Chelsea owners and board

[Mark Kelly]

9 hours ago, Bison said:

 

 

At what point are they going to be held accountable? 

I know !  Eighteen pages is barely scraping the surface where Pochettino is involved , I'd bet the word "coward" was used loads too. 

[Max Fowler]

9 hours ago, McCreadie said:

Season 3. Anyone that says season 3 is a failure in early September, off the back of 1 league defeat to the best team in the World, a hefty away win and a draw, is being a bit silly. It might eventually pan out that way, but it hasn’t yet.  Let’s look on the bright side eh?

I am glad we largely agree, but I didn't say it was a failure this season. I said we are failing. Which we are, even if you don't include pre-season and conference league performances (which you conveniently ignore). If we continue this league form for the rest of the season, we'll finish nowhere.

But IMO the most important thing you miss is that this news will make Maresca's job significantly harder. There will be so much media noise around the place, the fans will find it even harder (if that was even possible) to believe in this project.

I.e. you should hold the owners feet to the fire here for starting a project they have failed to agree on, causing chaos and noise that will almost certainly bleed onto the pitch.

Okay - you can say "lets wait and see", but there's always that get out of jail card. We're here to talk about the realities as we see it of where our football club is today. 

[Mark Kelly]

11 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

 

I.e. you should hold the owners feet to the fire here for starting a project they have failed to agree on, causing chaos and noise that will almost certainly bleed onto the pitch.

 

Not to be the devils avocado but surely if Boehly has actually removed himself from the day to day running of the club and left it entirely up to Eghbali and the gruesome twosome surely they are now 100 percent focussed on what they want whether we or Boehly agree on it or not ?  I can't see how "fuck it , do it your way then - stomp stomp " is causing chaos and noise anywhere other than the famously anti Chelsea corridors of Fleet street? 

[Bison]

2 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

I know !  Eighteen pages is barely scraping the surface where Pochettino is involved , I'd bet the word "coward" was used loads too. 

Your hate for Pochettino is blinding you to the real problem.

The two jokers didn’t assemble a world-class squad and hire Guardiola, only for him to fail. Instead, they completely mismanaged the squad rebuild and brought in a coach who had lost his way at Spurs, was sacked by PSG, and who had been out of the game for over a year,

After a four-month search for a manager, they returned with Pochettino, claiming he was the man to lead us to success. Keep in mind that this isn’t a coach known for tactical brilliance or who plays the brand of football which is in vogue.

A year later, they produced an 18 page report saying he was **** and asked for his dismissal.

So I ask again, when will they be held accountable?

[Mark Kelly]

5 minutes ago, Bison said:

Your hate for Pochettino is blinding you to the real problem.

The two jokers didn’t assemble a world-class squad and hire Guardiola, only for him to fail. Instead, they completely mismanaged the squad rebuild and brought in a coach who had lost his way at Spurs, was sacked by PSG, and who had been out of the game for over a year,

After a four-month search for a manager, they returned with Pochettino, claiming he was the man to lead us to success. Keep in mind that this isn’t a coach known for tactical brilliance or who plays the brand of football which is in vogue.

A year later, they produced an 18 page report saying he was **** and asked for his dismissal.

So I ask again, when will they be held accountable?

I don't hate Pochettino , I just think he's a fraud , not a coach by any stretch of the imagination and has got where he is today by dint of the sweat of Kane , Son and Aldeweireld and has garnered plaudits as he's easy going and most of the supporters of non red clubs in the media are famously Spurs supporters.

I think they hired the best available "coach" at the time with reservations which they then saw with clarity once they started working with him. 

 

[Max Fowler]

18 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Not to be the devils avocado but surely if Boehly has actually removed himself from the day to day running of the club and left it entirely up to Eghbali and the gruesome twosome surely they are now 100 percent focussed on what they want whether we or Boehly agree on it or not ?  I can't see how "fuck it , do it your way then - stomp stomp " is causing chaos and noise anywhere other than the famously anti Chelsea corridors of Fleet street? 

