Duppy Conqueror

was an epic couple of days in Stockholm..certainly better than my last trip to Sweden (the Euro `92 where the "highlights" of the trip, was off the field) ...in the days when an English team could beat a Joachim Low led German outfit and we beat the evil mincer that is Thomas Berthold..revenge for italia `90 of a sort. hazy days and crazy nights...shame the ground wasn`t the biggest (about 28,000-30,000) but there was a lot of Chelsea out there...Zola scoring just after coming off the bench..Dubs and Granville as our two young english defenders..weren`t quite JT and Ash were there? haha..but back then i really used to think Duberry was gonna be the top English CB of his Era..he had some blinding games in his early days before injuries and then inconsistency began to creep in ..did score in a famous win at Old Trafford tho... awww memories of the way we were...

i presume the editor of the mail sleeps with goats..and that is why she is so disturbed about a man doing what men normally do when they are young and on a night out.

gotta agree with that...he is indeed a good player but he`s the kind of player we would have signed in the first few years of the Abramovich era,when we were trying to build a strong squad but didn`t have anyone in the youth academy to bring along... now we have a stronger squad and a load of talented youngsters busting to get their chance...we should only buy the really elite players or players who have a good chance of becoming elite..if we can..if we can`t then we shouldn`t bother. i`d say Khedira and him are close in standard at present..but i`d be more inclined to go for Khedira than him..due to him being 4 years younger and having played in a higher standard league. better chance of growing into an elite player etc...

Roman is probably in South Africa to watch the WC anyway...and would have to agree a fee first with Liverpool before getting in touch with Torres.

well, according to the daily mail we have just made an official bid for Torres, believed to be in the region of 40mill.... is the daily mail tho..

what has an International team tournament got to do with Club football, in regard to who we should let go? Champions league is a higher standard of Football and Cole does fine in those Tournaments..infact he is one of the main reasons Messi always looks average when he plays against us. and anyway..England had a poor tournament..not Ashley himself.

well i`m fine with Deco leaving..one or two decent performances a year just ain`t good enough ... but is this not tapping ? we got in enough trouble over Kakuta only to find out later that he wasn`t even legally under contract with Lens...well Deco clearly is under contract with us..i want the "transfer" to go through but if we were talking to a player under contract with another club, trying to get him to get out of his currenct contract so we could sign him for free....Twatini would be all over us like a rash and slagging us off to every media outlet he could find..

i read in my sunday paper (NOTW.. i know ,its a rag but on a sunday my head can`t handle anything too heavy..) that they have given him a 5 year contract at 11million a year!!! nice one City..haha.. when Twatini brings those draconian rules into play just to try and screw English clubs over.t(he racist shit that he is) we shall escape his evil slimey snail drizzled claws... but those poor little mancs with their heads in the clouds after decades of mediocrity and worse..are gonna be screwed and they can`t even see it coming... and they have had a good youth system for a lot longer than us but they`re abandoning it now to instead overpay for players that they don`t need that are inturn gonna prevent them from getting to the very tournament that they are spending all the money to get to, in the first place.. well played City.. you`re awesome

we are being rumoured to be after a lot of players but i can only see us buying 2 at maximum 3 of those players . 5 have left so far ( Ballack,Cole,Belletti,Stoch and Deco is on his way out the door,anytime now it seems )and i think another 2 or 3 will leave (Hilario,Ferriera & 50/50 Carvalho) so that would leave 8 players departing from the first team squad..being replaced by say 3 young but experienced players bought in..and the 5 additions from the academy that Carlo has stated a while back. i agree it has been frustrating not seeing players make it from the academy since Roman bought the club and well not even given a chance really..but Roman and Arnesen have been building up the talent level of our kids during those years and now it`s clear that the talent level has risen alot..and enough for Carlo to have enough faith in them to promote them into the first team squad. it`s been a long time coming but the wait to see them in first team action will be ending soon..Kakuta,Bruma,Hutchinson & Matic looks to be certain to have extended playing time to add to the brief stints here and there from last season...i think actually there could well be more than 5 from our academy that gets some first team action next year..add Mancienne,Cork,McEachran,Tore,Sala..the Cliffords,Sam Walker,Delac,Rajkovic,Borini,Sturridge,Mikel...there`s a lot of great young prospects that will figure at various times throughout the season...probably more in the Milk Cup to start off with..or when we play the weaker teams in other competitions..i think Kakuta injury- free permitting, will be in the match day squad pretty much every game..and well the others it`s anyones guess but there`s no doubt in my mind that Carlo is confident in their ability as he would have never let so many walk away so early if he didn`t think we had good prospects in our academy who could step in if needed. the thing is tho with them needing time to grow into regular starters they need a season or two of gradually building up their workload and at present the starters we have like Drogba,Lampard,Anelka,Malouda etc..are close to being good enough to win the champions league in the next year or two ,if they could only have that little extra something that an Aguero or Ozil would bring NOW..rather than waiting around because in all likelihood by the time Kakuta etc..are ready to be full time, 40 plus games a season starters..Drogba,Anelka,Lampard etc..will be either playing in some lower level football in say america or saudi arabia etc..or retired. after all the heartbreaks we and our veteran players like Lamps,Nico & Drogs have felt in the champions league over the last several years..wouldn`t it be a great send off to those Chelsea Legends,to finally get our paws on that awesome trophy . their chances of ever getting their hands on the world cup has passed them by now...lets get the one or two missing pieces that will give them essentially the clubs version of the world cup. :champions:

according to the article i read about him.. his nickname is the Blue Kenyan..because when he played for Cruzeiro he wore blue and the Kenyan part came because his stamina is likened to that of a Kenyan long distance runner.what i`ve seen of him he looks a good player..perhaps our resident brasilian can give us more info on him.. i`m not sure what it would mean for the likes of Mikel,Mancienne,Matic & Cork tho,if we signed him,who i had pencilled all of them in as possible DM candidates... i guess one could compete with him for a starting place and the others could compete at other positions..but sure would be interesting to see what the plan would be for them. i think Mancienne & Cork may depart soon if they feel their chances of playing are too slim and i personally would like to see them given some game time.. with young,talented Englishmen not being easy to obtain the way other teams want to hold onto them or inflate their prices too much just because they are English these days.. so would be a shame to let them slip away now as i feel they are both future England internationals..just hope it`s with us and we don`t let them go now only to spend 20 mill each in a couple of years time to get them back...once they have been given a proper chance to grow into top pro`s elsewhere.

for next season we need an Aguero..perhaps next summer we will need a Higuain but i think going into this upcoming season Aguero is what we need most...if we play a 4-3-3 Aguero can play on either edge of the front 3 whilst Drogba or Anelka take the centre and Malouda or Kakuta can play the other edge of the front 3..Kalou and Sturridge can be in the mix for some game time too.. in a 4-1-2-1-2 Aguero can either play behind the front two or alongside Drogba/Anelka/Sturridge... with Higuain he`s really more an out and out striker and that`s it...he`s a goal machine no doubt...will probably score a few more goals than S.K.A..but with Aguero i think the team as a whole would score more goals thanks to his more rounded contributions...i really do see a young Zola in Aguero.and imagine having been able to get Zola 8 or 9 years before we did...imagine what Zola could have done surrounded by the talent we have today..imagine what Kakuta and Zola could do on the same team..well i think the nearest we can get to find out is if we get Aguero now. perhaps we could get both tho..then sell Kalou,and loan out Borini until Drogba hangs up his boots...i`m not sure how Higuain and Borini would play together..they seem quite similar to me..and of course there`s Sturridge..oh decisions ,decisions..i`m glad i haven`t got to make any of them.. i`d like to see us try quite a few different formations tho ..but think i`ll keep that discussion for another thread..

i believe both could play on the same team at the same time and be successful in it. they are similar in some ways but they can interplay..switch roles..and they are in some areas are better than each other. e.g.i`d say Kakuta has perhaps a better shot,speed and dribbing ability..where as Ozil is a better passer,better vision on the field,ability to see who to pass to when and what angles to take when off the ball.etc...Kakuta perhaps has more trickery when the ball is at his feet but Ozil has more trickery when he doesn`t have the ball..to me its like Ozil is a bit like Iniesta and Kakuta similar in style to Messi..

