Chelsea fans sung Roman Abramovich songs over a silence for Ukraine at the weekend and today, the karmic forces of the footballing gods kicked into gear in the form of the British Government.
Sanctions have landed and they are BRUTAL.
- Chelsea can be sold but only if the proceeds don’t find their way back to Russia.
- Their club Merch shop is closed, they aren’t allowed to sell anything
- They can only spend £30k on away days, that’s £10k short of the average
- They can’t buy or sell players
The club is desperately trying to hawk the club to billionaires all over the world right now.
All the options are going to be bad because there’s no leverage.
Tim Payton put the terms in clear focus.
‘These sanctions are never going to be reversed. Did you see the charge sheet?? A test now of how much he really loved Chelsea or just himself. Hmmm. Also a test for Govt about sort of ownership it wants. Should really sell to plurality of fans. That is custodian & sustainable’
Chelsea will be sold, at speed, and that is always a recipe for disaster.
Bigger picture, this really does put the practices of the Premier League into sharp focus. The fact that Abaramovich isn’t even the worst of the ownership class really is striking. The UK has been happy to let thugs launder money and reputation through one of our most precious exports. It’s nice to think that this moment will be a reckoning, but let’s be real, it probably isn’t.
Onto the football side if things, this really is a disaster for Chelsea. Christensen, Azpi, and Rudiger all have deals expiring in the summer. Why would any of them sign on?
The entire Chelsea exec team has been built under a certain culture, used to certain terms of business. What happens to them?
How many of the potential buyers that they are talking to will have Roman Abramovich ‘fuck it’ money? There is a big difference between cash rich and asset rich. Roman had cash to burn. There aren’t many billionaires that are sitting on mineral wealth cash flows like him. Even if they are, a lot of them will have an aversion to throwing billions at sports trophies.
Unless they found another equally scuzzy character to buy.
One would assume they are not going to sell to someone of ill-repute. That basically leaves European billionaires or American franchise owners. If those moves happen, the ‘just spend, spend, spend’ years of Chelsea will come to a close.
… because let’s be frank here. The expensively disseminated PR campaigns of ‘Chelsea is actually very well run’ is a total fraud.
They have:
- A £70m keeper sitting on the bench
- A £100m striker sitting on the bench
- A £110m bill for sacking managers
I don’t see how you can call a club that buys its way out of every mistake well run.
Is the management team in place right now built to optimize to a new a reality? I doubt it. Will they want to stay around to find out? I doubt it again.
I also suspect that most people keen to drop £2b on a club will want to bring their own ideas to the table.
It’ll also be interesting to see what sort of a club is inherited by new ownership. Can it really just be business as usual? Can you cleanse Chelsea of the ties to a monster purposefully dropping bombs on a maternity ward?
3 are looking into cancelling their sponsorship deal. Will that be a trend. Does anyone want to associate with a tarnished brand?
I’m also interested to see what happens this summer. Will it be easier to sign Broja from them? Do the players that are signed there want to continue their service at Chelsea? Will Thomas Tuchel freak out and join Ralf Rangnick at Manchester United this summer?
Finally, you have to realize that billionaire owners spend fortunes on boutique reputation laundering PR firms in London.
‘Roman is just a man of the people, he ate a pork pie once, there are rumors he cried when John Terry left’
It’s all bullshit.
However, that money has now dried up. Just watch the press savage him. Watch them cleanse their conscious now they are free of the controls put in place during his rein. I’ve already seen ‘CHE
However you cut it, Chelsea just moved into the turmoil zone and I couldn’t be happier.
Right, short one today. See you in the comments.
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Newcastle have made relatively modest investments in the January transfer window and are unbeaten in the EPL since the beginning of January. We can assume that they will not be relegated this season and then we will see far larger expenditure in the summer transfer window. Let’s be clear they can probably outspend Manchester City. Arsenal are a heritage club similar to Liverpool albeit the latter have been more successful than us in recent times. The only way that these clubs can compete is by the sweat of their brow and smart recruitment and development of young players. We cannot… Read more »
Fuck Chelsea. They have been laughing at us and terrorising us with their endless money. I hope they get moved to the 8th tier.
