Here we are again my friends. New season, new manager. Massive respect to Thomas Tuchel; wrong time, wrong place, much like most of our managers in the last decade or two, much to my chagrin. But there’s no changing what has happened, so how do I think Graham Potter will fare in the Boehly era?
As usual I mostly focus on Chelsea history as Blue has always been in my blood and, even as an atheist, I confess to being blessed by God to a, be born English, 2, to be born into a family, that wasn’t wealthy but was rich with love, and iii, be 100% Chelsea.
Being born in 1976 I wasn’t aware of Eddie McReadie, Ken Shilleto, Danny Blanchflower or Geoff Hurst’s tenure at Chelsea. Have no doubt that in that list of names belongs a Double winner, a World Cup winner and two Chelsea legends. (I’m not counting Bobby Gould on principle.)
While I don’t remember them you can bet your mortgage that I remember John Neal (1981-1985). The start of John’s spell in the hot seat was slow and were it not for a top bins shot from Clive Walker we would have been relegated. bear in mind that I was only six, but in my dad’s bottom bedroom drawer was a collection of memorabilia that ingrained unto me the depth of history of Chelsea going back into the 60’s. Scarves, shirts and most importantly matchday programmes. When my Dad, Bryn, went off to the Bridge or to an away game I would sit down with crossed legs and pour through those seemingly trivial pieces of glossed paper, eagerly waiting for my father to come home and tell me how they got on.
A bed of roses it was not, believe me, but in ’81 ’82 and ’83 Neal signed a clutch of players that would attempt a coup. Joey Jones, David Speedie then in the following season he brought in Eddie Niedzwiecki, Pat Nevin, Nigel Spackman, and my childhood hero, Kerry Dixon. We went from being one goal from the third division (League 1 these days) to cleaning up Division 2 as champions on goal difference ahead of Sheffield Wednesday, losing only 4 games and bringing Chelsea to the top flight for the first time in my memory.
’84/’85 was a gold mine for me as a 7 then 8 year old Chelsea. In the opening game we drew with Arsenal 1-1. BIG result is an understatement. From there we pressed on as West London’s Upstarts in the league, taking on teams and out-playing some of the big boys. We finished 6th above Arsenal, again on goal difference, narrowly missing out on an UEFA Cup place that never came to be, thanks to the Heysel Stadium disaster, that we shall avoid like hot cakes.
Unfortunately for all of us, John Neal retired at the end of the season as he needed heart surgery. Once he had recovered he joined the board of directors.
Simply put he was a brilliant manager who got the lads busting a gut for him. We played good, direct football, getting the ball out to Thomas, Nevin and Cannoville working out how to get the ball to Speedie or Dixon. I have heard stories that the lads would talk through the game, figuring out the best way to beat the defences they were up against. It was a joy to watch for any glossy eyed 8 year old seeing his heroes get the job done.
Here is where I make an unlikely claim: I believe that Graham Potter has the same gift John Neal had and will our best manager since he retired. Surely this claim is getting more outlandish than anyone can believe, right?
Let’s examine the evidence:
John Hollins (1985-1988) came in after Neal and for all of his history with the club, and us being top of the league in February but with the remaining 11 matches we only picked up 9 points from a possible 33. He also lead us to victory in the Full Member’s Cup. if that’s worth anything. Two below average seasons later he was sacked on the back end of the season with us in dire straights. Love the guy. (Remember the being shit after Christmas bit? Strap in, lads, it’s going to come up a lot.)
Bobby Campbell (1988-1991) was Hollins’ assistant, joining from a Kuwaiti side. He took over at the end of that disastrous ’88 season, but won us the 2nd Division with 99 points to put us back up. We finished 5th that year, but in the next season he failed to replicate the kind of form we really should have been producing. With no disrespect to Campbell he was a Liverpool man through and through (I remember dad saying that several times.) and didn’t put everything into a club he had no love for as he wanted the Liverpool gig. Did he get it? Did he fuck. He resigned and joined Ken Bates’ staff before fucking back off to Kuwait from whence he came a year later. He’s been back at the club in the Abramovich era, and I wasn’t there behind the scenes, so who knows.
An underlying theme developed: Half decent players were joining from half decent sides, bought by half decent managers with little to no credentials who were cheaper pick ups than paying for pedigree. Sounds like Ken Bates to a lovely cup of tea, right? Did it work? Fuck it did. So…
Ian Porterfield (1991-1993). was next in the hot seat. Firstly we had an indifferent season, but in the following year we had a flying start, putting us in contention for the title, only for us, AGAIN, to flail like boneless puppies at the back end of the season and Porterfield was given his marching orders. Bleak? Probably? Did I care? Did I fuck: Chelsea ’til I die.
David fucking Webb (1993-1993) (should that be a capital F?). David Fucking Webb (1993-1993) came in on a short term contract to save us. Chelsea’s FA Cup Winning David Webb. Now, I confess to having bias beyond belief for David Webb. Some of you may know I’m a Southend lad. Now, who managed Southend United, whom I watched a lot with my Grandad (he was a Hammers fan. No way I was going to Upton Park with him)? Who also had season tickets for Southend United before and after I was in the army? Yes. David Webb managed Southend and I got to chat with him a few times. LEGEND is an understatement.
