1 hour ago, petre ispirescu said:

Then you were wrong in thinking that because of their "names", they would instantly challenge for the big trophies. All in the squad were bought as "projects" for the future, players with a very high ceiling. This takes a whole lot of time.

Surround Palmer, Caicedo and Colwill with Salah, Van Dijk and Liverpool's settled team and I agree their development time would instantly be shortened by a couple of years. But when you put so many young players together, oldest ones being 26 and 27, of course things will take time. It is perfectly normal. It "pays off" now because we are finally starting to see things moving in the right direction.

My guess is that in 10 years and if projections are accurate and the club is at the level that the board wanted since day one, people will still find ways to discredit the initial plan and think that the board were clueless in the first years and somehow got lucky. When the truth is and you can see it at the moment, there is a clear plan that they held on to no matter what and that plan gathers pace. I believe the only thing that this board did not plan to be in this way is the (too) many managerial changes, but even that proved to be successful in the end as Maresca looks the perfect man for the job. Other than that, what currently happens at the club was meticulously planned, even before they even started negociations with Roman, I have no doubts about it. They had this plan prepared long before for any club they would have aquired.

Do you think they planned to fail to agree a shirt sponsor for 3 season and get fined multiple times for breaking financial regulations?

7 hours ago, Bob stark said:

You really underestimate Hazard talent. Hazard was an all timer level talent. We are talking about the best player in PL history level talent.

I meant Hazard’s first year at Chelsea not his whole Chelsea career, sorry for the confusion, I totally agree with you on that

31 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Do you think they planned to fail to agree a shirt sponsor for 3 season and get fined multiple times for breaking financial regulations?

Of course.

They could have signed a deal for a new shirt sponsor last summer for 40M, but they refused and are now looking at 60M+. My guess is they are milking even more from our current market value and projection as a club. What's wrong with this?

Getting a fine for breaking those rules was always going to happen as the club did not qualify for CL footbal and the massive revenue that comes with that competition.

People either do not understand or do not want to understand that the things that currently happen at the club were possible by taking two routes only, no inbetween - it was either by buying the way the board did and balancing that with outgoings + CL money, or by doing the things they do and that is a buy low/sell high strategy with some financial breaches in the meantime.

Putting all the trust into getting CL football is risky and there must be a plan B which the Chelsea board had. As a matter of fact this was actually plan A, with CL qualification coming as a bonus in the years of rebuilding the squad.

Watch United this season. They are doing the complete opposite. They took the route of risk, invest big and put all the eggs in the CL basket. This summer they are safe, even if they do not sell anybody at all. But watch them next summer if they miss out on CL football. And the summer after, if they miss CL football for yet another season. No valuable assets to sell and the lack of CL football will set them back for years and will blame the summer of Cunha, Sesko and Mbeumo for decades.

17 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Of course.

They could have signed a deal for a new shirt sponsor last summer for 40M, but they refused and are now looking at 60M+. My guess is they are milking even more from our current market value and projection as a club. What's wrong with this?

Getting a fine for breaking those rules was always going to happen as the club did not qualify for CL footbal and the massive revenue that comes with that competition.

People either do not understand or do not want to understand that the things that currently happen at the club were possible by taking two routes only, no inbetween - it was either by buying the way the board did and balancing that with outgoings + CL money, or by doing the things they do and that is a buy low/sell high strategy with some financial breaches in the meantime.

Putting all the trust into getting CL football is risky and there must be a plan B which the Chelsea board had. As a matter of fact this was actually plan A, with CL qualification coming as a bonus in the years of rebuilding the squad.

Watch United this season. They are doing the complete opposite. They took the route of risk, invest big and put all the eggs in the CL basket. This summer they are safe, even if they do not sell anybody at all. But watch them next summer if they miss out on CL football. And the summer after, if they miss CL football for yet another season. No valuable assets to sell and the lack of CL football will set them back for years and will blame the summer of Cunha, Sesko and Mbeumo for decades.

You lot are mind numbingly stubborn and bordering on moronic.

These are two negatives, that are impossible to twist into a positive but you've managed to convince yourself otherwise.

Infinite Athlete was a 1 year deal. The club could have signed a 1 year deal with anyone for any value, and it would be better than a season with ZERO income from a shirt sponsor. The season starts in 5 days and we still don't have a sponsor even after winning the CWC, these discussions should have happened MONTHS ago.

Getting the fine was not always going to happen if we simply did not spend as much money as we did. Joao Felix (twice), DD Fofana, Badiashile, Sterling, W.Fofana, Washington, Ugochukwu, Disasi, Nkunku, Wiley, Amougou, Kellyman, KDH. There you go, I've just saved you about half a billion.

