OhForAGreavsie

Nothing technical about it. Plain fact. Be nice to keep it that way.

I’d say impossible. I’m afraid we’ve manoeuvred ourselves into a place where some players would even accept lesser contracts to play elsewhere rather than join us. It was always like that but billions of pounds of spending later things could, and should, have been better. Instead, if anything, it is worse than ever. So what do you do? Stay patient, accept that it will take time to change our image and set off on a long term plan to establish a new perception of our club. It’ll take a commitment to positive football of quality. Stability would be nice too, but it’s less important than erasing the perception people have of CFC.

As is often the case, Sheva’s stats were misleading. Anyone who watched him at the 2006 World Cup knew he had nothing to offer Chelsea. There were special circumstances involved in his capture, one of which was that no club with a sensible recruitment policy would have spent big-money and big wages on him at that stage of his career. Not a difficult signing to complete. Inter were prepared to let Crespo go. Contrast their attitude on that deal with their absolute refusal to do business on Vieri at more than twice the price. Look at Hernan’s career and you’ll see evidence that clubs were always more enthusiastic about buying him, than they were about keeping him once he was on the books. Not a difficult signing to complete. Nando’s output in the first part of his Liverpool contract was the only high performing period of his career. I never believed in him even while he was scoring heavily for the scousers. The day we bought Nando I was deeply depressed at our stupidity. As you imply that was not a difficult signing to complete. Maka himself said he came to Chelsea because no club he preferred to join was prepared to pay his fee or his wages. Not a difficult signing to complete. We never had the pulling power to attract genuinely high status players. The ones we were able to sign were those whose status was not as high as it might have seemed. Even then we were forced to overcome the reluctance of even that level of player by wildly overpaying fees and wages. Now that we are no longer doing that we are bound to suffer at the top end of the market but our record of recruiting young talent is not so bad.

Yes, it was definitely fun. The departing players were leaving anyway. It was a nice occasion to share the ending of their time at the club with them. Was an especially nice touch when Claire came on to the supporters coach to thank us for the silver salver we had presented to her, and to say a last goodbye. She definitely enjoyed the day. If you count Crystal that would make five departures. The name you've missed out from the list of first team departures is Becky Spencer but others not quite in the top squad have also left. Worse, three players' contracts are running out. The club is certain to pull out all the stops to keep Maren and Gilly but there are fears that Gemma will move in search or more playing time. A busy summer ahead for the club. To be more competitive in the CL we need to significantly upgrade the squad, not just replace the departing players like for like. Wolfsburg were a pleasure to watch at Kingsmeadow. Some of their fans were generous enough to recognise that we are now closer to them than we have been in previous seasons but the truth is we are still miles behind them. They are the standard for me. We have our work cut out to catch up with them. P.S. Good luck to VFL in today's Champions League Final.

I was there. Was great and we made up more than 25% of the crowd. Was a lot of fun celebrating with the team after the game. Our published attendances have been the highest in the league which is great but hopefully we'll be able to push them up further still. Before then however there's a lot to look forward in the summer with at least 4 players moving on and desperately needing to be replaced. Should be fun watching the comings and goings.

It may be a bit early to include Martel in that list but we should definitely add Callum and Reece to it.

Grealish looked twice the player over both legs And goodness knows Grealish is no great shakes.

I don't want to believe that we are looking at him.

You weren’t up from Southampton with your girlfriend that you had just got engaged to were you? We were in North Stand because we were late so we dived in there rather than walk round to The Shed. That meant it was a bunch of new people around us that we didn’t know. Got chatting to those two and made a nice afternoon of it. By the way, we were three down when Walker came on to spark the miracle come back. I remember we had been singing for him to come on the whole second half. The place went wild when was finally brought on with less than 20 minutes to go. The rest is history. The ref said afterward that, despite having reffed in front of 100,000 at Wembley, that was the loudest noice he ever heard in a football ground.