So, how did Webby do in his back end of the season? An even spread – played 13, won 5, drew 4, lost 4. Did I care? Did I fuck. Why? We were plummeting to relegation but save us he did. 7 years later he was back at Southend United because he’s a legend.
Glenn Hoddle (1993-1996). Hold on now. Hoddle wasn’t a middle to fairing player. He played for Spuds, winning the FA Cup twice, the UEFA Cup, then he went abroad to Monaco and won the French League because he felt like it. So in Hoddle we had a continental style Player Manager with international credibility -and- foreign connections. Don’t get me wrong, we were still shit, but we were polished shit. We got to our first FA Cup final since 70 and by virtue of Man United trouncing us 4-0 but also winning the league? We got into Europe for the first time since 71. Things are looking up… well, all the way up until the FA came a knocking and he got the England gig. Ho hum. He got us rolling, but he was always a Spuds guy. *insert derogatory Spuds reference 22812b here* Hoddle got close to beating out John Neal in my eyes. He brought in the right players for the right job – Petrescu, Phelan, Gullit, Peacock and…
Necessary side note: Mark Hughes, another legend who is a Chelsea fan and left a title winning team to play for the club he loved. You can’t buy that kind of class… unless you have a million pounds, which we did. Watch his goals. Not just for us, but for Man Utd and Wales. His ability is undeniable. Necessary side side note: my boy loves that pic of Sparky. Necessary side side side note: My little brother is called Mark. Could be a coincidence, but bear in mind that both Marks have the nickname Sparky. Blue runs in our veins.
Ruud Gullit (1996-1998). Now this fellow is in my all time top 5 footballers. EVER. The guy knows his football better than 99.999999% of the world’s population. That’s why he signed Di Matteo, Vialli and the best player in our history, Gianfranco Zola. We won the Cup in 97! Bobby Di Matteo made me drop a bottle of beer when he scored less than a minute in. Apologies dad, thanks for letting me off and forging the unforgivable. But…. At the same time Gullit had a bit of a screw loose and broke down. Personally, I believe management was too much for him as he couldn’t micromanage every player to play like he would and it drove him to bang his head against the wall. Literally. He was ‘resignsacked’ in February of ’98. Some say it was over an argument with Bates, but I reckon he just lost his bottle and needed help. In the following August he buggered off up north to Newcastle. Look at his record in management and you’ll see short spells at every club. I think he was born to be a pundit after retiring from playing and I still love the guy.
Gianluca Vialli (1998-2000). Now Luca is definitely in my top 10 for footballing characters. He has such a passion for the game and had a knack for getting himself into the right place at the right time on the pitch. This happened off the pitch as well with the job. We won the Cup Winner’s Club, League Cup and FA Cup (Charity Shield and the Super Cup might count, I leave that to you.). At this point, Luca was our most successful manager in our history. But there was a massive falling out behind the scenes and thus started the reign of player power at Chelsea and because of this I can’t claim Vialli to be better than Neal. Close call though. Fucking love the guy
Claudio Ranieri (200-2004). If there was ever a manager that had an unfair shake at Chelsea it’s Ranieri. We were in serious financial trouble and were it not for that famous goal by Jesper Gronkjaer at Liverpool? We’d have been bankrupt. Bates gets fucked off and Roman replaces the Chairman’s seat with a Throne. Ranieri had the players. They loved him, but Roman was determined to hire some dude no one in Chelsea knew about. So, despite finishing second, our highest place since 1955? Buhbye. I feel bad about this one. I bet you anything you want that we would have been in at least two finals and would have won the league if he had stayed. He proved that point with Leicester. Fucking LOVE the guy.
From here we’re footballs deep into the Roman Empire. Money is no object and when you buy whomever you want I can’t assess the management ability under the same light. Besides, there’s only one manager I want to highlight and no, it’s not Jose.
Carlo Ancelotti. (2009-2011) Carlo had the players breathing out of their world class hoops for him. That double winning season was the best I have ever seen us play, no question. I wished he was our manager for two decades. In many respects I still want him to be our manager now.
But as Ancelotti is off the table why is Potter, in my clearly deluded opinion, the man to lead us to years of quality? He may just have better player management skills that John Neal had and Carlo has. Instead of just getting his coaching badges, he garnered a degree in social sciences and studied for a master’s degree on leadership and emotional intelligence. Potter is going down roads unknown to football. He definitely knows how to get the best out of everyone.
The squad will be quickly moulded into a team with the belief and desire to do their best for Potter, each other and us. He’ll look after the players, keep the banter in public professional and… well, I believe he could be an Arsene Wenger or Fergie and stay in the hot seat for a good many year to come.
After a couple of hours worth of fantastic memories I’ll end things here with this misquote:
It’s a bold prediction, Cotton, let’s see if it plays out for ’em.
Win or lose: UP THE BLUES!
Rocky Mountain Blues 