Chelsea Banter

13 Feb 2026 13:19:04
Maybe we can loan Delap out this summer for £15m. Jackson to come back, anyone?

(Tongue-in-cheek question, because I don't think he wants to, but although he did miss a lot of chances he also added a hell of a lot more to the team in attacking impetus than Delap currently does, didn't he? )

13 Feb 2026 15:22:05
EdW, I haven’t seen enough of Delap to make a judgement but we must also remember that we have the lad from Strasbourg joins us in the summer.

I rate Jackson, I would have him back but as you say he supposedly made his choice very clear last summer.

12 Feb 2026 16:36:33
Sterling agrees to play for that well known London team Feyenoord “Orient” for the remainder of the season.

13 Feb 2026 09:05:21
Don't tell me we have a London derby vs Feyenooed now Tom.

13 Feb 2026 10:56:18
Bill, we must have!

11 Feb 2026 22:56:49
How good is Joao Pedro? 15 goals now this season, he is great friends with Cole Palmer, the two of them have a real telepathic relationship, he was a 10 but Liam has made him a 9, he looks like he could be our answer to a proper striker, a great signing by the club. Who has done better as a striker bar Halland? Sorted.

12 Feb 2026 08:49:18
Think that was partly marescas problem- JP was never a 10 and looked out of place, been brilliant in this last run.

12 Feb 2026 09:24:11
Obviously well pleased he is playing well but there were lots of posters who believed him to be a 10 rather than a CF when Maresca did ask him to play there.

12 Feb 2026 13:33:48
Quality player revitalised. Hoping he continues to shine.

11 Feb 2026 09:23:26
Five league games unbeaten.

11 Feb 2026 11:25:50
Yes thank goodness J poartivcularly after we hadn't won in previous 5. But these were not against top teams of course but Brentford, Palace, West Ham, Wolves and Leeds.

Great not to have lost any but failing to beat Leeds a blow to our ECL qualification push given fixtures ahead - beyond Burnley at home on 21 Feb which has to be a three pointer. We will still have likes of Villa and Arsenal and Liverpool away to negotiate as well as City, United and Newcastle at home.

But given average points gatherd on results to date we are on course to finish on 64 points. If we average 2 points per game over last 12 we finish on 68. But hard to know what's enough. I'd think we need to win at least 8 of our final 12 games and not lose more than 2 to be sure but others will doubtless have other calculations and perhaps we can get 5th place say with 68? Certainly rivals will be dropping points as well and lots of big games between these challengers and with us.

11 Feb 2026 11:49:04
My hot take, top five will get UCL qualification, Liverpool, United and us will all overtake Villa (who don’t have a midfield) and finish in the top five.

11 Feb 2026 13:25:11
You may be right J. hope so!

11 Feb 2026 16:03:25
I think Chelsea are a good watch atm. The intent is good, less square passes across the back with more fizzed passes into midfield or to Juan P, to breaks the lines. some really clever stuff in the final third as the team grows together.

I think good work has been done by the coach. Do agree with the Delap comments. The lad should be doing much better V the bottom half of the division.

12 Feb 2026 10:23:38
Agree with you Londonscot.

12 Feb 2026 11:37:40
Also agreed Londonscot. I'm much preferring the football at the moment.

11 Feb 2026 00:22:58
I do think it’s worth saying that I’ve been extremely impressed with LR. I, for one, was not looking forward to his appointment. I had never watched his team play but he didn’t come with a pedigree that I thought our young team could’ve benefitted from. I didn’t like how political he was in his articles for the Guardian. I think politics has no place in sport and don’t enjoy people giving their opinions on things outside of sport when I tune in. However, he has done extremely well in interviews, doesn’t shy away from our mistakes and seems genuine when he says what matters is winning.

He hasn’t had much time to work with the team but it seems clear the players like him and he has us playing with a much better tempo than Maresca was able to do. He obviously wants the younger players to get chances which is huge for us.

If we won, we’d be 4th and unbeaten in the league since his arrival. Happy to feel like my initial hesitation was wrong.

11 Feb 2026 07:45:15
Apparently we have dropped 15th at home this season from winning positions. Maybe we have “mental weaknesses” in our side, whatever that is.

Josh last night made a mistake, he will learn from that mistake and become a top player. I hope that’s with us.

11 Feb 2026 09:13:54
It’s an age and / or experience thing Tom, the know how to take your foot off the pedal and see a 2-0 lead out comfortably. No matter who the coach is, the main thing that will improve this is experience on the pitch, gained or bought.

11 Feb 2026 09:37:10
Tom, those 15 points dropped at home from winning positions would put us 3 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the league! An experienced and settled centre back pairing sorts that. (And guess what, Maresca asked for that at the start of the season) .

