Just now, strider6004 said:

Potter might get lucky with James out of the WC our form might turn come the restart for a bit and we might get a couple of bodies in.

The crucial thing will be the home crowd.

I think because of recent previous success they are not so tolerant as earlier generations.

 

If James and Kante come back strong after the world cup has finished, and if our rivals get their star players back in a terrible shape, we might just make a decent push for the top 4. We will depend on others getting poor results, but this season is pretty specific due to the World Cup so anything is possible.

39 minutes ago, Dean said:

But what’s your next step after non-acceptance? What if mediocrity is now simply the reality - or worse, the best-case scenario? I’m not saying it is but it’s a very real possibility. After all, we’ve been there before. Does it not occur to you that MAYBE the Roman years were the anomaly rather than the norm? That we don’t have an entitlement to riches and trophies? That the money that was there might not be there any longer? I’m not making predictions here. It’s not about acceptance or not either. I’m just spelling out possibilities. And those don’t stop at mediocrity. Things COULD get a lot lot worse than us being mid-table. Look at the erstwhile trophy-winning sides that fell from grace and ended up languishing in lower divisions for years: Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn, and many more. What would you do then?

it depends what is the reason for that.

if it is like Leeds, then we can do nothing but accept the fate while cursing and talk sh*t about Americans just like we did all the time

if it is like Man Utd and Arsenal because of sh*t owner who refueses to spend, then the invasion of Old Trafford the year before, Glazer out movement and boycott the sponsors would be the answer

24 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

It's a valid point. The recent decline of Arsenal and Man Utd have been mentioned on here. Perhaps the scouse are on a downturn, yippee. What all of these clubs have is a history of regency. They are English football blue bloods. Us and frankly Man City aren't. It's unfortunate but true. Those of us that pre date the PL years would readily acknowledge this. Man City can continue to draw upon untold riches and ballsy behind the scenes shenanigans to bluster their way through FFP so will be able to buy their way out of trouble if the tide starts turning.

Do we have the continuing financial muscle and the underlying aura of historical greatness to draw upon when we're 10th. Questionable. 

Fair enough Gol. Look, I’m not predicting some sort of nuclear scenario. Just outlining the possibilities. Having that period of 20 years may count for something. But I think not yet.

For now, I see us as a burst bubble similar to United post-Ferguson. Burst bubbles are a process that take a while to run their course. They bring about a loss of confidence and a kind of existential crisis. So I’m expecting a period in the wilderness. If we’re in for an Arsenal-type scenario of languishing a few years between mid-table and say 4th place, I’m prepared for that and that may be our most optimistic scenario. When you consider that the top 2 positions in the league, barring some epic mismanagement or drastic government action to clear out the petrostates, are now probably a lock, you then have to ask which of the following can we expect to finish above in say the coming two seasons:

- Arsenal

- Tottenham

- Man U

- Liverpool 

Barring the latter which is suddenly also facing an existential crisis of its own, these all have a system in place, a degree of clarity, cohesion and belief. We are at sea. on aggregate let’s say we have similar financial muscle. Why should we be finishing above any of them with our current setup in the foreseeable future?

GP has no credentials for being employed as a top premiership manager ,Infact anyone who read his CV would put his application in the dustbin  why would any premier player take advice from a guy who CV boasts Shrewsbury ,Swansea, and Östersund not forgetting northampton town  and york  perhaps the plan is destroy Chelsea move to a new ground and make a fortune from the sale of Standford bridge  after all they have spent 200m on new players like they agreed they didnt say they would buy good players and they havent 

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

If James and Kante come back strong after the world cup has finished, and if our rivals get their star players back in a terrible shape, we might just make a decent push for the top 4. We will depend on others getting poor results, but this season is pretty specific due to the World Cup so anything is possible.

Agree though would be suprised if we make top four think more likely 5th or 6th though still a long way to go.

 

11 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Vast majority of the comments in here are laughable.

Lets start off with what is clear. Our football at the moment is broken. We look lost, out of attacking ideas, slow, and mostly not even "up" for it. This is some of the worst football we have played and the team is broken from top to bottom.

But pinning that on a manager that has just come in and calling for his head is lunacy.

The rot has been setting in for years. Lamps worked wonders to get us over the line of the top 4. Tuchel worked wonders to win us the champs league. But those "wins" were only a case of putting a plaster on a bullet wound. The problems were there, we have been regressing as a team for years - and a succession of managers have been unable (lamps) or unwilling (tuchel and sarri) to make the changes necessary.

Potter may turn out to be a huge failure - but we won't know that for some time. Getting this group of players drilled to play a different way, outside of the ultra negative manner in which tuchel had us playing, is going to take time. 

 

There is no drilling the players to play a different way, every game Potter barely gestures anything that showed that he wants the players to play his way or getting angry about not doing what he wants/doing the wrong thing.

