Post by QPR Report on Sept 19, 2009 22:57:43 GMT
Sometimes the headline says it all 
The Sunday Times September 20, 2009
Chelsea: muppets on a string
Click on the image above to download our guide to Chelsea's key figures www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00616/Muppets_On_A_String_616483a.pdf
Duncan Castles
One of the world’s richest men wants to climb Africa’s highest mountain. He flies to Mount Kilimanjaro on his private Boeing 767, hires 113 porters, then fails to reach the top because he hasn’t prepared properly for the altitude. The same Russian billionaire is determined to reach the summit of European football. He flies to London, sinks £700m into Chelsea Football Club, hires the finest players, coaches and executives, then repeatedly fails to reach the top because half his employees are at war with each other.
Welcome to the world of Roman Abramovich, where the emperor’s whim shapes the future of his domain, where one self-destructive court drama follows another and where the sole commodity that appears beyond purchase is consistent common sense. “Chaos” is how one former Chelsea employee describes it; a grand farce neatly encapsulated in the Stamford Bridge saga that reached its denouement last week. Peter Kenyon and Frank Arnesen are archetypal Abramovich appointments: each recommended to Chelsea’s owner as the best in their field, each offered irresistible pay rises to join his football club, each installed in key positions within the club.
Tempted out of Old Trafford by a salary of £1.6m, Kenyon was billed as the most effective chief executive in the English game. Grabbed from Tottenham for more than £5m in compensation and wages of £2m a year, Arnesen was meant to be Europe’s premier technical director. Their roles overlapped and soon neither trusted the other. There is status and value in being the person who negotiates transfers and contracts at a club prepared to commit upwards of £40m to a single transaction. Kenyon was the man in possession, sorting out the numbers to land the players Jose Mourinho wanted for his title-winning teams. Arnesen knew the owner’s opinions on footballers often differed from his coach. In tandem with long-term collaborator (and Abramovich’s personal football advisor) Piet de Visser, he encouraged the Russian to pursue alternative targets, suggesting Mourinho might not be the wisest judge of a player. When Mourinho realised what was happening he went to war. He ridiculed the Dane’s scouting reports, had videos made to demonstrate why his recommendations were not suited to English football, and attempted to limit his power to signing academy recruits, whom the manager subsequently declared unfit for promotion to the senior squad.
Relationships further deteriorated as Abramovich saddled Mourinho with his favourite striker (and close friend) Andriy Shevchenko, ultimately bringing two seasons of Premier League dominance to an end. By January 2007 the manager was complaining about Shevchenko’s lack of application, only to be told to accept players proposed by De Visser and Arnesen or none at all. Mourinho chose the latter and before the year was gone had been pushed out of his job. Tellingly, he left Chelsea saying Kenyon had been his sole ally on the board. The chief executive’s own power struggle continued.
As first Avram Grant then Luiz Felipe Scolari were made manager, Kenyon could point to the failings of Arnesen’s academy project. Tens of millions had been invested in an international scouting network to source the planet’s best teenage players, the fees and salaries to bring them to London, a dedicated academy complex, and Arnesen’s own expertise. Neither coach considered the end product good enough to make a single graduate a first-team regular. With Arnesen’s 2005 promise to deliver “the best youth development programme in the world” sounding hollow and Chelsea forced into an unforeseen economy drive, 15 of his scouts were laid off as club officials confirmed stories that the Dane was to join them in redundancy.
Instead, it was Kenyon’s star that began to wane. Scolari, whom he had championed, struggled with language and tactics, fell out with Michael Ballack, Petr Cech and Didier Drogba, then was axed by Abramovich while the chief executive was on holiday. Before Kenyon returned a newly re-engaged owner had placed Guus Hiddink in charge of the team while Arnesen, by associating himself with the change of guard, edged back into favour. Hiddink won the FA Cup, qualified Chelsea for the Champions League but declined the opportunity to take the job permanently.
Abramovich went back to AC Milan to hire Carlo Ancelotti, a coach accustomed to allowing others to sign his players, and Arnesen spied another opportunity. He helped the Italian settle into the club, moved the training ground office from the academy to the first-team building and recruited a pair of out-of-contract Englishmen in Ross Turnbull and Daniel Sturridge. By mid-July, the Dane had been promoted to sporting director, granted responsibilities relating to the co-ordination of first-team activity and supporting the first team manager.
