Roman Spending Elsewhere

[BrewCrew]

"RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE SPENDS 400 MILLION"

Looks like Roman has the money to spend elsewhere!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20101208/ts_yblog_thelookout/russian-billionaire-spends-400-million-on-island-based-art-museum-project

[TheWestwayWonder]

Well, that's a little disconcerting to say the least. Its good to hear that his fortune has practically doubled since the financial crisis, rather than going down further, I guess.

But I said it in another thread and i'll repeat it here. Roman needs to decide if he wants competitiveness or self-sufficiency in the coming few years. We have about a 10 year gap between our current stars and our blossoming youngsters. If its competitiveness he wants, then a few more players of the Zhirkov, Ivanovic ilk would be good to bridge that gap. If its self-sufficiency he is worried about, then I hope he is prepared to give the manager and staff some latitude on where we finish in the coming few seasons.

[BrewCrew]

Well, that's a little disconcerting to say the least. Its good to hear that his fortune has practically doubled since the financial crisis, rather than going down further, I guess.

But I said it in another thread and i'll repeat it here. Roman needs to decide if he wants competitiveness or self-sufficiency in the coming few years. We have about a 10 year gap between our current stars and our blossoming youngsters. If its competitiveness he wants, then a few more players of the Zhirkov, Ivanovic ilk would be good to bridge that gap. If its self-sufficiency he is worried about, then I hope he is prepared to give the manager and staff some latitude on where we finish in the coming few seasons.

I agree. Either way though, he will have to open the checkbook for some players at some point. If he was sufficiency, he still will have to open the check book to buy some established stars to bridge the gap.

[nofizzleforshizzle]

It's not that we haven't been spending, but rather that we've been spending really poorly. Ramires and Zhirkov were our last major signings and both have been really poor.

[blizeH]

All this proves is that he still has plenty of disposable cash - not a bad thing at all.

I think Roman *tried* to make us a bit more well run, for the benefit of the club overall, and tried to refrain from silly spending like previous seasons.

Personally I'd say that little experiment has all but failed and our squad is far too small to cope right now, and to compete properly on all fronts - wouldn't surprise me if he put a lot of cash into the club either in January or in the summer.

[The Moos]

I've got no problem with Roman spending money on something else. It's not like Chelsea is the only thing in his life.

Though I am a bit surprised that we haven't seen any huge headlines about "Roman leaving Chelsea" or something similar. Surely, with all the mess we've been through lately, this would, according to the journalists, be the final nail in the coffin. Him spending money elsewhere surely must spell doom for Chelsea.

It's not that we haven't been spending, but rather that we've been spending really poorly. Ramires and Zhirkov were our last major signings and both have been really poor.

Jesus, get your head our of your a*se.

[Ben]

Jesus, get your head our of your a*se.

Sorry but I agree. For the amount we payed for them, I expected a lot more from both players.

[Zola]

Its early days for Ramires lads!!!!!

Remember Malouda and Drogba didn't set the world alight in their first season.

Patience!

[The Moos]

Sorry but I agree. For the amount we payed for them, I expected a lot more from both players.

If you thought Ramires would come here and be great from the start, then you are surely missing a few brain cells.

Zhirkov might not have played much, but it's not easy when he has to compete against Cole and Malouda. Not exactly the two worst players we have. But when he has got the chance he has done rather well. If he wasn't injured I think he would have been good for us right now.

[Brayerz]

I think Roman needs to give up on his plan of self-sufficiency and give us a bit more money again. Im not saying go back to the days of Spending 30 million on a player and releasing him on a free 2 seasons later, but we seem to lack that somthing special theese days and even though at the beginging of the season we were going well, we never needed to call upon our weak bench as we didnt have that many strong opponents to face. The problems that we have got have been coming for a while because of our inability to see that we dontt have as strong a squad as everyone thinks. I think we need 3 world class players to come in to bring the competition for places back into our team, the starting eleven are too complacent because they look over their shoulder and they have no real quality trying to fight for a place in the team.

Also the youth we have coming through shows no sign of being ready to take over from the likes of lampard, Drogba and Terry any time soon so we may need to purchase some players who are ready to step up almost immediatly.

[bonetti]

Petty Cash

[TheWestwayWonder]

If you thought Ramires would come here and be great from the start, then you are surely missing a few brain cells.

