mclovin83

Well there is always some grace, it's a question of how much. But you are referring to the owners I presume... As fans, we have backed managers who are are hugely underperforming - Mourinho's name was still being sung during his second spell when he had us in a relegation fight. That is based on what he has done previously; he was a proven winner and fans believed on this basis that (rightly or wrongly) he could turn it around. Should we find ourselves in a similar position in a few months time I don't think there would be any such confidence.

Good question. Possibly depends what we are classing as a slump. I guess my point is that Potter will be afforded less grace than a Manager who is proven at the top level.

Financially yes, although comparing salaries in todays market to that of 10+ years ago is of course comparing apples and oranges. Finances aside, if we are talking about taking a gamble on a manager with regards to potential success and popularity (or lack of it) then I would say replacing Jose Mourinho with Avram Grant is still top of the pile. Equally replacing RDM with Rafa Benitez is in the conversation (for different reasons). But ultimately I agree, this is a massive, massive gamble. He has literally gone 'all in' on Potter and the only way this can be deemed a success is if he sticks with him through the bad patches that will of course occur. The problem is, is that if Potter has a bad first season he has little to fall back on at this level. Any other world class manager you would have confidence in their ability to turn things around, but I am not sure anyone (players or fans) will have that for Potter. The question is will Todd when the chips are down?!

Not sure who that is aimed at then, as I am not aware of "non-english" people being blamed for the poor atmosphere. Tourists and day trippers who aren't Chelsea fans, and therefore don't know the songs, are needless to say not going to help the atmosphere. Success attracts these types. Nationality is irrelevant.

Yawn. The atmosphere at the Bridge has been rotten all season bar the odd exception. Our end at Wembley at the weekend was the worst in living memory, and that was open to more members than ever before due to the lack of demand. There is a problem, but it has nothing to do with who has memberships or season tickets (or nationality for that matter). Perhaps that is the point you were trying to make, but if so, the irony of you having a dig at match going supporters while doing so, is blinding.

