OhForAGreavsie

This is mainly, but not entirely, true. Players with sufficient bargaining power can negotiate fully guaranteed contracts, for example Kurt Cousins signed a guaranteed contract when he moved from Washington to Minnesota this off season. In most cases however, NFL players end up with deals which guarantee only a percentage of their contracts. When a team wants to move a player on, only the guaranteed portion is paid up, the rest simply gets cancelled. (In addition to saving them money, this is a useful tool clubs use to manipulate their salary cap restrictions, but that's another topic.)

No I haven't tried when logged out but using the back, or the forward, button does not help.

Same problem regards being unable to change pages or like posts.

Always much preferred Malcolm myself. I've compared Fekir to Shaquiri in the past. Not surprised that Liverpool went for him as an alternative.

Follow up to question 1: If I told you I thought I knew more about how to run a football club that the people who actually do it I could hardly be surprised if you doubted me. For that reason I think it would be foolish to imagine that the rationale you described is not blindingly obvious to everyone, including officers of CFC. Even so it was not done. Whatever the reason, there had to be a reason. That's before we even get to questions about whether the facts you've read are accurate. They almost certainly are not. We fans have virtually no information. The club has it all. Only if we had that information, and an intimate knowledge of the club's financial plans, could we make sensible decisions. Otherwise we're just guessing and blundering about in the dark. I read many post which claim, or imply, that dong the 'right' thing is easy. Clearly it isn't.

First question then. How would you have resolved the head coach situation more quickly?

I'm not saying there is nothing wrong in Denmark. I'm just saying you don't know, and I don't know for that matter, who is to blame.

And yet we seem intent on spending £71m for a goalkeeper. Makes no sense to me. What can Kepa have that makes him worth £71m more than Marcin? OK, I understand that you pay the huge fee for that little bit of extra quality, the bit that elevates your squad above the pack, but we are clearly spending way more selectively these days than was once the case. In which case, I think we need to spend more wisely than this.

Can't agree about this. Didn't see it like that at all. Had his moments, or rather moment, but same old same old other than that. A lot of walking around and a lot of nothing sadly.

If you had Marina's job we'd all want you to resign.

Nope. Not by size of fanbase and revenue anyway.

True enough but maybe more than just an extra body, an extra option with his ball carrying skills. Something we get from Willian when he's hot, but which we totally lack when he is not. As for spending big on a keeper, I wouldn't do it. Spend nothing, back Bulka and use the budget where we need it most.

How the do you know she is one of the worst? People's work is judged by how well they do the job they've been given. Do you know the instructions under which she is working? Of course you don't. It's easy to say should this and should that but Marina has to work in the real world. The world where wishing a thing does not necessarily make it so. You are blaming Marina for player recruitment or the timing of it. Please tell us the evidence you have which shows who decides the names to be targeted, and when they were identified as possible recruits? You know none of this. In fact it seems the only thing you do know is who is to blame. Oh well.

I agree, Jose’s decision was widely supported, including by me even though I was well aware of the potential problem about loyalty and posted about it several times. Decisions have to be made, and someone has to make them. You weigh the pros and cons then make a choice. If the decision were mine to make, and I had to do it again, I’d make the same choice. Choosing Thibaut was clearly the right option at the time. It’s no good second guessing it years later. As for all the Thibaut hatred, I must tell you frankly that Chelsea fans really piss me off most of the time. Like watching the Huddersfield match at the end of last season in near silence. The only times people around me made any noise during a must win game was to give the team stuck. If we’re not going to try; if we’re not going to do everything we can to help, then who are we to moan at the players? Someone will chirp up and tell me fans have a right to complain. Well I am complaining about the petulant toddler tantrums some people call support. It looks like Thibaut is a goner. I’m sorry his time at Stamford Bridge hasn’t gone better. Sorry for him, and sorry for us. It really is not all his fault. We sent him at an impressionable age to a great club in a beautiful city. A club with a better team and more passionate fans. Then we brought him back to a chaotic club lurching from crisis to crisis and showing no lasting signs of progress. Though I may be a lone voice I say good luck to you Thibaut. If you ever return to Stamford Bridge you’ll recognise me. I’ll be the one applauding you.

