On 29/09/2016 at 08:30, wallosh said:

Are you serious about that?

If he had not been so trigger happy with managers we would have won a lot more than we have. His expectations of managers are unrealistic. He called Carlo to his house for a bollocking after winning 6 0.  

5 minutes ago, stevo said:

If he had not been so trigger happy with managers we would have won a lot more than we have. His expectations of managers are unrealistic. He called Carlo to his house for a bollocking after winning 6 0.  

Haha not sure it went down quite like that or in that context but I agree he had very high expectations and was unfairly harsh but those high expectations on the other side of the coin led us to becoming a European elite team 

He won't, if he doesn't show some cajones real soon.

I think Conte is a good enough coach to lead us to the top 4, but i'm not convinced he has the players to do it. Unless things change at the club then i just can't see it. If we carry on with the same 11 we have seen so far this season then i don't think it will happen. You can be the best coach in the world but if you don't have the right players then you're not going to get very far.

7 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I think Conte is a good enough coach to lead us to the top 4, but i'm not convinced he has the players to do it. Unless things change at the club then i just can't see it. If we carry on with the same 11 we have seen so far this season then i don't think it will happen. You can be the best coach in the world but if you don't have the right players then you're not going to get very far.

On paper he defiantly has the players to do it, bar city we have the best squad in the league I think, but great ingredients don't make a great dish if they don't complement each other, there is just something wrong in the squad, other than defence which to be fair with JT and zouma fit is not bad at all, Alonso is the weakest and he isn't that bad at all from the looks of it, he is usable. For me its midfield, it just doesn't work, beginning of season we were moving the ball quick, we were recovering it and recycling at a high rate and were more direct, then we went back to our last season style and by last week we looked like they really has no idea what they were supposed to do....it's like they got into the managers way of thinking then totally lost the plot, I said early on that it would be interesting to see how he coped if we lost a couple, well here we are, his last 2 interviews he not only looked seething but perplexed and stated the attitudes were wrong, I think we got some confidence then got complacent that we could play at half speed and still win, well sorry to say not in the PL.....hopefully a wake up call. 

4 hours ago, DonAntonio said:

Haha not sure it went down quite like that or in that context but I agree he had very high expectations and was unfairly harsh but those high expectations on the other side of the coin led us to becoming a European elite team 

Carlo published it in his autobiography. Abramovich has given us moments i'd never thought i'd see, and I am grateful, I just hope he calms down and gives Conte the chance to rebuild. He must realise he can't progress if he keeps sacking top class managers.

1 hour ago, stevo said:

Carlo published it in his autobiography. Abramovich has given us moments i'd never thought i'd see, and I am grateful, I just hope he calms down and gives Conte the chance to rebuild. He must realise he can't progress if he keeps sacking top class managers.

No you're right conte is a top manager and we are lucky to have him he needs time, this squad needs a rebuild. 

It's not just down to us. This season there are some other clubs with excellent teams.

Spurs were outstanding against City. They have a powerful, fast side this season. Arsenal also very strong, Citeh obviously excellent, at least when De Bruyne playing. United, Liverpuddle.

There are at least 6 teams with the teams capable of getting in the top 4.

It's going to take quite a bit to get there.

On 30/09/2016 at 19:36, stevo said:

Carlo published it in his autobiography. Abramovich has given us moments i'd never thought i'd see, and I am grateful, I just hope he calms down and gives Conte the chance to rebuild. He must realise he can't progress if he keeps sacking top class managers.

Werr the hell does this myth come from that Roman keeps sacking great managers for no reason? Every manager Roman has sacked fully deserved to go.

2 minutes ago, Argo said:

Werr the hell does this myth come from that Roman keeps sacking great managers for no reason? Every manager Roman has sacked fully deserved to go.

  Every manager?  What bullcrap.

Just now, lchk said:

  Every manager?  What bullcrap.

With the exception of Ranieri, name one manager in the Roman era that was sacked with the team on an upwards or even sideways curb? Performance wise that is.

If anything Romans sacking record says a lot about his average record of hiring managers than any trigger happy tendencies. AVB, Mourinho mark two, scolari and even Carlo would have been gone a lot earlier if he was as bad as made out.

3 minutes ago, Argo said:

With the exception of Ranieri, name one manager in the Roman era that was sacked with the team on an upwards or even sideways curb? Performance wise that is.

If anything Romans sacking record says a lot about his average record of hiring managers than any trigger happy tendencies. AVB, Mourinho mark two, scolari and even Carlo would have been gone a lot earlier if he was as bad as made out.

Ranieri was one.  Ancelotti was another.  Constant sackings has made the club what it is today with no identity. 

2 minutes ago, lchk said:

Ranieri was one.  Ancelotti was another.  Constant sackings has made the club what it is today with no identity. 

I did say apart from Ranieri, but considering what followed it was hardly a bad thing for the club. 

And no, it's the constant hiring of wrong managers that has done that. AVB, RDM full time and Scolari were brutal appointments.

28 minutes ago, Argo said:

I did say apart from Ranieri, but considering what followed it was hardly a bad thing for the club. 

And no, it's the constant hiring of wrong managers that has done that. AVB, RDM full time and Scolari were brutal appointments.

