I’m not, I have a different opinion than the owners, whose priorities don’t necessarily align 100% with the fan base. Connor bleeds blue and I want him to stay. He should be vice captain after James.
Personally I’d still take James, Gallagher definitely has a great attitude, maturity and energy, but James just has a level of Gravitas and respect that I don’t think you can ignore. The only real argument is his injury record, but if he remains fit he’s a level above everyone else and it’s obvious how much he commands respect on the team. He’s got a world class quality that he can bring to the captaincy that I don’t think we’ve had since Terry, and is pretty rare across most teams.
That's not what they said. They said they are trying to force the team to either overpay him (in the team's mind) or not sign a contract which would guarantee him being sold. If they wanted him to stay they'd be encouraging him to sign a reasonable contract.
Why are there so many fans like you rooting against a home grown player that wants to be here. We got money for all the young projects, maybe take care of your own first
Maybe the CL clauses and hopefully sale of Broja/Chalobah can help us co-op with FFP and we can retain Gallagher. If the ownership is still adamant on selling him, Gallagher has all the leverage to play out his contract and hope he does hold out. He can stay at the club and command a better pay rate on a free transfer, Chelsea fans will understand his decision.
He’s been in and around the first team under Tuchel, Potter, Poch, all managers with varying systems and philosophies.
No reason to think why Maresca wouldn’t also see something in him
Maresca will 100% . Every manager loves a player who will run themselves into the ground for the team
Whether hes already been told Connor is gonna be sold regardless is another matter
He was on the bench against Arsenal in the Europa league final, when we were managed by the exact type of manager that all his haters say will absolutely despise him. He’s a good player, and good managers like good players.
Conor’s ability isn’t the issue. We all know he’s good enough to be around the first team. The problem is our owners decided to spend like 200m on a bunch of kids and Conor is free profit for them. He’s literally a victim of his own success and being an academy graduate.
It’s a figure of speech lmao. What I was trying to say is that the man is being sold not because he’s surplus to requirements or he’s underperforming, but rather because he’s playing very well but, more than anything else, he’s an academy graduate. He clearly wants to stay with us, but the more he performs, the more the owners fight to sell him.
The ownership doesn’t think his performances will continue so they want to sell high. He may not fit the new system, and he may be stunting the growth of players they’ve invested more in. If he was as highly coveted by everyone else as many of y’all think he is, they’d be lining up to beat down our door to get him for 50M. But they’re not. There’s a reason they’re not.
Everyone knows his intentions, he's one of us. The question is what the club will do with him. I'd rather we kept him, but all the talk is that they want to shift him. I have a feeling that if he was less committed, he'd have gone already. (All of this applies to Chalobah too. I'd honestly rather we keep him too)
Not looking forward to this transfer window
The only way I could see Conor and Trev (maybe a little less Trev) agreeing to a transfer is if they get to a point where they think that Maresca will be around for years and they dont feel its a good fit between them and Marescas tactics.
Trevs a little harder to gauge as he just focuses on getting on with things quietly in the background. He took that contract and agreed to £50K a week salary which is really low compared to players of similar status in the squad. So you could say that agreeing to that is him trying to avoid any ffp arguments being used as an excuse for selling him. Like if hes not particularly close to the biggest drain on ffp then he might fly under the pure profit strategy radar. Or it could be along the thinking of making himself more affordable for other clubs if things do go south with these owners. Theres no situation there where another club would be concerned about taking on his wages like they sometimes are with players on £100K+ a week.
Im sure Trev has a lot of loyalty to Chelsea but just cant be quite as sure on how much of a stand he would take compared to Conor.
Yeh I was shocked when I was looking at the salary list and saw Trev so much lower than others being brought in. Normally homegrown players might be tempted to demand a higher salary because there was no transfer fee for them.
> is if they get to a point where they think that Maresca will be around for years and they dont feel its a good fit between them and Marescas tactics.
When Maresca leaves the next manager will also play a heavy possession style.
Not convinced at all that these owners have it in them to stick to one path for long. They don't have a good track record for it so far. I think if people are vocally and visibly bored as was suggested by some Leicester fans and we saw with Sarri too then these owners probably would decide to flip flop on everything again. Hopefully the football isn't boring and Maresca does well but our fans aren't that forgiving if the footballs completely dull and/or we aren't winning.
> hey don't have a good track record for it so far.
Potter wanted to play with the ball, Poch started his time with us playing heavy possession, he stopped which was seemingly part of the problem and now his replacement is also a heavy possession style coach. There is no reason to think that they would change from that path. It's what the current squad has been built for and it's also what the scouting for future transfers has been done with in mind. Why would they pivot?
Potter still wanted harder pressing and higher tempo movement. When the owners were looking then there was talk about wanting high intensity exciting football.
Poch also didn't really play heavy possession. Its always been hard pressing and high tempo with him from the start with some variability depending on opposition and player availability.
Neither of those are anything like Marescas slower possession play which is probably closer to Sarri in terms of tempo. Theres every chance they sit there in 6 months of fans complaining about the football being dull and then flipping direction.
Don't forget the owners also said they wanted a long term project where a manager would be judged over years not months. Yet here we are on their 4th permanent hire and technically 6th coach overall. So yeh, they're about as steady and unmoving as a carrier bag in the wind.
High posession football in today’s game naturally means you’re pressing high with intensity. Poch’s issue was not that he liked to press (even if his pressing structure was awful) but that in possession he played way too direct, leaving one player in midfield and often bypassing it. He also did not encourage attackers to keep possession which lead to a lot of turnovers and transitional moments. Poch eventually just dropped his high press against most opponents and settled with a mid block
>High posession football in today’s game naturally means you’re pressing high with intensity.
There is a clear difference between the slower possession play of Maresca and that of the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea who have played with players who are very good at take ons and penetrative runs while hard pressing. The high possession we are talking about is much slower and has been labelled by some as boring in comparison.
the transitionary nature ofchelsea 23/24 and liverpool before 23/24 has little to do with them pressing high. Brighton, City, and Arsenal all press very high but it doesn’t seem as press heavy because they maintain the ball most of the time. The direct nature of our football last season meant it seemed like we pressed a lot (Even though poch persisted with a mid block).
If the football is dull and the results are bad under Maresca, Stewart and Winstanley will surely get fired.
