Boehly- Clearlake-Were Not Suitably

equipped to buy Chelsea Football Club

They had the finance, but they did not have a clue how to run an elite competitive European football club

Today,we get ready to play Brighton in the 3rd round of the Carabao cup.

The news outlets carry much about the business done between the clubs since Boehly- Clearlake took over and the links of the sporting directors Winstanley & Stewart, the managerial and backroom staff failures and the overpriced player acquisitions.

All of which are fact and represent a significant aspect of the Boehly- Clearlake strategy.

Boehly - Clearlake when they came in very loudly announced that they had plan, a strategy and a process.

They acclaimed, that they were serious players with the finance to back up their ambitions.

They invested 2.5bln in the purchase of the club, committed a further 1.75bln to be spent over the next 10 yrs on the development of club, with a verbal guarantee that they would not withdraw dividends during the development period.

Great what is not to like. Sounds like that they know what they are doing.

But after all this investment and claims, really what have they gone and done?

First they removed the clubs buying structure and its associated links

Next, they took over the player buying in the first summer window, bought rashly and poorly. ill equipped as they did not at fully understand the market, something they have publicly admitted.

This then created tension between Tuschel and the ownership, which came to ahead within the first 8 weeks of the season and their egos got the better of them and they decided that they did not need a world class manager and sacked him.
They did not sack him for just footballing reasons.

Next within a week they brought in Graham potter and his back room staff from Brighton, which was followed by the Sporting Directors Winstanley and Stewart.

They began to destabilize the playing staff by giving them an ultimatum, sign new long term contracts or be considered salable.

As we know Potter was not the right type of manager to handle the issues that came with managing CFC and its new ownership, the form dropped and continued drop though out his tenure.

The next window ( winter 2023 they continued to buy rashly , some have suggested a scatter gun approach)

The mangers problems were compounded with an even larger squad, the dressing room, not big enough

Player dissatisfaction continued , reluctance to sign the new contracts strengthened , the key spine players wanted out, the club was in free fall.

Next Frank was brought to steady the squad, it didnt work, the players had made their minds up, they wanted out. That was not Franks fault, the dye had been cast prior to his arrival imo.

Poch is lined up and takes over June 2023, there is a feeling that the owners may well have learnt from the mistakes made in the first 12 months of their tenure.

It was a new start, they had a plan to move all the deadwood off the squad list, and were committed to continue to invest in the squad,

They performed well in the first part of the window , but they continued to buy youth over experienced quality to give the side a balance and strength in depth.

They refused Maddison due to his age

At the close of the window despite moving 13+ plus players, the squad was still at 29/30 players, after loans. Bloated.

Injuries to key spine players effected Pochs options and since the start of the season, Poch has not been able to select a settled side despite the size of the squad

Currently Poch is explaining that there is confidence issue upfront again,

I could go on.

Back to the plan, and process ?

Personally, im struggling to see it or understand it

All i can see is that they brashly took over, stamped their Gucci loafers all over the club, dismantled the player buying structure without having a well thought out assured system to replace it, above Tod Boehlys keen eye for a player

Next their monumental egos took over, & on a roll and decided to sack the clubs world class manager, bring in Graham Potter and basically try to clone the Brighton template for running the club

They continued to adopt a scatter gun approach to buying, the club lost C/L league football, their answer was not to build a squad that can compete now, but player bank and build a squad lacking in strength in depth, to support the gifted young footballers they brought.

This issue is now creating another confidence issue, as poor results and scrutiny will undermine the squad.

All these guys have done is taken over and misread how to run the manage the asset that they have, the plan ? well, trying abysmally to clone the Brighton template.

I do not see what their plan was when they took over the club, they have been playing catch up since day one, they are making it up as they go along

COY Blues , KTBFFH