I say this in the midst of the strongest contenders as it stands being Luis Enrique & Laurent Blanc.
I'm all for the opinion that the friction between Conte and the board has reached the point where his position has become untenable (long term), but when these are the alternatives the question has to be asked. All politics aside, this is still a bloody good manager who knows what he's doing and the board know that (he'd have gone after Watford away if they didn't). Enrique & Blanc in pure quality of work terms would be a downgrade on him, that's the reality.
Now they'd be obvious drawbacks to this. Luiz & Willian would probably go, Courtois might as well, unless we brought in another B2B midfielder we might have to suffer through another year of Bakayoko, the youth will be held on standby for another year at least... but when you really think about it none of these issues are so pressing that a change of management is absolutely necessary unless it's the right manager. The players who will most likely leave are aging (or already unhappy) and will require replacing soon regardless, whoever the manager is the squad needs investment anyway, and none of our high potential youngsters have reached an age where they need to be thrown into the first team squad quite yet - the main one was Christensen and he was last season.
And the obvious issue with it is Conte's state of mind. But the thing is any big jobs that could come his way this summer have gone so he's stuck in the same position of limbo as us right now. If everyone involved sat down and reached an agreement that he'll see out the final year of his contract before gracefully parting company, even if his heart isn't with the Chelsea cause anymore I believe we could trust in his own self interests to have a successful season to better position himself for work once he leaves.
I will stress I'm only pitching this as a response to the stories about Enrique or Blanc the last few days and the boards relentless desire to cost cut at every opportunity. If we had the sense to pursue someone like Jardim (if Sarri has officially gone now) I wouldn't be suggesting it.
Any thoughts on this?
Is It Worth Keeping Conte?
posted on 5/6/18
M.O.J.O why have you filtered me,can you tell me?
posted on 5/6/18
Nah Hazard doesn't like Conte. He's given a lot of interviews where he's been unhappy with the way we set up. Even after the FA Cup final he was plssed that we were too defensive. He's questioned Conte's tactics/team selection without directly pointing a finger at him throughout the season.
---------------------------------------------------------
Fair enough, I'm surprised but fair enough.
Then the club need to bite the bullet and accept we need a quality manager even if we have to pay for it. There's quality managers scattered about even in the mid/mid bottom of the table - Enrique or Blanc (with this squad) will get outflanked frequently.
posted on 5/6/18
comment by M.O.J.O (U1937)
posted 3 hours, 40 minutes ago
I agree with you OP. I’m not sold on Enrique or Blanc at all. But there seems to be somewhat of a ‘palpable discord’ between the players, the manager and the board.
On top of that, the football we played last year was absolutely dire. Worst, and most negative I’ve seen at the club, as a fan of 29 years. That includes, Mourinho a la 15/16.
So I think we need a fresh start. In my opinion. He just doesn’t want to be at the club anymore.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No chance.
As poor as we were this season we still created a respectable amount of chances and passed ok, in 15/16 we couldn't create anything or string two passes together.
posted on 5/6/18
I agree with Mojo, I've been watching for a long time as well,even longer than Mojo,and I must say that ,some of the (for want of a better word)football, I've witnessed this season is as bad or even worse than than I can ever remember.
posted on 5/6/18
The tactical approach was perhaps the most negative we've seen in a while, certainly in specific matches (e.g. City away), but I agree with the other poster in that the performances themselves were worse in 15/16.
This season we at least had a core of players in Azpl, Kante & Hazard who showed up more times than not. The only source of entertainment in 15/16 was Willian's free kicks.
posted on 5/6/18
comment by The Devil's Advocate's Advocate - I Represent Him (U6522)
posted 42 minutes ago
The tactical approach was perhaps the most negative we've seen in a while, certainly in specific matches (e.g. City away), but I agree with the other poster in that the performances themselves were worse in 15/16.
This season we at least had a core of players in Azpl, Kante & Hazard who showed up more times than not. The only source of entertainment in 15/16 was Willian's free kicks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought City at home was shocking too......
But i agree with your OP if it's a direct choice between Conte, Blanc, Enrique or even Jokanovic (probably spelt wrongly) then I'd rather hope Conte would regain his passion.
posted on 5/6/18
comment by The Noble Lord Flash (U8334)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by The Devil's Advocate's Advocate - I Represent Him (U6522)
posted 42 minutes ago
The tactical approach was perhaps the most negative we've seen in a while, certainly in specific matches (e.g. City away), but I agree with the other poster in that the performances themselves were worse in 15/16.
This season we at least had a core of players in Azpl, Kante & Hazard who showed up more times than not. The only source of entertainment in 15/16 was Willian's free kicks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought City at home was shocking too......
But i agree with your OP if it's a direct choice between Conte, Blanc, Enrique or even Jokanovic (probably spelt wrongly) then I'd rather hope Conte would regain his passion.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If we were talking 16/17 Conte then he would be a better option than Sarri let alone those 4.
But the harsh reality is, Conte circa 2018 has put himself in such an untenable position at Chelsea to the point we are actually be better off with any half competant manager.
posted on 5/6/18
But the harsh reality is, Conte circa 2018 has put himself in such an untenable position at Chelsea to the point we are actually be better off with any half competant manager.
--------------------------------------------------------
It depends how you define half competent? I'd class both Enrique & Blanc as competent managers, both were great players would played under some of the football's greatest ever coaches - Enrique came through the same process as Guardiola. But would either of them give us anything more with this squad that Conte (even disillusioned) has this season? I seriously doubt it.
The PL is glutton with fantastic managers these days, it's got guys like Benitez & Pellegrini managing mid table teams at best (a really promising young manager in Nuno is managing a team that just got promoted ffs ) and four of the best coaches in the world occupy the top four. The squad isn't up to stretch and our self imposed financial restraints mean it's likely to say that way, so we HAVE to have a manager next season whose more than just competent or we'll just fade off.
The best case scenario here is for the club to just eat crow and pay the money to get Sarri, or ask Bakayoko whose that manager that made us think you were a 40mil pound player last year, but failing those two options all roads lead to regression (imo). Just leaves one question, do we accept that or try to find some common ground with a manager we know first hand is legit?
posted on 6/6/18
Well said Devil's Advocate.
posted on 6/6/18
Well said Devil's Advocate.
----------------------------------------------
Predictive text screwed me again
Glad you got the point