OhForAGreavsie

I've never been a believer.

I like that expression. 🙂 Who else makes the list?

And who would blame them? Our expenditure on alternatives since missing out on Olise has been a lot more than that.

And people complain that the WSL is a one team league. (Chelsea) Every once in a while a Dortmund or a Leverkausen come along to offer some camouflage but, in the end, the point of the Bundesliga is who's going to finish second.

All sides evolve but if there is one thing all of us here will agree on it's that it'll be a while before the club can build any hopes around Romeo's ability to stay fit. Meanwhile, all players have to earn their place in the squad, including Enzo. Whether we can afford, and can attract, an upgrade to our No. 8 are answers that we don't know but, if I was involved in the decision making, they are questions I'd definitely be asking.

I'm guessing there were a cocktail of reasons for the club's decision. Among them might have been; bearing our track record in mind wanting to avoid the risk of extremely heavy punishments if these payments were to come to light, wanting to establish a new relationship with governing bodies, perhaps the purchase agreement included an agreement that sanctions relating to historical misdeeds could be charged against the reported two billion fund held for contingencies and management wanted to clear all liabilities while that fund is available, a desire to clean up our reputation, and other guesses too.

This is an important consideration. Not only was it possible to hide these payments from authorities at the time, they were not even discovered when the club came under heightened scrutiny because Russian owned assets were sanctioned. It's clear therefore that such payments can be hidden relatively easily. This means there is no way to be sure that other clubs have not engaged in the same activity. Indeed, given the competitive nature of the football industry and the insatiable greed of agents, I'm guessing that many, many, clubs are guilty too. If authorities can't find these payments, but are determined to stop them, it would be counterproductive to impose heavy sporting penalties. Doing that would only make clubs all the more determined to keep their mouths shut about their own regulatory breaches. There must be penalties but I'm guessing that these are much more likely to be financial than they are to be sporting.

I don't think we 'turned our nose up'. Reading the runes, it seems to me that Marc has told the club he does not wish to return.

Exactly as I expected. Basically as near as possible to the PSG team.

Well no, but the latest statement attributed to him is believable and consistent with the previous reporting.

I don't believe that our record with marquee signings is anything to write home about. Buying names is no substitute for good judgement. Sign good players and no one will care what their name is. Sign a bad player with a big name and no one will forgive the club in a hurry.

When the links first surfaced there was a report that he wasn't interested. Fair enough.

It's been done. Man city did it and won many titles. Yes, of course the coach has to pick and choose the games, but the key to it is the depth of quality in the squad. Numbers alone won't cut it if you intend to be competitive into the latter stages of multiple competitions. There are at least two more games in a Champions League campaign than when we last won it, plus individual games in all competitions last longer than they ever have before. Obviously there are domestic games where only the top team will do but the ability to rest 4 or 5 players before a big midweek fixture, and 4 or 5 others the weekend after, is a massive advantage for any manager aiming to go deep in all competitions. The problem of course is being able to afford to recruit and pay such a squad. We aren't there yet.

I've said all along that, where the squad team was asked to handle some Conference League games last season, this season they will need to be good enough to take care of some EPL fixtures. Enso clearly feels this is one of those games.

I badly want to beat Bayern. I Want people to begin to wonder if maybe, just maybe, there's a reason we won the CWC.

Reported Essugo injured too.

I think the lad at least has a chance because of his technical excellence. It's not that this automatically qualifies players for Chelsea, it's that players should not be recruited unless they have that quality. It's an entry level requirement. Now we have to find out why Buonanotte struggles for minutes at his parent club. Youth and inexperience, which would be fine, or inability to turn his quality into consistently effective contributions, which would be a deal breaker of course. Even if the move does not work out I might give the sporting directors a pass this time. Buonanotte arrives on a low-cost deal, without built-in future obligations. The lad is basically here on trial and his talent justifies that. If he fails then I think the directors were still right to give it a shot. Only if he succeeds, might I question them for failing to back their judgment and secure him at a lower cost. If we find ourselves negotiating with Brighton after a successful 'trial' they will be demanding their usual fee of an arm and two legs.

No harm trying I suppose. Especially if we are sitting pretty in the Champions League and Liverpool's qualification for the knockout phase isn't certain.

I believe that Marc has told CFC that he is not interested in returning the club.

Guessing they are confident he has chosen them and believe that they can get him for free in next summer's window.

His contract includes an obligation to keep himself football fit and therefore implies a responsibility on CFC to provide him with facilities and opportunities to do that. My reply was carefully worded. Not only that, he will then almost certainly also be entitled to a share in any bonuses earned by the first team squad over the next two seasons. I say 'almost certainly' since specific clauses we can't know about may restrict his eligibility for bonuses. I just doubt that a player in so strong a bargaining position as to command a ridiculously large transfer fee and a monster contract would then fail to negotiate automatic inclusion in any bonus pay outs. In all probability CFC would aim to include a one-off payment in any settlement in leu of future bonus entitlement.

The problem, of course, is that none of this is Sterling's fault. Many of us were furious when he was linked, and apoplectic when he was signed. He should not have been recruited. Not even as a free transfer on a trialist contract. The people, or person, who made the sporting and financial decisions is/are to blame. The bad decisions aren't limited to the ones which were made when Raheem joined from City. No doubt there was some Club who made us an exploitative offer to take the player on loan this summer. Something like no loan fee, and Chelsea cover 80%, or more, of his wages. If it was made such an offer should have been accepted. In the absence of any kind of move for Sterling we are stuck with implied contractual obligations to provide him with top level training facilities and opportunities. This necessarily includes professional grade players to practice with and against. If we made the emotionally satisfying decision to ban him from Cobham we'd run the risk of being sued.

There's no better way to start the season than with a victory against presumed title rivals. Doing so completely deservedly, and without several injured starters, is a nice confidence boost.

JP seems to be a great addition to the squad on and off the pitch.

Can't wait. We want seven. 🙂