OhForAGreavsie

It's easy to type out your wish list of outcomes. Negotiating them into reality is a completely different situation. It baffles me how people who have never negotiated a transfer deal in their lives, who have no clue about the facts of the deal, can nevertheless post with such certainty about how much better they could do it. Let's give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you have the qualities to hammer out a better deal than Marina and her team of lawyers. Doing so would entail being prepared to walk away if Real don't stomp up. Would you be prepared to walk away? Bear in mind that Real Madrid are not Chelsea. In recent seasons we've engaged in long, and ultimately unsuccessful, pursuits of a number of players. In the end all of those players were prepared to sign new deals with their existing clubs and give up the opportunity to join Chelsea. That would not have been the case if the buying club had been Real Madrid. Eden is never going to turn his back on Madrid and sign a new deal with us. As negotiator, you know the implications of that fact. Are you still prepared to walk away from the table? If the report is accurate and Marina has negotiated £88.8m guaranteed, plus up to £41.2m in add-ons, then her bosses are more likely to give her a bonus than they are to give her the bullet.

This is my problem. I didn't manage to get past denial months ago, and I still haven't if I'm honest. I still cling to the belief that I've had since day one. Namely that there will be no ban. If you thought I was confused before, imagine what happens when you throw in the Telegraphs's claim that the appeal has gone to CAS minus a suspension request? I could give a long list of speculations and questions about that, but I'll limit myself to just this:- If not asking CAS for a suspension is tactical then, fine, I can see that. Otherwise, what makes us so confident that we can't do any useful business this summer when several good solutions appear still to be up for grabs?

Thanks again Vesper. That Goal.com statement certainly has logic on its side. Given fifa's refusal to suspend the ban, it would make sense for them to provide the written reasons immediately. Otherwise they run the risk of imposing a ban which is later overturned and therefore opens the governing body to possible compensation claims. On the other hand there has been no acknowledgement from either side that the grounds have been confirmed. I'd have thought fifa at least would be transparent about that. So, if the deadline for involving CAS has passed without the appeal being made, that leaves Chelsea in a very dishonest position. Just come clean folks, and get on to dealing with the mess.

P.S. I've looked at the timelines of the similar cases involving the big three Spanish clubs. The gaps between fifa notifying their decision on each club's appeal and then sending the written reasons for that decision were; Barcelona 44 days, Real 153 days, Atletico 153 days. The two Madrid clubs then filed their appeals to CAS 10 days later, while Barca took 26 days. (Perhaps the regulation has changed since 2016, or perhaps it is 21 'working' days.) It would be a significant change to fifa's M.O. if they posted the grounds for rejecting our appeal on the same day as they published the decision itself.

Thanks Vesper. I'd have thought that if these facts were well known, media outlets would be making definitive statements about the situation. As it is, we are still reading hedged comments pending a final resolution. As recently as this morning, there is a new article on WAGNH talking about "if" the ban is upheld. I confess that I don't recognise the author as one of their regulars, but WAGNH are usually pretty rigourous when it comes to factual statements penned by their writers. (As opposed to fan posts.) In an earlier comment you referenced a tweet from sports lawyer, and Chelsea fan, Jake Cohen. In that tweet he afirmed that the deadline for an appeal to CAS falls twenty-one days after the reasons for the decision, as opposed to simply the decision itself, are confirmed in writing by fifa. Jake is always diligent about the accuracy of his output so I give credence to his further tweet that this written confirmation usually follows "quite a bit" after the initial notification of fifa's decision. I grant that 'usually' does not mean 'always', but it's not unreasonable to assume that the usual process was followed. If so, that would mean the written reasons were not sent on the same day the decision was notified. (8th May.) CFC may therefore still have time to go to CAS, or might yet be waiting for the written grounds. Certainly this would explain why, as late as 29th May, the club was reportedly maintaining its stance that it would appeal. The upshot of all of this? I'm confused.

Since both club and association have been convicted, fifa's regulations obviously treat both as separately liable. It's still true though that if The FA had interpreted the regulations as FIFA think they should have, and rejected the registrations in the first place, things would not have come to this.

I agree, I'd definitely want Jody too if we made a move for Frank. I never hid the fact that I didn't rate Jody as a player, but he has completely impressed me since hanging up his boots. First as a CTV pundit, where he showed honesty, integrity, insight and good judgement. Then as a coach demonstrating tactical knowledge, calm authority and a commitment to high quality foootball. There's no doubt that Jody only joined Derby because Frank wanted him (and that's a big plus mark for Frank in my opinion) but, now that their board has worked with him for a year, I'd be surprised if he isn't strongly on their minds for when they need to replace SFL.

