OhForAGreavsie

First, you'd have to believe the story which claims the big clubs are interested. I don't.

Interesting read Thor. Thank you. Have to say that I completely disagree with you. From the first time I saw his highlight videos I thought, and posted to say, that Kennedy was not good enough. I felt, and still feel, that his technique was/is lacking. Clearly we are seeing the same stuff, we just assess it differently. As for the plaudits at Newcastle, my view is that it's hype just as I said, and say, that Charly Musonda's good reviews at Betis were hype.

Kids won 4-0 on the night, 7-0 on aggregate. Through to a 7th successive FA Youth Cup final. The two legged game will be against Arsenal or Blackpool who are level going in to the 2nd leg of their tie at The Emirates.

18s are currently playing the second leg of their FA Youth Cup semi-final with Birmingham. I know the question is always will any of them make it to first team level but these lads are good and are real fun to watch. I'm not easily pleased but there is no doubt in my mind that the overall quality of the U18 squad just keeps getting better. Several starters have been rested and of course Ethan Ampadu is out for the season but these kids are still playing the kind of football we'd love to see from the first XI. If you can get online the match is live on the club's facebook page. Give it a go. I think you'll enjoy it.

Agree, there is a hierarchy and that hierarchy is personal. For me, all other things being equal, I'd rather see United win a game or a trophy in preference to Arsenal. Among others.

Indeed, I'd go further and say that City and Pep are good for the Premier League as a whole. They are by far the best Champions of recent years. The rest of us will have to improve if we intend to compete and heaven knows we here have been crying out for improvements for a long time.

Hello FB, The statement was that a United victory always conflicts with Chelsea's interests. Even your post makes it clear that this is not always the case. The statement is therefore self-evident nonsense. If we are competing with United for a trophy, or for league position, then no Chelsea fan will want them to win but when we are not there is room for other priorities.

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to stop this conversation because you are now posting stupid things. If what you've written makes sense even to you I'd be surprised. There are many, many times when a victory for a Mourinho managed team does Chelsea no harm. On all of those occasions, but on no others, I want him to win.

In fact you are the one blinded by Jose. You mean you were not happy when United beat City at the weekend? Even members whose posts betray a hatred for Jose understood that a United win was good for us. That being so, your statement clearly is nonsense, as stated. Or do you mean you want Spurs to beat them in the semi-final? If you do then, as argued above, that amounts to treason in my eyes.

Your imagination, your knowledge, or both, are limited if you cannot visualise circumstances in which a United victory does not conflict with Chelsea's interest. "Mourinho will always conflict with Chelsea's interests"? Even if you inserted the condition 'at United', that statement would still be nonsense. The relationship between most Chelsea fans and Tottenham Hotspurs makes that rivalry a special case. Almost unbelievably I have read posts from members of this forum stating that the Tottenham rivalry does not matter to them. To me that is the equivalent of high treason. How a true Chelsea fan can say such a thing is utterly beyond me but, even so, I want Spuds to win on Saturday. Why? Because it is useful to Chelsea. Of course I then hope they get smashed in the semi-final. It's just a question of competing priorities. If Jose were at Spurs I would still want them to loose pretty much every game they play but, if they are to win a game under Poch or under Jose, then I'd hate it less if the won under The Special One. City are Champions in all but name. With or Without Jose I'd rather United win it than they do. With Jose, it's a no brainer for me. When United won the Europa league I was pleased for Jose, but more pleased for Chelsea because we benefit from England's coefficient ranking being bolstered albeit that United's victory cost us a small amount of money. It is never a simple choice between Chelsea and United when the honours are handed out. The preferences of Chelsea fans will always therefore be more nuanced than your post pretends they will be.

I like to keep my posts polite and respectful. Well, as polite and respectful as I can manage anyway. I’ve therefore adopted a policy of not responding to the general point of view expressed about Jose in this site because I’ve got not one polite or respectful thing to say about the blank bleeps and their blank wit opinions about JM.

Agree re our records. That’s precisely why I’m so happy City lost, and why I’m OK with Spurs winning next weekend. On the other hand, I hope City will triumph on Tuesday. City reaching the Champions League semifinal sets up the scenario down the line where they’ve won the league and can go to full rotation ahead of those games. If that happens then the chances of them dropping Premier League points can only increase. Completely disagree about Jose. Always happy for him to win, as long as it doesn’t conflict with Chelsea’s interests.

Don’t know about you, but I went crazy when we drew 2-2 with Spurs a couple of years ago. You set your goals according to what you can achieve and you are naturally very happy when you pull them off. When you manage to do it in such dramatic circumstances only a stone would fail to get excited. if I’m excited about United’s win today, and I’m over the moon about it, then of course United players and fans have a right to absolutely love it.

