Let's All Laugh At... Let's all laugh at Chelsea thread

easley91 said:

What about those who are genuine folk that loved the club prior to Abramovich? Can we feel sorry for them or are you and everyone else putting them under the same brush? My dad has been a blue since he was a child. I feel sorry for him. His whole life dedicated to a club may end in a way nobody saw coming. Regardless of Abramovich and his money or the trophies they won in that time, a club going out of business because its owner is linked with an invasion is insane. The genuine fans like my dad may have their club taken away and it has come out of nowhere.

I feel for the genuine fans and the staff who work at the club. The admin staff. The people nobody gives a damn about apparently. Nobody has thought about them losing their jobs have they?

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It's a shame for sure but happens a lot in football or any other business. It's a shame for Derby players to be deducted points and its a shame their fans have to watch them suffer. Its a shame fans of Serie A clubs watched their clubs stripped of titles and deducted points because powers above were fixing matches. It's always a shame for those fans who follow a club that has been mismanaged. Football is different to other business because customers are passionate fans. If a business is mismanaged the company goes under, staff get made redundant (I've been made redundant 3 times) and it sucks, customers lose service and have to go elsewhere.

In a way football is lucky because they get extra support. Not many clubs get left to go completely under because of the wide support of fans. When clubs go into administration they often get saved. Many businesses dont get that same support. Chelsea have been mismanaged at the end of the day but they are also lucky to be licensed to continue. They will survive I'm sure but most likely they will drop back down a bit. Maybe only really to the sort of level they were before Roman so it's hardly the end of the world. If it goes further and they go into administration it will be a shame for those lifelong fans for sure. Maybe collectively their fans could have protested the takeover at the time but you need enough people to back that to really make change. Sadly Chelsea has a lot less fans like your Dad by the sounds of it and a lot who just wanted succes. They got their 19 years of glory and should really focus on what they got from it which is a lot more than many clubs will ever achieve in their history.

Chelsea is the only club I wouldn't mind seeing go under.... They are despicable........ However, can we stop calling them "rent boys"? I feel really uncomfortable with that phrase.

Tucker said:

That’s not really a good example. Rangers have a massive supporter base, and a huge stadium. Working their way past the part timers and minnows of the Scottish lower leagues was like shooting fish in a barrel. There are two clubs as big as rangers in the Scottish pyramid. All the others are tiny by comparison.

Within the English pyramid there’s at least half a dozen clubs who’d exceed Chelsea for stadium revenue, and probably another half a dozen who’d match them.

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Perhaps Darlington FC would have been a better example? The point I was making was in response to those who claimed that Chelsea "couldn't be allowed to fail". If, for arguments sake, they were forced into liquidation, kicked out of the league, and their management and playing staff left, they'd probably still have enough of a following eventually to scramble back to where they used to be, pre-Abramovic.

wakefieldyid said:

Perhaps Darlington FC would have been a better example? The point I was making was in response to those who claimed that Chelsea "couldn't be allowed to fail". If, for arguments sake, they were forced into liquidation, kicked out of the league, and their management and playing staff left, they'd probably still have enough of a following eventually to scramble back to where they used to be, pre-Abramovic.

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Yeah them going to the wall isn’t going to bring down English football.

ItsBoris said:

You're arguing that Abramovich should be sanctioned, as though I'm saying he shouldn't be. I'm arguing over a more nuanced point that you're not addressing.

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Looking at an issue through a microscope to find surface area for "nuance" isn't very nuanced.

If Chelsea didn't have fans or sporting commitments towards fairness for rival clubs it probably wouldn't exist anymore.

The emotional response to fans losing their club is valid. I feel it, too. I am sympathetic. But it's a response based on emotion not reason, logic, or rationale.

It does not follow that feeling sorry for lifelong Chelsea fans means applying some sort of exceptionalist measures towards the club which, in essence, is an asset just like his homes and yachts are.

A club being wound up for unpaid taxes is a tragedy but one the club and its leaders are responsible for, not HMRC. Same with sanctions.

We had the same debates when the Super League clubs were at risk of points deductions and competition bans: "punish the leaders/owners not the fans."

This is nonsense. There is no distinction between "Levy" and "the club". That's the whole point of leadership and ownership. He leads a club and is responsible for its actions. The club is then exposed to his actions.

