{"id":7165,"date":"2026-05-11T10:21:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T10:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=7165"},"modified":"2026-05-11T10:21:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T10:21:22","slug":"we-messed-up-blueco-manager-criticises-january-transfers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=7165","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;We messed up&#8221; &#8211; BlueCo manager criticises January transfers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Gary O\u2019Neil enjoyed a good start at Strasbourg, but things have gone off the rails a little and he\u2019s now openly criticised the ownership.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>If you enjoy Chelsea News coverage and want to see more of it, add us as a preferred source on Google to make us a favourite and see more of our content.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As Strasbourg\u2019s season fizzles out much as it did last year, manager Gary O\u2019Neil got pretty angry in his press conference last night, his first strike out at the BlueCo hand that feeds.<\/p>\n<p>After initially criticising his players and their attitude, the former Wolves coach turned his aim upstairs.<\/p>\n<h2>O\u2019Neill criticises Strasbourg\u2019s January action<\/h2>\n<p><span>\u201cWe really need to work hard this summer to be better,\u201d O\u2019Neil said, referring those in charge of the transfers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019ve already had meetings about recruitment. I need two strikers. The owners want to give me the resources to perform next season. But we also need to improve the club culture, the quality of the players, and the squad depth. We messed up in January, during the transfer window. We weakened ourselves instead of strengthening the team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The big decisions in January certainly didn\u2019t work out well for our sister team. The decision to move Aaron Anselmino (who had been doing well at Dortmund) to Strasbourg and in place move Mamadou Sarr (who had been doing well to Strasbourg) to Chelsea proved a disaster. Neither of them ended up playing more than a handful of minutes.<\/p>\n<h2>In other news\u2026<\/h2>\n<p>Chelsea are going to struggle as they search for elite managers, according to Ruud Gullit, who named a couple of reasons why.<\/p>\n<p>The Blues are going to offer Enzo Fernandez a contract extension to keep him at the club and to try and quiet his agitation to leave the club.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CHELSEA NEWS APP FOR ALL THE LATEST UPDATES \u2013 STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON THE APP STORE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips\u2019 SPTC podcast here:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SPTC Podcast: Chelsea Reporter Lloyd Canfield joins the show!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7UP6ox8d4pk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\"more-stories std-mgn-b\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<header class=\"col-s-12 std-mgn-t\">More Stories about <span class=\"topic\">Gary O&#8217;Neil<\/span><\/header>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-190x107.jpg.webp 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-245x138.jpg.webp 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-320x180.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-414x233.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-630x354.jpg.webp 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-159816 has-webp lazyload\" alt=\"Gary O'Neil in a press conference.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-190x107.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-245x138.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-320x180.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-414x233.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-100-630x354.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"\/><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-190x107.jpg.webp 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-245x138.jpg.webp 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-320x180.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-414x233.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-630x354.jpg.webp 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-155755 has-webp lazyload\" alt=\"Gary O'Neil managing Strasbourg.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-190x107.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-245x138.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-320x180.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-414x233.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-48-630x354.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"\/><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-190x127.jpg.webp 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-245x163.jpg.webp 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-320x213.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-414x276.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-630x420.jpg.webp 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2250\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-158773 has-webp lazyload\" alt=\"Valentin Barco in action for Argentina.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-190x127.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-245x163.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-320x213.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-414x276.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Getty-Images-630x420.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"\/><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gary O\u2019Neil enjoyed a good start at Strasbourg, but things have gone off the rails&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}