Close Menu
    AMA: The Athletic's Chelsea reporter, Simon Johnson
    Chelsea

    AMA: The Athletic’s Chelsea reporter, Simon Johnson


    Hi everyone, Simon Johnson here, Chelsea correspondent for The Athletic. I have covered the many ups and downs at Chelsea since 2000. That’s a lot of managers, trophies and articles! I am also a regular on the Straight Outta Cobham podcast.

    I’ll be taking your questions for an hour on Thursday 19th March from 5pm GMT. Please come and join the chat!

    by TheAthletic

    Share.
    View 43 Comments

    43 Comments

    1. dzzik on

      Hi Simon,

      I really like your level headed takes on the pod, so I’d really appreciate your take on how you approach modern football. I can’t help but feel detached and frankly quite disappointed by how the discourse centres around finances, accounting, investing, ROI and whatever else. Do you see any culmination point of all this rubbish, or do you assume the whole thing is going to turn into a world as deeply fascinating as say banking or stocks? Would you say this has been steadily coming or is it more of a sudden enshittification?

    2. webby09246 on

      Hi Simon, is there any idea about what the Chelsea board might react like to a situation where a major player in their project like Enzo Fernandez did try force his way out?

      We’ve seen players like Sterling and Disasi bomb squaded but they obviously were never a core central figure like the de facto vice captain Enzo Fernandez is.

    3. PotentialPlatypus795 on

      Hi Simon, quick question. In your opinion what does the future look like for the football club?

    4. GreatSilverHope on

      Hi Simon

      Are you aware that the Chelsea reddit community holds you in quite high esteem and that many journalists in the footballing world are not viewed quite as well by us on this platform?

    5. kallyJ911 on

      What does the board see right now that makes them think they are on the right track because top managers have been interviewed and not been given a job. Pochetino had a good end to the season and fell out with the board. Maresca also fell out.

    7. Bud_Light_ on

      Are we even thinking of buying a defender who can defend and lead from the front and help us be at the level where we ought to?

    8. Excellent-Syrup7411 on

      Simon do you have any advice for someone looking to get into the football journalism world in the modern day of the media?

    9. thorium90232 on

      Which manager sacking/departure would you say had the most shock-value on players and staff all things considered? And/or which for you personally?

    11. siybon on

      Hi Simon.

      Great name.

      What did you make of the quotes attributed to Daniel Finkelstein?

      In particular the one about there being no correlation between managers/coaches and results?

    12. thatiswhack on

      Can you give us any insight into what the actual strategy is for the club? Is it more than just investing in young player and selling them for a profit later on?

      Do you know what the criteria are for hiring new managers? Is there a certain style of play the SDs are looking for or just someone who can develop the young players?

    13. stallwoe on

      Hi Simon

      Thanks for your pessimism on SoC! What’s the possibility of us transferring Sanchez for a keeper with more experience? I’ve heard from you that Mike Penders is what BlueCo had in mind, but I’d expect opinions have changed about our keeper and backline after the PSG game.

      Thanks!

    14. BigZabes on

      Hi Simon, fellow Chelsea and NY Jets supporter here (sigh). Which ownership frustrates you more – The Johnson Family or Clearlake/ Boehly?

    15. renome on

      Do you have a favorite Chelsea match?

      Also, a more general question: has AI entered your everyday workflow, either by choice or force?

      Keep up the good work!

    16. Apprehensive_Bit_176 on

      Hi Simon, no question, just want to say Straight Outta Cobham is one of my favourite pods.

      Thanks

    17. Super-Surround-4347 on

      Hi Simon,

      Are you ever given PR pieces by the club or asked to run something in their favour, and you do it to keep the contact warm? Seems like that with some of the articles if I’m being honest.

    19. siybon on

      In the battle of the spiral pastries. Pain au raisin, cinnamon roll or chelsea bun?

      (It’s ok to choose one of the two correct answers by the way)

    20. Saucy_Man11 on

      Simon, you and others have often reported that the current ownership and sporting directors are pitching a project to potential signings and managers. However, the details of the project aren’t as readily available to the fans. Can you share what you’re aware of in this project pitch? And have the owners and sporting directors delivered on their parts? These recent rumors of players thinking to leave tells me that what they were promised isn’t being fulfilled.

      Another question – are you eager or worried to see how all of your future focused adjudications will perform on SOC? I see your strategy…

    22. tmxl99 on

      Hi Simon,

      Where do Chelsea go from here, given that the “project” is teetering on the edge of collapse and there really isn’t any clear path forward. What would have to happen for ownership and directors to change their approach?

    23. Welsooo on

      Simon,

      Massive fan of the podcast, you all do a great job with providing the Chels content!

      Straight outta cobham is seen as the best Athletic podcast content around (bespoke to a specific club). Why do you feel that is?