Man Utd and Chelsea aren't the only two models available to a football club, they are the two extremes. Stop peddling this nonsense.

52 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

You lot are mind numbingly stubborn and bordering on moronic.

These are two negatives, that are impossible to twist into a positive but you've managed to convince yourself otherwise.

Infinite Athlete was a 1 year deal. The club could have signed a 1 year deal with anyone for any value, and it would be better than a season with ZERO income from a shirt sponsor. The season starts in 5 days and we still don't have a sponsor even after winning the CWC, these discussions should have happened MONTHS ago.

Getting the fine was not always going to happen if we simply did not spend as much money as we did. Joao Felix (twice), DD Fofana, Badiashile, Sterling, W.Fofana, Washington, Ugochukwu, Disasi, Nkunku, Wiley, Amougou, Kellyman, KDH. There you go, I've just saved you about half a billion.

Man Utd and Chelsea aren't the only two models available to a football club, they are the two extremes. Stop peddling this nonsense.

The irony in your post. Zero self awareness 😂

28 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

You lot are mind numbingly stubborn and bordering on moronic.

These are two negatives, that are impossible to twist into a positive but you've managed to convince yourself otherwise.

Infinite Athlete was a 1 year deal. The club could have signed a 1 year deal with anyone for any value, and it would be better than a season with ZERO income from a shirt sponsor. The season starts in 5 days and we still don't have a sponsor even after winning the CWC, these discussions should have happened MONTHS ago.

Getting the fine was not always going to happen if we simply did not spend as much money as we did. Joao Felix (twice), DD Fofana, Badiashile, Sterling, W.Fofana, Washington, Ugochukwu, Disasi, Nkunku, Wiley, Amougou, Kellyman, KDH. There you go, I've just saved you about half a billion.

Man Utd and Chelsea aren't the only two models available to a football club, they are the two extremes. Stop peddling this nonsense.

I'm wondering how much we are actually down on shirt revenue ?

22/23, first year under BlueCo, we still had Three incumbent, paying £40m a year.

23/24, they did this deal with Infinite Athlete, allegedly again £40m for the season.

24/25 ... obviously no sponsor until right at the end when we had DAMAC paying £6m, so intuitively we are down £34m on the £40m a season run rate.

I can see why they are holding out for £50-60m a season. Two years of £60m more than makes up the £34m deficit on 24/25 ... and if they can sign a deal for multiple years (Samsung was 10 years I think ?) then it would have been a smart play.

Of course if there are no takers, and the business climate right now is not exactly optimal for having companies spend £££ on sponsorship deals, then it's a different story ...

Fantastic player right here and right now. Weve surely seen enough in these two brief outings to know that.

A game changer, marvellous to watch and so glad he is in our squad. Other club supporters will be really miffed that they havent got him. i mean really miffed.

Im sure our opponents will think he should get some physical treatment, but they will have to catch him before they can kick him. This fella is very bad news for the rest of the premier league, and i can see him getting awarded a really long contract very soon.

😎

Edited August 11, 2025Aug 11 by OneTommyLangley

1 hour ago, Clown Lake said:

The irony in your post. Zero self awareness 😂

I have listed on here multiple times the good things that the owners have done and credited them for it.

It is you and your crew of Neanderthals' that fail to see the irony, you're genuinely arguing that lack of income and fines are a good thing. Seek help.

1 minute ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

I have listed on here multiple times the good things that the owners have done and credited them for it.

It is you and your crew of Neanderthals' that fail to see the irony, you're genuinely arguing that lack of income and fines are a good thing. Seek help.

Don’t you have enough to argue about (incorrectly again) with notnowjim about what counts as a winning goal or the color of the sky?

You would think you’d pick the correct hill to die on at least once… 😂 🤭

Edited August 11, 2025Aug 11 by Clown Lake

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

I'm wondering how much we are actually down on shirt revenue ?

22/23, first year under BlueCo, we still had Three incumbent, paying £40m a year.

23/24, they did this deal with Infinite Athlete, allegedly again £40m for the season.

24/25 ... obviously no sponsor until right at the end when we had DAMAC paying £6m, so intuitively we are down £34m on the £40m a season run rate.

I can see why they are holding out for £50-60m a season. Two years of £60m more than makes up the £34m deficit on 24/25 ... and if they can sign a deal for multiple years (Samsung was 10 years I think ?) then it would have been a smart play.

