Bruce Buck : Chelsea preparing for life without Roman

zocoss SG

Blues brothers: Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck (left) with Roman Abramovich

Roman Abramovich may not attend as many Chelsea matches as he used to but chairman Bruce Buck insists the Blues owner's passion is stronger than ever.

Abramovivch took over at Stamford Bridge in 2003 and his cash helped establish the Londoners as one of the world's leading clubs.

Buck, in an interview for former Mail on Sunday journalist Ian Ridley's upcoming book There's a Golden Sky, extracts of which have been published in the Daily Telegraph, also highlighted Abramovich's tremendous knowledge of the game.

He said: 'I would say that his passion for Chelsea has increased not decreased. His passion for football has increased, not decreased.

'His knowledge of football has increased exponentially. I'm not talking about what goes at the megastore, I'm talking about football. It would be pretty hard to name a current footballer that he couldn't give you statistics for.

'He doesn't miss a game in the sense that wherever he is in the world he watches the Chelsea game. He calls Eugene Tenenbaum (trusted club director and associate) or whoever after the game and they talk about it. He is very much on top of things.'

Big buys: Chelsea owner Abramovich splashed his cash to bring in Andre Villas-Boas as manager this year and £50million record signing Fernando Torres

Summer signing: Juan Mata was a £29m arrival in the recent transfer window

Buck remains close to the Russian and remembers when Abramovich hired investment bank UBS Warburg to write a feasibility study, which listed a number of possible options as he looked to take his first steps in the Premier League.

'It said that Manchester United would be expensive and the fans would go crazy. Aston Villa was for sale but was in Birmingham and the long-term opportunities were limited,' he explained.

'Tottenham was on the list along with Chelsea. They were in London; they were in financial trouble. Roman's advisers tried to arrange meetings with Tottenham and Chelsea but for whatever reason, they couldn't set up a meeting with Tottenham, or Tottenham didn't want to meet.'

Manchester City have overtaken Chelsea with the financial clout of owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan but Buck added: 'That's why we aren't complaining about some of the things City are doing.

'We started it after all but, having said that, it is a free world. Obviously what we have done has not pleased the fans of West Ham or Manchester United, but they sure have pleased the fans at Chelsea.'

dragg SG

why didnt he buy spurs instead?

zocoss SG

Bruce Buck admits Andre Villas-Boas could be "the right guy" to bring some stability to Chelsea by remaining as manager for over a decade.

Villas-Boas: First season as Blues boss

Villas-Boas is the seventh boss of the Roman Abramovich era, but Buck believes the club may finally have found their Sir Alex Ferguson figure.

Ferguson will celebrate 25 years in charge of United next month, while Arsene Wenger last week marked 15 years as Arsenal manager.

Buck told BBC Sport: "We do envy Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in terms of longevity, but it shouldn't be longevity for longevity's sake.

"It has to be the right guy in the job for 10 or 15 years and, in light of Andre's age, he may well be that guy."

Villas-Boas turns 34 this month and is only his third season of full-time management.

The Portuguese has previously said he only wants to remain in the profession for between 10 and 15 years.

Buck added: "Everyone thinks his age might have been a negative but it's a positive.

"He has really been able to relate to the players. He is a very organised guy who really understands football."

Buck this week announced Chelsea's plan to buy back the parts of Stamford Bridge they do not already own in what is being seen as a precursor to a stadium move that could earn the club an extra £50million per year.

He also admitted they need to improve their youth development policy to make further savings in the light of UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations.

"The problem has been transfer fees paid to other clubs for new players and that's probably our biggest expense," he said.

"The way we've tried to attack that - not as successfully as we'd have liked to be honest - is by putting a lot of money into the academy.

"The maths is pretty simple. If you can bring a player or two through the academy every couple of years, then you're saving £10million, £20million, £30million of transfer fees."

dragg SG

too early to tell.

he has to win something soon to cement his position.

Rooney9 SG

roman is playing FM in real life lar. no manager can stay for long there, not even fergie.

zocoss SG

Megabucks: Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck (left) with owner Roman Abramovich

Chelsea are drawing up a blueprint to meet the strict UEFA rules on spending through cutting their dependence on owner Roman Abramovich.

The club reported a £70million loss last year and chairman Bruce Buck admits they face a tough period trying to meet Financial Fair Play rules that could see teams thrown out of the Champions League from 2014.

'Even before [financial fair play] we were of the view we couldn't rely on Mr Abramovich for ever,' said Buck. 'We had to figure out a way over the medium term to stand on our own two feet. Maybe financial fair play is making us do that a little bit quicker.

'An academy costs maybe £5m a year to run, so if you can get maybe one player every year or 18 months into the first team, look at the transfer fees you've saved. The economics are pretty clear. Implementing it is much more difficult.'

Chelsea are also trying to increase sponsorship.

An office has already been opened in Singapore to exploit the Asian market and Buck added: 'We have to up our sponsorship income. We have to reduce our transfer fees, reduce our payroll and up our match-day revenues if we can. Naming rights could also be important.'

Some Chelsea fans have been threatening a boycott of the next Champions League game against Genk on October 19 because of ticket prices but Buck urges caution.

Academy: Joshua McEachran is one of the players to come through Chelsea's youth system in recent years

'We're comfortable that [Stamford Bridge] is going to be full. The manager, Andre Villas-Boas, looks on it as a big match and will want the fans to come and support the club.

'JT [John Terry] and all the other players recognise it's an important match and are asking fans to support them.

'I understand supporters saying they would prefer lower prices but we try to spread the balance; I think we've got it about right, but I do understand that some people would disagree.'

Y_Shun SG

the sad truth is that the youngsters these days cmi leh...

iveco SG

why didnt he buy spurs instead?

He should have bought Leeds U, maybe they wouldn't have to sell Rio Ferdinand to Man U and then kena relegation.

Rock^Star SG

So basically this guy could have had as much a passion for Hull City as he has for Chelsea now, had he bought the former. Bah.

And these are big statements: "It would be pretty hard to name a current footballer that he couldn't give you statistics for" and "Bruce Buck admits Andre Villas-Boas could be the right guy to bring some stability to Chelsea by remaining as manager for over a decade". Don't tua pao la!

Rooney9 SG

for all of roman riches, he didnt bring in world class players like Ronaldo, ,Messi, Kaka or even Ronaldino during his peak years to Chelsea.

Rooney9 SG

the sad truth is that the youngsters these days cmi leh...

english young players cmi lar. all the best young players are in Spain, Barcelona youyj squad.

dragg SG

i doubt chelsea can 'survive' without RA.