coolhead23

3 trophies at the max beyond it would be bonus but one of them has to be Club World Cup (Might take us some time to compete in it again). Top 4 nevertheless. Most importantly i really expect that we get into proper transition mode where our young guns gets more game time (not that we persist with the remaining deadwood to get results) and we try out different tactics and formations so that when the team gels completely it would be ease to execute them ... being far too optimistic on this ...

Torres wins the spirit with Mikel hands down, mate! The thing which were the positive about Torres from last season was that he was ready to backtrack (which he never did before) and he has not lost that pace which everyone thought he would. And anyways Mikel is far too lazy to even get into a spirit (yes he mite outrun the best in the world when it comes to renewing his contract , but that's a different story all together) It is interesting to see the players slotted into different age groups as created above and concerns on the 25-29 bracket could be more or less correct. However most these players were a part of the squad last season as well with only Luiz and Ramiers getting promoted into it and they really did a good job as far as FA and Champions leagues goes. And to win major competition it is important that there is a blend of youth and Experience which i believe is in there(balance of upto 25 and beyond 25). I mean to get better than this set of group in the 25-29 bracket would be a little difficult to find. I guess what is important for me how well do they gel as a unit would determine the success of our existing team...

For our youth players to excel at Chelsea other than talent would be the stability of our managers. Till the time we dont have a stable manager at the helm, the youths are bound to suffer. I believe the time when a manager seems beyond just results, the youth of that club surely gets a chance at the highest level. For us during the Roman's era we already have multiple managers and the first thing they want to do is impress the owner by winning something because if u dont then u r out. This mentality has to change, need for stability is a must. I understand before the Roman era our youth policies were not that good but now it is, the infrastructure is in place, we got some really good players coming from the ranks.... the Club should now be sensible and use the resources that we have on hand.

Further adding to the FFP thing, it is a tad long and technical but surely highlights a lot of things. For all those who have the patience .... http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/7/30/3204610/on-chelsea-fc-ffp-and-amortization-of-transfer-fees

I would love to have Hulk and a RB (mostly Azpi) which should more or else complete the team, if not Hulk then someone like him who can play upfront. With Drogba moving out we lack the physical presence upfront which we have used so very well in Drogba. I know having Hulk is a luxury and is way too expensive but i cant see anyone beyond the giant who can be a perfect RW, backup striker, experience, pacey and physical. KDB, Lukaku and Josh + plus a few deserving youth players have to go out on loan where play time is guaranteed (subjected to performance) so that there development is not stalled. Maluoda, Ferriara and Benayoun would have to go out as we need to restrict our foreign players to 17.

I m confused here ... how is a team on paper be overrated and the same team on the field is not. Are u contradicting urself? By what u started I sure u expect us to win 5 out 7 trophies/titles in which we are competing. I guess u need to hold your horses and relax, even if we win 2 of them it would be really good for us. And if these signings were done by United, i would have been very very worried 1. they are adding strength to their side, 2. They are getting potentials who could kick a** in the future because they get to gel and learn from the experience guys in the team. 3. These signings provides more options to the manager. But since these are Chelsea signing, guess they are nothing but overrated! Last season we didnt sign enough players to enter into transition, we were said that we lack ambitious. Now these season we have signed young Potential players (probably stars of the future which is subjected to performances), so now people say players are overrated. Guess as the wise men says, it is difficult to please everyone.

For all those who have missed it. Nice chat with Mikel and Lukaku. The video has interviews with first Mikel and then Lukaku (i m uploading it in both the players pages)

For all those who have missed it. Nice chat with Mikel and Lukaku. The video has interviews with first Mikel and then Lukaku (i m uploading it in both the players pages)

Have the men in black actually lost it? 27m bid? for someone who was valued no more than 15m max six months back. Plus we are already behind Oscar, Hulk, Schurrle and possibly Moses so why need one more. With 27m we could get a right back (which is the need of the hour) and Moses. Every other club now want to blackmail us more because of the Champions tag, time to play hard ball to be honest.

Is it an One plus one offer ... family discount needed!

I believe Cavani and Torres are very similar in their gameplay, clinical finishers. And if we have made up our minds to keep Torres & give him a chance of a lifetime to prove himself, then i dont think we need to get another striker plus we got Danny boy as well. Also with so many midfielders that we are linked to, i sure in case both our strikers are out .. we would do a Spain This season it is best to be away from Cavani, if the need arise we can get him for much cheaper next season (if he stays at Napoli).