This situation is exactly why I have never believed, right from the time the German leaks first emerged, that we'd be banned. I simply never believed, and still don't, that we could be so stupid as to repeat our dodgy methods. Perhaps this is pure wishful thinking on my part, but it fits with reports of the delayed written response from FIFA. Fits in the sense that the governing body knows what we did, is desperate to see us punished, but can't find a form of words which, legally speaking, overcome the cover stories we put in place to shelter our recruitment activities.

The last I read about the CAS situation is that the reason we had not yet made an appeal is that we had not yet received fifa's written decision regarding our appeal to them. Has that claim been debunked, or moved on in some other way? The idea that, "we are going to take the ban, and hope they can get it reduced", makes no sense to me. If FIFA have already confirmed in writing that they have rejected our explanations, and if we are not going to CAS, then where is this reduction coming from? If anything, the notion that we're hoping the ban will be reduced fits better with the claim that we have not yet had fifa's final, written, notification.

He's out of contract on 1st July, there's not been even a hint of a renewal and he's given an interview to Dutch media saying he does not expect to breakthrough at Chelsea. We can't wish ourselves out of the fact that two and two really do make four.

Castillo looks certain to leave this summer.

Don't agree. The lad's moving, he's given us a bigger slice of his career than we've deserved frankly, and has been our best player during his time here. Let's respect what he's done for us and not nit-pick about a few days or so.

I think I'm ahead of these three with my screen name. Jimmy Greaves left the club in 1961. Oh, and he was an even better player than Eden.

How many academy graduates have left the club and gone on to show that they are Champions League level footballers? I think the answer to that question is zero. If you agree, then maybe you also agree that it's not justified to imply that the club has failed to promote youngsters. The current crop of Cobhamlproducts are getting chances because they are the first to deserve it. Back to the stadium; whichever way we cut it, building away from the Stamford Bridge site is far less expensive than staying put. Probably as much as £500m less. The problem is finding an acceptable site of course.

I fully support uefa's egalitarian approach, we all do. Every member of the federation is entitled to equal treatment and their day in the sun. It was therefore right to consider Baku in theory. Maybe uefa need to add a logistics requirement when stadiums bid to host showpiece occasions. Local organisers should need to show that affordable arrangements have been made with transport and accommodation companies to cover all eventualities. Then a big final should definitely return to Baku when their turn comes around again.

There's no doubt that Liverpool are the second last team I'd like to see win anything, but second last is better than dead last. In this case way, way better. For me any way.

Better be Liverpool, else I'll be too depressed to care about that game.

Another example of what I see as the immature decision making which persuades me that Arkaidy has been involved in transfer activity.

Hard headed decisions must be made. A squad containing all four of the players you name would take us a notch closer to the level we need. Let's give the manager a group which is strong enough to allow as much rotation as he wants. Enough rotation to keep all four happy. Rotation in a winning team, playing well and earning respect makes players happier than constant starts in a side performing below expectations. That power needs more additions than just Ndombele and Aouar, but they would be a start. CAS permitting of course.

There is no doubt that Reece is a better right back than Ola. Indeed, I wouldn't bet on Reece remaining behind Azpi for long, even if that is how things are planned at the start of next season. The attraction of Ola is his ability to perform at both LB & RB, as he has shown for Torino throughout the season. That kind of flexibility is really valuable in a squad player but becoming a full time backup may not be acceptable to him.

Have we made the announcement? Or do you mean that you think the rumours are true, and that we've deliberately leaked them? If I'm honest I can't see any benefit Chelsea gain from stoking this rumour before the final, although I suppose a case could be made.

When all you have left are your dreams they might as well be good ones.

^^Assuming this is accurate, offering the contract is good news. Being able to announce that Reece has signed it, would be great news.

A young lad I've been raving about since he was fourteen made his Celtic debut as a half time substitute yesterday. I didn't see the game* but, according to reports, Karamoko Dembele impressed and made the difference after coming on. I've said it before but every top club in Europe is going to have this kid near, or at, the top of their watch list. He's only sixteen but, if we can, and as soon as we can, we have to make an offer to Celtic for this lad. It's heartbreaking that we've blown the advantages of Roman's investment to such an extent that, instead of being a club players are clamouring to join, they seem only to come here when no other good level club wants them. What I'm lamenting is that we won't get Dembele even if we try. Shame. *I didn't see the game because yesterday was my older daughter's birthday. 19th May is always a big day in my house, not just in 2012.

Poor bloke. After starting his career in front of the wall, what's he going to make of the Stamford Bridge atmosphere? I appreciate the positive comments about Christian. They encourage me because they seem to be saying, take another look at this lad; there's more to him than you might think. This reminds me of one of my favourite footballers. James Milner gets a lot of criticism, but he's a lot more effective than many players who look more talented. I'm not saying the positive assessments cause me to think the two have similar skill sets. Clearly they don't, but getting the job done is what counts, not how you look while you do it. If Christian lives up to the statements about: attitude, professionalism, work ethic, etc, and uses those qualities to match Milner's effectiveness, we'll all be super happy.