This whole thing is just freaking wild... between the club being sold, to the whole thing with the Ricketts, and now Roman's been the apparent victim of a chemical weapons attack along with others trying to bring peace between russia and Ukraine. Don't think it changes anything with Roman being sanctioned and Chelsea being sold. Even if that was discovered that there were no ties to Putin, I think the gov't would view it as they would look weak and wouldn't lift sanctions anyways. Everything just takes a crazy turn every day

Apparently he was trying to open his umbrella and jabbed himself in the leg.

Wins World Club Cup.

Loses multi billion £ club.

Banned from the civilised World.

Poisoned.

Hows 2022 going Roman ?

8 hours ago, Andy North said:

Abramovich's new stadium design was eventually approved. The process was delayed by concerns over a larger capacity crowd exiting onto the Fulham Rd only. A new design with a large concourse built over the northern railway leading directly into Fulham Broadway Station was approved. I believe the process took about 3 years. 

The design of the stadium itself looked extraordinarily complex with hundreds of brick built columns holding the roof up. It looked like somebody at the planning depot had deliberately made it difficult to get a design approved. Its an affluent area of London and the residents also probably made it tricky so I can't see an inexperienced foreign investor getting a new design approved any time soon. 

For me the stadium is key to the clubs long term success and this needs to be addressed during selection process. Surely any serious investor will know this. 

For me, the Academy is the key. Bigger capacity isn't key, there's examples all thru the league from Spurs to Sunderland

Roman is invited to hold peace talks we are told it's because he's in Putin's pocket this is 100 % proof he isn't but of course that ruins the narrative around him.

The narrative that Roman Abramovich is some sort of right hand henchman of Putin is laughable. Anybody that truly believes this is either stupid or just a rival fan willing to believe anything the media tells them because they want to see Chelsea burn.

59 minutes ago, coco said:

Apparently he was trying to open his umbrella and jabbed himself in the leg.

Wins World Club Cup.

Loses multi billion £ club.

Banned from the civilised World.

Poisoned.

Hows 2022 going Roman ?

Next month he's presenting an award to Will Smith.

2 hours ago, The Rising Sun said:

For me, the Academy is the key. Bigger capacity isn't key, there's examples all thru the league from Spurs to Sunderland

I completely agree with this. The whole 'new stadium' thing, although we could argue that it is something we'll probably need in the future, doesn't seem realistic at this moment and it could remain like that for some time.

More importantly, it guarantees you nothing. Arsenal had to sell their best players for years to pay off the debt for the new stadium. Just look at where they are now. What did they  achieve since moving from Highbury? Nothing.

On the other hand, we've managed to win the CL with five players from Cobham being an integral part of the squad. Academy should be top priority, no matter what.

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

The narrative that Roman Abramovich is some sort of right hand henchman of Putin is laughable. Anybody that truly believes this is either stupid or just a rival fan willing to believe anything the media tells them because they want to see Chelsea burn.

It’s hard to know the facts of Abramovitchs relationship to Putin. 

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

The narrative that Roman Abramovich is some sort of right hand henchman of Putin is laughable. Anybody that truly believes this is either stupid or just a rival fan willing to believe anything the media tells them because they want to see Chelsea burn.

I’m pretty sure if he created an Ironman suit and defeated the entire Russian army single handed he would still be sanctioned by the government and vilified.

Edited March 28, 20224 yr by DarkMata

Time to rally around Roman. The sh*t he's been through is ridiculous, I hope he bankrupts the UK government at this point. Hounding him out of the UK and just seizing his sh*t without any actual proof he is Putin's right hand man. 

Whats happened now is a clear demonstration that he is not in cahoots with Putin.

28 minutes ago, Zola said:

Time to rally around Roman. The sh*t he's been through is ridiculous, I hope he bankrupts the UK government at this point. Hounding him out of the UK and just seizing his sh*t without any actual proof he is Putin's right hand man. 

Whats happened now is a clear demonstration that he is not in cahoots with Putin.

If Roman owned Liverpool their fans would have already burnt down parliament and declared the UK is now under the authority of the New Scouse Order.

3 hours ago, coco said:

Apparently he was trying to open his umbrella and jabbed himself in the leg.

Wins World Club Cup.

Loses multi billion £ club.

Banned from the civilised World.

Poisoned.

Hows 2022 going Roman ?

Expect a column full of sh*te from Syed in the Times along the lines of 'Abramovich and Chelsea have always been toxic'. 

Not poisoning according to US intelligence people. And also Ukrainian officers urge to be careful about what news to believe.

https://www.reuters.com/world/intelligence-suggests-environmental-factor-sickened-abramovich-ukrainian-2022-03-28/

Difficult to know what’s truly happening, there’s little impartial information around.

1 hour ago, Zola said:

Time to rally around Roman. The sh*t he's been through is ridiculous, I hope he bankrupts the UK government at this point. Hounding him out of the UK and just seizing his sh*t without any actual proof he is Putin's right hand man. 

Whats happened now is a clear demonstration that he is not in cahoots with Putin.

What happened (now they say it was most likely environmental) doesn’t means he was never close to Putin. He’s just doing something which displeases Putin now 

 

Edited March 28, 20224 yr by azpi28

4 minutes ago, RMH said:

Not poisoning according to US intelligence people. And also Ukrainian officers urge to be careful about what news to believe.

https://www.reuters.com/world/intelligence-suggests-environmental-factor-sickened-abramovich-ukrainian-2022-03-28/

Difficult to know what’s truly happening, there’s little impartial information around.

Would not trust news from the US anymore than I would trust Putin. 

Sounds like they want to de-esculate the situation 

16 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Would not trust news from the US anymore than I would trust Putin. 

So the alternative is to trust The Sun…  Also, Ukrainian sources have also indicated that they do not think it was poison. Who knows what’s going on.

40 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Would not trust news from the US anymore than I would trust Putin. 

Isn't Reuters now Russian-owned?

Edit: Found this on Wikipedia:

"

Partnership with TASSEdit

On 1 June 2020, Reuters announced that Russian news agency TASS had joined its Reuters Connect program, comprising a then-total of 18 partner agencies. Reuters president Michael Friedenberg said he was "delighted that TASS and Reuters are building upon our valued partnership by having TASS join Reuters Connect".^[58] TASS's membership in Reuters Connect came under renewed scrutiny in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine; Politico reported that Reuters staff members were "frustrated and embarrassed" that the agency had not suspended its partnership with TASS.^[59]"

Edited March 28, 20224 yr by Backbiter

31 minutes ago, RMH said:

So the alternative is to trust The Sun…  Also, Ukrainian sources have also indicated that they do not think it was poison. Who knows what’s going on.

Indeed. Don't trust any of it. They all have their own agendas.

I feel like if Putin wanted him dead he'd be dead. It looks like a warning to keep everyone onside.

7 hours ago, chiefBlueCFC said:

This whole thing is just freaking wild.

Well said.

I don't know what's going to happen next. Expect the unexpected! 🤭

First ever post, from the USA.

Have the powers-that-be in government considered the future problem if courts rule the forced sale of the club to NOT be legal? What if Putin gets thrown out in 6 months and sanctions are lifted in a year and suddenly the courts side with the so-called oligarchs that government overstepped its bounds? And he wants the club back? And the new owners have no intention of handing it back. And it goes to court over who the rightful owner is?

It seems this could have issues down the line few in your government are considering. This war won't last forever.

11 minutes ago, KingOfMilwaukee said:

First ever post, from the USA.

Have the powers-that-be in government considered the future problem if courts rule the forced sale of the club to NOT be legal? What if Putin gets thrown out in 6 months and sanctions are lifted in a year and suddenly the courts side with the so-called oligarchs that government overstepped its bounds? And he wants the club back? And the new owners have no intention of handing it back. And it goes to court over who the rightful owner is?

It seems this could have issues down the line few in your government are considering. This war won't last forever.

That would imply the government was capable of being able to tie their own shoe laces and can think ahead, which is a very silly suggestion! 😉

5 hours ago, KingOfMilwaukee said:

First ever post, from the USA.

Have the powers-that-be in government considered the future problem if courts rule the forced sale of the club to NOT be legal? What if Putin gets thrown out in 6 months and sanctions are lifted in a year and suddenly the courts side with the so-called oligarchs that government overstepped its bounds? And he wants the club back? And the new owners have no intention of handing it back. And it goes to court over who the rightful owner is?

It seems this could have issues down the line few in your government are considering. This war won't last forever.

Not to worry, I have it on good authority that Roman has donated £100k to Boris' wallpapering fund.

In Istanbul at the moment, talking to Erdogan, acting as an intermediary in Russia-Ukaine negotiations.