Avram Grant is not Jose Mourinho. He’s not a popular figure or people’s favourite. Is that because he is already 52 and has not quite rocked the football world by now with his ‘achievements’? Or is it because he is not a media darling? Or is it because he does not have the Hollywood looks? Or is it because people believe he’s got a big job through his influences or friendship or whatever sinister reasons? Whatever it is, now he has a chance to change his image with Chelsea as our ‘permanent’ coach. There are five ways or methods or ideas for Avram, if he wants himself to be adored or admired or loved or at least supported by the Chelsea fans and supporters.
1. Prove that he is no Abramuppet:
Because most of us think he is just a tool for Roman to fulfill his dream of managing a club, of course his own club. Who would not want to manage their favourite club? I’d love to manage Chelsea, however stupid it may sound. If I’m a football freak, powerful and influential guy and also the owner of the club, I’d appoint some piece of rubber as the coach and do my stuff.
The fact that Avram does not have the kind of experience to manage a club like Chelsea shows that he has something special that has got him the job. I won’t even talk about his lack of coaching license. What is that thing, that Roman has seen in him that no one else is able to evidence or vouch? All these days the Press were talking about Hiddink, Klinsmann, Rijkaard, Lippi, Marco van Basten, Capello etc and in comes Avram Grant from the Israeli league! You can’t blame the public to suspect the motives behind his appointment.
That’s why Avram starts with a disadvantage. I don’t see big players of other clubs getting excited to work under Avram Grant. I don’t think players like Eto’o, Dani Alves etc who were chased by JM would now be interested in joining us. Steve Clarke is already leaving sooner or later. Our own Zola has reportedly rejected an offer to work as an assistant coach under Avram. Basically, players, staff and fans do not actually believe Avram is a coach from the top draw and even worse, that Roman has his remote control.
Jurgen Klinsmann has made it clear that Chelsea is not the club he’s waiting for. And the reasons given by him are very obvious:
It is very simple. You want to work with the right people at the right place for the right purpose. It is not hard to turn things down if people don’t share the same perspective, ambition, philosophy. As manager, you will get fired sooner or later so you should be in charge of everyone involved with football: the players, coaches, staff. You are on a lost track already if the president chooses the players or you don’t have that power. If you are not given all the tools, then don’t do it.
These are things which just confirm lots of theories and rumours around. If Avram seems to be a coach on paper, he won’t impress me. If it’s otherwise, he has to prove not just me but also every Chelsea fan, that he is our manager by merit.
At least he had the balls to drop Shevchenko for two matches in a row. Or may be, it’s part of a bigger scheme to make us believe that he is in control. If he plays Sheva, the he is a muppet and if he drops him, he’s trying to make us believe something else. That’s unfortunate interpretation but that’s his own problem. How’s he going to make us believe? I don’t know and I don’t care how he does it but he has to do it in good time. As long as he has not proved this point, he cannot cry about support or the lack of it.
2. Prove that he has the support of the players:
When Jose was around, he made it very clear that the players are on his side and the players too displayed their solidarity with the coach. That makes the fans very comfortable to know that we have a cohesive unit. Now, except one or two players, there is hardly any words spoken about Avram. They all played well against Valencia and that should not be misunderstood that they are playing for their manager. This team has a champion mindset, never-say-die attitude and a killer instinct. Even if there was no coach, they would have played the same way under the guidance of the senior players. But I don’t mean to say they can sustain like this for long.
Guardian reports:
Such is the discontent with Grant’s accession that one senior player considered making himself unavailable for selection for last week’s Champions League game at Valencia to facilitate a January transfer to another major European club. Though that individual played in the end, the sombre reaction of several of his team-mates to Wednesday’s impressive 2-1 victory over the Spaniards was another indicator of their present unease.
Florent Malouda did not celebrate laying on Joe Cole’s first-half equaliser, and Didier Drogba swiftly muted his reaction to scoring Chelsea’s late winner. Post-match, the African striker attributed the win to the team’s quality and spirit, crediting Mourinho for creating that, while neglecting even to mention Grant by name. Drogba said:
“We did it last year with Jose. You know, people will say we don’t need him, but the quality we have is the same quality we have last year, two years ago, three years ago. The man we all respected is gone and now there is someone else coming, but the players are the same. So I don’t know why the quality will go like this. Everybody knows what Jose did for me. Not only for me, for all the players he brought here and all the players who were there when he arrived. That was a difficult period for us but now the best thing to do is to keep playing like this. If we played bad like we did the last few games I don’t think he would be happy in front of his TV.”
Ashley Cole made it very clear that it’s just the players now and no one else!
“When we are losing or drawing games we are letting ourselves down, no one else. So we know we have to come together and be like how it was before when we won trophies.”
Surprisingly, no one except Terry and Joe Cole, said that they are behind Grant and they are looking to achieve under his leadership. So, Avram should somehow prove to us that he has the support of the players, not by the professional obligations, but by otherwise as well.
