Chelsea have been showered with controversy ever since Roman Abramovich decided to by the West London outfit from Ken Bates in 2003. He has been labelled by Frank Arnesen, former Chelsea sporting director, as a ‘pioneer of global football’, and quite rightly so. He has transformed the Blues’ fortunes with heavy investments and re-shuffling in all areas of the club and has made Chelsea a force to be reckoned with in less than a year in charge. Huge sums of money were spent on bringing the likes of club legend Didier Drogba, as well as Michael Essien and Andre Shevchenko to SW6. As with big names and big money, came speculation and rumours. From the alleged ‘tapping-up’ of former Arsenal left-back Ashley Cole, the sacking of the ‘Special One’ to the hiring of the ‘Interim One’. Chelsea have not had any respite since the takeover and have also been busy with the off-pitch antics of club captain John Terry, who was involved in a racism spat with Anton Ferdinand and an affair with his former best friend’s lover. Perhaps one could write an entire essay on the list of altercations that have been circulating around the playing and managing staff , but this particular article will try and focus on the source of many of the controversial appointments and transfers within the club.
The question that most football columnists, whether for the Guardian, the Daily Mail or any other popular newspaper, usually circulate around the influences that have shaped the conglomerate of Chelsea FC PLC and Sibneft, which have been powering Chelsea Football Club ever since Abramovich’s acquisition 10 years ago. In recent years, many have speculated that Michael Emenalo has been Roman’s right hand man, personal friend and close advisor. It is rumoured that he was pivotal in the sacking of fan favourite Roberto Di Matteo and the hiring of the antagonist Rafa Benitez. Some have, in the past, questioned Roman’s relationship with Peter Kenyon, who was another controversial figure as he attempted to lure then-England manager Sven Goran Eriksson to sign as Blues’ boss. He had also left his post as deputy chief executive at Manchester United, whom he claimed was his ‘lifelong football club’, to join the Chelsea hierarchy. Over the last few weeks, with the re-appointment of the Special One, rumours and conspiracies have become a hot topic within the press with radical claims that Jose Mourinho wants to get rid of Juan Mata, one of the keys to Chelsea’s recent European successes. Yes, this is all speculation, with neither party claiming this to be remotely true as Mourinho stated that he would like to meet all his players and assess his options ahead of the new campaign.
There has always been one name that has been able to stay clear of the spotlight and will be synonymous with Football Manager players, whose job title in the game is Chelsea’s chief scout. 78-year old Dutchman, Piet Di Visser, has been working at the club since 2005 and it is believed that he is more than just a scout, as he was hired to re-model the Chelsea academy after the one at his previous club, PSV Eindhoven, and was instrumental in many of the managerial sackings at the club. He has been keeping a low-profile but is by no means a low-key figure at the club. He was influential in the transfer of Arjen Robben from PSV as well as firing of Luis Felipe Scolari and the appointment of Guus Hiddink as his interim replacement in 2009. Di Visser said Scolari’s training methods made him ‘die with shock’ and that they were ‘weak and lacked tactical sharpness’. Ex-sporting director Frank Arnesen was hired practically by Di Visser and together, engendered the downfall of Jose Mourinho’s first reign as Chelsea boss. Apparently, the Dutch pair wanted Alex recalled from PSV to help ease Chelsea’s defensive woes at the time, with Mourinho said to have preferred Khalid Boulahrouz instead.
The Dutchman continues to operate as a strong ally to Roman Abrahmovic and was recently dispatched to Holland to help find Vitesse their new manager ahead of the new Eridivisie season. He had been key in Chelsea’s signing of a host of Dutch starlets including Patrick Van Aanholt, Jeffrey Bruma and Nathan Ake. He reportedly does not have an issue with Jose’s re-instatement as Chelsea manager and Roman will ensure the reunion with the Special One does not end bitter sweet.
***If you would like to discuss this further, don’t hesitate to tweet to me @ahmedharthy, I will do my best to respond. Will not reply to hate.
I thought Micheal E. Use to be our chief scout be before now???????????
Just one observation about our Boss JT he had an affair with former best friend EX lover. She wasn’t any longer Wayne Bridge’s lover at the time… 🙂