13 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Would Lampard & Jody Morris be a bad idea though? 

They would have the respect of the players, owners & fans, play attacking football & integrate our youth. It has & is currently working with Madrid, and seems to be working with Man Utd.

Personally I feel the era of your Superstar Manager (ala a Mourinho) is coming to an end. 

They wouldn't take it.  They are on a good little thing with Derby, they'd be silly to jump ship for us right now.  Way too soon, too

13 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Would Lampard & Jody Morris be a bad idea though? 

They would have the respect of the players, owners & fans, play attacking football & integrate our youth. It has & is currently working with Madrid, and seems to be working with Man Utd.

Personally I feel the era of your Superstar Manager (ala a Mourinho) is coming to an end. 

They wouldn't take it.  They are on a good little thing with Derby, they'd be silly to jump ship for us right now.  Way too soon, too

Double post, so please delete one of them.

 

On a seperate note, if Sarri does go, I think it'll be Zola until the end of the season with JT and/or Cudicini.  Summer then itll be Zidane

4 hours ago, abramovich said:

We have the same defensive lineup (bar Rudiger) that won the league only two years ago. Now suddenly they're crap? I'd say United's last night's backline was no better than ours, I wouldn't want any of Young, Lindelof, Smalling or Shaw at Chelsea. The difference was not the personnel, it was down to either manager to prepare them properly and motivate them. Solskjaer clearly knows what he's doing, Sarri unfortunately doesn't.

But the defensive lineup that won the league, played in a different formation and had a certain central midfielder who broke up play, and protected the defence, many say he's the best in the world at that position, anyone know where he went? Last seen looking lost at the edge of the oppositions penalty area

13 minutes ago, RickUK said:

Double post, so please delete one of them.

 

On a seperate note, if Sarri does go, I think it'll be Zola until the end of the season with JT and/or Cudicini.  Summer then itll be Zidane

As a true Chelsea legend i don't think Zola is the choice, if he does he's on a hiding to nothing, i don't think he's hard enough. 

Are you ready for this rumour..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former CSKA Moscow, Hull and Russia boss Leonid Slutsky is a friend of Abramovich's and could be an option. (Independent) #CFC

 

NOOOOOO!

35 minutes ago, RickUK said:

They wouldn't take it.  They are on a good little thing with Derby, they'd be silly to jump ship for us right now.  Way too soon, too

I think you’d be surprised, Lampard would probably relish the chance to manage us, who knows if or when it would come up again. Let’s be honest, managing us is risk free. You either succeed and everyone praises you or you fail and it’s written off as the players/clubs fault and you move on to a new job with a big pay off

18 hours ago, axman2526 said:

We were not seeing enough effort or care from Scolari, AVB, Grant, conte year 2 and now from Sarri. We just hated Rafa and gave him no time.

Maybe I am wrong and we have become spoiled.

To be fair ol’ Avram took us to our first Champions League final and was a JT slip away from winning it. I’d warmed to him a bit by the end of the season after the shock of Jose going had worn off. 

I wouldn’t say we’ve been spoiled but a large section of our fan base are from our most successful ever period and aren’t used to this sh*t. That’s why it’s easier for some people to stay behind the team/manager despite everything going to sh*t. 

Bring back Avram for a second crack I reckon! 

For me RDM would be a good interim and he has good experience with us despite what may have happened elsewhere. Also from facing Barca in 2012 we know he has tactical acumen.

Like Munkworth I also think Avram did ok, whether this was from his softer personality or because the players just knew what was needed, I'm not sure.

 

2 hours ago, RickUK said:

They wouldn't take it.  They are on a good little thing with Derby, they'd be silly to jump ship for us right now.  Way too soon, too

Solskjear was on a good thing with Molde (twice), Pochetino was at Saints, Brendan at Swansea etc but all jumped ship when a better opportunity presented itself. Lamps will probably stay at Derby for now but if we pursue him in the summer he'll be here in a shot.

They are not sacking Sarri because the results are against him, its a full blown package of disaster on a huge scale, imho far worse than AVB , and Scolari, destroyed by both Bournemouth and City, and last night, out 'Chelsead' by Utd who wanted it more, absolutely no plan B, never changes anything different,his bizarre adulation of Alonso and Jorghi boy, the playing of Kante out of position, luiz who is again showing more fragility than a cracked egg, his predictable almost laughable (Kovacic for Barklay)-(Barclay for Kova) substitutions, his since Odoi never went in the window to Bayern, has shut down his playing time, the almost Barca like Tika-taka without Messi, i'm afraid i think he is out of his depth with just the pace and physicality of the PL, and with that his Sarri ball doesn't seem to fit

12 hours ago, RickUK said:

Double post, so please delete one of them.

