It’s funny how things can completely turn on their head in football eh? No, I don’t mean Liverpool’s promises that this would be their year, I’m thinking more in terms of financial situations.
A couple of years ago I’d have been on the forums arguing with United supporters (one more than others, lol) about Chelsea’s finances, and obviously given the situation we were in (with constant bombardment about how Chelsea was just a passing fancy for Roman), I was pretty prone to going on the defensive. And yet here we are with our debts written off whilst coming out of United are rumours about selling Carrington and even players to raise some £500million just to bring their debts down to an acceptable level.
It’s little wonder our players appreciate the situation Roman Abramovich has put us in and Frank Lampard in particular, says “We are so lucky to have Roman at Stamford Bridge – it means so much to the players and the fans to have someone like him in charge of the club. I didn’t even know what was happening with Roman and these stories about him writing off the debts until I read about it. But it doesn’t surprise me.”
Looking back at the stick we’ve previously taken about our Russian owner, Lampard says “In the past people have tried to destabilise us by saying Roman could just walk away and the club would collapse. It’s never nice to hear that, whether you are a player or a fan. But we have never felt that could happen.”
But whether we believed it would happen or not, there’s no denying it’s a nice weight to have off our backs, and Lampard acknowledges ”There is a real sense of security at Chelsea now with Roman here, and there is a real confidence among everyone at the club that we can go from strength to strength. When you see the debts of a club like United it really hits home, especially when the figures being talked about are huge. So for Roman to do what he has done for Chelsea is a big deal for the fans – and the players appreciate it too. It’s not good for fans or players to think there are financial problems at their club but it seems to be a way of life in football these days. Chelsea, though, is a club that’s running very well. There is a real family atmosphere and Roman has helped in creating that. There is a strong spirit within the club and that comes from the top.”
We definitely owe the man.
Blue is the colour
