20 Jun 2026 21:36:10
Now back in a hotel after spending a wonderful day at Royal Ascot.
I wa fortunate enough to meet and cahatro people from all corners of the globe including Manchester and Morecombe.
The venue is fantastic and the amount of money being spent was "probably" outrageous but to my sad eyes it was worth the spend.
It's an occasion that people dress up for but the singalong after racing was well attended by all age groups and loud. The younger generation seem to know the lyrics to some World War Two favourites. The national anthem was sung with gusto with the vast majority of people taking off their top hats to show respect to our King.
I have been fortunate enough to travel around a significant percentage of the world but when do this sort of event so well.
My god it was good to be involved with people having fun.
Chelsea Banter
Use our rumours form to send us chelsea transfer rumours.
21 Jun 2026 10:50:01
In order to view all of today's banter, you may have to visit our Chelsea banter 2 to Chelsea banter 10 pages linked at the bottom of this page.
20 Jun 2026 20:13:19
Chelsea and Manchester City are close to reaching a financial settlement worth over £10m for Enzo Maresca, with negotiations between Chelsea and Man City over the final details ongoing.
Chelsea have all the evidence that Man City tapped Maresca up and are willing not to use it if the settlement figure is paid.
This is quite a shift in the way Blue. co are now becoming more ruthless.
Top business people learn quickly, reset and go again, it has already happened with the change in direction of squad building and the appointment of Alonso as manager.
Forget project 2030, this might just be project full on.
20 Jun 2026 07:39:16
{Ed's Note - EHL2020 has posted a new article entitled, Why Rangers Pre-Season Matters This Year
19 Jun 2026 18:28:12
Some transfer news.
Grimaldo to Atletico Madrid for £10M. Rules him out from joining Chelsea.
Jimmy Jay Morgan to WBA for £4M. Chelsea has a substantial sell on clause. I believe he was a free transfer so pure profit.
Maresca targets Malo Gusto for Man City with Chelsea open to selling him to provide a space for Josh who is highly regarded by Alonso.
Source. Various.
19 Jun 2026 19:47:33
Rpd, thanks. Wouldn't be worried about Gusto going particularly if it opens up a route for Josh.
20 Jun 2026 14:12:07
Absolutely agree, Jimbo.
20 Jun 2026 16:06:32
Also, not too fussed about Grimaldo going to AM either.
Our incoming transfers need to be top quality.
20 Jun 2026 16:38:47
I wonder if PSG might come in for Gusto if Achraf Hakimi goes down for raping that young lady. He was getting pelters last night from the Scottish fans.
As for us, Lewis Hall would be my choice,
he knows the club, grew up with the likes of Levi and Trev and if I'm not mistaken, we have a buy back clause as well.
Can invert into midfield which will suit Alonso.
19 Jun 2026 12:15:52.
Was chatting to the boys last night about who our greatest ever player is.
A few names in the hat included our much loved captain, leader, legend John Terry, Super Frankie Lampard, The King of Stamford Bridge, Peter Osgood, and the legendary Gianfranco Zola.
JT took our vote by a whisker.
19 Jun 2026 13:25:10
Not even close. Jimmy Greaves.
19 Jun 2026 15:26:51
Jimmy Greaves got a mention, Tom, but was ruled out as most of us felt he was more Spurs than Chelsea during his career.
19 Jun 2026 16:02:51
I think Peter Bonetti is up there.
19 Jun 2026 16:13:31
What a keeper The Cat was, Bill, but does he get above Big Pete as the all-time greatest ever player?
19 Jun 2026 16:14:34
Captains don't come much greater than John Terry. He was Mr. Chelsea for 19 years, and led the club to greatness throughout his time at Stamford Bridge, winning a ridiculous amount of silverware in West London.
The Cobham graduate donned Chelsea blue on 717 occasions and is among the Premier League greats.
The centre-back won five Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, the Champions League and the Europa League with the Blues.
Simply astonishing.
19 Jun 2026 18:11:04
It's hard to nail down the greatest Chelsea player: it's about era and context, not just trophies, because other players contributed. If it's about talent and getting you off your seat, Eden's up there. As for Terry, great CB, but I still don't like him.
19 Jun 2026 20:25:40
The comments and opinions we have about players, I always find intriguing. We make comments as if we know them.
I have had the good fortune of spending time with JT, and he always came across as a really nice bloke. Strangely, I was never a fan of Lamps, who again I met a couple of times.
I had family reasons to be involved with Wise and Zola.
Obviously, Zola was just class, but again this might surprise a few people, and Wise was absolutely top drawer.
