OhForAGreavsie

It's not clubs but insurance companies who require medicals. I'm pretty certain that a medical carried out by a German doctor is equally acceptable to them as one performed by a UK medic. Something doesn't quite chime.

?? You could say let's not get ahead of ourselves, or you could say we might as well enjoy the speculation while we can.

Not necessarily a change in the agreement, just a change in what we think we know about it. Again, not saying I think this is true. Just proposing a way the new information might fit with the old. I've been writing too much about Kai Havertz today.

The extension of my attempt to make the 15th July story plausible would be that Timo has conditionally agreed to join subject either to Chelsea qualifying for the CL, or Leverkausen not doing so. Of course I have no idea what's actually going on. I'm just allowing the new date to be true and trying to create a scenario to make it fit with what we think we know already.

Remember when we signed Sam Kerr? Remember that we signed another player in that transfer window? Her name is Jamie-Lee Napier. Here's an interview she did with The Beeb: - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52951617

This does not tell the whole story. Just because you can, is never a reason for delay. If you want to delay for fiscal reasons, and the clause gives you the time to do that, then fine but the delay would be for fiscal reasons, not because there's a clause. The clause may allow you to do what you want to do, but it doesn't cause you to want to do it. If the July date is correct (and perhaps that's a revised date as a result of negotiations) then it seems to me that the most plausible reason for waiting is that Werner would like a bit more information about our Champions League prospects for next season. He'll have a better idea about our chances on 15th July, and about how Leipzig's have gone too.

I never take much account of stats in assessing a player. I'm not suggesting that stats mean nothing, that is absolutely not true. Nor would I expect to convince anyone that ignoring stats leads to better decisions. I'm just honestly reporting how I do it. What I attempt to do instead is make an independent assessment of the player's quality; does he do the basics to an exceptionally high standard, is his decision making good, in any given piece of action do I believe he has handled the situation as well as I would expect any professional to do, or has he produced a superior outcome. Only if players pass these tests do I then start to take an interest in their stats. As to the early comments in this thread, you'll notice there isn't much from me. That's because I believed this player is not obtainable by Chelsea. If we do sign Havertz then I'll feel that I must have overrated him, but I'll be happy all the same.

Because the name Havertz kept occurring in Vesper's recommendations, I had checked him out and I can say for sure that my thoughts now are only slightly different from what I would have said then. What I'd have said then is that I can't believe we'll snatch a player of that quality away from the bigger, more attractive, clubs. What I'm thinking now is that we're all wasting our time engaging in this pointless speculation. He's never coming here.

That's because few of them are as naturally inclined toward helpfulness as I am. In any case, observing not objecting. 🙂 Quid is always used with a numerical qualifier. That qualifier is either a simple number, or it's a phrase indicating a quantity, e.g. 'a few quid.' I don't suppose there's anything inherently wrong with it, but I've never come across a native speaker of UK English using quid as you did above. It's a bit like that scene in Inglorious Bastards where the Englishman gives himself away by indicating a number using his fingers, but doing so in a way that no German ever would.

Just for info Vesper, Native speakers wouldn't use 'quid' in that way. Some slang terms which would be used in that context are; 'dosh', 'dough', 'lucre', or 'moolah'. There are others but those'll keep you going.

It is possible Frank has spoken to Mando to reassure him that he still has a path to the first team after Werner's arrival. If I'm honest however I doubt Mando knows anything more about it than we do. I suspect he's based his, "Good signing", comment on the same media reports we've read.

An interview with leading scorer Beth England.

Continuing the club's great response to the pandemic.

Eventually probably but Emma was offered the job previously and turned it down. She has also made it clear that she is not interested in replacing Phil Neville when he leaves at the end of next season.

This will be a really interesting story as it develops. For one thing, while I understand that you're not claiming Rice is a Mikel Jon Obi clone, I'd be in even less of a hurry to sign him if he were. For another, my suspicion is that Frank is not a fan of the out-and-out DM. We'll discover if that guess is right as Frank gradually puts his own stamp on the squad. I did though mean it when I said that I need to watch more of Rice. You are one of a number of regulars who like him

I have to watch more of Declan Rice because I'm clearly missing something.

^^lol. If you like Mason, don't show that table to Marina.

You'd love to keep them all but we can only console ourselves with the hope that the competition for squad places will help drive up the overall quality.

No, I can't say that I know that he did meet them all but players have described him doing that to welcome them so it was at least an occasional thing. The examples I remember were of players joining an American tour in progress. Agreed.

Thanks J, I hope I've made it clear that I am also reserving judgement on the Pedro story by prefacing my comments with, "If true". Pulli described traveling alone from his arrival point and meeting up with the squad at their hotel during the preseason tour. He said that he was then pretty much left to his own devices until the start of his first training session. Contrast this with earlier new signings joining up during overseas tours being met at the airport by JT, and travelling with him to get settled in and to meet the group. In my previous comments about the players help for the club*, and in the one to which you replied, I've acknowledged that there is room for impressions to be updated when more complete information is known. Notice I said the players seemingly didn't offer to help the club. It was reported that the players offered to sacrifice a portion of their earnings on condition that the club paid that money to charity instead. This would result in little or no saving to the club. Granted, the club's press release stated that the players had been asked to make charitable donations, but reports suggested that this was just an attempt to spin the outcome of discussions. It was said that Chelsea still hoped the players would agree to share some of the financial burden. I'm proud of the way CFC has behaved during the pandemic, and I have a good opinion of our players too. Whether we ever get to hear details or not, I hope club and players resolve the situation in a way that shows they really are in this together. *To avoid any thoughts of hypocrisy: The club is refunding a pro-rata amount from the cost of season tickets. It has invited ST holders to make a donation, if they wish, to one of a selection of charities, and stated they will match amounts donated. I wrote to the club saying that I had made (small) contributions to a number of charities already, and that I would prefer the club to keep the refund. They have not replied.

Obviously Pedro has a right to leave at the end of his deal. It's not unreasonable of him to want to protect his next contract. Not playing avoids injury, ensures a good rest, and sets up a structured preseason for himself. His decision is still disappointing though. If true, this is more evidence that things are not as we would like them to be in Cobham. First there was the cold reception for Pulli, then the players seemingly failing to offer the club financial help during the pandemic, and now this. As far as I know, Pedro has always given his best, and generally been a good servant. If this decision shows that there isn't a bond of affection between the club and some of its players, then maybe less harm will be done if they do leave asap. It will take maximum output from the players to secure a CL place. If some of them find they've already moved on in their heads, then there's no point forcing them to leave their bodies behind.

Turning the clock back 53 weeks. You may need popcorn. 🙂

If Werner signs, and if he contributes for us like Son does for Spurs, we'll all be very happy people.

Some people (not me) have been promoting Havertz for quite some time on here. It's only as a result of that that I began to check his videos. When you do that, his quality hits you in the face. I quickly progressed from, what's this lad all about, to he's a talent, to no chance we're getting him. It's the feeling that one of the 'name' clubs will take him which prevented me adding my voice to the calls for us to chase him. Frankly, I've read those calls with amazement. They seemed deluded to me. Still, Vesper (who has been mentioning Havertz for a very long time, continues to hold out hope.

If he can't that would be highly unusual for a German.