Earlier this week I ran a set of polls and asked for comments from my Chelsea Substack community on my own personal Chelsea page. This was off the back of all the ownership noise of a fallout between Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali/Clearlake.
This is a direct message to the Chelsea board and ownership, sent via The SPTC community.
Yesterday we did a set of polls which has had a heavy response, and feelings have been made clear. Scroll to the bottom to see some messages and comments from our valued community members on this site, members who in my opinion have some of the best and most measured opinions on all things Chelsea.
What is clear is that it is Todd Boehly who the firm majority are backing.
Poll results
If you had to pick one of Todd Boehly or Behdad Eghbali/Clearlake to have sole ownership of Chelsea:
- 93% said Boehly
- 7% said Eghbali/Clearlake
Are you in a position where you want one over the other and if so, which one?
- 84% said yes, and Boehly
- 4% said yes, and Eghbali
- 12% said no, OK with either
Would you rather they both sold up entirely and put Chelsea up for sale again?
- 78% said no
- 8% said yes
- 14% are not sure
Do you think Todd Boehly genuinely cares and has a passion for Chelsea?
- 89% said yes
- 1% said no
- 10% are not sure
Do you think Eghbali/Clearlake genuinely cares and has a passion for Chelsea?
- 46% said no
- 18% said yes
- 36% are not sure
Do you think the owners should just resolve issues and move forward together?
- 55% said no, it’s now too late for that
- 25% are not sure
- 20% say yes, they should
Are you now concerned what effects this will all have on our performances/results and the overall situation at the club?
- 38% say very concerned
- 33% say a bit concerned
- 13% are somewhere in the middle
- 12% are not too concerned
- 3% are not concerned at all
So, the messages are very clear. There’s real concern amongst the majority, who do not want Chelsea to sell up, but can see that it cannot stay at the current ownership setup with the issues we are facing, and if we have to chose one, we are backing Boehly!
Community comments
The Score: ‘The reason I defended the ownership so hard was and is Todd Boehly. He gets sport, he understands the fans, I think he genuinely loves the club, he knows how to win. It’s got to be Todd for me.’
Wayne: ‘People backing Clarklake being the sole investor have no idea how Private equity works. They have invested billions, they want as much profit as possible on that. It’s their business. They are not in it to have fun or win, if we miss out on CL football again this season. Assets such as Palmer and the two young lads from S.A. will be sold. The investors at Clearlake have to make profit it’s as simple as that Boehly went into the first window like a fat kid at a sweet shop. But I do believe with the right people in place he had ten passion and wants success.’
Luke: ‘Wasn’t it reported that Todd wanted the club quite a few years ago before we were forced to sell up? I feel that he shows a lot more passion especially towards the fans and that he wants to build a connection. That doesn’t mean anyone on Clearlake’s side doesn’t care, but it just feels like they view it more of a business sometimes, especially this last transfer window and treatment of players. For me personally, Todd’s vision of having one sporting director sounds better to me as sometimes I feel we have way too many cooks in the kitchen. Most of last season when discussing strikers, wasn’t it reported no one could come to an agreement on who they wanted The bottom line for me really is that we need some unification within the club. Ever since we were sold, I feel the club has been fractured (and it shows heavily in the fan base). Personally, having one vision and one person to pull everyone together is what we’ve needed for a while now and every time I see Todd Boehly speak about Chelsea, I just see another passionate fan who wants what’s best. I may not agree with every decision (like keeping poch on past last season) but having board level arguments is bad for any business, let alone a football club. I just hope everyone comes to an agreement before it leaks to the team level (although it’s probably close now) and starts effecting our performances.’
Keshav: ‘My answer would have been so easy 6-12 months back. But we are knee deep into the Clearlake model now and starting to see things come together. Not sure another upheaval is what we need. I am ok with either of them being the majority owners. I think with either of them the sporting directors will have a lot of power and essentially the ones who will run the club day to day. Who ever ends up becoming the majority owner I have the same message – congratulations. Now sit back and enjoy the game. Stop the 1000 PRs every week, let professionals run the club, hire a former player as the club president. It is anyway just a symbolic position but will make a big difference in connecting the day to day operations with what the club and fans represent. Let Chelsea be in the news for football again, not for transfers, psr, agents, owners or anything else. Just football!’
Danny Windsor: ‘For me Bohley was the reason I wanted them to win and was always concerned about an investment company running Chelsea as I worry if money is more important than money. Bohley has proved he knows how to run, compete and win with sports team with the Lakers and with The dodgers. I am currently not concerned about the pitch performance but will be if this drags on and on. It’s not far on Maresca who will have to get asked about this every 3 days and I am sure we will get songs about Roman again at Stamford Bridge (sigh).’
Michael: ‘There are a couple of reasons why I would prefer Boehly over Clearlake. 1) Director of Football: Boehly tried to hire Michael Edwards and would still probably hire someone above our sporting directors. Our sporting directors have repeatedly messed up important deals, e.g. the Olise deal twice. 2) Balance: In Boehly’s first summer, even if the transfers were bad due to the circumstances (no director, no preparation, etc.), he still bought a balance of players from different profiles and age groups. 3) Boehly has proven that he can make a sports team win with the Dodgers. 4) I want someone who I believe cares for the club and will not sell its players just for making profit. 5) Boehly cares about club identity. He would care more about the academy, the fans, etc. 6) New stadium: I think we would be far further if Todd Boehly had remained in charge of the stadium redevelopment.
