Chelsea banter 9

28 Aug 2026 07:39:16
{Ed's Note - DIE_4_WHUFC has posted a new article entitled, West Ham's Depth Worries Me in the Championship

28 Aug 2026 00:37:37
I’m curious but how is Martinez only costing 7.5mil? That seems stupidly cheap, especially in such an ibfjated market. What is going on exactly?

{Ed0666's Note - You have a special relationship with Villa I think.

28 Aug 2026 06:33:12
Welcome Seano, if I remember correctly, you are a Liverpool fan, but it's a reasonable question for any fan to ask. Maybe it's because the Villa manager wants to get rid of him, maybe his wages are too high, or maybe Villa have already signed a replacement.

27 Aug 2026 21:53:28
We look decent and move the ball so much quicker than we moved it under that rat Maresca. Barco, what a talent he looks, never saw that coming. Estevao looks a little lost at times. Gusto did well, Lacroix is a Rolls Royce and that Gittens cameo looked good. Bottom line, I like Alonso and a huge upgrade on that slime ball Maresca.

28 Aug 2026 17:59:19
Was at the game last night and was watching Barco closely. He mostly kept his very many passes short and simple, almost as if he was what the Italians would call a regista or someone who tries to dictate play from a deep-lying position. Jorginho tried something like this for us, but worked hard off the ball too. There was at least one excellent defence-splitting pass from him, though he also got caught in possession a couple of times. Overall, a very decent debut, but very early days and this was against League 1 opposition, of course.

I thought Estevao looked pretty sharp, and helped to create our first goal by putting Gusto through for DW to head home, plus his fierce shot turned in for our second. On many other occasions he showed off his wonderful close control skills, and did wonderful interchanges with the likes of Cole Palmer. I was in the West Stand Lower, block 3, row 22, and so enjoyed this at fairly close quarters. But yes, there were also moments when he almost tried too hard to impress or needed to have kept a slightly cooler head. What he did show more of in a positive way last night was defensive work, tracking back on many occasions.

This work rate expectation from all players, and greater energy over all 90 mins, looks set to be a hallmark of an Alonso team - or I hope so, and with no European football we can afford to expend it throughout every match of our season you'd think.

Completely agree about Lacroix looking that impressive last night, and he does seem to be a v good signing. Reads the game v well, and his one-on-one defending looked v good, though again this was 'only Luton'.

Gusto's cross for DW goal showed something of a player who started his career so promisingly for us. Hope he will rediscover that mojo.

Gittens didn't make much of an impression on me either way, though given where I was sitting - the Shed end side of halfway - and he came on second half when we were attacking down the Matthew Harding End, I wasn't best positioned to judge, perhaps.

Danny W looked a good option off the bench for us as a sub for Joao Pedro, or possibly thrown on late on alongside him.

CP looked again far more like first season CP, and Morgan Rogers had one or two brilliant dribbles, plus Josh defending and some Lavia passes also impressed.

28 Aug 2026 21:05:16
Jbs, nice post, mate. Much appreciated.

29 Aug 2026 10:06:24
Thanks, Tom, and, of course, always enjoy your posts.

27 Aug 2026 17:10:55
Seems we just signed a young CB from Atalanta. I believe the lad is only 18, but has played a decent chunk of last season at Atalanta, as well as some CL games and been capped twice for Italy. One for the future I would assume.

27 Aug 2026 18:48:35
Apparently a lot of interested clubs. Supposedly going straight out on loan.

27 Aug 2026 09:58:19
As much as we seem to have done good business this window. We seem to be light in the striker dept. If Jackson and Delap are confirmed, that leaves us with Welbeck effectively, or am I missing something?

27 Aug 2026 13:21:48
Emegha.

27 Aug 2026 15:25:06
Joao Pedro, Emegha, Jackson, and they're apparently content with playing Rogers as a false nine in the unlikely situation none of those three are available.

27 Aug 2026 16:14:31
Jackson's likely off to Villa, J.

27 Aug 2026 16:55:24
I assume we will loan/sell Guiu as well.

27 Aug 2026 17:43:32
Three strikers are enough, as we need to trim the squad and have no European football.

28 Aug 2026 12:23:24
Emegha had a very bad injury record last season at Strasbourg - hamstring and other leg muscle problems. He had at least some recurrence of a similar sort in a pre-season match, which is why we haven't seen him thus far. Jackson is almost certainly off to Villa, and personally I am sad about that.

Presumably Guiu is going too, though the lad hardly has many chances. He did well in Conference League games for us, and a loan might be a possibility perhaps?

But I was at the Luton game last night. I will report back later a bit more, and Danny W did a very good job though - yes - it was only Luton of League 1.

27 Aug 2026 09:17:33
Chelsea signed Jackson from Villarreal for £32m in 2023. They will have banked a guaranteed £61.8m between Villa's initial £47.5m and the £14.3m loan fee from Bayern Munich. Then part of the £17.5m in add-ons are easy to gain and another part are harder.