He doesn't even get mad that the ball is played to Mendy after a free kick in the opposition half, he just folds his arms. The post-match press conference is basically him saying we were unlucky or we're not as good as the other team. The energy being shown doesn't feel right

7 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Even if Potter was to go today you still have the biggest problem that we cannot shift, the man who hired Potter to a 12mill a year 5 year deal when he has done nothing at the top level to merit that, the same man that destroyed our wage structure handing out huge, long term contracts to average players like Cucurella and Sterling, and past it ones like Auba and Koulibaly. The same man that put 300mill debt on us completely wasting money to suit his own vanity.

That same man would then pick Potters replacement, probably handing out a 15mill a year 5 year deal to Bruce Arena...

This is another point that is overlooked by the "Give Potter time" fans. Potter wins even if he gives us sh*te football or worse, relegate us. Every which way, Potter wins.

His CV would look good as he can easily blame the players or fans for being toxic because Brighton play well so Chelsea must be sh*te

 

4 hours ago, enigma said:

People can point fingers at the new signings, but I would rather point fingers at the players who have been here longer and ask why they are not performing.

We spent so much money on Pulisic, Ziyech and Havertz, yet they have done f**k all. Havertz still living in a CL goal like Torres ffs. 

We still need to clear deadwood out too, it's not an either/or thing. Pulisic, Ziyech, Kovacic, Jorginho and sadly Kante needs to be sold. Havertz too if the right offer comes, he'd either be the next KdB or the next Oscar depending on how it pans out for him after us. 

 

12 minutes ago, Deino said:

We still need to clear deadwood out too, it's not an either/or thing. Pulisic, Ziyech, Kovacic, Jorginho and sadly Kante needs to be sold. Havertz too if the right offer comes, he'd either be the next KdB or the next Oscar depending on how it pans out for him after us. 

 

That’s not how this is going to work, in my view. These players will probably gone soon but we will be looking back on them like a golden age.

2 minutes ago, Dean said:

That’s not how this is going to work, in my view. These players will probably gone soon but we will be looking back on them like a golden age.

It certainly made me look back on the Willian days

I think some players just aren't the right fit for some clubs. Havertz might go on to do great things at another club but the more he plays the more it's getting more difficult to justify keeping him. 

47 minutes ago, Deino said:

This is another point that is overlooked by the "Give Potter time" fans. Potter wins even if he gives us sh*te football or worse, relegate us. Every which way, Potter wins.

His CV would look good as he can easily blame the players or fans for being toxic because Brighton play well so Chelsea must be sh*te

Yeah of course Potter wins if we sacked him tomorrow. Because we'd look insane and he hadn't had time to put his mark on the club.

That's one of the reasons why we should give him time...

If he is here for 2 seasons and we still look sh*te and he signs 200m of players, who now everyone knows will have his blueprint on (as tuchel not wanting to be involved in transfers was a reason for his exit), then it will be clear he's the problem 

Also we lost to Brighton, arsenal and Newcastle, three settled teams who are playing well this season. We aren't getting relegated, we won't even finish bottom half. We are clearly the 6th or 7th best team right now and once other teams have their injuries, we can climb closer to 4th. 

 

 

15 minutes ago, Deino said:

It certainly made me look back on the Willian days

I do fear this is the trend, Deino. And there are no signs of it reversing. Finding midfielders that are 1) better than our current ones, 2) we can afford, 3) will want to join us is a really tall order. 

It’s the edifice that’s crumbling. 

45 minutes ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

 

The way we're playing there doesn't seem to be any new methods or ideas on the pitch. The only idea he's had is try and turn every goddamn player into a wingback. He may even try to turn Kepa into a wingback in these 2 months.

The team looks clueless on the pitch while he stands on the sidelines with a blank "I don't give a sh*t as I got a fat 5-year contract" expression. 

14 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Yeah of course Potter wins if we sacked him tomorrow. Because we'd look insane and he hadn't had time to put his mark on the club.

That's one of the reasons why we should give him time...

If he is here for 2 seasons and we still look sh*te and he signs 200m of players, who now everyone knows will have his blueprint on (as tuchel not wanting to be involved in transfers was a reason for his exit), then it will be clear he's the problem 

Also we lost to Brighton, arsenal and Newcastle, three settled teams who are playing well this season. We aren't getting relegated, we won't even finish bottom half. We are clearly the 6th or 7th best team right now and once other teams have their injuries, we can climb closer to 4th. 

 

 

It's a distinct possibility as our players have looked more and more clueless with each passing game and we can't score to save our lives. The mid table teams are all bunched close together, and Villa in 12th are only 3 points off us.

3 minutes ago, Nick05 said:

It's a distinct possibility as our players have looked more and more clueless with each passing game and we can't score to save our lives. The mid table teams are all bunched close together, and Villa in 12th are only 3 points off us.

Yeah that's the problem, we aren't getting better we're getting worse as time passes. The passing out the back and defensive structure we had under Tuchel is being undone.

