Blue Armour

Called it. Poch is waiting for the easiest fixture. He'll probably get minutes in the Sheffield game.

It likely all about improvement metrics to the clubs new directors. First take the team to such a sorry state, and then show how much the team has 'improved' in the following seasons.

And he's also only 19 years old. Yes, the cornerstone of any great PL side. Lmao.

We won't know for sure until Lavia returns, because he's the only real DM in the squad

That's the problem - the deadwood may have all had to go. But all at once? I just hate how impulsive the new ownership is They're so eager to tear things up so quickly. I know there are cases where you need to rip the bandaid off, but was there really such a need for haste in Chelsea's case? It was a top 3 team, and not one with ageing pensioners. IMO, after losing Jorgino, they should have tried to retain at least one of Kovacic or Kante for midfield experience. There is just too much pressure on the likes of Enzo and Caicedo to deliver. To think that they were ready to ship Gallagher too (average he may be). That's just how much they are prepared to gamble.

Unfortunately, experience counts for little according to the new management. They just saw $$ signs in savings and transfer fees and shipped out half the squad. Fans were also thrilled because we shipped out 'trash'. Did the trash screw up last season? Did it have anything to do with chopping and changing managers and putting in mediocre managers in place? Hell no. And NOW apparently the manager, and Poch, is the problem

Don't think we'll see Nkunku in this game either. Poch is waiting for the weakest fixture possible to introduce him.

Hard to imagine it's been only two years.. Feels like a lifetime ago. But hey...according to Eghbali, the club wasn't doing enough from a sporting perspective. So here we are.

"“We thought Chelsea [was] frankly an asset, a business that was not terribly well managed on the football side, sporting side or promotional side" ~ Behdad Eghbali Sheer arrogance. I always go back to this quote when the team is in the mud these days. Eat humble pie.

That's just not true. Avg age of Newcastle squad - 26.9 ( 3rd oldest squad in the league) Avge age of Chelsea squad - 23.8 (youngest in the PL) Source: https://www.transfermarkt.us/premier-league/altersschnitt/wettbewerb/GB1 We have the youngest PL squad, and one of the cheapest, and the bozos in charge have fooled our fans into thinking the team are some sort of world beaters. Absolute farce.

Now the 22 odd trophies are a memory and we have a bunch of 22 yr-old's filling up the squad.

No I don't want Poch to leave Because these clowns in the admin are going to bring in another Lampard or Potter as coach To everyone who was was whooping in joy at how we mass cleared out half our squad, leaving us with near 0 experience in central midfield. Great. This is exactly what we have. A reduced wage bill, and near 0 game management experience. This is why we are struggling and will continue to struggle for the rest of the season. Some good matches and performances here and there, but also accompanied by a series of terrible results. Perfectly fine for midtable. But not enough for Europe.

Poch probably looking at the easiest fixtures for Nkunku to make his debut. Doubt we'll seem him against Everton on Sunday.,either

Might as well played another 45. They are going overboard with these extended injury time periods. Also how petulant are these Brighton players? Bird shit attitude. Because of these sore losers and their manager, they're one of my most hated teams in the league.

But should it be shocking., though? I'll admit that both James and Silva being major culprits in this game was super disappointing. But at the same time, I dont think any of us should be too astonished or be too negative about this game. With the young, largely inexperienced squad that we assembled at the start of this season., it was always going to be a case of ups and downs. Some nice performances in between., and some equally embarrassing ones. 8th is the min target for this squad, with Europa league or higher being the moonshot. Hopefully with a returning Nkunku., it becomes more likely than a moonshot. Right now the performances are perfectly resulting in midtable position, so not too far from the target, with nearly all the tough games out of the way for the first half of the season. A lot of people have used Arsenal as a metric for this side. I personally don't like it, but if you were to use that as a metric, Arteta and Arsenal slowly worked up a side that couldn't finish in Europe's conference league spots, and turned it into a top 4 side.

I guess Nkunku will be in the matchday squad for this one.

That's the thing that grates me. So inconsistent between these incompetent refs Whether it's kicking the ball away, or walking up to the ref to discuss an incident, they're so quick to issue a yellow card without even giving the player a verbal warning. And for what? How do these transgressions impact the play? James kicked the ball about 5 feet away from where it was. That's it. All these new 'rules' are just opportunities for the refs to act like pretentious douchebags.

Not really related to lineup alone. We started playing better opposition in the last 3 games with Spurs, City and Newcastle. Our lack of defensive organization is being more exposed. Especially in setpieces.

I only hope that this was the expectation from the board going into the season. I.e. that a 1 billion spend on largely unproven players and moving out experienced squad members, was a calculated move with the understanding that there might be a short term hit to the teams on field performances. All the noise coming from the players camp, such as Enzo, indicate as such. i.e. the players were told its a long term project. But whether this actually meant spending time out of top 6 and outside Europe, is another matter. If they actually had high expectations after this ludicrous spending, then I would really fear for the club under this admin. That's what would put us in trouble with FFP. Not the allegations about past transactions under Roman.

Yep, it's par for the course. The way we broke down after 2-1 was a bit hilarious, but that's the kind of side we are atm. The side that was assembled at the start of the season. With little experience and game management skills. We are good to watch when on song, but this side can easily fall apart. This won't be the last embarrassing match this season. That's a guarantee. The sooner the fans accept this., the less heartache there will be. 8th is still the target for this season. And maybe a push for Europa if Nkunku returns fully fit and on form.

Is this you just being pessimistic right now or is that locomotive really made of metal?

Well we have Gusto. Didn't have James when we beat them 1-0 in the cup competition

No. Gallagher is still under the scanner for me. I've praised him for his last month of games. But today he reverted back to type. He was one of the worst performers to begin with today. Need a captain that actually sets an example.

Oh fuck off. Really immature from James. Screwing us up for the next game too. Poor leadership from the two players that were supposed to lead from the back. James. Silva.

The club is definitely going to be punished. But not to the extent that most people think they are going to be. Certainly not for these allegations from the Roman era.