So as the international break rolls by two managerial heads have rolled.
It’s never nice to see someone lose their job so heartfelt commiseration to Dick Advocaat and Brendan Rodgers. However a club is within its right to sack managers when they feel it`s for the greater good, and sometimes it works out while sometimes it does not.
We aren`t here to talk about the merits and demerits of sacking managers of other clubs as it is of little consequence to Chelsea. What we are interested in is our situation. Post the defeat at Southampton, Mourinho said that sacking him would be a sacking the best manager we have had. Of course, any self-respecting individual will believe in himself. But what we are going to do is take a closer look at whether Jose’s belief in himself is justified or not.
At the same time people in footballing circles have raised a lot of points as to why he should be sacked. Some of the people who do this regularly on this site one must note were nowhere to be seen last year when the going was good. However they have now raised their ugly heads and drawn the knives out inciting everyone to call for a sack. For some it seems to be a full time job these days.
And the current situation Chelsea find themselves in is a Bumper offer, a once in a blue moon opportunity to take pot shots, and in general talk rubbish for some people. Fair play to them.
Everyone has a right to have an opinion. But for a while now I have seen so many falsehoods and narratives being spread here and on twitter and on other sites that I, Saber no longer find it in myself to keep quiet. I feel it`s my moral obligation to put out some truths, destroy certain falsehoods, expose certain hypocrisies so that the general reader can make sense of it all in the end instead of being misled by blatantly false and mischievous narratives.
So in the next few minutes we will discuss threadbare as many points as possible regarding this whole matter.
I must make a disclaimer that I do rate Jose highly and always have for a decade. But my points as to why I back him as you will see aren`t based on emotions but cold hard truths. Actual facts. Not gospel. Not hypocrisy and not falsehoods.
He is the best manager we have had :-
Let us start with this claim.
Chelsea never had the resources to challenge for the Premier league prior to the Abramovich Era. Unlike what rival fans will tell you we did do quite well given we regularly made a Europe and won a few cups every few years. But we know we were never in a situation to win the league realistically just like Everton or Tottenham today.
So in the interest of fairness to all parties we will only look at the years after Abramovich bought the club as it gave us access to top players and winning a trophy regularly was after this point a regular expectation
In the Abramovich Era Chelsea won
4 Premier League Titles
4 FA Cups
3 League Cups
1 Champions League title
1 Europa League title
2 Community shields
Note – I do not consider Community Shields and Europa League as major trophies but just for arguments sake people will bring up the ‘great achievement of the EL by Benitez’- so I will keep them on this list lest I be accused of being selective.
Out of these twelve years only 5 full seasons were under Jose given that he was sacked very early in the 07-08 season (a manager cannot win anything in the first 2-3 months of a season)
So we will compare the 5 years under Mourinho to the 7 years without him.
Three out of Four Premier league titles were won under him
ALL our 3 League cups were won under him.
And one out of our Grand total of 4 FA cups in the Abramovich Era were under him
And of the two Community shields one was under him.
If you take into account the Major Trophy haul (not including the community shield and the EL)
7 out of 12 of our major trophies were under him
Average trophies won per year under Mourinho – 1.4
Average trophies per year without him – 0.71
Percentage of trophy-less seasons under him (1 out of 5) – 20%
Percentage of seasons trophy-less without him (3 out of 7) – 43%
So just to be clear on this – we have 200% success rate of winning trophies under him than without him and 215% more rate of being trophy-less when he is not the manager as opposed to when he is.
Under, Mourinho – PL success (3 in 5 attempts) – 60%
Without him (1 in 7 attempts) – 14%
So we have a 428% better ration of winning the Premier league with him than without him.
Oh yes I fully expect a dimwit to pull out – ‘but he didn`t win the Champions League with us’
Well he won it, twice with other clubs and that too for peanuts (will explain later). Take the hipster’s Favourite Guardiola. He won it twice too but not at Bayern. So does it mean he`s not a good manager for Munich because by that sad logic he isn`t!
Thank God people have not said ‘But Jose hasn`t` won the Europa League with us’.
Now we compare the Abramovich years without Mourinho with his exploits elsewhere.
In the Abramovich years
Mourinho has had
1 Season at Porto (not counting his very successful previous season 02/03 as it was before Abramovich came in and I don`t intend to inflate Jose’s numbers unfairly)
2 full seasons at Inter Milan
(He took over just before 07-08 season ended in the final stage by which time it was Inter had no chance in any competition to win so I am not counting those few weeks)
And 3 full seasons at Real Madrid
Now here is a comparison of the 6 years Jose had as opposed to the 7 non-Mourinho years under Abramovich
League titles –
Mourinho 4- Chelsea 1
Success %-
Jose (4 in 6 attempts) – 66%
Chelsea (1 in 7 attempts) – 14.28%
Domestic Cups –
(ie FA Cups, League Cups, European Shields and their European equivalents)
Mourinho 5 in 6 years- 83% success rate
Chelsea 4 in 7 non Mourinho years – 57% success rate
Note – Portugal, Italy and Spain don`t have the equivalent of League (COC) Cup so technically we had 7 trophies more to play for as well.
