Strasbourg fans slam BlueCo ownership & call Chelsea management 'incompetent'

The Federation Supporters RCS, an RC Strasbourg Alsace fan group, have written to club president Marc Keller, criticising the BlueCo ownership.

Strasbourg began the season well, winning their first two games, however, even when the club were securing results, there weren’t the performances to match. The points have since dried up too. Les Alsaciens have secured just four points in their last five Ligue 1 games, and have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Their latest came at home against FC Nantes and murmurings of discontent could be heard around La Meinau.

One prominent fan organisation have now formalised their frustration by sending a letter to President Keller. The letter, which has also been published on X (formerly Twitter), targets the club’s owners BlueCo. The American consortium, who also own Chelsea, took over Strasbourg on 22nd June, just over a year after they took over the Premier League club. Chelsea have since struggled, and last year missed out on European football, despite significant investment.

The Fédération Supporters RCS letter is notably critical of Strasbourg’s summer transfer dealings, despite the significant €56m spend. “Following BlueCo’s purchase, the 2023 summer transfer window is our first element of analysis and our first major worry. The exclusive recruitment of very young players – not yet operational and potentially weakened by their over-exposition, combined with the absence of arrivals of more mature players, exposes the club to a sporting risk from which the owners should have better protected us. BlueCo’s imposition of an obligation to buy only very young hopefuls is senseless on a sporting level and the fans don’t relate to their team at the moment.”

“The supporters that maintained that, since the purchase of Racing, we are only a training centre and a secondary piece in a global business, have gained credit following this transfer window, which seems far from the announced ambition.”

The letter then criticised BlueCo’s management of Chelsea. “Money without competence doesn’t lead to anything good, and the example of Chelsea, our so-called ‘big brother’, who have spent a lot of money but have had a vertical fall down the English hierarchy, is an important reference point: We don’t want to incompetence that reigns at Chelsea at RCSA. Neither directly, nor indirectly.”

The supporters’ group concluded by globally criticising multi-club models. “Beyond the Strasbourg case, we wish to also remind you that mult-club ownership is a danger to football. The pyramid system that this system is slowly locking into place, and even more strongly than was already the case, risks reducing the majority of clubs to a simple objective of developing young players and helping the few clubs at the top of the pyramid in order to yield a profit for their business. Clearly, it is a very worrying perspective.”