[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Its nothing to be sad about really. A lot of international and league refrees do all sorts of jobs for a living. Refreeing is not a full time/professional job really.

Its the same with other sports too. Even cricket umpires in India.

Ok. I assumed that umpires, especially Fifa certified ones, made good money. I was wrong.

[joslicx]

Chelsea have sacked their manager Roberto di Matteo!

The man who finally delivered them the European Champions League (something the likes of Jose Mourinho, Felipe Scolari, Carlos Ancelloti etc could not do) was let go just like that

Who next now, Chelsea fans? Surely Roman will try Guardiola (he would be nuts to come to Chelsea). There is some chatter about ex-pool Benitez as well.

Who next Now that City are about to be kicked out of CL as well, should Mancini start preparing his CV as well/

Compare it to the likes of Arsene and Sir Alex. They are unsackable even if the respective teams win nothing/not play well/are no more competitive etc.

[zoombiee]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Who next now, Chelsea fans? Surely Roman will try Guardiola (he would be nuts to come to Chelsea). There is some chatter about ex-pool Benitez as well.

Who next Now that City are about to be kicked out of CL as well, should Mancini start preparing his CV as well/

Compare it to the likes of Arsene and Sir Alex. They are unsackable even if the respective teams win nothing/not play well/are no more competitive etc.

Chelsea are owned by what seems to be a megalomaniac management team. I would be surprised if Guardiola will go there. All his life he has played/managed very well organized teams that believe in team work. I dont think he would go to Chelsea. I wouldnt be surprised if they hired capello.
Arsene Wenger is not longer untouchable. A lot of people have already begun questioning his methods. Although I must admit he makes good money for the club which the management must admire.

[saadat1992]

I'm a big time Chelsea fan and i must say this.. Roman is nuts! He sacked the man who brought the Champs league to the bridge! He should have given RDM a chance! Why is that Roman is so impatient about everything? Now, Chelsea fans are really cross at Roman, he should have probably sold the misfiring torres & shouldn't have let gone of Drogba!
Now, there's a rumor going on that Lampard too will be dispatched after this season as the club is not willing to renew his contract!

If it goes at this rate, Roman himself will have to be the Manager!

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Chelsea have sacked their manager Roberto di Matteo!
The man who finally delivered them the European Champions League (something the likes of Jose Mourinho, Felipe Scolari, Carlos Ancelloti etc could not do) was let go just like that.
Who next now, Chelsea fans? Surely Roman will try Guardiola (he would be nuts to come to Chelsea). There is some chatter about ex-pool Benitez as well.

Unbelievable indeed! Another crazy Roman act… And I completely agree. Folks like Pep should think twice before committing to Chelsea job. 2-3 losses in a row, and all the name he created in Barca will be forgotten.

Anyway, RDM can keep his head high. Afterall he managed 2 trophies in just a few months.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by saadat1992

If it goes at this rate, Roman himself will have to be the Manager!

You say you are Chelsea fan, dont you know Roman IS the manager at Chelsea!!! He sort of takes all the decisions including player purchases and sometimes even who should play.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Unbelievable indeed! Another crazy Roman act… And I completely agree. Folks like Pep should think twice before committing to Chelsea job. 2-3 losses in a row, and all the name he created in Barca will be forgotten.

Anyway, RDM can keep his head high. Afterall he managed 2 trophies in just a few months.

Unless Pep wants a nice retirement policy
I think Rafa Benitez might join Chelsea. What would you think about that.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by joslicx

I think Rafa Benitez might join Chelsea. What would you think about that.

I don’t think Rafa can do any better than RDM in the Chelsea setup. He definitely will not be able to do any ‘project’ under Roman’s supervision. Only plus will be that Torres may get a bit of confidence back. And apparently they are trying to offer him an initial short-term contract until end of the season. Actually not bad, because there are no long term contracts in Chelsea.

[addyhemmige]

I always thought RDM was a stop gap solution. I was surprised even when he was made full time manager at the start of the season. But this? this is humiliating. I think RDM was gracious enough to take charge of a team for which no high profile manager would take charge (because of the Roman's whims) and just for this, he should have been given a full season before being changed.

Rafael Benitez would probably do good, he'll definitely help Torres find his goalscoring touch.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by vb-san

I don’t think Rafa can do any better than RDM in the Chelsea setup. He definitely will not be able to do any ‘project’ under Roman’s supervision. Only plus will be that Torres may get a bit of confidence back. And apparently they are trying to offer him an initial short-term contract until end of the season. Actually not bad, because there are no long term contracts in Chelsea.

