OhForAGreavsie

I have no opinion about whether we should sign Stones but if we still want him then not making a further bid at this stage is exactly the right tactic. Everton will turn down whatever bid we make now, and they'll keep turning bids down. We're well advised to hold fire until late in the window if we're serious about Stones. Anything we offer now will only serve to raise Everton's expectations about the final fee.

It's done and he's off to Arnhem. Welcome Danny and good luck in Holland. Hope to see you in blue one day.

Quality finish from Remy.

Didn't see the game but when he was linked with us in the winter I watched some you tube vids and, as I said at the time, he looked much better than Cuadrado in terms of technical ability. That Bayern side will always provide a platform gor technical players to show what they can do. Looking forward to seeing him over the course of the season. The other Bundesliga newcomer I hope to see a few times is Muto at Mainz. Our approach for him was widely dismissed as a PR stunt in the wake of the deal with Yokohama but I quite liked what I saw of him. Hope he makes an impact and does not just end up warming the bench.

As I read your post I was rehearsing a reply to talk about one of the crazier ideas I've ever posted - a draft but I see you're on to that too. I think it would be a brilliant thing that would heighten interest and make money for all concerned. Don't have time now but when I do I'll say more about this in one of the dedicated youth threads.

Actually I think the whole academy system is going to experience changes and that more and more top level clubs will follow our way of doing things. Most such clubs already recognise loans, or work placements as they would be called in other areas of education, as an important part of the process. That can only grow. Development football has too little to offer young players beyond the U18s. (U19s for Champions' League clubs.) I used the word education deliberately because academies are just schools and, like all schools, they cannot promise students a job. They cannot even promise that individual students will reach a level to be considered for a job. All they can hope to do is help each student make the most of their talent, help them become the best footballer they can. Like top employers in any walk of life, elite clubs should be in the business of recruiting the best students out of the education process, not running the schools themselves. I believe that over the next 20 years, the way clubs operate will change to reflect this reality. The club trained requirements will have to go first of course but I believe that authorities will come to accept them for the phenomenal waste of money that they are at elite level and give them the heave ho. Home grown requirements are enough.

Yes, as Jose put it the '04-'06 sides were points machines but, in my opinion, that was due largely to Jose's structure and the unbelievable magnificence of Terry, Gallas, Carvalho & Cech at the base of the team. As an attacking force were frequently disjointed or worse. I never felt as confident in the ability of those sides to deliver trophies as I did about any of the other sides I've listed above. Not for one day.

Kellz, Of course I believe you but, as I see it, this statement registers you as less ambitious for our team than I am. I do not think the '04 - '07 era team was dominant. Not dominant enough anyway. I remember listening to a phone in where an Everton fan reacted to us winning at Goodison by describing us as, the worst Champions he had ever seen. I think I remember the call because I pretty much agreed with him. We were clunky a lot of the time, frequently had poor passing days and the most common media wrap up on our games was, Chelsea weren't at their best today. A euphemism for crap a lot of the time. Of course, Jose being Jose, those teams collected points as fast as we could count 'em but that doesn't satisfy all my hopes for this club. I've been alive a long time and have supported sides that really were the best; Lancashire's one day teams of 69-75, the Big Red Machine of '75 & '76, the Washington squad that won Superbowl XXVI, and even the Chelsea U19 sides that should have won the inaugural UEFA Youth League and which corrected that foul up last season. I know what it's like when your team is the best, I know the confidence it brings and I know the attitude which comes with that confidence. I have never once experienced that feeling as a supporter of Chelsea's first team. My point here is that I bow to no man, or woman, in my ambition for this club or the demands I make of its teams. Forgive me, I try very hard to communicate respectfully at all times yet I'm going to drop my guard for a moment because the point being made here seems to me to be nonsense. The only difference between last summer and this one is that we succeeded in signing two of our main targets in 2014 whereas this time around we are clearly finding it more difficult. That does not mean that we do not see the need to improve or that we are not trying to do it. Of course, given the lack of movement so far, Jose has to play it cool with his comments but more fool anyone who believes them. Managers always lie, they have to. They never want to sell players, until they do. Their squads only ever need slight adjustments then they go and sign half a dozen players. It's a game and we all know how it works. Let's examine last summer; there are at least two sides closer to Cesc's heart than Chelsea but neither wanted him. We got him because he was available. Diego has a fantastic scoring record but he does not have the technical finesse which clubs higher up the food chain like to acquire. He is not a Barca or Madrid type and none of; Van Gaal, Guardiola, Pelligrini or Wenger would go for him either. We got him because he was available. Of course we had/have targets this summer, Jose has made that clear both explicitly and implicitly. Last year's targets just turned out to be easier gets than this summer's. That is all. It's plain ridiculous to assume that because we haven't yet succeeded in this market that it must mean we are relaxed about it. Why? Have we become a finishing school? I watch all development games broadcast by CTV and am a big fan of some of our young footballers. I'd love to see as many of them as deserve to, make a breakthrough here but this is not a goal in itself. This is not the aim of the football club. Our aim is competing at the level demanded by our resources. Who is in the team while we do that matters a whole lot less than how good the team is. Now if some youngsters step up and prove to be good enough to strengthen our side, then that's one thing, but a youngster for a youngster's sake is just vanity and gets us nowhere.

