Chelsea Banter

03 May 2024 09:18:21
We now move on to the happy hammers on Sunday. I have sold my MH upper season ticket via CFC resale site but as luck would have it and given my next round of treatment has been postponed yet again, I have been invited along with my son to sample the best corporate hospitality Chelsea have to offer. So, happy days!

Anyway, I think me might struggle on Sunday for a couple of reasons. 1) because some of our players last night looked knackered 2) we haven't always performed well with just a few days to recover.

On the other hand we could have two or three players back from injury and able to at least be on the bench.

03 May 2024 09:42:12
Good to know you will be there on Sunday Tom and hope the hospitality on offer will enable you to toast victory not drown sorrows!

Yes I also think we may struggle on Sunday after the heroics of last night and because West Ham have far longer to rest and prepare and are coming off a morale boosting draw v Liverpool. Also because we've seldom strung more than a couole of good performances together this season.

But though tired our players morale should be high too, and if we do have a few players back from injury to strengthen the bench we may be ok. Another home win now could be massive in terms of European qualification and of course to stay ahead of the Hammers!

03 May 2024 12:13:24
JBS, I’m hardly touching alcohol at the moment so at the moment I am the archetypal “cheep date. ”

I agree about the happy hammers being fresh ish but as you say we are putting in some good performances so I live in hope.

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.

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 21:54:05
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 21:43:08
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 21:34:43
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.