1 hour ago, Spiller86 said:

Interesting that Simeone has ruled himself out of taking on our coaching role according to Matt Hughes in The Times.

I think that speaks to a bit risk for us around replacing Conte. Now we not only have high expectations but have less weight in the transfer market. For me that makes us a much less attractive option for top coaches. 

Enrique might sound great on paper, given his success with a ludicrous MSN front three, but speak to Roma fans and they will tell a very different story. He was by no means universally popular at Barca either. 

Conte is still the best coach out there on the market. The grass is definitely not greener out there. 

Exactly, who do the 'Conte out', camp think we're going to get in stead. The only manager that would, will come for a hefty severance package knowing full well that a three year deal means about 6 months.

I didn't use to care about what others thought of us and loved the banter and piss taking with other fans, but now we are an embarrassing f**king joke.

I miss my guy Diego

Was thinking about how different it would be with a motivated Diego then realised he wanted to leave so ....

10 hours ago, Slojo said:

We've spent 200 million and haven't improved the side, I wouldn't say it's a great window. 

It was a bad summer window. It was good January window.

No experienced manger with any sense would take this job, only a young up and Coming manager would. We have basically alienated our club from the best manager's in the world.

What's AVB doing these days, besides racing cars? 

Rumours that we want Sarri from Napoli. Would love that with what he's done over there but we'd have to give him time. Instilling an attacking philosophy into Chelsea will take a year or two to achieve. 

7 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Rumours that we want Sarri from Napoli. Would love that with what he's done over there but we'd have to give him time. Instilling an attacking philosophy into Chelsea will take a year or two to achieve. 

I'm not convinced by Sarri personally, maybe if he brings the entire Napoli team with him but that isn't going to happen. I'd prefer Eddie Howe myself, Bournemouth consistently punch above their weight and if we're not going to compete financially we may need to do so ourselves until the new stadium has been built.

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by the special one

58 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Rumours that we want Sarri from Napoli. Would love that with what he's done over there but we'd

Quote

have to give him time.

Instilling an attacking philosophy into Chelsea will take a year or two to achieve. 

And that is EXACTLY WHAT CHELSEA DO NOT DO

why are media giving conte so much grief , Klopp has won nothing and out of the fa cup , Spurs boss again won nothing , Wenger not in CL and out of the top 4 and fa cup .

all those managers get an easy run from the press where as Conte and Chelsea who sit fourth still in fa cup and cl get a right roasting every week.

16 minutes ago, gazza said:

why are media giving conte so much grief , Klopp has won nothing and out of the fa cup , Spurs boss again won nothing , Wenger not in CL and out of the top 4 and fa cup .

all those managers get an easy run from the press where as Conte and Chelsea who sit fourth still in fa cup and cl get a right roasting every week.

For Liverpool is easy - most of the pundits are ex-Liverpool players.

Spurs are promoting the next golden generation of England - Ali, Kane etc. so they are untouchable rn.

And for Arsenal, I don't think they expect Arsene to do something significant anymore, except a domestic cup here and there.

 

And we have a history of sacking our managers when things go south, so we're easy to be picked up by the media if we're in rough period.

 

28 minutes ago, gazza said:

why are media giving conte so much grief , Klopp has won nothing and out of the fa cup , Spurs boss again won nothing , Wenger not in CL and out of the top 4 and fa cup .

all those managers get an easy run from the press where as Conte and Chelsea who sit fourth still in fa cup and cl get a right roasting every week.

Because we won two titles out of the last three and people tend to expect more from us. Those clubs you've mentioned haven't won the league in decades. Even the pundits who dislike Chelsea can't ignore our record.

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by abramovich

Lawrenson on football focus, expects Conte to be gone before end of season.

Said something like, 'Same old Chelsea, win something and next season the club doesn't invest or buy players the coach wants, coach leaves.'

 

2017/2018

Pep Guardiola 2.45 points per game

Antonio Conte 2.23 points per game

Mauricio Pochettino 2.18 points per game

Danny Cowley (Lincoln Ciy) 1.96 points per game

Chris Wilder (Sheffield Utd) 1.94 points per game

Jose Mourinho 1.93 points per game

 

Seems absolutely bonkers to want to get rid of him or the pressure that's on him from the media.

The media does it because it's Chelsea.

why would the board buy conte players if they were planning on firing him?

2 hours ago, Luca Vialli said:

2017/2018

Pep Guardiola 2.45 points per game

Antonio Conte 2.23 points per game

Mauricio Pochettino 2.18 points per game

Danny Cowley (Lincoln Ciy) 1.96 points per game

Chris Wilder (Sheffield Utd) 1.94 points per game

Jose Mourinho 1.93 points per game

 

Seems absolutely bonkers to want to get rid of him or the pressure that's on him from the media.