Found an interesting read on our technical director and thought it was time that he gets some credit (atleast u need to give it after reading a review like this one). @Mods: Please merges this in case there is a Michael Emenalo thread already, i wasn't able to find one. Season In Review: Michael Emenalo Nerd. So after a bit of role-shuffling, we finally appointed Michael Emenalo to the full time post of Technical Director at the beginning of last season. The bulk of his duties involved being in-charge of the club's scouting program, including pursuing priority targets himself, along with a bit of academy structure management. So after a bit of role-shuffling, we finally appointed Michael Emenalo to the full time post of Technical Director at the beginning of last season. The bulk of his duties involved being in-charge of the club's scouting program, including pursuing priority targets himself, along with a bit of academy structure management. Now at the time of appointment, he wasn't really marked as one boasting ace credentials for the job, but a year on, I think the guy's done a fair bit adding his own flavour to the team's well underway personnel revolution. To be honest, there isn't a whole lot in the way of directlinks between Emenalo and all of our signings over the past season, but it'd be a pretty fair statement to say he's been quite involved and basically right in the mix with each & every capture. I mean, come on, restaurants just don't function without a head chef do they? As already noted, the first significant move of Emenalo's stint was the rapid redistribution of duties carried out within the scouting program, with the recruitment of Scott McLachlan from Fulham & Mick Doherty from Everton to boost the club's domestic & European departments respectively. The size of the department was trimmed while the best of the lot were put in the driving seats. Two prominent things I'd say Emenalo deserves credit for are cutting the impending transfer sagas of Lukaku & De Bruyne short. We'd been linked to both for a steady year prior to his appointment, and shortly after, a deal for Lukaku was swiftly concluded, while KDB followed suit a window later. While AVB was the mouthpiece of the paradigm shift that was our new youth-centered transfer policy, Emenalo for me is again the one who takes the marks for contributing from the core of it. Often for young talent across various leagues, a Young Player/Achiever/Etc of the Year award is the instant springboard to becoming the next big hot prospect [see Neymar, Hazard, Vrsaljko], so credit to Emenalo & his team for snapping up Thibaut Courtois before a rival shark could so much as bat an eyelid. Special mention to the capture of Patrick Bamford in a loosely similar circumstance. Courtois was an excellent catch to kick things off, and soon Ulises Davila & eventually Kenneth Omeruo followed. Emenalo also deserves plenty of credit for personally supervising the club's loan policy, even down to receiving training reports, ensuring just about all of our youngsters abroad have found suitable leagues & heaps of playing time to keep their developments on expected track. The loan moves of Kakuta to Bolton & PvA to Wigan weren't questionable choices to begin with, but then again, it was impossible to have seen coming the tangles the clubs got themselves mired in. The signing of Marko Marin was another excellent piece of business handled by Emenalo & his department of merry men. Urgent & on-the-quiet, it also carried a little illustration of exactly how advance planned an approach is being ushered in at the club, since non-window purchases for the senior team was something Chelsea were barely known for doing. The subsequent signing of Hazard was the crown jewel, but I wouldn't call that so much a novel Emenalo idea at all since we had strong interest from a far earlier stage. Looking at things back home, his role last year's seemed more of a monitoring capacity, with both assistant first team coach Steve Holland & reserve manager Dermot Drummy, along with youth team manager Adi Viveash reporting to him. We won the FA Youth Cup on the back of a series of tantalizing performances, so, eh, Michael, whatever you're doing, you doin' it right! Umm, in other news, the academy's building more houses and stuff. No, Emenalo will not pick the drapes. All in all, it's been a highly productive year in the staff back-quarters for Chelsea, everything kept nicely ticking by our new Technical Director, we've been continually linked to the best & the brightest, while our youth team & academy have gone from strength to strength, even boasting possibly the best assortment of U18 talent in the country. Things are only going to get more arduous for him, what with NextGen, the revamped Reserve League & the additional responsibilities EPPP will bring looming, but all contributions thus far considered, the man who the tabloids had cynically introduced as a kiddie-girl team chaperone [read coach] when he finally got the push for the top job has certainly shown he has the goods and know-how to not only keep up, but also become an important pillar in what are a tottering few initial steps toward a much needed policy progression & structural overhaul. Ah yes, having the owner's ear counts too. Having to stand beside bad breath Gourlay all the time does not. http://www.weaintgot...michael-emenalo

Seriously! If it was not for the oversea supporters, EPL would have never been this successful. Football is a global sport which is followed across the globe very passionately and probably the fans are more crazier & smarter than the fan having a season ticket. So just because your among the privileged one to get a season ticket and see the matches please dont underestimate the ones who are 5000 miles away, we would have done the same if we were there.

