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Chelsea fan HITS BACK at our criticisms 👀 'We're NOT soulless!'
27 Plays2 months ago
Money can’t buy success. 💸 Chelsea’s journey under Boehly has been a tough pill to swallow—lavish spending, but no results to match. We sat down with Chelsea fan Ryan Maguire to hear his thoughts on the current state of the club. His perspective is a must-listen for any Blues supporter.
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Transcript
Introduction to Nada Pundit Podcast
00:00:17
killianginnity
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Nada Pundit podcast. My name is Killeen Ginnity and I'm delighted to be joined as ever by Nathan Byrne and Connor Glennon. Gentlemen, it's confirmed. So then they're going to go undefeated in the championship and we will be back in the Premier League next year.
00:00:32
Conor Glennon
Steady on, young man. It's only been two
Team's Historic Undefeated Start
00:00:34
Conor Glennon
weeks. Come on now.
00:00:35
killianginnity
No, it's championships. ah It's been tree. We are tree games, tree wins, zero goals conceded.
00:00:37
Conor Glennon
Trey Fair.
00:00:42
Conor Glennon
I mean, it's a pretty hot start. I'm not going to lie. Um, I don't know.
00:00:44
killianginnity
It's the first time we've done it in 99 years.
00:00:47
Conor Glennon
Well, that's what I was going to say. I don't know if it's your argument, your best start the season, you know.
00:00:51
killianginnity
pretty Pretty much. like it's and In the first three games, it's the best. weter like like if If it keeps this way over the next five or six games, it'll be incredible.
00:01:01
Conor Glennon
opponent Opponent was who you've been beating though. Were we talking fodder or are we talking like decent
Match Results and VAR Impact
00:01:06
killianginnity
ah The last two games were Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday.
00:01:06
Conor Glennon
teams?
00:01:09
Conor Glennon
Okay, that's that's a good start yeah
00:01:09
killianginnity
Sheffield Wednesday, we bet 4-0. And then Burnley, we bet 2-0.
00:01:15
Nate
I will be there for that playoff semi-final loss.
00:01:15
killianginnity
I think. Was it 1-0?
00:01:17
Nate
I will be there. I may travel over and FaceTime here while I'm over there.
00:01:20
killianginnity
it's
00:01:22
killianginnity
It's all autos, Nate. It's all autos. But it was a good weekend for the Northeast in fairness, Connor.
00:01:28
Conor Glennon
It was indeed, you know, well, I say good weekend. It was, ah for once, VAR actually did something beneficial in my life and granted us a one-hole draw. I don't know, man, like good like, to be honest, though during the game, I would have been happy out with it would with a draw. Like, we' we've been playing poor. that I can know it's only been two weeks in, but it's it's been a ropey start to us. And, you know, I think Alan Scheer during the week was saying that There's just something missing, but you can't really put your finger on it. And it was the same in the first game. And it was kind of like, oh, yeah, maybe it's just old eggs. But I don't know. It's nothing like I'm saying, like, oh, sack the manager and things like that. It just doesn't feel like things are cooking properly, you know?
Transfer Talks and Team Needs
00:02:10
killianginnity
Well, you didn't get really any fresh impetus this summer. There wasn't like that kind of marquee player to be expecting of a team of that size in that stage of the revolution and the right back, considering Trippia wants to leave.
00:02:15
Conor Glennon
Yeah. we We need the gay heat transfer to kick on, I think, to be honest.
00:02:25
Conor Glennon
Well that whole thing that just angered me deeply but it's not surprising at the same time.
00:02:31
killianginnity
It was a less good weekend for you
Chelsea's Management and Strategies Debate
00:02:34
killianginnity
Nate. And not only that, some of your comments last week did um bring some ire. I've been fielding some messages over the last couple of days. I've been trying to calm a certain man down. That is our own resident Chelsea fan, Ryan McGuire. Ryan, how are we doing?
00:02:57
Ryan
Very good this week. Very, very good.
00:03:01
killianginnity
For this week.
00:03:02
Ryan
Very happy with that result.
00:03:06
killianginnity
Well, Nate, it wasn't a great weekend for United, but your comments last week about Chelsea, um you were less than um less than glowing, yeah, about them.
00:03:19
Conor Glennon
Enthusiastic, should we say.
00:03:21
Nate
I think I'm the more singing after saying him sheet as a lot of people I think. Yeah, like to be honest, one way and as good as it looks, 6-0 and the score sheet, it's not really changed anything in my opinion, I'm the state of the club.
00:03:36
Conor Glennon
For those who might have missed your comments last week, set your station out. What's your con ofvo suppose three-liner on on the current iteration of Chelsea?
00:03:45
Nate
I just think it's the like one of the worst-run football clubs I think I've ever seen. Genuinely, I think they've made nothing but a mess. it's It goes against setting up players to actually perform well. I think as good as one or two weeks of looking good in a football pitch, I think it's always going to come back around to to silly silly transfer play and Todd Bowley thinking he's playing the biggest game of football manager in his life.
00:04:16
killianginnity
If you haven't listened back to last week's episode, what are you doing? Um, but, and if you do want to just a very quick glance at some of the comments from last week about Chelsea, uh, head to not a pundit.ie and there's an article called the cost of chaos, how Chelsea spending spree could backfire. And this is one of the areas that Ryan has been nonstop messaging me about and where he took quite a bit of Umbridge, uh, go on Ryan set out your stall.
00:04:44
Ryan
So definitely Chelsea are spending ridiculous amounts of money. Like it is crazy how much we are spending, but you also have to remember, like I think in the last 10 summers, we've been, we've brought in the highest transfer fees for players in three of them. So for the sets, like for the likes there are summer, 2023, 277 million brought in, like You can't name another big club that's actually doing that.
00:05:08
Ryan
Like if you look, for instance, there for NATO United in 2023, they brought in 23.65 million, but spent 242. Like yeah you can't really compare what we're doing to anybody else.
00:05:17
Conor Glennon
Shots fired.
00:05:21
Ryan
Like a city don't sell like we do. No club actually sells like we do in the top six. Like Brighton sell extremely well, but we do also sell extremely well and we always have. So the spending is like we're able to spend.
00:05:31
Nate
okay boy but yeah and i do I agree with certain aspects of that, but I think taking 10 years is maybe a little bit disingenuous in terms of the new people that are in town.
