EskWeston

Thank god this is over with. Amazing it got to court. What is worrying though is the number of people willing to accept something and argue that when they clearly have no idea of the facts. Too many people seem to believe it is a FACT that JT used those words to abuse AF, but still got off. No he got off because there is not a soul in the world who heard JT abuse AF with those words, and no-one to counter JT's version of events. Now we wait for the FA to bow to pressure as usual and probably give JT a ban.....

This game cannot come soon enough. Will be a pretty mixed team for this first game with mainly the players who have been involved since the beginning of pre season. A few youngsters will likely be involved, Piazon is confirmed as going and it looks like George Saville will also go along with some others.

Youngsters Tomas Kalas and Patrick van Aanholt have today completed their loan deals returning them to Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem for the duration of the 2012/13 campaign. Both players were temporarily with the Eredivisie side last term. Czech Under 21 international Kalas 19, made 29 league appearances over the course of the season, while Dutchman Van Aanholt, 21, scored once in nine games having also spent time with Wigan Athletic during late 2011. Before departing for Holland, Kalas also signed a contract extension with Chelsea committing him to the club until the summer of 2017. Source: Chelsea FC

Youngsters Tomas Kalas and Patrick van Aanholt have today completed their loan deals returning them to Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem for the duration of the 2012/13 campaign. Both players were temporarily with the Eredivisie side last term. Czech Under 21 international Kalas 19, made 29 league appearances over the course of the season, while Dutchman Van Aanholt, 21, scored once in nine games having also spent time with Wigan Athletic during late 2011. Before departing for Holland, Kalas also signed a contract extension with Chelsea committing him to the club until the summer of 2017. Source: Chelsea FC

Below is the U21's fixtures, results and highlights for the season 2012/2013. Also below is the goalscorers for the season: July 2012: Saturday 14th July 2012: v Northwood FC (A)(F) Draw 0 - 0 Sunday 22nd July 2012 v 1860 Munich (A)(F) Lost 2 - 3 Saturday 28th July 2012: v Northampton Town (A)(F) Won 2 - 0 August 2012: Saturday 4th August 2012: v St Albans (A)(F) Won 3 - 0 Saturday 11th August 2012: v Kingstonian (A)(F) Won 1 - 0 Highlights: http://bit.ly/N8g7sc Tuesday 14th August 2012: v Dundalk (A)(F) Won 1 - 0 Friday 17th August 2012: v Manchester City (H) Draw 0 - 0 Highlights: http://bit.ly/PurF7g September 2012: Saturday 1st September 2012: v Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) Won 5 - 0 Highlights: http://bit.ly/UlzDRd Friday 7th September 2012: v Charlton Athletic (H)(F) Lost 2 - 3 Highlights: http://bit.ly/SBUyT6 Friday 14th September 2012: v Liverpool (H) Lost 1 - 4 Highlights: http://bit.ly/Uzhpgc Monday 24th September 2012: v Crystal Palace (A) Draw 