The context behind Danny's 'truth about the Chelsea project' article

A few things need explaining, I feel

I want to start this message by saying that if you saw some of the messages that Danny Windsor has sent recently and over the past couple of years, to people at the very top of our club, and the replies he’s had, you will fully know that he has had and still has many of the same concerns, questions, and feels the same anger, as all of us. I can assure you, he’s certainly had our backs!

Danny’s ‘truth about the Chelsea project’ article was angled more positively and I completely understand some of the negative reactions to it. But also, I can assure you, all it is was Danny simply expressing what he feels and believes, following a meeting with Chelsea’s leadership team. I was also in this meeting too, and about a week after I went, I posted on X calling the owners incompetent. I think that makes my stance clear on everything. Danny has been FULL of rants in the past and recently, and his stance has not changed. He still has ALL the same concerns and questions as you all have. We challenged them on all the concerns you have. The meeting was mostly about letting them explain the project in their own words and taking it in so we could attempt to get an understanding of their thinking. Danny has been more positive than me off the back of the meeting, as has Luke, but I can assure you, none of us have changed our opinions on everything we believe that has been done wrong.

We are not allowed to say exactly who it was that we spoken with on request of said person/people. So of course we have to respect that and keep our relationship with them, I’m sure you’ll agree that it is better to have an avenue to them so we can continue speaking to them?

It’s been SO important for us to have this regular contact with those at the top of the club, and on a human level, we truly respect them and appreciate them for giving us time. This does not mean we have been turned on all things Chelsea. We are Chelsea through and through and will always put the club first.

The club obviously did not pay us to ‘put our their PR’ and any suggestion they do is just ridiculous. I’d quite like to be paid by Chelsea and if I was, you wouldn’t be seeing me on here anymore 😂. I’m joking of course, but the reality is that if they were paying me/us, then I’d have lost that ‘contract’ already by calling them names on X last week!

Also, this is the most important thing about the meeting. Initially, it was ALL in confidence. Danny approached them and asked whether some bits of it can be put out in an article, and they agreed. They never told us to put anything out and in fact, we also had a meeting with them LAST season and never put any of that out. So it’s not for PR on their side, it was simply to explain to a fan group who write and have a reach, what they are trying to do, in their own words. I don’t see anything wrong or bad about that. It was not them approaching us to put out their ‘briefings’ or PR. They don’t see us as journalists at all, they see us as passionate fans of the club.

Now, you may not like what they have said and think it’s still PR, that’s totally fine. But is anyone really expecting them to tell us ‘yeah, we’ve been sh*t, we’ve made some crap signings and it’s all failing’!? They fully back what they are doing so they are behind it, believe in it, and are sticking to the plan. They were just defending what they believe they are doing. I don’t know what anyone was expecting them to say really. They are going to keep fighting their corner.

I’ve read all the comments from the last couple of days and believe me, I agree with most of the things written. I’m not about to stop calling them out and challenging them, and they welcome that from us too. They expect it. Isn’t it just good that we have a route to them and can regularly speak with them?

I’ve also seen people say they would have preferred to see quotes from them. We would to. But it wasn’t that kind of meeting, it wasn’t an interview. We weren’t recording what they said or taking notes. It was a confidential meeting, as was the last one. Only after did they say we could put some info out on our request.

My plan now is to see if one of them will come on the Podcast with us and take questions sent in from you guys. Of course, if they don’t want to do this then I can understand and will respect their decision. But I will ask them to do this because I feel right now, with all the toxicity and ill feelings towards them from the fan base, this might be the only thing that could help to ease some tensions. Whether it will or not, I don’t know. But it could help.

I hope that clears some of it up for you all. I personally think it’s a great thing that they give us time and also allowed us to relay some of what they said to the wider fan base. We will continue to raise concerns with them whilst also keeping a vital relationship going. As I’ve said, I actually found them very respectful, decent people, knowledgeable, and I appreciate them for always giving me time. That does NOT mean on a Chelsea level that I will stop voicing my concerns, my opinions, and calling them out. I don’t get swayed easily when Chelsea are concerned, I think most of you in this community will know that by now - I stay consistent with my opinions and it takes time for me to change my mind on anything. I will take A LOT of convincing that this project is positive and not failing right now - because I believe it is, and of course I tell them this regularly. They know this too and will never try to change my opinion, just only explain from their side what they are trying to do here.

Simon Phillips