OhForAGreavsie

Kyle isn't going to make it at Chelsea anyway so a move is a good idea for him.

There was, ultimately, no ban although the suspicion persists that we bought our way out of it. My behaviour is fine and yes I did, correctly, write Kakuta off after 20 minutes. Anyone who had watched Gael dispassionately, rather than with this determined to be pleased attitude many display toward young/new players, would have done so too. Many are still displaying the same attitude toward our current crop of development players. Gael is not the only one I picked out then either: - There was a lad playing his last match, a lad who was deciding between offers from both Old Firm clubs. I have forgotten his name as I type but if I search out the post in question I'll be reminded of it. I predicted that he would not make it at either of those clubs. He went to Rangers and flopped. Players I picked out that I liked from that youth team were Hutchison, Bertrand, Cork and the one I liked most of all, Bridcutt. Of those we know what happened to Hutch, Liam seems to have settled at Championship level, while the other two have latched on at Premier league clubs. If you'd like a more comprehensive list of I told you so's, including Torres, you need only ask. Edit: The lad who moved to Rangers is Dean Furman.

Which set of stats belong to which player? (Not that stats sell me on much I have to say.) When I say I don't know which of Nangolan or Kante I'd prefer, I mean I have no opinion because I don't watch Nangolan.

I'll go as far as to say that I like Kante better than I liked Makelele when in possession. Kante vs Nangolan? Don't know.

No they wouldn't. One of MK Dons or Charlton would be.

Any more?

Those guys failed to make it because they are not good enough. That is the long and the short of it. What's more that was clear from the off. Gael, for example, has wonderful touch and dribbling skills but that, in itself, is not enough. I wrote him off as a Chelsea player less than twenty minutes after kick-off of the first under 18s game I ever saw him play. (Vs Cardiff at Stamford bridge.) When Jose made his ill-advised attempt to bolster Nate's confidence by pretty much promising the lad a place in the squad after one more spell on loan, I predicted that TSO would never be able to make good on that promise. That was because Nate simply is not good enough to earn that place and I knew it because I had seen him play for the 18s & 21s then watched him play for Watford. It's easy for people to get carried away by young players but just hoping they are better than they are is not going to help. Unless the help being sought is a made up excuse to bash Chelsea and Chelsea people. Edit: Correction, it was Scott Sinclair I wrote off after 20 minutes of that Cardiff game. The first game I saw Kakuta in was vs Man City u18s. Same 20 minutes though.

Charlay has been subbed in two of the last three matches. I didn't watch last night's game so I don't know the circumstances but there was no injury involved on the previous occasion.

Now that would be funny.

If the title is on the line I'd like Guss to field the U16s vs Leicester, but he won't. If Guus picks his strongest side, I'd like them to tip toe around and chip in the odd own goal if required, but they won't I tell you something that will happen however. I'll be supporting Leicester, and that's a guarantee.

I see a lot of people saying they are desperate that we should beat Spurs. How is that the same as saying that they think we will beat them?

So they should be. They love beating us and we love beating them. All is right with the world. None of us who are old enough will ever forget how, after their League Cup simi-final win over us in 2002, they made a DVD of the game. The DVD became their best selling product of the year. They were in heaven with that win and they sipped every dreg of pleasure out of it. Good for them, they were entitled to the victor's spoils. The fact that they love it so much when they beat us is one of the reasons we love it so much when we beat them. (And vice versa of course.) That's how a rivalry is, that's how a rivalry should be. So, bring it on, it's Tottenham week.

Because they are Tottenham Hotspur. What other reason do you need? What better reason can there be?

No it couldn't. Eden breaks no rules by saying he does not want Spurs to win the league. If he turns up vs Leicester wearing flip flops and sipping a pina colada that would be a different story but expressing a simple preference is not something the FA can, or even should, do anything about.