Rafa Benitez is a vastly overrated manager. He was crap at liverpool and then took down a champion Inter team to the ground. He is gonna destroy all the good work chelsea have done this year.

Arguably it can be said chelsea have been the best ball playing team this season and I say that as a Man Utd fan. They have some great players and are playing the right way. They even had the best start in the league and were only hard done by a referee in the united game. Was not Matteo's fault. the only problem is they didnt get a striker in the summer. Banking on Torres was foolish (in retrospect). If only instead of booting him, Roman gave him a striker like Falcao or someone like that!

In a way, Roman deserves people like Rafa.

[vb-saan]

As expected, it is indeed Benitez! For now, a short deal until end of the season. For me, it looks more like a stop-gap arrangement, or buying time to convince Pep Guardiola for next season.

Originally Posted by joslicx

Rafa Benitez is a vastly overrated manager. He was crap at liverpool and then took down a champion Inter team to the ground. He is gonna destroy all the good work chelsea have done this year.

Oh yes, I fully agree. Being a Liverpool supporter, I always felt that it was his wayward management which took the team out of top 4. But now the good thing is (with Rafa around), there will be two CL spots free for next year. Good news for teams chasing behind the two Manchester clubs

[redballons]

Hi All,

Newbie here, but not a newbie to the forum, have been a lurker for a long time, but then today got the best news i've heard in a long time, my membership got approved. When i saw the email on my blackberry after i popped into work in the morning, i was like a kid in the park !

Once a blue always a blue, i've been a Man City fan for 12+ years, was based in Manchester for almost 10 years, but now back in homeland.

Whilst am disappointed to see my team go out of CL, its good in a way, finish last in the group, no more thursday night distraction, can concentrate on the league & may be FA cup. Quite frankly, if we had held on for 5 more minutes at the Bernabeu, who knows, but then that's football.

I remember the first derby after i relocated to B'lore ( 2010 ), put my City tee on, popped over to the Manchester United Bar & Restaurant, stood in the que to get in ( yep, there was big que which was stretching on the road ) . The looks and the abuse i got when i went in, i just loved soaking it all in. 1 blue guy in the middle of a red army, tells it all. There kids coming over to me, kissing their Man U badge, great atmosphere i tell you.

Though ManU won that match 2-1, courtesy of that overhead from some bloke called Rooney ( never heard of him ), i became frequent visitor there for all Derby matches.

The best thing ever was, when we put 6 past them at Old trafford, what a moment to savour, the whole bar did not want to make an eye contact with me , lol

shame the bar is shut now, will definately miss those times

if you reds in here want to watch the derby next month , give me a shout, would be fun.

Cheers

[champ27]

Originally Posted by joslicx

If only instead of booting him, Roman gave him a striker like Falcao or someone like that!

Falcao or Hulk would have been great for them. I any way don't have any particular liking for Chelsea but I am happy to admit that this season they have been one of the best in EPL helped largely by good buys like Hazard

But the problem with such teams who are purely built on the owner's money is that they can not sustain a high level of performance for long. That's why I have huge respect for clubs like Man U & Barca ( I am a big FCB fan) who have a system of home grown players and are able to churn out stars from time to time. Their youth academy has been an invaluable supply line for the senior sides. This has helped these clubs in not only reaching the summit but also staying there for long. Players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary & Phil Neville are examples of such a strong grooming system. Similarly La Masia for years has been producing some world class players. Half of the Barca & Spain players are products of the academy.

In the end there has to be a balance between pumping in money and having a good foundation system. Money can get you only so far. Roman just seem to be a self obsessed person who doesn't believe in stability. He just believes money can get you everything.

By the way any Barca Fans around??

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by champ27

Falcao or Hulk would have been great for them. I any way don't have any particular liking for Chelsea but I am happy to admit that this season they have been one of the best in EPL helped largely by good buys like Hazard

Well I am a Man Utd fan but I welcome the prospect of a very strong Chelsea. Its no brainer that a strong opposition can help you elevate your game and that is only a good thing, esp in Europe. if we look at 90s, utd were peerless in the league but not so good in europe (except 99). When Roman arrived and gave a free hand to chelsea to build a great team, Sir alex responded with building probably the best side during his reign. The 2008 team we had was a super team, it reached CL finals three times in four years and was only denied two european cups by the second greatest club team of all time. I think this was Fergie's response to Chelsea raising the bar, and I think we can hope for something similar again.