00:05:45
Ryan
Yeah, that's fair, that's fair.
00:05:45
Nate
and and A big issue of mine is not, else he's spending money. Like, I don't really have a license to stand on with close spending money, trust me.
00:05:56
Nate
And I'm very aware of that. My issue is the way that they're spending money. They're buying, like, Ryan, how many players have he's bought in the last two so two years?
00:06:07
Nate
Like, it's genuinely ridiculous.
00:06:08
Ryan
Yeah, it's it's it's a lot.
00:06:08
Conor Glennon
My guess is 20. It's gotta be in the 20s.
00:06:09
Ryan
It is it is a lot.
00:06:12
Nate
Like, and I think my issue with Chelsea and I don't really understand why fans aren't really up in their arms about it because I know if it was my club doing it I would be is You're creating an environment that that's anti-performance rather than an environment that's all about performance. And like sitting here as a United fan myself, I'm like, I don't want Chelsea to start spending money. I want them to keep spending money because it creates a terrible atmosphere. like but that That's where a big gripe of mine comes from.
Impact of Chelsea's Large Squad
00:06:47
Ryan
But then it can also create a competitive atmosphere. So like players want to play, want to train harder to get into the first team. Like City there have ridiculous depth and have for how long now? Like Chelsea have to have depth to be competing.
00:06:59
Ryan
Every club has to have depth to be competing. We've seen that with Arsenal in the last couple of years.
00:07:03
Conor Glennon
See, so I think we're, it's different with, with city though is where where it's different from a city and sorry to cut across you.
00:07:03
Ryan
That's how they fell on Maldonado.
00:07:08
Conor Glennon
I think there's players that are more. They're not on the six year deals. It's slightly more competitive than a year or two left in the contract. There's something to prove and they kind of keep them, you know, it's, it's more of a challenge for them to, to show their worth rather than if you're on a six, seven year deal, you got nothing to really prove cause they ain't going to be able to shift you. So you can kind of just dance around a wee bit, you know.
00:07:34
Nate
And not to mention that.
00:07:34
Ryan
Yeah, but then like sorry know like on them six year deals, like you have to realize that we've lowered our average wage bill to between 60, 70K.
00:07:37
Nate
Go ahead, go ahead.
00:07:44
Ryan
It's all insensitized wages. So like our wage bill is actually ridiculously low at the moment compared to what we have had. like And also with the squad, we needed to rebuild from context time, like from after content, like we'd never bought another striker.
00:08:00
Ryan
up to Diego Costa's quality. We've never properly replaced Fabregas. Even since Kante has gone now, Caicero's come in. He's had a decent enough first season there. But it's still like there's been such replacements needed for the last while. like So this is why this bend is coming. And as Killian has said,
00:08:17
Ryan
The transfer ban is coming for Chelsea. There's talks there that we're going to have a two-year transfer ban for four Windows because of the report we made ourselves over the 2008-09 spendings under Abramovich. So we are going to have a transfer ban. So the spending will come to a stop very, very soon.
00:08:34
Conor Glennon
What was your last band? what was That was two windows, wasn't it?
00:08:34
Nate
but
00:08:38
Ryan
That was three windows, yeah a year and a half.
00:08:40
Conor Glennon
It didn't really affect you that badly.
00:08:42
Nate
but But Ryan, is that is that not the big wake up call here?
00:08:43
Ryan
No.
00:08:45
Nate
like He's a spent 1.3 billion but he's haven't replaced Diego Costa. That is the issue.
00:08:50
Ryan
Yeah, that's exactly it.
00:08:51
Nate
things
00:08:51
Ryan
But like again, that's why we're being linked to Ozzie Minn. We're being linked to Tony. like There will be a Striker Pride before Friday.
00:08:57
Nate
and And I just think like going back to the performance part is, I do agree that having more competitive players create an atmosphere. It's just Chelsea currently have a squad size that could probably compete in the NFL, like literally.
00:09:12
Nate
And it's like.
00:09:12
Ryan
I don't, I don't agree with the squad size to be honest. I think you can do that with every club. Like if you're looking at some of them names on that squad, like, like Andre Santos is on that. He's not even at the club. He's at Strasbourg. Like that's our sister club, but he's like, he's gone. Like Tyreek George, he's 18. He might get a couple of games in the conference league. Realistically, he's not going to be starting Premier League games. He's not going to be training with
Player Development and Transfer Strategies
00:09:32
Ryan
us every day, every week.
00:09:34
Ryan
but There's a lot of names there, Josh Atchampong, Jimmy Torrinen. Jimmy Torrinen, just from watching youth football, I don't think he has a career at Chelsea. like he's He's going to be pawned off, but he's in these lists that Sky Sports have put out.
00:09:46
Ryan
like it's It's ridiculous some of the names you see in it.
00:09:48
Conor Glennon
but it would think that the the thing that's funny to me as well as i never once. wondered was there a maximum amount of players that a Premier League team could have until now because like you know like you say there it is funny like you know I do think the media are trying to not attack a bully in a Trump way but they're trying to make it as laughable as they can but when you say it like that like because yeah you see the squad size of like 44 or something but like when you when you kind of take into account the youngins like that it's probably more what it's still mental but it's probably more early 30s
00:10:00
Ryan
okay
00:10:04
Ryan
Yeah. Yeah.
00:10:21
killianginnity
But some of the young names I've seen Chelsea fans say, oh, they're only young players. It's like a Marry Kellyman, who's your user after spending tens of millions on like there is like, I don't think the squad is 40, but it's bigger than it should be.
00:10:31
Ryan
Yeah.
00:10:35
Ryan
No.
00:10:37
killianginnity
And.
00:10:37
Ryan
I think it's 28. I think Mareska has quoted at 22, but I think it is 28.
00:10:41
Conor Glennon
But is that is that who we want in it? Or like how many do you got including so the lads that he doesn't want?
00:10:43
Ryan
Yeah, yeah.
00:10:47
Ryan
I think he ideally wants a squad of like 26 to 28 max. Like there is a lot of games.
00:10:51
Conor Glennon
and you And you've currently got what?
00:10:54
Ryan
I think he's training at the moment with 23. So I think when it comes to Friday, when we know who we have, who is gone, who's after Departan, like we know what the crack is. We know who we have.