The rest of our side is fine, from Sanchez in goal to Joao Pedro as our main striker, we just need the centre backs sorting and we challenge.

11 Feb 2026 09:47:45
Won’t be with us how many does he need to drop like him in net, he’s just another good player and you need to be to play in premiership but he’s not Chelsea good like I’m used to Cahill Terry calvalho gallas etc and that will go for a lot of the young ones there good and given playing time, so good moment but not enough in my opinion.

11 Feb 2026 10:34:20
Hey Melbourne, hope you're well mate.

Just wondering a bit more about the politics in sport question (and not trying to start something, just curious) – does that mean that Black players shouldn't speak up about racism in your opinion? And what about nation states with horrible human rights records owning clubs? Should people involved in sports not comment or talk about that? Where's the dividing line?

11 Feb 2026 11:34:52
We are 11th in table based on home results alone in EPL which is same number as Leeds but we have better GD. In other words we're bang mid-table mediocrity in fron of our home crowd. In contrast we're second I think in an aay table and only behind Arsenal. So must surely be an element of greater anxiety among own players - perhaps especially younger or more fring to first team ones perhaps - at the Bridge you'd think as well as question of many teams being harder for us to break down.

Had hoped Delap would provide stronger presence in the box for crosses in when teams emplying low block and/or assist Pedro as an aerial threat but to date Delap has disappointed. To extent that it may be good to give Guiu more off the bench game time instead of LD perhaps.

11 Feb 2026 12:07:41
Why are you using home table positions. The only position that matters is the end of the season and we are still 5th in the league and 1 point off 4th.

Again just seems reactionary after a draw. Yes we throw away a lead. To which I blame moi. Don't give the pen away and then we don't panic.

But the football is faster and easier on eye than merasca.

11 Feb 2026 12:29:44
Finchy, I agree 100% with your post.

Lots of twists and turns to come.

11 Feb 2026 13:45:46
Finchy i think you missed that I mentioned our positions in both home and away tables to suggest - 11 and 2 respectively - to suggest that nerves in front of home crowd plus tactics employed by teams coming to the Bridge in EPL might help explain difference and dropped points at home. In contrast our young players do better than almost other teams in away games.

I agree about our football being generally v good last night and had already posted to that effect also that Moi rash challenge and crazy 5 mins that ended in Leeds second goal spoiled what was otherwise a v good performance.

Of course we're in 5th and only one point off 4th yet with tough fuxtures ahead a win last night against a side still in relegation battle and who had only got 7 points from all previous away fixtures was - for most of us I'd think - disappointing even if generally played well and had 70% plus possession.

Of course we move on and still have fine chance of Champions League football. But shouldn't we fans hope that the Bridge could be more of a foetress and points accumulator than it has been in recent seasons. Particularly if we do have a pretty good side!

11 Feb 2026 16:24:50
No i didn't miss it, It's pointless looking at home or away points though as we aren't 2 or 11th.
More than likely the remainder of the season leeds will take points off teams in the top 6 due to them being a decent side and fighting to stay out of relegation battle.

And us playing tougher teams is sometimes better as they at least attack us. Leaving an open game. Which will suit our football better than a team sticking 10 behind the ball.

12 Feb 2026 00:33:45
Hey EdW.

I think for the most part when people take a strong stand on anything, they say it to get social points rather than because they really care. So if you’re in sports, you risk marginalizing a part of the supporter base by taking a stand in any direction.

Racism is a really good example. Liam wrote an article about how Trump was making decisions and acting in a way that put his daughter’s future at risk. I’m sure he felt it was true. It does, however, open up questions like how he feels about Enzo being a leader of this team? Is he a good example for the younger players? Or, alternatively why does he praise him for being an incredible human?

I’m not giving an opinion here, so hope no one takes offense or reads tone into places where it’s not, just showing how when you bring politics into sport, you could potentially disrupt a club. And if you write about something you’re supposedly so passionate about, can be shown to be spineless quite quickly when it’s more beneficial for you to look the other way.

12 Feb 2026 08:38:09
EdW, you ask: where is the dividing line. That is the problem about mixing politics and sport. You mentioned nation states with bad human rights records owning clubs. People of a different persuasion could argue that American venture capitalists shouldn’t own clubs in the EPL and so it goes on.

12 Feb 2026 11:21:49
Or maybe Russian oligarchs.

I probably should care but if I’m honest I don’t. Although, I would draw the line if our owners were involved in the chemical industry! 😇.