Champions League –
Mourinho 2 in 6 attempts- 33.33%
Chelsea 1 in 7 – 14.28%
(More than twice the success rate)
So let`s cut the crap regarding him not being the best manager we had.
I have factually proven that –
1. His time at Chelsea compares better than the collective records all managers who were with us enormously
2. His time away from us also is enormously better than what we achieved in that timespan
It`s not even debatable…
NOW I know what some of our resident Trolls will say to this. As Foreign Viewer God bless his soul said recently – Even the likes of Pellegrini have shown that it`s possible to win trophies with a lot of money.
That Jose is a ‘chequebook manager’.
Let us examine this claim in the next segment.
Is Jose a Chequebook Manager?
Haters please look away as this will be quite embarrassing.
Before we talk of football economics we will understand the concept of net spend. I am sure the majority of you know what net spend is but for the casual observer I shall give a quick explanation.
Net Transfer Spend = money spent on purchasing players – Money earnt by selling players.
This is an important tool to assess how much financial backing a manager has got. You will agree that a manager has not really been ‘backed financially’ if he has spent a hundred million on players after selling other players for a hundred twenty million as opposed spending 100 million with very little revenue from sales. Correct?
So let`s start now.
How Much Has Jose Really Spent?
In the two years and three months since he has arrived.
We will compare the net spend of Mourinho as opposed to net money spent in 3 summer and 2 winter windows by
Pellegrini (City)
Moyes + Louis Van Gaal (United)
Wenger (Arsenal)
Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool)
Note – all figures of net spend in Euros
Manchester City – ?305 million
Manchester United- ?268 million
Arsenal – ?135 million
Liverpool – ?100 million
What was Chelsea net spend in the same duration of time?
Just ?60 million
So let`s just put this into perspective
Pellegrini has won a PL title and COC cup since he came here for ?305 million. Jose matched that trophy haul on 1/5th of that as his budget.
Since Jose came back
City have spent more than 5 TIMES as much
United have spent 4 Times as much
Even Arsenal have spent more than twice the amount and even Rodgers spent 66% more…
Since he has come back the Manchester clubs alone have spent over HALF A BILLION IN NET SPEND and won just a Premier League and Capitol one Cup and Chelsea did the same in ?60 million
Their combined expenditure in net spend is more than THE VALUE OF CHELSEA’S ENTIRE SQUAD…
Even bloody Wenger who uses lack of funds as an excuse for not winning a single Premier League crown for a decade has spent twice as much and so did bloody Liverpool.
We aren`t talking about our rivals spending ‘a little bit more’
5 times more by City. 4 timed more by United. More than 2 times by Arsenal and almost 2 times by Liverpool.
?60 million = 45 million <<< the transfer fee for Raheem Sterling / Kevin De Bruyne / Fernando Torres.
Chelsea net expenditure on average for the 5 windows he has had – £9 million on average (45/5=9)!
You have got to be kidding me if you think he is a chequebook manager.
Ironically his two CL titles have come for peanuts
In Porto over two full seasons he had a net expenditure of- 2 million (ONLY ONE MILLION PER SEASON)
In Inter Milan he had a net expenditure of 30 million (15 million per season)
Compare this with Pep’s 4 years at Barcelona – 165 million in net spend = 41.25 million per season
Jose’s 4 years in Porto and Inter – 8 million per season (32/4=8)
Pep spent FIVE TIMES MORE PER SEASON at Barcelona in the 4 years that led to 2 UCL titles as compared to Jose’s 4 years at Porto and Inter.
FIVE ****** TIMES!
And Porto and Inter did not have Messi, Xavi, Iniesta.
Now you can say ‘they weren`t as pretty as Barca’
Please cut the crap. you give one guy 1/5th the budget of another guy with far weaker teams not having the likes of Messi and Co and he matches what Pep does and you want style on 1/5th the budget!
Even bloody Klopp didn`t have that much of a financial differential vs Pep’s Bayern in terms of budgeting.
So now the trolls will say-
Fine you prover that he hasn`t spent in Chelsea the last 2 years or at inter or at Porto but what about the time at REAL MADRID
HA!
It`s easy to win with money right?
Pellegrini’s net Spend in his one year at Madrid- 120 milliion
Jose’s Net spend in his THREE YEARS at Madrid- 96 million
So
Hang on
He spent 32 million per season at Madrid in net spend
This is
1. FOUR TIMES LESSER THAN WHAT PELLEGRINI GOT
2. 33% LESS THAN WHAT GUARDIOLA’S BARCELONA SPENT PER YEAR (41 million)
That`s right!
