OhForAGreavsie

It baffles me that anyone is still prepared to put a microphone in the hand of this ignorant man, and pay him to speak into it.

We have to assume that Forrest thought they needed him or they wouldn't have done the deal. Sometimes moves don't pan out in the way all parties hoped they would.

These clauses are nothing new and are in fact standard. The characterising of something as 'punishing' drives clicks I suppose, but it don't reflect the reality of loans. When players of development age are loaned, it is absolutely normal that the fee is inversely linked to the number of games they play. More games - lower fee, fewer games - higher fee.

I attended one game at Stamford Bridge in which he played as a substitute. It might have been Fulham, but I don't really remember. I remember being quite interested in seeing him. Watching videos, during the rumor phase before he joined, I felt there was some evidence of quality in him. Albeit a quality held back by poor decision-making. I came away from the game feeling less enthusiastic about him.

Welcome video for Maelys Mpome, CFCW's latest signing during a busy summer of multiple arrivals and departures. The 21 year old is the latest Blues acquisition from France as Sonia Bompastor continues to put her stamp on the squad. Maelys is a highly rated CB who is rumoured to have had interest from Barca and Lyon. She joined last Wednesday, seemingly to have been signed as a backup but some smart money is predicting that she will be a starter long before the end of the season. Watch her welcome video on chelseafc.com via the link below. https://www.chelseafc.com/en/video/maelys-mpome-or-behind-the-scenes-2024?fbclid=IwY2xjawFMQUlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHfkcq3KtlK0_yEFejcvy9Y7Hr_KoJiU3ACRKgcSCB76wXi-LKhxZPfHnKw_aem_NiIgU3iouGdvbncyfbfyXQ

Pitch side highlights of CFCW's preseason friendly victory of Feyenoord last Saturday.

Sam Kerr on her rehab progress, Sonia Bompastor, CFCW targets for the season ahead, and more.

Delighted though this is mainly based on expectation still. I've been supporting this club for 58 years and, barring Super Frank 1, I've never known a managerial appointment that was so emotionally acceptable to the supporters. Every CFC fan I've communicated with, if they have an opinion on Sonia at all, have a very, very positive one. The squad speak enthusiastically about Sonia personally, and about her training sessions too. Even allowing for the, 'what else would they say in public' factor, they seem genuinely excited by the new manager. When news broke of Emma's departure the first name which came to mind was Casey Stoney but I immediately dismissed it on the ground that she had only just relocated her family to San Diego so it seemed unlikely that she'd drag them all back again so soon. Once the rumour started to break that Sonia was in the frame however, I was fully on board. Now there is another rumour that Stoney actually applied for the job, but the club had already decided to approach Bompastor.

It's more or less 121 years since the Wright brothers first-powered flight. Since then mankind has made such enormous progress that, nowadays, we can even fly helicopters on Mars. Achieving good sound in a football managers press conference is proving a bit more challenging however. Maybe in another 120 years? Here is Sonia doing her best after yesterday's game. A few interesting sections of this did not make it into the comments @vesper posted above.

Was nice to be back at Kingsmeadow but a little difficult to gauge Feyenoord's strength and therefore to decide how well our preparation is going. There was an interesting moment midway through the first half when one of their players was sent off for a bookable challenge followed, we guessed, by a second card for dissent Sonia Bompastor then had a lengthy conversation with the ref after which Feyenoord were allowed to make a substitution. It would make sense for Sonia to want her team to continue their preseason build up against a full strength opponent, but I don't think the ref is allowed to do what she did. I hope she isn't going to be reprimanded because she made a sensible decision I think. Sandy Baltimore scored our opener but had a fairly quiet game otherwise. At least she did until the Dutch side made a flurry of substitutions, when she had some brighter spells. Random thoughts: Mille Bright's clever header was pick of the goals for me. Maika Hamano was quite sharp after coming on and looks to have put on some muscle since the end of last season. Aggie Beaver-Jones looked closer to readiness than Mayra Ramirez. Wieke Kaptien had good game and looked fully ready to compete for minutes. Bernabe and Mpome had too few touches to offer a chance to assess them.

First time I've seen this. It's sickening.

Let's hope that you are right.

Not the worst investment in the world from a practical point of view. The calculation has to be that we won't compete with Arsenal for league places. It's sensible to expect both that we will finish behind them, and that they will get the better of the two fixtures between us. Neither of these things are guaranteed of course, but they are more likely than not. This means that the more points Arsenal take off other teams the better it will be for us among the teams we will be competing with in 24/25. That covers our practical interests but the emotional ones could be a different story. I'd rather watch Man City win the league until the end of time, than to ever see Arsenal or Liverpool lift the trophy again. If Sterling actually helps them become champions it will be a blow.

To clarify, though I'm guessing you're ahead of this already anyway, when I say that women's football is not as good I mean from a technical point of view. The physical differences are what they are and always will be. My, I think well founded, opinion is that if you could somehow handicap a a men's professional team so that their physical advantages were completely nullified, they would still slaughter the best women's team in the world because they're just better footballers. This is the bit I believe can change. It is reckoned that about 29 million women play football worldwide. That's a fraction of the number of men who do. This means the talent pool from which professional women's teams draw their athletes is far, far, smaller than is the case with men's teams. If the women's talent pool were to grow that would drive standards up. It's by no means a given however that this will happen.

Oh dear. Didn't want him, I've never rated him, but I'll get over it if he delivers.

It's been announced? I've missed a few pages then.

What time does the window close please folks?+

In seriousness this comment tends to one of the things I would talk about in that essay. Still not gonna risk it though. 🙂

😂 And yet here we all are at a quarter to 11 on a Friday night, when there's not even a game on.

I'm just as committed to the women's team as I am to the men. Although some fans of women's football lie to themselves about this fact, it is clearly true that professional women's football is not as good as professional men's football. I have no doubt however that, if more girls take up the game and persist with it into adulthood, the standard will improve. Ultimately however what makes football enjoyable is the competitiveness not just the finite standard. The Premier League witnesses a much higher standard of play than can be found in League Two, yet fans at that level are every bit as committed, and passionate, as we are. Same goes for women's football. If it were women against men, or even older boys, it would not be competitive and therefore not interesting. Women against women however is competitive and you get just as drawn in to how your club's team is progressing. I say 'you', but really I suppose I should say I. Fair enough, but the number of fans is growing. I feel like continuing with an essay here about how I think the women's game will progress and how I would like it to. You've made it this far however so I'm not going to push my luck. 🙂

Bounce out the proud owners of two hotels and a Premier League training complex. In the scenario you pose CFC would experience dramatically reduced revenues, but increased fixed costs. (Having to pay rent on their training ground.) CFCW would be among the first casualties.

Exactly.

Different contractual situation? We know that the mere 12 months remaining on Connor's deal affected his transfer fee. Perhaps more than one season remained bon Billy's