By Ben Church, CNN

Wembley Stadium, London (CNN) — When US billionaire businessman Todd Boehly arrived at Chelsea in May 2022, he had massive plans.

“We’re all in – 100%,” he told fans, promising the BlueCo consortium would help bring in the very best players and cement the club’s long-term future at the top of the game.

But almost exactly four years on from getting the keys to the Chelsea kingdom, Boehly’s legacy is one of a bloated squad, frustrated fans and a distinct lack of direction.

The issues facing the club have all come to a head this season. Chelsea is languishing in ninth place in the league, having already failed to qualify for next year’s Champions League – the bare minimum expected for a club of Chelsea’s size.

The team’s unlikely run to the FA Cup final barely papered over the cracks of this campaign, but it at least offered fans hope amid such a poor run of performances. Any semblance of that hope was extinguished on Saturday, though, when Chelsea lost the final 1-0 to Manchester City.

The dejected scenes after the full-time whistle, both on and off the pitch, reflected the deep divisions within the club and the disconnection between the team and its fans.

It’s hardly what Boehly would have envisioned when plotting the takeover four years ago.

‘We’re going to get smashed’

Even the most ardent Chelsea fan had to dig deep to find any source of optimism heading into this weekend’s final. After all, some of the team’s recent performances have been nothing short of embarrassing, with Chelsea failing to win in any of its previous seven league games.

“I think we’re going to get smashed,” one Chelsea fan said when traveling to the stadium on the tube, about three hours before a ball was even kicked.

“I think you’re probably right,” his friend chipped in.

The exchange was lighthearted, with the fans almost weary after watching the season fall apart since the turn of the year.

Those feelings of dejection are shared across the Chelsea faithful, a fanbase so familiar with success that they now demand it. Those lofty expectations have simply not been met this season, and fans are increasingly frustrated by how the new owners have handled the club since taking over.

A protest against the BlueCo group before the FA Cup final spoke to that frustration, as fans marched down Wembley Way on Saturday behind a banner that read: “BlueCo out! We want our Chelsea back.”

Hardly a sign of a club in unison, is it?

$1 billion later

Once inside the stadium, Chelsea fans got behind their team, belting out the songs that once reigned over English soccer. In truth, the players responded and produced a decent performance against Manchester City.

In the end, though, the London club just lacked the necessary quality, a quite incredible conclusion when you consider how much money has been spent on the squad since the new owners took over.

It isn’t a typo: Chelsea has spent over $1 billion on player transfers under Boehly. Yet, despite all that money, they lacked the quality to really trouble its rival at Wembley.

Recruitment really needs to improve and quickly. This apparent strategy of signing young players to ridiculously long contracts in the hope of selling them on for a profit just isn’t working. In fact, it’s been painfully detrimental.

As a direct result of the strategy, the squad is too big and utterly bereft of experience and leadership – two traits that are vitally important to building a successful soccer team.

There is also the issue with the manager. Calum McFarlane led Chelsea out for the FA Cup final on Saturday, but the Englishman is m

By Christian Edwards, CNN

London (CNN) — When some 150,000 people descended on London in September for a rally organized by Tommy Robinson – an agitator who spreads anti-Muslim bigotry and has several criminal convictions – it felt like a watershed moment in British politics.

“Something in our country changed,” Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said at the time. “This felt different.”

And so when at least tens of thousands gathered again in the British capital on Saturday for the latest “Unite the Kingdom” march, it felt less out of the ordinary. Views that would once not have been expressed in public are becoming commonplace. Marches organized by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, are becoming a regular outlet for them.

“Millions have got to go,” said Pete, 64, from Derbyshire, in the English midlands. He was referring to unauthorized immigrants. “They shouldn’t be in this country,” he told CNN. “They’re claiming benefits. ‘Benefit Britain’ has got to end.”

At September’s mass rally, the mood was militant. “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you,” Elon Musk told the crowd via video link. “You either fight back or die.”

Saturday’s march was smaller, according to early estimates, and did not attract the same high-profile foreign guests. But Robinson’s message was similarly combative. “Are you ready for the Battle of Britain?” he asked his supporters, packed into Parliament Square. Ahead of the next general election, he said his supporters must “get involved” and “become activists,” or “we are going to lose our country forever.”

The next general election is not due until 2029, but a frenetic week in Westminster – in which Prime Minister Keir Starmer has struggled to see off a revolt among his Labour Party lawmakers – has led many in Britain to wonder whether Starmer’s government will last that long. Labour’s wobbles have injected Britain’s increasingly organized hard-right movements with fresh force.

