RDCW

And the structure means that no hostile entity is able to buy up shares with voting rights to overwhelm the other CPO shareholders : 1 vote per shareholders means that if the CPO fails to protect the club it's be cause the fans will have sold out, which isn't going to happen.

Exactly.

CPO owns the rights to the CFC name, so the club can't be transplanted anywhere else. It would cease to be Chelsea FC and would therefore cease to exist.

It's hard to see where they could ever make any money out of the club. However hard they sweat the assets (and I incude the fans in that) they can't expect to recover what they have invested already, let alone what it will take to acquire a 55,000 seater plus stadium and a successful football team.

I can't see how they believed they could make money for their investors by purchasing and running a football club. No-one makes the kind of profits out of football which would cover the level of investment they have made. Consequently they must have had some other strategy in mind. The most obvious upscalable asset is the land on which the stadium sits. My view is that they spotted that asset and hatched a plan to buy cheaper land (they won't care where - after all they come from a culture where franchises are pretty much location independent) to build a stadium and pocket the difference between the two developments. I think they have miscalculated on several fronts: 1. Another site will be extremely difficult to buy and develop sufficiently cheaply to fulfil the plan. 2. CPO will (rightly) be an obstacle to riding roughshod over the wellbeing of the club by renting a stadium (as Leeds United have had to), or moving the club to an unfavourable location, or worse, to another town (like Wimbledon). Not only would they not be able to use the Chelsea name (and attached extant Premier League (for now) privileges, but they would not be able to develop the land on which the football ground currently sits. Given the unsophisticated way in which they have behaved so far it is perfectly believable that they have misread the situation completely and will be looking for a least cost exit as early as legally possible.

Agreed. The sunk cost fallacy. They won't be like mug punters, chasing losses. My view is that their strategy is entirely based on the sale of Stamford Bridge in its premium property location. They will seek to provide a new venue and facilitate the redevelopment of the Bridge. That is the only way they can make money on this deal and must have been their intention all along.

This is an excellent post. The idea that there is a lucid, progressive, intellectually credible plan developing behind the scenes is patently ludicrous. The amount of money spent has been unprecedented and mind-boggling. The wasting of revenue inbound from the sale of resources has been astonishingly profligate. There is no evidence that there is any coherent assembly of a properly structured squad taking place. It is therefore somewhat fatuous to suggest that we should take the development of the team and squad on trust. All the evidence points to the fact that the lunatics have taken over the asylum, the inmates are left to live or die by their own resources and any success will come despite, not because of the ministrations of the dribbling wallet-flashers.

Love it!

I've always been surprised by how slim top level sportsmen are! I was at the Celtic Manor in Newport before a Wales V Scotland match in Cardiff; we were in the lift and the doors opened to admit 6 or 7 Scotland players. They were all much smaller than me ! I also once saw Frank Bruno at Clapham Junction and although an inch taller than me he was much smaller! Obviously not the same physical construction though 🤣.

Always a bit odd to meet well known figures who have no idea who you are! Oddly enough I too met Alec Stewart at Wembley. He had his family with him and was very approachable and obviously excited to be there. I also met Eddie Jordan.......at the urinal in the Sloany Pony on Parsons Green after a game against Coventry ! He is a tiny fellow (in height, obviously 😉), but quite witty and engaging in the bar afterwards. I've seen Fiona Phillips loads of times in queues at the Bridge and on the concourse - always up for a chat (although not since her sad diagnosis of early onset dementia). I've seen a shambolic David Baddiel on the Broadway in the crowd, looking oddly sheepish. Clive Mantle of Casualty fame used to be a regular in the MHU. The most surprising appearance was Denis Wise turning up at the pub after an Aston Villa game. I was standing outside in full Chelsea regalia and he was going into the pub. In a witty and erudite manner I shouted, "Denis"! He looked at me and carried on walking 😄. 10 minutes later he came out and laughed and cheered with us - obviously had second thoughts about blanking me 😂. What struck me about him close up was how tiny he was, not just in height but in build. They are like whippets, these pro footballers!

Happy Birthday !

I miscalculated Luton's number of games left! 44 will be enough, so we need 1 more (although I haven't checked the fixtures to establish which of the bottom 3 are playing each other). It's a genuine relief that relegation is no longer an issue after the season we've had !

You just have to let the joy overrun the intellect after a result like this. We only need 3 more points to guarantee Premier League safety !

No words.

1 single member on here (with an axe to grind) criticising Mudryk's performance on here and you talk about "joke fans". People disagree with you about Poch. It has nothing to do with entitlement and everything to do with his evident incompetence as a tactician and motivator. Get over yourself mate.

You are becoming increasingly shrill in your attempts to attract attention. Perhaps you should ask yourself why you need to do this. Additionally, your pastoral mask is slipping: I don't believe a genuinely spiritual person would use the kind of language and sentiment you display above in relation to other members of the forum and regarding our players.

Oh no it doesn't!

A bit of squad management too, with Cuthbert and Reiten on the bench.

Love a bit of rocket with Bresaola, Dolcelatte and a nice balsamic vinegar and peppery olive oil dressing.

Splitter!

Could have been 6-1 ! A very professional performance.

Today's performance was typical Chelsea this season: spectacularly good in small pockets interspersed with comically incompetent moments with a mixed undercurrent of good, skilful football and inexplicable rubbish. It does seem that the growing mutual familiarity of the players is contributing to an upwards trajectory in form, but I get the sense that any improvements are despite the coaching regime rather than because of it.

Cucu has played well since his return (apart from 1 goal-conceding brain fart). Bringing on Chilwell for him this arvo was utterly pointless and an opportunity cost for some other more strategically coherent substitution.

You're right. It always goes to the next place in the Premier League.

And that was a brilliant strike.