Lamps has been an exceptional player for us over the last decade, but that doesn't mean we should just close our eyes to his faults. Is your loyalty to the club or to the players? At the start of last season Lamps was not in good form. Look at the Old Trafford game - he was shocking in the 1st half and we looked a totally different team when he was rightly subbed at half time. AVB could see what a lot of us seem to want to ignore, namely that he can't expect to play every game nowadays and has to get used to being on the bench, even for some of the glamour fixtures he loves to be a part of. If Lamps had a problem with that, then he should have gone to the manager and had it out with him. He chose not to do that and instead blabbed to the press that AVB was ignoring him and their relationship wasn't good. Now, no matter how good a servant a player has been in the past, I don't think it's acceptable for Chelsea players to behave like that. I remember reading in Kerry Dixon's autobiography how the old guard sulked and complained when John Neal revolutionised the club in 82/83. We're talking players like Micky Droy and Gary Locke - long-serving club legends at the time who resented being pushed to one side as younger and more hungry players were brought in. What did the club do? They did the right thing by refusing to pander to the egos of players who were coming towards the ends of their careers, backed the manager, and shipped them out. Result - we won the 2nd division title. It's time for a younger, hungrier Chelsea again, and the old guard need to get on board with the project or pack their bags and leave with their dignity intact. Remember, AVB never said he wanted Lamps out - he just wanted him to accept that he wasn't automatic first choice for the biggest fixtures anymore. With the form of Luiz and Cahill towards the end of last season, we're nearing that crossroad with JT as well (maybe even sooner if things don't go his way in court this summer). We need these guys to do what is best for the club and not for themselves. Whatever happens, I support Chelsea FC over and above ANY player, regardless of status.
i am sure that he was not told that the first thing he had to do was tell the senior players your finished?? what ever way you look at it he went about things the wrong way and as has already been said, these players won us the CL !!
Some good points but I think in modern football people are too quick to write off anyone who has a few bad games or is over 30. It was the likes of Lampard and Drogba who ultimately won us the C.L, they are legends and deserve a bit more respect from fans, owner, managers alike. Fergie has managed to reduce the playing time of the likes of Scholes and Giggs over the years to brilliant effect (and they are older than Lamps). AVB couldn't so you can only question his man management skills which at the very top is crucial. I support Chelsea over the palyers if it comes to it but I'm not having that all our problems last year were due to players having hissy fits. John Terry playing in a high line for instance...really!!?!?
We will always agree to disagree. He knew the job he took on and expected the management to back him and the players to follow his instructions. That's how it works at other clubs, but obviously not at ours. Now the unpleasant job passes to Robby. Can't wait to see how long it takes for the same old grumbling, by the same old players to start again, especially since they got AVB shafted and won the CL.
There is no reason why Lampard, Terry, Cole etc will moan as I'm sure Robby will still play them most weeks. All good sides have a blend of youth and experience and we've already moved on Drogba, Anelka, Bosingwa, maybe Malouda etc to make way for a more balanced squad.
Thanks Ollie, you have put into words exactly what I have been banging on about less eloquently for the past 6months. No one disrespects Lamps, or Terry or any of them, but if you're not moving the team forwards every year, you're actually going backwards. For Christs sake, what more do they want??? They have fame and fortune, trophies and respect.What they don't have is the dignity or character of Drogba, who knew when to leave and did so with his head high and the welcome mat always out for him.
I hope you're right, but strongly suspect when Robby has to make the hard decisions it will all blow up again, and why wouldn't it ?? it's worked in the past often enough.
Fergie has complete control over Man U and the authority of having been at the club for more than 2 decades. He brought Giggs and Scholes through the ranks. You can't compare that to the situation AVB faced when he stepped into Chelsea. I maintain that if Lamps had a problem with AVB he should have sorted it out behind closed doors - have a shouting match if that's what it takes, just don't go stitching the manager up in the press. That's bang out of order in my book. I'm not suggesting that AVB was perfect by any means. The Chelsea job probably came too soon for him and he showed himself to be tactically naive at times, but the overwhelming problem he faced was the attitude of the senior players. Exactly the same thing happened to Scolari, a man with far more experience than AVB lets not forget, who faced the same problems when he tried to change our style as well. Once again, as soon as a temporary manager came in who was no threat to the long term future of the players, their performances suddenly improved. Bit of a strange coincidence that.
