I'm doing an interview for the Opponents Talk section on the Sunderland website Sunderland World, about Chelsea Fc in general and the match on Saturday. It is 8 questions long. I need a Chelsea fan to participate if anybody is interested?

Edited April 1, 201312 yr by j_m_t_9_6

Other clubs' fans who do this tend to post the questions here and get a bunch of responses, that way you can pick and choose which ones you like. Just a suggestion ^^

Oh right, cheers, I'll post them on this thread

Chelsea seem to be in a transitional phase, with the old guard of Lampard and Terry reaching the end of their careers and the likes of Hazard and Oscar emerging. Is this to blame for the clubs dip in league position this season?

With the decision to let Frank Lampard's contract run out seemingly nothing to do with his performances on the pitch, why do you think the clubs hierarchy are seemingly so determined to let him leave?

This season chelsea haven't done as well as they may have liked, with a top four spot not yet guaranteed, what can the club do to prevent them doing a Liverpool and dropping out of the title race?

Chelsea currently have over 20 players out on loan. How do you think this can benefit Chelsea in the future?

- How do you feel about the potential return of Jose Mourinhio to Stamford Bridge in the summer?

- Would winning the FA Cup and/or Europa League, in your opinion, result in this being a successful season?

- What's your thoughts on SAFC and their season so far?

- What's your prediction for the weekends game?

Chelsea seem to be in a transitional phase, with the old guard of Lampard and Terry reaching the end of their careers and the likes of Hazard and Oscar emerging. Is this to blame for the clubs dip in league position this season?

Chelsea are doing better in the league than we did last season and in 10/11 despite coming second, we got a very low points tally for Chelsea with 71 points. The issues clearly run deeper than the change in squad personnel, although this is playing a role. I can tell you now, Hazard is the most naturally gifted footballer I have ever seen play for Chelsea. I really can see him getting 30 goals a season in a few years

I think the root to our problem are at the boardroom and the worst sacking they made was that of Ray Wilkins. It was absolutely bizarre sacking, and really since then we have been nothing close to title contenders. Only when we have stability and a long term plan will we win the title again. The game for Chelsea is getting more difficult with the emergence of City and PSG. No longer can we just buy any players we please. 7 years ago the likes of Yaya, Aguero, Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva could have been wearing the blue of Chelsea.

So two minor factors- increased competition in the transfer market and transitional period are playing their part. But the biggest factor is 100& lack of boardroom and managerial stability. It really is destroying the club.

With the decision to let Frank Lampard's contract run out seemingly nothing to do with his performances on the pitch, why do you think the clubs hierarchy are seemingly so determined to let him leave?

Frank Lampard still has so much to offer us, however for me he is not part of our strongest XI. But I think it just more a symbolic sign, and I think if JT's contract was coming up he also would not be getting an extension. I feel the board think that the club will be more stable with a less vocal group of players. Whoever gets Lampard will be very lucky, he is a class act.

This season chelsea haven't done as well as they may have liked, with a top four spot not yet guaranteed, what can the club do to prevent them doing a Liverpool and dropping out of the title race?

I really can't see us falling to the lows Liverpool did anytime soon, but there does need to be a big review in how we run the club to get back to where we want to. On the plus side, we have made some very good signings since the summer of 2011, which is very encouraging. A lot of the signings we made between 2007-2011 really were not great signings ( bar Ramires and Ivanovic) and really we have been living off the class of Cech, Cole, Drogba, JT and Lampard. So in this respect the club is moving in a good direction.

Also our youth teams are performing very well and we have many players out on loan, some who could make an impact soon enough. All we really need is a manager who is giving time to integrate all our great resources and we will be back on top.

Chelsea currently have over 20 players out on loan. How do you think this can benefit Chelsea in the future?

The following I think can have a really big future for us: Courtois, Lukaku, De Bruyne and Chalobah. Chalobah is 100% the future Chelsea captain. Lukaku is at an incredible stage of his development for the type of player he is. A lot of the players are very good players, but will probably not make it at Chelsea. 

- How do you feel about the potential return of Jose Mourinhio to Stamford Bridge in the summer?

I am the exception here, but I believe in never going back and I don't think Jose has the long term interests at Chelsea at his heart. He has nothing to really prove. I would love Klopp to be the Chelsea manager. Young and with fresh ideas. He will definitely be able to integrate our talented youth players and I think he could build something great here. Jose will bring a few trophies but will not be here in the long-run and then we'll just go full circle.

- Would winning the FA Cup and/or Europa League, in your opinion, result in this being a successful season?

Finishing top 4 has to be the club's priority, but we love the FA Cup at Chelsea, myself included. I really want to win it and given there are only 4/5 honors to play for, it should be regarded successful to win something. Given that we came 6th last season, 4th would be an improvement and thus relatively successful. Just for most fans anything that is achieved this season will be incredibly sour given what our board did to us back in November. 

- What's your thoughts on SAFC and their season so far?

Sunderland to me are perennial under achievers. A large fanbase and a lot money spent on players, yet they struggle to reach the heights of the early 2000's. I thought the signings made this year were good signings and I rate O'Niell as a manager. The board have taken a big risk with Di Canio but I guess Sunderland were dropping like a stone. I think they'll stay up with games still to come away to Villa and home to Stoke and Southampton. 