How can they be 100% focussed when a key relationship is at breaking point? But the main reasons I see are as follows:

1) The media is going to be focussing on it constantly, making it impossible for Maresca to shape the narrative in "trusting in the process / project" as he has tried to so far. How can anybody trust in the project when the owners don't agree on it? The players also listen to media, social media etc. it's more negative noise around the club that is very likely to be a distraction and undermine their own faith into what they bought into.

2) As mentioned, the fans are going to find it even harder to buy into this so-called "project". They have been pumped PR the entire time about trusting the process, this needing 5 windows or whatever etc., and now we find out our key owners are fundamentally disagreeing about the direction of the club. 

Of course, some will say "the fans should fully get behind the team whatever the circumstances!", but the reality is that this chaos is going to cause further disconnection to the fanbase.

The only reason there isn't more noise about this right now is because we are on an international break.

[Max Fowler]

5 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I don't hate Pochettino , I just think he's a fraud , not a coach by any stretch of the imagination and has got where he is today by dint of the sweat of Kane , Son and Aldeweireld

And Maresca hasn't got where he is today by his connections to Guardiola? Or what was it, his absolutely failed stint at Parma or nearly blowing the league with Championship favourites Leicester which made you think he was more up to the job than Pochettino?

[Mark Kelly]

7 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

And Maresca hasn't got where he is today by his connections to Guardiola? Or what was it, his absolutely failed stint at Parma or nearly blowing the league with Championship favourites Leicester which made you think he was more up to the job than Pochettino?

What makes you think I care?

He's had three league games , let's give him at least four before we get the burning torches and pitchforks out eh?

You only hate him "because Clearlake" anyway. 

[Mark Kelly]

13 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

How can they be 100% focussed when a key relationship is at breaking point? But the main reasons I see are as follows:

1) The media is going to be focussing on it constantly, making it impossible for Maresca to shape the narrative in "trusting in the process / project" as he has tried to so far. How can anybody trust in the project when the owners don't agree on it? The players also listen to media, social media etc. it's more negative noise around the club that is very likely to be a distraction and undermine their own faith into what they bought into.

2) As mentioned, the fans are going to find it even harder to buy into this so-called "project". They have been pumped PR the entire time about trusting the process, this needing 5 windows or whatever etc., and now we find out our key owners are fundamentally disagreeing about the direction of the club. 

Of course, some will say "the fans should fully get behind the team whatever the circumstances!", but the reality is that this chaos is going to cause further disconnection to the fanbase.

The only reason there isn't more noise about this right now is because we are on an international break.

The only reason there is any noise about this right now us because we are on an international break 

[NoblyBobly]

10 hours ago, McCreadie said:

In terms of “failure”, my assessment is this:

Season 1 was a total ****storm caused primarily by government sanctions, enforced regime change, poor player recruitment, poor management recruitment, failing managers and players clamouring for the exit door. An unholy mess. Failure.

Season 2 consisted of half a season of adjustment to new squad and new manager and a lot of injuries. It was painful and ugly, but not unexpected and it’s easy to see why it happened. Failure with mitigating circumstances. The second half of the season was not a failure. Given the low point at which we had started the season, we did pretty well to recover to become the 4th best team in the division for the post-Xmas period (I haven’t bothered to double check that). We lost meekly in the cups and that was very annoying, but we could have, should have perhaps won one of them.

Season 3. Anyone that says season 3 is a failure in early September, off the back of 1 league defeat to the best team in the World, a hefty away win and a draw, is being a bit silly. It might eventually pan out that way, but it hasn’t yet.  Let’s look on the bright side eh?

