Chelsea Banter 2

14 Apr 2026 18:56:22
Ed001, I imagine you're best placed to answer this. Do you see similarities, maybe slimmed down, between our current owners and Liverpool's time under Hicks and Gillette?

I seem to remember Liverpool being in the relegation zone and on the brink of administration when the FSG purchase was enforced, so it's not that bad for us - yet.

{Ed001's Note - not many. G&H actually took the club forward but ran out of money when the recession hit. They then fell out with each other. Overall though, they did drag the club into the professional era regarding marketing and merchandising.}

14 Apr 2026 15:30:04
Surely we must be in the running to snap up Iraola now he has announced his departure from Bournemouth. Knows the Premier League, plays front foot football, organised and has an outstanding record developing players.

14 Apr 2026 18:27:52
I think he may well be going to Utd. If we do make a manager change, he would have been my second choice.

14 Apr 2026 18:29:04
Greenaway, one would think so, but I'm convinced the owners will stick with LR whatever happens. If the owners sack LR, they surely would have to sack the SDs as well.

14 Apr 2026 18:56:23
Tom, fair enough. I think most of us would be happy with our second choice if it comes to that.

14 Apr 2026 19:13:26
Tom, I think you are right about Iraola, and it looks like Alonso will be at Liverpool. This worries me: two big teams who have been very poor but are still above us. Their owners do not have delusional strategies regarding only buying young players, and both clubs want to win trophies next season, not in some distant time in the future.

If we start next season with the same strategy and LR, we will struggle to make the top six, and our demise will be cemented.

14 Apr 2026 19:47:46
Jimbo, nothing is that definite. LR may well prove a lot of people/fans wrong, and after a pre-season he could surprise a few people.

Anyway, as always I would support the manager and team regardless, and I hope he is our manager for the next ten years!!

14 Apr 2026 20:26:51
Just out of curiosity, Tom, what league is 10 below the PL?

14 Apr 2026 21:00:32
Haha Bill, if results aren't forthcoming early next season then in my opinion we will be looking for yet another manager, if only to cover the tracks of the people who keep making these poor managerial choices.

14 Apr 2026 21:20:38
If Liam is our coach at the start of next season, we will be relegated and go into administration, just like Spurs will do if they go down this season.

14 Apr 2026 21:23:46
Greenaway, I doubt we would be relegated whoever the manager is.

15 Apr 2026 00:04:04
Tom, a pre-season isn't going to make LR into a good coach. It might make things even worse. If there is to be a change, it needs to be at the end of the season. Any coaches who might make a difference will be snapped up. I believe that this summer will be very significant for the club in terms of our direction.

Does LR stay? If not, who replaces him? Which players leave? Who will replace them? I used to look forward to the next season with genuine hope and excitement, but not anymore.

15 Apr 2026 05:10:15
Jimbo, I am not saying a pre-season will make LR into a good coach, but it will give him a chance to work with players and allow the SDs, owners, and maybe the fans to judge him with no excuses.



I have always seen the start of a season as an opportunity to succeed. I am concerned about football as a product, but maybe that's just me.

15 Apr 2026 08:43:57
There won't be any succeeding going on with the current set up.... LR needs to go asap and Shields and Stewart can follow him out the door.

15 Apr 2026 09:04:17
Tom,

You just can't give a coach ten games before sacking him. Where are we going to find a good coach from, Gary O' bloody Neill?

15 Apr 2026 09:14:40
Bill, I'm only saying what I think will happen.

If I am correct, and, sadly, he is seen as yet another manager failure after 10/15 games, we will then be looking for yet another manager who can join mid season, and that may well end up being a manager swap between us and Strasbourg.



I personally hope that doesn't happen, because, like a lot of fans, I want him to be a success.

15 Apr 2026 12:33:46
Shields and Stewart.

Isn't it Wistanly and Stewart that are the sporting directors???

{Ed001's Note - you have 5 sporting directors, the 3 mentioned and Fallows and Jewell.}

15 Apr 2026 14:10:58
Blimey, only five? I assume one of them is the ultimate boss?

{Ed001's Note - there seems to be 2.}

15 Apr 2026 15:38:53
Men's Team
Paul Winstanley: Co-Sporting Director. He joined Chelsea from Brighton & Hove Albion in late 2022.
Laurence Stewart: Co-Sporting Director. He joined the club from AS Monaco in early 2023.
In August 2025, both Winstanley and Stewart reportedly signed six-year contract extensions, solidifying their long-term roles under the Clearlake Capital-Boehly ownership.

They oversee the entire sporting operation, including scouting, data, and recruitment.
Key Recruitment Leadership
Working directly under the co-sporting directors are several high-profile recruitment specialists:
Joe Shields: Co-Director of Recruitment and Talent.
**Sam Jewell: Head of Global Recruitment (joined from Brighton in 2024).

{Ed001's Note - Dave Fallows as well. Also employed as a co-director. They need to sort it out and clearly delineate one person to be in overall command.}

15 Apr 2026 15:37:03
The 2 in charge is wistanley and Stewart isn't it ed.

{Ed001's Note - mainly, yes.}

15 Apr 2026 22:17:23
Why do you think they have so many in this role ed. Genuinely interested in your opinion

{Ed001's Note - they are trying to be clever and think that spreading the workload out will improve performance. They may well be right in that, but you need one person decision maker to control it or it becomes a committee and nothing ever gets done.}

14 Apr 2026 16:12:51
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 32 - Quick Round Up

14 Apr 2026 07:39:16
{Ed's Note - MK Scouser has posted a new article entitled, Slot, backing, and a big summer rebuild

13 Apr 2026 22:38:00
Chelsea's financial reports were released today. From the people I have spoken to at work it is not an overly healthy read. Things aren't going too well but the real measuring point will be next year at the refinancing stage. Apparently this is when we will be able to accurately understand whether financially things are going okay and it will be visible only at this point, though indications now don't show it to be a return on investment for Clearlake.



Also, for anyone seriously worried, don't be, the club has enough assets in players to sell off to generate principal.

Just thought I'd share. Could be worse, we could be Spurs.

14 Apr 2026 09:00:50
And, people said that the owners knew what they were doing by losing circa £40mil a season through a lack of FOS. They seem to be brilliant businessmen.

14 Apr 2026 09:14:33
I may well be wrong, but I don’t think the owners have dropped £40m per season from FOS sponsorship.

The first season a solution was found with a book value of approx £40m, the second season, they eventually got an end-of-season sponsor, supposedly £20m, and we have had another late entry this season, again rumour says £20m for this season. They have also picked up other very lucrative shirt sponsor deals.


As I posted some time ago, my mate, the accountant, when telling me about the 2027 loan negotiations, said if we take £40m per season as a benchmark we are about £10m down on that number over the three seasons.
Of course, we could have been well in front of that number if we had shirt sponsors for complete seasons.

I have zero way of knowing how accurate his assessment was, but we certainly are "not" £120m down.

14 Apr 2026 10:15:24
Not £120mil down, Tom, but certainly not £120mil up.

14 Apr 2026 10:16:42
I also think ticket prices will continue to rocket and ordinary young fans will be priced out of the Bridge.

14 Apr 2026 11:54:19
It highlights just how much Roman carried us for all those years, losing £150 to £200 million of his own money each season in pursuit of glory and trophies. We really were punching way above our weight. The new owners are working hard to stay within the new financial regulations, and these things take time.

14 Apr 2026 12:15:57
Bill, my guess is we are about £40m down on FOS sponsor deals over the three year period.
I have no idea if ticket prices will go up for next season, but I think it would be outrageous if they do, as mine went up by 15% last season.

14 Apr 2026 13:18:20
They have to find money from somewhere, Tom, and if they could not get long term sponsors after qualifying for the CL, they have no chance once we are not in it. Ticket prices rising will be the way they recoup funds.

