59 minutes ago, wallosh said:

2 hours ago, bisright1 said:

If only we'd signed Sanchez
Honoured to have Contes hype man on the forum. Thanks for the inside info! 
Zappacosta was def a Conte signing. Bakayoko was probably a Conte signing too considering he kept playing him. 
Anyway, we weren't in the running for koulibali, Van dijk, Sandro, walker, naingollan at any time. That's the entire clubs fault including Conte. When those players hear Chelsea, they thought of either working for a club where we sack the manager every 5 minutes or a club where they would work for Conte. Which would have preferred we correct. 
 

Are you pointing out that he wanted Bakayoko over Naingollan and Zapacosta over Walker?

No obviously not. 

I am pointing out those players were never going to sign for Chelsea so we had to sign other players. Those other players are ones Conte wanted. 

I'd like us to sign the best players in the world, every manager would. But when we don't we look at alternatives. Conte in my mind, was behind Zappa, Morata and Bakayoko. He wasn't behind Drinkwater or Barkley. I still think he was happy for Matic to be sold (just because in one press conference he said he didn't doesnt negate that he didn't take him on pre season before he went, he made no comments before he left, he was just covering his back) and he definitely wanted Costa gone. 

Don't bring up the best players in the world and say "oh but Conte wanted these". Its stupid. Sarri would like those too. So would AVB. So would Scolari. Its irrelevant. 

Edited May 23, 20197 yr by bisright1

2 hours ago, bisright1 said:

When the alternative is pep? Walker

When the alternative is playing in a system you like? Oxlade Chamberlain 

Kyle Walker is a Northerner so probably suited him to sign for City and to be honest, who wouldn't choose City if they were an option these days?

And I'm not exactly devastated that we missed out on Oxlade-Chamberlain!! Might have taken him over Ross Barkley but there's not a great deal in it.

Conte was a very good coach, he was also a stubborn w**ker who wanted to leave early into his contract, then when he was paid to stay basically downed tools and acted like a petulant little child because he didnt get the latest Action Man and instead got Aldi`s own version, Activity Keith.

But almost every serial-winning coach I know about is like that. Guardiola, Mourinho, Zidane, Ferguson and so on.
They are all stubborn and can’t handle it if they don’t get their way. And I think how things have gone since we didn’t support the man have shown that we would be much better of now if we had backed him.

13 minutes ago, Sindre said:

But almost every serial-winning coach I know about is like that. Guardiola, Mourinho, Zidane, Ferguson and so on.
They are all stubborn and can’t handle it if they don’t get their way. And I think how things have gone since we didn’t support the man have shown that we would be much better of now if we had backed him.

Guardiola didn't get his way in last summer market yet he just got on with it and retained the title.

Now was I expecting Conte to retain the title? No, but what Roman did or didn't do in the market doesn't excuse the run we had in the second half of that season, in Roman's era (possibly since the mid 90s) only Jose's meltdown period was worse both results and performance wise.

The hardest thing to take with Conte is we didn't fall so badly and miss out on CL because of incompetence, we fell because of his attitude which for me is 100x worse than someone being out of their depth. He has already proven he can get decent results with flawed squad's, so given his departure looked certain, why couldn't he have just got on with it and left us in a decent position? 

Edited May 23, 20197 yr by Argo

9 minutes ago, Argo said:

Guardiola didn't get his way in last summer market yet he just got on with it and retained the title.

 

How did Guardiola not get his way? He has a squad and a subs bench that is the envy of all the other teams so missing out on the odd player here & there is hardly something he's gonna lose any sleep over.

26 minutes ago, Nibs said:

How did Guardiola not get his way? He has a squad and a subs bench that is the envy of all the other teams so missing out on the odd player here & there is hardly something he's gonna lose any sleep over.

He wanted jorginho. He didn't get him.

Genuinely not getting jorginho has affected their season....Fernandinho has become their most important player. It's the reason they didn't get 100 points. 

57 minutes ago, Sindre said:

But almost every serial-winning coach I know about is like that. Guardiola, Mourinho, Zidane, Ferguson and so on.
They are all stubborn and can’t handle it if they don’t get their way. And I think how things have gone since we didn’t support the man have shown that we would be much better of now if we had backed him.

No they arent, did any of them just give up, act like a right twat for the whole season?

On 12/05/2019 at 17:34, Luca Vialli said:

Somewhere new and exciting for Victor Moses to play next year.

