EPL Talk » Peter Kenyon

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?

Chelsea Dig Their Own Grave

Johnathan Starling — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:19:56 +0000

I must have been the only Chelsea fan in the world who wasn’t surprised by today’s news. Realistically with the FA Cup the only legit chance of Chelsea winning any trophy this season, the move had to be made now. Had Scolari been in charge Saturday when Chelsea went to Watford, Chelsea would be out of the FA Cup. You can call that last statement a bit harsh, but with the recent form Chelsea have shown, it would have been Barnsley all over again.

Back last sumer when the announcement was made, I was the only one I knew who did not like the hiring at all and went as far as to say on my CSRN show that he should have never been hired to begin with. Call it a gut feeling, but with the performances Chelsea have had this season, it was going to happen. Now it’s time to start putting the blame on who really needs it.

1) John Terry. The man who has been bailed out by Claude Makelele and Ricardo Carvalho more times than one should have to count needs to be top on this list. Back when Jose was manager, he was already trying to angle his way into management by having language written into his contract saying that he would be allowed to get into management at Chelsea once he retired as a player.

Being Chelsea captain, he has the biggest influence on the players and his leadership of late on the pitch has been downright pathetic. His public campaigning for the England National Team captaincy despite the relative silence from the other candidates (Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, even Frank Lampard) downright stupid and shows the selfish nature of his own being. If it’s not all about him, he’s plotting a way to make it all about him.

When Avram Grant was in charge, the papers ran roughshod over their feelings it was John Terry managing the club, not the man who got Chelsea into their first Champions League final. Hell he even got a personal phone call from Roman to be personally told that Scolari was sacked, almost as if John Terry has been asking about it already. Though to be fair to Terry, Frank Lampard got that same phone call.

About the time Chelsea lost their first game at Stamford Bridge in over 4 years, John Terry mentally shut down, and took the rest of the club with him. His health has been questionable the last couple of seasons, his body unable to withstand the way he plays. If anything, the captaincy needs to be stripped and given to someone who is going to put the needs of the team above his own.

2) Roman Abramovich. I question his commitment to keeping this club stable. Four managers in five and a half years, only one getting more than season doesn’t exactly give the club you own any hope at being stable. Taking orders from players with regards to how your club is to be run makes you look weak.

He’s an ego that has to be the biggest one in the room. Forcing Andrei Shevchenko onto Jose Mourinho could be pointed to as the moment the relationship between those two went south, and the opening it took for him to start listening to players demands over what was right for the club. Once Mourinho was gone, Roman’s ego dictated to the managers that followed they had to use Jose’s team, not a team of their own.

Had Roman let Jose manage the club and not meddle in his affairs, this blog is not being written. Had Roman understood that it’s his job to not cave into players demands, this blog is not being written. And above all, had Roman run this club like a proper footballing club, this blog is not being written. Notice the owners of Manchester United, Aston Villa and Arsenal, they leave their managers alone and let them do what they do best.

3) Peter Kenyon. Why the hell is he on vacation right now? In fact I think the entire time he’s been at Chelsea it’s been one long vacation for him. As long as he stays so far up Roman’s backside, he will probably get a free pass but his personnel decisions should see him sacked. He was nothing more than a bit player at Manchester United in the grand scheme of things. Now that he’s got run of the mill on decisions Sir Alex Ferguson made, he’s proving to be nothing more than a laughing stock. He couldn’t make the same decisions that Sir Alex Ferguson routinely made and it makes you wonder if he wasn’t already out the door at Old Trafford after not getting Ronaldinho? If anyone’s head at Chelsea needs to roll the most, his should have already been gone.

4) The Fans. Sure they were happy when Ranieri was sacked, but that was because they had Jose Mourinho come in. Once Mourinho left, they were never going to give Avram Grant a chance. They got star struck once Scolari was hired but turned on him quicker than they did with Avram once results didn’t go their way. Now the fans have gotten their way again, let’s see if they will start calling for the players to actually do their job on the pitch.

Chelsea have work to do if they want to dig themselves out of this mess. Hiring a long term manager is a start, and right now that isn’t Giofranco Zola/Steve Clarke. What Chelsea need is an experienced name that is going to take no crap off the players and tell Roman that he wants full control. If full control over player decisions doesn’t come, don’t expect a big name at Stamford Bridge. If somehow a big manager comes in under the conditions Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luis Felipe Scolari left, expect more money to be added onto the 60 million already paid out to former managers.

