Art Vandelay_
TheBrownDog
- Oct 28, 2012
- 104,621
- 142,640
- AFL Club
- Geelong
- Other Teams
- Bushrangers - Tottenham
Thought I’d take a deep dive into my thoughts on the club, jump down a rabbit hole or two and just codify where we’re at in my mind. A cathartic process. Not intended to step on anyone else’s viewpoint, nor to purely be a pro ENIC rant, so I hope it doesn’t come across that way. I certainly hope someone will read it but if not oh well.
Where do we fit in the world of football? Is it changed from the past? And is it for the better or for the worse?
On a very basic level in 2021 it is for the worse imo purely because we have associated ourselves with 11 other mutineers, and as such have lost a lot of respect from the football community in general. We are on the proverbial naughty step atm. This is something that under the guidance of Bill Nicholson, Keith Burkinshaw or under the ownership of Sugar or Scholar. Where would we be now if Alex Ferguson didn’t renege on a deal to become our manager?
ESL aside how do you quantify how we have changed as the decades have rolled on? So much has changed not just at THFC but in the football landscape. For most of the last 50 years we have been a side that competed hard, rarely threatened the league title, lacking the quality or consistency to do so, but always gave a good account of ourselves, and that translated to numerous cup triumphs.
A bit like my AFL side in that the 80s and 90s were mired with significant overdrafts and stadium costs causing debts to spiral. So for stabilising the club I think Lord Sugar and Daniel Levy deserve credit.
But the cosmic shift in football also happened around this time too. Satellite/Cable TV and the breakaway of the first division from the EFL to become the EPL both gained prominence in the early 90s. No one was to know it then but that was the slow start to the arms race we have now. Now it is purely a game for the rich, those with the most money win the trophies, for all the talk about the class of 92, the explosion in English football coupled with Ferguson at the helm propelled United into the powerhouse they are now.
So where do we go? What do we do? This has nothing to do with ENIC as those who have been here a while know I despise how Chelsea are run, I hate bought success in this sport, so I therefore strongly oppose the notion that ownership needs to heavily invest in our team, be it in years gone or now or in the future. We should essentially operate as a not for profit club. Every last cent the club organically generates should be used by the club, for the club.
From canteen staff, to training equipment, the academy, the first team and women’s team. None go to the owners and none come from the owners. To that end I think we have a strong record to show money isn’t being siphoned out of the club like the Glazers are.
Is it any wonder that PSG, City and Chelsea spend with gay abandon? None of their owners earned their wealth. Two inherited it off oil found in the ground in the country they own, and one corruptly gained wealth by suckling at the teat of two Russian presidents, no doubt committing crimes to do so along the way. They never learned the value of a dollar.
So I don’t blame billionaires for not spending their money investing in their football team, they did that already by buying it. Often at a massive cost, and from their pov this financial arms race likely sees millions of euros per season of owner topped up funds as not being a wise investment as players are overpriced, overpaid and once purchased their value depreciates over time. It’s just not good business.
Where we sit in the scheme of this spending bubble is that like all the really big clubs we have the capacity to spend big on transfers, and we have the capacity to pay 200 grand a week. We just don’t possess the funds to do it as often or to as many players in the squad, and that’s what separates us from them. Why we fall short and they all win. Without the intervention of non-football freak of nature - a global pandemic - the bubble would be much bigger than it is now, that has slowed the arms race, but once covid is being viewed from the rear view mirror I suspect it will ramp back up again.
In my view we’ve had a plan to combat this. Infrastructure and capital works investment. The hope being that the new stadium generates the revenues required to close the financial gap to those clubs, and extend it from the clubs on the rung below us. A solid plan if we can maximise the non-football revenue that it can rake in, a prospect for after covid though.
As for the now, and the recent past, what have we done? What path are we on?
Recently re-watched the mini matches of the Juventus tie in the UCL and the players we had and the tactics of the manager were in perfect synergy. A common trait in those 2-3 years. I still believe we had to act and move him on, and that covid hasn’t helped their gamble on Mourinho. But here we are mow unlikely to get someone better than either of them. That said I don’t mind the slowness of progress on the search for a new manager. We had Jose lined up and it didn’t work out.
I think we need a manager who can adapt and coach with the group we have in mind. If the last 12 months of Pochettino and the 17 months of Mourinho have taught us something it should be that we now have two different approaches that aren’t working with this group.
Pochettino’s possession based pressing game became stale and fell apart in the end, and Mourinho’s more passive counter-attack philosophy couldn’t be executed by this group. So it now looks to me like we don’t have the strength or quality in midfield for possession football nor do we possess the defensive capabilities to sit back and invite pressure.
