Love's Lost... Love is Gone?

I sound like a broken record regarding Benitez and Chelsea on the pitch so I won't even talk about another tepid display at Man City by which City barely had to flex their muscles.

Chelsea have now become the club that many feared - soulless. That's right, Chelsea Football Club is soulless, not only soulless but classless as demonstrated by the complete removal of Di Matteo's pictures from our CL win and even the very acknowledgement of his existence, this isn't a recent phenomenon, it's happened gradually since the removal of Jose Mourinho but even moreso since the axe was cruelly wielded upon Carlo Ancelotti.

Non-Chelsea fans will never understand it, despite all the ups and downs, Chelsea always had an identity, it always stood for something, be it Ted Drake's title winning team in 1955, or the "great entertainers" of the 60s containing flamboyant flair players like Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke, Peter Houseman and the feared Chopper Harris. Or Pat Nevin and Kerry Dixon of the 80s, or Dennis Wise, Roberto Di Matteo, Gianfranco Zola and Gianluca Vialli of the 90s and John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba of now. There is a willing assumption from the press to pin all of our recent problems solely on the owner but I people around him are also partially to blame. The fact is the press don't like Chelsea, that isn't a conspiracy, it's a fact that can be proved based on years of evidence and even admittance from high profile sports journalists on live television. They would rather see an Abramovich-less Chelsea, one that can't compete with England's best. Contrary to media myth, Abramovich is not as involved in the day to day running of Chelsea Football Club as the press would have people believe, Chelsea do not occupy his thoughts 24/7, he has other business ventures elsewhere. When I hear of Abramovich going out on a limb to keep Zola at the club roughly 10 years ago to the day,going out of his way to meet and talk to Chelsea fans about on-goings at the club prior to the City home game in November and allegedly giving all of the gate receipts from the FA Cup tie to Brentford he doesn't strike me as the totally ruthless man he is made out to be, for all his criticism in the British press he still has good relations and a good friendship with at least 3 ex-Chelsea managers. Abramovich built many bridges with the fans including ticket price freezes and change of club after the much maligned "Millwall" badge came under heavy criticism.

Today, I look at the Chelsea team and ask, what do we stand for? Where has our identity gone? Fans being charged through nose for tickets yet treated poorly by the board, this is something synonymous not just with Chelsea but other clubs too, take Arsenal for example - a club with a large and loyal fanbase paying the highest prices in the country but selling off the most valuable assets to the club every season. Arsenal are a club I grew up hating pathologically but they were also the club I had a begrudging respect for and up until recently always were the benchmark for all London clubs, the name meant something, now Arsenal have become somewhat of a laughing stock having sold off key players to rival clubs and gone so long without a trophy, Chelsea are in a similar boat, we are just as much of a circus, as are QPR - a small, but closely knit family club now forking out expensive tickets for players that seemingly couldn't give a toss and a board that want to pander to Asian Tourists in an attempt to become a "global brand". The identity of these football clubs has been stripped by the board, these clubs are losing their soul. Fans enjoying Arsenal and Chelsea's plight shouldn't be, because it might be your club next. In a season where we have seen mass protests/discontent from fans of big football clubs such as Chelsea, Arsenal and Leeds it begs the question of "When will enough be enough?". As a fan of football I can't help but feel saddened when I see fans of clubs like Chelsea, Leeds, Forest and Arsenal being completely shafted by the clubs they love. The Premier League has become a corporate cesspit whereby clubs begin to lose themselves and forget their roots, Swansea and West Brom have been recent exceptions to the rule and got the balance right.

Football is fast losing it's appeal for me, rarely do I sit down and watch entire games of football and devote my full attention to it, I don't get particularly excited about going to games nor watching it on TV. Watching football has just become a thing I do. I might feel differently soon, but when I see men found not-guilty in a court of law left hung out to dry by the media and FA, men publicly vilified for (accidentally) kicking a ball at another fellow professional, Broadcasters like Sky and ESPN being given free reign to disrupt fixtures in favour of certain teams *cough* Manchester United, men face public persecution for kicking a ball from underneath a ballboy who was deliberately trying to stop him from doing his job and then first and foremost men with no connection/feelings to football clubs involved in their day to day running I then fail see the point in getting angry or worked up about football anymore. I can deal with the diving and conning referees and other politics on pitches but off it... Bates at Leeds, Benitez/Emanelo/Campbell at Chelsea, Glazers at United, Kroenke/Hill-Wood/Gazidids at Arsenal, Venky's at Blackburn and the ongoing mess at Forest and even Allardyce at West Ham. At what stage will clubs stop abandoning their principles and alienating their fans? As football fans we'll always keep on coming back for more, unlike any owner it runs in our blood and communities but it's no longer a sport I can say I "love" or even enjoy watching.

