The black cab drivers are getting cross- they keep turning up for a fare to Heathrow - and he doesn't show!
It strikes me as though he doesn't have an entirely united dressing room there, quite possibly because he is having his authority challenged by players who were at the club when he was previously Mourinho's DVD man. Added to which, their defence is an accident waiting to happen. Cech and Terry are shadows of their former selves and David Luiz's defensive skills were accurately summed up by Gary Neville. AVB will have access to an open chequebook in January though.
Abramovich's next moves will be very interesting. They've spent over £100mill on players and £14mill on a new manager and they're in the same position they began this year. It was a vanity project on Roman's part but that's not to say he will continue to back the club when the costs are rising with less reward. He's got choices to make on the same old questions. Does he bring in expensive talent to replace his aging stars? Well he did that this year and some of those players have been rubbish, with no visible improvement on their performances. Does he keep a manager that's underperforming? AVB was clearly brought in for the longterm but Abramovich's favourite, Hiddink, is available and after Ancelotti was sacked having got more out of the players, Roman might wipe the slate fully this time. Everyone out who is not up to par. I wouldn't be surprised if he gives up soon. Far richer men are now in control of clubs across Europe and are having far more fun and success with their plaything, the big investments that he's used to putting into the club will soon be just to keep up, rather than to improve Chelsea.
How the **** did you remember that? Anyway, at the time I was really impressed with his work at Porto. The system was similar to ours but he made them press more and they had a better shape. Also was impressed by his work and analysis on other teams. Read one of his reports and it was ****ing amazing. There are clearly problems in the Chelsea dressing room with the likes of Lampard and co. Do not think they respect someone like AVB because of his age. Also he has dealt with the media poorly and took the stick personally. Its all too much for him. But I do think he will be back. Would still like him as our manager in the future if he can get through this dodgy phase of his career.
Mark my words, they will spend big. Hazard, Rodwell, Hulk, Cahill. If they get these four, they will be right back in it. And they are pretty likely to get them.
Cahill really isn't all that and I'm not that sold on Hulk either. They might get Rodwell in January, but I would be surprised to see Hazard move anywhere until the summer.
I doubt it will be a case of just upping sticks and leaving because no one would buy Chelsea unless they were a billionaire that is expecting to lose money. To be honest I'm not sure how you'd balance out a club like that, they do have high revenues but with the withdrawl of funding for the big name players then the revenue goes down as does the league position, I'm sure it'd plateau out at some point before they got to League 2 though
A few days ago Chelsea fans were saying AVB needs a couple of years to dismantle the Moaninho old boys and build his own squad, I remember thinking how sensible this approach/attitide is, I assume none of those posters were among the thousands booing at the end of their game today ? Ayone who thinks a manager can make a big difference and influence a squad in 4 months is deluded, if Chelsea sack the man then more fool them....
then give the bag of wotsits to Suarez so he can have a nibble whilst watching from the stands through his ban.
If I was a Chelsea fan, I'd boo after that result. Terry and co might be past it but they're paid elite player salaries and they're getting beaten by players half their wage.
He won't be sacked. They will go on a spending spree to buy players AVB wants, he didn't get all the players he wanted and dressing room is unsettled. They need to (and will) get rid off the 'bad' characters who seem to undermine the young manager. Terry and Lampard should go and Drogba is likely to go anyway. They need players who are willing to follow the lead of Villas-Boas. He is trying to make Chelsea a more footballing side and needs the right players, not players who are well past their best.