 

On a seperate note, if Sarri does go, I think it'll be Zola until the end of the season with JT and/or Cudicini.  Summer then itll be Zidane

JT now!

Can you imagine the lift JT would get from coming back into the Chelsea dressing room. His belief, enthusiasm and team talks would transform things overnight. Some of the players know him and would want to do well for him. There's no way he doesn't know how to set this team up. We concede goals and he knows how to stop that. He could have Ampadu as his on the pitch protégé. Kante infront of the back 4 and Higuan and Hazard splitting defenses at will. CHO giving Willian and Pedro something to think about and Emerson up the left. Overnight change can be good.

JT this afternoon! Why not? At the current rate we will struggle to make top 6 and to be honest I don't want another season of EL anyway. If we get JT in now we at least have a chance of chance of top 4 and/or the EL. We have nothing to lose.

JT backed up by Zola. Even bring back big Pete for goalkeeping coach. Kepa looks like he could do with a hand in the mentality dept anyway.

We have nothing to lose.

I think if Sarri does show signs that he can adapt here then it will help. The thing is, he is capable of adapting; he did it at Napoli with changing to 4231 and also 4111, then 433. He is able to do it, so I'm unsure why he wouldn't in England.

Pep did it in his first season, but obviously he has mentioned he prefers to continue with plan A and improve it. This is why Pep is arguably the best coach in the world though. He is constantly thinking outside the box. 

Just now, enigma said:

I think if Sarri does show signs that he can adapt here then it will help. The thing is, he is capable of adapting; he did it at Napoli with changing to 4231 and also 4111, then 433. He is able to do it, so I'm unsure why he wouldn't in England.

Pep did it in his first season, but obviously he has mentioned he prefers to continue with plan A and improve it. This is why Pep is arguably the best coach in the world though. He is constantly thinking outside the box. 

And also walks into the best teams and is given a budget like he's on Football Manager. 

6 minutes ago, Slojo said:

And also walks into the best teams and is given a budget like he's on Football Manager. 

That's true, but as a tactician he is a great mind. I mean, nothing wrong with City having ambition. It's something this club has a weird way of showing. 

2 minutes ago, enigma said:

That's true, but as a tactician he is a great mind. I mean, nothing wrong with City having ambition. It's something this club has a weird way of showing. 

You say ambition, I say loopholes and corruption, City and PSG are the two dirtiest clubs in the world, they can spend 300 million a season and not even get as much of a warning from FFP. 

Just because we sacked managers for less and harshly in the past, it doesn't give Sarri a free pass to do whatever he likes. We still got Liverpool, United away and Spurs at home, there are some big thrashings to come if the man can't manage to 'motivate his players and get his ideas across. Sunday is the one, swallow the pride, park the bus, frustrate the opposition edge out a win, and he earns the right to stay until the end of the season. It's always in Chelsea's DNA to defend and fight, and completely gone under his management.  Of course it would be a dream to win playing his style of football, but that's not going to happen unless Pep is throwing the game.

20 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Just because we sacked managers for less and harshly in the past, it doesn't give Sarri a free pass to do whatever he likes. We still got Liverpool, United away and Spurs at home, there are some big thrashings to come if the man can't manage to 'motivate his players and get his ideas across. Sunday is the one, swallow the pride, park the bus, frustrate the opposition edge out a win, and he earns the right to stay until the end of the season. It's always in Chelsea's DNA to defend and fight, and completely gone under his management.  Of course it would be a dream to win playing his style of football, but that's not going to happen unless Pep is throwing the game.

The problem is, Chelsea used to have fight because they had entirely different players. We need to go through a transition period. We haven't been through one since Roman took over.

We need a transition period, but the problem is with have investors who we have to appease so it means winning things so we remain lucrative to potential and current investors. Unfortunately it's a double edged sword. 

19 minutes ago, enigma said:

The problem is, Chelsea used to have fight because they had entirely different players. We need to go through a transition period. We haven't been through one since Roman took over.

We need a transition period, but the problem is with have investors who we have to appease so it means winning things so we remain lucrative to potential and current investors. Unfortunately it's a double edged sword. 

That looks a typo to me, what is the point you are making about investors? 

17 hours ago, Andy North said:

I'm firmly in the Hokey Cokey camp.

I don't know where we go from here. I have recently posted that Sarri should be given time to build a squad that suits his style. Allowing him to sell Hazard, Willian, Alonso etc and use the proceeds. He could probably get £250m from a good clear out.

