EskWeston

Well according to him he has already agreed to join a "Big Club"...... but he won't say who until after the Euros. It could well be us, but who knows at the moment. It could well be us, with stories today that Deco has agreed to join us too, we may have been using Scolari's influence to get these players tied down before the Euros finish and everyone else can have a crack at them.

Quaresma is a right sided winger i am sure? And there is no way that Quaresma is going to get picked ahead of Ronaldo for the national side. And all these roumers about Scolari not rating Quaresma seem to come from the fact that he hasn't been playing.

How many teams use actual defensive midfielders? We don't need to spend so much time worrying about stopping other teams players, unless they are a specific threat. Against the majority of the Premier League - why bother? Like i said in most cases you would use Lampard OR Ballack with Essien OR Mikel - and they would work like a pair would in a 4-4-2. Lampard and Ballack are not creative attacking midfielders, they are central midfielders who can score a lot of goals.

I don't think a specific Defensive mid is really needed. Obviously in that formation, especially against the bigger teams it would be better to play Lampard or Ballack with Essien or Mikel, with Essien or Mikel not getting forward as much rather than holding.

Lol, not my formation!! From the sun...... The positions Ballack and Lampard are in are their natural CM positions, they are not holding or sitting deep. They get box to box, it just happens that in this formation there is a creative midfielder ahead of them. It is the same as if we were playing a 4-4-2 and Lampard and Ballack are the 2 central midfielders working together to get forward and back. Same thing, but slightly different.

Worth more than a look!! Scolari is just the man to get him back to his best. At the cut down price he is available for now, there is no reason why we shouldn't just go for it.

Lol, Fergie must be cacking himself right now.... I can't but help get very excited by all of these transfer stories. Ronaldinho, Robinho, Eto'o, Villa, Kaka ect... would be incredible to see any of them playing in Chelsea blue next season. And lets face it Ronaldinho, Robinho, Eto'o and Villa are very very realistic targets. I also really like the look of the potential formation of Scolari in the 4-2-3-1

Lol, Deco's age goes up every day. 29, 30 and 31 all in the space of a few day Lampard, Ballack, Essien and Mikel are all capable of playing those 2 midfield roles and doing the legwork, and Lampard and Ballack would work together like that i am sure, neither are essentially "attacking" midfielders. They are all rounders who can score s**t loads of goals..

I think Lamps and Ballack are Steely enough? Don't you? We are more than capable of coping without someone constantly sitting in the midfield anchor role... We have a world class defence and keeper, it's not as if they need THAT much protection.

Ronaldinho's brother and agent has hinted that the Barcelona forward could link up with Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea. On Wednesday, Chelsea announced that Scolari, currently in charge of Portugal, will succeed former boss Avram Grant at Stamford Bridge after Euro 2008 on 1st July. Speculation has already snowballed over which players the former Brazil manager might sign in a bid to rectify the club's failure to land silverware last term. And Ronaldinho has emerged as the latest name to be linked with a switch after his brother and agent, Roberto de Assis, failed to rule out a transfer. The two-time Fifa World Player of the Year is expected to depart Camp Nou this summer, with Manchester City recently granted permission to open talks with the 28-year-old. But a move to Chelsea could prove more desirable for Ronaldinho after he worked under Scolari during Brazil's route to 2002 World Cup glory. "At the moment Ronaldinho is taking a complete break at home in Porte Alegre," De Assis told The Sun. "There are options for next season and obviously he knows Scolari very well and they have enjoyed great success together. "We'll see what happens but my brother will be ready for next season." Source: Sky Sports

A lot of interesting speculation in the papers today. Most of the papers seem to think Scolari favours a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the sun speculationg that our line up after transfers this season could be: ..................................Eto'o................................... ....Ronaldinho..............Deco.......................Villa...... ................Lampard..................Ballack................... A.Cole............Terry..............Carvalho.......Bosingwa ..................................Cech................................... Not too shabby really? There also seems to be a reccuring theme of Scolari wanting to make sure Lampard stays, which was thrown into some doubt when the constant Deco stories were comming out, but looking at the type of formation we could play it is easy to see how they can all work. The more you read about Scolari the more you get excited about the prospect of him managing our team, he seems like the perfect man for the job at this time and lets hope he can bring everything that it looks like he can bring.

