I can understand the need for rotation but surely the logical thing to do would be to play a string side away at Cardiff knowing how bad our away form is, and then maybe give a rest to 1 or 2 at home to Brighton. Dropping both of our best players is mind boggling. 

Alonso constantly getting picked despite making multiple errors every game, regularly leading to goals, is just insane. 

Even if you look at the centre back situation, surely Christiansen deserves a chance in the league, with just how poor we look in defence. 

For the first 4 months of the season I was 100% behind sarri, it might not have always been pretty, but I could see we were going somewhere. Now it just looks aimless. 

I didn't take much notice if the criticism about sarri's lack of rotation, because at the end of the day, why would you keep changing a winning side. But we arent winning and sarri is still sticking with the same players. 

I really want us to show faith in a manager and give him time to build a side, but sarri isnt helping himself, and I dont think he has shown enough so far to warrant the time needed to build his team. Especially with a transfer ban looming. 

It's probably too late to sack him now though, in we have 2 prem games in quick succession, then there is only 5 left, plus the Europa. 

I'd be shocked if he is here next season though! 

1 hour ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I think the club messed up their relationship with Conte

Conte messed up his relationship with the players, then went on record (press conference after press conference) trying to blame the club, all Conte had left on his side were the fans, you can't blame the club for that mess.

1 hour ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Almost all of that has nothing to do with Roman. 

? He's puts the likes of Bruce Buck and Marina Granovskaia in place to make decisions on how to run the club. I don't for a second think Roman is personally saying "don't hire a new DoF". 

? Not pushing ahead with the stadium rebuild I think is because he's made a decision to try and sell the club. Roman allegedly values the club in the region of £2.5b, burdening a potential buyer with a £1b stadium build is going to make the club a hard sell, so that's why I think they've binned it. 

I mean to say Roman has failed us in the last 3 years is hyperbole given we won the title a couple of years ago. I think the club messed up their relationship with Conte and then didn't give him the means to build on the title win. Instead of parting ways when they were unhappy with him they let a toxic atmosphere fester to the detriment of the club. 

I think the club has/had an identity. I think we made a name for ourselves being a tough side to break down that was great on the counter attack. If anything the Sarri appointment has left us with an identity crisis. 

Let me rephrase what you just said, 

Quote

 

Almost all of that has nothing to do with Sarri. He's puts the likes of Eden Hazard and David Luiz in place to win games. I don't for a second think Sarri is personally saying "play slow boring football". 

 

Roman is at the top, if we take 18 months to hire a critical position in the club, that doesn't fall on Marina, it falls on Roman. If we hire a manager to rebuild our entire outlook as a team and it doesnt work, that falls on Roman.

Additionally, I think we fluked that PL win under Conte with a squad on its last hurrah playing a system that surprised the league when our rivals around us were all over the place and rebuilding. It was somewhat like when United won the league in Fergie's last season. That team won because of investment years earlier and failed to continue because of a lack of long term planning.

 

Edited April 1, 20197 yr by bisright1

2 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

I imagine there's a good chance (although admittedly my understanding of these things is fairly limited) that we can avoid a severance package if we shift him off to Roma rather than sacking him outright. 

I would have to believe that after the Conte payoff, there was language put into Sarri's deal that would allow for a more advantageous payoff for the club.

6 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Let me rephrase what you just said, 

Roman is at the top, if we take 18 months to hire a critical position in the club, that doesn't fall on Marina, it falls on Roman. If we hire a manager to rebuild our entire outlook as a team and it doesnt work, that falls on Roman.

Additionally, I think we fluked that PL win under Conte with a squad on its last hurrah playing a system that surprised the league when our rivals around us were all over the place and rebuilding. It was somewhat like when United won the league in Fergie's last season. That team won because of investment years earlier and failed to continue because of a lack of long term planning.

