im with antonio. clearly we havent see the best of conte yet. why? players that coming in isnt a type that he wants. so im praying that next season he's still there and mr roman will be more generous in trasnfer marketand give what contes want. if he doesnt delivered, then bye bye. but i really wanna see conte stay for another 3 or 5 years. i know some might say his subs were awful , he got no plan b but his 1st season with chelsea was tremendous. 5-0 at old trafford, 3-0 cityzens, damn. CONTEIN!! 

1 hour ago, edenkhafjie91 said:

im with antonio. clearly we havent see the best of conte yet. why? players that coming in isnt a type that he wants. so im praying that next season he's still there and mr roman will be more generous in trasnfer marketand give what contes want. if he doesnt delivered, then bye bye. but i really wanna see conte stay for another 3 or 5 years. i know some might say his subs were awful , he got no plan b but his 1st season with chelsea was tremendous. 5-0 vs red devils, 3-0 cityzens, damn. CONTEIN!! 

 

I'd like him to stay, but he won't.

Don't see what any other manager can do with the likes of Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zappacosta, etc... which he can't, but maybe someone can get them playing better.

I think we have three 'easy' matches before we meet Barca with the two visits to Manchester in between oh we play Palace too.

Suspect if we do not get two wins before we play Barca, Conte will be gone.

Argo, Jose lasted 2 months longer, Carlo half a season longer. Still didnt mess about. 

Edited February 3, 20188 yr by Famous CFC

11 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

Suspect if we do not get two wins before we play Barca, Conte will be gone.

I'm actually now suspecting if we don't win against Watford ... He's going to get sacked on the spot and the TV Commentators will even announce it right after the referee's final whistle.

Coming from a guy that voted "Conte In" aka Me.

 

Dire my ass.

You can add Conte to the list of managers who have come to the EPL, used their brain, won easily in a field of unresponsive morons, and had literally half the league attempt to copy his ideas seconds after. 

You great unwashed mass voting no should thank the man for bringing a bit of culture to your otherwise miserable lives. 

Long live Conte! 

Quote

 

What an absolute pleasure to see you posting again Pauly. I can only hope that your input may spur some of the other old posters to do likewise.

And I agree with your sentiments - cannot believe that this thread was started in the first place.

In my view, and unless we undergo some sort of terrible free-fall over the next 6 weeks, any decision concerning Conte should be made at the end of the season & only in circumstances where we fail to make the top 4/CL berths for next year. That's been the aim for this season has it not? So if he achieves that we should stick with him. It's all very well for some on here to use the fact that the Board & Owner have been unforgiving & merciless in the past when dispensing with managers (which they have to be sure) but in my view a lot of those decisions were taken in circumstances where we had a solid core of experienced older players within the squad. Now we don't & haven't for some years. Secondly, who realistically could come in at short notice who comes close to Conte's pedigree so as to ensure that we achieve the top 4? No-one comes to mind readily.

We've had a bad month football wise but don't forget that we've played a lot more games already this season than last & that we're still 3rd, still in there for the real Cup & still in the CL. And this is notwithstanding the fact that we had to continually experiment with signings this year due to a depleted squad & that we've had our fair share of injuries and, as Pauly points out, the rest of the league has, as usual with champions, had enough time to either copy what Conte has put in place or enough time to come up with countering Conte's ideas.

Some patience is required here & acceptance of the idea that over the next few years this situation is going to be the norm for us whilst the new stadium is built.

 

2 hours ago, youlots said:

What an absolute pleasure to see you posting again Pauly. I can only hope that your input may spur some of the other old posters to do likewise.

And I agree with your sentiments - cannot believe that this thread was started in the first place.

Thanks! Good to see a few old names, even if as you say some haven't been on for a while. I'm sure they'll come back, this place is great. 

Conte's coaching, on the pitch, is the best in the world for its style. The problems have obviously come from his not assessing and best managing the transfer policy at the club. As I'm sure everyone knows, Italian managers are used to doing what Conte does- suggesting 'types' of players they want, occasionally a name, but overall they do their work on the pitch and leave transfers to upstairs. Chelsea haven't been set up in that way in the past- I think the director of football was more a manager of the youth/loan program. Anyway- that's failed spectacularly and undermined the season. He obvioulsy now understands he needs to get on top of it and something needs to change for next season. Whether that means he takes stronger charge of targets or a more active director of football comes in to manage transfers for the senior squad remains to be seen. Either way, he and the board need to come to a clear understanding of how to get the right kind of transfers done, otherwise it'll be more Matic for Bakayoko style deals for us, and more Zabaleta for Walker style deals for others.

That said, you won't find a better "head coach" anywhere in the world. Failing to deal with an administrative problem and sacking one of the best managers in recent decades would be absolute idiocy. I say get in Steve Walsh or someone like him..

