“Updates according to Italian press.. 

• Meetings in Milan yesterday with Napoli lawyers & Sarri, who’ll be free’d from contract. Zola also there.

• Sarri and Zola flying from Milan to London today. 

Heard this all before. Let’s see what unfolds today... maybe, just maybe?”

Simon Phillips

 

Is it FINALLY happening?!!

25 minutes ago, Kev56 said:

Pretty f**king useless to me then, haven't heard a word from her.

It's also bullsh*t. It's well known that she is a very trusted member of his business organisations and has as high as valued opinion as anybody in his ear. When she came in it coincided with Abramovich actually giving a lot more control of the club to the board and she is likely a big part of the reason why. Chelsea works like every other business with the board making the decision, not some Abramovich dictatorship that makes no sense.

51 minutes ago, Stim said:

There is no such thing as a world class manager

Sir Red Nose (SAF) maybe ????

9 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Sexist nonsense. 

Considering she is in charge of negotiating deals and since she has come in we have pissed off multiple clubs with our lowballing balling and haggling over small sums it's quite clear she is taking the "hard negotiator" tag a bit too seriously. The suggestion that as one of the only high powered females in a male dominated sport (And with the boys club mentality involved I have no doubt she is looked down upon a bit by guys like the Napoli owner) she feels more of a need to prove that she is not a pushover. This happens for a lot of women in male dominated industries, usually to the gain of the company (As they work harder to prove themselves) but for Chelsea it's to the detriment  (If that is the case).

the other option, which I also think is viable (Probably my first choice), is that she and the other guy (whose name I can't remember) on the board have no knowledge or experience of running a football club and are thus making a hash of it as they are treating it like a business rathere then the unique company that it is. Either way they should be sacked and replaced by people that know what they are doing.

16 hours ago, Sindre said:

Willian was asked how important Conte has been for him, and he said he didn't want to say anything about the man. Not excactly the right answer to that simple question if you like the manager.

And he also blocked him with emojiis in the pictures he posted after the FA-cup win. He clearly dislikes him very much.

So he was non-committal  in an interview and wouldn't say anything about Conte, then?  Sounds like he's been quite well trained in the art of  being interviewed.

14 hours ago, Davey Baby said:

 

Don't tell me, yorkley thought he was walking into his local B&Q ?

B&Q here is quite the hook-up place.  That and behind the Co-op.

14 hours ago, coco said:

Yorkley and DIY is like gravy and custard. He knew were he was going, sly fugger 

I'll have you know I am very hands-on with tools

Just now, yorkleyblue said:

I'll have you know I am very hands-on with tools

9 minutes ago, Total-Football said:

Considering she is in charge of negotiating deals and since she has come in we have pissed off multiple clubs with our lowballing balling and haggling over small sums it's quite clear she is taking the "hard negotiator" tag a bit too seriously. The suggestion that as one of the only high powered females in a male dominated sport (And with the boys club mentality involved I have no doubt she is looked down upon a bit by guys like the Napoli owner) she feels more of a need to prove that she is not a pushover. This happens for a lot of women in male dominated industries, usually to the gain of the company (As they work harder to prove themselves) but for Chelsea it's to the detriment  (If that is the case).

the other option, which I also think is viable (Probably my first choice), is that she and the other guy (whose name I can't remember) on the board have no knowledge or experience of running a football club and are thus making a hash of it as they are treating it like a business rathere then the unique company that it is. Either way they should be sacked and replaced by people that know what they are doing.

We don't have the first clue what goes on behind the scenes if we're honest, so putting together 'options' for whats happening doesn't mean sh*t. We had this bollocks with Emanalo for years, with him always getting blamed for everything, and now its Marina getting all the stick. How about we just stick with 'the club' seem to be making a pigs dick of the whole thing, and stop assuming individuals are to blame?