If someone puts his house up on a bey and loses, his family become homeless. It's a grave injustice to those children. But they still lose their home.

There's this prevailing idea among football fans is that they can enjoy the fruits of risky leadership but should then be shielded from miscalculations committed by those same leaders. When things go wrong, this nostalgia for football's utopian past (which, arguably, never even existed) overwhelms the discussions of our dystopian present. As if averting our gaze through all the bullshit— with tacit complicity— can then be rowed back at the first sign of trouble.

Levy was right to "not let THFC be left behind" but, when things go wrong, THFC cannot be punished for Levy's misadventures. Chelsea fans tacitly support the entire rationale for pumping the club for two decades then argue "they" shouldn't be punished for the owner's actions. As if the club's status as global superclub can be carved out of links to Abramovich. This isn't Italy asking for luxury goods waivers during negotiations on sanctions. The club as a corporate entity is seeped in blood. The club as a "community asset" can continue regardless of what happens.

Abramovich's company doesn't own the name. It doesn't own the pitch. Fans can and will support "Chelsea Football Club" whatever form it takes going forward. Even if it's not competing at the top of the Premier League for a bit, they're actually the best-placed team to survive existential threats like this. At the very least in terms of its "community value" as a football club playing football in front of loyal football fans. Much like the hundreds of clubs throughout England's football pyramid.

After all, aren't you saying this is what it's all about?

Is it naive to think that once the conflict ends, the sanctions will be lifted and life / Chelsea / Abramovich will just pick up from where they left off?

Tucker said:

That’s not really a good example. Rangers have a massive supporter base, and a huge stadium. Working their way past the part timers and minnows of the Scottish lower leagues was like shooting fish in a barrel. There are two clubs as big as rangers in the Scottish pyramid. All the others are tiny by comparison.

Within the English pyramid there’s at least half a dozen clubs who’d exceed Chelsea for stadium revenue, and probably another half a dozen who’d match them.

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The lower divisions are a nightmare to get out of too. Just look at Sunderland, Leeds took 15 years to get back as Well.

Not sure it'll come to that but you're right. It won't be like Rangers at all.

GMI said:

An unexpectedly good article by Martin Samuel. It almost feels like journalists are now feeling they are safer to put this in print than they were 24hrs ago and it’s starting to pour out. As posted in the thread there have been a few brave people that have been banging this drum for years but it’s now coming out all over the place.

SAMUEL: Chelsea knew where money came from now it's time to pay bill

MARTIN SAMUEL: The same money that propelled Chelsea to the pinnacle of football, also propelled rockets into a maternity hospital in Mariupol.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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I did wonder what his position might be since he's spent years railing against FFP and supporting the bona fides of financially doped clubs to buy trophies and success

So I decided to have a nose on shed end. Here are a selection comments both reasonable and deluded.

- My request for compassionate leave from work is apparently being taken under consideration.

- I think it's best to expect the worse, hope for the best.

- Administration is a certainty as it stands, only way to avoid it is a quick sale.

- On Sunday we should all cover up the ‘3’ logo on our shirts. The spineless tossers deserve zero coverage.

- Without external fund can we compete for top title ? The answer is a big no. Everyone know we have bridge probelm. For us to compete we need a stadium at least twice as big.

-Fed up of all the speculation, especially from our garbage media. It’s a given there is frantic discussions going on in the boardroom at government and global levels regarding Chelsea Fc. As I can’t influence anything, I’m sitting back waiting for the outcome. As I say to my lads don’t worry we’re Chelsea.

- Well done our away fans today. Magnificent.

- Sweden sold steel to the Nazis during WWII, I don't really think they had a choice and I don't really think Abramovich has a choice either.

- Will Roman walk away? I’m not so sure, he’s a billionaire and we’ve seen how ruthless he can be to be successful, for him to hand the club over to government so easily? I don’t think he's going to go down without fighting.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes the government to court.

-I said before that even though Roman has been a good owner, we've also only won the league twice in the last 12 seasons, which is absolutely abysmal to be honest. We've wasted a lot of money on poor players. If we get a new owner, I hope they can resolve this and have us competing domestically again.

thebenjamin said:

Long term they'll be considerably worse off than us. If they aren't financially doped they will have to more of less halve their wage bill. Which will mean no more CL qualification, which will mean less money, drifting away from the top positions. If both clubs are playing by the rules, our stadium puts us miles ahead.