 

Would you buy a Lottery Ticket for me UPDATE

 

https://www.fcinternews.it/in-primo-piano/sky-sports-news-arrivano-conferme-l-inter-vuole-sia-lukaku-che-victor-moses-308603

 

10 minutes ago, dkw said:

No they arent, did any of them just give up, act like a right twat for the whole season? 

In what way was he a twat? Obviously, there was a battle between him and the board, but no one can blame only Conte for that.

And for as poor as the season was he did win us the FA-cup and we got two points less in the league then we did this season. Compared to his first season it was bad, compared to this one it was okay.

55 minutes ago, Nibs said:

How did Guardiola not get his way? He has a squad and a subs bench that is the envy of all the other teams so missing out on the odd player here & there is hardly something he's gonna lose any sleep over.

He wanted Jorginho and because he didn't get him had to continue to over rely on Fernandinho, something which caused their December slump and nearly cost them dearly.

5 minutes ago, Sindre said:

In what way was he a twat? Obviously, there was a battle between him and the board, but no one can blame only Conte for that.

And for as poor as the season was he did win us the FA-cup and we got two points less in the league then we did this season. Compared to his first season it was bad, compared to this one it was okay.

He spent the entire season moaning and whining about how poor the squad was, how tired they were, how he hadnt got his players, and pretty much everything else, constantly slagging his employers off. I bet the players were as pissed of with it as a lot of the fans were. He still had a superb squad and needed to just get on with it rather than just complain constantly. If he was so upset then why didnt he just quit....ooh thats right, he would have lost a lot of money. 

7 minutes ago, dkw said:

He spent the entire season moaning and whining about how poor the squad was, how tired they were, how he hadnt got his players, and pretty much everything else, constantly slagging his employers off. I bet the players were as pissed of with it as a lot of the fans were. He still had a superb squad and needed to just get on with it rather than just complain constantly. If he was so upset then why didnt he just quit....ooh thats right, he would have lost a lot of money. 

I agree he was whiny and frustrated.

But i can much understand it. After winning the league you deserve some support and instead he got the complete sh*tshow that summer was. The club sold a key player to a direct rival, directly against his wishes. I am not sure any manager would just accept that.

And i very much disagree the squad was superb in year two. It was very lacking in my view.

37 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

He wanted jorginho. He didn't get him.

Genuinely not getting jorginho has affected their season....Fernandinho has become their most important player. It's the reason they didn't get 100 points. 

Oh do behave. Jorginho might well have fitted into Pep's system better than Sarri's but no-one could know or predict how many minutes he might have got if he'd gone to City.

10 minutes ago, Argo said:

He wanted Jorginho and because he didn't get him had to continue to over rely on Fernandinho, something which caused their December slump and nearly cost them dearly.

As above. But again, hardly comparable to the Conte situation. Conte had a pretty average squad with not too many options as opposed to the squad Pep has where he has options and some. Pep is NEVER in a position to moan that his club ain't backing him!!

 

Sanchez - Absolute dogsh*t and we'd currently have him sat on £500k a week scoring two goals a season
Brozovic/Naingollan - Neither one wants to leave Seria A, what should we do? Kidnap them and force them to come to England?
Van Dijk - Big mistake missing out on him but £75m for a CB then was huge, not to mention the fact he had his heart set on Liverpool. Not even City could tempt him, how were we meant to?
Sandro - we were quoted £60m for someone Juve now want to offload because he's an issue in the dressing room. Also not had any outstanding seasons since we were in for him.
Walker - Pep wanted him, say no more. 
Zappacosta - clearly a Conte signing, why else would we be looking in Serie A?
Bakayoko - Conte said he wanted him in conferences. 

Yes, Sanchez! And he would have been a brilliant signing for us if we had signed him when Conte wanted him, he won't have been paid ridiculous wages here. United only used the wages to lure him because they saw it was obvious he wanted to join City.
And why is it that when a player has been top class in a certain team, then he moved to a different team and struggled due to whatever reasons, people are so quick to think the has always been sh*t? Similar comments I have heard about Coutinho, now its Sanchez. Someone will soon come up with how terrible he was throughout his time at Arsenal! Pathetic!

He never said he'd always been sh*t, just that he is currently sh*t.

No obviously not. 
I am pointing out those players were never going to sign for Chelsea so we had to sign other players. Those other players are ones Conte wanted. 
I'd like us to sign the best players in the world, every manager would. But when we don't we look at alternatives. Conte in my mind, was behind Zappa, Morata and Bakayoko. He wasn't behind Drinkwater or Barkley. I still think he was happy for Matic to be sold (just because in one press conference he said he didn't doesnt negate that he didn't take him on pre season before he went, he made no comments before he left, he was just covering his back) and he definitely wanted Costa gone. 
Don't bring up the best players in the world and say "oh but Conte wanted these". Its stupid. Sarri would like those too. So would AVB. So would Scolari. Its irrelevant. 