MY FIRST DAY: PART FIVE JOHN TERRY I was very nervous. I remember walking in and knowing the other guys having played on schoolboy forms with them already. We were delegated our duties for the year and mine were to clean three first-team dressing rooms at the training ground and I was on the kit as well for matchdays. I also had to clean three players' boots and I got Dennis Wise, Dave Lee and Eddie Newton. The first day's training wasn't much, a light jog and some tests. RYAN BERTRAND The first thing I remember was walking in here and meeting Jose Mourinho. It was a bit crazy and surreal, especially as I was only 15 years old. To go from being in awe of the players at Gillingham to coming here was unbelievable. Mourinho was fantastic to me as well, he welcomed me and treated me in exactly the same way as the first team regulars, he was a top man and that helped. ROSS TURNBULL I just remember meeting everybody, it was my first move as a player so it was quite a big deal and a completely new experience, plus I was moving down from Middlesbrough to London. John Terry was the first player I met; with him being the captain, he obviously explained that if there was anything I needed just to give him a call, but everybody was helpful and made me feel welcome which is always really nice. http://www.chelseafc...2792683,00.html I dont think the boot cleaning tradition is anymore there now with the new generation specially after the influx of money in modern day football. Those were the days when the juniors actually respected the seniors.

MY FIRST DAY: PART FOUR PETR CECH I arrived at Gatwick and was driven to the hotel at Chelsea Village. I was taken to Harlington, which I was amazed at, because I didn't expect it to be the way it was. I spoke briefly with Jose Mourinho and various members of the staff. Some of the players were away on international duty. I arrived, and then a few of the Portuguese boys like Paulo Ferreira arrived shortly after, there were also a lot of youth and reserve players around at the time. GARY CAHILL My first day was down here at Cobham. My abiding memory was having to go through a tunnel of players as they kicked and punched me; I think they call it the tunnel of beats, that was the first day. I remember going out to training and having a chat with all of the English boys who I knew before I joined. I thought it was just going to be a normal training session, and then they all told me I had to go through the tunnel, so that was a bit of a shock, but there wasn't much I could do about it. The tunnel of Beats! something new http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2792475,00.html

I dont think during AVB it had so much of momentum which is the case now specially after the Hazard signing. As much as i want Hulk to come to Chelsea i think 38m is too much for him and we should better move on rather than agree to the ridiculous price that Porto wants for him.

This has got the Modric saga written all over ... i hope we dont make the same mistake of dragging this way too long, Set a price and if they are not ready to sell, move on (because we cant do a Barca)

True! They have been coming up with some real decent stuff of late.

West Ham would be a good deal for Lukaku and i hope he get enough playtime to showcase his talent. I hope Lukaku reaches the same highs or even beyond like Struridge at Bolton on loan rather than the Josh at Swansea on loan.

Nice and interesting article which has been started on Chelseafc.com. Something which all of us can relate to "our first day" at work, school, college, etc. Enjoy! Part 1: Torres, Malouda http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2792558,00.html Part 2: Mata, Romeu, Hutchinson http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2792534,00.html I m sure there are more parts to follow .....

Nice Read http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/7/3/3133988/a-letter-from-roman-abramovich-to-daniel-levy

No, please! We are looking for footballers not sprinters!

Chelsea signs a deal with Delta Air Lines. Another piece of revenue generating deal being done. Impressive! Suddenly we want to sign everyone and vice versa ... Power of the Champions! http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2821603,00.html

Modric takes United's midfield to another level or for any good team for that matter, which is something we wouldnt want to see at this point of time. So either he stays at Spurs or goes to RM, i wouldnt be worried at all.

Well the others team aren't as stupid as us to buy someone for an inflated price (City was but looks like they are learning too quick). The rumor mills suggests that RM would table a 30M bid which i guess would be enough to scare off United (who are very smart in their dealings) and we are anyways too busy in tabling a ridiculous bid for Hulk. In my opinion after last season Modric saga (where we were the ones insulted) we shouldn't go for him at all rather let the player plead his club to come to us. If not then there are enough fishes in the sea.