00:11:03
killianginnity
Like no matter what, you're going to be very close to the line on the right on the registration rules. Like you can only have 25 and some of the players that some Chelsea fans have been writing off as youth are some of the players you're going to be very dependent on as being them extra two, three, four players that you need because they are under 21.
00:11:09
Ryan
Oh yeah, definitely, yeah.
00:11:19
Ryan
Yeah, yeah. But then that's also why, since you're bringing in the likes of Joey Felix, you won't have to depend on the 18 year old, 17 year olds. like So you have that debt instead of having to depend on people from the academy, but which we should be doing, we should be depending on people from the academy more so, but it's just not the way we're going, unfortunately.
00:11:38
Conor Glennon
But speaking of the economy, you know just when you say Felix, I've heard Felix Felix, I don't know what to call him, but ah ah you know obviously he'd been at Chelsea before, sort of underperformed, I suppose, compared to what was expected of him.
00:11:38
killianginnity
I
00:11:53
Conor Glennon
And then we see Conor Gallagher, who's a homegrown player, Chelsea fan, arguably one of England's better players in the Euros, I won't say best.
00:12:00
Ryan
Yeah.
00:12:01
Conor Glennon
And like when he goes the other way and you bring in
00:12:03
killianginnity
did.
00:12:04
Conor Glennon
Joe Felix, what is what was the kind of fan base on that?
00:12:10
Ryan
Connor Gallagher, like it's it's it's a very sp split like between people who love Connor Gallagher. it's There's no in between. There's people who love him and people who don't like him at all all. I did love Connor Gallagher. I think he was an absolute fantastic player. But unfortunately, sometimes you just have to take that. You have to sell him, get the money on the books. It just has to happen sometimes. it's It's unfortunate, but it has to happen.
00:12:30
Conor Glennon
And
Managerial Decisions and Expectations
00:12:31
Conor Glennon
do people look at that as a club decision, a Mareska decision, a money decision? what What's the kind of feelings?
00:12:37
Ryan
It's definitely a money decision, club decision. like it's i don't I don't think, like, Rezka didn't get a chance to even see him in training, so he couldn't really judge them too much.
00:12:43
Conor Glennon
Yeah.
00:12:45
Nate
And say, for example, this is me from the outside looking in. I don't know about you, Gideon, and Conor. To me, it looks like Mariska's trying to deflect from poor decisions that the board have made. like It seems like in the press conferences, when he's getting through all these questions from journalists, which are very valid questions, in my opinion, is there's always that move to have that aggressive side back which managers have every right to do so but it feels more like a deflection tactic rather than than an actual honest answer like i like that that's the part i show a little bit is like there it feels like a bit of a cover-up going oh we only have there's only 23 people training so so where's where's the other ones you know what i mean
00:13:30
Conor Glennon
i'd I'd have to agree with you, man. i'd it's you know I think you're right. like Managers can be aggressive in press conferences. Their style is up to them. But I'm of the opinion. It never really ends well when you do that, whether it's the club turn against you, the fans turn against you, or the media. you're like One of them at all times is going to come against you. But when you act like that, it starts becoming two or three. you know
00:13:53
Nate
and um not to say like Ombresca as well is when he's coming out in the media and saying oh what so Sterling Chilwell is there any other players that he's like need to get out now like Taliban
00:14:05
Ryan
and I don't think on his accord, I think like obviously Trevor Chalaba, that's the club's accord that he's now playing. I don't think that's Mareska's decision at all.
00:14:11
Nate
What that's what I mean is like, is he deflected on behalf of the board when he's coming out and saying this about these three, three very valid players. And I think they've been good servants and jealousy is when he's like, get out. It's like he's he's speaking on behalf of the board there. I don't think that's his decision.
00:14:28
Conor Glennon
I think it's because he he got a role in Chelsea first team manager that I don't think he would have expected to have gotten this far. So I think in order to get that role, you have to be somewhat of a bulletproof vest for for the big man, you know? Or is that the case?
00:14:45
Ryan
I think with Sterling, if you actually do look at a lot of Chelsea fans, he never kind of built that connection with us at all. like it was He's had such, such poor performances. like He's been a shadow of himself. like he's had He obviously has had good performances, but we never like relied on him really. like It was kind of as bad as Mudrick can be. I think most of the Chelsea fan base last season wanted Mudrick starting over Sterling on the left.
00:15:10
Ryan
boss
00:15:11
Conor Glennon
down to product tag or actual talent.
00:15:11
Ryan
for chi I think just, and just Sterling on the pitch last season, I think he was absolutely dreadful. Like there's so obviously some games he was decent enough, but like a lot of the games last season, like he nearly cost us games missing like open goals, like especially against Wolves last year.
00:15:27
Ryan
Like there was an open chance there. He came in, Nicholas Jackson and Cole Palmer, he could have passed it across the keeper, easy goal, but he tried to think the keeper missed. Like there was uproar over that on Chelsea Twitter, like still to this day.
00:15:39
Nate
See, da the interesting part is United have never been linked with Sterling and personally I'm going against the grain in what the United fans are saying. I'd happily take Sterling at Manchester United.
00:15:55
Ryan
I think it would be a great move.
00:15:55
Nate
ive mean I think there's generally a world-class player there if it's the right environment. like I genuinely do. I think I've looked at stats where he's very similar to the output that we're getting out of good nacho.
00:16:09
Nate
He could be a good alignment on the right. And lads, we've always seen him. He's delivered under Pep in Premier League winning seasons. I'd be delighted with that that transfer.
00:16:21
Nate
I really would.
00:16:21
Conor Glennon
He's also at one one point or another being a key player in three of the top six teams in the Premier League. you know like that That does go unnoticed quite a bit. And the fact that, yeah, it doesn't always work out.
00:16:31
Ryan
Exactly. You got those.
00:16:32
Conor Glennon
But at some point or another, at all spells at those clubs, you know Liverpool, Chelsea, and a Man City, he's been a key component now, longevity-wise. But I mean, I suppose if you're United, if you can get two good years out of him,
00:16:45
Conor Glennon
It's perfect. Also, like I suppose from a Chelsea point of view, I don't know if the deals are going to be separate or even if both of them happen, but there's talk of Sancho going the other way, which is yet another player who's probably won't fit into that wage structure at all. So they'd have to deviate from that. But is he someone you'd welcome?
