Reply to: Slow start

[n5gooner]

I thought it was a very good game, the ref was a bit quick to stop play, but all in all a good game.

[voron]

Well a point from last night's game. I would have settled for that before the match. Benitez is the one manager in the EPL who seems to have Mourinho sussed.

[voron]

You are Juan Sebastian Veron I claim my £5

You are going to have to explain that one to me


Tony, I take your point. Let's give Kenyon and co a couple of seasons to really shape matters. Rome wasn't built in a day and all that.

[BoredBloke]

The point I was making was, if you keep on taking on big name players and putting them on lucrative contracts, it makes the process of being financially self sufficient so much harder.

In 2003-04 they spent 175 million on players and had a wage bill of £115 million. Man u by the same token had a wage bill of £77m. This was 76% of the total income for Chelsea. It would be interesting to see if they have brought this figure down to the 55% Kenyon was quoted as being the target. I'd doubt they have.

[steve'O]

You are Juan Sebastian Veron I claim my £5

[wendigo100]

As I understand it, Chelsea have unloaded a lot of players. Mourinho always said he only wanted a squad of 23. Add those that they have out on loan, and they still don't have that many.

Having said that, those players are still on hefty contracts.

[voron]

Tony, I'm sure Kenyon is smart enough to consider such possibilities, and as he is a driving force behind Chelsea becoming financially self-sufficient, it is a safe bet to assume this has been planned for.

Chelsea are a big team. We have been a major team for most of our 100 years and our current purple patch will ensure the reputation grows. People are still attracted to Liverpool despite their relative lean period.

[steve'O]

But for that to happen Chelsea would need to be relegated...Can you see that happening?

[BoredBloke]

The point is, when Man City went out of the prem league (or when they went into div 2 - can't remember) they had 53 professionals on their books and had to do a serious amount of work getting them off the payroll. If the ruskie stops bankrolling Chelsea and they have a huge number of very expensive players on their books, all tied to long contracts with very lucrative T&C's, then obviously it will be harder fo Chelsea to ever become self financing as their break even point would be very very high. It would also mean that the amount available for transfers would be reduced because of their high overheads.

So how many from the team which finished 3rd and the team which finished 2nd are still kicking around?

[steve'O]

Sunday League team! On loan Team....what is your point Mr English

[n5gooner]

How many professional players? I have no idea. Obviously there is the first team, the reserve team.

the reserve reserve team. The youth team, reserve youth team, etc etc etc.

[voron]

No, I don't believe Roman will be directly funding player transfers in the future.

How many professional players? I have no idea. Obviously there is the first team, the reserve team.

[BoredBloke]

"Roman expects the club to be self-sufficient within 5 years"

So in 5 years time they are self financing. Then by christmas they are in say 3rd in the table, a few points adrift of the top. Because they are self financing they have a budget, but it doesn't stretch to a player who the manager really wants when the mid season transfer window opens. Are you seriously suggesting that Roman would not give over the funds to do the deal?

Also, how many professionals do Chelsea have on thier book at the moment? (roughly)

[voron]

the Chelsea situation is a bit worrying because they seem to have a bottomless pit of money, which is unprecedented in world football.

It's not a bottomless pit. Roman expects the club to be self-sufficient within 5 years. That's a good thing too; success built entirely on one man's generosity is like the house built on sand.

[Paco]

Didn't Walker leave Balckburn a big trust fund so that he can help the club from the other side

He did leave a trust, but it doesn't provide funds on anything like the scale that he did personally when he was still alive. The money helps to pay for the running of the club, pays off some debt and if we're lucky there's some left over for transfers - hence Craig Bellamy. So we're not in the sort of financial jeopardy that others are, but we are unfortunately back in with the also-rans.