GUARDIOLA spent MORE PER SEASON ON AVERAGE THAN MOURINHO AT MADRID
Take a deep breath
Let this sink in!
Recover. Relax…
Value for Money
How is value for money calculated?
Net transfer spend + wage bill (of playing staff alone) divided by the number of points won in the season
It basically tells you ‘how much bang you are getting for your buck’
We will now compare Jose’s performance in this regard!
Last year Chelsea spent 1.29 million per point earnt. This does seem like a lot but we shall look into other teams by comparison
Manchester United – 3.6 million per point. Three times less value for money
Manchester City – 2.9 million per point – more than twice
Arsenal – 2.4 million per point. Jeez that`s twice as less value for money than even the miser Wenger.
Liverpool – also higher on the list by almost twice.
But we have already mentioned that all 4 teams have spent way more and it`s not a surprise this new information
So which other clubs have spent more per point
Aston Villa? Yes
Newcastle? Yes
Everton? Yes
Keep scrolling down, down and don`t let your jaw drop
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United
Sunderland
QPR
Leicester City
Crystal Palace
Hull City
Yes the list keeps going on and on.
Out of 20 teams a whopping FIFTEEN TEAMS HAVE SPENT MORE PER POINT EARNED than Chelsea the eventual League winners!
The only teams that have spent lesser per point earned are
Swansea
Southampton
Stoke
Burnley!
We aren`t just talking about title rivals here. Mid-table teams and relegated teams got less value for their money than Chelsea.
And the rivals?
City, United, Arsenal Liverpool all spent twice or thrice as much as we did per point earned.
So not only are we as highlighted in the previous point spending a fraction of our rivals but we are also seeing more value for money (including player wages) than most Premier League teams let alone our Rivals!
And somehow Mourinho is a ‘chequebook manager’.
He Brings Us Into Disrepute!
First of all I don`t get what this obsession to be liked is.
Quoting the great Brian Clough ‘show me someone who is liked by everyone and I will show you someone who is wrong’.
So basically the narrative is that Mourinho’s abrasive personality makes people hate us.
There is a fundamental flaw in this narrative.
It`s not like we were very much loved when he wasn`t our manager. If anything our players and the club were bullied around even more.
Take the Hazard ball-boy incident – Hazard is one of the nicest players in the league. Doesn`t simulate. Doesn`t fall over easy. Doesn`t try to get opponents booked. He`s a model professional. An overgrown ball boy (ball teenager) falls over the ball. Before the game this ‘poor’ (son of a millionaire) boy tweets that he will look to waste time with hashtag TWT. Video evidence shows that Hazard didn`t kick him but the ball underneath him. None of this mattered as his red card wasn`t rescinded retrospectively like the laughable Gabriel incident. Mourinho wasn`t the Chelsea manager.
John Terry was baptized as a ‘wife cheater’ based on him ‘allegedly’ having an affair with the ‘ex-girlfriend’ of a ‘former team mate’, despite no concrete proof being offered by his accusers, all the evidence was based on hearsay! None of that mattered.
Tracking devices attached to his car.
Constantly hounded.
Then there is the racism saga where he gets banned by the FA despite being ‘cleared by the court of law’. Jose testified in court for his former captain.
None of this happened when Mourinho was the manager.
Then there is the Ovrebo incident. Chelsea got robbed. Drogba got banned. What happened to our friend Ovrebo? Zilch. Mourinho would have torn into him like he did with Frisk not caring if he gets screwed over as result, but hey we just took it lying down.
The number of times when United had offside goals. Double red cards to Chelsea. Penalties not given.
We took it all lying down.
Was Mourinho the manager? Was that why we got screwed over again and again and again and again?
Nope.
At least under him we have a manager that stands up and defends the club. He puts everything on the line for Chelsea.
Chelsea are hated with or without him.
And there is a cultural explanation as to why. You have to understand that majority of the pundits and ex-players and member of the footballing authority grew up in the cold war era where there was always a threat to England being nuked by the USSR. So when a ‘big bad Russian’ come in with his ‘roubles’ (seriously how often has that word been used to describe our money) it was just Evil manifested.
This is why you don`t get the same sort of hate for ‘Qatari petro-dollars’
To add to this
People in the media have grown up watching the likes of Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool win titles. Even if many of them supported other clubs they grudgingly admired these big clubs. So when a Russian comes in with his ‘blood money’ and disturbs the natural order and screws over these media darlings what else do you expect will happen?
With or without Mourinho we were and will be despised. The difference between when he is there and not there is that we stand up and call them out under him and take it lying down when he`s not around.
The other day I was reading about how the Carneiro Saga could affect our popularity and chances to increase our fan base and ultimately affect us commercially etc etc. sorry but we have done pretty well without getting any sort of positive coverage about how we time and again defend English pride and coefficient in Europe, how we are one of the few clubs to institute a minimum wage policy for our non-technical staff, for our outstanding work to help the community etc we have gone on to become one of the most widely followed clubs with fantastic sponsorship pulling capability.