Zhirkov might not have played much, but it's not easy when he has to compete against Cole and Malouda. Not exactly the two worst players we have. But when he has got the chance he has done rather well. If he wasn't injured I think he would have been good for us right now.

Thank you. What short memories people have. I seem to remember Zhirkov launching storming run after storming run into the 18 yard box last year, winning penalties and setting up open shots.

Now, becuase he was shoehorned into playing as a CM he is suddenly sh*t? Ahh yes, the LB/LW failed as a CM, what a bust.

[PloKoon13]

Thank you. What short memories people have. I seem to remember Zhirkov launching storming run after storming run into the 18 yard box last year, winning penalties and setting up open shots.

Now, becuase he was shoehorned into playing as a CM he is suddenly sh*t? Ahh yes, the LB/LW failed as a CM, what a bust.

I completely agree. I personally rate Zhirkov very highly and think he could become a major player for us.

[The Moos]

Speaking of Zhirkov, any news on him? Is he out for long?

[blueisthecolour85]

I think Roman needs to give up on his plan of self-sufficiency and give us a bit more money again. Im not saying go back to the days of Spending 30 million on a player and releasing him on a free 2 seasons later, but we seem to lack that somthing special theese days and even though at the beginging of the season we were going well, we never needed to call upon our weak bench as we didnt have that many strong opponents to face. The problems that we have got have been coming for a while because of our inability to see that we dontt have as strong a squad as everyone thinks. I think we need 3 world class players to come in to bring the competition for places back into our team, the starting eleven are too complacent because they look over their shoulder and they have no real quality trying to fight for a place in the team.

Also the youth we have coming through shows no sign of being ready to take over from the likes of lampard, Drogba and Terry any time soon so we may need to purchase some players who are ready to step up almost immediatly.

I agree, Roman's grand plan for letting us go on our meery way without his help just doesn't seem to be working. I don't think it would take that much but the longer he leaves it (and the closer Terry et al get to retirement) the worse things will get.

[BrewCrew]

I agree, Roman's grand plan for letting us go on our meery way without his help just doesn't seem to be working. I don't think it would take that much but the longer he leaves it (and the closer Terry et al get to retirement) the worse things will get.

I also agree. There has to be some spending. If we was to be better financially we obvioulsy can go spending like City every year, but bringing in one major player with one or two more complementary players isn't out of the realm. Ramires and Yossi are those complementary players and we didn't bring in any major players.

[geezer]

Petty Cash

Is that Pat's brother? Who does he play for? Is he any good?

[WV2 Blue]

Its early days for Ramires lads!!!!!

Remember Malouda and Drogba didn't set the world alight in their first season.

Patience!

Sorry...don't agree, patience or not....He just is'nt good enough for Chelsea!!!

[PloKoon13]

I can't wait for the myriad of back-tracking that will take place when Ramires hits form. He's a hard-working, athletic Brazilian international and he's only 23, plus he already has experience at a top European side. I wonder how much worse this injury crisis would have been had we not signed him...

[BrewCrew]

I can't wait for the myriad of back-tracking that will take place when Ramires hits form. He's a hard-working, athletic Brazilian international and he's only 23, plus he already has experience at a top European side. I wonder how much worse this injury crisis would have been had we not signed him...

One of the best posts I've seen in a while. I can't wait also.

The one thing love (sarcastic) is when one person throws a fit that we aren't playing the youngsters, but then throws a separate fit when Ramires is in the line up. Being only 23 and in his first year in this league, shouldn't he be considered a youngster? It would be different if he has had 3 or 4 years of experience in this league like mikel.

[forbzy]

One of the best posts I've seen in a while. I can't wait also.

The one thing love (sarcastic) is when one person throws a fit that we aren't playing the youngsters, but then throws a separate fit when Ramires is in the line up. Being only 23 and in his first year in this league, shouldn't he be considered a youngster? It would be different if he has had 3 or 4 years of experience in this league like mikel.

Agreed. Of the 2 midfield summer signings I'm pretty sure Yossi was expected to figure more this season than Ramires. Yossi was thrown into the first team ahead of Ramires. It was only once the injuries mounted up that Ramires saw increased playing time. I think if anything he will benefit from the experience he has had so far. I do think that a midfield is Ramires, Essien, and Mikel is too one-dimensional though. Ramires is a logical backup for Essien and, in Yossi's absence, Josh seems to be the best backup for Frank. I'd rather see Josh start in that position than the other options (e.g. lpaying Malouda out of position or Ramires and Essien together).