5 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Chelsea and Conte begin their legal dispute over severance pay today at a Premier League managers’ arbitration tribunal. 

Allegedly Chelsea are going to argue Conte cost Chelsea money over his treatment of Diego Costa. 

Personally I think the whole thing is ridiculous and we look extremely petty withholding payment. 

If we were that upset with Conte, why did we let him take charge of the team for a further 12 months? 

We wasted £160m on crap transfers after selling Costa so getting out knickers in a twist over a few extra quid on selling a player who appears to have been past his best anyway is just pathetic. 

I still don't think Conte deserves a penny for his behaviour overall last season, but if that is our defence, then we have no chance.

Costa was treated how he deserved to be treated. The bloke wanted out of the club when we were chasing a Premier League title and was always going to look for a move again once the window opened in the summer. I can't believe we would use the problems caused by Costa as a defence against not paying Conte.

Club need to pay him not go to court, lets face it the Board (RA) has spunked countless millions on hiring and firing far worse managers, buying sub par players and putting them on 5 year contracts with silly wages, this bloke however much he was a moaning & bitching pain in the ass last season has won the club 2 trophies in 2 seasons (1 being the most difficult of all to win the PL) and got to 2 cup finals.  Classy by the Board then as usual.

Think it is passed that state of compromise and it will now be a messy episode that the media will enjoy.

I think for most of us it will prove to be interesting even if damaging for the club.

In my opinion it will be bad both for the club and for Conte.

I disagree.   The email/text to Diego Costa was totally unacceptable and a totally negligent action, which lost Chelsea a player and which reduced his value that the we could have gotten for him greatly.  His sabotage action deserved a firing on the spot, which was not done, but I think now it is a good basis for not paying him more than what he already gotten from Chelsea.

Just pay him, this is getting embarrassing. He had a contract, the club sacked him and broke the contract, does anyone really think this will get overturned in court?

I don't know how true this is, but I read previously that we were willing to pay Conte for the remainder of his contract but Conte wanted compensation on top of that due to the fact that we left the sacking so late into preseason. Meaning he was unable to find another club.

1 hour ago, DannyVblue said:

I don't know how true this is, but I read previously that we were willing to pay Conte for the remainder of his contract but Conte wanted compensation on top of that due to the fact that we left the sacking so late into preseason. Meaning he was unable to find another club.

That's what I think is happening. Let's not be quick to judge a case without knowing the details 

5 hours ago, Phillip said:

I disagree.   The email/text to Diego Costa was totally unacceptable and a totally negligent action, which lost Chelsea a player and which reduced his value that the we could have gotten for him greatly.  His sabotage action deserved a firing on the spot, which was not done, but I think now it is a good basis for not paying him more than what he already gotten from Chelsea.

I am sorry but Costa knew too well that he was not going to stay at Chelsea. Besides, a manager is entitled to manage the team whatever way he sees fit. Ferguson threw a bloody boot om Beckhams eye, would he have put up with Costa? Dont think so! I hated Costa for the fact that he made a big deal of wanting to go to China. That was so disrespectful to Chelsea in my view so he got what he deserved. In regards to Conte he deserves his wages for the remainder of the contract nothing more.

Both as bad as the other to be fair. 

Conte behaved like a spoiled brat in the last few months of his tenure, he clearly wanted to be sacked. Whilst this is probably not the argument in court, it should hold some merit when making the decision.  His treatment of arguably the worlds most inform striker was appalling and out of line.  He did indeed cost us millions, leaving only one possible destination for Costa. That in it self should be a breach of contract. 

Would be nice to see both parties come to an amicable agreement and move on 

Such a shame that Conte cannot control his emotions, he’s a truly world class manager. Born winner who understands football and how to win. 

Unfortunately for him, he is a poor politician and this is his biggest downfall. He’s fallen out with every club he has managed. 

Such a shame, we could have built something really special with him. 

2 hours ago, teampjta said:

Conte behaved like a spoiled brat in the last few months of his tenure, he clearly wanted to be sacked. Whilst this is probably not the argument in court, it should hold some merit when making the decision.  His treatment of arguably the worlds most inform striker was appalling and out of line.  He did indeed cost us millions, leaving only one possible destination for Costa. That in it self should be a breach of contract. 

Would be nice to see both parties come to an amicable agreement and move on 

What bad treatment? Telling him through text that he was no longer wanted? whoop-de-doo. What about Costa's behaviour? He would return to pre-season overweight, he would look for a transfer out of the club during mid season, he would spend half of the season offering nothing but awful performances. I think any manager would fall out with Costa eventually, his attitude stank. He wanted out of Chelsea and out of London before Conte even arrived at Chelsea. 

You also say he was arguably the worlds most inform striker.......but he wasn't. At the time, Costa's form had plummited. From the moment it was revealed he wanted to move to China, his form dropped and never recovered. It was that bad that people even wanted Batshuayi to play ahead of him in the F.A cup final against Arsenal. Even now he still hasn't regained his best form. 

There is always talk about the problems with player power at Chelsea, and this was a case of fighting back against that. 

