bellion

It will be interesting to see how the negotiation pans out over the next couple of weeks. If there is no conclusion, I believe there will be a repeat of the Stones transfer saga unless the Board is wise enough to work on quality alternatives right away.

I never thought that we would be spending a lot of money - on the contrary, I opine that the Board would effect the same net transfer spend as last summer or even less. Only the tabloids would publish baseless stories of throwing 80 million pounds for Pogba and 70 million for Griezmann. Up till this point, the only substantiated rumour has been the club's pursuit of Nainggolan and that was way back from April. Two months of negotiation and there is no sign of a conclusion. If this deal doesn't go through, it would be interesting to see what sort of Plan B the Board has or will they fall back to a has-been midfield signing of some washed-out 34 year old?

Well, at least the rumours are fun to read. Just to get your hopes up, Nainggolan is still there for the picking. Whether he will actually join can only be answered on Sept 1.

You react because you don't like what I have been posting about the Board. Whether I post about a single subject or multiple ones does not matter. If the Board signs those players that you mentioned, that's great for Conte and the club and I would say well done to them. However, in my opinion, it won't happen. Now regarding Kante, I have already read the excuses that he won't join us because we can't offer him CL football. I expect to read about these excuses the whole summer as to why none of our supposed first choice targets will arrive and we are forced to resort to Djilobdoji and Pato signings.

Why are you not banned yet? Just because someone posts something you don't agree with, you ask for a ban? Is this the kind of narrow mindedness that is tolerated in a public internet forum?

You keep believing that the Board does a good job - we will see what sort of recruits have been obtained on September 1.

If the fee is less than 20 million pounds, I can see this happening as it reflects the Board's policy of signing 3rd rate players and expect world class results.

Good. Keep supporting the shitty transfer policies supported by the Board then.

Have you forgotten the last two transfer windows?

On paper, both Kante and Nainggolan are perfectly realistic signings for a club like Chelsea. However, the excessive penny pinching and low ball posturing by the Board for recent dealings does not raise any hopes that such deals will be done right. What makes the Nainggolan potential transfer deal interesting is that the player himself has named Chelsea as the interested party and he has refused to rule out such a move for himself. This has actually put a huge spotlight on the Chelsea Board to get this deal done successfully otherwise they will feel the fans' wrath if they fuck it up again.

Thanks for including that piece in. Ultimately, my postings or yours have no bearing on how to Board wants to spend its transfer budget. Hence, cease attacking my postings as it doesn't change anything.

I fully expect a few mediocre players with no improvements to the first team to be made and a couple of loan signings of washed-out has beens. Asamoah Gyan is the perfect signing for the Board as he's cheap and a has-been.

This transfer story has been ongoing since April. The club has done a brilliant job in leading the fans into believing that it is being proactive about it with all this talk about Nainggolan agreeing personal terms, sending Marina Granoskaia to negotiate, etc. However, time has told and one can see that things are stalling..... I believe this so-called transfer saga will drag until the last day of the transfer window and it will inevitably fail spectacularly. That's when the PR folks at the Bridge will go overtime with feeds 'of "at least we tried" and "Roma refused to do business" and then Plan B is executed which is another Papy-type purchase or a loan arrangement for a washed-out South American player. Come to think of it. Plan B is really Plan A after all. The bank manager of Chelsea FC will be well pleased and give the Board a collective pat on their backs for matching the transfer budgets of Burnley and Middlesbrough.

We saw the same old crap last summer. I have a feeling that such rumours are deliberately being spread by some parties within Chelsea FC itself so as to paint a picture that the club is working hard on big transfers. Stories on being in "constant contact with the players and agents" and "bidding XXX amount" will get the fans on their side and when such bids inevitably fail, the Board can rely on the fans' sympathy that it at least tried. The truth is that the Board does not want to invest the necessary amounts needed to give Conte a chance at trophies. The aim is to have the lowest net spend of all the Premiership clubs - that is the Board's real intention and yet they expect Conte to deliver results. When Conte leaves in disgust as a result of not being backed or is sacked, no other top coach will touch Chelsea with a ten foot pole. Who in their right mind would helm a coaching role with a club that demands for trophies yet spend less than a Bournemouth or Watford?

"Working away" at the problem means getting the players that Conte wants and ensuring funds are allocated appropriately. Talk is cheap - is the Board prepared to put its money and commitment where it's mouth is? I highly doubt it, consequences be damned. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Conte walks out of this club less than a year from now due to being set up for failure by the board ie shovelling him with more Papys, Miazgas and Patos while he asked for Nainggolan and Bonucci.

The recruitment of mediocre playing staff is dictated by only one thing - an obsession with profits. Ironically, this further hurts the TOP and bottom line in the long run when sponsors reduce their fees, merchandise sales drop and fans stay away.

The club or rather the Board's problem is that buying up-and-coming players is a problem, let alone buying world class players and that is due to one thing - obsession with making profits over all else. Even the youth policy has been turned into a money making engine.

Which is why I expect no player of any decent quality to be joining us in the summer. The board are a bunch of fucking cheap bastards who are ruining the club for the sake of their pockets.

It's the Board's obsession with balancing the books and trying to squeeze every last penny they can out of negotiations, even if they miss out on securing a highly-prized target. I am expecting no major signings to be made because of this idiotic stance. The only signings I believe will happen are more of those last minute Papy and Hector types plus a loan signing or two of some washed out Robinho types.

Nah they will give him the captain's armband and he will be first choice right-back again next season. So you can forget about any Top 4 placement.

I remember reading a post by a poster here saying Spurs are a well run club and we should emulate them. Fuck that shit! Emulate a bunch of violent cheaters?

It's not the fans' expectations - ultimately, it's what Roman and the Board wants and expects. If they want the title or a top four finish, then Conte needs to be backed in the transfer market and allowed to buy and sell as he wants to. If they want the same lofty results without spending and restricting Conte in anyway, Chelsea will slip into the bottom half or even struggle against relegation with the same squad and Hiddink will be recalled yet again for half a season. For those of you who wants to stick a bunch of youth players into the first team and expect attacking football, that's a pipe dream. Chelsea fans will be fortunate to see one youth player break into the first team every few years and rightly so as the gap is formidable to bridge. The club needs winning Football, not attacking, defensive or whatever.

The integration of youth players into the first team and academy is a bloody over rated matter. It will be a breakthrough if more than one youth player can make in the first team on a regular basis every few years. Buying quality players is the Chelsea way and there should be no diversion of that. Trying to be cheapskates and using the academy as an excuse caused this season to implode.

Forget about the class of 92. Never going to repeat itself at the Bridge. Not buy anyone and only play youth players? Throw them into the deep end without proper integration of a couple of youth players at one time. Sure if you want to get relegated. Just need to adjust your expectations to that level then.

I don't expect the window where Costa and Fabregas were signed to be repeated. Times have changed and purse strings have tightened considerably. If the club is looking to fund new purchases with sales, I don't believe we will get a lot as the players' performances this season has certainly slashed their potential transfer price tags considerably. The only way out of this mess is for Roman to say "Fuck It!" and splash out 200 million pounds NET to clear the decks and rebuild the first team. It all depends on him now to make that call.