Edited February 4, 20188 yr by Pauly

14 minutes ago, Pauly said:

Thanks! Good to see a few old names, even if as you say some haven't been on for a while. I'm sure they'll come back, this place is great. 

Brian.M can come back any day !

Nice to hear from you Pauly.

31 minutes ago, Pauly said:

Thanks! Good to see a few old names, even if as you say some haven't been on for a while. I'm sure they'll come back, this place is great. 

Conte's coaching, on the pitch, is the best in the world for its style. The problems have obviously come from his not assessing and best managing the transfer policy at the club. As I'm sure everyone knows, Italian managers are used to doing what Conte does- suggesting 'types' of players they want, occasionally a name, but overall they do their work on the pitch and leave transfers to upstairs. Chelsea haven't been set up in that way in the past- I think the director of football was more a manager of the youth/loan program. Anyway- that's failed spectacularly and undermined the season. He obvioulsy now understands he needs to get on top of it and something needs to change for next season. Whether that means he takes stronger charge of targets or a more active director of football comes in to manage transfers for the senior squad remains to be seen. Either way, he and the board need to come to a clear understanding of how to get the right kind of transfers done, otherwise it'll be more Matic for Bakayoko style deals for us, and more Zabaleta for Walker style deals for others.

That said, you won't find a better "head coach" anywhere in the world. Failing to deal with an administrative problem and sacking one of the best managers in recent decades would be absolute idiocy. I say get in Steve Walsh or someone like him..

Really want Conte to stay but many seem to think it's unlikely. What's the word / feel in Italy Pauly? The fact he didn't extend his contract and the rumours circulating that he wants and could well get the Italian coach job back - what are the chances of him being in charge of CFC come August?

from the outside, we look like a team that's lost its self belief. Hazard and Willian still show up and Kante still works his socks off but too many others seem to be drifting, not fully committed in every game. if that's a fair assessment, why has this come about? too many games, too much reliance on a core group of players, a failure to integrate young players into the first team - it's all very familiar at Chelsea.

i think Conte is on his way out and he knows that - the players probably know that too. Lose to Barca (which looks inevitable) and Conte is surely a goner. 

i really don't understand why we seem to do so poorly in the transfer market these days but i think that is at the crux of the problems we are seeing. the calibre of player we have is inconsistent throughout the team and where we do have excellence, it's not able to cover where we have weaknesses.  

does the club make a change later this month or March? do they hold off until the summer? - not sure but we look like a club that is in need of a new manager bounce or a bit of good fortune!   

Last season's title-winning squad had 28 players involved in the first team squad. If you look at the PL in isolation, Conte had to make 418 player selections for the starting XI (38 games x 11 players).

For 94% of those selections, he favoured the same 13 players, 11 of who are still with us (Courtois ; Alonso ; Moses ; Cahill ; Luiz ; Azpiliceuta ; Kante ; Fabregas ; Pedro, Willian, Hazard), with Costa and Matic moving on at their request.

We have had a huge amount of churn in the "squad players". Of last season's first team squad of 28, 10 players have been sold over the last year (Costa, Matic, Terry, Ivanovic, Oscar, Mikel, Begovic, Ake, Chalobah, Solanke) and another 6 are now out on loan (Zouma, Loftus-Cheek, Aina, Kenedy, Musonda, Batshuayi)

So 16 players no longer in the squad vs last season ... that is a huge transition in one year, even if the leavers did not actually feature much (26 of the 414 starting slots between them over the 38 games : JT 6, Ivanovic 6, Oscar 5, Zouma 3, Begovic 2, Batshuayi 1, Ake 1, Chalobah 1, Kenedy 1).

It is quite a challenge to integrate so many replacements into the culture and playing strategy of the club ... especially with a limited pre-season and many of those signed not in the best physical condition.

The replacements in general, look better on paper on a like for like basis, so in theory there is more competition for starting XI places, and some pressure on the incumbents to perform:

Caballero (vs Begovic) ; Christensen (vs ageing Terry) ; Rudiger (vs Zouma) ; Morata (vs Costa) ; Bakayoko (vs Matic) ; Drinkwater (vs Mikel) ; Zappacosta (vs Ivanovic) ; Barkley (vs Oscar) ; Ampadu (vs Chalobah) ; Giroud (vs Batshuayi) ; Hudson-Odoi (vs Musonda) ; Sterling (vs Aina) ; Scott (vs RLC). And I'm going to say Clarke-Salter was the Ake replacement and Boga the Solanke repacement, albeit both subsequently themselves loaned out and not "replaced".

