You have to admit that it’s a big relief to see Henk Ten Cate join Chelsea. In a period where every morning I visit the news websites hoping for no Chelsea news (plain sceptical) at all, we have some good news. Ten Cate’s appointment was one of the very few positives to have happened to us this season, finally something to really cheer about!
Avram Grant does not have all the backroom staff. We had to sack Jose Mourinho so badly that we did not even give ourselves enough time to replace Jose’s leaving backroom staff. Steve Clarke still does not convince that he would stay here for long. In this backdrop, we have managed to snatch Ten Cate from Ajax.
We all know enough about him by now. He was deputy to Rijkaard at Barca when they won the la liga and champions league. It is said that his departures had a direct impact on Barca’s form. Coincidences always make good stories. I don’t know how much truth is there in his much-hyped contribution to Barca’s recent revival.
He has a reputation for his big mouth and strict methods and measures. If you compare Ten Cate and Avram Grant in terms of their achievements, exposure and pedigree, you’d wonder how Ten Cate agreed to be the deputy of Avram. Given their relative experience, you wouldn’t be surprised if Ten Cate is our head coach and Avram is his deputy!
Soon after he joined Chelsea, he took some time to talk about Ajax:
The expectations at Ajax are way too high. Ajax are no longer a top team in Europe, but the club doesn’t want to know that. The level of ambition is still the same as it was under Louis van Gaal.
Expectations at Ajax way too high? Welcome to Chelsea! Here at Stamford Bridge, he might have to work really hard to achieve any success but his success criteria for his performance won’t be just success. Strange! More than Henk, it is Ajax who are disappointed.
People now say that I cannot be a head coach. I don’t see that though. The only bad thing about this job is that I need to speak with people like you, journalists. It’s a great feeling that I no longer need to account for line-ups and things to the outside world.
So, Ten Cate dreams (even hope or belief is a reasonable word here!) that he can be the head coach at Chelsea, at least some time in the future. Is Ten Cate to Avram Grant, the Avram Grant to Jose Mourinho? Whatever the facts and figures say, sometimes you like or hate or ignore some people. You can call it the first impression or whatever. I liked Jose at first sight. I liked Peter Kenyon, Roman Abramovich all at first sight. Meanwhile, the very sight of Avrum Grant makes me sleep. Ten Cate impresses me. He looks like a strict military general and appears to be a strong character with definitive body language.
I’ve said this before. The manager of a team like Chelsea, should be strong and assertive, just like Ten Cate is. May be, I’ll feel more secure if Ten Cate and Avram swap places. It’s a known secret that Frank Arnesen and Jose Mourinho never got along well and some of the transfers were engineered or sabotaged by Arnesen against Mourinho’s wishes. At least now, Arnesen should find a good mate in Ten Cate and that should be good news for us.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s magic crystal ball says that this won’t be a good season for us. Phew! He’s not even talking about us winning the title, he says it won’t even be a ‘good season’ for us, whatever he meant by that. Now I’m not sure what could be a ‘good season’ for us, but at least I feel confident of a good fight. Last season, we won two trophies but was dubbed as a disaster by many. What’s a good season this time around?
same sentiments here. feels like we got a proper coach now. now im not gonna bother about avram’s presence or absence. for me a good season this time is a top 4 finish, anything below is a disaster (considering our ambitions) anything above is a bonus!!!
I feel kind of relaxed a bit knowing that steve clark has at least a real football man to plan things with. If I were Avram I would just play the ceremonial boss role and allow these two tested assistants to do the real job. I kind of feel the players will feel better with ten cate around.
right step in the right direction at the right time. I think Abrahmovich is beging to feel the pulse of chelsea faithfull. With cate and Clark, i think we can go places and grant shud go back to his former office as dirct of football then chelsea can have a head coach. but not grant
Grant as head coach is just a plug by RA.
I wonder whom the real coach would be – Hiddink, Riikard or someone else?
forget about hiddink. he’s even signed an extension as the russian coach under roman’s advice.
Hes hot!
“The expectations at Ajax are way too high. Ajax are no longer a top team in Europe, but the club doesn’t want to know that. The level of ambition is still the same as it was under Louis van Gaal.”
That’s a stupid sentence, to me it shows he is not that professional. Every where, expectations are high. I don’t think even the weakest team’s head coach says , Ok we are weak, let’s go to Old Trafford and lose. It is ridiculous. Every one wants to win even in the worst situation against the best teams. or Derby ‘s coach cannot say to the owner , We are weak what do you expect form us?
I really liked Ranieri , but one of his sentences caused me to think it is his time to leave Chesea. We had a game versus Arsenal, he stated in his pre-match interview , no one can stop Henry. I said it is time for him to leave Chelsea, he is over.
If Cate wants to think this way, I think his move was a big mistake. However, I knew that he is not that big, being an assistant in Barcelona is not a big deal. Everyone talks about him as if he was the main reason that Barcelona won CL and La liga.
I believe Ten Cate won’t last that long in Chelsea unless a Dutch coach comes to Chelsea after Avram.
