Emenalo's interview

[Bigpokey24]

[/video]

[Super Eagle]

Thank you. Will watch it when I get home.

[The YeyeMan]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... ea-players

José Mourinho sacking: Michael Emenalo takes centre stage and absolves players
David Hynter, The Guardian

Michael Emenalo has enraged Chelsea fans by referring to José Mourinho, the club’s most successful manager, as ‘the individual’ in a TV interview while refusing to criticise the players

José Mourinho is an individual in the truest sense. So Michael Emenalo, the Chelsea technical director, was perfectly correct, in literal terms, when he referred to him as such at the beginning of his explosive in-house TV interview on Thursday night, just hours after Mourinho had been sacked as the club’s manager.

The nuances of the situation, of course, made the reference rather more clumsy and uncomfortable. “Whilst there is huge sentiment for the individual, you know, who has done so much for the club, the fact of the matter remains that Chelsea football club is in trouble,” Emenalo said, before dropping the bomb that The Individual’s dismissal was down to the “palpable discord” between him and the players.

In the three-and-a-half minute clip, Emenalo did not mention The Individual by name. And if that advertised the tension behind the scenes at the club, together with the underlying awkwardness of Emenalo finding himself fronting up to camera, it certainly sparked a negative reaction among sections of the fan-base.

The gist was captured in a tweet from the Chelsea HQ account, which has over a quarter of a million followers. “Mourinho’s name not once mentioned by Emenalo, referred to as ‘the individual’. He’s the greatest manager in our history. You’re a nobody.”

Emenalo came to the club in 2007, initially in a scouting and coaching capacity and, apart from an interview that he gave to the Daily Telegraph on 19 November, it is hard to remember him putting his head above the parapet. Yet here he was, rather abruptly, as the voice of the Stamford Bridge establishment, talking directly to the supporters, explaining why the managerial change had to happen.

The tremors that Emenalo sparked went beyond his linguistic faux pas. The Chelsea TV presenter appeared lost for words, momentarily, as he digested Emenalo’s “palpable discord” line, which would instantly be transposed onto the back pages of Friday’s newspapers. But he collected himself to stick the proper follow-up question on Emenalo. People have questioned the players, he said. What role had they played in the sacking?

Emenalo’s answer left no room for ambiguity and shone an industrial-sized spotlight on just how political a place Chelsea can be. “It’s very easy to make that kind of inference but it’s not one that the club accepts,” he said. Emenalo talked about the style and guts that the same players had shown last season, when they won the Premier League title and the Capital One Cup and he made the point that they had merely “played to instruction,” adhering “to everything the manager asked them to do.”

Mourinho has helped to make “parking the bus” part of common parlance. Now, he found himself shoved under one.

Mutual consent? “Look it up in the dictionary,” Mourinho had said in 2007, when his first sacking at Chelsea had been described in such terms. The club used the same phrase on Thursday, although only for legal reasons. There was no hint of consent on Mourinho’s side. When Emenalo gave his interview to the Telegraph, he was motivated to speak out because of a feeling at the club that Mourinho had been left to fight too many battles on his own. He talked about there being trust in him from the very top and rejected, out of hand, the notion that Mourinho might have ’lost the dressing-room.’

“I don’t know what losing the dressing-room means, I really don’t,” Emenalo said. “As a player myself, I have never gone into a game thinking: ‘It is never going to happen for this manager’.”

Emenalo knows all about it four weeks later and it is difficult not to see the motive behind the enlightenment, particularly when Option B is considered. There are some people at Chelsea who believe that Mourinho was well within his rights to criticise the players in public, given the lack of pride that many of them have shown in the shirt this season, albeit with the caveat that it is a dangerous game to dig out the pampered 21st century footballer.

Emenalo, though, has played the value hand; he has made the shrewd move. Mourinho has gone and he can be scapegoated; the players absolved. It is those that remain who must emerge from the shackles to lead the fightback, beginning on Saturday at home to Sunderland. Like everyone at the club, Emenalo hopes that Mourinho’s release will, in turn, release the players. Where is the use in harping on about how bad they have been?

Emenalo might also be aware of the importance of self-preservation at Stamford Bridge. Since his promotion to the post of technical director in 2011, he has overseen the club’s recruitment strategy and plenty of the current first-team squad have been signed by him.

Mourinho had begun this season of discontent with a complaint about the speed of the recruitment drive, which was, essentially, a grumble about Emanelo’s work. In the summer of last year, the key signings – Diego Costa, Cesc Fábregas, Thibaut Courtois – had arrived early. That was not the case this time.

“You can say: ‘Why didn’t we do our business before the start of the pre-season?’ like we did last year, but it’s not because we don’t want to, it’s because it’s not possible,” Mourinho said, on 14 August. “So, in this moment, we are a bit limited but I have no doubt that the club will give the squad a couple more players.”

After the tired manner in which the players had finished last season, Mourinho knew that the squad needed a boost. Pedro would arrive from Barcelona and Asmir Begovic has been a smart purchase but what of Radamel Falcao, Papy Djilobodji and Baba Rahman? Kenedy has featured while Michael Hector, Danilo Pantic and Nathan have been loaned out. There were also high-profile pursuits that failed, most notably that for Everton’s John Stones. Might Mourinho have expected more?

It will be interesting to feel the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge against Sunderland but it would be a surprise if there were not songs in support of Mourinho. Even through these shambolic months, the Chelsea diehards have backed him. Their support has been impressive and Mourinho even admitted last Friday that he was embarrassed by it. Emenalo might not have heard the end of the palpable discord.

[metalalloy]

These sentitive english people sef. I saw the interview and thought Emenalo was excellent. I didn't perceive the insult in his sentence. He was simply stating there was sentiment for Jose as an individual, but as for Jose the coach, he had to be let go as he had lost the confidence of his players. kini big deal?

[Coach]

^The Blues will turn on him, efficiently. They're already w*gheading him in Cyberspace.

[Cally]

Emenalo is well spoken. Good stuff.

[smartbrother]

wow chelsea fans are yabbing the hell out of mike
dude is cool & evertyhing
but i think this was the wrong time to step into the limelight
should have just kept his head low and let a spokesman do the talking

[Senator WIRES]

They are preparing to throw Emenalo under the bus!!

[smartbrother]

^The Blues will turn on him, efficiently. They're already w*gheading him in Cyberspace.

The fans have already turned on him
They're saying he orchestrated ray wilkins sacking in order to install himself as assistant coach to ancelotti
who then rejected him
and now he has effectively taken responsibility for sacking their alltime favorite manager
i dont see his position being under threat as abramovic loves the guy
but he better lay low for a while

[maceo4]

Talk about shooting the messenger lol!

[cchinukw]

He who pays the piper dictates the tune.

They have to like or lump Mr. Emenalo. He is going to be around for a very long time.

[AreaDaddy]

The Daily Mail Does An Assassination Job on Emenalo

Michael Emenalo, Chelsea’s technical director, November 19: ‘I don’t know what losing the dressing room means, I really don’t. As a player myself I have never gone into a game thinking, “It is never going to happen for this manager.”’

December 17, Jose Mourinho is sacked and Emenalo appears on Chelsea TV saying there was a ‘palpable discord between manager and players’ and that they had no choice but to relieve the Portuguese of his duties.

That was a palpable discord between the comments the Nigerian made in an interview with the Telegraph in which he staunchly defended the former Chelsea manager and the ones he made four weeks later.



Michael Emenalo was pictured at the Chelsea training ground with Roman Abramovich on Friday

The technical director has been one of the Chelsea owner's closest aides at the club since his arrival

Chelsea supporters reacted angrily that Emenalo was the person put up to put down their recently departed manager, whose name was still sung from the stands by them at every match despite the dire start to the season.

Emenalo has stealthily risen through the Stamford Bridge hierarchy from opposition scout, brought in by Avram Grant in 2007, to become one of the most powerful figures at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

He is one of owner Roman Abramovich’s closest aides at the club.

Emenalo appeared on Chelsea TV on Thursday night to explain the departure of Jose Mourinho

The Nigerian said that there was a 'palpable discord between manager and players' at the club

The 50-year-old can often be spotted at the Russian’s side, sharing a laugh and a joke.

This is a man whose office at Chelsea’s Cobham training centre is a short walk from what was Mourinho’s office and overlooks their training pitches.

Who was formerly at best an average midfielder and defender, playing in the US, Belgium, Germany, in England – briefly for Notts County – Spain and Israel.

Who won 14 caps for Nigeria, competing in the 1994 World Cup where he played against Diego Maradona.

Grant brought him to the club as a trusted former player of his at Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he ended his playing career.

He quickly became assistant first-team coach alongside Carlo Ancelotti and he has kept some esteemed company.

As a player, he also worked under Juande Ramos while at Spanish second division club Lleida.

He is clearly bright – after moving to the States as a student to play college football for Boston University he was advised to go on to law school before deciding to take an offer from Beligian side Molenbeek to play, then pursued a journeyman career across six countries.

He was coaching in America, building his reputation, before Grant came calling.

But however quietly he has risen through the Chelsea ranks, becoming technical director in 2011, the spotlight is beginning to catch Emenalo in its glare. He has come under scrutiny this season for Chelsea’s unsuccessful recent dealings in the transfer window.