3. Be more stylish and savvy:
I’m not comparing him with JM as I know that they are from different planets altogether. But Chelsea’s manager should have more style for a club that’s become a top brand, who are challenging the legendary clubs and vow to become a football superpower within a decade. We are a very modern and stylish club where the owner himself is young and smart fella. The manager of such a club should be a very powerful, charismatic and don’t-mess-with-me types, in short, Jose Mourinho.
Anyway, it is clear that Avram is a different personality. While he cannot fake it, he should learn and practice those things that’ll make him better. JM had a south-european English accent and that turned out to be his strength while delivering those sucker punches. I loved his accent. Avram has a different accent which makes us feel that he is struggling with his English. If not possible, at least try avoiding statements like ‘this is my best champions league win with Chelsea’ which he said after the Mestalla match. When he was asked if he has the support of the players, he says “I don’t know”. May be he was honest but honesty is never the best policy, with the journos!
Tom Dart in TimesOnline says:
“Clean sheet, three points, that’s what’s important,” Avram Grant said. Winning with style? Sorry, call back later.
So here, who created this kind of expectation in Tom Dart? Surely not Roman. He hardly opened his mouth about Chelsea’s playing style. He should realise that every word uttered by him is scrutinised and can find the headlines the next day. If he is promising that he would change Chelsea’s playing style, that’s fine but saying that we won the ‘right way’ after the Valencia game was nothing short of a suicide.
Believe me, I think he has a likable face and figure. May be, I can take the credit for being the first person (not even sure about his wife) ever to say this. If he has that sharp wit with an improved accent, it will go very well with his big figure. He needs someone (may be a professional) to really work on his personality, public conduct and appearance.
4. Stop taking digs at Jose:
Making sly remarks on the previous manager is a perfect recipe for a disaster for Avram’s popularity. He should quit talking about the ‘right way’ and all that. He’s not calling it ‘a different way’ or ‘an attacking way’. To call his own style as the ‘right way’ of playing and winning football, he’s making a serious insult to a Chelsea legend and to the fans who have thoroughly enjoyed incredible success under him. In my view, the ‘wrong way’ was the one AC Milan and Juventus took and were suitably punished.
He should keep his dry sarcasm aside until he wins 2 league titles or 6 trophies, whichever is convenient for him. Jose had/has a huge Chelsea fan base and the players were crazy about him too. With his subtle ‘my-style-is-better-than-his’ remarks, he is not helping his already poor fan support. It’s like Sheva making fun of Drogba’s contribution to Chelsea, at least Sheva has some pedigree.
Why is he making such remarks, in just his initial weeks? Is he feeling insecure or he wants to justify his appointment or creates a scapegoat for future failures in the name of playing style? Anyway, the more Avram makes such remarks, the more he forces us to draw comparisons of him with Jose Mourinho. This whole point would not have come up if he was doing well with the previous point, which is his communication skills.
On the other hand, whether he likes it or not, he will always be compared to TSO, by the Press or by the fans or even by the rivals. He simply can’t change that. What he can do is to help us come out of the JM era by his performances, grace and dignity.
5. Win matches, as simple as that
Yes. Get the job done. Win matches for Chelsea and that’s what we need more than anything else. What I fear is that Avram might dish out draws and losses and cover it under the ‘playing the right way’ carpet. This is where the Peter Kenyon can help us. He can clarify what is the club’s expectation for the league title. If it’s only becoming champions, then playing the right way and ending up at No.2 will be bad and anything lower would be called poor.
Avram should win matches. If we are talking about ‘playing the game his way’ and not becoming champions, there are loads of such teams that play well but don’t win but there is only one champion, no matter how they play. I have this kind of expectation because when Avram took over, Chelsea was already a world-beater and we should only maintain or improve on it. We know he lacks style but he should prove to us that he has the substance.
You’d have noticed that I don’t have any expectation from Avram about changing the playing style of Chelsea. I don’t care about that part as long as he does the above things. Even if Avram fails to do any of these five things, I’d still support him as he is the Chelsea coach and he wouldn’t be there for nothing. But it would take a lot to convince the Chelsea faithful to take sides with Avram, more for the manner of the beloved Jose’s exit and his appointment out of nowhere.
Will Avram’s name be sung in the Bridge? Will we have a nickname and slogan for Avram? Will we be downloading the screensavers and wallpapers of Avram? He’s got a long way to go to earn that kind of adulation. Hope he’ll get there before Roman gets bored of him.
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if avram shuold be chelsea maneger dat mean dat chelsea will undergrow a very dificult season dis time around and i pray not to be so cos i my self dont want any proplem for dem dis time around.