We will be loved eventually. not now but ten twenty years from now when an entire generation of future pundits, football authority members and the rest of the football fraternity grow up admiring the club even if its grudgingly so.
Transfer Policy
A lot has been said about his transfer policy. Let`s start off with some of his and the club’s decisions –
1. Schurrle – A lot has been said about him being moved out. Schurrle has given details about the mysterious illness that plague him. It is a problem where the lymphatic drainage of the musculature in his lower limbs is blocked every now and then. And this leads to not just pain but the lack of ability to make quick movements and direction changes leading to his phenomenal loss of form. It amazes me how Wolfsburg agree to pay the amount they did if they were really aware of this problem. Also worth noting that Andre clarified that the decision to leave was his as his performance drop meant he wasn`t starting anymore.
2. Romelu Lukaku- I read an article the other day about someone claiming that it was a big mistake. Where was this someone when Sky put out a graph showing that our ageing 3rd choice striker Didier Drogba who did not have anything close to a good season still had a larger number than Romelu be it shots, goals or assists or chances created per min when unlike Drogba, Lukaku had consistent game-time. This is not to disrespect Romelu because I will always have a soft corner for a fellow Chelsea fan. But it`s very important to note that Lukaku wasn`t forced into leaving. He wanted to be clear first choice over Costa instead of fighting for the top dog role. The season before he was afraid to compete with a past it Torres, an ageing Eto’o and a Ba who was nowhere close to his Newcastle self. Now if you start making promises to players that they will be guaranteed a first choice role – every player will demand the same.
3. Mata and KDB – These are considered some of his more controversial decisions. Individually both players are brilliant. I am especially still a massive fan of the special Juan given the pure joy he gave me with his deft touches and ball control. He was a wizard.
When Mourinho came in Juan mentioned that Jose told him that if he would work with him he would make him a ‘Xavi’. Kevin De Bruyne was not discarded immediately.
They didn`t buy into what the manager demanded and hence stopped being starters. Is it harsh? Very much so given it`s always a shame that such technical players don`t make the cut.
But I do wish to draw your attention 4 players – Ronaldinho, Deco, Xavi, Iniesta.
Even Guardiola’s biggest fans don`t seem to appreciate that he demanded an insane off the ball work-rate under him. All players including Xavi and Iniesta were told to press like Rottweilers on crack with the ‘6 second’ rule to recover the ball.
You can say that it`s a crime to ask Mata or KDB to do dirty work.
But weren`t Xavi and Iniesta far better players? Was it a crime to ask them to work their socks off? And didn`t they fully agree to do it.
Is Xavi more athletically gifted than Mata or is Iniesta more blessed than KDB?
Two players of a big repute didn`t buy into this. The great Ronaldinho a bloody Balon d’Or winner and Deco. They were promptly shipped out.
Why? Because the team comes first. What exactly would motivate a Pedro, or Cuenca or Tello to press like mad and run around like their lives depended on off the ball work-rate if they saw the likes of Messi or Xavi or Iniesta not doing the same because ‘they were too good to do dirty work’
KDB’s numbers looked great in Wolfsburg but watch their games. Everyone had to work off the ball and then feed KDB who did absolutely nothing of the ball. Basically 8 worker bees working tirelessly for the glory of De Bruyne and Bas Dost.
Okay but at least did it benefit the team into collective success?
The best teams of this era were all based on insane hard work. Be it Barcelona, Dortmund or the Bayern treble winning side.
After losing to us in the final Ballack made a pointed observation next year as to why Bayern will win the UCL according to him. He said ‘Heynckes has gotten even the likes of Robben to track back all the way to the corner flag’
That was the difference.
A month later we would see Bayern decimate Barcelona 7-0. The best footballing performance of a decade. And shortly – the treble.
But here in England ‘tracking back’ is considered a crime.
4. Cuadrado and Salah – foreign viewer once said ‘we spent 28 million on Cuadrado. This is evidence that we are backing Jose financially’
Firstly we have a net spend of 9 million per window.
Matic and Salah were brought in with the money from Mata and KDB sales + profit.
Cuadrado was brought in for 23 million (not 28 as the add-ons haven`t really kicked on) from the sale of an ill Schurrle.
Every player we buy but moved on was either for profit, no loss no gain, or a small loss
Lukaku – money doubled
KDB – money doubled
Mata – profit
Schurrle – small profit
Salah- profit of 4-5 million
Eto’o- loan deal
Luiz- massive profits
Filipe Luis – sold for the remainder of his book value (thereby just a glorified loan deal)
If the deal between Juventus and Cuadrado goes through – it will be the only one deal where we incur a loss of a million euros.