 

A well balanced post that we could do more of. 
The thing is this. If we had  beaten Palace I guarantee that this conversation would be a footnote….” The board aren’t getting along but we are heading in the right direction on the pitch so let them get on with it”. That’s the difference between Jackson missing and scoring. 
Many clubs are unhappy with the way their clubs are being run. Look at United. Probably the biggest club in the world . As soon as results falter those raging United fans open up those festering wounds with the owners. I suspect the Norwich kits will be out again soon. 
And this situation is not without president within our own club. We were blessed with Roman because he was the boss and everyone knew it. But before him, many of us remember the bitter feud between Ken Bates and Mathew Harding. They wouldn’t even speak to each other in the end. This was a difficult one for fans because both had blue blood in their veins. 
Ken Bates was a grumpy but wiley old operator. He probably saved this club from extinction. Plastic buckets were handed round the fans to throw money in for the Save The Bridge  campaign. So he brought in Mathew Harding.  A terrace boy made good who ploughed his millions into the club. He was our Knight in shining armour.  But the two fell out over the direction of the club and the differences were never resolved up to Hardings death. Hardings daughter is a friend of a friend of mine. I’ve met her a couple of times ( she gave me a couple of her family seats once, and myself and Ham used them to see a game). In my brief conversation with her she told how Mathew would talk about nothing but Chelsea…he lived and breathed the club.
 The point is that these weren’t Boehly and Clearlake. Bates and Harding were like us. They loved the club. Yet still the shit hit the fan. It just happens. 
Effectively the government chose the current owners for us. No more Russians, no more wide boys, no more human rights abusers ( unless you’re an Arab). And when you have owners pulling in different directions then all decisions seem scatter gun. 
We need an Osimen at this club and they failed. IMO he’s much nearer to a Drogba or a Costa than a Lukaku. And according to Mikel ( who was heavily involved), that deal is not dead because Osimen STILL dreams of playing for Chelsea. Let’s see what happens in January. 
I expect to see an improvement on the field up to then, but I am going to be patient. 

[Bison]

13 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I don't hate Pochettino , I just think he's a fraud , not a coach by any stretch of the imagination and has got where he is today by dint of the sweat of Kane , Son and Aldeweireld and has garnered plaudits as he's easy going and most of the supporters of non red clubs in the media are famously Spurs supporters.

I think they hired the best available "coach" at the time with reservations which they then saw with clarity once they started working with him. 

Not how I remember it. 

His ethos and tactical approach made him the exceptional candidate. Their words. 

A year later they tell everybody he was crap.

Now we have an even worse manager in charge simply because he will comply with their nonsense. 

[NoblyBobly]

1 hour ago, Max Fowler said:

I am glad we largely agree, but I didn't say it was a failure this season. I said we are failing. Which we are, even if you don't include pre-season and conference league performances (which you conveniently ignore). If we continue this league form for the rest of the season, we'll finish nowhere.

But IMO the most important thing you miss is that this news will make Maresca's job significantly harder. There will be so much media noise around the place, the fans will find it even harder (if that was even possible) to believe in this project.

I.e. you should hold the owners feet to the fire here for starting a project they have failed to agree on, causing chaos and noise that will almost certainly bleed onto the pitch.

Okay - you can say "lets wait and see", but there's always that get out of jail card. We're here to talk about the realities as we see it of where our football club is today. 

The question is, how are you going to hold the owners feet to the fire? Do we not turn up for games, cancel our Sky, do we wear Spurs kits? What is your plan exactly? 
I can see a problem on the pitch and suggest and hope Maresco fixes it. For instance, my opinion is the when Lavia is fit , he needs to drop Enzo and give Lavia a run. I can’t do that myself but I can suggest it. 
So what is your solution if you could suggest one. This is not a coach making a tactical change ,  Billions of pounds are involved. So what would you like to see happen that will ( in your eyes) make things better? Because as I see it, both sides have made serious errors. 

