Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:30 pm  

Roofaldo wrote:

exactly, if there was nothing to worry about, why not allow the investigation to proceed?

nothing gets answered and it just leads to more speculation and further demolition of FIFA's credibility

That disappeared over the horizon a long time ago.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:15 pm  

Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:

I can understand why you have special affection for Ancellotti, seeing as he threw away the 3 goal lead to let you take the Champions League, but which other top manager's reputation have we ruined?

Liverpool are far more guilty of ruining Hodgson's reputation than we are with any of our managers.

What reputation?

Mourinho - sacked, left some questioning his ability to manage without completely outspending everybody.

Scolari - a world cup winner, yet is now regarded as a laughing stock.

Avram Grant - almost achieved unparallelled success in the few months he was there.

Ancelotti - one of Europe's best managers over the past decade, yet was sacked without any grace or gratitude towards his double winning season.

Let's be honest, the real problem at Chelsea over recent seasons has been the bloated dressing room. Too many players 'turn it on' when it suits them, often leaving managers looking a lot worse than they actually are. Is it any coincidence that Chelsea looked most motivated when Hiddink was there? He was Roman's best pal and they knew there was no getting away with it with Guus. They had their 'last hurrah' in Ancelotti's first year, but went back to their old ways in the second season.

IMO, AVB couldn't find a poorer suited club for himself at the moment. He's at the right club in Porto, he needs to guide them through the CL, experience the highest level of football and then look to make the step up. If he walks in that changing room now, half of the egos in there won't give him an ounce of respect. Chelsea should stick to Hiddink, but I personally liked the idea of Mark Hughes there. I'd love to see another top club fail with a media darling in charge.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:32 pm  

Dan_FC wrote:

Good to see you've ended his career before it's really taken off. Fellaini is class, he can play at the highest level and he wouldn't be out of his depth but seen as you've seen him play twice you must know all there is to know about him of course he still needs to improve his game, every player does but right now Essien is 28, I think, in the next 5 years I do think we could be talking about Fellaini in the same way as Essien or Viera. I know he needs to show his ability in a better midfield or in a higher level but, not just because he plays for Everton, he is a class player.

I've seen him live (i.e. in a stadium) twice, but I've watched him on tele a lot. He's a good player, but he isn't the world beater you dream of him being. He just doesn't have enough of anything naturally to make him great. He isn't quick enough, isn't technically strong enough, lacks the composure and can be very rash. There's no doubting he's come on technically, but to the level it's being made out, deary me. He's tall, strong, works hard and keeps the ball well enough, but mobility, pace and true technical ability. I like him, but I just can't imagine him making too much of an impact playing for on of Europe's elite. You do, obviously, as you're a bluenose, and all of your players are better than those at big clubs (Baines, Howard, Arteta, Jags, Pienaar and, for a while, Rodwell). You have a good side that holds its own in the league, but, in terms of elite level talent, come on now.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:39 pm  

Dan_FC wrote:

Well, if you've been watching 50 years you must know it all

If you think Fellaini is rubbish, you haven't watched that much top flight football.

Guilty,i'm afraid - I haven't watched him live so that gives me no right to pass judgement - sorry to have insulted your undoubted football intelligence.

I bet he's just waiting for the call from PG at Barça !

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:42 pm  

That'll be why Real Madrid were watching all his games before he got injured. You don't come out with a statement like his without a reason. He wants a move and won't be going to a team outside the Champions League.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:47 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

That'll be why Real Madrid were watching all his games before he got injured. You don't come out with a statement like his without a reason. He wants a move and won't be going to a team outside the Champions League.

Good luck to the lad then

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 6:12 pm  

Roddy B wrote:

What reputation?

Mourinho - sacked, left some questioning his ability to manage without completely outspending everybody.

Scolari - a world cup winner, yet is now regarded as a laughing stock.

Avram Grant - almost achieved unparallelled success in the few months he was there.

Ancelotti - one of Europe's best managers over the past decade, yet was sacked without any grace or gratitude towards his double winning season.

Let's be honest, the real problem at Chelsea over recent seasons has been the bloated dressing room. Too many players 'turn it on' when it suits them, often leaving managers looking a lot worse than they actually are. Is it any coincidence that Chelsea looked most motivated when Hiddink was there? He was Roman's best pal and they knew there was no getting away with it with Guus. They had their 'last hurrah' in Ancelotti's first year, but went back to their old ways in the second season.

IMO, AVB couldn't find a poorer suited club for himself at the moment. He's at the right club in Porto, he needs to guide them through the CL, experience the highest level of football and then look to make the step up. If he walks in that changing room now, half of the egos in there won't give him an ounce of respect. Chelsea should stick to Hiddink, but I personally liked the idea of Mark Hughes there. I'd love to see another top club fail with a media darling in charge.

Boas could work, if he is given scope to redevelop the squad. The ones that would undermine him; Terry, Drogba and Lampard are on their last contracts, I would wager their hold over the dressing room is waning too.

I'd like to think Abramovich has realised what the real problem is, but maybe I am being naive.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 6:28 pm  

getdownmonkeyman wrote:

Boas could work, if he is given scope to redevelop the squad. The ones that would undermine him; Terry, Drogba and Lampard are on their last contracts, I would wager their hold over the dressing room is waning too.

I'd like to think Abramovich has realised what the real problem is, but maybe I am being naive.