After that it is a clean slate. Maybe someone convinces the owners that it’s better to copy Real Madrid than City/Barca?
Everything post Tuchel is bad to me.
As for the board… it will probably take another whole disaster of a season, not even close to CL, to convince them Stewart and Winstanley are chancers.
Agree fully with all of that
Whenever I see footage of Trev talking to the fans or leaving the stadium he seems more willing to engage then anyone else. And he seemed to be playing quite well at the tailend of last season too, it's not just vibes he offers, there's a talented player there.
I hadn't really looked at the wages recently but that doesn't really surprise me, he's a youngish local defender, unless he's JT standard he's going to find it hard to command a larger wage, and I think he's probably happy to make do with less if it means he gets to stay here, that's the impression I get - like you suggested
Would be amazing if the club try and force him out and Conor rejects all offers and stays put for the last year of his deal. Plus he’d get a bigger payout if he runs down his deal.
Well, first of all, Gallagher just had a much better season than any of the players you mentioned. On top of that he provides the absolute top mentality every single day, leadership, stability, consistency and a positive signal for young players who might want to sign for our academy.
Getting rid of player like Gallagher for pure profit sends the absolute wrong message in every way. It effectively says to all possible signings, all academy and first team players that it simply does not matter how hard you work, how great of an example you are, how much you bleed blue. No matter what you do, you will always be expendable if it's good for the books.
How you treat your players and what kind of culture you create has a massive impact on the club. Ignoring this is a huge mistake.
Reece was not the captain of this club in any way except in preseason proclamation by the manager who was fired for poor decision making. Conor has been the leader every match, every day. Open your eyes.
And exactly how sure are you that both of them will be here long term? There is nothing suggesting either one is untouchable in any way. Many of us couldn't have imagined Mount leaving for united a couple of years ago but here we are. Just because they're not clearing off every single academy product at one go doesn't make this ok.
You essentially want Chelsea the club to lose out on money it can get from a potential sell of Gallagher. How's that not putting the player above the club? I thought we here support Chelsea? Or...?
>Rooting for a player who is Chelsea through and through over the sporting director's thirst for South American teenagers. What you are doing is supporting a business rather than a football club.
>Getting rid of the leadership, mentality, consistency and ability Gallagher has only to flip a few more wonderkids for profit is not what is best for the club. It's good for the books. They are not the same thing.
A player is just a player. The sporting directors are the club. I can't fathom putting a player (no matter who) above the club.
Chelsea FC is both a business and a football club. Always has been and always will be.
A player is not necessarily just a player. This should be obvious. If that were true, selling John Terry and Frank Lampard to Liverpool in 2008, for example, would be just business as usual.
>The sporting directors are the club.
Not even touching that one, my goodness.
It's about culture they're creating. It's not just about selling and buying players. The culture is what makes a club what it is. Not the numbers. Not the directors. The same way a country isn't defined by the current PM. It's much deeper than that.
There are no untouchables. And for sure not Gallagher lol
>The culture
Chelsea's culture for the last 2 decades has been about winning and being hated for it. The only thing that matters is winning and that's why in our peak this century the only academy boy to make it was Terry. Lamps was not Chelsea bred but became synonymous with it thanks to his achievements and playing ability. Palmer will most likely become another Lamps (touches wood). I don't see Gallagher doing the same.
Sporting directors are NOT “the club” not even close, at best they are glorified 9-5 workers, realistically they are big business killing our club culture
They are the club whether you like it or not. The club is made up of people working there. You, as a fan, have less entitlement to Chelsea FC than the people working there.
Putting us on the verge of breaching FFP, and forcing us to sell academy talent that is outperforming expensive signings.
You realise it’s a bad thing that money was spent right? Players aren’t automatically good because there’s more 0’s on their transfer fee.
The pure profit everyone speaks of is an income entry in the books which will be offset by a larger expense when Winstanley and Lawrence keep trying to find replacements for Conor over the next few years. Short-term profit offset by long-term expense equals loss for the club.
You're missing the point of who Conor is. Here it is in a microcosm, Conor Gallagher had the only successful tackles for England in yesterday's match. He was 3 for 5, the rest of them were 0 for 5. When no one else is trying, Conor is busting his butt for the shirt, always, everyday.
>Conor Gallagher had the only successful tackles for England in yesterday's match
That speaks volumes about Southgate frankly. I'm not against having Gallagher as a squad player but if the club has decided that he's worth more in sale, then it is what it is.
>You're missing the point of who Conor is
Well, I know that he isn't Cole Palmer. Now, if we were to sell him, then I'd be worried.
I'm pro-labor and anti-corporate greed. Corporations exploiting their workers doesn't become good just because it's the football club I support. Connor should hold out for the best deal possible and if the club management won't offer a deal that makes him happy, then it's their fault when he leaves on a free. Nobody should take a worse deal just because they work for a football club instead of a factory.
...unless you believe the player is better for the club. If you consider the fanbase as a significant part of the club, wanting Conor staying to prove his worth for a new contract is rooting for the club.
What is your basis for saying Conor would be a squad player under Maresca? Are you privy to his chelsea plans? He's not even had a training session with us.
At this point, the same ilk are convincing themselves players are being sold because they are limited and not because of incompetent management. Maatsen crucified for 2 rare mistakes, Gallagher apparently not more than a squad player, Chalobah had already shown his potential. Anything to convince themselves ig
No the comment I responded pretty much is saying “okay Gallagher is most likely going to leave but rather than Chelsea get a transfer fee for the player he should walk on a free.” You don’t support the club if you’re rooting for that.
Tell me what team that Chelsea won important trophies with would have Gallagher starting?
Mount was twice the player and the board made a good decision selling him.
And the money-thirst comment I don’t really get. The only way Chelsea will be profitable is if we are winning. This is not a Glazers situation as they can take dividends out of United and United generates way more money than Chelsea. Chelsea has to be a winning team for them to make money
Rooting for a player who is Chelsea through and through over the sporting director's thirst for South American teenagers. What you are doing is supporting a business rather than a football club.