Is that the season or calendar year 2017 + 2018 YTD?

Calendar year 2017 + 2018

lets play the media game then , gone on weds 15th march

It's got nothing to do with the media, it's to do with the fact he's never settled in England, and he's never given the impression he wants to stay here for long. If any of you are in any doubt, look at the contract he signed last summer, which was basically a pay rise and nothing else. Why would the club give him a pay rise unless they felt he was going to walk? In normal circumstances, a pay rise coincides with a longer deal. What happened in the summer is unprecedented. 

 

Is it the media's fault he's been so negative at every single press conference this term? Yesterday he was asked if he was happy with the three new winter arrivals. That was the first question put to him at his press conference. Watch it if you don't believe me. He couldn't even bring himself to say he was happy. He just said transfers had nothing to do with him. How does that instil confidence and positivity and belief? It doesn't.

 

He's paid 8 million a year or something stupid. Say you're happy for f**k's sake. I don't see Pochettino or Klopp or Wenger complaining about their board constantly. Is that the media's fault too? Sure, Conte hasn't got all the players he wanted. Guess what? That's what happens in the real world. Klopp has made a profit in transfers since he's been at Liverpool. Do we think he always gets his first choices? Do Tottenham? Do Arsenal? Arsenal just sold their best player. Again.

 

This whole season has been a nightmare. So much negativity and Conte has to take responsibility. How many good days have we had? Really good days? We're two thirds through the season. Man Utd at home? Atletico away? Two games. Tottenham away maybe but we were lucky. Conte likes to pass the buck, blaming everything on the board, saying he's getting the maximum out of our squad, because he's such a genius. Saying he wants to honour his contract when nothing could be further from the truth. You don't continually make pointed barbs towards your board if you want to stay in a job. He wants out but he hasn't got the integrity to walk. He's making his position untenable and forcing the board's hand.

 

Question for you Antonio, when we beat Norwich on penalties was that getting the maximum out of our squad? When we failed to beat Arsenal in the 1st leg even though they had Ozil, Sanchez, Cech and many others out, was that getting the maximum out of them? From what I could see, we lacked the bottle to take the game to them when they were there for the taking, and we paid for it in the 2nd leg when we were the ones suffering with injuries. I hate a manager that doesn't take responsibility. It's not his fault, it's his players, it's the board. I can't stand it.

 

Yes, if Man City weren't having a ridiculous season we'd be closer to the top, yes we're still in the CL and FA Cup, so things should be taken in perspective, but look at how we're playing, look at how impotent we look a lot of the time, look at Conte's demeanour. He's a different person from last season. He exudes so much negativity and it's spread right across our club and that's his doing. Right from the beginning when asked about the youngsters we loaned or sold in the summer, he said it was the board's decision. He refused to play them, what else was the board meant to do? Let them all waste another year of their careers and run down their contracts even more? Stop laying everything at the board's door will you please? Your job is to present a united front. You're paid a hell of a lot of money to do it. His negativity has cost us a lot, it's transmitted itself to his players.

 

When he texted Costa the board supported him, he should remember that. He's also fallen out with Luiz this season and we've missed his personality on the pitch. He fell out with Jose and he's only had one victory since, and that was against Brighton. We're out of the LC and we've faltered in the league. Maybe that's not the board's fault, maybe that's his fault for playing with fire. He got suckered into Jose's trap. That's nobody's fault but his own I'm afraid to say.

 

I've got sympathy for him in the sense that he's had to make do with Batshuayi for 18 months when he clearly didn't want him, and he didn't get his upgrades at WB. I've also got sympathy that we sold Matic to Utd over his head. Yes he may have had reasons to be pissed off but on the other hand he's got plenty of reasons to be happy. We've got some world-class players and he's been given a net spend of about 140 million since he got the job, and that 140 million net spend looks a lot better when you consider we buy low and sell high. We got 160 million for Oscar, Costa and Matic alone, and the business we've done this winter, for a grand total of 50 million, is incredible value in today's market. Our squad is a lot stronger than the one he inherited.

 

So what do I want? Ideally, I'd like him to cheer up, make friends with the board, get on with his job, stop being such a sourpuss, and stay, but that's not going to happen, because he doesn't want it to happen basically. Let's all be clear about this. He doesn't give a f**k any more and I want him out of our club. Shame because he's a brilliant manager but he's got a fatal flaw, as has been evident throughout his career. He needs to be a little more diplomatic and a little more understanding of his employers. I really don't think Chelsea's such a bad job. 

