Month: January 2016

Chelsea’s latest filing to Companies House shows that the football club’s wage bill went up by £25 million in the year ending 30th of June 2015.

The increase, which took the club’s wage bill from £190 million to £215.6 million, means that Chelsea currently have the highest wage bill of any club in the Premier League. The nearest competitors to Chelsea were Manchester United, whose wage bill came out at £203 million, and Manchester City’s, whose wage bill was £193.8 million. Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal revealed that their wage bill is the fourth largest in the country at £192 million.

In the 2014-2015 season Chelsea won both the League Cup and the Premier League title, so the news regarding the wage bill seems to confirm a long held belief by football’s financial experts that the team with the highest wage bill will win the league more often than not.

The information regarding the wage bill does not reveal the split of how much money was spent on player’s wages and how much was spent on backroom staff and those that maintain the ground itself. What is revealed is that the club made a profit of £42 million that season thanks to the sale of players such as Ryan Bertrand to Southampton, Andre Schurrle to Wolfsburg and Romelu Lukaku to Everton. Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole also left during the 2014-2015 season.

The club’s accounts also happened to reveal that it had made a pre-tax loss of £22.6 million. That compares poorly to a £19 million profit from the previous year. The club themselves claim that turnover fell by £5.5 million to £319 million because the broadcasting revenue from the Champion’s League dropped after they got knocked out of the competition by Paris Saint Germain.

The difference in profit will also have been in no small part due to the arrival of new players, such as Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and the return of Didier Drogba for his second spell at the club.

Chelsea’s interim manager, Guus Hiddink, has told the press that there wasn’t much to a reported bust-up between two of the club’s star players, Oscar and Diego Costa.

Reports emerged from the newspaper The Telegraph that the two players had had to be separated after an ‘outrageous challenge’ from the Brazilian, Oscar, on Costa during a training match. The 24-year-old took to Twitter to deny the incident, saying, “For those who are talking to me and @diegocosta struggle today in training he’s lying, he’s one of my best friends and never fight ;)”.

Hiddink has admitted there was a coming together, however. He said, “Oscar apologised in front of the group and they all started laughing, jokes were made”. The bust-up came as the defending Premier League champions prepared to begin their assault on this season’s FA Cup with a match against League One side Scunthorpe on Sunday.

Dutchman Hiddink arrived at Stamford Bridge in December last year after the departure of the club’s former manager, Jose Mourinho. It is the second time that he has come in midway through the season as he also did so in 2009 when Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich decided to sack then manager Luis Felipe Scolari.

Hiddink led the Blues to an FA Cup triumph that season and would like to repeat the feat this time around, so he was keen to play down the significance of the incident between two of his charges. In his pre-match press conference before the 3rd round game he said, “It’s a pity that our photographer had a day off or he could have shot beautiful pictures from the two. They were jesting a bit after a charge from behind from the smaller of the two, Oscar. Costa took a charge from behind and it was overdone, especially when you know Oscar is not the biggest tackler of the team. They stumbled over the ground, stood up, as a normal reaction, they jested a bit, but we came in between them to say that there was no need to hit each other. Those things happen when you’re close on the edge. Oscar apologised for over-reacting, then they looked at each other and started laughing. It was a normal battle”.

Chelsea have had a troubled season so far, lying in 14th place after a terrible start to the campaign under former manager Mourinho. The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ lost nine league games and saw his side knocked out of the League Cup by Stoke City before Abramovich decided to step in and ask Hiddink to get the club’s season back on track. Rumours of the bust-up at the club’s Cobham training ground making it into the press are unlikely to improve the owner’s mood.

Chelsea’s former club doctor, Eva Carneiro, has appeared at an employment tribunal that will hear evidence regarding her constructive dismissal case against her former employers.

Carneiro is reportedly suing the defending Premier League champions for constructive dismissal and breach of contract, with the preliminary hearing on the case taking place yesterday at the London South Employment Tribunal, Croydon.

The case stems from when the club’s then manager, Jose Mourinho, called Carneiro and Chelsea’s physio, Jon Fearn, ‘impulsive and naive’ for running on to the pitch towards the end of Chelsea’s opening game of the season at Stamford Bridge. The Blues were already down to 10 men during the match against Swansea City after their goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, had been sent off for a foul on the Swans’ striker Bafetimbi Gomis. Eden Hazard then seemed to be in some physical discomfort after a tackle left him prone on the turf.

