Evolution at Board Level

A longgggggggggg article depicting my views on what's been a prolonged process over the last 7-8 years of a gradual but massive & sustainable improvement at board level which has culminated with the somewhat cringey 'build Marina a statue' hype

Ever since we made the decision to sack Di Matteo & appoint Benitez as interim (where I pinpoint this process started), I've noticed encouraging patterns developing - not all of the decisions have been good ones, some down right abysmal which I won't mention, but there's always been a method to the madness. Or I'm finding patterns retrospectively to suit a convenient narrative, but either way I shall start rambling

The decision to hire Benitez in retrospect I see as being two fold... (1) hiring a guy notorious for quality fitness maintenance & a heavy rotation policy looking ahead to a torturous schedule with a thin squad, (2) get the squad tactically & mentally prepared for long term #1 target Mourinho. In contrast to previous appointments like Ancelotti & AVB who were Abramovich's flavors of the moment for different reasons, this one had purpose about it & was only a miscalculation in terms of how much the fans would reject it. Wrong call (up for debate), but for the right analytical reasons.

The second coming of Mourinho was what I see as the last emotionally driven decision on the management, but in doing so it corrected two things, (1) united the entire club instantly, (2) as the reign developed it was clear we were backing him 100%, something we'd NEVER done in the Abramovich era. And perhaps most telling of all, 15/16 was the first time we reeled in the trigger finger until it was absolutely necessary! Huge growth demonstrated there - in prior years he might've been a goner as early as Southampton (H). With the benefit of hindsight it's become crystal clear we backed him too much, something which Conte would pay for, but the fact we let him manage with minimal inference was astounding at that time. Something was changing.

The Conte appointment was significant because unlike how we attempted to replace Mourinho the first time in 2007, we went with someone who in many ways was a like for like replacement. Different tactics, but similar principles & character. So factoring in Hiddink's interim spell in between I make that four consecutive appointments where the club were demonstrating continuity (unheard of). But the interesting thing about this in hindsight is the club were lambasted for not backing Conte, but having seen his attitude throughout 17/18 & his flippant, emotional states of mind at Inter as well (who have backed him more than we did) it's hard to argue the club were wrong quite frankly. The 17/18 transfer window was an unmitigated disaster anyway, but again the club were learning from a recent mistake, in this case just overcompensated.

Now Sarri's a very interesting one. This to me was the club doing Villas-Boas again, the manager who'd bring the culture shift, but doing it at a better time (for the first team squad at least), with a vastly more experienced manager, an unlike with AVB we actually backed the guy reasonably well. Haggling over him with Napoli might've been unnecessary, but ultimately it secured the signature of Jorginho in the face of competition from City which was pivotal! Failing to do that would've been AVB/Modric all over again. Obviously a variety of circumstances denied us knowing what would've happened with Sarri going into season 2, but based on all the evidence up to this point going back six years at the time, I'm very much inclined to believe, (a) he'd of been backed further without a transfer ban - signings like Barella (instead of buying Kova), Hysaj, Higuain (loan extension) would've been priorities, (b) he'd only have been sacked if the results had made his position untenable... in essence, the club had built a degree of trust in me now

And now we come to Frankie Lampard. Looking at this purely from a cold, ruthlessly clinical standpoint that an oblivious shareholder would (as an e.g.), his first season was scrapping the barrel of OK - 4th achieved on the last day in a weak league, lost a cup final convincingly, got absolutely wrecked by the eventual European champions, etc... even with a transfer ban this is the sort of return that 10-15 years ago would've encouraged meetings to "discuss" his future. But what's the Chelsea of 2020's response? We back him in a spending spree that harks back to the summer that started it all in 2003! Immaterial of the results we understand the circumstances, we believe in a managers skill & motives (the latter unlike Conte), and have provided him players that give him strength in depth & fluidity to complement the style he wants.

So there it is. Our seven year struggle to reach a place of calculated competence over erratic, impulsiveness at board level through my eyes. Thanks for listening to me waffle & enjoy the rest of your evening