No club in the world in the last 2 years has got 10 out of 10 transfers correct. But what Chelsea have done unlike other clubs is to move on the ones that don`t work out for whatever reason without taking a hit
Compare that buying Ibrahimovic for 40 million + Eto’o and selling him at a discount to Milan.
And the ones we have gotten right-
Diego Costa – 32 million buyout
Pedro- 21 million buy-out
Matic – undervalued at 21
Cesc- undervalued at 27 million (the previous summer United were ready to pay 45 million for him)
And to cap it all we haven`t exactly done Jose a favour by ‘allowing him’ to buy fantastic players at great valuation while having to finance himself by selling players and not even spending a fraction what is available to spend as per the FFP.
And given a choice what is the CB roster that Jose would prefer
Terry + Cahill + Zouma + Papy + Djilobodji
Or
Terry + Cahill + Zouma + David Luiz
No manager would like to sell players if he can keep them for a stronger squad. It`s pretty evident that Jose has had to sell some players who weren`t ‘absolutely necessary’ to finance his squad reshaping
There was a lot of outrage when Mourinho said ‘he was happy with the squad’ this summer and was only looking to upgrade his bench
He was accused of being complacent and overconfident.
Let me tell you this. NO MANAGER in the world is happy with what he has. No matter how good the squad a manager will never say no to the addition of even more quality thereby making his chances of winning even higher.
If Mourinho said ‘I have submitted my list to the club and if they get the players great. If not I`m happy with the squad’ it`s because he unlike his last stint of eggs and omelettes and Harrods and whatever- toed the club line.
When the club failed to land John Stones and gave him Papy Djilodji instead he didn`t complain. In fact he credited the French scout ‘Guy Hillion’ saying he ‘trusts him’ because he was the one who recommended another player from France (Kurt Zouma)
He has also made it clear that the club transfer policy is based on a give and take where the club gives him some players as long as it`s financially within defined limits and the remainder of the incoming players would be based on the Global scouting Network headed by the likes of Emenalo and De Vissier.
Does anyone remember the predictions on his appointment that he and Michael Emenalo would become arch rivals? Last I saw the two together they were high fiving each other after the Arsenal game.
So who do we blame for our ‘lack of ambition’ and ‘intent’ and ‘complacency’ in this transfer window?
If not Mourinho then it must be the ‘Big Bad Board members’ right?
Wrong
In my next segment I will reveal more…
Why Aren`t We Spending?
And whose fault is it?
Throughout the summer a lot of fans were taking pot-shots at the club / board / Jose for showing a lack of ambition in the market.
Some thought it was complacency or overconfidence while others claimed it to be due to pure lethargy. While many people put forth their lala land lists of transfer target not many have paused to think why we are no longer spending big.
Is it down to Jose?
No manager no matter how highly he rates himself or the squad will ever say no to more quality players. If Jose said he`s happy with what he has it`s purely down to him toeing the club line
Is it down to the board or Abramovich?
Again the answer is no. Roman has been a dream owner who is really passionate and will go the extra mile for his beloved club.
The problem lies with our stadium redevelopment plans and a tiny section of the fan base called the CPO.
When there was talk of moving to a new location and building a bigger stadium to take care of us for 50 years from now. Roman knows that he won`t be around forever and the Abramovich family may not be rich forever. In his infinite wisdom he is trying to make the club self-sufficient even after his death so that we don`t decline.
But a section of the CPO questioned his motives and refused to sell their shares to the club.
In doing so they have harmed us for the next 5 years minimum.
The cost of building a new stadium is around 600 million tops. To finance a portion of this revenue would have been generated from the sale / property development of the Bridge which would have gotten us 300-400 million because the area the Bridge sits on is one of the poshest real estate locations in one of the poshest cities in the one of poshest part of the world.
So the net cost of building a new stadium would have been 150-200 million.
But because this was blocked. Because some people were worried about the ‘commute’ and some people thought of ’emotional attachment’ to the Bridge – we have had to redevelop.
The cost of redevelopment is half a billion. It`s a cost that is almost as high as building a brand new stadium because of the architectural challenges involved.
So what could have costed Abramovich 150-200 million will now cost him half a billion.
Our amazing owner let me remind you has already spent a billion on all aspects of the club including training facilities etc. he has also at the time of his death willed that Chelsea will inherit 500 million over 10 years. Add another 500 million now.
That takes it to 2 billion.
A THIRD of his wealth. Roman though wealthy isn`t your Sheik Mansour who is so much wealthier that what he spends on City is peanuts.
After spending a third of his wealth Abramovich simply cannot keep backing us every year. What`s worse revenues generated by Chelsea will now be used in part to soften the blow.
The club does not want to admit this for a very clever reason. Admitting it like Arsenal did will send out a message to a potential sponsor that Chelsea will no longer be able to pay crazy money to stay competitive and will have to be beat the likes of City or United with 1/4th or 1/5th the net spend. That would bring down the amount of money any sponsor would want to commit on us.