2 - 2 Highlights: http://bit.ly/QOm3mS Friday 28th September 2012: v Middlesbrough (H) Lost 1 - 3 Highlights: http://bit.ly/POJu0i October 2012: Friday 5th October 2012: v Fulham (A) Lost 1 - 3 Highlights: http://bit.ly/WkDJLk Monday 22nd October 2012: v Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) Lost 2 - 3 Highlights: http://bitly.com/S1du8D November 2012: Sunday 4th November 2012: v Manchester City (A) Won 3 - 2 Highlights: http://bit.ly/TZhJoS Monday 12th November 2012: v Crystal Palace (H) Won 4 - 1 Highlights: http://bit.ly/QAh12t Sunday 18th November 2012: v Liverpool (A) Draw 3 - 3 Highlights: http://bit.ly/YaDd5b Monday 26th November 2012: v Fulham (H) Won 3 - 0 Highlights: http://bit.ly/SvuhnE December 2012: Monday 3rd December 2012: v Middlesbrough (A) Won 3 - 2 Highlights: http://bit.ly/10O8M61 January 2013: Monday 7th January 2013: v Millwall (H)(F) Won 6 - 0 Highlights: http://bit.ly/Ujarvp Thursday 10th January 2013: v Fulham (H) Won 2 - 0 Highlights: http://bit.ly/TUTFE2 Friday 25th January 2013: v Middlesbrough (H) Won 3 - 2 Highlights: http://bit.ly/Y5wq8d February 2013: Monday 11th February 2013: v Blackburn Rovers (A) Lost 2 - 1 Highlights: http://bit.ly/XcrBxf March 2013: Friday 1st March 2013: v Fulham (A) Lost 1 - 0 Highlights http://bit.ly/ZqKv2g Sunday 10th March 2013: v Everton (H) Lost 1 - 0 Highlights: http://bit.ly/11ILsFa Monday 18th March 2013: v Middlesbrough (A) Lost 2 - 0 Highlights: http://bit.ly/177GfsQ April 2013: Thursday 4th April 2013: v Aston Villa (H) Lost 1 - 2 Monday 8th April 2013: v Sunderland (A) Won 1- 0 Highlights: http://bit.ly/12rPaEB Monday 15th April 2013: v Aston Villa (A) Draw 1 - 1 Highlights: http://bit.ly/ZvcaD1 Thursday 25th April 2013: v Everton (A) 7:00pm Monday 29th April 2013: v Blackburn Rovers (H) 1:00pm May 2013: Top Scorers: Islam Feruz = 7 Lewis Baker = 6 Patrick Bamford = 4 (2) Jeremie Boga = 3 Lucas Piazon = 2 George Saville = 2 (1) Billy Clifford = 2 (3) Connor Hunte = 2 Marko Marin = 2 Adam Coommbes = 1 (4) Nathan Ake = 1 (1) Todd Kane = 1 (1) Aziz Deen-Conteh = 1 Alex Davey = 1 Milan Lalkovic = 1 Alex Kiwomya = 0 (2) Ben Gordon = 0 (1) Adam Nditi = 0 (1) John Swift = 0 (1) *Goals in brackets indicates goals scored in friendly games Key: A = Game Played away from Home H = Game Played at Home F = Friendly Game Games Played = 21 Appearances: J.Blackman = 18, L.Baker = 16, G.Saville = 14, B.Clifford = 13, A.Davey = 12(4), N.Ake = 12(1), T.Kane = 12, A.Deen-Conteh = 11(2), I.Feruz = 10(1), P.Bamford = 10, A.Nditi = 9(3), M.Lalkovic = 9, A.Christensen = 8(2), R.Loftus-Cheek = 7(1), T.Musonda = 7(1), L.Musonda = 5(5), D.Pappoe = 5(3), D.Conroy = 5(1), L.Piazon = 5, J.Boga = 4(6), J.Swift = 4(4), C.Clifford = 4(1), R.Ince = 4(1), F.Dabo = 4(2), A.Kiwomya = 4, , I.Ssewankambo = 4, C.Hunte = 3(1), M.Marin = 3, M.Beeney = 2, S.Bangura = 1(3), A.Coombes = 1(2), A.Gnahore = 1(1), N.Chalobah = 1, S.Walker = 1, J.Terry = 1, K.Wright = 1, R.Mitchell = 0(4), J.Starkey = 0(3), T.Hazard = 0(1), J.Ashton = 0(1), I.Seremba = 0(1) *Figures in brackets indicates substitute appearances

