Pizy

Hopefully we hear good news on the ban now to soften the blow. 😞

He's not at all what I was hoping and expecting when we signed him on loan. I thought he'd really have a point to prove and add a lot to the side. In reality he has been totally redundant. Not good enough at any one thing. Can't shoot, can't score, not a decisive passer, and his dribbling (which is his best attribute) and been wildly inconsistent. As with Higuain, I wouldn't bring him back. But the ban may force our hand.

Got better as it went on. Getting nothing from our right hand side. Both attacking and defending. Arse targeting that side.

Decent, controlled opening 10 minutes where they barely got a sniff of the ball and now we've just stopped playing and can't make two passes in a row. Absolutely zero shown from our attack thus far.

Their front 2 aside, that's a very mediocre looking Arse team. Thing is, our defense can be calamitous and seem to always get off to slow starts. I fear if we go down early we'll find it super difficult to get back in it. Hopefully the long layoff has worked to our benefit and we look refreshed rather than rusty. Not holding my breath, though.

Constant drama. Almost everyday something bad happens. At this point, Lamps may be the only manager we can get to take over this mess.

Arse players will be in desperation mode. They absolutely need to win this or their season will have been a massive disappointment. Also for summer recruiting. Our players already know they will have CL football and will be under much less pressure. Probably already thinking about their holidays. With our injuries on top of that I'll be very surprised if we win. It's nice as a fan knowing that this isn't a "must win or we'll be devastated for months" sort of match. It will be that for Arse fans. Their defense is as shite as ours is so it should be an open match. Maybe Hazard will give us one last mega performance and Giroud summons his top form in a final against his former club.

So by the end of this week we'll likely know 3 massive things: that Hazard is going, that Sarri is probably going, and whether or not we can sign any players this summer. Even by our standards this is looking like the craziest summer ever. And honestly, none of it is looking good. We're set to appoint a manager with literally zero top level managerial experience and we're going to ask him to take control of a squad that's already nowhere near good enough to challenge and not be able to add to it. And that's before those clubs that are already better than us improve further. Higuain and Giroud as our strikers for another whole season. Willian and Pedro starting every week again. Azpi as a RB all season again. White flag waved before kicking a ball.

Think about how demoralizing it'll be if Hazard announces he's leaving just after the final and we then find out that we'll take the ban and essentially give up on next season before it even starts. 😒 Would be made even worse if we lose the final to Arse and gift them a European trophy and CL football.

Sentiment has to be put aside. Chelsea needs a top manager with ample experience at the absolute top level. Someone astute enough to go toe to toe with the numerous world class managers in the PL. Would Lamps get everyone on his side and will his appointment be extremely popular? Yes. Is he ready for the flaming cauldron that is the Chelsea managers position? I don't think so. Especially if he gets no backing in the transfer window due to the ban. Imagine a first time PL manager with this squad. Washed up Higuain and Giroud as our strikers, no Hazard, RLC & CHO injured for the first several months of the season at least, Alonso and Azpi as our starting fullbacks. All the while City, Liverpool, United, Arse, and Spuds will have spent big improving their teams and have settled managers. Recipe for fucking calamitous disaster. Don't do this to Super Frank. Not fair to him.

Would be monumentally stupid to sack him before giving him a proper chance next season. And bringing in Lampard, who has manager for a grand total of 1 season in the Championship, to manage one of the world's biggest clubs is a recipe for disaster. Never managed in the PL, never had to manage against teams of this caliber, has to outsmart and compete with the likes of Pep, Poch, Klopp, etc with no experience having done so. It's just far too soon for this move. If he had been keeping a PL club midtable for a few seasons and playing nice football that's one thing. But he's been at it ONE season in a lower division. That's nowhere near enough of a resume.

Isn't he on something silly like £500k a week? Only one club in this country who would touch that or anything near that. And after they got burned badly by Sanchez I'm not sure even they would touch Bale.

Luka Jovic is a pure #9. Not sure what he would have to do with a pacy, skillful winger like Neres. Anyways, this kid is a massive talent and definitely has the same swagger and effortless ability to dribble defenders that Hazard has. Definitely the sort of player we should be looking at to replace him.

If we buy well enough and use a couple of loanees like Mount and Reece James we can easily weather a 2 window ban. Spuds didn't buy anyone last summer and are the the CL final.

It's simple. If we voluntarily start serving this ban right away as is being suggested as a possibility, we are going to have a disastrous season. We'll be lucky to finish 6th, we'll probably go out in the group stages of the CL, and Sarri will be lucky to make it to Christmas. There is absolutely no way we can enter and go through another PL season with Higuain and Giroud as our strikers, Kovacic and Barkley as our only two fit #8's, and no reinforcements elsewhere. And on top of that we'll be selling our best player. We thought the environment at games was toxic at times in the past few years, I think it'll be much worse if we roll over and essentially give up on the season before it even starts. We're already miles off where we want to be. If we can't sign players this summer we'll fall light years behind. The club has to go huge this summer in order to weather the ban afterwards. Do all we can to build a squad strong enough to not need transfers for a while.

Unreal. Why was this not done the instant our appeal was denied? This club is seriously run by amateurs. From signings, to scheduling, to respecting traveling fans, to dealing with the transfer ban. It's like they have no clue what they're doing.

Surely our board will be hard at work negotiating with clubs and players on the assumption that CAS will grant us the stay. They won't be sitting in their hands doing nothing. We just have to pray a decision is made swiftly before any players we're after go elsewhere. If we do have to wait months before knowing one way or the other, it'll be depressing as hell watching all our rivals signing big players and improving their teams. Hopefully things are in motion as we speak.

Literally couldn't make it up. Our two best young players who fans have been crying out to see for ages finally break through in the first team and within the span of a few weeks both have ruptured their Achilles' and will be out for many months. Quite possibly the worst injury a professional athlete can suffer. Absolutely gutted for both of them.

Fucking hell, man. Just woke up to this news. Next to Eden he's been our best player recently and could've been a huge difference maker in the final. He was finally getting over his niggling injuries and now this happens in a ridiculously timed friendly. This not only fucks up our chances at a European title but our potential summer transfer plans as well. More worrying is whether he's even the same player when he comes back if it is indeed a ruptured Achilles. For a player who relies on power and athleticism like Ruben does it could forever change him. 😩😩😩

Would be a massive mistake to appoint Lamps at this stage in his career. Maybe if he keeps doing well for another 3-5 years. Think he needs to make another step up and prove himself at the level just below us before he can take on one of the world's biggest clubs. As for sacking Sarri, I just cannot imagine it this summer. Starting over with new tactics and new personell again while everyone around us is stable and just getting better would be stupid. Give him a summer window and another at least half season.

As I said a couple days ago, I agree he's very good. I think if he goes to a club that actually plays him in his best position I think he'll return to the top class player he was at Liverpool. As long as Sarri is here the links to us don't make sense, however. If we played using a 4-2-3-1 he'd be ideal.

He seems like the biggest self absorbed cunt in world football,might there with his France teammate Pogba. Always has to make a big show about everything he does and says. I suppose Barca will have to sell a few. Suarez & Coutinho seem likely.

Horrific, really. A match winning, world class striker would've helped so much this season.

We need to go for all out pace and athleticism like Liverpool have done when we sell Eden. Pulisic, CHO, and then finally buy the player I've wanted for a couple of years now- Wilf Zaha. Just blitz and overwhelm everyone with relentless energy.

Even though I despise Real Madrid, I hope he does. Hazard is a genuinely good guy and I want to see him succeed there. And I think he will be a Ballon D'Or finalist soon enough.