If Arsenal aren`t able to attract the kind of deals Chelsea (Yokohama) and United (Chevrolet) have it isn`t because Arsenal don`t have a decent global fan base. It is because sponsors realize that the likes of City and United and Chelsea were hijacking their deals. And Wenger has to operate on a smaller budget.
We are in a very Arsenal like situation but it would be foolish for the club to admit it.
The club used the FFP narrative for the last few years. Now that FFP is almost scrapped, we are putting out stories that irrespective of FFP Chelsea are moving towards financial prudence.
Fact of the matter is that till 2020 at least we cannot do what City and United are doing. We have to buy smart. And if we buy a big player we have to be 100% right. And if a player underperforms after purchasing him like Cuadrado for example – we have to sell him like a hot cake before the value drops. We can`t afford hits.
And further Jose has had to sell any player who can generate massive revenue if he isn`t ‘absolutely essential’
No manager likes to sell a quality player if he doesn`t fit into the system. In the absence of such a scenario a manager would prefer to train the player for a year or two and mould him somehow to his requirements. But Jose neither has the time nor the financial luxury of doing so.
He has to win today. Now. And if a player doesn`t fit soon he has to use the said player to generate money to get other players with qualities to hit the ground running for Jose.
Wenger sympathisers have defended his lack of a PL title in over a decade as due to lack of funds equal to other clubs. But last year when Jose did it and for the next few years at least Jose has to win by using Wengernomics.
It`s a testament to his adaptability as to how he adapted quickly and built a model of financing himself and remaining successful.
Youth Policy
People who cry about youth are the first ones who call for the sack of managers as well.
You have to understand that promoting young players and succeeding go hand in hand with managerial job security. No manager in the world is going to give a tosh about developing a kid over playing an established player if his job depends on immediate success.
Sometimes I hear about ‘why can`t we develop our own Sterling or Stones’
Understand this – Sterling or Stones weren`t given ‘chances’ because either Liverpool or Everton love to promote kids. It`s out of ‘sheer necessity’
When Liverpool bought Downing for 20 million – he failed. And Liverpool did not have another 20 million to spend. And given that Downing was so poor even if Sterling was half decent it would still be better. Had Liverpool had money to blow I assure you they would have gone out and bought a top winger.
Everton are a club that knew they had an ageing backline. They simply don`t have the access to a CB. Either they buy a past it formerly good CB like Rio Ferdinand or Ricardo Carvalho or they take a shot with a promising kid in a lower league.
These clubs aren`t giving chances because they love kids it`s simply because they are doing it out of sheer necessity not choice.
Wenger is often used as a template of development. But Wenger has the ultimate job security and can go season after season trophy-less. And again Wenger’s love for kids is out of necessity not choice. Now that Arsenal are coming out of their stadium costs Wenger is slowly starting to spend again on the likes of Ozil or Sanchez and not buying kids.
Now the comparison to Wenger is important as Jose is working on a budget that dwarfs his first stint with Chelsea. But given the fact that Chelsea will not accept 10 years without a title Mourinho cannot go into total youth team mode. He will have to strike out a fine balance between injecting young blood and staying competitive.
My policy in this matter should be 2 under 23 players being integrated into the team every year.
Mourinho is aware and has been aware for quite some time that its inevitable JT takes a bow soon. Instead of buying a top and ready-made CB like Hummels for example he carefully integrated Zouma into the first team- a player who has started or come on as out sub in our important games.
This year especially has been very encouraging – Kenedy has already played far more meaningful minutes than the previous 4th choice wingers -Salah and Cuadrado did. And RLC has already had more minutes than all of last season. they are both now in the stage where Zouma was last year and there are strong signs that they are definitely in our long term plans and could become starters within 12-24 months if they continue to work hard.
I fully expect someone to say ‘But Kenedy isn`t from our academy’- yes, neither were Sterling or Stones from the Liverpool or Everton academies.
To be honest it doesn`t matter which academy the young players are from. For example – Patrick Bamford isn`t our academy product and Isiah Brown already debuted for West Brom when he joined us – but does that mean we won`t be as happy if they made the cut as opposed to a Solanke or Baker.
This time around, given how young players both out of financial necessity and choice are carefully being integrated year by year – this is very good progress.
While talking about youth it`s also worth remembering that there is a huge time gap between their debuts and then become regular starting 11 players.
Take Messi for example. He didn`t immediately start off playing week in week out at Barcelona. He was injury prone and frail. It took a slow and careful process of 12-18 months of carefully planning his diet and giving him a special therapy team to make him injury free before he became a regular starter.
People think that all of a sudden a Kenedy should be starting week in week out or RLC just a few months after his debut should be a starter .it never works like that at any club. They are drafted in over 12-18 months just like Zouma was the last 12 months.
