Todd Boehly, Bedad Eghbali and the (new) Chelsea Board

[Max Fowler]

Finally from me, there may me a "cold, hard financial reality" that these owners are in touch with, but there is also an equally immovable reality that football clubs in England are not like any other business.

In fact they are importantly also a community asset. They alone are one of the top 5 most meaningful parts of millions of people's lives - our fans spend thousands of hours and pounds following Chelsea. Hard to see many other "products" which create anywhere near that level of buy-in.

And because of that - the fans have quite a lot of power to make things toxic, as evidenced by what we have seen so far and eventually in the case of Man U, the change that has taken place.

[Ham]

5 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

The cold hard reality being dished out by the man who called our fans "customers".

Underneath is the response from CST btw

 

Shouldn't the fan advisory board members be reporting back to the CST on the content of meetings?

The CST handling of this and other issues hasn't aligned with my opinion on many occasions. I think they come across as entitled and pompous. 

I don't understand why CFC should be different to any other club in regards to "the direction the club is taking". 

I'm not in the slightest bit offended that he called fans "customers" to be honest. I appreciate the professionalism.  

[Ham]

4 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

 

And because of that - the fans have quite a lot of power to make things toxic, as evidenced by what we have seen so far and eventually in the case of Man U, the change that has taken place.

I'm on record as saying that booing your own players for poor form is......poor form. It again shows a level of entitlement and sends out an ugly message to the other players in the squad. 

It won't have gone unnoticed to the squad that they could be next.  Toxicity towards individual players has to stop.

On toxicity towards the club, United's fans had very good reason to protest.

Their concern was very different to ours. They were being asset-stripped whereas our owners have spent big. I genuinely believe that TBSD thought that the experiment would have been working already and that we would have been challenging for top 4 this season. 

For a number of reasons, that hasn't happened.  

The squad is far better than mid-table. That's a fact. 

[Chelsea_Matt]

45 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Finally from me, there may me a "cold, hard financial reality" that these owners are in touch with, but there is also an equally immovable reality that football clubs in England are not like any other business.

In fact they are importantly also a community asset. They alone are one of the top 5 most meaningful parts of millions of people's lives - our fans spend thousands of hours and pounds following Chelsea. Hard to see many other "products" which create anywhere near that level of buy-in.

And because of that - the fans have quite a lot of power to make things toxic, as evidenced by what we have seen so far and eventually in the case of Man U, the change that has taken place.

Max!! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you on here. How are you?

[Max Fowler]

23 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Max!! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you on here. How are you?

Alright Matt 💙 Doing well thanks. Tbh I realised I want to spend a bit less time on here overall but that's probably a good thing for all concerned. Quality not quantity 😄
But nice to check in - all's well here. How are things with you?

[east lower]

3 hours ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

I wouldn’t trust Todd ‘n’ Eggy to judge a pie contest let alone run one of the world’s biggest football clubs.

I share your scepticism 😉

[Sciatika]

2 hours ago, Ham said:

Shouldn't the fan advisory board members be reporting back to the CST on the content of meetings?

The CST handling of this and other issues hasn't aligned with my opinion on many occasions. I think they come across as entitled and pompous. 

I don't understand why CFC should be different to any other club in regards to "the direction the club is taking". 

I'm not in the slightest bit offended that he called fans "customers" to be honest. I appreciate the professionalism.  

Yes, he should. CST have one member on the Fans Forum. For instance, here are the minutes of the last meeting in December:

Fans_Forum_2nd_meeting_minutes_2023-24.pdf (ctfassets.net)

There are people there representing the club (Director, Hospitality, Access, Facilities, Ticketing, Supporter Relations, and so on) and various groups (CST, CSG, CSC, Chelsea Pride, Overseas Supporters Club, women, the alphabet people, and so on). The point is that CST is just one group of supporters among many.  Various things were discussed (no doubt all important to one group or another). Concerns are raised, and some are dealt with, and others placed under consideration. For instance, someone raised the coach subsidy and pointed out that public transport can be difficult. The club responded that they only averaged two coaches per game last season and went down to one this. I am not sure of the relevance of that response, but it is what it is. The minutes are a summary so there may have been some discussion of this issue.

