OhForAGreavsie

Of course you are right. Stupid of me. Thanks for pointing it out. It wasn't a totally serious comment mind.

I advocated giving the gloves to Marcin last summer. Someone responded in the same way you have now by asking the question did I really think the club would go with a teenager. (Perhaps it was you I don't recall.) My answer was that I did not expect the club to take the radical approach. It's easier for me to be brave when I don't have the responsibility for making the real decision so I don't criticise the club. You are absolutely justified in concluding that club did not believe Marcin was ready. I'm saying I did not agree with them. A key component of my attitude was Keppa's cost. I absolutely believe that we should have focused on outfield recruitment and spent as much money as was available doing that. As I put it then, "There is no way that Keppa is £71m better than Marcin and we need to use that money elsewhere." Keppa is a good keeper but I wonder how much you have seen of Marcin in forming your judgement that our starter is much, much better than the young Pole? I do not believe that young goalkeepers should ever be considered for the backup role. A young keeper who starts will build experience as he plays but a man walking into a crucial situation off the bench needs to bring a been there, done that attitude with him. If a young keeper is not going to play then he, far more even than outfielders, needs to go somewhere where he will. Chelsea's recruitment policy for backup goalkeepers has shown that they agree with this. Marcin would never have been considered as a bench warmer so the fact that he was overlooked for that role can't help us with this conversation. It is clear from his treatment last season that Marcin had a bad falling out with the club. Almost certainly this was prompted by his refusal to sign the new contract he was offered, and almost certainly that was because of Keppa's arrival. I have said that although I would have made a different decision, I do not blame the club for their choice. Having made that choice however, Marcin was really left with no option but to leave.

We, or perhaps I should say "I", don't know what Marcin was, or wasn't, offered. I've always believed however that the backup keeper role is one for an experienced footballer. Not for nothing is that place in the squad so often filled by players in the twilight of their careers. I would be disappointed if Chelsea move away from that policy. As you know, I was in favour of taking the radical option last summer; give the gloves to Marcin and spend the £71m elsewhere. His height is a factor but Marcin is an impressive shot stopper. He also has an air of authority, a presence, about him which I don't think Keppa matches. Distribution wise, is kappa so far ahead? I don't feel I've seen enough evidence of that yet.

I hope, for the sake of my health, that Marcin fails to get games in Paris and that, if he does, he struggles. If it goes the opposite way; if he gets some games and does well, I'm going to remember how I felt when we spent £71m to deny the lad a chance. I can really do without that grief.

Agreed. More evidence today that the ten position is the one which suits him best.

I reckon that Mason vs Ross is also a debate.

😀

My guess is that Frank feels he needs to hang on to both Kurt and Fikayo until Rudi returns fully to action. If Everton really want Kurt, maybe their best chance would be to offer cash plus a CB on a one year loan with an option to recall when Rudi is back.

Interesting that Juan played for the development squad yesterday after returning from the loan group's tour. Significant?

Can't blame them for trying.

Exactly, although those two are not the names which have surprised me most. In my case I was particularly surprised to read of Frank 'opening the door' for Kennedy. A player who has never impressed me from the moment I first saw his YouTube videos. That said, your Victor Moses analogy is a good one. For Victor then, perhaps we can read Kennedy now. We'll see.

This is true. I was disappointed to read some of the headline statements attributed to Frank about chances for some players but he has the right to judge things as he sees them. We'll just have to hope that he's right.

It says Saturday 19th in the original post but that was just a mistake. It should have said Friday 19th.

I'm pretty sure that the club do look at all the options and then settles on what seems best. Why would they do anything other than that? They know any and all existing contractual obligations. They know the opinions of the coaches who have worked with the player. They know the player's own intentions. They know what possibilities exist for both a permanent, and a temporary transfer. In short they know all the facts and we know none.

Thanks Vesper, Just downloaded the podcast and an audio version of the book. I'll let you know what I think. If you like history, and you're prepared to risk another yank, try One Summer by Bill Bryson. I won't try to write a summary because you'll read better ones if you search for the book. Just to say that the summary made the book seem really interesting to me, but in fact it's even better than I imagined. Way better. Check out a summary and see if it seems like your sort of thing.

Turns out Juan played in the team featuring loan players, not the development team. Interesting.

There were two games at Cobham this morning. One featured the development squad, the other featured players who are already a part of the loan army, or who are perhaps set to become a part of it. Juan played for the loan team. Should we take that as a clue to the next step? Probably.

To be fair, I think most regulars here saw through Lukaku. Nainggolan probably did split opinion a bit more.

Reece is ahead of all of them in my opinion. That said, we probably need to carry three strikers so Tammy's path into the squad looks clear.

Petr in coaching gear working with Kepa is a worrying photograph. It's not news to anyone that Petr's role is undifined, but we need him to work out a function where he operates with the executives of the club. Instead that photograph suggests he is tempted to gravitate toward what he knows, the training ground. Obviously there is no problem with Petr attending training. He needs to take a step back from hands-on involvement however. His brief now is to observe, assess and advise. Importantly, that advice needs to flow upward. It's perfectly natural for Frank and Petr to trust each other, so if the new manager wants to use his mate as a sounding board that's fine. If Petr allows this to become his role however, he'll be letting the club down. I'll be more encouraged if I see him wearing shirt and tie at least as often as training tops and boots. Of course, it's entirely possible that Petr is just having a chat with Kepa.

Juan hasn't been listed in the squad to goto Japan. Unless there's an innocent reason for it that's disappointing. The development group have a game tomorrow. If he's in the squad for that game we'll have some information.

Further ticket update for Chelsea Women vs Tottenham Hotspur Women at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 8th September The the club announced earlier today that all available tickets have been requested. As far as I know tickets for the two middle tiers were not made available, but every other seat in the ground has been claimed. That's more than 30,000 I reckon. Of course, when tickets are free not everyone who asks for one actually turns up. Here's hoping at least two-thirds of the people who requested a seat will use it.

Ticket update for Chelsea Women Vs Tottenham Hotspur Women at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 8th September. Tickets are going much faster than I expected. All seats have been allocated for The Shed end, only singles remain in The Matthew Harding plus the lower tiers of both the East and West stands are also fully taken. Looks like you'll need to be quick if you want to get down there and support the female blues. Details here, tickets here.

They already had him for free but let him go. 🙁

I wonder if everyone here is aware that Chelsea Women will be playing their opening game of the Women's Super League season at Stamford Bridge against Tottenham Hotspur Women on Sunday 8th September. The men will be on an international break that weekend so, if you haven't yet experienced a live game of women's football, this is a good opportunity to take in a WSL match. What's more the tickets are free. More details here.