Ahead of the march, Starmer said he supported peaceful protests, but accused the organizers of peddling “hatred and vision” and said his government had blocked visas for far-right agitators who wanted to come to Britain to spread extremist views. “They don’t speak for the decent, fair, respectful Britain I know,” Starmer said.

That vision of Britain feels in retreat. “Unite the Kingdom” does not affiliate with a political party, but draws in supporters of several. Many marchers wore turquoise – the color of the hard-right Reform UK party, led by the Nigel Farage, a chief architect of Brexit and an ally of US President Donald Trump. Reform surged in last week’s local elections, sending Starmer’s Labour Party – which had positioned itself as Britain’s best defense against populism – into a tailspin.

But for many marchers, Farage’s party does not go far enough. Analysts attribute Reform’s recent electoral successes to how Farage has tempered his party’s rhetoric and policies. Farage claims to have “professionalized” his party, in part by welcoming in several high-profile figures from the previous Conservative government.

For Pete, from Derbyshire, this has diminished Reform’s appeal. Instead, many at the march waved “Restore Britain” flags, in support of the far-right party led by Rupert Lowe, who was expelled by Reform last year over allegations of workplace bullying. Lowe – who has been publicly backed by Musk as the man who can “save Britain” – maintains he was kicked out because he posed a threat

By Christian Edwards, CNN

London (CNN) — When some 150,000 people descended on London in September for a rally organized by Tommy Robinson – an agitator who spreads anti-Muslim bigotry and has several criminal convictions – it felt like a watershed moment in British politics.

“Something in our country changed,” Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said at the time. “This felt different.”

And so when at least tens of thousands gathered again in the British capital on Saturday for the latest “Unite the Kingdom” march, it felt less out of the ordinary. Views that would once not have been expressed in public are becoming commonplace. Marches organized by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, are becoming a regular outlet for them.

“Millions have got to go,” said Pete, 64, from Derbyshire, in the English midlands. He was referring to unauthorized immigrants. “They shouldn’t be in this country,” he told CNN. “They’re claiming benefits. ‘Benefit Britain’ has got to end.”

At September’s mass rally, the mood was militant. “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you,” Elon Musk told the crowd via video link. “You either fight back or die.”

Saturday’s march was smaller, according to early estimates, and did not attract the same high-profile foreign guests. But Robinson’s message was similarly combative. “Are you ready for the Battle of Britain?” he asked his supporters, packed into Parliament Square. Ahead of the next general election, he said his supporters must “get involved” and “become activists,” or “we are going to lose our country forever.”

The next general election is not due until 2029, but a frenetic week in Westminster – in which Prime Minister Keir Starmer has struggled to see off a revolt among his Labour Party lawmakers – has led many in Britain to wonder whether Starmer’s government will last that long. Labour’s wobbles have injected Britain’s increasingly organized hard-right movements with fresh force.

Ahead of the march, Starmer said he supported peaceful protests, but accused the organizers of peddling “hatred and division” and said his government had blocked visas for far-right agitators who wanted to come to Britain to spread extremist views. “They don’t speak for the decent, fair, respectful Britain I know,” Starmer said.

That vision of Britain feels in retreat. “Unite the Kingdom” does not affiliate with a political party, but draws in supporters of several. Many marchers wore turquoise – the color of the hard-right Reform UK party, led by the Nigel Farage, a chief architect of Brexit and an ally of US President Donald Trump. Reform surged in last week’s local elections, sending Starmer’s Labour Party – which had positioned itself as Britain’s best defense against populism – into a tailspin.

But for many marchers, Farage’s party does not go far enough. Analysts attribute Reform’s recent electoral successes to how Farage has tempered his party’s rhetoric and policies. Farage claims to have “professionalized” his party, in part by welcoming in several high-profile figures from the previous Conservative government.

For Pete, from Derbyshire, this has diminished Reform’s appeal. Instead, many at the march waved “Restore Britain” flags, in support of the far-right party led by Rupert Lowe, who was expelled by Reform last year over allegations of workplace bullying. Lowe – who has been publicly backed by Musk as the man who can “save Britain” – maintains he was kicked out because he posed a threa

The post Esquer’s Two Home Runs Lead UCSB to Crucial 15-5 Victory Against Riverside appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

The post Goleta History: Slippery Rock appeared first on edhat.