Interview with Bruce Buck

THE THURSDAY INTERVIEW: BRUCE BUCK

Posted on: Thu 20 May 2010

Bruce Buck has been in the chair at Chelsea for the most successful period in the club's history having been a fan for many years prior to that. Now he has been on the edge of his seat as the team achieved more in a campaign than ever before.

In the first part of a two-part interview he reflects on the season just finished and looks ahead to possible changes to the squad...

Firstly, please put your supporter hat on and tell us how the enjoyment of the end of this season compared with others you have experienced such as in 1997 or 2005?

I am not sure 'enjoyment' is the right word. After the last couple of weeks I probably need to have a pacemaker installed. The Double is something special, very few teams have done it, and certainly in the last seven yearsthis has to be the best season we have had.

It had a great ending with an FA Cup that was so unbelievably stressful and going into the last day in the Premier League was very, very difficult so we have been taken right to the edge. But it has been very exciting and of course all Chelsea fans are happy as a result. I have got dozens and dozens of texts and emails from fans who can't believe this has all happened this year.

We have to keep in mind that this is a season that has had a few ups and downs. The other Premier League titles that we have won in recent history were from start to finish pretty straightforward, if you can use that word. We were ahead all the time and won those titles in April. It is a lot different from winning it on the last day of the season.

Given what has happened with the ownership at Portsmouth, how was the Directors' Suite at Wembley on Cup Final day?

I was slightly concerned with how that would pan out but Mr Chainrai, the owner of the club, was there with his wife and they were both very pleasant and very gracious and we had some good conversation, so it wasn't difficult at all.

Generally, what is the interaction like between directors at games. Do you chat about who had the best of the refereeing decisions etc.?

Most certainly we do. It is different with each club's directors but by and large we try to be graceful when we lose, though it is difficult, and so do the other clubs. There are relations off the field but once we are on the field it is warriors against warriors but we have good relations with all clubs.

Are you happy with the recognition Chelsea are receiving for our achievements this season?

To a certain extent I am not. Some of these teams of the year were just plain wrong. Didier Drogba didn't get into some of these teams, Frank Lampard didn't get into some of these teams, Malouda and JT didn't and that is wrong. The achievement of Carlo in his first season at the club is amazing and he has not really got the recognition he deserves, but more generally the club has got very good press about what it has accomplished in a very difficult year.

The style has been recognised and when you score seven or more goals in four games, you have to call that attractive football, but even when we won 1-0 in the FA Cup Final, when you have five attempts off the woodwork then that is attractive football also.

And now it is fast forward with thinking for next season?

Chelsea Football Club had a board meeting on Monday at Cobham and the board formerly thanked Carlo and his staff and the players for a job well done but it was also pointed out that Monday was the start of the new season. We have to start looking forward and are planning for the new season.

Does that include new signings?

I have said that in every year there is some refreshing of the squad and maybe we can expect three or four in and three or four out. But this year I think Carlo has said two or three in and two or three out and he is very satisfied with the current squad. We can expect a couple of changes but that is just the nature of football, you can't have the jigsaw puzzle together and that is it forever.

Every year because of players being injured, players being not as good or better than expected or opportunities arising, it is an ever-changing scene so we can expect some changes during the summer, but we don't agree with some of the press comments that we have an old squad. Our average age is 27-to-28-years-old and we do expect a number of players from the Academy and the reserves to be in the first-team squad next year.

Last year it was suggested we would sign a 'marquee player' if the right one was available at the right price. Is that the same this time around?

Let's see how the summer pans out. Once we are really clear on the kind of vacancies we may have and what we want to fill, we will decide what kind of player we want. Between now and the end of the transfer season there will be a story somewhere that every great player in Europe is coming to Chelsea. We will just have to see how it pans out. I honestly think that a year ago I was the one who first used the phrase 'marquee player' and I have regretted it ever since.

Given his seasons that have followed, was one of the board's best summer dealings getting Frank Lampard to sign a five-year contract two years ago?

Frank Lampard is a great player. You can't possibly imagine Frank Lampard wearing a shirt other than the Chelsea shirt. We have a couple of players, each of whom you could say is Mr Chelsea. They are very lucky to be at Chelsea Football Club and we are very lucky to have them.

Tomorrow the chairman gives his views on the proposed Uefa regulations on club finance and reveals who he would like to see win the World Cup.

Edited May 20, 201016 yr by Sheva