Thanks for the confirmation, Pedro & Invincibles. Sometimes the memory can get a bit sketchy, especially something that happened twenty years ago, and it’s far too easy to make a fool of yourself on these forums armed with the wrong information. The odd thing about all this, was the purchase of Gio van Bronkhorst, a left back at Rangers, a left back in the CL Final for Barca against Arsenal, and captained the Netherlands at left back in the 2010 WC. I understand that Wenger was searching for someone to replace Petit, but to buy a left back to deliberately… Read more »
Herb GVB was a left footed CM…an exact replacement for Petit.
The fact he could play LB was a bonus just like Petit played left sided CB on occasion. Later on in his career that’s where he ended up.
The Chelsea situation is fantastic news for us. Abramovich was the only owner bar City who wanted to win football matches/trophies Hopefully a consortium of Amercians will buy them like the Glazers or Kroenkes, owners who don’t really give a fuck about winning. It will give us a leg up. Couldn’t be happier to see the downfall of the Chavs.
Rambinho Clearly van Bronkhorst wasn’t an exact replacement for Petit, because he failed to establish himself in that role, and after only a handful of games he was pretty much frozen out before leaving on a free to become Barca’s first choice left back, a position he also excelled in for his country. Wenger was well known for putting square pegs in round holes, so it wouldn’t have been much of a leap to give van Bronkhorst a few games at LB. Arguably he was more successful as a LB than as a CM, but Wenger didn’t show him the… Read more »
Hate to burst the bubble but Chelsea are very unlikely to go bust. Apparently there are several enquiries about purchasing the club even after yesterday’s news. The club will be sold, sponsorships renewed – with possible reductions – whilst the club is rehabilitated and bathed in the light of new ownership. I do agree with Pedro that the days of unbridled spending is over, although don’t dismiss the possibility of big spending in the first year of new ownership. The difficult part for Chelsea will be the players whose contracts are running down . One assumes the cash flow crisis… Read more »
Bill don’t disagree but they won’t get an owner as ruthless and dedicated to winning as Abramovich.
Unfortunately NOT a terminal problem
Totally agree Bard but I wonder if Abramovich could have bullied the market when there are two proxy state-owned clubs in the Premiership
Bills right.Unfortunately Chelsea’s demise won’t be terminal & it will play out the way you say.But the days of a quick fix,money no object are over.They will compete to a degree I’d imagine but on a much more level playing field.Which certainly won’t please all their new found ,glory hunting fans in America,Africa & south east Asia.These “ fans” are ONLY interested in trophy’s .Expect a big shift over to Newcastle in the coming seasons.
From a fan perspective Winning 2 CL 🏆, 5 premier league 🏆, 5 FA cup 🏆, 2 EL 🏆and 3 league cup 🏆 under a dubious speedy-crazy owner is not such a bad thing. Let’s be real, most fans will take that long term run in exchange for one season of negative press. Even when Chelsea gets bought by a run-of-the-mill owner who won;t open his wallet to fix their mistakes, they would still have done well. This current disgrace and pain won’t last forever but the 🏆🏆🏆🏆 they won under Abrhamovic are forever. Yea, Bill is right to put… Read more »
*spend crazy
Dissenter you’re right of course. They have been a successful club. My point is their demise, temporary or otherwise, makes things a lot easier for us. It only puts Citeh out of reach. Liverpool will slip back once Klopp leaves.
Is he right though? Because I don’ t think many if anyone on here said it would be terminal. But there is a big difference between top of the table and midtable and it’s hard to get back into CL as we have found out. And that’s what most were celebrating was the potential leveling of the competition at least a little and sometimes that’s all it takes is fine margins. Additionally we still don’t know what the government is going to enforce or not or how quickly they will sell the team. If they want it to be terminal… Read more »
The Bard
I agree that we have more opportunities because Chelsea’s fins aces are unraveling at the same time their crazy money owner is leaving.
Those sponsors [that already left] aren’t going to come back in a hurry. They will have a gaping hole in their finances for a while
That said they have lots of super talented youngsters on their books like Broja and Conor Gallagher that can come in a move the needle for them; won’t cost them a penny more.
Dampener? No no NO no NO NO no no NO no! (sexy beast). You can’t down play the fact that if this didn’t happen they would have eventually overtaken us as the third most successful club in English history. Yes they will still be competitive of course but the influence has been destroyed! yay! It’s gonna take A LOT of money and outrageous IQ levels to continue to be the same or even close. When their kit is manufactured by Kappa, shirt sponsor, bet365, sleeve sponsor, nandos, get a few player acquisitions wrong, lose key players to Newcastle, Us, Manure… Read more »
Curse
Maybe they will be the next Tottenham but that trophy haul isn’t going away, is it?
The competitive playing field may be now more level but their fans got a hell of a ride for 19 years.
Yes but there is a big asterisk now next to there trophy haul in the history books. Or a big Z.. if you will. The government is basically officially acknowledging that they used dirty money to do it. That stain will always be there.
Dissenter
The stench surrounding their success will permeate the atmosphere around Chelsea forever. They will never get credit for what they achieved . Tye world has changed and football success needs to be viewed through a very different lens .
Chanting Abramovich’s name, especially during a minute of remembrance defiles the club
MidWest beat me to it, yup Diss, they had it nice for a long time and I guess the majority in all walks of life are very familiar in turning a blind eye to evil. So they enjoyed it I’m sure, had it been Arsenal (according to reports, it nearly was) the success wouldn’t sit right with me, cos I would know it was cheating. In the case of the chavs it’s gonna be hard to forget and boast because it’s been highlighted to the world! There will always be a rebuttal to what they’ve won, even non football fans… Read more »
Im sure the govt will do a deal and keep the club afloat but its hard to imagine that the new owners will be happy to spunk £1.5b down the drain as written off loans. Also Granovskaia will more than likely go and it would appear she is the driving force implementing RAs will.
Dissenter.Yeah.But so did Nottingham forest.Supose the memories will keep them warm in bed at nights to stave off the nightmare they’ve got to look forward to.As old Weng used to say “ if you eat caviar everyday,it’s hard to go back to sausages “🤫
Oh & Diss.Every football fan & his dog around the globe knows Chelsea S” achievements “ are tainted.Chelsea scumbags at Luton “ we’ve won it all,we’ve won it all,Chelsea fc ,we’ve won it all”.Luton Town response “…You bought it all,you bought it all,Chelsea fc,you bought it all””
As I say,tainted.
The Bard- Yep plus they are on a deadline… about 2 months.. before they run out of funds,. So it will be a quick sale. It will be interesting to see who will take on that kind of baggage during the season as a new owner and willing to stop the bleeding immediately. Plus if Tuchel decides he doesn’t like the new owners or the situation .. they are screwed. So a lot of moving parts. And I am enjoying it very much as a brother of a Chelski supporter.. he has been incredibly silent.. haven’t heard a peep from… Read more »
“William Saliba, a man who commands the oddest of online cults” Not sure that there’s one (cult), but can certainly understand the high interest. Europe’s highest rated young CB with the style compared to VVD’s, who slipped through our fingers having been personally recommended by our man in Scotland, only to be picked up by Soton for peanuts and sold to Pool for a fuck you money they could afford to spend because of their own fuck you money they got for Coutinho. Whether he delivers on the hype remains to be seen, but considering the fact he’s lost both… Read more »
There one way & one way only they’re crawling out of this shit.And that’s if the Arabs rock up.
Midwest, Where’s the ‘rant’? You mention strawman arguments by creating one yourself 🤣🤣 There is talk of a cash flow crisis – in fact you mention it (20.56) There is much talk of lost sponsorship and you repeat this (20.36) – at the moment it’s paused – and it’s amazing how a new owner rejuvenates the perception of a club Then there’s talk of CFC being sold for less than £1b. I think all 3 points are overstated. This cones from someone who has wanted this day of reckoning to have come, but I blueve the sanctions have been too… Read more »
Bill_
The straw man is you said you were bursting everyone’s terminal bubble. First sentence. Except nobody said it would be the end of Chelsea. There were a few people hopeful, but that’s about it. And then you went on a long explanation about it.. Ok maybe not a full on rant. I’ll give you that.
I think most people agree with you actually. So no need to burst any bubbles. Of course as an Arsenal fan I want them to disappear into the black void of relegation or the 3rd tier. it’s only natural.
Football fans and by and large an odd bunch. I doubt that any will give two hoots about ‘tainted’ titles in the same way that Newcastle fans aren’t going to give a damn if their future success is built upon the corpses of women and children in Yemen or Syria. Not that our own UK government have clean hands selling the weapons that facilitate that of course.
My views might not be echoed by several but I look at the Chelsea sanctions and sponsors pulling out and laugh at the hypocrisy and Cancel Culture. Abramovich had decided to sell the club and give all proceeds to charity towards Ukraine. I know that is far better. The sanctions will cause a change in financial operations that will affect day to day working staffs. During COVID Arsenal sacked staffs and everyone was righteous about it. At the end who does these sanctions help, how do they help Ukraine? There is rivalry and there is fair game. But seeing some… Read more »
andy1886March 11, 2022 14:28:20
Football fans and by and large an odd bunch. I doubt that any will give two hoots about ‘tainted’ titles in the same way that Newcastle fans aren’t going to give a damn if their future success is built upon the corpses of women and children in Yemen or Syria. Not that our own UK government have clean hands selling the weapons that facilitate that of course.
Exactly. Well said
Also there is definitely a cash flow crisis.. not sure how that can be over-stated. It’s all been reported pretty clearly. They aren’t allowing any profit or revenue streams. It just means there is a deadline. Money will run out unless there is action to sell, no? And I agree they will sell before then most likely.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/17910290/chelsea-bust-abramovich-sanctioned-russia-ukraine/
”Abramovich had decided to sell the club and give all proceeds to charity towards Ukraine. I know that is far better.”
I think the exact wording in his statement was to all victims of Ukraine war, which is a broad and fairly loose statement.
Regular Russians suffering from Western sanctions ,could be argued, have also become victims of the war, not to mention the fallen Russian soldiers and their families.
Benkind and andy1886 …. And to add to that of course the second main country in the Saudi Coalition is … the United Arab Emirates who have been accused of war crimes there by human rights lawyers (just try a cursory search in Google to paraphrase what Bill posted about Chelsea) I must have missed all the posts about how our stadium and shirt sponsor (oh and take a look at the arm of the shirts while you are there) mean our success is tainted. There are even posters on here with emirates in their name At least Pedro named… Read more »
Sorry but y’all aren’t gonna put a damper on my happiness of RA and Chelski getting sanctions. You can try. 😀 But it won’t work.
Regarding Ashley Cole, the story is true but what is never mentioned is that Arsenal had a much better younger prospect in Ryan Garry who was planned as Sylvinho’s replacement in 2 years. Unfortunately Ryan Garry got a serious injury and even after 4 years or rehabilitation never reached the level expected of him. Ryan Garry made one appearance for Arsenal in 2002 against Southampton. He is a footnote in Arsenal history, but he could have been one of best. Sadly he is just another player who got taken out in a reserve game by no name Ipswich player he… Read more »
Chelsea have already started to lay off staff.
without cashflow injection they will be bankrupt by the summer.
That could not happen to a nicer bunch of fans.. /s
Looking forward to football this weekend.
I’ll be showing rare support for United on Saturday, but I could live with a draw.
Newcastle + Villa are both in decent form, hopefully they’ll do us a favour against Chelsea + West Ham
Leicester are a much better team than their league placement suggests, but we’re at home, we should be fresher, and we have to get this week off with 3 points
If I was offered 6 points from Leicester, Liverpool + Villa now, I’d probably bottle it, and take the points.
Jesus Christ! as a black guy living in Babylon, it’s irritating as fuck hearing the privileged anoint themselves as the moral police. I’ve had to come to terms that we will never be compensated for the 400 years of free labour and evil brutality, let alone acknowledged by the masses. Fine, it’s capitalism, sweep it under the carpet, doesn’t affect you directly so who cares that systematic racism followed and continues to fuck black people to this very day, like the red lining in America. it’s game of thrones ‘mate, Ukraine is just a pawn piece like Chelsea. Good intentions… Read more »
Chelski have been successful in the last 20 odd years after blowing up the playing field no doubt
Their Fans won’t give a hoot about their trophies if their next 15-20 years is not productive which is a very real possibility
They’re propped up on a fake foundation which is literally falling apart
What amaze me is the fact even if a billionaire come and buy Chelsea, unless he keeps the same business plan (i.e. finance to the of £100 millions every year), fans still expect the same sustained level of success. It is not going to happen. Nobody is going to squander £100 millions a year on a football club unless they can extract some serious benefit somewhere else. For Abramovitch, and the same for Qatar of PSG and ManCity, it is a PR washing objective. But that avenue is closed now. Instead of washing the stench of crimes by the new… Read more »