OhForAGreavsie

Managers want to win. They survive by winning. Any manager in the world is going to use any player if he considers that player to be good enough and able to contribute to the improvement of his side. I agree with you here to an extent. For at least some, and perhaps most, of the 63 days, Guus has been covering for Pato with the fitness talk. I suggest we should decode it to mean, I don't think all that much of this player. I couldn't disagree with you more. In fact I'd go so far as to say that even you disagree with this. To illustrate, you have an opinion on Pato and had it before you ever saw him play for Chelsea. You have opinions about which new players Chelsea ought to sign, but you've never seen any of them play for Chelsea. You formed those opinions while watching these players perform for other teams. Well, Guus has seen players, including Pato, doing that too. What's more he's seen Pato in training everyday for a couple of months. That's more information than you have so surely you must agree that Guus is at least as well placed as you are to make a judgement on Pato. It may not be a judgement you agree with but if the roles were reversed, you'd make your own choices too. People would be bound to disagree with some of your ideas but that's the job of a football manager, and the responsibility which goes with it. I happen to agree with you that clubs are entitled to sign players. In fact I've admitted that if I had Roman's money, and succeeded in buying Chelsea, I would be taking the final decision on all signings. People who have read my opinions on certain footballers might well be horrified with that idea but I'm just being honest. That is what I would do. The only thing that could persuade me to change my mind, and put someone else in charge, would be if proved to be rubbish at it.

I'm with you on this. People have resisted the idea since I raised it before he joined, but Kennedy's technique makes playing at AM a challenge for him. It's fine for situations where there is space to push the ball and power past his man. Where sides drop and deny that space however, Kennedy's frequently loose first touch, and lack of tight control on the dribble, is going to hold him back. Many sides set up deep from the outset but even the pressing teams, once you establish good possession against them, will drop back and fill in the space. AMs are going to need tight possession skills if they want to sustain success. By the way, I don't think the Double season is a good example of anything. I maintain we were simply the beneficiaries of an amazing coincidence where, for a few months, all of our big players, as well as Malouda, hit the form of their lives at the same time. That great form gave us barely enough acceleration to overcome our weak start and push us over the finish line. Just. That wave of form continued into August but began to peter out in September and by October it was gone. At the end of 10/11 so too was Carlo, having presided over mediocre performance levels before the wave of form, as well as after it. People tell me that Carlo was a great Chelsea manager who was shamefully sacked. I didn't buy it then, and I don't buy it now. He was happy enough when the players were walking on air and making him look good, but he appeared a helpless passenger when 09/10 looked to be going nowhere before Christmas, and when 10/11 crumbled around us. Long before the end came he seemed to be waiting for the axe to fall. Me and him both.

Lord that sounds like a total nightmare. Stan Collymore and Steve Claridge running things? Their meetings would last a while. They'd probably end up having to shorten the season just to fit 'em in!

Some people, not me, but some people are just naturally witty. This example cracked me up. I'm now going to copy it and post it somewhere else. Maybe someone will think it's as clever as I do and, of course, I'll let them think it was all my own work.

Impressive.

No it was for a gesture he made to Everton fans. I didn't see it but he's admitted it so that's that.

Ash was a far better LB at 21 than Baba is now. The question is what can we take from that since Ash was better at that age than most fullbacks were, even those of the highest quality. @Cosmin is right to say that Baba is coming up short at the moment. He may need time, but has he done enough to convince the new manager to give that to him? Not for me he hasn't but new boss, new chance for the kid. Let's wish him well.

Thanks BCS. First, let me restate that I'm a huge Vidal fan. He has been at the top of my transfer wish list in the past. As a fan, if this move came off I'd be delighted but, were I one of the decision makers, I'd have the responsibility to look into the details before signing off on the deal. One of those details would have to be why do Bayern want to sell. There are many possible answers to that question. Some of those would not worry me but there are some that might and it would be irresponsible not to find out. I have only watched Bayern twice this season but both times with ulterior motives. Once to check Andreas and once to check Pogba. When I am trying to form an opinion on a specific player in a game I usually find myself concentrating on that player and everyone else slips under the radar*. I'm not therefore talking about concerns re Vidal's form. I'm just talking about basic, caveat emptor, principles. If we are genuinely interested in Vidal then the question must be asked and a satisfactory answer decided upon before we proceed. *The only exceptions I remember were when viewing Ajax vs. AZ to check Mousa Dembele after he was linked to us, and then recently watching Rennes several times to see how Jed was getting on. M. Dembele was not great in that game but no one could help but notice Suarez, and absolutely no one could watch Rennes and fail to notice Ousmane Dembele.