[Max Fowler]

5 minutes ago, NoblyBobly said:

The question is, how are you going to hold the owners feet to the fire? Do we not turn up for games, cancel our Sky, do we wear Spurs kits? What is your plan exactly? 
I can see a problem on the pitch and suggest and hope Maresco fixes it. For instance, my opinion is the when Lavia is fit , he needs to drop Enzo and give Lavia a run. I can’t do that myself but I can suggest it. 
So what is your solution if you could suggest one. This is not a coach making a tactical change ,  Billions of pounds are involved. So what would you like to see happen that will ( in your eyes) make things better? Because as I see it, both sides have made serious errors. 

For a start, have honest conversations about where we are at (not saying you are not). Critique the owners and don't just be apathetic and say "nothing's going to change anyway".

I am in support of fans booing the team when they see its not working and I am hoping for protest, but of course they should support the lads if we're doing well.

I have no firm idea what the solution is, but as I said above, I would be in the camp (with limited info) of Boehly buying out Clearlake's stake and getting new investors (perhaps Qatari or something). 

Seems like Boehly wants to be here for 30 years, whereas for Clearlake its a 10 year investment project. Maybe its better to get rid of all of them in 10 years, but I trust more that Boehly wants to make us a winning team. My guess is Egbhali would be completely happy with us being the RB Leipzig of England (or an upmarket Brighton).

[Max Fowler]

30 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

The only reason there is any noise about this right now us because we are on an international break 

Wait until we're back and then you'll see what noise is all about.

32 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

He's had three league games , let's give him at least four before we get the burning torches and pitchforks out eh?

You only hate him "because Clearlake" anyway. 

I don't hate Maresca, I just think he's completely unqualified to get this job. The arguments in his favour "But what about Arteta!!" make no sense because Arsenal have actually bought Arteta the players he wants and experienced ones at that.

I was behind Clearlake's hire of Poch come the end of last season but their capacity for stupid decisions knows no bounds - replacing Poch with Maresca was a ridiculous decision, even as I never thought Poch would succeed in the first place (most overrated manger of the last decade).

[boratsbrother]

37 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I don't hate Pochettino , I just think he's a fraud , not a coach by any stretch of the imagination and has got where he is today by dint of the sweat of Kane , Son and Aldeweireld and has garnered plaudits as he's easy going and most of the supporters of non red clubs in the media are famously Spurs supporters.

I think they hired the best available "coach" at the time with reservations which they then saw with clarity once they started working with him. 

 

Poch's critics judge him almost entirely on the results of the first half of the season and for not going for it in extra time against  Liverpool, ignoring the fact that many teams have settled for pens in extra time.

Also ignore the unprecedented injury crisis he had to deal with.

Also ignore  the very significant improvement in results over the second half of the season and the crazy amount of chances we were creating and goals being scored for fun. 

Also ignore the  team spirit and never say die atttude which was building and building. Not only a never say die atttitide, but also going hell for leather to turn acceptable draws into great comeback wins.

Also ignore the media and lots of rival fans actually loving watching us play., something which hadn't happend since the days of Zola and co.

For sure, Poch isn't a heavy systems coach. He gave great freedom to  allowi the players to express themselves and play off the cuff football and that's partly why we were becoming such a dangerous side to play against. 

I was more than happy to have a complete turn around in opinion of him, going from not wanting him to come here to loving what I was seeing. I'm convinced we would have easily finished top four had the board kept Poch and Gallagher.

 

[Max Fowler]

6 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

Poch's critics judge him almost entirely on the results of the first half of the season and for not going for it in extra time against  Liverpool, ignoring the fact that many teams have settled for pens in extra time.

Also ignore the unprecedented injury crisis he had to deal with.

Also ignore  the very significant improvement in results over the second half of the season and the crazy amount of chances we were creating and goals being scored for fun. 

Also ignore the  team spirit and never say die atttude which was building and building. Not only a never say die atttitide, but also going hell for leather to turn acceptable draws into great comeback wins.

Also ignore the media and lots of rival fans actually loving watching us play., something which hadn't happend since the days of Zola and co.

For sure, Poch isn't a heavy systems coach. He gave great freedom to  allowi the players to express themselves and play off the cuff football and that's partly why we were becoming such a dangerous side to play against. 

