This is the first time in a long while that I have felt apathy as a Chelsea fan. Even as an American, I tend to be very excited by soccer/football games and the culture that surrounds it. I have no problem getting up early hours to watch Chelsea play because of this.

 

But I recently just feel....apathetic. I thought seeing the FSW take the reigns was bad enough, but now it is just terrible. I want to be excited for this team, but nothing is doing it. I could care less about any transfer signings. Even Falcao appearing next game and scoring five goals for Chelsea wouldn't do much.

 

Anyone else feel this way? I just want this season to be over.

 

 

This is the first time in a long while that I have felt apathy as a Chelsea fan. Even as an American, I tend to be very excited by soccer/football games and the culture that surrounds it. I have no problem getting up early hours to watch Chelsea play because of this.

 

But I recently just feel....apathetic. I thought seeing the FSW take the reigns was bad enough, but now it is just terrible. I want to be excited for this team, but nothing is doing it. I could care less about any transfer signings. Even Falcao appearing next game and scoring five goals for Chelsea wouldn't do much.

 

Anyone else feel this way? I just want this season to be over.

No, not really, I could go on about FSW but it's all been said before. Just keep the faith through a rough patch.  Been here many times before (how does old Div 2 grab you with its multitude of losses) - football fans take the rough with the smooth.

I think you are over reacting a little, probably as a result of last nights game. Did you feel the same way after the Villa match?

I posted something similar around a month ago, and I'm sure I've seen Chippy (and probably others too) express the same sentiment. I'm behind the team and want us to do well, but I have never felt this disconnected and apathetic from the club.

It would take a lot more for me to become apathetic about CFC. 

 

At the moment I am a bit numb / desensitized by what's been going on recently... defeats don't bother me as much as we are in a delicate place with FSW being here and virtually all of us wanting him and Torres out. 

 

One thing is for sure, we will all be a good bit happier in the summer.. A clean slate and fresh start, hopefully with Mourinho.

 

I don't think anyone can blame you if you are feeling disenfranchised with the club at the moment. 

I've been apathetic about Chelsea for a while now, ever since Mourinho left to be honest. It's not just to do with the football, as I refuse to watch us while Benitez is in charge - I just see the results and read the comments on here!

 

It first started when Avram Grant was put in charge, a man who was clearly not up to the job in any way and who didn't have the respect of the players. When Scolari was appointed something inside of me died a little more, and again when Ancelotti came in. I know a lot of people loved Carlo, but I wasn't one of them. When RDM took over, I was happy as a pig in sh*t, so you can imagine how I felt when he was sacked. And now we've got Benitez, Abramovich couldn't have chosen a more unpopular manager if he'd tried.

 

Hopefully my apathy will disappear when FSW leaves the Bridge forever and we appoint a manager who will be both loved and respected by the fans - I'd love that man to be Robbie Di Matteo, but that's never going to happen, unfortunately.

 

Weird really, I never felt apathetic about Chelsea when we were struggling in Division Two, I was always optimistic and would have supported the club even if we'd gone into non-league football. Probably because we had managers and players who cared about Chelsea back then, with the obvious exception of Geoff Hurst, who was and still is a prize w*nker.

.........and ill repeat this again......apathetic and spoilt with the memory of last season....i think id get apathetic if we won all the time..weve played a lot of sh*t this season and are still 4th...Ok , we know the LIKELIHOOD of catching MANU are slim..(but) its still possible...Half way through the season playing erm , not so good = 4th place..Playing better in the second half of the season = league cup...euro cup...fa cup.n just maybe 2nd spot in prem....stand up..shoulders back stomachs in....shout out CHELSEA...Shout it louder you long haired herberts

Good post BB. I can't agree with everything though, certainly after JM I'd loved to have seen Hiddink in charge and had reservations about Ancellotti but he won me over. At the time Scolari after Grant was a 'thank god any one but him era' and I hoped to death he'd give Ferguson one up the bracket. It does seem we are cursed with losing the best managers, Tommy Docherty, Eddie Mac and JM through poor board decisions, John Neal through ill health. At the same time we have bought some of the biggest w**kers to wear a number 9 shirt. Controversially I do think RDM had run his course but he more than anyone deserved to see out his contract, especially in a time of transition but the current benchmark of Champions League qualification as a minimum achievement was seen to be in jeopardy. Player power, split dressing room, I honestly don't know.

