The addition of Chelsea fan and newspaper writer Daniel Finkelstein to the club’s board when the new owners took over was supposed to be something of a sop for fans, showing they had one of their own in a position of power.
Of course we don’t really know how much sway or influence he has, and as you’d expect he’s become a lightening rod for criticism of the owners more than any sort of calming influence at all.
But his column in the matchday programme is always an interesting read, and this week’s effort has more to read into than usual. It’s the final edition of the season, so there’s plenty one can take from it.
As you’d expect it’s mainly a big positive trumpeting of the “project” that’s now in place and how well it’s all going (despite appearances, at times).
Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph has access to it already, and he’s pointed out some very interesting parts. For one, Finkelstein makes no mention of Mauricio Pochettino while he lists the positive things that Chelsea fans can be excited about. That’s telling, although one shouldn’t assume it means Pochettino will be sacked. It’s been clear all year that his future will be decided after the season is over, and clearly there is no desire to pre-empt that review.
Notable by their absence
Even more telling is the list of players reeled off by Finkelstein as being the foundations of future success at the club – Christopher Nkunku, Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella, Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk are all name-checked.
But extremely notable by their absence are Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah, perhaps our two best players this season apart from Palmer.
There’s just no way a Chelsea fan would leave out those top performing, home grown stars unless he had some inside information they were likely to not be part of this project for much longer.
How do you come up with Chalobah as one of our top three players when he hardly featured for MOST of the season?! He’s due credit for being solid, but one of our best? C’mon! This is, yet again, the “homegrown” bias rearing its head and destroying any sense of objectivity we the readers might hope to expect from “Chelsea News.”
Totally agree with Wyatt Earp. The almost fanatical obsession some fans have with academy players has been a problem for years. (And writers who pander to them.) Remember the hysteria when the club got an offer for CHO from Bayern, that could have generated 50m or 60m for a player who ended up being sold for 3m. I admire Gallagher and Chalobah, and all things being equal I’d love to keep them. But all things aren’t equal. We need profits to balance the purchase of players like Palmer and Caceido. That outweighs everything.
Conor Gallagher, Chaloba and Cucurella should be kept as the backbone of the club going forward next season
Really Trevor has been strong since he returned from injury. For the few matches he has so far played, he proved to be more matured than with TT in charge. He should be given the chance to continue since Thiago is leaving. We need his services at the back. Will it be only Disasi and Badieshile that will be doing the work? However, Benoit is not reliable at the back.
Please, Chalobah should not be sold.
Why do we even read this rubbish ,poch wont be sacked and unless connor refuses to sign he wont go anywhere. Reports widely state there is no ffp for us to worry about as selling training ground plus maatson, lukaku,hall all easy sales. Stop the rubbish reports
Chalobah has looked really solid since his return from injury and looks to be maturing into a good defender, we definitely shouldnt be getting rid of him or Gallagher imo. Keep Poch and keep the faith, finally things look to be happening at Chels, bring it on and aim for top 4 next season.