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In the meantime, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been complaining about clubs trying to over-inflate the prices of their players when they hear he's interested, ever since the transfer window opened this month.
He has said he would rather play his 55-year-old assistant than pay for a centre-back
in the English market.
He has said he does not need to buy, and that all he needs are the return of injured stars John Terry and Petr Cech.
The Postman's question and conspiracy theory poser: Could Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich be purposely tying Mourinho's hands by keeping his fat wallet firmly in his pocket, to see how the self-proclaimed Special One gets out of Ferguson's trap this season?
This, after Mourinho seemed to hint last month that he should call the shots for buying players, referring to the case of Andriy Shevchenko, whom Abramovich is rumoured to have personally brought over.
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52 comments:
That's an interesting theory: Abramovich deliberately tying Mourinho's hands for big money transfers.
At the expense of his club's bid to be the first to win the EPL thrice in succession? To show who's boss in the club?
Possible. After all, you never know what makes rich Russian guys tick.
Moreover, Abramovich admitted his relationship with Mourinho isn't that close. His despair is shown in yet another Chelsea draw (with Villa this time). He has spent close to $200million on the players and yet 3 draws in a row, 8 goals conceded in 4 games? Perhaps he is waiting for his past buys to perform to show that they had worth the money and that his position in the club is not an ATM.
Or is there other reasons such as
1) Abramovich knows that Mourinho could pull this one through without the big bucks.
2) Does he want to take the opportunity to get rid of Mourinho (if he can't get out of Fergie's trap) who apparently has a strong mind of his own?
We will never know because conspiracy theories are well, conspiracies that are best enjoyed being hotly debated.
Er... where did this conspiracy theory come from? It sure sounds a little too far-fetched for me!
Well, I don't think it's the first time we've heard Chelsea mention the fact that it's always "one price for Chelsea and another price for everyone else". And it's indeed true, though it's not exactly a situation many of us would feel inclined to sympathise with Chelsea about.
I still think if Mourinho really wants the money, he would be easily able to get the funds from Abramovich. Perhaps when Chelsea is still raking in the big losses for the next few years, Abramovich would start losing his patience. But I don't think he's about to tighten the budget just yet. I only see this merely as a ploy by Mourinho himself to try and get his transfer targets more available. After all, when you declare interest in a player, the player’s club has the tendency to increase the price tag over his head, and it is more so when the interested buyer is Chelsea….
Hi Ladylala,
This conspiracy theory comes from me. Based on the tendency for true colours to come out when a team starts to lose its way.
Cheers,
Ernest
I think it sounds a bit too ridiculous to be true, I'm afraid.
Why would some billionaire suddenly hold back his funds after spending millions previously, just to "prove" that Jose is indeed good enough to survive without additional money? At the expense of risking his team not winning the premiership trophy?
He would certainly not mind losing some change in return of getting a higher chance of winning the premiership trophy.
>>whom Abramovich is rumoured to have personally brought over.
But like you said, they're just rumours. And they're unfounded. Roman gave an interview recently in Russia that was authentic as stated by Chelsea FC. Part of it was about how he had less influence in the decision on buying players, than the coach and the board. Of course he has some influence to the point of having an interest in a certain player so that the board and coach may like to review his selection, but that is as much influence that he has on player transfers.
Sometimes, its just what it is, and nothing else. Although its quite creative, I should add. Cheers all.
Haha alright Ernest, hope you didn't take my comment too personally, it wasn't meant to be either good or bad really. It's just that, based on that comment alone, it's not a theory I would have thought of, or believe in, although there've been many "insider sources" telling of a seemingly strained relationship between Abramovich and Mourinho.
Still, it was an interesting theory, though I personally wouldn't be reading too much into it unless this was a literature exam. Abramovich doesn't strike me as that cunning, though Mourinho might.
>>At the expense of his club's bid to be the first to win the EPL thrice in succession? To show who's boss in the club?
United did that already. Once. In the history of the English football it has been done by, if I'm not mistaken, 3 or four teams once.
>> His despair is shown in yet another Chelsea draw (with Villa this time). He has spent close to $200million on the players and yet 3 draws in a row
You should know by now that money does not guarantee success. Look at Rovers, Real Madrid. Many examples everywhere. And Chelsea does not have a right to win every match. We should all give the opposition teams some respect.
