Superblue

It's not the most ideal of situations because we do clearly need improvements to our team but I still agree with what appears to be the club's stance to keep our transfer budgets until the summer. We shouldn't be dictated to by what United and Spurs are doing. It allows us to go into the summer in the strongest possible position financially to move for our top targets. And the idea that if we missed out on top 4 will mean we are left buying rubbish players is laughable. There are plenty of players who will be attainable in the summer that could improve and/or add something to our squad irrespective of Champions League football.

Levy is pissed from the Modric pursuit and unsettling of their best player. Taking Willian off them at the last minute probably didn't help either. I don't think there's a no business understanding in place, but dealings with rival clubs are always much more difficult and ego driven as both clubs strive to get the better side of the deal. Levy can think all he wants he's some mastermind of the transfer market. When Redknapp was there as manager it genuinely felt like it was Del Boy and Rodney trying to wheel and deal every summer.

The only way I can see Giroud going to Spurs is if we only let them have him on a loan deal for a large fee (say £10m and cover his wages in full) as opposed to permanent, in doing so preventing him from playing against us. It's not the ideal club to deal with but if we could create a large swing out of it, depleting their budgets whilst swelling ours, then we shouldn't fear selling squad players to Spurs.

Let them. If United get the Fernandes deal over the line then Solskjaer would have spent around £200m in the last 6 months and they still look a long way off the pace. If anything Fernandes joining is only likely to facilitate Pogba leaving in the summer and if that happens it certainly won't make United look any stronger at least on paper. For a club as 'cheap' as Spurs, they went big in the summer for N'dombele and Sessegnon. The loan move for Lo Celso was always likely to happen because they paid a large loan fee and I think was more to do with pushing deals potentially across transfer windows and accounts. And now spending a sizeable chunk on Bergwijn. With the noose of the stadium being paid off, if they don't get top 4 this season I can't see them spending much next summer unless Mourinho and Levy are prepared to sell one of their bigger assets to raise funds. I know it's frustrating seeing others make deals and I personally wouldn't mind us bringing in a new attacker to compete with Tammy but I would rather we be aiming for a better calibre of player than both of these are in for at present.

For the sake of 4 months of football I can't see Chelsea not doing it if they believe an option was available to significantly strengthen the striking group, and offer Lampard an option who he is confident in using. If an option was available that Chelsea and Lampard wanted to pursue I just don't see an out of favour player preventing that from happening if it improves our chances of making top 4 this season.

Whilst I think it's vital to retain Giroud if another striker doesn't come in, I don't think it's a deal breaker if Giroud doesn't leave. Lampard has already shown that he'll only use Giroud if it's the last option and he's barely played this season so I don't think the club will be overly fussed if he's still in the same position come the end of the window. Having said that I think it would be pretty easy to find a move for Giroud even if it was until the end of the season covering his wages with a small loan fee. For him, any move is likely better than the current position he's in and the Euros in the summer.

We're definitely one of the most difficult clubs for media to speculate on because we're a pretty closed shop when it comes to things like that which is why deals such as Kepa and Pulisic came out of the blue with barely any speculation beforehand. If the club want to bring someone in I'm sure they have targets in mind and lined up to rubber stamp before the deadline. I just hope that they are either absolutely sure about it and Lampard is 100% in if it's a permanent transfer, otherwise hopefully it'll just be something temporary to see us through until the end of the season.

I know at the time when we got him on loan he pushed for a move away for regular game time. I'm not sure if that developed into wanting to force a permanent move thereafter. Jovic could well find himself in the same position though if he made a loan move. Changing from a lack of game time and seemingly unfancied by the manager, if he were to find himself playing regularly and enjoying his football then he may too feel that a permanent move is in his best interests even if Real wanted him back. Real Madrid or whoever, if a player is intent on leaving, it's extremely hard to retain them and keep them happy, especially in the case of players who may not be playing regularly.