I agree that RDM has not generally distinguished himself as a manager, but he deserved his chance in lieu of better options and was harshly dealt with given the lack of depth in the squad he was bequeathed. 

Grant is in a similar category. Harshly dealt with, but has not generally covered himself in glory since.

At the time, AVB was seen as a talented up-and-comer, so his appointment was reasonable, but he fully deserved to be sacked. 

Scolari I agree with.

As for Conte, I'm not certain he can lead us to a Top 4 finish. He's a fine manager and has shown a capacity to adapt and learn from his mistakes, but this squad lacks depth even without CL obligations.  

1 hour ago, lchk said:

Ranieri was one.  Ancelotti was another.  Constant sackings has made the club what it is today with no identity. 

A lot of Chelsea supporters at the time agreed with Carlo's sacking. 

9 minutes ago, kiwi1691 said:

A lot of Chelsea supporters at the time agreed with Carlo's sacking. 

a lot agreed the timing was right for him to go, me included. The way it was done was bang out of order though.

2 hours ago, dkw said:

a lot agreed the timing was right for him to go, me included. The way it was done was bang out of order though.

Clearly Carlo wasn't too upset. 

Quote

Did you deserve better than to be sacked by Chelsea on the final day of the season, straight after the game against Everton at Goodison Park?
Lizzie Broom, Surrey

No, I knew the situation, and I knew it was coming. I was in the dressing room, but it was no shock, because to be sacked is just part of your job. There is no manager who has never been sacked. OK, maybe Pep Guardiola, who has decided to leave clubs, but he has had only a short career in management so far – just eight years.

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/carlo-ancelotti-one-one-once-i-kicked-a-box-and-it-landed-ibrahimovics-head-he-didnt-react

On 9/30/2016 at 20:52, DonAntonio said:

No you're right conte is a top manager and we are lucky to have him he needs time, this squad needs a rebuild. 

I really don't agree with the "squad needs a rebuild" talk.

This is the rebuild.  This is life after having the most successful team of the clubs era.  This is how it works, it's hard.

It's impossible to replace the legends that have moved on, but we're doing a pretty decent job of it if you ask me.  Squeezed out another title with the last of them and we have some serious talent in the squad now with a new ambitious coach.

This is the rebuild.  If everyone will only be satisfied with back to back league wins, then we will be rebuilding every year for a long time.  The league is too competitive for that thing to happen (at least instantly).  The players have quality, the coach has ambition, everyone needs to get firing in the right direction and minimum top 4 is absolutely achievable. 

6 hours ago, Argo said:

I did say apart from Ranieri, but considering what followed it was hardly a bad thing for the club. 

And no, it's the constant hiring of wrong managers that has done that. AVB, RDM full time and Scolari were brutal appointments.

And who hired these "wrong" managers?

1 hour ago, lchk said:

And who hired these "wrong" managers?

He's made some bad appointments and gained a trigger happy reputation fixing the errors, I'm not contesting that.

What I am challenging is this myth created that he's some crazy man that's a mere one step down from Cellino, which is bolax.

7 hours ago, DaRick said:

I agree that RDM has not generally distinguished himself as a manager, but he deserved his chance in lieu of better options and was harshly dealt with given the lack of depth in the squad he was bequeathed. 

Grant is in a similar category. Harshly dealt with, but has not generally covered himself in glory since.

At the time, AVB was seen as a talented up-and-comer, so his appointment was reasonable, but he fully deserved to be sacked. 

Scolari I agree with.

As for Conte, I'm not certain he can lead us to a Top 4 finish. He's a fine manager and has shown a capacity to adapt and learn from his mistakes, but this squad lacks depth even without CL obligations.  

Di Matteo did a brilliant job rallying the squad for his interim spell, but the full time job was simply too much for him.

We looked a disjointed and unbalanced outfit and while the Mata, Oscar, Hazard trio was food at the start in attack, it was non existent off the ball, let's just say there was a reason Rafa seldom went with all three.

I've got my theory with the Grant reign, but if I had to guess Ten Cate or Clarke were the ones doing the managing.

I remember it more that Robbie got a squad with one incompetent centre-forward to within three points of first place, and that was after a scandalous refereeing performance against our main title rivals which gifted them three points. Benitez had us... 14 points from the top as it turns out.

 

Robbie was never fancied from the start, Roman had no choice but to offer him the role after the double and rightly so as he deserved it but we all knew he wasn't his man.

As is usually the case Robbie wasn't given the time to put his stamp on things but his record since leaving suggest to me he would have suffered the same fate regardless as he simply isn't a top manager.

Legend all the same.

42 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

I remember it more that Robbie got a squad with one incompetent centre-forward to within three points of first place, and that was after a scandalous refereeing performance against our main title rivals which gifted them three points. Benitez had us... 14 points from the top as it turns out.

 

United won 16 out of 18 league games after Rafa took over, do you seriously think Robbie would have kept up with that?

12 minutes ago, Argo said:

United won 16 out of 18 league games after Rafa took over, do you seriously think Robbie would have kept up with that?

They would have dropped more points as we would have put far more pressure on them by not drawing 0-0 at home to Fulham every five minutes.