Kevin: ‘I couldn’t believe it when this news surfaced. We seem to keep finding new ways to have unwanted media attention on us. Boehly for me, if I have to make a choice, but we don’t really know what is going on day-to-day at our club, never mind what is happening behind the scenes. Whoever takes control, come and talk to us, tell us your plans and don’t lose sight of the fact that it’s OUR club too.’
Matt Birkinshaw: ‘I would prefer Todd Boehly to have full control of the club. I do believe he does care about the club, the academy and the fans more. I think Boehly would far less hands on and he would just let the experts take care of the day to day running of the club. I see Todd as someone who is more about winning now, and with him in charge you would see our transfer strategy change and we would see more experienced and players on higher wages come in. Behdad I don’t think is that bad, but for me he needs to soften his stance on things like the transfer strategy, wages and how he sees the academy. He’s done a lot I really like and I think he is ambitious, but I do believe we need to be more flexible with wages for certain players and go for more experienced players.’
Georgia: ‘Chaos FC we are and always will be, history repeating itself. I really hope Todd Boehly has a way of taking control, although it seems unlikely. It’s pretty clear that he hasn’t been able to be as involved as he wants to be, I truly believe he cares about the club. OK the first summer gave him a bad reputation but that was only because the timing of the takeover didn’t allow him to get the structure in place ahead of the transfer window. Hope he can find a way. Culture is so important as well and Clearlake are building a toxic one.’
Patrick: ‘Clearlake is an investment portfolio with its sole responsibility being return to its Shareholders, not the supporters! This is why it has to be Boehly. He has a proven track record of ownership and success in other sports and understands the growth of a franchise/ club as a whole and long-term sustainability. This is what the club needs. Consistency and Stability!!! Get the right people in place, execute your plans and stay the hell out of the way and let the players and manager perform to the best of their ability and give it time to work. Sometimes it will work great and you will get praised, other times it won’t and you will be criticized, such is the right of supporters to their club, but the constant noise and changes related to the club have to stop and allow that to happen. Team Boehly, and then more importantly- Team Consistency and Stability!!!’
Max: ‘Under no circumstances should a private equity fund be the sole owner of a football club that means so much to so many. At the end of the day they can say what they want but we all know what their end goal is and that is the ROI to shareholders. I think Boehly genuinely has Chelsea’s best interests at heart and I actually think that he’d make a great owner as proof of his ownership in American sports (as an American I’m always jealous of how well run his teams are).’
Stuart: ‘Pretty damming on the polls for Clearlake! My view on this is we need big Todd at the wheel! He was the guy who had a plan for this club in the first place. Todd came in that first summer and spent and back the manager to the hills and back – yes he may have got most the signing wrong, but he held his hands up to that and worked hard to get the sporting people in place to fix it going forward….until egbahli canes a long and changes/creates the model! The model that has failed to sort the ST situation for 4 windows. Failed to get a top GK for 4 windows and has gambled the future of the club on kids – to top off these kids could be up for sale if the right offer comes in! Clearlake have ran the club into the ground, and instead of changing a model to bring in experience or world class players doubled down and spent a fortune on 18-22 for the most part! All they really needed to do this summer was get a spine- top GK, top ST and you could argue CB and CM but instead we bring in 3 winger (don’t get me wrong they could all be class) and 2/3 other players that probably wasn’t needed. And to finance this they’ve sold the soul of cobham- I’m not even a you have to use the academy guy, I believe if your good enough you stay if not you get sold! Egbahli being hands on worries me, he’s not a football man, leave them to do their jobs and have a weekly meeting if you want to be kept in the loop. But since Todd took a step back the club behind the fences has been a turnstile beyond a joke now! And no front of shirt sponsor! Maybe if you sorted that out we would be scrambling to sell so many academy players! So please Clearlake just sell up to Todd and leave this club, thank you for the effort but it hasn’t worked. Take your money and run!’
I’m an advocate of balance, there was also some very limited backing of Clearlake and criticism of Boehly.
Billy: ‘Todd Boehlys sole transfer window consisted of Koulibaly, Sterling, Fofana, Cucurella & Aubameyang yet people want him to have full control of the club!!! If you can’t see the Clearlake vision you must be very short sighted!! Would Boehly have signed Jackson, Palmer, Gusto etc?? Not in my opinion.’
Rasmus Siden: ‘As much as I like Boehly, I have to say I’m not fully convinced of him taking over altogether. 1. His first summer was chaotic and turned out with problems we still have. 2. Keeping Pochettino would have NEVER worked. It was right for him to go. 3. Involving potential investors from Saudi doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t want my club to be used as a sportswashing project from a country who can’t treat people to a basic standard. As much as I like Boehly and I genuinely believe he cares about the club, I do deep down think Egbhali and Clearlake have a plan that I think will (eventually, lets hope) work out.’
Mark Dwyer: ‘No idea why people want Boehly in charge? Think they’ve sold themselves some idea that is not the reality. Todd to bring in another consortium? He brought in Clearlake in the first place so why should he be trusted at all? Bring in experience? He brought in Sterling and Koulibahly on massive wages and tried to sign Raphinha for £65m. He’s done nothing to suggest any sort of confidence. The only reason he’s getting support is because he’s not Clearlake who are currently running the show. Prob have people suggesting the Ricketts next.’
There are almost 100 comments on the original article, so anyone reading this please DO go and check them all out here to get the overall general feel of opinion right now.
Thanks for all your comments and votes, it really does help and it really does get seen and heard by the right people.
