The British Bushwacker Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 10 minutes ago, Shy Dad said: Drawn Fleetwood away in the FA Cup. Gonna be the toughest game we've had yet. Some 90 places above us in the tables and in great form. Gonna be a top game. We head to Notts County who are also flying this season, relishing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted November 7, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 7, 2017 2 hours ago, tiger_rick said: Who at Chelsea let Kevin De Bruyne go and have they been strung up by their bollocks yet? That surely falls under Emenalo, who has finally been strung up by his bollocks as of today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Bifkin Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 I'm pretty certain it was Mourinho who didn't fancy De Bruyne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted November 7, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 7, 2017 Or Lukaku for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Or Mo Salah. Emanelo has overseen really good business. He can't force managers to play them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted November 7, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 7, 2017 True, but he's surely responsible for a few head-scratchers himself. Namely letting Matic go to United, which Conte clearly wasn't happy about. During his tenure the amount of managers that have been disposed of whilst he has been a constant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted November 7, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 7, 2017 Sorry to post the Oxford Dictionary here, but this from the outstanding WeAintGotNoHistory is a great overview of the pros and cons of Emenalo. I was never the biggest fan, but he was the fall guy for a lot of the shit which was the fault of the manager (especially Mourinho), or Mariana (who decides fees). This is not to discount his role in total rubbish like Michael Hector, Matic being sold and the mighty Papy Djlibjijijiji. Quote On Monday, Chelsea announced that the club had accepted the resignation of technical director Michael Emenalo. It was news that no one was expecting. Emenalo had become a fixture over the past decade at Cobham, growing into his role with purposeful drive, hard work, and admirable ambition, becoming one of Roman Abramovich’s most trusted leaders at the club. Derided by many but appreciated by those who mattered — given far too much but also not enough credit — Emenalo made a massive impact on the club, whether he’ll admit it or not, leaving behind an important legacy but also a tremendous hole in terms of stability and direction without an obvious successor lined up. The following barely scratches Emenalo’s complex, controversial, outstanding legacy at Chelsea Football Club. Ten years and two weeks ago, almost to the day, Avram Grant, interim Chelsea manager, convinced his good friend and former player at Maccabi Tel Aviv, Michael Emenalo to join his fledgling staff at Stamford Bridge. Grant had been appointed manager after José Mourinho’s (first) sacking; Emenalo would be his chief scout, arriving from the Tucson Soccer Academy in Tucson, Arizona, USA, where he had served as chief executive—yes, he also coached a (very successful) U12 girls’ team at the Academy, much to the merriment of the sexist footballing elite ever since. In an interview with the local paper, he described how his skills in evaluating talent translated to his new job. "My job is still to spot and evaluate talent. But being back working in big-time soccer is exciting. I miss that, and working with top-quality pros is a joy. "The added bonus of it is going to a club that has a manager that I have the utmost respect for and I can learn from. It's a wonderful soccer education for me, like studying for your Ph.D. at Harvard." -Michael Emenalo, Nov 2007; source: Arizona Daily Star Grant wasn’t the only one interested in Emenalo. The former Nigeria international (including for the Super Eagles’ 1994 World Cup campaign) was also being recruited by his former manager at Lleida, Juande Ramos, who had recently been appointed as head coach at Tottenham Hotspur. Most importantly, Emenalo also impressed Roman Abramovich personally. As legend goes, Emenalo auditioned for his Chelsea role by opposition-scouting Valencia in the group stages of the 2007-08 Champions League, thus playing a part in Chelsea’s 2-1 victory at the Mestalla in October even before getting officially hired later that month. After that victory, Emenalo was introduced to Abramovich, and the rest, as they say, is history. Since he joined, first as chief scout then as Director of Football (DoF), with a brief period serving as one of Ancelotti’s assistant managers after Ray Wilkins* was let go, Emenalo has played a key role in reshaping the club, especially in how scouting, recruitment, and player development are handled. These are hardly transparent processes, and Emenalo, who was often confused for a Board member, which he was not, has caught plenty of (unjustified) flack from the very beginning from both insiders and outsiders, fans and media alike for his perceived involvement in various decisions made over the past decade—the nadir of which was the last six months of Mourinho’s second stint at the club, when Emenalo oversaw the deadline day signings of Michael Hector and Papy Djilobodji and then