1 hour ago, big blue said:

Roman put that board in place though, so I'm not sure how you can separate the two. 

We have no direction. I don't know if the club know what direction they want to take us, and where our ambitions lie. 

We had a clear strategy for the first 8-10 years, we wanted to be the best. 

Now I'm not sure whether we are just content with being a top 4 side. 

I think this uncertainty comes from the top down, I think Roman isn't sure what he wants to do with the club. 

Exactly, we know nothing. That includes not knowing a switch of ownership would solve any problem that may or may not exist.

12 hours ago, Valerie said:

Exactly, we know nothing. That includes not knowing a switch of ownership would solve any problem that may or may not exist.

Infact a change in ownership may make perceived problems worse. 

18 hours ago, big blue said:

Roman put that board in place though, so I'm not sure how you can separate the two. 

We have no direction. I don't know if the club know what direction they want to take us, and where our ambitions lie. 

We had a clear strategy for the first 8-10 years, we wanted to be the best. 

Now I'm not sure whether we are just content with being a top 4 side. 

I think this uncertainty comes from the top down, I think Roman isn't sure what he wants to do with the club. 

* Roman put the board in place - The board did a good job as far as negotiating the players sales - the problem is the scouts and they are poor at identifying players.

* What do you mean by direction ? What direction are the clubs in and why do you feel ours is different ? 

* The first 8-10 years, there were not so many uber-rich owners/sponsorship deals - so it was easier to compete. Now, it is harder. Also, Financial Fairplay is something that this club takes seriously and also we are trying to move to a new stadium which also requires funds.

 

28 minutes ago, brownindian said:

* Roman put the board in place - The board did a good job as far as negotiating the players sales - the problem is the scouts and they are poor at identifying players.

* What do you mean by direction ? What direction are the clubs in and why do you feel ours is different ? 

* The first 8-10 years, there were not so many uber-rich owners/sponsorship deals - so it was easier to compete. Now, it is harder. Also, Financial Fairplay is something that this club takes seriously and also we are trying to move to a new stadium which also requires funds.

 

You attack Chelsea's scouts, but the club signed 

De Bruyne for 7 million

Lukaku for 10 million

Salah for 11 million

 

If Jose had not got rid of those 3 bargains, I doubt you would be attacking the clubs scouts.  

4 hours ago, brownindian said:

* Roman put the board in place - The board did a good job as far as negotiating the players sales - the problem is the scouts and they are poor at identifying players.

* What do you mean by direction ? What direction are the clubs in and why do you feel ours is different ? 

* The first 8-10 years, there were not so many uber-rich owners/sponsorship deals - so it was easier to compete. Now, it is harder. Also, Financial Fairplay is something that this club takes seriously and also we are trying to move to a new stadium which also requires funds.

 

By direction I mean from 2011-2014 We signed an array of attacking young players, then brought in manager in mourinho, that did not suit the squad we built. 

We then actually do some decent business win a league title, and when the squad needs some refreshing, we bring in players that just aren't good enough. 

Conte comes in and again we do decent business win a league title, then this time we spend money, mostly over paying for that were better than the ones they replaced. 

Now we have brought in sarri.

So in 6 years, we have gone from buying young attacking players with high potential, to buying hard working players in their prime for mourinho, then we targeted players that could play 343, now we are signing technical players to play sarri ball.

That is why the squad is a complete mish mash.

Yes the scouting could be better, FFP is a hindrance although we are starting to fall behind spurs and Liverpool so I'm not sure that is a valid reason. 

 

Yeah, the worst thing we can do is sack Sarri and get a different coach in imo.

If we’re going to sack Sarri eventually then we best get a coach who is also attack minded otherwise our squad would just be in the same boat

18 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

Yeah, the worst thing we can do is sack Sarri and get a different coach in imo.

If we’re going to sack Sarri eventually then we best get a coach who is also attack minded otherwise our squad would just be in the same boat

That's it mate. There needs to be long term strategy and philosophy, United are in the same boat from having similar issues. 

I think we won 2 league titles in spite of our planning. 

Stability isn't just about not sacking managers every year, it's about having direction and putting things in place to keep us on that path. 

I don't know if Roman has lost interest, it's impossible to know. I think that he unsure about where he wants us to be in 5 years time. 

I wouldn't want to see him sell up, but I hope he starts to learn from previous mistakes, and also look at the success from models used by our rivals. If we aren't going to spend our way out of trouble then we need to look at how teams like Atlético and Liverpool operate, and we need to plan better and spend smarter. 

I really think a director of football would help. I think the club need to focus on young technical players with some speed. Look how hazard de bruyne salah have flourished. Im not really sure what happened the summer conte won the league. Spending vast amounts of money on sub standard players, maybe the board were trying to spite conte. We were also linked with the worst strikers under the sun the following January. 

As for the initial question, Roman was the best thing that ever happened to this club. Just look at the amount we have won since he took over. I for one cant thank him enough. Its just a shame relations with Russia have soured. Lets not forget his attendances at Stamford Bridge.