Vidal is a player I think we've all been in love with for years, me as much as any. The only concern I'd have with this transfer is why on Earth would Bayern let him go. If they are wiling to sell after just one year then Chelsea's decision makers should be asking themselves, "What do Bayern know that we don't?"

No one in the entire known history of the game has ever been able to continue the rate of conversion Willian experienced over an extended period . Of course it was just a hot spell and of course he won't get it back. Such runs as Willian's and The Drog's are never more than coincidences dressed as form.

You don't know that any more that I can claim to know the opposite yet I do believe the opposite. Had Dele Ali joined us in the summer he'd have been playing because he is clearly better than the options we have. You forget that Jose frequently dropped Oscar and tried alternatives. The alternatives never worked however and Jose would eventually go back to Emboaba. He was searching for a player we didn't have. It was only this season that Willian finally took his chance and did enough, until recently anyway, to hold the place. There is no doubt in my mind that Ali would have grabbed that chance and made himself first choice.

Your back three is potentially very exciting but I'd prefer to add an experienced player like Bonucci in there. If you would argue that Bonucci is a pie-in-the-sky option then it could be claimed that Varane is too. I was not convinced that Andreas was close enough to being a starter before he went to Gladbach. When I've watched him since he has been more impressive going forward than defensively. In a line up that dominates possession this might not be an issue. (Assuming my assessment of his defending is accurate.) I've just seen Ruben subbed for England's U21s and once again he has shown that the questions I asked about him three years ago remain unanswered. The fella needs a loan rather than a starting place he would not hold onto and the damage that would do to his progression. There is a great deal of fuss about Pogba but I've never seen any reason for it. He's a decent player but not one who would justify the monster numbers it would require to recruit him. Worse, given his high profile and the hype around him, if he ended up here it would be evidence that the top clubs with Champions League football don't fancy him. If they did, he would choose one of them rather than us. Pogba falls into the category of player I say we should not bother trying to sign. The type of player who we'll never get if he's as good as the hype, but if we do get him, it will only be because he ain't worth the price and we would have been mugged. I'm fed up with Diego and want to see him replaced by a more technically gifted alternative. Also re the squad players listed: - I've lost belief in Nemanja and do not want to see him here next season. I certainly want to see Kennedy in the next squad but I'd prefer to list Charly Musonda ahead of him as an attacking option.

As a first choice XI? Absolutely not.

Come on man show some ambition, Dembele and Dybala! Indeed they are, respectively, numbers 1 and 3 on my summer transfer wish list. Emphasis very much on wish. Unfortunately.

Thanks for the detailed response BCS. I enjoyed reading it. "I want a striker, because we lost our legend [Drogba]," Mourinho said in May. "Also a defender and a midfield player to give a little bit more competitiveness to the squad, bring some new blood in, put some players a little bit under pressure." ESPN Also this interview. http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/9863904/jose-mourinho-eyes-premier-league-title-defence-with-new-additions There were other statements too. Google must be able to help. Bear in mind that in every transfer window during which Jose was manager, Chelsea signed more players than Jose initially claimed they would. Every single one. Although his public comments were always conservative there was a press conference I watched where he talked about wanting 3 or 4 signings and wanting to have the business done before he went on holiday. Clearly no manager wants to unsettle his squad by saying they all need to be replaced, so of course he made statements about being happy with what he has. Every manager in the history of the world ever, says that but his other comments speak volumes about what he was really thinking. The implication is clear, only after the deals failed to arrive did he start to change his tune. He did so, I think, to hide the fact that we were not succeeding with our targets, to pretended that everything was fine. We knew, and he knew, that it was not. Because he was frustrated. Of course he had been open about needing new players and indeed, just in the last few weeks we've read a number of comments from officials of other clubs confirming that they turned down bids from Chelsea in the summer. We needed new players, the boss knew it, and the club knew it too. The club was not playing with him. We tried to get the players. They were not available, not affordable or not interested.

He is, I'm afraid, right about JT.