Fans also need to be more realistic in their expectations. Pre Roman, getting into the Champions League and a deep cup run was the highest of expectation, now they have to be in the running in all competitions entered, winning at least one or two. That’s not going to happen with the lack of stability Chelsea currently have.

Only Manchester United Can Stop Liverpool Winning The Premier League

Paul Bestall — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:40:05 +0000

Well they’ll be dancing in the red half of Manchester this morning after the fantastic day December 29th turned out to be for the Red Devils. Firstly, I awoke to discover that Steven Gerrard had been arrested after a night out in the Liverpudlian Rivera, or Southport as it’s really known, apparently after having an altercation with a DJ who wouldn’t play the music he liked, but no word if Gerrard wanted his favourites from Phil Collins or Coldplay on the decks: Note to self, never, ever book Steven Gerrard to DJ at a party. As I write this, Gerrard has been charged with assault and affray and has been bailed to return to the Magistrates on January 23rd. Ironically, as is the way with such things, Liverpool have to entertain Everton in the Merseyside derby on the 19th, so Everton fans will no doubt be composing suitable ditties as we speak. Can Gerrard maintain his excellent Christmas form after this?

Secondly, United won 1-0 in the evening kick off against Middlesborough in a laboured performance that only seemed to settle down when Gary Neville and Paul Scholes joined the fray seconds after Tuncay had missed a glorious chance to put Boro ahead. United had plenty of chances and possession but Middlesborough stuck to their task manfully and made United work to get the three points through Berbatov’s smashing volley under pressure. The post Christmas fixture list is usually when Manchester United begin to grind down the leaders, slowly, methodically, patiently, knowing that 10 Premiership Trophies shows exactly what their rivals fear the most, they’ve been here so many times and even misfiring up front, keep garnering the points to move them upwards.

Even though they’re struggling for goals, only scoring 9 in the last 7 matches, they’ve still collected 17 points, four more than Liverpool and seven more than Chelsea over the same period as well as winning the World Club Championship and moving into the Semi-Finals of the League Cup. Now that’s ominous form and with Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all yet to go to Old Trafford, Ferguson knows that the Premiership is in his own hands, win all three of those games and United will be Champions again. Forget Chelsea pushing Liverpool, they’re all over the place at the moment, simply showing what an important and under-rated player Michael Essien really is to the Blues. Normally, with the transfer window opening, you’d expect them to go out and sign 2 or 3 players, but probably not this year, apparently all they need is a striker. Peter Kenyon has said so, so it must be true.

Manchester United’s next home game is crucial to Chelsea’s faltering title challenge as the Blues continue to struggle with absences, enforced and self induced, to keep pace with Liverpool and hold off United as well as battling on three fronts and the Red Devils will be waiting for them a week on Sunday, hoping that New Year will seem so familiar to Manchester United. I can’t see anything other than the Red Devils turning the screw on the the top two and it will finally show us if Liverpool and Chelsea do have the stomach for a title fight, because United certainly do.

Why Chelsea Needs to Move to Battersea Power Station

The Gaffer — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:04:11 +0000

Ever since The Observer newspaper reported that Chelsea were seriously contemplating a move from Stamford Bridge in west London to a new stadium site next to Battersea Power Station, executives at the Blues have been acting very fidgety.

First, some background. The distance between the two locations is exactly three miles, but psychologically the locations are worlds apart. Stamford Bridge is in the very affluent boroughs between Hammersmith and Fulham. Battersea is south of the Thames river in the borough of Wandsworth. Chelsea is synonymous with the fashionable shops of nearby King’s Road. Battersea is best known for the Battersea Power Station, made famous for being featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s album, Animals (pictured above). While the power station is a London landmark, it is so for all of the wrong reasons — giant smokestacks that pierce the London skyline.

So how and why have Chelsea been acting weird about the whole situation? First, Chelsea were very quick to deny the story but they contradicted themselves in the first two sentences of the official statement. The first sentence read “This story is total nonsense.” The second sentence then read “Chelsea is not actively considering moving to this site in Battersea.” The emphasis on the words “not actively” were added by me, but the message is clear. Chelsea is not refuting that they’re examining Battersea as an option. They’re just using doublespeak to diffuse the situation before Chelsea supporters become enraged at the thought of leaving their sacred home where they’ve been since 1905.

Three miles may not seem like much, but it’s a one hour walk from Stamford Bridge to Battersea Power Station. But more importantly, it’s a big psychological difference. North of the River Thames is synonymous with riches. South of the river Thames signifies the working class. As you move further outside the city centre of London to the west and the east, the north south divide becomes less important. But near the heart of London, it’s a massive deal.

Don’t forget that Arsenal played their early part of their existence in Plumstead, nestled south of the River Thames before they moved to north London and Highbury in 1913. That was after property magnate and Fulham chairman Henry Norris tried to merge Fulham and Arsenal together, but failed. By moving Arsenal to north London, Norris rescued the club from certain bankruptcy and extinction.

Here’s a satellite image of London to show how close but far apart Stamford Bridge is to Battersea. Notice how the smokestacks from the power station cast a shadow over the Thames directly above and to the left of Battersea, identified by the letter B below.

Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon was interviewed yesterday on Sky Sports and was asked about the stadium move. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a video of the interview, but you can tell from the following interview about Chelsea’s financial situation that Kenyon appears uncomfortable answering the question and is quite fidgety.

The potential move from west London to Battersea must be of huge interest to Roman Abramovich especially considering that the Russian billionaire holding’s have lost as much as $20 billion in paper value according to one source. The opportunity for Abramovich to redevelop Stamford Bridge into luxury apartments is immense. According to The Observer, “While Highbury is one of the more expensive areas of the capital in which to buy property, it is dwarfed by the value of land at Stamford Bridge’s west London location. While Arsenal were restricted to 711 apartments at Highbury, as the old stadium was a listed building, Stamford Bridge has no such limitations. With its far greater area, including the club’s Chelsea Village complex and extensive parking, at least 1,000 properties could be built.”

Despite Chelsea’s denials, the potential move from Stamford Bridge to the site next to Battersea Power Station makes economic sense. It would provide the Blues with a state-of-the-art stadium with a much larger capacity than the current Stamford Bridge (capacity 42,055), which doesn’t have much room – if any – for redevelopment. It would establish Chelsea as a much bigger Premier League heavyweight with a ground closer in size to the two biggest club stadiums, Manchester United’s Old Trafford (capacity 76,212) and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium (capacity 60,000).

For Chelsea, it makes economic sense and is a move that the club and its fans seriously need to consider. Roman Abramovich won’t be around forever. Chelsea needs to start planning its financial future today to cope when Abramovich isn’t there to sustain the club. Battersea Power Station may be the answer.

Chelsea vs Manchester United: Get Ready For Battle Of The Bridge

The Gaffer — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:42:32 +0000

The last two times Chelsea played Manchester United, nothing much happened. Other than one of the most exciting finales in Champions League history and a Premier League firestarter at Stamford Bridge that included a fight between the groundsman and Patrice Evra, and a penalty four minutes from time to win it for Chelsea 2-1.

The two teams face each other again this Sunday at Stamford Bridge in what should be a mouthwatering encounter. Chelsea still has the harsh memories of the penalty kick loss to Man United in Moscow. Manchester United fans have their own worries with only one win from four matches this season in the Premier League, Champions League and UEFA Super Cup.

In many ways, the two teams we’ll be seeing tomorrow are a different Chelsea and different Manchester United than what we saw in Moscow last season.

Chelsea is a much improved side under Luis Felipe Scolari. The Brazilian has added more pace to the side by allowing full backs Ashley Jose and Jose Bosingwa to make darting runs from the back.

Manchester United, meanwhile, looked more impressive this past Wednesday in their 0-0 draw against Villarreal than they have done in the Premier League so far. When Cristiano Ronaldo came on for the side, they looked completely different. But the fact of the matter is that Manchester United, as Chelsea, are a team in transition — trying to adapt to Dimitar Berbatov’s addition to the side, which completely changes United’s shape and tactical formation.

With United against Chelsea are typically tense matches, my hope is that Scolari’s Chelsea site will be a bit more adventurous and will try to put Man United on its backfoot. I envision United to play more cautiously especially playing at Stamford Bridge.

With Arsenal defeating Bolton 3-1 today to go top of the table, it’ll be a fascinating match tomorrow as Chelsea tries to regain first place in the league. Manchester United has a lot of catching up to you. Liverpool, meanwhile, are playing like their old selves — lacking the consistency they need to put away the smaller clubs instead of drawing those matches.

Interestingly, the majority of you, the readers on EPL Talk, believe that Chelsea will win (52%), while only 27% of you think that Man United will win, and the remaining 21% are predicting the final result will end in a draw.