Chelsea Thread - 2023/24

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I can see why it would be tempting for him, and not just in terms of a huge increase in his salary. The opportunity to manage a big club would turn anyone's head. But he should think carefully before going there, if offered the job. Two words; Graham Potter. He did brilliantly at Brighton, same as McKenna has done at Ipswich. But Chelsea is a huge step up from Brighton and Ipswich. Potter couldn't hack it; would McKenna fare any better?

It’d be funny to see Ipswich get 12 points next season though.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Weird club. Let a manager do all the hard work, get them close to something like they could kick on and sign the right players, and now they're restarting it all by taking a wild punt on an unproven manager at this level and presumably spunking another £200m on the squad.

Can they afford to?

 

[KS55]

I remember when Watford did this and we all laughed at them - ffs Chelsea are the new Watford

I remember when a certain blue club did this and it wasn’t funny at all.

 

[KS55]

Same with Bazunu with Southampton the previous season.
Wonder how Trafford will come back from being dropped?

We seem to shed promising keepers like cat hairs. And what of the rumours surrounding Eddie?

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

I dont rate pochettino as highly as the media do, he hasnt done anything note worthy but has managed to get himself talked about in the top manager circle and get the jobs

That said, he was on a hiding to nothing at chelsea. They are a shambles

 

[MichaelBBack]

Jesus what an absolute mess of a club. I don't rate Poch all that much, but he'd finally pulled his band of misfits together into something resembling a football team over the last couple of months. It looked like they could quite easily go on and improve next season and push into the top four. Now they're back to square one all over again and someone else is going to have to tie all the loose threads of that team together somehow. Extraordinary. And going after McKenna? Surely not. What nonsense.

 

[bluetonium]

Could they hijack West Ham's Lopetegui deal?

 

[At-Swim-Two-Birds]

Granted, I’m American but I think this behavior is less “American” and more just a part of what Boehly does (private equity) and who is he - as I think you’re suggesting. It’s not like this is happening to this degree in every other professional sports team in America.

I don't follow US sport but are all owners purely in it for the investment or do you have benefactor owners over there?

As an aside what do Red Sox fans think of Henry? I understand it has been a bumpy ride recently.

 

[Main Stand Hotdog]

Absolute clown car of a club. Was genuinely starting to think they might be in the mix next year. Can't see it now they have to start from scratch again.

I'm sure they'll some how manage to get £200 million for Gallagher in the summer to buy up another load of square pegs for round holes, then sack MCkenna/De Zerbi/Komapany by January rinse and repeat.

 

[hammocity]

This season hasn't helped Vinnie, to be honest. Yes; it's a championship squad he was working with. And they were always likely to struggle. But he seemed unwilling to adapt the tactics that worked so well in the Championship the season before. No "plan B", if you like. Not sure how attractive that would be to club owners looking for a manager. If Burnley don't sack him, he should stay there for at least one more year. Learn the nuances of managing a professional football team. The Chelsea job is, in my opinion, 12-18 months too soon for him. Plus; it's a big job. And there's going to be some big egos in that dressing room. I'm not sure he has the experience (yet) to handle those types of players.

Not just big ego's, there's a lot of ego's, not much team spirit either hence the three players having a huge splat over the penalty taking incident. It looks like a very poisonous squad, I'd bet Poch is not sorry to be leaving.

Hes a decent coach, not top class but next level, however a friend of mine (a rag) was told a story of extreme kindness from Poch to a young disabled Spuds fan, no idea if it was a one off but he seems a throughly decent guy, he's far better away from that basket case of a club.

Makes us appreciate how lucky we are to have Pep and our Management team.