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The purge of the Roman empire: How Chelsea moved on from Abramovich – and fell backwards

对罗曼帝国的清洗：切尔西如何摆脱阿布拉莫维奇——却走向了衰退

On and off the pitch, change, and a lot of it, has marked the club since Eghbali-Boehly regime took over

By any measure it has been change on an epic scale at Chelsea. In the playing squad, the manager’s office, and among those who work at Stamford Bridge and the Cobham training ground, a lot has happened in the space of two years under a new ownership.

在球场内外，自埃格巴利-伯利团队接管以来，变化成为了俱乐部的主旋律。

无论从哪个角度来看，切尔西都经历了一场史诗般的变化。在新东家掌管的两年间，从球员阵容、教练办公室，到斯坦福桥球场和科巴姆训练基地的工作人员，很多事情都发生了变化

The impending departures of Conor Gallagherand Trevoh Chalobah are the latest from among a playing staff who developed under the old regime of Roman Abramovich. More than 40 players have left the first-team squad since the May 2022 takeover, not including loans. But it has not ended there – under a restless new ownership, eager for its own success on the pitch to match that of the previous two decades, tumultuous change has ripped through the club.

From managers and their assistants, to doctors, physiotherapists, football staff, at Cobham and beyond to Stamford Bridge’s commercial, financial and communication staff – everyone can agree on one thing: Chelsea is very different. So much so that it is easier to name those who have not gone, rather than those who have.

加拉格尔和查洛巴即将离队，这是在阿布旧政权下成长起来的球员中最新的离队球员。自2022年5月新东家接管以来，已有超过40名一线队球员离队（不包括租借离队的）。但变化并未止步于此——新东家渴望在球场上取得与前二十年相匹配的成功，这种动荡的变化已席卷整个俱乐部。

从主教练及其助教，到科巴姆及更远的斯坦福桥的医生、理疗师和足球工作人员，再到商业、财务和沟通人员——所有人都同意一件事：切尔西现在与过去截然不同。变化如此剧烈，以至于现在更容易列出那些没有离开的人，而不是那些已经离开的人。

From groundsmen to masseurs, marketing executives to academy managers, even the HR specialists whose job it is to negotiate departures – the people who ran the Abramovich regime have been swept away. On the playing side, there have been four managers, plus one interim, and all those players, including many academy graduates who – like Gallagher, Chalobah, and Armando Broja, all three on the brink of leaving – have spent much of their youth at Chelsea.

Each story has been different, and not all the details of many of those who have left have yet fully emerged. Neil Bath, the cornerstone of Chelsea’s academyfor so many years, and the club’s old sage who predated Abramovich, was in a wider role at Cobham when he announced he was leaving last month. That was connected to the departure of his friend Jimmy Fraser, who left his role as Bath’s successor as academy director.

At the other end of the scale there have been some brought in by the new ownership since May 2022, who have already gone, such as technical director Christopher Vivell, and president of business, Tom Glick.

从场地维护人员到按摩师，从市场营销主管到青训经理，甚至是那些负责处理离职事宜的人力资源专家——曾在阿布拉莫维奇政权下工作的人们已被清洗一空。在球员方面，俱乐部已经历了四任主教练，外加一位临时教练，还有包括加拉格尔、查洛巴和布罗亚在内的许多青训毕业生，这三人都已濒临离队。

每个人的离队故事各不相同，但许多离职的细节至今仍未完全披露。尼尔 巴斯，曾多年担任切尔西青训基石的老将，在阿布拉莫维奇时代之前就已在俱乐部任职。上个月他宣布离开时，已在科巴姆担任更广泛的角色。这与他好友吉米 弗雷泽的离职有关，弗雷泽是巴斯的继任者，曾担任青训主管。

另一方面，自2022年5月以来，新东家引进了一些人，但他们也已经离开，比如技术总监克里斯托弗 维维尔和商务总裁汤姆 格里克。

“Chelsea are in a race to catch up”

“切尔西正在全力追赶”

What is going on? At the heart of it is the ownership consortium, and in particular Behdad Eghbali. He is the Californian private equity billionaire, who controls the Clearlake Capital fund that in turn controls 62 per cent of the club. Eghbali and his Clearlake partner Jose E Feliciano have a 50-50 share of decisions with fellow consortium principal, the US investor Todd Boehly. Each decision requires all their signatures. Yet those on the inside agree that it is Eghbali’s presence that is felt at the club above any other.

究竟发生了什么？核心问题在于新的所有者团队，尤其是贝赫达德 埃格巴利。他是控制着清湖集团基金的加州私募股权亿万富翁，而这个基金掌控着切尔西62%的股份。埃格巴利和他的清湖合伙人何塞 费利西亚诺与同样来自美国的投资者托德 伯利各占50%的决策权。每项决策都需要他们的共同签字。然而，俱乐部内部人士一致认为，埃格巴利的存在感在俱乐部比其他任何人都强

Eghbali’s view is understood to be that Chelsea are racing to catch up, and that building a club will invariably involve some casualties. Abramovich sacked his managers regularly, but underneath that Chelsea changed relatively little. Among the now-sanctioned Russian’s leading aides, Marina Granovskaia, his former PA, became the key power. Abramovich’s long-term New York lawyer Bruce Buck was chairman. Beyond that were Chelsea employees who had been there for decades.

The view of Eghbali is understood to be less than complimentary on that front: that the club was run more like a family business. To the extent that in at least one department, more than one generation of a family were employed. Certainly, that is no longer the case as the wind of change whistles through the club.

据悉，埃格巴利认为，切尔西正在全力追赶，而建立一个成功的俱乐部不可避免地会带来一些牺牲（Hhhhh最幽默的地方）。阿布虽然经常解雇教练，但除此之外，切尔西变化并不大。阿布的前助理玛丽娜 格拉诺夫斯卡娅（No）成为关键人物，他的长期纽约律师布鲁斯·巴克担任主席。除此之外，切尔西的许多员工已在俱乐部工作了数十年。

据悉，埃格巴利对这种情况并不满意：他认为俱乐部运作得更像一个家族企业。至少在某些部门，曾有一代以上的家庭成员在俱乐部工作。然而，现在情况已经改变，俱乐部的转型之风席卷了每个角落。

To others who have worked there, the pace of change is simply too dizzying. The speed with which decisions are made about the suitability of new hires is too rapid. Some say the ownership is too susceptible to chasing the latest shiny new thing, whether that is a new player or an exec at a rival club. They also point out that for all the eagerness of the private equity money to create a business in line with its own corporate ideals – Chelsea once used to win trophies.

One thing is clear, the Eghbali way is not going to change. Hires deemed the wrong fit are quickly moved on. He tells those around him, better to concede a mistake has been made rather than struggle on with those who do not fit.

一些在俱乐部工作过的人认为，变化的速度让人难以适应。对新员工适应性的评估太过的仓促。一些人认为，新的老板团队太容易被新事物所吸引，不论是新球员还是其他俱乐部的高管。此外，尽管私募股权资金急于按自己的企业理想塑造俱乐部，但切尔西曾是一个赢得奖杯的俱乐部。

可以肯定的是，你发哥的方式不会改变。那些被认为不合适的员工会迅速被撤换。他告诉周围的人，承认错误比继续与不合适的人共事要好得多。

For Vivell, now working at Manchester United, the seven months he lasted having left RB Leipzig will not have been enough. Glick arrived from Manchester City in June 2022 and departed in November of the following year. That first summer of the new regime, when Boehly was the sporting director on a temporary basis, did not deliver the successful new squad that was intended. The defender Kalidou Koulibaly lasted one year before he was dispatched to Saudi Arabia. The club now seem to be listening to offers for Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke.

That is before one gets to the managers: Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, the ill-starred Frank Lampard caretaker period and then Mauricio Pochettino’s single season. What has not changed are the co-sporting directors, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, who have had their roles expanded since their appointments in late 2022. They have Eghbali’s absolute trust. Although beyond the inner circle at Chelsea, the jury is still out on both of them.

