Pete, Nick, Tom (love you too man), thanks for the support
I was just feeling frustrated by that news, and all that was simmering to the surface. Help, I think while Kenyon isnt personally responsible, the win at all costs mentality that brought him and Mourinho here is the reason, and so thats part of it
Pete, I knew you would be the one to bring me back to my senses
While of course I was and am still elated that Roman came and chose us to benefeit from his generosity, especially considering what we were facing, I just think things are getting out of hand at Stamford Bridge. Roman has done alot for the history of this club (reaching out to the Hardings, bringing back old players, the badge, etc) and he understands what the real supporters wants, but he views the club as more of a toy than an investment, and thus we're trying to win at all costs (fiscally and literally). Berlusconi is filthy rich as the owner of Milan, but they operate like a normal club that is big, but not outside of its means. We are ammassing wage bills and transfer fees that are just fiscally untenable in the long term. I just hope Roman is in for the long haul, becuase we are NEVER breaking even in 10 years.
As far as your opinions on well, my opinions
1. I cant agree that Hutie was crap, man. He had alot of promise, and though he was overrated because of his size, I think he will make fools of us at Boro. At very least we shouldve tried shopping him to German clubs
2. I agree that Billy was treated poorly. Especially when Kenyon decided to play all these shadow games with Penis Zhavi over Rio. Really a slap in the face to one of the worlds best defenders. I can only he realizes how loved he is and stays.
3. Parker was given the option to leave, yes, but he was also told he needed to fight his way past three internationals. He had been injured most of the second half, and rather than gracefully deal with him and work him back with patchy minutes here and there, Jose by his own admission gave him a my way or the highway approach, and unsurprisingly we let a great young talent leave town. He's proven how good he is at Newcastle with consistant time, and if he wasnt ill and Sven wasnt so blinkered, he'd be in Germany now
4. Youre right about Sheva, he will make all the difference. But While Ballack is a great signing and all, his addition, lets face it, comes at the expense of a guy like Essien. I know he was brought in to be that proverbial "final piece" and that he was free and all, but damnit, we're stunting our future growth for this all conquering goal of winning the champions league now, at all costs. Lets say, for example, we didnt get Sheva or Ballack and went in with Eidur, Drogba, Crespo and Kalou and the same midfield. If we didnt run into Barca again, id say we could make the final. The bottom line is Jose cannot STAND to lose with all that talent, to anyone. Roman obviously wants to win, but the long term goals are being discarded for the sake of winning everything right now.
5. Agree totally with Carlo, but at this point, id almost rather he pressed on with his career. Twice now the guy has fallen short of appearances for a medal, despite leads of 15+ points in the league. Surely he could be subbed in at the end of a few games to get him the real deal. If a club like milan, who I know arent satisfied with Dida anymore, came calling, id like to see him return to his homeland and not rot his best days on our bench for no good reason
6. Totally agreed about the LB situation. I remember a year ago we were rumored to have intrest in Lahm, but went with Del Horno. Not the right move, in hindsight, but we need to ship Del Horno out, hopefully to Madrid who might give us back all we paid, and BRING BACK BRIDGEY. If we give Elmer games, and then give him a loan deal in a years time, he can be the next big first team sensation for us. In the meantime, Paulo is a admirable fill in at LB. Roberto Carlos, mark my words, would be the worst signing Jose has made, and some of them have been pretty awful. He has no desire, very little skill and cant defend.
7. With Obi Mikel, I tend to agree with you. Id say Lyn Oslo are at fault. If that Agent's story is halfway true, their director is a complete snake. I cant blame ManYoo other than the fact that they took their hush money rather than fight for the principles they were supposedly upholding. But here we have another dynamo who we paid 15 million for. Essentially a back/up youthteamer. He wont develop with 4 world class central players ahead of him. When will he get games?
This here is a pronounced problem with our buying. Look at the victims: Glen Johnson, Scott Parker, Robert Huth, possibly Shaun Wright-Phillips, Mikel Essien, and (narrowly avoided it) Joe Cole. All were promising youngsters we just had to have, and when we got them, they couldnt break into the squad and were/have been made to languish on the bench. Why didnt we turn around and loan them? The bottom line is youth doesnt equal depth, and Jose/Kenyon seem not to recognize that. If you want depth, get players like Geremi who are solid and adaptable, but who are
developed and experienced. Geremi doesnt bitch about playing time because his career isnt meant for loftier things, and he is happy in this role. Thats why I was behind signings like Jarosik and Maniche, busts as they ended up being. They brought depth and experience, and above all were cheap. Benching young talent is costly both to us and to them
I pile alot of stick on the club, and im gonna get slammed for this too, but Jose, for all he has won for us, isnt the IDEAL manager for this club. Jose wouldve been perfect for the pre-Roman Chelsea. Doing alot with very little. He worked at Porto so well becuase he fit alot of role players and a few very talented ones to the specific structure of his system. Now, he has a huge surplus of talent and is forcing square pieces like Duffer and Joe Cole into the round holes of a rigid 4-3-3. At least he was doing that. Hopefully he is much more fluid with his system and lets the players play to their greatest potential.
My overarching point from all this rambling is lets win with what we have now. It may not be good enough to win the quadruple or whatever else, but one day the talent we had/has will get us there. Im sure its no news to you that Roman has asked Jose to look into a more entertaining brand of football next season that takes the emphasis off clean sheets and onto flair and goal scoring. Alot of people suspect Roberto Carlos was part of that idea.
Forgive that big of nostalga. Im back to my senses, sorta