I think you guys are simply defending our board for not being desperate to sign the top players Conte wanted who are upgrades on the average players we currently have. City also wanted Van Dijk but none of them was ready to pay the ridiculous amount Southampton wanted. Only Liverpool was able to pay it because Klopp stood firm on it. It's either the Liverpool board sign him or the team keeps on struggling defensively. The signed him, and we have seen the significant improvement they have had defensively since he joined them. I doubt they would be playing in there second successive champions league final without the commanding presence they have in the back with Van dijk.
If the board actually wanted to get Van dijk, Naingollan, Sanchez, Sandro etc, they will certainly come here. When two teams want to sign a player, the player usually end up going to the team that look more desperate to sign him not the one whose board appeared to be reluctant to make the deal happen. Thats simply the reason why we have ended up with a team filled with average players. Our board like going for players that other teams are not desperate to sign, though am really surprised they made the Jorginho and Kepa deal happen when they easily should have used that money to back Conte and thus strengthen our team to dominate the league for some years.

34 minutes ago, wallosh said:

Someone will soon come up with how terrible he was throughout his time at Arsenal! Pathetic!

No, but he was terrible his last 6 months at Arsenal, and he hasn't regained form.

That's been 2 years now. I don't think that's form any more, I think he's done.

but I agree with your main point... 

to blame Conte for the signings we got is silly. He complained for the last 12 months about his lack of backing, and the players that came into the squad and the lack of depth and quality coming in. 

I blame Conte for not handling the situation more professionally, and it was obvious he wanted out.

But Conte wanted a run at Champions League, and instead Chelsea traded experience for Youth, instead of strengthening the squad. 

The good news, is for the most part, all of those bust signings will come with a full refund, and it will give Chelsea a do-over to try and spend more wisely when the window is available for us.  

1 hour ago, Nibs said:

Oh do behave. Jorginho might well have fitted into Pep's system better than Sarri's but no-one could know or predict how many minutes he might have got if he'd gone to City.

As above. But again, hardly comparable to the Conte situation. Conte had a pretty average squad with not too many options as opposed to the squad Pep has where he has options and some. Pep is NEVER in a position to moan that his club ain't backing him!!

 

Okay then well more accurate examples would be Klopp (before the summer just gone) or Pochettino, both got on with coaching and getting the absolute best out of what they have. If Conte did that or at the very least tried to I could have forgiven any lack of results.

Our squad maybe flawed but nowhere near as bad as he constantly made out. Sarri has made use of a player he froze out, and a player he ignored and shafted out on loan has turned into a bonafide starter (when fit) due to a manager focussing on coaching him. Maybe if Conte focused on training Ruben to improve his weak points instead of hiding him somewhere that best disguised them he wouldn't have had to choose between dumb and dumber for the duration of his second season, and if he gave Aina a shot and trained him to an effective level the Torino manager has maybe he wouldn't have had Zappacosta "hoisted" on him.

The transfer window was an acceptable excuse to why we weren't defending our crown, but it was not and never will be an excuse for what went down in the second half of 17/18.

1 hour ago, Sindre said:

I agree he was whiny and frustrated.

But i can much understand it. After winning the league you deserve some support and instead he got the complete sh*tshow that summer was. The club sold a key player to a direct rival, directly against his wishes. I am not sure any manager would just accept that.

And i very much disagree the squad was superb in year two. It was very lacking in my view.

None of that excuses his pathetic and incredibly unprofessional behaviour, I would have been sacked on weeks if I had acted like that. 

How did Guardiola not get his way? He has a squad and a subs bench that is the envy of all the other teams so missing out on the odd player here & there is hardly something he's gonna lose any sleep over.

Maybe Guardiola wanted Messi and Rinaldo but he was left disappointed by the board for not making the efforts to make the deal happen.

He wanted jorginho. He didn't get him.
Genuinely not getting jorginho has affected their season....Fernandinho has become their most important player. It's the reason they didn't get 100 points. 

That's doesn't make any sense as Fernadinho's back up already prove to be better than Jorginho. It will be stupidity to pick Jorginho over Gundogan.

He spent the entire season moaning and whining about how poor the squad was, how tired they were, how he hadnt got his players, and pretty much everything else, constantly slagging his employers off. I bet the players were as pissed of with it as a lot of the fans were. He still had a superb squad and needed to just get on with it rather than just complain constantly. If he was so upset then why didnt he just quit....ooh thats right, he would have lost a lot of money. 

