One love (Musings on Chelsea fans' blame game)

Updated 13 Mar. 2016

Chelsea FC exited the UEFA Champions League 9 March and among some fans the blame game is on, or rather, continues. Blame has been fan norm since Chelsea's play this year was shown to be far from the excellence it was in 2014-15 when we won the Premier League, indeed led from start to finish. 
Today (12 March) we exited the FA Cup and blame reached a fever pitch. I need to get this off my chest while fresh. Many, perhaps most, Chelsea fans will disagree but this is how I see it.

Please keep in mind that I grew to respect José Mourinho but eventually that eroded as I watched his poor decisions and eventual crass manipulation to preserve his reputation. 

WHO IS BLAMED

• Michael Emenalo, CFC Technical Director

• He was widely trashed after José Mourinho was fired and Emanalo spoke of "palpable discord" between José and the players and referred to José as 'the individual'. Emenalo haters, often longtime Chelsea fans, like to mention he has zero qualifications, coached a girl's club, and imply he has the job only because he's pal of Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's billionaire Russian owner since 2003.
• Emenalo is blamed for not recruiting wisely. 
• Some 'fair and balanced' fans use the Twitter hashtag #EmenaloOUT. Check it out with a Twitter search. Slightly less hateful than #RafaOut? 

• Chelsea's Board of Directors, who presumably want the club to be winners but who many fans currently diss as incompetent. Fans didn't say this in earlier years when Chelsea won PL titles, and the UCL. Miraculously in space of one year, BOD are sh*t. 
• Did José have no input into signings? Was he just a poodle to Emenalo and the Board's decisions? Hard to believe.

• Specific Chelsea players, who it is claimed would not play for José and 'betrayed' him (José's own word). José played the blame game to protect his image as a great manager.

• Chief culprits are players whose form dropped dramatically compared to last year, including
• Diego Costa (20 PL goals 2014-15; 11 PL goals to date)
• Eden Hazard (14 PL goals 2014-15; 0 PL goals to date)

• Chelsea players in general (with one exception*), because they are deemed to lack club loyalty. You know the drill, score a goal and pound the club crest on your jersey. Indicates you are loyal to and devoted to your club. Pretty phony, given most players today are hired guns who play for several big businesses (clubs) over their careers.

• *Exception is John Terry - Chelsea's Captain, Leader, Legend, who's been with the club from a young age, indeed more than half his life. When he taps the CFC crest, you know it means something.

WHO'S NOT BLAMED - José  Mourinho
Few longtime fans blame Mourinho who took Chelsea from PL winner to bottom of Premier League in 8 months and was fired after the club lost 9 of 16 PL games. José is the 'teflon manager', in same category as Jesus Christ or an infallible Pope to adoring fans. José rightly has huge deposits in fan's goodwill bank for his 3 PL wins.

The case for why José played a role in Chelsea's decline
(1) José's management style exhausts players after 2-3 years. Sooner rather than later millionaire players will say enough, I don't need this cynical manipulation. Players play for intrinsic reasons like love of the game and personal pride. Suspect the brighter among them resent José's mind games, see them for what they are, and naturally rebel.  

Takes a big personality to maintain control, keep the respect of players, adopt to changing circumstances, and develop youth. José Mourinho is an Alex Ferguson wannabee but his record shows he  lacks whatever it takes to manage a club for more than a few years. For interest:

• Ferguson's formula

(2) José prefers defense to freewheeling offense. José's preferred style of play tends to stifle creative players, especially midfielders used to pressing forward on the hunt for goals. For example, José couldn't let Juan Mata  - Chelsea's 2 time POTY  - be Juan Mata. Most fans grieved Mata's sale to Man United, but few criticized José for the loss. The magic of Mata-Hazard-Oscar was lost forever.

(3) José did not give Chelsea's young players (long list) a chance to shine, prove their worth. Why? Likely because to validate his genius as the 'special one', he needed wins now. Always playing the first squad, barring injuries, was the result. Even then, 'kids' seldom got a chance to play, gain top flight experience, prove their worth.  

(4) José was out of control, stressed and fearful for his reputation if the club lost a game, as shown by his treatment of Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn. Only Eva had guts to call him on it, demand an apology. 

José quote: "I wasn't happy with my medical staff because even if you are a medical doctor or secretary on the bench you have to understand the game." Apparently, José winning takes precedence over giving medical help to a player who is on the pitch and asking for it.

At his core, José is a skilled manipulator who excels at obscuring his role in creating problems. He's an expert at the blame game. His main schtick is to blame referees and encourage fans to see the entire world as against us. As if Chelsea is so important that the entire Premier League - referees, referee association, FA -  would conspire to keep us down. Really?

He's done this act for years and it's worked well until senior management cottons on that there's dissension in the ranks and is forced to jettison him for the good of the club.

WHAT'S NOT BLAMED - Circumstance/Chance
Few Chelsea fans blame circumstance and chance. But Chelsea had many key players injured this year, including Gary Cahill, Diego Costa, Radamel Falcao, Eden Hazard, Nemanja Matić, Oscar, Loïc Rémy, John Terry, and Kurt Zouma.

Besides losing those players, injuries meant  that healthy substitutes were tossed into games lacking experience (because José gave them none to little) and key players like Willian often played exhausted. 

