I'm in the same boat. Was aware of him but the more I've read the more I think he ticks a lot of boxes. Love the passion, the discipline and the obsessiveness because I think we need someone who will weed out the players who don't have the bottle required. The tactical flexibility will please a lot of people too. Plus he's Italian, stylish and just fits that Chelsea image.

 

The Head Coach thing isn't too big a deal because I think modern clubs have so much going on you need to offload some of those responsibilities especially when it comes to developing youngsters. I don't want Conte spending any time caring about which Hungarian Second Division team's sub bench Matej Delac is on.

 

My problem is with the guy in the role now (don't know if I've mentioned that before!). The ideal candidate is someone who knows football top to bottom, has an eye for the admin side of it and most importantly has the trust of the owner, the fans and the coach and knows what this club is all about. It's a tricky role because you're working as a buffer between the owner and the Head Coach and you have to have both parties' interests in mind. What I think we have at the moment is someone who is wholly subservient to his meal ticket which someone like Conte might be suspicious of (as many of us probably are).

 

Agreed to put it bluntly we need a football man in a football mans role, with emanelo part of the problem for me lays in what is his exact role what is he responsible for? is he in charge of just the loan army or has he a more dof role which includes first team responsibilities? does anyone know for sure? his job description on the official website is specific but vague at same time it says "He has been an important part of the first team management structure since his arrival in October 2007, and now supports the work of the first team manager, leading the club's international and domestic scouting network, and assists in driving the technical programmes of our Academy and international youth network"  and whats a technical director when its at home? is he basically in charge of the loan army and sending the scouts out on their assignments or is he a dof with all that goes with the job but under the guise of technical director?

 

Im not sure personally to what extent his fingers are in the first team pie as alot of transfers seemed like mourinho transfers but also a number seemed not like mourinho so there is the confusion, but im not sure anyone would argue the man got the job by being the best qualified, how much power does a man who has no notable achievement at playing or coaching level have at our club?

 

As usual so many questions with so little answers from the club, but it kind of feels/looks like that in the loan army emanelo has created a job for himself at the club, kind of like how health and safety industry create new problems to create new jobs to keep themselves in work, its changing titles on an office door to keep themselves in work, grant and emanelo will never be wanted/liked by our supporters as from the outside its hard to imagine how those 2 numpties have got to where they are without being very socially savvy shall we say.

Not really impressed with this. Good manager but doesn't compare to the Guardiola/Mourinho/Simeone tier.

We'll finish top four and get to the quarter finals of the Champions League for sure, beyond that we needed someone better.

If we get to the quarter finals of the CL next season I'd be amazed!

Personally id sack emanelo off and give hiddink the dof of football job if I had my way, as long as conte as manager didnt object have other ideas, is perfectly suited to the job for my money, comes from a country that has a strong pedigree in youth development, knows the club, has the owner on side and actually has a footballing background that would put him in contention for the job even if he wasnt friendly with the owner.

what will the Glasgow Rangers contingent think of another Roman Catholic in the hot seat? maybe the flag of Vatican City should be hung from the Shed End

Simeone took a team that was battling against relegation to the title in a league that contained teams of unparalleled quality and riches worldwide in Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as being a few seconds away from the Champions League trophy.

Conte took Italy's traditional powerhouse back to the top of Serie A and the Champions League quarter finals.

Conte took a side that had, had consecutive 7th placed finishes and to league title victories three times on the bounce.

I'm not sure how you can spin that any way other than a great managerial achievement.

Juventus' past achievements play no part in Conte's role of establishing the club as the power house of Italian football.

Conte took a side that had, had consecutive 7th placed finishes and to league title victories three times on the bounce.

I'm not sure how you can spin that any way other than a great managerial achievement.

Juventus' past achievements play no part in Conte's role of establishing the club as the power house of Italian football.

I'd like to add Juve's points total also increased every season he was in charge as well

Conte took a side that had, had consecutive 7th placed finishes and to league title victories three times on the bounce.

I'm not sure how you can spin that any way other than a great managerial achievement.

Juventus' past achievements play no part in Conte's role of establishing the club as the power house of Italian football.

Well except that it gave him a ready-made platform of money, prestige and influence to build on. Juventus were no pub side when he took over, they were an underperforming giant with a huge wage budget that had finished 2nd before the anomalous seasons of which you speak.

 

He overachieved only slightly. Simeone blew his targets away.

