My dear Chelsea fans,
The reason I'm choosing to address you through a letter is because what I'm about to say can't really be called an article. I'm not concerned with tactics & dissecting what went wrong in a match or how we can improve before our next game. I'm not concerned with stats or score predictions. At the moment, I'm not even speaking to you as a member of Chelsea FC 360. I'm speaking to you as just another fan.
I've been a Chelsea fan for a long time now. I've supported the club since I was 7 & I have always been proud of the fact that I support Chelsea. The reason for that is not just the club but the fans. Chelsea fans have always been a class apart, if you ask me. While most other fans seem to get extremely frustrated when their team loses or if certain players are performing badly, Chelsea fans have always been a patient lot. We never turn on our players, not even the worst of them. As long as a player wears a Chelsea shirt we back him right till the end. It's very different to the attitude of Liverpool fans, for instance. Look at how they felt about Andy Carroll. Most Liverpool fans were glad to see the back of him when he moved to West Ham on loan. While it was obvious that he struggled at the club and failed to live up to expectations, Liverpool fans expected way too much of him to begin with and some of the criticism he received was pretty unfair.
Nevertheless, back to the topic on hand. Chelsea fans have always been brilliant when it comes to backing their players & coaching staff. But that seems to have changed a bit as of late. Don't believe me? Give it time.
Recently, Florent Malouda was sent to train with the U-21s. He told Chelsea fans about this via the social networking site Twitter. This led to certain fans actually hurling abuse towards him. Here are a couple of tweets he received, both from the same user:
"why don't you just f**k off & join kalou! u had 1 good game 4 us & that was vs Coventry they r s**t"
" me and @******* are sorry 4 mocking u!if u would like 2 send us some signed boots & shirts we will forgive u 4 being s**t" (I won't reveal any usernames.)
I cannot deny that Malouda's recent form has been average, even poor at times. He is clearly past his best & needs to move on. That's obvious enough. But how can fans forget that he was Chelsea's Player of the Year for the 2009/10 season? He scored 15 goals & had 15 assists & was instrumental in Chelsea winning the Double that season. His form has taken a massive hit since then but that doesn't mean his past contributions should be forgotten. He may not be a Chelsea legend as such but his Chelsea career has been nowhere near as poor as many fans make it out to be.
Roberto Di Matteo has also received plenty of hate lately. Admittedly his tactics against QPR were slightly baffling. But is it so easy to forget that this man actually led us to Champions League glory? Apparently it is. Here are 3 tweets that CFC360's official Twitter page received from disgruntled fans:
"he's not worthy enough to lead d revolution. He was lucky once. Now he's just plainly showin his tactical flaw. #sacked" (sic)
"... RDM , time is running out! What a weak and timid performance ! #QPR. Makes Chelsea look ordinary." (sic)
":it tells me that RDM has lost it, his technical ability is zero" (sic)
I don't know about you, but reading these tweets made me both sad & angry. Sad because it's painful to see that certain fans have already lost faith in RDM & want him sacked (or think that he'll soon get the sack anyway). Angry because they have basically labelled our Champions League success "lucky". I'd expect rival fans to do that, but Chelsea fans? Wow.
Mind you, it doesn't stop there. Daniel Sturridge has received pure unadulterated hate from certain Chelsea fans for being "too selfish" while Fernando Torres has also been on the receiving end of some abuse for his performances. Frank Lampard has been a victim as well, while some fans have had the gall to say that Petr Cech is "past it". Even Mikel & Luiz have been labelled "useless" and "not good enough for Chelsea". Sadly, that's just the tip of the iceberg.
I'm not going to go into more detail of how some fans insult Chelsea players. But honestly, it needs to stop. It's extremely fickle to label our team the "best in the world" when we're winning but then call half the team "just not good enough" when we're losing. Being a fan doesn't mean being there for the team only when they're winning. That's being a glory-hunter. A fan must back his/her team through thick or thin, through the good times & the bad times. That being said, there's nothing wrong with criticizing players. It's perfectly normal to point out what went wrong but that's something that can be achieved without calling for the players & manager to be chucked out.