20 minutes ago, Kentonio said:

We don't have the first clue what goes on behind the scenes if we're honest, so putting together 'options' for whats happening doesn't mean sh*t. We had this bollocks with Emanalo for years, with him always getting blamed for everything, and now its Marina getting all the stick. How about we just stick with 'the club' seem to be making a pigs dick of the whole thing, and stop assuming individuals are to blame?

The voice of common sense. For years now we’ve been the least transparent of any major club- can’t see why it’s suddenly  such a shock to the system to some- we play our cards close to our chest and it we don’t sign certain players/ managers no one has got the faintest idea whether this is down to the thrift or incompetence of dose Ole debils Emeraldo or Maria, or the big white chief himself.

 

Edited July 6, 20188 yr by Ewell CFC

I think that Roman should sack the entire Board for bringing the Club into disrepute.

We are absolutely without any strategy or direction and are becoming, quite rightly, the laughing stock of European football and I wouldn't be at all surprised if, very soon we are unable to find a top class Manager who even wants to manage the Club, despite the riches on offer.

The entire Conte/Sarri fiasco has been mismanaged at the highest level and our inability to get this most important of appointments 100% correct speaks volumes for the pathetic mess in other areas of the Club such as the DOF, coaching teams, loan players and the Stadium.

 

1 hour ago, Total-Football said:

Considering she is in charge of negotiating deals and since she has come in we have pissed off multiple clubs with our lowballing balling and haggling over small sums it's quite clear she is taking the "hard negotiator" tag a bit too seriously. The suggestion that as one of the only high powered females in a male dominated sport (And with the boys club mentality involved I have no doubt she is looked down upon a bit by guys like the Napoli owner) she feels more of a need to prove that she is not a pushover. This happens for a lot of women in male dominated industries, usually to the gain of the company (As they work harder to prove themselves) but for Chelsea it's to the detriment  (If that is the case).

the other option, which I also think is viable (Probably my first choice), is that she and the other guy (whose name I can't remember) on the board have no knowledge or experience of running a football club and are thus making a hash of it as they are treating it like a business rathere then the unique company that it is. Either way they should be sacked and replaced by people that know what they are doing.

Speculative and sexist nonsense.

42 minutes ago, coombsie said:

We are absolutely without any strategy or direction and are becoming, quite rightly, the laughing stock of European football and I wouldn't be at all surprised if, very soon we are unable to find a top class Manager who even wants to manage the Club, despite the riches on offer.

Allegedly.

I think Sporting is in a worst state than us. And the 'laughing stock of x' is a tired cliche.

Marina may or may not be involved with transfer negotiations. I need evidence from people who confirm she is the negotiator. 

I will wait for the first press conference of the season where the manager talks ahead of pre-season. If I see Conte on the chair, then I will accept that the club currently is less ambitious than we used to be. If I Sarri with his cigarette packets in the press room I will look forward to Pep Guardiola panicking with the high press we employ against them and Hazard running circles around Kompany. 

 

In the meantime there is the world cup and wimbledon to keep me busy. 

Edited July 6, 20188 yr by zes

3 hours ago, Nibs said:

I love how folk go on & on about "IF Conte stays we will lose Courtois, Hazard, Kante and Willian as if a new manager would guarantee all 4 staying!!

Courtois is likely to leave whoever the manager is as he's missing his kids and wants to play for Real Madrid. Willian - who gives a f**k if we get £50+M for him when he turns up for a few games a a season. There is no evidence that Kante will leave - he is happy and he isn't going anywhere. That just leaves our most prized asset who I am sure the club will do all they can to keep unless we get a ridiculous offer in from Madrid. But again, he is 27 and he might just feel the time is right for a move and it doesn't matter who the manager is.

And Conte isn't a top manafer but Sarri is? Laughable.

Conte, played the game for top sides and has gone on to manage (amongst others) Juve, Italy and Chelsea. Won LOADS and still only 48.

Sarri, never played the game. Up until Napoli has managed teams very few will have heard of. Is 59 and has won absolutely f**k All. Oh, but I forget..........his teams play some lovely football.

 

 

Willian and Courtois are off anyway, it doesn't matter who the manager is. 

