3 minutes ago, cfcforeverfan said:

is that acceptable? no

did we change manager? yes

Last time you were on here (regularly) you said you would take the manager responsible for that season back in a heartbeat.

Infact it would have been worse than 10th if he got the full season.

12 minutes ago, cfcforeverfan said:

is that acceptable? no

did we change manager? yes

I'm not saying we won't change manager eventually. I'm saying that this team and this football is 10th - 12th standard. I can't believe the media keep going on about our top 4 challenge. When we lose to Man City we'll be about 10th at almost the half way point.

3 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

I'm not saying we won't change manager eventually. I'm saying that this team and this football is 10th - 12th standard. I can't believe the media keep going on about our top 4 challenge. When we lose to Man City we'll be about 10th at almost the half way point.

The next half of the season has all the tough away fixtures with, City, Livpool, ManU, Spuds, Arsenal, Fulham who are all above us at the moment.

2 minutes ago, coco said:

The next half of the season has all the tough away fixtures with, City, Livpool, ManU, Spuds, Arsenal, Fulham who are all above us at the moment.

i just wonder how can the board justify keeping Potter if we ended up below 10th and below Brighton, that would be a big laughingstock to the whole nation

25 minutes ago, cfcforeverfan said:

i just wonder how can the board justify keeping Potter if we ended up below 10th and below Brighton, that would be a big laughingstock to the whole nation

They can justify it, because it's a long term project. The team is broken and needs to be reset. That doesn't take 2 seconds, 2 days, 2 days or even 2 transfer windows. We are probably looking at a 2 year slog (at best).

Would Potter be my choice to lead that? Maybe not - but it is who the board have selected, and I can't see much chance of that changing in the short term.

At the chance of going off piste, I was at a conference a short time before christmas, and was listening to an economics panel. The CEO of a middle eastern sovereign fund was asked about the outlook for 2023. He said whilst it would be awful for most - it would be fine for his fund, because they don't look 1 or 2 years ahead - but instead are looking at 10-15 year blocks ahead. This therefore makes short term volatility and risk more manageable. Compared to European governments who are look ahead only to next election year, and therefore much more short term in nature - and in regular disarray. Moral of the story - good things come to those who wait....

Anyway....let's see what the future brings. 

Edited January 2, 20233 yr by nonotnowjim

There is far, far too much investment on Potter for the board to give up now. They genuinely see him as the long term deal. 

That being said, with what happened with Tuchel, I believe anything can happen. 

5 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

They can justify it, because it's a long term project. The team is broken and needs to be reset. That doesn't take 2 seconds, 2 days, 2 days or even 2 transfer windows. We are probably looking at a 2 year slog (at best).

Would Potter be my choice to lead that? Maybe not - but it is who the board have selected, and I can't see much chance of that changing in the short term.

At the chance of going off piste, I was at a conference a short time before christmas, and was listening to an economics panel. The CEO of a middle eastern sovereign fund was asked about the outlook for 2023. He said it would awful for most - be fine for his fund, because they don't look 1 or 2 years ahead - but instead are looking at 10-15 year blocks ahead. This therefore makes short term volatility and risk more manageable. Compared to European governments who are look ahead only to next election year, and therefore much more short term in nature - and in regular disarray. Moral of the story - good things come to those who wait....

Anyway....let's see what the future brings. 

We are not that far off. Let's say we land Badiashile and Enzo this January window in addition to the youngsters. When Fofana & James hopefully return from injury very soon (which they should) we could then field an XI of:

                    Kepa
James Fofana Silva/Badiashile Cucu/Chilwell
                Enzo Kova
         Pulisic Mount Sterling
                 Havertz

Still lacking something in attacking areas but that's a really strong defence and a really strong midfield and easily a side that should at least fight for Top 4. Not saying we will reach that as we are far behind the others but we should definitly show Top 4 form after January if we land our targets.

3 minutes ago, OriginalS said:

We are not that far off. Let's say we land Badiashile and Enzo this January window in addition to the youngsters. When Fofana & James hopefully return from injury very soon (which they should) we could then field an XI of:

                    Kepa
James Fofana Silva/Badiashile Cucu/Chilwell
                Enzo Kova
         Pulisic Mount Sterling
                 Havertz

Still lacking something in attacking areas but that's a really strong defence and a really strong midfield and easily a side that should at least fight for Top 4. Not saying we will reach that as we are far behind the others but we should definitly show Top 4 form after January if we land our targets.

James and Chillwell have a history of bad injuries.

Fofana has yet to prove himself at our level

Benoit B is a big boy,  but unproven. remains to be seen if he is fabinho or bakayoko.

Enzo/kova in a 2 won't offer enough protection 

Puli/mount/sterling/kai????? Seen nothing to suggest these should be our future. 

