Chelsea players ‘happy’ as Super League bites the dust, but Supporters’ Trust seek answers

The Super League died a swift death last night, just 48 hours after its official announcement. As of right now, only three of the twelve “founding members” haven’t confirmed their official withdrawal.

One of those is Juventus, whose chairman was one of the ringleaders of this operation. Andrea Agnelli, who hasn’t resigned (yet?), admitted defeat a short while ago.

“To be frank and honest no, evidently [the project cannot happen]. I remain convinced of the beauty of that project. But admittedly, I don’t think that the project is now still up and running.”

-Andrea Agnelli; source: Sky

The nine other clubs, including Chelsea, all confirmed their U-turns late last night or this morning, some adding some perfunctory words of apology, some adding the usual feel-good lines about serving fans, some providing some surface-level explanations. Chelsea also did the latter, making it clear that those in charge didn’t really think this through at all.

That’s led to some calls about resignations, including the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust calling for the heads of chairman Bruce Buck and CEO Guy Laurence, though as much as scapegoating a couple members of the Board might make you feel good, if you want actual change in the way the club’s run or in its hierarchy, you have to start with the man at the top, who controls it all in the end. The decision to join The Super League is unlikely to have been just Buck’s or Laurence’s or any one individual’s.

In any case, others more directly involved, including the players and coaches are reportedly “happy” with the situation now and, as per the briefing given to Sky and others, are focusing on the rest of the season ahead.

So should we. We can deal with the rest of this fallout in the summer.