OhForAGreavsie

OK, thank you for this. I've already posted a comment which may have been different if I had understood what you say here. He was still badly in the wrong but it's good to read that he is not so absolutely fed up with the world that he would not care about being disrespectful to his hosts.

In that regard I'm only worried about the judgement of our squad builders. It was obvious to me that he wasn't good enough just from watching his YouTube vids when he was initially linked. When I posted to say so, someone told me I was talking nonsense but merely having loose ball control, too loose to succeed in any offensive role at Chelsea's level, is utterly insignificant in comparison to what he's done now. I hope Chelsea Football Club has thought long and hard about the sanctions it will impose. Our club certainly understands the harm which has been done to its reputation by JT's stupid outburst, by those idiots in the Parisian Metro, and by the residual memories of the hordes of right wing morons who infested our club in the 70's and 80's. I wonder if, on reflection, it might believe that cancelling Kennedy's contract would now be a better message to send? At a guess I'd say the club may have been relatively lenient because they understand that the young man finds himself in a difficult circumstances and therefore feel it's right to support him. Kennedy must feel completely fed up with his situation. He must be wondering what he's doing in China when everybody knows he is not going to be a significant member of Chelsea's squad come what may and he must be searching his soul about what would be the right move for him to make next. I'm guessing that frustration and anger got to him. In the circumstances those feelings are perhaps understandable, but they are not an excuse.

It's really the same sponsor though.

Interesting SC, thank you. The first time I saw one of Kennedy's YouTube videos, I posted the opinion that his technique wasn't good enough and that we should not sign him. On the other hand, this Richarlison lad shows well in the vid linked above. That said, while watching it, I did wish it showed him in a wider range of actions. My next plan would have been to look for some all touches videos but it sounds like you're suggesting it's not worth bothering. I'm always drawn to cautious views of young players because popular opinion is far more likely to overrate a youngster than it is to underrate him. Meanwhile... What can you tell us about Wendel?

I don't know about your fourth sentence, but the other three are spot on in my opinion.

I have no idea but, if true, then we can be sure there is a sensible reason for it.

Does anyone know what Real's plan is for Theo Hernandez during the upcoming season? Are they just going to use him as a squad player or might they fancy parking him on loan for a season or two? I'm not fond of the idea of benching Marcos for a loan player, but wouldn't you just love to see a few of those trademark marauding runs at The Bridge? They would ignite the place.

Hello Barbera, As you perhaps know, I almost always agree with your point of view but I do have a slight difference with you here. I said in my response that I felt I understood what she meant, but that she had expressed the point carelessly, and I stand by that. Yes, I understood the commentary to be about football intelligence but the journalist talked about learning ability which is a reference to general intelligence. I take "football intelligence" to be about a feel for the game, an inate understanding about what is effective and in what situations. I do not take it to be about the ability to absorb technical and tactical messages. It is in that sense that I feel the idea could have been communicated better.

Ricardo Pereira

In this race I'm a City fan. 😊

This point of view again? Obviously I have to start by acknowledging that my differing view is just an opinion itself but I believe what I'm about to write very strongly. Nemanja was a positive contributor in the first part of the 14/15 title campaign, but from late November on he slipped into the form we've witnessed since. I think it's a myth to say that he was good for the whole of that season. Indeed I know of a long standing Chelsea fan, a member of another forum, who never accepted the claim that our Serbian CM was that good in the early season either. That person must think we were all suffering some form of collective hypnosis because he insisted that we were wrong to be praising Nemanja's performances. I confess I always dismissed his opinion at the time, but these days I'm not so sure. In some ways it's easier to believe that we were all blind to Nemanja's flaws, than that his form suddenly fell off a cliff and never recovered.

Her use of the word intelligent strikes me as careless and potentially misleading. I think I get what she means but she needs to describe it more accurately. Rom is in fact a very bright guy, in IQ terms. Indeed it's that intelligence which has enabled him to make the most of his attributes despite some clear limitations. He can learn just as quickly as the next striker but he lacks the technical tools to put the lessons into practice.

Good enough or the interpretation that fits with your general view on these matters so you are naturally more likely to be convinced by it?

Anyway, who, as in which players, caused the so called curse? A bunch of players who were never going to be good no matter what number they wore.

Just under £100m for 20th in the Premier League last season.

Yep, that's a good observation. I said earlier that City were presumably buying a backup but maybe they aren't.

I have one very slight disagreement, and one somewhat larger one, with what you've said here. The slight one is that, while I love the idea of Moara in a two, and of us playing 3-5-2 to accommodate it, I can't quite see Michy as a great fit. I'm a fan of Bats and believe he has more than he was able to show last year but I think there are better potential styles to dovetail with Morata. The larger disagreement relates to your point about the market price. Buyers are a part of the market. Unless they pony up, inflated prices are just a sellers fantasy. As far as we can tell, no one has yet been willing to pay Madrid's asking price, so the going rate for a talented Madrid backup has not yet been set. If someone comes close to that valuation, I hope it is not us. We have to discipline ourselves, the entire Premier League has to exercise self-control. If we are handing such a large percentage of our annual revenues to secure the services of a player Madrid basically don't want, then we have no hope of ever closing the gap between them and us. If Madrid want a King's ransom, then let them sell us one of their kings.

Everybody's price is negotiable if the sellers are willing negotiate.

If he's got any sense he'll realise that backup at City is a great gig for him. Indeed, if it's true that he's joining them, then it seems that he does understand that.

Wonderful news. Extremely pleased about this. City presumably are buying a backup. Not sure if he's up to it but that's their problem. We need a starter and that ain't this lad. Get Pereira.

Forget this bloke - get Pereira.

Such a black and white comment. No room for whys and wherefores. Our club is not a democracy; Roman rules the roost. You are therefore entitled to believe that the board is doing Roman's bidding and simply applying the policies agreed with the owner. Whatever those policies may be. Are you now going to start talking about Roman as a joke? He's the final decision maker here after all. The buck stops with him.

I didn't rate him at all when I watched him at the youth tournament he took part in. I heard a lot of hype but didn't see much reason for it. Will be interesting to see how things go in France but my expectations are not high.

Shevchenko is a great example. Sheva was linked before the 2006 World Cup, and joined after it. Having watched him in Germany I commented, elsewhere, that he had nothing to offer and that he shouldn't be signed. (Although I did add that if Sheva was the price we had to pay for having Roman on board then it would be worth paying.) A conversation developed with someone who was in favour of the signing. That person quoted the Ukrainian's stats and asked for my answer to them. My opinion then was the same as it is now so I told him that I would rather believe the evidence of my own eyes. Stats and previous record can serve as a reasonable sounding excuse when a signing goes wrong but, in the end, they are just crutches. Judgement, or should I say, good judgement, is ultimately what it comes down to. Who has good judgement? All of us do at least some of the time but someone has to have the responsibility for making incoming transfer decisions. I hope that person is Antonio and I hope no one is trying to gain say his judgement but quoting stats at him.

I did, and spoke positively about Marcos as soon as he was linked to us. I don't feel able to speak positively about Danilo however.