At least during the Stuart, Hurst, Blanchflower eras we could laugh about how sh*t we were, these days every PC loving Championship Manager, double pivot, Xmas tree formation expert can have a pop at us.

Edited January 3, 201313 yr by Peckham Blue

I posted something similar around a month ago, and I'm sure I've seen Chippy (and probably others too) express the same sentiment. I'm behind the team and want us to do well, but I have never felt this disconnected and apathetic from the club.

disconnected from and apathetic towards**

The numbness that Zola refers to is the same thing as the apathy for me.

I've just reached the point where the normal moods after a game dont even register anymore. I was annoyed the team didnt win yesterday, but then I found myself thinking "What difference does three points make next to the conundrum the whole club is in?" The answer, to me, is that individual results dont mean squat right now.

The club is at war with itself. Or rather, I should say, our ownership is at war with everyone. Even if we salvage this season (by that I mean finish fourth or better) what will that do for Chelsea? It just demonstrates to a deaf and blind hierarchy the "value" of making these idiotic changes with no forethought.

I know I am reaching back a bit, but sacking Wilkins, Carlo's shoddy sacking, AVB's tenure, RDM's removal, Benitez, Torres's futility, the Clattenburg mess. All of these moves are the work of people with no patience and very little competence. The disaster with Villas Boas was probably the most jaw dropping considering we paid a king's ransom to get him, gave him license to remake the squad for a new era, and then sacked him when it went awry.

I am starting to think an absolute disaster of a season is the only way people running the club will wake up. So far money and player heroics have saved them time and time again. Last year was the best example of that.

Last year we came close to a disaster and Robbie's stewardship and our last two months of form saved our asses in a hugely dramatic way. I dont know if its going to happen like that again, and I dont think the people making decisions at CFC deserve to be exonerated for their sh*t vision by another twist of fate.

But our recent history is full of lessons to be learned by the club that have not been heeded. So I wont hold my breath.

Edited January 3, 201313 yr by TheWestwayWonder

I think you are over reacting a little, probably as a result of last nights game. Did you feel the same way after the Villa match?

 

I cant speak for the OP but I did.

 

Nothing about winning 8-0 changed the character of our season, or the situation we are in. It was just papering over the cracks and padding Torres's stats.

 

Look what happened after Monterrey. A big win and then we had a loss in the game that really mattered.

Not just apathy towards chelsea for me but football and what it has become.

 I just want this season to be over.

 

This i can agree with...only because of 1 major point, and thats the FSW will be shown the door....

Not just apathy towards chelsea for me but football and what it has become.

This.

Knowing what I do about the PL and its obvious corruption I.e David Gill on the board of the FA (previously Dein at Arsenal) and West Ham somehow escaping a points deduction when almost any other team wouldn't have *Cough* Trevor Brooking it spoils any enjoyment for me, same with UEFA and their competitions.

Then you see what those Malaysian owners are doing to Cardiff, the Venkys at Blackburn and on top of that you have the media crying foul when clubs with ambition like Chelsea and City dare to compete with the Red cartel (of whom were bankrolled by Sky) and their millions. Not to mention clubs like Chelsea being charged £62 to sit exactly where a Southampton fan has paid £28 to sit and then Leeds being able to break the rules and only give us a 3,000 allocation when we all know full well if they had come to ours they'd be getting the full 6k.