The match referee, Michael Oliver, called Chelsea’s medical staff onto the pitch several times before they responded, running on to give Hazard treatment under the referee’s instruction. According to the rules the Belgian then had to leave the pitch temporarily, leaving the home team with nine players.

In the aftermath of the game Carneiro found that her role was ‘downgraded’, meaning that she was not allowed on the Chelsea bench for the club’s next game against Manchester City. She was also not allowed to be around the Chelsea training sessions, though she could still deal with members of the first-team.

In September last year it was announced that Carneiro had left Chelsea, then on the 30th of the month the Football Association announced that they had cleared Jose Mourinho of making discriminatory comments and confirmed that they would not be taking any disciplinary action against the Portuguese manager. In October Carneiro expressed her disappointment at this decision and confirmed that the FA had at no point asked to speak to her about Mourinho’s comments, including the fact that he appeared to call her a ’filho da puto’, which translates from Portuguese to being ‘son of a bitch’.

The claim against Chelsea was lodged by Carneiro’s lawyers in late October 2015, with the Queen’s Council representing Carneiro confirming yesterday that no settlement had been reached with the club and that a date has been fixed for the next hearing. In November last year Carneiro also lodged a separate, yet connected, legal claim against Mourinho himself.

In December Chelsea decided to sack the 52 year old manager, replacing him on and interim basis with Dutchman Guus Hiddink. Some members of the press claimed that part of the reason Mourinho lost the support of his dressing room was due to his treatment of Carneiro, someone that the players had a lot of respect for. More details will no doubt emerge on the case in the coming weeks.

Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink praised his side’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park over the weekend, before suggesting that the result was proof that the Blues still have what it takes to make the top four this season.

The defending Premier League champions are paying the price for a terrible start to the season under their former manager Jose Mourinho. The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ oversaw an incredible nine losses, including four at Stamford Bridge, before he was sacked by the club’s owner Roman Abramovich. He was replaced by Hiddink on an interim basis last month.

Since the Dutchman’s arrival the Blues have enjoyed something of a revival, being unbeaten in their last four matches with two wins and two draws. The poor opening they suffered at the start of the campaign means that they sit thirteen points behind Tottenham who are in fourth place.

With eighteen league games still to play, though, Hiddink believes Chelsea still have a chance of challenging for a Champion’s League place. He said, “It’s difficult because this league has become so strong; everyone can win from everyone, It’s very difficult to get there. It’s possible but there’s a long way to go”.

Though the new manager’s confidence will be music to the ear’s of Chelsea’s fans, it does seem a touch unrealistic. The highest any club has ever finished in the Premier League era when they’ve had 20 points or less from 19 games is eighth. Even in this topsy-turvy season when anything seems possible that would be an impressive return from the 69 year old.

The win over Crystal Palace moved Chelsea up to fourteenth in the league and six points clear of the relegation zone. It also capped their longest unbeaten run of the season. The former Netherlands manager feels that the Blues have to regain their mental superiority, saying, “We have to get back to thinking why we were champions” and suggesting that the win was ‘desperately needed’.

Some critics of the club have asked why exactly the players have been able to put in such consistent performances now that Jose Mourinho has left when they seemed incapable of doing it when he was there. John Terry, the club captain, said that the players ‘let everybody down’. The 35 year old central defender said, “It’s unfortunate what’s happened. We are where we are, and slowly climbing the Premier League table”.

The former England captain also believes that Hiddink has helped the club to ‘pick things up’ since his arrival as interim manager, something he also did in 2009 when Luis Felipe Scolari was sacked. Speaking about the team’s performance against their London rivals Palace John Terry said, “That was the Chelsea of last year. Overall, as well as the goals, it was different class”.

As the Blues got knocked out of the League Cup when under Jose Mourinho’s leadership, they now have to wait until Sunday to play again and see if they are able to maintain their good momentum. Chelsea will host Scunthorpe in the FA Cup, the competition that Hiddink won with the club during his last temporary spell in 2009.