i thought they were gonna stop making shit up after Piers Morgan got the boot for...well.. making shit up. Jose often refers to all the players that Roman bought for him as "his players"...you`d think after what..going into the 3rd full season since he departed that "his players" aren`t like dogs that will follow him whenever calls,by the mere fact that not one single player has left Chelsea yet to join back up with him...i`m sure there are players at Chelsea that still love him...but so far it hasn`t been enough for them to leave Chelsea..guess they actually love the club more. i think they could possibly get one of "his" old players..but it will be somebody like Riccy...someone who we can spare to lose. say if Chelsea gave this consideration..i think it wouldn`t be so much about just 30 mill but i`d say give us Kaka and we`ll give them Ash...they might not want to lose Kaka..but we don`t want to lose Ash either..the ball is in our court on this, not theirs...currently i don`t see them being challengers for the CL due to their defense..but with Ash they would become such..so to offset that we need to take away a bit of talent that will bring them down a little...i would perhaps consider swapping Ash for Higuian and Van Der Vaart too but take it or leave it..we can`t just give him away for cash..Roman hasn`t spent as much as he has over the last 7 years to try to build a CL winning team..to now hand it all over to Real Madrid for 30 million. if Ash wants to go that is..(remember there was no evidence to back up that claim made in the tabloid article..just pure speculation.).if he wants to stay then they can go whistle and he can try and get Evra instead.

well...in fact he was actually part of the England under 17 team that won an 8 team European Championship finals beating Spain 2-1 in the final, not the World Championships.. i love the potential Josh has,don`t get me wrong...i just guess after following Chelsea for 30 years i`ve seen a lot of promising youngsters that have looked great against teenagers but not grown into great pro`s...so i stay away from annointing 17 year old players who have yet to play a professional game of football better than 21 year old`s who are currently lighting up the adult World Cup..not just some kids tournament that he had already lit up last year. i`d love McEachran to become better than Ozil but the earlier statement said nothing about in 3 or 4years time that you are suggesting now. i`d rather us get Ozil the player who has actually proven himself at an elite level.. rather than wait 3 or 4 years for something to happen that may just not happen ever..if it does we can just have both..no need to stop at just one great young player. i`m not trying to knock McEachran...just trying to avoid putting a 17 year old on a pedestal that he has yet to earn..for his own good. there`s a huge difference between the under 17 European Championships and the actual elite, all pro World Cup...and it`s unrealistic to presume that in 4 years he will be able to catch up to where Ozil is now..on current form, arguably the greatest midfielder on the planet...though not "just" catch him up, but be better than him. don`t forget in 4 years time Ozil will still be improving all that time too..at 25 he will still be a couple of years from a midfielders peak. maybe Josh will be as great as you believe he will and as good as i hope..just going through how much of a long way he has to go to get to that level of play.

Bayern the hardest club in the world to get a good player from...Real Madrid and Barca often buy too many players so you got a chance of buying a decent player off them..especially Real,because they write off players too quickly after buying them.. Bayern though..even if the player wants to leave,if they don`t want him to go then the player will have to wait until his contract runs out...also Bayern have no money worries..no reason to sell other than if they get an offer for a player that is well over their own evaluation of the player,which is usually a lot more inflated than other teams evaluations of the player. i`d love us to get Muller but i think we got a better chance of getting Ozil than him..also Khedira plays for Stuttgart i believe....we may have a chance of buying off the other german clubs but very little chance with Bayern.