A lot to address here. Firstly, should Abramovich have been sanctioned? I am no expert on this, and ultimately don't really understand fully the criteria for such powerful sanctions to be applied. It's an immense show of force from the government, and one that must ultimately be applauded if it has any impact on Putin and his war effort as a whole. I will fully support anything which helps give Putin a bloody nose, in any way at all. I suppose it comes down to whether there has been foul play on the part of Roman, and whether freezing his assets actually has any financial impact on Putin at all. There is certainly uncertainty on both fronts, particularly the latter. For all the (paper) talk of Roman being a villain, I have seen very little in the way of substance detailing what (if anything) he has actually done wrong (being Russian isn't a crime). The majority of the pitch fork mob seem disinterested in drilling into the specific detail, and have jumped straight to a firm guilty verdict on the basis of 'association'. That isn't good enough for me; with his nationality, standing, and (past) history in politics, it is of no surprise he has a historic relationship with Putin, as do many. Of course, for the majority of football fans, this is the excuse they have been waiting for since 2003, so they will naturally go with the narrative that suits. The evidence of his wrong doing (as provided by those who are so quick to condemn him), usually consists of a 5 year old image of him sitting in the same room as Putin. Obviously, anyone could produce a similar image with most world leaders, including our own Boris Johnson, doing the same thing. The latest, arguably more credible, evidence of his involvement is his links to companies who have provided steel to the Russian government, which may have been used to build tanks and the like. Now, once again, the link seems to lack many specific details, but I will admit this is one that has made me stop and think. It is the first actual link that I have seen between Roman and Putins war effort. I don't link it, I must admit. I would rather it wasn't there. That said, I would ask the question of whether, in itself, supplying steel represents any foul play on his part? When someone gets shot, you don't arrest the owner of the company who supplied the components to make the gun. Regardless, how long has he been supplying this steel? 20 years or more? Is supplying steel to the government of your home country in any way strange or wrong? If it was, why did we wait until now to intervene? Obviously, the answer is because of the invasion, however are we assuming he was complicit in the invasion of a country? A country that his mother was born in. A country that his own grandparents fled from during the Nazi invasion in 1942? I don't know the answer to that. Nobody does, I suspect. But it seems a hell of an assumption to make, and it's one the whole country seem to have decided is a closed book. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? I am not saying there is not a case for Roman to answer, there clearly is. I do however feel uncomfortable with how he has been scapegoated as some sort of war criminal, on the basis of really thread bare information. I understand that if Roman was in any way funding the Russian war machine, then it would be essential to freeze all UK assets to try and stem the flow of money to Russia, and ultimately Putin. But if Roman is selling steel to the Russian government, the the money is going in the other direction. Is there any evidence of Roman funding Putin in any way whatsoever? I am yet to see anything to support such a claim. Secondly, where the sanctions on Chelsea FC fair? Well as a life long Chelsea fan, naturally I think they were very harsh. They seem to be punishing all the wrong people. Ultimately, in the wider context, how football fans feel isn't important given what is happening in Ukraine. I fully get that. You can be fully with Ukraine, despise Putin, desperately want and end to the war, and still not want to see the football club you have followed for near on 40 years destroyed. That is allowed. Given that the government has granted a license to enable Chelsea fc to continue 'trading' it seems strange that they have effectively given us enough rope to hang ourselves with. As things stand, it is hard to see the business being even remotely sustainable, and therefore you ask why the license couldn't have been tweaked to enable fans to attend, at the very least. Surely there was a way to ensure that Roman was unable to extract any money from the club (has he ever made any profit from the club in 19 years? I believe he is owed £1.5B?) and enable business to continue with some sense of normality. I guess I am saying there could have been a pinch point whereby the club as a business was still effectively frozen, but not to the point where it is clearly just going to be starved into certain financial ruin. Finally, how are Chelsea fans supposed to feel? This is one that irks me. The whole nation seems to have decided that we, as Chelsea fans, deserve this. Why? Being a Chelsea fan doesn't make us any more or less compassionate about what is happening in Ukraine. I fully condemn those who sang Romans name during the minutes applause for Ukraine during the Burnley game. That was a really stupid thing to do. I respect peoples right to wish to support Roman, but the timing was crass. and But it doesn't mean that all Chelsea fans are 'Putin bots' as has been suggested in the media. Many, like me, are massively emotionally invested in what is happening in Ukraine, but wish to retain an open mind when it comes to Roman. He is an owner who has done amazing things for our football club. If I am presented with undeniable evidence of wrong doing in relation to the Russian invasion, I am entitled to change my opinion on him. And believe me I would. But I certainly won't be doing it because I am effectively told to by the media. The other stick we are being beaten with is the notion that we should never have supported Roman in the first place because of his 'dirty money'. I am not going to get into that, as we have had 19 years to talk about that (as have the government, who didn't have a problem with his money until now), but what I would say, is that it is completely ridiculous for rival fans and the media to have expected us to take some sort of action when Roman took over, on account of the uncertainty in relation to how his wealth was obtained. Do people actually think we should have walked away from the club we supported for decades on account of said uncertainty? Were we not supposed to celebrate the trophies? Get real. Rival fans have hated us for a reason for the last 19 years. Jealousy. Granted, they aren't jealous now, but let's not pretend that any other fan base would have acted any differently (see the comparable situations at Man City and Newcastle for reference). Ultimately, this is going to be a rough rider both in the short term, and quite possible the mid to long term. My advise would be to buckle up, avoid trolls on social media, and focus on the football (which we are still pretty good at). We are down, but not out.

Furthermore, why did they proceed to sell tickets to members/general sale for the game when they must have known full well there was a risk that ST holders who had effectively already bought and paid for a ticket, would not be able to attend due to their balls up in the MHL. They should have held seats back in other areas of the stadium to accommodate those in the effected areas of the MHL. Utter shambles.

