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KDrog's rumours posts with other poster's replies to KDrog's rumours posts
08 Jul 2024 17:55:38
Ed002
Is it true that Athletico Madrid are interested in Conor Gallagher?
Many thanks.
{Ed002's Note - There is a huge amount of interest.}
1.) 08 Jul 2024 23:17:43
No surprises there. No shortage of suiters for a quality player who's been our best cm and captain. Will be very sad to see him go.
2.) 09 Jul 2024 10:12:11
How about he signs a new contract then, he is the one that can put all this to bed.
I still believe he will walk free end of the next season.
3.) 09 Jul 2024 11:54:50
How about he receives an offer commensurate with his age, experience and status as an England international and captain.
4.) 09 Jul 2024 12:16:58
Kdrog, how do you know he hasn't had just that? are you privvy to the offer made to him?
5.) 09 Jul 2024 12:27:59
Do you know he hasn’t?
Ed told us some time ago that the club had made him an offer. He is fully entitled to reject that offer and if he wants he can see out his contract and leave for free at the end of the season.
6.) 09 Jul 2024 12:29:14
I should have added that as virtually every player in the squad is playing better than Sterling they should all be getting more than him! hahaha.
7.) 09 Jul 2024 12:30:02
Again you don't know what has been offered to him. Maybe it's already what he is worth but he wants more.
What would your limit be.
£100k £150k £300k £400k.
8.) 09 Jul 2024 13:31:53
And how do you all know he's been offered a competitive salary?
He's made it very clear he wants to stay so it's a simple task to make him a competitive offer.
The truth is the club were planning to cash in on him and until he prospered under Poch and would still prefer that option if the price is right.
You have only to take note of blowing £19m on the Villa kid to see the strategy if indeed it can be called that.
Why you lot would trust the clubs version of events God knows.
9.) 09 Jul 2024 13:56:27
I think its pretty obvious chelsea aren't offering him a competitive salary. Hence why he is leaving and will sign for a club who offers him that competitive salary.
It's fine that him and chelsea disagree on value, I'm just dissapointed chelsea have and continue to sign players worse than him.
10.) 09 Jul 2024 14:01:06
Yet again you use phrases such as “truth” and “trust” as if you are some sort of oracle of fact.
11.) 09 Jul 2024 14:06:14
Sorry that post was sent to soon.
Ed has been referenced as saying the club have made CG an offer.
The club have made no comment and I’m not aware of the player making any comment other than him reportedly saying “he wants to stay. ”
So, it’s not a question of any supporter having to “trust the clubs version” because there is no club version.
12.) 09 Jul 2024 14:44:47
Standard, what is a competitive salary? Is it the same as Enzo, Chuka, Palmer, Lavia, Ugo or Caicedo?
I may well be wrong but I think it’s more of a problem of the new owners paying some players to much.
Personally I would only pay players a base salary with the majority being performance related.
I also believe that the club has offered CG a contract as per the Ed quote. If CG doesn’t think it’s enough he doesn’t have to sign it. I don’t want him to leave but I’m fed up with the saga and can I also add, if the club don’t value the player as much as fans or as much as he values himself it doesn’t make them wrong or bad people.
13.) 09 Jul 2024 14:52:26
Tom, I think Ed002 said Chelsea have made Gallagher a “reasonable “offer. However, that is beside the point, you are right there is no point arguing that I should be paid the same as someone else where each player has individual contracts negotiated by agents. Things change, the club aren’t handing the kind of wages they were a couple of years ago.
14.) 09 Jul 2024 15:24:52
Jimbo, you are spot on mate. I’m not sure what “reasonable or competitive” means in the terms of contract offer but my guess is not one singe poster has a clue either.
In some people’s eyes the club should just give him a package that he can get elsewhere. The problem with that method of “non negotiation” doesn’t take into account that all clubs needs are different.
15.) 09 Jul 2024 16:49:45
Again how much should he be paid. Should he be paid as much as palmer, sterling, enzo.
I have no idea how much they are paid neither do I know how much they have offered Connor.
In my opinion they all get paid enough so if he wants to stay as you have said why has he not signed. The only answer is he values himself more. Which brings back the original question how do you know he hasn't been offered £300k but wants £310k so what would your limit be to pay him ?.
16.) 09 Jul 2024 22:01:53
Hey jsfinchy just ignore them mate. They love to troll.
