OhForAGreavsie

If we'd beaten Villa at home in October, we'd now be the ones making plans for the upcoming Champions League campaign. 😞

Excellent interview tactic. What with these owners love for numerical analysis.

At time of writing I still have more than 11 pages of this thread to read, but it's a fair guess that @vesper will have reminded everyone about her feelings on this subject by now. I know my vocabulary won't be up to it but let me try to summarise. She never wants to see that bleeping midget Cucurella play centre bleeping back for this bleeping club ever a-bleeping-gain. I think I got the gist of it.

I can't comment on the attitude but completely agree on the description of his play and the hard pass,

Not me! I wasn't talking about Eze last summer but I was very hopeful we would get Olise. Although it's hard to see why he would choose us now after rejecting us last summer I still can't shake the hope. Signing Olise would once again expose the real plan for many of the young left footed right winger prospects we have accumulated. They are tradable assets.

Tommy T won't become the second manager to take three different sides to the Champions League final. Shame, I d have liked him to complete that achievement. Meanwhile, Harry Kane will end yet another season without a major trophy. You can take the boy out of Spurs....

He does look good I grant you.

Unsurprisingly all I've seen of this lad and Kendry Paez are their YouTube highlights. Based on that glimpse I prefer the look of Estevao Willian, but it would be nice to know what the plan is. There is no way we can actually want so many inverted right wingers in our squad. Hard to argue against the accusation that it's just another trading players for profit setup

To use an old fashioned phrase he's a bit of a lump though isn't he? No outstanding attributes other than effort. I don't know but I suspect that this is his best PL season ever. If true, it's not much of a recommendation. This would turn out to be either a genius signing, or a frustrating bust.

Only way he gets sold is if there's a clause he can trigger. Surely? SURELY?

I believe in the US salary cap system. In the name of competition I want to see all clubs competing in the same tier allowed the same budget. Now, whether each club can afford the maximum spend is another matter but, if they have benefactors willing to front the money without encumbering the club with debt, they should be allowed to spend up to the tier maximum. Right across the globe, leagues are dominated by their richest clubs. Decade after decade it goes on. Occasionally we get an exception like Laverkausen but it never lasts. Soon enough Bayern will be off on another ten year winning streak. Granted defining the tiers would take some work but it can be done. Or so I believe at any rate.

I saw a report that Palace have put a £60m price on Michael Olise. Now, it has to be acknowledge that if he was interested in coming back here he'd have done so last summer. Worse, if he didn't fancy Chelsea last off-season, why on Earth would he do so this time around? Even so I'd be happy to see the club try again. Of the players linked last summer he was the one I wanted the most.

Massively in favour of this. Have been calling for it, here and elsewhere, for decades. Let's bury the Financial Unfair Play nonsense once and for all.

Highlights of the first leg.

The girls need all the support they can get. Sadly I won't be there but I hope a few of you can be.

Who here plans to go to the game next Saturday? The girls can do with all the support they can get. 🙂

Also free to view on DAZN's YouTube channel.

Former Chelsea Women first choice keeper Ann-Katrin Berger (33), who recently found herself relegated to third choice, and whose contract was due to expire this summer, has signed for Gotham FC in the NWSL. The NWSL has been flexing it's financial muscle leading into its latest season which started last month. For a long time the US league was regarded as the best in the world and attracted all of the top players. European leagues, most notably the WSL and Ligue 1 in France have gained ground, but the NWSL has decided to reassert itself. It must be said mind you that many of it's captures this year have been in the veteran stage of their careers. These include former Blues superstar So Yun Ji (33) who joined Seattle Reign in January after leaving Cobham in July 2022. Meanwhile Canadian Captain Jessie Fleming (25) also moved Stateside from Chelsea to get more playing time with Portland Thorns. https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/ann-katrin-berger-completes-transfer-to-nj-ny-gotham-fc Thank you AKB. All the best in the USA.

I have a ticket for the FA Cup semi-final which I am looking to sell as I'm not able to go. It's a physical ticket in block 552. Bought through the club so in the Chelsea section. I paid £65 plus £9.25 postage but I'm only looking for the face value of the ticket. If anyone is interested please let me know and we'll arrange getting the ticket to you. (Ideal if you could pick it up since I can't walk which is why I'm not going but that depends where you are of course.)

I have a ticket for the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday but I'm not able to go. It's a physical ticket in block 552. Bought through the club so in the Chelsea section. I paid £65 plus £9.25 postage but I'm only looking for the face value of the ticket. If anyone is interested please let me know and we'll arrange getting the ticket to you. (Ideal if you could pick it up since I can't walk which is why I'm not going.)

This is what buying clubs do. They check hundreds of players. Take a trip to Kingsmeadow when the 18s or 21s are playing and you will see the west stand rammed with scouts at each game. The same is true at development games all over the world.

Does anyone remember if the Premier League moved in line with uefa financial regulations and also restricted the amortisation of transfer fees to 5 years max?

The fact is that two-nil was a lie. It bore little or no relation to the way play had gone up to that point.

August is coming. 🙂

Even I don't rely on my memory these days but my recollection is that Liverpool switched their attention to Lavia after they failed to land Caicedo. Even if that recollection is correct it does not rule out the possibility that this was just the order in which the two deals became public. It does not mean that the two deals must have started in the order I gave.