I love your optimism, but if you think Benoit and Enzo coming in will be the light switch we need, then I think you are way off. 

That's probably why I believe Rice would fit nicely next to Enzo. Enzo would provide the technical element whereas Rice would be that physical box to box aggressor ala Roy Keane. 

Add Nkunku at CAM and we have a pretty strong midfield three. 

 

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I want Potter to stay but I have a sneaky suspicion that if we get battered by City in the two occasions we meet the next few days, I will wake up the next morning seeing he's been sacked. 

Not sure he will be shown the door if we lose those 2 games comfortably, but it would certainly lead to growing pressure and no doubt a hostile atmosphere at the Bridge.

On the flip side I suppose if we put in a surprisingly good showing in those 2 games, that might buy Potter some goodwill.

14 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

James and Chillwell have a history of bad injuries.

Fofana has yet to prove himself at our level

Benoit B is a big boy,  but unproven. remains to be seen if he is fabinho or bakayoko.

Enzo/kova in a 2 won't offer enough protection 

Puli/mount/sterling/kai????? Seen nothing to suggest these should be our future. 

I love your optimism, but if you think Benoit and Enzo coming in will be the light switch we need, then I think you are way off. 

Think you are being overly negative. Most would look at that team and say there is a ton of potential there.

Attack still lacking yes, but that's what Tuchel had to deal with as well.

5 hours ago, CFCCAN said:

I think if you listened and watched the round table on Sportico with Egbahli and even the earlier interview with Boehly, I don't think there is much wrong with their vision, I think its the execution that's gone tits up.  IMO they should have waited until they brought everyone in that they wanted, Directors of Football etc, before selecting the Manager, (assuming TT had still not bought into their plans), and buying the players, instead Boehly was pulling the trigger on misguided deals and spunked a few £ in the process. 

It's clear to everyone that we need to get rid of the deadwood and bit part players and some if not all of those on loan if they are going to have a clear out.  Some may be gone in January, many hopefully will gone in the summer...who knows even GP may be gone by then if we are scrambling around the lower table. 

You may well be right. I may come across a bit extreme, and I will be more than happy to change my mind if I see positive signs emerging.
 

I’m sure these guys are highly competent in their own way/certain fields. They’re good with numbers, certainly good salesmen, know how to present a pitch, say all the right things etc.

But as you say, the execution has been terrible and that’s kind of important. There is quite a chasm between what they say and what they do. to give an example, they go on about the importance of data and data-sharing. yet they get rid of a manager who could at least tell you on the spot after a match how many times we lost possession and in which areas of the pitch…only to replace with one who can do nothing more than mumble some platitudes about “not good enough”…. There’s no analysis, no evidence of any tactics or plan. 🤷‍♂️ 

What pisses me off the most is that you can take anyone of our "mediocre" players put them in any team in the Prem and they'd be fantastic! But has soon has they put the beloved Blue shirt on they go into "can't be arsed " mode!....There's absolutely zero effort or energy from these players and that for me is all down to Uncle Graham! ☹️

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

59 minutes ago, Dean said:

You may well be right. I may come across a bit extreme, and I will be more than happy to change my mind if I see positive signs emerging.
 

I’m sure these guys are highly competent in their own way/certain fields. They’re good with numbers, certainly good salesmen, know how to present a pitch, say all the right things etc.

But as you say, the execution has been terrible and that’s kind of important. There is quite a chasm between what they say and what they do. to give an example, they go on about the importance of data and data-sharing. yet they get rid of a manager who could at least tell you on the spot after a match how many times we lost possession and in which areas of the pitch…only to replace with one who can do nothing more than mumble some platitudes about “not good enough”…. There’s no analysis, no evidence of any tactics or plan. 🤷‍♂️ 

I think they were guilty of trying to change too much too quickly. If they were unsure on Tuchel, they could have spent lighter last summer, and then waited until we had a Director of Football in place. If Tuchel was still not right for them at that point, then the Director of Football could have been involved in the decision for a replacement.

The initial rush to make changes will likely cost them.

One of our issues is that none of recent signings, even going back to Lampard have performed. I would say only Sliva and Mendy (debatable now). Chilwell obviously has but his injuries has hampered the team. There’s a long list of players who haven’t performed to the required level:

- Werner

-Lukaku 

- Ziyech

- Havertz 

- Pulisic 

- Koulibaly 

- Auba 

- Cucurella (looking abit better recently)

Long term/ recurring Injuries:

- James

- Chilwell

- Kante 

 

An awful lot of money wasted. 