Well if we are looking for the perfect player then we may as well give up now! He is quick, likes to run at defenders and causes problems. That will do for me......

Well isn't that interesting! Maybe Scolari taking over has made his mind up...... Lets hope it is us..

I still feel he was rushed. In his first season he is making first team appearances, then season after various loan spells, followed by more loan spells. Has never really had the time to settle that most young players get.

Seems like a reasonable bloke

The main thing he needs to do first and foremost is to improve our attacking game. We couldn't be more solid in defence, we must have about 30 defenders on our books and half of them are right backs But we need to be stronger in attack and have a bit of flair........ That is where i think all our summer signes will come from and it is needed.

Well the one thing you can say about Scolari is that he is not a "yes man" so everyone knows where they stand from the outset. Without any record in European club football it is a bit difficult to know what to expect, but the man can do the job no doubt.

The problem we have with Young South American players is Work Permits....... it seriously hinders us in snapping up these young players.

NEC Nijmegen have agreed a deal to sign Ben Sahar from Chelsea. The 18-year-old striker is currently in Holland speaking with NEC officials and holding further talks with coach Mario Been. The Israeli international finished last season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday have previously spent most of the campaign with Queens Park Rangers. Chelsea are now ready to let him join NEC on a season-long loan. "The contacts have come through a well-known network, Frank Arnesen is technical director at Chelsea and the talks have been natural," technical director Carlos Aalbers told De Gelderlander. Aalbers is now hopeful a deal can be concluded. "We will examine the financial deal with Chelsea in the coming days," he continued. "How large is our chance [of signing him], I dare not say at this moment." Source: Sky Sports

Looks very nice indeed.....

Roll on the 1st July when the man is officially put in place. There is no doubt Transfer targets have been discussed and moves are being made as we speak. He will not have much of the squad to work with for most of the pre season which is a big dissapointment, but there should be a week before the first game with the full squad and then the work for him will really start. It will certainly be interesting to see who will leave now, i am sure it will not have changed too much from what everyone has been thinking for a while.

If Maka stays he will only play a handful of games now i would have though, and still be very effective. I thought Deco was only just 30? Still his age means again that he wouldn't play on a regular basis and to rotate him with Kaka would be an outstanding option for us. Kaka would be about as big of a signing that we could possibly make. The chances of it happening though are slim.

Your right it does look like Clarke is going to be staying..... I think everyone can see that our squad needs a mini overhaul. We have a exceptional group of players that will stay for sure, the likes of JT, A.Cole, Lampard, Ballack, Cech ect.. but there is plenty of scope still for Scolari to bring in a number of quality players to make his mark and to make us better.

He has got a temper on him, but crucially not with his own players. He is seen as a father figure by the players and someone to inspire them, and to take the pressures on himself, in the same way that Jose did. No signing would be smooth, but with Ronaldinho as an example, if Scolari fancies him and thinks he can bring him back to his best then there is every chance he will come, he looks like leaving Barca anyway. Players like Kaka are a different story - the club want them to stay and i am sure Kaka is happy there. Formation and transfers are going to be the most interesting things to look forward to with Scolari......how will the new Chelsea look come the start of the season?

Depends on what formation we play really, 4-3-3 we will need 6 central midfielders to cover the 3 positions, with Sidwell a dead cert to leave and Maka getting a bit old now it leaves us with 4 players: Lampard, Ballack, Essien and Mikel - So there is room for Kaka +1 granted the quality of our back up players will be exceptionally high to the point where you won't keep everyone happy - but it is possible. With the Deco roumer too we could be looking at a midfield like this: .............................Essien/Mikel.................................. ..........Lampard/Ballack................................................ .................................................Kaka/Deco................ Besides, Kaka is one of only a few players that if you can sign you do and then you fit them in somehow..