17.) 10 Jul 2024 09:34:18
The club holds the exclusive rights to make contracts offer for the players and obviously don't value cg as much as he value himself. The club has a process and it's absurd a player will demand parity with other players just because he enjoyed a sustained injury free season. In the beginning, I expected cg to be coming from the bench but lavia was never fit. cg for all the headless run around, doesn't effect the team in a desired impact expected of an AM . I would think CC is better suited than cg. Would have been better but for injuries. Maresca knew about it with KDH. Many of us think cg was one of our outstanding players last season because many were injured or played through injury. Remember we had a midtable performance throughout the season.
18 Jun 2024 20:38:01
Ed002
It's being reported we have made a bid for Samu Omorodion would you know if this is true?
Many thanks.
{Ed002's Note - I am not interested in trying to give blow-by-blow updates.}
12 Jun 2024 11:04:40
Ed002
Is it true we are interested in signing Desire Doue from Rennes?
Many thanks.
{Ed002's Note - Desire Doue (LW/RW/AM) The player is young and talented but rather moody and has decided to leave with him apparently desperate to move to PSG. Borussia Dortmund see him as a replacement for Jadon Sancho, and Manchester IUnited want him to replace Antony. Arsenal, Spurs and RBL have sent scouts with Arsenal declaring an interest. Last summer Chelsea considered him as an AM on the advice of an ex-player and they will look again. Bayer Leverkusen will look to him as a potential Florian Wirtz replacement if needs be - but that will not be until 2025. A wildcard would be PSG or perhaps Bayern Munich. Rennes will seek €75M for him which will end most interest.}
1.) 12 Jun 2024 18:31:46
Thanks for the detailed response Ed002.
2.) 15 Jun 2024 04:02:20
Love me some Desirae
LIFE
OH LIFE
OOOOOOOOH LIIIIFE
OH LIFE.
06 Jun 2024 15:55:30
Ed002
I noticed Lukaku was talking about Saudi positively recently unlike last season.
Do you know if he is now interested in moving to Saudi?
Many thanks.
{Ed002's Note - it is related to something that happened in the past few days and a discussion with another player. But ideally he wants to stay in Italy, which us possible but slightly difficult.}
1.) 06 Jun 2024 17:34:53
Thanks
I noticed DeBruyne is talking more positively as well at least about the remuneration on offer!
17 May 2024 23:34:33
3d002
Is it true the club have an interest in signing Ramon Sosa?
Many thanks.
{Ed002's Note - Ramon Sosa (LW/RW) BlueCo are looking to authorise the payment of the player's €18.5M termination clause and move the player to Strasbourg. If it works well he may get a future move to Chelsea.}
1.) 18 May 2024 09:45:44
Thanks Ed002 makes a change for something on social media to be almost correct!
KDrog's banter posts with other poster's replies to KDrog's banter posts
11 Jul 2024 21:07:29
----Sure but it is of no relevance-----------
06 Jul 2024 11:52:59
This is an exempt from someone in the game who worked at Cobham recently talking about the reason for the departure of Jim and Neil.
Its a symptom of modern football unfortunately .
It is much bigger than a post on here as I will not be able to do the topic justice but people running clubs investing in systems and processes want instant returns on investment and have forgotten football is all about people.
It is not just at Chelsea, and this is paraphrasing to make a point, but when senior staff and I include Emma Hayes in this, are told they are not doing good enough and we need to be more like clubs like Brighton, by someone with little to no achievement in the game it does really irk people. Hasan Sulamain could have been promoted and is regarded highly within the game, but a computer nerd who has never spoken to Hasan says that some guy in another country who they have also never spoken to is a better fit.
I have been to so many events and conferences the last 12 months where the consensus is that there is an element of the people coming into football have grown up playing football manager and think that is what football is really like and should be like.
1.) 06 Jul 2024 12:15:50
Football is a business like any other and in today’s world businesses will use every aid possible to support its decision making process.
My guess would be that the owners are now taking advice from various sources. The decisions they make as the ultimate decision makers can be judged over time.
We might all have views on the owners, recruiters, manager and players but we should at least try and give those decisions a chance or know the facts before we make judgement.
The women’s team and the academy could, over time, become even more successful. Sometimes change is good and can be beneficial to all the concerned parties.
2.) 06 Jul 2024 12:32:31
So in other words if this is true, the owners have learnt absolutely nothing.
3.) 06 Jul 2024 13:00:55
“If” is the big word here Bill, but I’m sure certain posters are ready to jump all over this as proof for their agenders to slate the club in any shape or form.
4.) 06 Jul 2024 13:46:02
EH took up a new job managing the USA. The club gave full praise for all her work.
The club having a glowing appraisal of NB’s work at the club. Ed02 says the club knew about his decision to move on inn at but made every effort to persuade him to stay. NB himself has said he wants to take time away from football.
If I remember correctly Hasan Sulamain got what amounted to an internal promotion last year.
