9 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Reece. Not Average.

Caicedo. Not Average.

Palmer. Not Average.

Cucu. Not Average.

Enzo. Debateable - but I think still better than average.

J. Pedro. Not Average.

Estavao. Not Average.

Then you have a case of other supporting players. Santos. Neto. Gittens. Colwill. Delap. Fofana. Lavia. Hato. etc....all players that are decent supporting acts.

The issue comes when we dont play to any of their strengths.

And when they are injured, who do we have? Plus, GK, CBs, LW, hows that recruitment gone? I tell you, sh*t. The negligence in building a solid team is there for everyone to see although after your drama with Jackson i don’t expect you to see it.

How's the kool-aid tasting?

59 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

The main problem is not recruitment. I do not believe that a team with Pedro, Palmer, Estevao, Neto, Gittens, Caicedo, Enzo, Santos, Cucu, Hato etc is as bad as this. We have lots of good players. Perhaps not elite at the moment, but pretty bloody good.... but they are not allowed to play. They play scared, because the slow and boring way the fraud makes them play.

The recruitment is sh*t in my mind because it's not what a supposed top club does, every window sees loads of player trading that isn't about improving us and isn't gonna establish us amongst the elite

That said, there's no reason why they can't be allowed to play open, attractive, football with pace while they're here. The trading strategy is rubbish, and the manager is f**king up the team with his awful football style.

Have a nice evening Jim 😂👍

53 minutes ago, RMH said:

Recruitment is sh*t. Sorry but the team is full of average players. Should the team be playing better? Sure, but recruitment is a huge problem when all they want is players with low wages. The board and SDs are sh*t and should go the sooner the better.

I wouldn't say that all these players will be average in future, but many of them are no better than average now and are not ready to play regularly if we want to compete for trophies. We probably could have saved a lot of that money and given opportunities to our academy players instead with the same results. We have also signed a number of key players with chronic injury problems. So I would agree with you that are recruitment has been awful.

The Board and the SDs wont be too concerned about the performances, playing style, manager, players, and fans reaction, of course they will glance at the results and maybe the league table occasionally. They will focus on the value of the club and elements within it. Maresca is perfectly placed as a relief valve, they can sacrifice him to quieten the customers sorry fans when or if things get really bad.

They have nothing in common with us bar the word Chelsea. They are our main opponents. I dont see them changing their footballing strategy, it's getting them the results they are looking for. It's very disheartening for Chelsea supporters who can see the footballing failings but we are just going to have to suffer.

I dont see a new manager coming anytime soon, in any case not much will change with a new guy. The SDs have the ear of the Board anyone new in the manager's chair will either tow the line or get removed in due course.

My one hope is that we can bring in a manager who can appease our SD's and as such the Board whilst working a minor miracle with an unbalanced squad and then continue to work miracles as the squad changes without rhyme or reason whilst maintaining a dreadfully unbalanced composition. Navigating through all this nonsense to bring success on the pitch. A slim chance eh.

13 minutes ago, yaz said:

Maresca isn't covering himself with glory but the main problem is the recruitment.

Why did we stack our squad with a number of young inexperienced players again this season? Why are we still doing this with the arrival of Emegha next year?

I thought the plan was to watch a team of 20 year olds grow together. Turns out the plan is to perpetually have a team 20 year olds.

This!

I’d point out that the quality of our roster goes to shambles as soon as we lose starting xi player esp Cole (obviously).

2 goals today were huge mistakes by acheampong who is absolutely not good enough at this time. He’s a liability at his age and experience level.

2 hours ago, forbzy said:

I wouldn't say that all these players will be average in future, but many of them are no better than average now and are not ready to play regularly if we want to compete for trophies. We probably could have saved a lot of that money and given opportunities to our academy players instead with the same results. We have also signed a number of key players with chronic injury problems. So I would agree with you that are recruitment has been awful.

True. It’s the classic discussion around ability level: current vs potential.

