FIVE transfer windows and over a billion and a half pounds spent, Chelsea remain imbalanced under the leadership of Clearlake.

A club staring rot in the face from top-to-bottom, desperately crying out for help.

Who is going to put a stop to the rot before it gets too decayed, and beyond repair? 

Securing the deal to be new owners of the West London outfit after a bid in the excess of 5 billion pounds was agreed, the Todd Boehly-led consortium have failed in most of their early campaign promises.

Promises of heavy academy involvement in the first team and the retention of ‘Special’ homegrown talents were the first set of promises shoved out of the window with the sale of fans-favorites at the time, Mason Mount to rivals, United. 

The unfair treatment of cobham graduates like Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher purely for the sake of profit also negates the promise made by the owners.

Despite keeping to their words and providing huge support to the female team, the lack of execution by the male team continues to raise question about the true intentions of the owners. 

Looking to put a solid structure in place, the Todd Boehly-led consortium (now led by Clearlake) sought the services of sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart amongst many other crucial figures behind the scenes—one of which is Joe Shields, a former city employee.

Bestowed with the huge responsibility of overseeing the footballing affairs of the club, the duo of Lawrence Stewart and Paul Winstanley have been abysmal in going about their business. 

Refusing managers a say on transfers(outgoings & incomings) limits the manager’s influence on the team he has at his disposal and that often hinders the team’s optimal performance. 

In the case of Enzo Maresca this season, it could be argued that the director’s lack of ambition and drive has limited the team’s chances of a silverware this season, after crashing out of the FA Cup last night against Brighton. 

Further weakening an imbalanced squad with outgoings this past winter window, the directors showed their naivety at the refusal to provide adequate midfield cover despite Lavia’s incessant injuries.

Should any of Caicedo or Enzo suffer an injury or suspension in the games to come, Maresca might find himself scratching his head, looking to provide solutions. 

Spending impulsively on youngsters after the owners’ brief of wanting to build a team of ‘young and talented players’, the trio of Lawrence Stewart, Paul Winstanley and Joe Shields have created a mess of a football team, with barely any world beater (Palmer maybe) in the team presently.

Despite spending over a billion pounds on new signings, Chelsea still lacks a; number 6, world class center back and number 9, and adequate height in the team, as well as leaders and winners.

To compete in the present day premier league, you need to win duels consistently and dominate your opponents both on and off the ball.

The absence of adequate height and aggression in the Chelsea team often sees the team struggle when faced against more ‘Physical’ teams. 

Up front, the team often struggles to keep hold of the ball as Jackson is not the best of target men around and when pressed high, the team gets forced to go long, with the opponents sure of wining the aerial duel and wining the ball back easily that way.

Against aggressive low-blocks, Jackson barely makes any impact as he lacks box presence, making it easy for defenders to defend against him. 

The similarity in profile of the central defenders is another clear issue of a failed squad planning from the directors.

Boasting of just one aggressive, front foot defender in injury-prone Wesley Fofana, the directors’ decision to not sign a replacement or substitute but instead go for a defender whose profile was already well stocked in the team in Tosin Adarabioyo, further proved the directors’ cluelessness. 

With PSR already biting hard earlier this season and continuing later this summer, failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League will be fatal for everyone at the club, especially the finances. 

It’s time for change and action. Clearlake have to change or at least alter the model, and if Maresca is the fall guy, then the sporting directors will have to go too.

In what other job do you get to spend so much money and have so much influence and be rewarded for failure?.

Clearlake Capital’s intentions are starting to be questioned by fans who have had enough of their nonsense.