Some context to our injury crisis for people saying that "its not an excuse and its just like other teams".

Reality is that it is a justifiable excuse considering the amount of games we've played in a congested period of time over the last 3 years. Even though I want us to get to europe, not getting to europe might be a blessing in disguise in terms of reducing the amount of game time and allowing players to recover better than they have over the last three years.

4 minutes ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

Some context to our injury crisis for people saying that "its not an excuse and its just like other teams".

Reality is that it is a justifiable excuse considering the amount of games we've played in a congested period of time over the last 3 years. Even though I want us to get to europe, not getting to europe might be a blessing in disguise in terms of reducing the amount of game time and allowing players to recover better than they have over the last three years.

It's a fantastic excuse. It's been terrible.

I maintain that we would have won the league last season if we had kept our wingbacks and Kante fit for the season.

3 minutes ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

Some context to our injury crisis for people saying that "its not an excuse and its just like other teams".

Reality is that it is a justifiable excuse considering the amount of games we've played in a congested period of time over the last 3 years. Even though I want us to get to europe, not getting to europe might be a blessing in disguise in terms of reducing the amount of game time and allowing players to recover better than they have over the last three years.

I think it's a justifiable excuse to not get top 4, and probably even top 6 this season, but we shouldn't be finishing any lower than that, even with the injuries. With how things are going, we will likely finish the season lower than 10th, injuries don't excuse that for me. Tuchel had the same problem last season and still had us finishing 3rd.

38 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

Sterling looked good under Tuchel, 5 G/A in his first 7 games, then Potter started playing him LWB and now he looks awful. No idea what Boehly's plan was last summer.

I disagree, the numbers might have been alright but performance wise him and the rest of the team were poor. I think he played at wing back 2 or 3 times so we can't really blame that for his performances. I think Boehly brought in the players Tuchel wanted apart from the snakes that wanted to go to Barca instead. This random hate Boehly is getting is so absurd 

29 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I think it's a justifiable excuse to not get top 4, and probably even top 6 this season, but we shouldn't be finishing any lower than that, even with the injuries. With how things are going, we will likely finish the season lower than 10th, injuries don't excuse that for me. Tuchel had the same problem last season and still had us finishing 3rd.

Considering since Potter came in the only team in the bottom half we've dropped points to is Forest away I think it's a bit melodramatic to say we are going to finish in the bottom half. 

I fully expect even this injury ravaged team to pick up a solid amount of points through Jan and Feb and we will end the season comfortably in the top 7. 

Edited January 6, 20233 yr by bisright1

2 hours ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

Some context to our injury crisis for people saying that "its not an excuse and its just like other teams".

Reality is that it is a justifiable excuse considering the amount of games we've played in a congested period of time over the last 3 years. Even though I want us to get to europe, not getting to europe might be a blessing in disguise in terms of reducing the amount of game time and allowing players to recover better than they have over the last three years.

But the qualification to this should be injury types and when they are sustained. Take Sterling.  No way is that poor luck. Its a criminal level of self care, to have all of the time for warming up and the work done on the pitch by the trainers and then a muscle injury in 2 minutes. 

If we are picking up continuous muscle and joint injuries it implies that the fitness and conditioning regime is inferior to other clubs.

 

Someone said that's 3 goals now in our last 7 games too. Rumour has it Potter brought them all in today for a team meeting on tactical issues. Here's hoping we find a resolution.

Here's what someone posted on Reddit who follows his old team Ostersund.

Quote

As a lifelong Chelsea fan from Ostersund, I want to give a few thoughts on Potter. I've followed Potter quite close his whole career, I attended his first game as a manager in the Swedish 4th tier back in 2011 where it was an instant success and all the way up until today. I've also met the guy a few times, really nice guy. Regarded as a hero in Ostersund.

With that said I'm far from impressed by his work at Chelsea so far. In his earlier clubs he's always stepped up to new challenges and higher demands in a terrific way, with the teams always improving and visibly get better all the time. So far here it's the opposite.

Some thoughts:

• His nice, polite and very bland behaviour in interviews might not be indicative of how he is with the players. In Ostersund he was known as a very demanding and tough coach but still with a great relationship with the players. I've heard of more than one "hairdryer"-story when he wasn't pleased with the performance at HT and he had very high demands in practice and in regards to following the match plan. Tbf that was on a lower level and he might have difficulties adjusting accordingly to the level Chelsea is at. But I do think the sentiment that he is a bit soft is wrong.


