Chelsea should sack Ranieri

[Millane42]

I think that Chelsea should sack Ranieri, because they play a defensive style, but should be more attacking. It is o.k. for southampton to play for draws as they need every point to survive. But chelsea have got an expensive team of talent who should be scoring more goals and going for the wins to get up top. not good enough! vialli should never have been sacked!

[London Dave]

Think you are pretty much on the money here M42. There was a report in todays Sun saying something about Chelsea being in big time debt due to lack of champions league money..and UEFA cup £££. Didn't read the report in full (I rarely make it past page 3 in the Sun), they are in big trouble I reckon. If they dont end up top 3, I see em offloading a few expensive players at seasons end. (Maybe they will ony need a bus pass to get to Fulham and AlFayeds millions.)

[DIPPER]

£80 million in debt, oh deary me.They're paying the price of buying top name players at an age when they have no resale value ie Desailly, Zola & paying them massive wages.Compare with arsenal who bought young players like Anelka, Overmars & sold them for big profit (Viera & Henry the same)Now I'd rather not sell them but it keeps the club afloat & Arsenal now have a crop of young palyers who should explode upon the English game in the next couple of years.

As for Ranieri I don't mind him, it's probably Bates they should get rid of.

I do not & have never loved Liverpool FC

[junkboy75]

my opinion is that clubs that spend big on players but without the success or "brand name" to cover for this spending are asking for trouble. the reason that man u, liverpool, and maybe arsenal can shell out millions for players yet never run the risk of being bankrupt is that they regularly make it into the european comps, thus getting the associated huge financial windfalls. they also have global brand names that ensures huge profits from merchandising, shared marketing costs with other global brands (e.g man u and the new york yankees), and overseas pay-per-view TV. a significant portion of their fans are also not even from the UK (read: man u)

contrast this with sunderland, which is really just a local club, supported by local people (yours truly excepted) and which doesn't have a global name and is never likely to, unless they win the champions league or something. that's one of the reasons why reidy is reluctant to spend big on players; the returns just aren't there. the skunks and smog monsters have spent huge sums on players but have won squat in recent times.

but therein lies the catch 22. you have to spend big in order to keep up with the big 6, but unless you are consistently successful and/or possess a very marketable global brand name (i.e. leeds are currently popular in aust due to kewell and viduka), or have a rich benefactor like Jack Walker or Mohammed El Fayad, the club runs the risk of getting little return for their investments, huge wage bills or worse, bankruptcy.

the problem doesn't just exist in the UK. how many super clubs dominate their domestic leagues? names that come to mind are rangers/celtic, bayern munich, ajax, juventus, real madrid/barcelona, etc... clubs that spend relatively little on players can certainly have successful seasons, e.g. ipswich last year on a shoestring budget, but look at them now. chievo verona are doing well in serie A, but I don't think it's likely to last.



"consectatio excellentiae"

[DIPPER]

What you've said is true junkboy, getting in the Champion's League every year keeps Arsenal afloat, whereas Liverpool have the name to spend more money in the transfer market & pay higher wages despite not having been in the CL till this season.
It's a tough call for a club like Sunderland to go for broke in the hope of finishing in the top 3 & making big bucks but if you look at what Leeds have done it can be achieved.Really they were no bigger than Sunderland a few years ago(maybe marginally but it's open to debate) but somehow they've found the money to buy players like Viduka & most notably Ferdinand, I don't know how they've done it to be honest with you.Maybe they're in massive debt or maybe they do have the revenue to cover it, it's one of the great mysteries to me how a biggish club who were perhaps on a par with the likes of Tottenham,Aston Villa etc have turned themselves into sucha powerhouse.

I do not & have never loved Liverpool FC

[Millane42]

ranieri - go for the team's sake you poor excuse for a coach