Madmax

Once Man City enter the race for him, it's more or less certain that he'll end up there. Nobody else has the resources or the lack of sense to enter into a bidding war with them.

Twitter says Bertrand is on 25k a week now.

I think I'll be delighted if it's Arsanal who get him and not us. EDIT : Umm why does the 'e' in Arsanal get changed to an 'a' automatically?

Where's the chat box disappeared? :unsure:

Why the fuck do they have to play in Blue? Bastards.

Milan Lalkovich on his twitter : "Involved wit first team tomoro at portsomouth"

You made a wise choice Welcome, stick around!

I know, I'm merely referring to that school of thought.

^Sure, every club likes to think that till they win the CL . Just because you've not won it doesn't mean anyone else who has has simply been lucky. Otherwise we wouldn't be upset about going out of the CL they way we do every year. We'd instead be content in the knowledge that the winner was merely "lucky". Of course the Premiership is what you have your heart set on before a season begins, it's your bread and butter and all that. But let's not belittle other's achievements, just because we've not accomplished what they have. What do they call it? Sour grapes.

Just no. Cech was the outstanding GK in the league last year, followed by VdS. And both teams had worse defences than City.

Top quality signing ... if we're looking to sign people for cleaning Cech's boots.

Contract extensions for young players generally are a prelude to them leaving on loan.

DDR is Roma, much like Totti. A better deal and the sentimental value about staying on with his hometown club will pour cold water over any move.

LOL. Brilliant media-led posturing for a glorious upturn in fortunes of someone who is sure to be England's cornerstone on the path to Euro 2012 glory.

Geez thanks guys! Congratulations to LDN and G_Z !

So good to see our Royal Blue in action once again :cfc:

Premiership : 1. Man Utd 2. Man City 3. Chelsea 4. Liverpool 5. Arsanal 6. Spurs League Cup : Gonna go a bit random and say ... Bolton! FA Cup : Chelsea Champs Lge : Real Madrid

Top priority should be making everyone connected with CFC look forward to the next match, instead of dreading it for being another millisecond in a bad moment.

I'm a Mikel admirer and I've documented my views re him in numerous threads in the past. His abilities or limitations (depending on which side you're on) have been stated already in this thread so no point in repeating those. In any case, the thread isn't about what Mikel can or cannot do, it's about what impact ME5's injury will have on Mikel's squad position. First things first, Mikel and Essien are poles apart as far as team role and responsibilities go. One isn't like the other, so there's no competition that way, unless Essien is played as a DM (like Carlo did at times last year, something I didn't take well to, incidentally). Ramires is our Essien replacement. (The Essien of 05-06, that is). To me, it's clear that if AVB chooses his favoured 4-3-3/4-5-1 and it features his trusted B2B + DM + CM variables, the DM should be Mikel, regardless of Essien's availability. The real question is, with Ramires and Mikel in the side, will Essien flourish? I read that AVB wants to instill a fearless, inhibition less style of play. Does that include Mikel as well? If yes, I can't see it doing much other than confusing the lad and cluttering his mind with a mixture of stuff that he's been told to do previously and the stuff AVB might wish to make him attempt. His natural role has already been altered once and now that he's been settled in this position for a few years, asking him to reprise some of his lost abilities wouldn't be a great idea, imo.

Shakhtar does have one of the fittest squads in Europe. Seems a replacement for Bryan English. Btw, what happened to the Milan guy that joined last year? Demichelis, I believe. Did he quit or was he sacked along with Carlo?

Name me one English NT player (bar Rooney) who possesses the pedigree and temperament that is required in a team that plays 60+ competitive matches every season while being expected to feature in the race of every competition they enter into. If you're talking about squad players though, I see your point.

Found a (very) shitty cyber cafe in this remote corner of the country I've been dispatched to, so decided on a whim to log on after work, half-expecting us to have signed some mediocre player a la Benayoun and I stumble upon the most refreshing decision we've made at this club in quite a while. Delighted! Haven't read through any threads(but I imagine eldo is a very happy bird at this moment in time ), just wanted to get a post in in this one. Two things : A real future-oriented decision. This man could grow old at Chelsea.I think this heralds the end of the way we've known to play so far since Jose, and with it, the beginning of the end of that Terry-Lampard-Drogba spine. Skimmed over the official interview transcripts on the official site and I like what I read. Uncluttered, to-the-point, humble and impressive. I see we paid the 15m release clause, but not too bothered about it atm. Can't wait to get back home in a couple of weeks' time and go over all the frenzy before and after his arrival. Hopefully we'd have signed a playmaker and two wingers by then. Oh, and any news on Guus and that DoF thingy? Pre-season can't begin soon enough. I'm pumped! Are you pumped? I'm pumped! Are you pumped? (P.S Alex, the article on the new managerial appointment will be delivered as promised once I get back )

Page 300 of this thread : Tabloids - "Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is prepared to land his top target Brazilian sensation Neymar by making a bid of £75 million to head off interest from Real, Barcelona and Man City." Neymar - "I dream of Europe. But I dream of playing in Santos." Santos - "Neymar's release clause is £100 million and any club will have to activate it to get him." Neymar agent - "Only God will decide Neymar's future." TC users - "Fuck this shit." Henrique - "Neymar won't move until 2014 WC." zolayes - "Henriques is always right." Henrique - "Stop bitching!" :chelsea2:

Shit source. Villa is probably after a new deal, now that his future is under threat due to Barcelona's interest in Nilmar. Nothing beats 'linking' yourself to Chelsea and Citeh if you're looking for a new contract.