nullabletype

I think the difference is that we can all see what's good or bad with tactics, play etc. It's out there for all to see. We have enough information to actually generate a meaningful discussion. When it comes to the likes of contracts and so on, not all the relevant information is disclosed. All the information we have is based on paper speculation and hearsay. Talking about tactics and play is something that directly effects the game, where as how much a player earns is virtually meaningless. It's even more so meaningless when you consider most of the conversation is worrying about the state of the clubs finances. The club is unlikely to make financially unsound decisions (you don't make the money Roman has by doing as such) , especially as we approach FFP. So for people to quibble over Cahill's wage is largely pointless as the clubs financier's, the people who have all the information, have deemed it acceptable. It's not that people begrudge talk about finance, it's the type of talk. Saying a player shouldn't play because he's clearly out of form makes sense as we can see that for ourselves. Saying Gary Cahill shouldn't get 80K a week is pointless since we have no idea about the state of the clubs finances. And the worst bit about it all is the people slandering Cahill, saying he's not worth his wage, not good enough etc before he's even pulled on a Chelsea shirt. The reason this is the worst part is because if he turns up, plays well and becomes a great player for us, as sure as a hoop's round the same people who rubbished him before he even stepped on the pitch as a Chelsea player will be verbally patting him on the back and proclaiming he's a great player and all the rest of it. I could be wrong, but I suspect there will be a few people who posted in this thread who will end up eating crow.

You're such a gent. Edit: Perhaps I picked you up wrong, but if that is the case , the least you could do would be to point it out without resorting to name calling. But for what's worth, your negativity is incredibly boring.

You compared Torres to Sheva but said Sheva was better because... Zolayes then defended Torres saying he does these things also, but as usual you insist in talking some negative garbage. 1) Try hard - Tick 2) Some good passes - Tick 3) Some assists - Tick 4) Couple of goals - Tick Whilst he's not banging them in left, right and centre, it's clear for most to see he is trying hard. As for passes and assists, well he has 11 assists, more than any other player in the squad, we've also seen him cut open the defence with quite a few of his passes. Couple of goals? well he's got more than a couple and is on his way to more. Your shtick is boring.

Then I guess we continue to agree to disagree.

You know how many goals Lukaku has scored for our first team? Zip. Now that's not entirely his fault, he doesn't really get on so his window of opportunity is short. That being said, now is not the time to start peddling the youth. We're looking a bit precarious, and inexperienced youth players aren't going to save our necks. The Josh McEachran attitude seems to be spilling over to Lukaku. Any time he's played he hasn't looked particularly bright (as far as I can remember), yet people are incensed when we don't get Lukaku on to change the game and score bags of goals. There is no scenario at present short of an injury crisis where Lukaku should be brought in in front of any of our forwards. He's 18 years old, he wasn't bought for immediate impact.

Of course they analyse, but how much analysis do you think they get to squeeze in the short period of time between when interest is shown in that manager to when he's appointed? Plus, every coach has a different way of working, it would be unwise of AVB to look at the squads form from the previous season and instantly rubbish them, particularly since he plays a different style to that of his predecessor. He has to work with them himself before he can make these sort of decisions. As for his job security, have you ever heard a Chelsea manager so sure of his position? I remember when Carlo was asked he just moved along or tried to sweep the question under the rug. AVB is incredibly sure he's sticking around, an opinion I don't think he would so openly express if he wasn't 100% certain.

It would be great to have overhauled the entire squad in the summer but it was unrealistic. Remember, AVB came in to this squad probably not having paid much attention to our last few seasons. He needed to decided who was surplus to requirement for himself. That meant spending time with the team, he couldn't just go out and start spending. Also, lets not forget he's been told he will not be shown the door and has time to build, so there was no mad rush on an overhaul, it also gave the players we already had time to prove themselves under AVBs philosophy. As for the type of players you've listed, AVB has basically ticked all those boxes so far. With Cahill's arrival imminent, that leaves the one playmaker slot you hoped for empty. I'd say that's pretty good all things considered.

So let me get this straight. We haven't been linked to any other players (we have), this bothers you. You're then pointed in the only direction you can look for links, the media. But that isn't good enough? What exactly do you want? I agree with what you say about the media being untrustworthy with their information linking players to clubs, but that's all you've got to go on I'm afraid. Mata, Romeu, Lukaku, Meireles. That isn't a bad haul.

He didn't buy players in the summer? Huh?

Good game so far. We've looked brighter than we have in a long time. Torres still with no luck. Somebody give that man a rabbit's foot.

A fair point to make. The difference though, is that you've seen Kalou play in a Chelsea shirt and have come to a fair conclusion. Wait until Cahill has been here for a while, then cast judgement. Maybe as you say, he is average at Bolton. But giving him the benefit of the doubt, and assuming he's better than that, how much of his potential could he really show at an average, or even below average (this season) team? Because there is nothing we can do about it. It is what it is. Also, it's all relative. 80K a week, if that's how much he is actually on, may seem a lot, but it's not if you can afford it... and we can.

But the wage bill is already on the decline, so if the club have decided they can afford to pay Cahill the alleged 80K a week then there is no problem here. The thing is, you do need the books in front of you. None of us know the exact contracts the players are on, the ins and outs, bonuses etc. Without this information all we can do is speculate. Speculation is fine, but people on here act as if they know what needs done and what needs changing, which you couldn't possibly without all the relevant information. Amen!