Despite all this activity, the squad is still un-balanced, as is evident from a quick glance at TOCWS ... a glut of defenders and midfielders, and only 2 forwards ! And not many of the midfielders are of the attacking variety either. It's not enough cover and competition for places. Same for the attacking midfielders. There aren't really any beyond Hazard, Pedro and Willian. Certainly not enough to cover injuries, or loss of form, or the predilections of the coach.

The big recruitment error is not having a couple of signings who instantly improve the first XI (especially forwards and attacking midfielders).

 

Despite all this, should we be doing better ?

Is Conte getting the best out of the resources at his disposal ?

Should we be losing games to Burnley, Crystal Palace, West Ham, and Bournemouth ?

 

For me, watching what I see on the pitch, Conte has not thus far been able to coax the same level of performance out of the 11 he relied on last year, let alone any improvements from having better options in the squad players. I think Morata/Batshuayi have held their own as the 'Costa' replacement, certainly in terms of goal-scoring, but I don't think Antonio has got the midfield clicking at all. Not that I think Matic was all that ... but Bakayoko over used, Drinkwater under-used (especially when you consider the Kante / Drinkwater axis was the engine room for Leicester's title win), Ampadu not really tried, the ongoing dilemma of how to utilise Fabregas, who has actually played alot more than he did last year  ... you'd think a talented coach on £8M a year would be able to find something that worked .. especially as an ex-midfielder himself !

I think a big part of all this is down to his own actions, rather than the board, or transfers, or injuries, or a busier schedule.

The main issue for me is whether he has, through these actions,  "lost the dressing room" or not. If he has, then there probably isn't any way back.

He's certainly not helped himself this season. The popular Costa wanted to leave for a long time, but the text message scenario made it look like it was at Conte's hand rather than Costa's, and hence a position of potential sympathy was turned into one of conflict and squad morale, with the ongoing casualty being the Brazilian players, Luiz in particular, and then the knock-on effect on everyone else.

He's made some strange selections of square pegs in round holes up front, and overall we seem to be lacking in energy and listless, and from what we have heard this is possibly down to Conte's training being too intensive for the busier schedule, with players picking up more injuries as the consequence. I think picking Cahill as club captain gave himself a selection problem as well, with Cahill no longer being in the top three centre back options at the club, probably 5th choice as well.

Then there is the ongoing negativity in interviews, just stupid comments that can only undermine the confidence of the squad (clear message to the squad: "you aren't good enough" ... "you're not world class").

You get two reactions to perceived criticism like that ... "I'll show you ..." or "f**k you ..." ... I think we are currently seeing more of the latter ...

 

Conte 2016/17 and 2017/18 are like two different managers ... one absolutely great and one a bit meh ...

Personally I really hope he can get back to the positive Conte we saw last year. Certainly deserves the chance and a bit of faith after last season ... so I'm voting for Conte IN ... for now ... :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

41 minutes ago, Pauly said:

Thanks! Good to see a few old names, even if as you say some haven't been on for a while. I'm sure they'll come back, this place is great. 

Conte's coaching, on the pitch, is the best in the world for its style. The problems have obviously come from his not assessing and best managing the transfer policy at the club. As I'm sure everyone knows, Italian managers are used to doing what Conte does- suggesting 'types' of players they want, occasionally a name, but overall they do their work on the pitch and leave transfers to upstairs. Chelsea haven't been set up in that way in the past- I think the director of football was more a manager of the youth/loan program. Anyway- that's failed spectacularly and undermined the season. He obvioulsy now understands he needs to get on top of it and something needs to change for next season. Whether that means he takes stronger charge of targets or a more active director of football comes in to manage transfers for the senior squad remains to be seen. Either way, he and the board need to come to a clear understanding of how to get the right kind of transfers done, otherwise it'll be more Matic for Bakayoko style deals for us, and more Zabaleta for Walker style deals for others.

That said, you won't find a better "head coach" anywhere in the world. Failing to deal with an administrative problem and sacking one of the best managers in recent decades would be absolute idiocy. I say get in Steve Walsh or someone like him..

Do you really believe that Conte would get on with a director of football that isn't one of his mates from Italy? He wants his players and if he doesn't get them he wines at the board. He did it at Juventus and left, I think a similar situation will happen at the end of this season. 

Edited February 4, 20188 yr by DidierDidier

IMO he has been failed by those conducting the transfers, however his constant whining is even beginning to get on my tits, and if he doesn't stop it will affect the players, if it hasn't done so already.  This is not how leaders act and if I was one of the new players just come in this year I would be pissed off of what I'm reading and listening to in the media.  The transfer windows are now closed, shut the f**k up and get on with your job.  

If he stops his whining and gets on with his job I vote for him to stay, but he may have overstepped his mark with the Board, sad to say but I think it's goodbye at the end of the year unless the players down tools between now and then, in which case he'll be gone once our CL challenge has ended and Cudicini will take us to the end of the season.  

