Madmax

I did, just too many ifs and coulds for my liking. No disrespect, I just don't think he'd be such a vital loss were he to move.

And all of this hinges on Lukaku sticking around?

The fuck, man ... why would you post a year old link? I thought there was something new to get excited about

That fee would be fantastic business for a raw player who may or may not graduate from good to great, especially when you consider his contract situation is up in the air. Didier coming in pretty much sealed his fate and although I can't say I'm overjoyed with the triumvirate this leaves us with up front, if Mourinho thinks Lukaku is not the answer ... Lukaku is not the answer. Selling to a domestic club might hurt us in the two games but could also deliver a payoff in those involving our direct rivals so it's not that bad.

Find out if he owns a stud horse and decapitate it?

Yes, a heart defect ... hilarious.

HAHAHA!

Don't know how reliable transfermarkt is in these matters but it lists Raiola. http://www.transfermarkt.com/romelu-lukaku/profil/spieler/96341

I agree stability is imperative for this reality to change and I said so above; I've been saying it since a while now. It's nice to see Mourinho saying the things he's been saying over the last couple of days but forgive me for being a little circumspect till the words get translated into action for nobody knows what'll happen at the end of the season.

Give this a read mate, it explains things nicely : http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2013/11/13/5098996/chelsea-fc-vitesse-arnhem-relationship P.S. Warning - it's rather long.

Blackman doesn't look like he's good enough but Hilario and Turnbull were? I don't understand why we kept Hilario around last season instead of Jamal. He can't be that bad?! Paulo made a grand total of 16 appearances in his last two seasons at the club, only half of those in the league. What exactly did he bring to the table that Kane couldn't? He didn't need to have a roster spot to be a good influence around the dressing room. And to reiterate, I'm not talking about prominent roles, just to 'fill in' for a handful of games a season when they're required to come in and do a job. It's a question of will at the end of the day.

People do know what they want; they're not asking to thrust Bamford, Chalobah or <take your pick here> into the spine of the team, what they're asking for is a talented, homegrown player that they can identify with to at least be a part of the squad. It's frustrating when we'd rather spend £18m on Yuri Zhirkov to play 50 games for us than trust someone that came through our ranks to do that job. It's also frustrating when Paulo Ferreira and Hilario hang around till they're 35 while Todd Kane and Jamal Blackman cool their heels in the reserves or at Blackburn. You may not win anything with youth when they're all you have but you won't go far wrong when you're using them to supplement established, 'finished article' types like Lampard and Terry. Somewhat akin to the little decorations at the tip of the brances on a christmas tree, not the stem itself. But like James said above, it's only possible when we trust a manager to handle and shape the team to his ideas over an extended period of time.

If anything it's Vitesse against its feeder club

Literally ROFL'd

2 pages talking about a player's hair ... the last time we did this was when Torres changed his hair and scored a goal or two and everyone was saying he's back. The omens are bad.

I rate Lambert; he's getting on a little but he'd improve nearly every PL side imo. Maybe he'll be found wanting if Sturridge is unavailable for long periods but over a smaller timeframe I'm sure he'be solid. Markovic can be used as a wing forward iirc (maybe they think he'd be similar to Sanchez who they failed to sign) but he's an unknown quantity in these parts so there's some attached risk to that, undoubtedly. You're right though that if they plan on playing 2 at the front they'd need another signing.

Where did I imply he would 'lead' their strike force? He'd be a plan C if there's no Sturridge or Lambert.

They could play Markovic up top.

Force of habit? :eyebrows:

Individual highlights vs Olimpija http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV9FAL257g4 Longer video than one one posted earlier, shows more of his touches and movement.

^Maybe he just forgot to mention Baker. Like LDN said, remains to be seen what 'first team' means. Aside from the experience of being around top players and Mourinho, I'm not sure what good it'll do Christensen to be 5th 3rd choice CB here. I'd have thought Chalobah, who's further along in his development, would've had a better shot at being a squad option, especially considering his versatility and Mourinho's praise of him last season.

Very happy with that. Good workout for everyone and solid performances from all bar Izzy and Albatross. Fabregas was the pick of the bunch for me and Ake also impressed. Could have easily ended up with a much bigger scoreline.

This should be 1-5 right now.

Imagine having these officials assigned to oversee a crucial CL game.

This guy costs £18.5m on our books yearly, would you believe.