Can I just add, none of the players' personalities had anything to do with me loving or disliking a player. Greaves was just class, and I have never been so gutted as I was when we sold him for financial reasons.
19 Jun 2026 20:45:13
Tom, I don't know Terry, but plenty of things about him have been published. He's certainly not a devout Christian.
19 Jun 2026 20:59:02
As I've said before, I also had dealings with Mr Terry Snr.
Can I also say one of the most horrible people I have ever met in football was Mathew Harding. Not a nice man in my opinion.
19 Jun 2026 20:46:54
JT was a great player and ud say arguably our best althought i always preferred frank.shame JT is a scumbag of a bloke makes it harder to appreciate how good he was on field
19 Jun 2026 21:28:44
Tom, apart from your family and long standing friends: you don't really know people. We all have our faults but some people are scumbags. Generally people who become rich have trodden over many people to get to the top.
19 Jun 2026 21:45:14
Jimbo, it's true we really only know the people we are close to!!
I try and judge people after more than one meeting, and I really don't care if they are rich or poor.
I try not to make negative comments about people I have had no personal dealings with, and I certainly don't judge people from media s***.
Over the years I have been involved in various charities, and it's via those charities that I have met lots of well known personalities. I guess most people look good at these events.
19 Jun 2026 22:01:21
JT is a typical east end English lad, make of that what you will. For me, a total scumbag of a bloke is that fraud Hakim Ziyech who just turned up every day, took the pay and pissed off. We see things different.
19 Jun 2026 22:57:22
Typical east end lad that slept with his mates wife . Said things to anton ferdinand and has since done similar and supported similar after retiring although hardly surprising you're a big fan greenway youve made it clear what sorta person you are
19 Jun 2026 23:29:33
Don't know whether someone being nice or nasty should count when calculating how good or great someone is purely as a player.
It is a bit different to saying who your favourite player is, though the two can be connected.
Terry must be in the conversation for CFC's greatest player for defensive record, leadership, longevity of playing for the club, trophies won, plus being the CB who has scored the most goals ever in the EPL.
Even if he is not a nice person. Lampard is also in that conversation, as are Bobby Tambling and Peter Osgood. Didier Drogba too, cos of the big match, trophy-winning goals he scored.
Favourite player surely can be a combination of liking the player as a person plus enjoying watching him on the pitch. For me, Zola, Kante, Hazard score exceptionally highly.
20 Jun 2026 06:49:41
Great post, J, well balanced and reflective.
20 Jun 2026 12:43:48
"A typical East End lad," what on earth has the area he was born in or grew up in got to do with anything?
I take people as I find them.
20 Jun 2026 13:19:08
Tom, when I was a teenager growing up in North West London, we considered ourselves cooler and more fashionable than kids from East or South London - nothing has changed. Lol.
20 Jun 2026 15:45:07
I have favourite players from different eras. Charlie Cooke was an early favourite, followed by Clive Walker and Pat Nevin, then Zola and Arjen Robben, before my all-time favourite, Eden Hazard.
20 Jun 2026 21:40:14
Jimbo, I was raised in South London, but I'm not a fan of stereotyping people. I mean, I did once meet a nice person from North London.
21 Jun 2026 07:45:13
Tom, don't know much about North London; probably passed through it to get somewhere.
19 Jun 2026 07:39:16
{Ed's Note - OptimumShots has posted a new article entitled, Everton Need One Clear Squad Plan
18 Jun 2026 09:41:17
Of course it’s early days and we shouldn’t get carried away but unbeaten after ten games is a better start than I had dared hope for. The team is showing real commitment and a desire to win every game. Well done the owners for appointing Alonso and well done the SD’s for recruiting some real talent.
Or
I can’t believe how bad these players are.
They do not deserve to wear the badge, they are an embarrassment to the club. The owners never fail to disappoint with their choices as manager and all the SD’s should be sacked.
I personally can’t wait for the new season to start. Not having mood swings doesn’t agree with me!
18 Jun 2026 16:17:29
Tom, we haven't challenged for the Premier League title for 10 years, 6 years under our much-loved Roman, and 4 years under the much-derided Blue.co, partly due to poor recruitment under both regimes, and partly due to poor coaching, but equally because of the competitive nature of the league and our rivals.
Arsenal went 24 years without winning the title, Man U have gone 13 years, and Liverpool went 20 years. These things are cyclical, and our time will come again.
17 Jun 2026 21:36:55
Stones said recently in an interview that he has been fit virtually all season.
I think we could do a lot worse than sign him on a free transfer.