Maybe the club is fine with player power. Seeing as they see the situation with Costa as Conte's fault and did nothing about Willian's behaviour towards the end of last season, I think there is a good case to say that they will take the players side over the managers every time.

Edited March 23, 20197 yr by Scott Harris

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

What bad treatment? Telling him through text that he was no longer wanted? whoop-de-doo. What about Costa's behaviour? He would return to pre-season overweight, he would look for a transfer out of the club during mid season, he would spend half of the season offering nothing but awful performances. I think any manager would fall out with Costa eventually, his attitude stank. He wanted out of Chelsea and out of London before Conte even arrived at Chelsea. 

You also say he was arguably the worlds most inform striker.......but he wasn't. At the time, Costa's form had plummited. From the moment it was revealed he wanted to move to China, his form dropped and never recovered. It was that bad that people even wanted Batshuayi to play ahead of him in the F.A cup final against Arsenal. Even now he still hasn't regained his best form. 

There is always talk about the problems with player power at Chelsea, and this was a case of fighting back against that. 

Maybe the club is fine with player power. Seeing as they see the situation with Costa as Conte's fault and did nothing about Willian's behaviour towards the end of last season, I think there is a good case to say that they will take the players side over the managers every time.

Mate are you serious? this isnt fifa 19.

You’re naive and delusional if you think a manager whose name isn’t SAF has the right to text a high profile player to tell them to f**k off. That’s exactly what he did, Conte had absolutely no right to send Costa anything. 

A high profile proven PL goal scorer like costa who FYI if you did some research would know scored a lousy 20 premiere league goals (oh and a pathetic 52 goals in 89 overall appearances) in his final year, Im sure would have been in demand with a list of paying suitors. Morata who cost us hmmmmm what was it 60-70 million scored a massive, heroic, galant, unsurpassable 11 goals in the pl the following season. But hey that’s after the fact right, if think we only paid 30-40 million for a player who couldn’t get a laliga game with Real that season right??? NO we paid 60-70 million for an unproven stricker. So yeah its fair to say a proven Premeir league goal scorer would have been worth a sh*t load more than what we sold him for. 

In the end I t’s up to the club to decide on his future and eventual asking price! NOT conte.

By doing what he did, he effectively cost us millions, not to mention the negative effect it would of had with the rest of the team/management. Probably a reason we sucked the following season?

Oh btw if it was a so called “no big deal” then why the f**k would the club hold out paying him?

I wonder what burden of proof is required for the claim that Conte's treatment of Costa resulted in a lower transfer fee. Cause and effect can be difficult to substantiate in this case.

I wonder what burden of proof is required for the claim that Conte's treatment of Costa resulted in a lower transfer fee. Cause and effect may be difficult to substantiate in this case.

Edited March 23, 20197 yr by Valerie

9 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

What bad treatment? Telling him through text that he was no longer wanted? whoop-de-doo. What about Costa's behaviour? He would return to pre-season overweight, he would look for a transfer out of the club during mid season, he would spend half of the season offering nothing but awful performances. I think any manager would fall out with Costa eventually, his attitude stank. He wanted out of Chelsea and out of London before Conte even arrived at Chelsea. 

You also say he was arguably the worlds most inform striker.......but he wasn't. At the time, Costa's form had plummited. From the moment it was revealed he wanted to move to China, his form dropped and never recovered. It was that bad that people even wanted Batshuayi to play ahead of him in the F.A cup final against Arsenal. Even now he still hasn't regained his best form. 

There is always talk about the problems with player power at Chelsea, and this was a case of fighting back against that. 

Maybe the club is fine with player power. Seeing as they see the situation with Costa as Conte's fault and did nothing about Willian's behaviour towards the end of last season, I think there is a good case to say that they will take the players side over the managers every time.

Absolutely spot on. 

Quote

Mate are you serious? this isnt fifa 19.

You’re naive and delusional if you think a manager whose name isn’t SAF has the right to text a high profile player to tell them to f**k off. That’s exactly what he did, Conte had absolutely no right to send Costa anything. 

When that player sulks for half a season because he can't get a move away from the club, then yeah, I think it's fine for any manager to tell that player that he is no longer in his plans. Don't pretend like Alex Ferguson was the only manager allowed to tell players when they weren't wanted at the club anymore, most managers do this. 

Quote

A high profile proven PL goal scorer like costa who FYI if you did some research would know scored a lousy 20 premiere league goals (oh and a pathetic 52 goals in 89 overall appearances) in his final year, Im sure would have been in demand with a list of paying suitors. Morata who cost us hmmmmm what was it 60-70 million scored a massive, heroic, galant, unsurpassable 11 goals in the pl the following season. But hey that’s after the fact right, if think we only paid 30-40 million for a player who couldn’t get a laliga game with Real that season right??? NO we paid 60-70 million for an unproven stricker. So yeah its fair to say a proven Premeir league goal scorer would have been worth a sh*t load more than what we sold him for. 

In the end I t’s up to the club to decide on his future and eventual asking price! NOT conte.

Don't throw stats at me, judge Costa's form on what we actually seen after he tried to force a move to China. Before the rumours of China started, he played 21 games and scored 14 goals, after the rumours started, 24 games, 8 goals and a sh*t load of rubbish performances for us. Pretty much everybody at the time was commenting how bad he was and how almost every attack of ours would breakdown when the ball was at his feet. He was becoming a liability, a player who was making things very difficult for us on the pitch. Would you have liked us to go into the next season with that Costa? 

The part about Morata is irrelevant. Just because Costa's replacement was poor, it doesn't mean that replacing him was the wrong move. It would have had to happen anyway because Costa wasn't going to stay. He was going, Conte just got things moving quicker.

We got £57m for Costa. When you take into account his age, his form, that he hadn't played for half a season, and that he desperately wanted to leave, I would say that was a pretty good deal for the club.

We could potentially have 3 ex-Chelsea managers looking for a job in the summer in José, Conte & you never know Sarri. The biggest role that might be on the market is Juve but you never know with Allegri. Where do we think they might end up?

Jose has been linked with Inter & has been sucking up to PSG, Sarri is here but has been linked with Roma, and Conte is a funny one. Before he left here fans were certain he will end up at Madrid but they have changed managers 3x in one season and it never happened.

Can you post that again, didn't quite catch it 

On 23/03/2019 at 07:27, Valerie said:

I wonder what burden of proof is required for the claim that Conte's treatment of Costa resulted in a lower transfer fee. Cause and effect may be difficult to substantiate in this case.

I think its an absolute farce that this is still ongoing. If we had any kind of decency we would have paid our title-winning manager the money he's entitled to but instead we mess on about the Costa-case when the club itself said this after the so called texts and right before Conte's last season with us was starting: 

"The premise the lawyer has put forward is just wrong. The decision on Diego was made back in January.

"The player knew the decision, his agent knew the decision, clearly the lawyer has not been well informed.

"The lawyer's argument that Antonio as a coach has forced the player out by text message in June is just nonsense"

12 hours ago, Sindre said:

I think its an absolute farce that this is still ongoing. If we had any kind of decency we would have paid our title-winning manager the money he's entitled 

Let's put this another way, you own a business and one of your employer's spends a whole year moaning about you and telling anyone that will listen you're a cock and also takes an unannounced two week break without your permission that causes chaos and you to lose out on a pretty big contract for your company (word is his absence cost us Tolliso).

Would you be so keen to display "decency" then?

I actually agree with the Costa situation in isolation, it's some other actions that makes the poor Conte narrative laughable, he should have been fired without compensation the moment he went AWOL, I'm no lawyer but that alone should be enough for us to win the case.

12 minutes ago, Argo said:

I actually agree with the Costa situation in isolation, it's some other actions that makes the poor Conte narrative laughable, he should have been fired without compensation the moment he went AWOL, I'm no lawyer but that alone should be enough for us to win the case.

But that's the problem, we didn't fire him. Instead we gave him an improved contract on better pay, which by extension presumably entitled him to a bigger pay out should we fire him. 

We're retrospectively trying to say he did X, Y, Z but we gave him an improved contract and let him manage the team for a further season and also allowed to begin pre-season training for the current season. 

If the club were so fed up with Conte's conduct they should acted on it... but they didn't. 

2 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

But that's the problem, we didn't fire him. Instead we gave him an improved contract on better pay, which by extension presumably entitled him to a bigger pay out should we fire him. 

We're retrospectively trying to say he did X, Y, Z but we gave him an improved contract and let him manage the team for a further season and also allowed to begin pre-season training for the current season. 

If the club were so fed up with Conte's conduct they should acted on it... but they didn't. 

The board probably naively thought it was a one off, that or they wanted to convince themselves as such given how good a fully motivated Conte is.

But ultimately he must have done some heavy duty sh*t last season for such action to be taken against a title winning manager, probably even worse than what is being reported. We have had no problem paying off our previous managers from Jose right down to Scolari so they must believe they have a seriously strong case.

8 minutes ago, Argo said:

The board probably naively thought it was a one off, that or they wanted to convince themselves as such given how good a fully motivated Conte is.

But ultimately he must have done some heavy duty sh*t last season for such action to be taken against a title winning manager, probably even worse than what is being reported. We have had no problem paying off our previous managers from Jose right down to Scolari so they must believe they have a seriously strong case.

The club obviously think they have a case but on the face of it, based on what we know I don't think they've got a leg to stand on. Beyond the Costa saga argument I haven't seen anything to suggest gross misconduct on Conte's part. 

Conte came to work and carried out his duties right up to the last minute when we sacked him in pre-season and employed Sarri. 

So unless Conte has explicitly breached his contract we've got to pay up.

EDIT: Regarding the naivety of the board, if that's what it was on their part, then that naivety is going to cost them £9m. If there was reason enough to sack Conte after going AWOL for 10 days and you don't do it, that's your own fault.

Edited April 2, 20197 yr by ForeverCarefree

34 minutes ago, Argo said:

I actually agree with the Costa situation in isolation, it's some other actions that makes the poor Conte narrative laughable, he should have been fired without compensation the moment he lost at home to Tottenham, I'm no lawyer but that alone should be enough for us to win the case.

Just corrected that for you bud