Make no mistake for the next 12-36 months we are going to have to scout and spend well, we do not, make no mistake about this, we do not have the cash to properly replace all the players with guys to the requisite standard. So we need to recognise as a club that the training facility is a massive asset.
Since building it both academy sides and women’s team have undergone massive improvement. Can’t be a coincidence surely. If your training facilities are world class you possess far better resources to raise the standard.
So what we need is a tactically flexible manager who is willing to adapt to the squad we have, and willing to trust the academy, they are doing well, so find ways to use them. Not sure many of the leading candidates fit both categories.
Becoming clearer to me that the first priority is midfield, Ndombele possesses some of Mousa Dembele’s traits but doesn’t put in good performances anywhere near often enough. Lo Celso is seriously misfiring and Hojbjerg is very over-worked. If we can possess and asvance the football in midfield, preferably with a higher degree of tactical direction than mourinho then the burden and pressure on the defence lessens.
Outs this summer for me are Sissoko, Winks, Foyth (regrettably), Davie Lamela and Dier.
Tossing up over Bale as his defensive accountability is very low and puts a lot of pressure on Serge Aurier, which imo is largely why Jose didn’t use Bale so much and played Sissoko a lot. One covered for the fullback trying to get forward, and one doesn’t... but he can still score so if we can sort out midfield then maybe defensive capability is less important for Gareth.
Winks and Sissoko I have seen enough from. Both need a new challenge and club. Same with Dier, he needs to move on. Would keep Sanchez as he has pace and with some good coaching could still come good. Happy enough at GK.
Can we replace them all to a good standard through the market? Nope. So we will need to trust the players we already have. Cirkin and Sessegnon for Davies and Lamela. Trust them. Give them a chance. Scarlett/Parrott and Devine. Get them among the first team. Trust Skipp to take the next leap.
Then use what money we do have on a CB, another CM, and some form of No.10/SS type player.
Overall I think we will stagnate for a couple of seasons, and for their participation in the ESL our owners need to go. The fee charged to fans to attend the home game next weekend highlights how out of tune with the fans they are. That said the supporters trust aren’t covering themselves in glory either. Refusing to meet with the club, unless unrealistic demands are met, one being that the board are sacked and to meet directly with the owners, bow they have no platform to discuss £60 tickets next weekend.
The board likely had no say in the decision, and our bahamas based owner won’t be bothered to steer his yacht down the Thames to meet a few fans so it’d just be them and Levy, and they’d achieve nothing as the board would be replaced with people hand picked by the same owners, so titanic deck chair shuffling exercise. They have overplayed their importance as a trust, and over-estimated their power. 20000 members strong yet the vote to impose these requests on the club got less than 1000 to sign in agreement. Says it all.
Where do we fit in the world of football? Is it changed from the past? And is it for the better or for the worse?
On a very basic level in 2021 it is for the worse imo purely because we have associated ourselves with 11 other mutineers, and as such have lost a lot of respect from the football community in general. We are on the proverbial naughty step atm. This is something that under the guidance of Bill Nicholson, Keith Burkinshaw or under the ownership of Sugar or Scholar. Where would we be now if Alex Ferguson didn’t renege on a deal to become our manager?
ESL aside how do you quantify how we have changed as the decades have rolled on? So much has changed not just at THFC but in the football landscape. For most of the last 50 years we have been a side that competed hard, rarely threatened the league title, lacking the quality or consistency to do so, but always gave a good account of ourselves, and that translated to numerous cup triumphs.
A bit like my AFL side in that the 80s and 90s were mired with significant overdrafts and stadium costs causing debts to spiral. So for stabilising the club I think Lord Sugar and Daniel Levy deserve credit.
But the cosmic shift in football also happened around this time too. Satellite/Cable TV and the breakaway of the first division from the EFL to become the EPL both gained prominence in the early 90s. No one was to know it then but that was the slow start to the arms race we have now. Now it is purely a game for the rich, those with the most money win the trophies, for all the talk about the class of 92, the explosion in English football coupled with Ferguson at the helm propelled United into the powerhouse they are now.
So where do we go? What do we do? This has nothing to do with ENIC as those who have been here a while know I despise how Chelsea are run, I hate bought success in this sport, so I therefore strongly oppose the notion that ownership needs to heavily invest in our team, be it in years gone or now or in the future. We should essentially operate as a not for profit club. Every last cent the club organically generates should be used by the club, for the club.
From canteen staff, to training equipment, the academy, the first team and women’s team. None go to the owners and none come from the owners. To that end I think we have a strong record to show money isn’t being siphoned out of the club like the Glazers are.
Is it any wonder that PSG, City and Chelsea spend with gay abandon? None of their owners earned their wealth. Two inherited it off oil found in the ground in the country they own, and one corruptly gained wealth by suckling at the teat of two Russian presidents, no doubt committing crimes to do so along the way. They never learned the value of a dollar.
So I don’t blame billionaires for not spending their money investing in their football team, they did that already by buying it. Often at a massive cost, and from their pov this financial arms race likely sees millions of euros per season of owner topped up funds as not being a wise investment as players are overpriced, overpaid and once purchased their value depreciates over time. It’s just not good business.
Where we sit in the scheme of this spending bubble is that like all the really big clubs we have the capacity to spend big on transfers, and we have the capacity to pay 200 grand a week. We just don’t possess the funds to do it as often or to as many players in the squad, and that’s what separates us from them. Why we fall short and they all win. Without the intervention of non-football freak of nature - a global pandemic - the bubble would be much bigger than it is now, that has slowed the arms race, but once covid is being viewed from the rear view mirror I suspect it will ramp back up again.
In my view we’ve had a plan to combat this. Infrastructure and capital works investment. The hope being that the new stadium generates the revenues required to close the financial gap to those clubs, and extend it from the clubs on the rung below us. A solid plan if we can maximise the non-football revenue that it can rake in, a prospect for after covid though.
As for the now, and the recent past, what have we done? What path are we on?
Recently re-watched the mini matches of the Juventus tie in the UCL and the players we had and the tactics of the manager were in perfect synergy. A common trait in those 2-3 years. I still believe we had to act and move him on, and that covid hasn’t helped their gamble on Mourinho. But here we are mow unlikely to get someone better than either of them. That said I don’t mind the slowness of progress on the search for a new manager. We had Jose lined up and it didn’t work out.
I think we need a manager who can adapt and coach with the group we have in mind. If the last 12 months of Pochettino and the 17 months of Mourinho have taught us something it should be that we now have two different approaches that aren’t working with this group.
Pochettino’s possession based pressing game became stale and fell apart in the end, and Mourinho’s more passive counter-attack philosophy couldn’t be executed by this group. So it now looks to me like we don’t have the strength or quality in midfield for possession football nor do we possess the defensive capabilities to sit back and invite pressure.
Make no mistake for the next 12-36 months we are going to have to scout and spend well, we do not, make no mistake about this, we do not have the cash to properly replace all the players with guys to the requisite standard. So we need to recognise as a club that the training facility is a massive asset.
Since building it both academy sides and women’s team have undergone massive improvement. Can’t be a coincidence surely. If your training facilities are world class you possess far better resources to raise the standard.
So what we need is a tactically flexible manager who is willing to adapt to the squad we have, and willing to trust the academy, they are doing well, so find ways to use them. Not sure many of the leading candidates fit both categories.
Becoming clearer to me that the first priority is midfield, Ndombele possesses some of Mousa Dembele’s traits but doesn’t put in good performances anywhere near often enough. Lo Celso is seriously misfiring and Hojbjerg is very over-worked. If we can possess and asvance the football in midfield, preferably with a higher degree of tactical direction than mourinho then the burden and pressure on the defence lessens.
Outs this summer for me are Sissoko, Winks, Foyth (regrettably), Davie Lamela and Dier.
Tossing up over Bale as his defensive accountability is very low and puts a lot of pressure on Serge Aurier, which imo is largely why Jose didn’t use Bale so much and played Sissoko a lot. One covered for the fullback trying to get forward, and one doesn’t... but he can still score so if we can sort out midfield then maybe defensive capability is less important for Gareth.
Winks and Sissoko I have seen enough from. Both need a new challenge and club. Same with Dier, he needs to move on. Would keep Sanchez as he has pace and with some good coaching could still come good. Happy enough at GK.
Can we replace them all to a good standard through the market? Nope. So we will need to trust the players we already have. Cirkin and Sessegnon for Davies and Lamela. Trust them. Give them a chance. Scarlett/Parrott and Devine. Get them among the first team. Trust Skipp to take the next leap.
Then use what money we do have on a CB, another CM, and some form of No.10/SS type player.
Overall I think we will stagnate for a couple of seasons, and for their participation in the ESL our owners need to go. The fee charged to fans to attend the home game next weekend highlights how out of tune with the fans they are. That said the supporters trust aren’t covering themselves in glory either. Refusing to meet with the club, unless unrealistic demands are met, one being that the board are sacked and to meet directly with the owners, bow they have no platform to discuss £60 tickets next weekend.
The board likely had no say in the decision, and our bahamas based owner won’t be bothered to steer his yacht down the Thames to meet a few fans so it’d just be them and Levy, and they’d achieve nothing as the board would be replaced with people hand picked by the same owners, so titanic deck chair shuffling exercise. They have overplayed their importance as a trust, and over-estimated their power. 20000 members strong yet the vote to impose these requests on the club got less than 1000 to sign in agreement. Says it all.