Hazard and Kante will be both stay regardless in my opinion.

The issue with conte continuing for me, is just because he has called out the board since Christmas, and putting down his squad constantly can't have gone down well with the players or the board. 

Now it is abundantly clear we have been trying to replace him for a couple of months, there is no way he will be here longer than a year, so he has very little authority. 

It could also harm contract renewals, and signing players aswell, since conte won't be around im 12 months time. 

Conte is a top manager, who had us playing some great football at times, without question, but too much has happened off the pitch now, for it to work on it for another 12 months.

3 hours ago, Nibs said:

I love how folk go on & on about "IF Conte stays we will lose Courtois, Hazard, Kante and Willian as if a new manager would guarantee all 4 staying!!

Courtois is likely to leave whoever the manager is as he's missing his kids and wants to play for Real Madrid. Willian - who gives a f**k if we get £50+M for him when he turns up for a few games a a season. There is no evidence that Kante will leave - he is happy and he isn't going anywhere. That just leaves our most prized asset who I am sure the club will do all they can to keep unless we get a ridiculous offer in from Madrid. But again, he is 27 and he might just feel the time is right for a move and it doesn't matter who the manager is.

And Conte isn't a top manafer but Sarri is? Laughable.

Conte, played the game for top sides and has gone on to manage (amongst others) Juve, Italy and Chelsea. Won LOADS and still only 48.

Sarri, never played the game. Up until Napoli has managed teams very few will have heard of. Is 59 and has won absolutely f**k All. Oh, but I forget..........his teams play some lovely football.

 

 

So in summary, We're not allowed to move forward. For some reason we must appoint a coach who has previously won something and we MUST stick with Conte even though he is a hugely negative influence when it comes to team matters?

Got it.

While it's true our top players may leave anyway, Are you not asking why they want to leave after a couple of seasons with Conte at the helm? Surely if they have a new incentive then they are more likely to stay than vs someone who seems to make them all a bit miserable.

Conte could have the best CV on Earth and shoot magic coins out of his bum. What he did last season was criminal in so many ways, He has to go.

1 minute ago, Luca Vialli said:

So in summary, We're not allowed to move forward. For some reason we must appoint a coach who has previously won something and we MUST stick with Conte even though he is a hugely negative influence when it comes to team matters?

Got it.

While it's true our top players may leave anyway, Are you not asking why they want to leave after a couple of seasons with Conte at the helm? Surely if they have a new incentive then they are more likely to stay than vs someone who seems to make them all a bit miserable.

Conte could have the best CV on Earth and shoot magic coins out of his bum. What he did last season was criminal in so many ways, He has to go.

I've already stated why Conte and Mourinho wont be able to beat Pep Guardiola for the foreseeable future with their style of football. By beating I mean consistently challenging him and not one fluky lucky win every now and then. Defensive football is outdated and won't get us far anymore in the modern era. Just like Simeone's Atletico Madrid who were widely hailed as a strong defensive unit but ultimately fell short at the final hurdle on two occasions vs Real Madrid to win the big one in the past few seasons. At this point you question whether these people support the club or are simply Conte bandwagoners who will call him world class even if presented with 100 million facts on why he wont be able to take us forward anymore. 

Holy crap Conte won the league with Juventus 3 times in a country and league where football is known to be defensive and slow paced unlike La Liga and the Premier League? Who knew defensive football would work in Italy? I suspect no one here ever watches Serie A Sunday matches between Chievo and Verona   

3 hours ago, Kev56 said:

Pretty f**king useless to me then, haven't heard a word from her.

Well she's not allowed to tell us what's going on. That's very much Romans way. 

Fabregas just tweeted:

 

52 minutes ago, zes said:

I've already stated why Conte and Mourinho wont be able to beat Pep Guardiola for the foreseeable future with their style of football. By beating I mean consistently challenging him and not one fluky lucky win every now and then. Defensive football is outdated and won't get us far anymore in the modern era. Just like Simeone's Atletico Madrid who were widely hailed as a strong defensive unit but ultimately fell short at the final hurdle on two occasions vs Real Madrid to win the big one in the past few seasons. At this point you question whether these people support the club or are simply Conte bandwagoners who will call him world class even if presented with 100 million facts on why he wont be able to take us forward anymore. 