was picked to deliver the tone-deaf message from the club after the sacking itself (a Board decision, not a DoF decision) a few months later. *(Wilkins quite clearly harbors some personal resentment, as this interview on BBC 5 Live on Monday left no doubt.) It is perhaps fitting that Emenalo now got to conduct his own exit interview, sitting down with Chelsea TV to reflect on his time at Chelsea, including the past six years as Director of Football. (You can watch the video from free, but it’s not embeddable, so you have to do so on the official website.) “After 10 years here, 10 wonderful, successful years, but very demanding years, it is a very tough decision to decide to step aside. It is entirely my decision and it has come about for very simple reasons. I need an opportunity to get to see my young kids grow and also to step back and reflect on the work that I have done here and the things that we have been able to accomplish together in this great club.” “It is something I have been thinking about for quite some time now and it is something I have discussed with my family and they understand the reasons and the timing for wanting to step aside. But this is not a knee-jerk reaction or decision, it has been on my mind and it has been thoroughly discussed amongst friends and colleagues.” Initial reports claimed that Emenalo was “let go” — i.e. sacked — by Chelsea, but as the comments from Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck first alluded to, this decision appears to have been made by Emenalo alone. He cites family as the biggest reason — his wife and three kids live at least part of the year back in Tucson, AZ, where she’s a local soccer legend — though there are a few stray rumors of AS Monaco knocking on his door as well, which would be rather ironic given the usual criticisms of Emenalo’s decisions at Chelsea and Monaco’s fabled player recruitment of recent years. And while Emenalo did revolutionize and streamline Chelsea’s scouting processes, aligning it with more modern methods after the bloat and controversies of his predecessor, Frank Arnesen, his biggest legacy will undoubtedly be Chelsea loan system, which is something that he was not only proud of, but repeatedly maintained that other teams are looking to implement as well. (And if we look at, say, Manchester City, it turns out Emenalo was not wrong on that account.) “The first thing I would like to say is that I have been very, very lucky. When you work in this organisation you are lucky because you are surrounded by very talented and very experienced and intelligent people. I have been one of the biggest beneficiaries of that working from the top down. I have had incredible support staff. I’ve had a set-up in so many different areas that can only bring success. At the Academy we have an Academy manager who is absolutely outstanding. We have a scouting network that was revolutionary, people are copying some of the things that we did. “We have managed to improve our opposition scouting department and the recruitment of players. There are so many things outside of the technical area which I am aware of that have also grown and improved exponentially. “But the ultimate ambition and ultimate goal of this football club has always been to win, and the totality of the wins that we’ve had – whether it’s the Champions League, or the Premier League, or the Europa League, the Ladies’ Premier League and cups, the Academy, those young men winning back-to-back youth Champions Leagues – they have all been achievements that I am very proud of, and I’m proud of it because it’s not just an achievement by me or that has just my influence, it’s an achievement that is the totality of everybody’s work.” And yet, despite all those trophies and wins and glories, the most wonderful parting gift for Emenalo was one born out of strange circumstances, when Andreas Christensen, the latest poster child for Emenalo’s loan system working exactly as intended, was surprisingly drafted in by Conte to replace David Luiz in the starting lineup against Manchester United. Like player development itself, sometimes opportunities arise out of simple random chance and coincidence. “Absolutely. Andreas, unbeknown to him, gave me a wonderful parting gift yesterday because his performance is indicative of what development is all about. Development equals humility, hard work and timing and Andreas has done all three. “He’s shown great humility to go on loan and work very hard while he was there and gain the experience which is needed, and the timing is right for him now to step in and show what he’s learnt during those periods of development.” In his exit interview, Emenalo says he simply wants to be remembered for his dedication and love of the club. But that would greatly undersell his impact on the club over the past decade and especially over the past six years. Jake Cohen ✔@JakeFCohen All the best to Michael Emenalo. A top person and executive, he'll likely always be an underrated part of Chelsea's unprecedented success. We often talk about “stability” at a football club. At Chelsea, that stability, beyond just Roman Abramovich’s continued dedication to the cause, had come from Michael Emenalo as Director of Football. Head coaches, managers, whatever we want to call them, come and go seemingly every year, if not more often. By definition, these short-term appointments that depend altogether far too much on the team’s results must not set the overall direction of the club—not even if José Mourinho comes back to his (then) happy place. Those are old-school ideals that outside of Arsenal, do not have a place in modern top level football. The conflict between Emenalo and Mourinho never quite rose to the level that the former possibly was envisioning when he offered to resign in the summer of 2013, but as power see-sawed between the two, we saw how destructive it could be for both of their plans. The post-mortems over why and just how exactly Chelsea managed to rid ourselves of the qualities of Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku will probably go on until they’re all retired, but the shift in emphasis from signing (younger) players for the future and signing (older) players to win-now was marked a year later by the arrivals of Fàbregas and Costa. A title duly followed, as did a collapse, palpable discord, and yet another transition period. View image on Twitter Grant James @GrantJames_CFC Michael Emenalo signings. #CFC That’s not to say that everything Emenalo had done was good or sensible or successful. The summer after Mourinho’s last title was an unmitigated disaster for both “sides”, punctuated by the laughable arrivals of Michael Hector and Papy Djilobodji on transfer deadline day. But those who are celebrating Emenalo’s “demise” as a “victory” for Conte may yet be in for a rude awakening. One man’s departure doesn’t guarantee longevity for the other, and by most accounts, there was no actual conflict between head coach and technical director—there may have been professional disagreements (Morata vs. Lukaku, for example), but nothing good has ever come from a bunch of yes-men. If there is conflict, it’s possibly between Conte and Granovskaia, The Hand of Abramovich, and she’s still around. Her line of Chelsea now “reviewing our management structure” is as ominous as it possibly is just standard management speak at a time of change. How all that will shake out, and whether Conte does actually “gain” more power and influence over the non-playing aspects of the club’s operations (unlikely, but you never know) remains to be seen. 22h Dan Levene ✔@danlevene Replying to @danlevene Remarkable antipathy among many fans toward Emenalo. His Chelsea record somewhat of a curate's egg. Signings vary from excellent to bizarre. Dan Levene ✔@danlevene But know this: it really will be seen as a blow by Abramovich, who rates Emenalo. That's why he stuck around so long wile others were fired. 2:52 PM - Nov 6, 2017 Emenalo’s confident he leaves things in good hands, whether that be the world class scouting department, the Loan Army (who’s going to take over running that?), the Academy with director Neil Bath, the Ladies team who have become one of the best in all of Europe, or the first-team itself. “I think professionally there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is a good time for me to step aside and let the club continue to move forward. The club is in good hands, an outstanding board of directors, a very generous owner, one of the best coaches in world football who I know from personal day-to-day interaction cares about his work and about the club, an Academy that is the best in the world bar none, a Ladies team and programme that is evolving at rapid and successful speed. There is so much to be proud of in this club but the time has come for me to also take a step aside and consider some personal growth which I think at my age and after 10 years of demanding and gruelling and all-encompassing work, is very necessary.” And so, Emenalo’s unlikely, controversial, impressive, and wildly successful journey at Chelsea Football Club has come to an end. Ten years ago, he was a relative nobody. Today, there’s not a Chelsea fan who doesn’t know his name or have an opinion about him. As ever in these sorts of situations, Emenalo’s true legacy probably won’t emerge until a few years down the line. Will his accomplishments, failures, ideas, and methods stand the test of time? They just might. “I think I would like to be seen as someone who was very dedicated to the job, who loved the people he worked with and who loved the club. I was speaking to a friend earlier and alluding to the fact that to support Chelsea Football Club, work for this club and love this club, to share and revel in the dramas, especially the successful ones of winning trophies, is very addictive. “My family and I have enjoyed that addiction, and I don’t know if that passes as a legacy but I would like to be remembered as someone who absolutely enjoyed supporting and working for Chelsea Football Club. “It will be different [and wonderful to watch only as a fan]; I hope everything that comes out is positive because I know how difficult it is as a fan to be helpless on the outside and just wanting your team to do so well. Hopefully the experiences I have from the inside will help me to keep my nerves, but these are exciting times and I look forward to enjoying being a supporter.” -Michael Emenalo; source: Chelsea FC Thanks for everything, Michael, and best of luck in whatever comes next. 