Players often lose form from year to year. Just a few of many:

• Papiss Cisse, Newcastle United
• Radamel Falcao, Man United
• Wayne Rooney, Man United
• Roberta Soldado, Tottenham Hotspurs
• Fernando Torres, Chelsea
• Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal

Were all these players dogging it, out to get the manager fired? Or just struggling with circumstances that meant they lost their magic?

WHAT'S NOT BLAMED - Top players shun Chelsea
Many top players have not opted for Chelsea in recent years. Maybe they are happy where they are but maybe some are not keen to join Chelsea, even under genius manager José. 

BLAME GAME
In sports, as in life, some people prefer the blame game as opposed to examining themselves and those dear to them. To some fans, if something goes wrong, someone must be identified and blamed. The reasoning is as follows:

• Those who I support are never responsible else I will be diminished as a savvy fan who knows it all.
• When folks play the blame game, they often engage in irrational thinking to justify blaming others. 
• For example, why in hell's name would Chelsea players want to sabotage the club and their reputations and future earnings by choosing to become losers - to say nothing of lowering their own feelings of self worth - all to cost José his job? Does not compute. 

If that were true, then following José's exit, form would miraculously reappear. It hasn't.

Also, the blame game crowd aren't satisfied with 'what players did was wrong.' Instead, players become lesser beings, unworthy of respect. It's personal and they are demonized as cretins who destroyed both José  and the fans' dreams of eternal Chelsea glory under José. 

BOTTOM LINE
What gets me most is Chelsea fans who put it all, or mostly all, down to lazy, pampered rich players betraying Gawd Almight, José.

Mourinho is a multi-millionaire who frequents Victoria Secrets fashion shows and GQ awards. With this lifestyle, he's interested in protecting his brand and earning power and expertly practices the blame game to do so. Any footie manager's decisions and actions are NOT infallible. 

To me, the players did NOT deliberately sabotage Chelsea. Which is not to say that José did not p*ss some of them off with cynical mind games and manipulation. Plus he creates unrelenting stress to perform perfectly, always. But to blame Chelsea's 2015-16 season on player sabotage is nuts. Players too want to protect their pride, brand and earning power. 

Sometimes bad things happen for complex, interrelated causes, not simplistic reasons like 'the players did it because beloved José could never be responsible.' Sort of akin to 'the dog ate my homework' vs admitting I, and my hero José, are responsible. 

Seems José's responsible for nothing when a club loses but gets credit for everything when it wins. 

Folks like simple explanations but simple seldom conforms to reality. 

Football clubs are big businesses where players are mere commodities to be bought and sold. To think of players as loyal souls who play their hearts out for a big business that they have no history with, that they know will dump them sooner or later, is deluded. Today most, indeed almost all, play for several clubs over a career.

In my view, several factors played a role to a varying extent in Chelsea's unprecedented fall from PL champs to mid-table ordinary in 2015-16. In particular: 

1. José Mourinho's management style, his tendency to manipulate players (always) and blame them for losing (once losing becomes the norm - otherwise he plays the role of I'll take the heat for the odd loss), and his failure to develop Chelsea's young players by giving them adequate game time. 

• Is José to blame? Not really. He did what was best for José and no doubt what he thought was best for Chelsea. Was he a factor in the rapid decline? Had to be a major factor. He was 'the boss' running the club day-to-day, preparing and motivating the players, developing tactics.

 2. Circumstance/chance - injuries, loss of form by key players. Yes, poop happens.

3. Emanalo, Board of Directors and José too (because he must have had some say) in failing to recruit top players for key positions. 

Many top players are happy where they are and a body at rest tends to stay at rest unless a significant outside force acts on it (Newton's First Law of Motion). Chelsea is not a significant outside force. Chelsea club history with Roman in charge reeks of instability. The number of managers is the canary in the coal mine. Top players shun Chelsea for good reason. 

For Fun
Having spent 6 months bumming around Jamaica, I'm a reggae and Bob Marley fan. This ditty expresses how I feel about Chelsea. And by implication, what I think about Chelsea fans who diss the club and its players and feel the need to play the blame game. How about feeling the 'one love' for our club and players? Okay to love José too, but he's not the 'one love', my fellow fans. 

• One love (Bob Marley)

Are Chelsea fans shit?

This blog was stimulated by recent experiences as Chelsea (CFC) fan. As background, I'm a longtime Canadian sports fan of hockey, baseball, NA football, and  soccer, aka football in rest of the world. I've only been able to fully support Premier League's CFC since PL became available on TV in Canada.

As a Chelsea fan, what I've noticed for awhile now is how many CFC fans rush to diss individual players if they are not perfect. You'd think being a fan meant you support your club's players unconditionally, but you'd be wrong. 

Mostly, it means you support manager Jose Mourinho because he gave you three Premier League championships in 2004-5, 2005-6, and 2014-15.

As soon as a player shows weakness, that he's not perfect, he's dissed by Chelsea 'fans' as shit. Current prime examples include Ivanovic and Willian, with many more targets in the wings.

I don't get it. Has Roman Abramovich's money made Chelsea fans so privileged, so pampered, that all players must be exceptional? By definition, exceptional is rare.

Branislav Ivanovic was one of Chelsea's best players in 2014-15, yet now fans want him out because he's had a bad start to 2015-16 season. Willian is a fantastic energy bunny who's saved Chelsea's arse many times with his defensive play. But because he doesn't assist on goals and score enough, he's called shit by many fans. They don't say he's a talented player who could improve offensively. Oh no, they call him shit.

