By Tony Attwood
Suddenly it seems Chelsea is in total chaos and crisis (according to the media, not according to me that is) because (oh my goodness they have just realised) if Chelsea don’t make it into the Champions League that will reduce their income.
Now of course Chelsea have had this sort of thing before, coming 10th in 2016 and 6th in 2012. So I rather suspect they might know all about the loss of dosh.
Interestingly in that 2016/17 season when they didn’t have any of this Europe stuff to disrupt them, their money still went up (by £32m in fact) – although this was quite a bit less than the £72m that Arsenal’s income went up by. And besides, being out of Europe for a year meant that they then could focus totally on winning the League, which they duly did.
I think in fact they rather fancied getting the double, but we stopped them from doing that, although I don’t suppose they minded because it turned up the FA Cup isn’t a trophy either.
The problem for Chelsea seems not so much to be one about money, but rather about perception. Their owner can push in all the money he wants, as Uefa don’t seem to give a toss about expenditure and its source any more. What’s more since Manchester City are still fighting the Court for Arbitration in Sport over what is now the longest CAS case in the court’s entire history, it is starting to look as if the CAS is having difficulty standing up to the might of an oil rich nation with a chain of clubs encircling the globe.
So Man City looks like the big time player and Chelsea’s aim of counteracting this by being in the top five clubs in Europe from income has been put on hold.
At the heart of that problem is the lack of a new stadium. The final legal obstacles (arguments about natural light to neighbouring properties) were, as I understand it, overcome at the end of January, and the papers have been saying for six months that the fact that the new ground will cost £1bn is just what it will take, and anyway that is the price of the average Russian’s mooring of the yachts on the Thames.
So Chelsea will join Arsenal and Tottenham as being the clubs that have to pay for their grounds, unlike Manchester City and West Ham who were given them, and Chelsea who have a donor. The only difference is all Mr Abramovich has got to do is find somewhere for the club to play in the interim. Following Tottenham’s exploits, Wembley seems the obvious location.
It is in regards to all this that the media is asking if sponsors will find Chelsea worth investing in when there is no Champs League as part of the package.
But where the media gets it all wrong, in my view, is that they are so fixated by short termism that they can’t actually see that sponsors tend to look across the whole term of their sponsorship. Indeed Emirates Airlines seem to be very happy to be with Arsenal, whether they are in the Champs League or not.
Then again the argument is put forth that finding a manager to replace Conte is harder because there will be no Champs League football for Chelsea next season (most likely). But on the other hand most new managers will expect to bring in some of their own players and need a season to get them going. One or even two years outside the Champs League doesn’t matter that much.
But the Guardian did, I think, hit the nail with the statement, “A club who go through two-season managerial cycles may have to sell a long-term project to prospective candidates.” That could be an issue, and in this regard Chelsea is the opposite of Arsenal who seem to be looking at managers in 20 year rather than two year cycles.
But what fascinates me is that for all their spending Chelsea seem to be intent on being a selling club at the same time with Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic moving along.
In effect what we start to find is a club who are supposed to be in flux and having difficulty recruiting, probably in such position at all. It is, once again, all a piece of creative journalism to fit the new mould which is….
- Manchester City are unstoppable and it really doesn’t matter if as in Germany we know who is going to win the League, each July. In fact it makes life easier.
- Manchester United would be good if only their manager was more English
- Liverpool are back to being Liverpool! and everything they do is perfect, and they have won the League time and time again in recent years only the League hasn’t updated its website properly
- Tottenham have in fact won everything because both third and fourth positions are and always have been trophies, and the fact Tottenham have only won the League twice in their entire history is due to a misprint in the fabric of the universe.
So everything is hunky-dory, and it’s a jolly good job that we have the media on hand to explain that to us, stop us thinking about any of the awkward questions like academy closures, huge hikes in season ticket prices, a unique approach to refereeing, CAS, transferring youngsters, historic attendance figures, historic child sexual abuse, the abject refusal of Crewe Alexander even to hold an enquiry into what happened at their club, no English refs at the world cup, and all that sort of stuff that just gets in the way.
Really it is all fine. If only we could see it.
Haha – I hope we can get Meyer, he really is very good and with a blots of potential, I see him in the De Britney role.
He is versatile and vote footed, mobile and had a God temperament! I doubt we will be continuing with many of out younger goalkeepers! Martinez and Macey may move on, possibly both. I expect Ilev to stay along with the youngest of our young GK’s!
Chelsea are cleaning dollar, they aren’t too bad at it, there money isn’t in flux and Oscar, Ramieres, Tibault and probably Hazard will amount to good sales. For me the prized asset is Cesar, Kante second, William 3rd.