I liked him as a player but he wants to be numero uno and that isn't happening with Jaoa Pedro around and the promising Emmanuel Emegha and Danny Welbeck more content to start on the bench.

27 Aug 2026 19:27:30
I'm sure someone will know, but the book profit must be significant. It will be interesting to see the total net spend during these owners' tenure at the end of this window.

27 Aug 2026 07:39:25
{Ed's Note - Shappy has posted a new article entitled, A Clear Assessment of United's Squad

26 Aug 2026 17:56:03
I like the Martinez link, aside from the fact he's a better keeper than Sanchez, top 3 in the Premier League on most metrics, he's an incredible presence and very vocal and another experienced leader.

He'll add a level of confidence to the defence that's been sadly missing since Courtois.

It also leaves a clear path for young Penders.

26 Aug 2026 18:26:56
Agree with you, weird impersonator.

26 Aug 2026 20:50:14
I'm lost with all these names.

26 Aug 2026 21:07:15
What's in a name? We may all have different views, but we all support the same team.

26 Aug 2026 21:40:55
I agree with you, Tom. Kaz AKA Standard calls me 'Green'? Weird. But, what does it matter? None of us know each other, and every poster on here could be living in a world of fantasy. It matters not. Enjoy the site, get your opinion in, support the club, and keep it clean.

Tell everyone you are an expert in whatever, or retired as a millionaire at 12 years old, or live in Oz when you live with your Mum in Kent. It matters not. Up the Chelsea.

26 Aug 2026 22:29:22
Don't cry, K.

26 Aug 2026 23:25:21
Haha shots fired by K. If you are Greenaway it's fairly weird to pop up and pretend not to be. Says a lot about your mental. Also, EdW and EbW are too close for it to be a coincidence. Definitely some disturbed wackos rocking around on this page.

Oh well, at least the genius investors that run the club only posted a 400m loss last time round.

27 Aug 2026 03:01:03
Our opinions are usually based on guesswork. I personally also admit to being biased and occasionally having an agenda, but what on earth does my, or any posters' opinions really matter?

As far as players' sakes are concerned, I'm pleased we are trying to sell certain players, but unhappy about selling others.

It's the same when it comes to our signings, some I like, and one I'm potentially not very happy about. In over sixty years of supporting my club, it has always been the same when it comes to the buying and selling of players.

27 Aug 2026 19:32:08
What are you talking about, Tom?

27 Aug 2026 19:31:47
Well, that's embarrassing for K. I suspect he'll be back next week with another new name.

27 Aug 2026 19:53:24
What is embarrassing is some posters obsession with a posters name. If the Ed's are ok with why on earth would anyone else care.
Just for the record I generally like Greenaways input to this site.

My point is people/posters are just giving opinions, usually guesswork but they should all be treated with respect and courtesy.

27 Aug 2026 20:26:49
Tom, is it respectful/courteous towards others on this site to create a handle that's basically identical to another poster's handle? Or to have multiple handles on the go at the same time?

27 Aug 2026 22:01:01
EdW, you could take it as a compliment. I personally answer the post content rather than the name.
I suppose there must be a reason why posters would want multiple names, but I personally couldn't care less.
The poster "K" seems like a reasonable poster to me, and Greenaway always had interesting views.

26 Aug 2026 14:33:55
Looks a possibilty that Martinez may be coming good goalkeeper but cannot stand the player.

Got me thinking on the players Chelsea signed and I couldn't stand them nos one has to be be Micky Thomas with the most recent being Garnacho am sure there were a few others but my memory is not what it was.

26 Aug 2026 16:21:22
Seymns, I couldn't stand Denis Wise.

26 Aug 2026 17:03:00
Players not sure, but manager... Rafa Benitez.

26 Aug 2026 17:14:11
Benitez is a good shout. Couldn't stand him either.

26 Aug 2026 18:38:51
Likewise was very disappointed when we signed Garnacho – a player I'd always loved to hate at United.
Aubameyang – no thanks.
Turned out to be a good player for us, but Marcos Alonso was a pr*ck off the pitch.
Pulisic – religious fundamentalist and MAGA supporter.
Mark Bosnich was always a scumbag.

26 Aug 2026 20:50:36
EdW, good selection. I would add Mutu. Also, although it will upset some, I never liked Terry despite his contribution on the pitch.

26 Aug 2026 21:13:26
For personal reasons I'm a big fan of Wise.

Can only think of one player I didn't like, but only after he became manager, and that was RG.

27 Aug 2026 11:43:42
I hate martinez we get rid of 1 annoying argie for an even worse one
I never liked gus poyet

27 Aug 2026 16:20:53
Jimbo, I'm with you on Terry - all the Anton Ferdinand business, although unproven blah blah blah, was somehow unsurprising, and, on top of that, what he did to his supposed best mate, Wayne Bridge.

Mutu, I think, I knew next to nothing about, and was fairly young at the time, so was just quite excited when he scored a banger in his first game, but clearly wasn't taking football all that seriously at the time.

To be fair to him, he's come out and talked about his regrets about that.

26 Aug 2026 07:39:15
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 1 - Quick Round Up