I have just read a news about Carvaliho , he has no plan to leave chelsea in Jun, that’s good, he si the best Def in chelsea right now.
he is the most pro player in chelsea. just read some of his interviews.
I will be a happy Chelsea fan when Abramovich and Kenyon leave Chelsea. On January they sabotaged our chances of winning the Champions League title.
by the way , in one of my post, I said we had never had a player who changed the game, i made a mistake we had one and he was Franco Zola.
oo watch this clip, tha’ts why he came to Stamford bridge , well that makes sense , we did not have any player ot show some tricks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3WFLNDIpBU
oo i made mistake , sorry :)) ,
this one : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pso2x_PcCCY
Hi Guys,
Ten Cate is at Chelsea…Hes supposed to be the Asst Coach…What are the goals set for him??..
Beautiful Football I guess..
He has a great record as asst at Barca…does that mean he can help create the same magic here at Chelsea..
Forget the coach n stuff..Barca has players like Ronaldinho, Messi,Xavi,Iniesta,Deco etc who are naturally gifted…their natural games are of the fancy mould..its not too difficult to make such ppl play beautiful stuff..in fact most of their players are tailor made to fit into a beauty system.
Does Chelsea have the sort of players needed to play fancy, exhibition style football like Barca or Arsenal????????…
Can Ten Cate or any other coach on earth make Maka,Sidwell,lampard,essien n co play 1 touch beautiful stuff???
This Chelsea team was moulded By Jose to play effective football..n the team is fantastic at playing efficient football…but how well can our present team play Fancy football???
I believe with proper guidance the players who can play fancy in our team are SWP, Joe, Kalou….Drogba has a few fancy moves as well..Malouda n Ballack maybe..Thats about it right
If Avram, Cate n Clarke n Get our present squad to play like Arsenal, then Hats off to them..But I seriously doubt if our present squad can play like Roman dreams..If Roman wants Exhibition football, he has to splash a few millions to bring in a couple of fancy Midfielders n forwards
Aguero, Podolski, Dos santos, Kaka, Eto, Quaresma…The list is endless..depends on wat Roman wants, wat Avram wants etc..
anyway Whatever happens I hope Ten cate can help improve our team n take it forward
Cmon chelsea
@Maysam
Dude u are so much pessimistic…………….please cfc is not over
@TrueBlueInd
spot on………………………let’s be ready for some players with skill
@BlueChampion
last joeblue’s post was spot on……………………i agree that TSO’s tactics were excellent against big teams………….but against small teams……………our performance was wanting…………if not for cech…………we may have finished 3rd……….and my points are not based on any media report but solely on what i have watched.
i have seem my team[full strength] draw against wycombe……..yes we won 4-0 at bridge………..1 goal was wrong offside decision……………and trust me if not for cech and their mediocre striker………..we would have walked away with another draw…….our team was practically full strength…………………just cited an example…………..our last season is full of such matches…………..
TBF
simple. jose simply could not experiment anything at all, with the knife hanging over his head. the only way for him to keep his job and keep chelsea up was by gathering three points and risking it for anything. read jose’s autobiography. you’ll understand a lot about the man.
yep .. Maysam ur very very pessimistic .. i don’t even know if ur CFC fan at all …
Gravatar True Blue Fusion :
of course , chelsea is not over. Grant is not gonna last that long.
Anonymous : I am , if i was not , I would not write those sentences. I am.
Dude, it is just begining , do u think the departure of Jose had just these effetcts , some lose. No , you will see at the end of this season.
u will see soon.
Hey this is funny
It’s from The Guardian
Grant’s standing at Chelsea, meanwhile, has been brought into question again after it emerged that he named a team with only 10 players in it for his first match in charge. Mourinho’s replacement as manager has been undermined by dressing-room dismay over his training methods and track record. His failure to obtain Uefa-equivalent coaching qualifications has led to Chelsea appointing Henk ten Cate as ‘assistant first-team coach’.
In a team meeting before Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat at Manchester United three weeks ago, Grant named a line-up with just 10 men. According to a dressing-room source, the manager then described the team’s formation as ‘4-4-1?.
ashley is injured…………..short period i guess………..wayne bridge to take place…………….but he is on suspension from reserve match……
is ten cate’s appointment a gate for ronaldinho’s entry or eto
Ten Cate? Well, obviously he would be a better manager than Grant. Hopefully he will be the manager. But, just to have him on staff makes me feel a bit better. I hear the Anfield Historical Society lost their assistant.
Gun The Blues : I don’t like Avram , but i don’t believe this story.
RA had spent millions on players, sacked JM(a top manage with track record) & then appoint AG without qualification, track record & experience to handle chelsea. Later recruit Ten Cate to assist Clark. Common sense will tell you that it’s a failure. We’re already in the 1st quarter of the epl & standing in 7th place. Do you think we can win the Premier League? Let’s all hope that chelsea can least equal last season trophies win or else AG………… get ready to be sacked by RA.
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