OhForAGreavsie

No it's not apparently, it's official. Anouncement on TOCWS and everything.

I thought there were mixed messages coming out of the press conference on Friday. On the up side, "We're waiting, we have a plan", is encouraging and to my mind translates as; bids are in,the door has not been closed on them so there's hope but, in case they don't come to fruition, we also have a plan B with perhaps a plan C and more backing that up.That all sounds very organised and sensible, especialy if we are involved in one or more of these transfer chains where our link has already been agreed in principle and we're just waiting for the the other pieces to come together.... On the other hand, Antonio's body language did not suggest any great confidence that anything was actually going to come off. There was no sense that he was trying to conceal any deals he knew were very likely to happen. Quite the opposite if anything.

Not a shred.

Technique a huge question mark. Power a big strength. Pace not a killer weapon but something definitely to be reckoned with.by opposing defence. Hold up play, enormously and, to me at least, surprisingly improved last season.

The assesment of many people is that Kennedy is not good enough to claim a place in the side as an AM. For those of us who think that way, the attention then switches to discussing his chances as a full/wing back..

And through almost all of his career in our development squads.

Did he say that in an interview with Chelsea TV? If he did, I'm afraid we can discount almost all of it. The in-house TV station regularly abuses our players by pointing a camera at them, shoving a microphone in their face, asking a banal question and expecting them to find something informative, interesting, and remorselessly positive to say. It's excruciating watching at times. The channel is desperately in need of and new editor with a whole raft of new ideas. Anyway, comments delivered on that platform carry little weight I think.

In any case where is the logic in thinking that just because one 20-year-old is ready that means that another one must be too? I'm sure we all have an opinion as to whether Bertrand is as ready as Andreas, but that's a matter for football judgement. The numbers on their birth certificates can't make that decision for you.

? Something is going with fullbacks that's for sure. If Kennedy really is going out on loan then either reinforcements are heading to The Bridge, or Antonio must really believe in Ola and Jay. The alternative, that he would go into the season with just two fullbacks, is impossible. That simply can't be.

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Do I remember correctly that there was a story about an injury during pre-season? Maybe I'm just imagining that, but if there was, that would explain the absences and maybe give the lie to the idea that his non-appearance at the open training session means he's about to join the loan army. If Kennedy is set for a loan move then I think that's a positive thing for him,

That, in my opinion, was always clear. I used to say that DM was the best of the three positions Nathan offered. These days that's no longer true because CB seems to have dropped off Nat's slate all together. He's done far better at left back than I thought he would but I still say DM is the place for him. Absolutely thrilled that Eddie Howe seems to agree about that.

Why so?

I don't know anything about this bloke, although I must say he produces some beautiful football in the video you linked, but I completely agree with your ideas about the importance of technique. We've lived without it in too many areas of the pitch for many years and, for me, this is the main reason our side has never reached the heights it should have done . If we could somehow conjure up the two players required to put together the recipe you describe for our midfield, it would be a huge step forward.

I don't think you are saying what you mean because, as I said right at the start of this, I can't believe you mean that you actually think that you, and all the other people who mean you are not alone, are noticing the bad passes, poor positioning etc, and that Jose does not. How is it possible to think that? You watch the game, he watches the game, several times in fact, are we to imagine that Jose and Guus and the temp all shut their eyes every time Brana is involved in the game? Outside of doing that how can they possibly not process what is happening right before their eyes? .I think you mean that Jose does not see the same solution as you. You see dropping Brana as the the soloution, Jose did not. You clearly did not agree with his choice and that's legitimate but you are never going to convince me that Jose did not see the problems. That is just imposible. So I know you are not alone in thinking that Jose's response to what he saw was the wrong one but I hope you are alone in thinking he did not see the good and the bad of the performances in the first place because that just makes no sense. That implies that you understand the dead obvious, basic, things about football better than not just one, but several, professional coaches. Sorry to repeat myself but that notion is ridiculous.

