As someone who does nothing but instill positivity in this forum, I can happily say it's at least refreshing to have 0 expectations for a change. It's probably the first time in a long time I've expected absolutely nothing watching this team play. 

On 21/02/2023 at 11:17, coco said:

I'm really optimistic compared to this time last year when we had our club taken of us.

When Nadine Dorries smugly said (regarding being bought) "they're running out of time" was a real button pusher for me. Like she had the power, the witch

The only way is up....

- The club has had unprecedented turmoil over the last 12 months. Sanctions. Ownership change. New squad of players. New Manager. New Backroom team. Never before seen at such a big club, over such a short time period.

- Club has been in decline for years. TT had lost it, and we were playing some awful, uninspiring stuff in the end under him (remember leeds and s'hampton games?)

- Summer transfer window was a disaster, with scattergun, unplanned approach. KK, Auba, Cucu and possibly sterling all buys that dont inspire much confidence. Manager sacked days after transfer window ended.

- Unprecedented number of injuries. Sole world class midfielder out. Full backs out. £70m CB out. Wingers out. Young up-and-coming striker out.

- season of disruption. World cup break takes away 95% of squad, leaving just 8 first-team players behind. Jorgi (one of those left behind) has now gone. 1 is bettlinelli. Broja is injured. Leaving just 5 genuine first teamers that Potter had to work with.

All of the above shows the crazy amount of disruption, turmoil and unprecedented crisis that the club have had to deal with......

 

BUT - REASONS FOR OPTIMISM

- Owners now seem to be focussed on long term plan, with actually planning and thinking going into it.

- Young players on long contracts will bring some stability

- sporting/technical director will bring some continuity

- Manager working to long-term vision will bring some stability.

- Players (Reece, Chilly, Wes, Sterling) coming back from injury. Kante not far away

- old guard getting marginalised. Jorgi gone. Auba 1 foot out. Ziyech should have been gone. Puli not near the quad. KK given lesser role.

 

Potter needs to do better, make smarter decisions, stop changing players for the sake of it, and show a bit more passion.....but I firmly believe we are now slowly coming out of the other side of the storm. It will be a rocky road, and wont be overnight.....but given the above context, I think we will be ok long term.

Scummy scousers threw away a 2-0 lead, quite decisively. A magical European 20 minutes! 

Edited February 22, 20233 yr by Valerie

On 20/02/2023 at 18:03, axman2526 said:

Boy this place is becoming a place filled with such negativity. Anyone remember Neil "Spy" Barrent in the early days of Chelsea TV and his "Reasons for Optimism"?

Well that is the idea for this thread. Having seen poor old Coco attacked for his support I thought this could be a safe space away from all the other threads the soldiers of negativity have taken over and shoot down anyone trying to offer positive support.

 

So here are some reasons I can put forward.

1. I may not be their biggest fans, but our owners have a clear idea what they want and are not afraid to spend to achieve that. The ruthless pursuit of Enzo being a key example.

2. We were under threat last year of going out of business. Fans could not buy tickets, the club shop was closed, we were hemeraging money. Now we are secure again. Todd and Co made mistakes to be sure but the fire sale of Chelsea FC left them little time to get things going by the first window, now they have football people to help them.

3. We are getting in some very talented young players to develop and build upon, and already have a top academy.

4. Both our front men owners, Todd and the Eggman, have spoke about the importance of success on the pitch. So they will give Potter time, however if he ends up being the wrong man for the job, as many have said on here, they will act, I am sure of that.

5. Our women's side remain a joy to watch and are receiving further support from the owners.

 

So those are the top 5 that come to mind for me, for those wanting to keep it upbeat please fell free to add yours. 🙂

 

Carefree, KTBFFH.

 

I have to admit to being a "glass half empty" type of Chelsea fan, due no doubt to the fact that I have been a fan, season ticket holder and complainant since 1970 and can still remember the heartbreaking days of relegation, second and nearly third division football, shockingly bad players, electric fences et al.

Your post has cheered me right up 😃 it is easy to forget everything that has happened at Chelsea, especially in the last twelve months, and after all that, just for Chelsea to still be in business, have a squad that most Clubs can only dream of, owners with money, a potential stadium rebuild and we are still in the Champions League with a chance, there is a lot to be thankful for. I read too much Twitter, where the majority of Tweeters (with very odd surnames) think that Chelsea has a divine right to continued success and nothing else will do, I think that this has been rubbing off on me 😉

If you analyze our player. There are a lot of thing to be optimistic about.

Fofana is fantastic, Colwill is coming back next season, Ben n James are one of the best fb partnerahip in PL. We got a fantastic young midfielder in Enzo who has lots of room to grow. The best part is the area where he can grow is teachable and the area that he is already good at is hard to teach. 

 

7 hours ago, Bob stark said:

If you analyze our player. There are a lot of thing to be optimistic about.

Fofana is fantastic, Colwill is coming back next season, Ben n James are one of the best fb partnerahip in PL. We got a fantastic young midfielder in Enzo who has lots of room to grow. The best part is the area where he can grow is teachable and the area that he is already good at is hard to teach. 

 

Which Fofana? 😉

Great thread, let’s hope Potter does have the Wizardry to put magic back in our team, he knows he got to up his game massively, and that his his knowledge is good enough

Reasons to be Cheerful part 3

kante signs new contract and comes back healed and fit

Kante-Enzo-Zakaria, a mean mid 3

Edited February 22, 20233 yr by Ballack & Blu

On paper, our attack is extremely exciting. It’s not been happening this season, but hopefully when we can get them all integrated into the first team we’ll have a lethal attack.

19 hours ago, Victor90 said:

As someone who does nothing but instill positivity in this forum, I can happily say it's at least refreshing to have 0 expectations for a change. It's probably the first time in a long time I've expected absolutely nothing watching this team play. 

Hopefully they don’t disappoint! 

With Tottenham's recent habit of employing Chelsea's ex managers, if it doesn't work out for Potter with us, it could end up being the mother of all gifts to Spuds.

 

 

Okay,................i'll get my coat! 

I'll tell you what I am not optimistic about. This donkey coming back. 

 

Karim Benzema has not signed a new deal with real yet, made Todd grants us a great summer gift 🙂

18 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I'll tell you what I am not optimistic about. This donkey coming back. 

 

At his best, when playing under Conte, and working with Conte's nutritionist Matteo Pincella , he was said to be 14 stone 9 lbs, which is 93kg ... so he's basically 10kg too heavy 

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

At his best, when playing under Conte, and working with Conte's nutritionist Matteo Pincella , he was said to be 14 stone 9 lbs, which is 93kg ... so he's basically 10kg too heavy 

A sack of potatoes is 10kg. He’s Belgian. Belgium is the birthplace of fries. He’s just enjoying his nation dish. 

15 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

A sack of potatoes is 10kg. He’s Belgian. Belgium is the birthplace of fries. He’s just enjoying his nation dish. 

Nailed on he was going to score tonight - LOL

.... Zidane is still out of work and will want a new club!

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

At his best, when playing under Conte, and working with Conte's nutritionist Matteo Pincella , he was said to be 14 stone 9 lbs, which is 93kg ... so he's basically 10kg too heavy 

I do wonder how good Lukaku could have been for us if we'd signed him under Conte, instead of Morata

21 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

I do wonder how good Lukaku could have been for us if we'd signed him under Conte, instead of Morata

He has not had the chance to work under Potter yet, maybe he taps in to his inner Conte and we get that killer Lukaku for a year or 2.

Now that is optimistic  😉

11 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Which Fofana? 😉

The "skinny" one.😁😁

The big one is an interesting prospect, a bit too rough to judge at this point. 

5 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

At his best, when playing under Conte, and working with Conte's nutritionist Matteo Pincella , he was said to be 14 stone 9 lbs, which is 93kg ... so he's basically 10kg too heavy 

I think injury play a big factor. He is probably similar to Eden.

There is a lot to be positive about.

The owners have put up a lot of money to invest in the squad, the signings of especially Mudryk and Enzo are massive. Enzo is an amazing player already and would be in any starting XI in the world. They are not afraid to invest, and we actually have a very talented squad that can compete for any title and will get even better next summer with Nkunku coming in and a massive clear out.

There have been good changes made in the office, a lot of Chelsea fans won't like this but the era of Buck, Marina and Cech was done. It was time to bring in new people with new ideas and that's what they have did.

Not renewing the 3 sponsorship. Enough said.

There is a clear plan going forward, and it's very exciting, however there is one big issue. Nothing will work if you don't have a competent manager in charge. Unless we have an elite coach, there's nothing to look forward to in regards to on field success.

 

21 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

 

- Summer transfer window was a disaster, with scattergun, unplanned approach. KK, Auba, Cucu and possibly sterling all buys that dont inspire much confidence. Manager sacked days after transfer window ended.

It was a disaster don't get me wrong, but Chelsea fans would have gone ballistic if no signings were made. Can you imagine a new ownership spending billions on a club a month before the transfer window opens and they don't make any signings? Boehly had no choice but to make signings, and especially because Rudiger and Christensen left. 

Also, at the time we all thought most of these were solid signings by the way. Who would have said no to KK, Cucurella and Sterling?

Right idea, bad execution.  

10 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I'll tell you what I am not optimistic about. This donkey coming back. 

 

Scored the winner last night 🙄

On 22/02/2023 at 07:20, Valerie said:

Scummy scousers threw away a 2-0 lead, quite decisively. A magical European 20 minutes! 

 

How are the chips Jamie? Bit salty?