>> 8 goals conceded in 4 games?
Without three players crucial in Chelsea's defense in the two premiership winning seasons. Namely Terry, Cech, Gallas. Even the proper replacement for Cech is out, Cudicini. And you must mean in 5 games. Since there was a clean sheet in between that, the Carling Cup match against Newcastle. Incidently, its 5 goals conceded in 3 matches for Manchester United with its (nearly) full strength defense. No mention of a problem here?
Your reason no.1 may be possibly right, but I doubt reason no.2 is possible, he doesn't need to "take the opportunity", don't you think?
Chelsea FC to Roman is nothing more than just an expensive hobby and an investment.There got to be a time when he stops digging deep into his pockets for the club.Moreover,he has already supply hundreds of millions to allow Chelsea to become what they are today.
Anyway he only stated he will curb the massive spendings and not stop the spending totally.So if Mourinho needs to add players into his squad in need of time for example now,I don't think Roman will just sit aside and doing nothing at the expense of 3rd successive title.
Mourniho have his reasons for saying he don't have to buy and just wait for Cech and Terry to return.
First,in the market there are very few or not even one player of their standard available for transfer.18 millions pounds for Micah is just simply blood sucking the Blues bank account.
Secondly,by admitting he needs to buy,it means Mourinho have realised his mistakes in the sales of Gallas and Huth.As the big headed,egoistic and proud Special One,I'm sure its much easier for him to call it quit than to admit his own mistakes which caused them dearly in recent matches.
Therefore I think the conspiracy ceased to exist here.
Cheers
Seriously, there is no need to buy any defenders at all in the January transfer window. They will not even have any time to adapt to Chelsea's playing style. Lets say Chelsea have pulled off a major coup in Fabio Cannavaro. He will not even perform as the English Premier League is a more physical league compared to Italy's Serie A or Spain's La Liga.
Abramovich is just making sure Mourinho spends his money wisely. Shaun Wright-Phillips could be the biggest flop in Chelsea's history. Transfer fee of 21 million euros and just 1 Champions League goal to show for. Add on to the talks that Chelsea are going to sell him for just 9.8 million! Abramovich does not even intend to spend any more money, which in my opinion is a great idea. With Chelsea's current squad, they should be winning all games easily. Another thing to note: Roman Abramovich wants Chelsea's youth system to be successful, therefore Mourinho should try out youngsters like Michael Mancienne or Ryan Bertrand. They may turn out to be just as successful as Aston Villa's Liam Ridgewell or Manchester City's Micah Richards.
cfcfan:
1. okay maybe not the first but it's still a significant moment if successful
2. Precisely that he found out that money does not guarantee success that he doesn't want to spend money unnecessary.
3. I am talking about Chelsea here. Consider the type of goals that chelsea has conceded which are due to comical errors & also Hilario's vulnerability in crosses and corners. Compare this with the clean sheets they been having for the past 2 seasons & there's a serious problem. For man u, they have conceded the least so far. Can that be a problem?
4. Come on, it's a conspiracy theory. Of course, you need to spice the reasons up a bit.
Given Chelsea’s problems, it would be foolish of Roman not to allow any purchases during the transfer window.
At a critical juncture of the season, with the gap a mere 6 points, Roman should allow Jose to strengthen his squad for the final title push if Jose feels it’s necessary to overhaul United.
Chelsea’s lack of defensive cover, long-term injuries to players and Sheva’s continued goal-scoring woes are derailing its title aspirations. While Jose has publicly stated he does not need to buy, he is experienced enough to realize his present squad cannot sustain challenges at all fronts. Terry and Cech’s impending return this month would be a welcome relief. However, Jose has to ensure he has adequate cover for future contingency plans.
The honor of a treble of consecutive titles and Champions League glory is too important of a deal for Roman to let pass and he will loosen the purse strings if players are needed.
Whether Roman would curb spending for next season or become more influential in player purchases remains to be seen but for this season? Do not bet on it.
For me, there's no conspiracy theory. Mourinho probably knew there was going to be a shortage of top quality defenders available during this transfer window. To say that his team are just lacking the return of Terry and Cech would cleverly divert the attention the poor performances Chelsea has been generating. We have at times seen Chelsea this season flattering to deceive. Yes, even with Terry and Cech they hasn't really played good football. Instead they have been relying on Drogba to score wondergoals. A top team like Chelsea suffering because of injuries to a few players? I agree it could happen to any team but is this the team that claims it had 2 top players for each position? i guess Chelsea miscalculated with Gallas's departure on the last day of the transfer window.