Against Modern Football

Winning has certainly been tainted, as it adds fuel to the FSW's bandwagon. Under Robbie we could marvel every time he did someone tactically or when he broke Guardiola, but now it brings mixed emotions. I thought losing would become easier considering we could all have a great time bashing Benitez (and to a much lesser extent Torres) after the game but I'm still fuming after last night's debacle. Clearly for me the emotions have not been dulled at all, but I have a constant feeling that something is egregiously and hideously wrong.

I'm not apathetic at all. Win, lose, draw, whoever the manager is, whoever the striker-du-jour may be, I'm always excited to watch the next game.

I'm glad you made this thread PG, it's always nice to know you're not alone.

 

I've not "liked" the club for a few years now. It's nothing to do with the supporters or players or anything at all on the football side of things, I just don't like the way it conducts its business, and I don't like how completely reliant we are on Roman's billions for our current status. It has never affected my own support for the team though, and I have enjoyed the various successes of the Abramovic era as much as anyone. The sacking of RDM and subsequent appointment of Benitez have definitely changed that though.

 

I didn't really notice how bad my apathy was until the game last night. I swore when SWP scored but it was far from full-hearted. After the match I checked the match thread on here and saw all the rage directed at the manager (quite rightly) and the players and it twigged: that should be me.

 

I still enjoy watching the matches and always will, but when the team loses, at the moment it doesn't feel like it's my Chelsea that has lost. 

Edited January 3, 201313 yr by bluedave

I feel a bit numb with everything that has gone on in recent weeks. A tad removed from the club. But this has been coming and building gradually for years....i put it down to growing up i guess. Things seem worse at the moment, because  it just appears that every decsion we make is the wrong one, every action we or more specifically our players make is chastised by all and sundry. I miss the days of old when i knew we would likely be mid table, yet remained hopeful and excited at the prospect of even listening to Chelsea on the radio.

 

to rip off a mobile phone add....the futures bright..... and whilst it seems so far away and whilst  things could get worse before they improve ( with lamps and Ash likely off, and JT every more injury prone) it appears our team and its characters are disapearing, yet we have new ones building before us as we speak. Mata is growing, Hazard adjusting, ditto Oscar. KDB is continuing his education in germany, Lukaku is getting game time and growing as a player. Courtouis looks a real prospect, Josh who is Chelsea through and through may come good....

 

numb at recent events?  - yes

bored of football in general?- yes a bit

apathetic? no way - i still love chelsea and care about them more than most other things.

I can understand entirely why there should be a feeling of apathy, or of disconnection towards the modern game. The days when you could have a drink with the players, talk to them on the way back from an away game, waiting on the same platform for the same Inter City train, those days are long gone. The players are now mega rich celebrities, all too many of them have been infected by the Show Biz Kid mentality.

 

Money and celebrity culture isn't the whole story of course, but it's got a hell of a lot to do with the sense of alienation. Lately on this forum I've read protests from overseas fans that they are no less passionate, no less "real" supporters than those who were fortunate to have been born within traveling distance of SW6. With respect, it's impossible for those fans to ever have the same sense of connection with the club and with the area as those who are or ever were regular match goers. It's just a fact. You've never been there, you don't know what it's like. I've never been to the "new" Stamford Bridge, so I don't know what it's like. I only know how it used to be. I've got my memories, my experiences. Overseas fans have got TV broadcasts, Internet forums. The point I'm making here is that the increase in international support, the feeling that the club in common with the majority of Premiership clubs, is more interested in catering to the international market than to it's home grown domestic support, simply because of the increased sales potential, can only add to the sense of alienation.

 

For those of you who want to take the above personally - don't. This isn't an anti-overseas supporters rant by any means, see my reference to the Norwegian Chelsea Supporters Club as evidence, but a criticism of the club and the Premier League, football in general, for putting profits before people. I've noticed a growing trend on Chelsea TV to interview international supporters making their first visit to the Bridge. Last night it was a family of fans from Utah, but they also regularly ensure that Far Eastern visitors are featured. Call my cynical, but to my mind this is a blatant and deliberate attempt to appeal to the overseas market, again at the expense of domestic/local supporters.