Keep Calm.... and Panic

I'm largely apathetic to what happens on the pitch this season such is my disillusion with ongoings at the club now but today is a day which brings a mixture of relief and concern. It's become quite apparent since day one that Benitez has had the media onside, and they've managed to create an us (Chelsea fans) against them (Benitez and everybody else) mentality. Everything from injuries to Chelsea fans/ACON is to blame for the current form. When we beat Villa and Everton, Benitez was heralded as a tactical genius who had 'proved the fans wrong' and improved the team since 'tactically inept' RDM left, however many simply saw cracks papered over. Villa were quite frankly awful and Everton extremely unlucky, If truth be told only profligacy in front of goal prevented them from being 3 or even 4 goals up on the half hour mark. In the latter stages Chelsea were clinging on, just as they were at home to Arsenal, Benitez was aided by the stroke of luck that got him to a Champions League and FA Cup Final (which again he fluked), Jon Walters conveniently finding the net twice for Chelsea in a game whereby the scoreline flattered us. The rest of the games have all been drawn or lost to relegation fodder by enlarge (City the only exception).

It's easy to assess a team by its body language, this is something that can't always be assessed on TV but can be my fans that are able to go to games. I no longer go to games regularly due to a number of reasons one of which is disillusionment. I was present for RDM' first and last wins as Chelsea manager and there has been a remarkable change in body language since he left and Benitez arrived. A Di Matteo team was the kind of Chelsea team we have come to know since Mourinho or even Ranieri, a side that never gave in and fought tooth and nail. There was a purpose and a sense of belief. At current Petr Cech, Juan Mata, David Luiz and Frank Lampard are the only players that are playing at a similar level or better than they were when RDM was in charge. The decline of players such Ramires, Ivanovic, Cahill, Oscar and even Ashley Cole has been startling. Oscar, a player that made Pirlo look Sunday League and scored a goal that was technically the best I have seen at Stamford Bridge (v Juventus) is now nothing but a bit part "left winger". I would liken his decline to that of Ryan Babel at Liverpool, also another player that Benitez killed, a player that was once likened to Thierry Henry and showed flashes of brilliance.

We are now on the verge of finishing outside of the top 4, as I type, Benitez is still in a job but there are reasons why Chelsea fans should be optimistic about our recent demise, to do that we need to be as cynical as the Chelsea board. What we have established is the board care first and foremost about money, customers, brand image and their own ego's. The only thing that is keeping this club out of the red is money generated through Champions League Football, the competition most in English football now covet and value most, so here are the risks of missing out on top 4:

- Financial figures for 2012/13 will inevitably show us running at a loss, which again looks bad on them and affects their brand image. The only way to make that figure up is by charging more for ticket prices. Reality is from what I've read on social networking and Chelsea fans I know in person/go to games with there is a feeling of disillusion across the fanbase. Tickets aren't shifting as quickly as they were and for once, it has nothing to do with price. Chelsea of course, don't care who buys their tickets, or about the loyal fans who have stuck through the club thick and thin and have support/ties to this club stretching back generations, however we'll see how many tourists or fancy businessmen on 6/7 figure salaries fancy going to see Chelsea play the likes of Sparta Prague or Metalist Kharkiv at home on a cold Thursday Night. Tickets now are still readily available in their thousands despite weeks of sale.

- The next manager - Going back to a previous point the next manager. This board does not accept second best and Benitez has been given more chances than any other manager during Roman's tenure partly due to Emanelo - Benitez's close friend. Benitez stays and the fans/players walk. I am deadly serious about the players, even with CL football it will be difficult to keep Hazard and Oscar away from the clutches of Barca or Real (if they reach their potential) but without it chances are slim to none, and reality is we'd have to sell to balance the books. Benitez doesn't stay then you look to the next manager. Which manager is going to want to inherit this mess of a club WITHOUT CL football (the one trophy the board covet most)?

- Players to strengthen - Whether we want to admit it or not, if Arsenal and Spurs get Champions League football at our expense (which looks increasingly likely) then that makes them more attractive propositions for top players to join. The reality is all three are pretty much similar sized clubs, I'd argue Chelsea and Arsenal are slightly bigger but not by much, Spurs have narrowed that gap, top players now want to join them whereas in the past they were laughed out the house by them (see Eto'o 2008).

- Global Brand - The thing that matters to the board most, without wanting to offend overseas fans, you tend to find the most passionate and committed fans are from the country of the club's origin. Fans will come and go, supporters will always be there. Chelsea have millions of fans but only tens of thousands of supporters by comparison. Fans are fickle, they will change teams and often claim they "support more than four clubs". Success breeds fans and without it, you can pretty much bet your bottom dollar they'll lose interest and switch to the next flavour of the month. So we'll see how many followers the club get on Twitter and how many turn up to their pre-season tours in Malaysia should the club continue to decline.

The form of the team is worrying. Similar to AVB and Scolari's last days. No belief, no passion or conviction  in final third and goals leaked left, right and centre. Make no mistake top 4 is in the balance now, we have a much tougher run (on paper) than Arsenal and Spurs and we aren't even winning the games we should be winning. A win or even a point for Spurs tomorrow puts them closer to us despite being out of form of late, Arsenal now only 5 points behind. Failure to beat Wigan means that if Arsenal, Spurs and Everton take maximum points from their games we find ourselves in 6TH PLACE by the time kick off at MAN CITY (AWAY). 

Ultimately it's a game of stick or twist for the board now, face the consequences or stick with Benitez. As much as I loathe Benitez, I believe like with AVB the board have made their bed, now they should lie in it (until the Summer).