Zola kinda blue

just for laughs, have a look back at the first few pages of this topic, back in 2008. I came across this, oh those were the days! Luiz Felipe Scolari has been presented with a list of targets by Chelsea that features Fernando Torres, Robinho and Franck Ribéry. The Brazilian, who will take over as manager at Stamford Bridge next month, will be given an unlimited transfer budget by Roman Abramovich, the club’s owner, and has proposed signing Kaká and Deco. Chelsea, with a well-drilled defence and outstanding central midfield players such as Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, will focus on recruiting wide players and strikers this summer, a policy that fits with Abramovich’s desire for more attacking football — although he is aware that José Mourinho, the new Inter Milan coach, has made Lampard his No 1 target. Many of the stars on Chelsea’s horizon may prove beyond their reach as they play for rivals with no need to sell, but Abramovich is confident that the sheer weight of money will convince some of them to cash in. Torres is a case in point, with Liverpool adamant that they will not sell a striker who scored 33 goals in his first season with the club, but Chelsea hope to exploit divisions between Anfield’s warring owners, George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks. Chelsea have been told that one of the Americans is willing to let Torres go for the right price and are planning to test Liverpool’s resolve with a bid. Kaká falls into the same category because AC Milan have stated that the Brazil forward is not for sale at any price, but Chelsea are hoping to use Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko as pawns to push the transfer through. Chelsea have rejected bids from Milan for both strikers and they hope that Scolari’s relationship with a player he took to his first World Cup finals at the age of 20, in 2002, will convince him to leave the San Siro. Bayern Munich are similarly reluctant to sell Ribéry, but Robinho and Deco should be far easier to acquire from Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. Scolari has wasted no time in assembling his backroom staff and is planning to bring two of his Portugal colleagues, Flávio Teixeira and Darlan Schneider, to Stamford Bridge. Teixeira has worked as Scolari’s assistant since the Brazilian took his first job, at Centro Sportivo Alagoano, in 1982 and is regarded as his eyes and ears, while Schneider, the nephew of Scolari’s wife, Olga, was recruited as a fitness coach when he took the job as Portugal coach in 2003. Scolari has gone out of his way to praise his squad’s sharpness at Euro 2008, which he attributes to Schneider. Chelsea hope that Steve Clarke will remain at the club as a second assistant, in a similar set-up to that under Mourinho, while they also want to retain Christophe Lollichon as goalkeeping coach. Scolari’s appointment has been welcomed by Chelsea’s players, but not by Sir Alex Ferguson. The Manchester United manager has privately expressed anger that the Brazilian has been advising Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal forward, to leave Old Trafford for Real. The Times

MARCOS ALONSO boltons player of the season 2013! MARCOS ALONSO After so long in the periphery of the squad battling against injury, this has been a break-out season for the former Real Madrid starlet. Alonso has grown in stature and become a consistent performer at full-back chipping in with some important goals too. yep he was terrible alright as they climbed out of regulation places

the take over wont happen for months yet and they need players NOW, which means they need money NOW

sky now reporting he is not for sale https://twitter.com/SkyKaveh/status/758610884667248640?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

Who honestly believes Sky Sources, they give air time to Gully Ballbag FFS!

Some idiots actually done a welcome to chelsea youtube for him! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuEsQUiAvY

Cahill was 26 when he signed and wasnt an England regular, and he was considered slow even back then

fark read that as 27 mill there for a second!!

These cheap players didnt turn out so bad 12m Zouma, 7m Cahill, 7m Cesar, 8m Remy, 9.5m IvanAs we have seen with Salah and Cudders and many others (torres anyone?) price tag does not always equate with success All have medals, more so than City's Mangala 40m, then theres our "failures" like Salah, Cudders and Schurrie against Man City failures lvaro Negredo £20,600,000 Stevan Jovetic £25,800,000 Wilfried Bony £28,000,000 (still there but not done much so far)

Its just like history repeating itself with Jose's third season in charge signing the likes of Steve Sidwell and now we are linked with Danny Rose. WTF???

If Chelsea really wanted Pedro or any other player, we would try hard to get them. But remember, this isnt FIFA, for a player to come to chelsea, we check how suitable he would be not just on the pitch, but in the dressing room, how likely they are to settle in London and the UK, their personal life, ie not a big night clubber or scandal maker, and of course the 2 big Jose requirements. 1/ their work rate on the pitch and willingness to chip in defensively 2/ their adaptability to other roles\positions even Hazard has to accept and indeed has accepted these conditions and that is why Jose is so successful, he demands more than flashiness and pure attacking play. So there are many factors to a transfer, not just playing ability and yes we do get it wrong sometimes, ie Salah, or a player purchased before Jose came in , ie KDB So for us to get a player is no simple matter, all the conditions must be right and right for Chelsea

lol yourself, who's to say he wont play in this best position? certainly not you!