Word went out that Kenyon was to quit Chelsea as soon as a payoff was agreed. Blaming the stories on unscrupulous agents, Chelsea threatened legal action to prevent publication, then on Wednesday airily presented the departure as being by mutual consent. On Thursday, the club’s chief operating officer, Ron Gourlay, replaced Kenyon. On a fraction of his predecessor’s salary and with a background primarily in retail management, the Scot is not regarded as the kind of political heavyweight to fight Chelsea’s corner with the game’s governing bodies. Neither will Gourlay be saddled with Kenyon’s infamous promises “to turn the world blue” and end club losses by 2010; both mission statements have been quietly dropped.
Though Arnesen will have to report to him, Gourlay is not expected to grab control of signings. Whether any will be made before 2011 will depend on Chelsea’s appeal against the two-window transfer ban imposed on them for inducing Gael Kakuta to breach his contract with Lens. Ironically, that Arnesen error should aid others from the academy. Ancelotti listed three on the bench for last week’s Champions League defeat of FC Porto. This week he will play some in the League Cup against QPR.
“We have very good young players in the academy and I want to use them because they represent the future of this club,” said Ancelotti after lauding his relationship with Arnesen. “Some very good players are coming out. [Jeffrey] Bruma, [Sam] Hutchinson, [Fabio] Borini are ready to play.”
Another totem of Chelsea will, though, want more say. John Terry’s blazing row with Mourinho accelerated that manager’s departure, and he was no fan of Grant. A pay rise secured on the threat of a move to Manchester City, Terry now talks openly of facilitating new contracts for Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole. “You stress to people like Roman that it’s so important for them to stay. I speak to these guys on a daily basis, and I can then go to the club as a middle man and try and get things done. If I can help in that way then it’s great for Chelsea Football Club.”
In the altitude-sick court of Abramovich nothing is beyond possibility — as long as you keep onside of the emperor.
THE WIT AND WISDOM OF PETER KENYON
‘Over the next five years our plans are quite simple . . . to turn the world blue.’ May 2005
‘This season’s Premier League champions will come from a small group of one.’ August 2005
‘We did set ourselves an objective to break even by 2010 and we’re confident. Our aim is to be internationally recognised as the world's No 1 football club by 2014.’ November 2006
‘By 2014, we must have won the Champions League more than once.’ 2007
‘Over a 10-year period you need two European Cups to be a world-class club. We will win it, the question is when.’ September 2007
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article6841230.ece
The Sunday Times September 20, 2009
Chelsea: muppets on a string
Click on the image above to download our guide to Chelsea's key figures www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00616/Muppets_On_A_String_616483a.pdf
Duncan Castles
One of the world’s richest men wants to climb Africa’s highest mountain. He flies to Mount Kilimanjaro on his private Boeing 767, hires 113 porters, then fails to reach the top because he hasn’t prepared properly for the altitude. The same Russian billionaire is determined to reach the summit of European football. He flies to London, sinks £700m into Chelsea Football Club, hires the finest players, coaches and executives, then repeatedly fails to reach the top because half his employees are at war with each other.
Welcome to the world of Roman Abramovich, where the emperor’s whim shapes the future of his domain, where one self-destructive court drama follows another and where the sole commodity that appears beyond purchase is consistent common sense. “Chaos” is how one former Chelsea employee describes it; a grand farce neatly encapsulated in the Stamford Bridge saga that reached its denouement last week. Peter Kenyon and Frank Arnesen are archetypal Abramovich appointments: each recommended to Chelsea’s owner as the best in their field, each offered irresistible pay rises to join his football club, each installed in key positions within the club.
Tempted out of Old Trafford by a salary of £1.6m, Kenyon was billed as the most effective chief executive in the English game. Grabbed from Tottenham for more than £5m in compensation and wages of £2m a year, Arnesen was meant to be Europe’s premier technical director. Their roles overlapped and soon neither trusted the other. There is status and value in being the person who negotiates transfers and contracts at a club prepared to commit upwards of £40m to a single transaction. Kenyon was the man in possession, sorting out the numbers to land the players Jose Mourinho wanted for his title-winning teams. Arnesen knew the owner’s opinions on footballers often differed from his coach. In tandem with long-term collaborator (and Abramovich’s personal football advisor) Piet de Visser, he encouraged the Russian to pursue alternative targets, suggesting Mourinho might not be the wisest judge of a player. When Mourinho realised what was happening he went to war. He ridiculed the Dane’s scouting reports, had videos made to demonstrate why his recommendations were not suited to English football, and attempted to limit his power to signing academy recruits, whom the manager subsequently declared unfit for promotion to the senior squad.
