Benches

Maybe you are right mate but 8 years on I worry. I want us to be like Barca, they aint dependent on no-one, its their system that runs that club, their way of bringing up youth players and playing football. I only worry cos I care about Chelsea and want us to get to the level of Real Madrid, United, Barca etc. Edit - my final point, dont get me wrong I am VERY grateful for everything Roman has done, 100%, I just would like to see him have TRUST. You dont have to be a megalomaniac owner to run a successful club, in fact during their glory years the coupon family took a very hands off approach at Liverpool and let the boot room do the talking. Ditto United.

Thought its pretty self explanatory, people like Butch Wilkins, Jose. Fellas who have played and managed at the highest level for years/decades and know the game inside and out.

I'm not taking anything for granted mate trust me. I know we were days away from doing a Leeds in 2003 its just very frustrating to think we would be in a much better position if our owner took a hands off approach and TRUSTED his football people. What pisses me off is that we are as dependent on RA today as the day he bought us, where are the youth team players? Is there anyone at SW6 whos been there longer than 5 minutes? Even when Matt Busby and Sir Booby Charlton had long since stopped playing and managing they had ambassadorial roles for United, its sensible because its like a nice bit of continuity and stability which we dont and seemingly never have. If he ever pulls out of Chelsea we are absolutely f**ked imo. We will have burned so many bridges it will be unbelievable.

Agree with you 100%. The big, major problem is that Roman is not a football person. Neither are the Glazers or was Martin Edwards but they let the gaffer do his job. If you got Walter Smith in at Chelsea with free reign to wheel and deal we would go places without paying silly money for overrated players. FFS he got Rangers a draw at Old Trafford with f**k all money!

We need someone like Walter Smith or Martin O'Neil, a proper British manager who knows his onions. However they wont be "sexy" enough names for our billionaire owner and the jonny come latelys.

In a word yes. The big probem is that the priorities are all wrong, the Champs League has been the one he has wanted to win since day 1. Wrong. All great football clubs are built through being dominant in the League. Look at United under Fergie, didnt win the CL till his 13th year in charge and 6 years after their first league win. Barca as great as a club as they are did not win their first till 1992, thats a long time to wait for a club of their stature. Romans attitude has been Champs league from day 1 and that imo is where the problem lies, league dominance is how you build your club. I'm not that excited about who he brings in cos at the end of the day whoever it is wont be in the job in 3 years time (win or lose) so why bother getting excited? At the end of the day Chelsea has become a billionaires plaything.

You know what I've totally changed my tune from the other day, I agree with this. As the end of the day I'm English, Man United are English, you have to go with your patritotism, I want United to win. They are also underdogs and I normally like to back an underdog. Also forgot to add it will piss the Scousers off no end and anything that does that is good in my book. If United overtook them on European Cups AND league wins the Scousers would be suicidal, lol.

Agree with all above sentiments. Apart from Chelsea/football I also keep tabs on Rugby, Rugby League, NBA/Basketball and the NFL. Without a doubt Ferguson is the least sporting, cheating prick of a coach in ANY sport that I follow, he is a c**t of the highest order and the fact that he has a knighthood (knights = chivalry, honour, decency) is like salt in the f**king wound. I struggle to think of anyone that I hate as much as that c**t.

Youve got to go Barca, at the end of the day hate the manc c**ts and that miserable prick of a manager.

I remember that song very well, went Majorca that year heard it every bloody day!

Anyway for all the debates and discussions about this, we all want what is best for Chelsea Football Club, we just have differing ideas and different interpretations of what has gone on. Its good that we have these debates as it shows that we care enough to think and talk about it. I just hope whether he stays or goes Chelsea will be allright. Our loyalty is to the club not any individual.

Well apparently neither Mourinho (in 2007) nor Hiddink (in 2009) wanted the job and they are both better managers imo than Carlo.

What are yours? One Step Beyond always has a chelsea feel to it and anything by the style council, shout to the top in particular,

Im going tea bar, speedie and osgood would be some forward line, then you've got ruud and townsend in the midfield, good partnership that. its easy to forget but townsend was very, very good for us 1990-93. of the 4 games v spurs in 1990/91 he had much the better of paul gascoigne who was considered world class at the time. I love eddie newtons harido though.

Utterly superb, poignant and accurate point. Eventually it will become a job that no-one wants.

The point is you don't constantly undermine the bloke who you have in charge. Claudio took us to 2nd and a Champs League semi that season (best ever on both counts apart from 1954/55 championship) despite being the dead man walking. The same interference is what got Mourinho the hump and thats probably why he left too. There is a discernible pattern here. Anyway its all academic really like I said earlier I am resigned to changing a manager 3 times a decade at least. It used to annoy me now I just accept that there will never be any continiuty at Chelsea. "If its broke fix it, if aint broke fix it anyway" should be our motto.

