My Blood Is Blue

It was just a joke

Maybe we shouldn’t sign any others based of this then

No I know, I was just interested in them trying to work it out. It all depends what we class as a top players though. You could argue Caicedo was, because he was coveted by other big teams, but I think that would be a stretch. Felix maybe, because of the wages he was on already, but again it’s a stretch. In terms of current players, I believe we’ve made some pretty good signings.

I’ve not read much myself because it’s all either PR from either camp or its people guessing. We’ve no real idea what’s happening amongst them all at the moment, which is why I’m not getting too wound up either way. It may all come out in the wash eventually, although I doubt it.

When was the last time we signed a top player? Also depends what we mean by a top player I guess. Lukaku? That didn’t work out very well? Cole Palmer is, but wasn’t when we signed him. Kante possibly, although not sure he was a top player as such. Thiago Silva potentially, but it definitely wasn’t considered that at the time. Does it go back to Hazard?

Maybe that's the problem, maybe I need to be a bit more ruthless!

We wear the wrong colour kit.

I will message you directly Max, always happy to discuss anything you've mentioned in your post, but let's discuss privately so as not to bog down this topic. I understand it says Admin under my name and that comes with various other responsibilities on here (unfortunately), but first and foremost I am someone who posts on this forum and joins in the discussion. Just because I don't agree with someone's posts, it doesn't make them wrong, it's just my opinion. My post this morning wasn't me trying to 'police' the forum, it was just me posting my opinion.

I don't really want to get into this again to be honest. Yes, absolutely, healthy debate is what this place is all about.

I won't go back and dig any out, but we've had many posts over recent weeks with the sentiment that I mentioned, which for me prevents the good healthy debate we're used to on here. Everyone who posts on here has a unique viewpoint and I enjoy reading what everyone thinks, I just think the ownership currently has somehow caused a real divide and it feels like you have to pick a side, either pro Clearlake or anti Clearlake, however, I feel a lot of people are actually more in the middle, or I know I am. I haven't really warmed to the owners, I don't believe everything they've done is right and I definitely think it's been extreme and hard to watch at times, but I do also understand what I believe they are trying to do and what they're expecting from it. It may not work, but I'm willing to have a little patience and see if it works out. I don't think this makes me pro or anti the owners, it's just my opinion. Not that it's worth anything, but I personally wouldn't force them out for now, I think it's too early to see the end results of what they're trying to do. I think we could have far worse owners and I also think probably better owners, they're just harder to find!

Two completely different things. The catalyst, the event that triggered the change at the club and caused the mayhem to begin, was without doubt down to the decision taken by the government to sanction Roman and freeze the running of our club. I don’t see how anyone could disagree that this is the catalyst, the point in time where things changed. Admitting that does not excuse anything Clearlake did or are doing, that all came later. What it does do is set the scene and context for the early days of their ownership, but the decisions they have made have been entirely theirs and they should be judged on them, however, that should also include the context of the position the club had been in for the months before they came in. I’m quite bored of reading (not just from you, but from quite a few on here) that if I don’t slate everything related to Clearlake, don’t criticise every decision they’ve made and continue to make and blame them for all negatives to do with the club, it means I am fully supportive of them, agree with everything they do and am excusing them from anything. I can be unhappy and disappointed with decisions they’ve made whilst also understand some of the other decisions they’ve made and try and have some patience to see how certain things unfold. I don’t know why it has to be two camps with extreme views either way, it just stops good discussion around how we want our club to be run and where we’re going etc. As I mentioned Max, this isn’t aimed solely at you, yours is just the post I’ve quoted.

Interesting. Still selling 11, which is a lot. I’d obviously disagree with quite a few of those decisions, especially Kova, Kante and Jorginho, I don’t think we could justify keeping all 3 on the salaries they’d have been on, given the injury record of Kante. I’d have kept Kovacic, probably Jorginho if he’d agreed a pay cut and moved Kante on. Anyway, let’s leave it there and agree to disagree on various things.

But none of them wanted to buy the club. If we’re picking dream owners, then I’d like to inherit billions of pounds and then buy the club and put in place what I believe to be the right people in the right place.

The point in you naming those players is because you’ve said how strong that squad was, so I’m interested to know who you thought was good enough, compared to the opinions I gave on the players. I haven’t said we needed to rip the band aid off, but I do think the squad we had wasn’t good enough and needed changing. Would I have done it over a longer time than the new owners? Yes, probably, but the circumstances they came into were not normal. I also think you’re jumping the gun. I think it’s too early for us to judge this squad and coach.

We’re Real Madrid also frozen as a business by the government and unable to discuss renewing contracts with players or begin working on transfers for the following season? The position we were in after the new owners came in was unique in so many ways, so to compare to other situations isn’t really fair. If they hadn’t cut the wage bill down in the way that they have, then I’m not sure we would have been a sustainable business/club for very long. Don’t forget Roman wrote off £1.5b in loans to the club when he sold, which suggests he was propping up the club by himself in many way, something the new owners weren’t prepared to do.