• His teams has always been uneven. Before Chelsea his teams had very, very high peaks and could beat anyone at a given day, often with tactical brilliance and bravery (where did that go?). But that was complimented with streches of less good play or very poor finishing. The high chance creation/poor finishing has been an issue for his teams his whole career. Many times at Ostersund the team lost valuable points at the end of the games and were lacking the killer instinct. This is the main reason I was and still is sceptical to his appointment as Chelsea head coach.


• His main strength has been identifying and integrate new players that fit the team. At all previous clubs the recruitment have been terrific and always with a clear plan. The teams always got significantly each transfer window even when losing their top players. He also have been very good at improving the players and fill them with confidence. He also brought with him Kyle, the scout/analyst that been with him helping him with this since the Ostersund days. I would argue this is the main argument for giving him time, unless it doesn't improve ofc

I'm not sure he will succeed at Chelsea as it looks terrible right now but I do believe he will be better over time. The question is if Chelsea have that time (well hello 5 year contract) and what level he could reach with the club.

Hope you find this somewhat insightful

 

12 hours ago, OriginalS said:

Me personally I wouldn't sack Potter.

But it's hard to criticize someone who thinks that would be the right thing to do, because why? Because the standard had been set for the last two decades at this football club and that was that if the manager looks like he will steer the club to a finish outside the Top 4 you were gone.
And some of our greatest success-stories came after sacking a manager that had us sinking away from Top 4, latest with Tuchel who also took over a squad every claimed were absolutely terrible with "donkeys" like Rudiger, Christensen, Jorginho etc and he changed it all around despite us being in a similar position as we are in now when he took over.

It should be completely understandable if that kind of mindset is "stuck" to many. And we all know that Potter would be history now if Roman was in charge, for better or for worse.

That was a different Chelsea, and many don't seem to see that or just refuse to accept it.

Did Roman make judgement calls based on what Uncle Ken used to do? Follow his standards? No he made the club his. He made us an elite level club in two seasons. That standard you speak of is his standard. A different standard to Ken, and a different standard to Todd and Co.

What is the standard for Todd and Co? Pretty words sure but actions speak louder than words. We have yet to see if their actions back up their words. On transfer window is not enough to judge. Let's see what they have done and where we are in 2 seasons with them. Potter is just one small part of that.

Can I be the first here this weekend to come out with the phrase that best captures what we need to do going forward…….Potter out !

As an aside, the former AFC Wimbledon manager Mark Robinson who was an abject failure at the club over recent seasons was sitting in the dug out v Man City. If Potter is seeking advice from Robinson, then we really are scraping the barrel.

Koulibaly out too btw ! Carthorse.

31 minutes ago, Tubbs Tattsyrup said:

Koulibaly out too btw ! Carthorse.

Go away mate you're not a Chelsea fan and you've been banned at least 3 times.

Can I be the first here this weekend to come out with the phrase that best captures what we need to do going forward…….shove a cactus up your arse Tubbs Tattsyrup

5 minutes ago, dkw said:

Can I be the first here this weekend to come out with the phrase that best captures what we need to do going forward…….shove a cactus up your arse Tubbs Tattsyrup

And as he's Spurs like the old song went sideways.

9 hours ago, axman2526 said:

That was a different Chelsea, and many don't seem to see that or just refuse to accept it.

Did Roman make judgement calls based on what Uncle Ken used to do? Follow his standards? No he made the club his. He made us an elite level club in two seasons. That standard you speak of is his standard. A different standard to Ken, and a different standard to Todd and Co.

What is the standard for Todd and Co? Pretty words sure but actions speak louder than words. We have yet to see if their actions back up their words. On transfer window is not enough to judge. Let's see what they have done and where we are in 2 seasons with them. Potter is just one small part of that.

That's just wrong. You cant compare owners from different eras, the state of the game was completely different back then, Bates was fighting off bankruptcy and liquidation of the club for many years. When Roman came in it was because of the TV money, money pouring into clubs every season, it was a totally different scenario to what Bates had to face.

Boehly and Roman both owned the club in the new TV money era, so its fair to compare them.

3 hours ago, coco said:

That's just wrong. You cant compare owners from different eras, the state of the game was completely different back then, Bates was fighting off bankruptcy and liquidation of the club for many years. When Roman came in it was because of the TV money, money pouring into clubs every season, it was a totally different scenario to what Bates had to face.

Boehly and Roman both owned the club in the new TV money era, so its fair to compare them.

You have a point and I should have been more specific in that I meant the last few years of Uncle Ken than his entire time of ownership.

Different owners face different challanges both from the outside and within. Todd and Co may well take us on to a successful era, I certainly hope to be wrong.

