OhForAGreavsie

So virtually never then.

Cucu is an issue for sure.

👏 Two things especially make me sit up and take notice of the reactions I am reading: - 1) Reactions which condemn 'the board' despite accepting that a clear picture of what is going on can't be pieced together. They seem to be saying we don't really know what's happening but we know Chelsea are wrong. 2) Continuation of demands that, when selling, Chelsea accept whatever offers are made and that, when buying, Chelsea should just 'pay the asking price'.

I don't think the instalments should be an issue if the two clubs agree that the deal will happen. The real impediment might be any potential difference in the tax treatment of the money received by Benfica if is regarded as a transfer fee, or a contract buy out. We're told Chelsea need to be able to account the fee in instalments for FFP purposes but that if the move is triggered by the payment of a release clause then, regardless of the actual payment schedule, the full amount counts against FFP in year one. This problem could be overcome by the clubs simply agreeing a transfer fee of €119,999,999.99 rather than by Enzo 'paying' his buy out figure. The missing €0.01 makes no difference to Benfica but it does allow Chelsea to treat the payment as a transfer fee which can be amortised for FFP over the length of Enzo's contract. The potential downside might be that Benfica end up with a bigger tax liability if the deal is conducted on a transfer fee basis, rather than a buy out. I don't know how that would come out but the clubs must.

I suggest; Fofana = defender, DDF = striker would help avoid confusion.

That one doesn't count. There was fraud proven in that case. His move to ManU was never real.

I do care because of the burdens and limitations they might place on the club.

I share your like for DDF's technical quality but I've taken the opposite view on his selfishness. This makes your take very interesting to me. I have always said that I don't want a striker with a propensity to shoot, and I don't want one with a propensity to pass. I want one with a propensity for choosing the best option. I have never regarded scoring goals as a consolation for selfishness. In the end though I suppose it comes down to how many goals.

Sure it wasn't the hairdo?

I was absolutely devastated after the Liverpool one. Didn't want to talk football, see football, or think football for a long time. No football match has ever hurt as much as that one did.

Came to see if @Vesperhas read today's link with Barella yet. Maybe not. The hope always feels good but it doesn't always kill. Not quite always anyway.

For me, this one didn't hurt as much as the ghost goal semi-final at Anfield. We were second best in Moscow until Ronaldo scored. After that we were the better team all the way. I can see how that might make the loss harder to take for some people, but I have always found that it makes the result more bearable.

I had heard, and have posted several times here to say, that, when we were in for Bellingham before he choose BVB, he was invited to visit the club but declined. I've just read that in fact he did visit Stamford Bridge. Not much consolation but at least he didn't just dismiss us out of hand. (Of course if he hadn't said no he'd be a European Champion by now. 🙂)

I haven't watched Enzo so I haven't caught the fever. If we don't get him I'll be fine. 🙂 The deals about which I'd most like to hear some updates are Arsen Zakharyan and a backup RB.

I didn't watch the world cup and, up to now, have avoided watching video of Enzo but, blimey, I better watch some now.

One hundred percent true, whether or not Reece can play again this season.

That's about the size of it.

Yep, though I wasn't a big Crespo fan, that list would encourage me to trust your instincts. 🙂

We might argue about whether Connor could reach the level of amazing, but I think your assessment about him needing consistent minutes is a good one. Unfortunately, as you suggest, it's a chicken and egg situation for him here. He needs more minutes to get better, but he'd have to be better to earn more minutes.

Ah, good, thanks for that. Because several people had stood up in front of me, I could not see clearly. I saw Connor's run and shot but could not see if he had an angle for a pass. I asked the lad next to me and was told no.

As for Ruben, it's now more than ten years since I wrote of him as a youth team player that he had a ton of talent but that unless he learned to use it better he would be lucky to get a gig in League One.

Sometime last season someone here reminded me that, when Connor was in our U18 squad, I had said that he would not make it as a Chelsea player. I replied that Connor had done nothing at Chelsea yet but I promised that if and when he establishes himself here I would post an admission that I was wrong. That promise is still live, and I haven't forgotten it.

It's well known that KDB refused a) to go on loan again and b) to accept a binding buyback. Reports vary as to whether there was a sell on clause in the deal which took him to Wolfsburg .

One day the truth will come out. 🙂 I am not diminishing Marina's power. I just recognise the boundaries of her autonomy.

I arrived in the 9th minute so I haven't yet seen that part of the the game. In what I did see, Denis had his moments but he frequently wanted more time than he had and gave the ball away a few times. One square ball across our D in the second half was picked off and led to danger. I watched the game in the company of a young Australian coach of Irish decent whose Irish passport allows him to be here working for his B licence. We each raved about our memories of Denis at Gladbach, but we also agreed that yesterday was not a good outing for him. Well before he was subbed we knew it was coming even though we hoped it wouldn't. I really want GP to give Denis a run of games to get up to speed, because I still believe there is a player there.