This time of the year is always the time when the fates of young players are decided. Scholarships are signed, pro contracts are signed, players go on loan and some lucky players make the step up to the first team. The latter is what I want to focus on now. These are players which are normally older players who have served their time in the reserves and even probably on loan. It also includes some players brought in for the first team whose futures may lie elsewhere for this season. So let’s take a look at these players on the fringes of the first team: Romelu Lukaku Lukaku joined the club on the back of a lot of expectation. Dubbed the new Didier Drogba and being a Chelsea fan it was hoped he would show his ability and make us see we had the replacement for Drogba ready to step into his boots. That view was tinged though with the belief, particularly from manager Villas-Boas, that the club would have liked to have waited another year or so before signing him but circumstances forced our hand. As it were Lukaku made 4 starts for Chelsea in the 2011/12 season with 4 substitute appearances. He spent most of him playing time last season in the reserves with 9 appearances and 7 goals, a decent record but a standard of football lower than what he needed to progress. So what is the fate of Lukaku for the coming season? All through the summer there have been rumours of him going on loan for the 2012/13 season and specifically to a team in the Premier League. A number of clubs have been linked with him, the most recent being Premier League returnees West Ham United. That being said at Chelsea with Didier Drogba leaving it leaves us with Torres, Sturridge and Lukaku for the centre forward berth, whilst Lukaku would be 3rd choice here from the clubs point of view we would need him even if it does mean limited playing time for him. Of course there is still time for more players to come in, should for example Hulk join it would be another player able to player centre forward and may allow Lukaku the chance to get Premiership football elsewhere for this season. Kevin De Bruyne Similar to Lukaku De Bruyne is a player signed with his immediate Chelsea future unclear. It was the intention of boss Villas-Boas to allow De Bruyne to spend the coming season on loan. With the departure of Villas-Boas that plan has been put on review it would seem. Di Matteo has decided to take De Bruyne with him on the pre season tour of America and allow him to show what he is able to do. De Bruyne, even though a young player, has a lot of first team games under his belt having played 107 games for former club Genk including 11 games in European football. Being an attacking player who can operate on the wings or behind the striker there is certainly a spot for him if he can convince RDM that he is worth keeping around for the coming season. Although a loan would not be out of the question and he has been linked with Southampton already. Ryan Bertrand Having spent 143 games on loan at various clubs Bertrand finally had his breakthrough year at Chelsea in the 2011/12 season. The view now that he will definitely be understudy to Ashley Cole going forward and will be expected to make more appearances than the 14 he accumulated during the last season which included a start in the Champions League final where he had a very good game. There should be enough confidence in Bertrand now to be able to share more games with Ashley Cole who should be used more sparingly going forward. Sam Hutchinson Having made a truly remarkable return from retirement last season he managed to feature in 2 first team games and 10 reserve games. His physical level is still very unclear, and what he will be able to do going forward. Due to the nature of his injuries it is unlikely he will be loaned out to another club as the club will want to manage him. But can he make more appearance in the coming season? Being used mainly as a right back when used in the first team there is a place there that he can take advantage of but that all depends on what he can physically manage. Gael Kakuta This is really a make or break summer for Kakuta at Chelsea. He has made it clear that he will either stay with Chelsea this season or move on to another club permanently, there will not be another loan. A player with huge ability and promise but who has struggled with various injuries and wasted loan spells. Kakuta spent last season on loan at Dijon and put in some good performances making 14 appearances with 5 goals and 2 assists. At the age of 21 and with a good loan spell behind him it could be time for Kakuta to make his mark. Again with the 3 attacking midfield spots behind the striker very much up for grabs Kakuta could find himself getting those chances easier than before. As with every young player it is going to take the manager to trust him to make the step up. Pre season will be very important for Kakuta. Patrick Van Aanholt Another player who has made some first team appearances but indifferent loan spells. For Van Aanholt the road to the first team of Chelsea has been made harder by Bertrand’s emergence last season. After a disappointing loan spell at Wigan Van Aanholt then moved back to Holland to link up with our unofficial partners Vitesse. Whilst not earning rave reviews he made 10 appearances and it looks very likely that he will be joining back up with Vitesse and teammate Tomas Kalas for the coming season. Josh McEachran Last season McEachran made his first loan move away from Chelsea, he spent the second half of the season on loan at Swansea, linking up with former reserve team manager Brendan Rodgers, however this link up was not as beneficial as first thought, McEachran ended up only making 5 appearances for Swansea, the same he managed for Chelsea in the first half of the season. So what happens to McEachran this season? The advent of the U21’s league may encourage Chelsea to keep him at the club and play him in this league as the idea is to be the best U21 players competing against each other and make some first team appearances along the way. The alternative of course is another loan. There has been a lot of talk in recent days of McEachran being loaned to Wigan as part of a deal to bring Victor Moses to Stamford Bridge. I would imagine in the case of McEachran a loan is more likely, I just pray he gets the games he needs. Ulises Davilla Signed last summer from Guadalajara in Mexico Davilla immediate moved to Vitesse where he spent the season acclimatising to Europe. He only made 3 appearances for the Vitesse first team but played more games for their reserve side. He has recently stated that he will be joining Chelsea for Pre Season and going on the tour of America. The club may want to bring him to England and use him in the U21’s league this season, however, obtaining a work permit is an issue. If the club are unable to get a work permit then he will most certainly go on loan and Spain has been mentioned as a possible place for him to go. Lucas Piazon Lucas Piazon could be a first team wild card for the coming season. Having joined up with Chelsea last season he had a very impressive first season in the U18’s and reserves and really stood out as a player who can go far. At the end of the season he caught the eye of Di Matteo and spent a lot of time with the first team and even made the first team bench. If he can earn a spot on the US tour and impress there could be chances for him during the season as he plays in the U21’s league. He has said before that the club do not intend to loan him out. So who will bridge the divide to the first team this season? Only time will tell but this is a talented group of players and there are many more talented players looking to push behind them. Click here to view the article

