Bates: Don't ask about money

Steve Stammers13 April 2012

Ken Bates today spoke of his plans to bring stability to Stamford Bridge under the managerial regime of Claudio Ranieri.

The club has been the subject of consistent rumours concerning their financial viability.

There have been reports that the much-vaunted strike force of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen were up for sale to help clear a £97 million debt and that Ranieri has been told there is no cash for him to bring in new players.

Supporters are said to be disillusioned by the absence of new star names, but chairman Bates said: "We are, as a matter of policy, refusing to make any comment as a club about the finances.

"Neither will we talk about individual players. End of story.

"But if the fans are getting impatient about anything, it seems to be for the start of the season.

"We have sold more season tickets already than we did for last season and brought in £21.7million. And there are still four weeks to go before the start of the season.

"What we want at the club now - what we are aiming for - is stability. Claudio has a five-year contract and the backroom staff like assistant manager Gwyn Williams, reserve-team manager Mick McGiven and youth team manager Steve Clarke have all been given new contracts.

"New players? When Claudio signed his contract, he said a couple of very interesting things. Firstly, he was pleased to have brought down the average of the squad. It is younger now. Then he said that he has a first-team squad of 31 and that is good enough - and that they can only get better.

"What we need to do as a team is improve our results against the clubs outside the top four or five.

"Those results were good last season. From the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle we won four, drew three and lost three. The goal difference was 14 goals for and nine against.

"It is the results against the other teams that we need to improve. We have to realise that if you beat Manchester United you only get the same number of points that you get when you beat Southampton."

Bates also goes into the season with a feeling of optimism.

He said: "From our point of view, it was a good World Cup.

"Holland didn't qualify so Hasselbaink and Mario Melchiot will be fresh. Marcel Desailly and Emmanuel Petit came back after the first group stage as did Celestine Babayaro and Mario Stanic. Jesper Gronkjaer came back after the first game of the knockout stage."

There was also a suggestion that Chelsea's finances would be affected by their late withdrawal from a planned tour to the Far East.

"Not true," said Bates. "The reason we pulled out was because the necessary financial guarantees that we demanded did not come through, so we cancelled - and we kept the £300,000 deposit.

"Instead, we have arranged matches against Portsmouth, Wycombe and Oxford and we are taking part in a tournament in Bari in Italy."

As much as anything, Bates has been impressed by the managerial style of Ranieri.

"He showed at his previous clubs that reputations count for nothing and that everyone is treated the same. He wants to bring in the younger players and at his meeting with the coaches he is always asking what they have for him, who is coming through.

"So as far as I am concerned, it is business as usual. No one is going to be allowed to undermine what we are trying to do here. That is why we will not be responding to anything that is written. It only gives it credence and a life of its own.

"A bad season last season? If I am right we reached one final, one semi-final and finished sixth in the league. I don't see that as a disaster."

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