The fact that they are already getting serious minutes means that like Zouma they are in the 12 month process of becoming regulars. And that is if they continue to work hard and learn as much as possible.
Hypocrisy
When the Carneiro saga happened as someone posted on the thread – typical Mourinho blaming someone else for their failures, let`s bring in Pep.
This made me laugh.
I am a doctor. Let me tell you how I read this scenario –
Mourinho was upset at Carneiro and Fearn. He blamed them in a post-match presser for being naive
I don`t wish to go into detail about this episode and deviate.
I am not going to condone or condemn either Jose’s rant or Eva’s response as I`d have to write a separate article to explain my viewpoint and make this already long article longer.
Let`s stick with –
Was he blaming her for the draw? No.
He was rightly or wrongly criticising her and fear for being ‘naive’.
The joke is the next line where after calling for his sack over the Carneiro saga – people recommend Guardiola.
Let me tell you why it`s hilarious – Guardiola ACTUALLY made the Bayern Club doctor, a legend in sports medicine resign because he squarely blamed him for a defeat.
To me this is far worse as a doctor.
A manager having a disagreement with a doctor because he lacks medical knowledge is one thing. As in the case of Jose. But a manager actually blaming a doctor for a defeat is far worse.
So you really have to be thick to on one hand call for his sack over the Carneiro saga wrongly reasoning that he`s shoving the blame for the result on her and then recommend a guy who ACTUALLY DID THAT a few months ago as his replacement.
The sexism angle is a bit silly too. You don`t have to be Portuguese to listen to the clip and hear ‘filho de puta’..some Spanish mischief makers said he used ‘hijo de puta’- both filho or hijo mean ‘son’… I read an article in The Mail saying Jose called Carneiro a ‘son of a ****’. Now picture yourself having an argument with a lady. There are a 100 expletives you would use in your anger. But ‘son of a *****’ isn`t one of them as it is a gender specific expletive that applies to males. ‘hija’ or ‘filha’ – daughter. But the audio has the first word that 100% ends with ‘oo’ as opposed to ‘aa’. Which is why even the Portuguese interpreter the FA used to look into the case found nothing to recommend the charge of sexism. I mean even if the FA has half a chance or half an evidence to screw us with – they always had. So if there was even a 5% chance that the expletive was aimed at Dr. Carneiro – they would waste no time on pressing a sexism charge.
Is it okay for Jose to call someone be it Fearn a ‘son of a *****’- no.
But if you have to ban him for that you have to start banning every manager or player. How many times have we seen players asking refs and linesmen to ‘**** off’ or managers use swear words on the touchline.
I fully support any new regulation that prevents this as kids of an impressionable age watch this. A universal and consistently applied rule would be good.
But let`s cut the crap as far as:-
1. Blaming her for the defeat
2. Sexism
Angles are concerned.
Our Current Position
We are 16th on the table.
Firstly it`s bloody October and the season doesn`t end here.
A manager who was recommended for the job here – Klopp. Was in the same position for a majority of last season.
Did the Dortmund fans call for his sack?
NO!
Please don`t say – Klopp didn`t spend much that`s why.
Jose spent £9 million per window on average.
Don`t say it`s because Klopp won them titles. So has Jose.
It`s simple.
Dortmund fans aren`t fickle or crazy. They realized what they had and backed their man. If they hadn`t given Klopp the time he took to get them to win Dortmund wouldn`t be as successful.
Similarly – had united sacked Fergie after 2-3 barren seasons or slow starts they wouldn`t be the most decorated club in England today
And suppose we had sacked Jose and Klopp reached a similar situation next year or a couple of years – would we sack him as well.
This brings me to my final point of the article. The most pressing and compelling reason why sacking Jose would be an unforgivable error.
The Dynasty
Jose is here for the remainder of his managerial career. He isn`t saying that now to look good. He has said it even when he was successful last year, during happy times- that the only way he will leave is if Abramovich asks him to. That he intends otherwise to spend the remainder of his career here. That he`s already had all his adventures and conquered the only 4 leagues he thinks are important – Portugal, England, Spain, Italy. He has reasoned that France and Germany is a one horse race where if he were to win a title with PSG or Bayern there would be no glory in it for him.
I read a few conspiracy theories here that he wants to get sacked because he`s angling for the PSG job.
Understand this – he is at a stage of his personal life where his family need to settle. His daughter is enrolled in a college and his son in an English club. If he were to leave the country again he would have to leave behind his children and wife and the man can`t take it as he has spoken about how horrible it was to live away from them at Leirea for a year that too when they were still young.
From the professional point of view getting himself sacked is going to damage his legacy and winning a ligue1 title isn`t going to patch that up.
So let`s be clear on this. He wants to stay.