The only game I ever watched from the North Stand was the famous Clive Walker game vs Bolton. No problem that day because we were top right (facing the pitch) and the Bolton fan were way over to the left and there were only 17,000 there that day, hardly any of them Bolton.

Do you remember the old shack (that’s the only way to describe it) that doubled as a ticket office and merchandise shop? I turned up there one day to buy some tickets (a very rare event in those days of pay on the turnstile) and Duncan was in there, new fag on, old one still hot in the ashtray, chatting up the girls in the office. He looked totally disgusted that they had to take their attention off him for a minute to sell me three tickets and a mug. Even back then I thought to myself, chain smoker, that explains a lot!

I didn't miss a thing. Not even the intended slur. Oh dear. I know you know what discernible means so you’ll forgive me for avoiding further comment on the statement about whether I know who is, or isn’t, interested in Traore. You’ve responded to many of my posts so I assume you’ve read them. You perhaps don’t remember any of their content, which is fair enough, but if you did you’d be aware that my opinion of a player is not informed by where he plays his football. Traore being outside the Premier League doesn’t create my opinion of his abilities, it just supports it. In fact I formed that opinion, and posted about it, while Traore was playing in the top flight. Zaha was taken from a Championship side to a club with world status. Although that move did not work for him, he remains a Premier League player. What, in comparison has been Traore’s history to date? Somewhat the opposite, I think you’ll agree. I accept that this proves nothing, but it is evidence that, so far, higher level clubs have passed on Traore and he has slid down the ranks. It would be illogical to draw conclusions from the level at which Traore plays, but not illogical to take his trajectory into account. Zaha climbed up the ladder and, although he slipped, is clinging on to a higher rung than the one to which Traore has fallen. This comparison suggests that Zaha is a more highly regarded footballer than Traore, however, my own view is not based on any of the above. It’s based on the fact that I’ve seen Traore play and I don’t believe he’s effective enough for any role at Chelsea.

Bear with this, I do get to Mason in the end. A few years ago someone on a different Chelsea site (WAGNH) asked for opinions about which of our then current youth squad had the best chance of a Chelsea future. My answer was Jay Da Silva. If I answered the same question now I'd say Callum is second most likely, and that Reece James is currently our top prospect. He's tremendous. I'm also pretty excited about sixteen year old Tino Anjorin who I think looks likely to be our next U18 level 'star'. I love Mason's game but I put him behind all these names. Mason will surely make it as a professional but watching him in youth games I felt he got away with many things, mainly his dribbles, that would fail in senior football. I couldn't wait for him to go on loan and get the experience that would help him make better decisions about when to carry the ball. However I've gotten into the Chelsea Ladies team, bought a season ticket and watched them a lot. For that reason I've seen much less televised football than I have in the past so I have not been able to assess what Mason might have learned, or how well he's learned it. P.S. Randomly, we are rumoured to have agreed to sign a young striker to join us from PSV's academy next summer. The deal has been posted by @ChelseaYouth, who seems only to report from authoritative sources, and is also listed on Transfermarkt as having been completed. Although I've read other statements which contradict that and say the player is not coming to Chelsea, I really hope that we have won the race to sign him. Jayden Braaf is an impressive youngster who will immediately become the best development level striker on our books if he arrives.

Bamford I wrote off the first time I saw him play for one of our development sides. When people moaned about Charly being dropped for some 'big' academy games, I posted in support of those decisions. When he was being praised to the hilt for his performances in Spain I was posting to say that in fact, barring one outstanding display, he was not playing well and would be dropped unless he improved. Five years ago I posted (elsewhere) to say that Ruben was a terrific prospect but that he needed a kick up the backside so that he'd learn to get more involved in games and make an impact. He's always shown flashes of brilliance which excites us all but then he strolls around or makes blind runs so that his effective contribution is close to zero. I watched one England age group game where he touched the ball only three times in a twenty minute spell. Maybe he has cured that now. We'll see. Baker I never believed in and said so. Abraham I said I like the way he makes the most of his attributes but that I didn't see him as a player who is good enough for the team we want Chelsea to be. You may read this as me trying to boast about getting things right but in fact I'm trying to suggest that I'm not susceptible to hype. About Callum I confidently say he is a terrific player who will make it somewhere. Possibly here.

