3 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

chelsea twitter posted a picture of kante smiling after that forced apology, to cheer everyone up

Kante smile does make everything better tho 

Mixed feelings from the interview. Felt a bit forced. I'd like to see him succeed but I don't think he fits into Tuchel's system and I genuinely think we play better without him. 

In this case, I think we need to let his football on the pitch do the talking 

Edited January 4, 20224 yr by Sharpy

Time heals most wounds. Actions speaks louder than words. If he really wants forgiveness he needs to show us he's player we believed we were acquiring. £97.5m is not pocket change we paid for a premium player so now he needs to prove his worth.

I do honestly believe he didn't mean to disrespect us though, he's supported us from a boy he's meant to be one of us. By trying to appease inter fans he just dug himself a deeper hole.

1 hour ago, Argo said:

I've never seen such a blatant PR exercise in all my life and I've spent the last year laughing at Arsenal for the lengths they go to to make excuses for Arteta.

 

1 hour ago, wizardous said:

What a load of.....I don't even know how to name it....

Was waiting for you two to respond. Honestly was expecting something more entertaining.

Well hopefully @abramovich does a better job of it lol.

8 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Time heals most wounds. Actions speaks louder than words. If he really wants forgiveness he needs to show us he's player we believed we were acquiring. £97.5m is not pocket change we paid for a premium player so now he needs to prove his worth.

I do honestly believe he didn't mean to disrespect us though, he's supported us from a boy he's meant to be one of us. By trying to appease inter fans he just dug himself a deeper hole.

The thing is, this has never happened before, people compare Drogba quotes etc but there wasn’t this kind of storm. There wasn’t a half a million pound fine, he wasn’t dropped, there wasn’t an apology video. This is actually quite a historic moment in the club, so it’s a permanent black mark and if he does go on to do something significant here.. it stays with him, unlike with previous players. 

The part when he says "I totally understand you guys being upset" has some meme potential.

This is all a fan can hope for, even if he still looks a bit detached from reality. But if he misses a wide open goal against Man city...

The apology was obviously forced, look at how it was staged and everything.

A tweet in sh*t English would have come across as more genuine, personally I feel he still thinks he hasn’t done anything wrong but has only done it to keep team mates and manager happy.

His ego is actually unbelievable. I really hope we are planning on selling him next summer.

The apology is just so that the club doesn't send him to the wilderness. Either way, the only way he's forgiven is if he brings in the trophies. 

Thinks he's the best striker in the world? Prove it then

Tough interview.  Think a few senior figures have set some clear expectations with him.  Whether he believes what he is saying, well, I'm not so sure yet.  There is a maturity to his words, and clearly an awkward situation that makes sincerity tough.  

Emotions high - will all blow over eventually.  Just go score some goals and get us up the table.

Hope this draws a line under it.. We need Lukakau the player to perform.. hope his goals will prove worth the transfer fee.. people saying it looked forced, but after that stupid interview it has been a no win situation for him..damned if he apologised damned if didnt.. not that he doesnt deserve it - but i just hope this circus ends now.

4 hours ago, Jangz said:

Hope this draws a line under it.. We need Lukakau the player to perform.. hope his goals will prove worth the transfer fee.. people saying it looked forced, but after that stupid interview it has been a no win situation for him..damned if he apologised damned if didnt.. not that he doesnt deserve it - but i just hope this circus ends now.

I agree. Now it's the real test, can he contribute and win us a big game? The biggest one is coming up against Man City, if he can show up there it would be massive.

I am thinking Lukaku made the interview when he saw Kante and he didn't smile. He knew he had to do something and do it quick.

8 hours ago, axman2526 said:

 

Was waiting for you two to respond. Honestly was expecting something more entertaining.

Well hopefully @abramovich does a better job of it lol.

I couldn't give a crap if he was sincere in his apology or it was written for him by our PR department. The apology was a gesture, no more, no less. It doesn't matter what he looked like, what he said or how he said it, it only matters that he said it. It was necessary, as I mentioned that here in this very thread. Do I believe he's genuinely sorry? No. Does it matter? No. Was that the right move under he circumstances and should we all move on now? Absolutely. It was the only move.

I fully expect Romelu to do something similarly stupid at some point in the future, because his oversized fragile ego mixed with deep insecurity is a huge part of his personality and tends to manifest itself from time to time on and off the pitch, but for now let's hope for the team's sake he'll shut his gob for a while and gets back to what he's paid to do, scoring goals and help the team win matches.