- What's your prediction for the weekends game?

I'm confident of a Chelsea win. Ba will probably start and I think we'll get in the top 4 and these are the games we have to win. I'm sure Di Canio will get the team playing with a lot more energy and spirit (O'Niell seemed washed up in the end). I think it will be quite high scoring, maybe 3-2 to Chelsea. Goalscorers: Chelsea- Ba, Luiz and Hazard. Sunderland- Gardner (pen), Graham

 

Chelsea seem to be in a transitional phase, with the old guard of Lampard and Terry reaching the end of their careers and the likes of Hazard and Oscar emerging. Is this to blame for the clubs dip in league position this season?

Many Chelsea supporters, myself included, would refute the notion that John Terry and Frank Lampard are reaching the end of their careers. Terry's season has been curtailed by injury, but he is still in my view the best central defender at the club. Given that his game has never relied on pace, I definitely think he still has a good two or three seasons in him at the top level. As a Puyol type figure, coming in when it suits in terms of fitness? He could, and should, be here until he retires. Whether the club will do the right thing is another question entirely, however.

The Frank Lampard situation is somewhat different, he is older than John by a few years and is not entirely suited to the role he is required to play in a 4-2-3-1, our formation de rigueur over the past couple of seasons. In spite of this, he has still consistently shown his worth this season and without his goals we would be in a very sticky situation.

Frank no longer commands a starting place in our squad by default, indeed, for many 'big' games his presence in the team is somewhat inappropriate. In spite of this, he still has a heck of a lot to offer the club and should not be cast aside if he is willing (and all indications seem to suggest that he is) to accept a drop in wages and a drop in playing time.

Now, moving on, what many forget is that the club has not, in fact, suffered a 'dip' in league position relative to last season. We are, albeit tentatively, on course to surpass last years 6th place finish. Whether or not this represents genuine progress is another matter entirely, and it is the contention of the vast majority of Chelsea supporters that had we not ruthlessly cut adrift Roberto Di Matteo and hired a man thoroughly unsuited to manage our club, we would not be scraping for a fourth place finish as of now.

With the decision to let Frank Lampard's contract run out seemingly nothing to do with his performances on the pitch, why do you think the clubs hierarchy are seemingly so determined to let him leave?

The rumours have been repeated time and time again, whether or not Roman Abramovich really has a personal vendetta against Frank is, for me, immaterial. For whatever reason, the club brains trust (I use that term ironically) have decided to cut Frank adrift.

This season chelsea haven't done as well as they may have liked, with a top four spot not yet guaranteed, what can the club do to prevent them doing a Liverpool and dropping out of the title race?

Thankfully, even with the embarrassing calibre of the 'suits' in the upper echelons of our club hierarchy, the prospect of 'doing a Liverpool' and falling out of league title contention for two decades plus seems rather remote. Bung decisions will continue to hamper us until we get a traditional power structure in place with proper 'football men' in positions of influence (pipe dream), but our transfer spending and financial muscle should maintain a competent talent pool long term.

Chelsea currently have over 20 players out on loan. How do you think this can benefit Chelsea in the future?

With any luck, the four or five with Chelsea potential will get the playing time and experience they need to boost their chances of transitioning into the first team. The bulk of our loanees are being loaned for the sake of development with a view to selling them on at a profit, we've more chance of shifting them when they're plying their trade in a foreign league than if they were in the reserves.

Much has been made of the calibre of the talent on loan, of course, but the majority will not become first team players.

- How do you feel about the potential return of Jose Mourinhio to Stamford Bridge in the summer?

Swoon.

- Would winning the FA Cup and/or Europa League, in your opinion, result in this being a successful season?

That is a difficult question, theoretically a season in which the club attains a Champions League place via our league position and racks up a couple of pieces of silverware would have to go down as a successful one.

However, circumstances dictate that whatever happens this time around, the season will be looked upon as one of the most disastrous in the history of the club. The media may scoff, peg us as deluded and spiteful, but the simple fact is that any success associated with the usurper will be forever tainted.

- What's your thoughts on SAFC and their season so far?

The decision to sack Martin O'Neill was ill timed, but not undeserved.

Given the state of QPR and Reading, I think a straight dogfight between yourselves and Aston Villa is on the cards. Wigan will stay up, for whatever reason they have a penchant for staving off relegation at the final furlong, and will do so again.

Paolo Di Canio is a talented manager, if the ridiculous media furore dies down and your supporters rally behind him, he has every chance of turning things around.

- What's your prediction for the weekends game?

New manager bounce strikes with a vengeance as Sunderland seal a point, sloppy Chelsea defending in extra time leads to a late equaliser. 2-2.

Edited April 3, 201312 yr by Lofty 1905

Thanks guys, great help

Do put up the link when you publish the article.

I will do Lofty, but can I just clarify, when you answered Swoon to the Mourinho question you meant it in a good way?

Of course.

http://sunderlandworld.com/2013/04/opponents-talk-chelsea/

Cheers, best of luck for the rest of your season, bar tomorrow afternoon of course.