The Club & Stewardship

[Fast Eddie]

There's a lot of chat about the 3 amigos lately, not the obvious maestros on the pitch (esp Mata) but Buck Gourlay and Emanalo.

 

Do we really know what Buck, Gourlay and Emanalo do that is negligent in terms of the club to be on the end of the consistent venom received on these pages?

 

As I don't do kneejerk, would like to hear some evidence before making my mind up/jumping on the bandwagon.

 

We all know about Benitez and the plane crash that it is so take him out of the frame please because its been done a thousand times and there's other threads for it.

 

So evidence on Buck, Gourlay & Emanalo please anecdotal or conclusive as to why the vitriol.

[CardiffBlue]

I can't really speak against Buck.

 

Ron Gourlay's treatment of managers in the past has been a disgrace. He sacked Ancelotti in the tunnel after the last game of 2010-11 at Everton. And RDM was sacked at 4 in the morning, and I doubt AVB received particularly favourable treatment when he was sacked. If he's going to swing the axe, he should at least do it with a bit of dignity. He embarrases the club greatly in this way.

 

As for Emenalo, I've never understood the position of "technical directors", so to that extent I don't think he gives our club anything. He has about 6 apps for Notts County, is that really enough experience to judge what players should come and go at the club? As far as I'm concerned, that is something best left to the manager. This isn't a personal diatribe against Emenalo, but I just don't see the benefit in having someone on the club's board who shoves transfers and tactics down the manager's throat. 

[Celery1989]

If u ask me, the vitriol these guys receive is completely justified. Firstly, none of them had done much of anything in football before they came to Chelsea. Secondly,they act with no class or dignity - the manner in which Ancelotti was sacked is a particularly poignant example - and they evidently don't give a t*ss about what we, the fans, think. FInally, it seems that, as opposed to making informed, collective decisions, as any decent board of directors would do, these 3 clowns appear to do nothing more than pander to the short-sighted whims of an idiotic owner who seems to be as clueless about football matters as they themselves.

 

How Emenalo is Technical Director is beyond me. Not only was he a poor player, seeing as the highlight of his career was the 7 appearances he made for Notts County, but prior to becoming Chief Scout at Chelsea, he had been coaching an under-12's girls' soccer team at the Tucson Soccer Academy in Arizona. I suppose it should come as no surprise then that it was Emenalo who lobbied hardest for the appointment of Benitez.

[Jonty]

If u ask me, the vitriol these guys receive is completely justified. Firstly, none of them had done much of anything in football before they came to Chelsea. Secondly,they act with no class or dignity - the manner in which Ancelotti was sacked is a particularly poignant example - and they evidently don't give a t*ss about what we, the fans, think. FInally, it seems that, as opposed to making informed, collective decisions, as any decent board of directors would do, these 3 clowns appear to do nothing more than pander to the short-sighted whims of an idiotic owner who seems to be as clueless about football matters as they themselves.

 

How Emenalo is Technical Director is beyond me. Not only was he a poor player, seeing as the highlight of his career was the 7 appearances he made for Notts County, but prior to becoming Chief Scout at Chelsea, he had been coaching an under-12's girls' soccer team at the Tucson Soccer Academy in Arizona. I suppose it should come as no surprise then that it was Emenalo who lobbied hardest for the appointment of Benitez.

 

How the hell did he transition to Chelsea scout from that?

I need to find me an under-12 girls team.

[bluedrake55]

all i know is that they will never be like butch who had the club's best interest at heart. they will never kill the golden goose who lay their pot of gold!

[jezza]

I think the question is, do any of the board act on their own initiative at all? If they do, then they deserve all they get.

[evissy]

We know absolutely nothing about those three or Roman. We have no clue how the decisionmaking goes. All we do is speculate.

[jezza]

We know absolutely nothing about those three or Roman. We have no clue how the decisionmaking goes. All we do is speculate.

Exactly.

[Mike Carefree]

They get stick IMO because they are toothless in informing Roman of the correct way to disolve issues at the club with issues of management.....As i see it , and it may not be the case ,but ROMAN says MAKE IT SO, and they do without proper consultation on the subject first

[Celery1989]

We know absolutely nothing about those three or Roman. We have no clue how the decisionmaking goes. All we do is speculate.

 

And it is this clandestine management which is a big part of the problem for us fans. Why don't the club try to communicate with us at all?

[DaRick]

And it is this clandestine management which is a big part of the problem for us fans. Why don't the club try to communicate with us at all?

 

We all know why.

 

They obviously have little respect for us or our opinions. 