Bloody brilliant. Thank you Jose. Not actually watching. No idea of the merits of the score line, or the rights and wrongs of the penalty appeals. Pleased for Jose if he wins but only really care that City loose.

The 18s have just completed a 3-0 win away to Birmingham City if the first leg of this year's FA Youth Cup semi-final. The squad is bidding to reach its 7th successive final, and its 8th out of the last nine. The second leg is next Tuesday at Stamford Bridge. Good luck to the lads for the return tie.

How sad. As a schoolboy, I was in the away end at White Hart Lane watching an eighteen year old Butch Wilkins captain Chelsea in a crucial late season relegation four-pointer. (Two points for a win in those days.) Near the end he missed a chance which would probably have earned a point that could, perhaps, have seen us avoid the relegation which followed a couple of weeks later. Three and a half years after that, I stood opposite The Shelf and watched him dominate a game in which recent Word Cup winners Ossie Ardieles & Ricky Villa featured for Spurs. (Check out Brian Moore's post match comments in the video below.) In between I stood week after week in The Shed chanting, "Wilkins, Wilkins ... born is the king". He was our captain, our leader, a part of the furniture. So much so in fact that he married the Chairman's daughter. He was Mr. Chelsea, the true heir to Ossie's throne. In later years I was not always able to agree with his comments as a pundit but today, and forever more I hope, Chelsea fans will remember the club legend. Thank you Butch.

I don't know this player but I respect your honesty about Bakayoko, I also liked him as a target for the club. I agree with your analysis about the attributes we need in that position. If Ndombele offers those attributes then let the negotiations begin.

And how do you know we are not?

I don't care if he really hates them. (As long as he can fake it for one day!)

Glad that people who watch performances and judge what they see honestly are now commenting on Charly. Many posts over the last two years have been too generous about his output. There was a time when the super positive opinions in here bore very little resemblance to the performances I was watching our young Belgian turn in for Betis. We’re Chelsea fans; of course we want the very best for Charly, but just wishing it won’t make it so. The penny has to drop very soon that, if he is to succeed at any kind of level, he needs to remodel his game. He must abandon any lingering belief that the hype surrounding his performances in that first spell at Betis was anything but the purest honeymoon reaction. Charly has a lot of thinking and a lot of work to do. I wish him well with it.

Agreed. That was a wonderful goal. Absolutely ridiculous that it did not win goal of the season. Most long range efforts are pretty much hit and hope. This one was different; it was a precision strike. Everything about it was completely intentional. Perfect contact, generating perfect fade to achieve perfect placement. One of the all time great goals.

I've been drinking a nice scotch and am feeling pretty happy. I find that I've drifted deep into my, "I absolutely love it when bad things happen to Spurs" zone. This is a good place for me. I like it here. If you can hear the drunken strains of an old bloke slurring out, "It's happened again. It's happened again", fading into "Double, double, double. John Terry's won the double" then you live closer to me than is good for you. I'm in an especially good mood because I've seen that stat about Spuds and five 21st century FA Cup semi-finals and no finals at all, Zilch, nada. Love it. Love it to death, "United, United, United, United, United!" P.S. It's a good scotch. Edit: right now this is my favourite song in the world:

With you.

Three words, Sepp bloody Blatter. I could easily loose respect for football fans. We all* hate international breaks but we do nothing about them other than bitch and put up with it. If we boycotted internationals until FIFA get rid of Blatter's ugly brainchild, international breaks would be gone in a flash. *Can't honestly say I know that ALL football fans hate international breaks. Indeed I know some people who are England supporters rather than fans of any individual clubs. Those people love the breaks but the rest of us, the vast majority of us, hate them don't we?

Interestingly, when the new Wembley was opened, the FA announced that the semis would be held under the arch for ten years. Of course they dressed it up with nonsense justifications but, in the end, they were honest enough not to try to pretend that it wasn't about the money really. Last year's semis marked the 10th successive semi-final round at the national stadium (2008-2017). As far as I'm aware there has not been a peep from the FA about the future. Even if we give them that they meant ten years, not ten pairs of semi-finals, I'm still not expecting them to say anything following up on that original ten year statement once this season's matches are over. I think they are just going to continue with the new 'tradition', and keep counting the money. Big mistake. In my opinion, the policy was wrong headed even in it's own terms. Staging the semi-finals at Wembley contributes to the diminishing reputation of The Cup, and that has led to a contraction of revenues overall. Where once attendances went up for FA Cup games, and Clubs were often able to charge a premium on ticket prices, now Cup attendances are typically down from league fixtures, even after clubs heavily discount the cost of tickets. Throw in the fact that the limited sponsorship value of the competition reflects its diminished status, and the whole plan is a disaster. This is because the FA's income from the competition is less than it used to be in relative terms and less, in my opinion, than it would have been had they staged the semi-finals away from Wembley .