Superblue

Because its Spurs, the importance on this particular fixture every season shouldn't be questioned regardless of how dead rubber it might be for either team. I'd be thoroughly pissed off losing a friendly against this mob, let alone any competitive fixture.

Low is a massive risk in my opinion. That lengthy period of time away from club football and the daily managerial and coaching grind is a huge red flag. We had the same problems with Scolari when he came and there were a lot of leaks that the players fitness and conditioning deteriorated under his watch as they were ultimately things he didn't need to take much consideration into when managing Brazil or Portugal as he would usually receive the players at an optimum level of fitness for international breaks. Poch is an absolute no. It would fall into Benitez vibes, just no way he would be accepted at the Bridge with his Spurs background. I'm not against the other two if Potter was moved on. Hansi Flick in particular I was extremely impressed with what he did at Bayern and how he got them playing and pressing.

If Mason signed a new contract this summer then 5 years should be fine from the club perspective also. He'd be 6 months shy of his 30th birthday by that point. If he's performing at a high level at that stage and deserves a new contract then fair enough. Otherwise he's moved on close to that point or allowed to leave having spent what should be his best years here. I understand the 7 - 8 year contracts not just for amortisation on the new signings, but for a number of players in their early 20's to keep them here throughout the bulk, if not all of their 20's. Mount is a couple years older than some of these though, and 5 years more than protects an investment in his value. Certainly a lot more than having just a year left on his deal. If that is the sticking point with a new deal (the club want longer than 5 years), I'd be disappointed with the club's stance and stubbornness here.

I think in the case of Enzo, it was well reported when we bought him that a deal was nearly agreed to buy him for a lower fee that would have involved him staying at Benfica until the summer, so with this in mind, I do think come the summer Benfica would have been more receptive to selling him probably for a fee in the same ball park as they did with Nunez last summer. I think there would have been suitors in the summer as there are some big teams that look like they'd be interested in picking up a central midfielder in the summer and in his shoes he may well have been better served waiting it out with Benfica until the end of the season and assessing his options then, but from what it seems a big reason for the success in securing him was down to him pushing to leave so there was definitely a large will to join here. I think overall however, I'm not that fussed whether there's a small group of players at the absolute top of the market that would be unattainable for us. Our record of big name signings is atrocious as it is. The success over the past couple of decades has been founded on buying players not quite at the top level and letting them develop into that standard whilst here at the club and I see no reason why we shouldn't continue down a similar path to that, albeit even potential nowadays costs huge money so the margin for error is probably smaller. I like the moves the club has made, certainly in January. Enzo and Badiashile have started pretty solid and should only continue to improve in time, and Mudryk and Madueke will get better in time. They've already shown enough in flashes and bursts to suggest both will be exciting players that can play a long term role at the club.

I would tend to agree, but there are quite a few rumours doing the rounds that Spurs aren't renewing Conte's contract this summer and have already contacted and laid the groundwork for Poch to return. With this in mind, it's very possible he already has something lined up. The other possibility is he's been approached but in more of an interim capacity, i.e. until end of the season and take things from there which is something he's not attracted to. In conclusion, I don't want him here anyway.

In recent games there had at least been a couple of promising signs in areas. We started looking a lot more solid defensively and keeping clean sheets, but the last 3 games we've conceded extremely sloppy goals again. The West Ham and Dortmund games showed some moments of encouragement in our attacking play, albeit not consistent enough to sustain for lengthy periods of the game. But the Southampton game was such a monumental backward step. He's clearly not got much support amongst the fans as it is and it did feel the weekend was a result which even people willing and prepared to give him some time and patience, me included, started to just get completely fed up with the situation. Rotating a few players in at home to Southampton shouldn't cause such a limp and pitiful performance. Ironically for Potter, he couldn't ask for a better game for Chelsea to play to be honest right now than Spurs. There's more than enough players at the club fully aware of what this game means to the fans, and getting a win against that rabble might be the catalyst he needs if he's to have any hope of still doing something here.

The irony with Jose and Conte is that the teams they built and tactics they instilled helped towards success beyond their tenures here. In the case of Potter, he was always going to be a risk regarding where his 'level' could be and to what point he could take this club. I always hoped that even if he wasn't equipped to be the person to challenge for trophies, he'd at least facilitate the rebuild over the next year or two by mapping out a blueprint for a top class manager to take over from and take it further (i.e. Lampard to Tuchel) but unfortunately it's just not happening that way. If Potter is staying in the job for now, the first thing he needs to sort out is the team's pressing out of possession. It was initially excellent under Tuchel, progressively dropped off through last season and has been non existent this year. I wouldn't even label players in our squad lazy either, there's just no unified press, everything is individual efforts rather than collective and leaves so many gaps all the time to be played through.

Not sure to what degree, it could well just be basic, but Frank Lebouef recently commented that he once spoke to Zidane and asked him why he'd never learnt to speak English and Zidane apparently replied back to him in English so he could well have some form of grasp of the language a little more than he lets on.

Today is definitely a bit of a tipping point for me as it was just a completely unforgiveable performance and result. I'm all for giving time and patience so long as there is progress. That doesn't necessarily mean always in results. In recent games, we were looking more solid in defence and against West Ham and Dortmund there were signs of the attack starting to click and create chances, albeit not over a consistent manner of 90 minutes. But today was so devoid of anything remotely positive. At some stage the manager has to be held more accountable when this is what is being turned out. A period of transition is all fine and well, but losing at home to Southampton deservedly is simply not.

I'd have to agree with this. I want time to be afforded, and can accept at the moment some patience in the games against stronger opposition but a game like this carries zero excuses. The performance so far has been lifeless, application is all wrong and we're deservedly behind. You have to argue this is the most important 45 minutes to Potter's Chelsea tenure so far coming up.

Really, really poor goal to concede, but I felt we played well tonight against a team in red hot form in an intimidating atmosphere. Should have won that comfortably and deservedly. It feels like something is coming, but ultimately until we start scoring goals it will continue to be frustrating.

Nearly, nearly, nearly...

Important we stay in this tie tonight because we've easily had the best chances. This Dortmund team is very much beatable, we're just such a wasteful team.

I'm starting to wonder where this Nkunku deal fits in with Felix. It's widely reported and assumed that Nkunku is a done deal but I'm surprised then that it hasn't yet been announced to happen in the summer (i.e. like Pulisic was a few years back), or knowing the FFP rules coming in why we didn't try to do the deal in January and loan him back a little bit like Gusto so the deal was completed under the old FFP rules. I think a deal may well be in place, but I'm not so sure whether its actually been signed off. Or perhaps Nkunku has provisionally agreed but there's a caveat to the deal regarding whether we qualify for the Champions League next season. I cannot see a situation where we're buying both Felix and Nkunku for the summer at somewhere in the region of £150m combined for essentially the same position both will be eyeing up in the team. Was this Felix loan actually made with that in mind - to help make a decision on him or Nkunku for the summer?

Koulibaly doesn't really bother me because he's already been replaced. It's not a situation like we had with Torres years ago for example where he was automatic first choice and in stages the only real striker we had at the club which hindered things further. If we can all move on in the summer and Koulibaly goes back to Italy or somewhere for not too much damage then all good. If we can't though then he sits at the club as 4th or 5th choice. Not ideal but it shouldn't impact significantly on the squad. He's already seen Jorginho leave, Mendy likely to leave too, and in his position Badiashile join, Fofana coming back to fitness and Colwill potentially coming back in the summer. I think he'll see the writing will be on the wall for his Chelsea career and whilst money is a big factor, he still has some years left in the tank, especially if he goes back to Italy. Personally I think he'll prefer to find a solution than dig his heels in if the club decides he's surplus to requirements.

Jesus Christ we're at the point now where the poor bloke is being bashed doing charitable work

I played left back for a few years growing up and on the ball, so long as your body position is right, it shouldn't be as difficult as it looks at the moment for Cucurella. I understand when confidence is shot you just want to be safe, but the way he is receiving the ball a lot of the time, he's closing the angle to play forward in order to add some protection over the ball. He's not trusting himself and his technique to open up his body against an opponent pressing him. Opens up his body, he creates a third angle to pass the ball (i.e. Mudryk). You do that a couple of times to beat the opponents press, it puts the onus on them suddenly to adapt. At present the way he is receiving the ball is naturally closing off the Mudryk option and the only choice is back to the centre back or sideways to the centre mid. It leaves us completely toothless on one side of the pitch. Even though he's clearly nowhere near fit at the moment, Chilwell has that natural instinct to open his body up and look forward as an option. Hopefully he gets up to speed soon because he's a much better fit for Mudryk. Not just finding him, but a willingness to push forward himself and create space and options for Mudryk higher up the pitch.

Casemiro and Oscar were both 3 years older than him when they moved to Europe though. I think there is a lot of development still for him, but at his age there is still a lot of time for that development and the buzz around him is at the very least promising. I think if we were looking to buy him now off the back of this tournament, his price would have doubled so the club have done a good job so far identifying him and completing a deal as early as they have. He does look a hard worker and a strong, leading personality which will hopefully aid him with his development over the next couple of years as he refines areas to his game that need working on. You're right though, I don't see him getting much game time yet if he comes straight here. It may be a case they just want him here for the second half of the season to assess him properly, in the same way they are with players like Fofana. He probably will need a loan but with most of the 'better' options unavailable to him now the window is shut it makes sense I think to bring him here and the club gets some time to decide and plan next moves with him.