Youngsters do not have to be playing first team every week to make it at Chelsea. With keepers we keep 3 on board for the first team. Sam Walker has enough quality to be our back up keeper. Courtois is clearly at a much higher level and Blackman is a quality keeper too but Walker has a lot of talent.

Another season is about to get going at Chelsea FC and as always changes are afoot. None more so than in the building that houses Chelsea’s academy. Due to passing of the Elite Player Performance Plan there are some potentially exciting things about to happen. For too long there has been a problem with players who leave the U18’s team and then move into the reserve squad and the development slows or stops. The gap between reserve team football and youth team football has been way too big and the loan system is very flakey, too few cases see players use it to develop into a player who can make their way into the first team. Can the new changes make a difference? Starting with the U18’s league competition the changes that have been made at this level is that it is now exclusively an U18’s competition, previously clubs were allowed to include up to three U19’s players. This is the same rules as the FA Youth Cup. Also the teams in the leagues have also been shaken up, all clubs academies are being split into four categories and we will play against teams in our own category. So assuming we are classed as a class one then we will play against all other class one teams, which looks like the U18’s will be a national league also. The idea being that it will be the best players playing against the best on a weekly basis, which will clearly be of benefit to the development of the players. Nothing has been detailed yet but this certainly looks like it will be the way the U18’s will be set up. Games for the U18’s will continue to be played at Cobham. The next step up the ladder is a new area for Chelsea, this is the NextGen series tournament. Essentially it is a Champions League for youth football. This time it is for U19’s only. Last season was its first in existence and this season looks to be bigger and better. It kicks off in August and Chelsea have been drawn in a group with CSKA Moscow, Molde and last season’s NextGen runner up Ajax. This will certainly be an engaging competition and will be good to see how Chelsea as an academy square up against the best in Europe. It is another challenge and it is pushing the talents of our young players so it is a very exciting prospect. Hopefully Chelsea will be able to make their way to the latter stages and bring us some great entertainment. It has also been confirmed that games will be televised, last season ESPN had a number of games but the TV schedules for this season are yet to be announced. The games for the NextGen series will be played at the same place as the FA Youth Cup which will be played at Staines Town as the early games of the Youth Cup were last season. Lastly and most importantly we are seeing an end to reserve team football. And it is not a disappointment, it has been obvious that this level of football needs a major overhaul. If the changes that have been made are enough or not only time will tell. For this season we have a U21’s league, similar to the new U18’s format it will be a national league playing against the teams in the same academy bracket as ourselves. Making this league truly competitive is going to the biggest challenge. There is no idea as to how many games this league will create, but there needs to be more than there has been before, it needs to be a game a week, but we will see if that is the case. If this league can encourage clubs to use it to develop their players rather than send them on loan then it will certainly help the competition aspect of things. But again that is an unknown. We also don’t know yet if these new leagues will involve relegation and promotion, again it would be another aspect that would generate competition. The U21’s league games will be played at Brentford’s Griffin Park which it would seem Chelsea have invested in to ensure the pitch stays in good condition. There is a requirement that two games in the season must be played at Stamford bridge, Chelsea have also confirmed that there will 10 games played at Griffin Park plus what they call the odd game at Cobham so it would seem that there will be at least 15 teams in the league. These are all potentially very exciting changes for the way we see our young players develop at Chelsea, one thing is for sure we have some massively talented players but we are unable to develop those through to the first team. Will these changes help? We will have to wait and find out. The NextGen series is very exciting to see Chelsea compete in and I hope we see the positive changes in the U18’s and U21’s league too. One thing is for sure and that is as always it will be an exciting season at Chelsea’s academy. Two leagues and two cups to compete in, can we bring more silverware to the Academy cabinet? Pre Season cannot come soon enough. Click here to view the article

You have to play the youngsters to allow them to develop into the squad. Even a player who was brought in as a first team player like Romelu Lukaku doesn't get given minutes. Oriol Romeu, despite some excellent performances didn't get the number of games he should. Even Ryan Bertrand should have got many more appearances than he did, the only reason he has been talked about so much is because on the CL Final appearance, over the season he was massively under utilised. It is far easier for a manager to use the "experience" argument. At first team level we DO block the development of young players. The crappy reserve set up did not help things at all but we are very poor at giving youngsters a chance. Players who have shown real promise when given a first team chance have very quickly been put aside and never seen again: Borini, Stoch, PVA, McEachran all players that have not looked out of place when given their chance in the first team but have been quickly put aside again.

Don't see why Modric would be a target for us now. Seems a little pointless to spend money, especially that sort of money when we are fine for central midfielders.

Only time will tell on that one i am afraid. The NextGen series should be great, but it is the older players that are of more concern so the U21's. IF it is a large enough league to allow for a game a week, and IF all the team experiment rather than use loans then it will be very good. Also will there be relegations and promotions to promote competition? All the best U21's competing week in week out will be a very useful platform to first team football. Like i said, time will tell. I hope it will be a huge improvement.