Taking the totality of what Jose has said about new recruits since before the end of last season, how can you possibly reach that conclusion? Can people not see that Jose is reacting to events and saying things which are dictated by the situation? Should he say we've been trying to sign good players but weren't able to so now we'll go for some second rate players instead? All managers find themselves in these difficulties when it comes to public statements and I know everyone here is as aware of this as I am so why are people so hell bent on taking manager speak so literally all of a sudden? We all know the squad needs improvements, Jose knows it, and has said it. If circumstances dictate that he makes other statements now, well that's just one of the requirements of his job.

You are taking Jose's words too literally and not giving sufficient weight to the fact a manager has many audiences when he speaks. Do you want him to say this squad isn't good enough, that it desperately needs help only to then find himself facing the same faces on August 8th because the recruitment hasn't worked out? Or perhaps you want him to say we'll pay any price just to get players in so that clubs inflate their already ridiculous asking prices, and agents their wage demands, still further? I thought Jose's statements on transfer activity, since before the end of last season, were transparent and easy to read. How long for? As far as you're concerned will the same apply next year? And the year after, and the year after that and so on? Do we hold a celebration parade if we get 2 young players playing fifteen senior games a season each or does it have to be 3 lads playing 20 games each before we all get the flags out trapes down to Eel Brooke Common?

Just liking this post, as I did, isn't enough so I'm quoting it because I hope people will read it again and again.

I know you watch development games so you will have seen Ake play LB as often as I have. For me however it's not his position. To me he looks out of place there. That said Jose, and Steve Clare I'm told, played him there so if the loan to Leicester comes off it'll be interesting to see if he gets minutes and where he gets them.

Might it be that Jose is taking advantage of the fact that there is no loan arranged yet to have a look at him, to spend time with him, and to try to learn something about his personality?

The figures relate to tickets sold, not bums on seats. Arsenal do pretty much sell out all of their games but actual attendances are often down from capacity due to no shows.

Completely agree. I've often said that we were lucky to win The Double. We were ordinary in the first half of that term but we got out of trouble because, by an amazing coincidence, Drogba, Lampard, Malouda and even Kalou, all happened to hit the form of their lives at exactly the same time. It was never going to happen again. It couldn't.

