Well one thing that definitely imploded was the financial backing. The treble winning Inter team had a payroll over EUR200m p/a and cost a fortune to assemble It just never got the whole sugar daddy coverage associated with City http://swissramble.blogspot.de/2010/08/price-of-inters-success.html
without being too much of a moaning old git I really dont think it matters who is managing/coaching the players atm I believe they have sadly learned that underperforming as a group will lead to a change in management instead of accountability on their level
I know he's an ex-blue, but he feels more like an ex-red to me for some reason. Soon the stadium will be renamed to Stamfield Bridge.
Former Blues boss Jose Mourinho was philosophical about Di Matteo's departure. "That's football," Mourinho told Sky Sports 2. "I'm never happy when a manager is sacked. It can happen to me and is a feeling that no one likes to have. But at the same time, everyone knows I like Chelsea. "I supported Roberto and I wished him to do well, and I will support the next Chelsea manager."
He didn't make back to back finals, that was Cuper at Valencia. He took over Valencia after that. His second place finish was a fluke. I remember it really well because 'Pool fans were convinced it they were a player away and I was convinced they'd crater the following season once luck evened out - and boy did it. His transfer policy at Pool was horrific (he'd go through about 12 players a year moving!!), he was a decent cup manager but an awful league one and he played the same system. Benitez is a competent coach, but he definitely did not "overperform" at Liverpool.
Sorry - you are right - his two finals at Liverpool were not back to back. But the point stands - I don't see how he can make 2 finals in 3 seasons and uptick performance to over 80 points as a fluke. Yes they fell apart in his last year - but the whole club was insolvent by then - and I am sure everyone knew it. As for his transfers - the data indicates that he overperformed in his acquisitions - but of course he started with a much weaker squad that what Chelsea and United had. The expectation that Liverpool ought to have won a title under him is erroneous. That's the real issue.
Yeah, we might as well dump The Liquidator for-- When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don't be afraid of the dark At the end of the storm Is a golden sky And the sweet silver song of the lark Walk on through the wind Walk on through the rain Though your dreams be tossed and blown Walk on walk on with hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don't be afraid of the dark At the end of the storm Is a golden sky And the sweet silver song of the lark Walk on through the wind Walk on through the rain Though your dreams be tossed and blown Walk on walk on with hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk You'll never walk You'll never walk alone.
not sure about that under his watch the following players were signed Djibril Cisse- 14 mil Josemi- 2 mil Antonio Nunez- 1.5 mil Luis Garcia- 6 mil Xabi Alonso- 10.5 mil Mauricio Pellegrinio- free Fernando Morientes- 6.3 mil Scott Carson- 750k Pepe Reina- 6 mil Mark Gonzalez- 4.5 mil Boudewijn Zenden- free Mohammed Sissoko- 5.6 mil Peter Crouch- 7 mil Daniel Agger- 5.8 mil Robbie Fowler- free Craig Bellamy- 6 mil Gabriel Palleta- 2 mil Fabiano Aureilo- free Jermaine Pennant- 6.7 mil Dirk Kuyt- 9 mil Nabil El Zahr- 200k Astrit Ajdaveric- 750k Avlaro Arbeloa- 2.6 mil Javier Mascherano- 17 mil Sebastian Leto- 1.8 mil Charles Hubert Itandje- 1.4 mil Lucas- 5 mil Andrei Voronin- free Krisztian Nemeth- signed Fernando Torres- 26.5 mil Yossi Benayoun- 5 mil Ryan Babel- 11.5 mil Emiliano Insua- signed Damien Plessis- signed Martin Skrtel- 6 mil Phillip Degen- free Andrea Dossena- 7 mil Diego Cavalieri- 3.5 mil David Ngog- 1.5 mil Robbie Keane- 20.3 mil Vitor Flora- free Albert Riera- 8 mil Glen Johnson- 18 mil Alberto Aquailani- 20 mil Sotiros Kyragiakos- 2 mil Maxi Rodriguez- free Jonjo Shelvey- 1.7 mil Suso- free there are a couple of very good pick ups for the money but he had some horrific misses and the shear quantity of players signed was probably going to lead to one or two good signings. A little similar to asking every woman in the bar if she wants to screw- after countless slaps in the face one may just say yes.