14 Apr 2026 13:54:31
I'm not sure a further rise in ticket prices achieves that much revenue, but I am sure it will cause more disquiet from fans.

14 Apr 2026 13:56:08
You can argue the toss about how much money that has been lost, but failing to secure a long term FOS deal is just another indication of how badly run this club is. I see a bad moon rising.

14 Apr 2026 14:50:17
Could not agree more, Jimbo, and they call themselves businessmen. They might be in other industries, but definitely not football.

14 Apr 2026 15:06:55
Bill, would you describe the Spurs owners as good football businessmen?

14 Apr 2026 16:44:05
From a fans' perspective, not having a FOS for long periods of any season is bizarre, and I have long since run out of reasons as to why this has happened. It makes so little sense that I'm left feeling there must be a valid reason.

Maybe one day the club ownership may choose to communicate with the fans.

14 Apr 2026 18:34:28
Greenaway, the Spurs owners have screwed up on the football side of things, but they built a top-class stadium, increased revenue considerably, and have FOS sponsorship. Our owners have screwed up on everything!
Strangely, I don't think Spurs will get relegated.

14 Apr 2026 19:01:17
I may well be wrong, but aren't the Spuds also carrying a huge debt that may well be difficult to service if they do (I hope so), get relegated.

13 Apr 2026 22:02:01
Leeds move 6 points clear of Spurs, I think they were always going to stay up but that pretty much seals it. Spursy are in real trouble now with both West Ham and Forest showing a bit of form.

13 Apr 2026 18:06:22
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new video entitled entitled, C U Next Time - The Bouffant Edition}

13 Apr 2026 07:39:17
{Ed's Note - Davey Sulls has posted a new article entitled, Why Iraola Fits Liverpool Better Than Alonso

12 Apr 2026 18:52:59
Capitulation. That’s the word that constantly comes to mind with this Chelsea team, we have decent moments, look like we’re competing, then we capitulate, roll over and offer ourselves up to the opposition. It’s not all down to Rosenior. If he has any self-awareness then being this far out of his depth must be a horrible position to be in and I genuinely do feel for the guy.



I’m not confident for either of the next two games, Man United home and Brighton away, we could realistically find ourselves another couple of spots down the table by the end of the Brighton game.

13 Apr 2026 08:59:49
Our last home win in the Premier League was against West Ham on January 31st. We were thoroughly outplayed in the second half yesterday. It's depressing how clueless we look on the pitch.

13 Apr 2026 09:18:14
I don't think, man for man, that City team should be outplaying the Chelsea team like that. At halftime, the two teams went in reasonably level. We were a poorly timed run away from being 1-0 up. One coach said 'All good, more of the same' whilst the other said 'Not good enough, do better'. Guardiola made some subtle changes that Rosenior didn't/couldn't react to. To be fair to him, look at the bench. Who's he bringing on to positively impact that game? Garnacho? Delap? Defensive midfielders? Neither the squad depth nor the coach is good enough.

I completely understand why fans want to protest before the United game, and I hope it's impactful, especially with the Strasbourg fans coming over too, which highlights that this isn't about the coach or players, it's about the owners. Any preconceived project is dead in the water. Those responsible for it need to be accountable; the football directors need to be accountable (sacked). They need to do more than an AI-written statement saying the owners recognise 8th, 7th, or 6th isn't good enough and we'll do better next season.

13 Apr 2026 09:25:28
J

I honestly believe that the confidence and morale are now totally shattered, down to getting hammered week in, week out. Plus, on the morale side, the EF situation has split the players away from the coach.

13 Apr 2026 09:31:11
I am all for making a protest statement, and I hope it's better attended than the last one.

It may well be me, but I haven't seen anything constructive coming out of these protesters, other than "we want different owners." I'm not sure there is any guarantee that new owners would solve any problems or be better than the current owners, but people/fans certainly have reason to vex their anger.



