EskWeston

I do like how Scolari deals with the media and how he comments on the sticky stories: 'I have a press office at Chelsea and I hold a press conference every week. I do interviews for Chelsea TV and say things for the Chelsea website and my own website. If it does not come from one of these places, it will not be true, and will not be what I think.' Can't make it much clearer than that. I am sure he is happy with is squad, it is an incredible squad. I just hope he can use the smaller squad to give particulary Sinclair and Di Santo chances to play first team football. But i feel come January he may want to add a player or 2 still.

Felipe Scolari has spoken publicly for the first time since the closing of the transfer window at midnight on Monday. The Chelsea manager is spending part of the international break at Uefa headquarters in Switzerland, attending the annual Elite Club Coaches Forum, and it was from there he reacted to the absence of new signings during the past week and media stories that followed. 'This is not a problem for me,' Scolari said on the subject of continuing forward with the squad that began the domestic season. 'I have many great players and I am very happy with my team. I am receiving new players from injuries as Drogba will be back soon. Mikel recovers well. Ballack and Essien played with injuries but both are getting better. 'They are an example of the fantastic characters I have in my squad.' Concentrating his thoughts on one-time transfer target Robinho, Scolari said: 'I don't think the people around Robinho were serious about him coming to Chelsea. 'They were more interested in the best business deal. But what I've said before about Robinho I say again now. He's a very good player. I only wish him the best. 'I have seen the newspapers and that they say I am unhappy or angry with the club. These statements are not true at all,' he declared. 'I have not said this and I do not think this. I am very happy with this situation. 'I talk to only a few people about my team, all inside the club. Other people have been quoted in newspapers saying they know what I think or feel, but they do not know. Only my close team knows. Scolari dismissed the idea of 'sources' able to reveal his thoughts. 'I have a press office at Chelsea and I hold a press conference every week. I do interviews for Chelsea TV and say things for the Chelsea website and my own website. If it does not come from one of these places, it will not be true, and will not be what I think.' The Elite Club Coaches Forum is in its 10th year and has a history of Chelsea attendance. Chaired by Uefa technical director Andy Roxburgh, the coaches are given the opportunity to air views on current trends and issues affecting the highest echelons of European club football. The aim is to stimulate thought on the development of the game, away from the pressure of competition. In past years the meetings have produced various recommendations which Uefa has taken on board. Joining Scolari in Nyon this year are two former Chelsea managers, José Mourinho and Claudio Ranieri, plus further Barclays Premier League representation in Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger. Laurent Blanc of Bordeaux and Luciano Spalletti from Roma, soon to pit their wits against Scolari in the Champions League, are also on the guest list, as are Mirko Slomka and Thomas Schaaf, the managers of Schalke and Werder Bremen respectively when we played the German clubs recently. Gérard Houllier, Gordan Strachan, Dick Advocaat (Zenit St. Petersburg), Manuel Pelligrini (Villarreal), Jesualdo Ferreira (Porto), Manolo Jiménez (Sevilla) and Eric Gerets (Marseille) are also in a 23-man party. The summit ends tomorrow (Friday). Source: Chelsea FC

Well Man City thought he was worth the Extra €3m. We was willing to pay £30m but not £32.5..... if that is honestly the case then we have been a bit silly if you ask me. But is it true? Would we have got him if we had only increased our bid by €3m - i doubt we will know for sure. No-one from the club is going to talk about this in the press

Thats a good point actually. Do FIFA have any say on Olympics teams? Are they not getting involved with the whole Great Britain team thing? They must have some input.... If this ban is upheld then it will seriously halt the lads development, which will be a big shame for him and for us.

Blimey! Is it a complete ban from football or just from International football? That is quite a severe punishment....

So this report is saying that we offered €37m, which was turned down. Madrid would let him go for €40m, but we wouldn't pay that because we didn't feel he is worth that! Now i find that very hard to believe. Whilst i can understand if there was a huge different in valuation between us and Madrid - say €10m. But to not add €3m euros to the price and miss out on the player semms a bit silly.

