EPL Talk » Avram Grant

Who Will Cash-Strapped Chelsea Sell This Summer?

tyduffy — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:55:20 +0000

Chelsea announced a £65.7m loss for last year, a staggering sum, particularly as it marks an improvement over the loose-pursed past. Though the tangible sum is less, the impact will be felt more, after Roman Abramovich as billionaire Roman Abramovich potentially lost the bulk of his fortune.

Abramovich’s woes have already affected Chelsea. The Russian owner gutted the scouting department, and considered forcing players to pay for their own lunches. His own contribution, the £23.1 million paid to Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant not to manage the club, undoubtedly escaped censure.

The summer will see changes, especially if Chelsea do not qualify for the Champions League. The primary target will be the substantial wage bill, £148.5m – Manchester United’s is just over £100m. The payroll accounts for over 70% of Chelsea’s turnover.

Chariman Peter Kenyon admitted there would be sales in the summer.

“Any squad structuring in the summer will be funded prominently by sales,” Kenyon told the Telegraph. “We have set ourselves ambitious targets, to require zero cash funding from the owner at the beginning of the financial year 2009-10.

The question then is not whether Chelsea sell, but who they will sell. The first group, whatever the transfer fees, will be the malcontents.

Didier Drogba comes immediately to mind. Making nearly £100,000 per week, he has scored three goals in 18 appearances this season. He’s not the 2006-07 dynamo, nor is he even the occasionally effective player from last year. His performance alone warrants an exit. Add his abrasive personality and he’s a net negative waiting to be excised.

Florent Malouda is another candidate for dismissal. He’s been the mystery man, so awesome before he came and so terrible since he arrived. Only the illustrious Shevchenko saves Malouda from being the biggest transfer disaster of the past few seasons. He can’t make the squad regularly and does not deserve to do so. Chelsea should sell him before everyone sees him as irredeemable.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech could be on his way out as well. He’s been off the pace this season. He really has not been right since his horrifying head injury. Cech was one of the players who reportedly submarined Scolari. He has played poorly. He is expensive. You can get a goalkeeper for cheaper.

If Chelsea are looking for straight ego excision, they may try to offload Anelka, Deco and Michael Ballack as well.

Chelsea may want rid of these players, but they won’t get very much money for them. If they are looking for instant book-balancing, or a substantial restructuring kitty, a marketable asset, one they’d like to keep, may be required.

Barring sentiment, John Terry should be the prominent candidate here. He’s not leaving England, so his market value is limited, but Manchester City seem to want him and £40m figures are floating through the rumor mill. Purely as a player, he’s replaceable. If Chelsea can get even £20m for him while removing his salary from the books, they should do so. Peter Kenyon says Chelsea won’t sell Terry. Who knows if Peter Kenyon will be there?

Michael Essien may fit here as well. Chelsea won’t want to sell Essien. Assuming he recovers from his injury, he’s their best midfielder. He’s versatile. He can hold with the backline or move forward and make plays. He would feature in any team in the world’s starting XI. At just 26 years old, every big side in Europe could use him. If Chelsea want substantial restructuring money, that may be their only option.

Chelsea have a hodgepodge squad, constructed with conflicting visions. What they really need is a long-term manager who can work with a reasonable budget to refashion a coherent squad, possibly David Moyes. Does a liquidity-crazed Roman Abramovich have the patience?

Portsmouth Sacking Adams Now Makes No Sense

Paul Bestall — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:56:20 +0000

Adams bids farewell

Poor Tony Adams, he can’t even win the headlines on the day he loses his job. Why have Portsmouth taken the decision to sack Tony Adams after the Liverpool game? It is an ludicrous decision to sack a manager after losing to Liverpool at home and especially a week after the transfer window closed for the remainder of the season. I could have understood the decision 10 days ago, but what changed in that period. As poorly as Liverpool are currently playing, a win would have been a massive coup for Adams and his beleaguered team but to be sacked after losing to the team currently sitting in second in the table makes no sense. It’s pointless and makes you wonder how long this decision had been brewing, though I thought this time last week that Tony Adams was a dead man walking. The comments coming out of the club were the sort that for anyone who’s followed football for a while that the warning signs were clear to all that could read them. The dreaded vote of confidence had been issued, the experienced player had made comments on the fact he thought they were going down. Adams stoically stated that he had the full support of Portsmouth’s board and fans.

Why didn’t they sack him after the F.A. Cup defeat at home to Swansea or the 4-1 home defeat to West Ham? Then I could have understood it more, but 3 of their last 5 defeats in the League have come against Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal. What did the board expect him to do in those games against top quality opposition, they also garnered a point at Tottenham despite being on the back foot for most of the game. What would have most clubs taken from those 4 matches outside the top 6?

There’s no doubting Adams’ reputation as one of the nicest men in football. A renaissance man in every sense, after much publicised battles with alcoholism, Adams threw himself into education, becoming a varocious reader of classics and under Wenger, had an indian summer as a player finding a new panache and ability in a side of sensuous footballing talent. He’s work in setting up the Sporting Chance Clinic in Hampshire needs no introduction or defence and he has worked tirelessly to assist countless sports men & women to try and beat their demons. Yet, I don’t think he’s ready to be a manager yet, he’s still a little rough around the edges and needs to hone his abilities more. Great players do not make great managers but time and again English clubs do not learn. Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, Alan Ball and Bobby Charlton all showed that an illustrious playing career does not guarantee you’re able to step up to become a good manager.