Also, in making such a statement, he's challenging the rest of the squad to put in performances to start bridging the gap at the top upon the duo's much-awaited return and to show the rest of the world that the squad is strong enough to mount a title challenge. This aids their mental state as the responsibility of their current state is switched to injuries suffered.
To me, I think that Roman Abramovich is trying to test Jose Mourinho's managerial skills to see whether he is worthy enough to lead a star studded team without making many changes by limiting the transfer funds.(if such a conspiracy existed)
Otherwise, I see no reason why the transfer funds would be limited by Abramovich; even as a Liverpool fan, I'm sure that Abramovich would want Chelsea to do well, no matter whether he bought Chelsea as a mere investment or for the good welfare of the club, because if Chelsea win more trophies, Abramovich can sell Chelsea at a higher price.
Take Andriy Shevchenko. Maybe Abramovich did personally bring over him from AC Milan, but I'm sure that he tried to help Chelsea by bringing in a striker feared by many teams in Europe.
And don't forget that Abramovich was the one who signed Mourinho as manager. This proved to be a masterstroke as Chelsea managed to win 2 successive EPL titles under him.
Generally, I feel that whatever decision Abramovich makes, it’s for the good being of Chelsea.
Vette,
>> Compare this with the clean sheets they been having for the past 2 seasons & there's a serious problem.
That's true.
>> For man u, they have conceded the least so far. Can that be a problem?
You started your statement earlier with a price tag, and you rationalise it that Chelsea should not have three draws and 8 goals conceded in 4 games. So, I gave you the stats of Man Utd right now. Not much different is it? Despite the level of quality available to both clubs currently?
eric,
>>it means Mourinho have realised his mistakes in the sales of Gallas and Huth.
I know you don't like JM very much. I understand that. But some perspective is needed here. There was an interview where he mentioned that Gallas knows that he and Gallas has no ill-feelings, rather he hinted that it was between the club board and Gallas than it was JM-Gallas clash like many believed. He also had mentioned after the Gallas transfer that he was disappointed to have to lose Gallas. Are those signs of a manager who had willingly let the transfer of Gallas?
About Huth, you know very well how useless Huth was unless the ball was in the air. If I recall correctly, you are a chelsea fan so you should know that. If you're not, okay fine, I'm telling you right now. The selling of Huth was done in return of signing Boulahrouz.
Mentioned by Jose correctly, both of them are injured right now anyway.
>>As the big headed,egoistic and proud Special One,I'm sure its much easier for him to call it quit
Did he say he wanted to give up and quit? I must have missed something here.
Eric's a Man U fan! Not Chelsea! (But Vette's Chelsea.)
:P
And one thing, I don't think Eric actually mentioned about Mourinho going to quit here, all he said was that he felt it would be EASIER for Mourinho to quit than to admit his mistakes. In other words, Mourinho is hardly the type who'd admit he's wrong. Yes, he has surprised us on few occasions that he can admit he's wrong (Andy Johnson diving), but more than often, Jose just has too big an ego and pride.
Personally I don't feel Mourinho made huge mistakes in letting Gallas and Huth go. Huth was never quite good enough, while it was Gallas who wanted to leave and the situation with him was getting quite bad. I only felt Mourinho's mistake was in not getting in the necessary replacements.
Kelvin, I agree with what you said for the most part. I have to disagree on this.
>>A top team like Chelsea suffering because of injuries to a few players?
Players injured in Chelsea. Lets review.
Loss of Petr Cech, Terry who were the usual organisers of the defense surely will hurt Chelsea the most. The loss of them also resulted in Chelsea being vulnerable to aerial attacks.
Loss of Cudicini meant that we lost another excellent shot-stopper and a top class keeper in the same quality as Given and James.
Loss of J.Cole and Robben, both instrumental in the back-to-back premiership wins were definitely missed. Chelsea lack creativity, and lack lots of pace. They were also players who can change games.
Currently, we lost Boulahrouz to injury for 6 weeks. That means there will be no healthy proper CB for Chelsea. Carvalho is playing despite injury. On any other situation he would not have been playing.