I end this rather long letter with the following message: be happy when Chelsea win & the players play well; be sad, disappointed & maybe even a bit angry when they lose & the players have a bad day in the office. Criticize the players when you feel they deserve it. But please stop hating on your own players. Reserve your hate for rival clubs.
Thank you for your patience. KTBFFH!
-Shayne Dias
Our support to our Legendary Captain JT & about how the world has misunderstood him!
John Terry | We Stand By You | We love you JT, Our LEADER!
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Thank you Shayne Dias, for this letter and candid talk of yours I do appreciate it more grease to your elbow. Opeyemi from Lagos Nigeria
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the rather fine sentiments Opeyemi. Thank you :)
Deletewe want a good midfielder like . xavi , david silva ,..........lampard is not attacking ,and mikel is not good defence midfielder......................................................pls
ReplyDeleteVictor Moses should be in the staring 11,he had agood game n should have replaced ramires at half time.
ReplyDeleteyes. absolutely agree with you. those "fans" who talk insult RDM after the match are worse than glory hunters... if that's so, might as well support a strong MU or Barcelona who is winning everything in a Spanish League? still don't know what is wrong with them. apart from that, KTBFFH !
ReplyDeletebrilliant message/post to everyone
A true fan is first a football fan, and then a fan of his team.
ReplyDeleteAs a football fan, I respect Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. I respect the fact that Barcelona nurture such world class talent. I respect Arsenal's consistency despite always being under some sort of crisis.
I am a Chelsea fan, and I honestly do not hate any club or player. As for a Chelsea player or manager, I do criticise them. But that does not mean I hate them. Chelsea are not the best team in the world. Any fan who says that they are does not know anything about football. But Chelsea are my team.
I do abuse rival teams or players sometimes. To be honest, I dislike Anton Ferdinand for his attitude towards John Terry. Anton is taking every advantage of the situation. I am not racist. I myself am brown myself, and frankly I am darker than Anton Ferdinand! If someone called me what Anton claims Terry called him, I would ask them to have their eyesight checked!
I hate when fans hurl abuse at their own players and managers. And those fans who talk out of their backsides!
these are the words i was searching for. people ( chelsea fans ) around me are hurling words of hatred, like Torres is shit, if a club gives him at least 15 millions , sell him, etc.. im battling alone with these so-called chelsea fans. ive never uttered a bad word about any of our players and i feel bad when i hear abuses. so i counter those comments.. and this is how i get trapped in useless discussions :(
ReplyDeleteyour letter speaks all of my words. this is what i want to tell to the rest of the world. i salute ya
Oscar and Moses should start against the old ladies. Thanks for d advice. Ktbffh.
ReplyDeleteOscar n moses should be put in first 11 plz if we really want a good result after much work!!!! 4 ado ekiti nigeria
ReplyDeletei agree although anton is playing the dang victim its he who is behaving like a racist what he doesn't like white people now isn't that racist too. I have to agree with what you say but every team has it i remember RM fans iving ronaldo hell now as did man u fans when he was there. I remember arsenal fans giving RVP hell b4 he became world class and so on. Fans are a fickle bunch its the players who sadly have to be strong and put up with it. As for RDM i do not want him to get sacked but he if doesn't see his tactics are wrong then he will be. You have to remember although he won us the champions league our owner is not a patient man look at what happened to carlo, and chelsea were playing so much better under him with such flair.
ReplyDeletewin or lose its chelsea till i die
ReplyDeleteI am expecting a serious bashing from Juventus come Wednesday if RDM continues with same approach. :(
ReplyDeleteWe have head you, thank you for your letter of advice, at the same time, direct my advice to (Daniel Sturridge) to stop playing for self interest...let him learn ( Eden Hazard and Ramires Santos) this guys are playing football for the team mate. Hope you will not ignore this message. add me on FB (Chibyk HolyBoy)
ReplyDeleteThis is a brilliant thing you've just written. Well done. :)
ReplyDeleteWell said! The amount of abuse that some players get is disgusting.