 

I agree.  Roman owns the club.  He call the shots.  Everyone works for him.  If he doesn't like what is going on, he can change it.  If he doesn't change anything, he either is happy with the current situation, or he has removed himself so far from the club that he hasn't noticed.

15 minutes ago, coco said:

Conte messed up his relationship with the players, then went on record (press conference after press conference) trying to blame the club, all Conte had left on his side were the fans, you can't blame the club for that mess.

Conte is a winner and he saw the club not matching his ambitions so he went to fight the board in public, this is why many fans till this day rate him, he prefers to risk it all for his ideals.

Hazard didn't like to play the false 9 and yet Sarri used him in that same position in the most important games so far, so Conte didn't really have a bad relation with the players - Costa was always a hard player to work with and he has a bad reputation on the pitch as well, Willian as a sub was better than as a starter.

6 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Let me rephrase what you just said,

Almost all of that has nothing to do with Sarri. He's puts the likes of Eden Hazard and David Luiz in place to win games. I don't for a second think Sarri is personally saying "play slow boring football". 

Not really sure that's rephrasing what I've said, this is a different argument altogether.

I'm sure Sarri isn't saying "play slow boring football" but that's what's happening and despite having the means to try and change that he doesn't. 

16 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Roman is at the top, if we take 18 months to hire a critical position in the club, that doesn't fall on Marina, it falls on Roman. If we hire a manager to rebuild our entire outlook as a team, that falls on Roman.

Within any industry you have appointed persons. You entrust those people to oversee and make decisions, if far too simplistic to say that all responsibility falls on the owner. 

18 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Additionally, I think we fluked that season win with a squad on its last hurrah playing a system that surprised the league when our rivals around us were all over the place and rebuilding. 

You don't fluke a title win, especially when you win 30 of your games. 

7 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

so Conte didn't really have a bad relation with the players

Just now, ForeverCarefree said:

Not really sure that's rephrasing what I've said, this is a different argument altogether.

? I'm sure Sarri isn't saying "play slow boring football" but that's what's happening and despite having the means to try and change that he doesn't. 

Within any industry you have appointed persons. You entrust those people to oversee and make decisions, if far too simplistic to say that all responsibility falls on the owner. 

You don't fluke a title win, especially when you win 30 of your games. 

I am not sure Roman is saying "dont hire a DoF" but that is what is happening and despite having the means to try and change that he doesn't. 

It's been 18 months without a DoF. Our team has been sliding since we won the league under Jose in my opinion with a shot in the arm under Conte that couldn't stave off the team's decline. 

Roman can change things up, he can make things happen. If you genuinely don't believe that then your problems with our performances now should be directed at the team, not Sarri. Because the team Sarri puts out are better at football than Bournemouth, Cardiff, Wolves and Everton. 

11 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Conte is a winner and he saw the club not matching his ambitions so he went to fight the board in public, this is why many fans till this day rate him, he prefers to risk it all for his ideals.

Hazard didn't like to play the false 9 and yet Sarri used him in that same position in the most important games so far, so Conte didn't really have a bad relation with the players - Costa was always a hard player to work with and he has a bad reputation on the pitch as well, Willian as a sub was better than as a starter.

Conte lost the dressing room significantly. Any other view is revisionism. 

Hazard playing as a lone striker under Conte is a different role to what he plays under Sarri. 

Conte won the title in his first season, had that been Pep or Klopp their clubs would have given to them everything they would want for the next season, but somehow our own board was cocky thinking that because Conte won that the squad is good enough.

Roman was so close to invest 500m into a new stadium and didn't listen to Conte, then comes his visa ban and he gives up on boosting the economy of the country that harrasses him.

Conte proved he was right and it cost him his job. Roman wanted to watch an attacking team and made sure that Sarri is coming with a favorite player of Sarri as well, we lost the first keeper and the club invested heavy cash into a new one for years to come.

The problem is that the board didn't want to be at the mercy of a manager after Jose let go of Salah,De Bruyne which at the time was a huge deal in the media and they even asked Conte if he was responsible for the loss of De Bruyne and Salah to which he laughed, Conte was dealing with ridiculous stuff with the club.

