CHELSEA FC Thread [2005-2006]

[TheBlueBalla]

Im really disappointed to see him go. Its obvious that the Ballack signing was what forced him out, and knowing that, I wouldve much rather had guddy at the club than Ballack

Thank you Eidur. You were one of the few players I can honestly know is/was proud to be Blue. Good luck in Spain, and I hope you become a classic madrid killer

on the bright side, at least I know whose kit to get this summer

 

[O-car]

It's really touching seeing how much he is rated amongst the Chelsea fans. Many fans here in Iceland kinda had the feeling that he was just being overhyped up here, because he's Icelandic, but it's good to see that he is truly valued by the Chelsea fans. I found this compilation video of Eidur today, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r8jRcRvMGo&mode=related&search=gudjohnsen , thought you might like to have a look at it.

I just have to wish him the best of luck in Barcelona, he's a great footballer and will without a doubt do great. Now that leaves me two soccer jerseys to buy

 

[TheBlueBalla]

He was that beloved, and then some. Iceland should be very proud of what he achieved, and im sure you are.

Think about it this way: When Abramovich came, we bought god knows how many world class players: Veron, Mutu, Crespo, Duffer, Maka, Bridgey, Cole, etc. Obviously, many players like Gronks, Melchiot, Jimmy etc saw their way out the front door

Over the next two years, the only players we had left who were starters that were Lampard, Terry and Gudjohnsen were the only pre-Roman players left who were starters. That shows you how important he was on the field, and the way he conducted himself was as good as you could hope for from a player. I remember on Football AM's Crossbar Challenge, everyone on the team simply said their name and position and then shot, but Eidur came up, said his name, and added "striker for the mighty blues". Thats one of the many reasons why im really broken up about this. Ive never met or seen a Chelsea fan who didnt love Eidur

 

[RUSI]

On a different note, Im beginning to doubt the Shevchenko transfer. We just paid 30 million for a 30 year old. He wont be on top for more than 2 seasons tops. Its business like that which will make it impossible for this club to break even in 8 more years

ala madrid..


Sad to see Eidur go to Barça.

 

[treble41]

I could say that there was a bit of a tear in my eye after reading this. A shame though that he's going to Barcelona, they might not start him so much but if you use him as some sort of a midfielder, then play him rather than Deco.

Guddy always performed well and I'm always gonna remember all those terrific flicks and passes and timely goals he scored. With all these offensive players coming in, it's a shame to see Gudjohnsen go.

On another note, Duff is rumoured to being targeted by Tottenham. I feel a bit indifferent to this seeing how we have depth on the wing but I think holding on to him would be a smart idea right now.

 

[TheBlueBalla]

Eidur wont be displacing Deco. If anything theve bought him to replace Larsson as the second striking option. And Duff WILL NOT be going to Spurs, damnit. Duff was off last season, but he is better than that. Alot better. With a 4-4-2 hopefully we play him centrally, and advanced. Mourinho's system has killed whatever creativity he used to bring. He needs to get some freedom back and play the game he does for Ireland, period

ala madrid..

Sad to see Eidur go to Barça.

Im going to get a bunch of sh*t for saying this, but I dont care anymore. You hit the nail right on the head. This club is making decisions that are completely idiotic. Were losing our identity with players like Eidur. He was proud to be a blue and its as if we dont even care about things like that, about loyalty, but we're willing to fork over 130+k a week to Ballack?

Madrid were made great by good, astute signings that accentuated a dedicated core of players. Its as if were going down that road without the success that acompanies it.

Shevchenko will help us conquer Europe, but he is frigging 30. We will have him for about 3 years and the pressure will be immense. Wouldnt we have been better with someone younger like Adriano or Torres who could grow and develop as part of the club?

Jose has an intrest in Roberto Carlos. Why? Del Ohno is a frigging bust (Jose's signing mind you) and yet we have a perfectly good England international that we just dont want at the club. Why? We own him and he is good. Why are we so desperate to shovel him off to Fulham or Tottenham like he is worthless trash?