ReplyDeletesad thing is, know one will listen. People will continue to abuse certain players. Mostly, Torres, Luiz and Mikel (the players I like most)
ReplyDeleteAn absolutely brilliant write up, a real eye-opener. Truth be told,so many so called Chelsea fans are fickle and have 2 learn a thing or two from Liverpool fans who'll proudly sing "You'll never walk alone" right after their received a bashing, now that's gr8 supporting & 'fanship'. I hope to God dat Chelsea fans will emulate same attitude. Once again thanks @shaynecfc360 & KTBFFH. @pejuseyi
ReplyDeleteoooooops.....! you're right but RDM need to be spoken to! Send'n essien to loan and sell'n mereiles leaves the defensive midfield shaking::::::; lampard can be rested for time
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for this open letter. I've been feeling so dejected and disappointed since yesterday's match, I guess you can relate. What hurts the most is not the fact that we didn't win or that we didn't play well, or that the line up was not the best. It was the hatred shown by some Chelsea fans towards some players.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, the one who got the blame was, as usual, Fernando Torres. While I agree that he shouldn't have stormed off, and that throwing tantrums is not going to help him regain his status as a top player, I think that it is disgusting to read things like "I hope we sell him on January. Falcao is so much better than him", or "Why doesn't he get an injury, so that he can be benched as he deserves?". I read those sentences on a Chelsea forum, mind you. Everywhere you look, today, there were people venting their anger at Torres, writing that he is a "shitty player" and such.
I can't stand this because this is OUR team, those are OUR players.. and even if they don't always play well, or they make mistakes, we have their backs, we support them, we try to help them by letting them hear and feel how much we care, for every single one of them.
Some supporters are so spoilt, if a player don't play at his best they're always thinking about a replacement to buy, like the case of Falcao. They don't really support the team, they only want to win.
I know that your letter won't change anything, but I hope that at least one person who reads it can stop abusing our players and behave like a real supporter.
We need, more than ever, to wear our Lamps shirts, to chant Fernando's name, to support Roberto Di Matteo and hope he'll learn from his "mistakes" regarding the line ups of the last matches.
Where on earth do u get praised when u don't do ur job well RDM got it all wrong against QPR he is d one sending those messges to d fans when he did not do what I think a good coach like him should he will be criticise and that should spur him cos tomorow if he get it wright we will also sing his praise
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of difference between criticizing & hating someone. There's nothing wrong with criticism. There's plenty wrong with hate.
DeleteWhere on earth do u get praised when u don't do ur job well RDM got it all wrong against QPR he is d one sending those messges to d fans when he did not do what I think a good coach like him should he will be criticise and that should spur him cos tomorow if he get it wright we will also sing his praise
ReplyDeleteI agree with bits of this letter. On the point of Malouda, sending him to the U21s is stupid. So is loaning Essien and Benayoun and selling Meireles. Malouda and Benayoun along with Ferreira should have been sold. Meireles and Essien should have been kept. Some big mistakes made there.
ReplyDeleteRDM desperately needs to learn a few things.
1) Lampard-Mikel is abysmal and our best partnerships are Oscar-Mikel and Oscar-Romeu.
2) Bertrand is not a left winger.
3) Ramires can't fit in anywhere in a 4-2-3-1.
4) The likes of Kane, Chalobah, Bertrand, Romeu, Piazon, Oscar and Bamford should be given opportunities, and in their best positions.
5) We need at least 1 forward and at least one midfielder in January, ideally Schurrle/Neymar and Cabaye/Fellaini.
6) Essien or McEachran or both should have their loans terminated and be brought back to Chelsea.
Frank Lampard isn't much use any more, all he can do is score penalties consistently to chase Bobby Tambling's 202 goals. However, Mikel, Sturridge and Luiz are most definitely good enough.
Really hoping the club gets back on track and winning matches, we should have been able to beat Atletico and QPR.
Neymar and Shürrle are attackers,not midfielders. Ramires plays as a defensive midfielder alongside Romulu for Brazil in the same 4-2-3-1 system. Oscar isn't physically equiped to play in a holding role and it's quite obvious.
Deletehey guys if you cant support chelsea at our worst time then F***K OFF.we dont tolerate your abuses.or if you think you can play better warm up and sign for chelsea.thanks for the letter you are realy a die hard fun.
ReplyDelete