Complete & utter shambles by Chelsea. Beyond embarrassing. How they have got themselves into this situation honestly beggars belief. The stadium has near enough been closed for 17 months now, and here we are less than 48 hours before the first home game kicks off and the club can't even guarantee that everyone who bought a ticket (and paid for it in May, in the case of ST holders) can attend. You honestly couldn't make it up. You do wonder what sort of morons are actually in charge of decision making at the club. How did they get themselves in this mess of a situation. Like so many people, I have waited patiently to return to Stamford Bridge after 17 months, and have been looking forward to this day passionately for that full term. There have been so many things that could have prevented me going on Saturday; from having Covid, to government restrictions, to all manner of family issues that modern day life represents...... but no, the issue that has put thousands of fans attendance in doubt, is that the multi million pound organisation that is Chelsea FC, didn't manage to fit all the new seats in time. After being closed for 17 months. They can try and blame the contractor all they like, but the buck stops with them. They placed the contract. It's their operation and responsibility. It should have been finished months ago. They have left it to the last minute and it's gone tits up. They shouldn't have started it if they weren't 100% sure they could finish it. An absolute balls up of epic proportions, and one the club should be thoroughly embarrassed and ashamed of.

Grow up.

I might be the only person who doesn't mind the 3 logo at all. It's a bit different. In fact, I am going to say it is an improvement on the Yokohama mess (complete with touch of red that has been a sh*t stain on our last few kits). I am a fan of the leaked drafts I have seen for all 3 kits (not the knock off palace lookalike pictured above). One last thing; they are called shirts, not jerseys. Thanks.

That is quite a statement. Can I query what data you are using to arrive at this conclusion?

It's nauseating, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they were told to mention it in their first interviews. Has a new Liverpool signing ever not mentioned their world famous karaoke signing support?! I think it says a lot that he moved there, and is still adored by the majority of Chelsea supporters.

The fact that Hoddle feels the need to tell everyone that Tottenham are 'bigger' than Chelsea, and then admits that Mourinho himself probably doesn't even know how much of a 'big club' Tottenham are, is quite amusing. Couldn't care less who is 'bigger' in all honesty, but Tottenham being labelled as this monster club just because they have a shiny new stadium isn't going to get taken seriously by me, sorry. Win a couple of trophies, maybe a league title or two, and then maybe the conversation can be had without sniggers. Hoddle then decides that Mourinho and Tottenham is a "good marriage" . Let's be honest, it's a marriage of convenience at best. It's a job that Mourinho wouldn't have even considered at any point in his career until now, at his lowest, generally considered a dinosaur of modern football. The fact he was prepared to take it mid-season, with Tottenham sitting mid-table is representative of the desperation levels in play here. Mourinho has won trophies everywhere he has managed for a full season or more, so even in his current form I would expect them to be able to sh*thouse their way to a pot or two under him. BUT, if Tottenham became the first and only club ever managed by Jose Mourinho that didn't achieve silverware, wouldn't that just be the most 'Spursy' thing to have happened ever?* *Since they came third in a two horse title race

Regarding Mourinho's comments. I don't entirely disagree with what he is saying. It is still a young team, and as a unit, we still have plenty to prove against the top sides. If anything it was a rather obvious opinion to give rather than it being anything radical on his part. Losing to United twice wasn't good enough, and Frank & Co would say no different I am sure. We certainly have competed against Liverpool twice though, and could have won both games. The fact that we are even being compared to the top sides speaks volumes about what Frank & Jody have done in such a short space of time though; at the start of the season there was talk of us being mid-table. Top 6 was a dream, top 4 was unimaginable. I do feel that Jose praised Frank through gritted teeth somewhat. The once 'Chelsea man' has never seemed more disconnected from the club as a whole in my opinion. Is is sad to see in a way, but he very much chose this path when he went to United and decided to go to war with Chelsea at every possible opportunity. I have said it before, but he could have at least tried to maintain his legacy as having a connection with Chelsea fans, but that has long since gone. As for Jody's reaction, I think he should have known better than to get drawn in to be honest. Jose is doing what he is currently paid to do; give his opinion. Jose has nothing to lose, and furthermore will enjoy any sort of spat played out in the media. It will make him seem relevant, which is pretty much all he can hope for as an out of work Manager who has turned to punditry. We on the other hand have everything to lose; momentum, confidence, concentration, mentality. It's all been flowing very nicely, the last thing I would do is get involved with Jose over social media. Immature and unnecessary.

Anyone have any details on the Kovacic injury?