I would say that Chelsea have been just as good for Roman as he has been for us. We gave him some legitimacy when people were beginning to question the Oligarchs.

I think his nose is obviously out of joint at the moment however I’d say the governments decision on all the Russians is justified after the events of last year.

It would be nice to hear from him now & again, I really think he needs to look at the board & see if it’s working on the football side & not just the business side. A director of football is an absolute must.

Edited February 3, 20197 yr by shedpensioner
Typo

I think it's time for Roman to hand pick a few players and sign them like he did in the past and choose some new leaders for the squad.

By the end of the summer ManU,Mancity will end up spending £200m each, so Roman needs to go big, we got Kepa,Pulisic but we need 1 more defender, 2 more midfielders and at least 1 striker.

20 hours ago, shedpensioner said:

I would say that Chelsea have been just as good for Roman as he has been for us. We gave him some legitimacy when people were beginning to question the Oligarchs.

I think his nose is obviously out of joint at the moment however I’d say the governments decision on all the Russians is justified after the events of last year.

It would be nice to hear from him now & again, I really think he needs to look at the board & see if it’s working on the football side & not just the business side. A director of football is an absolute must.

“ An riddle, wrapped in mystery, inside an enigma” 

Churchills words on Russia almost 75 years ago. Not much has changed.

Roman makes Harpo Marx seem trappy.

Would hate the thought of a new owner, as it could all be so much worse.  I think City can easily blow us out of the water in transfers so maybe Roman is cooling off for a while. 

I do worry about a few things,  the stadium in particular though. Those new stadium plans looked amazing, it could transcend us to a new level for the future and it doesn't look like its feasible any time soon. If we don't do something we will be left behind. We wont be as attractive a pull for new players, we'll be missing out on about £1.5M in gate receipts each home game too without the 20,000 extra seats. 

Roman has been effectively exiled from the UK and now living / been given citizenship in Israel last I read. 

The board as well come across as a bit toxic and it seems to feed down to a weird atmosphere at the club, no doubt a lot of throat slitters.

We don't know what we are getting each week with Chelsea, it is a strange phase we are in. 

It is a shame about the stadium but I can see where Roman is coming from 100%. 

If this Brexit bullsh*t ever happens they’ll be begging him and his fortune to return 

Hope that Roman stays. If we would get owners like at Arsenal and Man United than we would be doomed.

Thought this was really fun.

Thanks for the help Sven

I guess Sven's famous visit to Peter Kenyon's house was a simple thank you dinner after all!

political rant removed

On 02/02/2019 at 16:13, big blue said:

Roman put that board in place though, so I'm not sure how you can separate the two. 

We have no direction. I don't know if the club know what direction they want to take us, and where our ambitions lie. 

We had a clear strategy for the first 8-10 years, we wanted to be the best. 

Now I'm not sure whether we are just content with being a top 4 side. 

I think this uncertainty comes from the top down, I think Roman isn't sure what he wants to do with the club. 

To the contrary we are one of the few clubs which always had a clear direction..  and our direction is to challenge responsibly, examples of clubs being content would have been had we sold Hazard a season before or re-invested in someone like a Leno to replace Courtois.. The only side that has out-performed us over the last two years is City and they havent spent a colossal amount of money to do that.. Pool while have finished above us on two occasions are still to win.. and they have out spent us again...

The biggest evidence of us trying to compete is the leeway our managers get in transfers.. any club which is a top 4 side follows a very structure DOF policy.. its no surprise that during Conte's reign we ended up with mediocre talent from Serie A... or During Sarri we basically shunted out any player he didnt fancy but spent on Jorgi and Higuain... and lastly even with Frank giving him the freedom to decide who stays (tomori) and who goes (DD) is further evidence...

I think Roman is an amazing owner and long may he continue...

6 hours ago, Dixons said:

political rant removed

Not a rant at all! Proposals by the possible next government that would greatly effect our owner (this is a thread about our owner) and make it impossible for him to ever live here again. Proposals that would also mean no British citizen could ever own a major  English club again. Sensor the truth and me if you like.

7 hours ago, Dixons said:

political rant removed

Come on, now we all want to know what was said. Bloody mods!

Prick said communists are taking over and were going to ban billionaires 

17 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Come on, now we all want to know what was said. Bloody mods!

I simply brought up an issue that would greatly affect our owner and his future in England.  If you don't already know, Labour are talking about nobody being allowed to have a million pound. Yes, our potential government confiscating massive amounts of peoples property and wealth.

 

2 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

Prick said communists are taking over and were going to ban billionaires 

Roman will be fine then, he normally does alright out of communist regimes 

5 minutes ago, Dixons said:

I simply brought up an issue that would greatly affect our owner and his future in England.  If you don't already know, Labour are talking about nobody being allowed to have a million pound. Yes, our potential government confiscating massive amounts of peoples property and wealth.

 

That is just utter bullsh*t

 

UNLESS, you have a valid link to the Labour Party manifesto that says that.

Edited November 20, 20196 yr by yorkleyblue

Errr...it's actually the Communist/ Labour politicians, including the leader,  who are calling for this. I have not made a single word of this up!