    24. Arj2301 on

      Hi Simon, do you feel that Rosenior has lost the dressing room over his decision to play Jorgensen over Sanchez? If so, in your opinion, what should Rosenior be doing to gain back the dressing room? Or is it a lost cause? Will CL qualification, which IMO will be a miracle suffice?

    25. ggletsg0 on

      Hi Simon, thanks for doing this.

      Genuinely curious, and hope you don’t take this the wrong way: how often do agents or club officials approach yourself or other journalists to run favourable stories for them?

      Thanks!

    26. Zealousideal_Bad8877 on

      Hi Simon

      How much longer do we have to deal with this Motivational Podcaster Manager for?

    27. WalnutWhipWilly on

      Hi Simon, if you had to choose 1, who would be in your lifeboat from the Athletic Chelsea podcast – has to be the ever resourceful producer Lucy, right?

    29. comradeAmen on

      Hi Simon, love your stuff on the Athletic and SOC

      Your time as a Chelsea Journo has seen you follow the Chels over land and sea (and Leicester!) I wonder which particular away trips have stuck in your mind (for good or bad!).

    30. FreshSqueezedChode on

      Hello Simon, what is a personal anecdote of a current or former player that us fans may not know about but you being around the team for years caught onto.

    31. Temporary-Rutabaga71 on

      Hi Simon,

      Have followed your work as a Chelsea fan for a while and really enjoy reading it and listening to the SOC crew.

      Do you think that club has any sense of the ceiling of the current squad? We have been hovering in the 4th to 6th position for the last couple of seasons. And I feel that is as good as this squad can achieve. There is a core group that has been built in Enzo, Moi, Cucurella, Palmer, Reece, Levi (maybe Sanchez), but are these players barring Reece capable of emulating the Chelsea of the past. I have my doubts about some especially given the current form of some of them. Would like to hear your thoughts on this.

    32. laurentiubuica on

      Hi, Simon. Who do you think is ending up as a back up keeper for next season? Jorgensen or Sanchez? And also who do you see as a new GK next season? Any opinions on what player(s) from the backline should exist next season? Clearly the backline hasn’t gelled at all this season.

    33. GlitteringAudience84 on

      Hey Simon. In an interview recently Petr Cech mentioned the importance of the manager having a command over dressing room being a key element of success. Do you think Liam has that sort of command with the players to inspire anything out of them? Furthermore, do you think a manager/coach has the freedom to actually thoroughly command a dressing room under the BlueCo ownership or a different mantra of success is needed now?

    34. tbachorik on

      Hi Simon.

      What’s your take on our transfer strategy:
      I know part of the boards strategy was to purchase young talents on long contracts as to not lose value on resale. what does this strategy look like long term. is the idea to always continually purchase exclusively young exciting talents and hope they work out or are we looking at windows of time where we expect to be the most competitive and will purchase older more experienced players as our players we invested in start to enter their prime as well.

      for example in 4 years when Palmer is 27 years old, if there’s holes in the team that may need filling, will we only be looking at under 23 year olds, or will we be aiming at shorter term solutions to achieve success in a given window of time.

      what do you think is chelsea’s long term transfer strategy?

    36. TheQuietW0LF on

      Hi Simon. Thanks for all of your excellent coverage over the years.

      I don’t really have a question related to the club, just wanted to recognize that. What’s the last book you’ve read that you’d recommend?

    37. Gandhi1218 on

      Hi Simon,

      Just 8 months ago, Chelsea were world champions, reached top 4 the season prior, and for the first time under BlueCo had a stable core of players and manager going into this season. At that time, the Chelsea project seemed to be working. What do you think contributed to the downfall we are witnessing? Do you think it was always going to go down this route, or were there certain factors that if had gone differently, we would have been able to build upon last summers success?

    38. role34 on

      Hey Simon, first time, long time.

      I uh, I uh just wanna say. What we saw yesterday from the boys was bollocks. Complete embarrassment.

      You see that guy Liam, the one handing out the notes to Alejandro Garnacho? What the hell is up with that? Pardon my french, but that was embarrassing. Down 8-2, 84′ min and handing out notes?

      My question, do you think the boys have lost faith in the guy? Is there any noise that he’s “lost” the locker room?

      I’ma hang up and listen. God bless. Go Blues.

    40. BigReeceJames on

      Hi Simon,

      Any update at all on the stadium? I know we’ve heard from the owners that they’ve put a 15-20 year timeline on solving the stadium issue. But, is that 15-20 active years with them actively thinking about it at the moment, or is it more of a “we’ll wait another 10 years and then worry about it” kind of situation?

    41. suixt on

      Hi Simon, what are the possible options for a new stadium and what kind of horizon are we looking at?

    42. Massive-Set8020 on

      Hi Simon ! Thank you so much to take this time to answer our question. Mine is simple to ask and way more harder to answer.

      How, as fans, can we save our football club?