Superblue

In normal circumstances i would agree but as Wigan have publicly accepted, it can be argued he is basing his comment on that.

Excellent. Will be interested to see whether robbie confirms if that is it now with azpi and moses. I still think there could be one more...

I'm surprised Spurs never made a move given the reduction in his price. Assou Ekotto is a terrible defender.

And yet £40k pw is very low in our squad, seems very reasonable by todays standards. The lad seems very grounded. He could think about trying for more brcause its Chelsea and could have acted up at wigan over the protracted transfer. Just look at the way dempsey and modric have behaved, both senior pros. For likely less than a third of the price and third of the wages of hulk this seems really good business!

Yep agree with this. If plan A doesn't work of Hazard, Mata, Oscar being able to work their way primarily through the middle of teams, then we now have a plan B of Moses and Marin stretching teams and giving us width. City have the same situation whereby if the likes of Nasri, Silva and YaYa aren't working, they can call upon Johnson and Milner to offer genuine width.

One time, really? Why then has a link to hulk been in the papers just about every day since May, same shit regurgitated. I'm not arguing about twitter posts but i don't think english media links are actually reliable either. Over here, hazard was never going to chelsea and then suddenly it happened; they never reported on a deal for marin until it was done; they hate chelsea because we now go about our business in a very private manner. I'm just saying 95% of what we read is bullshit, whether from twitter, papers, etc but that is what this part of the forum is all about IMO

I must say if i see a transfer thread with xPetrCechx as the last post, it draws me to it because he posts sources of rumours. That is of course what the transfer talk part of the forum is all about - rumours. Yes twitter is the source of a lot of crap but then again so is many of the papers, especially from england. They took the hulk deal as done over 2 fucking months ago!!! I actually like the regular updates and agree with others, if you're not interested, its not hard to skip to the next post.

I have this feeling aswell. We've negotiated this Moses deal hard, which makes me think we're trying to keep this and the Azpilicueta deals down because they are likely to first come as squad players, and it justifies then one last big signing. If we sign up Moses and Azpilicueta then the final transfer (if there is to be one) must be either a striker or a central midfielder. With Moses there is absolutely no point now buying Hulk. Modric or Cavani i wouldn't turn down but i think we would be much better off without such a superstar name. Somebody like llorente up front or tiote/witsel in midfield i think would be greater value for money. But we all know roman doesn't do things by halves

Did you think the same about Cahill?

The re-sale value is an added plus. £9m for moses and £7m for cahill is real value in the english market. Just look at what wolves are selling fletcher and jarvis for! Oscar and Hazard show we'll still spend top dollar for the best talent, but recent signings of cahill, marin and moses show we're getting a lot more value for money nowadays.

Very happy with this. The lad adds even more pace to our team but most importantly another outlet that is direct and positive; if mata, oscar and hazard don't play their way through you then marin and moses will play their way around you. Moses will give Chelsea something extra and will prove over time a snip at £9m i'm sure.

Too bad mate. Silva has been consistently poor for city for a while now. I can see nasri having a big season, seems like he's well settled now. I fucking hate him but i think i'm going to have to fit him in.

The saga continues... I just hope the board don't think after 2 wins from 2 that we don't need to buy anyone else unless we get them on an absolute steal. I would be content if we just got Azpi and Moses now to the end of the window but we need some added depth to the squad.

And we could too potentially if sturridge plays RW. That then leaves us no striking options on the bench. All it takes is one longish term injury and we'll have just one striker to call upon.

I read this, pure comedy when the likes of seb larsson and sol campbell have moved on to win things!

Rumour that he has fined him. RDM was quoted as dealing with it internally.

He was injured not dropped. RDM was unhappy that Luiz leaked he was injured before the game. I can understand robbie's stance but he won't sell him over that. He seems to favour luiz over cahill and the pair will eventually become our first choice pairing. Jog on City, go and cherry pick from Arsenal instead...

I would prefer a more mobile central midfielder like tiote + moses for less than what cavani or hulk would cost. Having seen the likes of mata, hazard and oscar linking up already i think moses would be an excellent addition to them given the price.

