I love Conte and I would hate him to go but he's really let me down this season, I didn't think a man who could get everything right last season would be so incompetent this season. He can moan about transfers not going his way and all such but what on earth was spending over 100 million on Drinkwater/Bakayoko/Zappcosta about? 

If we spent around 150 million on transfers I expect the team to improve, but it hasn't. A very depressing situation we have here I think, we are dropping out of the top 4 and for the first time this season I'm not confident on finishing top 4. We have very hard fixtures this upcoming month, if we are still in the top 4 by the end of those fixtures I'll be very surprised. 

All of our youth players have been impressive and we still won't play them, when has Ampadu looked bad? He's looked better than Gary Cahill ever has. Musonda looked very promising, we send him on loan to Celtic for 18 months... And I just know that Hudson Odoi will not get any game time despite playing well. I would much rather play Ampadu than Bakayoko, simple as that really. 

What shocks me with modern day managers is how long they stick with their preferred formation. They would even take getting sacked before testing something different.

Look at last season, we started 4-2-3-1. This wasn't Conte's preferred formation so he quickly changed it to what he prefers, but now that has stopped working too. It's up to the manager to come up with new tactics and formations, it's their job. They are the head coach, why wait to get the sack, why not try something fresh?

There is zero doubt in my mind he's just waiting for the season to end/he gets sacked so he can leave.

Just hope whoever comes in is an attack 1st defend 2nd manager for a change. 

If we aren't going to compete with United and city, at least let's play some decent football for a change. 

He is a dead man walking, rightly or wrongly. Simple as. 

Oh dear

1 minute ago, Slojo said:

Oh dear

Okay it's over.

We still don't have the ideal partner to pair next to Kante. That complete central midfielder that combines the technical and physical aspect and can make quick forward passes. Spurs have it in Dembele. City have tons of them. Bakayoko and Fabregas are obviously NOT the answer.This is just simple basic sh*t our board continues to blunder in. 

Board are at fault for many, many problems the club is facing just now. Having said that, Contes team selections and subs are beyond abysmal of late. I love 3 at the back formations but Christ almighty it’s not working at the moment, switch it up, try something new. We’re so predictable it’s painful.

 

As disappointing as it’ll be, he won’t see the end of the season I’m afraid!

Edited January 31, 20188 yr by EdinburghBlue

27 minutes ago, Slojo said:

I love Conte and I would hate him to go but he's really let me down this season, I didn't think a man who could get everything right last season would be so incompetent this season. He can moan about transfers not going his way and all such but what on earth was spending over 100 million on Drinkwater/Bakayoko/Zappcosta about? 

If we spent around 150 million on transfers I expect the team to improve, but it hasn't. A very depressing situation we have here I think, we are dropping out of the top 4 and for the first time this season I'm not confident on finishing top 4. We have very hard fixtures this upcoming month, if we are still in the top 4 by the end of those fixtures I'll be very surprised. 

All of our youth players have been impressive and we still won't play them, when has Ampadu looked bad? He's looked better than Gary Cahill ever has. Musonda looked very promising, we send him on loan to Celtic for 18 months... And I just know that Hudson Odoi will not get any game time despite playing well. I would much rather play Ampadu than Bakayoko, simple as that really. 

Conte didn't buy those players, Abramovich did. Conte doesn't decide who comes in or goes out, Abramovich does. The responsibility for this f**k up lies with Abramovich

2 minutes ago, pamery said:

Conte didn't buy those players, Abramovich did. Conte doesn't decide who comes in or goes out, Abramovich does. The responsibility for this f**k up lies with Abramovich

Abramovich was the one who scouted Emerson, Zappacosta, Rudiger (solid so far) and Alonso from Serie A? Abramovich was the one desperate for Bakayoko? C'mon. Conte has infiltrated our squad with garbage from Serie A and mediocre footballers. 

Edited January 31, 20188 yr by The Liquidator

Just now, The Liquidator said:

Abramovich was the one who scouted Emerson, Zappacosta, Rudiger (solid so far) and Alonso from Serie A? Abramovich was the one desperate for Bakayoko? C'mon. 

 “I think the club decide our transfer market.

“My task is to try to improve the team. About the transfer market, from the summer, the club decides every single player.

“For sure, I don’t have a big impact on the transfer market.”

3 minutes ago, pamery said:

Conte didn't buy those players, Abramovich did. Conte doesn't decide who comes in or goes out, Abramovich does. The responsibility for this f**k up lies with Abramovich

Conte picks the team, chooses the tactics, and motivates the team, he is failing in all of these aspects at present

Starts playing the  Funeral March........again

3 minutes ago, pamery said:

 “I think the club decide our transfer market.

“My task is to try to improve the team. About the transfer market, from the summer, the club decides every single player.

“For sure, I don’t have a big impact on the transfer market.”

Oh please. So all of a sudden it's a coincidence that we are now going for so many players from Serie A? From what I understand and read somewhere, Conte identifies the type of player he wants and the board present him with a list and they work together to go for players in that list. I don't believe for a second he has absolutely zero say in any part of the transfer process. 

