Chelsea board needs to learn from what is happening at Manchester United

Chelsea return to Premier League action on February 17 as they host Manchester United. They should study more than just their opponent’s tactics.

Gone are the days when Chelsea was one of the leading participants in the transfer market. Despite winning the appeal and having the transfer ban rescinded, they didn’t sign a single player to the men’s senior team. As expected, most of the fans were not satisfied with the board.

The last few seasons have provided too many examples of how fans make their displeasure known. Anybody who has followed Chelsea matches at Stamford Bridge would have observed the fans making sure their displeasure is heard – remember the “rat” banners? It had an effect on the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge.

Now Chelsea have somewhat the opposite problem. The match-going fans are less vocal, even in good times. During most matches these days, the away fans are heard more than the home fans. This is something that would have never happened a decade ago.

Earlier protests were aimed at Michael Emenalo and later at Marina Granovskaia. Towards the end of Antonio Conte’s second season, he, too, had to listen to the fans’ displeasure at the way the team was playing. The same thing happened to Maurizio Sarri, as well. Fans made their voice heard.

Meanwhile, at Chelsea’s next opponents Manchester United, all the fans’ displeasure is aimed directly at chief executive Ed Woodward, who is always present during matches. Their manager, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, who can still ride the positive emotions from his days as a player and his perpetually – sometimes inappropriately – sunny disposition, is mostly safe from protests, unlike his predecessors Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, and David Moyes.

Intentionally or not, the Chelsea board took a leaf straight out of Manchester United’s book by converting a club legend player into a manager, despite his inexperience, perhaps knowing his playing days shelter him, maybe immunize him, from criticism. The Blues even managed to strike gold twice, as well: first with the appointment of Frank Lampard, then with Petr Cech. Two legends onto the staff in one transfer-less summer.

It’s not a far stretch to say the board struck gold thrice, with Lampard’s decision to give the academy graduates chances the third. It will take a lot for the fans to even make a noise against Lampard, Cech or a team with so many of their treasured youngsters.

But this does not relieve the front office and executives from their responsibilities to the club. Just because Lampard, Cech and the youth are not on the receiving end of “(Insert name here) out” campaigns, does not mean fans are and will remain fully satisfied with the direction of things. If anything, the fans’ protests, if they happen, towards the executives may be more pointed because of it. The criticism and negativity they would normally spread across multiple targets could now be channeled among fewer, those without the emotional protection of being at the core of Chelsea’s golden generation.

This is a similar dynamic to what Manchester United are experiencing now.

Most protest and displeasure from Chelsea fans stays just in social media. Given the extent of what Manchester’s worst fans are doing, this is by far the best of all options.

Even if the noise level is low from the fans at Stamford Bridge, there is always support for Frank Lampard and the boys. Any other year, things would not have been too dissimilar from events at Old Trafford, after a run of dreadful results and no recruitment.

Chelsea’s board can not afford to be complacent any more than the men on the pitch or in the technical area. If they think they can hide behind Frank Lampard, they only need to look to Manchester United to see how that turns out.