Right again. I love Rami. Before Eden's emergence he was my favourite Chelsea player but, notwithstanding that, I've been saying for four years that we need an upgrade. Although no one can replicate the little man's stamina, Vidal matches his attitude and his work rate while offering an all round game that is way in advance of Rami's. It's easy to see why so many, myself included, would like us to get Vidal but I share your frustration with the way some have represented their thoughts in this thread. To guess, without a scrap of evidence, that the club has no interest in Vidal, and then to condemn it based on that guess, is a strange way to see things. To then claim that if we do not try to get Vidal it means that Jose thinks we are already good enough, is stranger still. I'd like Vidal, you'd like Vidal, lots of people would like Vidal but if Jose prefers someone else, would that mean he does not see the need to better ourselves? That doesn't follow at all and, in any case, Jose has made it clear that he believes we do need to improve and he even explained why. There is therefore absolutely no need to be guessing what he thinks on the subject. What I've said here isn't remarkable. It is in fact nothing less than a statement of the obvious yet it seems some people are apt to forget the obvious, for a moment at least, when they post.

Understood, and I agree with your take on this. My post was just relaying the info that Vidal remains up for grabs potentially.

From The Mirror: - Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has admitted that his side are in for Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal, but says a deal is not yet done. "I've read about it and I'm not going to hide the fact that we are interested in him, but I read that it was all wrapped up and I cannot confirm that," he has told reporters. "As I've said, we're interested, but we're not yet so far that we've discussed details and signed contracts, so we need a bit of patience. I hope at the end of the day he will come."

As I understand it, Bertrand has been at Chelsea, unofficially, since he was 14. Unofficially because of the restrictions imposed by FIFA rules and UK work permit regulations. If that understanding is correct then I'd say Chelsea have had a role in his development and could therefore see him, at least partially, as their youth product. I agree though that he is not 100% a Chelsea production, like RLC.

The lad above Jamal is Dom Solanke and to his left (our right) is Jake Clarke-Salter I think.

The move to Spurs was the only decision available to him. Everybody else realised that he was flashy looking but had no substance to him. Not a top level player and never was. As for heading to LA, he's just looking for his level.

I don't believe in this player's quality. Draxler has been touted as the next big thing for several years yet it seems that no top level club has made any serious attempt to get him. There's a reason for that so I say we should continue to steer clear.

Indeed. Putting loans into Chelsea Ltd is absolutely the best way for Roman to take cash back out of the club should that ever become the right thing for him to do. We have to keep in mind that while Chelsea FC PLC have no debts, the PLC is owned by Chelsea Ltd and Chelsea Ltd do owe money to one of Roman's companies. Given our historic financial losses, it's not likely that Chelsea Ltd will face corporation tax liabilities any time soon but it is entirely prudent to plan for the future. If the football club continue to make profits then Chelsea Ltd will too and, eventually, all of its tax write-offs due to the mountain of losses over the years, will have expired or been used up. In that situation Chelsea Ltd could be hit with tax demands which is where the loans would come into play. Instead of declaring a profit, and paying tax on it, Chelsea Ltd would simply repay a part of its loan. Profit gone, tax liability gone and Roman has some of his cash back without his having to pay tax on it either. Now I wouldn't want anyone to get me wrong, I'm no Maggie Thatcher. I believe in society; I recognise that it costs money to run, organise and protect. I therefore don't shirk, or begrudge, my own taxes and I don't approve when anyone else does. This mechanism I'm talking about however is no tax dodge, it's a perfectly standard business practice. It allows people to invest and build businesses which generate the wealth that ultimately pays for society. Chelsea FC, along with the rest of football, already make an enormous contribution to the national coffers and that's how it should be.

That wasn't the impression I got from reading the presentation material and press articles. Rather I expected that Roman would be lending the club the money to build the New Bridge rather than sourcing the loan on the market which would cost more and probably require more disclosure (to any lender) about its financial affairs than the club seem comfortable with these days. For Roman simply to give the club the money does not seem to make any sense to me. Of course if that's what he wants to do then who are we to argue.

Spot on. Every time the Premier League signs a new TV contract sellers, especially canny European clubs, recalibrate their asking prices. Even though the latest deal won't kick in until the season after next, the transfer price hike is clearly in full effect.