I accept what your saying but frankly why do we care? Scolari went and we got in Hiddink who secured top 4 and won us the fa cup. AVB went and under RDM we had arguably our most succesful ever season. Whether the player are 'in charge' or whatever, ultimately when managers have been moved on we have generally done very well. If the players will only perform for certain managers then lets be damn sure we have the right manager in place cos when they cross that white line, it is 90% down to the players. Some of the blame has to lay at the door of AVB because these issues didn't arise under Jose, Hiddink, Ancelotti or RDM. Lampard shouldn't of said things in public but then you have to question why our greatest ever player is having to do that to be 'heard' by the manager.
Why should we care? Maybe because we spent £13m buying AVB out of his Porto contract? We can't afford to keep going through managers at our current rate with FFP around the corner. On top of that, we've been very, very lucky on the whole with the run of managers we've had. Going back to Bates' time with the club we've been sacking successful managers (Gullit, Vialli, Ranieri, Mourinho, Ancelotti) and gambling on getting the next appointment right. What happens if our luck runs out? Real Madrid went through 5 managers between sacking Del Bosque and winning the title again under Capello and that sort of turnaround isn't affordable with the sort of wages we pay. Also, this revolving door policy is the reason why so few of our young players make the grade. If a coach goes into a job knowing he'll be lucky to see out 2 full seasons with a club, then where is the incentive to develop these players? Just carry on playing the old guard and hope that their old legs can pick up another cup or 2 before you get the sack and then move on, leaving us in the same position again. I agree that some of the blame lies at AVB's door. I've said that since the start. I maintain, however, that the single biggest problem he faced was the attitude of some of the senior players and that is a problem we need to address. I don't want the players having more control than the manager thank you very much, because that way lies short termism and eventual stagnation. We NEED to change our thinking as a club or we'll face some pretty severe consequences further down the line.
Maybe we will but what would say Arsenal give to be European champions (same manager for 15 years). More than one way to skin a cat.
agreed, getting through managers has suited chelsea very well up to now, the trophy cabinet says it all
Why do we care???? Are you kidding??????? We care because our club is being torn apart and shafted over and over again by the same greedy egomaniacs that have fuxcked over too many managers. Piss them ALL off as soon as is possible.
In your dreams. none of the players you mentioned are capable of playing every week. That is the whole point of the thread you plank, they can't do the business every week and need to be moved on for players who can. Ask yourself which players you would move on. Halleujulah, your now a Manager!!
Calm down fellas, we're on the same page here. End of the day, what's done is done and hopefully Robbie can do the much needed job by completely overhauling the squad and introducing our future legends. No point arguing about what happened because at the end of the day, we won the Champions League AND FA Cup after such a ****e 2/3's of the season.
Jeez you're not sitting on the fence Bit heavy that though, don't you think CP? Scumbags? No, clash of personalities? I think so.
Bit harsh that CP. Unless you were involved with the day to day running of the club, and your'e not, you have formed an opinion by what you read in the press and internet. You name Cech on your list, I for one have never heard anything malicious from him, or Drogba, or any one else except FL, to be honest.
Even with Frank it's a bit harsh, he was hardly played and when he was it was a completely different role to what he's played his entire career. I saw on twitter that Carl Magnay had a bit of a pop at AVB saying that he felt sorry for the Spurs players, he must have been a complete dick.
There clearly was something about him which angered our players. How he treated Anelka and Alex was farking disgraceful. As soon as RDM came in, Lamps said that RDM spoke to each player saying what he wanted which just shows that AVB did the exact opposite and so the players didn't believe in his abilities.