He didn't quit because he loved the fans, and he still wanted to put smile on our faces despite the board trying there best to make him look like a villain.

Okay then well more accurate examples would be Klopp (before the summer just gone) or Pochettino, both got on with coaching and getting the absolute best out of what they have. If Conte did that or at the very least tried to I could have forgiven any lack of results.
Our squad maybe flawed but nowhere near as bad as he constantly made out. Sarri has made use of a player he froze out, and a player he ignored and shafted out on loan has turned into a bonafide starter (when fit) due to a manager focussing on coaching him. Maybe if Conte focused on training Ruben to improve his weak points instead of hiding him somewhere that best disguised them he wouldn't have had to choose between dumb and dumber for the duration of his second season, and if he gave Aina a shot and trained him to an effective level the Torino manager has maybe he wouldn't have had Zappacosta "hoisted" on him.
The transfer window was an acceptable excuse to why we weren't defending our crown, but it was not and never will be an excuse for what went down in the second half of 17/18.

Easier said than done! Remember both Klopp and Pochettino never had any great achievement in there first season, so it's difficult to imagine what they would have done if they were In Conte's shoes.
But one thing I know is that, when a top manager comes into a new team. Whatever they achieve in there first season, they set new targets and want to improve on it in there second season, and the third and the fourth..........
The team Conte motivated to win that league, wasn't actually bad, but remember even Jose said that team is too average to compete in the league and we couldn't even finish in the top 4 before Conte came. When Conte came on board, we still didn't really strengthen the team, so the goal the board probably set for him was to finish in the top 4 and qualify for the champions league before they can back him invest heavily in the team. But Conte didn't just finished the season in the top 4, he achieved the unexpected by winning the league. Yes, you said that team ain't really as bad! You are right, and that was the same reasoning that led to the board not backing Conte in his first season. Before Conte came, we all agreed we needed to strengthen the team by getting rid of Pato, Falcao and Remy and using the money to sign a top class striker who can compete with Costa. Our midfield wasn't really bad but defensively we expected the board to sign top players as replacement for Ivanovic and Terry who are no longer up for it. Can you still recall all this? From my own perspective, the reason why the board didn't invest massively in the team was because Conte found a way to motivate that team to win the league. If he simply had achieve the goal set by the club to just get into the top 4, the board would have wanted an improvement like winning and thus, they would have got him the likes of Sandro, Walker, Naingollan or Brozovic instead of Emerson, Zapacosta and Bakayoko.

26 minutes ago, wallosh said:

Easier said than done! Remember both Klopp and Pochettino never had any great achievement in there first season, so it's difficult to imagine what they would have done if they were In Conte's shoes.
But one thing I know is that, when a top manager comes into a new team. Whatever they achieve in there first season, they set new targets and want to improve on it in there second season, and the third and the fourth..........
The team Conte motivated to win that league, wasn't actually bad, but remember even Jose said that team is too average to compete in the league and we couldn't even finish in the top 4 before Conte came. When Conte came on board, we still didn't really strengthen the team, so the goal the board probably set for him was to finish in the top 4 and qualify for the champions league before they can back him invest heavily in the team. But Conte didn't just finished the season in the top 4, he achieved the unexpected by winning the league. Yes, you said that team ain't really as bad! You are right, and that was the same reasoning that led to the board not backing Conte in his first season. Before Conte came, we all agreed we needed to strengthen the team by getting rid of Pato, Falcao and Remy and using the money to sign a top class striker who can compete with Costa. Our midfield wasn't really bad but defensively we expected the board to sign top players as replacement for Ivanovic and Terry who are no longer up for it. Can you still recall all this? From my own perspective, the reason why the board didn't invest massively in the team was because Conte found a way to motivate that team to win the league. If he simply had achieve the goal set by the club to just get into the top 4, the board would have wanted an improvement like winning and thus, they would have got him the likes of Sandro, Walker, Naingollan or Brozovic instead of Emerson, Zapacosta and Bakayoko.

You're preaching to the converted regarding the title winning season, I've never done anything but praise him for that season and i honestly rank that Conte alongside Jose MK1, which is why i find how his tenure ended so hard to accept.

And i don't think the sh*t summer in 2017 was down to the fact we just won the league personally, i'll never be able to prove this either way but i personally think Roman/the board wanted to trust the youngsters while Conte wanted a 2004 esque huge summer spend which ultimately led to the worst possible solution, they meet in the middle and signed the players they did.