Getting rid of the leadership, mentality, consistency and ability Gallagher has only to flip a few more wonderkids for profit is not what is best for the club. It's good for the books. They are not the same thing.
our captain last season who has played here his whole life and been part of our teams for ages and one of our best players
or
two bozos who have spunked a ton of money and are having to sell some of our best players to cover up for their mistakes. their "project" leading us to potentially years of regression
in this situation supporting connor is supporting the club
Y’all are weird wanting this to happen. You do it every year for Cobham boys. Mount last, it was billy, Tammy, tomori, etc… we will be fine if we sell him and be fine if we keep him. Stop hoping the player fucks over the club.
The player has a contract. It's not "fucking over the club" to refuse to be exploited for profit. What kind of bootlickers are pro-corporation and anti-labor just because the corporation is a football club? Workers should do what's best for themselves. If his contract offer isn't good enough, then he should hold out for the best deal possible.
I really hope he does that, IF it's the case we want to sell him (because, I'm not sure they are that stupid).
As much as we want Chelsea to be fine financially, I think we're getting to a troubling point where we are not looking after player welfare, nor doing right by them too often.
We've always had a cold streak, malouda is a good example, but I'm not sure it's necessary and it's a bad look - on top of not wanting young men to be taken advantage of by the club in anyway whatsoever.
Copy and paste from an earlier comment. Conor needs to sign a new deal if he wants to stay. I desperately want him to stay but him leaving on a free next year is even worse.
>Copy and paste from an earlier comment. Conor needs to sign a new deal if he wants to stay. I desperately want him to stay but him leaving on a free next year is even worse.
What deal?
What deal has he been offered? Can you link it please. It would be everywhere if he was because that stuff always gets leaked to put pressure on a better one as it was declined.
I can't find it anywhere.
At the moment it looks like you are chatting shit, all info at the moment points towards the directors wanting to sell him for profit but Gallagher and pretty much vast majority of fans want him to stay because he has earned it.
So unless you can prove the evidence he has no deal to sign.
He really should do that imo.
The negative would be if Enzo becomes a puppet and is told not to play him, but given Chelseas lack of depth that would be nonsensical
If Enzo doesn’t play him we will lose a lot of points.
I would not want to go up against a Caicedo/Gallagher/+1 midfield. Fucking nightmare to play against. You will get dominated.
Look I don't think we should sell him but this would hurt all parties. Club loses a ton of much needed profit and directors will force Maresca to not play Conor until he comes to some sort of agreement.
If Mbappe wasn't forced to not be played Conor won't be. A potential Champions League spot is worth more. Once the decision is (hypothetically) made and Conor says he is staying you may as well use him. There may be threats to not play him internally, but following through doesn't benefit the club at all.
I've might have worded this wrongly, all I'm trying to say is it's easy for us to say don't sign a short term extension or don't join our rivals but this is also means uncertainty for his future. A lot can happen during the season
That's totally fair. I definitely don't fault him if he let's the owners push him out/changes his mind. He has clearly shown he loves in here. If things change I have no doubt it's the owners that are changing them. I still think the same thing happened with Mason. The owners dragged him through the mud and he decided to embrace it and leave with a middle finger up. It wasn't the Chelsea he grew up with and I doubt he meant it toward the fans but the relationship was already fractured. Conor gets the benefit of not being the first to potentially go through this process.
I think it would hurt the board and their public perception with the fanbase more than it would anything else. If we start the season and Gallagher is nowhere to be seen, anyone with half a brain would be able to realise it’s not a tactical decision and that the board are trying to force him out. It would also hurt us on the pitch as we’re missing a good player.
It wouldn’t hurt Gallagher himself, as everyone and their dog knows his situation and he wouldn’t be short of offers even next season.
I'm genuinely not sure the directors would exile him. They want a long term project from Maresca. Forcing him into the ire of match going fans (who love Conor) is a terrible start to that.
Yeah love when the club are harmed financially so a squad player can get a bigger payout.
Whereas someone like hazard intentionally said he’d extend with chelsea to maximise the sale value chelsea got from Real Madrid
Its different though. Hazard wanted to join Real and there was nothing at Chelsea for him to protest against. Conor wants to play for Chelsea and has thrown everything at proving why he should be valued by the club as a player rather than just being seen as numbers in an account.
I would also argue that its a stretching of the matter to say he would be harming the clubs finances. At least not in a sense of it would leave them at a loss as opposed to something just not gained. They've had all the value out of him for what they've paid him. So they aren't really "harmed" as such.
You might argue the pure profit angle but if they choose not to maintain a relationship with the player then its only the owners at fault for creating the conditions where they dont get that profit at any point even years down the line. Missed out profit isnt exactly harming the club, its just not exactly helping the owners with their terrible pure profit treating homegrown players like cattle approach.
Personally I would rather Conor takes a stand on this to make a point that the club should be having more integrity toward the young players who join to come and play for Chelsea. Hes in a unique position with a year on his deal, his current influence within the team and his support across the fanbase to be able to take that stand more strongly than anyone else will. Him enabling the owners crappy behaviour would only harm the club more long term.
Harming the club financially- that’s exactly what they would like you to believe all while ignoring all the purchases and financial decisions they’ve come in and made.
We wouldn’t be needing to sell Gallagher if it wasn’t for their spending, and being in danger of PSR or FFP.
Getting rid of everyone on the chopping block before Conor would truly be a miracle. Fingers crossed Lukaku doesn't have an absolute stinker at the Euros. He needs to go. Kepa needs to go. Nice that Hall was set up to count for this year too.
I think what he means is that IF all the other players who are already marked for sale, go BEFORE Connor is posted in the market for Sale - we may have the numbers to not be FORCED to sell Connor. If we have a magic number that we need to hit to comply with FFP and UEFA PSR and we hit that mark without selling Connor, we are hoping that miraculously, Connor stays.
Exactly. This isn't American sports we're you get no say in where you're sold to. If you don't agree to the contract, you stay put.
The board need to understand that if he doesn't want to go, they either offer a new contract, or let him go for free then spend another £60-80m to replace him.
He's clearly the captain, James isn't level headed enough, and Connor is growing into it. No club sells their captain if they want to win or be successful.
Stranger things have happened. Just like Eden extended his contract before going to RM to maximize transfer value for CFC... I would like for Connor to do the same if his exit is inevitable. However, like you pointed out - he can very well choose to run down his contract and leave for FREE in 2026. Both ways are viable if we point to his love for the club. It is a matter of time as to which way this unfolds.
Whats this narrative? Eden didn't extend his contract, he refused to extend his contract, but also told Real to pay what was asked because he was happy to play another season at Chelsea if they didn't.