This must be news to Roman. If Roman wanted to make money he'd have been better off bunging his dosh into an interest bearing account. Heck, even an account that didn't pay interest would have worked out better, financially speaking. If I were to take a turn at putting an alternative motive into Roman's mind, I'd say he isn't interested in profit for its own sake but rather he just wants the club to pay its way while the team plays well and wins things. That's to say, successful team - break even club, is much more attractive to our owner than unsuccessful team - profitable club. Now, even an idiot like me would obviously choose successful team - profitable club if possible, but my guess is that making money is not Roman's principal goal. All the evidence of his history at Stamford Bridge suggests he'd rather see his football budget on the pitch than in his bank account. Premier League prize money is made up of three separate payments, two of which will be unaffected by our final league position. Those two, the equal share component and the facility fee are now fixed and would not change whether we finished first or last. The only part which varies with our place in the table is the merit based payment and that changes by £1.2m per place, not £13m. I know one table which appears to show a difference of about £13.45m between the team finishing 9th and the one finishing 10th. The team it lists in 9th place Liverpool with a total of £89.9m from TV money. If they were to drop to 10th their TV payout would change to £88.7m. That said, I would prefer to stay ahead of Stoke and catch Southampton if we can. That would give us an outside shot at the Europa League and playing in that competition would be good for our youngsters. Good in that there would then be more games and more games gives Antonio more opportunities to use kids if he wants to. If I were Conte I would have asked the club to try to qualify for the Europa League. None of us can say that we know that he has not done this.

OK, too excited to be bothered with all this now. We won. Very nice. Pat on the head. Where's the Tottenham thread? Time to get down to business!

Or perhaps he knows that the set up is that he should take the free kick in that position?

Very pleased about this.

Finished 1-1. We must be a good side because City certainly are and we held our own against them. Indeed on balance of play, and balance of chances, we probably deserved to win. Tomori MoTM. He was brilliant defensively and a threat breaking out from the back. 2nd leg, Stamford Bridge next Wednesday.

1-1

Kyle Scott has been introduced for Ali. Kyle's illness has really slowed him up in recent weeks and, judged in finite terms, his displays have been mainly poor. Let's see how he goes for the half an hour he's got tonight.

Agreed but it's not just the technique. It's how he sees things around him his in stride deliveries and the little scooped passes and so on. Arsene Wenger says football speaks to Jack Witshire, well she sings songs and takes her clothes off for this kid.

Butch Wilkins has been bemoaning what he sees as a lack of intensity but I'm really enjoying the game. These are two high quality U18 sides who have produced some excellent, and really interesting, football. We were utterly dominant for the opening 10-15 minutes and we finished the half more strongly but in between City had their moments. For us Jake & Fikayo have been outstanding defensively as well as stepping out with the ball. Fikayo in particular has carried a threat right into City's box from open play. He's been great, as has Trevor Chalobah playing at right back. He's been solid and has made two or three really threatening runs with good deliveries on the end of them. As I type, he has just done it again only this time, Mason Mount has converted to put us one up early in the second half. For City there is no question about who has been their star. Based on what I saw during the EUFA Youth League campaign, the young Spaniard Brahim Diaz is the best development level player in Europe. By a mile. He is an outstanding player who is a cast iron, 100% certainty to make it at the highest level. The kid is truly an exceptional footballer. Well played City for winning his signature.

Do you know when the new La Liga distribution policy comes into effect? That's going to reduce their income somewhat. No matter how big their debts however, their income is simply incredible so I'm guessing that no lender will feel the need to call in their loans. That said, I do not know the first thing about Barca's financial situation so that guess might be complete nonsense.

A motive to agitate for a new contract maybe, a motive even for using the threat of moving on as part of the negotiations, but for actually wanting to move? Players love playing for Barca. They love the adulation, they love the Catalan's passion for their team, they revel in the team's dominance, and they enjoy the style of football. If, like Cesc, a player knows that he isn't good enough to hold a place in the side then maybe, but I'd say that a nailed on starter is highly unlikely to want to leave. Now, Barcelona finding themselves needing to sell is another thing but I don't actually believe that either. There are plenty of other wage bill reductions they'd take before they part with any of their front three.