I believe you are being slightly naive. You are a wise poster, for sure, but I still feel the hold on the dressing room is there. Getting rid of Drogba only sorts out a slight problem, he's a mug at times but is still a good player when he's happy. Whether it's Terry, Lampard, Cech or whoever, it seems that whoever has the hold on the dressing room is capable of turning Chelsea's fortunes around quite easily, and I don't believe that person with the hold is the manager. For me, they're a little like the English national side. If you have the same core of players that persistently fail in reaching the main target, get them out and bring in a new core. Chelsea have had this core of Lampard, Drogba, Terry, etc., but it evidently needs revitalising.

AVB is potentially a great manager. However, when you have a man at his age, you want to come in and let him completely change things. We're not talking about an old head who can tweak a few things to make it work, we're talking something like Guardiola at Barca. Get him in, let him get rid of the egos, regardless of talent; let him sign the players he wants, let him play his brand of football and support him through the tough spells (something Chelsea massively struggle to do as a club).

If Chelsea do sign AVB, I hope for the love of Fowler they don't bring in Hiddink over him. I've read quite a bit about Director of Footballs (before Comolli, mugs) and the key seems to be: bring in a DOF who doesn't have any interest in football management, that way, the role of DOF and manager don't conflict. Bringing in an established, world class coach, to be a DOF over a young, inexperienced coach has the recipe for disaster, as the moment things go wrong, everybody will look to Guus, and Guus will look to 'help out'. If AVB comes in, let him pick his staff (pick his own DOF, if he likes), but don't just bring him in and force him into a role that simply won't work.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 6:46 pm  

Roddy B wrote:

What reputation?

He had built himself a pretty good career. With his Europa League exploits he's pushed his reputation to its highest point. And then you appointed him and it was all thrown away.

[quote[Mourinho - sacked, left some questioning his ability to manage without completely outspending everybody. [/quote]

Only idiots questioned anybody but Chelsea when he was pushed out. They were already saying he could only buy trophies before we pushed him out.

Scolari - a world cup winner, yet is now regarded as a laughing stock.

Winning the world cup, his pretty good tenure with Portugal means only the harshest critic would call him a laughing stock. Most people would rightly say he'd been too long out of club football and the job was too big for his first time managing in European club football.

His reputation was damaged, but only because he blatantly wasn't up to the job he was given.

Avram Grant - almost achieved unparallelled success in the few months he was there.

Should have never been given the job in the first place. The fact he is now a Champions League finalist is purely down to us so it's utterly ridiculous to say we damaged his reputation. His record with Pompey and West Ham show how much he deserved to be CFC manager.

Ancelotti - one of Europe's best managers over the past decade, yet was sacked without any grace or gratitude towards his double winning season.

He won one title in 7 1/2 years at AC Milan, one of the biggest and most powerful clubs in the world.

He was brought to Chelsea for his CL expertise. Which was completely absent when Mourinho and Fergie were dispatching him without the slightest concern.

We should have won the title last season. Man United were average, the fixture list was made for us to win the title. And we managed to derail ourselves for a 3 month period so that all our hopes vanished. And all he could say was, "We're in a bad moment."

Let's be honest, the real problem at Chelsea over recent seasons has been the bloated dressing room. Too many players 'turn it on' when it suits them, often leaving managers looking a lot worse than they actually are. Is it any coincidence that Chelsea looked most motivated when Hiddink was there? He was Roman's best pal and they knew there was no getting away with it with Guus. They had their 'last hurrah' in Ancelotti's first year, but went back to their old ways in the second season.

Despite some people (the ones usually saying that Mourinho could only buy titles) saying how easy it is to manager Chelsea, I think it's one of the most difficult jobs there is. Unless you are one of the world's top 3 managers, and with the strength to show that every week, you're pretty much screwed.

IMO, AVB couldn't find a poorer suited club for himself at the moment. He's at the right club in Porto, he needs to guide them through the CL, experience the highest level of football and then look to make the step up. If he walks in that changing room now, half of the egos in there won't give him an ounce of respect. Chelsea should stick to Hiddink, but I personally liked the idea of Mark Hughes there. I'd love to see another top club fail with a media darling in charge.

I think it's too early for AVB. His record is utterly fantastic, but it is so short that it could just be a fluke which he can never repeat. If he is a "special one" then I am wondering why in hell we didn't spot it when he was with us. I think it's too early for him to be coming to us.

Hiddink is pretty much the only candidate for me. But it could be that his success at Chelsea was just because he was there only a short time and didn't have the pressure that being a long term, permanent boss would have.

The suggestion of Hughes. You really, really have an issue with the way the press treated the fat waiter, don't you? You need to get over it.

There's no way that Hughes should even be considered for the job. I doubt he ever was and I doubt he ever will be.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:06 pm  

Roddy B wrote:

Getting rid of Drogba only sorts out a slight problem, he's a mug at times but is still a good player when he's happy.

If the new manager comes in and says he wants Drogba out, I fear he won't be big enough for the job.

Even though Drogba can be an absolute ****, he was still one of the few players who did actually emerge with some credit from last season.

The only thing against Drogba is his age. But for me, with the question of whether Torres still has it or not, I think we can't get rid of Drogba unless we are sure that Torres will get back to his best again.

Knowing us, we'll get rid of Drogba and quickly find out Torres is a bust. I just don't think we can take that risk.