6 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Conte lost the dressing room significantly. Any other view is revisionism. 

Hazard playing as a lone striker under Conte is a different role to what he plays under Sarri. 

Not really true though. Hazard didn't like to be a false 9 at the time when everyone were divas and could complain, now he is still not happy but everyone knows this is how Sarri will always play in hard games since, you know, Conte said it a long time ago that our squad can't play differently if you want to get a result.

Sarri tried with his football, it ended up with a 6:0 defeat.

But when Conte was doing the false 9, everyone still had the title celebration in their heads and even if he had won a title nobody had the will to listen.

43 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Additionally, I think we fluked that PL win under Conte

I don't think you can fluke your way to a title. We were the best team in the country that year and won the league, deservedly so. 

14 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

I am not sure Roman is saying "dont hire a DoF" but that is what is happening and despite having the means to try and change that he doesn't. 

It's been 18 months without a DoF. Our team has been sliding since we won the league under Jose in my opinion with a shot in the arm under Conte that couldn't stave off the team's decline. 

Roman can change things up, he can make things happen. If you genuinely don't believe that then your problems with our performances now should be directed at the team, not Sarri. Because the team Sarri puts out are better at football than Bournemouth, Cardiff, Wolves and Everton. 

But we don't know the reason why we don't have a DoF. Perhaps the club have decided they don't want one? 

The job that Michael Emenalo did was one he made for himself more or less. Overseeing the loan army and player recruitment. It's natural when someone leaves a high ranking role within any company that you might evaluate the position before hiring someone new. Right now a lot of Emenalo's duties are carried out by Marina Granovskaia while I believe Eddie Newton was given more responsibilities with managing the loan players. 

I've said elsewhere on the forum it's my belief that Roman is actively looking to sell the club at the moment and I think this is why we're seeing decisions such as not appointing a new DoF and not pushing ahead with the new stadium. 

16 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

But we don't know the reason why we don't have a DoF. Perhaps the club have decided they don't want one? 

The job that Michael Emenalo did was one he made for himself more or less. Overseeing the loan army and player recruitment. It's natural when someone leaves a high ranking role within any company that you might evaluate the position before hiring someone new. Right now a lot of Emenalo's duties are carried out by Marina Granovskaia while I believe Eddie Newton was given more responsibilities with managing the loan players. 

I've said elsewhere on the forum it's my belief that Roman is actively looking to sell the club at the moment and I think this is why we're seeing decisions such as not appointing a new DoF and not pushing ahead with the new stadium. ?

It would help explain his total absence from the club as of late I suppose, surely he would still fly in for games now and again?

Very depressing stuff with Chelsea at the minute, Sarri is just not a good fit. 

Is our time at the top over? 

13 minutes ago, Zola said:

It would help explain his total absence from the club as of late I suppose,

Wasn't the government playing the fool with his Visa and that's why he can't get in the country.

4 minutes ago, Stim said:

Wasn't the government playing the fool with his Visa and that's why he can't get in the country.

He's got an Israeli passport now apparently which allows him to visit the UK for up to 6 months at a time. 

Can only assume his prolonged absence is a conscious decision. 

Taken from The Guardian's "10 Talking Points from the Weekend's Action":

Sarri does not have long left at Chelsea
This is uncharted territory for Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea. Managers have endured spells of dissent from those in the stands, and open revolt – as much as dreadful results on the pitch – ended up doing for André Villas-Boas and Luiz Felipe Scolari. But no head coach has endured such a prolonged mutiny as Maurizio Sarri. His team may have won at the Cardiff City stadium, leaning on a linesman’s oversight to spark their comeback, to avoid a fifth defeat in six away games, but there are very few signs of progress in their play. It is astonishing they are still so close to the top four. Had they lost this match, Sarri’s position would surely have been untenable. As it is, he limps on into the midweek meeting with Brighton and every slack display will provoke more mutiny. It is hard to see the Sarri project extending into a second season. Even wins as dramatic as this do nothing to safeguard his future. 

6 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

He's got an Israeli passport now apparently which allows him to visit the UK for up to 6 months at a time. 

Can only assume his prolonged absence is a conscious decision. 

Perhaps he's worried about getting scooped up by law enforcement for 'questioning' if he comes into the UK again?

12 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Taken from The Guardian's "10 Talking Points from the Weekend's Action":

Sarri does not have long left at Chelsea
This is uncharted territory for Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea. Managers have endured spells of dissent from those in the stands, and open revolt – as much as dreadful results on the pitch – ended up doing for André Villas-Boas and Luiz Felipe Scolari. But no head coach has endured such a prolonged mutiny as Maurizio Sarri. His team may have won at the Cardiff City stadium, leaning on a linesman’s oversight to spark their comeback, to avoid a fifth defeat in six away games, but there are very few signs of progress in their play. It is astonishing they are still so close to the top four. Had they lost this match, Sarri’s position would surely have been untenable. As it is, he limps on into the midweek meeting with Brighton and every slack display will provoke more mutiny. It is hard to see the Sarri project extending into a second season. Even wins as dramatic as this do nothing to safeguard his future. 

That is a fair analysis but there is nothing factual in there to suggest that Sarri is on his way out. Nobody knows what the club is thinking at this point so any speculation is purely based on the way previous managers were handled. He could be gone this week, or may last beyond this season. 

It feels very much like Van Gaal at Utd to me, lots of possession, doing feck all with it. 

Sarri has to be the most polarizing manager we've had since Roman took over? I know Benitez was not enjoyed and AVB was not a good one either, but I feel like the fan base wasn't as split like it is when it comes to the other managers. I could be wrong of course, but just how it appears to be from where I am sitting./

9 minutes ago, chiefBlueCFC said:

Sarri has to be the most polarizing manager we've had since Roman took over? I know Benitez was not enjoyed and AVB was not a good one either, but I feel like the fan base wasn't as split like it is when it comes to the other managers. I could be wrong of course, but just how it appears to be from where I am sitting./

I think even though Benitez and Grant were unpopular we still had leaders in the team to drag ourselves through those seasons. Also the fans knew that both appointments were likely to be short term. I remember at the time of AVB the club were far quicker to react when things were clearly not right. He enjoyed a similarly good start to his time at Chelsea but was gone in February. I suspect fans would have turned on him more had he been given the full season.

4 minutes ago, chiefBlueCFC said:

Sarri has to be the most polarizing manager we've had since Roman took over? I know Benitez was not enjoyed and AVB was not a good one either, but I feel like the fan base wasn't as split like it is when it comes to the other managers. I could be wrong of course, but just how it appears to be from where I am sitting./

Benitez had negative chants against him to begin with but he did a good job for us and slowly but surely most of the fanbase started to accept that he would finish our season.
AvB never got the fans against him like it's been with Sarri now either as far as i remember.

With Sarri i think many of us realize what he is about to do. We have a transfer ban, Hazard will leave this summer and we have the greatest talent we have had at the club and he's also now likely to leave because of the way Sarri has treated him.
Did anyone hear his horrendous comments on him after his England-games? It's was one of the most idiotic thing i have heard a Chelsea-manager say. 

And you can add playing a horrendous style of football to that while sticking to constantly underperforming players that are costing us big-time week in, week out.
He's also one of relatively few Chelsea-managers that was given his picks in the transfer market and the two players he really, realy wanted here have both been poor so that should raise huge question-marks over backing him further in the market.

 

 

1 hour ago, Stim said:

Wasn't the government playing the fool with his Visa and that's why he can't get in the country.

Clear evidence that the systemic bias against Chelsea goes as high as the government, and not just the FA, UEFA, etc.