One other I guess that would be a dice roll but I'd be interested to see if they have what it takes to make the next step up is Morelos at Rangers. He clearly knows where the goal is and his style I think suits Lampard where he is prepared to press and fight for everything. His disciplinary record is a big red flag but he does seem to have improved compared to last year and you'd hope he's starting to mature. I'd be surprised if Rangers were able to turn down anything around the £20m mark, so he may be worth a punt?

I think if Jovic is available on loan that should be what we do for this season. I do think if he came here and was a success, there is a chance of Real selling to us. We seem to have a good relationship with them from the dealings in recent times and I feel that they may have already made their mind up on Jovic. If they were offered something similar to what they originally paid for him I think they would let him go. Reports suggested they were reluctant to sanction Kova on a permanent transfer away and it was always the intention to bring him back but we managed to sort that deal. I think if it helped go towards them moving for a bigger hitter like Neymar/Mbappe or one of the Liverpool attackers then a deal could be struck. And if he joined and didn't suit then he's given back to them.

I went to the finals against Boro and Villa at the old Wembley and then Arsenal at the Millennium. Losing compared to winning obviously leaves a sour taste, but you're spot on. The aura of the old Wembley stadium was incredible with the twin towers, and so much history and prestige attached to it and it just was not the same in Wales. I don't think the new Wembley is any better either to be honest. It's great having things look modern but if the atmosphere is lacking it kills everything. The new Wembley for me isn't a great deal better than the Emirates which is as described, a soulless bowl.

Possibly, but I think better deals can often be negotiated in the summer when there is much more time for teams to make moves and Lyon will also be getting injured players back, etc. I think we could do a lot worse than Dembele to be honest, but I think the summer gives us more time to assess all options and make sure we're bringing in the right players. We could really do with our scouting department rolling back the years and finding a relative unknown or lesser known talent to come in on a good deal and sort out one of the problem positions we have!

Calvert-Lewin needs to do far more for me first before we'd consider buying him, especially as Everton would ask big money for him. It was only a couple of months ago before Ancelotti came in that Everton fans were calling for him to be dropped because he didn't score enough goals. Have to be so careful this isn't just a purple patch of form. He does this consistently for the next 18 months and I think it should then be considered but at present I just think it's the wrong move to make.

Completely agree and it's quite sad actually. One of my all time favourite childhood Chelsea memories is coming from 2-0 down at the Bridge to beat the Scousers 4-2 in the 3rd round, made even sweeter by going on to win the cup. They got absolutely blown away in the second half by Gullit playing Hughes, Vialli and Zola all together. At one point Mark Wright looked like he was going to cry. The only way it would have been better would have been if all those second half goals were in front of a stand, not a building site! In the last 15 years though it has really lost its aura as the Champions League has become top priority for the big clubs with the money involved. However I think if any of the big club's can keep their head high over the FA Cup it's us as we've always taken it seriously as a trophy to go for. Unfortunately in that circumstance we get grouped with the rest of the big clubs who have shown very little respect compared to us to the FA Cup.

Incredibly sad. I'm a big NFL fan, but never really got into NBA too much although I have an idea of what's going on, etc. But even with my fairly limited knowledge, clearly one of the absolute best ever in basketball and as ridiculous as it may sound, on the short side too at 6ft 6, which only makes his achievements that more impressive. As a father myself, heartbreaking too that one of his daughters was involved in the tragedy also. Prayers and condolences to all those involved.

Being linked with Piatek. Wow, I can remember this time last year people were going stir crazy that we weren't in for him when he moved to Milan. It just goes to show sometimes that a player can hit an almighty hot streak and it's very easy to get caught in the hype as opposed to realising the player's true level. Higuain may not have worked out, but at least the club only took him temporarily and weren't saddled with him. This is exactly what I don't want happening this window. We don't want big money panic buys that push us back again.