People expecting estevao at 18 to pull an Eden and win us the league, sorry it’s not going to happen. You can see that he still makes a lot of bad decisions.

Experience is even more important in D. acheampong Is a kid and so makes mistakes, but those mistakes in D can be very costly as they were today.

And there is Sanchez ball watching and passive while we were under pressure.

The Board and the SDs are defining the make up of the squad. Its on them.

The good thing about this management is that at least they had a shirt sponsor signed and sealed before the current malaise and future legal headaches

Edited September 27, 2025Sep 27 by SydneyChelsea

1 hour ago, acaeus said:

True. It’s the classic discussion around ability level: current vs potential.

People expecting estevao at 18 to pull an Eden and win us the league, sorry it’s not going to happen. You can see that he still makes a lot of bad decisions.

Experience is even more important in D. acheampong Is a kid and so makes mistakes, but those mistakes in D can be very costly as they were today.

And there is Sanchez ball watching and passive while we were under pressure.

Estevao is both exciting to watch and frustrating in equal measure. But that is exactly what you would expect for an 18 year adapting to a new team and league. He probably shouldn't be starting most Premier League games but a number of the alternatives are equally inexperienced.

Can we get Ryan Renolds as our American owner?

9 hours ago, RMH said:

And when they are injured, who do we have? Plus, GK, CBs, LW, hows that recruitment gone? I tell you, sh*t. The negligence in building a solid team is there for everyone to see although after your drama with Jackson i don’t expect you to see it.

Sorry - but we have the most depth of any team in the premier league.

The issue isn't the players - it is:

1) expectations

2) the managers tactical

If our starting position is that the players are young, potentially world class, but need to learn for a season or 2 - then fine. Take the handbrake off - let them go out, and have a real go. Some weeks they will be electric and others they will get smashed. But at least they will be learning, growing, developing and actually having a go.

Instead we have the dillusion of actually competing, which in turn leads the manager to sh*t the bed and actually worry about the score. He would prefer we grind out a 1v0 win, than a banging 4v4 draw or 4v3 loss, where the players actually expressed themselves and played in a way where they could learn a genuine lot beneficial lesson. That's because of both the managers negative risk averse personality, and the pressure to win "now" due to expectations.

6 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Sorry - but we have the most depth of any team in the premier league.

The issue isn't the players - it is:

1) expectations

2) the managers tactical

If our starting position is that the players are young, potentially world class, but need to learn for a season or 2 - then fine. Take the handbrake off - let them go out, and have a real go. Some weeks they will be electric and others they will get smashed. But at least they will be learning, growing, developing and actually having a go.

Instead we have the dillusion of actually competing, which in turn leads the manager to sh*t the bed and actually worry about the score. He would prefer we grind out a 1v0 win, than a banging 4v4 draw or 4v3 loss, where the players actually expressed themselves and played in a way where they could learn a genuine lot beneficial lesson. That's because of both the managers negative risk averse personality, and the pressure to win "now" due to expectations.

If by depth you mean number of players, then yes. We’ve got a bloated team with 45-50 players signed. Most of them are average and we’ve got no quality in GK or CBs or LW. They’ve left those positions uncovered purposefully. That’s what I call negligence. Arsenal or Liverpool have better depth and smaller teams.

6 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Sorry - but we have the most depth of any team in the premier league.

The issue isn't the players - it is:

1) expectations

2) the managers tactical

If our starting position is that the players are young, potentially world class, but need to learn for a season or 2 - then fine. Take the handbrake off - let them go out, and have a real go. Some weeks they will be electric and others they will get smashed. But at least they will be learning, growing, developing and actually having a go.

Instead we have the dillusion of actually competing, which in turn leads the manager to sh*t the bed and actually worry about the score. He would prefer we grind out a 1v0 win, than a banging 4v4 draw or 4v3 loss, where the players actually expressed themselves and played in a way where they could learn a genuine lot beneficial lesson. That's because of both the managers negative risk averse personality, and the pressure to win "now" due to expectations.