I agree about Lampard's passing, very underated in that regard. I think many are most worried about the mobility of the two when against better attacking players. Especially as I don't expect us to show such a rearguard tactic as we did last season against Barca and Bayern. When the game is more stretched, can they stamp out opposition danger?

Ok, first week has gone pretty well. 102 points, joint second (Made in Munich). Better look at getting Hazard into my team pretty soon before everybody does and his value rockets. I gladly put Michu in from the start and everyone must have already lumped him in next week because he has already gone up £0.2m!!! My biggest cock up was that I had Petric in my team upto Saturday morning and then bottled it and fitted Bent in instead If he doesn't get points against Everton then he's coming out for Petric or Lambert I think. That will then give me good money to make a few changes over the next couple of weeks. I will probably leave my team as they are though for the second week - is it the same as last season where if you don't make a transfer one week it's carried forward to the next?

My thoughts on tonight: Firstly this is the worst time to be playing a newly promoted team. The first few games of the season allow such teams to play with freedom and a 'nothing to lose' mentality because it is so early in the season. Once the league gets into 15-20 games and starts to take shape, these teams become more cagey, become a little deflated and are generally easier to get a result off. The first goal was an excellent header. The ball was worked too easily out wide, but once that happened it was difficult to defend. The second was just a fuck up from Cech. It doesn't happen often, he just completely mistimed the ball. Let us not forget his heroics that won us the FA Cup and Champions League last season. For those that were critical of RDM's tactics last season, and again against Wigan, we had 72% possession and 27 shots tonight, and looked much more comfortable and dominant when on the ball. Passing seemed crisper and movement more fluid. Even Mikel and Lampard seemed to 'zip' the ball around quicker, seemingly bouyed by the talent around them. It is easy to argue 'it was only Reading!' but it is a solid base to progress from. Despite going 2-1 down and having a real awful 20-30 minutes either side of half time, we always looked capable of winning the game. I've always felt when a goal or two down that we have a chance of getting back in the game due to the spirit and personality at the club, but we don't always look it. Man Utd, Arsenal and more recently Man City have looked like turning round deficits in the past due to the way they attack. Finally we look to be heading that way and it's a great relief. We will always find games where we fall behind, but with the attacking talent at our disposal - Players who can dribble, players who can pass, players who can run in behind, players who can shoot from sight; I feel much more confident about our chances this season. I can understand the comments of people like Kojo in recent months about the lack of pace in our pivot. This I think could be our one worry, for how good Mikel and Lampard are as football players, against better attacking teams and cleverer midfielders we may struggle. It will be interesting to see how we cope against Newcastle on Saturday. If Essien is still struggling to replicate any sense of previous form, and Robbie is reluctant to use Ramires centrally, then a more mobile and solid midfielder is a must. If this means letting Meireles or Essien move on, or Romeu on loan then so be it. Disregarding the fact that Torres' goal was offside, the build up to that goal was unbelievable. Quick, incisive one touch passing and movement. Such a goal fills me with confidence that we will find it much easier to break down stubborn defences this season. Eden Hazard take a bow son. He has added an 'X Factor' to our game which has been missing the last few seasons, and if we are going to see a shift of style then he will be the catalyst, The talk of his ego by the media I think was also embarrassed by his unselfish play in setting up Brana for tonight's fourth. He easily could have slotted that in on his home debut but it was proof the team winning is much more important to him. Robbie's substitutions showed bravery and an intent to win the game. His tactical mind and decisions continue to impress and he must be given a lot of credit for taking the risks of opening the team up to chase the game tonight. It wasn't plain sailing but two wins from two is a perfect start. It is clear that this group of players will only get better as they play together more, and if we can win games and keep in the hunt whilst this is happening then we have a great chance this season of winning trophies.

Agreed but i think robbie is likely to trust brana a bit more at first due to his experience. Similar to cole over bertrand. He wouldn't hesitate to play them in big games but will favour experience to begin with if all are available. However agree that if Azpi performs it gives robbie a nice decision to make.

He must already be at a pretty good level - playing for Marseille, champions league experience, on fringes of national team, etc. I do however think Brana will play RB in the big games this season.

Probably tomorrow to not detract from tonights game mate.

Cech Ivanovic Cahill Terry Cole Essien Lampard Mata Ramires Hazard Torres