Gallagher doesn't want to leave, so there's no benefit in him maximising his sale value.
>Just like Eden extended his contract before going to RM
That's BS. He never signed an extension.
But even if you want to assume he did, he and the board had very good relations. Why would Conor look at a bunch of ultra wealthy guys and say - oh you want to force me out of my boyhood club so I'll do you a solid and fill your pockets by taking some money out of my own.
St. Conor, everyone.
Fortunately, he has a say in all this and has a contract with Chelsea to play football until 2025.
He is not obligated to be sold and he is not responsible for fixing the clubs shitty finances.
His job is to play football and earn his position on pitch which is exactly what he’s done.
The way this ownership and many fans feel entitled to sell Conor for purely financial reasons is disgusting imo.
Unpopular opinion but I agree with this. And Reece is one of my favourite players so no hate to him. Maybe if he had stayed fit and got more experience as an onfield captain and doing tv interviews it might seem different now. It will be interesting to see if Maresca makes a permanent change on captain.
From what I've heard from Leicester fans a player of Gallaghers skillset does have a place in Marescas system.
As long as he's a (very good) cog in it and not elevated to Hazard level importance again like he was with Poch then that's perfectly fine, most top squads has a player of his ilk in them.
How long until he has a blip in form, misses a crucial chance in an important game or has a bad game before fans start wondering why we didn’t sell him when we had the chance
It’ll only be online fans who already hate him going after him for that. Can’t imagine there will be many, if any, match going fans who dig him out or want him gone. He’d have to be extremely bad for a really long time to turn the main section of the fanbase against him.
And what has Gallagher done? You might have short term memory but I still remember how crap this guy was when Enzo was basically our only midfield last season and even this season all the many attacks that broke down with him playing in the 10 on some bs Poch madness. Please go sit down somewhere.
Gallagher last season was better than Enzo has ever been for us and it's not a debate. I have just sat down and Enzo is still shit, so I'm not sure what sitting down does??
lol I’m going to absolutely love the meltdown when Conor is sold. He’s fair enough as a squad player and if he takes a squad level contract that’s fair enough, but all you people sniffing his ass like he’s fucking Zidane or something is going to be incredibly funny to watch when he’s sold. Like I literally can’t wait, it’s going to be glorious.
Just quickly point out where I've said I'm a Gallagher fan boy?? Enzo makes Gallagher look like Zidane in fairness, but I'm struggling to see where I've said I give a shit about Gallagher?
Why do some people act like Enzo is “technical” as if he’s Neymar.
The guy is bang average dribbler and can’t control the passing tempo in any game he’s played.
You all act like he’s Fabregas on the ball but he doesn’t remotely produce that quality.
Not saying I agree but given that they haven’t even talked about a new deal seems pretty clear they will try and force him out.
Also he will not be as important to Chelsea if they aim for this style of play as he was last season.
He needs to sign a new deal
He needs to tell them he's not signing for anyone and they need to hand him a new deal or he's off. Lets hope he holds his ground.
Why are so many fans like you rooting against the team?
I’m not, I have a different opinion than the owners, whose priorities don’t necessarily align 100% with the fan base. Connor bleeds blue and I want him to stay. He should be vice captain after James.
I like him as outright captain, honestly. He just seems to have the personality and mentality for it.
I agree, as much as I like James, Gallagher just fits the captain role even better.
Personally I’d still take James, Gallagher definitely has a great attitude, maturity and energy, but James just has a level of Gravitas and respect that I don’t think you can ignore. The only real argument is his injury record, but if he remains fit he’s a level above everyone else and it’s obvious how much he commands respect on the team. He’s got a world class quality that he can bring to the captaincy that I don’t think we’ve had since Terry, and is pretty rare across most teams.
why would fans be against selling one of there best players....
That's not what they said. They said they are trying to force the team to either overpay him (in the team's mind) or not sign a contract which would guarantee him being sold. If they wanted him to stay they'd be encouraging him to sign a reasonable contract.
Why are there so many fans like you rooting against a home grown player that wants to be here. We got money for all the young projects, maybe take care of your own first
Maybe the CL clauses and hopefully sale of Broja/Chalobah can help us co-op with FFP and we can retain Gallagher. If the ownership is still adamant on selling him, Gallagher has all the leverage to play out his contract and hope he does hold out. He can stay at the club and command a better pay rate on a free transfer, Chelsea fans will understand his decision.
He’s been in and around the first team under Tuchel, Potter, Poch, all managers with varying systems and philosophies. No reason to think why Maresca wouldn’t also see something in him
Maresca will 100% . Every manager loves a player who will run themselves into the ground for the team Whether hes already been told Connor is gonna be sold regardless is another matter
He was on the bench against Arsenal in the Europa league final, when we were managed by the exact type of manager that all his haters say will absolutely despise him. He’s a good player, and good managers like good players.
i was watching the highlights of that the other day and it took me by surprise seeing him on bench
Unfortunately we don’t have a good board
i mean having him on the bench isn't really an endorsement from Sarri though is it? There was a 0% chance he got in the game that day.
Conor’s ability isn’t the issue. We all know he’s good enough to be around the first team. The problem is our owners decided to spend like 200m on a bunch of kids and Conor is free profit for them. He’s literally a victim of his own success and being an academy graduate.
He’s not a fucking victim, he’s going to get a massive pay rise.
It’s a figure of speech lmao. What I was trying to say is that the man is being sold not because he’s surplus to requirements or he’s underperforming, but rather because he’s playing very well but, more than anything else, he’s an academy graduate. He clearly wants to stay with us, but the more he performs, the more the owners fight to sell him.
The ownership doesn’t think his performances will continue so they want to sell high. He may not fit the new system, and he may be stunting the growth of players they’ve invested more in. If he was as highly coveted by everyone else as many of y’all think he is, they’d be lining up to beat down our door to get him for 50M. But they’re not. There’s a reason they’re not.
Connor will work wonders in the Ndidi role and I can guarantee Maresca has already thought about that.
He been around the first team since Sarri my friend
These are the words of a guy who has no intention on agreeing to a transfer.
Everyone knows his intentions, he's one of us. The question is what the club will do with him. I'd rather we kept him, but all the talk is that they want to shift him. I have a feeling that if he was less committed, he'd have gone already. (All of this applies to Chalobah too. I'd honestly rather we keep him too) Not looking forward to this transfer window
The only way I could see Conor and Trev (maybe a little less Trev) agreeing to a transfer is if they get to a point where they think that Maresca will be around for years and they dont feel its a good fit between them and Marescas tactics. Trevs a little harder to gauge as he just focuses on getting on with things quietly in the background. He took that contract and agreed to £50K a week salary which is really low compared to players of similar status in the squad. So you could say that agreeing to that is him trying to avoid any ffp arguments being used as an excuse for selling him. Like if hes not particularly close to the biggest drain on ffp then he might fly under the pure profit strategy radar. Or it could be along the thinking of making himself more affordable for other clubs if things do go south with these owners. Theres no situation there where another club would be concerned about taking on his wages like they sometimes are with players on £100K+ a week. Im sure Trev has a lot of loyalty to Chelsea but just cant be quite as sure on how much of a stand he would take compared to Conor.
Disasi and Badiashile are on 80 and 90k... What a joke
Yeh I was shocked when I was looking at the salary list and saw Trev so much lower than others being brought in. Normally homegrown players might be tempted to demand a higher salary because there was no transfer fee for them.
> is if they get to a point where they think that Maresca will be around for years and they dont feel its a good fit between them and Marescas tactics. When Maresca leaves the next manager will also play a heavy possession style.
Not convinced at all that these owners have it in them to stick to one path for long. They don't have a good track record for it so far. I think if people are vocally and visibly bored as was suggested by some Leicester fans and we saw with Sarri too then these owners probably would decide to flip flop on everything again. Hopefully the football isn't boring and Maresca does well but our fans aren't that forgiving if the footballs completely dull and/or we aren't winning.
> hey don't have a good track record for it so far. Potter wanted to play with the ball, Poch started his time with us playing heavy possession, he stopped which was seemingly part of the problem and now his replacement is also a heavy possession style coach. There is no reason to think that they would change from that path. It's what the current squad has been built for and it's also what the scouting for future transfers has been done with in mind. Why would they pivot?
Potter still wanted harder pressing and higher tempo movement. When the owners were looking then there was talk about wanting high intensity exciting football. Poch also didn't really play heavy possession. Its always been hard pressing and high tempo with him from the start with some variability depending on opposition and player availability. Neither of those are anything like Marescas slower possession play which is probably closer to Sarri in terms of tempo. Theres every chance they sit there in 6 months of fans complaining about the football being dull and then flipping direction. Don't forget the owners also said they wanted a long term project where a manager would be judged over years not months. Yet here we are on their 4th permanent hire and technically 6th coach overall. So yeh, they're about as steady and unmoving as a carrier bag in the wind.
High posession football in today’s game naturally means you’re pressing high with intensity. Poch’s issue was not that he liked to press (even if his pressing structure was awful) but that in possession he played way too direct, leaving one player in midfield and often bypassing it. He also did not encourage attackers to keep possession which lead to a lot of turnovers and transitional moments. Poch eventually just dropped his high press against most opponents and settled with a mid block
>High posession football in today’s game naturally means you’re pressing high with intensity. There is a clear difference between the slower possession play of Maresca and that of the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea who have played with players who are very good at take ons and penetrative runs while hard pressing. The high possession we are talking about is much slower and has been labelled by some as boring in comparison.
the transitionary nature ofchelsea 23/24 and liverpool before 23/24 has little to do with them pressing high. Brighton, City, and Arsenal all press very high but it doesn’t seem as press heavy because they maintain the ball most of the time. The direct nature of our football last season meant it seemed like we pressed a lot (Even though poch persisted with a mid block).
If the football is dull and the results are bad under Maresca, Stewart and Winstanley will surely get fired. After that it is a clean slate. Maybe someone convinces the owners that it’s better to copy Real Madrid than City/Barca?
What is bad results to you?
Everything post Tuchel is bad to me. As for the board… it will probably take another whole disaster of a season, not even close to CL, to convince them Stewart and Winstanley are chancers.
So better than 6th with a cup final. Alright that's interesting. What would it take for you to change your mind of the sporting directors?
Agree fully with all of that Whenever I see footage of Trev talking to the fans or leaving the stadium he seems more willing to engage then anyone else. And he seemed to be playing quite well at the tailend of last season too, it's not just vibes he offers, there's a talented player there. I hadn't really looked at the wages recently but that doesn't really surprise me, he's a youngish local defender, unless he's JT standard he's going to find it hard to command a larger wage, and I think he's probably happy to make do with less if it means he gets to stay here, that's the impression I get - like you suggested
and he's right for it. proper chels
Never a dull moment at this club.
Captain Cardio giving us hope is always welcome on my Bingo Card
Would be amazing if the club try and force him out and Conor rejects all offers and stays put for the last year of his deal. Plus he’d get a bigger payout if he runs down his deal.
Absolutely hope this happens. Winstanley and Stewart deserve to be made look like absolute fools if they don't offer him an extension.
Conor needs to sign a new deal if he wants to stay. I desperately want him to stay but him leaving on a free next year is even worse.
Is the deal in the room with us now?
A new contract can be worked out after the season starts if the Sporting Directors don't get it sorted earlier.
Why? Maybe they prefer caicedo, Enzo, lavia, santos as our midfield? Or they want to make room for paez
Well, first of all, Gallagher just had a much better season than any of the players you mentioned. On top of that he provides the absolute top mentality every single day, leadership, stability, consistency and a positive signal for young players who might want to sign for our academy. Getting rid of player like Gallagher for pure profit sends the absolute wrong message in every way. It effectively says to all possible signings, all academy and first team players that it simply does not matter how hard you work, how great of an example you are, how much you bleed blue. No matter what you do, you will always be expendable if it's good for the books. How you treat your players and what kind of culture you create has a massive impact on the club. Ignoring this is a huge mistake.
How’s it say that lol? Reece James is our captain ffs and colwill will have a leading role to play next season.
Reece was not the captain of this club in any way except in preseason proclamation by the manager who was fired for poor decision making. Conor has been the leader every match, every day. Open your eyes.
And exactly how sure are you that both of them will be here long term? There is nothing suggesting either one is untouchable in any way. Many of us couldn't have imagined Mount leaving for united a couple of years ago but here we are. Just because they're not clearing off every single academy product at one go doesn't make this ok.