BC, very well said, JM had style, carisma and a bit of humour sense,which made him one of the best if not the best entertainer in football as well.
as BC said, roman is the guy who own the club and if i am in his place i would not only manage the team, i would ask JT to come out at 60 mins and get myself on the pitch lol. after all its roman who spend his half a billion pound not anyone of us, and am sure he has a very good vison about what he wants from the chelsea team. But am not too sure if the current chelsea team is build for a full fledge attacking sort of football.
If you look our whole squad, we lack a lot of pace when comapred to any other team in top 4, forget top 4 , look at teams like blackburn, portsmouth, astonvilla, etc, look the back line of portsmouth for example, primus, heraideson, cambel and glen Johnson, all with plenty of pase and power. am not sure about the Gjohnson guy as soon as he left chelsea he seems to be a alright player ,the likes of john utaka and benjani gives them tremendous pace. look arsenal, eboue, clichy, walcott, vanpersie, and ofcourse toure with plenty of pace, forget ManUtd, plenty there as well. but look chelsea, JT, ricardo, alex, ballack, lampard, sheva, pizz, none of them hav any pace, all very good players, if you lack pace u need creativity which most of our players dont hav, compare fabregas and lampard, u know a through ball is on his way as soon as fabregas gets the ball, but when lampard gets the ball, he cant hold the ball, he either looses or do a short pass or crack it from 30 yards, although i like lampard to fabregas, but i have to be realistic as well.
JM has made a team with winning mentality for sure, but am not sure if he has created a team for playing football with pace, unles u play football with pace and movements , i dont think it will become exciting to watch but said that its very effective for winning, as he has proved us all. if anyone follow aston villa, they would know how entertaining is it when players like gabi agbonlahour or ashley young gets the ball and run at defenders,twisting and turning. same with Manutd, ronaldo or rooney or tevez, running at players. when you see chelsea play the only 3 wingers we have SWP, JC and FM, am not sure which one could leg the defenders and get to the byline to whip ina decent cross or score a goal with pure brilliance. i know we have scored plenty of brilliant goals last season, but theres somthing lacking in the whole team. some one with sheeer abaility to do somthing with the ball, Drogba is brilliant but we cant expect him to perform every single game giving his 100 percent and scoring goals, after all he’s human.
we need some creativity and i hope the player coming during the next transfer window or in summer is someone who can be calm on the ball, who dont panic and who can create.
As for AG ,well, i think he will do a good job if players stick to him and he has the full support of the board, i dont belive now adays anything coming out of the press or the chelsea board, seems like everyone has a different verson of every single news. am sure roman abromovich is not a muppet to appoint avaram as manager unless he has somthing in mind, which ofcourse we dont know. once most of out first team is players are fit, i would love to see chelsea play wid this formation,
……….PC……….
JB…RC…JT….AC
………ME………
….MB…….FL….
JC…………..FM
……..DD……..
with one holding midfield. essien, and 2 attacking players, lampard and ballack, with 3 upfront, any of the 3 players could join drogba, SWP.JC,FM or even kalou
as far as sheva, i think we shoud just sell his replica t shirts in ukraine and give the money to some chairty, atleast we can be happy thinking its for some good use. come on shevachekno, score some golas and prove me wrong.
Hey there, nice article BC. However, there are a couple of things I think you should also consider about what you’re expecting from Avram. I take this comment for example:
“He should keep his dry sarcasm aside until he wins 2 league titles or 6 trophies, whichever is convenient for him.”
Now, I’m not sure what his sarcasm has been like because, truth be told, as an Arsenal supporter I haven’t seen much of Grant in the media. However, at the risk of sounding racist (which I really am not trying to be), Grant is Israeli – and to have a dry, sarcastic nature is very much the norm.
I apologise if I’m incorrect, and I mean no offence to any Israeli’s who may be reading, but on my travels the thing that stuck out most about them was their subtle humour. It takes some getting used to, but I just get the feeling that if Grant is given some time he will come out with some very wise and entertaining things to say in the future.
I think the big factor in all of this is simple, if Grant gets results then he will be respected. If he doesn’t, then he won’t last very long.
Well well well!!
BC dnt even bother with all that!!
That’s asking too much of the man!!!
AG=will nevr grab the media or give sucker punches or entertain us with his interviews!!
Im gonna be as polite and as patient as I can be with MR Grant!!
So 4 now………
This is my mandate 4 MR Grant!
Win matches
Win matches
Keep us in the top 3 for the premiership!!
Unlike most of ya’ll Ive already given up any thought of us winning the premiership!!!
And it aint due to Mr Grant……..
The whole system is a mess @ Chelsea and Im afraid it aint gonna change until we get rid of sum of em Russian bimbos!!
There must be sum crazy American business man who would love to buy Chelsea(lol)
Sheva is done……..I’ve lost faith in him!!!!
Total waste of time and money!!!
And its already obvious that sum of our beloved players wont be around next season so lets see how it goes from here!!!
So to Mr grant:
I dare not envy you…….U chose to be in this position!
Its up to you to prove to the fans your good enuff!!
No more bashing from me……I’ll simply pray 4 u!
Oh I heard that Ten Cate will be hired as the director of football @ Chelsea!
Any1 knows wat that means?
AVG watch your back!
i heard that rijkaard and huntelaar could be coming to chelsea if ten cate comes, do u guys think this is true?
Forget that jack…..thats a dream!!!
Where the hell is Ballack?????
Am I the only 1 who thinks that he has been injured 4 way too long??????
Agentblue, ur not alone lol,, that guy hasnt played for like 6 months, i wish i was a footballer , realxing getting massages and getting paid 120000 pounds a week lol,, this is joke, do anyone knows a bit more about this contracts and player singing and shit like that, i wanna know if theres any clause clubs put in when signing players that they have to appear in so many no of matches or they have to score or perform on so and so level to be paid so much money. the whole set up of over playing players is stupid, end of the day its fans who pays for tickets but unfortunately the tv rights have gone mad paying huge amount of money.
frank raijkkard to chelsea hahaha that should be the joke of the month. i dont think hes gonna leave barca unless the barca chairman started dating his daughter or somthing, (read from gossip papers that raijakaards daughter was dating ronalddhino and that was the reason why they had a littile bit of disagreement knowing ronaldhinios life style). but i think this ajax guy Ten cate is 99 percent on his way to chelsea and its been said in some newspaper that its gonna be a 3 men system wid AG, Sclark and tencate. but i dont bite it because theres somthing going on fishy about all this system of attacking football , ten cate who was on barcas coachin team wid frank raijkkard. i wudnt be surprised if Roman himself declare as the manager and have 3 assistants to him, TC, AG and SC, and he will start deciding who will start who will play which position, shud be fun…
@ Jack wer did u read that news from which paper ??
Daily mail has reported that chelsea are planning to bring in rijkaard and K-jan Huntelaar. the striker could be in during jan transfer window , which i think is highly unlikely but possible as well since ajax are not competing for any european cups. but somthing interesting poped out at the end completely contradicting what i said before
“Rijkaard’s arrival could even make it easier to lure Ronaldinho to Stamford Bridge. Reports in Spain claim the Brazil superstar is dating Rijkaard’s daughter Lindsay.”
Now i defnitly dont belive these gossip papers, hahaha,,,
full news at….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/sport/sport.html?in_page_id=1771
to be honest with you,I did not read this article because Avram is not worth it.
, I would want him to leave chelsea. and I am sure it will happen sooner or later.
There is no way he can impress me, even if we won CL , EPL , world cup
Ten Cate will join chelsea soon, actually I am worried becasue Ajax released him very easily, that’s make me concerned. it means they did not need him that much .
I heard about him , but I researched about him last few days , I found out that he is not that good that media and people think .
Rijkaard is chelsea, it is just a rumor. usually assistant coaches go where the coaches go. Coaches don’t go where Assistants go.
by the way , I personally don’t like Rijkaard. he is successful just because of the quality of his players not himself.
Barca has nothing to say versus teams that can keep Messi and ronaldinho quiet. I don’t like him. and I think the best choices for chelsea are ,
first choice, Roman leaves the club and then I prefer anybody in chelsea, Even Grant.
second, Lippi.
Third, Gus Hiddink
forth, Cappello
fifth , Luciano Spalletti
however, it is not possible that Roman hire an italian coach becasue of their concept from soccer.
He probably will bring a coahc from Netherland, or Brazil , people who just like to attack.
Henk Ten Cate will be a very good acquisition. There are many people that believe that when he left as Frank Rijkaard’s assistant at Barcelona, it changed the dynamic at the club and last season’s relatively poor outcome could be evidence of that. Remember that in the year before Cate left Barcelona were league winners AND Champions League winners.
Chelsea could do worse than bringing him to the club.
@Maysam,joeblue and blue champion
Avram is a caretaker…………..take my word he returns to his role as director of football once next summer comes……………..at this point riijkard is accessible……………..and take my words he can be better than Jose Mourinho………………..maysam you are wrong………..if barca has quality players…………..so have chelsea during TSO’s reign…………….we have probably the world’s best overall team and yes world’s best defence
riijkard has something which jose lacked……………….style……….beautiful footie which joeblue wants,which every true blue fan wants once success had established at stamford bridge…………………once riijkard arrives biggest names can be easily lured to the bridge………….and maysam may i point out it’s a talent to manage world class superstars players…………………..sheva is out in transfer window unless he in a very rare case finds his feet…………………….huntelaar just perfect………..young,not over-priced,easy to capture……………..roman is not a muppet…..trust him………….we are going for riijkard …………that is roman’s original plan to reunite two enigmas in football management world………..just read in the sun,ryan babel has openly praised henk ten cate…………..too lazy to post link…………………..
pls this post by no means is to bad mouth or critisize the special one
Agentblue@7
I wonder myself.
What pisses me the most about this AG guy is his constant digs at Jose. Just do your work if you can. Maysam, i worry too- I mean if he is dat good, why would ajax want to release him so soon? This gist about rijkaard is smoke without fire. Joke of the month.
All a ya’ll jus stop the crazy talk plz!!
Aint no way Riijkard is coming to Chelsea!!!
& contrary to popular beliefs…….I think Riijkard is s a good coach!!
But I really dnt see him as a tactician……..One who can handle real pressure and dictate games with his tactics!
I noticed that when we played Barca last season in the Champions League and I also noticed it in LA Liga last season!
Basically Barcelona play the same way all the time>>>>>>> Never yet seem to see a stroke of genius from the coach manifested in his players!
I like Barcelona…..(the team) good boys
But Riijkard is not as exceptional!
Some1 like a Capello would be genius!!
He is in my mind one of the Special 1s!
Forget all this “fantastic” footie.
Cuz this concept has a different meaning to every1!
Agent
MAysam…just read ur post dude>>>>>
Totally agree with ur post as it pertains to Riijkard!!!
BC, my feelings exactly! Grant has to prove he ain’t Roman’s puppet. But, he’ll have to give Sheva (God help him) playing time to get him ready for the time when Drogs and Kalou are gone to the African Nations Cup. With the amount of money he’s making, the only way not to play him sometime or another is that Roman sacks him.
As for support from the players, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to play for Grant the same way people wanted to play for Mourinho. I remember the way JM not only filled the void left by Renieri’s departure, he gave the team a shot in the buttocks that made them champions. Not only with a pedigree of titles, but he gave them a superiority complex that nothing to them would be impossible. Grant is probably a “good bloke.” But without pedigree and persona, you can’t win over a team.
In a sense, maybe it is good that he ain’t Jose. If Grant can guide Chelsea to some sort of silverware, neutral fans may like the team a bit more because there are no controversies of JM’s arrogance.
Hold up…”Taking digs at Jose?!” I won’t even comment on that.
The Bible says “Love covers a multitude of sins.” If sports had a bible, there would be a verse that says, “Victories cover a multitude problems.” We’ll see how Grant does by January.
riijkard has something which jose lacked……………….style……….beautiful footie
depends wat is style, the way he dresses up ? or the way he use nearly an entire bottle of gel on his hair ?
i dont think its right to do a comparison of JM and FRijkaard, both completely different. i dont think rijkaard would slide on his knees to celebrate a goal, were as jose will,, and he has.. now thats style.
beautiful football, pls go and learn some beautiful football from wenger, prob the best inda world at the moment technically, but i dont think hes tactically very impressive.
here we go again , talking abt a coach who is gone(aint no way a dig at him) , lets just stop comparing and move on , for gods sake Jose is past and Avram is present , and cm on, ppl r talking abt him taking digs , i havent heard stuff anywhere near it(maybe cuz i m used to Jose)……lol…….anyways lets just think of the present and the future and respect and keep the past memories in our hearts!!!
Me , i m a complete Roman supporter , yes he has erred many times , after all he is as u say abt Jose—human , but what he has given to this club is a dream cm true , as a Chelsea fan frm before the Roman era i never thought us capable to be a world beating team , we were the decent side Chelsea(aint sayin Jose had no hand in it) , no ‘THE CHELSEA’ , Roman has brought us not only sucess but financial stability , bank accounts that can see us thru unbelievably bad times wen he aint here , training caps , centres , players , i can just go on and on , we must revere him for what he has done , he can walk out tommorow and then wld we even think abt getting great players , coaches , titles etc?? NO , lets give the man his due , all he wants is our sucess , and he is not one who wld compromise on style and substance as well , if tomorow Chelsea play attractive football , with style , great talented players etc it wil only be cuz of his vision and wont we love it?? THAT wld be my complete dream cm true!!!
For now if AG is incharge , i trust Roman , he will do the best for the club , cuz he has never been the second best at anythin , and wont let his team be too!!
and if this piece of news on Klass is true then there cld be nobody more delighted than me , cuz i rate him a notch better than Ruud , just wait n watch , this lad knos one thing damn well , putting the ball in the back of the net!!! Whoopie!!!
here we go again st.joeblue!
last season you were spitting venom on jose. this time we are not happy with avram and we should not say anything? see, we are not even making any classless abuse (i could search and reproduce from the old posts) like some of you did to jose last season. we only put forth our points why avram is not the right man for the job. dont tell me to give him a chance. if we sell drogba and replace him with kenny miller, would you say, let’s look at the present and future?? i doubt.
i’m completely with BC. no disrespect to avram but lets give him the boot as soon as possible. im not asking for jose back. i just need someone good enough to replace the great JM.
it’s very clear that peter kenyon is not happy with the whole episode and supports/likes jose. it was kenyon who chose mourinho and convinced roman and had the deal funded. also its clear that avram is not kenyon’s choice. roman is a great businessman but does he have the right kind of in-depth football knowledge to know who would be the best coach for chelsea.
i have a feeling that roman thinks that he’d got the best team so whoever is the coach they should win. may be he is undermining the value added by a good coach.
True Blue Fusion :
we have never had players who can change a game alone .name one player for me. but barcelona have Messi , Ronaldinho . Rijkard is not that good however he is better than Grant.
st.joeblue you’re contradicting yourself.
AG will never impress me, whatever he does, i mean whatever!!!
Yeah man seriously……. i aint comparing to JM to avram is not at all good 4 chelsea//…
u say that he won da match against Valencia……..
bt trust me they played for jose with jose tactics,,,,,,,,
avram gotta go……. sorry i want him out…
lets see how many ppl at BLUE CHAMPIONS…
want
avram as manager chelsea…..
Doesnt want
avram as manager chelsea…..
I am dead sure avram is no way near managing a team like CFC
Misinterpretation is a common curse Ashton , and i can see why, where hav i said ‘give Avram a chance’??? show me or where hav i stated that i see him as a long term coach or he shld be given opportunities etc?? , in my earlier comments i hav also stated(as u hav so frequently reminded me) that Avram is only a temporary coach(if ppl hav read any posts without Jose that is)!!!
So i m not contradicting myself anywhere , i m behind Roman and hav always been behind the club , thats that!
Maysam #25 -
‘we have never had players who can change a game alone .name one player for me. but barcelona have Messi , Ronaldinho’
You want one? Heres one –
Petr Cech.
You want more – Drogba, Lampard and JT. Did you see the FA Cup final Maysam? Drogba scored that beautiful goal at Wembley for us to taste domestic cup success. He also scored in the Carling Cup Final, and all in all belted over 30 in the season.
How often has a Lampard goal helped us win a 1-0 game. Hes a midfielder who scores more goals than most team’s strikers. And in football you dont change the game by doing a few Cristiano Ronaldo show-pony tricks. You score goals to win matches. Thats how you change them Maysam – you get 3 points. Scoring them better wont get you 4 pts!
And JT. Captain Courageous. Hes taken a boot to his head, has stepped in as keeper, has played with a facemask and is one of the most important reasons why we had the best defence for the last 3 seasons.
Lastly, Petr Cech. That man is amazing. The number of times that he’s saved our bacon is amazing. If he had better luck with penalty shoot-outs, he’d beat Buffon to be the world number 1 any day.
You surprise me Maysam. Surely you should check facts before you say we dont have a single player who can change a game.
im behind roman and the club. but i hate avram’s appointment. thats a step backwards. we are now fighting for a 4th place and may not even get it. to say that we should forget the past and look to the future is wrong. we should let the club and owner know what we think, through all means incl such blogs.
trevor , since Avram has been appointed he has lost 1 , drawn 1 and won 3 , so if u put all the blame on him then its pretty evident which person u r behind , this season even Jose had a poor record , let the man atleast get some control over the dressing room , what did u expect a dream start?? us beating Manu with half the big players out?? even Jose was never able do do that!!
M not sayin this man is good enough for our job , by no means he is , but posting such comments show poor footballing understanding or too much blind love for a person who is gone…………
Hi guys, its been awhile.
first of your post i did not bother to read. grant is bad news and the earlier Roman stopped his hallucinations and got rid of him the better. As I have said again and again, anything we will achieve this season will be done in spite of him not because of him- why? because the man knows zilch- and it is a disgrace for a club targetting world domination to have this classless character calling himself our manager. And to think that Roman thought he could capitalize on our victory at Valencia to seduce blue fans to like this guy makes me lose even more respect for Roman.
Am grateful to roman but frankly, i was a blue fan before he came along and will continue to be a blue fan long after him. am not going to get into that “Roman knows what he is doing mode.” A man who can refuse to get us needed players in a season just because he is upset with his manager is a basket case. until the man becomes more emotionally balanced and mature, I will continue to have doubts about his capacity to steer us in the right direction.
In fact his inordinate quest for beautiful footfall for its own sake shows another drawback- even brazil after their debacle between 1982 up to 1990, started reconsidering the sense in having champagne football for the sake of beauty- they started looking for results, first and entertainment second.
Roman is really the problem, BC- not Avramovich.
can we have a full article on Roman so we discuss this guy fully.
longrange,
That was super. maysam meant no harm though. i think he also just got sucked into that whole “propaganda” that claims only players with showbaoting antics change matches.
thank you for painting the full picture. you forgot to mention my favorite player- essien. remember those goals against arsenal and valencia, those were match changing moments brought about thro sheer individual brilliance.
@Blue Champions
*I Have few doubts……i thought i may ask you…………..ballack was roman signing or TSO signing??????????
i m sure it was TSO caus his treatment by TSO was quite different to sheva’s treatment by TSO………….we wanted him dropped……….ballack was played……………sheva was usually dropped whether we wanted him dropped him or not based on his performance………if i m not wrong jose regarded ballack as untouchable n after season ended said that he had a NORMAL season whereas for sheva his words were very clear improvement needed………………….then when this ballack-uefa cl story went up in the media,it was mourinho who said that do i play him???????? and to his own question answered yes caus he is a vital member of his cfc[it was on gaurdian if i remember correctly]
and another question
i was watching repeat telecast of barcelona cf vs athletico madrid…………believe me their footy was simply awesome……..their created chances were exceptional[like joe cole created for drogba vs valencia]……..they won 3-0 59%possession…….not to mention athletico this year has enough quality to even challenge for la liga…………ronaldinho……this guy was creating chances after chances……….deco………..[honestly i cannot regard lamps as one of the best midfielder after watchin this guy]………..beautiful passes……..great link up…….shooting power…….and top of that 50% of time commentator was praising barca players for their unselfish game……….not to mention xavi and iniesta………..henry is adapting but still he showed his quality on the field……and i m missing messi on top of that……………and only if u can see the quality of their youngsters dos santos and bojan[don't rem the spellin exactly].commentator commented that riijkard’s job is more pyschological caus he needs to keep players ego at bay……….not to mention his management skills…………
you must be wondering by now why i m tellin you all this……..
i really want an article from you on how right is roman in wanting attacking footie at the bridge…………and how good a manager riijkard will be for us.
the more i watch arsenal,barca play footie…………….the more i start believing jose’s departure may not be that bad and the more i start understarting what joeblue was crying about in this blog…..
please be honest…………..i m asking a simple question
1.which match u will watch AS A NEUTRAL……….barca vs xyz or chelsea vs xyz…………..i hope you get my point.
2.is winning and playing with flair is impossible???????????
3.is roman injustified in what he expected from TSO
even last year when arsenal won nothing…………their community in orkut saw a rise of 55,000 to 75,000………..while chelsea’s comm 14,000 to 19,000
it’s truth……..the simple truth…………..i may be soundia anti-chelsea but these are facts…………………chelsea’s comm may have new glory-hunters in but i can gaurantee……….arsenal got new fans just on the basis of their style of play…………………….
maybe roman saw that………………..another thing i notice TSO has a special love for gettin publicity and remainin in the front of media…..he tried to entertain the fans by his quotes but never by his brand of football…………….u may counteract that arsenal never won anythin………jose won six………….but it’s fact that we lose 80 millions per year and they make 200 million per year………without any star players……wenger if i m not wrong has always gained from transfer market…………..and he buys player we have never heard of…
jose’s crediantial cannot be questioned…………..money cannot buy sucess………….but he came in the league of managers who win but never entertain………………….fabio capello being a prime example………..our first season under TSO was best but even it can only boast of few moments of brilliance………..
@BC expectin a reply or in a grt case a post
please note that this post by no means is made to disgrace chelsea legend TSO…………
wow , TBF all i can say is……… hats off!!!
) can understand what beautiful football is!!!
Finally somebody (other than manish and MD who r both banned
[...] ??????????! ???. (??????, ??) [...]
You won’t win no Mour!!!- Cristiano Ronaldo
You sometimes get to witness statements from rival’s players especially from the much hated Traford boys (referring to the above statement). So how do you manage to become so week? Where has our punch gone? Well I am still stuck back in time, I guess!! To be precise I am looking at this statement from 21 days ago, it hasn’t even been a month that everyone in the football fraternity has written us of or is waiting for the January transfer when they predict we have the largest player exodus in the history of PL.
Minus the Special one we look like a hibernating bear where no more seems to be very competitive and biting at the other teams whereby our only response is the self criticism we impose on our playing style and its conversion into the “The Right way” or “The goal scoring way”. That is a self destructive policy of making sure that all those who believe in the current system of Chelsea, the 6 trophy winning system is incorrect & now you got to relearn the successful ways. Tuff task for anyone with enough brains to know that this isn’t happening for several years so we got to move on to greener pastures.
Reading Gile Smith’s mid-week column on CFC website made me appreciate the value for being a famous name and getting paid to write crappy unrealistic articles. The metaphorical futuristic approach shown by GS referring to our current goal draught was making it look like that we are out of the problem phase and scoring goals like anything after the Bolton game where we could have easily lost or drawn the match. So at one side it’s good to look at it positively however to egoistic to believe in success even if you haven’t started looking like a killer outfit.
My comment is based on Blue Champion’s article about Avram’s success chances with fans and the club. In the previous weeks lots have happened however the few noticeable things that have happened are:
1- Ten Cate finally coming over to the Bridge, does it make any difference? Well I believe just maybe!! And why?? Well because he has some sort of experience with working on really high profile players at Barca, not build them, so maybe Sheva might benefit from him.
2- If that doesn’t excite you than its about my dearest Stevie staying on at the blues, the only one left who had worked with the Sepcial One in his Special world. So defensively and for the sake of the club I wish him loads of luck with the Avram machinery and craziness that follows.
3- Lamp’s back into action isn’t a small thing however it will be even bigger if we can keep him playing next year.
So How do I conclude this disorganized thought pattern, as long as I make sense from the below extracted lines of a great piece I read on Espnstar, which solves the mystery of the debate we have been having with regards to summing up Murinho’s departure & Roman’s ambition or lack of its clarity, so here it goes;
“In the end Roman will be able to sell shirts while Jose would be building stars”
Basically that sums why we would not be able to be a futuristic team with big spending rather the only way forward which I would term as the “Special way” is to build players into household names rather than buy them & not know what to do with them. Park you with the above thoughts, happy international games!!!
Clarke has signed a new £500,000-a-year deal to work alongside Henk ten Cate.
Well done!
TBF@35,
You know why Arse hardly won anything of note over the last several seasons, because all they did was entertain while their rivals focused on winning first and entertaining second.
You wonder why Barca despite all their flair never was able to beat us unless we are one man down, it is because when it gets to the crunch and the stakes are highest, what wins the day is the spirit of the team and the efficiency of the combattants rather than their capacity to entertain.
Did you watch the recent Copa final that pitched Brazil against Argentina? Brazil abandoned their crave for entertainment and focused on winning first- Argentina with the super abundance of talent came onto the field believing their superior skills will win the day- after 90 min, they were totally torn to shreds by an efficient Brazil- 3-0 was the final verdict.
I have said and will repeat it a million times- Competitive football is about winning first. Exhibition football is about entertaining first. Both the EPL and CL as far i know are competitive leagues rather than exhibition leagues.
Do you think people who are wagering mega bucks on the fortune of teams care a hoot about all those fancy skills?
Who said our fan base would go sky high only because of skills? Let me tell you- at least in most of Africa, I can emphatically state that over the last three seasons, we have won many more followers than the underachieving Arsenal. The reason- Success. Not Entertainment but Success.
If it were just an issue of skills, then the EPL would not rate at all- because real skills are in places like Spain, France, Italy and the home of skills- South America. But it is more than skills. It is about getting the results and making fans happy through that.
Champs league final 99 between Man U and Bayern epitomized this so well. One team played all the best football on the night- that was Bayern. The other played crap all night but got the result- that was Manure.
Guess what? Few remember today how great Bayern were on the night and if they remember at all it is no big deal cos the team that won attained Legendary status that night. Man Utd that year reached dizzy heights cos of treble even tho they were absolute rubbish that epochal night.
I said it before, I will not mind fanciful football once i can be guaranteed that winning is the number one motivation, not entertaining fans. My greatest entertainment is Victory. Ask any Arsenal fans and they will be honest enough to say that Entertainment without trophies is of no much consolation.
We have won only two EPL. Jose’s obsession was to make us focus on winning so many so that all over the world our brand becomes known for trophies first. Then we can indulge in the luxury of doing 180 degree movements with the balls, back heeling and all those eye pleasing tricks, knowing that if they don’t even earn us trophies (like they way they have not helped Arsenal over the last three years), we have the cvonsolation that we had already established a great pedigree.
[...] TrueBlueFusion – I’ve chosen to respond to you through this post (others can click this link to read TBF’s comment). My intention is not to convince you but just to convey what I feel [...]
Guus Hiddink has ended speculation linking him with a move to Chelsea by extending his contract as Russia coach until the summer of 2010.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/7037043.stm
If chelsea wants to play attackin football then we’ve need a complete overhaul….Current set of players are world class who suit jose’s tactical games…but as someone said before they lack pace and creativity…
I think the following players should leave ( Although i love them a lot except for sheva :d)
OUT:-
Shevcheko (Get ya ss off frm the pride of london)
Lampard (He means business, n one o d best in his position..but no creativity or pace)
Claude Makelele ( But he’s still the best in that role )
Sidwell (that guy cudn make any sorta impression in me so far)
Pizzaro
Florent Malouda
IN:-
David Villa
Huntelaar
Daniel Alves
Iniesta
De Rossi
Quaresma
.
.
.
and instead of the speculated ronaldinho deal i wud’ve gone for messi, whatever be the cost…coz he’s worth it.!!!
nice write up TBF…..very incisive
6-0 FOR CHELSEA,
THAT’S ALL I SAY!
10Q GRANT
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[...] TrueBlueFusion – I’ve chosen to respond to you through this post (others can click this link to read TBF’s comment#35 before reading this article). My intention is not to convince you [...]
[...] last month I had written about how Avram Grant can impress me. He has now managed 10 Chelsea games and this is a nice time to review his performance and prepare [...]
[...] there are certain hateable aspects in every human being, starting from myself. I don’t hate Avram Grant the person. I hate certain specific qualities that he has displayed. You know, it’s like I [...]