Maybe the club wants change but just maybe, change could be good for the club and for all concerned.
5.) 06 Jul 2024 15:23:54
Change is good Tom As long as it works otherwise when people who are respected move on for what ever reason, SB can turn toxic very quickly which is rhe same at other clubs as well however the medua are just waiting for the fans to turn on the owners and then they will have a field day.
6.) 06 Jul 2024 15:37:28
Bill, some fans turned on the owners day one and look for any reason to support there agenda. I have no problems with criticism when it’s justified or based on fact.
As far as we know there is “nothing to see. ” The club tried to persuade NB to stay.
Of course the owners decisions on any subject could prove to be wrong, in fact they have admitted to making mistakes but let’s judge them and those decisions after a period of time.
7.) 06 Jul 2024 17:00:06
Tom do you think it'd justified to say its been a huge failure thus far (spending over one billion, going from 3rd to 12th and 6th and arguably having a worse team than 3 years ago)? I'd say that's an absolutely fair statement and unfortunately in my opinion the owners are making the same mistakes they made initially (the sales of Gallagher and chalobah)
8.) 06 Jul 2024 18:01:47
Not sure I’d say our team now is worse than 3 years ago. Out of the squad from the CL win the only players imo that are better than we have currently are Rudi and Kante. Kante though was getting on and was having multiple injuries per season and we know the club was unable to offer Rudi a new contract due to the ban.
Ziyech, Werner, Alonso, Mendy, Emerson, Jorginho, Saul, Kenedy, Barkley, Drinkwater, Kepa, Pulisic, RLC. I’d argue none of them would get into our current starting 11 or make the bench. Pulisic and RLC have done well in Italy coinciding with fewer injuries but that could be explained by the lower level on intensity of the league in general. Barkley’s had a small resurgence recently at Luton but not really to the level required.
Others such as Kovacic and Abraham are perhaps decent options but Kovacic wanted to leave (we don’t generally stand in the way of players who want out) and Abraham might be a decent back up option to Jackson.
9.) 06 Jul 2024 18:51:28
Maybe fuser but the team 3 years ago won the champions league and finished third. This side finished 6th.
10.) 06 Jul 2024 20:21:03
Standard, all fans are obviously entitled to an opinion.
The likes of Kepa, Mendy, Werner, Alonso, Pusilic, Ziyech and maybe Jorginho had to be changed in my opinion. Mount couldn’t agree terms.
I didn’t hear one voice at the time saying replace our two out of contract CH’s with Chalaboa or Colwill and I didn’t here anyone say put Maatsen or Hall at LB and don’t buy Cucarella.
have repeatedly said I think that recruitment was done to hastily and the owners without question made mistakes but generally I’m happy with the vast majority of our current squad. I have also named the players, Disasi, Enzo, Chilly and Mudryk that I still have reservations about. Let me also make it clear I have had reservations about players in every squad for over 60 years. So, no change there then.
Anyway, this thread was about criticism aimed at the owners before any details had come out about NB leaving the club. Some, just couldn’t wait to point a finger.
11.) 06 Jul 2024 22:30:47
Standard I would bet my house rn that if we’d stuck with the exact same CL winning squad for the following season we would not have finished in the top 4 with it imo.
The issue over the last 2 years has been the new ownership tried to change things too quickly and made massive mistakes that first summer listening to an advisor (not sure who it was) and buying the likes of KK, Aubameyang et al. The fact is when you basically buy an entire new squad (which is what it is, only Chilly and James are realistically the only surviving players from 2 years ago) then it’ll take time for the squad to gel. First season under them the summer window was a shambles, they then tried to correct it in the Jan window but then left us with a squad of 30+ players which was always going to cause issues as there’ll be 10+ players not even making the bench every week. I thought they dealt Potter a bad hand with the size of the squad and pulled the trigger too early imo. Not to say he would have been the correct choice but I think it would have been better to ride out the season with him in charge rather than give it to Lampard in the end as the size of the squad was always going to be an issue regardless of who was manager.
Pochettino wasn’t my choice of manager, but he did fairly well imo. The start of the season was rough (again new players still trying to get used to playing with each other) compounded by injuries to key players (Nkunku, James, Chilwell) IF we’d had a settled side (from preseason and no injuries) I think we win the games in September against Forest, Bournemouth and Villa and then we finish in the top 4. Which would have been a great achievement imo.!
I personally would have stuck with Poch (despite the tactics of the Carabao cup final) as he’d made progress and towards the end of the season it looked like we were on an upward trajectory.
