csconstantine.com

* Chief executive stands by approach to managers

* New team boss could be unveiled within a week

* Expansion, fresh revenue sought to balance books

By Martin Petty

BANGKOK, June 16 (Reuters) - Chelsea have defended the club’s rapid turnover of managers in recent years with the chief executive saying it was results that mattered and a new team boss could be named within a week.

Ron Gourlay told Reuters in an interview that the Premier League club’s hire-and-fire approach to managers—after going through four in as many years—had delivered the goods in terms of the number of trophies won.

“Continuity is very important but so is performance and results,” said Gourlay, who was in Bangkok on Thursday to promote the club’s pre-season Asian tour.

“Our model may not be the model others agree with but at the end of the day, we’ve taken the decisions we felt we needed to take to develop Chelsea Football Club… and we’ve won 10 major trophies in the last six years.”

Gourlay declined to comment on whether Turkey’s Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, was being lined up to replace sacked Italian Carlo Ancelotti but said several candidates had been looked at.

“The process of getting a new coach is going very, very well. I’d expect a new coach to hopefully be in place within the next week, maybe two weeks, but maybe even earlier,” he said.

BELT-TIGHTENING

Gourlay also said the club planned to tighten their belt and generate fresh revenue to comply with new UEFA finance rules.

He said Chelsea would have no problem adhering to new financial fair play regulations devised by European soccer’s governing body aimed at stopping clubs from borrowing vast sums to buy success and spending more than their income.

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Chelsea posted a loss of 71 million pounds ($114.8 million) in June last year and spent an equivalent amount in January on Spain striker Fernando Torres and Brazil defender David Luiz that was Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger said was “logic-defying”. [ID:nLDE7110YU]

Gourlay said the struggling Torres was a “fantastic signing” but Chelsea, like most clubs, must in future control spending and balance the books by nurturing more home-grown talent and generating new revenue sources without raising ticket prices.

UEFA’s new financial regulations will be applied from the reporting period starting at the end of next year.

“Performances on the field help drive a lot of the revenue off the field so you have to get the balance right, look at the costs, control wages going forward,” he said.

“Squads may not be as big as in the past and we have to get the youngsters through the academy and, when that happens, it takes a bit of the pressure off.”

GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

Part of the remedy was to expand Chelsea’s global footprint with Asia seen as a key market with huge growth potential.

The club was working hard to lure more Asian sponsors, raise Chelsea’s profile by launching more “Blue Pitch” development programmes, offering up the expertise of its coaches and sending youth and first-team squads to play in Asia.

He said the club was already active in Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong and planned to expand into Japan, South Korea and China, Gourlay added.

Hourlay described Chelsea’s failure to win a trophy last season after finishing nine points adrift of champions Manchester United as a huge disappointment, adding that the squad would be “freshened up” before the start of the new campaign though he would not be drawn on potential signings.

“Unfortunately, we just left ourselves at the end with too much to do,” he said of the title race.

“The expectation was so high after winning the double (in 2010), our most successful year, so it was a disappointing season but we need to remain very, very confident, the club must continue to develop, we must not change our strategy.”

Chelsea will play pre-season matches in Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia in late July.

(Editing by Ken Ferris; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Labels: change, Chelsea, defend, Manager, regular, Reuters

Kubica’s accident appears to have polarised opinion within the paddock between those who consider allowing such activities irresponsible and those who consider them essential.

Three-times world champion Sir Jackie Stewart, a man who regularly raced in sports cars during his F1 career, said he was more inclined these days to consider such activities irresponsible having been a team owner himself.

His argument is that teams and sponsors pour millions of pounds into racing every year and hundreds of people depend on that for jobs.

“You’ve got to look after that investment,” Stewart said. “It’s quite a challenge to stop drivers doing the things I believe are unwise leading up to a F1 season. Skiing is the one you would immediately think of.”

Yet Ferrari annually raise eyebrows by allowing their highly-paid drivers to ski every year at their pre-season trip to the Italian Dolomites.

And speaking on Monday at the launch of the MVR-02, Virgin team principal John Booth admitted he had recently taken his two drivers skiing as well.

“We took Jerome [d’Ambrosio] and Timo [Glock] skiing a couple of weeks ago,” Booth said. “We said ’OK guys, stick to the piste blah blah blah.’ So we got to the top of the lift, the gates opened and they were just flat out.

“They were everywhere. And that’s how they are. That’s what makes them so good. It’d be difficult to stifle that, wouldn’t it? You can’t wrap them in cotton wool.” Some teams try.

It is understood that McLaren’s two British drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, must seek permission if they wish to pursue any sort of dangerous extra-curricular activity. A request to go rallying would not likely be granted.

Over at Red Bull, Christian Horner said last December he would consider banning Mark Webber from mountain biking after the Australian broke a second bone in as many years falling off his bike.

Ultimately, each team is different although whether attitudes will harden in light of Kubica’s accident remains to be seen.

The Pole remained in an induced coma on Monday, woken only briefly to speak to family and friends, as doctors at the Santa Corona Hospital near Genoa rested him ahead of possible further operations to fractures of the shoulder and elbow.

Professor Mario Igor Rossello, part of the team who carried out the seven-hour operation to save Kubica’s right hand on Sunday night, cautioned that it would be a while yet before it could be deemed successful.

“The hand is warm and this means the operation went well,” Rossello said.

“We need at least six days to check if the circulation of the blood in the limb responds as it should.”

That leaves Renault in an awkward position. Boullier said on Monday that he would not make a decision on Kubica’s replacement until he knew how long he would be out for. However, with the second of four winter tests starting in Jerez on Thursday, time is of the essence.

Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean are Renault’s two reserves waiting in the wings, but Boullier is believed to favour signing a driver with greater experience.

Nick Heidfeld, with 172 grands prix behind him, has that in abundance while there has been a groundswell of support for 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen to return.

The Finn’s manager, Steve Robertson, was unavailable for comment on Monday night.

Labels: crash, decision, defend, Kubica, rally, rallying, Renault, Robert, Telegraphcouk