I'm also pretty confident to say that this isn't the end. As we have ups and downs Lukaku's personality will react to that one more time before this season ends

13 hours ago, Argo said:

Seriously?

By that logic anyone who has ever questioned any decision made by a manager ever (which is every single football fan on the planet) think they're better than them.

Of course. One of thing that make football fun is because we (fans) who have very little knowledge think that we are better than a professional manager who work in this field everyday.  

Let's go back to Lukaku case, assesing player is like assesing stock. With Lukaku, it kinda means that three of the best investor who have worked for Chelsea bought Lukaku stock for big money in recent years.

Does this mean they are right ? Nope, even the best investors make mistake. But when three of the best investor think that a stock is very2 good and you think that it is bad, the chances that you are wrong is very2 high.

 

 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Gol15 said:

I'm also pretty confident to say that this isn't the end. As we have ups and downs Lukaku's personality will react to that one more time before this season ends

Agreed - will be interesting to see when hes next interviewed after a game if sneaky bastards like Jeff Shreeves will try to catch him out or try to make him say something daft. 

The apology video was awkward viewing, though it was necessary.

I just hope now Lukaku can keep his head down, work hard and repay us with some good performances.

7 hours ago, abramovich said:

I couldn't give a crap if he was sincere in his apology or it was written for him by our PR department. The apology was a gesture, no more, no less. It doesn't matter what he looked like, what he said or how he said it, it only matters that he said it. It was necessary, as I mentioned that here in this very thread. Do I believe he's genuinely sorry? No. Does it matter? No. Was that the right move under he circumstances and should we all move on now? Absolutely. It was the only move.

I fully expect Romelu to do something similarly stupid at some point in the future, because his oversized fragile ego mixed with deep insecurity is a huge part of his personality and tends to manifest itself from time to time on and off the pitch, but for now let's hope for the team's sake he'll shut his gob for a while and gets back to what he's paid to do, scoring goals and help the team win matches.

Now that is much better 👍 

Regardless of what he said and what he meant I think it's important to note the media saw this as a perfect opportunity to try and destabilise us and the reaction from the coach and team has been excellent so far.

Lukaku recognising this should do everything possible to succeed with Chelsea now, he was already under the pressure of his price tag, his previous failure at Man U, his playstyle (awful first touch supposedly) and who can forget the curse of the number 9 😂 add in this circus and he really has it all to do.

This whole thing seems fairly overblown, and 15 years ago would have certainly not required an entry into the pantheon of filmed mea-culpas*, but here we are. 

On the one hand i reflect on the unmatched pressures on footballers, but especially the biggest stars, to be constantly managing their PR. The ability to cause upset has increased exponentially. 

On the other hand lukaku is a sports star very much of and in his time. He understands and in fact courts this type of attention - and I say this without praise or criticism. I'm sure he'll be able to take any criticism that is coming. Part of what makes him one of the top 10-20 attacking players in the world is his self belief. 

*for me its the time and media environment today that has made this more than a non-issue. In the past his (lets be honest, mild) comments would have merited little more than an eye roll. Today they could be construed as a self inflicted damaging of tuchel's authority. Luckily it appears tuchel has handled it well enough that (with some good results) his authority could be strengthened. But if we look back at this point as the start of the end, then lukaku really would have something to apologise for. 

As it is, keep fit and score some goals mate. 

I’m happy to put it behind us and let him do his talking on the pitch. That being said, any thoughts of this being some sort of romantic reunion at Chelsea is gone, between signing for us the first time and the second time he’s become money and ego driven which is fine as long as he shuts up and puts the effort in on the pitch.

Not impressed with his play tonight,absolutely pathetic ,obviously didn't want to upset Conte.

38 minutes ago, Bluesince66 said:

Not impressed with his play tonight,absolutely pathetic ,obviously didn't want to upset Conte.

He had a lot of good actions and should have scored potentially on 3 occasions. I think in some cases he tried too hard because of what's going on around him, hopefully he'll be more decisive in his next game.

I thought he was a bit crap tonight. When he tried to get involved, he just looked hopeless. His touch and the way he tries to trap the ball just looks so clumsy.

12 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

He had a lot of good actions and should have scored potentially on 3 occasions. I think in some cases he tried too hard because of what's going on around him, hopefully he'll be more decisive in his next game.

That was my take away as well