Just like William Gallas and Scott Parker, the club is making no effort to show class players how important they are to the club. Theyre content to lowball them for contract offers and make backhanded statements through the agents of other players.

For once I am beginning to see the arrogance of this club. But its not the arrogance all those assholes usually brand us with, through Jose's posturing. Its arrogance in dealing with our players.

Speaking of our leftback, we have a great product from the youth team in Jonas Elmer that some feel is ready to get his shot with the big team. But I think its more likely that he gets loaned out for the next three years and then sold, while Peter Kenyon plays footsie with Ashley Cole. Look at Huth. A german international who is raw but obviously quality, and even with Gallas walking out the door we cant commit to give the guy some proper playing time next season? Unbelievable

With the same turn, we buy Obi Mikel. This is a guy who, like it or not, has shown alot of classlessness in his Chelsea TV interviews with things like "I dont want to play for Manchester United". Like it or not, boy, they are a great club worth of your respect. We pay 12 million for this kid who will more than likely sit on the bench and rot for the next three years. Depth does not entail buying young. In fact, it shouldnt.

Now that Gallas is out, you see the rumors about Jose wanting a Portugese keeper as backup to Cech. But that would mean the end of a four year servant of this club, and a personal favorite of mine in Carlo Cudicinni, who has selflessly refused offers to transfer and sat on the bench for two years, despite being world class material. Again, the club doesnt seem to care about his feeling or what he has done for us. How can a fan base and a club be this far apart in thinking?

If Carlo and Gallas leave, since Eidur has already gone, that leaves Lamps and JT as the sole members of this club who were pre-Russian Revolution. I am as quick as anyone to rebuke the mercenary label, but when I see the play acting and the scandals in a media that are out to get us, I long for the days when we werent rich and guys like Super Dan, Wise, Gullit, Poyet and even frigging Jimmy played for Chelsea and their pride was obvious to anyone. When we lose players like that, we are losing our soul as a club

go ahead and rip me to shreds for that yellow bellied talk. Thats just how this transfer is making me feel

 

[Deisler]

Wise # 11 Legend

 

[pede54]

Nah, you are entitled to rant Omar, if it gets to you like that mate. Every fan at every club does not agree or feel comfortable with what their club do ALL of the time. Thats impossible.

Eidur going has left me gutted thats for sure. Huth is s.h.i.t and always will be s.h.i.t. so I'll be glad to see the back of him to be honest.

Billy was treated very badly by Kenyon I have to agree with that, but Parker showed a severe lack of patience and an unwillingness to compete for a place. He wanted to go so he went. End of. He had no loyalty to Chelsea at all so fu<k him.

Sheva and Ballack are great additions to the squad. So they take someones place away, but only if they perform. Would you rather we drag ourselves through another season with the limitations of our previous/present strikeforce? I don't. Sheva might possibly have 3 or 4 good years left, thats true, but they will hopefully be 3 or 4 fantastic years. Forget the money that has nothing to do with anything.

And how old is Carlo? A great GK and a loyal fella for sure. If you think Sheva is too old then what about him? Anyhow Jose has already said that Carlo will remain as number 2 GK.

I agree about Bridge of course. Forget Carlos. That is just pathetic if Jose wants him.

Mikel?.....He says he does not want to play for Man U. I do not see where that is a classless statement. Many players don't wanna play for Man U otherwise they would be queuing up outside Old Trafford. Remember this mate, Man U hijacked him from us and not the other way round. Its Man U and Lyn Oslo that should be getting the stick. Not Mikel and not Chelsea. Obviously you prefer to believe the Man U side to this story.

It's like all the stick has finally worn you down and you are embarrassed to be a Blue any more. You care too much about what other clubs fans have to say mate. I don't give a flying fu<k what anybody has to say about Chelsea. Sure there are things going on that I dont like but thats always been going on. Not just at Chelsea but at every club on the planet. Nothing we can do about decisions made by the powers that be mate. Things at Chelsea were exactly the same with Bates in charge man. He sacked Vialli when Vialli was loved by us all. He banned ALL our Legends from entering Stamford Bridge ever again.