Aside from the huge spending my biggest concern with them is there is no news about the stadium. I thought it would have been the number 1 priority and we would have had some news by now.

6 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

You have a point and I should have been more specific in that I meant the last few years of Uncle Ken than his entire time of ownership.

Different owners face different challanges both from the outside and within. Todd and Co may well take us on to a successful era, I certainly hope to be wrong.

Aside from the huge spending my biggest concern with them is there is no news about the stadium. I thought it would have been the number 1 priority and we would have had some news by now.

I think the global recession fears with post COV-ID and trying to crush Russia economically with the sanctions while Ukraine is fighting have put the frighteners on investment. 

I think this situation is deterring any major work in the stadium situation.

8 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

I think the global recession fears with post COV-ID and trying to crush Russia economically with the sanctions while Ukraine is fighting have put the frighteners on investment. 

I think this situation is deterring any major work in the stadium situation.

Lack of materials and huge inflation in costs is also a factor. We've seen steel prices go up by over 50% on a project I'm working on, and even electrical components, cables, building components. 

We ordered a VFD (frequency drive) 6 months ago to be delivered this month. Its now unlikely we get it this year.

24 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

You have a point and I should have been more specific in that I meant the last few years of Uncle Ken than his entire time of ownership.

Different owners face different challanges both from the outside and within. Todd and Co may well take us on to a successful era, I certainly hope to be wrong.

Aside from the huge spending my biggest concern with them is there is no news about the stadium. I thought it would have been the number 1 priority and we would have had some news by now.

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/chelsea-rekindles-1bn-stadium-plan-with-offer-to-purchase-land-19-12-2022/

Takes longer than a few months to publish concrete plans. But things are underway on that front. 

17 minutes ago, dkw said:

Lack of materials and huge inflation in costs is also a factor. We've seen steel prices go up by over 50% on a project I'm working on, and even electrical components, cables, building components. 

We ordered a VFD (frequency drive) 6 months ago to be delivered this month. Its now unlikely we get it this year.

Any product that is processed requires energy and as Russia fuel has been largely sanctioned the oil and gas  price has risen affecting every product requiring transportation or other energy use  like in metal extraction. 

20 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/chelsea-rekindles-1bn-stadium-plan-with-offer-to-purchase-land-19-12-2022/

Takes longer than a few months to publish concrete plans. But things are underway on that front. 

Makes you wonder with the inflation figure how much further they have costed it for?

Really off topic but what a really sh*tty time to be a Chelsea supporter, with Vialli and watching crap every week.

It would be nice if we actually played a good game every now and then?

Have we made a mistake letting Werner go? As bad as he was, he’s still 5x the player Auba is.

Having a ton of young players who have never clicked with each other with some older gentlemen who have seen it all under a massive pressure to win the task with Potter and co is very hard. 

We have absolutely no cohesion in the side. Attacking patterns are either non-existent or untested. We need repetitions and success with it. Now we have 30 guys who Potter is learning to use with tons of injuries. 

There is absolutely no surprise why we are where we are. That is not Potter's fault in any way. I feel Potter is very humble and eager to make us a great footballing side. His persona is equal to a potato so I hope he says the Right things to players. He is unispiring as a figure so the substance needs to be there. And I think it is. 

We have given him a 5 year contract and I hope we are giving him 5 years. After 3 seasons we should be challenging for the title. Meanwhile we should create an image of how Chelsea play, grow the young lads and be exciting for fans to follow. 

At this very moment we have nothing of those qualities. 

22 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Considering since Potter came in the only team in the bottom half we've dropped points to is Forest away I think it's a bit melodramatic to say we are going to finish in the bottom half. 

I fully expect even this injury ravaged team to pick up a solid amount of points through Jan and Feb and we will end the season comfortably in the top 7. 

I don't think it's melodramatic. We are slipping down the table by the game. 

0-0, 1-1, followed it up with a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Brighton, then Arsenal cruised to a 1-0 win against us at Stamford Bridge. 

Lost 1-0 to City in the League cup, lost 1-0 to Newcastle, then 1-0 again to Villa. 

After the World Cup, nothing improves. We play one good half against Bournemouth to win 2-0, then the very next game, get dominated by Forest in the 2nd half and draw 1-1. Then we lose 1-0 to City at home, without them being anywhere near their best and we couldn't even test Ederson once. 

We haven't beaten a single side in the top 10 all season. The players look exhausted after 45 minutes of football. All teams need to do to get a result against us run a lot and press us. Our top scorer is Sterling with 6 goals, and he's one of the players getting the most criticism for his performances.

The trajectory we are on is the bottom half of the table.