[Box of Tricks]

Agree with some sections of that CST letter, but really not on board with other parts.

Quote

There are serious supporter concerns about the direction of the club, and particularly the disconnection felt towards the club ownership, board as well as the majority of the team and the manager.

 

That doesn't represent my feeling at all. I resent them for putting that line out there into the public. This is a good bunch who have been let down by various forms of mismanagement.

I feel far more of a connection with the current squad than with some of the ones who threw in the towel last season and scuttled off to our Premier League rivals over the summer.

 

 

[Mark Kelly]

Just now, Box of Tricks said:

Agree with some sections of that CST letter, but really not on board with other parts.

 

That doesn't represent my feeling at all. I resent them for putting that line out there into the public. This is a good bunch who have been let down by various forms of mismanagement.

I feel far more of a connection with the current squad than with some of the ones who threw in the towel last season and scuttled off to our Premier League rivals over the summer.

 

 

We see here  on a daily basis how Chelsea supporters feel differently about various topics of interest.

Putting a blanket statement out that encapsulates what you believe your membership believes whilst not canvassing non members is a tad disingenuous in my opinion.

I also like this current lot a lot more than those who downed tools too . 

[patThenevin]

14 hours ago, Ham said:

Welcome back Max.  Where have you been?

On this subject, Roman never felt the need to update us on anything.  Remember the Battersea CPO buy-up? Fans weren't always happy with everything he did.

Despite the mass disillusionment, I'm on record in saying that I still believe in this process. The team are starting to play better together even though we've been without crucial squad players.

A couple of tweaks and we're competing again. Mark my words.

 

Roman also treated us as fans, not consumers.

How anyone can have faith in the grand show of arrogance, incompetence and the increasing tone of us lot being but a petty nuisance; one from which they need to make ever increasing amounts back from (can't wait for ST pricing news eh?!) is quite beyond me. Particularly as you seem to pour more blame on fans than this bunch of financier Muppets.

Subsidised travel removal says it all. What was that, £270k a year cost to save a bit of cash in the context of hundreds of millions be wasted already. What a bunch of so and so's given their amateurish profligacy.

Edited March 21 by patThenevin

[Miguelito07]

I do wonder why they have gone quiet on the stadium re-build. I thought I read somewhere than an announcement was planned for the beginning of the year. 

[Chelsea_Matt]

3 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

Alright Matt 💙 Doing well thanks. Tbh I realised I want to spend a bit less time on here overall but that's probably a good thing for all concerned. Quality not quantity 😄
But nice to check in - all's well here. How are things with you?

Well it’s great to have you back - looking forward to hearing your views. All good thanks bro - and good to see a little improvement in the side. Jackson doing well and Palmer head and shoulders above! 

[Thiago97]

5 hours ago, Ham said:

I'm on record as saying that booing your own players for poor form is......poor form. It again shows a level of entitlement and sends out an ugly message to the other players in the squad. 

It won't have gone unnoticed to the squad that they could be next.  Toxicity towards individual players has to stop.

On toxicity towards the club, United's fans had very good reason to protest.

Their concern was very different to ours. They were being asset-stripped whereas our owners have spent big. I genuinely believe that TBSD thought that the experiment would have been working already and that we would have been challenging for top 4 this season. 

For a number of reasons, that hasn't happened.  

The squad is far better than mid-table. That's a fact. 

More talented than mid- table 100%.

Capable of producing consistent performances in the hardest league in the world, against a number of opponents who have varying different styles of play each week. I would say the squad is currently mid-table for that assignment.

If we transported this squad into the Bundesliga. I would anticipate it would finish somewhere between 3rd -5th. Easier league , less physical, most teams play the same way , lots of transitions and space to play in . Great opportunity to showcase their talent. 
As we know though, the PL is very different and requires more than just talent. 
 