well..first off i think they gotta give Mancienne,Cork and Bertrand a real chance of making it this year..give them some real exposure in the 1st team..even if it`s just in the cup ties against weaker teams and teams like Blackpool,West Brom etc..in the PL..for me i`ve selected those 3 as i think a) they`ve had too many loan spells and need to get back into playing in the style Chelsea play..they`re been pretty good on loan but its how they gell into our team that is what we need to find out..and they are probably getting quite close to the stage where they are gonna start thinking that they may never make it at chelsea and may push for a transfer elsewhere. i`d either play Mancienne as DM or RB...not sure about CB.. Bertrand at LB cover obviously..Van Aanholt is good but Bertrand is a lot closer to leaving than PVA so best to give him atleast a run out or two to find out if he`s worth keeping or not..perhaps have him start on opening day and take it from there..if after a game or two he fails to impress atall then let him go prior to the transfer window closing..(if theres acceptable offers forthcoming) i think PVA is more likely to make it with us but Bertrand has some talent..time to find out if it`s Chelsea standard talent or not. Cork i like most out of the 3 players mentioned so far..should have really been given less loan outs and more oppurtunities with us by now..but hopefully from here on in he will get a real chance with the more Youth friendly Carlo now in charge..who seems to be the most young player friendly manager we have had since Claudio. maybe give Di Santo a month in the reserves to rebuild his confidence with some goals then get him involved in the first team again...he may not make it but the sooner we give him the chance to get the Blackburn "nitemare" out of his system the better..then if he doesn`t get back on track by january we can look to off-load him in that transfer window.. Kakuta,Matic,Hutchinson & Bruma i think will definately have more games than last year..and if Bertrand goes then Van Aanholt will. Borini..i`m not sure..as things stand now we should give him a chance in the 1st team squad next season..but if we sign a striker,loan him out but be picky with who we loan him out too...don`t loan him to a team who play route one football,where he won`t get many oppurtunities to score or places where he won`t play many games..i think perhaps a championship side like Swansea City would be a good place for him to be loaned to ..they have a continental coach who plays good free flowing football like us but are really missing a goalscorer to finish the many chances their midfielders create...i think he would get a lot of goals with them and it would be a good place to bridge the gap between playing in the reserves and top flight football..also they play infront of around 18,000 during home games..so the experience of playing infront of bigger crowds on a weekly basis than he plays infront of with the reserves would be something else he could gain.. another place where i think would be good for him to be loaned to is although i still hate them and don`t like to think of us helping them in any way ,is Leeds...play infront of premiership size crowds every home game..a team that plays attacking football and one that after losing Beckford could do with someone like Borini..also theyve just been promoted to the championship. other players i would give a run out but mainly in the Milk Cup, are McEachran,Sala,Rajkovic (if he finally joins up with us this year) Connor Clifford, Tore & Jacob Mellis. i really don`t want us to make too many youngsters go out on loan..let outfield players go out once..but i think anymore and you are likely to hinder the progress of the player like has happened with Scott Sinclair.. also i think we really have to be careful that our youngsters that do go out on loan go to somewhere that they can gain the most out of..don`t just let them go to the first team that shows interest in them..do some research into what they can offer the youngster. although i don`t think it`s a good idea to let outfield players go out on loan too often i think it wont effect our young goalkeepers in a bad way...no matter what style ,formations etc..a team plays the goalkeeper does the same things anyway...so i`m not concerned about them being loaned out so much.

is impossible to tell if Kakuta or McEachran are better than Ozil..certainly impossible to prove it because Ozil has played plenty of games against elite,world class defenders and midfielders and made them look like sunday league players. Geal or Josh has not faced such opposition..(i know Kakuta has had brief cameos in a couple of games.but nothing on the scale Ozil has done it).....really guys i`m as impressed with them as anyone at this point of their young careers..but there`s so many former teenage sensations that are now bricklayers,bartenders etc or worse..playing for Walsall....that it`s best to try to keep your hopes for them as just that and not hinder their growth by giving them crowns to wear that they have yet to earn.

