5 minutes ago, Slojo said:

And Rudiger has barely played, same with DD. 

I wish somebody could explain this to me. 

Rudiger has played 21 games

2 minutes ago, Little Boy Blue said:

Rudiger has played 21 games

Allow me to rephrase, not as many as he should have played. 

Wrong choice of words. Basically I can’t stand it when we give Cahill the odd game when Rudi should be a nailed on starter when fit no matter what. 

22 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Doesn't she just handle the negotiation side of things though? I didn't know she was in charge of targeting players to sign.

She was in charge of negotiations (Among other things) and Emenalo's job as Director of Football was to find targets for her to try and sign. Emenalo quit end of August for unknown reasons (Reportedly a power more from Marina with Conte as Emenalo was very much backing him up) and she was reported to have taken on his responsibilities as well as her ones before he quit. That means for the January transfer window all our signings were made by Marina. 

Here's the bottom of the Premier League Form Table

 

16    Chelsea FC            7    2    0    5    8:14    -6    6    L L W L L W L
17    Southampton FC    7    1    3    3    5:12    -7    6    D W L D D L L
18    Crystal Palace        8    1    2    5    9:13    -4    5    D D L L L L W L
19    Stoke City             8    0    4    4    4:11    -7    4    D L D D D L L L
20    West Brom            8    0    0    8    6:20    -14  0    L L L L L L L L

Only West Brom have conceded more goals and that's from 8 games when we've only played 7 - I wouldn't blame the board if they decided to let Conte go, this is a really grim set of stats. 

6 minutes ago, sonic90 said:

I have to say we didn't play very badly but it's the same story of the result not reflecting the play, some bad defending let them in, poor finishing so we didn't score enough. 

Once or twice this happens you accept it but now it's becoming a trend, surely it has something to do with the coaching, confidence can't be high when Conte keeps talking about how he wanted better players, so implying his current crop are sh*te.

For me it was looking like a different team in one of the halves, a constant theme under Conte. Once you wait till the 80th min for a sub then your generally f**ked.

Edited April 1, 20188 yr by Ernie_blue

April Fool ! - the FA gave us a joke ref, brilliant, how we all laughed 

Do people really think just by changing the manager will change this set of players. If we go to a back 4 we need new players because the current players aren’t out and out full backs and will be run ragged. People don’t like the team picked, who is stronger to come in? With no obvious agreement on lots of players it shows weakness in the squad. Also new manager will have his own philosophy and team shape but isn’t going to choose new recruits. So people will be having these same discussions/ arguments season after season.

Just now, Richard P said:

Do people really think just by changing the manager will change this set of players. If we go to a back 4 we need new players because the current players aren’t out and out full backs and will be run ragged. People don’t like the team picked, who is stronger to come in? With no obvious agreement on lots of players it shows weakness in the squad. Also new manager will have his own philosophy and team shape but isn’t going to choose new recruits. So people will be having these same discussions/ arguments season after season.

cmon, i love it every 2 years our managers becomes so clueless that they'll be outplayed by a pub team ;)

 

 

3 minutes ago, theone said:

cmon, i love it every 2 years our managers becomes so clueless that they'll be outplayed by a pub team ;)

 

 

 

Come on! I effing detest Spuds, but I  certainly wouldn't call them a pub team. Fact is they are ahead of us on and OFF the pitch at the minute

Surely it's worth taking a risk on someone from the youth team to play alongside Kante instead of Baka or fabregas. Both have been dreadful. Nothing to lose now so bed in some future talent. Our youth team is superb so now is the time. 

12 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

 

Edited April 1, 20188 yr by Dr Gonzo

9 minutes ago, Richard P said:

Do people really think just by changing the manager will change this set of players. If we go to a back 4 we need new players because the current players aren’t out and out full backs and will be run ragged. People don’t like the team picked, who is stronger to come in? With no obvious agreement on lots of players it shows weakness in the squad. Also new manager will have his own philosophy and team shape but isn’t going to choose new recruits. So people will be having these same discussions/ arguments season after season.

But to be honest if you had a boss who was always belittling you and your colleagues you wouldn'tgive 100% for him

1 minute ago, Bluesince66 said:

But to be honest if you had a boss who was always belittling you and your colleagues you wouldn'tgive 100% for him

Fair point

5 minutes ago, Little Boy Blue said:

 

Come on! I effing detest Spuds, but I  certainly wouldn't call them a pub team. Fact is they are ahead of us on and OFF the pitch at the minute

i didnt mean them i meant our game play in general, we rarely had a comfortable win in 2018

its same story here losing our way after going 1 up 

Edited April 1, 20188 yr by theone

Utterly unforgivable. Quite possibly the most pathetic performance I've ever seen from us.

29 minutes ago, Brutos said:

Also we have regressed while the rest have moved forward .....only Arsenal are in a worst position than us

Ohh for sure.....we have gone backwards as much as we could. We were doomed from the get go.

9 minutes ago, Richard P said:

Do people really think just by changing the manager will change this set of players. If we go to a back 4 we need new players because the current players aren’t out and out full backs and will be run ragged. People don’t like the team picked, who is stronger to come in? With no obvious agreement on lots of players it shows weakness in the squad. Also new manager will have his own philosophy and team shape but isn’t going to choose new recruits. So people will be having these same discussions/ arguments season after season.

Of course it wont change anything........new manager comes in and it all starts Again. But im wiling to bet with anyone here that we will never ever be anywhere near as succesful by changing managers from here on. Conte was the last good manager to come in and rip it open and smack them mancs with his dong. The guy wins the title and he's thinking I will be backed......what he got was average players.....second or third options at best. The board thinks flogging average players will produce results......look at our squad....for the other top4 have better teams for sure....more quality all around. But this too is Conte's fault it seems.

4 minutes ago, theone said:

i didnt mean them i meant our game play in general, we rarely had a comfortable win in 2018

its same story here losing our way after going 1 up 

Ok. See what you're saying

8 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

Utterly unforgivable. Quite possibly the most pathetic performance I've ever seen from us.

Man City was worse 

9 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

Utterly unforgivable. Quite possibly the most pathetic performance I've ever seen from us.

Nowhere near as bad as the city performance at least we were half decent first half. 

That city game was the worst I've ever seen us, utterly pathetic and defeatist. 

Worrying we've been like that a few times this season. 

A deserved defeat. Everyone hid in the second half. 

On a more general note, we have zero cutting edge up front when Morata plays. We’ve bought two strikers since Costa left and not one of them comes anywhere close to replacing him. 

 

44 minutes ago, Richard P said:

Do people really think just by changing the manager will change this set of players. If we go to a back 4 we need new players because the current players aren’t out and out full backs and will be run ragged. People don’t like the team picked, who is stronger to come in? With no obvious agreement on lots of players it shows weakness in the squad. Also new manager will have his own philosophy and team shape but isn’t going to choose new recruits. So people will be having these same discussions/ arguments season after season.

On our post Christmas form, we have one of the worst defences in the league.  Why is that, is it the players, is it the coaching, is it the system? - We need to work out who is accountable and fix it for next season. If that means reshaping to a back 4, so be it.  

Just now, carrickblue said:

On our post Christmas form, we have one of the worst defences in the league.  Why is that, is it the players, is it the coaching, is it the system? - We need to work out who is accountable and fix it for next season. If that means reshaping to a back 4, so be it.  

I think all this sitting back and letting the opponent dictate the game has a lot to do with it ... it means the defence has to be perfect, which is tough to pull off. Plus that tactical approach severely compromises us at the other end of the pitch ... in 25 of our 50 games this season we've scored zero or one goal .... which is not good enough to compete at the top table. In the games where we've scored 2+ goals we've won 22 drawn 2 and lost 1. In the 25 where we've scored one or zero, we are won 4, drawn 10 and lost 11 ...

We don’t really deserve to be top four. Manager had no faith in the squad and they’ve paid him back in kind.

Board really needs to be restructured and some proper football people brought in. It’s scary to think the kind of discussions that are going on behind the scenes before we buy the likes of Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Berkeley, Giroud. 

We’re really run by a bunch of incompetents. Meanwhile it’s the manager who’ll get the sack and he’ll no doubt go on to do really well at PSG or Madrid. 

He’s well out of it. 

1 hour ago, Bluesince66 said:

But to be honest if you had a boss who was always belittling you and your colleagues you wouldn'tgive 100% for him

I can confirm this to be true. 

Been back from the game about an hour 

1st half was ok. Good goal then Moses clearance & subsequent goal handed them the result imo

Spuds were the better team when it counted all over the pitch in the 2nd. Conte cut a vastly different figure to my last visit vs Sunderland last May. Team reflects its leaders - and right now leadership is missing on & off the pitch. 

Going next Saturday before back to California. Despite the result it’s always brilliant to come back to the Shed End.

better luck next weekend hopefully & carefree !!!