18 Jun 2026 02:12:34
Think it would be a hard pass for me.
18 Jun 2026 08:19:15
Tom
He has been fit because he never plays.
Definitely a no.
18 Jun 2026 08:24:11
Historically, he would have a no from me, but he is experienced, and he has always had ability. My guess is the salary would be too high for us, but if the club signed him, I could see the logic.
18 Jun 2026 09:29:21
Physically shot, injury prone and on big wages... sounds like just what we need at the minute, Tom.
18 Jun 2026 09:46:27
If my mate is right yet again, this may not be so outlandish as it first seemed. He tells me we are, along with other clubs, talking to his representatives.
Apparently Alonso is a fan, like Tuchel, as a player and dressing room influence.
18 Jun 2026 11:52:29
We need someone to start games more than we need dressing room influence. What good is leadership and xp when you play 10 games a season and we're left with Chalobah or Fofana starting still?
18 Jun 2026 13:28:37
It would be an absolute disaster.
18 Jun 2026 14:03:52
I thought Stones and Konsa were below the standard last night, Tom, and would like to see Marc and Trev start the next game. So that probably sums up my view on Stones joining us. Is he better than Trev? Our starting back 3 should be built around a pool of Levi, Josh, James, and Hato, with a world class leader thrown in as well.
Bastoni would be my pick, Trev as a back up. That would be 6 players vying for 3 places, with a couple of them also able to cover for our wingbacks. Clear out Disasi, BB, Tosin, and Fofana.
18 Jun 2026 15:48:58
Konsa was ok although maybe he's not a devout enough christian to deserve to play for your liking greenway
Stones struggled and looks like someone that hasn't played much in a couple years
18 Jun 2026 16:40:36
How we all see games differently, I thought James was the worst defender last night, with the other full back not far behind. Of course, that could be because Tommy Tickle had them both playing halfway up the pitch.
18 Jun 2026 17:05:05
I agree about Reece James, Tom, which is why I see him competing for one of the right-sided centre-back slots and not as a marauding right wing-back after his injury issues.
18 Jun 2026 18:17:16
I was also told that Gordon played last night? He has to improve as the tournament progresses because he was anonymous.
18 Jun 2026 18:31:26
Reece was average, but I don't see him as a full time CB. Gordon was very poor, and definitely needs to step up. Any argument about Bellingham and Morgan Rogers should be put to bed. Admittedly, Mr has come on as a sub, but he looks bang average.
18 Jun 2026 21:53:45
Jimbo, I'm sort of with you on Reece. He is probably our best player, but where do we put him? He is injury prone, so wing back won't work. In midfield? Sure, he can do a job, but there are better options. Right back? Probably his best position, so maybe Alonso sees what I see and goes 4 at the back.
Right side of a back 3? A little short, especially with Hato the other side, although he, Hato, has an incredible leap. Alonso will be on £5m plus to sort these questions, and my faith is with him.
19 Jun 2026 07:19:07
Greenaway, yes, that is a conundrum for Alonso if he adopts a back three. James is a natural right back, which is his best position. I am a believer in playing players in their natural positions, if possible.
19 Jun 2026 09:22:02
I agree, Jimbo. Play to our strengths, and as Reece James is our best player, go with a back 4 and play him at RB?
17 Jun 2026 07:39:16
{Ed's Note - thefutureisoldgold3 has posted a new article entitled, Wolves Face a Reckoning After a Chaotic Season
16 Jun 2026 23:10:58.
I enjoyed the France v Senegal WC game this evening. A very competitive game with moments of magic.
Jackson yet again showing what a marmite type player he is. Can be a real handful but occasionally looks so raw!
17 Jun 2026 08:44:27
Agreed about Jackson Tom, but he did only play second fiddle to Mr Pain, maybe let's see him playing regularly again, then we can judge.
Also greed on the game, end to end, just shows what can happen when you don't keep playing sideways and backwards, just to get out of your own area.
17 Jun 2026 17:49:49
Bill, Nothing to judge. Jackson can't hit a barn door at six paces; can't head the ball and has discipline issues. Nothing has changed.
17 Jun 2026 18:36:19
Well, let's hope Alonso can bring about some improvements in Jackson's play, because I think he will be in next season's squad.
17 Jun 2026 19:27:56
Tom, I hope not. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The only positive thing is that we didn't spend a huge amount of money for him.
17 Jun 2026 20:17:11
I'm not sure how accurate the reports are about loan fees, but we must have recovered about 35% of his transfer fee from last season's loan fee. If that makes sense?