21 minutes ago, Womble said:

What pisses me off the most is that you can take anyone of our "mediocre" players put them in any team in the Prem and they'd be fantastic! But has soon has they put the beloved Blue shirt on they go into "can't be arsed " mode!....There's absolutely zero effort or energy from these players and that for me is all down to Uncle Graham! ☹️

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with you about the effort levels from many of the players. But we saw that a lot in the second half of last season too, bar the odd game. This is not something that has just started happening under the new manager.

https://www.espn.com.au/football/chelsea-engchelsea/story/4842784/chelsea-lavish-transfer-spending-hasnt-made-them-better

Hard to argue with this. Our naive backroom dealings are no doubt making it harder on Potter. 

Now we are apparently going to pay 120m for a nice cog in midfield but not one who will score goals!

Liverpool are doing their best to cheer us up.

They’ve been amongst the best in Europe and now they’re only three points ahead, and we have a game in hand, should probably discount that though.

8 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

https://www.espn.com.au/football/chelsea-engchelsea/story/4842784/chelsea-lavish-transfer-spending-hasnt-made-them-better

Hard to argue with this. Our naive backroom dealings are no doubt making it harder on Potter. 

Now we are apparently going to pay 120m for a nice cog in midfield but not one who will score goals!

We have been fortunate over the years to keep winning with sh*te return from new player’s and now it’s actually catching up because we have clubs who have just as much money with better transfer dealings and more stable manager wise. 
Until all the players who really don’t show up for us leave which will most likely take two years we will continue to struggle. 
If we can ship them out faster then we can have that transition quicker, buckle up for a stressful ride!!!

4 minutes ago, DukesOfHazard said:

Liverpool are doing their best to cheer us up.

They’ve been amongst the best in Europe and now they’re only three points ahead, and we have a game in hand, should probably discount that though.

It’s city so it’s really not a game in hand😂

24 minutes ago, forbzy said:

I think they were guilty of trying to change too much too quickly. If they were unsure on Tuchel, they could have spent lighter last summer, and then waited until we had a Director of Football in place. If Tuchel was still not right for them at that point, then the Director of Football could have been involved in the decision for a replacement.

The initial rush to make changes will likely cost them.

Yeah. Even Roman, who became renowned for his ruthlessness, kept Ranieri for a season.

20 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

https://www.espn.com.au/football/chelsea-engchelsea/story/4842784/chelsea-lavish-transfer-spending-hasnt-made-them-better

Hard to argue with this. Our naive backroom dealings are no doubt making it harder on Potter. 

Now we are apparently going to pay 120m for a nice cog in midfield but not one who will score goals!

https://www.90min.com/posts/chelsea-salaries-contract-expiries?a_aid=41222
 

Some of the salaries quoted there are mind boggling. 15m a year for a defender who is well past him prime

2 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

That's probably why I believe Rice would fit nicely next to Enzo. Enzo would provide the technical element whereas Rice would be that physical box to box aggressor ala Roy Keane. 

Add Nkunku at CAM and we have a pretty strong midfield three. 

 

Get Enzo now in January as it won't be possible in the summer. OGS kept his job after signing Bruno Fernandes in January, no real tactics either he just put him where he's at his best and watched as he saved his season and job, at least for a while. Potter can do the same thing with Enzo, just put him as the DM next to anyone from Jorginho to Zakaria (just don't let RLC anywhere near the starting lineup) and we're automatically 25% stronger just like when James is fit to play.

Then while in the summer, Potter can get Rice or anyone else just keep going, eventually the spending will pay off.

3 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Get Enzo now in January as it won't be possible in the summer. OGS kept his job after signing Bruno Fernandes in January, no real tactics either he just put him where he's at his best and watched as he saved his season and job, at least for a while. Potter can do the same thing with Enzo, just put him as the DM next to anyone from Jorginho to Zakaria (just don't let RLC anywhere near the starting lineup) and we're automatically 25% stronger just like when James is fit to play.

Then while in the summer, Potter can get Rice or anyone else just keep going, eventually the spending will pay off.

What is the point of delaying the inevitable? Potter is not good enough just like OGS

9 minutes ago, cfcforeverfan said:

What is the point of delaying the inevitable? Potter is not good enough just like OGS

The point is to not drop out of top 4, if Lampard could do it without anyone actually expecting him to do it while the club lost our best player and had a transfer ban...

... Surely Potter that is more experienced and that has a better squad on paper in comparison, alongside with a huge buff of a player like Enzo Fernandez in January should finish top 4 as well.

If he fails to do so he'll be the first since Conte's second season to fail to finish in top 4. That would be the biggest reason to sack him, if he has any real ability for greatness he would be able to keep us in top 4 after a record breaking signing in the January transfer window, others didn't have that luxury and they made it top 4 anyway.

If Potter is eventually not good, it won't matter, the point is to be good enough this season.

Edited January 2, 20233 yr by Gol15