With the Chelsea backline decimated to 50% of its quality, you can surely expect the team to not being used to the defensive frailties. Not to mention the loss of Gallas was huge.
With Geremi poor defensively and Ferreira inconsistent, do you really expect Chelsea to be as good as Manchester United? Can you even imagine how United will be like just without Ferdinand and van der Saar? Imagine if they lost their second choice too? For United's attack, Ronaldo flatters United's attack. Without him, they're not as potent. If you take out Ronaldo and Giggs, how will United fare?
Chelsea may have lost 6 players, you may think that's little, but if all of them were starting elevens, Chelsea have potentially become half-strength.
>>I agree it could happen to any team but is this the team that claims it had 2 top players for each position?
Are you living in last season's news? Let's not be so ignorant.
In fact, I should add that its a miracle that Chelsea are a mere 6 points behind United. With only Drogba, Essien, Carvalho, Lampard (in that order) having the burden of carrying the whole team through all the recent matches. Don't you think? Do you remember the last time Chelsea lost? Nope? Me too. I was surprised myself when I checked the fixture list. It was against Spurs. Even that, it was when Graham Poll decided that he did not want Chelsea to win.
Hello ladylala, evening!
>>I only felt Mourinho's mistake was in not getting in the necessary replacements.
Thats true to a certain extent. We lost some sort of pace. In CB. But it has been sort of covered in LB, (the position he played most of the time as Carvalho was useless at LB) with Bridgey and Ashley all pacey left backs. No, the main thing we lost was his vertality. Which was when we needed cover for other areas, he was always superb and available. Now thats gone.
Imagine if it was Gallas-Terry-Carvalho-Ashley/Bridge. And Cech as goalkeeper. One can only dream.
I'm weak. Returned from educating student nurses for 10 days without going home.
Roman Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea. He has the RIGHTS to call the shots...
To Be Continued (maybe)
Mourinho has bought Shevchenko, Kalou, Boulahrouz this season and none of them made an impact. Another Buy, Hilario, played well in the matches against barcelona but was the keeper who let in the most goals in a short time in mourinho's reign. Claudio Ranieri bought Robben, Lampard, Cech, Makelele, and discovered Terry and virtually handed over the backbone of champions to Mourinho.
Well oh well cfcfan,we are not an anti-Chelsea brigade trying to gun down the Blues with our comments here eh.
I don't have anything against JM apart from his arrogant attitude and some of his tricks beneath his sleeves but hes good at his job and his record don't lies.In fact I quite like Chelsea back in the days when Zola,Di Matteo and Gullit were still around and today I don't dislike them either.
Thanks ladylala for explaining the Mourinho quitting part,shes right there.I based it on JM personality and how he showed himself most of the time.
And for the part where I mentioned him realising his mistakes,thats for his failure to bring in adequate replacements for the 2 defenders he sold.While he did bring Cannibal in,he don't really seem to be settled yet.Thats just 1 out of 2 he filled up in the sense that Gallas can basically play everywhere on the line of defence.
But now I think they could have found one good defender in you for their defence eh.heh
Cheers
>>Thanks ladylala for explaining the Mourinho quitting part,shes right there.I based it on JM personality and how he showed himself most of the time.
Fair enough.
>>And for the part where I mentioned him realising his mistakes,thats for his failure to bring in adequate replacements for the 2 defenders he sold.While he did bring Cannibal in,he don't really seem to be settled yet.Thats just 1 out of 2 he filled up in the sense that Gallas can basically play everywhere on the line of defence.
Nice twist there. Except that you said "Mourinho have realised his mistakes in the sales of Gallas and Huth." Not after the sales. When you said "in", the natural tendency would be that you were referring to Jose's mistake in selling Gallas and Huth. See the difference now? Try being clear.
While I mentioned that Gallas would be great at right-back, he was rarely if ever, used there. He was always used at LB and the occasional CB. The replacement was of course, to come from CB and LB. At that time, of course, Ferreira was still consistent enough. His surprise departure at the last day of the transfer window, along with 2 RBs available, would at that point of time without the benefit of foresight, seem reasonable cover.
>>But now I think they could have found one good defender in you for their defence eh.heh
Cheeky. But thank you.
>>Well oh well cfcfan,we are not an anti-Chelsea brigade trying to gun down the Blues with our comments here eh.
Whoever said you were, LOL. Surely we can debate about stuff without it being coming down to, "You're only saying this because you like Chelsea and vice versa".
To all those non-Chelsea fans out there, Chelsea of this season is different from last 2 seasons. They DO NOT have 2 top players for every position this season because JM felt that his players are 'relatively fit' and he should be able to cope with a smaller squad. Of course the footballing gods have other ideas, injuries to key players like Cech, Cudicini, Terry, Joe Cole, Robben have weaken the team considerably. Imagine Man U without Van De Saar, Ferdinand, Ronaldo and Giggs for a long period of time, I guess you guys get the idea. Inuries however should not be an excuse for a club like Chelsea. The truth is Mourinho has made some really bad purchases who are not able to stand in the gap when needed.
The temptation to buy players as stop gap measures is appetizing but to pay inflated prices for mediocre players is daylight robbery. ₤20m for Micah Richards and ₤5m for a soon-to-be out of contract Tal Ben Haim is a joke. Hopefully they are only rumors and Chelsea do not have to be Mr Santa. Furthermore, who can guarantee that the players signed will stand up to the challenge?
I like Mourinho, but I can't stand Chelsea. It's their own fault that they haven't got enough players, it's not like they didn't have enough money.
I can't hold with this conspiracy theory. I think Roman Abramovich is just tired of owning a company that loses hundreds of millions of pounds a year.
If anyone is about to get tested it's that imbecilic oaf Peter Kenyon. He's the one splashing the cash about. His brief is to buy the best, no matter what the cost.
Kenyon will fall before Jose.
In all fairness, managers have to take responsibility all signings the club makes. While we are not sure if indeed Roman personally brokered the deal for Sheva, I don't think Jose minded having Shevchenko in his team back then. Who wouldn't want a proven goalscorer?
However, like Sheva, the rest of the signings, Mikel Obi, Kalou, Boulharouz and Ballack must be given time to adapt and adjust to the English game. Coupled with their spate of injuries, these 2 factors may have contributed to some surprisingly poor performances this season from Chelsea.
What's more surprising is to see Chelsea not having ample cover for injuries. With it's financial clout and Jose's attention to detail, you wouldn't expect Chelsea, of all clubs, to be in the situation they are in. I think that's what Kelvin really meant about Chelsea suffering due to injuries.
However, given the circumstances, United are still within Chelsea's reach so more drama and exciting moments for us all!
With Mourinho's attention to details, I bet he did not see Hunt's X-rated knee coming, Shevchenko's 'lambek' shooting, Boulharouz the 'Cannibal' being served on the platter, Joe Cole's unlucky struggle with injuries, Terry's back 'giving way' this season after 3 'injury-free' seasons and the list goes on.
Mourinho must have been fed up with paying exorbitant transfer fees for his targets and selling players on cheap. The conspiracy theory as suggested by Ernest might be a smokescreen to put Chelsea in a better bargaining position. Their top priority now is to get a utility defender and a reliable striker. Maybe, just maybe, we might witness Buffon gracing Stamford Bridge.
This will be Mourinho's greatest challenge to date. All credits goes to Ferguson for forming such an awesome team. If Chelsea manages to nick the title this season, it will be Mourinho's fifth league title in a row.
I feel it's gonna be difficult for Chelsea to get players they need for much needed cover. Chelsea needs players who are seasoned to the EPL, preferably those currently playing in the league.
Not many clubs would allow their best players to move at this point of the season. Even if they do, clubs would capitalize on Chelsea's desperate situation and hold Chelsea ransom with exorbitant fees. Who knows, Jose may indeed hold true to his word and not buy anyone.
While Buffon may be available, would he want to play 2nd fiddle to Cech once he is fit again? Unless Chelsea do away with Cech, I do not see Buffon coming over.
Whatever it is, it would certainly be interesting and exciting to see who ends up where by the end of January.
Roman knows Jose well. Remember, Jose won the Champions League with unfancied Porto. He can just use the array of talents he have and possibly overtake Man U. Take a page from Sir Alex Ferguson's book, Jose. Give personal talks to Boulahrouz, Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge, Ballack and Sheva. I can't think more. I'm really tired. Ernest, don't forget to tick my address on your address book!
