To me this is probably one of the biggest pieces of news to come out of Chelsea outside of players transfers therefore deserves its own thread. Took me by surprise this morning have to say.

To my knowledge (apart from players stating that he comes to the dressing room and training ground on occasion) that we have actual fact that Roman gets involved first team affairs. Every other time has been speculation, even sacked managers have not spilled the beans.

Is it a one off ? is it good or bad news ?

I think this one is a good decision, although I hope it is as said by AVB a new direction, maybe to relieve him of the pressure of winning the Carling cup and Roman is not actually involved in picking individual players.

It's bullsh*t. AVB says we're going to play some youngsters, so the media claim he's been forced to, so when we do they can say "Look! Look! We were right!".

Not worth the paper that sh*t is written on.

What a load of bollocks, didnt take long for the morons in the media to try and stir things up did it.

It is quoted on the official site, trust me I wouldnt post it if it was from the press. thats why it deserves its own thread.

'It is the club's philosophy and from what the owner told me, it is a decision he wants done because he wants to promote young talent as well, and that is why we take this approach,' the manager says.

... it is the first time I am almost 100% certain

So the owner has told the footballing management - probably when AVB was interviewed for the job that he wants to see youngsters given a chance when it's reasonable to do so, for example in smaller cup games.

The press reaction to this "news"; Abramovic picks the team for AVB!!!

Another bullsh1t story.

It is quoted on the official site, trust me I wouldnt post it if it was from the press. thats why it deserves its own thread.

'It is the club's philosophy and from what the owner told me, it is a decision he wants done because he wants to promote young talent as well, and that is why we take this approach,' the manager says.

... it is the first time I am almost 100% certain

Well if you think about it Barn, Roman is actually influencing AVB to pick a youthful side if he's actually said him to use young guys in CC. I know what you mean by press turning this around and making big headlines which is complete b*llocks, but still. It is a good philosophy to me. Using young guys in CC I mean. Been rooting for it for years.

It's a good thing, but the media will turn it into a bad thing. Especially if we lose tonight.

It is quoted on the official site, trust me I wouldnt post it if it was from the press. thats why it deserves its own thread.

'It is the club's philosophy and from what the owner told me, it is a decision he wants done because he wants to promote young talent as well, and that is why we take this approach,' the manager says.

... it is the first time I am almost 100% certain

Even so it's a matter of interpretation. The Mirror will tell you that Abramovich orders AVB to play Chelsea's kids - which isn't quite backed up by that quote from AVB. Look at it again from the beginning: "It is the club's philopophy.

There's really nothing new here. When Ballack, Belletti, Deco and Joe Cole were released, it was with the expressed aim of bringing in youngsters. As we all know, this didn't quite work out as intended. For this you can hold Ancelotti at least partially responsible, or you can put it down to a combination of bad luck and a mis-estimation of the readiness and ability of our young players, jumping the gun in releasing so many senior players at once, but the important point in all this is that this policy, the intention to bring youngsters through, was already in place.

To me there is a difference between Roman picking the team and Roman encouraging the introduction of youth players into the squad/team for Carling cup games. I would hope the final decision still comes down to AVB but would have no problem with Roman encouraging the new philosophy.

Bah- this can be interpreted as Roman simply saying "the league cup is not a priority" which is no different to chairmen stating they want to succeed in Europe like Moratti and so on.

(By the way- goodbye Gasperson hello Claudio maybe! looking forward to it- the silver haired Roman deserves another shot at the big time!)

Edited September 21, 201114 yr by Pauly

Of course the media are going to spin this as badly as they can. "He has ordered AVB to play the kids" Yes, im sure he put a pistol to his head while he said it.

If Roman has told him thats what he wants, then clearly he is saying AVBs job is not riding on bringing in any kind of silverware this year. Frankly, given how our first team has been stretched thin in recent years, we shouldve been doing this long before now.