Agree with the rest of the post on booing etc 👍

[chara]

Being an OG I have a wide range of memories regarding the ownership entities over the years...best clumsy analogy I can make without going too deep into things is the playing surfaces...stay with me....my earliest memories of the surfaces are of lovely looking opening day pitches that by the end of the season could be quagmires and grassless..the surfaces today are amazing and have advanced the game allowing for far more speed skill and spectacle...from a bogged down clumsy playing facility we now have a super slick professional expensive playing field...and at a cost ..in money, spirit....... and community to an extent.

The relationship between fans and club "administration" has changed beyond belief...we the fans no longer really count in the financial income of top clubs....revenue from elsewhere seems to be the real income source and we are ..as mentioned...just paying consumers. Always were but appreciated and acknowledged.

From an affordable escape with very little alternatives available the game has become part of the "entertainment" industry with the need to pursue profit as a priority leading to less connection with the fans. 

Looking at the USA tour I did my usual analysis regarding the feasibility of attending a game...only one real option in Columbus Ohio,..probably a 4/5 hour journey each way and estimated $1000 cost before the tickets/packages which from previous prices are ridiculous for pre season warm ups with no guarantee of a "full" representitive Chelsea side appearing.

How can I justify that sort of outlay to Mrs C ?...in fairness I don't have to justify and she would support me if I decided to go but how can I justify that to myself?

I suspect a similar question is on the minds of many STH's regarding on going financial commitment to a less and less personal connection to Chelsea (and  fans elsewhere)

Just a clumsy attempt to voice some thoughts..and...no..I don't think I will be going to Columbus...the pricing isn't for football fans ..it's for the coffers and the "look at me" crowd in many ways....if you can afford the access regardless of real Chelsea commitment "Come on in"....sigh.

s

[patThenevin]

Well played our boys&girls

Good bit of British humour to start showing Clownlake we are not just consumers but long term custodians. Particularly after their corporate spiel non response to the fans open letter.

 

Edited March 21 by patThenevin

[Floyd25]

5 hours ago, Box of Tricks said:

I feel far more of a connection with the current squad than with some of the ones who threw in the towel last season and scuttled off to our Premier League rivals over the summer.

I’m with you on that, some of the young players who’ve come in I definitely feel a connection with and there’s a sense that they do care and they’re giving there all, unlike some of the lot from last season. I wouldn’t say most fans have an issue with the majority of the squad, so I’m not sure where CST got that idea from. 

[Floyd25]

8 hours ago, Ham said:

I'm not in the slightest bit offended that he called fans "customers" to be honest. I appreciate the professionalism.  

I think it’s the American style of how they view fans, personally I find it more offensive than professional, but each to their own. Chris Jurasek’s letter was just a flimsy, cobbled together response in my opinion. 

Edited March 21 by Floyd25

[McCreadie]

I think this CST letter is actually really unhelpful. It’s just ramping up the public ridicule again unnecessarily. The rising price argument is fair enough, the rest is just damaging. 

[east lower]

We already have the third most expensive, cheapest available Season Ticket @ £750.  Having Arsenal and Spuds above us and the red Scouse lot in fourth place. 
 

Two of those four have had American owners for a good number of years and Spuds just have the recently proven dishonest Joe Lewis and, well Mr Levy. The red Scousers have had their ST prices increased by a high percentage and it used to be a relatively cheaper place to watch football, but American owners changed that. I suppose the tale to be told is that as soon as it was decided by the political forces at play at that time that USA was the way to go, we were resigned to paying more for everything related to Chelsea. 
 

It’s one of the reasons I would have preferred the late Ratcliffe bid, having said that we might have ended up with Southgate as a coach - what a terrible dilemma!

[Max Fowler]

11 hours ago, Ham said:

Their concern was very different to ours. Man U were being asset-stripped whereas our owners have spent big. I genuinely believe that TBSD thought that the experiment would have been working already and that we would have been challenging for top 4 this season. 

For a number of reasons, that hasn't happened.  

The squad is far better than mid-table. That's a fact. 

The Man U owners spent more than any other owners in the last decade before Clearlake came in. Yes they have loaded the club with debt - our owners are contractually obliged not to.

Their owners spent money a lot of money very badly - admittedly you can at least see a pattern with our spending but the vast majority of our fans would argue that we have too.