'Schoolgirl Killer' Qyaerus-Syahrein
>>If anyone is about to get tested it's that imbecilic oaf Peter Kenyon. He's the one splashing the cash about. His brief is to buy the best, no matter what the cost.
Yes. I cannot stand Kenyon too. That piece of ------- is the one who is giving Chelsea a bad reputation on the spendings.
>>While Buffon may be available, would he want to play 2nd fiddle to Cech once he is fit again? Unless Chelsea do away with Cech, I do not see Buffon coming over.
I know there were the reports about Buffon wanting to leave Juventus, but wasn't that on the condition that Juventus did not get promoted? I'm not sure myself. Anyway, if he's coming to Chelsea, he won't be so foolish as to get transferred here, more likely on loan. But if he came here, that would make him Chelsea's 6th goalkeeper this season, something unthinkable to happen in any club. We have Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Hedman, Yves for now.
cfcfan. Using people's words against them. Keep that in court, please. You are no doubt a future good lawyer. If you reveal your cards now, other lawyers may expose you easily. Well, if you don't want to be a lawyer (which you should), I say HELLO fellow Chelsea fan. I'm as simple as Claude Makelele.
The Conspiracy Theory is plain simple. The theory is Roman will not give Mourinho licence to buy anyone he wants. This could be suicidal because Roman's knowledge of football is like your average classmate who will never represent his class. How can Roman not trust Jose. His track record is impressive. Champions League winner, League winner, Cup winner. Roman Abramovich has the rights but Jose Mourinho KNOWS who to buy.
Peter Kenyon has made it clear that Chelsea wants to be a world-known football club. And winning the Premiership thrice in succession is a great leap towards their target. Abramovich would not want to spoil it for Chelsea this season, would he?
In the past, Chelsea have spent the Russian's millions on flops like Veron, Kezman and Wright-Phillips. So I don't think Abramovich is refusing to give Mourinho a transfer shopping spree.
Although Mourinho's club show no sign of financial difficulties, he does not want to pay millions for one defender. For example, if Chelsea sign Micah Richards for $18 million, he would not be able to play for the European squad. And once Boulahrouz and Terry come back from injury, he's going to be warming the bench. What a waste of $18 million! Instead he would probably take a leaf out of Rafa's book and rotate Essien and Makelele to plug holes in defence. Or play Brito.
In Ancient Time, emperors or kings want to eliminate powerful de facto ruler ministers.It is a matter of time and opportunities to seize back power,pride and prestige of the owners.
The Special One Offended The The Rich One whose anger made him tye up latter's hands, to witness how 3rd EPL Crown to be won without new purchases.
From : Chester Low
It's desperate time at Stamford Bridge. The aura of invincibility has been destroyed with Cech's and Terry's injuries. Every team now fancies their chances against the limping defending champions. It's like even if you can't score against the Blues, there will be a "Cashley" Cole waiting to be bought over, a "Dynamite" Boulahrouz that's going to explode when triggered and some voyeurs caught 'ball' watching most of the time. The ironic situation now is that calamity Boulahrouz is going to be out for 6 weeks, leaving Chelsea with one recognised CB.
The undeniable truth is that an out-of-sorts Chelsea is 6 points off the pace. It's easy to buy but to get the right quality players during the mid-season at the right price is easier said than done. Time is clearly not on Chelsea's side. Man U is blazing aside opposition save for a few hiccups which Chelsea has failed to capitalize. It's easy to use injuries as excuse for the poor form, but deep down inside, Mourinho knows that he has made awful decisions which is unforgivable given his reputation for attention to details. The 'Special One' needs to act fast before Man U runs away with the league title.
i feel that is very interesting too! something i have never thought about before, until now.
no i don't think Abramovich is stopping mourinho to spend money, since he have it in abundance. money is no object to him, as long as he gets success, especially in europe.
i think it's mourinho who thinks he shouldn't buy any player.you people should think further ahead. buying a player now is just a stop gap solution. if terry comes back, that player will only be use best as a substitute, what's the point of buying one when u got people who can do a decent job?
why spend big money and buy a defender and let him rot in the reserve(like wright phillips) and destroy their career?
conceding 8 goals in for matches is a big deal for chelsea. but the bigger deal is chelsea is not losing any of those matches. terry will come back soon, things should be back to normal soon, and i don't think there's any need for chelsea to buy players.
so i think, it's mourinho's decision not to buy any player, rather den Abramovich not allowing him to spend.