I was more than happy to have a complete turn around in opinion of him, going from not wanting him to come here to loving what I was seeing. I'm convinced we would have easily finished top four had the board kept Poch and Gallagher.

I mean we were pretty garbage under Poch for large parts of the season. He was never going to be the elite gaffer to take us to the promised land. But he did about as well as he could given the terrible deck of cards the owners gave him.

It's just a bit LOL to think that we absolutely had to get rid of Poch at all costs and now are fully behind being patient with Maresca. Poch has historically been an overrated manager but Maresca has significantly less qualifications than Potter.

[NoblyBobly]

14 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

For a start, have honest conversations about where we are at (not saying you are not). Critique the owners and don't just be apathetic and say "nothing's going to change anyway".

I am in support of fans booing the team when they see its not working and I am hoping for protest, but of course they should support the lads if we're doing well.

I have no firm idea what the solution is, but as I said above, I would be in the camp (with limited info) of Boehly buying out Clearlake's stake and getting new investors (perhaps Qatari or something). 

Seems like Boehly wants to be here for 30 years, whereas for Clearlake its a 10 year investment project. Maybe its better to get rid of all of them in 10 years, but I trust more that Boehly wants to make us a winning team. My guess is Egbhali would be completely happy with us being the RB Leipzig of England (or an upmarket Brighton).

But you realise that booing the team will achieve nothing ? It will probably have the reverse affect to what you want. 
You can try a protest if you think you can galvanised or organise it. It has made bugger all difference at United. Or instead of a negative protest, how about a positive one in support of Boehly if he is your preferred choice? 
As I alluded to earlier, results change everything. We have a new coach and several new first team players. How about waiting until they settle in and see where we are as a club.  I prefer to watch the team rather than boardroom shenanigans. 

[Max Fowler]

6 minutes ago, NoblyBobly said:

But you realise that booing the team will achieve nothing ? It will probably have the reverse affect to what you want. 
You can try a protest if you think you can galvanised or organise it. It has made bugger all difference at United. Or instead of a negative protest, how about a positive one in support of Boehly if he is your preferred choice? 
As I alluded to earlier, results change everything. We have a new coach and several new first team players. How about waiting until they settle in and see where we are as a club.  I prefer to watch the team rather than boardroom shenanigans. 

I disagree. And for United, it has made a difference. It’s just taken them many years to finally listen. Now they have finally some semblance of a sporting team in place.

Booing is an important opportunity for fans to express their disgust at what is going on. They love the club have invested a lifetime and thousands of pounds into following us. Our club has been hijacked by owners who are now clearly not just evidently incompetent, but actually at war with one another.

Again, I am no Boehly fan. The best option would be to sell altogether, but they won’t do that any time soon. Continued fan pressure will force the owners to listen and I just have some semblance of hope that Boehly will listen quicker than Egbhali.

[NoblyBobly]

2 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

I disagree. And for United, it has made a difference. It’s just taken them many years to finally listen. Now they have finally some semblance of a sporting team in place.

Booing is an important opportunity for fans to express their disgust at what is going on. They love the club have invested a lifetime and thousands of pounds into following us. Our club has been hijacked by owners who are now clearly not just evidently incompetent, but actually at war with one another.

Again, I am no Boehly fan. The best option would be to sell altogether, but they won’t do that any time soon. Continued fan pressure will force the owners to listen and I just have some semblance of hope that Boehly will listen quicker than Egbhali.

Have you spoken to any United fans lately? The club is a mess. Finished same points as us. 
 

But who are you booing at a game? The players when they are losing? Or do they escape when they are winning?  And do you think that’s going to make Clearlake throw in the towel on their 2 billion pound investment. And do you have an idea of a buyer? Probably not I suspect. Careful what you wish for. 
 

 

 

[Max Fowler]

7 minutes ago, NoblyBobly said:

Have you spoken to any United fans lately? The club is a mess. Finished same points as us. 
 