Yes we have admirably brought in some talented young players but the reasons we are 11th are obvious. It's not just injuries - we are devoid of characters, leaders, experience, know-how.

Having spent so much, it's understandable the fans are worried. "The squad is far better than mid-table" means nothing if we don't have the ingredients to consistently win games.

Edited March 21 by Max Fowler

[xceleryx]

11 hours ago, patThenevin said:

 

Roman also treated us as fans, not consumers.

How anyone can have faith in the grand show of arrogance, incompetence and the increasing tone of us lot being but a petty nuisance; one from which they need to make ever increasing amounts back from (can't wait for ST pricing news eh?!) is quite beyond me. Particularly as you seem to pour more blame on fans than this bunch of financier Muppets.

Subsidised travel removal says it all. What was that, £270k a year cost to save a bit of cash in the context of hundreds of millions be wasted already. What a bunch of so and so's given their amateurish profligacy.

Roman himself was a fan, much like a lot of owners were before football became more of a business with the changing of times. He was, as mentioned before, the last of a dying kind of owner at the elite level. We're likely to never have such an owner again, the quicker that's accepted the better. Getting your pants in a twist about being called consumers is petty, as the grand reality is that we ultimately are. We consume the game itself, tickets, merch, etc. We are both fans and consumers, like it or not.

Be grateful ST prices have remained as they have done for so long while everything else in life has increased in cost. Roman was a big part of that being the case, and that's to be congratulated to a degree, it also came at the cost of injecting more revenue into the club where we're already behind a lot of others because of Stamford Bridges capacity limits. We're now being run more as a business that has to be viable, opposed to a fan owner who was willing to swallow the losses himself with little care. I obviously feel for the fans who'll be priced out of retaining their ST's, and just getting match day tickets in general, as I still firmly believe the game needs to remain as accessible to the common folk as possible, but on the flip side I can also understand the change and the "why" of it. 

[xceleryx]

6 hours ago, McCreadie said:

I think this CST letter is actually really unhelpful. It’s just ramping up the public ridicule again unnecessarily. The rising price argument is fair enough, the rest is just damaging. 

Yeah, it's the timing for me that irks me the most really. We're finding a bit of form and seeing improvements, made a cup final and are in the semi's of another, while trying to finish as high as we possibly can in the league, and now the CST release something that creates unnecessary toxicity during an important part of the season. 

[Ham]

11 hours ago, Miguelito07 said:

I do wonder why they have gone quiet on the stadium re-build. I thought I read somewhere than an announcement was planned for the beginning of the year. 

The talk on skyscraper city is that Chelsea are very much still pursuing Earls Court and that this is what is holding up any announcement.

8 hours ago, patThenevin said:

Well played our boys&girls

Good bit of British humour to start showing Clownlake we are not just consumers but long term custodians. Particularly after their corporate spiel non response to the fans open letter.

 

Pathetic and childish. 

You only ever appear on here to make OTT anti American BS. 

Never hear from you after a goal or a win. 

You're another poster who I struggle to understand.  What enjoyment do you get from supporting Chelsea. 

[RDCW]

16 hours ago, Ham said:

Shouldn't the fan advisory board members be reporting back to the CST on the content of meetings?

The CST handling of this and other issues hasn't aligned with my opinion on many occasions. I think they come across as entitled and pompous. 

I don't understand why CFC should be different to any other club in regards to "the direction the club is taking". 

I'm not in the slightest bit offended that he called fans "customers" to be honest. I appreciate the professionalism.  

Splitter!

[kev61]

2 hours ago, Ham said:

The talk on skyscraper city is that Chelsea are very much still pursuing Earls Court and that this is what is holding up any announcement.

Pathetic and childish. 

You only ever appear on here to make OTT anti American BS. 

Never hear from you after a goal or a win. 

You're another poster who I struggle to understand.  What enjoyment do you get from supporting Chelsea. 

I think you are a tad OTT Ham.We have owners experimenting at a huge cost.

Clearlake will have no intention of building a new stadium the way things are going if they can get away from it .

They have probably done their numbers and will bail at the first opportunity - unless these youngsters bear fruit.