Holy crap Conte won the league with Juventus 3 times in a country and league where football is known to be defensive and slow paced unlike La Liga and the Premier League? Who knew defensive football would work in Italy? I suspect no one here ever watches Serie A Sunday matches between Chievo and Verona   

As much as I do still rate Conte, deep down I feel the arrival of Sarri (from now on to be referred to as "The Messiah") is inevitable and imminent. 

When that happens, I will of course welcome and back him and hope he lives up to what I have heard and brings success AND attractive football. Be interesting to see if he can achieve that with the same squad of players Conte has had to work with. If he does, great and I'll take my hat off to him. If things go badly, it will be fascinating to hear the explanations from his fan-club.

 

15 minutes ago, Blueblur said:

Fabregas just tweeted:

 

Cant find on Fabregas twitter?

13 minutes ago, Nibs said:

As much as I do still rate Conte, deep down I feel the arrival of Sarri (from now on to be referred to as "The Messiah") is inevitable and imminent. 

When that happens, I will of course welcome and back him and hope he lives up to what I have heard and brings success AND attractive football. Be interesting to see if he can achieve that with the same squad of players Conte has had to work with. If he does, great and I'll take my hat off to him. If things go badly, it will be fascinating to hear the explanations from his fan-club.

 

Manager 's should be judged on their own merits. If Sarri is winning 3 games in nearly 4 months and getting repeatedly outsmarted by mediocre manager's all while delivering crap football i can imagine most of said fanbase would turn, and rightly so.

If he however does everything in his power tactically but still fell short because we ain't quite there yet  (similar to Jose's first season back) then im confident the majority will still be fully behind him.

Edited July 6, 20188 yr by Argo

4 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

This could then be pinned to the top of the forum for us to all look at as the fourth Watford goal goes in again or Fulham roll us at the bridge to complete a league double over us.

Quality input negative nancy

4 hours ago, Costa19 said:

Yeah suffer without the ball indeed is the current shiney thing. Aswell the 3-0 loss vs Newcastle, 4-1 vs Watford etc etc. Oh and its really shiney to watch every pressconf. from our shiney Conte. The relationship between the board and Conte seems really shiney too. 

Yes.

11 minutes ago, Costa19 said:

Cant find on Fabregas twitter?

@cesc4official is his twitter handle.  I don’t see that he tweeted what Blueblur said he did, though.

3 hours ago, Kentonio said:

We don't have the first clue what goes on behind the scenes if we're honest, so putting together 'options' for whats happening doesn't mean sh*t. We had this bollocks with Emanalo for years, with him always getting blamed for everything, and now its Marina getting all the stick. How about we just stick with 'the club' seem to be making a pigs dick of the whole thing, and stop assuming individuals are to blame?

We know what Marina's job is, it's player acquisition. We know that we have failed spectacularly in trying to obtain our targets. We also know from the Stones deal that we lowballed until Everton got pissed off and told us to do one. Honestly, with how much failure that has happened in negotiating players transfers I don't know how she hasn't been sacked.

Papy was 3rd choice panic buy after we failed to buy Stones and Marquinhos. Luiz was 4th choice behind Koulibaly, Romagnoli and Marquinhos again. Alonso was a back up option bought on the last day. Zappacosta was a panic buy on the last day. Drinkwater was second choice behind Chamberlain. Morata was second choice behind Lukaku and now we have this summer's debacle. Over a month to get a manager, two days away from pre season and nobody has a clue who will be in charge (that includes staff and players), it's anarchy. Whoever is in charge should be sacked just like anybody else would with so many failures to their name. 

You can't even get excited about the season because absolutely nothing is happening. It's completely devoid of hope.