CHELSEA 6 MACCLESFIELD 1. FRANK LAMPARD IN HOT FORM!!!!!!!!
To all Chelsea fans here, if Chelsea does not win the EPL, I'll be MORE than happy when they win the Champions League. *Sniffs*
>>if terry comes back, that player will only be use best as a substitute, what's the point of buying one when u got people who can do a decent job?
The thing is, we have no central defender bar Carvalho, even then he is suspended for the Wycombe game. So, the answer to that is no, we don't have people to do a decent job.
>>why spend big money and buy a defender and let him rot in the reserve(like wright phillips) and destroy their career?
When you're on loan, you should expect to not play for the remaining of the season except when absolutely required.
>>and i don't think there's any need for chelsea to buy players.
Thats not correct IMO. We have no cover. If more players get injured (unthinkable but possible), we will have less that 16 players in the team. To play in the league properly, its not possible to survive the race with youth players like Sahar, Woods.
Intringue soccer politics in The King And The Clown.
King Roman Abramovich wants EPL, Carling Cup, FA Cup and Champions League to be won in the same season.Unfortunately Clown Jose Mourinho only present EPL Crown.
Unhappy King Abramovich resolve to achieve his quest by employing Court Jester Andrei Shevchenko who make things worse for Clown Mourinho.
Angry Clown Mourinho offended King Abramovich by saying he aren't no boss when comes to buying players.
King Abramovich, bidding his time, wants to eliminate Clown Mourinho without buying any players in the current season through hints.
Clown Mourinho understand hints by saying out loud not to buy players due crazy prices.
Should Clown Jose Mourinho loses it's EPL Crown to Manchester United, failure to win Carling Cup, FA Cup and Champions League.King Abramovich will axe him.
Therefore, Clown Jose Mourinho can start to learn Singapore Culture, Malay,Tamil and Mandrain to take up Raddy's position.
From: Chester Low
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Chelsea can be the best when terry and cech return they all the "WALLS"of chelsea.Terry provide the clearance and cech can save when terry cant handle...SO buying defender is a waste of money ..Mourinho has been talking about the special ONE...This cause players that are not in the special ONE list to be not playing well for the club...Sheva was new in epl and he try his best as there are different pace in the epl...He need time...when both terry and cech is back chelsea is the BEST..Mourinho should buy a midfielder and it is enough
LOL Chester.
I saw Ladylala and her boyfriend at Vivocity just now. She was wearing a tube-top! 'I'm not that innocent,' HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
What do you think of me now, Chun Lian.
Just by looking at Chelsea team squad, we can know that they had the best players in the premier league.I do think that Roman Abrhamovic purposely trying to stop Jose Mourinho from buying more players.Even buying both Michael Ballack and
Andriy Shevchenko, they would seldom play for the blues. Didier Drogba is scoring much more goals than both players.Even after adding up both Shevchenko and Ballack goals, Drogba scores more. I simply think have a very strong squad to win any championship they play for. Even without a good goalkeeper and a defence leader, they still are a very strong squad. With both John Terry and Petr Cech coming back I can see a much better future in Chelsea.If I were Jose Mourinho I would not buy anymore players,I would only want to focus on the players fitness.I think it is right if Roman Abrahamovic try to stop Jose Mourinho from buying anymore players.It will make more loss than gain.
Well well, for all you know Ernest might be just right with this conspiracy theory and all.
This just came from Soccernet.
Hiddink to replace Mourinho?
Well, i believe that Mr. Abramovich wont restrict his spending power on players that Mr Special One has set his sights on, however, teams will surely maniuplate it to their advantage by asking for inflated prices.
Also, Ferguson's "Trap" has not been full at work yet. Its just 6 points, not like the previous season. Mourinho might just feel that he has what it takes to overturn this deficit, WITH or without the restriction of spending power of Abramovich.
Whether Jose brings new players in or is allowed to by Roman remains to be seen. However, Chelsea could be forced to buy or, at best, acquire loan deals if players request to move and Cech and Terry do not recover quickly.
All these rumblings about SW-Phillips moving looks like a genuine deal. Jose will not gamble on the fitness of Terry and Cech by playing them until they fully recover. Joe Cole looks to be out for the remaining of the season so the squad needs reinforcements.
