I agree with some of what you are saying in principle and I think many Arsenal fans are adopting a similar idea i.e that if they finish outside top 4 their board will have to re-think transfer policy, wage structures etc etc. Obviously they are the other end of the spectrum from us manager and transfer-policy wise; but the principle remains the same i guess. However I don't see that finishing say 5th instead of 4th would suddenly mean we/Roman is going to adopt a whole new way of doing things. Until it is financially not viable, I think we have to accept he is going to proceed as he has done before with regards to managers (remains to be seen the effect FFP will have for instance). It has served us well over the last 10 years trophy-wise but I can certainly see how we could continue to struggle going forward. Of course stability can breed success like United and Barca but then they are 2 of the top 5 clubs in the world and United only have stability because Fergie started in a different era. Do you think he'd get as much time now to win a trophy as he did from when he took over United? Rumour has it, he was one game from the sack at one point. Fergie at United is a one off we may never see again. I'd like some stability too but I don't think it's too much to ask for us to challenege for titles at the same time given the players and money at the disposal of some of these managers. Ancelotti aside, many of the recent sackings have been when we were struggling to even make top 4 let alone compete for a title - which isn't acceptable. I can't remember the last time United had any danger of finishing outside the top 4 and we largely outspend them. I don't agree with it bit when you see some of the appalling results and runs of form under Scolari, AVB, RDM etc and then you see the positive impact a new manager has had (RDM, Hiddink even Grant) I can see why Roman continues to adopt this policy. Luck finally seems to have run out with Rafa though and maybe he will have to re-think things from now on. We could go and get say a Moyes with a view to a 'project' but if he can't maintain a decent challenge in europe and in the league, chances are he'd be moved on to. At the end of the day, these managers are paid very well and most are given very good transfer kittys; is there really an excuse for failure?
Yes well said. The flaw in my logic is of course equating finishing outside the top 4 with a change in roman's mindset. If it does change his mindset, then finishing outside top 4 wouldn't be such a bad thing, which is the whole point of this thread. On the other hand, if it doesn't , then we just end up digging ourselves a deeper hole. Logically though, you would expect a man of his billions not to blindly follow his nose until the point at which it becomes financially unviable to do so and he is forced to change his strategy. He must have some modicum of foresight! So, either we are blissfully heading away from this point (and none of us know it), or we are heading towards it but are nowhere near yet, or he doesn't see it, or he just doesn't care. I sure hope it is towards the former rather than the latter...
Personally I'd like us to bring in Jose and perhaps have his long term successor as his number 2. Jose would unite the club and is a proven winner, knows the club inside out and would be massively respected by all the players and fans. He's also the most likely to survive for more than a season or 2. If all goes well, in a few years he can move on to the Portugal job and we can promote a ready made replacement from within. We've got a good squad and some fantastic youth prospects. A few clever signings and a little time for the younger batch and we'll have a seriously good squad on our hands. Just need the right man to make it all gel.
I agree with everything except for the the Jose element, being of the opinion that second comings rarely, if ever, work out. Capello might work for the short term though - his club record is second only to Mourinho I believe. Other options are well touted - Simeone looks a prospect, Klopp looks decent as well. As for Gus Poyet, Stevie Clarke and GZ25.... I'm just not sure. Not of their talent mind, but of having to end up treating them with the same disrespect and ruthlessness as RDM was...
Whilst I would be excited if JM was coming back I tend to agree with you that second comings do not always work out. Not sure why this is - maybe the weight of expectations is too high etc.
This is where I have to weigh in..... Yes....we have done a **** load wrong in the last ten years.... Abramovich arrived at chelsea at a point when Manchester United were at a low point and Arsenal were really the only other challengers (and they fell apart after their invincible season). Roman invested a shed load in the team and academy, which was awesome, and appointed Mourinho, was was also awesome.....pretty much everything he has done after that has been wrong. Until Sheikh bought City, we were unrivalled in terms of spending power, had probably the best team in Europe (2005/2006, pre Messi Barcelona). Where are all the awesome youth team players from our brand new academy that we were going to start churning out? Since JT, only Ryan Bertrand has been a regular from our academy (one could argue for Mcaechran but he doesnt feature nowadays and is always on loan). We have won ONE league title since retaining it in 2006. One league title in 7 years?! I know it sounds spoilt, but we seriously should have been mopping up since then, Arsenal fell by the wayside, and only Fergies Utd team with Tevez, Ronaldo etc were our competition. Buying Sheva....wrong. Sacking Jose.....wrong. Appointing Scolari....Wrong. Appointing Carlo....Ill give him that. Sacking Carlo.....wrong. Buying Torres....wrong. Appointing AVB...Wrong. Sacking AVB....ok yeah, but since he bought the douchebag here in the first place, he cant get any points for that. Appointing RDM....wrong (Sorry but I think it was the wrong move, because he was then pressured into keeping him after the CL win when it was clear Roman didnt want him as full time No 1 coach in the first place. ) Sacking RDM....wrong (Once he had appointed him, you really need to stick by him atleast for a season, unless things were calamitous, which they werent. Sacking him a third of the way in to the season without a replacement in mind was ridiculous when results werent that bad. It wasnt like AVB where the players and fans just hadnt warmed to him and a toxic atmosphere was being created, the fans and players seemed to love RDM). Then of course, Appointed FSW.....WRONG!! The players dont like him, the fans hate him and the dude is just flatly incompetent when it comes to on the spot managing. He would be much better suited as a Director of Football or something like that. We have been winning trophies during this time, yes, so this rant may seem unjustified. But given that we had more money than anyone else, and were in a position where we had smashed the PL two years in a row and had the best squad in Europe...we should not be finding ourselves in a position where, 5 years later, we are struggling to finish in a CL place and are replacing our manager every 20 games.
