Rapha?

daviesee

Now that I have your attention.

Benitez?

Good or bad?

rubertoe

Damn you. I thought that you had an exclusive image of the new Sky Kit.

Non plused, he is just keeping the seat warm for the next manager, There was an interesting debate on radio 5 about this though, Chelsea successful despite having 8 managers in 9 years and Arsenal not so successful despite having one manager for 17 years.

BTW I'm an Arsenal fan

Ride hard

Without meaning to come over all 'That depends on what your definition of is, is' a la Bill Clinton, it really depends on what factors you are judging him on.

As a bit of an armchair Reds fan I never liked him because of his counter attack (read long ball) football philosophy, and mostly because of the fact he comes across as a total and utter tool. He's known to be arrogant as, and I would even go as far as saying he's more of a tool than Moanrinho - and that's saying something. He's not a very good man manager either.

On the other hand he'll do a job, and his teams (sometimes) get results.

daviesee

That is all.

TheStone

Bad. But it's Chelsea, who are too easy to hate .... so meh!

dhope

Chelsea have thrown how much money at their success though, vs Arsenal who have lived within their means. Compare City to Chelsea, maybe compare Arsenal to Liverpool.
Speaking of Liverpool. Benitez. Haha.

(Spurs fan btw, still undecided over AVB)

il_principe

As a Chelsea fan, I'm getting a little tired of Roman's petulance/impatience. Robbie should've been given longer, team in transition etc. They've played some lovely football this season, in the attacking style that RA is supposed to crave. All that is missing is a reliable striker (Falcao please). All teams go through a slump during the season, Robbie wasn't helped by JT and Lamps being unavailable and Torres' general hopelessness. Had Terry not been injured then we wouldn't have conceded quite so many goals, as much as people may hate him, he is still one of the best defenders in the world and Chelsea rely on his presence. So sacking Robbie was nuts (not to mention ungrateful), and Rafa isn't exactly known for producing flair football. I think Benitez is given unfair stick in the UK, he doesn't help himself but he's clearly a great manager. Having said that, I don't want him at Chelsea but I'm happy to put up with him as long as it means we get Pep in the summer. Although I wouldn't be surprised if he looked at Chelsea and though 'sod that'. If you can win the CL and still be regarded as not good enough, then what does a manager have to do?

Also if they were so determined to get rid of Robbie, it might have been more sensible to wait until after the Man City game on Sunday!

dhope

Il Principe wrote:

Also if they were so determined to get rid of Robbie, it might have been more sensible to wait until after the Man City game on Sunday!

Yeah, but you could quite feasibly win that, and then they'd have to wait another month for an excuse.

CiB

Benitez is being labelled as an interim manager, but that applies to all Chelsea managers bar Mourinho, & Pepe when he turns up.

He'll do a reasonable job, no fireworks, no relegation worries, safe pair of bank balances I mean hands until Gaurdo.. Gardilo.. Pepe pitches up in June 2013.

rubertoe

Not sure Pep will want the job TBH, Look at Jose, their most successful manger ever and he got the elbow. Pep will fear the same.

Ride hard

rubertoe wrote:

Not sure Pep will want the job TBH, Look at Jose, their most successful manger ever and he got the elbow. Pep will fear the same.

D'accord. Caveat Mr Guardialo.

Even Big Phil (like him or loathe him) - who before he joined them had won the biggest football honour - got treated with contempt.

Chelsea have turned into Real Madrid - only with cockney accents.

daviesee

rubertoe wrote:

Damn you. I thought that you had an exclusive image of the new Sky Kit.

Unfortunately, no. I doubt anything will be out before the new year, and certainly not in the sale.
A smart company would have 3 versions.
1. Luxury sportswool.
2. Technical Team version.
3. Budget for the masses.

Back OT. Poisoned chalice.

il_principe

daviesee wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

Damn you. I thought that you had an exclusive image of the new Sky Kit.

Unfortunately, no. I doubt anything will be out before the new year, and certainly not in the sale.
A smart company would have 3 versions.
1. Luxury sportswool.
2. Technical Team version.
3. Budget for the masses.

I doubt very much that Rapha will produce no.3.

Paul E

I thought this might have been mildy amusing but then found it was about football, so I'm out...

MrSweary

Frankly, DiMatteo has only himself to blame - surely six months is more than enough time to find a cure for cancer.

daviesee

Il Principe wrote:

daviesee wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

Damn you. I thought that you had an exclusive image of the new Sky Kit.

Unfortunately, no. I doubt anything will be out before the new year, and certainly not in the sale.
A smart company would have 3 versions.
1. Luxury sportswool.
2. Technical Team version.
3. Budget for the masses.

I doubt very much that Rapha will produce no.3.

Possibly. Probably even, but that is where the real money is hence the "smart company".

I knew I was baiting people with the title so tangents are fair game.

MrSweary

Ride hard wrote:

Chelsea have turned into Real Madrid - only with cockney accents.

Aside from the fact that they are a West London based team I should imagine if they we're to have an accent it might be more European in twang! And yes, I am a pedant...

il_principe

daviesee wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

daviesee wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

Damn you. I thought that you had an exclusive image of the new Sky Kit.

Unfortunately, no. I doubt anything will be out before the new year, and certainly not in the sale.
A smart company would have 3 versions.
1. Luxury sportswool.
2. Technical Team version.
3. Budget for the masses.

I doubt very much that Rapha will produce no.3.

Possibly. Probably even, but that is where the real money is hence the "smart company".

I knew I was baiting people with the title so tangents are fair game.

From a marketing science perspective, I would agree; Penetration drives growth, so in theory a budget offering would help Rapha gain market share. However, that flies in the face of more nebulous ideas such as Brand Image etc. Rapha have set themselves up as a luxury brand, and as such I'd imagine that their business plan does not involve making a grab for a large share of the whole market. They simply want a large share of the market they've defined - which is pretty much the MAMIL market. Not a bad market to target really. I think their business plan has worked pretty well for them. The Sky deal will massively increase their market reach as well. My guess is that they hope to steal some of the high end of the market away from Assos/Castelli etc, and the Sky deal seems like a perfect way to do that, without damaging their image. Rapha's marketing dept are very much on the ball.

Ride hard

MrSweary wrote:

Ride hard wrote:

Chelsea have turned into Real Madrid - only with cockney accents.

Aside from the fact that they are a West London based team I should imagine if they we're to have an accent it might be more European in twang! And yes, I am a pedant...

A pedant indeed – although I must confess I had to search the term to find out what it meant!

Well ma son, to explain, that’s the only accent I ever heard if I happened to get the district line on a match day. I lived in Wimbledon for 4 years and even fans getting on at Southfields and Putney wouldn’t be out place in a Guy Ritchie film.

And before anyone guns me down, I’m Sarf Landan born and bred myself!

Ave it!

MrSweary

Ride hard wrote:

A pedant indeed – although I must confess I had to search the term to find out what it meant!

Well ma son, to explain, that’s the only accent I ever heard if I happened to get the district line on a match day. I lived in Wimbledon for 4 years and even fans getting on at Southfields and Putney wouldn’t be out place in a Guy Ritchie film.

And before anyone guns me down, I’m Sarf Landan born and bred myself!

Ave it!

We'll quite. It's a disease so pity me. I couldn't tell the difference myself to be quite honest.