Relationships further deteriorated as Abramovich saddled Mourinho with his favourite striker (and close friend) Andriy Shevchenko, ultimately bringing two seasons of Premier League dominance to an end. By January 2007 the manager was complaining about Shevchenko’s lack of application, only to be told to accept players proposed by De Visser and Arnesen or none at all. Mourinho chose the latter and before the year was gone had been pushed out of his job. Tellingly, he left Chelsea saying Kenyon had been his sole ally on the board. The chief executive’s own power struggle continued.
As first Avram Grant then Luiz Felipe Scolari were made manager, Kenyon could point to the failings of Arnesen’s academy project. Tens of millions had been invested in an international scouting network to source the planet’s best teenage players, the fees and salaries to bring them to London, a dedicated academy complex, and Arnesen’s own expertise. Neither coach considered the end product good enough to make a single graduate a first-team regular. With Arnesen’s 2005 promise to deliver “the best youth development programme in the world” sounding hollow and Chelsea forced into an unforeseen economy drive, 15 of his scouts were laid off as club officials confirmed stories that the Dane was to join them in redundancy.
Instead, it was Kenyon’s star that began to wane. Scolari, whom he had championed, struggled with language and tactics, fell out with Michael Ballack, Petr Cech and Didier Drogba, then was axed by Abramovich while the chief executive was on holiday. Before Kenyon returned a newly re-engaged owner had placed Guus Hiddink in charge of the team while Arnesen, by associating himself with the change of guard, edged back into favour. Hiddink won the FA Cup, qualified Chelsea for the Champions League but declined the opportunity to take the job permanently.
Abramovich went back to AC Milan to hire Carlo Ancelotti, a coach accustomed to allowing others to sign his players, and Arnesen spied another opportunity. He helped the Italian settle into the club, moved the training ground office from the academy to the first-team building and recruited a pair of out-of-contract Englishmen in Ross Turnbull and Daniel Sturridge. By mid-July, the Dane had been promoted to sporting director, granted responsibilities relating to the co-ordination of first-team activity and supporting the first team manager.
Word went out that Kenyon was to quit Chelsea as soon as a payoff was agreed. Blaming the stories on unscrupulous agents, Chelsea threatened legal action to prevent publication, then on Wednesday airily presented the departure as being by mutual consent. On Thursday, the club’s chief operating officer, Ron Gourlay, replaced Kenyon. On a fraction of his predecessor’s salary and with a background primarily in retail management, the Scot is not regarded as the kind of political heavyweight to fight Chelsea’s corner with the game’s governing bodies. Neither will Gourlay be saddled with Kenyon’s infamous promises “to turn the world blue” and end club losses by 2010; both mission statements have been quietly dropped.
Though Arnesen will have to report to him, Gourlay is not expected to grab control of signings. Whether any will be made before 2011 will depend on Chelsea’s appeal against the two-window transfer ban imposed on them for inducing Gael Kakuta to breach his contract with Lens. Ironically, that Arnesen error should aid others from the academy. Ancelotti listed three on the bench for last week’s Champions League defeat of FC Porto. This week he will play some in the League Cup against QPR.
“We have very good young players in the academy and I want to use them because they represent the future of this club,” said Ancelotti after lauding his relationship with Arnesen. “Some very good players are coming out. [Jeffrey] Bruma, [Sam] Hutchinson, [Fabio] Borini are ready to play.”
Another totem of Chelsea will, though, want more say. John Terry’s blazing row with Mourinho accelerated that manager’s departure, and he was no fan of Grant. A pay rise secured on the threat of a move to Manchester City, Terry now talks openly of facilitating new contracts for Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole. “You stress to people like Roman that it’s so important for them to stay. I speak to these guys on a daily basis, and I can then go to the club as a middle man and try and get things done. If I can help in that way then it’s great for Chelsea Football Club.”
In the altitude-sick court of Abramovich nothing is beyond possibility — as long as you keep onside of the emperor.
THE WIT AND WISDOM OF PETER KENYON
‘Over the next five years our plans are quite simple . . . to turn the world blue.’ May 2005
‘This season’s Premier League champions will come from a small group of one.’ August 2005
‘We did set ourselves an objective to break even by 2010 and we’re confident. Our aim is to be internationally recognised as the world's No 1 football club by 2014.’ November 2006
‘By 2014, we must have won the Champions League more than once.’ 2007
‘Over a 10-year period you need two European Cups to be a world-class club. We will win it, the question is when.’ September 2007
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article6841230.ece
