stevie boy

Hi Bats, long standing Chelsea fans like you(Have they always been your team)?? and various other fans that I know that have supported Chelsea through thick and thin, are quite rightly enjoying the fact that Chelsea have a sugar daddy. Fulham,s Al Fayed has kept us in business. And now that Man City are in the same boat is good for the city fans who are fantastically loyal. My problem with the Chelsea connection is that you see these bloody people with a Chelsea shirt on who have never been to a game. A guy I work with is a plastic Chelsea fan and famously said to me last season who are Fulham playing at the weekend?? it was Chelsea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The unfortunate aspect about Chelsea is that twat Terry, Excellent footballer but a loathsome individual. With the Man City takeover and spending it will be interesting how Roman reacts Oh for the days of Johnny Haynes,George Cohen,Bobby Tambling and Charlie Cooke.

batman

I have been a Chelsea fans since the 60s. The 'plastic' fans piss me off too, especially when I get tarred with the same brush. I think City are lucky to have such money come their way and if it makes the season more interesting I'm all for it. I know Terry has a big gob which he should keep shut, but he's no worse than some of the other Premiership twats .... you had a big enough one at Fulham in Malbranque. I to miss the era of Carlie Cooke, Osgood, Bonetti et al.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

batman

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

batman

Meanwhile ... back in real life.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

ringsider

Surely the Chelsea 'crime' was that they broke a very old mould and, mixing metaphors, there is no way of getting the genie back in the bottle.

Money has, of course, always influenced football supremacy, dating back to the game's very earliest days. But that supremacy was temporary, as the wealth in one area (eg the Lancashire cotton towns) gave way to financial muscle in another (eg the industrial growth of the northeast heavy industries). And it was British money, often very locally based.

In recent years, and leaving aside Man U's dominance in the Sky/Premiership era, lots of teams have been competitive without quite managing to grab first place.

But now in the Abramovich era we have a situation where being rich is not good enough. To win the top prizes you have to have a Billionaire backing you, and one who is prepared to spend lots of that money. Billionaires are rather thin on the ground, and they are foreign, with no allegiance to a particular Club. Football Monopoly if you will!

My own club, Arsenal, play good attractive football (most of the time), but they are not likely to threaten to win prizes until the wonderful new ground is paid for. Certainly not unless Wenger can find a new generation of superstars such as Bergkamp, Pires, Vierra and Henry prepared to ply their trade for less than top dollar.

I very much hope I am wrong, but I fear the current young side will always be found out at crunch time.


Regards - Bernie

P.S. Good Luck to Man City - we may eventually have a Big 5. However, a note of caution. Does Robhino know who Man City are? Has he ever seen them play, even on TV? Ambramovich made a good Chelsea side great. Does Robhino realise the hard work that will be required to bridge the gulf between City and the current Big 4?

batman

Pele and other Brazilian soccer chiefs reckon Chelski are lucky not to have bought Robinho because he 'needs counseling' and is 'not fit to be a Brazilian'. Man City's new owner reckons he's gonna bid £135m for Ronaldo in January, along with other bids for Torres and Gerrard. Big Phil has, allegedly, got the Big Hump already after missing out on Robinho .... all this and managers resigning, not being sacked et al ..... the football world has gone mad (business as usual).

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

billy bentley

Speaking from the "other side of the tracks" when it comes to monied foreign ownership. Hats off to Alan Curbishley, for refusing to act like a eunuch. He may not be a footballing visionary, but he's a solid East London lad and I am sad to see him go.

smiffy

I was saddened to hear of Curbishleys demise ,sounds like constructive dismissal to me . I agree with you Billy , he may not be a visionary but he knows the game inside out ,Capello and the FA could do worse than offer him a position in the England coaching staff . I know that is extremely unlikely ,as capello has his own backroom staff ,but I think Curbishley would be a great bridge between the players and the manager .

I May be getting older ,but I refuse to grow up

DB7

They bid £43m for Torres the day before they took over Citeh so I heard.

I never understood Chelsea's pursuit of Robinho either, he looked class as a youngster in Brazil but in Madrid he reminded me of early Manc Ronaldo; a lot of stepovers but little end product. It'll be interesting to see how he adapts in the nesh NW.

And god bless Newcastle for their continued attempts at being a laughing stock. Keegan has gone and Mike Ashley demands their collection of squad players get into the Top 4. I wonder what Dennis Wise did at Leeds that so impressed him?

batman

He made everyone think that it was him and not Gus Poyet who was the brains of the outfit.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

DB7

Spurs hardly look to be pulling up trees either.

It seems to be in vogue now that the board handle transfers, but sack the manager if their arrivals/exits backfire.

billy bentley

I think "vogue" might be the wrong word DB7, how about the "norm" or "standard business practise" ? Does anyone have any real sway over their board/ wealthy foreign owner(s) other than Ferguson ? I doubt it.

lordtednfs

I wouldn't be surprised if Ramos' neck is on the chopping block if we don't start getting a few results. We are playing so badly it's getting beyond a joke. I've watched all 3 matches so far and we have no star strikers now since Robbie Keane and Dimi Berbatov left. Good luck to them both and I will be praying hard for the rest of the season for better things.

________________
Hooked off the line

Amethyst_Isle

"When a football club who have endured years of ridicule find themselves in the hands of a man many times richer than Roman Abramovich, there is room for a new Manchester City. The strongest contenders for the role are Newcastle United, who are morphing into the club at which most people have a good chuckle and thank the Lord they do not support."




Ok, let's all laugh at Newcastle United, the new Manchester City | Premier League - Times Online

There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple.

billy bentley

Excuse me AI for being dim, but who "is many times richer than Roman Abramovich" ? The new City owner ? As for Newcastle becoming the new City, when did City ever enjoy the regular support (fifty thousand plus) the Geordies pull in ?