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Matchday revenue is a smaller percentage of revenue than Broadcast revenue and Commercial revenue.

Broadcast revenue will be roughly equal, while Chelsea currently have a bigger commercial revenue than Spurs. With new ownership - there is no reason to expect that to change significantly - Chelsea are a bigger world-wide club than Spurs. I don't think supporters will drop Chelsea, simply because they were once owned by RA.

bored at work so disgracefully listening to talkshite, unfortunately Jordon says he knows of a buyer who's willing to take over the place in under a month once it's possible to buy

all we can hope for is that its a tight fuck like Joe Lewis

brasil_spur said:

Can't say i'm surprised to see a massive **** talking about us sanctioning another bunch of massive ****s. I wonder how much dirty Russian money ended up in his pockets.

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thebenjamin said:

What's coming out now is that any journalist who tried to publish anything remotely anti-RA got set upon by his lawyers and threatened with all sorts of career-ending litigation.

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Where's this been said?

and by whom?

brasil_spur said:

UAE won't kick in anytime soon. They've done an amazing job at white washing their country through tourism. As long as people in the west keep travelling to Dubai for holidays and jobs then UAE will stay well clear of any pushback.

Saudi is a different situation as no-one is going to Riyadh for their all-inclusive instagram packed holiday. Plus the Khashoggi thing is still in a lot of people's minds. That being said it's not on our doorstep and there is an innate prejudice (racism) towards the Arab world, so for many people Arabs killing other Arabs isn't going to create the same emotive response that Russians killing Europeans is. Its awful that it is that way, but that's largely how it is.

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Aren't Russians Europeans.

teok said:

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Carole's a bit of a hero and worth a follow on twitter if you're interested in current affairs.

spursfan77 said:

Where's this been said?

and by whom?

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Listen to any of the podcasts discussing this story and you'll see how terrified they are about getting sued. Listened to five this morning and every single one talks about being careful now and in the past. I didn't know just how much legal pressure was placed on reporters til today. They were joking about being safe because "RA can't pay his lawyers anymore."

The funniest one was Football Weekly where Max tells Phillipe that "it's OK we're not live and can edit this out".

Amo said:

Listen to any of the podcasts discussing this story and you'll see how terrified they are about getting sued. Listened to five this morning and every single one talks about being careful now and in the past. I didn't know just how much legal pressure was placed on reporters til today. They were joking about being safe because "RA can't pay his lawyers anymore."

The funniest one was Football Weekly where Max tells Phillipe that "it's OK we're not live and can edit this out".

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There’s been numerous reports about it over the years. Matthew Syed has said numerous times how RA’s lawyers have always tried to scare him off, and how he’s received death threats etc.

Trix said:

I don't really have any sympathy for any of them, probably because I'm very confident they'll be ok. All this is going to mean medium to long term is that they are back to having to fight on an even keel. In the short term they are going to really struggle but I just call that leveling up.

Fuck them, they'll be ok in the long term.

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You just know damn well that they will come out of this smelling of roses. A 1.5bn debt just written off and a new owner buying it for pittance.

teok said:

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why is this idiot still getting air time

wakefieldyid said:

Perhaps Darlington FC would have been a better example? The point I was making was in response to those who claimed that Chelsea "couldn't be allowed to fail". If, for arguments sake, they were forced into liquidation, kicked out of the league, and their management and playing staff left, they'd probably still have enough of a following eventually to scramble back to where they used to be, pre-Abramovic.

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Even in the seven or eight years prior to Abramovich, Chelsea were in an inflated position due to over-spending. They spent extravagantly during the mid to late 90s to transform themselves from a mid table to top four or five team. Prior to that you have to go back to the late 60s/70s for a Chelsea team who were regularly finishing at the higher end of the table.

Their only league title prior to Abramovich was 1955. They never won the Champions League (or it's equivalent) until Abramovich. They won a couple of European Cup Winners Cups in 71 and in 98. But by 98 they had already started spending recklessly. They also won the FA cup a couple times before Abramovich but again one of those was in 97 and was essentially bought with unsustainable debt.

Chelsea were in big financial trouble before the Abramovich take-over. Setting aside that little debt bubble which was about to burst, pre-Abramomvich Chelsea were a bang average mid table sized club, at best.