If you've read many of my posts you'll know that I don't think managers are above criticism. You might even know that I think Claridge needs to learn the meaning of the word misnomer so he can stop misusing it every other sentence and that, like Savage, he is a know-nothing who is unbelievably lucky to keep getting work. Just today, I have repeatedly said that people can disagree with managerial decisions. I just ask people not to make silly statements. Why do you imagine that you can see the things Brana is doing poorly but that Jose can't? That's beyond ridiculous. Just because Jose does not take that informatin and make the decision you want him to, does not mean that he does no have the info. It just means he does not agree with you about what to do with it. It means that in Jose's opinion, and in Guus's and the temps for that matter, that the other options are even worse. I've no idea why Jose kept picking Brana, I just have enough respect for other people to know that he must have had his reasons. The two worst managerial decisions in Chelsea history were both made by Carlo, First in turning down Aguero when Roman offered him the Argentine, and then in demanding Torres. I have often expressed the opinion that Carlo is extraordiarrily overrated as a manager and that he was simply lucky to do the double. That does not mean however that I think he's an idiot. He had all of the nformation I had, plus some I did not have, and made his choices. If he watches Brana play, he sees exactly what I see. I can criticise him for what he does after that but I'm not going to pretend to myself that I'm somehow cleverer than he is.

It does mean that yes. It does not mean that you have to like it but someone has to choose. It was the manager's job to make that decision and he made it. If I had the job I may have made different choices but somebody somewhere, maybe you, would now be complaining about me. That's what happens when you make choices. that's just the way it is. Never in a zillion years would i have signed Torres but Carlo wanted him. I was right and knew (in my own mind that is) that I was, but which of us had earned the right not only to make that decision but to be paid for making it?

Far better to buy a cab and drive him to Leicester. This bloke does not look at top class talent to me, at all. He has a great agent though. First he was going to Barca, then he was coming here, then he was snubbing us to join Juve, and now? As I said a while ago in this thread, I'll be shocked if any top club wants this lad. I'll even be fairly surprised if Leicester take him.

I think this is pretty straightforward TC but you need context: If a manager picks a player you can only assume that it means he thinks that player is the best option he has, not that he thinks the bloke is a world beater. It might mean just that but you can't infer it from the selection. If a manager says one of his players is a world beater, it might mean just that but you can't assume it. You have to apply your own filter and decide for yourself. When Jose said, in 2004, that Frank Lampard was the best player in the world maybe he meant it but, even before he gave the quote I mentioned above, I never thought so. Did you? For what it's worth I think Jose does believe that Brana has been one of Chelsea's best signings but can I asume from this that he didn't notice how poorly Brana was playing at the start of last season? How arrogant would I have to be to think that something which was blatently obvious to me, escaped the attenion of any football professional? The answer is that I'd have to be exceptionally arrogant and exceptionally stupid to boot. As i said earlier in this strand of the conversation, all it is logical for us to assume from the consistent selection of Brana ahead of all alternatives is that the coaches, plural, who made that decision thought he was the best option available to them. If you prefer you might phrase it differently and say they believed Brana was the least bad option, but that just means the same thing.

Assuming you mean that to spell out, in English, the correct way to say Dave's name then I'm afraid you have it wrong. Maybe not so easy then. In any case, it was just funny not serious. The Dave song includes a pronunciation of Daves surname after all, albeit the same incorrect version you've given.

Has nothing to do with it. You are not so naieve as to take a manager's public comments about his players at face value are you? Just in case you are, let me help you: "My players are always the best in the world even when they are not the best in the world.", Jose Mourinho, 2004.

How do you get stubbornness out of this? Jose did not think KDB should be slected so he didn't select him. TSO may have been right in that decision, he may have been wrong, but are you suggesting that it is stubbornnes for a manager to pick the players he thinks are right for the team? Am I to assume that if you were the manager you wouldn't pick the players you believed were best for your side, but would pick the other ones instead so no one could think you were being stubborn? Tell us you think Jose was wrong by all means but don't expect an easy ride if you just want to throw baseless accqusations at our former manager.

Are you serious? Are you claiming to know of Chelsea fans who care more about how Jose and United fare than they do about Antonio and Chelsea? I don't know any, not a single one and I'll be stunned if you do either. In fact if anyone self-identifies as one of us but then says she/he subscribes to the ManU before Chelsea silliness, I'd say that's all the evidence you could need that they are either deluding themselves or just plain lying. Me? I want Jose to do well but since I always want Chelsea to win everything, there's a limit to how well that amounts to.

Lots of people who are just as much Chelsea as you agree that they want United to fail. I therefore can't deny that yours is a widespread point of view but I don't think the Jose hatred is shared by a significant percentage of us. The anti-Jose minority is hugely over represented in this forum's membership. Personally, I'd be happy if Jose wins the Europa League and finishes second in everything else.

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