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Paid Members PunkStep Posted November 7, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 7, 2017 That was an interesting read (even if it took a week to read) and it really does highlight how much change has been implemented at the club in recent years, most of which I didn't realise how involved he was. I'm still not entirely convinced by his loan system as a method of grooming players for the club to utilise (because they are barely used before being moved on), although from a business perspective it certainly helps them bring in revenue by way of transfer fees for players that cost little to nothing in the first place. But it's hard to argue that the academy is the best at producing young players in the country at the moment and the consecutive FA Youth Cups are a testament to that. I think City will overtake them before long though on this front, their academy and training base is ridiculously impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted November 7, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 7, 2017 Yeah, sorry for the length of that (williams.gif). I would agree regarding City and I also think it will be equally meaningless as the proceeds to shell off almost all of the players for revenue. I still get depressed about selling KDB (way more than Lukaku), such a wonderful player to watch. In terms of the LoanZone, at least we've got some quality out of it, the rise of Christensen has been a particularly satisfying sight this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieg1980 Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 2 hours ago, Gus Mears said: Yeah, sorry for the length of that (williams.gif). I would agree regarding City and I also think it will be equally meaningless as the proceeds to shell off almost all of the players for revenue. I still get depressed about selling KDB (way more than Lukaku), such a wonderful player to watch. In terms of the LoanZone, at least we've got some quality out of it, the rise of Christensen has been a particularly satisfying sight this season. Isn't Kennedy in and about (tm Townsend) the squad as well this year? And was one of the loanzone players? Thought that was an interesting read on Emenalo. Would have been interesting to see the impact of him at Tottenham with Ramos. Probably nothing but an interesting think anyway. Michael Hector was indeed a bizarre signing. Watching him play for Hull against Derby and Forest made me wonder exactly what he saw in him. Reading fans must know a bit more. Change of the subject very quickly but did anyone see Lyon vs Saint-Etienne on Sunday night. Very one sided derby that got abandoned due to the Saint-Etienne ultras kicking off over Nabir Fakir's celebrating by taking his shirt off and showing the back of it to the fans al la Messi vs Real Madrid. I didn't think there was anything much wrong with it myself but mate thought he deserved a ban for it. Worth a look on YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Kenedy was off to Newcastle on loan until they decided against the deal after he tweeted some disrespectful things about China which got him sent home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The British Bushwacker Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 See i really thought Hector had half a chance at Chelsea, he played for Reading largely as a holding midfielder and was absolutely fantastic in there, also had a decent spell at Frankfurt last season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briefcase Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 On 6 November 2017 at 3:34 PM, CleetusVanDamme said: And after not shutting up about Matic all season long whenever the subject of United or Chelsea came up, Sky had literally nothing to say about the matter after the game yesterday, funny that. You'd think that would be the most relevant time to talk about it. Certainly far more relevant than Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal which had Souness dropping "this would never have happened if they still had Matic", yet yesterday nothing. I think Sky have been a bit hit and miss this season. I have seen quite a few Super Sundays and I remember Wenger in particular being singled out for not winning an important away game in the league after they got torn apart at Liverpool (I know they played well against Chelsea a few weeks later) but Mourinho despite spending heavily also has quite a poor record against teams away from home in the top six but because its Mourinho and they are not heavy defeats its almost okay as he sets his teams out to play for the draw (this is Sky's words not mine by the way). I totally understand that Mourinho see's the bigger picture and a point away at say Anfield is not a bad thing, but at the same time I find it hard to justify Mourinho's away record against Wenger's when both are arguably not good enough to win titles. Souness who I actually quite like is massively critical of Wenger away from home but with Mourinho he defended his away record. I see them both as quite similar if your going by results. United/Arsenal have both dropped points away from home against the top six in recent seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted November 10, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 10, 2017 I think the pundits have not been at the their best recent especially Souness and Jamie Redknapp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted November 10, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted November 10, 2017 What is Jamie Redknapp's best? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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