Thrives

I get the feeling some are actually delighted we bombed this year just so they could smugly come on here and claim Mourinho is a busted flush and overrated after years of saying the same thing and getting it wrong.
 
Will it end in tears at United? Probably. But then most managerial reigns end in tears, especially here. Before it does though he'll turn them into title challengers and win a lot of trophies.

Also, "different role" is just PC speak for 'much lower wages' imo.

Yep! I'll second that. Look, Hazard is a great little footballer and will go on to do great things. Whether he reaches the heights of Ronaldo and Messi also depends on the team around him and circumstances. I want to keep him, and I hope Conte do too. But the reality is that other big clubs believe that he is there for the taking. I think moving to RM would be a mistake for him ... too much pressure. 

I was happy to see him scoring twice against Bournemouth. He should forget this season, everyone was disappointing this season. He's talented and one of our best players, we have to keep him in the next season and give him the chance to fix his errors from this season. 

ROY KEANE
I can’t understand these players, he signed an extension of five years only last year, when we saw how brilliant he was… and then he’s coming out with all that nonsense on the eve of a big game.
If I was a team-mate of his I would kick him up and down the training pitch. Some of the senior players have got to get hold of him. He’s a talented boy, but his attitude is like a spoilt child. It was absolutely ridiculous.
You don’t mind some players sometimes being moody, or having their head turned if they think they might be moving, but once you go on that pitch you’ve still got your pride.
You’re playing for your team-mates, for your club, for your supporters, for your family. You’ve got to go out and perform, and be moody after the game if need be.

I think this is a pure business decision. 
 
1) To increase the awareness of the club in the U.S. 
2) The club likely has convinced itself that they can groom him and sell him on. I agree with all the comments about our youth academy, but from a business perspective it makes sense I guess. I think he will be loaned out, and three things can happen I reckon. 
 
1) Loan him out and sell him on at a profit if he turns out to be quality, but not good enough for us. 
2) Loan him out and sell him at a loss if he turns out to be a fluke. 
3) Loan him out; he flourishes and we cash in our real option and bring him back into the first team squad. 
 
Even if it ends up being 2), the net loss will be minimal. 
 
The key risk, as many has pointed is indeed that our youth players lose motivation and leave because they feel they will never get the chance. But then again, PART of the reason to have a good youth academy from the club's point of view is exactly to have players to loan out, and then hope to sell them at a profit or re-integrated them. It's actually just balance sheet management in the end, like it or not. 
 
Of course, I hope he does well in the first team from the get go, but I struggle to see how that can happen.

I think this is a pure business decision. 
 
1) To increase the awareness of the club in the U.S. 
2) The club likely has convinced itself that they can groom him and sell him on. I agree with all the comments about our youth academy, but from a business perspective it makes sense I guess. I think he will be loaned out, and three things can happen I reckon. 
 
1) Loan him out and sell him on at a profit if he turns out to be quality, but not good enough for us. 
2) Loan him out and sell him at a loss if he turns out to be a fluke. 
3) Loan him out; he flourishes and we cash in our real option and bring him back into the first team squad. 
 
Even if it ends up being 2), the net loss will be minimal. 
 
The key risk, as many has pointed is indeed that our youth players lose motivation and leave because they feel they will never get the chance. But then again, PART of the reason to have a good youth academy from the club's point of view is exactly to have players to loan out, and then hope to sell them at a profit or re-integrated them. It's actually just balance sheet management in the end, like it or not. 
 
Of course, I hope he does well in the first team from the get go, but I struggle to see how that can happen.

I don't know what to make of our approach to finding new players. We always seem to be linked to established names nearing the twilight of their careers; we chuck loads of young players out on loan and often sell them without giving them any chance in our own first team; we don't seem to be in the market for the up and coming first team young player like Martial.
 
I can only conclude that Emanolo and whoever else are supposedly scouting for talent haven't got a clue about football talent or spotting potential - we've a risk averse approach to the first XI which has us in tatters and we follow football fashion for players who are Messi-like in physical stature in the hope that if we've enough of them in the team something will happen.
 
I'm close to despairing about this part of the club's activities.     

It's easy to associate United with patience and legacies but look at their record since Fergie. Didn't even give Moyes a whole season and the fans were calling for him out. LVG is being hounded out after a poor run.
My guess is that it's easy to have patience when your manager is Alex Ferguson.

Well I have taken  a little time for reflection rather than a knee jerk reaction to the dismissal of JM to post onto this site.
 
The methods that JM uses to win games...trophies are pretty well known. It requires wholehearted commitment to the cause by him and all those involved.
 
The press conference after the Leicester game said it all ... betrayal. What was going on the training pitch was not translating into the game pitch. I went to that game and I saw players bottling tackles, very poor passing and basically a lot of nothing all over the place but still I sang and implored for them to do their best.
 
I am not surprised that JM continued to show so much belief in those who continued to perform poorly on game day. JM trusted them. Perhaps not believing that a professional would never not give his absolute best for the team.  That was all about to change following the Leicester City game. Certain players were just not going to get a look in. Only then did the board react. Draw your own conclusion. When a decision makes no sense remember it's all about the money. 
 
Or am I shaping facts and was the loss to Leicester just the last straw? Perhaps JM should have dealt with the situation much much earlier. Perhaps the board were expecting him to use the youth. 
 
A mistake has been made imo. JM one of if not the best manager in the world has been sacked and he will be replaced by someone not quite as good. I like most Chelsea supporters was hoping for a long term project to really take place a la SAF at Manure. 
 
I wish Chelsea every continued  success but I feel the same now as I did after the sacking of Ancelotti (won the double) in the Everton tunnel and the sacking of Di Matteo (won the Champions League) at 4am in the morning. Or going back even further McCreadie after taking us back up for daring to ask for a cheap car.
 
There are ways to do things and ways not to.
 
Chelsea shooting themselves in the foot is a tradition we really need to dump.
 
Up the Blues
Win or Lose!

Top post Scott as always

Not easy reading. It's very hard to know the absolute truth behind the statements in this article but we all know there will be an element of truth in them. Paints a picture of an unhappy set up from the tail end of last season followed by the bizarre outbursts we had for the first couple of months of this season and an eroding relationship with a wide group of players.
 
I would say though that if Costa wants to go - let him go asap.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/managers/jose-mourinho/12056813/Revealed-The-inside-story-of-how-the-axe-fell-on-Jose-Mourinho-at-Chelsea.html
 
 

Will only post once in this thread. 
 
But yes! Thank you Jose for everything. A true Chelsea legend. 

Will only post once in this thread. 
 
But yes! Thank you Jose for everything. A true Chelsea legend. 

Happy Birthday JT

Happy birthday jt!

You are literally describing Costa as well.

He had a mare, but Shaquiri was unplayable today. We should have put a helper on him. He was very good against DK. I think our back four against Stoke is the way to go. I am agnostic between Cahill and Terry (yes shoot me!), but I feel Terry is important to have on the pitch right now. Zouma is a great CB (horrible RB), Dave is stability personified, and Baba will come good. 

No shame in getting bested by Shaqiri, he's a very good player when he turns up like he did today. I was more concerned at the lack of protection Baba had from both Hazard and Willian. 

The old football adage that a really great player shows his class when those alongside him are consistently struggling has never been proved truer than Willian is proving it now. Week in, week out.
May not have the tricks and tinsel that Hazard sometimes has when he is in the mood but so what.
POTY already IMO.