Agreed, I think realistically it would be PSG or an Italian club if he wants to stay in club football. He seems quite a loyal person and I just don't see a situation where he manages another club in the same leagues of those that he already has. But he also doesn't strike me as someone who will be managing at club level at an older age - after City, he may slow things down and look at an international job.

I personally think at present it's pointless debating the position of Potter. If it was my choice, I would have kept faith with Tuchel and allowed him time, particularly considering the signings in the summer were made with heavy involvement from him. However even with blinkers on because I really loved the way Tuchel embraced the club and the challenge, but the football in the second half of last season had become largely unwatchable and our form was similarly mid table to this season. We were in a title challenge come Christmas and ended up clinging on for top 4. It's easy to use the sanctions as an excuse and a distraction but this season started poorly under him too. Those defeats against Leeds and Southampton were embarrassing, and the loss to Dinamo was dire. I do think this was a group of players and club in general that was in decline and those signs were showing with or without Tuchel, with or without Potter. Potter has to take some of the blame, and he has been found out at times at Chelsea. At present I'm largely underwhelmed with what has happened under his watch and whilst there is absolutely no doubts that injuries have significantly hindered any potential progress or run of results, I still would have expected a bit more in some of the displays which have been limp at best. I do think whilst the attack is stuttering currently, we have started to look a lot more settled defensively. He's seemed to settle on Kepa, Badiashile and Silva which has worked well so far and at the very least a solid defensive base will always give us chances to pick points up even when struggling to score. I think we were all largely impressed and happy with the transfer dealings in January too. This isn't all on Potter of course but he'll have had a big impact in my opinion on targets, etc and at the very least its promising he identified midfield as a position of need, one which reportedly Tuchel did not. It's now up to him to get a tune out of these players. However, going back to the first sentence, I just don't see a scenario now where the owners bite the bullet so quickly with him given the position we are in the league and the investment made on him. He has to start showing signs of progress and quickly, but I think giving him the rest of the season before assessing is fair. I think if we move back up the table into the top 6, get a little deeper in the Champions League and start showing more as an attacking unit, then I think he'll have done enough to start next season here. If come the end of the season though, we've just churned wheels in mid table despite the new signings and players returning from injury then I don't think he'll have any arguments if the owners decided to look elsewhere.

There is absolute justification in my opinion if said charges are proven true. I mentioned yesterday that one of the biggest clubs in rugby union was relegated recently for similar fraudulent activity to get around league regulations. This isn't just a one off season, this has been a near decade long process reportedly of fraudulent activity and declarations to bypass league and continental rules that everyone else is doing their best to stick within the rules for.

This has reportedly been a 4 year investigation by the Premier League and Man City have apparently not been willing participants in the investigation. I just don't see a situation where this isn't gravely serious for them if what has been reported is proven to be true. They're essentially being accused of fraud, which should go beyond football sanctions - there should really be talk of criminal prosecutions here if correct. There will be question marks on the auditors who deal with City too and their own reputation. I think this goes way beyond the Premier League protecting it's product. They would have to be seen doing more than just slapping City on the wrist or else it will continue to happen again and again. With Newcastle's owners, and other potential investment from that area of the world in the future, the Premier League has to take a stand now that this isn't going to be allowed and the strongest sanctions will be handed out. It's not a simple case of a team failing the league's own FFP rules and being fined or possibly even a small points deduction. Per the reports, this is ongoing for the best part of a decade and an attempt to hide it. I cannot see how the Premier League, if proven correct, cannot do anything other than severe punishment, and in my opinion that would be some form of combination of relegation and a transfer ban. City aren't United, the Premier League will continue to thrive commercially without City for a season or two and if they were relegated, they'd be back up the following season unless the sanctions were even more severe. Having said this, I don't see this happening any time soon. It's taken 4 years for the Premier League just to get to this point.

Was reportedly caught in the earthquake in Turkey this morning, and has been rescued from under rubble. Alive but injured, thoughts and prayers go out to him and everyone else affected by the tragedy.

It's been reported that the new players bought in over the last two windows and the players signing new contracts have much more heavily incentivised contracts now, and also wage drops if they fail to reach the Champions League. I'd be surprised if Potter doesn't also fall into this bracket with regards to remuneration. I also wouldn't be shocked if the club have included some form of break clauses or lower compensation to move him on in the event of failure for Champions League qualification, etc.