The recruitment has been absolutely awful. Yeah we've sold a hell of a lot but to spend 2 billion and be in the position we are in is embarrassing.

They've blown 200m of that on injury prone players alone. We still feel short in certain positions especially defence.

Getting good money for the likes of Mount and Noni only to blow it on a like for like average player. Recruitment should be improving the squad not keeping it at the same level.

It's a catastrophic failure of a strategy.

1 hour ago, KonaKai Blue said:

The recruitment has been absolutely awful. Yeah we've sold a hell of a lot but to spend 2 billion and be in the position we are in is embarrassing.

They've blown 200m of that on injury prone players alone. We still feel short in certain positions especially defence.

Getting good money for the likes of Mount and Noni only to blow it on a like for like average player. Recruitment should be improving the squad not keeping it at the same level.

It's a catastrophic failure of a strategy.

yep - there have been some horrific mistakes.

But I maintain that the core set of players are decent, and certainly not as bad as they are being made to look. With a manager that sets them up to go out and play progressive fast football - without the constant fear of losing the ball or taking a chance, then they could develop into a special team.

On 26/09/2025 at 08:38, RMH said:

Thanks for posting this.

I sent an email on the 23 to the Club asking when the tickets for the Benfica game were going to be put on sale. They only came back to me on the 24th at 10 am with thi

"Please click here for the news story released for Benfica."

This is just unacceptable, to get a reply on the day that they go on sale, and to put the information about the dates the previous day, with less than 24 hours. And I checked on the 23rd the Club's site before sending my enquiry at 14:49.

Thank you. Sorry for the delay in replying. You are right, the selling of tickets and the responses from the ticket office are unacceptable. It's my understanding - I think it was mentioned at the recent CST AGM - that the ticket office has been inundated with emails and phone calls from supporters asking about the new system. It was mentioned at the CST AGM that the new system has been rushed. It's my view the club wanted to ingratiate itself to the Premier League. As I've mentioned before I worked in the IT Department of a Government Department and we tested new systems to breaking point and sought the views of staff. The club could have easily asked season tickets and members to test the new system in the close season. Bizarre that the didn't. I did email the club about that and asked how the new system was tested and rolled out but they refused to tell me.

After yesterday's match me and three of the people I go to the games with went to the pub to chat about the game, the club and life in general. We've all been following the club for more years than we care to remember and all four of us agreed that the club doesn't want long-standing season ticket holders as we don't spend a lot of money in the ground. I rarely eat and drink in the ground as they cost too much and the quality is poor. We also visit the club shop probably once a year at Christmas. Begs the question: does the club want long term season ticket holder and members or rather people who go the matches a few times a season and spend a lot of money. Ties in with a comment I made in the Stadium Thread. I commented that at the CPO AGM in January one of the board, James Gannon was asked about future capacity and replied that would depend on circumstances. I read that as capacity would not necessarily increase if the club could make more money from higher ticket prices etc. I guess time will tell. It would be great if the club were to meet up with members of supporters associations and ask questions but then again pigs might fly.

14 hours ago, Boyne said:

Thank you. Sorry for the delay in replying. You are right, the selling of tickets and the responses from the ticket office are unacceptable. It's my understanding - I think it was mentioned at the recent CST AGM - that the ticket office has been inundated with emails and phone calls from supporters asking about the new system. It was mentioned at the CST AGM that the new system has been rushed. It's my view the club wanted to ingratiate itself to the Premier League. As I've mentioned before I worked in the IT Department of a Government Department and we tested new systems to breaking point and sought the views of staff. The club could have easily asked season tickets and members to test the new system in the close season. Bizarre that the didn't. I did email the club about that and asked how the new system was tested and rolled out but they refused to tell me.