Yes!!

Don't forget the compensation too cause if I see that I'm definitely gonna sue! P.S. I hope you are right about Fekir. When he and Malcolm were linked to us last season I was all in for Malcolm who looked a much better player to me.

Perhaps this and the lack of incoming activity are not just a coincidence.

Thibaut made his debut for Atleti when he was 19. Bulka will be 19 in October. Bulka can save us tens of millions in the market. If the club is brave enough. Bulka must start on Tuesday.

Some of what you say is valid but there's no brainwashing. Antonio changed because that is what suited the players at his disposal. With virtually the same players available to him Sarri will face a difficult choice. Sacrifice points and stick to your guns, or sacrifice your principles and chase points with five at the back.

This is not news. Even without seeing it in action it is obvious that Dave is not a Sarri 4-4-2 full back. In a Jose system where he is less integral to the attacking structure then he can be outstanding but not playing in today's shape. To get the best out of Dave we should line up in Conte's 5 at the back. That RCB role is perfect for Dave. The best Sarri right back we have is on loan at Wigan so there is some thinking for the boss to do.

There's a headline on the BBC football page asking why is it so hard to defend the Premier League title. I have not read the article, mainly because I believe I know the answer. The answer is that it is not hard, it's simply that the last several Champions have not been great teams. United's last hurrah, City's side limping home when we and Liverpool slipped up late in the season, ourselves twice and Leicester. This City side is different; it is a good team and will almost certainly defend the title. They are too good for us. No sense beating ourselves up. We just have to get down to work and focus on trying to get closer to them.

Unless Sari gets to Waitrose for a bit of shopping over the next four days, he'd better set up with 5 eggs at the back or we are going to struggle badly. Our full backs are not going to help provide the right kind of attacking platform in a flat four, and we are not getting the width from anywhere else.

I think there is probably a different reason. To start with all academies recruit players from the age of 6, with parents signing forms committing their youngsters to a club from age 8, so all teams have a big percentage of players who have grown up together. That means it's no advantage to us that our lads have too. Further, our graduates have progressed. I know you mean at Chelsea but I think it's worth remembering that the promise of any school can only be that it will help students make the most of their talent. No school can turn me into Einstein, or Joey Barton into Lionel Messi. Cobham has done well for the kids passing through it. There are a lot of Cobham graduates making professional careers for themselves at all levels in this country and abroad. If none have yet cemented a place in Chelsea's first XI, it's because none have been good enough but Cobham is working on it.

OK, I'm going to say it. If Thibaut leaves then we should get radical, reinvest the fee in other areas, and go with Marcin. From the first time I saw him in the youth team, the kid impressed me. It would be a bold move, to the point of near recklessness, but you win prizes when you get the big decisions right and I think this lad would justify the decision to back him. I'm not expecting it, but I'm hoping that he'll start today.

In addition to Calum two lads on loan in the Championship, plus a lad in the current development squad, have serious first team chances in my opinion. IF this opinion proves correct that's stunningly brilliant work by Cobham. For years I've argued that it was too early to judge the work of our academy. My point being that only players who have had their entire football education at the new academy represent evidence of how Cobham does its job. Given that the average age at which players establish themselves in the first team is around 22, and given that players start their journeys with Premier League clubs as early as 6, it takes a long time to see the real results. Up to now the players surfacing have either started in the old academy, which the club recognised as hopeless and dismantled, or were not genuine Cobham graduates because they were recruited as mid to late teenagers. If this way of looking at things is right then we should expect to see a gradual improvement in the general level of academy players. I believe that this is what we are seeing. For example, in my opinion, George Mceachran is a better player than his big brother yet, while Josh was touted as the star of his academy generation, George is not generally regarded as being even in the top five.