对于现在在曼联工作的维维尔来说，离开 RB 莱比锡后坚持了七个月还不够。格里克于 2022 年 6 月从曼城来到曼联，并于次年 11 月离开。新政权的第一个夏天，伯利临时担任体育总监，并没有带来预期的成功新阵容。后卫库利巴利坚持了一年，然后被派往沙特阿拉伯。俱乐部现在似乎正在听取对斯特林和马杜埃克的报价。

还没提到的是教练：托马斯 图赫尔、格雷厄姆 波特、以及短暂担任临时主帅的弗兰克 兰帕德，然后是毛里西奥·波切蒂诺的单赛季执教。唯一未变的是2022年末上任的两位联合体育总监：温斯坦利和斯图尔特，他们的职责自上任以来已进一步扩大。他们得到了埃格巴利的绝对信任。虽然在切尔西的核心圈子之外，人们对他们的看法仍然不一。

“No love for the previous regime”（这个no love非常灵性）

“对前任团队毫无感情”

There is no love lost between the Eghbali-Boehly regime and the one that preceded it. That starts with the self-reporting of financial issues under the Abramovich regime – not yet fully disclosed – that are currently being investigated by the Premier League and have been the subject of a settlement with Uefa. But it goes further. The new ownership sees fault everywhere with the club they inherited. From the shortcomings on digital and licensing revenue, to why it was that Chelsea academy players needed extensive loans to prepare themselves for the senior team while Manchester City’s young talent have been Premier League ready.

Either way, there have now been four managers, one disastrous 12th-place Premier League finish and last season’s sixth. There will be no hiding place for the Eghbali-Boehly consortium in 2024-2025. Key figures there say they have learned from mistakes. Fellow underachievers Manchester United, also under new leadership, have stuck with their manager. Eghbali-Boehly have changed again with Enzo Maresca.

The club’s profitability and sustainability compliancy appears to have been achieved by the sale of hotels and the women’s team within the group, to the dismay of rivals. The club has sold academy graduates to help balance its huge transfer spend. Its wage bill has been reduced. Nevertheless, the unique challenge the Premier League presents goes beyond just hiring executives and recruitment experts. But if there were titles available for that alone, Chelsea would be in contention.

埃格巴利-伯利团队与前任之间没有任何感情。首先是阿布时期的财务问题，这些问题目前正在被英超调查，并已成为与欧足联达成和解的主题。但问题不止于此。新东家认为，他们继承的俱乐部在各方面都存在问题。从数字化和授权收入的不足，到为什么切尔西青训球员需要大量租借才能为一线队做好准备，而曼城的年轻天才却已准备好在英超中崭露头角。

无论如何，自新东家接管以来，俱乐部已经更换了四任主教练，并经历了一次灾难性的英超第12名和上赛季的第6名。在2024-2025赛季，埃格巴利-伯利团队将无处躲藏。关键人物表示，他们已从错误中吸取教训。另一支表现不佳的球队曼联，也在新领导层下选择坚持他们的主帅。相比之下，埃格巴利-伯利团队再次选择变动，任命马雷斯卡为新主帅。

通过出售酒店和女子队来达成的盈利与可持续性合规显然已经实现，这令竞争对手们感到失望。俱乐部通过出售青训毕业生来平衡巨额转会支出，工资也得到了削减。然而，英超挑战的独特之处不仅仅是聘请高管和招聘专家那么简单。但如果仅凭这一点就能获得荣誉，切尔西一定是有力的竞争者。

Joe Shields from Manchester City, and Sam Jewell from Brighton make up the rest of the recruitment and academy inner circle around Eghbali. The new chief executive, Chris Jurasek came from the US, as did the chief operating officer Jason Gannon, who worked on the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. There are new chief revenue and marketing officers and more British-based US football execs to come. United’s chief executive of digital, Phil Lynch, is serving his notice at Old Trafford. So too Tottenham Hotspur’s chief commercial officer, Todd Kline.

曼城的乔 希尔兹和布莱顿的山姆 朱厄尔构成了围绕埃格巴利的招聘和青训内核圈子。新任首席执行官克里斯 尤拉塞克来自美国，首席运营官杰森 甘农也来自美国，他曾在洛杉矶的SoFi体育场工作。俱乐部还新任命了首席营收官和市场总监，并且还会有更多英国本土的美国足球高管加入。曼联的首席数字官菲尔·林奇正在履行他在老特拉福德的离职通知期。托特纳姆热刺的首席商务官托德·克莱因也是如此

“Culture clash at the club”

“俱乐部的文化冲突”

As for those who have left, it would be right to say the medical department has changed beyond recognition, starting with the director Paco Biosca and including almost all the physiotherapists. Dissatisfaction with the state of the Stamford Bridge pitch resulted in the departure of the club’s long-serving head groundsman Jason Griffin after 34 years. He was replaced by Paul Burgess, now the club’s director of global sports services and landscaping, who was previously at Real Madrid and then Monaco with Stewart.