I completely understand why Lampard quickly decided that Giroud didn't suit how Lampard wanted to play with the front players pressing and intensity and pace to the play. I think where Lampard probably has got it wrong though is as the season has wore on and we've been struggling breaking teams down through the middle and are being forced to play out wide much more, Giroud then becomes much more of a plan B option against deep defences. I think this is where Lampard probably should have re-considered the role Giroud has at the club and maybe be a short term second choice ahead of Batshuayi. Ultimately though I don't think either of them are good enough, and whether it is this month or in the summer we definitely need a much better striker to compete with Tammy for the starting spot in the team.

I agree that our scouting need to be doing more. It does seem to have gone a little flat after the period where we plucked out the likes of Courtois, De Bruyne and Salah. We've made some good buys (amongst some poor ones) but they've all been well known, established European players. It's a different period even a few years later with how inflated the market is but there are still great deals to be got. You only have to look at Arsenal's purchase of Martinelli on the cheap to see that. And at least now with Lampard in charge we have a manager who is more likely to give a younger player like this opportunities. In earlier years we would buy someone like Martinelli and loan him out for a couple of years. I just think the top tier players will not move in January unless under extreme circumstances and with the players we are being linked with as alternatives (Dembele, etc) I'm confident we could still attract players like this in the summer with or without Champions League football so I do understand the club's position, assuming their plan is to significantly strengthen properly in the summer.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/mar/21/chelseas-thibaut-courtois-shrugs-off-real-madrid-talk-and-plans-to-stay https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3714847/thiabut-courtois-will-stay-at-chelsea/ https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/thibaut-courtois-says-he-s-committed-to-chelsea-in-biggest-hint-yet-that-he-will-stay-beyond-the-a3791776.html

We've been in pretty poor form that's obvious, but the 16 teams below us have barely got any closer to us. We're in 4th place on merit because we strung an excellent run of wins together earlier in the season. If the teams below us are incapable of doing the same then they don't deserve to get above us. To be honest, we're in transition and have a lot of work to do, but the league as a whole is probably the poorest it's been in years, the top two obviously excluded and we're clearly benefiting from that at the moment. But footballing gods? Bloody hell, we might as well talk about fairies and unicorns coming up to Lampard's window and spraying some magic dust on him when he's in bed at night!

Firstly I think from a reputation standpoint the club wanted to stick one on FIFA, especially when City seem to get away with every misdemeanour. But overturning the ban was always going to provide us with flexibility. A couple of months ago there was lots of talk of Sancho unrest at Dortmund. What if January had come around and Dortmund were prepared to ship him out, or Sancho was intent on forcing a move away and we were still banned. It should never be an excuse to just buy for the sake of it, that's how we've ended up with a lot of poor buys in recent years. Would people prefer to buy Zaha now or Sancho in the summer. I'm not saying it's a guarantee we'll get him but I'd much rather hold tight if waiting til the summer means higher quality purchases.

At what point exactly were 10 man Arsenal 'all over us'?! I think any team would rightly push for the second goal in that situation. Massive mistakes were made for the goals but I don't hold Lampard accountable for them. If some of our players need hand holding to prevent such naive mistakes such as not following positional instructions at set pieces and not kicking the ball out of play for time and game management then they will not last much longer here.

I'd offer Giroud to PSG for the rest of the season in exchange for Cavani (and a few million if needed to smooth over). That way PSG keep their squad depth and Giroud would likely play more there, especially when the Champions League kicks back in and they want to rotate in the league. Whilst we get a quality striker for the rest of the season who I think Lampard would have full trust in. Bats and Giroud are near pointless members of the squad at present when it's so clear how little trust Lampard has in them.

Not just still in the top 4 but the chasing pack have only gained 3 points on us. We've gone from 9 points clear of 5th down to 6. As ridiculous as it sounds, a run of 3 or 4 wins in a row could quite well nearly get us over the line.

Pretty sure Giroud only got 18 months and then we extended it by another year last season.