4 hours ago, youlots said:

What an absolute pleasure to see you posting again Pauly. I can only hope that your input may spur some of the other old posters to do likewise.

And I agree with your sentiments - cannot believe that this thread was started in the first place.

In my view, and unless we undergo some sort of terrible free-fall over the next 6 weeks, any decision concerning Conte should be made at the end of the season & only in circumstances where we fail to make the top 4/CL berths for next year. That's been the aim for this season has it not? So if he achieves that we should stick with him. It's all very well for some on here to use the fact that the Board & Owner have been unforgiving & merciless in the past when dispensing with managers (which they have to be sure) but in my view a lot of those decisions were taken in circumstances where we had a solid core of experienced older players within the squad. Now we don't & haven't for some years. Secondly, who realistically could come in at short notice who comes close to Conte's pedigree so as to ensure that we achieve the top 4? No-one comes to mind readily.

We've had a bad month football wise but don't forget that we've played a lot more games already this season than last & that we're still 3rd, still in there for the real Cup & still in the CL. And this is notwithstanding the fact that we had to continually experiment with signings this year due to a depleted squad & that we've had our fair share of injuries and, as Pauly points out, the rest of the league has, as usual with champions, had enough time to either copy what Conte has put in place or enough time to come up with countering Conte's ideas.

Some patience is required here & acceptance of the idea that over the next few years this situation is going to be the norm for us whilst the new stadium is built.

 

The top teams rarely play 3 at the back, other team's copying Conte is old news now.

IMO he has been failed by those conducting the transfers, however his constant whining is even beginning to get on my tits,

I just see that as a continuation of his poor media handling. You could see it last season and it continued in this season with the Jose stuff. The media keep asking him the same stuff and he obliges with an answer about his squad and transfer activity. Then some outlets use his responses out of context to sell a headline, like the recent Barkley comment. Rinse and repeat. He has to do better.

We all hear all (well maybe not all) of Conte's moans and gripes about the transfer set up, which he is doing more and more. And we never hear from the other side (the hierarchy) In fact we never hear anything about anything. Except the media seem to have a direct link to Romans inner sanctum, but we know they don't and so they feel free to make up any story they like on any subject and the flavour of the month is getting rid of Conte.

Never going to happen, but if we did have even a crumb of info. from upstairs regarding anything it would help stop an awful lot of guessing, invented media exclusives and unfortunately a wedge being driven through the Chelsea fans ranks.

To be honest all this off the field bull sh*t is really annoying, really f**king annoying and is detrimental to the performances on the pitch.

ps. rant over, going down the pub.

Quote

Really want Conte to stay but many seem to think it's unlikely. What's the word / feel in Italy Pauly? The fact he didn't extend his contract and the rumours circulating that he wants and could well get the Italian coach job back - what are the chances of him being in charge of CFC come August?

I'm sure he wants to see out his contract, but doubt he'll sign a contract extension. Will depend on how well he's supported in the transfer market. He definitely won't go back to coaching a national team.

Edited February 4, 20188 yr by Pauly

He’s said Chelsea need three world class players and not squad fillers. While I agree I also think at the beginning of the season we needed both but in January if a world class player is available everything is overly inflated so it’s not worth the doing the deal. I think this is a hint to the board for the next window. 

Simon Phillips tweet this:

”Lots of talk of Conte nearing Chelsea exit and Sarri lines up as a replacement.

There’s no doubt this next month could be pinnacle to what happens. There is clear unrest on all sides.

Unfortunately there is actually substance here this time. It’s a tense situation right now.”

He’s quite well connected to the club. Seems that unless things go completely wrong then he will see the season out but he needs to be careful. 

To be fair I’m getting bored with the same questions in press conferences. Antonio should just say nothing changed next question, every three days the same old stuff which he should stop biting when asked.

3 minutes ago, Richard P said:

To be fair I’m getting bored with the same questions in press conferences. Antonio should just say nothing changed next question, every three days the same old stuff which he should stop biting when asked.

Absolutely agree. Someone (maybe Steve Atkins) should ask the press to be more inventive with their questions instead of regurgitating the same old rubbish, or do what other managers do and just walk out.

On 2/3/2018 at 22:54, Pauly said:

Dire my ass.

You can add Conte to the list of managers who have come to the EPL, used their brain, won easily in a field of unresponsive morons, and had literally half the league attempt to copy his ideas seconds after. 

You great unwashed mass voting no should thank the man for bringing a bit of culture to your otherwise miserable lives. 

Long live Conte! 

Wow, Pauly is out!  Time off for good behaviour, Pauly?  Nice to see you and your sometimes dodgy thoughts back after all this time :)

Pauly?   Long time, no see.  Next we will be getting posts from Bluebeard and Rizza!