12 Feb 2026 12:08:30
Hi Melbourne and Jimbo,

I take your point about social points when it's casual, not sure about when it's a 'hard stand' (those in detention for Palestine Action on hunger strike, for example, would be a hard stand in my eyes) .

I mean, I agree with your questions about Rosenior, and I think it was certainly a weird decision by Maresca to make Enzo captain in the wake of his singing on the bus. But I guess you can come into a job and ask the questions behind closed doors – people are capable of change, and perhaps Enzo has just learned something he didn't know before (which would be the mark of a good person) . Having teammates from different countries is a positive in that situation.

I can't see that you can't mix politics and sport. The two things are inherently connected because politics is inherent in everything. Surely taking a stand on issues that affect one's life is perfectly justified? If you don't take some kind of stand, make some kind of comment – especially in relation to things you love, rather than despite a relation to things you love – then what have you got? The attitude of 'sit down, be quiet' gets us where exactly?

Things don't have to be either/or. Nuance is possible, even in the world of sport. I can still support the club whilst believing that venture capitalism is destructive, and having been unsure of the new owners in the first place for that reason (the previous ownership is an entirely different knot to unpick) . But broadly I'd argue that simply looking away, not thinking about these things because it's easier, is far more destructive in the long run.

It's about what you care about. For a lot of (white) football fans, on a deep level, that's clearly not racism. I note that when the breakaway Super League was proposed, many Premier League club's fans suddenly found their protesting voices. Should fans have called the power of money inevitable and simply taken the Super League lying down? Was that not political?

There have been so many people on here talking about the locality of fans, that 'real' fans have been forgotten – and that fear of clubs being taken away from their original purpose as hubs of local interest is absolutely valid. But the argument isn't against a Chelsea fan watching the game in Australia or Ghana. It's against the monetisation of football against the interests of (local) supporters – it's against global powerbrokers. Isn't that political? Not thinking about that, confusing one for the other, all you end up doing is making generalisations about some person you don't know who lives half way across the world – and what does that achieve in relation to ticket prices, or a Sunday evening trip back from Newcastle?

12 Feb 2026 14:46:52
I will shout loudly at the bridge if I hear a racist comment and I have reported people to the club stewards and insisted that the individual or in one case individuals be removed.

I personally have zero interest in our owners nationality or there so called “football” pedigree. Owners come in all shapes and sizes and I very much doubt that the majority of them got there money for being nice.

I have supported the club despite the ownership. That will always be the case.

12 Feb 2026 19:38:10
EdW, you make some valid points, However, a lot of people enjoy sport as an antidote to the complicated world we live in and their own personal struggles. People who are high profile enjoy a privileged position as in the digital age their comments reach a large audience. I don’t know what LR said except what I have gleaned from this site but if he mentioned his daughter that smacks of self- interest.

Aslo, most people don’t care what these type of people comment on.
If this this site became politicised, I would certainly leave.
Tom, you’re right owners come in all shapes and sizes: the Nottingham Forest owner could do with eating more salads😀.

12 Feb 2026 21:07:32
Jimbo, I would have no problem with any person expressing there concerns if they felt the child or any member of there family were threatened by the behaviour/actions of others.

12 Feb 2026 21:22:14
Tom, I'm glad you shout down racism at the Bridge. Hopefully you'll be well enough to keep up that good fight soon.

Jimbo, I take your point about sport being a form of escapism. Incredible, in some ways, to think someone would seek an antidote to their personal struggles in some of the dull football we've seen in the last few years (not just Chelsea, but post-Pep, post-VAR football) . Almost like its own subtle form of torture, at times.

12 Feb 2026 21:47:28
Tom, it’s not clear to me what harm LR envisages his daughter would come to. My point was about high profile people boring the pants of us with their personal beliefs. As I said bringing his daughter into it - is self-serving.

12 Feb 2026 21:50:07
EdW you are spot on about boring football. However, old habits die hard and like Saint Luke some of us have to support hopeless causes.

12 Feb 2026 22:34:05
Jimbo, I think if he has concerns about his family’s safety he is entitled to express those concerns.

His concerns, whatever they were, may well resonate with others who may well be happy that a person has been given an opportunity/platform to echo there concerns.

I’m also not sure that any of that makes sense!

13 Feb 2026 01:43:38
Really well thought out reply, EdW.

The struggle for people of color is one I don’t have experience with so it’s hard to put myself in their shoes and understand the feelings deeply. I do live somewhere where racism exists and is somewhat accepted, however the culture is very different from the west.

As I said I’ve been very impressed with LR and hope he has a very long and successful spell with us.

13 Feb 2026 13:14:32
Thanks Melbourne, and I think you're right to pinpoint a lack of same/similar experience as one of the key difficulties in these issues.