I'm personally more worried about other things at the club. I do have concerns about debt, and my long-term issue with the location of away fans at the Bridge.

13 Apr 2026 09:34:24
That's the issue, J. We all massively overrate our players on here - this City team is absolutely miles ahead of ours, and they have a proper manager in charge, not the kid that runs LinkedIn marketing posts like we have.



Owners continue to sink the club, but hey ho, trust the project/Vision 2030, we just need to sign more kids and pray they become good eventually. Disaster, yet SDs are still employed.

13 Apr 2026 09:58:51
I pretty much agree with what is being said here. Pep gave his players a rocket at HT, and they responded, whereas I imagine Liam didn't really know what to do. I'm pretty sure the players are no longer buying into his ideas. We had a good start under him, but the changes he has made have set us back. Little adjustments, like asking Moises to play a different role, have made him look a totally different player. Estevao looks world class for Brazil, but utterly drained of confidence under Liam.

I think Bill is right, in that the way Liam has thrown Enzo under a bus has not gone down well in the dressing room, and the way he blamed the players last night, citing their lack of mentality, will only further distance them from him. Roman would of acted by now and sent him packing, but my fear is he will still be in charge for our next game and this run will continue until he eventually leaves. If that drags into next season, we may end up going the way of Spurs.

13 Apr 2026 10:32:59
Greenaway, virtually every single manager since Conte has mentioned the mental fragility as a reason for poor performances. The latest comments from LR are nothing new.

Of course, these comments by a succession of managers could all just be a way of making excuses about their own shortcomings.

13 Apr 2026 12:56:09
Most teams in the EPL this season have had periods of looking very ordinary and tired, including Arsenal and City, and have had moments, some much longer than for other teams of course, when they played good-to-watch fluent football. This has been true of too few CFC games in recent seasons. A great deal is perhaps to do with fear of failure, of making mistakes, of moving out of pre-arranged and coached match positions, and possibly, for some, especially those who have played very many games, an inability to keep up intensity for a whole game or several games in a row.



Our best periods of play have usually come in halves rather than whole games - our second half against West Ham, when we were 0-2 down at half time, comes to mind - with the one exception being v Barcelona, where we played well the whole game, though clearly it helped that they went down to ten men! Which reminds us of our v poor disciplinary record under both Maresca and Rosenior.

12 Apr 2026 11:34:12
I have been following the comments made by Enzo, Marc, Garnacho and also Moises regarding their futures and also how they felt about the mid season change of manager, you have to give credit to the click bait journalists for their questioning skills and ability to almost create the answer to those questions by their positioning.

The other common thread I noticed in all this was the fact that all three of Enzo, Marc and Moises are currently discussing new and improved contracts with the club and found this snippet earlier.

Enzo Fernandez’s agent has confirmed that contract renewal talks with Chelsea will restart after the 2026 World Cup, and insists the midfielder’s priority is to stay.

Despite the suspension and the Madrid comments, Fernandez is described as “fully focused” on Chelsea’s remaining fixtures.

His camp view the situation as overblown and believe once emotions settle, both sides will find an agreement.

Fernandez wants a pay rise to reflect his status as one of the Premier League’s top midfielders. Chelsea are open to negotiating, but the saga has created a delicate dynamic that will play out over the coming months.

The final factor in all this is why did LR have to get involved? These sorts of conversations happen all the time right across the world not only in football but right across the spectrum. I notice he has now said their are "further obstacles" to overcome before Enzo returns, what does that mean? Surely the press will latch onto that and the drama continues when it really should of just been put to bed.

I'm afraid LR is turning into a ego-maniac where it is starting to become all about him.

12 Apr 2026 18:49:20
I think the 'obstacle' is Chelsea value a player at 100m, but do not want to pay the wages a 100m player expects.

12 Apr 2026 21:10:53
As I understand it, our players all have performance clauses that, if we are successful, they get even more money.