No, no need to reframe or rephase it. What are the promising aspects of the CL so far? Beating Monchengladbach 4-0 at home? Or just the Barca win? (Which was brilliant as is the one positive I can think of). I think it's strange to consider a start to a season as a positive when it all falls away after that.
We've had good spells with plenty of managers, and have had great one-off wins with plenty of managers, but I just find it hard to see anything from this season that could really be enough to make you see evidence of this going somehwhere.
And it's not like he's got another managers squad completely. He's been influencing signings for a year at least. Conte hasn't, and he hasn't needed such a big time to transition a team who finished TENTH last season.
The opening period showed his system, the original formation and tactics, can work in the PL and very well at that. And we actually played well even in the Barca loss. The draws were a mixed bag but largely due to the bedding in that was still taking place. Since then we've been up and down, which is not proof of systemic failure. I suppose in contrast to your view, I think its strange to consider a stop-start mid-season period (after half a season in charge) as proof there is no hope for a manager.
I also find it difficult to see anything in this season that would make someone so confident that we have no where to go. I could if we were regularly being played off the park or consistently losing matches. But we are not.
And where has this influencing signings for a year come from? Also, how do you know he got every one of his targets in the summer? And you genuinely believed he could come in, with one transfer window, and have us dominating the league after we all saw how our team was stagnating in many regards over the past two years?
Regarding Conte's work, I agree that he has done very well but I am not sure how you come to the conclusions you have there. Chelsea drastically
underperformed last year with a fairly strong squad—in no small part to mismanagement. The narrative that he has come in and
overachieved is just a media story designed to play to the Chelsea masses and romantic neutrals (as well as disparage Pep's performance, which is everyone's favourite exercise these days). He also has a much easier schedule, less pressure because of that previous underachievement, and, in my mind, a somewhat complimentary FA (where as I do not think we have received the same assistance in certain situations).
Beyond all that, though, I just think we gain more by supporting him and the team through what was always going to be a difficult transitional period, rather than pulling out the pitchforks.