The atmosphere at the Bridge is going to be vitriolic Sunday. I think it will be the first time that the fans actually chant directly against Roman. Home games are going to be a disaster for the next month or so, especially if City run us off the park.
The volume is a key part of his approach. Remember because Liverpool often had quite poor cashflow, he needed to trade a lot. Anyway - it has been analyzed heavily elsewhere - but the good news for you is that the meme that Benitez wasted a lot of money is false and on any measure he made profits in the transfer market. Liverpool's problem all along has been that by the time of Houllier the squad was not worth very much thanks to all the stupidity in the 90s. This is a problem Chelsea do not have. In fact Benitez will inherit the most valuable squad in the league. http://tomkinstimes.com/2011/02/benitez-the-great-money-waster/
If the crowd turns on Roman, I hope they also wipe the memories of league titles and European success. That they no longer sing about Terry winning a double, or knowing who we are. They could sing about Wise going up to lift an FA Cup of course, but it's debatable how many people actually were there and how many are only here because of Roman in the first place. This is two sides of the same coin and if people are happy to cheer the successes they have to suck up the bad times (however they are defined for you personally). To do anything else is the absolute definition of being a fair-weather fan. I don't think I will be going to the pub this weekend or for a few more, because frankly if people boo, I don't want to say something I regret. I always wondered why, when growing up, Liverpool fans complained bitterly about a loss or a change in management or playing staff. I couldn't fathom why anyone would be upset when they had titles in the trophy cabinet and were playing in big games on a regular basis. I always thought them to be spoiled brats who didn't know a good thing when they had it. In the last 2 days, it's depressing to think I now know exactly how they got to that point.
Haha, I've seen that post before, and it's rubbish. Those figures are basically a ton of mistakes and the sale of Torres and Alonso, by which point Liverpool were a midtable side. Rafa basically bought 3 good players his entire time at Liverpool, and he bought a LOT. The fact that Liverpool squeezed money out of those purchases like blood from a stone doesn't change the fact that his purchases were nearly all duds. We don't want him to make a profit on transfers, we want him to be a good manager. This is the same manager that wanted to sell Alonso to buy Barry ffs!
If there is any unpleasantness, I hope this is the case, but I've seen a lot of sentiment in the past 24 hours that suggests people are over Roman, as ridiculous as that sounds. I really hope you're right, but then I'd hope we also want our manager to be successful which seems fantastical at this point in time.
Its not rubbish - its the reason why Liverpool amassed 86 points in the peak season and got to two CL finals - more than Arsenal did - starting with a worse squad We know he screwed up the next year - but you can believe it was all blind luck if you like.
The 86 point season was a huge fluke and no one has denied he's a decent cup manager. That's not what Chelsea need, and his transfer record is appalling due to talent evaluation, not necessarily the inability to recoup losses. Honestly, how did buying Aquilani to replace Alonso make any kind of sense when he was hurt during the transfer? Your statistical analysis keeps missing the forest for the trees.
Sounds like he got ripped off. Who sold them to him? Liverpool? Cause they ripped us off with Torres too...
If people have an issue with the new manager, shouldn't they have a bigger issue with the guy who brought him in? It's almost like Roman is a bit player in the scenario from many of the comments I have read.
I'm not going to boo the club or anything, and I will obviously continue to be a supporter, but this decision is really, really poor imo and it's very hard to support. Di Matteo was a fantastic player for us before Abramovich ever came about, won the Champions League title he so desperately craved as a manager, I'm just appalled at the treatment which appears to completely disregard us, the fans. And to replace him with Benitez...