But without CL football and with the departures of key personnel changes, I cannot see how they keep a squad.
Hazard is done in my view, Kante will ce massively valued at PSG and I could see that occurring.
Pretty much leaving Willian, who given h S age and professionalism could end up going to United. bale would make a good makeweight in any negotiation for De Gea. Where I expect them to Cebu of a similar value. Bale behind Lukaku with Willian (R) and Alexis (L) Pogba in behind with Matuc. You’d just need a better LB and RB and another CB.
But Felaini is gone, Blond; Herrera maybe as well, Shaw isn’t responding to anything and Martial appears surplus to requirements, he may cash in on Rashford if he gets another 9 and he’s never liked Mata.
Meanwhile Liverpool seem to Ben hitting a injury crisis. Can, Lallana, Matip, well good luck, this season. Won’t be emulated easily and you only made top four, they need a striker and another winger almost as much answer they need full backs.
Spurs, well, they need something else, oh a playmaker and another’s winger. Maybe another RB.
Well Real made Juve look like amateurs, 3-0 away, tie finished. CR7 wasn’t in a giving mood!
Bayern made a meal out of an average but robust Seville side, to take a goals lead and two away slots back to Munich!
So tomorrow we will observe the clash of the UK’s finest (on form) and we may reasonably assume that Rome will again fall!
City can’t do what they just did, again, and easily! It’s half of why Chelsea the current champions are so hard done by and recieve media outrage given their lowly position. Oh wait….
So next season, Spurs stagnate and risk losing every worthwhile player. City add bodies, burn pick up more injuries and struggle in the CL group stages.
Liverpool buy but not enough, and still fail to get a first choice striker. mo Farah, wants to play on the other wing, but the others Mo daysnofnthat happens he will join Barca, Suarez and Phillipe!
Meanwhile United spend another £300m but recoup well in excess of £100m but recieve no trophies.
Arsenal unearth a new Cesc, and Patrice. introduce a RB from u23 and a LB from the same place. make two free signings, sort out Asano’s permit.
Sanyo returns to Spain, accompanied by Monreal s his carer. Jack signs, as does Aaron.
Toby joins midway through WC Group stages, citing Poch’s tactics as the main reason for his departure.
Alexis returns to Arsenal on the last day of the window!
🙂
All that and you didn’t even mention the Community Shield money.
Damn it isn’t fair, as soon as Arsenal finish outside the top 4 they decide to deem it a trophy after all. Can we now claim 21 trophies retrospectively? Tottenham are now the London superpower having won the title in 1961 and finishing in the top 4, and oh I forgot to mention they won the league cup a few years ago.
Don’t you just love it when experts that are put on the spot often resort to cliched and oft repeated answers on what a particular club need to do to move forward and on to greater heights.
– First would be that it would have to spend more money to bring in new world class players.
– Secondly, to ship out the non performing and deadwood players .
-Thirdly , to bring in a manager who has won it all before , and not afraid to reshape the team in his image.
– Fourthly , to get rid of that useless/clueless owner who does not seem to want to plough more of his personal and hard earned fortune into the club.
– And finally to unite the fan base by doing all of the above.
Did I miss anything out ?
Did you miss anything out? Well we miss your jokes, they are always better than the five oldies of others that you mention. 🙂
The Gazidis team need to pull a finger out and identify those who are causing damage to the image of the club and sell their tickets to people who want to come.
I do not understand why the football club is giving them such respect…
..find them and sell their tickets to people who are fans and supporters first and secondly customers….
Basically we have the worst fans in football.
No toher club’s fans would dare turn against the people who gave them 3 league titles numerous recrds and thousands of memories.
a 1-2 year wobble and look at the Arsenal fans..
20 fucking years of keeping Arsenal in places historically we had no business to be with.
Muppets form a bygone era praising the league cup of the 80s and mocking the top4 finishes after building a stadium
our fans are unworthy of success and happy football moments
Does scoring more goals than Ronaldo count as a trophy?
From Marca:
http://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2018/04/04/5ac4a588268e3e4d478b45d2.html
We really need to do well in the europa and at least get to the final.That way maybe all fans can unite and get behind the team.
Lee
It will never happen that all the fans will unite.
Lee, as Gord says, there are far too many fans with an immense sense of entitlement.
If we win the Europa Cup then it’ll retrospectively become ‘not a trophy’.
Sometimes I feel like that I’m on a never ending journey with too many moaners and pesky little whiners . It must be hell on other sites.
And unlike the guys below , we could always chose to ignore them , and tell them where to go, and what to do with their uninformed opinions . Clue – the sun does not shine there too !
http://www.gocomics.com/wumo/2014/09/21