 

What should the club do next? Personally I'd like to see us get Eddie Howe. The job he's done at Bournemouth is incredible. Some of you may be unfamiliar with it. His record there is truly remarkable. He's performed a miracle at that club. More importantly however, I want a manager that's prepared to build, that's prepared to play youngsters, that doesn't act like a spoilt child when they don't get exactly what they want, because they're only thinking short-term, because they only want to enhance their CV before they move on to another job. I'd like us to go for someone who can see themselves staying at the club for a long time, who would therefore have the long-term interests of the club at heart. A manager that wouldn't sell KDB and Salah and Lukaku immediately because they can't recognise talent when they see it and because they're not prepared to nurture. I want a manager that's prepared to allow a player to develop. We can't compete with City and Utd financially, not at present anyway, so let's bring in another type of manager, a builder, let's bring in a builder. I'm convinced the Chelsea public would get behind such a manager, particularly if they favoured a progressive style.

 

All the time Conte's been with us we've been linked with defenders, with WBs, with midfielders, with CFs. We've never been linked with attackers. He doesn't really want attackers. He thinks Loftus-Cheek and Barkley are attackers. They're not. Picking up the ball with their backs to goal is not their game. They're midfielders, attacking midfielders, they should be facing the goal when they pick up the ball. This should appear obvious. We have poor attackers, except for Hazard, but strangely Conte isn't interested in bringing any in. Those don't appear to be the players he really covets. Hudson-Odoi, he should be playing on Monday against Watford, he should at least get on the field before Pedro, but he won't. That isn't the board's fault.

 

So yup, I'm going for Eddie Howe, I'd be very happy with that, rather than the latest name off the designer shelf. The way Conte's been talking about our board however you wonder if anyone will want the job in the future. He really should learn to shut his gob. He's paid to do right by this club and he isn't. You lot talk about the media. Conte has fuelled it. He asks why he's under so much pressure, why there's so much scrutiny around his job. Maybe if he signed a longer deal, said he loved living in England and didn't imply he was unhappy with transfers every time he opened his mouth there would be less speculation. Did he ever think of that?

 

Last season was so positive and he got all the credit and rightly so. This season he'd like to dodge all the blame for the change in atmosphere. Our club and our board get a lot of criticism but in this case I think much of it's unwarranted. We're running a business, we're trying to comply with FFP, and we have a stadium to build. Conte's been backed. If he can't handle getting every single player on his wish list I'm afraid he should f**k off. It's childish, its spoilt and it's narcissistic. I'm sorry but I've just about had enough of it.

A great post Davey and I agree with a majority of what you said. However, I do believe that if the Board is responsible for the transfers then they truly have over the years screwed some of our best managers over, especially after a winning season.  I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to understand that once you win the league you become the target for everyone to beat; everyone knows you have to refresh your first team and squad in general.  We don't know what the discussions were after last year; did they think that the squad was strong enough knowing that we were going to play CL football against the best in Europe?  If they did they were idiotic, even if you throw in a few kids the squad itself was never going to be strong enough for this seasons campaign, especially with Costa gone and an unproven striker leading the line.  City and United were never going to be as bad as last season and yet they failed to recognize all the signs.

Yes we brought in a couple of players but they could be classed only as squad players and certainly not an improvement of what we had.  We also don't know what the discussions were between Conte and the Board...what were the teams targets this year?  I would be very surprised if simply a top 4 finish in the league was a target; an ambitious Board surely would be looking to retain the title...not go backwards and accept less.  Probably a good domestic and European Cup run was thrown in as well.  With that being said, if the Board had any intention on winning the title then they have not given Conte the tools to do the job; buying injured players in the off season was just the start of where we are now.  Even if they did ask him for targets, then they have failed him miserably, because it certainly appears they have gone after quantity rather than quality and have seemingly failed to land not one of the players he asked for.  

I was hoping he would buck the trend and hang around a few years; but this is Chelsea run by a billionaire with an incompetent board when it comes to football matters, who simply pull the trigger when the manager barks back.  Why would Eddie Howe want to come here?  This owner and Board want instant gratification they don't want to build a future with the youngsters...well they say they do but only if it comes with instant gratification and success and if that doesn't work, we'll fire the manager.

This merry go round of success and failure will continue at this club while Roman is the owner and the Board has the mentality it does........I guess I should be used it by now having supported this club since 1970.   

 

1 hour ago, gazza said:

lets play the media game then , gone on weds 15th march

Beware the Ides of March. 

2 minutes ago, charierre said:

Beware the Ides of March. 

Is it sad that this almost seems optimistic?

@Davey Baby Good post yet think Eddie Howe will most likely replace Wenger.

1 minute ago, Strider6003 said:

@Davey Baby Good post yet think Eddie Howe will most likely replace Wenger.

Enrique is who we will be getting if Matt Law and co are correct. 

2 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Enrique is who we will be getting if Matt Law and co are correct. 

Yes have seen that though given our recent past of support for managers do you think he is likely to come?