Chelsea appoint consultant to create ‘a winning culture’ — report

The Abramovich Era officially began in the summer of 2003, but the true transformation of Chelsea into the Chelsea we had come to know and love during his ownership didn’t start until a year later, with the appointment of José Mourinho. Claudio Ranieri was a nice guy with nice ideas who loved to tinker, but it was José, The Special One who truly turned Chelsea into a winning machine, who set the tone for the next two decades and established the culture that produced more trophies than any other team in England during that time.

The Boehly-Clearlake Era officially began in the summer of 2022, but the true transformation of Chelsea into the Chelsea we will come to know and love during their ownership didn’t start until six months later, with the appointment of ... a consultant? Graham Potter is a nice guy with nice ideas who loves to tinker, but it’s hoped that Gilbert Enoka, The No Dickheads One will turn Chelsea into a winning machine by setting the tone for the next two decades and (re-)establish a culture, etc, etc, etc.

So yeah, this is a bit of weird one, but according to the Telegraph, Chelsea “have hired the mental skills coach behind the All Blacks’ rugby union team’s ‘no dickheads’ policy to help create the one thing Todd Boehly’s money can’t buy: a winning culture”. That’s their words, not mine, which is why it probably doesn’t call out Graham Potter by name, since it’s generally supposed to his job to do this.

But this is a bold new era, so consultant it is. Let’s hope he does better than our medical consultants.

(I guess we could say that Potter’s also creating a team in his own image, which is why we need someone to teach us about winning. Wahey!)

Enoka’s LinkedIn profile says that he’s an “internationationally renowned” mental skill coach and manager (of sports teams and ... real estate firms?), who is also “a sought after speaker, giving insight into the psychology behind individual and team success in world-level sport and how this can be applied to any walk of life. He has been invited to be keynote speaker throughout the world at over 500 events, talking about leadership, performing under pressure, mental management, strategic planning, effective business management and building thriving cultures.”

That’s a lot emotionally intelligent big words. Maybe we should’ve just hired Matt Foley: