OhForAGreavsie

Never more so than when watching Ross yesterday. That's not to say I think Rubz has proved himself. Far from it in my opinion.

Which, if the club is prudent, will cause them immediately to ask why. Many of us we're not fans of Chelsea's attempt to resign Romelu Lukaku. As far as I know Inter arr very happy with Rom but they're looking to dump Barbosa. Again, it would be prudent to wonder why.

From the published pictures I didn't think I was going to like it. From the moment I saw it on the lads however I was completely sold. Looked fantastic. The only slight bugbear is the yellow tab at the back of the collar but I suppose that is about giving the shirt a unique characteristic which can be copyrighted. Apart from that, A1. Massive credit to all the sponsors for allowing this to happen.

Agree with your general thinking but not about the dates. 2009/10 turned out remarkably, but it didn't start that way. For most of the first half of the season we were very ordinary. Few of us thought we'd stay in the title race, never mind finish with a double. The second half of that season became a perfect storm when all of our big players hit their best form at the same time. I've never seen anything to compare with it. It was as if the football in front of us was a collective dream we were sharing. Didier, SFL, AC3, etc were on fire and even Kalou came to the party. Florent was a part of that magical moment in our history. A 'moment' which continued into the first few weeks of the following season, before we all woke from the dream and our form reverted to where it had been pre Christmas in 09/10. So in a nutshell, I agree that FM had a consistent spell of form for us, I just believe that it amounted to the back half of one season, and the early part of the next rather than the whole of a single season.

Thanks DDA. First, I have to reiterate that I have not watched Gabigol since he returned home. Maybe if I did, I'd completely agree with what you say and the conversation would be over. I confess I'm not really motivated to take that trouble though. I'm guessing you probably agree that goal counts don't always tell the whole story. Tammy is doing well in that regard yet my opinion, right or wrong, is that he is not the answer for us. I was already at odds with general impressions of Gabigol's ability when I watched him previously so it's not all that surprising to read that people still see him differently to the way I do. While others saw his obvious strengths, I could only really see what looked to me like terminal flaws. If the links get stronger I'll watch him and see if my opinion needs updating. For now, I can't believe we're interested in this bloke. By the way, the last time I said that was when we were being linked with resigning Nemanja Matic from Benfica. I said I could not believe the club were interested in him at all, and certainly not at the rumoured £25m. Shows how much I knew.

Possibly a negotiation tactic to; improve his prospects of a pay-off, improve his prospects of getting the move he wants by forcing Chelsea show that it's them, not the player, who is driving the sale and therefore weakening their position in regard to the fee, or both.

I haven't watched him since he returned home but my prior opinion was that he was hopeless. I predicted that no top European club would take him, was shocked when Inter did but then predicted they would regret it. I think it's a fair assessment to say that they did quickly come to regret making that deal. Barring a remarkable, I might say unique, turnaround in his output, I have no interest in this player at all.

I've never been a big Dembele fan but I do think he is better than any of our current options. If Frank were to sanction a £40m+ move for him, then I can only imagine that the starting spot would be his to loose on arrival. As Vesper says however, we should be aiming to shop higher up the market.

Haven't seen the lad but your comment brings to mind what I felt about Almiron after watching youtube clips of him in MLS. I said at the time that I did not think he could possibly be as good as he looked in those highlights or he would not still be playing MLS at his age. Almiron was then 23 or 24 I think but the reports say Olmo is 21 so there wouldn't be quite as much cause for suspicion in his case.

My take an Frank's press conference comments is that he initially let slip his lack of interest Zaha before getting back on script to say the usual won't comment on another club's player stuff. Whether that lack of interest also goes for the club, we will see.

As predicted. I would not like to see Chelsea sign this player.

Let's keep it that way.

If true, this is a very sensible decision by the Chinese. Their league simply does not attract the best talent. They are only able to recruit players who can't find a club they'd prefer to play for. China is paying premium prices for over hyped names who are not good enough to get desireable gigs in Europe.

Maybe my judgement has been a bit affected by confirmation bias then because I've never believed in him and don't feel I saw what you saw early in this season. Although, like all players, Emerson has better days and less good days, I see him as an ordinary player and players' performances seldom move too far out of their talent group.

Kova and Jorgi are the heart of our team quality wise. I'm always disappointed, and a bit concerned, when we start a game without one or both of them.

Frank did cite the de Bruyne situation as a caution against giving up on a player too soon, but I don't particularly agree. I see it as a caution against not having the vision to recognise quality when you see it.

I think rubbish is going too far, and I'm not just talking about my general preference for not using that kind of language about any Chelsea player. That said, I'm not a believer and think that striker must be on the list of positions requiring an upgrade.

Yep, having the sense to listen to advice, and the judgement to know when to do it, is a leadership quality. When your job is to make decisions, it's not unreasonable to get the credit for making good ones, even if the idea was not yours.

My feeling is that it's your opinion which has changed, not Emerson's contribution.

Excellent tweet. Either a man of sense or a communications department that's really on the ball. If the latter then I don't care if that communication department works at CFC or with his agent. It would just be nice to know that at least one of our players is getting that kind of quality support.

So many weaknesses but, for me, the worst is how closed he is when receiving an out ball. With such body shape there is only one way the ball is going next; back in the direction it came from.

I have never understood why any Chelsea fan would ever call a Chelsea player Shit. (As was done in the post to which you replied.) Not even Chris Sutton got that from me and believe me, I never knew how furious I could get until the day we signed him. The reality is, despite the goals, Tammy is not the answer for us up front. My statement might be softened if I said that he isn't the answer 'at the moment', but, from his academy days on, I've never believed. I did not, and do not, believe that Tammy would help us become the team we want to be. I won't therefore hide behind well meaning words now. Perhaps there's a role for Tammy as one of our squad options. Not sure that he would, or should, want that role though.

Thanks for persevering. More than my comment deserved. It was a typo. Far from the first time that's happened, and damaged the sense of a post of mine. The last time one was brought to my attention, the person to whom I gave my explanation chose not to believe me. No problem we all call life the way we see it though we should all accept the responsibility to keep ensuring that we see straight. The post should read I don't love what Rudi did. Though the Corinthian spirt died long ago, and the pragmatic approach of ensuring that the referee sees fouls committed against you is here to stay, I just felt Rudi went a bit further than absolutely required in his reaction to Son's foul. Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating it today.

You're right, It's a fair sized if.

I did not live what Rudi did.