Of course if there are no takers, and the business climate right now is not exactly optimal for having companies spend £££ on sponsorship deals, then it's a different story ...

Ahh yes, that well known American company 'Infinite Athlete' that started up weeks before handing us £40M. Definitely nothing dodgy to see there at all LOL.

They can hold out for 50-60M after securing a one year deal last year. Its still a sh*t show not having it sorted.

7 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Then you were wrong in thinking that because of their "names", they would instantly challenge for the big trophies. All in the squad were bought as "projects" for the future, players with a very high ceiling. This takes a whole lot of time.

Surround Palmer, Caicedo and Colwill with Salah, Van Dijk and Liverpool's settled team and I agree their development time would instantly be shortened by a couple of years. But when you put so many young players together, oldest ones being 26 and 27, of course things will take time. It is perfectly normal. It "pays off" now because we are finally starting to see things moving in the right direction.

My guess is that in 10 years and if projections are accurate and the club is at the level that the board wanted since day one, people will still find ways to discredit the initial plan and think that the board were clueless in the first years and somehow got lucky. When the truth is and you can see it at the moment, there is a clear plan that they held on to no matter what and that plan gathers pace. I believe the only thing that this board did not plan to be in this way is the (too) many managerial changes, but even that proved to be successful in the end as Maresca looks the perfect man for the job. Other than that, what currently happens at the club was meticulously planned, even before they even started negociations with Roman, I have no doubts about it. They had this plan prepared long before for any club they would have aquired.

I don't know where you get the Idea that I believed we would "instantly" be challenging for the title ?? That wasn't what I thought at all. It was obvious from all the disastrous decision making that we were going to go backwards. The owners have admitted to making bad calls. . in the first year !!

The fact is, we are all in wonderland because of an absolutely brilliant result and performance against PSG . . It was outstanding . And I sincerely hope it's the start of something special.

And you're putting a 10 year time frame on the project, by which time share selling / dealing, dividend payouts and management fees will all be allowed. . You can't know as you maintain that the " owners had meticulous plans in place even before negotiations for buying the club " took place., it wasnt evident at all. ...But I think we have a great attack , bought outstanding players in Pedro and the thrilling Estaveo.

Come on you BLUES !

6 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Of course.

They could have signed a deal for a new shirt sponsor last summer for 40M, but they refused and are now looking at 60M+. My guess is they are milking even more from our current market value and projection as a club. What's wrong with this?

Getting a fine for breaking those rules was always going to happen as the club did not qualify for CL footbal and the massive revenue that comes with that competition.

People either do not understand or do not want to understand that the things that currently happen at the club were possible by taking two routes only, no inbetween - it was either by buying the way the board did and balancing that with outgoings + CL money, or by doing the things they do and that is a buy low/sell high strategy with some financial breaches in the meantime.

Putting all the trust into getting CL football is risky and there must be a plan B which the Chelsea board had. As a matter of fact this was actually plan A, with CL qualification coming as a bonus in the years of rebuilding the squad.

Watch United this season. They are doing the complete opposite. They took the route of risk, invest big and put all the eggs in the CL basket. This summer they are safe, even if they do not sell anybody at all. But watch them next summer if they miss out on CL football. And the summer after, if they miss CL football for yet another season. No valuable assets to sell and the lack of CL football will set them back for years and will blame the summer of Cunha, Sesko and Mbeumo for decades.

So according to you , and I've no Idea how you know , we had a plan B . Which you say was actually our plan A. And your take on the shirt sponsor is that we are holding out for £60million. Which makes sense if true... But then you add ...they ( the owners) are "milking even more from our current market value" and "projection as a club" . What's wrong with this" ? you ask .

I'll leave aside the shirt thing , but I'm sorry, I don't really understand what you are getting at with the other stuff ? You know, the "milking even more." ..etc etc stuff?

I'm genuinely puzzled mate , and trying to understand it . Cheers

19 hours ago, Clown Lake said:

Do better.

Can't do any better than supporting our great club mate !!

Come on you BLUES!!

19 hours ago, axman2526 said:

He, and his tandem work with Cole, will be key for us to break down low blocks and stubborn defences.

Whoever plays on the left will get lots of space to play in as a lot of teams will double up on Palmer and Estevao. At least 3 defenders will be with those 2.

Wingers are very much the key to our style which is why we’ve bought so many. We look like we’ve improved both flanks this window and Neto especially is raising his game.

I fully expect us to create chances and score goals from the wingers this seadon. Whether we keep them out at the other end will be the crux.

8 hours ago, The Rising Sun said:

So according to you , and I've no Idea how you know , we had a plan B . Which you say was actually our plan A. And your take on the shirt sponsor is that we are holding out for £60million. Which makes sense if true... But then you add ...they ( the owners) are "milking even more from our current market value" and "projection as a club" . What's wrong with this" ? you ask .

I'll leave aside the shirt thing , but I'm sorry, I don't really understand what you are getting at with the other stuff ? You know, the "milking even more." ..etc etc stuff?

I'm genuinely puzzled mate , and trying to understand it . Cheers

I mean waiting for more money and negociating on their own terms, what's so hard to understand? A front shirt sponsor is not mandatory, it's just extra revenue, if they want their name on our shirts, then they pay according to what the Chelsea owners ask.

I say we end it here. I think the board are doing a good job so far and will continue to grow the club into a fantastic brand both on and off the pitch. You do not feel they are a good fit. Fair enough.

18 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Watch United this season. They are doing the complete opposite. They took the route of risk, invest big and put all the eggs in the CL basket. This summer they are safe, even if they do not sell anybody at all. But watch them next summer if they miss out on CL football. And the summer after, if they miss CL football for yet another season. No valuable assets to sell and the lack of CL football will set them back for years and will blame the summer of Cunha, Sesko and Mbeumo for decades.

Alternatively they do well and the fact that they can still garner over €770m despite their worst performances in decades suddenly explodes their revenue into the stratosphere.

There is no grand 'strategy'. These people are billionaires speculating with other people's cash and sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't. That has more to do with the players on the pitch, luck, timing, coincidence and the tea lady than it does the "strategy" of inveterate gamblers. Anyone can say this was their "strategy" with 20/20 hindsight and when you're spending someone else's cash it really doesn't matter how many times you mess it up.

And yes, that applies to our previous board, and any other club too.

I've supported Chelsea since 1971 and have been trying to remember a more skillful and promising 18 year old player.

Any ideas?

30 minutes ago, Andy North said:

I've supported Chelsea since 1971 and have been trying to remember a more skillful and promising 18 year old player.

Any ideas?

There really are none.

Hazard was 21 when he joined.

Zola was 30 😂

The only comparison I can think that gets close is Cristiano joining Utd at 18. Estevao is that level.

7 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

I mean waiting for more money and negociating on their own terms, what's so hard to understand? A front shirt sponsor is not mandatory, it's just extra revenue, if they want their name on our shirts, then they pay according to what the Chelsea owners ask.

I say we end it here. I think the board are doing a good job so far and will continue to grow the club into a fantastic brand both on and off the pitch. You do not feel they are a good fit. Fair enough.

Fair enough, but as a fan, growing the club into a " fantastic brand" has never been something that I've ever even considered, and is certainly not a conversation that takes place between us fans on match days.

But ultimately we all want the same, so thanks for your comments, take care 👍

4 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

There really are none.

Hazard was 21 when he joined.

Zola was 30 😂

The only comparison I can think that gets close is Cristiano joining Utd at 18. Estevao is that level.

Hudson Odoi at 17 was a generational talent, if he hadn't got that injury the name Saka or Foden wouldn't even be uttered when talking about England's and PL star boy.

47 minutes ago, Andy North said:

I've supported Chelsea since 1971 and have been trying to remember a more skillful and promising 18 year old player.

Any ideas?

We've had quite a few actually.

Charly Musonda probably the most skillful I can remember right now off top my head but for one reason or the other, usually injuries, it's never worked out long term.

37 minutes ago, Remodez said:

We've had quite a few actually.

Charly Musonda probably the most skillful I can remember right now off top my head but for one reason or the other, usually injuries, it's never worked out long term.

Musonda and Boga were magical to watch.

That Youth team was incredible. Aina, Solanke, Tammy, RLC, Tomori, Christensen. All gone on to have great careers.

1 hour ago, Andy North said:

I've supported Chelsea since 1971 and have been trying to remember a more skillful and promising 18 year old player.

Any ideas?

There's some idiot on this forum who will mention Josh McEachran. Can't think for the life of me who that might be.......................................

9 minutes ago, Nibs said:

There's some idiot on this forum who will mention Josh McEachran. Can't think for the life of me who that might be.......................................

That year under Ancelotti though, oh what could have been...

2 hours ago, Andy North said:

I've supported Chelsea since 1971 and have been trying to remember a more skillful and promising 18 year old player.

Any ideas?

Gael kakuta as a kid looked incredible, could beat as many defenders as he wanted as many times as he chose. Unfortunately sh*t happened and he drifted.