The only defence I can find for the Portsmouth board is that perhaps they liked Tony too much to sack him sooner but even so, they should have acted sooner or let him run until the team end of the season. It was clear to me that Pompey were in free fall but Adams had taken steps to steel up his team with the signings of Hayden Mullins, Angelos Bassinas, Jermaine Pennant and Theofanis Gekas and to be removed after only one game with the new signings is daft. That smacks of boardroom panic and the typical decisions of people who know nothing of football. To sack him after the run of games they’ve had would see 16 managers a year lose their jobs in the Premiership.

5 minutes from salvation

Their next fixture is a winnable one against Manchester City, who are dreadful away from home and would have given the club and Adams clarification on how poor they actually were. Yet the situation in the Premiership, with everyone outside the top 7 within 11 points of each other should have allowed Adams more time than he actually had. No-one is cut adrift yet by a long way and that could have been crucial but ultimately, it’s looks like an act to preserve Portsmouth’s sell on price, the Chairman Alexandre Gayamak is looking at recouping the £60 million he’s poured in to Pompey, they need a new ground and the team needs strengthening too. That’s easier to do as a Premiership club and now they need to find a replacement. Avram Grant anyone? The board in their statement today claim to have given Adams their full backing financially. I hardly see giving a manager a sixth of the transfer funds raised in January as fully backing him financially. If only he worked for Steve Gibson, he’d still have a job.

So where does Adams go now? Perhaps Tony needs a break from football and throw himself into charity work, giving him time to recharge his batteries. He’ll be gutted that he feels he let Portsmouth and their fans down, if nothing else Adams is a proud man and one who never shirks from a challenge. After the failure at Wycombe prior to his moving into Assistant Management, could he step back on the second or third rung of the management ladder and find time to get a club that will allow him the time to hone his managerial skills. If nothing else, I wish Tony Adams the best of luck whatever he decides to do.

Who’s Mad Enough To Become Chelsea’s Next Manager?

The Gaffer — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:44:44 +0000

Have you ever worked for one of those bosses who is almost impossible to please no matter how hard you try? You work, work, work and the ogre still isn’t satisfied. If so, you have an inkling of how it must have felt for Jose Mourinho or Avram Grant managing Chelsea and failing to impress Roman Abramovich.

So it comes as no surprise that there are few managers knocking on the door at Stamford Bridge especially after the way Grant was harshly treated. AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti dismissed the opportunity. Mark Hughes, rumored to have been on Chelsea’s short-list, joined Manchester City, while Roma manager Luciano Spalletti has said no.

That leaves a list rumored to contain Rijkaard, Scolari, Mancini, Laudrup and Christ.

I’m joking about the last contender but it does make you wonder if any manager can live up to the expectations of the Russian owner. The pressure is so intense than even a reported salary of £7 million a year can’t convince a manager to take the job.

Really, is it any surprise that Grant was so dour during his reign and is there any manager who can exceed what Jose Mourinho accomplished? And, oh yeah, can they do it with the panache that Man United did it with this season that Chelsea so wants to imitate?

If a couple more high profile managers refuse the Chelsea management job, Peter Kenyon and Abramovich risk turning their club into a laughing stock. Heck, even Chelsea Pies is beginning the lampoon the hunt for the next Chelsea manager.

If you were Peter Kenyon or Roman Abramovich, who would you approach to be manager of Chelsea and why? Please share your thoughts below.

Champions League Odds and Sods 2 April 2008

tyduffy — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:58:59 +0000

Liverpool and Arsenal had an Oscar and Felix feel. Both clubs are each other’s bogey teams. Arsenal’s Frenchified fancy dans cannot break down disciplined defenses and remain prone to adept counterattack. Lump and pray Liverpool struggle when forced to play chess on the ground rather than checkers in the air. The clash can create soccer nirvana or reaming vulgarity. This 1-1 draw had a bit of both.

If a side should feel aggrieved, it is Arsenal. They dictated the second half, only to shoot blanks. The Carragher rules apply to Dirk Kuyt, who pulled Hleb down in the penalty area without reprimand. Kuyt also picked this one match to maraud around the pitch like a crazed baboon, rather than remain oblivious. The match could hinge on the Pool’s away goal.

Apparently, Avram Grant rowing down the straits on his sinister raft of skulls failed to shock the obstinate Turks, as Fenerbahce beat Chelsea 2-1. The Dark Lord has vowed “not to rest” until the rematch next Tuesday, because he looked like he was sleeping well before. The match is more tabloid fodder than demonstrative, however. Expect Chelsea to close them out 1-0 next week at Stamford Bridge.

Roma tumbled without their talisman Francesco Totti, beaten 2-0 by Manchester United. The two teams play a similar style, but United is the seven diamond version. Isn’t Rooney overdue for his bi-monthly metatarsal injury

Premier League Odds and Sods 21 March 2008

tyduffy — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:32:33 +0000

Manchester United 2 – Bolton 0 Cristiano Ronaldo may be masking United’s problems, but he’s doing a damn good job. His record-breaking brace bumped the Red Devils into sole possession of first – one they are not likely relinquish. He now has something else in common with George Best, besides his number, his good looks and his whoring.

Chelsea 4 – Tottenham 4 It was an advertisement for Premier League football, but not necessarily a positive one. A few spectacular goals, but simple man-marking would have muffled many of them. That said, it was the most exciting match of this season. After blowing 3-1 and 4-3 leads in the second half – scuppering their title chances – Chelsea manager/death warden Avram Grant’s seat is now hotter than Kathleen Turner’s husky voice for men in their forties.