I'm starting to change my mind. At no time last night did I think we were going to come back. We don't change. Once a transfer window has shut you have the squad with which you have to play. A good manager will make the best of the resources available. I don't think Sarri knows how best to get the most out of these players. I also think he has some of the best youth talent in Europe to choose from. He should be playing CHO at the very least. He has options but doesn't use them. I'm now not sure if it's a good idea to let him break up the current team for the sake of raising £250m for a new squad. Would that be wise when you consider that he fails to make full use of the options he has now. Zappacosta? Did he pick him because he speaks the same language and felt he could give him precise instructions? I can't see any sense in the change at all. It was too late anyway. Was he scared it could be 0-3?

It seems to me that Sarri doesn't think on his feet and lacks imagination. He stumbled upon a "winning" formula in Italy and has stuck with that. I'm no expert on Italian football but the general intelligence on that league is that they play defensively. His style of quick attacking movements caught the eye and had a certain level of success. Well guess what. We don't play that way over here anymore. Pep, Klopp and many others, now that Jose Mourhino has gone, are of the view that attacking football is the way to go and if you want to go toe to toe with the big boys you need to have a solid defensive plan. I don't see the defensive plan. Bournmouth, City and Utd have caught us out in different ways but generally the goals are being conceded through quick counter attacks. We have a soft defense when teams come at us quickly. They come quickly because they come through our midfield quickly. Get Ampadu in there somewhere. He is an outstanding young defender who should be given his chance. He has good feet, plenty of confidence and is mature beyond his years. He's not the finished article but he can play a good pass quickly out of defense. He could even play just in front the defense. From the outside it looks obvious but for me Sarri's decision making is getting worse because he is feeling the pressure. If this continues, and there is no reason to think otherwise, his decision making will only get worse. He will become less inclined to make tactical changes. We have really good players in Hazard, Kante, Rudiger, Azpilqueta and Higuaín. Sarri needs to change his tactics and get Kante back in front of the defense. We can't keep conceding these goals. Jorge isn't working. It just isn't. It looks like he is used to getting a bit more time on the ball but now it all looks a bit rushed. He makes the easy pass because he is being closed down a bit more than he would like. Yes he lays it off to someone most of the time but to little effect. I thought he was meant to take it from defense to midfield or attack. Its all a bit too predictable. The opposition are onto him quicker now and we don't create enough.

I could go on but it's too painful to navigate the full depth of my despair.

One more really bad performance and result without any meaningful changes and I'll be changing from Hokey Cokey to OUT.

 

 

Good post.

The only point where we differ is you not being sure it would be a good idea for Sarri to oversea the dissembling of current squad and being trusted to spend £250M.

You're not sure whereas I am 100% f**king certain that wouldn't be a good idea!!

If Sarri gets out of this and gets us firing again, their will be a hell of a lot of back tracking on here.

1 hour ago, Strider6003 said:

That looks a typo to me, what is the point you are making about investors? 

I mean, as a business, we have to continue enticing investors and making lucrative deals with businesses in regards to sponsorships etc. If we aren't successful, then those people will be reluctant to invest their money. It is why I feel the club will have a difficult time of looking long term. A transition period could take us one or two seasons, which means poor results and likely missing out on trophies/CL qualification. I would think the fans would not mind that as much, but the club are running a business and if they aren't having as much success, it will be difficult to lure investors. 

Edited February 20, 20197 yr by enigma

I'm still backing Sarri.

Never been a fan of sacking a manager after just one season unless it's a complete and utter meltdown of a season. Talking like relegation stuff here. 

1 minute ago, enigma said:

I mean, as a business, we have to continue enticing investors and making lucrative deals with businesses in regards to sponsorships etc. If we aren't successful, then those people will be reluctant to invest their money. It is why I feel the club will have a difficult time of looking long term. 

Fair point.

34 minutes ago, coco said:

If Sarri gets out of this and gets us firing again, their will be a hell of a lot of back tracking on here.

The problem is, I genuinely think the pressure will be too much from media/fans etc if we don't get consistent postiive results. The issue I have most with the board is, if they sack him, why bother to bring Sarri in from the start if they knew it would take time? If any research was done, it was obvious to most that Sarri isn't a short term manager.

I was genuinely excited and supportive of Sarri coming because I heard the club were moving in a different direction, but lately I'm not sure how true it is. Feels like we'll slip back into old ways. I'm certainly not saying that Sarri is perfect by any means, and I accept he will likely need to adapt soon to keep his job, but I want us to be a club focused on bringing through youth from our successful academy, having patience in the coach and generally becoming a better run club. Seeing how well run Liverpool, Spurs, City etc have become over recent years has made me crave a similar direction for the club, even if it means forgoing trophies for a season or two. 

Edited February 20, 20197 yr by enigma