My wish is that Chelsea fans reap what they sow. Namely, they're not perfect, indeed, many are shit fans who are just not up to the task of being perfect. 

As a Chelsea fan, I know I have many weaknesses, one of which is writing blogs like this one. You can imagine how that endears me to my Chelsea friends and followers on Twitter at @eurofutball.

Chelsea will be 2015 champions (Musings on We-They mentality)

Updated: 26 March 2015

ALL HAIL THE CHAMPIONS
It's all but certain that Chelsea FC will win the 2015 Premier League title. 
As of 26 March, the arithmetic is as follows:

• CFC has 67 points, its closest rival Manchester City has 61. With 8 games left , if Man City win all, their maximum total is 85. Let's assume Man City wins all its remaining games. 
• With this scenario, to win outright, Chelsea needs 86 points or 19 more than now. Because Chelsea has a game in hand, 9 remaining games gives it a possible 27 more points, a maximum 94 points. 
• Many combinations and permutations, but in its next 9 games, Chelsea would need to lose 10 points along the way to finish with 84, 1 less than Man City. 
• That's scenarios like 3 losses and 1 draw (-11pts), 2 losses and 2 draws (-10), etc.
• Highly unlikely. And Chelsea can do even worse and still win if opponents do not win all remaining games.

So given Chelsea is the all-but-certain Premier League champion, you would think we fans would be cautious but joyous over the winning season the club has had. Perhaps we'd even be generous to the 'usual suspects' that typically cause much aggro or at least ignore their nonsense. Focus on bragging and BIRGing (Basking In Reflected Glory) over our skilled players, genius manager.

But you'd be wrong. Instead, what we often focus on these days is moaning about the usual suspects, namely the media and PL referees who apparently conspire against Chelsea and always have. And it's not just one or two plotters, no - it's the mother-of-all conspiracies. 

WE-THEY
Fact is, many Chelsea fans (not all) are focused on We-They aspects of Premier League football. Their mindset is closely linked to tribalism. In brief, sports fans are tribal when they

• Hate all clubs but theirs, including other clubs' players and fans, and take every opportunity to abuse them all verbally, including on Twitter. The abuse goes well beyond what could be defended as good-natured banter. Some of it is pretty vile.
• Love the club to the point where their manager and players can do no wrong. 
• Identify with the club as much or more than with their family, friends, country.

Indeed, to Chelsea fans, our manager José Mourinho, the self-described Special One, is more infallible than Pope Francis, who has all but renounced papal infallibility. José is an incredibly talented and successful manager, but infallible, not so much.

You can likely guess that I'm not tribal, wasn't brought up that way. As a footie fan, this makes me an outlier. This blog is a quickie, written to get something off my chest:

• Get over it, Chelsea fans. We-they mentality is not healthy, not productive, not something you want to promote to your children.

Moreover, if your kids say they're being unfairly trashed by others (THEY), the best response is to ask who THEY are, then dissect their arguments for the crap it invariably is. You cannot control how others think. You can control your response.

CFC's talented and successful manager José Mourinho specializes at fostering We-They. Not one of his better traits. Suspect it's a tactic to distract from club weaknesses, take pressure off players, and yes, off José too.

As a Chelsea fan, I cannot but help notice how so many fans are consumed by how hard done by Chelsea FC is. Sample tweet:

• Top of League from day one, no losses in the CL, yet they dig out things to come down on us for, it's like an agenda against us.

Apparently, the entire football world is against Chelsea, certainly the FA, referees, and UK media. That's a whole lot of dudes and an occasional dudette.

BIG MEDIA
Who they are is the UK sports media, many of whom are ex-Liverpool and ex-Man United players. Examples:

• Jamie Carragher (Sky Sports) played for Liverpool for 17 yrs
• Gary Neville (Sky Sports) played for Man United for 19 yrs
• Graeme Souness, 7 successful seasons at Liverpool

MINNOW MEDIA
As well as many other football reporters seem hard on Chelsea versus other clubs. Their qualifications are suspect (meaning they have none), but nonetheless they have big megaphones.

CARRA on GERRARD
One thing that seems to give credence to Chelsea fans' claims of different treatment is how media pundits characterized CFC's Diego Costa stamps as if he were evil incarnate, yet give a pass to Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Martin Skrtel. Gerrard apologized, so he gets off scott free?

Indeed, Stevie is universally lauded for the apology. Good that he took responsibility. But if you examine Gerrard's 'apology', he's sorry for letting club and fans down but does not come clean.

I've let down my teammates and the supporters. I take full responsibility. I need to accept it, the decision was right.

I've been in the game long enough when you do something like that. I don't know what caused it, probably just a reaction to the initial tackle. 

I shouldn't say more about it really, I've just come out here to apologise to the dressing-room and supporters.

What Gerrard could have said, more honestly:

'I was upset at not starting, keyed up, aggressive, and disappointed in our performance. After a normal tackle, my temper flashed and I struck out, stamped on him deliberately. Sorry, no excuse. Such nasty violence, which could have seriously injured him, is unforgivable.'

Ex-LFC player Jamie Carragher's take:

Steven is an emotional player. He has taken teams into unbelievable moments and when he plays from the heart, he does special things. 

But that can also affect him negatively. He has picked up four red cards in matches against Everton and Manchester United. And there is no doubt the emotion and frustration coming into the game has contributed.  

There is no doubt it was a red card. You cannot do that on a football pitch.

Not said was that Gerrard's stamp was clearly deliberate, unlike others that could be seen as accidental. But keep in mind that Carragher was a teammate of Gerrard's  for about 15 years. They likely remain friends.

CARRA on COSTA
From my CFC fan timeline I thought Carra totally trashed Costa. But did he? Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher reminds fans Luis Suarez used to stamp like Chelsea's Diego Costa

Jamie Carragher did his bit to calm Liverpool fans irate at Diego Costa's stamps on their players by pointing at that their former hero Luis Suarez was a master of the accidentally-on-purpose stamp on an opponent.

Chelsea striker Costa brought his foot down on the leg of Reds midfielder Emre Can in the first-half, then did the same thing with Martin Skrtel's foot in the second half.

But former Anfield stalwart Carragher had a long enough memory to not be too offended by the former Atletico Madrid man's shenanigans. He pointed fellow Liverpool supporters in the direction of his former team-mate Suarez. 

Carragher felt Costa's stamps were deliberate, but said they were no worse than similar tactics that Suarez used to get away with for the Reds. 

Writing on Twitter during last night's Capital One Cup semi-final clash between the sides, Carragher said: "Naughty from Costa but reds be honest Suarez used to do that!"

TRIBAL MENTALITY
Chelsea fans fret over what commentators like Carra say. They tend to hear selectively, emphasizing anti-Chelsea bits and ignoring more balanced comments. This type of headline fuels the rage:

• Skrtel: Finally charged but nowhere near the same reaction as Diego Costa!

LEARNING POINTS
1. If footie media pundits unfairly trash Chelsea and give other club's players a pass, why should we care? We cannot control such nonsense, only what we think about it. Which is more or less, 'Idiots will be idiots'. Pity them.

2. Cultivating a We-They mentality is not something to foster in young Chelsea fans. Fact is, we are all in it together, fans of the beautiful game. Better strategy is 'Never complain, never explain.'

3. Siege mentality is, at its core, unhealthy. Instead of saying,

•  Look, THEY are all against us.

I prefer,

• Assess what THEY say, pro and con. Who are THEY? What are their biases? Do their argument have merit? Do they treat us the same as others? Why care what idiots say? 

Think about it. 
Should we teach children (young Chelsea fans) to think We-They? To worry about what others say, others whose thoughts and agendas we have no control over? To complain and whine about what others say and do? To believe all are against us? It's almost like Chelsea needs to create conspiracies.

Do we really want to promote a Chelsea tribe grounded in paranoia of others out to get us, and whining as a first response to every slight, real or perceived? 

Because that's what young Chelsea fans are learning. And that seems to be Jose's pathetic strategy, but I don't buy it for a minute. Granted, it may be his way of focusing the news on all those big bad boys out to get Chelsea, instead of discussing our player AND José's failures and shortcomings. Still no excuse. 

Such antics have outlived their usefulness, have become same old, same old, boring. You know you've gone to the well too many times when even neutral Canadian commentators ridicule the tactic. Sort of how some fans groan that ex-Chelsea defender David Luiz (still a favorite player of mine - passionate guy) sticking out his tongue has outlived cuteness. 

As Walt Kelly said many years ago, via his Pogo comic strip:

Time to grow up and present an admirable version of what being a fan, citizen, and human is. It's not We-They. Never was.

As always, comments are welcome. 

FOR FUN

• We are the champions (Queen)
• Chelsea will be PL 2015 champs, believe it!

FURTHER READING

• Defunct tribalism of English football
• Chelsea Fan: Tribalism Is Ugly But I Can't Help Abusing People On Twitter

Advice from a fan for Chelsea FC's offense

If you're looking for 'Chelsea's José Mourinho, a man of many faces, all of them true' it's the next post down. 

This blog is a quickie based on observations over a few seasons as a Chelsea FC fan. I'm not a football expert but still have a brain.

A few changes I'd like to see for Chelsea's offense:

1. Eden Hazard pass more and quickly, instead of dribbling in circles, becoming a magnet for opponents, who then neutralize any passes he might have made.

2. Every Chelsea midfielder pass forward to strikers who have made runs instead of ignoring them for Barca-style tiki-taka that slows game and gives opponents time to set up a defense.

3. Every Chelsea midfielder pass forward more to strikers instead of going for glory by shooting from impossible positions. Juan Mata to his credit does it more than others.

4. Oscar, Rami and David Luiz pass instead of going for glory by trying ambitious long shots that invariably soar over the net. 

5. Attacking midfielders spread out more and run into open space, instead of being Barca wannabees, congesting in midfield, playing short passes that keep possession with zero results.

6. Fernando Torres have fun on the pitch, take chances like he did as a kid, and not care if he makes errors that media and boo-bird fans will ridicule.

7. Strikers continue to make runs because sooner or later the midfielders will pass forward because manager Jose Mourinho, genius that he is, will tell them that passing to surging strikers is what they must do.

8. Strikers show more movement to draw defenders, leave others with more space.

9. Strikers play more in the box where goal opportunities abound.

10. Attacking midfielders improve ability to cross the ball to those in the box since it's a key skill that leads to goals.

If even a few of these changes happened, Chelsea FC would surely top Premier League in 2013-14.