If you're reasoning was based on the financial state of the club then I'd point to my post above. You say it's not, it's about the comparison of wages between players, which seems even weirder to me. Of what concern is that to you? In fact, lets bring it back a step. None of the players on the team are worth 50K a week, because no athlete is. So if you're disappointed with the alleged wage that Cahill is going to receive, why not take umbrage with all the players wages? More so, why don't we wait until he's actually pulled on a blue shirt and put in a few performances before we start judging whether he's worth his wages or not.

Maybe I'm crazy, but you would think... you would indeed think, that a business man, a multi billionaire no less, such as Mr. Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea F.C. would have an experienced finance department who have all the money issues under control. I dare say it's pretty much sown up. So again, why does he/you care? If the club has made the informed decision based on all the financial information they have at hand, that they can afford to pay Gary Cahill 80K a week, then I think we can trust the deal is okay. I'll never understand why when it comes to money issues within the club, why some fans all of a sudden think they're the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sorry if myself and many other posters don't take hyperbolic financial posts seriously. It's just, you know, none of you guys have the balance books sitting in front of you. So you couldn't possibly be in a position to make accurate posts about how much we can afford to spend on/pay players. Based on?

You must be stressed out keeping on top of the clubs finances... oh wait, why do you care?

It makes sense that two of the most widely supported teams around the world would end up having more fans in any particular field (in this cause journalism). I'm not bothered by the fact that there is a large number of MUFC or Liverpool fans in the media, I'm bothered by the fact that objectivity is seldom one of their traits. I can understand it's frustrating when your team don't win etc but as a person being paid to write on something like sport, you can't, or rather shouldn't, be able to get away with publishing a subjective one sided piece. It amazes me that editors don't read over these things and tell them to write the work again.

Did he say this in the press conference today? I missed it. Edit: I did see a clip where he said he didn't feel like the negotiations were taking any longer than usual.

"Miles apart" is a quote out of context, Andre said this at the very beginning. Who knows how far along things have come? There's a myriad of reasons why this could be delayed. It's the presumption that Cahill's greed is the issue that gets on my wick. For all we know he could be happy with the money and he just wants to make sure he's going to be a regular. Also, we know what this club are like for transfers, why does everybody presume we're busting a gut to get this done and it's Cahill holding it up? There's two sides to this story. One, a football club who drags out nearly every transfer it's involved in. Two, a player who has not been proven to be greedy, egotistical etc. If I had to decide on who I think is holding this up (and I don't nor does anybody else so I don't know why they do) I'd be inclined to think it was us since we have a history of doing so. However, I just think this is taking as long as it has to.

Could you both please point me in the direction of the concrete evidence that says Gary Cahill is A) Greedy, and B )Dragging this out? All this speculation, and it is nothing more on your part, comes from Newspaper articles. Articles that are inconsistent in individual papers from day to day, never mind inconsistent as a whole. We nor they know how much discussion has went on between the two parties. One day we see an article saying Gary wants 90K plus, the next we see an article saying he's happy to settle on 50K. Now if the papers want to make up uncorroborated guff in order to win clicks and sell sheets then that's up to them. But how about people on here reserve their judgement until he's either signed, and we know the details of the contract or he doesn't and we see what he's turned down. People can post about how much of a mug Cahill is to turn down this contract and that opportunity. But really, the only mugs here are the ones calling him greedy based on unfounded claims. *shakes head* Transfer madness.

I don't think anybody really doubts him yet, other than the dreamers of course. A certain sample of people on here have this idea that the young players (particularly Josh McEachran) could come in to our team and magically turn our game/season around, which I'm sure most would agree is bordering on the ridiculous. Just look at the match threads; we go down and all of a sudden people are calling for McEachran and Lukaku as if they are proven game winners, which they are not. Of course it would be great to get them some game time, but these are players in their late teens to very early 20's. They clearly have talent and will probably one day soon be great players, but they still have plenty of time to develop and there is absolutely no need to rush them. I don't follow the reserve team really. But often seems to me (and somebody in the know can correct me if I'm wrong) that they have very inconsistent results. I know the players in question have more experience than your average reserves player, but they still don't have a great deal, and have plenty to learn. I see nothing wrong with having them train with the first team and using them sparingly as they continue to grow. Arsenal aside as they have been using younger players for a while. Are MUFC not using so much youth at the moment due to injuries in the squad?

I love all the comments in here slating Cahill over his greed and disrespect for Chelsea. I've said it before and I'll say it again. 1) We don't know what is being said between his agent and the club. So keep believing all the the papers (which have a different tale to tell every day) you're only giving them more excuses to write largely embellished stories by contributing toward clicks on their websites. And at the end of the day, you're only annoying yourself, by getting angry over spurious news. 2) We came looking for Gary Cahill. So even if he is asking for more money he's well within his rights to do so. Stop talking like it should be his dream to play here just because it is yours.

For people looking good quality future streams, get in while you can... Posted again as not many people are viewing the streams thread right now.

Live Online Footy now taking sign ups. HQ and HD streams for all the games. £6 for 60 days. Just signed up myself and the quality is unreal. Well worth the money.

I can agree with that.

So, 8-0 Barcelona-esque play or bust?