On Chelsea’s website, they say he ‘supports the work of the first team manager, leading the club's international and domestic scouting network, and assists in driving the technical programmes of our Academy and international youth network.’

They beat Manchester United to Pedro in the summer and Asmir Begovic is a solid back-up goalkeeper, but their other signings are either not ready for the Chelsea team yet or yet to inspire: Danilo Pantic, Baba Rahman, Papy Djilobodji, Michael Hector, Marco Amelia.

They also missed out on John Stones – one of the most sought-after centre-backs in football right now – despite bidding in excess of £30million, due to Everton’s reluctance to sell. Defence has been one of the key issues this season.\

He was behind the signings of Baba Rahman and Papy Djilobodji in the summer but neither have impressed

‘We understand as a club this is football and you don’t always get what you want – and that is not to suggest that we didn’t get what we want,’ Emenalo said in the Telegraph interview.

‘We understand that as long as we have done things right and made the right effort there is no need to have regrets.

According to the club website Emenalo leads the club's international and domestic scouting network

'We didn’t get Rooney and we still finished second and started strongly, so there is no correlation between whether we had a big transfer window or not.

'What is important to understand is that as a club we work as a unit to try to get things done and get it done the right way. We didn’t get Stones, not because we didn’t want him but because Everton didn’t want to sell Stones.’

Some clubs, the real behemoths, your Real Madrids and Barcelonas, don’t take no for an answer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... -aide.html

[mcal]

...so what does this mean? The English.fans like Jose Mourinho to stay, and ganging up to blame Emenalo?
Strange, oyinbos will always stand with their own no matter where come from or how bad what he did is.

[Super Eagle]

Just listened to the interview for the first time. Emenalo was class. Referring to Jose an individual was totally appropriate, when considered in context. All the racist British fans can go and jump off the River Thames bridge, for all I care. Bloody racists

[platinum]

The Daily Mail Does An Assassination Job on Emenalo

Michael Emenalo, Chelsea’s technical director, November 19: ‘I don’t know what losing the dressing room means, I really don’t. As a player myself I have never gone into a game thinking, “It is never going to happen for this manager.”’

December 17, Jose Mourinho is sacked and Emenalo appears on Chelsea TV saying there was a ‘palpable discord between manager and players’ and that they had no choice but to relieve the Portuguese of his duties.

That was a palpable discord between the comments the Nigerian made in an interview with the Telegraph in which he staunchly defended the former Chelsea manager and the ones he made four weeks later.



Michael Emenalo was pictured at the Chelsea training ground with Roman Abramovich on Friday

The technical director has been one of the Chelsea owner's closest aides at the club since his arrival

Chelsea supporters reacted angrily that Emenalo was the person put up to put down their recently departed manager, whose name was still sung from the stands by them at every match despite the dire start to the season.

Emenalo has stealthily risen through the Stamford Bridge hierarchy from opposition scout, brought in by Avram Grant in 2007, to become one of the most powerful figures at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

He is one of owner Roman Abramovich’s closest aides at the club.

Emenalo appeared on Chelsea TV on Thursday night to explain the departure of Jose Mourinho

The Nigerian said that there was a 'palpable discord between manager and players' at the club

The 50-year-old can often be spotted at the Russian’s side, sharing a laugh and a joke.

This is a man whose office at Chelsea’s Cobham training centre is a short walk from what was Mourinho’s office and overlooks their training pitches.

Who was formerly at best an average midfielder and defender, playing in the US, Belgium, Germany, in England – briefly for Notts County – Spain and Israel.

Who won 14 caps for Nigeria, competing in the 1994 World Cup where he played against Diego Maradona.

Grant brought him to the club as a trusted former player of his at Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he ended his playing career.

He quickly became assistant first-team coach alongside Carlo Ancelotti and he has kept some esteemed company.

As a player, he also worked under Juande Ramos while at Spanish second division club Lleida.

He is clearly bright – after moving to the States as a student to play college football for Boston University he was advised to go on to law school before deciding to take an offer from Beligian side Molenbeek to play, then pursued a journeyman career across six countries.

He was coaching in America, building his reputation, before Grant came calling.

But however quietly he has risen through the Chelsea ranks, becoming technical director in 2011, the spotlight is beginning to catch Emenalo in its glare. He has come under scrutiny this season for Chelsea’s unsuccessful recent dealings in the transfer window.

On Chelsea’s website, they say he ‘supports the work of the first team manager, leading the club's international and domestic scouting network, and assists in driving the technical programmes of our Academy and international youth network.’

They beat Manchester United to Pedro in the summer and Asmir Begovic is a solid back-up goalkeeper, but their other signings are either not ready for the Chelsea team yet or yet to inspire: Danilo Pantic, Baba Rahman, Papy Djilobodji, Michael Hector, Marco Amelia.

