL looking after some of our "future stars".

[thevelourfog]

They've effectively trebled the prices for women's season tickets. Absolute bastards. 

Next summer is going to be even less fun. 

[thevelourfog]

40 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

They've effectively trebled the prices for women's season tickets. Absolute bastards. 

Next summer is going to be even less fun. 

Just looking at it more, and it's actually worse than that. If you bought the packages and individual tickets that came with a ST last year, you'd be looking at paying 400-450% more. And they've sent an email framing it as being "flexible" and responding to fan feedback (apparently the people they spoke to told them they weren't paying enough, never heard anything so ridiculous).

Prices were always going up but this should make anyone who goes to men's games worried.

Edited July 11, 2023 by thevelourfog

[Sciatika]

AAMOI, is the money going to be fed into the women's game?

[thevelourfog]

22 minutes ago, Sciatika said:

AAMOI, is the money going to be fed into the women's game?

Complicated answer ...

Home FA and League Cup matches, up until the semi-finals, had been included in STs up until now. They are no longer included as changes within the women's game means gate receipts are shared 50/50 for cup games. I think that's in line with the men's game and is completely reasonable. That helps grow women's clubs and the game, and those tickets were (to me, who only ever had experienced men's league-only STs) as an added bonus anyway.

The new ST packages are split into two. One is the Kingsmeadow package. There will now be only 7 WSL games played there in the season. The median ST price is, though, increasing from £49 to £90. Cheaper than that in one stand, more expensive than that in another. The second package is for the 4 remaining WSL games that will be held at Stamford Bridge. Here the cheapest package for those games is £50, and the most expensive £170. 

I don't know for certain, but would assume Stamford Bridge is significantly more expensive in overheads to operate than Kingsmeadow, so my guess is that the increased prices there are to cover those costs rather than invest in the women's game. And the club itself has sold the increases as being about sustainability, not investment. So I'm not sure there will be any "extra", as it were, to feed into the game.

Hands up, I've thought £49 is too good to be true and unsustainable. A price increase, especially in this economy, was inevitable and begrudgingly reasonable. But not this, a 400% like-for-like increase in one go. Attendance at Kingsmeadow is largely parents with groups of children, and this spits in the races of the people who have been part of women's football when it's not been (let's say) fashionable. 

I think it shows what they will do with men's prices when they think they can get away with it.

[Ham]

2 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

Just looking at it more, and it's actually worse than that. If you bought the packages and individual tickets that came with a ST last year, you'd be looking at paying 400-450% more. And they've sent an email framing it as being "flexible" and responding to fan feedback (apparently the people they spoke to told them they weren't paying enough, never heard anything so ridiculous).

Prices were always going up but this should make anyone who goes to men's games worried.

Apparently Emma Hayes herself supports this on the grounds that tickets have been underpriced for years.  

[chara]

Excellent post @thevelourfog

Not something that has any bearing on my football world directly but the "large group of parents and children" reference is the most worrying part for the advance of the young girls game and the senior game....looks like a very short-sighted policy set to weaken or destroy the grass roots interest at the most impressionable age.

I touched on the "gouging" for the Chelsea games over here ....seems we, at all levels get taken for mugs.

The "Loss Leader" principle would do well to be applied at this time for the Women's game .. Long term gain against short term income.

 

[Mark Kelly]

3 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

They've effectively trebled the prices for women's season tickets. Absolute bastards. 

Next summer is going to be even less fun. 

Maybe that £40m from Stake would have come in handy there 😁 just a joke. 

[thevelourfog]

56 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Maybe that £40m from Stake would have come in handy there 😁 just a joke. 

Give it a few years, £40m won't even get you 7 home WSL games!

Prices have to go up, definitely agree with what @Ham references and Emma Hayes's views. I just think a real terms minimum 400% increase is outrageous.

I suppose the business view is that sh*tting on long term fans is fine if you get loads more income from people who go to one WSL Stamford Bridge game a season. 

[Bison]

Another ones bites the dust:

 

[Ham]

1 minute ago, Bison said:

Another ones bites the dust:

 

Absolute shambles.  Jesus.

[Bison]

2 minutes ago, Ham said:

Absolute shambles.  Jesus.

It's a mad house and I don't see things changing any time soon. 