Just because he has "barely played there" does not mean we couldnt or wouldnt. Plenty of times players have been played out of position, and he offers versality all across the line . Ramires, Zouma, even Oscar and Hazard have been played "out of position" He is a natual goal scorer and thats the key, plus he would be able to rotate in his best postion when injurys, suspensions hit, so I am not sorry to say I agree! At the start of June, Mourinho distanced the Blues from a move for Griezmann stating the Frenchman was "not within our objectives to strengthen the squad for next season" but maybe the Portuguese has since reconsidered his options as this is one transfer rumour that just won't go away. The Special One would be right to have a change of heart because Griezmann could be just the type of player he needs if Chelsea are to successfully defend their Premier League title and mount an all-out assault on the Champions League. Offering raw power, goals and the versatility to play on both flanks as well as down the middle, Greizmann looks built to withstand the rigours of a 60-game season -- compelling factors that will not be lost on Mourinho. After all, discounting the wild-card appeal of imminent signing Radamel Falcao, he gauges the risk of being overtly reliant on an injury (or suspension) prone Costa that leaves Eden Hazard to score the bulk of the Blues goals.

Duncan Castles ‏@DuncanCastles 47m Chelsea want Tiago Ilori & Bruma from Sporting. #CFC #SCP #RMCF #LFC #POR #repost http://www.sulia.com/my_thoughts/789c8374-9706-4750-8c0b-b1126a01837f/?source=twitter&repost=300 …

rumour was he changed his mind but he now denies this http://www.teamtalk.com/news/7555/8802506/Younes-Belhanda-denies-talk-suggesting-he-could-back-out-of-Dynamo-Kiev-move Also Jose net van ginkel yesterday apparently http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23148099?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Mourinho has ALWAYS spent 75% of transfer money on midfield, then next is defence. Lest is in attack

We will win NO trophies but we WILL make the top 4 There now!

We nearly signed him in the summer and obviously passed up the chance this window, as did Liverpool and Spurs, who were alos rumoured to be in for him Mvilla was looked at by Utd but his discpline problems put them off No big clubs is what I mean

Really? How can you be so sure? Guess we will find out if he really is or just a good player in FM. If he was that good either we or another big club would have moved for him, and we did scout him recently as well. Him, Yann Mvilla, Remy, all good on on FM, but maybe theres a reason other clubs never moved for them

stats stats stats, what they dont ell you is that is his completed passes are 10 yarders to Cech or sideways!

Seriously? A DM is there to break up attacks and then pass the ball to the more creative players Busquets, Alonso etc pinging out long passes. Mikel is too slow to do this and he is isnt a good passer, which again, is why Romeu and Luiz are preferred Its all to easy to stop chelsea, just cut of the supply to Mata and co, thats why you need your DM's to be able to find them with a pass when needed

Thats just nonsense, he's only good when he doesnt go forward, he cant pass like Luiz or Romeu and thats why Rafa picks them ahead of him. All his passes are mostly 10 yard jobs, we need defenders to turn defence into attack and he aint it. He is good for some games, but not ones when 10 men are behind the ball and we need a different option to unlock the defence. He keeps shooting shtupid long shots when he cant score. He's never going to get better and needs competition as he reacts better when he is dropped

I still believe in the West World

Yep, a spanish paper, says we have first option on Isco as part of the Piazon deal and may move next season Malaga's Isco has been linked with possibly every major club in Europe and has certainly been producing the goods on the pitch to back up hype suggesting he's one of the young talents in Europe everyone should be keeping an eye on. Chelsea hadn't been linked with him much more than anyone else but El Confidencial, a Spanish broadsheet, reckon that part of the deal which sent Lucas Piazon to La Liga involved getting an option on Isco. A Malaga loan is very good for the young Brazilian without any other aspects to it. They are still in the Champions League which gives you an idea of their pedigree and although off the pitch problems have hung around like a bad financial smell, they seem to be a club on the up again. Isco is certainly a big part of that. They say: El Confidential have been told that Chelsea have reached a preferential agreement with Malaga (for Isco). So, the coaching team led by Rafa Benitez will have priority over other clubs when signing Isco. The newspaper go on to say that Chelsea are looking at a summer move for the player and say that it would continue the trickle of top Spanish talent to the Premier League. Chelsea already have the excellent and still improving Juan Mata and Isco would only need to look at what Mata has achieved to become tempted. The Spanish international clearly loves life in England raves about new places he finds weekly in his blog and posts photos through his Facebook account as if he were a regular tourist. Of course, Fernando Torres at Chelsea isn't such a good example but César Azpilicueta has settled in well since his arrival from Marseille last summer. El Confidencial say that the 'arrival of Lucas Piazon can be the cornerstone for the future transfer of the Spanish midfielder to Chelsea'. A good move for Lucas Piazon, good for Malaga and potentially fantastic for Chelsea. http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/spanish-broadsheet-say-chelsea-got-isco-first-option-as-part-of-p