Who knows what Jose did, or did not, try to do in the summer? As events unfolded he changed his tune but, long before the season ended, he was talking about the need for three or four signings in the window. I commented on it at the time because: - He never says so many. He always signs more players than he initially predicts so, if he said up to four, then how many did he actually think were required? Does anyone believe that the players we signed last summer were the whole of the list Jose had in mind when he made those comments? Does anyone doubt that, when he later said we were OK without new signings, he was simply reacting to the fact that our plans had gone badly and that it was not right to announce our failures to any remaining targets? Be all that as it may, surely the truth of Jose's statement quoted above is evident to anyone who watches the team. I and many others said it before Jose did. (Publicly that is.) Jose was criticised for the switch he made after the Tottenham game in January 2015. Countless trillions of photons have hurtled into our eyes carrying the moans about the ugliness of Chelsea's football after that time*. The change was necessary however because that was the only way this lot would gather enough points to ensure the title. Sadly for the club that trophy merely convinced the squad that they are better than is really the case, that they had outgrown TSO, and that they could do it their own way. As a result; they downed tools, betrayed Jose's methods and allowed the spectre of relegation to move into our house. What have our players done since Jose left? They have picked up their tools again and set about proving, if proof were needed, that Jose was right. They may be trying but they are not very good. Which of us really needed that proof however? Not me. *Please don't tell me we were brilliant before Christmas last season. Anyone who thinks that, wasn't watching. We were fluent for about six weeks until sides began to suss us out. After that, with few exceptions, it was clunkey all the way until the results began to be threatened and Jose made the change.

Remember that Wembley goal like it was yesterday. A few seasons later the club put on a testimonial for his family which I went to. I'll have a look for the program at the weekend. If it contains anything that can be added to what has been said above I'll scan and post it. R.I.P. Peter.

That's either the succinct response of someone in a position to know the truth of it, or else it is absolutely as valid a speculation as any other. If the former then I understand you not wanting to say any more and risk giving your identity away, but I appreciate the information all the same. If the latter then I'd enjoy reading more about why you think that.

Wish I could disagree with you.

I preferred the first. The second looked an easy finish to me. I mean, the ball sat up and begged to be lobbed which I'm guessing 100% of right-footed footballers would have tried and 99% of them would succeed with at least 90% of the time. The first on the other hand, was a real finisher's goal. Stayed calm, simple but well executed little touch to set it up then put it away without fuss. Great finish in my opinion.

I have an unusual take on this but, by way of background, I'd like to remind everyone of a couple of things and tell people something about one of my attitudes, an attitude I suspect is shared by all of us who use this site. 1) Thirteen years ago Bruce Buck told us that Roman was in love with football, that he had a database of information about thousands of players, and that if you named any footballer Roman would be able to tell you all about that individual. My take, then and now, is that the database could only have been Football Manager because Roman would have had to employ hundreds of people to put it together independently and that would have made no sense. 2) Twelve years ago, asked if the manager had control of transfers, Peter Kenyon tried hard to avoid being clear but gave away a lot when he said it came down to group input from a number of people. The clear inference I took was that all our suspicions were right and that Roman was picking some of the transfer targets. 3) If I had Roman's dosh I would 100% have tried to buy Chelsea and, if I had succeeded, I would 100% have insisted on having the final say on player recruitment. Any manager who could not accept that would not have gotten the gig. My unusual take is more of a speculation really. Is Michael Emenalo actually a cover for Roman? Is Roman adding 'projects' to the squad and allowing the world to believe that they are being selected by Emenalo?

You've sold me on giving Baker another chance but Bamford will take more work.

I confess that I am guilty of 'abandoning' a player when I don't believe in them. So, for example, I'm not watching Bamford or any of the Vitesse contingent any more because I've decided that only Solanke has any hope with Chelsea and even that is a very, very slim hope. This means that if such players have a surge in form I don't tend to be aware of it until I read about it here. What you've told me about Lewis is therefore news to me. I'm pleased for him and maybe I should check him out again but the truth is, although form comes and goes, I don't believe he has the required quality to be a Chelsea player. I'll let you know if I watch him and start to change my mind. With Bamford, although I have watched him from time to time, the truth is I wrote off his Chelsea chances before he even went on his first loan to MK Dons. I've seen nothing since which encourages me to revise that view. On the other hand, I watch every minute I can of Musonda because there, I do have belief. I've also been following Christiansen, Pasalic, Boga and Ake.

Facial injury.