On the contrary, AVB was meant to be the new era. In no way was his appointment wrong. What was wrong was the speed at which he was expected to set up a new era - and some pretty laughable actions on AVBs behalf as well - but imo if AVB hadn't been sacked, though I doubt we'd have the CL, we'd probably be a much more stable club because of it.
Maybe but then he alienated cole and lampard, 2 players we fans have being desperate to sign new deals this year. Therefore if he had of stayed, them players may have left even last summer. AVB I think was the right man at the wrong time. He will do okay with Spurs because they don't have the big names there who have done it all. A man of AVB's age and experience was always going to struggle to get the respect of players like Lampard and Cole who have achieved a lot more than AVB has; especially when he kept dropping them.
Bodanki I get your sentiment, but I think you're not putting a balance on this. Whilst I really do not agree with the ins & outs of the manager (at some point, we really have to stick with one - that would have been Ancelotti for me....but what do I know), some people would/could argue that his hiring & firing policy is what has enabled us to have a faily decent & hefty looking trophy cabinet, as well as "close-ones". In terms of the players, absolutely the SUPERBIG purchases of the likes of Shevva & Torres were poor (wrong price @ wrong stage), but what about Rameries, Cahill, Mata, Hazard, Oscar.....to name but a few - plus the potentials (if a stay in place manager is appointed) of Lukaku, DeBrun, Piazon etc. etc. In really hasn't been all bad and we have more to be grateful for than not. If we hadn't had the significant influx of money when we did, we would not be able to compete as we do. An over-reliance on Cech, Terry, Lampard & Drogba has meant that we have struggled as they have left or suffered injury. Every club makes good & bad buys - ours gets extra attention because of who people think we are. Maybe we needed a high turn-over of managers to get the success we achieved. Right now, we have a good squad, a good number of young plaers on the fringes/on loan and a promising and developing youth set-up. All we need ("all we need!!!") is a manager who can bring it together and not get sacked after a couple of bad results.
I wasnt really pointing to the purchases of Sheva and Torres because they turned out to be crap, (even though they were) because they could have both just as easily been great, the reason I mentioned those in particular is because they were both made by Roman and not whoever was managing Chelsea at the time. Chairman should stay in the boardroom and let the managers manage. When they try to meddle in things it always goes tits up (look at the situation at Hearts a few years back with George Burley and their insane owner). It was pretty widely reported that Mourinho was against buying Shevchenko and wanted Samuel Eto'o instead but Roman insisted on Sheva even though he was older and more expensive, purely because Roman wanted to build Chelsea's fan base in Eastern Europe and Sheva was a mate of his. This, I am certain, is one of the things that led to Mourinho parting company with Chelsea. Roman wouldnt let him make the signings he wanted to make, signings that would gel into the team dynamic and instead wanted to make signings based purely on financial reasons, that ended up gimping our squad. Then Roman points the finger at Jose when performances started to dip. The guys a ******.
Bodanki Tricky one as we've clearly benefited as a club in terms of "success". What would be great now if he let someone get on with it. To be honest, I've got more of a problem with those 1 layer below him. Everyone is too scared to say anything - just "yes-men". It has got to a point where I'm sure he will allow a manager to "manage". I think the good news is that Pepe G didn't come. That must help the Board understand that we can't just get any manager we want if we keep hiring & firing. What will be really interesting, is when we find out who our next manager will be.....let's face it, as long as it's not the FSW, it has to be good news. Funny though, we all want stability in management..........as long as it's not Rafa!
My ideal would be to get Jose back and just give him carte blanche to do whatever he wants. We have all seen what he can do when given the freedom to run his own squad. He turned us , albeit briefly, in to the best team in Europe. He made Porto win the Champions League!! And he turned Inter into a treble winning team, and then toppled Barcelona (the best team in the world) off the top of La Liga! Just bring him back and let him do his thing.....like someone else said, everytime we went into a game with Jose in charge I was confident we would win, even if it were Old trafford, Anfield whomever. At the moment we have a home tie against Wigan f**king Athletic and I am ****ting myself.