Nor should they. CL11 is right as often as most of us in his player judgements but I think he's got this one wrong.

I was calling for Dybala's signature before he left the lot with the pink shirts. Traore on the other hand is a Championship player.

You are welcome to call me a football expert, or anything else, if you wish. I think of myself as a fan with opinions. You and I have often disagreed before and clearly we do so once more. I simply do not see anything elite in Traore. Things sometimes go right for him, as they do for all players. Demonstrating elite ability however is about being able to replicate excellence repeatedly. Traore does not. He has good age, a good profile, great pace and outstanding power. If he also adds elite dribbling skills as you claim then, never mind Europe's second tier club competition, what's he doing in England's second tier league? Why too is there no discernable clamour for his signature? I know that this last point is an appeal to authority which is not usually a sound way to debate but top level managers are not always wrong you know, and they are not wrong about Traore.

I don't see the attraction in this player at all. Simply not talented enough, or football-smart enough in my opinion. Pace, power, and still not good enough.

I like Koulibali. If we can get him, I think we should. After a year out on loan for experience I believe Reece James will be ready to start for Chelsea. At the beginning of the 2019/20 season he'll be approaching his 20th birthday. That's fearfully young for a centre back but the lad is the absolute real deal. He will be a Chelsea player and he will be ready while still a teenager. Dave, Reece & KK as starters, with Andreas, Tony and one other to round out the CB group, would make us really well set at that position.

Add the fact that Dembele already turned us down in 2015 and you speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Sadly.

In fact they go top even if they only draw. That said... In my post above I asked anyone who saw the ladies for the first time on Saturday to get down to Kingsmeadow tonight and lend your voice to the title push. That was on Saturday however. On Saturday it looked like the Huddersfield game was just going to be another end of season fixture with nothing much riding on it for the Blues. Now it matters however so I have to confess that I'll be at The Bridge tonight. The men's game is sold out though so if you don't have a ticket, Kingsmeadow is still the place for you. They are sure to have the men's game on in the bar so you'll be able to catch the whole second half after the ladies' match is finished. Tickets can be bought from the box office stall at Kingsmeadow and cost £6 for full paying adults and £3 for concessions. Box office at the ground opens at 5:30pm, game kicks-off at 7:00pm.

Not to mention that Jay Da Silva has won Charlton Fans' Player of The Season. Another season or two and he'll be ready to to be considered for us I think.

Does anyone know how things stand with Malcolm? Reports say that he'd like to join Munich, but that they are not interested. Any hope for us there? I like him better than Fakir.

That sums up the two ninety minute performances in which I watched him very closely before he joined united. He was great in one and poor in the other. Has he done enough since to get excited about? Not enough for me, no. Throw in that his preferred areas of operation seem to be those in which both Eden and Callum Hudson-Odoi like to function, and I'd say invest in someone else. I know all the usual caveats people would apply to Callum, but I'm confident he'll make it. There are flaws in his game but these are of the kind that can be coached. He sometimes believes too much in his ability and either tries more than he should, or else takes more time than he has. Meanwhile, the things which can't be coached; talent and football instinct, he has in abundance. From comments Jody Morris has made it's clear the coaches are going to work on this issue with Callum and it will be solved. He is the real deal; season after next he'll be ready to be a serious squad member, season after that he can start. Let's not block his path.

Agreed, it was a fantastic moment for them, and for us :). I'm only saying that they'd have won the league with or without us preventing a Spurs win. On the other hand we may well need them to beat Tottenham.