He signed an extension. ‘An undeserved extension’ as foreign viewer puts it – after winning the title after 5 years for the club? Is Pellegrini’s extension deserved then or was Fergie’s extension deserved when he was in a barren spell in the early noughties?
A manager gets an extension after achieving something. Usually after winning things they ask for a hike in salary. Jose stuck to the same salary voluntarily. Doesn`t seem money hungry to me that move
He did it because he wants to stay for the long term. He probably also did that as his contribution to the club given the financial austerity we are in.
Take Fergie’s autobiography. It was said by some media journos that ‘Mourinho cried’ when Moyes got the United Job. Ferguson has made it clear that he was well aware that Jose would be heading to Chelsea. That Jose told him he gave Mr. Abramovich and by extension Chelsea his word.
How do you think that conversation between the two came about? That Jose rang him one day and just said ‘Hey big boss I have a secret pact with Chelsea’
Nope
More like this –
Fergie calls him to enquire what his future plans are at a time when he`s recruiting the successor. Jose the reveals that he gave Chelsea his word.
Jose obviously isn`t going to come out and say ‘I turned Fergie down’ out of respect and Fergie on the other hand quashed the silly story about Mourinho crying.
That`s mutual decency and respect.
After the interview Jose said ‘I came here because I love the club. Because I was told we were going to take a different direction as a club’
He came back out of love and is willing to commit the next 10-20 years i.e the remainder of his career.
Now we all have our lists of managerial favourites.
For some it`s
Jose > Pep > Simeone > Klopp > Carlo
For others the names interchange, unless you are of the foreign viewer type who is so full of hatred that according to him everybody > Jose
Whichever side of the fence you are in-
Jose is if not the best one of the top three managers in the game. Correct?
Here is the point.
Say we sack him and hire a Klopp / Guardiola
Scenario 1 – They do well at the club and after 3-4 years wish for a new challenge or a more lucrative job and leave
Scenario 2 – They go through a bad patch or season and we sack them just like we sacked so many managers before.
And we are back to square one.
Please keep in mind that the next 7-8 managers will find it twice as hard as all the ones between 2008 and 2013. Why?
Because we are no longer the top club financially in England let alone Europe at least till 2020.
And the final catch.
A club has the luck of once in 40-50 years to get a great owner.
But only once in a blue moon does a club get the chance of having a top 2/3/4 manager committing 10-20 years of his life.
If Ferguson didn`t join United and if they sacked him we wouldn`t be looking at 20 titles.
Liverpool were lucky to have the Shankly / Paisley duo.
Leeds reached a pinnacle before that because of the Don.
To me it doesn`t matter if it`s Mourinho.
If you gave me Ferguson or the ghosts of Paisley or Shankly or Clough.
If Guardiola were to say I commit 20 years to Chelsea.
If any top 2-3 manager were to give that unconditional commitment
I would back them all the same way.
What people need to understand is that this is a HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY.
A once in a 100 years opportunity for the club. Our big chance to knock United of their perch like they did to Liverpool.
2-3 years under another manager no matter how successful doesn`t compare to what we have at hand.
A dream opportunity to live through what united and Liverpool did.
The name of the manager doesn`t matter. Circumstances have chosen that of Ferguson, Clough, Guardiola etc it was a great manager named Jose Mourinho to lead us.
Throw this away and we are throwing away a golden chance.
If we sack Jose now. He has been clear. Very clear. That no club barring Chelsea ever sacked him.
And he still came back. If he gets sacked twice he will stay in England and join a rival.
Imagine this – Jose at Old Trafford for 20 years.
United aren`t as fickle. They gave even David Moyes a full season and didn`t sack Louis Van Gaal despite just making top 4 spending 4 times more than the champions.
People worry about what Cech will do for Arsenal and everyone was crapping worrying about a 36 year old Lampard at City.
If you think this is a bad dream.
Jose wiping the floor with us for 20 years is the mother of all bad dreams.
And let me make it clear. It will be Jose + 4-5 times our budget. Not Jose spending £9 million per window.
A Mourinho who will have the financial access to buy the very best players.
Twenty years from now when your son asks you, ‘Pop, United just won their 35th title. Why aren`t Chelsea so good?’
And then you say – ‘We had a chance. We blew it because we were fickle and silly. And your daddy has watched the consequences with his **** in his hand for the last two decades’
And if you think the likes of foreign viewer or shlok are going to share your pain- being the glory hunters that they are they would have long switched allegiances to another club.
Let`s be clear. Backing Jose and backing the club aren`t mutually exclusive concepts. Chelsea will always be Chelsea with or without Jose or Abramovich or me or you.
Chelsea is eternal. Chelsea is forever.
But it takes an ounce of common sense to realize that backing him is the best thing for the club we so love.
So here I am, I, saber sign off borrowing the phrase of Trevor Noah the new host of the daily show by saying ‘the war on bullshit continues’
(You can follow me on twitter – @partha12)
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