g3.7

seems that way at the moment, doesn't it? I still pop my head in but life has been getting in the way. but hope you and everyone else round here are doing well.

Lamps has done some really good things for us as a manager, notably blooding the kids, finishing fourth, and seemingly buying well. Even if he left tomorrow, his legacy as a manager for us would be pretty good. Having said that, i have to say- he's clearly not a good coach yet. Watching us over this year and a bit I think that much is pretty clear. He's a smart bloke and emotionally intelligent, so he has the makings of a potentially good manager. But to be honest he shouldn't be at a club of this stature at this point in his career. I doubt he'll improve fast enough to avoid

that was alright

I don't think the stats indicate that a good player is more likely to make a good manager (and good players start out with the advantages I've outlined). Dont misunderstand me, I'm not criticising lamps, im criticising the club- if you are responsible for hiring a manager with blooding young players in mind, how high up the list of appointable candidates do you honestly place lamps at this stage in his career? Personally, i don't think he gets into the top ten, even factoring in his history at the club. It's lazy by the club - we could have given him more time away from the c

I am comparing like for like. A manager is a manager, and they should be judged against the job they do, not their age or experience. Our board wasnt forced into appointing lamps. They opted to let sarri leave to pay £4m for him.

we didn't let pep leave so we could appoint sarri, so I don't get the point you are making. in my view, the club created the conditions for sarri to leave so they could appoint someone more popular with the fans. (we could get into arguing about the club briefing against him, and whether he would have left or not if this wasn't the case given the lure of juventus etc etc, but that is my reading of it) this decision should be considered soberly, in the context of a transfer ban, hazard leaving, and our rivals strengthening. the truth is there is little evidence to say confi

it's just a bit of a moan. I think chelsea, not unlike most premier league clubs, are happy to try to extract every last pound out of their customers, all whilst paying lip service to the idea that is is actually a club, that' we're supporters, etc etc to me appointing the likes of lamps and cech embodies a kind of nasty, corporatised tokenism from the club. as if its supporters are idiots who will lap up this veneer of community while spending £60 on a "chelsea dna" t shirt. I don't like what I perceive to be an attempt to have it both ways. either this is a proper

in amongst the positives (which start and finish with the not insignificant blooding of young players), concerns already arise: 1) our defensive problems are essentially structural not individual, and lets not pretend otherwise. yes taking zouma out and putting rudiger in will help (and the same with kante for one of the midfielders), but this is not the reason why we're conceding lots of goals. we're conceding goals because, in every game, we concede huge huge areas of space routinely. 2) without being unkind, what is the point of playing two midfielders who pass the ball well and

there is the slight feeling - not so much just because lamps is the manager, but more the fact that everyone who has ever played for us since 1999 is now on the coaching staff - of having left the house in a rush and telling the babysitter you promised the kids they can do some baking tonight... and that is fine, because you expect it to be a bit messy. and yes, licking the spoon is fun. but then, as the wild pear tree enters its fourth hour, just before the beautiful, revelatory ending, the thought occurs to you: "am I coming home to a cake or has the entire house burned down?"

From ctrl-alt-delete to ctrl-alt-right. Loz returns the day after Trump officially gears up for 2020. Coincidence? Am i saying that they're the same person? Of course not- one's an orange faced authoritarian with no taste and questionable 'hair', the other is... Ah. Never mind.

I'd say first of all, hire a director of football and give them a mandate to run the club with a view to the long term. (which won't happen) from that point you are able to recruit players and managers which suit the vision of that DOF, so even if a player or a manager does not work out, the direction of travel remains the same. we can't outspend our rivals, so we need to be run properly. I don't really have any names- superficially, the ajax manager uses a 433 and they were nice to watch, so there would be a tenuous degree of continuity I suppose. it does amaze me that an

No, and hoddle did well before him too. Both appointments were made by people with, at the very least, a modicum of football nous, and were made with a clear intention. This appointment, on the other hand, is another dart thrown at (and by) a board that may no longer be fit for purpose.

A guarantee that is not worth the paper it isn't written on. While it is nice to have lamps back at the club the reality is he's- on the strength of his managerial cv- the least qualified person to be appointed by the club since gullit. Im pretty worried.

letting sarri go, particularly if it is with a view to bringing in allegri or lampard, confirms beyond all doubt that under abramovich this is a club with no strategy whatsoever. if you have a massive financial advantage, or if you have a core of legendary players, of if you have eden hazard, or a mourinho or a conte coaching the team, or better yet some combination of all of the above, then you have a chance of being successful. if on the other hand you don't have any of the above, and you are up against one club, let alone two, that have their own equivalents, then you have almost

in, but that isn't to say he's been perfect. reasons are: -he's essentially a coach. his reputation is built on that. so joining so late before the season started, and having to play thurs-sun all season, has denied him of a lot of time to really imprint his methods. despite this, we've acheived the target of going back into the champions league, and we've made two finals. -the squad is a mix of players suited to different styles, and a lot of the "best" players in the squad are past their very best (or on the turn). so even with a flatter track in terms of coaching time, this i