You seem to have joined the anti- Roman bandwagon mate. Well I'm sorry but if the price we had to pay for avoiding the complete and utter extinction of Chelsea, was to have a billionaire take us over and invest heaps of money into making our club the most powerful club on the planet, I am happy to pay that price.

Sure, we can be nostalgic and recall how things were at one time at the Bridge, but you cant be selective about it. You also have to remember that for all those good times, we were, ( and if we had stayed the same ), would have always been also- rans.

No thanks mate, for all the things going on at Chelsea that i dislike, there are more things going on that I love. Nobody will ever make me feel embarrassed that I support Chelsea. Nobody ever. I'm just grateful that I still have a team to support. If Chelsea would have crashed, where the fu<k could I go? The answer is nowhere mate. I would have been clubless for ever. No fan in their right mind would ever want that.

 

[Stotty]

Omar. You've pointed out a lot of interesting things there. A bit like what Roy Keane was talking about at Old Trafford a few seasons ago where players these days are considered a "piece of meat".

Also Watching soccer aid reminded me of the days of Poyet and Petrescu. Legends.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Let's just get this out in the open, you guys don't want Lahm and we don't want to give you Lahm. Okay, now that that's settled, good luck next season.

 

[pede54]

Lahm?......I wonder how much.........hmmmmmm

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Haha, well the rumor is 14 Million Euros, but I would hope that our stingy management would either deny you outright, or hold out for double.

 

[Tom]

Sometimes i love you Omar. Two sentences typified that whole post:

"Were losing our identity with players like Eidur. He was proud to be a blue and its as if we dont even care about things like that, about loyalty, but we're willing to fork over 130+k a week to Ballack?"

Well said

 

[Help?]

For once I am beginning to see the arrogance of this club. But its not the arrogance all those assholes usually brand us with, through Jose's posturing. Its arrogance in dealing with our players.

2 words: "Peter Kenyon"

 

[TheBlueBalla]

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

 

[pede54]

Wonderful post Omar....just wonderful mate. :sun:

I fully understand your points and I sympathise with most of them too. Everything is spinning around so fast at Chelsea ATM that its hard to know what makes sense anymore.

I am convinced that you are right in this respect. Yes we seem to be looking for instant success with some of these transfer buys. I think the reason for this has less to do with Roman, who I anticipate being at Chelsea forever, but more to do with Jose's desire to win as much as he can before he moves on in 3 years time.
Thats why he is not looking any further ahead than that. We know he will leave when his current contract is up in 2010, and that is what is behind his decisions now.

Thankfully, its Roman who sees the big picture and the importance of investing in our youth for the future. I believe that after winning 2 league titles back to back, Roman has let Jose now do as he pleases to achieve his desires before he goes. Hence the aquisition of players who will arguably be past their sell by date by the time Jose's tenure as manager is over. By then hopefully, a new generation of homegrown and aquired talent will be ready to form a more long term Chelsea team.

So I do agree that over the next few years we certainly will be doing all we can to win the things that Jose wants. I still have belief that the long term success at Chelsea will not be sacrificed simply to acieve these ends.

 

[TheBlueBalla]

I hope youre right Pete, I dearly do. Thats a good rebutle though. I agree completely that Roman is looking long term with this club by getting people like Kenyon and Arnesen to establish the off and on the field success. Takes the wind out of some of the sails of the "Cant wait till he gets bored and fvcks off next year!!!" crowd

 

[pede54]

Well it aint gonna be next year but Jose is the one who will leave eventually, not Roman. Those wankers must get confused between the two. Anyway, when anyone says that, you know its just desperation and hopelessness on their part. Even they know it's not actually gonna happen, which makes their ranting all the more amusing.

 

[Fernandez]

Could you guys give me lessons for long posts? :amika:

 

[pede54]

Well I'm a big bag of wind Fernandez....dunno about Omar.............

whoops I thought you said "reasons" not lessons. Fu<kin' eyesights going now