Think the point of my post is missed a bit... Yes I agree whole heartedly with the comments about the press.

It is still the first evidence as I am aware that Roman has dictated first team policy that we official know about weather it is directly "pick him" or "you must play youth this year" at AVB first meeting, whatever.. the point I am trying to make (badly) is that everyone speculates about what Roman has done , says, whatever but the fact is no one knows, and I mean no one.

I think this is the first proper indication we have of his influence ? you may say I am nieive to think he hasn't got influence over team selection but I cant think of an instance when it has been confirmed that he has had some

We still have no facts. As I said it could simply be Roman saying 'this trophy is not important to me' and the rest being lost in an AVB translation. If Roman had any influence one of the sacked managers would have used it as an excuse IMO.

I'm sure Roman want us to play the youngsters a bit more, but I don't think he ordered AVB to do anything. Our manager knows as well as we do that if we want our youngsters to evolve they need to play and this game is one of the times when we can give them their chance.

Andy, its the use of words like "dictates" and "orders" which the media twist as usual. As AVB stated, its a club policy to feed youngsters through this competition now, which is something the majority of fans have been wanting for some time now and is pleasing to see. But as others have said, as usual its twisted into a complete load of bollocks by those loveable chaps in the media. None of this is aimed at your good self, but I dont think a man like Roman Abramovich gets to where he is without realising you dont hire someone to do a job for you then tell him how to do his job.

Agree that this is a total non-story. Nothing has changed. Why the hell would RA pump tens of millions into a state-of-the-art academy and not want to see the young players so expensively produced given a run out? It's ALWAYS been the club's policy to develop youngsters, and, like last year, the Carling Cup is a great opportunity to give some players a chance while resting others.

The problem with last year was that our early elimination meant several players were denied the ooportunities they needed to prove themselves, and Carlo wasn't prepared to use them in the Prem, FAC or CL. This arguably cost us the chance to sign Borini on a new contract, so he was free to join Parma

You can find the video of the interview here:

http://www.telegraph...g-Cup-game.html

There doesn't seem to be anything about Roman's orders. This is what he says "It’s an opportunity for us to put out our best young talents across and give them experiences in this kind of situation. For us is not a new approach to the competition because we have done it last year or since last year and to give this kind of opportunities to these players is good for us ... "

Edited September 21, 201114 yr by Killbill

If I hire a builder, I tell him what I want, and I ask him if he thinks he's the right man.

Roman has hired a builder and he has certain requirements.

If your two ideas meet, bingo, you work together.

That's it. It's a far cry from Roman picking the team. He just wants a manager that shares the same vision as he does.

Winning, good football, an investment in youth. The sort of thing Alex Ferguson does regularly at Utd. Not to mention Barcelona.

It's not like he's not giving his builder the necessary tools to work with.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2457694,00.html

'It is the club's philosophy and from what the owner told me, it is a decision he wants done because he wants to promote young talent as well, and that is why we take this approach,' the manager says.

Just my opinion but I think this is significant. To my knowledge this is the first time a Cheslea manager under Roman has confirmed his dictate other than "win trophies" and I think "Win the Champions League" came from Carlo.

http://www.chelseafc...2457694,00.html

'It is the club's philosophy and from what the owner told me, it is a decision he wants done because he wants to promote young talent as well, and that is why we take this approach,' the manager says.

Just my opinion but I think this is significant. To my knowledge this is the first time a Cheslea manager under Roman has confirmed his dictate other than "win trophies" and I think "Win the Champions League" came from Carlo.

I still think you reading too much into it, what AVB is saying is I have a mandate from the top man himself to win titles and promote our young talent and the League Cup is the obvious place where to blood youngsters. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. What you and the press are reading into it is Roman picks the team, what he is actually saying is I am going to field a weaker team and if we loose do not come and bother me with questions about my choices, it’s the club policy. Actually I think the press knew what he was saying they just could let the chance pass.