 

54 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Oh dear

He don't give a sh*t because he knows he won't be there at the end of the season, problem is the players and fans know and the performances are look awful

Another black mark on Conte's record that has been beat to death already  is that he never plays or trusts youth players. Whether its Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Musonda, Ake. All he wants to do is spend, spend, spend. Well guess what, this isn't 2005 anymore. Those days of Roman's largesse are long gone. The only time he plays young players is in the dying minutes of games or when he has no other choice to do so. The only reason he's playing Christensen is because he fell out with Luiz and Christensen had already gotten his experience in Germany. Conte is not a risk taker at all and has no faith in our academy. 

Another black mark is the awful football. I can count on one hand the amount of games I've enjoyed watching this season. If Conte was able to produce the football a Klopp is doing with Liverpool rn, even if we were 4th, we will chuck it down as a transitional season. There will be very very few complaining. 

So again it's the same complaints we had under Mourinho. I long for the day in this so-called Abramovich Era we can have a manager that produces attacking football and has a positive, proactive approach to every game. That doesn't react to the opposition but instead tries to impose an attacking style of play on them. I'm tired of defending deep, counter-attacks and sporadic forays into the opposition box in big games. I'm bored to death of watching sh*te football. I'll rather we finished 4th, played good football and integrated our academy players with meaningful game time. 

Smile Antonio, smile and we'll smile with you, rain or shine, over land and sea. just smile again please, and jump round a bit as well.

Conte is veering into Trump territory with just how deluded some of his comments are.
I love the guy but I just feel he isn't passionate anymore, he's counting down the days to leave and the players can see it.

8 minutes ago, The Liquidator said:

Another black mark on Conte's record that has been beat to death already  is that he never plays or trusts youth players. Whether its Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Musonda, Ake. All he wants to do is spend, spend, spend. Well guess what, this isn't 2005 anymore. Those days of Roman's largesse are long gone. The only time he plays young players is in the dying minutes of games or when he has no other choice to do so. The only reason he's playing Christensen is because he fell out with Luiz and Christensen had already gotten his experience in Germany. Conte is not a risk taker at all and has no faith in our academy. 

Another black mark is the awful football. I can count on one hand the amount of games I've enjoyed watching this season. If Conte was able to produce the football a Klopp is doing with Liverpool rn, even if we were 4th, we will chuck it down as a transitional season. There will be very very few complaining. 

So again it's the same complaints we had under Mourinho. I long for the day in this so-called Abramovich Era we can have a manager that produces attacking football and has a positive, proactive approach to every game. That doesn't react to the opposition but instead tries to impose an attacking style of play on them. I'm tired of defending deep, counter-attacks and sporadic forays into the opposition box in big games. I'm bored to death of watching sh*te football. I'll rather we finished 4th, played good football and integrated our academy players with meaningful game time. 

These are all valid points (with the exception that i don't think many managers try youth anymore). It was not lost on me tonight that whilst our turgid, insipid, cowardly performance ground its way to an inevitable loss and our manager's previous high pressing, high tempo football of last season is a distant memory with our manager and the club apparently at loggerheads over our mediocre, uninspiring, transfer policy, across the city Spuds were blasting Man Utd out of the water with attacking, flair footballers, from a settled squad mixing talented youth players that have progressed into the team along with experienced quality players. The manager and the board/Levy have a clear vision and a direction. Researched and identified single purchases are made of players that add and improve the squad, focussing upon specific areas to reinforce.

Ironically this attractive model, one that we would all be happy to have at our club has actually won bu&&er all, whereas the laughing stock merry go round that we have at the Bridge apparently is the most successful winning model over the last ten years.

It kind of makes me question whether i really want to win everything or be entertained week in week out whilst trying to reach that target.

Outplayed at home by Leicester and tonight Bournemouth, and we only won by a narrow margin against Southampton thanks to Alonso. It's a worrying trend. Eddie Howe seems adept at using different tactics, Conte is deluded if he thinks he's "exploiting this squad to the maximum level".

Edited February 1, 20188 yr by the special one

10 minutes ago, the special one said:

Outplayed at home by Leicester and tonight Bournemouth, and we only won by a narrow margin against Southampton thanks to Alonso. It's a worrying trend. Eddie Howe seem adept at using different tactics, Conte is deluded if he thinks he's "exploiting this squad to the maximum level".

Yeah, that was a stupid thing to say. If he was exploiting the squad to the maximum level, then it wouldn't be getting beaten and outplayed by Bournemouth. No matter what team we sent out today, it should have been more than enough to have been the dominant side.

But who's fault is that if he's exploiting the squad to maximum level? Is Conte saying he can't improve the squad with a 150 million transfer budget? Is he directly saying that we will never be good enough to challenge for the title? It's a big insult to the players to tell them that last season they overachieved. 

What message does this send out exactly.. It really appears to me that Conte has no wishes to be at the club anymore. 

2 hours ago, Famous CFC said:

Conte will walk before he gets dropped. It's a mixture of him and the sh*te in his XI he's picking. Biggest off season coming up in years at Chelsea. I'm sure a few big name managers will be put off taking the Chelsea job. 

0% chance of him walking. He's basically been daring the board to sack him for weeks, he wants his payoff and i'm convinced he knows his next job already and it's either PSG or Bayern.