 

Now I've got that out of the way, I'm going to contradict myself somewhat by saying that given the current circumstances, with an interim manager I detest, a board who I neither trust nor respect, with a multi-billionaire owner whose true thoughts are as much of a mystery now as they were on the day he bought the club (I refer of course to his notable and continued silence on matters of football) I would like nothing more than to simply not care about the club, and I can fully understand temptation to simply turn my back on the game at this level. But sadly I find myself unable to do so. I've stayed with the club through thick and thin, seen us relegated and promoted, travelled to maybe 80 or so different league grounds following the club home and away for 15 - 20 years, you know the kind of thing, nothing too out of the ordinary. The point is that it's in my blood and it'll take more than a despicable f**kwit of an interim manager or a patently incompetent board of directors responsible for appointing this self-same f**kwit to get me to turn my back on the club.

 

I can't remember who our next game was against the last time we lost at home to QPR, but I can almost guarantee I would have been there. Assuming for the sake of argument that it was Southampton away, I would have been at the Dell, just as on Saturday I'll be at St Mary's if only in spirit this time round.

Edited January 3, 201313 yr by Tommy Docherty

I could never be apathetic about our beloved Chelsea. From the depths of avoiding relegation to the third tier in 83, relegation from the top flight in 88 and years of average to poor football, to the highs of the Cup in 97, the title in 2005 and the CL last year - not once have I not got excited and hopeful about our next game. I admit, fearful at times, but the love and passion for Chelsea never dwindles and never could.

Current European Champions and FA Cup winners, a squad dripping with world class talent, a billionaire owner, still alive in 4 competitions in January and people are apathetic?? There are a couple of clubs in Manchester doing quite well if that's all you're in it for.

Seriously people count your blessings not your problems and the world is a better place

Forever a Blue

I could never be apathetic about our beloved Chelsea. From the depths of avoiding relegation to the third tier in 83, relegation from the top flight in 88 and years of average to poor football, to the highs of the Cup in 97, the title in 2005 and the CL last year - not once have I not got excited and hopeful about our next game. I admit, fearful at times, but the love and passion for Chelsea never dwindles and never could.

Current European Champions and FA Cup winners, a squad dripping with world class talent, a billionaire owner, still alive in 4 competitions in January and people are apathetic?? There are a couple of clubs in Manchester doing quite well if that's all you're in it for.

Seriously people count your blessings not your problems and the world is a better place

Forever a Blue

 

 

I understand that you are excited by the chase for trophies, but people who feel differently from you should sod off to the Manchester clubs who are....also chasing for trophies? How does that make any sense?

 

We're talking about the way things are going in general. For some people its football as a whole. For me, personally, its the feeling that those operating the club dont give a damn about anyone else, be they loyal players, servants, or fans. And many of us are struggling to understand why.

Im still behind the team, even though i wish we had kept RDM and we didnt have to deal with the whole FT circus, its all down to the board.

Once DD left we should have got another striker, it was plain to see that just having Nando as our main striker was not going to be enough, those who will point out that we also had Studge lets not forget that up until the last hour of the summer transfer market there was a big chance of him joining liverpool, so it would have still left us with 1 striker.

We have for too long been run the wrong way from the board

I had to look up apathy it said lack of interest or indifference

The fact that there is already a long thread on the subject on a Chelsea forum is an oxymoron........which is another word I just looked up

not apathetic but disconnected , giving rene the job proved that the club have a disregard for the fans , but apathetic never i've near lost my voice today arguing with man ure fans and queer pikey retards at work , in fact bad results strengthen my resolve , they'll always be my club at heart

Edited January 3, 201313 yr by rougvie13

Apologies for forgetting to mention why I haven't been to the "new" Stamford Bridge. Quite simply, I got married and moved away.

 

It's a common enough tale of woe: life's a bitch and so was she.