They also missed out on John Stones – one of the most sought-after centre-backs in football right now – despite bidding in excess of £30million, due to Everton’s reluctance to sell. Defence has been one of the key issues this season.\

He was behind the signings of Baba Rahman and Papy Djilobodji in the summer but neither have impressed

‘We understand as a club this is football and you don’t always get what you want – and that is not to suggest that we didn’t get what we want,’ Emenalo said in the Telegraph interview.

‘We understand that as long as we have done things right and made the right effort there is no need to have regrets.

According to the club website Emenalo leads the club's international and domestic scouting network

'We didn’t get Rooney and we still finished second and started strongly, so there is no correlation between whether we had a big transfer window or not.

'What is important to understand is that as a club we work as a unit to try to get things done and get it done the right way. We didn’t get Stones, not because we didn’t want him but because Everton didn’t want to sell Stones.’

Some clubs, the real behemoths, your Real Madrids and Barcelonas, don’t take no for an answer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... -aide.html

He should be fine in the short term. Whoever comes in can't possibly do worse with this squad than Jose did but he's on a short leash from those guys, dem dey fous on am now.

[osita]

It seems emenalo has shot himself on his foot, he should have been diplomatic rather than call Jose individual , he would have called him a legend. It seems emenalo get issues with the individual

Emenalo should have played it safe because Jose is very loved by Chelsea fans.

[maceo4]

It seems emenalo has shot himself on his foot, he should have been diplomatic rather than call Jose individual , he would have called him a legend. It seems emenalo get issues with the individual

Emenalo should have played it safe because Jose is very loved by Chelsea fans.

Are you sure he is not speaking the mind of his boss? You guys sound like he just went on there and said whatever he likes. He is just the messenger.

[balo]

It seems emenalo has shot himself on his foot, he should have been diplomatic rather than call Jose individual , he would have called him a legend. It seems emenalo get issues with the individual

Emenalo should have played it safe because Jose is very loved by Chelsea fans.

Emenalo was speaking in his capacity as Chelsea's Technical Director. The face of the club and his boss.

[Bigpokey24]

It seems emenalo has shot himself on his foot, he should have been diplomatic rather than call Jose individual , he would have called him a legend. It seems emenalo get issues with the individual

Emenalo should have played it safe because Jose is very loved by Chelsea fans.

Rubbish

[Waffiman]

The fact is Chelski gave Jose success by making sure he had ridiculous amounts of money to waste on players and agents. Mourinho has spent over 1 billion pounds in attaining the wins he has and majority of this money has been Roman's. Those fans should be thankful to Roman and not Mourinho.

IMHO, one reason why Mourinho found it tough 2nd time around is he has lost that monopoly he had on getting the world's best players. He failed to sign players like Pogba because clubs like City and even Manure were ready to outspend Chelski. It was never like this when he first arrived at Chelski buying all the best players.

[Waffiman]

It seems emenalo has shot himself on his foot, he should have been diplomatic rather than call Jose individual , he would have called him a legend. It seems emenalo get issues with the individual

Emenalo should have played it safe because Jose is very loved by Chelsea fans.

I disagree.

Emenalo was only speaking as the paid representative of his boss who everyone knows had little or no time for Mourinho. Emenalo is nt a nobody at Chelski he has worked very hard towards the recent successes at the club and it is the reason why he holds the position he now has at the club. It is alright for Mourinho to throw his players underneath the bus but not so if an employee disagrees with their position on Mourinho.

The Chelski fans should accept the fact that they cannot stop this Black man from getting on the train.

BTW! Chelski have also changed their position in the Eva case. They did not go to the Tribunal hearing to offer a defence of their position. This means they have accepted guilt and are now working very hard for a settlement in favour of their former employee. Some are even claiming that there os a possibility that she would return to her job.

[balo]

It seems emenalo has shot himself on his foot, he should have been diplomatic rather than call Jose individual , he would have called him a legend. It seems emenalo get issues with the individual

Emenalo should have played it safe because Jose is very loved by Chelsea fans.

I disagree.

Emenalo was only speaking as the paid representative of his boss who everyone knows had little or no time for Mourinho. Roman likes footballers and I have heard stories of how he loves being in the company of footballers. Jose was no footballer.

The Chelski fans should accept the fact that they cannot stop this Black man from getting on the train.

BTW! Chelski have also changed their position in the Eva case. They did not go to the Tribunal hearing to offer a defence of their position. This means they have accepted guilt and are now working very hard for a settlement in favour of their former employee. Some are even claiming that there os a possibility that she would return to her job.

I hope she does. Maybe Hazard will get his mojo back.

[ANC]