At the end of the day, practicality and logic will prevail. If Chelsea need players, they will go and get players. There is still much more of the season to go and with Chelsea fighting at 4 fronts, Jose will get the players he wants with Roman's backing. It's as simple as that.
Honestly, the chances of Abromovich keeping his oil pocket tight is as high as Alan smith getting voted Player of the Year. Abramovich is a very success driven person, if he had wanted to test how "Special" Mourinho is, he would have done that ages ago.( He also would not had spent $200 million on players.) but he didn't, because he wanted success.(that explains why Ranieri was fired). What if Mourinho turned out to be a fraud? wouldn't he be risking the success of Chelsea if he devoid mourinho of world class players?
Furthermore, there is really no real need for Abramovich to do that as he would already know what Mourinho was made of, if not he would not have signed him from Porto.
It may not seem logical, that Abramovich, who has been spending £200 million for the past two seasons, may suddenly hold back and stop spending.
However, Abramovich may want to exert his influence and show Mourinho that he’s the boss and not just an ATM at Mourinho’s whims and fancies. Buying Sheva is a case in point.
Abramovich may also want to improve Chelsea’s image – currently a team that splashes out cold, hard cash at will, and “buys” titles rather than winning them. He’s probably aware too, that money does not equal success, as can also be seen from Real Madrid’s Galactico policy.
Also, in order for Abramovich to achieve his goal to make Chelsea the world’s biggest club, they have to first gain the public’s admiration and support. Their spending sprees haven’t been helping this cause, so he may be putting a halt to such excesses.
Chelsea are now facing a defender crisis, as can be seen in their festive season games – 1 win, 3 draws, 8 goals conceded. Chelsea is “lying 10th in the festive season’s Premiership” matches, so Abramovich is probably testing Mourinho to see how he can get Chelsea ahead of ManU without the spending sprees.
Roman purposely ties J.Mourinho hands on his money.
I noticed that Chelsea is a shortage of centre back. Currently, the only have 3 centre backs. They should have at least 4 centre backs. For every position, there are at least 2 players. This is a crisis if Chelsea goal is to challenge for the EPL and Champions League. J.Mourinho said that he does not need to buy any players. However from current information, he needs a centre back badly. He is force to say this because he does not want to show that there is a crisis in Chelsea thus influencing his players and his staff not to be worried. The root of all the crisis is the selling of Gallas. Actually I think J.Mourinho does not plan to sell Gallas as Gallas would make complete his team of 4 centre backs. Because of his mistakes,Chelsea has a crisis.
J.Mourinho has made a lot of mistakes in buying players. For a player worth above 25 millions (Sheva, W.Philips), they should be expected to impress. If these players do not impress, I think Roman would see it as a waste of money as a result, he get frustrated.
I know I won't get my letter published again because I don't ask Ernest what he had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Go ask the 10-19 year olds who visit this blog. (The majority). Whose comments do they eagerly anticipate to read........
q-s:
Do you really care what I think of you? Hmm..
Anyway, I wonder which babe u saw. She must have been some hot one.
I wasn't at VivoCity on Sunday. I only went to church in the morning to pray for Liverpool, and proceeded to hide and cry in bed for the rest of the day.
Cheers.
And I don't own a tube-top.
A good manager has to live through constraints of money, players and injury and plan timely replacement or loans. Alex Ferguson knew all these well in advance. And his timely loan of Henrik Larsson shows his shrewd football management,
Abramovich never promised a money tap...As boss, it is only right for him to turn on the screw tight and shut off the tap to see how his manager might manager. If Jose Mourinho can ride through this hiccup, he is a good manager. If not, he is merely a flash in the pan.Nah, he only just missed one EPL championship. It is no big deal. He need a few more EPL runs to prove his skills. Only time can tell as in Alex Ferguson who should belong to the football managers hall of fame if he nails this EPL championship.
sorry to side track here a bit......I have good time in the beggining of 2007 when Liverpool started the new year with a good win over Bolton. As a fan, after so many good games, you feel that Liverpool can only get better as you see the same core players were playing well and in the right position. Then horrors! Liverpool lost to Arsenal in Anfield even when Arsenal was not fielding their best team. I noticed that the Bellamy was also not there. Rafa put in Dudek! Somehow this confirms that Rafa comes well after Ferguson, Jose, Wenger,....in terms of foot ball management.
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