Chelsea needs to give up their bonkers crusade against Antonio Conte

Chelsea continues to look for ways not to pay Antonio Conte what he is owed. All this is doing is dragging the clubs name through the mud.

The Pride of London is a Chelsea fan site. Being a fan means loving your team almost like it is a family. And sometimes the best way to support a family member is to tell them when they are being incredibly stupid about something.

Chelsea fired Antonio Conte, as they have fired many managers before. But for whatever reason, this was the time that the club decided they were not going to pay the severance and would instead claim a breach of contract. A Premier League tribunal already told the club to pay the man. But whoever makes these decisions at Chelsea has decided that they are still right and are taking it to an employment tribunal.

The main thrust of Chelsea’s argument is that Conte’s text to Diego Costa about not being needed lowered his transfer value. Pay no attention to the fact he wanted to leave months before that. Or that Costa went AWOL to Brazil to pout. Or that he leaked the text in the first place. No, it seems that nothing Costa did lowered his transfer value. It was all mean old Mister Conte who merely told him what everyone already knew.

Chelsea will also likely try to use the argument that he “downed tools” because that is apparently something players and managers do when they have reached the highest level of the game. Of course, Chelsea did win the FA Cup and their performances leading to fifth in the Premier League could hardly be placed on Conte’s shoulders alone.

Also pay no attention to the fact that Chelsea did not fire Conte until the next season technically began. For a club claiming breach of contract, they sure kept the guy on the payroll for a long time past when he was needed.

Keep in mind all of this is over about £9 million in wages. Danny Drinkwater probably made that sitting on the Chelsea sideline for two years. But apparently when it comes to Conte it is a price too large.

Everything about Chelsea’s case against Conte screams like a vendetta. Blame Conte for the poor transfer window. Blame Conte for Costa deciding to, you know, breach his contract as he goes AWOL to Brazil. Blame Conte for staying on as he was contractually obligated and for not taking a job when Chelsea fired him in July.

This all should have ended when the Premier League tribunal told the club they were wrong. It did not. And now Chelsea is further embarrassing themselves by trying to take this to yet another tribunal.

The club played their bad hand and lost and is still trying to convince someone that the game should go on. And like a family member that says something so incredibly off the wall that they need to be steered back to reality, Chelsea does too. This is not a good look for the club and it makes virtually no sense to anyone willing to dig even a little into it.

The Blues made a bad decision and trying to make another bad decision to justify the original bad decision is just another bad decision. Sometimes supporting the club means saying they screwed up.

When it comes to trying to avoid paying Conte what he is owed with flimsy excuses after one tribunal already said the club had no right not to pay, Chelsea screwed up.