 

If there isn't a drastic improvement in January then his position really should be under consideration.

55 minutes ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

 

Reading that, you would think we are team that had nothing going for them. It's like the previous 18 months never actually happened. I didn't see Chelsea win the Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup, reach two top 4 finishes and 3 cup finals. You would think this is a team that had just finished outside of the top 4 and was full of past their peak aging players. The rebuild started under Lampard 3 years ago, it should still be in it's infancy, especially with everything that has been happening with the club.

Also, all of this "Chelsea need patience" talk is doing my head in. What should we be patient about exactly? watching our team get dragged to mid table playing relegation football? for what purpose? Are people really so deluded that they think we can just finish mid table and everything will work itself out?

There is so much spin going on right now, it's eerily similar to everything that has been going on at United.

12 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Reading that, you would think we are team that had nothing going for them. It's like the previous 18 months never actually happened. I didn't see Chelsea win the Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup, reach two top 4 finishes and 3 cup finals. You would think this is a team that had just finished outside of the top 4 and was full of past their peak aging players. The rebuild started under Lampard 3 years ago, it should still be in it's infancy, especially with everything that has been happening with the club.

Also, all of this "Chelsea need patience" talk is doing my head in. What should we be patient about exactly? watching our team get dragged to mid table playing relegation football? for what purpose? Are people really so deluded that they think we can just finish mid table and everything will work itself out?

There is so much spin going on right now, it's eerily similar to everything that has been going on at United.

When Tuchel was here I wasn't hearing any of this 'patience' talk. Even when we got top 4 and 2 cup finals last year a lot of people thought it wasn't good enough.

 

This feels like when Frank Lampard was in charge. Difference is Frank was a club legend who was still learning so it was understandable, Potter hasn't done anything for Chelsea to deserve that kind of support.

I'm watching Fulham right now feeling how we could do with Willian.

It's f**ked up.

10 minutes ago, Argo said:

I'm watching Fulham right now feeling how we could do with Willian.

It's f**ked up.

Ha. Well I think a lot of people are misdiagnosing our problem as being the players . The consensus seems to be that our players aren’t good enough for us. What if it’s the other way round? What if the problem is US? 

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

Yeah of course Potter wins if we sacked him tomorrow. Because we'd look insane and he hadn't had time to put his mark on the club.

That's one of the reasons why we should give him time...

If he is here for 2 seasons and we still look sh*te and he signs 200m of players, who now everyone knows will have his blueprint on (as tuchel not wanting to be involved in transfers was a reason for his exit), then it will be clear he's the problem 

Also we lost to Brighton, arsenal and Newcastle, three settled teams who are playing well this season. We aren't getting relegated, we won't even finish bottom half. We are clearly the 6th or 7th best team right now and once other teams have their injuries, we can climb closer to 4th. 

 

 

You're deluded if you think we are the 6th or 7th best team. We're only 7 points from the relegation teams.

5 minutes ago, Edjmendy said:

You're deluded if you think we are the 6th or 7th best team. We're only 7 points from the relegation teams.

This squad with less depth and 5 tournaments to juggle got 3rd.

No excuses for being this far down.

48 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Reading that, you would think we are team that had nothing going for them. It's like the previous 18 months never actually happened. I didn't see Chelsea win the Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup, reach two top 4 finishes and 3 cup finals. You would think this is a team that had just finished outside of the top 4 and was full of past their peak aging players. The rebuild started under Lampard 3 years ago, it should still be in it's infancy, especially with everything that has been happening with the club.

Also, all of this "Chelsea need patience" talk is doing my head in. What should we be patient about exactly? watching our team get dragged to mid table playing relegation football? for what purpose? Are people really so deluded that they think we can just finish mid table and everything will work itself out?

There is so much spin going on right now, it's eerily similar to everything that has been going on at United.

I think the argument is that despite all those cup wins we still struggle to get into CL every season while teams around us get better and haven't come close to challenging for the title in 6 years. Clinging onto our cup glories while we continue to underperform in the league sounds eerily similar to Liverpool in to early 200os that kept boasting about their 2005 UCL win and other cup victories while they did bad in the league. Not to mention, most of those people who were pivotal in those cup wins, that is Rudiger, Kante, Mendy, Alonso, Azpi etc have either left the club, become injury prone or have got worse over the last year because of age or some other reason. That's not even mentioning the several players we signed over the last couple of years that turned into flops.

Even if Roman still owned the club or Tuchel was still in charge, this team was still in desperate need for a rebuild. I honestly don't believe we were in a good place in the last 18 months. Our cup wins just papered over cracks that have finally imploded.

56 minutes ago, Edjmendy said:

You're deluded if you think we are the 6th or 7th best team. We're only 7 points from the relegation teams.

We are literally tied for 7th now and 8 points off 4th. I think deluded is a bit of a stretch.