After yesterday's match me and three of the people I go to the games with went to the pub to chat about the game, the club and life in general. We've all been following the club for more years than we care to remember and all four of us agreed that the club doesn't want long-standing season ticket holders as we don't spend a lot of money in the ground. I rarely eat and drink in the ground as they cost too much and the quality is poor. We also visit the club shop probably once a year at Christmas. Begs the question: does the club want long term season ticket holder and members or rather people who go the matches a few times a season and spend a lot of money. Ties in with a comment I made in the Stadium Thread. I commented that at the CPO AGM in January one of the board, James Gannon was asked about future capacity and replied that would depend on circumstances. I read that as capacity would not necessarily increase if the club could make more money from higher ticket prices etc. I guess time will tell. It would be great if the club were to meet up with members of supporters associations and ask questions but then again pigs might fly.

The latter. And not just Chelsea, every club is prioritising walk-ins over ST holders because they spend more on the day, especially in the hospitality areas. The ST holder is an endangered species.

5 minutes ago, dermott said:

The latter. And not just Chelsea, every club is prioritising walk-ins over ST holders because they spend more on the day, especially in the hospitality areas. The ST holder is an endangered species.

Yes, you're correct. As you say Chelsea is not alone. Give it a few years and ST holders will be a thing of a past which will be a great shame as they are people who have supported the club for more years than they care to remember and have followed the team near and far and have a great knowledge of the team. If ST holders become a thing of the past there could be a detrimental impact on the atmosphere. It's not great at the moment and it will get worse. For years parents have brought their children and then grand-children to games and sit together as ST holders. There is a crowd of us that go to the games together and even though we sit in different parts of the ground we are all ST holders and match day is the only time we get together as a group as we live in different parts of the South-East of England.

With the exception of one of the group we range in age from 60 to 72 so it probably won't be long until we stop going for all sorts of reasons and won't be able to hand on our season tickets to family members if ST are dispensed with.

Sad days.

48 minutes ago, Boyne said:

Yes, you're correct. As you say Chelsea is not alone. Give it a few years and ST holders will be a thing of a past which will be a great shame as they are people who have supported the club for more years than they care to remember and have followed the team near and far and have a great knowledge of the team. If ST holders become a thing of the past there could be a detrimental impact on the atmosphere. It's not great at the moment and it will get worse. For years parents have brought their children and then grand-children to games and sit together as ST holders. There is a crowd of us that go to the games together and even though we sit in different parts of the ground we are all ST holders and match day is the only time we get together as a group as we live in different parts of the South-East of England.

With the exception of one of the group we range in age from 60 to 72 so it probably won't be long until we stop going for all sorts of reasons and won't be able to hand on our season tickets to family members if ST are dispensed with.

Sad days.

You, the odd one out, aged 33.

2 minutes ago, dermott said:

You, the odd one out, aged 33.

Oh, I wish. Passed that landmark a long time ago! You know you're old when you can remember using shillings, tanners and threepenny bits!

80p to get in at the shed end 😂 not quite as old as boyne

Edited September 29, 2025Sep 29 by OTL

On 28/09/2025 at 04:08, nonotnowjim said:

Sorry - but we have the most depth of any team in the premier league.

The issue isn't the players - it is:

1) expectations

2) the managers tactical

If our starting position is that the players are young, potentially world class, but need to learn for a season or 2 - then fine. Take the handbrake off - let them go out, and have a real go. Some weeks they will be electric and others they will get smashed. But at least they will be learning, growing, developing and actually having a go.

Instead we have the dillusion of actually competing, which in turn leads the manager to sh*t the bed and actually worry about the score. He would prefer we grind out a 1v0 win, than a banging 4v4 draw or 4v3 loss, where the players actually expressed themselves and played in a way where they could learn a genuine lot beneficial lesson. That's because of both the managers negative risk averse personality, and the pressure to win "now" due to expectations.

Maresca isn't under any pressure to win anything I don't think . We ain't gonna win the PL or the CL . That leaves 2 domestic cups on offer , ether of them would be welcome. Champion League qualification will do for the owners if we get it again is my assumption . But I agree, he is stifling the talent that the club insists we now have at the club. Leicester fans were complaining about the way he had them playing, now we are suffering the same torture and there's no f**king need for it either because we've seen us play good football untill he imposed his awful style upon the players and the team.

We will beat Benfica handsomely, and then it'll be " the plan is working, what a great coach " all over again.

Joao Pedro - £63M - I think he'll be a useful player in the long run, realistically he's probably a £40M player.

Jamie Gittens - £56M - absolute insanity. A huge downgrade on Madueke, Mudryk, Nkunku, even Felix. I'm really not sure what the thought process was here but Dortmund have had our pants down. You don't spend this amount of money on a gamble, which shows the people in charge aren't learning from their mistakes with Mudryk. I can only assume this was Joe Shields pushing it for the City link.

Garnacho - £46M - Another signing that hasn't improved us. He wanted out of Utd and Utd wanted rid, how did we end up paying any more than £25M?

Estevao - £45M - Fantastic signing, well done deserved for this one. Could potentially be in Balon D'or conversations one day. Shame he has no elite manager to learn from.

Hato - £44M - Looks timid, but still early days. I think he's the right template for what we needed, able to cover CB and LB. Ajax captain too so hopefully that personality starts to show through at Chelsea

Delap - £35M - I think this was the most obvious signing that was going to happen this summer. Don't think he improves us, but good value. Should be the number 2 to an elite striker.

Essugo - £22M - hard to judge on limited pitch time, only ever going to play a back up role. I imagine he'll stay a year or two then be sold for a similar value and have a steady career elsewhere.

Paez - £10M - He excites me, hopefully impresses on loan.

Buonnanotte - £2.3M - Just filling a squad role until Paez is back?

So from the £339M spent, i'd argue only £100M (Estevao and Pedro) actually improved us this year. Question marks on Pedro as if Estevao and Palmer are fit they take up the RW/CAM roles between them, and Pedro isn't a striker.

5 hours ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Joao Pedro - £63M - I think he'll be a useful player in the long run, realistically he's probably a £40M player.

Jamie Gittens - £56M - absolute insanity. A huge downgrade on Madueke, Mudryk, Nkunku, even Felix. I'm really not sure what the thought process was here but Dortmund have had our pants down. You don't spend this amount of money on a gamble, which shows the people in charge aren't learning from their mistakes with Mudryk. I can only assume this was Joe Shields pushing it for the City link.

Garnacho - £46M - Another signing that hasn't improved us. He wanted out of Utd and Utd wanted rid, how did we end up paying any more than £25M?

Estevao - £45M - Fantastic signing, well done deserved for this one. Could potentially be in Balon D'or conversations one day. Shame he has no elite manager to learn from.

Hato - £44M - Looks timid, but still early days. I think he's the right template for what we needed, able to cover CB and LB. Ajax captain too so hopefully that personality starts to show through at Chelsea

Delap - £35M - I think this was the most obvious signing that was going to happen this summer. Don't think he improves us, but good value. Should be the number 2 to an elite striker.

Essugo - £22M - hard to judge on limited pitch time, only ever going to play a back up role. I imagine he'll stay a year or two then be sold for a similar value and have a steady career elsewhere.

Paez - £10M - He excites me, hopefully impresses on loan.

Buonnanotte - £2.3M - Just filling a squad role until Paez is back?

So from the £339M spent, i'd argue only £100M (Estevao and Pedro) actually improved us this year. Question marks on Pedro as if Estevao and Palmer are fit they take up the RW/CAM roles between them, and Pedro isn't a striker.

To sum it up, Winstanley and Stewart out! Made me sick watching Winstanley and Eghbali laughing together in the stands the other day. Eghbali should be giving him daggers for the mess he has made.

How do people feel about this? It sounds quite sh*t until the crowd join in but then is every goal celebration going to end up as the same generic bo**ocks?