But the problem with such teams who are purely built on the owner's money is that they can not sustain a high level of performance for long. That's why I have huge respect for clubs like Man U & Barca ( I am a big FCB fan) who have a system of home grown players and are able to churn out stars from time to time. Their youth academy has been an invaluable supply line for the senior sides. This has helped these clubs in not only reaching the summit but also staying there for long. Players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary & Phil Neville are examples of such a strong grooming system. Similarly La Masia for years has been producing some world class players. Half of the Barca & Spain players are products of the academy.

In the end there has to be a balance between pumping in money and having a good foundation system. Money can get you only so far. Roman just seem to be a self obsessed person who doesn't believe in stability. He just believes money can get you everything.

I do not see why throwing money is seen as such a big issue? Didnt Barca themselves threw away so much money? If I remember correctly Pep spent almost 400m pounds in 4 seasons he was at Barca (that is more than what Chelsea have in last 4 and prolly only Real have spent more than that in that time.) Barca also have the biggest wage bill in world football, even bigger than moneybags city! Real and Barca also have an unfair advantage in Spain - they corner all the broadcasting money (they get at least 100m more than the any other side). They are happy murdering other sides every week but do not want to share TV money with them!

Life is unfair my friend. Your Barca or my Utd also indulge in all sorts of unfair things. we just tend to ignore and find faults with others, fans that we are.

[champ27]

Originally Posted by joslicx

The 2008 team we had was a super team, it reached CL finals three times in four years and was only denied two european cups by the second greatest club team of all time.

So, I get that you are putting Barca as the second greatest club of all time. Who is the first ? Yes, class of 2008 was one of the best of the lot. Tough luck that they ran into a rampaging Barca twice.

I do not see why throwing money is seen as such a big issue?

No issues at all. All I was trying to say is that just by throwing money one cannot sustain excellence for long. It also needs to be supported by a strong grooming system. One can win few titles for a year or so but if one doesn't have a good supply line of youngsters from the youth academy, chances are high that the team will be sorted out in due course. If clubs have enough money to pump in year after year, good on them!! At least fans will get to see good games and not a complete dominance of one team year after year.

Life is unfair my friend. Your Barca or my Utd also indulge in all sorts of unfair things. we just tend to ignore and find faults with others, fans that we are.

Undoubtedly, they do. But they also do a lot of other things that capture the imaginations of fans like us. Grooming youngsters and producing star players are one of them that very few clubs have been able to manage on a consistent basis.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by champ27

So, I get that you are putting Barca as the second greatest club of all time. Who is the first ? Yes, class of 2008 was one of the best of the lot. Tough luck that they ran into a rampaging Barca twice.

The best of all time for me is team Real side that had Puskas and Stefano! This Barca side, as good as they are, could not retain the european cup Actually by that parameter, this Barca side is barely in top 5. The mighty Ajx of Cruyff, Bayern of Beckenbaur and AC Milan in 80s all retained the CL.

No issues at all. All I was trying to say is that just by throwing money one cannot sustain excellence for long. It also needs to be supported by a strong grooming system. One can win few titles for a year or so but if one doesn't have a good supply line of youngsters from the youth academy, chances are high that the team will be sorted out in due course. If clubs have enough money to pump in year after year, good on them!! At least fans will get to see good games and not a complete dominance of one team year after year.


Undoubtedly, they do. But they also do a lot of other things that capture the imaginations of fans like us. Grooming youngsters and producing star players are one of them that very few clubs have been able to manage on a consistent basis.

Success is a habit and a self sustained cycle. Once you get in the groove, things start happening for you. The best young players would want to play for the most successful clubs (for example look at how Neymar wants to move to Real/Barca only while these clubs do not need him necessarily). So its easier for successful sides to keep the momentum going (unless there is a big time screwup) Conversely it is monumentally difficult for an average side to reach the top and sustain it. The big players would hardly come, the best young players wont come etc. You would have to hope to get lucky with what you have but we live in different times. its not gonna happen like that. Its easy to say groom players etc, but a team would have to get incredibly lucky to be able to groom 7-8 world class players from its academy. Only Barca has done that (and that is because Spain right now is brimming with hell lot of talent and also they can buy whatever young player they want).

Even Barca went thru a lull period in early 2000's and had to buy their way to the top. And then of course, the likes of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc emerged. Ajax grooms lots of young players but they are hardly the titans now that they were once. Since they are not consistently winning things, players move on to other bigger sides and they have to rebuild again! Its a viscious cycle and very difficult to move out.

Fact of the matter is - money speaks now.