So many circumstances at play to have denied oppertunities. For me the biggest obstacle has been the poor quality of football for over 18's. Loans only work rarely and reserves is poor, so many players between the ages of 18 and 20 lose their way and end up leaving having not fulfilled their potential. A stable manager may have helped, but not by much.

I can't see us being after Modric now, we don't need him and it has all gone very quiet on our involvement. Rightly so, we have our irons in other fires.

So much needs to change to help us bring through players better, it is going to be interesting to see how the new U21's development league works. Could be key to aiding in the gap. Having Ryan Betrand around is a big plus and he needs to get plenty of games next season. Kakuta will either be sold or stay with the club and will need plenty of minutes on the first team pitch. Appearances here and there for the few standout players Piazon ect.. Like i say so much is going to depend on the new U21's league, will decide if we send some players out on loan or keep for these games.

£3M would only be if he goes on to make a certain number of first team appearances / international appearances. The actual fee would be minimal, this is going to happen a lot more now with the new rules brought into place. Small fees upfront and larger fees depending on development for under 17 year olds not on pro contracts.

Hulk is obviously our main target, we do need another big name wide forward to add to our squad and Hulk seems to be the only player we are after to fill that. I am sure everyone is confident of the signing going through, it is just a case of the 2 clubs bartering on the price, neither wanting to let their poker face slip. Eventually this deal will happen.

I think it is safe to assume that RDM will be employing the same formation that he did last season: RB.............CB..................CB..................LB ..................CM.................CM...................... RW.......................AM.............................LW .............................CF.................................. The attacking midfield position will be taken up by Mata, Hazard or DeBruyne. The CM positions we have Mikel, Lampard, Ramires, Romeu, Meireles, Essien so i think we are pretty well covered there.

Disagree, wingers has been our weakest link for years and i am glad we are addressing that. You could argue that Mata would be played behind the forward so not a winger and the same with KDB. And as far as strikers go, we have Torres, Sturridge has (aparently) been promised to be played down the the middle and we have Lukaku, what more do we want? I like the idea of a fluid 3 behind the main striker swapping positions Hazard, Mata and Hulk would be awesome as that 3. No very little about Schurrle, but a player who can operate as a winger or a striker would be a very useful addition to the squad. I would think that we are looking to add 2 more players to the forward line, Hulk being the main player we need and another squad player with potential which would be why we are after Schurrle/Moses.

I think it was perfectly sensible by the club to give RDM a 2 year deal. Yes he won the FA Cup and CL, but there is a hell of a lot to do in the PL and RDM still has to prove he can compete over a season. If he has a good season this season and shows he can handle it again then i am sure he will be offered a new job at the end of the season. Again i think this is a very sensible approach by the club.

Courtois will spend at least next season on loan again, and maybe another after that. To have a young keeper playing every week in the Spanish league and playing in Europe and even winning the Europa league is something you just cannot replicate and we would be crazy to take him away from that environment until we are ready for him to seriously challenge Cech. Blackman is a very good goalkeeper, but the problem with him is the same with pretty much all our youngsters, how do we help him progress out of the first team. He has been with the first team squad all the time lately which means that he has not even been playing reserves football, youth cup has been his only game time. What do we do with him next season? Loan? It is hard to get a good loan for keepers. At the moment we have no way of given our youngsters the sort of exposure Courtois has had up till now, but Blackman can be a quality keeper.

Brilliant to have won the Youth Cup again!!!! Last nights game was not a classic at all, we were a little nervous not really knowing to play with a 4 - 0 lead and Blackburn made a number of changes and put out a team to disrupt and bully our boys. Didn't make for a great game, but the most important thing is that we have lifted the cup having had a great cup run with some brilliant games and good football played.

Well that depends on a LOT of things, firstly the gap between youth team and first team. Look at what it has done to even Josh McEachran, the most talented player we have had in our academy for many many years and his development has stalled. And the most crucial is we need a manager willing to bring them through and give them minutes. We can't know how these players will do unless we play them, look at how well Tore is doing in Germany, didn't get anywhere NEAR the first team..

Best thing to do. Would only create bad feeling on the day. No need for it anyway. Pointless display.

For me i can only pick either Jose or DiMatteo, no other choice. Why get rid of a man who is doing a great job with the squad, excellent man manager and clearly very tactically astute unless you are going to bring in the best.

Ramires against Barcelona, no question. Not only was it an amazing finish of pure quality. But to have attempted that shot at THAT moment in THAT game was just outrageous, it was just perfect. It is nice to see long range corkers but that Ramires goal was about as much skill and bottle as you could ever hope for...