00:17:02
Ryan
um If you asked me that probably a year ago, or two years ago, I would have took the chance on them. I think now maybe there's just, there is too much depth as well to have. Like we have a lot of wingers, we have a lot of attackmen feelers. Like I think there's just, there's not really space for Sancho. I think it's the striker we need to focus on and that's it.
00:17:21
Conor Glennon
and who do you think that' joke could be obviously tony's on um
00:17:24
Ryan
Tony's linked, Ozzyman is linked. Ozzyman, it looks really, really good on paper, but I always have that worry in me about bringing strikers in from Italy. That is just not going to work out. I have scars from Lukaku. I can't have this again. Especially looking at his agent over the past couple of years, his agent is just a complete mouthpiece. He just does not stop talking. So we don't really need that at the club right now. There's enough focus on us without all that trouble.
00:17:52
Conor Glennon
and Would you be worried about Tony from a, you know, I think anyone who's listened to the pod consistently will know we kind of have a good back and forth on Tony. And I think at one point or another, we've all thought he can be somewhat of a cancer in the team.
Team Dynamics and Player Transfers
00:18:05
Conor Glennon
But for, I think, I don't know about you boys, but for the 30, 40 million price tag that's floating around, ah I'd take a punt on it. What about you, Co?
00:18:14
killianginnity
I think I said it in our WhatsApp group, um I think Chelsea and Tony deserve each other. um I think right now, and regardless of what Mareska says, um Chelsea are going to struggle with kind of team cohesion.
00:18:30
killianginnity
and
00:18:31
Conor Glennon
Well, to PSG and waiting, it is.
00:18:33
killianginnity
Yeah, it's, it's one of these kinds of ones where you're going to have some big stars, you can have some small ones, but there's always going to be this kind of acts above them, above the manager. Like it can never be that you'll never get rid of that uneasy feeling around the place is like from somebody outside looking in and having in a much lesser extent been there with Sunderland, like to to our latter days of the Premier League and stuff.
00:18:58
killianginnity
lots of people coming in, lots of mercenaries kind of going, yeah, Mel, maybe he's the one. And then, no, it doesn't fit. And I think Tony would just epitomize that completely. um he john who He really reminds me of it.
00:19:10
killianginnity
In other words, there's always somebody, wherever you work, that just goes in and does the job, doesn't actually like the place, doesn't actually really talk to anybody, does what he needs to do and gets out.
00:19:19
Conor Glennon
That's him.
00:19:19
killianginnity
That's Ivan Poney.
00:19:20
Conor Glennon
See, I think he also does that, but drops a little grenade on the way out every day. It's not a big one, it's just little grenades that start breaking down a team.
00:19:25
killianginnity
Oh yeah, there's a little fire from the um in the elevator, that that kind of stuff.
00:19:27
Conor Glennon
yeah
00:19:30
Nate
I also think Sancho and Chelsea are matchmen now. I'd go that far. and
00:19:37
Ryan
I think he is a Chelsea fan actually as well, Sancho, is he?
00:19:39
Nate
yeah I just don't think you'd like his personality there very much.
00:19:43
Ryan
Yeah, but then I don't agree really with what happened with Sancho at United either. like when If you look at Jaden Sancho's point of view, you have Anthony playing ahead of you week in, week out with absolute disaster classes and you don't have a chance of getting in that team.
00:19:56
Ryan
You are going to speak up. There was no need for the public statements.
00:19:59
Nate
when when he doesn't arrive to train and it might change your mind.
00:20:00
Ryan
but
00:20:03
Nate
like like It's a much deeper issue than than just Anthony thing, but I do agree with Anthony sentiment. Trust me, he'd be first out of the door on my list as well.
00:20:12
Conor Glennon
On the Tony point, like I suppose, Ryan, what's your take on it ah as as a Chelsea man? Like, you know, Nicholas Jackson, obviously there's talent there that can be worked on, but I think, you know, we've seen so far this season and and last season that he isn't exactly the killer that you guys need up top. Would you want Tony or what's your, what's your so say on that one?
00:20:33
Ryan
I think Tony would probably be the smarter decision than Oz even because I think in Jackson, I think jack Jackson has ridiculous potential. Like if you're actually looking at him, like he is, he just does look like he has something about him.
00:20:40
Conor Glennon
Yeah, he does.
00:20:44
Ryan
He just needs to get that finishing. Like he did score. Was it 14, 15 goals last season in the Premier League? Like Yeah.
00:20:49
Conor Glennon
Yeah, which is, I mean, like, it's great. It is. And and I know I'm being hard. And when I say that, I think there's just a couple of times where it was like when Taras went off the cliff a little bit where there's there's just there's just ones where he should be banging them in, you know.
00:20:59
Ryan
Yeah.
00:21:03
Ryan
Yeah, like I think he probably should have had about 25 now in fairness with some of the players he missed.
00:21:05
Conor Glennon
Yeah.
00:21:06
Ryan
And I think his positioning probably doesn't need to improve a lot. Like he's constantly off-site. It's so frustrating, but there is a player there like.
00:21:15
Conor Glennon
I totally think so. And I mean, you know, I suppose if we, if we take it back a wee bit on the Chelsea front, when Boley was pitching for the club, obviously Chelsea were in a unique circumstance off the back of, of everything Russia related.
00:21:28
Conor Glennon
What was, did anyone know about him? Was it kind of this guy who came out of nowhere or were Chelsea fans kind of in the know about him?
00:21:35
Ryan
about Todd Bowley.
00:21:36
Conor Glennon
Yeah.
00:21:37
Ryan
I think I remember first hearing about him about probably two or three months after the club was taken. So there was Nick Candy was involved, Ratcliffe was there.
00:21:48
Ryan
And then it was Blueco like it was like Bally, Hansel Lewis and Todd Bowley. So I think I've always kind of like, just from reading into all the different parties, I've always kind of wanted him.
00:22:00
Ryan
So I was happy enough when he actually did get the club. So people did
Ownership and Leadership Influence
00:22:05
Ryan
read into it a lot. Like he, I remember that whole time over Twitter, there was so much discussion. People saying they wanted like the candies in, they wanted Ratcliffe in, but I think Boley was probably the best choice from Blueco.
00:22:14
Conor Glennon
You do forget, Nate, that Radcliffe's name was was knocked around for the old Chelsea kind of mantle.