I did not see that coming (Musings on the not so beautiful game)

One of my twitter accounts is @eurofutball. It's where I keep up with my favorite team, Chelsea (CFC), my favorite player, Fernando Torres, the British Premier League, and European football in general, what we in NA call soccer.

One twitter account I follow 'sends up' Arsenal's long-time manager, Arsène Wenger,  Wenger knows best, where tweets often include a variation of

• I did not see that coming.

This blog briefly discusses what I did not see coming when following Chelsea fans on Twitter.

First the good stuff. There are many admirable CFC fans on Twitter. By admirable, I mean loyal supporters who support the club, all its players and manager through thick and thin. Moreover, they use language suitable for all, including kids.

Sadly, there are many CFC fans who exude hatred and ridicule to players who do not live up to their expectations and ridicule anyone on twitter who disagrees with them. 

Such fans are typically vulgarians whose favorite words are f*ck and the 'C' word, often combined as 'effing c*nt.'

They do not support the team and all its players, only those who perform well, game in and game out. Score, win, I love you. Otherwise you're a piece of sh*t. This is what I did not see coming. 

From an early age my parents taught me the following:

• Obscenity is lazy. If you disagree with someone, explain why. To resort to name-calling or obscene language means you lack ideas and arguments.

• Sports celebrates the human spirit. It's about having fun and valuing the best in humans. Sports is joyful.

• It's about how you play the game, not about winning. Indeed, in the end, winning is nothing if wins are bought by those with the most money. Winning because of money is okay so long as you know that buying wins is meaningless. 

• Professional sports are just games played by boys and girls lucky enough to extend their childhoods. At best, sports are entertaining diversions from our mundane, real lives. At worst, cut-throat, big businesses that cynically manipulate fans to get their money.

• Competitors deserve respect and should be treated as you would like to be treated. If you trash sports foes, you trash yourself.

From childhood I've followed professional sports like Canadian hockey and the NA version of football, as well as baseball and basketball. 

Only recently have I been able to follow the beautiful game of football, aka soccer.

Immediately, I noticed significant differences in the British Premier League related to fan behavior on Twitter, comments on Youtube videos, and news stories. 

Most experience relates to Chelsea fans but I suspect it also extends to fans of other clubs.

• Extreme obscenity is the norm
• Hatred of opposing teams and players is the norm
• The more successful opponents are, the stronger the hatred
• Trashing your own players and manager is the norm, at least for CFC fans
• Respect for opponents is nonexistent
• Envy of successful teams and players manifests itself as hatred
• Past wrongs reign supreme, are never forgotten
• The 'milk of human kindness' (sympathy, empathy) is nonexistent
• Reflective thinking and thoughtful analysis of human behavior is nonexistent

Sadly, many fans of the beautiful game are ugly human beings. 

How to motivate pro footballers in Premier League when they don't give a shit

Last updated: 12 Mar. 2013

An Irish friend (@ChelsSince1970) quite rightly pointed out that the blog ignores the roles of managing men and leadership. See Addendum below.

This blog is a mini-rant on the notion that millionaire professional football players need a manager to motivate them. It derives from tweets about Chelsea FC's interim manager Rafa Benitez and how former manager José Mourinho, now at Real Madrid, would be so much better. 

In the past, when working at real jobs*, I never needed anyone to motivate me to do a good job  and protect patient safety, whether it was testing donated blood, 'crossmatching' donor and patient blood prior to transfusion, or teaching students the theory and practice of transfusion science and immunohematology.

*First as a medical laboratory technologist with Canada's national blood supplier (then Can. Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, now Canadian Blood Services), and later as a clinical instructor and transfusion science instructor / professor in the Med Lab Science program at the University of Alberta.

When first starting out, I was paid poorly but eventually adequately, at least sufficiently for my needs. Money was not a motivator, supervisors could not motivate with criticism, praise, or promise of promotion. 

Whatever made me work hard, keep up-to-date, and try to excel came from within, was intrinsic. It was partly self-respect, partly because I wanted the respect of colleagues and students, and partly because errors in the jobs I had could directly lead to a person's death. The last is not that different than individuals who work as auto and airline mechanics, bus drivers, electricians, etc.

Which is why I'm amazed that apparently millionaire football players need to be motivated by managers to give their best. 

Excuse me? These young men earn mega-bucks, live a fantasy lifestyle with adoring fans, and are attractive to others even if they have ordinary looks. Reporters, service people in restaurants, young women in bars, you name it, fawn all over these guys. They have it made by any of society's standards of success.

Yet the poor dears need a manager to rouse them to greater efforts before and during games?

Of course, these young men, like all youth, have limited life experience. They may have overcome poverty, a disruptive home life, or not. Most are not well educated, at least not formally, as they went into football at a very young age. If lucky, they have supportive families who provide good financial and social advice.

MUSINGS ON MOTIVATION
What can motivate young men who have it all?

1. MONEY?
Harry Redknapp in a March 2012 article claimed it was only cash.

• Cash is only motivation for players (As far as managers, when they leave, it's 'the king is dead, long live the king'.) 

I'm skeptical about money as a motivator.

Average Premier League wages are ~ £22,353 a week before bonuses or £1.16 million/year (more than $1.7 million US). And top players earn much more, e.g., Lionel Messi €31million/yr (more than $40 million US).

To me the huge wages are almost FU money. These young dudes can pretty much do as they like, and do.

Only real outliers can wreck their careers with repetitive bad behavior, e.g.,  'Super Mario' Balotelli at Manchester City.

