Chelsea banter 2

03 May 2024 08:56:13
I have to say it now that tempers are calm so it doesn't seem it's because we lost. I still think Chelsea must review the managerial position for next season. Poch can be good on occasions but will always melt away when it matters most when trophy is at stake. he's average. It's only a winner coach that can get us back on top . No matter the amount we spend on players we will still not win with pochetino imo. Just that we are no longer shrewd in recruiting for the club when pull out a hidden or not so obvious manager/ players that can deliver. I guess tge eds will know better the kind of manager capable of bringing us back to the top again.

03 May 2024 09:27:25
I’m sure all the Ed’s have an educated view on who will start as our manager next season.

I’m sure pundits/ ex players and all Chelsea fans have a view on whoever is our manager for next season and whoever that person is there will be a lot of people who will be unhappy with the owners decision.

03 May 2024 09:30:13
Have to stick with him we cannot keep changing these thing take time we are playing some good stuff with a couple of experienced additions this squad will be challengers again.

03 May 2024 09:54:40
Interesting that the manager is blamed for young players inconsistencies when it's a common characteristic along with concentration.

03 May 2024 09:56:37
I think Poch has improved most of ouyr players in the course of this hs first seasom - of course we've seen very little of many in the squad incluing highly rated and high cost signings like Nkunku and Lavia - and had to gel a deeply EPL inexperienced and largely v young squad togther from scratch. With a vast injury list throughout. Yet they have generally been playing an exciting brand of football . high risk though it is and with many disappointments. So far though, the second half of the season has seen a gradual improvement on the first though with no possibility of ritation for Sunday v Hammers we may seen a drop from last night's levels.

So I think Poch should be given a second season to continue the process he was tasked with and while having a say in who stays and who we bring in. If we are not in Top 4 by end of next season or at least vastly more competitive in the league then I expect his contract would not be renewed but we woulodn't have to fork out another vasy severance payment and the players seem to like and trust him. This is key for me.

To pay Poch out now - how much? - and have yet another magaerial change will be no guarnatee of success, it never is. Ed002's pick of Slot has gone to LFC. He has suggested there are other options like bringing JM back but if we can finish with close to 60 points this season and, just a importantly, playing this high paced attacking brand of football I for omne reckon he will have done a better job than any reasonable pundit could have expected if particularly considering the injury woes.

03 May 2024 11:12:27
JBS, I don’t think paying off Poch the last year of his contract is relevant given the money we have spent on players and might spend in the summer. The issue is can we afford to give him another chance which in itself implies failure. A third season without CL football, leaving aside the financial and other consequences would firmly cement us as has-beens. The other isuse is that if Poch stays and we have a poor start to the season we might be stuck with him due to the lack of alternatives.

03 May 2024 11:51:29
To characterise us as “has beens” IF we miss out on champions league football is view I do not share. There are many recent examples of so called “big clubs having protracted periods of no champions league football and I would personally ever refer to the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool or Utd as being “has been clubs. ”

If we start with Poch as our manager and the team has a bad start is in my opinion no different to having a new manager and him having a bad start. Whoever the manager is will get criticised and pressure if results aren’t good.

I’m not sure how giving Poch another season in I.

03 May 2024 12:01:21
I have no idea how allowing Pich to continue as manager next season “in itself implies failure. ” I guess it depends what a fans expectations were for this season.

IF we had a third season without champions league football would not “firmly cement us as has-beens” no more than it has other so called “big clubs. ”

There is no difference between Poch starting as our manager or a newly appointed manager. If results are crap all managers get criticism and pressure and we could be “stuck” with a new manager for a longer contracted manager.

Any cost in sacking Poch could also bring around costs associated to other members of the coaching team.

03 May 2024 12:06:49
Sorry, fat finger but you get the idea.

03 May 2024 12:52:19
Jimbo you may be right about cost of sacking Poch not relevant to woners - though clearly we need to be careful to balance books and if it would be a lot might mean either selling someone we would rather not or being unable to get someone we might want to - but I have always thought it would take more than a season to rebuild. Rather have the same manager if possible work with group of players to this end. I reckon that under Poch we have been moving in the right direction and are play8ng far more attractive footbal than under TT say, who did great in cups but not so great in the EPL given squad we had at the time.

Whether Poch is able like Klopp (after several seasons at LFC) or Pep (also took a while I think) to turn this gelling process and attacking (high risk though) style into trophies I don't know. But I also don't know who is out there that we could realistically get - given our rebuilding situation and without champions league football -who would be guaranteed to be better?

03 May 2024 13:23:45
I believe due to improves performance, working with young payers and not least the the ricidilous injury situation all season, Poch should be given another season.

I believe we should judge him once we have a few e perienced players along the spine together with a vast improvement in the injury situation.

03 May 2024 14:01:18
JBS, if paying off Poch and his staff makes the difference between buying players or forcing us to sell players, we really are in a precarious financial position. In any event, we both have different views and we will see how things unfold in the summer.

{Ed002's Note - Not after June 30.}

03 May 2024 14:04:38
Bill, Seymns, King Drog and JBS, I agree with you all that Poch should start next season as our manager and you have all put forward arguments that I agree with for that continuation.

03 May 2024 16:47:22
Okay Tom we all know what your opinion is- don’t over do it.

03 May 2024 18:40:01
True but I will still give it, even if it is overdoing it.

03 May 2024 18:42:27
You move poch in when there’s an elite manager available, there isn’t, his doing ok considering we still need a st and gk and had no less than 10 first team players out all season, we all wanted a project manager until we got one, we can’t swap managers like under Roman becuase we haven’t got 28yr old leaders in Terry Lampard drogba ballack cech cole Mikel ivanovic carvalho, almost every player was there national team captain, that’s not us anymore, we’ve seen in spells it’s just about consistently which is as much on the players than manager.

04 May 2024 09:02:38
Matt, good points particularly about the leaders we have been fortunate to have over the last twenty years.

03 May 2024 07:33:35
Good result. Thought first half we were brilliant. Second half we showed fight and determination which i've barely season this season.

Big shout out to Trev and Cucurella, coming back into the fold and performing so well.

Also, credit where it's due, moving Cucurella into an inverted full back/ defensive mid is brilliant coaching. It stops teams countering us and cutting through the middle, allows us to win the ball back quick and pushes Gallagher up to start the press.

03 May 2024 09:57:16
Agreed dan.

03 May 2024 12:14:01
Spot on Dan.

02 May 2024 23:40:57
Fantastic performance that I was lucky enough to catch as I was working early.

My favourite thing about the performance is that almost assuredly ensures the board aren't stupid enough to sell chalobah and Gallagher. Indispensable.

02 May 2024 23:51:41
Standard I hope you’re right but I don’t think the yanks see it that way. Our best performing centre back (since returning from injury) and midfielder in my eyes.

03 May 2024 06:00:10
When a player has a bad game, we are refrained from not to conclude he's not good enough but just a very good game the rave is pouring. Anyway I never wanted tc sold but if cg refuse to re-sign he will be sold. I'm only worried we may not sign a better replacement, the club no longer get their signings spot on. the obsession about kiddies is a problem. There should be balance of experience in the squad to win titles imo.
However not his fan but i think it's cucu that deserves the sentimental praise you are giving to your compatriots. Chaloba also deserves it though. Also think caicedo deserves praise more than cg he's not English.

03 May 2024 06:01:31
Selling young academy players is nothing new. I’m old so I can remember how angry and devastated I was when we sold Jimmy Greaves and Butch Wilkins. In more recent times I wasn’t happy with the sale of Mason Mount.

If I remember correctly the sales of Greaves and Wilkins were in part due to financial issues.

Greaves is still the best player I have ever seen and Wilkins was our inspirational captain.

03 May 2024 06:06:50
Tusole, total rubbish, nationality has NOTHING to do with it.

03 May 2024 07:43:01
Load of rubbish tusole.

03 May 2024 07:52:13
Gallagher works so hard great example to the kids if and it's a big if everyone is fit and playing well not sure that he makes the starting 11 . Will come down to signing a contract or not.

On a side note Casadei although only on for 15-20 minutes looks to me if he is going to be some player won almost every header.

Win our last 4 games and we good easily end up 6th. With the odd blip along the way we are going in the right direction.

03 May 2024 08:04:25
I'm also old enough to remember the sale of Wilkins, Tom, but not quite old enough for Greaves. Wilkins was sold because we were basically bankrupt at that time. I remember watching Wilkins play at Stamford Bridge in the season before he went to Man Utd. We were awful and got relegated with 20 points (2 points for a win in those days) .

03 May 2024 08:32:24
Loved Wilkins and was young enough to be disappointed in his sale.

Be interesting to see if Mount ever repeats the form of 2-3 years ago, the injuries to so many players at so many clubs suggest that overplaying when young causes some serious mid / long term problems.

03 May 2024 11:53:17
Agreed seymns, Casadei has looked to have the makings of a really good player when I've seen him. I mean, obviously they're really young, and almost definitely too inexperienced to be a starting PL pairing, but I was slightly surprised we went for Caicedo and Lavia both in the summer having watched the performances of Casadei and Santos in preseason. I guess preseason games really tell you next to nothing – the standard of the games is perhaps just at that level where it can make players look better than they are – but they bossed it together. But I wondered why we'd buy Casadei and Santos only to then buy more players that would block their pathway into the team. Just another example of recruitment looking a bit scattergun, like there was no real plan.

03 May 2024 12:10:29
Edw. I particularly like the look of Santos but I understand your question on what looks from the outside as over recruitment in certain areas.

02 May 2024 21:58:12
I would 1 million percent sell enzo over galagher love the guy same with trev id sell any of the cbs to keep pur cobham players not because they have a connection its because there good enough and they deserve to be here.

02 May 2024 22:56:38
Poch, the CG staying or going saga could well decided by contract issues.

Big Trev is a very solid professional who I hope never leaves.

02 May 2024 23:37:41
But. but. pure profit .

{Ed001's Note - I don't understand this pure profit thing I keep seeing. It is simply not true as the club has to pay for the academy. You are better off keeping academy players as a rule, simply because they are usually on much lower salaries than players brought in from outside.}

02 May 2024 23:53:35
I wouldn’t sell either Enzo has been playing injured for 6 months FairPlay to him it’s meant to be a hard condition also. We have 3 quality midfielder to rotate in there. I still stand by we’d be a better team playing 3 at the back. Would suit Enzo having protection behind him and also Palmer and Nkunku as 10’s it would suit them to a tee.

03 May 2024 02:46:04
I agree ed1 it's a load of rubbish.

03 May 2024 05:41:28
I repeat I wouldn’t sell either player but I’m more interested in the performance and result against teams currently in 4th and 5th.

The club will buy and sell players as it does in most seasons. Some of the sales I won’t be happy about and I’m sure some of our signings I won’t rate but I will support whoever we sign when they put on that Chelsea shirt.

I no longer feel attached to players and I truly HATE to say it but I now just see them as commodities but that isn’t a feeling that naturally sits well with me as just a fan. If that makes sense!

03 May 2024 06:05:09
Pochempire I disagree with you about enzo.

03 May 2024 18:22:40
I’d 1 million percent sell Lukaku for £300m. Bout as much chance as Enzo being sold. He cost us over £100m. Utd, City, PSG, Real, Bayern and Saudi are the only clubs who could afford him. Real have no need for him, Bayern typically don’t spend that much. Unlikely Enzo would go to Saudi so that leaves Utd, City and PSG. Utd need more of a defensive CM/ DM given their squad. So just leaves City and PSG. Maybe one of them would bite but unlikely and probably not for over £100m. So maybe we could sell him for say £70-80m at a loss, meaning we have to raise an extra £20m to comply with PSR and then still have to sell Gallagher anyway and possibly even more players to make up for it. Ideal right?

03 May 2024 19:04:34
The pure and profit is there’s not amortisation? As in lukaku, £100m over 5yrs is £20m per year, so if sold after 4 years for £20m would break even, Gallagher as there was no fee to buy if sold for £50m goes on the books as £50m profit?

03 May 2024 23:23:35
Also Matt, Academy costs are not included in FFP calculations.

{Ed001's Note - it is PSR and that is no longer relevant. It is a %age of the revenue that you can spend on transfers, agent fees and wages.}

04 May 2024 09:05:25
Ed, does the PSR % of revenue become active for the 24/ 25 season?

{Ed001's Note - they have to vote on it, but I expect so. It will apply to any team in European competition anyway.}

04 May 2024 11:28:39
Thanks Ed. I assume there will different criteria for domestic and European competitions?

{Ed002's Note - Yes there are, but try and keep away from discussing finances.}

04 May 2024 16:39:13
Ed. Good advice.

02 May 2024 21:54:05
A great win but poch made it sound like his days were numbered in that post match interview.

02 May 2024 22:03:13
I just think he is p@ssed off with questions that are obviously about him and what may happen in the future. I didn’t help that two of the presenters didn’t bother listening to his answer to stupid questions.

02 May 2024 22:13:57
Challobah, caiciedo and cucurella have really stepped up and look brilliant.

02 May 2024 22:21:41
Did he? I hasn't gor that message but perhaps missed something as dod miss last bit of the interview. I thought he was suggesting that things were coming together.

02 May 2024 21:47:56
Is that the team to see out the season (injuries permitting)? Good chemistry, wanted it from start to finish.

Lovely to see Big Trev in there doing his thing. What a header.

That was probably the best I've seen Cucurella play. He still gives me a heart attack at times, but he put his body on the line again and again. Committed.

Mudryk showed quiet flashes. Better from him, though still a long way to go. Hopefully what looks like giving up after the first ball is just a lack of confidence, and that will improve. Madueke a constant threat - really loving the trajectory he's on.

Caicedo, brilliant. Gallagher fantastic. Not sure, there seems to still be a little conflict between Palmer and Jackson, couple of times they delayed passes to each other/ refused to play each other in, but overall fantastic from both of them too. Gilchrist keeps growing - fully committed. Shout out to Acheampong - did very well when he came on (he'll learn how to step up as he goes) . Baidashille couple of brilliant sliding tackles, not too dodgy on distribution today. Petrovich fairly solid - didn't get caught out at his near post today.

Well done Poch!

02 May 2024 22:05:49
Edw, I agree with the sentiments in your post. Just one small thing and I have been critical of Mudryk lately but that is the hardest I’ve seen him work.

02 May 2024 22:23:42
Yes EdW there werexa couple of first half runs and passes from Mudryk that were v encouraging if much work indeed still needed.

02 May 2024 22:39:13
Correct EdW. Caicedo was excellent absolutely excellent. Chelsea have been crying out for this type of player for years, he just keeps the tempo so effectively, just ticks it along makes it look easy, just brilliant, so please for him. Chelsea were literally purring. and Surely to goodness Chelsea can and will keep CG? I mean seriously? Who can possibly be sitting in the stands and want to flog this lad for what? £55m? Maybe £65m, Chelsea will never replace him for that dosh. Come on Chelsea work harder and shift the deadwood not the future.

03 May 2024 12:12:13
Hi Tom and JBS, yes, the hardest I've seen him work too, but still suffering from the issue that lads in my son's U12s team have where they do one thing and then stop. Like getting a toe on the ball as a player goes past, the ball spills free, but they just stand there, as though in their mind they've already done their bit. Or passing the ball and then not making the run for the return pass. So many times last night I saw him just do nothing when a little burst of pace, a little desire and he'd have had the ball.

Agree Londonscot – Gallagher was immense last night. Not a flashy player, which is perhaps why some are down on him, but carries the team in terms of energy. From his time at Palace, and a couple of times this season, we know that he's got an excellent long-range strike if we can just get him in the right positions, which is something we've lacked in our team for a number of years.

02 May 2024 21:43:08
its been such a tough season
but a heads up to trev, cucu and madueke last few games and caicedo and galagher in the 2 cm roles are outstanding well done jackson aswell never gives up deserved that goal

please don't sell trev and galagher love those guys.

02 May 2024 21:52:26
Poch, I hope we don’t sell either player but a lot may depend on Gallagher signing a new contract.

03 May 2024 07:53:02
Jackson may have scored a re bound, but how many times could he have played someone else in. Or passed the ball to spurs player.

02 May 2024 21:36:10
I talked up Noni a good few weeks ago and got the usual pelters on here from one or two. Tonight I'm going to talk up Marc C, he has been outstanding recently and deserves the highest praise. Let's get behind this very talented young squad of players.

02 May 2024 21:54:34
fair play g8 his defensive duties were outstanding tonite.

02 May 2024 22:14:21
MC superb tonight as were the whole side. Even if efforts tonight leas to falling of v Hammers on Sunday I agree that we saw what should be the core of our squad going forward and it should be under Poch again at start of next season.

02 May 2024 23:39:33
Good shout on cucurella. Ed1 highly rated him at Brighton and it looks like he's steadily improving. I honestly wouldn't sell him in the summer because we'd currently get a pittance back compared to the investment. May aswell use him.

03 May 2024 05:16:49
Apparently Utd are showing an interest in Cucarella and I have no idea if we will except an offer for him and I also have no idea what constitutes a “pittance. ”.

02 May 2024 21:34:43
Young Alfie Gilchrist going home with Son in his pocket tonight, we'll played lad. The whole back four were superb. Great performance! C'mon you mighty f'ing blues!

02 May 2024 22:15:29
Yes well done Algie and NM for helping out on defensively on that side too especially in second half.

02 May 2024 21:33:29
Super young team stuffs Ange's boys for a 2nd time this season.

Chalaboa brilliant performance and goal.

BB getting back to lasts seasons form.

Gallagher tireless.

Jackson ran himself into the ground.

Noni good in attack and defence.

Gilchrist still Son in his pocket.

Caicedo just keeps on improving.

Poch tactically sound with no cards to play.

Cucarella my MOM.

Clean sheet and two youngsters make there debut.

What a lovely night to be a Chelsea supporter, gutted I wasn't there.

02 May 2024 21:32:51
Top, top performance against the spuds! Cobham lads were all superb, so happy for Trev.