OhForAGreavsie

This post has really annoyed me. Not because you see this situation slightly differently to the way I see it, there's nothing wrong with that, and nothing to get remotely angered about, but because once again we read a post where a statement is being made that can't possibly be substantiated. How do you know Conte is not furious? I'm not saying he is furious, I'm not saying that he isn't. I am saying that I don't know, and you don't either. I don't know why stuff like this gets my goat so much, but it really does. Sorry - ?

Not so simple. Given that he had a release clause anyone could have signed him. They didn't - we did. Last summer Everton did not want to sell stones so they didn't. This summer they accepted that they must sell him. Even so, it took until the eve of the season for a deal to be completed. Thinking there is anything simple about this process is an error. In fact it reminds me of the famous quote about quantum physics which we've all heard; if you think you understand quantum physics, you don't understand quantum physics.

I know it's desperately unfair when a player performing absolutely uselessly gets dropped. This nonsense with Matic has been going on for 18 months. In fact it is possible that we were all blind to the truth and that it has been going on for much longer. There is a long-standing supporter who was a big fan of Mickey Droy back in the day. He argued all along that Matic was being overrated by all of us. I was one of many who did not, or would not, see his point. What's more, I have no excuse having myself been unimpressed with Matic before he joined first time around, or while he was here during that first spell. Speaking personally, I think I made the mistake of judging Matic on his form, rather than on his actual attributes and abilities. I excused myself for having been 'wrong' initially by saying that Matic was now playing in a different position and so should be judged differently. Well played to that Mickey Droy fan for seeing through the fog and the hype.

Although, like all of us, I originally thought that Roman had bought Torres, it turns out that he did not. Butch Wilkins made it clear three or four years ago that it was Carlo who instigated and pushed that transfer. I had an exchange with someone a short while ago who believes that Wilkins lied about that. I honestly can't see why he would have. That makes no sense to me. In fact that poster made the claim that he wouldn't believe Wilkins about anything. He may have reasons for having said that but I don't know of any.

Well we can't know but, right or wrong, I thought BCS made an interesting argument.

Just because someone told them, perhaps someone well-connected at Chelsea, doesn't make it so. If you're going to engage in a hoax you have to start by making it convincing. :-)

It's the way in which, after five minutes of telling us what a wonderful player Rodriguez is, that lad on the right says, "I think he's left footed. I think I'm right in saying that he's left footed. Isn't he?" Great scoutin dere lar!!!

I worked it out earlier in the week for a reply I did to an earlier post. Taking Italian taxation rates into account, the gross figure came to a little under €89,000 a week.

I can't see that at all Dazzy. If he doesn't join I don't care if you're right or not. If he does then let's hope that you are. :-)

For all I know the club may not be interested in Maksimovic, and may not be pursuing him. On the other hand, for all you know, the club might be interested and might be working hard to close the deal. Why is it that you are so determined to blame the club for not doing something which, for all you know, they are in fact trying to get done ? Do you want the club to conduct all of their transfer business through a series of statements published on their website? If that is too public however, would it be okay if they just phone you and tell you?

Once again he wasn't good I'm afraid. I read someone saying that, although Nemanja hadn't played well in the first two league games, it was early days and we should give him time to see if he recaptures his form. Problem is that, with few exceptions, he has been average or worse for a season and a half now. That's a long time. Too long to just be a question of form.

Definitely that, yes.

CTV say 4-4-2.

Ou est Loic?

I hate the use of that word out of context. It is not a word that should be normalised through repeated inappropriate use by decent people. Sexual offences are significantly up year after year. Avoiding that word is a tiny thing but I urge all males reading this to do everything we can to make the atmosphere they live in better, and safer, for the women in our lives. Anyway, when did we ever sign the elite?

He has been and of course he went to Austria and the USA. Disappointing that he didn't get a lookin during either of those tours so we have to assume Antonio doesn't think he's ready yet. That suspicion is only added to by the fact that Fikayo almost certainly won't be involved in this game, having played for the 23s last night .

That pub will be a pretty lonely place tonight. :-) Fikayo played last night so I doubt he'll be involved this evening. With or without him I think the team you listed is a lot stronger than the one we'll probably see.

Spot-on. Of course. Psychologists say that it is an important developmental stage when very young human beings begin to realise that things still happen even when they can't see them going on. All of us here are obviously many years beyond that stage and are well aware of this simple reality. Not all of the posts on the forum seem to take that knowledge into account however.

I don't really blame the newspapers on this occasion. They don't want to be left behind in the race for readers and clicks so they can't afford to be too choosy about the detail of the story. As long as they can stand it up, as they say, then they will always be tempted to publish anything. If some agent, working for the player or his club, drops them a story, no matter how stupid, it will see the light of day. We have to accept that the transfer rumour market for media outlets, is every bit as competitive as the transfer market is for clubs. Publishers and broadcasters need advertisers to survive. Advertisers buy clicks and readership numbers.

Everton were one year further down the line with a player making it clear he wanted to leave. Had they continued to dig their heels in, they were looking at rapidly diminishing returns both in terms of the player's commitment, and of his market value. That was an entirely different negotiating situation to the one that existed last summer. Even so, the deal was only completed a few days more than a week ago. Obviously we know next to nothing about the offer which was made for Pogba last summer, the reasons it was turned down, or whether the player himself would have had any interest in the move. We do know that at that time he was talking very much about Real Madrid or Barcelona only. If the current club don't want to sell, and player concerned doesn't want to move, there really isn't much wriggle room for potential buyers. In that circumstance the only weapon which can be used is an even larger amount of money than the already obscene numbers being offered to club and player. If it turns out that Manchester United and Manchester City have the power to spend more in the transfer market that we do then that's not a surprise to anyone. Nor is it news that we are not able to attract all of the players we would wish to. It was always that way, even when we had the biggest transfer budget in the world.

It remains to be seen if Andreas turns out to be as good in the Premier League as he reportedly has been in the Bundesliga. Even if he does, and let's hope it is so, few would have guessed that a two year term would become a problem when his loan was arranged. I'm sure that some did but I certainly wasn't one of them despite the fact that I watch more youth football than most. I can see the logic which says make it a one year deal, regardless, because that gives you the opportunity to reassess 12 months down the line. There is some sense in that, but it has to be set against the necessity to negotiate worthwhile deals with clubs who are great loan destimations for our players. I can imagine Gladbach arguing that if it were a one year deal they could not justify putting development time into the player. With a two year arrangement however, it would be more likely they could pick him even if his form fell away because there would be some payback for them down the line. It's an argument that has some merit and I don't blame our decision makers if they weighed the options and decided to go with it.

I agree with you that wages are not the sole factor, but they must be an important consideration in this affair. I say that because it's not hard to imagine that the desire to increase his earnings is one of Koulibali's motivations in wanting to leave Napoli, if indeed he does want to leave. Neither you nor I have the first clue what most players are paid when first joining Chelsea. It is clear however that all contracts are negotiated on an individual basis. The economics of the Premier League, and the value of Roman's support, if he chooses to give it, mean that Chelsea can make an offer which Napoli can't match. €2 million per year, net, earned in Italy, is a good deal less than €100,000 per week. In fact, it's less than €90,000 per week. We can be sure that Koulibaly would demand a significant increase over and above Napoli's offer, to join The Blues. Napoli hold the player's registration, and that is always an ace but it is certainly not the only card in the deck. If Koulibaly does not blink, if he refuses to sign a new contract, then Napoli have a serious decision to make. Do they hold onto the player and risk his value being damaged by the vagaries of form, and a potential loss of interest from buying clubs who may very well have filled their needs elsewhere by then? It's easy to say that they don't need the money currently, but it's less easy for them to face the prospect of having to sell the player next summer anyway but potentially for a great deal less money. It's a game all sides have to play and an ace, even the ace of trumps, does not always guarantee that you will win.

I heard him say that we need to sign some players but I didn't pick up on him saying that we 'will'.

I don't think there is a single one of us does not believe that we need to improve our group of defenders. I also think all of us would agree that a full-back as well as a centre back is what is needed. I do think though that this squad needs more help than just upgraded defenders.

Good news thank you. Good news because I think you could be right. I certainly hope that you are. This makes perfect sense because the word argument has the same additional meaning in English, given the right context.