The club’s director of facilities, Paul Kingsmore, a key figure in ensuring Chelsea complied with the regulations laid out during Covid, has departed. So too Joanne Stone, the club’s director of human resources. The head of global merchandise Richard Milham is expected to leave after 27 years. Simon Hunter, who has run Stamford Bridge’s matchday commercial businesses for 21 years, is also expected to leave.

Among the communications department, Steve Atkins and Adrian Phillips, who both worked more than 10 years with a range of Abramovich managers, have both gone. Toby Craig, recruited by Glick from City post-takeover, has also left. He is now in a similar role at United

至于那些已经离开的人，可以说医疗部门发生了翻天覆地的变化，从主任帕科 比奥斯卡到几乎所有的理疗师都被替换。由于对斯坦福桥球场草皮状况的不满导致俱乐部服务34年的资深场地维护主管杰森 格里芬离职。他被保罗 伯吉斯取代，后者现在担任俱乐部全球体育服务和景观总监（这是啥职位…），此前曾在皇马和摩纳哥与斯图尔特共事。

俱乐部设施主管保罗 金斯莫尔是确保切尔西遵守新冠疫情期间制定规定的关键人物，也已经离职。人力资源主管乔安妮 斯通也离开了。全球商品主管理查德 米尔汉在切尔西效力27年后预计将离开。西蒙 亨特，负责斯坦福桥比赛日商业运营21年的人也预计将离开。

在沟通部门，史蒂夫 阿特金斯和阿德里安 菲利普斯，这两位曾与多位阿布团队合作超过10年的人，已经离职。托比 克雷格，在收购后由格里克从曼城招募来的人员，也已经离开。他现在在曼联担任类似的职务。

The survivors? David Barnard, the club secretary, a key administrative role, started at the club in 2002, before the Abramovich takeover. The financial director Paul Ramos remains in post, although there is a new chief financial officer. The club’s general counsel James Bonington is expected to be given an expanded role.

One can only hope that among the new executive line-up someone has an answer to what might be arguably the most difficult question facing Chelsea: the future of Stamford Bridge. No announcements have been forthcoming.

没被干掉的幸存者？俱乐部秘书戴维 巴纳德，这一关键的行政角色，自2002年阿布收购前便已在职。财务总监保罗 拉莫斯仍然在任，尽管俱乐部现在有了一位新任首席财务官。俱乐部法律总顾问詹姆斯 博宁顿预计将获得扩大职责。

我们只能希望，在新的高管团队中，有人能对切尔西面临的或许是最艰难的问题——斯坦福桥的未来——给出一个答案，目前还没有任何消息。

As for the homegrown players in the first-team squad, the ownership has backed Reece James and Levi Colwill with new deals but by the end of the window they may be the last two. Yet the squad is currently enormous: 53 including the four out on loan.

At the very least one could say it has been a culture clash – the frantic and disruptive tech business creed of 2020s America meets a football club made successful by a mysterious billionaire and his small inner circle. The Chelsea of Eghbali and of Boehly lay claim to be completely different to the Abramovich regime. Although perhaps in the way in which they reflect the personalities of their super-rich owners, they are more similar than they think

至于一线队中的本土球员，老板们已经支持里斯詹姆斯和科尔维尔签订了新合同，不过到转会窗结束时，他们可能是最后两位留下的本土球员。尽管如此，目前球队阵容依然庞大：包括租借出去的四人在内，总计有53人。

至少可以这么评价，这是一次文化冲突——2020年美国的疯狂且具有破坏性的科技商业信条遇上了由一位神秘的亿万富翁及其小圈子打造成功的足球俱乐部。埃格巴利和伯利的切尔西声称与阿布拉莫维奇的时代完全不同。然而，也许在某种程度上，他们也反映了超级富豪所有者的个性，这两者比他们想象中要更加的相似。