bellion

Based on recent activities, the ones coming in could very well be more Papys and Patos while the ones leaving could be Costa and Hazard.

I see the Board being unyielding - they will insist that any new manager will have to work with a net transfer budget smaller than Bournemouth's by rigorously applying the one in and one out policy. Hence, don't expect any decent manager to sign on the dotted line. The club might as well look at the Championship and the Scottish league for cheap manager hires who will be thrilled just being at the Bridge and wouldn't spend more than a few hundred K per season.

Nothing has been sorted if Conte is indeed considering his options. The ones who don't have sense is the Board if they have insisted on giving Conte a shockingly low transfer budget and not giving him final approval on sales and purchases of players. The Board might as well hire Sean Dyche of Burnley or Karanka of Middlesborough - they wouldn't mind tiny transfer budgets and wouldn't cost more than a million or two per year for their wages.

Conte is wise enough not sign any contract with Chelsea now. Why should he if he's not promised in a written agreement that he will have a huge war chest and have the power to buy and sell players without interference from Emenalo or the Board?

The £64,000 question is this - how much is the Board willing to spend on players? My sceptical self tells me that the net spend will be the same or even lower than last summer ( less than 10 million pounds) and it's very likely that we will spend it on more Papys and washed-out former superstars on loan (Robinho anyone?). I do not believe for even a minute that the Board will buy any player in that list above although they will make a pretense of bidding for top players with initial derisory bids which eventually end up with zilch. At least they tried which is their planned message to gullible fans. Hence, there will be no shitloads of cash spent but there will be massive shit on the pitch when the new season begins with the same Defence and Midfield starting (minus Terry, Hazard and maybe Costa) and the club battles relegation. But hey, at least the balance sheet looks healthy. I hope Conte refuses to sign if he's not promised a massive transfer kitty.

It's far too sensible and way too much funds needed to deploy your proposition.

Where are the deluded ones who still think that the club only need minor tweaks this summer? The team needs to be gutted and replaced wholesale.

The Board disagrees with that and buys a couple of Papys and Hectors this summer just in case they turn out to be good.

Ivanovic at right back? Time for you to go Mr Hiddink. The team can pick itself from now onwards.

We can only hope this Pato loan fiasco will be the final nail in the coffin for Emenalo's career at the Bridge. Time to get that Walter bloke into the Director of Football's seat and sign some quality players for a change. I will rage a lot if we sign more loanee duds like Falcao and Pato this summer.

He and Oscar are my first players that must be put on the transfer list. Hasn't done a single thing right the entire season and wouldn't even try to do so.

The biggest wages make it even worse - paying Ivanovic 120,000 pounds per week and Oscar 80-100,000 pounds per week for playing jack shite is another huge wrong from the club. I am wondering if what Mourinho said was correct when he claimed that he over-achieved with this pathetic squad of players. Since the club has a bunch of no-commit passengers alongside inferior players, this strengthens my claim that a big broom should be wielded by Conte to sweep them out and bring in new and better blood i.e. spend BIG BUCKS.

Whoever they hire has become less important than what the Board will do to back the new manager. Freedom to buy and sell and a significant transfer kitty to back him up. Without these, Conte or whoever might as well not sign. As I mentioned in another post, the Board might as well offer the job to Sean Dyche since he's doing well with Burnley albeit in the Championship, will have lower wages and won't mind a net spend of 5 million pounds per season. Spend less or none at all is the motto of the club for the past two seasons and for many seasons to come.

What do you think they are keeping those profits for? It's for themselves if nothing else. If they weren't profitable in the past, that has nothing to do with them wanting to be profitable now and in the future and the best way to do that is to have a puny transfer budget or best one which is fully funded from player sales.

We don't need anymore potential players. We need first team quality and many of them.

If it's run like a typical corporation, the more profits the company makes, the higher the compensation. No need to be anal about defending the board.

It's not about attracting top players. It's about the willingness to pay top dollar for them instead of spunking on cheap rubbish such as Papy and miazga.

Correct that to bonuses for the board

The fucked-up transfers of the past two windows are driven by one thing - the income statement of the club and consequently the dividends that the shareholders can get. Nothing else matters to them. Oh and the Board still demands for first place and trophies while insisting on spending money which is on par with what Burnley and Derby pay for transfers. Wants to be ambitious yet the spending is on par with what Championship clubs do. Conte should spit on the contract that he is given and walk away with a middle finger directed at Roman and the Board.

If being knocked out of all cup competitions and finishing in mid table does not convince the Board to shell out 100 million + quid to spend on quality players this summer, nothing will. Conte or whoever the new manager in waiting is should absolutely refuse to sign a contract with the club if they don't receive an assurance from Roman that a huge transfer kitty is available and that's on TOP of any sales proceeds form players sold. in short, I don't think the Board will change its penny-pinching ways, will refuse to provide an open cheque book to the new manager and sign more Papys with loose change and Falacao loanees. They might as well offer Sean Dyche of Burnley a contract - he's used to doing things on a tight Budget and he wouldn't mind the club being stuck in the lower half of the table which is where we will end up next season and beyond.

This summer's transfer business is a crossroads for the club. How much and whom they buy and sell will decide the club's progress for the next few years - the club can challenge for the title and future European competition or end up as a bottom half club and compete against the likes of West Brom and Crystal Palace. Conte will have his preferences on whom to buy, keep and sell. The key factor is how much the Board will be willing to fund his wish list and alternatives if those targets are unobtainable. To me, a net spend WELL in excess of 100 million pounds is needed to significantly strengthen the squad which means at least 3 top quality signings plus a few other squad fillers. Anything less and we will say hello to Palace and WBA alongside us in the table. Conte and other managers will be gone and eventually a no-mark Championship level manager will be hired. A half-filled new stadium will subsequently greet us in 2020 or whenever it is ready.

Nah I think Oscar will hang around just like Mikel for many more seasons. I expect them to stay, Hazard to be sold and a cheapo squad player or two will be bought to fill up the midfield numbers this summer ala Papy/Hector/Miazga. We haven't done enough to win the NEGATIVE NET SPEND title yet. Selling Hazard and signing a Papy equivalent in midfield will certainly go very well into achieving that.

It will remain a pipe dream. None of the players you mentioned will end up at the Bridge. Regarding bids for TOP players, they are merely tabloid fodder or probably half-hearted bids by the Board just to please the fans without achieving anything at all.

I am completely unconvinced that Loftus-Cheek will amount to anything other than being a bit-part player for the club in the future. He does a bit of everything but has no stand-out feature - he doesn't even use his physical size very well in matches. On top of that, he has a poor work ethic and doesn't assert himself on the pitch. Typically, players like these never amount to anything significant in their careers unless they are fortunate enough to be with a club that goes on a trophy run over the seasons. Contrast him to Riechedly Bazoer who is younger and has demonstrated much greater ability in terms of strength and movement coupled with much better link play in midfield. Little wonder that half of the top European clubs are after him. Completely over-hyped and giving a new 60,000 pound weekly wage is insanity and it's no wonder that our wage bill is the highest in the land with over-paid and under-performing/average players. I rather get excited over Musonda and Traore.

His form is very worrying. No improvement whatsoever for the entire season. Conte or whichever manager in line wouldn't like what he is seeing now and I could see him being sold this summer. Even Mikel has picked up a bit of form.