LDN Blue

Nope. Not City, PSG, anyone! Barca are the only ones fucked and as it happens, that's not even because of FFP. Funny thing is, I think we all knew it was a simple talking shop. We as fans, the general football community and City above everyone. Okay, we're turning over a profit now because of it and that's great. But I fear we could do an almost Arsenal approach in buying now (not selling though).

No, not because he's English. He was with City through their academy and so trained for 3 years before he was 18/21 (I forget the exact wording). That's why you don't have to be English to be HG. -- I'd love Richards here.. If he played. But I fear he'd be signed because he's HG and would be on the fringes behind Ivanovic, which is a great tragedy. He's 26 and he's got a real chance to impose himself in the England team (competition of Kyle Walker & Glen Johnson gives him an easy run). But he's also got to be clever, the move he makes now can be make or break.

It's nothing

This bloody headlines "Varane wants Chelsea move", "Messi fancies Chelsea" Yes ladies and gentleman, the transfer window is open!

LMAO like this is actually picking up momentum. £250,000,000? Remember guys, Chelsea are FFP compliant. Anyone who's buying into this should really reconsider their beliefs

I actually agree here. Consistency is key, Bony has only had 2 seasons of it and so he's in the Remy category, though I wouldn't say 'not top level'. Then there's your Zamora, Johnson, Bent levels of one-season-wonders.. (Harry Kane a potential contender here lmao).

I get this, but then what does that say about the confidence in Hazard? If Costa asks Hazard if he was on a hat-trick for example, then I would get it, but just for the sake of it isn't a great idea imo. You can't really compare Drogba-Lampard v Wigan to this sort of thing.. That match was a must-win and Drogba was thinking about the golden boot ahead of the team (he probably did think about the team too). The old line 'if it ain't broken, why fix it?' is applicable here.

You wonder why Chelsea give a fuck about FFP when City can spend £30m DESPITE sanctions already placed on them by UEFA. It's not even an argument for making Bony come to us, I don't care about that, but this is ridiculous. Aguero, Dzeko, Jovetic, Negredo (technically albeit) and Bony?!

I wouldn't go with "let them decide." One asking the designated other, okay, but not letting them decide who it will be. This creates confusion and could lead to arguments if such game tensions run high. Eden for me.

Scott Parker springs to mind in his Charlton days

To be fair, on this point alone, that logic doesn't prevail at Chelsea. We've had players excel on loan, just to be shown another loan where they don't replicate and their confidence becomes destroyed (like Sturridge, Chalobah, even Bertrand. So I kind of see what the OP meant.

@Mana is right. No disrespect to Greaves or Poyet, they're club legends, but their importance in relation to Lampard isn't quite the same. Moving to Tottenham isn't nice, but it's not like they impose themselves on our success.. Much like Cudicini going to Tottenham. Also, they didn't go under false pretences of going to a club abroad, just to use it a springboard to jump to our title rivals. Being loyal to one club extends their stay at said club. The way they conduct themselves upon their departure has an impact on their status.. Gallas made an absolute tit of himself after he left, Joe Cole did to an extent. Drogba remained humble and respectful when he left. As did Carvalho, Ash, Essien even Shevchenko ffs. It's all good to chant 'Super Frankie Lampard' at the Bridge, but there's enough people staying silent through this because of his actions. Silence overcomes the temptation of booing because we want to remain a touch classier and humble as compared to Lampard.

Interesting. With Cech probably leaving in June, I wonder who will be brought in/promoted to be our no2

"I'm going to carry on playing and although I can't confirm at this stage where that will be, I can say it will be somewhere that means I won't be playing for a competing club and will not therefore be lining up against Liverpool - that is something I could never contemplate." - Gerrard And what a shame that it's most likely true.

It wouldn't be the worst thing to try and sign him, City do it all the time - Would require Alexis to do some work of his own of course xD

There are better options that £100m+ Bale. Not that I denounce his qualities, but I'm sure our scouting department would come up with more options for the right-wing (let's hope they are identifying this area to strengthen). If Bale was between £20-30m, then it would be a sound investment. But Bale offers no returns.

Wasn't he the most fouled player in Ligue 1 before he came here anyway? If anything he'll get it rougher abroad.

See above quote ^.

Our last 6 home games: W W W W W W Our last 6 away games: W D L W D L This is the concern.. We can't keep relying on home form. Titles are won and lost on away form.

You think we need him?

He was more wound up today than I've seen him be for us. I think you've hit the nail on the head with that point because he was visibly sacrificing his tactical awareness and positioning to try and score and create at any cost. I mean it was great to see, he was really passionate about trying to rescue the game.. You could see him constantly appealing decisions (which could've got him s/o, thankfully Dowd used Terry to calm him down)

Tbh I don't think anyone thinks he is. Someone posted earlier (maybe on here or Twitter), there's no guarantees that Zouma wouldn't make the same mistakes that Cahill does.. But it's likely he would probably make less of them and/or he would learn from the mistakes he does make and adapts his game.

I found the missing you forgot to add to that.

If Lampard really was proper Chelsea then he should think about the PR and the image of the club. It look incredibly stupid for a player like Lampard, with all his accolades from Chelsea, to leave for the club that are in direct competition. That bit was in bold because people like to belittle the view that Manchester City are our rivals.. Let's get it right, they are. They tried to copy the model of Roman and they got it incredibly wrong/took them longer.. Now they've rubbed it in our faces that it's finally becoming successful by taking the icon of our success. Look at Steven Gerrard for fuck sake. That prick is thinking about Liverpool's image by going to MLS and collecting bucket load of money, while being respectful of his club. Albeit he came close in 2005, but the fact is it didn't pan out. He'll forever be associated with Liverpool in England. If Manchester City win the league, Lampard will be there. People will associate Frank Lampard with both Chelsea and City. Disgraceful.

I hate being right about this issue. When everyone told us to chill out because the loan was for the end of Jan just to "train" and stay match ready, I hoped I was going to be wrong and he would leave as soon as he could. But now it's come to it and Lampard has chosen how he wants to be remembered. Yes, what he's done in a Chelsea shirt will live in and it will probably eclipse the man. But Frank Lampard is no longer a Chelsea icon imo. The lack of loyalty shown to us, going back on his words of old, it's a tough pill to swallow. Mourinho didn't seem impressed either, but I'm sure he was saving face by not speaking further on the matter.. More so than he did anyway. I'm just glad we've got guys like Drogba & Terry here. I hope they won't turn out the same, but honestly nothing surprises me in football any more.