 

If Buck, Gourlay and Emenalo cannot be fingered for influencing Roman to make dumb decisions, then they can be fingered for other things:

- Being a yes-man (Buck)

- Being a quintessential corporate slimeball and a walking PR embarrassment (Gourlay)

- Being an individual who has had the privilege of taking on jobs far beyond his level of ability, whether that be Assistant Manager or ostensible Director of Football (Emenalo)

 

Nepotist, thy name is Roman.  

Edited February 3, 2013 by DaRick

[Jonty]

Buck is an American lawyer with no experience in football and from what i've seen he didn't even care for the sport.

 

So how the hell he is chairman of one of the worlds biggest clubs is beyond me.

[Zeta]

Didnt gourlay come from man utd?

[undertow]

Didnt gourlay come from man utd?

 

That was Kenyon.

[fanpower]

There is no real evidence that Emenalo was responsible for the appointment of Benitez.

 

It is pure wishful thinking for anyone to think that any such appointment would be made without the instigation of Roman Abramovitch. This is not the way such people as Abramovitch work. He is typical of the sort of person (Russian oligarchs, Arab sheikhs, American and Asian "businessmen", and British ones too) who seem to own so many football clubs these days.

 

Buck, Gourlay, and, especially Emenalo, have one primary role - that is to disguise the fact that every decision of any importance at Chelsea FC is made by one man, and one man only.

 

In fact the mysterious appointment of Emenalo can be explained only in that his role is to deflect as much of fans' anger as possible on to himself, and away from where it should mainly go. Of course he gets paid handsomely for what otherwise would seem a position with no real function whatsoever.

[Lofty.]

That was Kenyon.

So did Gourlay. They both trod the same career path, from Umbro to Man U to Chelsea Chief Exec.

[Samdwich]

In fairness to Emenalo, the signings we have been making with him in charge have been very good. Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Courtois, KDB, Lukaku and probably a few I've forgotten. (Cahill was definitely an AVB signing, Mata may have been too).

 

The appointment of Benitez is something he is rightly being slated for. The fact that he hasn't been here long could mean that he didn't know quite how much we hate the FSW, and he can be forgiven for thinking that he was a good manager - I didn't think he was anywhere near as bad as he has proven to be and his horrific failure at Inter has, by many, been put down to Mourinho leaving him with a "terribly thin squad", yeah those sh*t players who fluked the treble the previous season.

 

No idea why Bruce Buck is our chairman other than the fact that he's managing partner of Skaaden Arps (Law firm used by Abramovich), though he's not particularly done anything to make me dislike him.

 

Gourlay, on the other hand, I can't stand. Sacking Ancelotti in the tunnel at Goodison? Vomit inducing. Hope he experiences a similar fate.

[Peckham Blue]

I blame Kenyon for all this.

[DaRick]

Buck is an American lawyer with no experience in football and from what i've seen he didn't even care for the sport.

 

So how the hell he is chairman of one of the worlds biggest clubs is beyond me.

 

Well, we know it isn't for his sex appeal, at least...

 

Edited February 4, 2013 by DaRick

[flasher10]

In fairness to Emenalo, the signings we have been making with him in charge have been very good. Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Courtois, KDB, Lukaku and probably a few I've forgotten. (Cahill was definitely an AVB signing, Mata may have been too).

 

The appointment of Benitez is something he is rightly being slated for. The fact that he hasn't been here long could mean that he didn't know quite how much we hate the FSW, and he can be forgiven for thinking that he was a good manager - I didn't think he was anywhere near as bad as he has proven to be and his horrific failure at Inter has, by many, been put down to Mourinho leaving him with a "terribly thin squad", yeah those sh*t players who fluked the treble the previous season.

 

No idea why Bruce Buck is our chairman other than the fact that he's managing partner of Skaaden Arps (Law firm used by Abramovich), though he's not particularly done anything to make me dislike him.

 

Gourlay, on the other hand, I can't stand. Sacking Ancelotti in the tunnel at Goodison? Vomit inducing. Hope he experiences a similar fate.

 

Nah, Gourlay shouldn't be sacked in a tunnel like Carlo was, he should be sacked at a home game at half time in the middle of the pitch by an announcement from the PA system.

[BlueBeard]

I need to find me an under-12 girls team.

 

Careful mate, that comment could land you in a heap of trouble

Edited February 4, 2013 by BlueBeard

[Zeta]

Hire Alan Sugar to fire Gourlay live in front of everyone

[CardiffBlue]

Hire Alan Sugar to fire Gourlay live in front of everyone

 

That I would pay good money to see.