[Ham]

I read something about him disagreeing with almost every decision made including us selling too cheaply and targeting the wrong players.

Talk about undermined. I reckon he's quit. 

[xceleryx]

Sounds as if Vivell had been on the outer of things for a while.

[thevelourfog]

8 hours ago, Ham said:

I read something about him disagreeing with almost every decision made including us selling too cheaply and targeting the wrong players.

Would fit with how and why Tuchel was sacked. All that stuff about accepting and learning from his mistakes ... Perhaps Boehly thinks it was just the sacking that was the mistake, rather than the constant undermining of someone who understood football more than he ever would.

I think the reality is that we brought in far too many recruitment heads, every single one of them used to running that particular show at a club. It isn't much of a surprise in that sense. But it is indicative of a scatter gun, throwing money, basically clueless approach. This isn't brilliant long term planning, this is just last year's player recruitment approach applied to backroom staff.

Glick and now Vivell. Honestly don't think it will be more than a year or two until there's a huge split in the ownership. 

[Rob B]

2 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

I think the reality is that we brought in far too many recruitment heads, every single one of them used to running that particular show at a club. It isn't much of a surprise in that sense. But it is indicative of a scatter gun, throwing money, basically clueless approach. This isn't brilliant long term planning, this is just last year's player recruitment approach applied to backroom staff.

Nail on the head.

I never knew what the difference was between a Technical Director and the two Sporting Directors anyway, and that’s before the likes of Joe Shields / Kyle Macauley in recruitment, and arguably even Neil Bath who we know now has a more strategic role across Football Development & Operations. 

Watch us go and get Michael Edwards or Paul Mitchell over the next 12 months or so too! 

[ROTG]

41 minutes ago, Rob B said:

Watch us go and get Michael Edwards or Paul Mitchell over the next 12 months or so too! 

Could never understand why TB did get someone in even for the first few month like Kenyon or Emenalo to run the football side of the club, giving him time to get his preferred structure in place . Similar to what RA did when he first took the club over

It's all history now and we are now left with two promoted scouts who have been given license go and play in the world of football manager . 

[Bert19]

5 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Sounds as if Vivell had been on the outer of things for a while.

Maybe he’s just found another job? Sometimes these guys like having autonomy in their roles and are happier being the sole decision-maker. Could just be that to be fair. 
Or as others have pointed out, Edwards or Mitchell may now be available and the Club may have decided this is the moment? 
 

 

[xceleryx]

55 minutes ago, Bert19 said:

Maybe he’s just found another job? Sometimes these guys like having autonomy in their roles and are happier being the sole decision-maker. Could just be that to be fair. 
Or as others have pointed out, Edwards or Mitchell may now be available and the Club may have decided this is the moment? 

Who knows really, there's a few different reasonings floating about at present. Maybe we'll hear something more definitive later on, maybe not. 

Don't think it changes all too much at the end of the day for us, which I suppose is the important thing.

[Ham]

1 hour ago, Bert19 said:

Maybe he’s just found another job? Sometimes these guys like having autonomy in their roles and are happier being the sole decision-maker. Could just be that to be fair. 
Or as others have pointed out, Edwards or Mitchell may now be available and the Club may have decided this is the moment? 
 

 

It won't be that as he's immediately on 12 months' gardening leave. 

I'm convinced he's quit because his role has effectively been made redundant. 

[Mark Kelly]

Sky saying we've accepted a €10m fine from UEFA for financial irregularities that the new regime found when sorting out the books when buying from Roman. The new owners brought what they'd found to UEFA under their own steam but watch it get spun out of all control over the next few days to show the club in the worst possible light. 

[chara]

21 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Sky saying we've accepted a €10m fine from UEFA for financial irregularities that the new regime found when sorting out the books when buying from Roman. The new owners brought what they'd found to UEFA under their own steam but watch it get spun out of all control over the next few days to show the club in the worst possible light. 

So business as usual for the media?

[Ham]

37 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Sky saying we've accepted a €10m fine from UEFA for financial irregularities that the new regime found when sorting out the books when buying from Roman. The new owners brought what they'd found to UEFA under their own steam but watch it get spun out of all control over the next few days to show the club in the worst possible light. 

This will be why the new owners insisted on a £50m payment from RA to cover errors and omissions after looking under the bonnet.