i bet with these new body scanners at the airports..he`s had some awkward questions to answer... airport security : Mr Benayoun..it appears that your bowel and anus contains unusual metal objects.. Yossi: oh that...well it happened during a very dark period of my life that i would rather it stayed in the past..i guess i do need to explain to you for security reasons, but please don`t tell the british press ..i could have had unwithering love and affection regardlesss of whatever i did when i played football up in the northwest of England but now i have signed for Chelsea i will just be described as a demonic sexual deviant and a menace to womanhood regardless of wether women willingly throw themselves at me or not... Airport Security: i give you my word Mr Benayoun..nothing will be leaked to the press.. Yossi: i was cornered in this barren, run-down,pitiful place in the north west of England..it really was a terrifying experience..there were thousands of ghastly looking people..and well..look at me..if i say they looked ghastly then you can be sure..i`m talking Sloth in the Goonies kind of ugly...and although it was in England..i didn`t hear one English word in 3 years in the place...all i heard was "erm " this and "Errrrrrm" that...anyway..one cold night in this bleak hell-hole...i was cornerned like i said and suddenly i felt a hard thud in my rear..i don`t know what happened but i couldn`t sit down for a week.. Airport Security: ah sir..i had a similar experience when i visited England once..i was a foreign exchange student in the mid eighties...after hearing my mothers Beatles records as a child i had always dreamt of going to what i had believed was the mecca of artistic culture..what i found was everyone had matching curly permed hair and shell suits,both women and men alike..indeed the only way i could tell the difference was the men had a more,bushy Tom Selleck type moustache... one night i was in a night club disco and Frankie goes to Hollywood was coming from the DJ`s speakers...i had drunk quite a lot of alcohol..something i did quite a lot to get me through those bleak days and nights..anyway suddenly i was rushed from behind and i too recieved a dreadful pounding from behind that left me unable to sit for a week...it appears sir, that we are both talking about Liverpool..and tell me do they still have a successful football team filled with Irish,Scottish and Welsh players? Yossi: oh,blimey..you have been away for a while..they have not won an English title in 20 years and the Irish,Scottish and Welsh players have all left to be replaced by spaniards...tho not the world renowned ones..just any spaniard they can find really...one of them is indeed half decent..but he should escape his hell soon..i`m afraid he fell into the same trap we did,thinking that Liverpool was the place to be..i guess it is for crackheads,pikeys,murderers,rapists..but not folks like us... some Chelsea fans have become upset about me signing for their beloved football club..and worrying about me taking the place of one of their highly talented younsters..but i can assure you..after the 3 years i`ve spent in Chester and travelling to hell everyday for work..i am just thankful and happy to take my family to live in a decent part of England..where the chances of them being murdered is greatly reduced.

i find it hard to believe that a newspaper that has run a long standing witchunt against chelsea and in particular Ashley (and JT) would have much knowledge of what Ash is really thinking... the irony is that Ash could leave and i wouldn`t blame him..but it shouldn`t read "Ash is desperate to move from Chelsea to Real Madrid" it should read "Ashley Cole,arguably Englands greatest ever left back.. so fed up of the vultures in the english media that take great glee in the personal problems of english people, in particular famous ones..may want to go to a country where the media doesn`t rule and doesn`t behave like creepy legalized stalkers"....if he leaves it will have nothing to do with anything related to playing for CFC and it`s fans.

i support that stance whole heartedly...hope the ban helps Kakuta 44 grow into a more mature and classy person than was evident from that post...either way though i`m glad that kind of stuff will not be tolerated.

i think we could still challenge for the Premiership with what we have already got and no additions...but if we run with what we got in the champions league we would struggle very hard to win it i think....i`m all for giving youth a chance..but i do think we could do with adding somebody like Aguero or Ozil..somebody who is both young,yet still experienced and will give us something we haven`t already got..(tho Kakuta could be as good as Aguero & Ozil when he becomes their age) ...i don`t want us to buy for the sake of it ,and i could honestly accept and support it if Carlo and co decided to buy nobody this summer..but getting somebody like Aguero or Ozil..somebody who are extremely gifted players but hungry enough to fulfil their mass potential if they came to a bigger club like ours. are the only kind of players i think we should go for...and i think Carlo and finally Roman now..feels the same.

the thing with signing Spanish players is although there`s plenty of them who are good players..if they do well,it`s only a matter of time before Barca & Real comes calling and the player sulks until he gets to go there, because he "always dreamed of playing for Barca/Real.." i personally would be content if we signed nobody and give our talented youngsters more playing time...it would atleast be better than signing somebody whose heart is really elsewhere..if he joins Citeh..he`ll be back in Spain within two to three years for sure..if not before.

i didn`t vote because i fall into the "not sure" group... i believe Carlo & Roman etc.. would like to have him but A.Madrid may drag their heels too much and ask for too big a transfer fee...maybe we could offer them 20mill plus player/s.. he has said that he would be willing to join us..or words to that effect...but i`m sure he was expecting a big salary when he said that,probably more than the majority of our 1st teamers are currently on if not all of them...how would that sit with the players who are already here?...it seemed like Ballack`s salary didn`t go down too well with JT,Lampard etc..when they were being paid less than him...he may come but i can see plenty of potential hurdles...i`d say it`s about a 40% chance of him joining us.

i can PM you what i picked up from being over there,if you`ve got any questions..(to try and keep the thread on topic)..bear in mind tho it was 12 years ago..so you would be wise to double check anything i tell you to make sure what was the case then..still applies now.

by the way,the Dutch for Celery is Selderij... :tophat: