3 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Getting a single penny for this absolute drain on the beautiful game is having City’s pants down.

As much as I blame Pep for destroying the modern game with his brand of football resulting in the following piss poor imitations by every single coach on the planet.

City played some fantastic football, they’re in for such a rude awakening.

Baldy will be sacked by Christmas and replacing Russell Martin by March.

The 2nd worst manager we have had in my lifetime.

When he was first appointed I was told by a good mate who had a ST at Leicester that even though they won the league Merescas brand of football was the most boring he had ever seen as a result he had planned not to renew his ST but once he came to us he reversed his decision.

To recover the sum said to have been paid to LC is incredible but to get even more suggests that City were panicking re an illegal approach charge.

On 22/05/2026 at 07:23, SydneyChelsea said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/20/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-succession-enzo-maresca-chelsea-departure

Bump to the old thread

Going to call it now, despite BlueCo's bluster we will receive a mere pittance, if anything, from City

On 04/06/2026 at 08:59, Nibs said:

Definitely.

The plus side is, be great to get some compensation for this Championship level coach. City pay us whatever and then will get rid of him when they don't win anything and they come to realise his football is the dullest ever witnessed.

Happy Days.

Seems from what has been reported is that he hadn’t been given permission at all .The “ un sanctioned “ meetings were it seems were reported by Meresca.

We will have to wait for confirmation but if the €20m is accurate that’s not shabby.

An absolute result for a manager I wanted sacked haha.

Enjoy the snooze fest citeh.

Talk about failing upwards, what on earth have city seen in this clown to want to hire him.....and pay £20m for the privilege 🤣

9 hours ago, terraloon said:

Seems from what has been reported is that he hadn’t been given permission at all .The “ un sanctioned “ meetings were it seems were reported by Meresca.

We will have to wait for confirmation but if the €20m is accurate that’s not shabby.

Seeing £10m being reported as the lower figure, which is pretty good anyway given the circumstances. I think it's closer to €20m because that would be closer to the residual value of Maresca's 5 year contract.

There must have been enough evidence of inducement to at least warrant a PL proceeding that Chelsea could drag on and either restrict or affect Maresca's start at City. I still have my doubts (albeit only based on what we know) that City were actually in the wrong, but this is one of those circumstances where the mere threat/possibility of sporting sanctions is enough to bring both parties to negotiate compensation, primarily because there is a hard time pressure for City to start their season.

As a complete aside - FIFA formally adopted the new RSTP on June 10 meaning the concept of clubs being automatically considered jointly and severally liable is now obsolete, and any sporting sanction for breaching contract without just cause can only be imposed after-the-fact by the DRC. I'm curious as to why FIFA never implemented the equivalent of the RSTP for managers/staff, since clubs have been paying compensation fees for managers for over a decade at this point and such expenses are include as part of playing costs for FFP/PSR etc?

2 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Seeing £10m being reported as the lower figure, which is pretty good anyway given the circumstances. I think it's closer to €20m because that would be closer to the residual value of Maresca's 5 year contract.

There must have been enough evidence of inducement to at least warrant a PL proceeding that Chelsea could drag on and either restrict or affect Maresca's start at City. I still have my doubts (albeit only based on what we know) that City were actually in the wrong, but this is one of those circumstances where the mere threat/possibility of sporting sanctions is enough to bring both parties to negotiate compensation, primarily because there is a hard time pressure for City to start their season.

As a complete aside - FIFA formally adopted the new RSTP on June 10 meaning the concept of clubs being automatically considered jointly and severally liable is now obsolete, and any sporting sanction for breaching contract without just cause can only be imposed after-the-fact by the DRC. I'm curious as to why FIFA never implemented the equivalent of the RSTP for managers/staff, since clubs have been paying compensation fees for managers for over a decade at this point and such expenses are include as part of playing costs for FFP/PSR etc?

Do you know on how does it work? city pay Chelsea then Chelsea pay off Maresca? I take it last time it was him resigned rather than getting sacked so does it mean he forfeited any potential pay off on his remaining contract? But then again if a manager can just resign then how does it protect the club who paid off his previous club to acquire him in the first place?

12 hours ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Getting a single penny for this absolute drain on the beautiful game is having City’s pants down.

As much as I blame Pep for destroying the modern game with his brand of football resulting in the following piss poor imitations by every single coach on the planet.

City played some fantastic football, they’re in for such a rude awakening.

Baldy will be sacked by Christmas and replacing Russell Martin by March.

The 2nd worst manager we have had in my lifetime.

Considering of the previous managers like avb, avram grant, graham potter, liam rosenior, Lampard then it's baffling on how baldy could have that spot.

3 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Seeing £10m being reported as the lower figure, which is pretty good anyway given the circumstances. I think it's closer to €20m because that would be closer to the residual value of Maresca's 5 year contract.

There must have been enough evidence of inducement to at least warrant a PL proceeding that Chelsea could drag on and either restrict or affect Maresca's start at City. I still have my doubts (albeit only based on what we know) that City were actually in the wrong, but this is one of those circumstances where the mere threat/possibility of sporting sanctions is enough to bring both parties to negotiate compensation, primarily because there is a hard time pressure for City to start their season.

As a complete aside - FIFA formally adopted the new RSTP on June 10 meaning the concept of clubs being automatically considered jointly and severally liable is now obsolete, and any sporting sanction for breaching contract without just cause can only be imposed after-the-fact by the DRC. I'm curious as to why FIFA never implemented the equivalent of the RSTP for managers/staff, since clubs have been paying compensation fees for managers for over a decade at this point and such expenses are include as part of playing costs for FFP/PSR etc?

Morning \ Evening

Still very much a case of us joining up the dots but my take on all this that Meresca, when he reported those meetings , did so for two reasons 1) he was contractually bound (I would imagine meetings like this happen all the time )

&2)

In effect been told the job was him but his contract with Chelsea was an issue so he and I guess City hoped he would be given his marching orders.

How things played out in late December probably weren’t how City or Meresca expected. It was too late to put the genie back in the bottle , Meresca clearly didn’t get his way hence the comment about a terrible 24 hours.

If you read the views of many Man City supporters re their 115/130 charges they are all in to soft signals. For instance they believe that the North Stand expansion ( planned years before charges) is a signal that they know that the charges are not proven. Ironically Pep’s early resignation ( still a year on his contract) isn’t even mentioned any longer yet when he signed a two year deal they were advocating that was proof that they were being cleared.

There are mumblings coming out of PL that they are confident as to the outcome. Why I mention that is a tapping up charge if proven would be an aggravating factor in any sanction so my guess would be that City couldn’t risk that we took the matter any further.

On top FIFAs changes the question of compensation or come to that costs when it comes to engaging and or sacking a manager are going to be a challenge.

As I read it these costs have to be a factor in SCMP not so much an issue I guess when you employ in terms amortisation but sacking will accelerate the accounting of any residue and likewise compensation paid to the manager to terminate a contract early as potentially huge sums could become accountable immediately as would any compensation to hire a new incumbent.

Its all a big mess

2 hours ago, BolaBall said:

Do you know on how does it work? city pay Chelsea then Chelsea pay off Maresca? I take it last time it was him resigned rather than getting sacked so does it mean he forfeited any potential pay off on his remaining contract? But then again if a manager can just resign then how does it protect the club who paid off his previous club to acquire him in the first place?

As I said in my earlier post we can only join up the dots. We simply don’t know if he is still on the clubs payroll which would tell us a lot more in my opinion

If as is now being reported he resigned or should I say tried to resign but did the club didn’t accept?

Then there is the matter of his contract obligations and of course the clubs obligations to him.

Judgment of the owners in terms of players may be one thing but I would be pretty confident that on top of the standard manager contract there would be significant protection of the “ clubs” investment made when they paid Leicester.

2 hours ago, BolaBall said:

Considering of the previous managers like avb, avram grant, graham potter, liam rosenior, Lampard then it's baffling on how baldy could have that spot.

1. FSW

2. Baldy

3. AvB

The Bald One took a side with real attacking talent (as showcased when we stopped playing his way vs PSG, Barca etc) and drained the life and soul out of the club for the good of his system. Unforgivable to have wasted 1.5 seasons on someone so blind and stubborn. It was the overall worst experience watching Chels in my lifetime, the only manager who’s made me knowingly miss games.

Potter was a product of the turmoil, no one expected anything and he didn’t deliver anything. Rosenior was a lose/lose from the start with the moral/ego of the team. Super Frank can never do any wrong and did a f**king outstanding job securing CL football under a transfer ban.

15 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

1. FSW

2. Baldy

3. AvB

The Bald One took a side with real attacking talent (as showcased when we stopped playing his way vs PSG, Barca etc) and drained the life and soul out of the club for the good of his system. Unforgivable to have wasted 1.5 seasons on someone so blind and stubborn. It was the overall worst experience watching Chels in my lifetime, the only manager who’s made me knowingly miss games.

Potter was a product of the turmoil, no one expected anything and he didn’t deliver anything. Rosenior was a lose/lose from the start with the moral/ego of the team. Super Frank can never do any wrong and did a f**king outstanding job securing CL football under a transfer ban.

You put fsw as no1 to my surprise even though I understand how you get there. I thought it's going to be a toss between avb and rosenior but then again it's more based on sentimental feeling in your case.

Your explanation is actually showing that it's more subjective rather than objective. The only objective part is Lampard's first season achievement. Let's see how he does with coventry, if he does well maybe I'll try to disregard his dire second stint and everton one and put it as anomaly.

1 hour ago, terraloon said:

As I said in my earlier post we can only join up the dots. We simply don’t know if he is still on the clubs payroll which would tell us a lot more in my opinion

If as is now being reported he resigned or should I say tried to resign but did the club didn’t accept?

Then there is the matter of his contract obligations and of course the clubs obligations to him.

Judgment of the owners in terms of players may be one thing but I would be pretty confident that on top of the standard manager contract there would be significant protection of the “ clubs” investment made when they paid Leicester.

The standard contract is just like julian nagelsmaan one with bayern no? Instead of massive pay out outright, bayern just keep paying him until he gets a new job. By right, no manager worth his salt would take a lengthy timeout.

15 minutes ago, BolaBall said:

The standard contract is just like julian nagelsmaan one with bayern no? Instead of massive pay out outright, bayern just keep paying him until he gets a new job. By right, no manager worth his salt would take a lengthy timeout.

Gardening leave. Which, from memory, requires the person to actively pursue new employment. The Maresca case isn't that simple.

6 hours ago, BolaBall said:

Considering of the previous managers like avb, avram grant, graham potter, liam rosenior, Lampard then it's baffling on how baldy could have that spot.

Lampard? Have some shame.

21 hours ago, dkw said:

Talk about failing upwards, what on earth have city seen in this clown to want to hire him.....and pay £20m for the privilege 🤣

Always said that Maresca was a master bullsh*t artist, and it's taken him right to the top 🤣

Not just Maresca, but City in general are going to be an interesting case study these next few seasons.

No. Pep.

No Txiki.

No Pep's backroom staff.

Keep quiet everyone, this may lead to Erling Haaland being available for transfer

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Always said that Maresca was a master bullsh*t artist, and it's taken him right to the top 🤣

Who's the best at failing up though, Marseca the clown or Bobby Martinez...

Maresca signing Gusto and Fernandez at inflated prices while driving up the price for Cucurella, only to be sacked in December would be an absolute highlight.

It'd be just like him to think he was getting one over Chelsea too

5 hours ago, dkw said:

Who's the best at failing up though, Marseca the clown or Bobby Martinez...

For now, it's still Martinez. I don't know how he got to manage Belgium's golden generation and now a real good Portugal side.

5 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

For now, it's still Martinez. I don't know how he got to manage Belgium's golden generation and now a real good Portugal side.

Having Wigan on your CV takes you a long way.

6 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Maresca signing Gusto and Fernandez at inflated prices while driving up the price for Cucurella, only to be sacked in December would be an absolute highlight.

It'd be just like him to think he was getting one over Chelsea too

Him going to City, getting us £20m and taking Gusto has moved him at least one rank on my "sh*tc**t Manager" list....Hes now next to last, just above the Fat Spanish Waiter....

Maresca to Manchester City has been confirmed.

The club has also released a statement without mentioning his name.

Chelsea FC appreciates the 2025/26 season was a hugely disappointing one for the Club and its supporters. A major contributing factor was the disruption caused as a result of changes that the Club was forced to make to the Head Coach position over the Christmas period. Due to recent developments, we consider that it is important to explain to our supporters what happened and why our former Head Coach left the Club on 1 January 2026.

In Autumn last year, the Club was informed by our former Head Coach that there might be an opportunity for him to succeed Pep Guardiola at the end of the season. It became clear to us that it was his strong desire to succeed Guardiola and that he was fully committed to pursuing the opportunity, despite the fact he was under a long-term contract which he had no right to terminate.

In December 2025, our Head Coach unexpectedly and abruptly resigned from his position. Obviously, we felt let down as we believed that his head and heart were focused on another club and another opportunity, despite having just arrived at Chelsea the year before.

No club wants to change its head coach midway through a season. However, in light of his decision not to continue fulfilling his responsibilities through to the end of the season, the Club was left with no choice but to protect our players, our supporters, and the Badge and accept his resignation.

In the circumstances and given the mutual respect between clubs, a confidential settlement has been reached with Manchester City, which includes the payment of compensation. A confidential settlement has also been reached with the former Head Coach under which he will pay compensation.

Looking forward to next season, in Xabi Alonso, we have a Manager who has an exceptional football mind and is a professional of the highest integrity. He has all the attributes to deliver the success the Club’s supporters deserve and expect.

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/club-statement-june-2026

10 minutes ago, Jezz said:

Maresca to Manchester City has been confirmed.

The club has also released a statement without mentioning his name.

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/club-statement-june-2026

What a c**t!!!

Even if he signed a replacement defender for Colwill he was still going to leave no matter watch.

He’s a proper bellend !!!

Strange statement by the club IMO.

Despitetheir intentions, Maresca has actually come out if this looking very professional.

Found out about City's interest, immediately notified Chelsea about the approach and made his intentions clear so they could plan for it. Also paid the club compensation in line with his contractual obligations. No cloak and dagger stuff on his part.

Ultimately, he's in his rights to take better opportunities when they come along. Just like it's in the clubs rights to sack him if they decide they want someone else.

They've had a PR nightmare here