I am not the only Chelsea supporter who is already exhausted by the takeover process. I'm not sure if it's the seismic nature of events that have unravelled over the past month all pilling up on top of each other, making it a blur to rattle through.
Or the sense of smoke of mirrors and lack of trust in the process has created cynicism amongst supporters. Any new report, profile or pledge from prospective owners is instantly treated with scepticism and suspicion. And in the case of The Ricketts bid, that suspicion is within reason.
The latest update on Tuesday revealed that Tom and Laura Ricketts, along with American hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, met with the club ahead of next Monday's deadline for improved offers.
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As reported by The Telegraph, The Ricketts held talks with Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck and directors Marina Granovskaia and Eugene Tenenbaum. It is believed if The Ricketts succeed in their bid, Griffin will become the major shareholder.
Resistance to their potential takeover has been strong from supporters for several weeks now. The #NoToRicketts campaign picked up speed online, leading to a protest outside Stamford Bridge before the game against Brentford this past Saturday. More damning was the Chelsea Supporters Trust releasing a survey of their members, in it revealed that 72 per cent "currently do not have confidence that the Ricketts family would run an inclusive and successful club. 77% do not support the Ricketts family’s bid".
The Supporters Trust ended by stating "The CST (Chelsea Supporters Trust) does not currently believe it is in the best interests of our members for the Ricketts bid to succeed."
The opposition to The Ricketts began from leaked emails and previous comments resurfacing from Joe and Pete Ricketts, neither of whom are in the bid. In addition to these fears, criticism of The Ricketts' approach to owning The Chicago Cubs has also been a clear red flag, fearing a repeat of The Glazers at Manchester United.
As a revealing opinion piece in The Chicago Sun Times pointed out: "When a Ricketts cites “biblical losses,” it’s not about being bested on the pitch by age-old rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. It’s merely your cue to kindly forget about being anywhere near the top of the table for a while."
The family have clearly been trying to put out the flames with a series of bland statements and "pledges" to Chelsea supporters, hoping to improve the 'optics' of the current situation. The suspicion for fans has arisen that due to The Ricketts previous connections to Raine, their ability to be this public with their intentions for Chelsea whilst other bidders have remained quiet does not feel consistent.
As Brian Wolff, head of the Chelsea Chicago Supporters Club, remarked in a statement on Sunday directed at Raine Group. Supporters need to be "heard and consulted". Wolff also encouraged Raine to "allow all bidders to publicly release their commitments and to clarify the steps taken to ensure a transparent and fair bidding process."
This has simply not been the case, the perception of favouritism has grown and felt lopsided towards The Ricketts. This was triggered after Bruce Buck played an intermediary role in organising a meeting that took place last Thursday between Tom Ricketts and Paul Canoville, Chelsea's first black player, hours before the shortlist to take over from Roman Abramovich was confirmed.
In such a time of uncertainty and concern over what the future of our club looks like, Chelsea supporters deserve better. If the maligned Ricketts are able to release an eight-point pledge in an attempt to improve their mostly dismal reputation amongst the Chelsea faithful, then why can't we see similar from the other shortlisted parties?
Nearly all of them have vocally supported fan involvement in this process, reaching out to the CST and in the case of the Todd Boehly bid, recruiting two Chelsea fans as non-executive board members should their bid succeed.
Honesty, transparency and clarity are needed. The people who will oversee this monumental call owe it to those who fill Stamford Bridge every other Saturday. Particularly when they committed to "an open and regular dialogue with our fans and other stakeholders" in the aftermath of the Super League fiasco almost twelve months ago.