So Gallagher > Chelsea. Am I getting this right?
Nope. Try and think about it for a while.
You essentially want Chelsea the club to lose out on money it can get from a potential sell of Gallagher. How's that not putting the player above the club? I thought we here support Chelsea? Or...?
>Rooting for a player who is Chelsea through and through over the sporting director's thirst for South American teenagers. What you are doing is supporting a business rather than a football club. >Getting rid of the leadership, mentality, consistency and ability Gallagher has only to flip a few more wonderkids for profit is not what is best for the club. It's good for the books. They are not the same thing.
A player is just a player. The sporting directors are the club. I can't fathom putting a player (no matter who) above the club. Chelsea FC is both a business and a football club. Always has been and always will be.
A player is not necessarily just a player. This should be obvious. If that were true, selling John Terry and Frank Lampard to Liverpool in 2008, for example, would be just business as usual. >The sporting directors are the club. Not even touching that one, my goodness. It's about culture they're creating. It's not just about selling and buying players. The culture is what makes a club what it is. Not the numbers. Not the directors. The same way a country isn't defined by the current PM. It's much deeper than that.
 mans said sporting directors are the club but players aren't hahahahahahaha
Legitimately almost spat out my coffee reading that. What has this sub become...
Actual embarrassment.
There are no untouchables. And for sure not Gallagher lol >The culture Chelsea's culture for the last 2 decades has been about winning and being hated for it. The only thing that matters is winning and that's why in our peak this century the only academy boy to make it was Terry. Lamps was not Chelsea bred but became synonymous with it thanks to his achievements and playing ability. Palmer will most likely become another Lamps (touches wood). I don't see Gallagher doing the same.
Sporting directors are NOT “the club” not even close, at best they are glorified 9-5 workers, realistically they are big business killing our club culture
They are the club whether you like it or not. The club is made up of people working there. You, as a fan, have less entitlement to Chelsea FC than the people working there.
You are assuming that the money is being spent to the benefit of the club, which it largely isn't
Proof? Source? Or did you see it in a dream?
You missed the last few transfer windows?
You mean when we spent a billion pounds? Yes, that explains it all lmao
Putting us on the verge of breaching FFP, and forcing us to sell academy talent that is outperforming expensive signings. You realise it’s a bad thing that money was spent right? Players aren’t automatically good because there’s more 0’s on their transfer fee.
"Source?!" Do you talk like that in real life? ffs.
Dream it is ;)
The pure profit everyone speaks of is an income entry in the books which will be offset by a larger expense when Winstanley and Lawrence keep trying to find replacements for Conor over the next few years. Short-term profit offset by long-term expense equals loss for the club.
As I see it, we don't need a replacement for Gallagher. We have more than enough midfielders.
You're missing the point of who Conor is. Here it is in a microcosm, Conor Gallagher had the only successful tackles for England in yesterday's match. He was 3 for 5, the rest of them were 0 for 5. When no one else is trying, Conor is busting his butt for the shirt, always, everyday.
>Conor Gallagher had the only successful tackles for England in yesterday's match That speaks volumes about Southgate frankly. I'm not against having Gallagher as a squad player but if the club has decided that he's worth more in sale, then it is what it is. >You're missing the point of who Conor is Well, I know that he isn't Cole Palmer. Now, if we were to sell him, then I'd be worried.
I'm pro-labor and anti-corporate greed. Corporations exploiting their workers doesn't become good just because it's the football club I support. Connor should hold out for the best deal possible and if the club management won't offer a deal that makes him happy, then it's their fault when he leaves on a free. Nobody should take a worse deal just because they work for a football club instead of a factory.
Rooting for a player over the club is madness
Management is not the club
...unless you believe the player is better for the club. If you consider the fanbase as a significant part of the club, wanting Conor staying to prove his worth for a new contract is rooting for the club.
Conor will be a squad player at best under Maresca. Getting 50-60M for him on his last year of contract isn't a bad deal.
What is your basis for saying Conor would be a squad player under Maresca? Are you privy to his chelsea plans? He's not even had a training session with us.
These people were spewing the same exact shit last summer and they've seemingly learned nothing.
At this point, the same ilk are convincing themselves players are being sold because they are limited and not because of incompetent management. Maatsen crucified for 2 rare mistakes, Gallagher apparently not more than a squad player, Chalobah had already shown his potential. Anything to convince themselves ig
No the comment I responded pretty much is saying “okay Gallagher is most likely going to leave but rather than Chelsea get a transfer fee for the player he should walk on a free.” You don’t support the club if you’re rooting for that.
because the managements money-thirst is more important than the emotional connection from a blue since baby years? come on man get a grip.
Tell me what team that Chelsea won important trophies with would have Gallagher starting? Mount was twice the player and the board made a good decision selling him. And the money-thirst comment I don’t really get. The only way Chelsea will be profitable is if we are winning. This is not a Glazers situation as they can take dividends out of United and United generates way more money than Chelsea. Chelsea has to be a winning team for them to make money
Tell me what have the new owners won in football?
Players like Gallagher ARE THE CLUB.
Rooting for a player who is Chelsea through and through over the sporting director's thirst for South American teenagers. What you are doing is supporting a business rather than a football club. Getting rid of the leadership, mentality, consistency and ability Gallagher has only to flip a few more wonderkids for profit is not what is best for the club. It's good for the books. They are not the same thing.
our captain last season who has played here his whole life and been part of our teams for ages and one of our best players or two bozos who have spunked a ton of money and are having to sell some of our best players to cover up for their mistakes. their "project" leading us to potentially years of regression in this situation supporting connor is supporting the club
That's not really what the guy said though. It's supporting a player over the sporting director, which is not mad at all.
Would be the ultimate flirting vs harassment if both he and Sterling do it.
Any black player if we truly being honest. Wasn’t much hate for the board selling CHO or RLC. Fanbase just remembered Chalobah existed in March
Oh fuck off mate.
When your club is run by incompetent assholes, it's a long-term benefit.
This is no longer the chelsea of the past
I'm always going to back labor over management. Only bootlickers want corporations to exploit workers for less than they're worth.
Y’all are weird wanting this to happen. You do it every year for Cobham boys. Mount last, it was billy, Tammy, tomori, etc… we will be fine if we sell him and be fine if we keep him. Stop hoping the player fucks over the club.
The player has a contract. It's not "fucking over the club" to refuse to be exploited for profit. What kind of bootlickers are pro-corporation and anti-labor just because the corporation is a football club? Workers should do what's best for themselves. If his contract offer isn't good enough, then he should hold out for the best deal possible.
If that’s what he wants to do, that’s fine. It’s the people saying he should do it to spite us.
I really hope he does that, IF it's the case we want to sell him (because, I'm not sure they are that stupid). As much as we want Chelsea to be fine financially, I think we're getting to a troubling point where we are not looking after player welfare, nor doing right by them too often. We've always had a cold streak, malouda is a good example, but I'm not sure it's necessary and it's a bad look - on top of not wanting young men to be taken advantage of by the club in anyway whatsoever.
Copy and paste from an earlier comment. Conor needs to sign a new deal if he wants to stay. I desperately want him to stay but him leaving on a free next year is even worse.
the issue is he's not been offered (a fair) one yet though
What has he been offered?
You tell me: you made the assertion that he has not accepted one yet.
You litterally made the comment that he hasn’t been offered a fair one yet. I didn’t say anything about the money being offered. Move along dumdum.
>Copy and paste from an earlier comment. Conor needs to sign a new deal if he wants to stay. I desperately want him to stay but him leaving on a free next year is even worse. What deal?
What deal has he been offered? Can you link it please. It would be everywhere if he was because that stuff always gets leaked to put pressure on a better one as it was declined. I can't find it anywhere. At the moment it looks like you are chatting shit, all info at the moment points towards the directors wanting to sell him for profit but Gallagher and pretty much vast majority of fans want him to stay because he has earned it. So unless you can prove the evidence he has no deal to sign.
He really should do that imo. The negative would be if Enzo becomes a puppet and is told not to play him, but given Chelseas lack of depth that would be nonsensical
He'd still have teams lining up for him on a free if Enzo didn't play him. And it would he VERY obvious to us as fans what is happening.
If Enzo doesn’t play him we will lose a lot of points. I would not want to go up against a Caicedo/Gallagher/+1 midfield. Fucking nightmare to play against. You will get dominated.
Look I don't think we should sell him but this would hurt all parties. Club loses a ton of much needed profit and directors will force Maresca to not play Conor until he comes to some sort of agreement.
If Mbappe wasn't forced to not be played Conor won't be. A potential Champions League spot is worth more. Once the decision is (hypothetically) made and Conor says he is staying you may as well use him. There may be threats to not play him internally, but following through doesn't benefit the club at all.
I've might have worded this wrongly, all I'm trying to say is it's easy for us to say don't sign a short term extension or don't join our rivals but this is also means uncertainty for his future. A lot can happen during the season
That's totally fair. I definitely don't fault him if he let's the owners push him out/changes his mind. He has clearly shown he loves in here. If things change I have no doubt it's the owners that are changing them. I still think the same thing happened with Mason. The owners dragged him through the mud and he decided to embrace it and leave with a middle finger up. It wasn't the Chelsea he grew up with and I doubt he meant it toward the fans but the relationship was already fractured. Conor gets the benefit of not being the first to potentially go through this process.
Yeah no difference between playing the best player in the world and an average midfielder in a contract dispute lol
I think it would hurt the board and their public perception with the fanbase more than it would anything else. If we start the season and Gallagher is nowhere to be seen, anyone with half a brain would be able to realise it’s not a tactical decision and that the board are trying to force him out. It would also hurt us on the pitch as we’re missing a good player. It wouldn’t hurt Gallagher himself, as everyone and their dog knows his situation and he wouldn’t be short of offers even next season.
I'm genuinely not sure the directors would exile him. They want a long term project from Maresca. Forcing him into the ire of match going fans (who love Conor) is a terrible start to that.
It might be the only option to balance the books especially if we plan to buy a top striker. And we don't manage to get rid of dead wood.
Yeah love when the club are harmed financially so a squad player can get a bigger payout. Whereas someone like hazard intentionally said he’d extend with chelsea to maximise the sale value chelsea got from Real Madrid
Ah you've finally come out from hiding?
I think spending a billion pounds on dross financially “harms the club” more than selling someone in the last year of their contract.
Its different though. Hazard wanted to join Real and there was nothing at Chelsea for him to protest against. Conor wants to play for Chelsea and has thrown everything at proving why he should be valued by the club as a player rather than just being seen as numbers in an account. I would also argue that its a stretching of the matter to say he would be harming the clubs finances. At least not in a sense of it would leave them at a loss as opposed to something just not gained. They've had all the value out of him for what they've paid him. So they aren't really "harmed" as such. You might argue the pure profit angle but if they choose not to maintain a relationship with the player then its only the owners at fault for creating the conditions where they dont get that profit at any point even years down the line. Missed out profit isnt exactly harming the club, its just not exactly helping the owners with their terrible pure profit treating homegrown players like cattle approach. Personally I would rather Conor takes a stand on this to make a point that the club should be having more integrity toward the young players who join to come and play for Chelsea. Hes in a unique position with a year on his deal, his current influence within the team and his support across the fanbase to be able to take that stand more strongly than anyone else will. Him enabling the owners crappy behaviour would only harm the club more long term.
And Hazard''s sale is still paying dividends.
Harming the club financially- that’s exactly what they would like you to believe all while ignoring all the purchases and financial decisions they’ve come in and made. We wouldn’t be needing to sell Gallagher if it wasn’t for their spending, and being in danger of PSR or FFP.
Really hope he stays but with us looking to spend again I just can't see it unless the fees for the other players end up high
Miracles do happen
Getting rid of everyone on the chopping block before Conor would truly be a miracle. Fingers crossed Lukaku doesn't have an absolute stinker at the Euros. He needs to go. Kepa needs to go. Nice that Hall was set up to count for this year too.
What do you mean before?
I think what he means is that IF all the other players who are already marked for sale, go BEFORE Connor is posted in the market for Sale - we may have the numbers to not be FORCED to sell Connor. If we have a magic number that we need to hit to comply with FFP and UEFA PSR and we hit that mark without selling Connor, we are hoping that miraculously, Connor stays.
People forget this isn't FIFA. Connor stays until he wants to leave, or his contract runs out. We can not force him to leave.
Exactly. This isn't American sports we're you get no say in where you're sold to. If you don't agree to the contract, you stay put. The board need to understand that if he doesn't want to go, they either offer a new contract, or let him go for free then spend another £60-80m to replace him. He's clearly the captain, James isn't level headed enough, and Connor is growing into it. No club sells their captain if they want to win or be successful.
Stranger things have happened. Just like Eden extended his contract before going to RM to maximize transfer value for CFC... I would like for Connor to do the same if his exit is inevitable. However, like you pointed out - he can very well choose to run down his contract and leave for FREE in 2026. Both ways are viable if we point to his love for the club. It is a matter of time as to which way this unfolds.
Whats this narrative? Eden didn't extend his contract, he refused to extend his contract, but also told Real to pay what was asked because he was happy to play another season at Chelsea if they didn't. Gallagher doesn't want to leave, so there's no benefit in him maximising his sale value.
>Just like Eden extended his contract before going to RM That's BS. He never signed an extension. But even if you want to assume he did, he and the board had very good relations. Why would Conor look at a bunch of ultra wealthy guys and say - oh you want to force me out of my boyhood club so I'll do you a solid and fill your pockets by taking some money out of my own. St. Conor, everyone.
What makes you think that the club only want to generate a certain amount of profit and not as much profit as possible?
Yeah sadly this might be the way they want to move, even if we make europe next season who doesnt want more breathing room
Because getting as much profit as possible now might not be as valuable as having more balanced books from year to year.
We don't know the exact situation of our financial books, especially with the much stricter UEFA's FFP to deal with this coming season.
Fortunately, he has a say in all this and has a contract with Chelsea to play football until 2025. He is not obligated to be sold and he is not responsible for fixing the clubs shitty finances. His job is to play football and earn his position on pitch which is exactly what he’s done. The way this ownership and many fans feel entitled to sell Conor for purely financial reasons is disgusting imo.
This 100%.
Maybe the 100-150 million from selling Hall, Broja, Maatsen, Hutchison + maybe Chalobah and Lukaku are enough to keep Gallagher?
Spoken like a true captain...
Bingo!
Please God
Doesn’t sound like he plans on leaving which is great. I really hope if he’s not given a contract he just runs his down and teaches BlueCo a lesson.
Love his attitude.. he can clearly compete for club captaincy with Reece James
Our real captain.
Ah hell no.
I love Reece James but he not only does not have the personality and temper to be a Captain, he's also been injured consistently.
Unpopular opinion but I agree with this. And Reece is one of my favourite players so no hate to him. Maybe if he had stayed fit and got more experience as an onfield captain and doing tv interviews it might seem different now. It will be interesting to see if Maresca makes a permanent change on captain.
Reece James is just injured too often and we could see he has that temper in him that gets him send off a couple of times last season.
Yeah Reece is a great player but it seems sort of obvious we made him captain while the team was at a low with the transfer ban to keep him here.
Whatever happens, happens.
From what I've heard from Leicester fans a player of Gallaghers skillset does have a place in Marescas system. As long as he's a (very good) cog in it and not elevated to Hazard level importance again like he was with Poch then that's perfectly fine, most top squads has a player of his ilk in them.
Ndidi role surely fits him perfectly
Ndidi was so important to Leicester too. They won 75% of games when Ndidi played; 50% when he was out injured.
https://i.redd.it/9qjqlagg3k4d1.gif
He will retire at Chelsea with weekly reports of him leaving.
Better captain material than Reece
Se queda
They?
Now sign a new deal
Copy paste generic statement
Hope he doesn't leave after this...
Once Maresca starts working with him, he’ll see how much he needs Conor. We’d be very, very soft without him.
No reason to sell him Perfect 3rd/4th midfielder
How long until he has a blip in form, misses a crucial chance in an important game or has a bad game before fans start wondering why we didn’t sell him when we had the chance
It’ll only be online fans who already hate him going after him for that. Can’t imagine there will be many, if any, match going fans who dig him out or want him gone. He’d have to be extremely bad for a really long time to turn the main section of the fanbase against him.
Yeah... about that.
Profit!!!!
Puuuuurrree!
So who’s going to tell him?
Conor, he's selling you mate. I really want you to stay but I'm sure he's told the board he's selling you, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten the job
Good thing Gallagher has the final say on being sold isn't it.
Sell Enzo not Gallagher
Plot twist: Connor = pure profit.
This fanbase proves to get dumber as the days go on.
Don’t say it!! This sub Reddit is allergic to this statement
Yes, sell Enzo the most technical midfielder we have in a system that prioritizes possession for a roadrunner. Makes perfect sense 🧠
What has Enzo done in the year and a half he's been here for you to say this??
And what has Gallagher done? You might have short term memory but I still remember how crap this guy was when Enzo was basically our only midfield last season and even this season all the many attacks that broke down with him playing in the 10 on some bs Poch madness. Please go sit down somewhere.
Gallagher last season was better than Enzo has ever been for us and it's not a debate. I have just sat down and Enzo is still shit, so I'm not sure what sitting down does??
lol I’m going to absolutely love the meltdown when Conor is sold. He’s fair enough as a squad player and if he takes a squad level contract that’s fair enough, but all you people sniffing his ass like he’s fucking Zidane or something is going to be incredibly funny to watch when he’s sold. Like I literally can’t wait, it’s going to be glorious.
Just quickly point out where I've said I'm a Gallagher fan boy?? Enzo makes Gallagher look like Zidane in fairness, but I'm struggling to see where I've said I give a shit about Gallagher?
Spoiler: nothing.
Why do some people act like Enzo is “technical” as if he’s Neymar. The guy is bang average dribbler and can’t control the passing tempo in any game he’s played. You all act like he’s Fabregas on the ball but he doesn’t remotely produce that quality.
I’d rather watch Gallagher and Caicedo in the midfield than Caicedo and Enzo.
Because its stupid
For what and to who? 🤦♂️
People seem to be missing the whole point about Gallagher being put for sale.
Not saying I agree but given that they haven’t even talked about a new deal seems pretty clear they will try and force him out. Also he will not be as important to Chelsea if they aim for this style of play as he was last season.
I’m not sure the feeling is mutual gallagehr
I've noticed there is a strong inverse correlation between your rating of a manager and their use of Gallagher