But who are you booing at a game? The players when they are losing? Or do they escape when they are winning?  And do you think that’s going to make Clearlake throw in the towel on their 2 billion pound investment. And do you have an idea of a buyer? Probably not I suspect. Careful what you wish for. 

Yes, I have friends who are United fans. Vast majority of United fans are far more optimistic now the new sporting structure is in place. Ten Hag is a problem sure.

Qataris would buy I suspect. But the goal is not to force Clearlake out for now, rather to force them to adjust this ridiculous and losing strategy of hiring completely inexperienced players and coaches, at the very least - and get a strategy in place that gets us winning football again.

Yes, it’s not the players fault but they also signed up for this so it’s hard to have a lot of sympathy with them. The anger directed the team is more a reflection of what the owners have built than the players as individuals.

[Blue Moon]

I have friends who are Manure fans, too, Max - they would take issue with your statement, having gone from suicidally depressed about the club to merely trying to avoid MOTD. There is a long way to go for that club, for sure.

But on what grounds do you think the Qataris would be interested? I trust you aren't connected to Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani or Moza bint Nassir? Or do you mean generically Qataris? If so, who? Have they expressed an interest? 

By the way, from long experience of working with US companies, a little booing will not force them to change their ways.

[Max Fowler]

1 hour ago, Blue Moon said:

I have friends who are Manure fans, too, Max - they would take issue with your statement, having gone from suicidally depressed about the club to merely trying to avoid MOTD. There is a long way to go for that club, for sure.

But on what grounds do you think the Qataris would be interested? I trust you aren't connected to Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani or Moza bint Nassir? Or do you mean generically Qataris? If so, who? Have they expressed an interest? 

By the way, from long experience of working with US companies, a little booing will not force them to change their ways.

I agree with that, but they are more optimistic about the setup than they have been over recent years at the height of Glazer protests. Of course they have a long way to go.

I thought the Qataris bid originally when Clearlake won after RA?

[My Blood Is Blue]

https://fortune.com/2022/03/19/meet-bidders-aiming-to-buy-chelsea-from-roman-abramovich-todd-boehly-nick-candy-ken-griffin-ricketts-family-josh-harris-martin-broughton-oaktree-captial-woody-johnson/

So who people have picked instead? As I recall, the majority of fans thought the current owners were the best of the bunch.

[KingThistle]

Really interesting thread this has become with a very obvious divide.

I personally find it very hard to argue that the situation fashioned by Clearlake in a relatively short space of time can be viewed as anything other than disturbing. Right across the whole Chelsea Football Club estate from the erosion of squad quality to rapid brand destabilisation and including all the disruption to the exec- and non-exec board members and the in-arguing now between the main owners - none of this is good from the outside looking in.

I just don't know or understand enough, so I am willing to learn if someone could explain to me how the wasted billions spent on transfers, failure to secure meaningful sponsorship, no progress on the stadium rebuild/move, and the lack of remuneration from on-field successes add up to a financially viable entity?  My very uninformed opinion is one of being alarmed at how fragile it all appears.

Aside from that however, is that while we've always been disliked - am I bovvered? - we're now being laughed at and where previously that would be another "so what?", I now can't see fault in that ridicule. The Americans collectively don't know what they're doing and with very rich people where a £billion here or there doesn't matter, that - to me - is more than a little terrifying for the future of our club under this stewardship.

 

Edited September 10 by KingThistle

[KingThistle]

8 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

https://fortune.com/2022/03/19/meet-bidders-aiming-to-buy-chelsea-from-roman-abramovich-todd-boehly-nick-candy-ken-griffin-ricketts-family-josh-harris-martin-broughton-oaktree-captial-woody-johnson/

So who people have picked instead? As I recall, the majority of fans thought the current owners were the best of the bunch.

Personally, I remember getting the ick at the thought of Nick Candy taking over.

I think many thought that more money meant a better ownership candidate where 'net worth' and 'suitability' had direct correlation.