Its not the changing its the undemining/interfering that is the problem imo. appoint a bloke and then let him do the job. Also regarding Claudio, remember the Dead Man Walking phrase? Roman met with Sven Goran Erikson in that season which imo was not a good move, its hard to manage when speculation about your job security is always in question.

Yes but by rights Celtic should have pissed that league this season or last. Rangers sold their best striker in the transfer window (Miller) and have barely bought anyone in the last few years cos Lloyds had them in liquidation and so wouldnt approve signings. Never underestimate Walter Smith, one of the best football brains in Britain.

honestly i thought he'd be a fleck, sutton, shevkencho type signing from the beginning. I predicted as much on another forum that i posted on at the time. still hope im proved wrong though.

Allright, heres a point Hutch that will be your cup of tea. Look at how Rangers have struggled financially the last few years and been in dire straights, struggling to find a new owner but who has kept that club together through it all, the bankrupcy, tax problems eveything? Wattie. We NEED a Walter Smith at Chelsea. Now who is coming to replace him? Ally McCoist a Rangers man too, they are promoting from within and that is a intelligent move.

Hutch you know your onions no doubt about it. and I agree with your point of "lets not keep a manager for the sake of stability reasons" however .............it shouldnt just be about who the head man in charge is. if you look at barca they could change managers every other season but what wont change is the ethos of the club, the way they go about producing young players and their style of football. They are engrained and embedded in the club to such an extent that the position of manager is almost like a figurehead rather than waht the club is all about. What they have is not stability but more like CONTINUITY. I still feel compared to our more historically successful rivals we lack an identity. We do not have a patriach (footballing wise) that has stamped their mark on the club (maybe you could say Tommy Doc?????). We dont have a Rinus Michels, a Matt Busby, Herbert Chapman or Bill Shankley type figure who created a system of doing things the "Chelsea way". As much as anything changing managers so frequently since Sexton has hurt Chelsea more than it has helped us. At some point we have to back someone and say "this is our man rain or shine"...................If Carlo does get the bullet this summer we will probably be in the same boat 2-3 years down the road talking about how the next manager is not up to the task and that culture is what needs to be changed. PS. Point regarding "if Roman left" was not like he will get bored and leave, more like we depend on him too much and need to breed success from within our very walls rather than being reliant on his chequebook.

and another thing this is not just a roman issue this goes well before him, lost hoddle to england, gullit sacked, vialli sacked./............ it seems very weird to me that whenever we get a winning manager you can start counting down the days to his departure and yet more .0historically successful clubs will persevere with managers through tough times, definitely a flaw at chelsea. if you want success you have to be patient, instant gratification is only a shiort term mentality. what ferguson and matt busby have built at old trafford will last for decades, if roman pulled out tomorow we be back to square one?

Agree with that. I worry about what damage has been done to the status of the role of Chelsea manager, ie. if the Queen changed monarchies every 2 years it would turn the instititution of the roaylity into a (bigger) aughing stock. Im not 100% sold on Carlo either but if we change managers every 2-3 years how many good coaches will knock back or not even consider coaching over Chelsea because they dont want to work for Roman? It seems like a lame duck position. If he invested his money and took a non interfering approach we would be in a much stronger position imo but he won't so im just resigned to the fact we will turnover managers 3 or 4 times a decade, its sh*t but it is what it is. But again yeah you are right.

Favourite all time game - 4-3 Spurs 1993/94, we went 2-0 down then it ended up 3-3, scored a last minute penalty in front of the Shed (Stein), great game. Favourite player past/present - Bumstead/Lampard. Favourite home kit - Le Coq Sportif mid 80s number. Favourite away kit - Yellow Coors one season in 96/97 season. Favourite keeper - Carlo Cudicini or Niedswiecki. Favourite manager - Bobby Campbell, reason see beliow. Favourite season - 1988/89, no mean feat in getting promoted so emphatically after relegation. Relgation can mean ruin for clubs but we bounced straight back, never understimate the importance of that in the big picture. Favourite goal - Lampards in FA Cup Final 2009. Favourite Chelsea song - 1 man went to mow beacuse it is unique to Chelsea! Favourite part of the ground old/new - benches in old Bridge (obviously) or the left/westside of the shed (thats where we would also stand). "New" is the East cos its been a permanent fixture my whole life. As much as change is good its also great to have links to the past. Its also a very unique looking stand in and of itself. Any other you can think of just add.

f**k me you are spot f**king on regarding hudson, ive just looked on the original and it is him! i couldnt make him out, well spotted that man.