But even 'Super Mario', given his talent, has landed on his feet at AC Milan for another chance at glory.

2. FEAR?
On Twitter some Chelsea fans think fear of the manager can motivate, a reason to dream of José Mourinho's return. In games where CFC plays poorly they tweet that Jose wouldn't have put up with that mediocre performance.

What would he have done? Ranted and scared the bejesus out of the under-performing millionaires by the sheer strength of his personality?

Possible only if a manager has total control of the club. Can that be true for any Chelsea manager, given Roman Abramovich's hands-on approach, albeit via behind-the-scenes puppeteering, and his record of sacking managers? 

3. INSPIRATION?
Can 20-something millionaires be inspired by a manager's rhetoric? #Rafaout fans think that José is a genius who can inspire players to greater heights with sheer charisma and rhetoric. To me that may work for awestruck teenagers, not guys in their 20s with FU $$$$.

Also, it may work when players have grown up with a club and English football, where a club's history is heartfelt and ingrained into ones bone marrow at an early age.

Inspiring a largely foreign group of players is another matter. As Redknapp said, to them club history means nil. In Chelsea's current squad I count only 4 regular English starters.

4. BIG STICK OR CARROT?
In general, some people are motivated by threats ('big stick') and others by a promise of something desirable. 

What big stick do managers have? The most obvious stick is benching a player for poor play, threatening them with whatever the manager knows they fear.

But what's the carrot? Simply getting to start games or being a regular substitute?

Sooner or later players given the stick will opt to be transferred and sold to teams where they'll get to play regularly.

4. RECOGNITION and PRAISE?
Research on learning and employment show that people are most motivated by being respected and receiving praise for jobs well done.

What does that mean in the context of a professional football team? Examples:

• Encourage players to express opinions and ideas and implement good ideas, whenever possible.

• Never insult players individually and publicly for poor play. They know better then anyone else when they've screwed up or had a bad day. Instead use errors as teachable moments for the entire club.

• Treat players fairly, no favorites. If the owner thinks otherwise, resign immediately as to play favorites makes you lose all credibility. 

• Don't marginalize and exclude players who are off form. If anything, make them feel even more a part of the club, valuable contributors. 

• Discuss an individual's poor play privately. Focus on what happened rather than pejorative characterizations, e.g., 'Your pass completion was 40% and you had no shots on net. Why do you think that happened?' (Not, 'You were totally sh*t today.') Then listen. 

• Praise more than criticize but offer praise only when valid, else it becomes meaningless.

LEARNING POINTS

You may think that for professional footballers 'recognition and praise' advice is namby-pamby and spineless. But these strategies apply to all humans from live-in nannies to tenured university professors to millionaire pro footballers. We're all human beings with the same vulnerabilities and desires.

Think about your own job. What most motivates you to work harder? Money? Fear? Threats? Promises? Being respected and appreciated for a job well done? Depending on your individual circumstance, I bet for most it's being respected and appreciated.

As to rich, young pro footballers needing a manager to motivate them  to play better, my gut reaction is, 'Give me an effing break.'

So long as the manager isn't part of the problem by being abusive, player performance is mostly internally motivated as it was for me - self-respect and the respect of peers. 

Of course, managers exist for more than motivation. There's tactics and strategy, analysing the opposition, creating game plans. But this blog focuses only on the manager as motivator.

And I suspect that thinking a manager can motivate millionaire young players, especially foreign ones, is a crock. José would be no better than Rafa. Of course, Rafa was made a eunuch by 'interim manager' designation. 

If José - or any manager - had total control (unlikely at Chelsea), perhaps it would be possible. But mainly by using fear and threats, never the best approach. 'Do it for Chelsea' is a meaningless joke to most foreign players.

In today's Premier League, Harry Redknapp is likely correct about players:

• They don't give a shit. [At least most of them...]

Addendum

José 

My Irish buddy Vera thinks I've misrepresented José Mourinho's management style. She notes that José is acknowledged as a great manager and leader of men, the type of guy who relates to and bonds with players such that he squeezes that extra bit out of them that wins championships. She supplied this  article on Mourinho and Lampard:

• Lampard scrubbed up nicely  for Chelsea after Jose showered him with praise (23 Feb. 2009)

And she's right. Video clips of José in Chelsea's glory days of 2005-6 show that he came close to being accepted as 'one of the lads' while remaining his superior status as the gaffer. He was even a father figure to some, e.g., Michael Essien calls him daddy. 

This is a tough balancing act for any manager. Because familiarity breeds contempt, there must be a distance. Yet on some level staff need to see a manager as one of them, someone who knows and empathizes with their struggles.

Rafa

On the issue of José v Rafa as a leader of men, judging by achievements, it's José. Vera gives this example of how CFC players view Mourinho: 

• Joe Cole: Chelsea should never have let go of Jose Mourinho (29 Dec. 2011)

Rafa may be a good manager. His record is not shabby. Certainly, his management style has its critics, including former players. That would be true of most managers in any profession.

But for Rafa, Chelsea was a non-starter from the start, as it would be for anyone who joined today's Chelsea: revolving door managers, even if you win the biggest club prize of all, the Champions League; Roman's circus of trained seals to front for his wishes.

AVB

When he managed Chelsea, André Villas-Boas had many skills needed in successful managers. But I thought he was a poor manager of men, that he lacked the necessary emotional intelligence to lead men. Time will tell with his career managing Tottenham Hotspurs.

