EskWeston

Still very uncertain about what is happening with Nouble. Was not part of the reserves set up that took on Crawley, but has still been around the training ground with the rest of the players.

Hope he does well. When i first saw Nielson i saw a lot of potential for him to be a good striker for us. He never really kicked on from there and could never really find himself at Chelsea. That coupled with the fact of us bringing through some top attacking talent (Borini, Nouble, Mitrovic, Prosenik) showed that it was time for him to move on.

That will be frustrating for Ballack for sure. Lets hope we don't pick up any more injuries while we are on tour...

Well for a start Frank Arnesen only scouts the players he doesn't train them! Secondly it was reported recently that Sergio Tejera has signed a new contract with CFC. So it seems we have another Frank Nouble situation here.. No idea what happened with Tejera last season, he has looked an excellant prospect...

Chelsea full-back Ryan Bertrand is relishing life at Reading, having arrived on a season-long deal. The 19-year-old, Brendan Rodgers first signing as Reading manager, featured in the Royals' 2-1 defeat at Kettering. Bertrand told BBC Berkshire he is enjoying being with the club: "With the style and philosophy of Brendan, pre-season is a joy - you don't dread it. "It's a chance to play with some of the best players in the Championship, so I'm really looking forward to it." Bertrand feels the hard work they are putting in ahead of the start of the Championship season will stand them in good stead. "As you get older you realise pre-season is important for you as an individual," he added. "There's nothing better than coming up against an opponent and knowing you're fitter than him and he's never going to run you out of the game. You have the mental battle won already." Source: BBC

Well if the game against Seattle was anything to go by then we should let him go. He gets in some great positions, but his legs have completely gone, he was struggling to cover 10 yards with the ball and had no edge over any defender. Unless Chelsea believe that can be worked on then he has no future with us....

His passing in the Seattle game was sublime! I wouldn't play him in that position in the premier league because it just wouldn't work at all. But his passing and through balls were just top drawer.

With Drogba, Anelka, Sturridge and Di Santo i can't see us needing a player like Huntelaar, even though i think he would be a decent signing.

Is our interest real? Who knows, but it would be good to pick up one of these talented Brazilian youngsters before they come to Europe. £21m is a lot of money, but the people who are watching him will know if this is value for money or not. Like badboy said had we paid that for Pato it would be looking like a good investment now!

Going to be a very interesting game thats for sure for many reasons. Will be good to have the African lads back in the team, should give us some very interesting options. Also will be good to see Zhirkov for the first time.....

Was very pleased with this game. First half was great stuff by us. Solid back 4, midfield did very well. And i must say i was impresses with Deco actually, his passing was sublime. I would never play him in the holding role in the premier league but he put in a very good performance. Sturridge and Anelka linked up very well and Sturridge did himself the world of good with that goal. Second half i didn't think we was as fluid. Partly because the set up just didn't work properly, Sheva, Pizarro, Di Santo and Sinclair all playing didn't work too well. Di Santo must be one of the most unluckiest strikers ever! Pizarro looked as clumsy as every and Sheva could have got overtaken by a snail Hutchinson did well at left back, couple of times got caught out positionally but overall did fine! Just what we would have hoped from the first game really. Good to see Sturridge and Di Santo showing what they offer us!

As expected Carlo wants to take a good look at his squad that he has! It is a very big squad and considering we have not let anyone go yet i am sure there will still be some movement.

Very good debut from Sturridge. Not just the goal but his performance in general. Hope he can continue this form into the rest of pre season as well.

The Club have agreed terms with Chelsea to sign England under 21 international left back Ryan Bertrand on a season-long loan. Chelsea have given permission for Bertrand, 19, to play in our pre-season fixture at Kettering this weekend, and all subsequent paperwork will be finalised next week. He trained with his new teammates on Friday morning, and will wear the squad number 24. The Southwark-born defender is Brendan Rodgers' first signing as Reading manager, and the two are familiar with each other, having worked together at Stamford Bridge. Ryan has already played 88(+3) games in his career, having lined up for Norwich, Bournemouth and Oldham on loan. He joined Chelsea from Gillingham in 2005. Source: Reading FC

Just up until the build up. They are hoping it will be enough to entice the people without CTV to get it!

Lol Yup thats right, Jose would make exceptionally bold moves to try and win a game and wasn't afraid to do that, more often than not it worked also! Guus did also but to a lesser extent. But with both it was all about the right tactic for the right situation and teams, the Barca games under Jose and Guus are classic examples of this. From what i understand Ancelotti has that ability also, so we will see.

Has over a hundred league games under his belt now! He should have been given the chance. If he does move i hope it is to a big enough club to give him the exposure he needs. Regarding Zhirkov, admitedly i havn't seen hardly anything of him. But from what i can gather he is a tricky skillfull player, even dubbed the Russian Ronaldinho, seems a bit of a waste to play someone like that at left back? But then i guess we will see.

Considering what has happened around the other clubs this summer i think we have a very very good chance this season. I still think there are a couple more signings on the horizon for us this summer though.

Ancelotti comes across as someone who is more than capable of adapting tactics to suit situations. Even though i think the 4-3-3 suits us the most i would also very much like to see us play with 2 proper strikers...

Yes it is still possible, i am sure Inter are not the only team interested in signing Deco and Carvalho. Although it has been very very quiet this summer on talk of players leaving.

I think (and hope) we may end up with Aguero. Although i also feel we have a list we are working down, trying to get our top target first and then so on. I think we are going Pato, Ribery, Villa, Aguero...... Of course we could up with none of them...

Kick off at 8 CTV programme starts at 7!

Yesh! He was interviewed on CTV last night, said that he has been looking at Miroslav for a while now and jumped at the oppertunity to take him on loan. Said the relationship between Twente and Chelsea is working well. Raijkovic seems to be doing well there as well....

Ryan Bertrand and Jack Cork both benefitted from their respective loan spells. And had we had a regular manager for the last few years would have been given their chance this season. Stoch needs to play serious football at a high level for a full season.

Carlo had said the formation and way we play will be dictated by the players we have. I am sure that it will be some variation of a 4-3-3, the players are used to that style and are very comfortable with it. Being able to switch to a 4-4-2 or something else when needed is the key element though, we need to be able to change to the conditions of the game.