I'd like to add Juve's points total also increased every season he was in charge as well

 

indeed finishing with a record high total for serie a in the last, 102 points I believe.

Well except that it gave him a ready-made platform of money, prestige and influence to build on. Juventus were no pub side when he took over, they were an underperforming giant with a huge wage budget that had finished 2nd before the anomalous seasons of which you speak.

 

 

Good point.

 

How do you think Conte will cope with a ready-made platform of money, prestige and influence to build on at this club which is an underperforming giant with a huge wage budget that had finished 1st before this anomalous season? 

Well except that it gave him a ready-made platform of money, prestige and influence to build on. Juventus were no pub side when he took over, they were an underperforming giant with a huge wage budget that had finished 2nd before the anomalous seasons of which you speak.

 

He overachieved only slightly. Simeone blew his targets away.

 

I think he did better than you give him credit for to be fair, juventus after the scandal were not exactly in their prime, inter had cherry picked all their best players and were streets ahead of juventus, I cant think of a good analogy to be fair, maybe something like if klopp came in and turned liverpool into title winners 3 on the bounce maybe *shudders at the thought*

Good point.

 

How do you think Conte will cope with a ready-made platform of money, prestige and influence to build on at this club which is an underperforming giant with a huge wage budget that had finished 1st before this anomalous season? 

Top four and Champions League quarter finals (in seasons beyond) like I said before. The Premier League will be far harder to win with Chelsea than Serie A was with Juventus. We aren't the best team and he won't be the best manager.

Top four and Champions League quarter finals (in seasons beyond) like I said before. The Premier League will be far harder to win with Chelsea than Serie A was with Juventus. We aren't the best team and he won't be the best manager.

 

What formation will he play next season? 

Excited to have another Italian in charge, and excited for ones with playing ties at Juve

 

I was talking with a friend of mine (Juve fan, his mother is from outside of Turin), and he mentioned that he will be shocked if Conte doesn't re-sign Terry.  Stated that Pirlo and Barzagli were players in similar positions (at AC and Wolfsburg respectively) and how Conte took them and got more out of them.

Anyone know what happened to his court hearing? I thought he might be banned for 6 months if found guilty. Might be good to hold on to Gus for a few extra months,

Thinking ahead when/if Jose goes to United and Pep with City, has Conte's teams ever played these? What was the outcome?

Anyone know what happened to his court hearing? I thought he might be banned for 6 months if found guilty. Might be good to hold on to Gus for a few extra months,

Apparently likely to be a fine if found guilty.

well I can't say what qualified him for the role exactly but that is true for many people who have similar roles around the world.

 

the way he joined the club (insinuated himself into the club some might say) left a sour taste. being placed into the coaching set up without ancelotti's consent or knowledge was clearly a big mistake but the blame for that probably falls on abramovich or perhaps other people running the club.

he was at that time the main opposition scout (a role villas-boas previously occupied) and I can see transferable skills between that and his current position. I also have no requirement personally for this figure to be someone high profile and I think promoting from within the club is in theory as valid as hiring from elsewhere. 

 

in any case I didn't sit in on the job application and he's never responded to my requests to see his cv so I really can only judge him on what (I infer) he has done in his position.

 

the head coach / manager title relating to conte and jose is notable because I think we are going to see him resume more responsibility for first team players and that under jose his influence on transfers scaled back. newspapers have said conte wants a new director to replace him. whilst seeing emenalo leave wouldn't bother me much I don't think that is how it should work. part of having a director in place is that you can ensure a level of stability (or, ugh, 'maintain your philosophy') even when you change coach.  anyway my assessment of his job done is as follows (and- apologies- this is genuinely as brief as I can be):

 

positives:

 

- reduced the average age of the first team squad

-signed good young first team player such as hazard, oscar, azplicueta, schurrle etc

-signed a lot of young players with a view to the first team such as lukaku, de bruyne, courtois

-possibly a coincidence but the club is far less politically unstable than it was before his arrival

-largely stopped the arnesen policy of buying expensive players for the various youth sides

-the academy has flourished in all aspects and this is something for which he deserves some of the credit.

-the large buy to sell programme, which I am opposed to on matters of principle, does appear to be making us money that can go back towards funding first team signings.

-speculatively may have been involved in conte's appointment

 

negatives

-the aforementioned programme. one wonders how much of the wage burden is on the club. it should be nothing but given we became the highest paying side in terms of wages last season either fabregas and costa are the best paid players in the league by far or something is going wrong here. I haven't seen the implications of us being the top paying club for last season really discussed much in these terms, but this is the conclusion I am drawing. even last season you could make the argument that the squad is relatively thin so this is a serious concern.

- when he had more control of the transfers he did leave jose a squad with gaps that needed filling- particularly central midfield. no-one being fair could say well done for lukaku and courtois without questioning his faith in a mid thirties lampard and essien (etc).

-ultimately no youth player has fully broken through under his watch.

-speculatively may have been involved in benitez' appointment.

-our summer window was a disaster. bidding for pogba and so late on was ludicrous and surely he would have been involved in that situation. djilibodji was signed literally with hours to spare so I accept it would've been hard to sign more serious alternatives to stones at that point- especially if we intended to resume our courtship of him. but a pattern emerges- we spent too much time and energy on rooney and then on stones both times we should have recognised we weren't going to get them. obviously jose was driving for both but it is the directors job to recognise the situation.

 

a lot of things about his legacy/ contribution are still to be decided really. but I don't think people using him as a proxy to criticise abramovich is valid and stuff about his interview after jose was sacked or him coaching a girls team is total nonsense IMO. I think he's being used as a scapegoat in some circles for things that have nothing to do with him. people want a target to focus their anger on but I don't think this stuff should be factored into the analysis.  I would add that I don't recall one piece of criticism for mike forde when he was at the club and certainly nothing about his playing or coaching background.

 

 

re sammer and begiristain. I think sammer has been close to an unqualified success. of course it helps to be at a superclub in a league where every single domestic player aims to be a bayern munich player. it also helps to have guardiola, but of course he deserves praise for helping attract him in the first place. on the other hand he effectively ushered out a treble winning manager who would have carried on if he was given the chance.

 

begiristain's transfer record is extremely patchy in my view. extremely patchy. I think emenalo compares favourably at this point in time, but it must be said he was obviously hired with the intention of eventually bringing guardiola and to that end he has been a success. I don't look at many directors enviously thinking "what if?". les reed at southampton perhaps, but then its such a different club in so many respects. it is hard to compare.

It's inevitable someone would do this, so I thought why not me.

After months of speculation about possible contenders, Chelsea announced today that Antonio Conte will be the head coach starting the 2016-2017 season. Fans have been contemplating this selection. Discussions about managers and head coaches have always been deeply contentious among Chelsea fans.

The context in which he enters is unusual. It is incontestable to say that Chelsea have had a disappointing season. You could call it a season of discontent during which expressions of contempt have been common.

The club and its fans have questions about their new man on the touchline. Will he implement an enjoyable contemporary football style? Is he a good raconteur who can motivate his squad in the dressing room before the game and during half time?

 

Above all, the club and its fans want their new coach to return them to their winning ways in the league and in cup contests--can he or Conte?

I contemplated doing it but couldn't be bothered.....

well I can't say what qualified him for the role exactly but that is true for many people who have similar roles around the world.

 

the way he joined the club (insinuated himself into the club some might say) left a sour taste. being placed into the coaching set up without ancelotti's consent or knowledge was clearly a big mistake but the blame for that probably falls on abramovich or perhaps other people running the club.

he was at that time the main opposition scout (a role villas-boas previously occupied) and I can see transferable skills between that and his current position. I also have no requirement personally for this figure to be someone high profile and I think promoting from within the club is in theory as valid as hiring from elsewhere. 

 

in any case I didn't sit in on the job application and he's never responded to my requests to see his cv so I really can only judge him on what (I infer) he has done in his position.

 

 

This went as most 'defences' of Emenalo go. It glosses over his background at the Tuscon Soccer Academy and lack of any real experience before joining the staff under Grant who was his former coach (all of this is readily Googlable fyi). Considering this was what I specifically asked about it's a shame that you don't expand on this further but I understand why.

 

The fact that Wilkins was sacked and replaced by Emenalo for one game ahead of Clement didn't just leave a sour taste. It was reckless and that is a trend with Emenalo's appointments but I'll try to remember to come back to that later on.

 

 

positives:

 

- reduced the average age of the first team squad

-signed good young first team player such as hazard, oscar, azplicueta, schurrle etc

-signed a lot of young players with a view to the first team such as lukaku, de bruyne, courtois

-possibly a coincidence but the club is far less politically unstable than it was before his arrival

-largely stopped the arnesen policy of buying expensive players for the various youth sides

-the academy has flourished in all aspects and this is something for which he deserves some of the credit.

-the large buy to sell programme, which I am opposed to on matters of principle, does appear to be making us money that can go back towards funding first team signings.

-speculatively may have been involved in conte's appointment

 

negatives

-the aforementioned programme. one wonders how much of the wage burden is on the club. it should be nothing but given we became the highest paying side in terms of wages last season either fabregas and costa are the best paid players in the league by far or something is going wrong here. I haven't seen the implications of us being the top paying club for last season really discussed much in these terms, but this is the conclusion I am drawing. even last season you could make the argument that the squad is relatively thin so this is a serious concern.

- when he had more control of the transfers he did leave jose a squad with gaps that needed filling- particularly central midfield. no-one being fair could say well done for lukaku and courtois without questioning his faith in a mid thirties lampard and essien (etc).

-ultimately no youth player has fully broken through under his watch.

-speculatively may have been involved in benitez' appointment.

-our summer window was a disaster. bidding for pogba and so late on was ludicrous and surely he would have been involved in that situation. djilibodji was signed literally with hours to spare so I accept it would've been hard to sign more serious alternatives to stones at that point- especially if we intended to resume our courtship of him. but a pattern emerges- we spent too much time and energy on rooney and then on stones both times we should have recognised we weren't going to get them. obviously jose was driving for both but it is the directors job to recognise the situation.

 

 

Ignoring for a second that under his watch we are now 10th in the league with no Champions League football I'm not sure how much responsibility you actually want to attribute to him. See you want to give him enough to defend his tenure here but you don't want to give him too much that makes it look like the decline that has occurred under his watch was in anyway his fault. It's a tricky balancing act I'll give you that but the bolded bit is key. That is one thing we can certainly say is under his remit and in that regard he's been a failure.

 

Yes he's reduced the average age of the squad, but he's also eliminated a lot of the character and leadership from it. Just look at the number of national captains in the squad when he took over and look where we are now.

 

The last point about the Summer is key because it torpedoed our chances of retaining our title before the season even kicked off. 

 

a lot of things about his legacy/ contribution are still to be decided really. but I don't think people using him as a proxy to criticise abramovich is valid and stuff about his interview after jose was sacked or him coaching a girls team is total nonsense IMO. I think he's being used as a scapegoat in some circles for things that have nothing to do with him. people want a target to focus their anger on but I don't think this stuff should be factored into the analysis.  I would add that I don't recall one piece of criticism for mike forde when he was at the club and certainly nothing about his playing or coaching background.

 

 

Here's where I'm completely flummoxed. I've met Mike Forde on a number of occasions and heard him speak at a number of conferences. Not only is he amongst the most respected and well-liked men you could meet in English football, this is a man who worked at Bolton for many years and was one of the leading lights in changing the way English football viewed sport science. To bring him up in this discussion is quite frankly ridiculous not only because it suggests you don't really know who he is, but also because he's a fantastic example of what this club SHOULD be hiring - people who have worked at comparable levels elsewhere in the game and have a fantastic track record.

 

Sorry if that sounds harsh but I'm quite amazed to see his name brought up in this way.

 

 

re sammer and begiristain. I think sammer has been close to an unqualified success. of course it helps to be at a superclub in a league where every single domestic player aims to be a bayern munich player. it also helps to have guardiola, but of course he deserves praise for helping attract him in the first place. on the other hand he effectively ushered out a treble winning manager who would have carried on if he was given the chance.

 

 

Sammer is another example of someone who had to have a track record of excellent performance (at the German FA in his case) before a club of Bayern's stature would hire him. Much like Mike Forde he was hired on his record, not on whom he knew.

 

 

begiristain's transfer record is extremely patchy in my view. extremely patchy. I think emenalo compares favourably at this point in time, but it must be said he was obviously hired with the intention of eventually bringing guardiola and to that end he has been a success. I don't look at many directors enviously thinking "what if?". les reed at southampton perhaps, but then its such a different club in so many respects. it is hard to compare.

 

When Emenalo was coaching a girls soccer team (feel free to take this as a slight but it's 100% accurate) Txiki Begiristain was helping to put together the foundations of what would become the greatest club side of all time.

 

This year he's had a tough one, but they should still have Champions League football next season and they have acquired their number one target as coach. His track record affords him that latitude I think.

 

Emenalo doesn't. That was my point with the question and whilst I respect you for taking the time to answer my question probably beyond what I expected, I think you're always constrained by the limits of the facts. Cheers though.

Edited April 4, 201610 yr by ShedEnder91

well I am a little surprised with the tone of that response- I can't say I appreciate the condescension particularly given that a) I actually had a go- last time I put some questions to you I believe they were completely ignored and b) what you've written is not all that substantive. 

 

I've answered what you've put across as plainly as I see it.  broadly what I'm saying is that he's been part of a big improvement in our youth set up and whilst there seem to be blind points I think he seems to be good at recruitment. so long as we have a good, strong permanent manager working with him I'm entirely comfortable with him as the technical director.  that is all. it is a different opinion to yours, not some wild defence or veneration of a person who as I have already said cannot be complacent about his position. what you seem to interpret as a kind of disingenuous hedging of bets is merely an honest appraisal. I'll avoid falling into your trap of calling opinions facts and simply say the reason I include criticisms even in a supposed defence is because I am incredibly mistrustful of absolutes. far more than you appear to be.

 

anyway. here are my counterpoints:

 

-your conceit is that it matters (to some degree) about his experience before becoming technical director. I don't totally disagree but given he has been in situ for some time I am making my judgements entirely on the basis of what he has done for us. ultimately at this point in time that is what I'm concerned with. I have written about how he got to the club in the past before you were a member (unless you previously had a different membership). in any case he didn't appoint himself.

 

-you've written passionately about the mourinho sacking on a number of occasions. the way you describe us being tenth under emenalo's watch is a weird one. you seem to hold him more responsible for this season than jose. if indeed this is your opinion, it should follow that he is also more responsible for us being the current champions, and he deserves more credit than di matteo for the champions league win.

 

-regarding leadership I don't really know where to start. we had enough to win the title last season. most captains of nations are old. in fact outside of britain most captains are typically the player with the most caps. those tend to be the older ones. so you've created a bizarre circular argument, leaving aside how difficult it is to discern exactly what leadership is in any quantifiable sense. I would also add that jose was above all responsible for shaping the squad- this is evident in his job title and in the profile of players signed and sold.

 

-if you think jose's chances of retaining the title were torpedoed before the season began then this is a point we simply won't agree on. personally I think he's a good enough manager to have the squad he started with above leicester's. it appears you don't rate him quite as highly as you repeatedly claim.

 

-I don't care how often you've met forde or how good he is at conferences or powerpoint. your opinion of him is totally irrelevant here -as is mine- what I'm saying is that when he was at the club no-one ever criticised him in relationship to decisions taken by the club in the way they have done and continue to so with emenalo. it is a hypocrisy. it is a concept you are definitely au fait with, so you shouldn't need it spelling out.

 

your talk of begiristain at city again suggests you seem to think that these directors have more influence over the first team than the manager / head coach over the results in a given season. his track record at barcelona doesn't really come into the conversation of his assessment at city. one wonders what you would have said had emenalo signed mangala for £40m and bigiristain got zouma for £12m. one wonders...

Edited April 4, 201610 yr by g3.7

 

 

-your conceit is that it matters (to some degree) about his experience before becoming technical director. I don't totally disagree but given he has been in situ for some time I am making my judgements entirely on the basis of what he has done for us. ultimately at this point in time that is what I'm concerned with. I have written about how he got to the club in the past before you were a member (unless you previously had a different membership). in any case he didn't appoint himself.

 

 

I'd love a link to those posts if you could find them. I too have written about the path he took to get here and compared it to Sammer's arrival at Bayern so it would be interesting to see if our accounts line up at all.

 

I agree that he didn't appoint himself and that was my primary point. I've been critical of the board and Roman in particular and the appointment of Emenalo to this position when he had absolutely no track record that would suggest he would be a competent candidate is one of the points I've raised a few times.

 

Regardless I'm happy to judge him on what he's done and his time and where this club has gone.

 

-you've written passionately about the mourinho sacking on a number of occasions. the way you describe us being tenth under emenalo's watch is a weird one. you seem to hold him more responsible for this season than jose. if indeed this is your opinion, it should follow that he is also more responsible for us being the current champi

 

 

This is a very flawed premise because I've said that Jose was at fault for a number of issues this season, but I think the squad was weakened over the summer and that really doesn't fall at his feet. 

 

 

-regarding leadership I don't really know where to start. we had enough to win the title last season. most captains of nations are old. in fact outside of britain most captains are typically the player with the most caps. those tend to be the older ones. so you've created a bizarre circular argument, leaving aside how difficult it is to discern exactly what leadership is in any quantifiable sense. I would also add that jose was above all responsible for shaping the squad- this is evident in his job title and in the profile of players signed and sold.

 

 

That's a good point. People like Ballack and Drogba were older but I didn't just say leadership, I said character. I think this is a wider issue on the type of players we recruited after the 2012 season but in my opinion we've lost a certain type of player at this club. You may say leadership is hard to define in a quantifiable sense, but anyone who has played sports or worked for a reasonable amount of time knows what that indefinable quality is. Some might call it bottle but it's gone and when you look at the fact that we let people like Drogba and Cech go last summer, there's a case that they are exactly the types of players we failed to bring in.

 

-if you think jose's chances of retaining the title were torpedoed before the season began then this is a point we simply won't agree on. personally I think he's a good enough manager to have the squad he started with above leicester's. it appears you don't rate him quite as highly as you repeatedly claim.

 

 

I agree with people like Sir Alex Ferguson who say that when you win the league you need to improve your squad with 2-3 top class signings and I think we'll both agree that we didn't do that. Going back to my previous point of the types of players we lost and the dealings in general, we weakened the squad and that sent out the wrong message in my opinion. There was a distinct lack of ambition to our signings and that really seemed to set the mood at the club. There were also questionable decisions made over pre-season and some players simply started the season overweight and unfit (Costa has said as much).

 

That to me was where the season was lost, and the thing is anyone who watched us from mid-January onwards knew we needed to improve. The PSG games exemplified that but we didn't improve, in fact we regressed in my opinion and you simply can't do that in such a competitive league. 

 

-I don't care how often you've met forde or how good he is at conferences or powerpoint. your opinion of him is totally irrelevant here -as is mine- what I'm saying is that when he was at the club no-one ever criticised him in relationship to decisions taken by the club in the way they have done and continue to so with emenalo. it is a hypocrisy. it is a concept you are definitely au fait with, so you shouldn't need it spelling out.

 

 

This is just you doubling down on your error of bringing up the hiring of a well-respected man who had a track record of excellence in his field in comparison to Michael Emenalo. It's not even about my opinion of him (although I share it) or me having met the guy and seen a Powerpoint presentation of his (I actually have!), but the widely held view that he is one of the leading people in his field who had experience before being hired by us.

 

The reason no-one criticised him is exactly because of that and as I said, it's the perfect example of how we should be behaving as a club rather than hiring Roman's mate's proteges (a very similar argument about Emenalo could be levelled at Avram although he at least at experience as a coach, if not the requisite qualifications).

 

 

your talk of begiristain at city again suggests you seem to think that these directors have more influence over the first team than the manager / head coach over the results in a given season. his track record at barcelona doesn't really come into the conversation of his assessment at city. one wonders what you would have said had emenalo signed mangala for £40m and bigiristain got zouma for £12m. one wonders...

 

Another faulty premise because I don't think that. What I believe is that you need the best people possible working together in concert towards a shared aim, and I don't think we have that at this moment in time.I especially don't think we had that when Jose returned as manager and the one person who seemed to realise was rather surprisingly Emenalo, who tendered his resignation. 

 

Now I'm not using him as a scapegoat because I think the problems actually go beyond him. Roman needs to take a step-back but he probably won't, so the best you can hope for is a stronger presence in the Technical Director role. What we have now is a guy who was appointed not because of what he had done, but because of whom he knew and I don't agree with that in any walk of life to be honest. If we want to return to the top of the European game then I think we need to change the way we behave, and that starts with a review of everyone in the club.

 

Conte can't do much if the machine itself doesn't change because it becomes just another short-term fix for long-term fundamental problems. But if you disagree then that's fine. There's nothing to say that either one of us is right or wrong.

that's more like it. I'll save everyone some time by saying- in general we'll agree to disagree. I don't think you've understood quite what I'm saying, especially re forde. I'll pm you if you want. don't think there are many remaining links about emenalo's appointment but a one word summary is "suspicious".

 

what I will say is that ultimately it all comes down to abramovich. I think there are some small things to suggest he maybe has started to change over the past few years but I won't hold my breath. 

After such a poor season, I just hope that we respond with strength in the transfer market. I don't want us to wimper and sell our best players.

Mediocrity can creep up quickly.

Edited April 4, 201610 yr by JM7

Good to have this sorted early, now we can move on to who to sign, and who to let go.

 

 I don't think there are better candidates out there right now, let's all get behind the manager.