BOTTOM LINE: The blog examines what motivates people and why millionaire footballers, in general, and Chelsea players, in particular, need motivating to play well. It was not meant to be about leadership and that was a serious omission. 

Perhaps José can provide the inspiration, recognition, and praise that motivates people to excel. However, being a cynic*, I'm not in the camp of those who think that José is Jesus and his second coming is imminent.

David Moyes is also a skilled manager of men. Chelsea hiring him would not be a bad thing.

* Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist. (George Carlin)

Further Reading

José Mourinho page

Mourinho one of the best managers - 2012 ITV documentary

Roman Abramovich returns to take full control of CFC (20 Jan. 2013)

Time for a Chelsea fan intervention? (We have met the enemy & he is us)

Updated 24 Feb. 2013

INTERVENTIONS
In health care an intervention is a process to help people with addictions like alcoholism, drug abuse, and eating disorders to change before things get even worse. Addicts are typically in denial or unwilling to seek treatment. An intervention by friends, family, and sometimes professionals, is designed to make them see the negative effects their destructive behavior has on themselves and others.

Addicts usually surround themselves with like-minded individuals who mirror themselves. Living in a bubble, they believe their own actions are acceptable. Anyone who challenges them is shunned and even attacked, similar to how dysfunctional families exclude family members who dare to voice never-mentioned realities.

This blog is written as food for thought. I could be wrong about just about everything below. That's okay. The ideas are only what I think, given my background and biases.

CHELSEA FC
Chelsea fans are also addicted, and not just to football and the team. Since the Russia plutocrat Roman Abramovich bought the team in 2003, they've become addicted to winning. Sadly, like many druggies, if they don't get their regular 'fix', they turn nasty. 

Background
Stamford Bridge - The loyalty of #CFC fans cannot be questioned. Chelsea's history shows that veteran fans lived through tough times in the 1970s and '80s and developed hope in the 1990s as the club gradually improved.  

When Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, he poured mega-£ into the club and his money achieved results. The club built an impressive record in the Premier League:

• 2003-4: Runners-up
• 2004-5: Champions
• 2005-6: Champions
• 2006-7:Runners-up
• 2007-8:Runners-up
• 2008-9: Third
• 2009-10: Champions
• 2010-11: Runners-up
• 2011-12: Sixth 

Despite the disappointing 2012 PL finish, which would have dropped them from the all-important Champions League in 2012-13, in 2012 Chelsea won the biggest prize of all, the Champions League: 

• “Kings Of Europe, The Chelsea Story” 

Fans were blessed to watch a fabulous club win the PL and multiple trophies. Winning became a habit. Being a Chelsea fan allowed you to swagger and trash-talk other clubs and their fans such as London rivals Arsenal and other successful clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool.

For the past 9-10 years Chelsea fans have had it good. Glorious days to be fans and sing 'Blue is the Colour' (a truly crappy song) and 'We Know What We Are, Champions of Europe' (a truly arrogant chant). 

REALITIES
The 6th place Premier League finish in 2011-12 WAS and WAS NOT a harbinger of 2012-13. Chelsea is currently in 3rd place, with a chance for second. Not shabby by any means.

But they bombed out of the Champions League in the group stage, the first reigning champions to do so. This despite scoring more goals than any other team in the competition. Fact is in most years Chelsea played well enough to go through but not this year.

Playing in the Europa League (not Champions League) is seen as a disaster by Chelsea fans. Granted the CL has all the status, is worth mega-bucks in television revenue, and attracts big name players to the club. Yet many fine teams play in Europa League. It's hardly tragic, despite fan reaction.

I won't dwell on other league trophies as they're 'small potatoes' compared to CL. But Chelsea, reigning CL champions, still has chance to win FA Cup.

Chelsea has had 3 managers since June 2011 when Andre Villas-Boas was appointed. He was fired in March 2012. Then came Roberto di Matteo, a beloved Chelsea player, who led them to the CL title but was cruelly fired in November 2012.

Next, Roman hired the hated former Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, as interim Chelsea manager. As interim manager, Roman condemned Rafa to eunich status.

The instability of Chelsea managers is solely attributed to the Russian owner. Seems Roman is both a savior and a saboteur of club fortunes. So many managers in so short a time, 10 since he bought club in 2003, cannot be good policy in the long term, despite Chelsea's success to-date.

SO WHAT'S WITH CFC FANS?
To read Chelsea fans on Twitter, you'd think the club was in danger of relegation instead of being in 3rd place. Fans are cynical and critical. Many are downright hateful.

TORRES
Fernando Torres, transferred from Liverpool for 50 million pounds (not his fault) has not lived up to his Liverpool performance and is now a subject for widespread ridicule and hate among Chelsea fans. See my earlier blog (Jan 2013):

• Musings on Fernando Torres at Chelsea FC

Other PL clubs have MULTIPLE talented strikers, one of whom usually scores, e.g., Van Persie, Rooney, Chicharito, Welbeck for MUFC; Tevez, Dzeko, Aguerro for MCFC. At Chelsea Torres carries the load and for this he's booed by his club's fans.

More than booed, some call Torres a piece of sh*t, a flop, a f*cking c*nt. That's the intellectual level and vocabulary of many Chelsea fans. 

No matter what Torres does, Chelsea fans focus on the transfer fee (not his doing), think he's overpaid and should be sold as fast as possible.

RAFA
Chelsea fan reaction to the current manager Rafa Benitez is a disgrace. As  Liverpool manager he alienated them but nothing  justifies such hostility.

RafaOut banners, booing him, calling him the Fat Spanish Waiter (FSW), chanting obscenities - all are the norm for Chelsea fans. They feel comfortable ridiculing a person for being fat, for being Spanish, and for being a waiter.

Are such fans great models for young Chelsea fans? Great models for tolerance? No. Chelsea fans don't realize that their behavior has far-reaching implications for what it promotes. For example, they'd be at home as bullies of chubby kids.

Chelsea fans now focus on who they don't like on the team (Rafa, Torres and Israeli Yossi Benayoun), interestingly, all former Liverpool employees.

CHELSEA HATE SYNDROME (CHS)
If you suffer from CHS, you point out Torres's mistakes more often than you applaud his good plays.

No matter what Torres does, you think he's overpaid and should be sold immediately.

No matter how many completed passes, assists or goals Torres makes, you only talk about him after he makes a bad play. He's the designated scapegoat for all Chelsea's failures. 

If the entire team plays poorly, it's Torres's fault.

Same for Rafa. You call all his tactics and substitutions shite, even if they turn out well. You ridicule everything he says and does. So far as you're concerned, he's the devil incarnate.

The beautiful game is supposed to be fun. How does constant complaining and criticizing every play make watching the game and being a fan more enjoyable?

Why does Torres's transfer fee and salary bother you so much? Sure, he's overpaid (as are most PL players), but it isn't his fault that Chelsea paid so much for him.

What he gets paid has nothing to do with how he plays. Put yourself in his position for a moment. Chelsea has been a nightmare for Torres, yet he shows up game in and game out, enduring the boos of his own club's fans. 

It's one thing to take abuse and ridicule on Twitter, where any idiot can tweet and does. Another to take it from print journalists, many of whom are envious wannabee jocks or over-the-hill ex-players. But live and in-person from your club's fans? To me that's over the line.

I'm reminded of a Humphrey Bogart quote on marriage: 

"I wonder if the f*cking you get is worth the f*cking you get." Clearly, for Torres, it's not.

No money can compensate for the constant abuse he takes.

INTERVENTION
I understand why Chelsea fans behave as they do. Winning is addictive. Soon you begin to think you're better than all the rest. It's exhilarating. You're special, others are sh*t.  You deserve to win, not just now, but forever, as illogical as that may be.

But booing a Chelsea player, ridiculing him - and spewing hatred across the twittersphere - is destructive with negative consequences for the entire team. Same with booing and ridiculing Chelsea's manager, Rafa. Totally non-productive. Accuse him of poor tactics and substitutions - fine. Fans have a right to their opinions no matter how correct or how ill-informed. But why call him a fat prick or fat c*nt? 

Is the sole purpose to make selfish fans feel better by abusing scapegoats? Could be. 


The worst cretins never fail to mention that the transfer fee for Torres was £50 million and love to report how few goals he has compared to others. Boring. We all know he isn't scoring enough but still they drone on with statistics.

Other fans get off on calling Torres names such as effing freckle-faced c*nt, useless twit, girly boy. And when he had longer hair, macho fans would get hot and bothered when he'd fuss with his hair band. Wow! That says more about the 'macho' fans than Torres.

Chelsea fan behavior is a microcosm of how prejudice works throughout the ages. Some individuals crave others to demonize so they can feel good about themselves. They have no milk of human kindness in their veins, little empathy. They're not reflective, thoughtful thinkers. Just haters who feel good when ridiculing others.

And the silence at Stamford Bridge in the last game, Chelsea v Sparta Prague, was truly disheartening. When down a goal or two, don't fans cheer loudly to spur their team on? Everywhere but Stamford Bridge it seems. 

Instead they boo a player when he's working his buns off, trying to score and overcome a 2 year+ nightmare.

Chelsea fans are addicted to winning, haven't a clue how to cope with anything less. Like all addicts, they're blind to the negative effects their destructive behavior has on themselves and others.

As Pogo discovered about the nature of mankind, 

• We have met the enemy and he is us

Of course, doing poorly is relatively new and is exacerbated by the recent the glory days. Fans are only now adjusting to doing without their regular fix of winning trophies and the PL.

BOTTOM LINE
Will the Chelsea fans described here (not all, but many) ever assess their behavior as destructive, harming the club, undermining players and fellow fans? My guess is no. They're arrogant, certain they are right. How comforting that must be to them and their exclusionary clique of boo-birds. 

Wish they would wake up and smell the coffee. Realize how lucky they are. Enjoy the beautiful game. Know that success and failure come in cycles. Embrace kindness and empathy. See that we are all connected as humans, who have one wild and precious life (Mary Oliver poem, The Summer Day). 

Many losing clubs have long-suffering fans who cheer their players year in and year out. They always hope for better and, when some success occurs, it's cherished all the more. I suspect they're happier than many Chelsea fans.

FOR FUN
As for me, I consider Chelsea FC to be simply the best, better than all the rest. I support all the players and the manager du jour, whoever he may be.

• You're simply the best (Tina Turner's 1989 mega-hit)

I'd like to credit Jason Gregor for the idea for this blog:

• Time for an Oilers fan intervention? Edmonton faithful more apt to point out mistakes than applaud good plays