What level of ambition will satisfy Clearlake?

Will they show the hunger to be the best, or settle for being a top 4 knockout side?

I’ve seen many fans be concerned about Clearlake’s ambition for Chelsea, and its a valid conversation. The way they talk about Brighton and talk about profit over football, is bound to raise concerns amongst fans, and the fans have a right to answers from the ownership on this subject

I for one have been very clear all along. I believe they do want to win, purely because it suits them from a business/commerical point of view.

I’ve consistently been quoting Behdad Eghbali directly from a business conference in 2022, speaking to business people only, where he specifically said:

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“We think, frankly, that winning, success on the pitch, and commerical success, go hand in hand. You have to have a good product to generate the sponsors, for the content to work.

Michael Jordan got the ESPN Special Award, because Michael Jordan won. You’ve gotta win right, you HAVE to do that to have commerical success.

Fenway with Liverpool and Abu Dhabi with Man City have done it well. We think there’s a way to manage player costs, and still produce a winning product”

- Behdad Eghbali

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My contention is and always has been their issue is one or a combination of the following:

• They don’t know how to win

• They’ve found it much harder to win than they initially expected

• They were so impressed with Winstanley and Stewart when they were new to football and lulled iinto thinking they’re actual experts and elite, because they know no better

• Even worse, they are 100% convinced they do know how to win and won’t listen to other ideas.

Part of the reason we’re not where we should be, in my view, isn’t even about Clearlake, its is due to hiring two absolutely useless Sporting Directors with no experience, and no record at elite level at all. Two men who on the surface, seem to care more about their reputation and bonuses than the good of Chelsea.

They’ve wasted £1 billion to create a side which is scrapping for the top 5 places, and has no spine, with an inexperienced coach. They messed up the signings of Victor Osimhen and Michael Olise last summer, both game changers, who if we signed, would likely have us in the top 2/3 comfortably, and not worried about making Champions League.

All of this, is incompetence of the highest order and should lead to them being moved on. Its simply not good enough for a club the level Chelsea should be. Whether they do move or not is another thing entirely. And another reason people question Clearlake’s ambition.

That beings me to my own concern about Clearlake’s ambition.

I’ve said all along, the biggest profits and revenues come from having a side which is competing in the Champions League every season, competing for the big competitions with top players, in a bigger stadium, is the route to the biggest profits. It gets you all the big commercial deals, prize money and gets bums on seats in the stadiums. This, of course, raises the value of the club so they can sell it for a profit when the time comes. So I still have no doubt this is the aim.

You know the problem with this scenario? It doesn’t require us to win the Champions League or Premier League, two things Chelsea should be aspiring to do or compete for on a regular basis.

It just requires us to be what we’ve been since 2017. A side which get regular top 3/top 4, plays regular Champions League football, wins a ton of knockout competitions or gets to a ton of finals, and does well in knockout football overall.

And that’s it.

My real concerns is not that Clearlake want us to be a top 6 side or like Brighton. Its that they’ll be content for us to get regular Champions League football and be competitive in the Champions League, and not have the hunger to take that final step and actually try to win it regularly.

My concern is, they will be happy if we were basically as we were under Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel? Their teams were always in the top 4, in the running for knockout competitions, and we enjoyed watching them.

But they never did quite enough, and weren’t built well enough, to compete for or win the Premier League .

The top 4/good knockout side status keeps the club relevant, it gives them all the revenue they want, keeps fans interested and hopeful, and engaged, but isn’t enough to be a truly elite team.

That’s my concern, not that we won't be a very good team, but more like the last 90’s Chelsea and early 2020s Chelsea.

In the sense, we’ll be content to be 3rd/4th every year, win a few cups, have some good European runs, have the odd title challenge, maybe even slide through and win it once, maybe twice, if we’re lucky, and that’s it.

Then they get what they want, raise the value of the club, and sell BlueCo for a profit in 2032/2033.

But Chelsea fans won’t be happy with that. Certainly I won’t.

So you’re reading this Clearlake, listen up:

If you think we’ll be happy with being a top 4 side which wins cups, think again. We realise for most clubs that would be an amazing achievement. But you have spent £1.5 billion on players, and most fans are sick and tired of just being a good cup side or a top 4 side.

Chelsea fans want the club to be competing on a par with Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Liverpool. Competing for the PL title and CL trophy and getting to the latter stages every year, and winning it as often as possible.

That’s the standard Chelsea fans have come to expect, its what we desire, and given the level of investment, it's what we’re entitled to expect and the standard we expect from you.

If you are ambitious for the big trophies, you need to prove it with your actions, not just your words:

• Move on the Sporting Directors and Ben Roberts.

• Hire a world class sporting director/CEO of football to assemble a world class squad, alongside a Chelsea man like Roberto Di Matteo or Petr Cech, to assist them and sell Chelsea to players, and help restore a proper Chelsea culture, and culture of winning. And LISTEN to them rather than ask them to be yes men.

• Be flexible in your age policy for 3-4 elite, proven players aged between 24-27 in key positions, with character, fight, winning mentalities and leadership qualities.

• Ditch the crap in the squad, keep your best players (including Andrey Santos), and use the profits to sign the talent required.

• Treat players and fans properly and respectfully.

• Hire a top class coach who has experience winning major trophies and won’t be happy going out of major competitions and back them, listen to them, and end this yes man culture.

• Set higher standards for the club in your words and actions.

This is what Chelsea fans all expect, especially having spent SO much money on players.

There’s no excuses, no place to go, this will now be the standard Clearlake will be held to by the whole fanbase now. Failure to reach the level required consistently, will be seen by fans as a failed ownership.

If you don’t have the hunger to do it, or don’t want to do it at all, please, for the love of all that is holy, sell to Todd Boehly now.

We’re Chelsea Football Club, not a media investment or “asset” for pure profit. If you don’t want to be the absolute best and win the big trophies consistently, we’re not interested.

The Score