00:22:20
Ryan
He's knocked around for everyone, Ratcliffe.
00:22:22
Nate
I think they missed out on a ah good set of leadership there. like you You look at what has gone into... No, I'm just being honest. like You look at what's gone into United, like he's brought in a really good leadership group that seemed to get a grip of the place. I don't think that would have gone and missed Chelsea currently. so
00:22:41
Conor Glennon
I do think I think Chelsea would have been less hard to get back on track than United is but I didn't come down to money as offer was just too low I think
00:22:41
Nate
that da
00:22:41
Ryan
I think, though...
00:22:50
Ryan
Yeah, I don't think he actually had the money to buy us.
00:22:50
Conor Glennon
or yeah
00:22:54
Ryan
I don't know, though, I think if Radcliffe came in and done what he's done at United with Chelsea, I think there would be even more uproar. You see the things where he's letting staff off, he's put the women out of their training ground, their dressing room, sorry, to extend for the men.
00:23:08
Ryan
I think if that was at Chelsea, it would be so much more blown out proportion in the media.
00:23:14
Nate
Yeah, possibly. But our staff size was like ridiculous. like It was like 1,250 staff. i like
00:23:23
Ryan
yeah Yeah, but then like if you are trying to take down a wage bill, you should probably start at the highest earners. You shouldn't be starting at the probably minimum wage, middle class people, everyday working class people.
00:23:35
Conor Glennon
I do think there was a bit of blow to United that over the years I think just through how big the club was there was too many jobs given out to a point I think that. Look, I think COVID has shaped every football club around the world. I think some some have been decimated by it, but I think every club has been affected by it. And I think that's just a byproduct of it. That that blows kind of, had COVID never happened, there probably wouldn't have been any need to do it, but I think it it just reframed things. um Looking at the manager point of view, you know, obviously you've had a bit of churn on the old manager front over the last couple of years. um Has there been a favorite over the last few?
00:24:10
Ryan
and As I said the last time, I actually did like Potter. I think you probably should have got definitely another year or two.
00:24:15
Conor Glennon
No wonder you and Killian get on Jesus.
00:24:18
Ryan
No, like when you actually look at the dressing room Potter had, like it was ridiculous like it was I think we had even more players back then than we what we have now, which is so hard to believe. like but like
00:24:27
killianginnity
He was using more players anyway.
00:24:29
Ryan
Yeah. Like we had, we had so much more unrest. Like we had Obamiyang there, Potter didn't want him. That was a Toucan sign and ZH there. Didn't want to be there. Like there was so many players just causing ruckus, like Lukaku.
00:24:39
Nate
Thank you.
00:24:41
Ryan
Like it's just, yeah.
00:24:43
Conor Glennon
He had his time of chills. He bothers me just because he could have been so bloody good. And I know he had the whole kind of issues with, with the, it was kind of, I don't know what it was.
00:24:55
Conor Glennon
It it was, I can't remember. It was the diet related. It was something to do with it. It was like celiac or something like that, where he could, cause so obviously it off the off field troubles and that we were causing it.
00:25:00
Ryan
Hey.
00:25:05
Conor Glennon
But do you think it it was a case of just the wrong system for him or the managers again, weren't the right fit for him or mixed bag of everything?
00:25:14
Ryan
It's mad like because when Lukaku first came in under Tukul, his first few games were absolutely classic. He was holding up the ball so well. I think he scored eight goals in his first 12 games or something like that. Then he's done that interview and everybody knows Tukul is just so harsh. There's no one coming back. If you cross Tukul, that's it. You're gone. It was always going to go that way after that interview. There was no coming back.
00:25:40
Conor Glennon
Tookle is a man on this pod that ah for a long time. Mr Nathan Byrne was a championing for the old man United top job. So and I think that was one we were all excited to to see where it went. But you know, you got my rescue in in the and of of late again with that was a case of surprise delights bit of meh, because i I think for I can't remember boys what you were saying, but I was a bit kind of like is it a bit too soon from
00:26:11
Nate
Yeah, I would have been along that line.
00:26:11
killianginnity
It was just so much of an unknown quantity quantity for like, well, like a hilarious stat I saw during the week is, you know, Brighton's 31 year old manager.
00:26:14
Conor Glennon
Such a big job at such a key time, him you know Really Jesus was he coaching
00:26:17
Ryan
Yeah.
00:26:21
killianginnity
He has, I think three or four times the amount of managerial experience than Mareska.
00:26:28
Nate
Jesus.
00:26:28
Ryan
Jesus.
00:26:29
killianginnity
He's like 2000 and something days whereas Mareska has like 600.
Management Strategies and Fan Reactions
00:26:34
Conor Glennon
when he was in the womb mother a god like I
00:26:34
Nate
ah ah kind I lie, I felt bad for a botch at the end.
00:26:36
killianginnity
ah He was a player manager at 23 in the fifth tier of Germany and he worked his way up
00:26:39
Conor Glennon
Well.
00:26:43
Nate
It felt like they found like that they turned the corner with a botch at the end of the season. I was just a bit like, did you like what what what's the harm of one more season with a botch?
00:26:56
Conor Glennon
Because he did well with, like, I don't think any other manager could have got you guys as high as you got without, unless it was him personally.
00:27:06
Nate
And I understand the politics as well, but like it's just it just, felt harsh.
00:27:13
Ryan
Yeah, I don't know what patch like when you look at our injury record last year like his training sessions were meant to be absolutely grueling on players like even in some games like our players didn't look like Premier League players last year like come 60-70 minutes they looked like they were just off their feet like some of the tactics throughout the whole year Like we were so open, probably from the start of the season, up until that last six, seven games, where he brought back into the inverted fullback that he was doing in preseason, which I got excited about.
00:27:43
Ryan
Like in preseason, we looked really, really good. But then come day one, he just reverted back to his old four, two, three, one, nothing changes. It's all structured. Like it's, it was complete change.
00:27:53
Conor Glennon
Pre-season's like a job interview, anyone can look good in that.
00:27:56
Ryan
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. But even just as like his mannerisms, like start the season, he was saying, oh, like we're we're we're only here to win the league. And then come six months into it, he's saying, we're not able to win the league. We're not able to compete. we We can only compete for top six, whatever. like You can't just, you can't slip and swap like that, with especially with Chelsea fans. like You can't say one thing and then six months later say another.
00:28:19
Conor Glennon
But to go from Pochettino to who's a obviously now I know that the kind of mark against him, at least on this part, was at least kind of trophy lists as a manager. But to go from him to Maresca was a quite a big deviation, you know, from from the expected plan.
00:28:35
Ryan
Yeah, yeah.
00:28:36
Conor Glennon
So was it was the fan base surprised or what was what was.
00:28:39
Ryan
It was, I think, I think Maresco was a big shock, but like from the first announcement, like from, for Brissy Romano breaking it, I think there was like that little bit of excitement. It kind of, it's kind of given me that kind of Andrea Villas Boas vibes from 2011 when, when he first came in, like you're bringing in a young manager, very little experience, but there is something about him.
00:28:59
Ryan
I don't know what it is, but there's something about him that does excite the Chelsea fans. Like I think even on Sunday there, he's completely won us over. Like he's, he's completely won us over. So there is excitement.
00:29:09
killianginnity
Is that, is that actually one over or is this like for the week? Because we've seen this with Chelsea before, Chelsea fans will hop on the proverbial bandwagon for themselves and then hop off at Joseph's quickly.
00:29:21
killianginnity
Like in two or three games, if Mudrick is doing what Mudrick does in those runs without the ball, does Mareska then suddenly lose any credibility that he has?
00:29:27
Ryan
Yeah.
00:29:31
killianginnity
And then by December is called for his head.
00:29:35
Conor Glennon
or the chemistry we were talking about, like all these players have, not all of them, but a lot of them haven't played together. So they're figuring that out, figuring out as they go. And as a manager in the Premier League where the churn rate has become Jesus, maybe six months at this point, like ahs it's not a, it's not a league you want to have a team figuring themselves out in season. and
00:29:54
killianginnity
Or if he is are left with the likes of a Sterling and a Chilwell around a dressing room and up they're they're not happy because Maresca has basically chalked them off before the season began. Like, do you think he has enough about him to deal with all of these big club things?
00:30:09
Ryan
I think he does. I think he definitely does. He's been around Man City. I know it was only for two years, but like he's he wass out to you he was with the U team. He's seen some of the best talents in the world. He's worked under PEP.
00:30:19
Ryan
like He knows what it takes to be at a big club as well. I know he hasn't had that much experience, but winning a travel at Man City, even if you're just an assistant, you still take a part in that. You still coach sessions.
00:30:29
Ryan
like Exactly.
00:30:30
Conor Glennon
It's the Harvard School of Management for but football.
00:30:32
Ryan
like like It's basically like the Carla Squarers of Sir Alex Ferguson.
00:30:33
Conor Glennon
like yeah That's a name I haven't heard in a long time.
00:30:37
Ryan
you know like
00:30:41
Nate
yeah He, I think just one of the questions I sort of want to get and maybe get an answer off Ali is, is he, a was he brought in to be a yes man?
00:30:43
Ryan
i think even sorry yeah yeah i think so i think i can agree with that no but that is a problem also
00:30:53
Nate
Like, do you, like, do you generally think if Poch stayed, he'd be asking Sterling, Joe, well, Chalaba to just get out the door.
00:30:53
killianginnity
Yes.
00:30:54
Conor Glennon
ah Nice answer.
00:31:05
Nate
Like, how do you,
00:31:06
Conor Glennon
i think I think if he did, he would have handled it better. That's my problem with the way he's doing this. It's like he's trying to prove something to people, but it's not the right thing to prove.
00:31:14
Nate
What is it?
00:31:14
Conor Glennon
It's, you know.
00:31:15
Nate
like ah pardon me i like like I can find middle ground because I actually really used to like Chelsea back in the two shell days when there was a really young squad.
00:31:26
Ryan
Yeah.
00:31:26
Nate
and And it was a very likable squad in my opinion. But I apparently just goes in my head as like, was Boldy just being a bit like, let's get an inexperienced manager in who's going to be really happy to take the step up.
00:31:41
Nate
And he just becomes a bit of a pupper. And it's like, how far could that could that go? And like, listen, he could, he could, he's hit the ground running and being a manager for years to come.
00:31:52
Nate
But I just don't know if Boley's above him, sort of directing him which way to go. It's like, how far does that relationship go? You know what I mean?
00:32:00
Conor Glennon
From the outside, oh it seems like you've nailed it but as a fan, is that your vibe on it?
00:32:08
Ryan
In some senses, yeah, I think he is a yes, man. But like even with Lester, he would he was the same. He had no say in transfers at Lester. Like he he said himself, he just wants to be a head coach. He doesn't want anything to do with transfers. He'll give his say if needed.
00:32:20
Ryan
That's what the sporting directors are there for. They're not doing their best job, which I've said before previously, but he is there. Like he he'll give us a, if I think it works in a way like the sporting directors create a five player list, they advise the manager, this is who we're looking at.
00:32:36
Ryan
Who do you think suits your side of play
Youth Development and Club Identity
00:32:38
Ryan
best?
00:32:38
Conor Glennon
similar to what United are doing at the moment.
00:32:38
Ryan
He'll give his day. Exactly. Exactly. I think United and Chelsea at the moment, I think United are trying to do very, very like a similar build to what Chelsea have been doing. So.
00:32:50
Nate
yeah and just just like looking back at the usual stuff because he's a manager that i'm really interested in and i i really like and i understand why i sort of came to an end at chelsea and i know you guys like a lot i don't know personally about yourself but i know a lot of chelsea fans had big admiration admiration for him you know he had he had the t-fo at one point and stuff like that it's like that chelsea name to me was
00:33:08
Ryan
Yeah.
00:33:15
Nate
really like about it. It was full of young youth products. It was really good players, you know, you had Reese James, Mason Mount, like the list goes on. And what was like, so i sort of my question is like, how do you compare that Chelsea to the new Chelsea? And does that sort of have the feeling of certain type of way that it went from one to the other?
00:33:38
Ryan
Yeah, well, like when you go from winning the Champions League to finishing 12th and finishing 6th, like it's it's never good. Like, but like I was, I was dis disgusted when Tuca was sacked. Like I did not want him to go at all.
00:33:49
Ryan
He's probably, he's probably the second best Chelsea manager of all time. Like for me, I knew it was behind Mourinho, Mourinho all day.
00:33:53
Conor Glennon
Behind who? Okay.
00:33:56
Ryan
But, uh, Yeah, it's a it is a complete different Chelsea, like completely different. There's nothing to say that we're anyway similar to that Chelsea. I know it's only three years now since he's gone, but it's completely different.
00:34:09
Ryan
It's it's crazy, like was positive.
00:34:11
Nate
And like, say, for example, when you, like, when you've won that Champions League, like, to me, like, that's my dream is, you know, I have found is you win the Champions League with a huge group of young products that have come to the club.
00:34:25
Nate
To me, personally, that's what football is about, is you bring, you bring youth products through, you sort of garner this relationship because they get the club to another level.
00:34:27
Ryan
Exactly.
00:34:34
Nate
And I just thought that Chelsea team in that period was just, was, was goals, you know what I mean? Like,
00:34:40
Conor Glennon
you could also You could see yourself in those kind of teams. That's what's the thing about it.
00:34:44
Ryan
Yeah.
00:34:44
Conor Glennon
it's it's it's It feels more real than mercenaries. What are you saying, Coo?
00:34:50
killianginnity
Well, not what I'm saying, but what Nate said last week. If I was a Chelsea fan, I don't know how I genuinely feel about it. It's not like your club anymore. It's not the same club that you support.
00:35:02
killianginnity
Ryan, can you understand where Nate is coming from that and can you empathize with that or can like when most of what we hear here by Chelsea now is more about for their financial gymnastics than it is for what as Nate had said, like Chelsea was very well known for having the likes of a John Terry commentary. It was always a homegrown player.
00:35:29
killianginnity
Is it becoming harder to have that same harsh led connection when everything is so head focused now?
00:35:39
Ryan
Yeah, well I still think like there is still more Academy products coming true than I think that we've ever had. Like for a long time there, I think John Terry was the only kind of Academy player that was in the team consistently for maybe 10, 15 years.
00:35:54
Ryan
So when you take into account there, like I know Rhys James is always injured. He's constantly injured, but he's still there. I know we've gotten a lot rid of a lot too of Conor Gallaher mess amount to Maury, et cetera.
00:36:05
Ryan
Like it is a different Chelsea, but like when you look at every club compared to what they were 10 to 15 years ago, every club is different.
00:36:10
Conor Glennon
I was going to I was going to say that like football has changed, unfortunately, in in that way.
00:36:13
Ryan
Yeah, it's a complete different game.
00:36:16
Conor Glennon
I do think, though, that Chelsea kind of started that change in the fact that, you know, but you know, five years ago, you to got to 250 players out on loan, you know you know, that kind of way.
00:36:28
Conor Glennon
Like, I mean, I think that was kind of the start of the end of what that kind of core of core memories or or type of team that Nate's kind of striving for.
00:36:38
Nate
But but like Chelsea was the youth factory. like like They won countless FA Youth Cup Finals. like They were known for setting the bar free for bringing through youth to the same the same quality that manches ah Manchester City are now.
00:36:48
Ryan
Yeah.
00:36:52
Nate
And I just think like Personally, and it dates back to the comments that I made last week, was if if unit United turn around tomorrow and go, we're selling Marcus Rashford, we're selling Coby Maino, we're selling, like, these Gurnachio, these type of players, it's like, I'd be feeling some sort of way about it, you know what I mean? Like, that, to me, is Manchester United. And I, to me, maybe I'm looking at it a bit, but like, roasting the glasses in terms of,
00:37:23
Nate
I'd expect sort of other fans of other clubs to feel that type of way.
00:37:27
Conor Glennon
Well, I think i think you United are a very unique one. it' Similar, I suppose, to Liverpool in ways, teams that have been bonded by you know youth and and you know whether it was Shankly bringing 3U to Liverpool, Busby Babes at United, I do think there's teams that have legacies. There's also, I suppose,
00:37:47
Conor Glennon
peaks and troughs of teams that do it. Like, you know, we mentioned their city, obviously now we're doing a Chelsea where greater United are consistently good at it. But there's also teams like your West Ham's that used to be absolute factories of youth. And that's even kind of tapered off a wee bit.
00:38:03
killianginnity
I think the difference though with Chelsea and kind of ah go back at you Ryan when you were saying about John Terry holding the kind of homegrown thing for Chelsea for the longest time, the difference between Chelsea then and Chelsea now, i and I think it more more likely to be remains to be seen over the next couple of years, is Chelsea for the longest time since the Premier League era came in,
00:38:28
killianginnity
were producing many, many players that are still now within the football leagues. Like so many of them went on to have full careers. You're thinking of Scott's in Sinclair, Barini came through there, and Sam Hutchinson down there, I think it was a Plymouth, and like Reece Taylor, the the goalkeeper came through there. He he had one one or two caps for Wales.
00:38:55
killianginnity
like Rather than just being like, like what Nathan said, they were the youth factory, but not in the way that we're kind of talking about now is them being always represented in the main team. But the fact that they were feeding so many of the other clubs around the place, like United at one stage were like they, you know, I'd have really been like periods of that.
00:39:05
Ryan
Yeah.
00:39:16
killianginnity
It kind of goes up and down. Um, and Chelsea were a lot more consistent on it. Liverpool aren't very good at it. City are starting to do it, but it's on a it's actually at a level above.
00:39:29
killianginnity
and But again, these are bought in players, mind them for a year or two and and take them off.
00:39:32
Ryan
yeah
00:39:36
killianginnity
Do you think that Chelsea are actually going to be able to have that development with these players in the sense that they're going to come through at the right time, they're going to be loaned out in a reasonable ah way, but then also allowed the move to let their careers
Business Model and Season Expectations
00:39:53
killianginnity
continue. Or are they going to be held on like what you did with Lucas Paison, the Brazilian guy and a Van Ginkel and allow them just to peter out until they're an asset that's actually not worth anything.
00:40:04
Conor Glennon
Or just add a third one to that. Is the whole point of option A that Killian gave there to send someone to a Plymouth knowing you have a salon clause, is it just a business model?
00:40:19
Ryan
I think it it always has. The Academy always has been a business model for Chelsea. like Even if you look at their your Newcastle fan there, you're buying Mark Gurhey supposedly. like We have a 25% sell-on clause on that.
00:40:29
Ryan
so If you pay whatever he's going to pay, we're getting 25% of that. Tamori, we still have a massive sell-on clause.
00:40:34
Conor Glennon
Yeah.
00:40:36
Ryan
We have a buy option. like Every time we sell a youth player, there's always something in there in clause. whether we get a massive sell-on clause or we have a buyback. Like even the likes of AK there, we had first refusal on him when he was sold to Man City.
00:40:50
Ryan
We didn't take it obviously, but like there's just, there's so many different things that we've always done with you players. I think it is still kind of going to be the same. So what are the,
00:41:01
Conor Glennon
Speaking of the same, do we think this season's going to be the same? Do we think, do ah do we think where do you think you see the season going?
00:41:10
Ryan
I think we've finished top six, definitely top six. I'd be happy with top six to be honest, first season.
00:41:12
Conor Glennon
Oh, okay. Of course you will be.
00:41:15
Ryan
But wait we have to win the conference league no matter what. Like if we don't win the conference league, they're all hell of reckless.
00:41:26
killianginnity
Shit ends or get to sack if he's not.
00:41:26
Ryan
So I'd be hoping, no, no, I definitely don't think so. I don't think we can afford to sack any more managers. Like if we sack Enzo, where do we go?
00:41:37
Ryan
there's There's no one out there. They they will won't go back to Touker no matter what. So I think we're stuck.
00:41:42
Nate
he's a still playing bar yeah i think clock tolled probably yeah
00:41:46
Conor Glennon
Is his deal still going, is it?
00:41:47
Ryan
That's it. Hot Rosita still going, on yeah?
00:41:50
Conor Glennon
Jesus. Bloody hell. No wonder he's not taking any gigs. That has to be up within a year or two though, surely.
00:41:58
killianginnity
October, I think.
00:41:59
Ryan
It was a six-year contract.
00:41:59
Conor Glennon
Yeah, okay.
00:42:01
killianginnity
Ryan, we are coming.
00:42:05
killianginnity
We're coming to the end of our episode for this week. So is there anything else that we touched on last week that you want to respond to that we haven't touched on this week?
00:42:17
Ryan
So I have a couple of things that Nate said there. He called us soulless against Man City.
00:42:21
Conor Glennon
Oh, God.
00:42:22
Nate
Hold me.
00:42:25
Ryan
I don't think we were too soulless against Wolves. I don't think we were soulless against Man City either to be honest, but if we're looking at Wolves the end of the week after, you can't call that soulless. That second half was some of the best football I've seen out of Chelsea in probably 10-15 years.
00:42:42
Ryan
Also there was criticism towards the club for a given
00:42:43
Conor Glennon
Wow, okay. that's
00:42:46
Ryan
given Pedro Netto the number seven. I think I have to kind of remind Nate of what happened when Zlatan came in with Martial.
00:42:53
Nate
That didn't come from me.
00:42:54
Ryan
What happened there?
00:42:56
Nate
I never said anything about number seven. But in terms of like solace against City, I still
Performance Analysis and Podcast Conclusion
00:43:08
Nate
stand by that.
00:43:08
Nate
I thought it was the teams that looked like they were out of options. They were peering on. It looked like just going through the motions.
00:43:18
Conor Glennon
I think that's what I was going to say.
00:43:18
Nate
and
00:43:19
Conor Glennon
I think soulless might have been a bit too far, but there was definitely a going through the motions pre-season hangover feel to it.
00:43:25
Nate
like It felt like like if i like City could have gone up another four levels and they were dictating the pace of the game.
00:43:26
Ryan
But like, there was definitely goals in that game for us though.
00:43:31
Conor Glennon
Yeah.
00:43:31
Nate
and In terms of against walls...
00:43:39
Nate
in but but was that like To me that was City that took their foot off the pedal. like they To me City in that game could have gone up three levels easily. um and like like They dictated the pace of game.
00:43:49
Conor Glennon
City or average, yeah.
00:43:51
Ryan
Yeah, say you were average to be fair.
00:43:55
Nate
Um, in terms of the.
00:43:55
Ryan
And then even like the penalty show, I don't know if you've seen it.
00:44:00
Ryan
Cavasic has clear handball, Anthony Taylor screwing us over yet again.
00:44:01
Nate
Yeah.
00:44:04
Nate
Yeah. i just
00:44:05
Ryan
How he manages to keep getting Chelsea games is beyond me.
00:44:12
Nate
Yeah. Um, but like in terms of the wolves game, I thought it was a better performance. There was life to it. It felt a bit more like. and and I know this personally because I've seen you United States do it for years where they get a bit of criticism and then they go bounce back straight away but it's just I think you'll be interested to see over the upcoming weeks how how long they can hang hang on to that.
00:44:36
Ryan
definitely
00:44:37
Conor Glennon
But it's also 6-2 against Wolves.
00:44:37
Ryan
Definitely.
00:44:39
Conor Glennon
It's it's not 6-2 against Liverpool. you know
00:44:44
Ryan
Well, is that a bad side here though?
00:44:49
Conor Glennon
Was there anything else that that that was bugging you? Because I'll be honest with you, if we if we're going week to week of pulling in fans that I piss off, we'll be here for a while.
00:44:49
killianginnity
they not
00:45:01
Ryan
No, I think we pretty much covered everything up.
00:45:07
killianginnity
ah Great stuff. and Ryan, thank you so much for joining us and my thanks as always to Conor Glennon and Nathan Byrne. and Ryan, where can people find you if they want to keep in touch?
00:45:19
Ryan
Eh, just on Twitter there, it's Ryan12 underscore 21.
00:45:24
Conor Glennon
Feel free to call them, we'd call Chelsea Solis or slight the number seven jersey.
00:45:24
killianginnity
Beautiful.
00:45:29
Nate
Which I did not.
00:45:32
Ryan
You did.
00:45:32
killianginnity
Um, and don't forget to follow us on social, um, ah at not a pundit podcast or not upon a pundit pod underscore and check out, uh, not a pundit.ie where there is a short form articles written, uh, about our opinions and, um, developments on from the podcast. Uh, we have lots of interviews and stuff lined up for the next couple of months. So do keep in following us and leave a review if you can, and we'll chat to you next week.
00:46:00
Conor Glennon
but Bye-bye.
00:46:00
Nate
Bye.