This game has taken a whole new dimention on board now, not just because of City's money but because of the Robinho deal. City will want to prove how big they are now and beat us and we will want to show Robinho what he is missing. A good thumping would be absolutely marvelous.

Yes, Paim came on for the reserves on Monday in the 60th minute. Set up our second goal, which you can see on the highlights here: http://www.talkchelsea.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2539 He looks to have good ability and judging by his past potential he could be a real find for us providing we can bring out his ability and get him playing the Chelsea way. But having just signed him on loan and him only playing 30 mins in the reserves the club have no idea how he is going to turn out yet so there is no way he would be included in the CL squad. Besides he wouldn't count for any of the "home grown" categories so there isn't a space for him anyway.

Lol, another joke of a club!!! Remember when they signed Tevez and Mascherano how they thought their club was going to be massive!!! Can't stand Curbishly though..

It would be a tossup between the Arsenal going under from lack of CL revenue and Liverpool trying to find a way back in because of their eeeeeestory that would make my day

Their fans expect to much from them and then complain and protest when things don't go their way, this in itself heaps pressure on the manager and the board. But like i said, Newcastle FC in general is a bloody Joke....

Top 4 is what counts because of the CL spaces, of course it makes things VERY interesting if there is more clubs who can realistically land those spaces. The CL revenue is counted on by most clubs.

That maybe what they are worth, but they would surely have an idea as to how much each is willing to put in? Some more than others ect..

The fans can take their shame of the blame for the state of their club if you ask me....

He is getting slated from many sides at the moment, and you can see why. But he had no option in reality, he forced himself into a corner and was then left with only city as an option. Not sure if that is because we wouldn't raise our offer or if Madrid wouldn't deal with us though.

I agree, to make things more competitive is always good. We know what it feels like to be handed a massive windfall like that and i am sure the city fans are over the moon!!! I don't think their targets are very realistic though which could cause them problems but it will be interesting to see what happens at city. And i hope we stuff them in the next game

Cutting our wage bill down is certainly a massive help for us going forward. We cleared out a lot of players this summer which means we are making a profit on transfers this summer and also cutting back on wages. If we can seriously start using our academy and producing the talent then we will be in a very healthy situation.

Did the Gooners report us over the Cole affair? The Man you/Berbatov thing really does stink. Man you broke the rules by discussing terms and even having a medical before being given permission to do so. Just because they later got that permission doesn't make it right.

The thing is this season for them is, would we be saying that if they didn't sign Robinho? They have looked fragile and not quite right so far. Will just Robinho on his own make THAT big of a difference to them?

Not just those games, but the lack of depth upfront we have now. Letting SWP go and Sheva go without replacements. Effectively we have Di Santo and Sinclair as replacements. Which in itself is a good thing, but factor into that Malouda's apparent lack of effort and Drogba's injuries it does leave us light.

I would certainly love to see it. Especially Stoch, i think he is worth a few run outs this season for sure.

I would think that unless we suffer a major injury crisis then none of them are likely to see the bench in the CL!

Of course there is similarity. They have seemingly landed themselves in a situation where there can afford any player they want! That is what happened to us when Roman took over. We will see what happens with them, the new owner seems to like talking big thats for sure - but can they produce the players and the results? Of course there are differences, mainly City not being in the CL, plus we already had big names come to our club before Roman, which made us an attraction. But they are talking about players like Villa, Gomez and now even Ronaldo for the next window. Will these players go without CL football? I doubt it, Robinho as has been said was a completely different kettle of fish.

Actually just doing the maths, Sinclair will be available as a club trained player when we submit the updated list on 1st Feb for the latter stages of the competition.

Yes of course. Both lists contribute to the squad. You can have as many players as you like in list B as long as they meet the requirements - basically if they are 21 or under and been with the club for 2 years solid (going on loan interrupts that period)