This summer despite a new manager our players have now mostly been with each other 12-24 months so should have a decent amount of chemistry. So ideally we should be looking to finish in the top4. I have my reservations about the amount of changes we’ll see this summer as it does look like there’ll be 5-6 changes again.
12.) 07 Jul 2024 10:07:15
I just wonder what the excuse will be next year fuser.
13.) 07 Jul 2024 12:08:44
Surely you’re not just waiting for failure or is that just your expectation?
14.) 07 Jul 2024 23:29:32
Reasons aren’t excuses but there will undoubtedly be something that happens. Injuries to key players or something will pop up, as nothing ever goes 100% to plan. No club is perfect either. City despite their success are facing 110+ charges, Utd are in a worse position than us imo, Arsenal spent near on 15 years competing for 4th place trophy and whilst they’ve improved in the last few years have only won a couple of FA cups. Liverpool too spent years out in the wilderness before stumbling upon Klopp and Salah, they’ve also had big transfer failures even under Klopp. They’ve also only won 1 CL and 1 PL despite being such a great side over the last 5 years.
Even us under Abramovich finished like 8th or 10th and had several poor seasons throughout his ownership. We bought as many duds as successes, fired managers almost every year. So overall I’d be pretty happy to finish in the top4 this season as it would be an improvement as show that we’re on the right path.
15.) 07 Jul 2024 23:47:37
Obviously an expectation based on the last 2 seasons and the reduction of squad quality. We're also about to lose our best CB and interim captain and have a worse manager at the helm. Of course I hope differently but I'm simply not optimistic.
16.) 08 Jul 2024 01:54:08
So less optimistic than under Poch, interesting.
I’m not sure who “our best CB” is now Silva has left.
I thought last season would be 6th-8th and this season 3rd-5th. Just a small improvement because all of our main competition will not stand still and wait for us to catch up.
17.) 08 Jul 2024 05:18:05
Never heard or seen maresca manage before 2 months ago tom. Simply discussing on here. Once the whistle sounds ill be supporting all the lads just as much as you so please don't take it the wrong way. Just being honest :)
18.) 08 Jul 2024 09:01:03
Standard, so if you know nothing about him or seen him manage before how do know we have a “worse manager at the helm? ”.
19.) 08 Jul 2024 12:33:13
Standard I have read lots of your post and can't remember the last positive post you made.
Are you OK mate?
That is a genuine question by the way.
20.) 09 Jul 2024 14:00:08
Then you must misread plenty finchy. The last two before this reply were positive ?.
21.) 09 Jul 2024 14:00:34
Because he's onlu managed a championship club? Whereas poch has managed the biggest teams in the world. pretty simple if you ask me.
22.) 09 Jul 2024 14:47:09
Total load of tosh, that has zero bearing on his abilities as a manager.
23.) 09 Jul 2024 15:31:20
Impossible to talk to you my dude. Just going to stop bothering because it's not worth it at this point.
24.) 09 Jul 2024 15:36:40
I’m not your “dude. ”
We all have choices in life.
03 Jul 2024 20:55:22
The clowns running our club have really out done themselves now with Neil Bath and Jim Fraser leaving the club.
Shocking.
1.) 03 Jul 2024 21:37:06
Not sure about “shocking” but I have to say I’m surprised. I would like to think there is a plan in place to replace two guys who have been very instrumental in the success of our academy.
2.) 03 Jul 2024 21:54:50
Where I'd this info from as I can't find anything.
Also what are the reasons as you have gone straight for the owners again.
Yet did they want to leave.
3.) 03 Jul 2024 22:21:58
Jsfinchy, it’s being reported as “amicable” but no doubt blame will be apportioned and fingers pointed.
4.) 03 Jul 2024 23:26:52
I no longer recognise my club. The last 3 years have been a categorical failure of the highest proportion which only continues to get worse.
5.) 04 Jul 2024 05:11:01
I posted a long time ago (pre new owners) that I had lost a bit of attachment to my club. I have wondered why and it isn’t just one thing. I think the detachment started with club sacking Carlo and then it’s dalliance with the European Super League proposal.
I think it’s sad that Bath and Fraser are leaving the club after about 30 years of service. With the support of the club they were instrumental in building one of the most successful academies. Lots of players from that academy have gone onto have successful football careers. Also they brought trophy success to several groups of young lads.
I’m also told that the educational structure within the club is second to none and they deserve credit for that as well.
There departure is said to be amicable. As yet I haven’t found any statement from the club or the individuals.
6.) 04 Jul 2024 10:23:04
Sounds like Fraser was pushed and Bath resigned in protest. Shields and Jewell taking the reigns. They have replaced everyone that was at the club previously with their men now. There's nothing left to hide behind if this doesn't work out. The last part of the club that was truly elite has lost it's leaders.
The Chelsea academy has been a shining light, a bastion of continued and sustained excellence that has been the envy of every other club in world football. Countless careers have been launched from it and innumerous others have included a stint at Cobham. At one point it was said that 20% of the players across all age groups who were representing England had spent time at Cobham.
Neil and Jim's work will go down in history, the word 'Cobham' has become as household as La Maisa and that is in a large part down to them. But more importantly it has become synonymous with sheer excellence. It's hard to overstate what these two men have achieved in their 30 odd years at Chelsea and no matter what anyone tells you, Chelsea will forever be poorer for not having them in the building.
It's easy to take for granted the fact that the academy produces, on average, 3 players that could come in and do a job for the first team every season. It is high time this sporting structure recognised that and reigned in their lust for new acquisitions and trusted what these two men built. Maybe now that they have left, and others can claim credit for their achievements, that will finally happen.
7.) 04 Jul 2024 10:53:54
Well put RBD.
8.) 04 Jul 2024 11:13:51
RBD, very good post mate and I guess we may never know the reasons for there departure.
It was said at the end of last season that a root and branch review of all aspects of the club would take place and I assume that included owners/ management.
I have no idea why these historically important players in Chelsea’s history have left the club. It will also take time to see if this is a correct call by the owners.
Anyway, as I’ve said before it’s a very sad situation and I can only say thanks for what you have both accomplished at our club and wish you both well for the future.
9.) 04 Jul 2024 11:14:39
Good post RBD. Sad day for the club, this.
10.) 04 Jul 2024 12:40:29
Good post RBD. I'm not one to jump at the club for an isolated event but it's seemingly clearer and clearer that they just want yes men and are stripping the club of its identity.
I've said time and time again. My favourite ever season was our transfer ban season. We finally got to bring through our academy players and they all excelled, and delivered us a champions league trophy. Since then, it's been shameful how much we've depreciated even after spending over 1 billion pounds for even worse players. I'll say it again, this disaster will be a case study for future university students.
11.) 04 Jul 2024 13:06:19
Do we really know the facts behind their departures? I shall wait to find out before jumping to any conclusion. What is clear though is that change happens and
parents and their footballing kids have picked our academy not only for footballing reasons.
The facilities ( which the owners are going to improve even more) are top notch.
The education,
Help with funding.
The area.
The record of youths progressing into making football a career.
Etc etc the list goes on and on as to why our academy is one of the most desirable in UK and most probably the most desirable in the South.
Just because a few people are leaving and/ or there have been changes to personnel does not mean our academy will become any less desirable and nose dive now.
It's not just about the football.
12.) 04 Jul 2024 13:12:57
I’m not sure why the departure of two long serving staff is a definite indication that the club only want “yes men. ” I have seen no actual reasons for there departure so I will reserve any comments until the reasons become public.
Only time will tell if this is a good or bad move but it is sad to see such long serving and successful people leave the club.
The owners have in my opinion made some poor decisions but I’m still generally happy with the first team squad and I also think improvement will continue next season.
13.) 04 Jul 2024 13:22:45
Indeed G8, and it was Bath and Fraser who pioneered everything you just listed as desirable about the academy. The structure that they built remains, we can only hope it is as sturdy as they were in their leadership.
I too, thoroughly enjoyed the season where Lamps brought through all of the kids. The game against Ajax was simply incredible. And yes, 7 players from the academy were part of the squad that won the Champions League just 3 years ago. Now only one still plays for us.
It's sales of these academy products that have kept us in the black through this era of obscene spending, spent on players that so far haven't managed to achieve even the league position that we had. Food for thought.
14.) 04 Jul 2024 13:34:40
It would appear that the two individuals have not left the club suddenly. Apparently they told the club at the end of the season that they would be leaving.
As far as the sale of academy products is concerned I ask the same question as I asked a week ago. How many would you have back?
We have been selling academy products for generations. The debate should be in my opinion have we recruited better players. In my opinion In some cases yes but then I was a fan that wanted a complete overhaul of our squad.
15.) 04 Jul 2024 13:39:03
Good point g8, and Tom it is not just the 2 long term staff leaving, it's tuchel leaving, poch leaving and more. This is a completely different club from what it was, and unfortunately a worse one. Again, it's been a huge fall from grace though that's not to say it may not change.
Precisely RBD. The players we are spending fortunes on are consistently performing worse than the players we already had. Palmer and gusto were marvellous signings however. The rest, TBD.
16.) 04 Jul 2024 13:59:11
Standard, one of your points is club only wants “yes men. ” There is nothing to say why they have left is my point or that the club only want to employ so called “yes men. ”
For the last twenty years managers have come and gone. This revolving door of managers has been applauded by some as a reason for our success. My personal preference has always been for continuity. So we now have change at the top in our academy. I’m sad to see them go but I, unlike some, have no idea if this change of academy management will bring even more success.
If some want to use this change as proof, or a mechanism to carry on being critical of our new owners that’s ok but I will wait and see if this change brings continued success.
17.) 04 Jul 2024 14:47:08
I really am not one of these people that thinks the first team needs to be full of academy players and I fully accept that there are unique circumstances to all comings and goings at the club.
What I primarily object to, is wasting money on transferring in players who don't provide a sufficient increase in quality over what you already have in-house. Because that wastage adds up and will eventually prevent you from being able to afford a player that can improve the first team.
Lets do a very quick and dirty audit from 2021 onwards. I obviously have hindsight here and I'm not going to go into the weeds, and the sanctions clearly had an impact, but go with me here.
We sold Guehi for 18m when we had two central defenders, Rudiger and Christensen, in the last year of their contract. They both ended up leaving and we signed Koulibaly for 33m who stunk the gaff out for 12 months before leaving. To replace him, we signed Disasi for 38.5m. A net 53.5m spent, to be in a worse position. With a tiny bit of foresight, we could have avoided that.
We sold Mount for 55m and bought Nkunku, Chukwuemeka and KDH for a combined 102m. A net 47m spent, for 2 players who missed the entire season and a player that was inferior to Mount when they were both playing in the prem. I think Nkunku is better than Mount, but had we kept him, we have a top class option off the bench who can play in multiple positions and don't need to the other two.
We sold CHO for what, 5m? And we spent 62m on Mudryk. I mean, do I need to say anything else? OK, CHO scored the same number of goals since February that Mudryk has since he joined. He's also got a brain when he plays. Oh and Pulisic for 58m!
We sold Tammy for 34m, and have cycled through Werner (47.5m), Lukaku (97.5m) and Aubameyang (8m) until finding a suitable replacement, Jackson (32m) . Is that good squad building?
We singed Cucurella for 62m, who has been almost uniformly terrible since he arrived, while having Maatsen and Hall waiting in the wings. We sold both for a combined 67.5m, so a 5.5m profit, but we have now lost two players who are better than him that we didn't pay anything for! Throw Livramento in there as well!
I'm not highlighting these simply to prove my point because there are of course mitigating factors for each circumstance. But in each instance there was enough logic there to see that these weren't areas of the squad that needed immediate attention. Would we be better off if we had kept them and invested elsewhere? It's impossible to say, but that's not the point. The point is that the grass is not always greener. The shiny new toy isn't always better than the unpolished one you already have. By having a little bit of faith in players that you know everything about, rather than making an informed guess on one you've never seen train, we could have saved money to spend on someone to improve the first team.
18.) 04 Jul 2024 14:47:33
Things are definitely changing at the club whether it’s for the better, we will have to wait and see. New home kit looks like a washing powder box. What next big foam fingers, cheerleaders and a rendition of “Land of the Free. ”.
19.) 04 Jul 2024 15:18:29
RBD, you make some valid points but who would want Mount or CHO back? Not me. As for Mount as an option off the bench I seem to recall he wanted £250 K a week- very expensive bench warmer. We already have enough players on around £200K a week who are not making any meaningful contributions.
20.) 04 Jul 2024 15:33:46
RBD, you make some very good observations about players who were let go and indeed players who have come in. Some of which I agree with and some I don't. However, the players you have mentioned were sold not only by the current owners but also by the previous owner yet the start of this thread which we are all replying to was a comment from a poster calling the current owners "clowns running the club". That is his or her opinion but I think in reply we need to talk about decisions made under their ownership rather than under the previous ownership or at least try to make clear we are talking about the club rather than the owners if that makes sense?
21.) 04 Jul 2024 15:43:20
RBD, I said several times that our new owners should have taken stock of the situation and staff before acting so quickly and from what I understand they have acknowledged mistakes were made.
We did sell Tammy under the previous owners and I thought that was a mistake but apparently that was a sale that TT sanctioned. The signings of Lukaku and PEA were awful decisions and made worse t that TT failed to play to any strengths that Lukaku has.
Werner was welcomed as a good signing by most, me included but over a couple of seasons it became obvious he was out of his depth at Chelsea. Selling him was a big plus.
Hall would have been perfect for our new manager but I doubt Poch would have played him as was the case with Maatsen. It’s hardly surprising that the club took the decision to sell if the manager doesn’t play them. Anyway, I think Cucarella improved enough through last season to be considered a good signing.
CHO, the sale for me was understandable albeit to low a transfer fee. He looked like a star, got a horror injury and never at any stage in Chelsea colours looked as if he would get back to his previous levels. He then went on loan to Germany and didn’t pull up any trees. With the benefit of hindsight we shouldn’t have sold him the club doesn’t have that skill.
Again how many of the academy players sold under RA and our new owners would you or any other fan take back. My answer to that is two.
22.) 04 Jul 2024 15:47:04
Jimbo, like I said, I'm using these as examples to illustrate the wider point rather than vouching for these players in particular. You could probably write something similar about RLC, Tomori, Gilmour etc.
But since you highlighted them, sure, having Mount and CHO on the bench for a combined 370k pw would be problematic. that's near enough 20m annually. Mudryk costs us around 13m annually.
In Mount's best season for us he had 13 goals and 16 assists. Last season CHO had 8 goals and 2 assists. So let's call it 21 goals and 18 assists a season in a best case scenario.
In Mudryk's entire career, including playing in the Ukrainian league, he has 19 goals and 23 assists.
I'd argue they are worth 7m more a year than whatever he offers.
23.) 04 Jul 2024 16:06:23
Mudryk earns £7.8 million per year.
24.) 04 Jul 2024 16:10:57
RBD, in his last 18 months at the club Mount was poor; he is like the Emma Raducanu of football ; starts off brightly and fades into obscurity.
25.) 04 Jul 2024 16:17:01
I was one of Mounts biggest fans but partly because of injury, he had a shocking last season with us before that he was class hence the transfer fee we have received from Utd. I’m a big fan but wouldn’t want him back and I truly believe Chuka and Lavia with offer us lots more than MM.
When we signed Mudryk he was lauded by virtually every single fan as a brilliant signing and we were all happy to nick him off the toes of the gooners. CHO was sent on loan and did nothing of note in Germany. At that stage I think most fans thought those two decisions made sense.
Let’s carry on with the signings we managed after an age to loan out Ziyech. In my opinion Noni is a massive upgrade on him.
The players in our squad that I still have doubts about “at the moment” are, Disasi, Mudryk, Enzo and Chilly. I’m also not sure about our goalkeepers but they are both so much better than we had.
26.) 04 Jul 2024 16:24:41
Mount has, hardly liked a ball in anger now for two seasons and I would say he haaxnot been missed by either us or indeed England.
We have always sold young players, you only have to look no further than Salah and KDB.
We as a club never keep players when they do not want to be here to the determination of monies we get for those players.
It looks like the two academy guys are off to Newcastle and has no doubt been in the pipeline since January, we wanted them to stay but they had other ideas no doubt already having had conversations with their new employers.
27.) 04 Jul 2024 16:32:04
Tom, don’t choke on your tea cake but I agree with you apart from Abraham he was never going to be top class.
28.) 04 Jul 2024 16:54:21
Jimbo, I didn’t say Tammy was top class but he is better than Lukaku and at the time offered more than Giroud.
29.) 04 Jul 2024 17:17:04
Tom, no point playing a striker if they are not 25 goals a season: nothing more frustrating than a bang average striker, better off doing without one.
30.) 04 Jul 2024 17:50:33
G8, well I listed him down as 5.2m a year with 7.75m amortised transfer fee. So if you are correct then he actually costs 15.55m per year.
In which case Mount + CHO for an additional 4.45m is even better.
31.) 04 Jul 2024 18:19:19
RBD, you can only look at these dealing as they occur. It would be wonderful if we all had the benefit of hindsight but unfortunately that’s not a gift bestowed on many people or owners of football clubs.
If only we had kept KDB and Salah. If only we hadn’t let Rice leave at 14. We could go on forever.
32.) 04 Jul 2024 18:47:41
Really don’t want to be funny here but RBD you’d really advocate us paying Mount £250k/ week to sit on the bench and be a rotation option with Nkunku? What effect would that have on the rest of the squad? If I’m Palmer or even Nkunku I’d be looking at that and wanting that much if not more no? So all of a sudden instead of ‘saving’ £4.45m from keeping Mount and CHO instead of buying Mudryk. You have an extra 300k/ week from raising the wages of NKunku and Palmer so an extra £15m/ year. Maybe Enzo and Caicedo and James, Chilwell, Gallagher now also want wage increases as they’re on less than £250k/ week and they’re generally in the first 11.
The fact of the matter is at £250k/ week that player needs to be starting pretty much every single game and near the peak of their powers imo.
Also a bit disingenuous in regards to CB’s in 20/ 21. Alongside Christensen and Rudiger, we also had T. Silva, Tomori and up and coming Chalobah and Colwill (although Chalobah went out on loan) . We also had Zouma who ended up leaving 2 days before the summer window closed. So the sale of Guéhi had made sense at the time and there were sell on clauses amongst other things which were included. Tomori went on loan in January after Lampard only played him once in the first half of the season. All this under completely different ownership I might add.
33.) 04 Jul 2024 18:47:45
Having just read the joint statement from the club and Neil Bath it seems that the decision to leave was Neil’s and Jim’s. I wish them all the best.
Certain posters on here seem to take any opportunity they can to attack the club and owners without knowing the facts first. The words embarrassing and shocking keep getting used far too often. As supposed supporters of the club this small portion of posters are the only embarrassing and shocking ones .
34.) 04 Jul 2024 19:21:23
Hdkn, personally I find the “rush” to judge without knowing the facts strange but my guess is we all have a tendency to look for ways to support our own agendas.
35.) 04 Jul 2024 20:05:23
Hdkn, I don’t know how old Neil and Jim are but it may be that they wanted to enjoy the fruits of their labour or take on a new challenge .
36.) 04 Jul 2024 20:20:48
Jimbo, NB must be getting close to 60 ish. He says in his comments he is looking forward to some time away from football.
37.) 04 Jul 2024 20:43:10
So after all my years selling players happens. It happens in every club but what I like about ours is that we won't keep players that don't want to be here.
There are players that I wish we didn't sell. Namely salah, kdb, musiala, rice maybe but only going off the last 2 seasons for rice.
All of which I might say wasn't these owners.
Of the recent players leaving I can't say I would take any back pulisic and rlc are doing OK but in the Italian league it's not like the Premier league. And pulisic constantly struggled in the Premier when he wasn't injured.
The one player I really wish we hadn't sold was hazard for him just as much for us. As his career went on a downward spiral.
As for christisen he wasn't good enough and a few on here said that buy have short memories.
Rudiger ran down his contract and we couldn't give him one when roman got sanctioned. It looked like he wanted to go to Madrid so he went.
The owners " or who are supposed to be advising who we buy" made lots of mistakes in the beginning. To which todd has said.
Tuchel should of been sacked his football was dire.
Potter struggled to instill what he wanted. What ever that was. The football was still dire
I never wanted poch but we got him and I would of still sacked him.
I look back and think what would roman of done. I think we would of sacked all 3 as well.
38.) 04 Jul 2024 18:14:37
Ed02 has made a comment on the Liverpool page about Bath and Fraser leaving.
Apparently the club made every effort to keep them at the club. It wasn’t a shock but a surprise and they informed the club of there decision in May.
I hope that is a close reflection of what you reported Ed?
To suggest the club/ owners only want “yes men” is just plain wrong!
39.) 04 Jul 2024 21:42:05
I would say Sam jewell and Joe shields and apparent recruitment of benfica academy coach as more than capable to keep going the way we have been,
Benfica have an academy better than even ours. And I read there was a difference of view but Clearlake have promoted bath a few times so they obviously believed in him so maybe it’s not all on them,
40.) 06 Jul 2024 20:24:13
Matt, the comments are just based reinforce an agenda.
22 Jun 2024 13:31:59
So we are supposedly signing another AM from Villa 18 years old and currently injured for around £19m.
Number one we don't need another inexperienced player in the squad number two why isn't the money being used for a central striker with experience that we do need?
1.) 22 Jun 2024 18:08:02
I’m not sure that the young Villa lad is currently injured but I am sure us signing him will not stop the club looking to sign a CF.
2.) 22 Jun 2024 20:14:50
He may have recovered but his playing time this season has been limited by two injuries.
And why spend scarce resources when we have Carney Chukwuemeka who needs to be fit and get game time to develop?
3.) 22 Jun 2024 20:45:15
I’ve only seen clips of the lad and as always in clips he looks useful.
Competition for places can be useful and my guess is our new manager will access him along with other midfielders and decide who stays in the squad for next season. He may well go out on loan to continue his development.
I’m pleased he is not “currently” injured.
4.) 23 Jun 2024 00:27:26
Kdrog what striker should we be signing instead?
5.) 23 Jun 2024 10:31:09
Kdrog they are ffp signings for sure. Can't be any other explanation. Well see if it works or not in the future.
6.) 23 Jun 2024 12:13:32
Standard, another explanation could be they are seen as good players!
7.) 24 Jun 2024 08:08:21
Of course tom, I'm sure they see him returning a bigger sale than the 20m we buy him for. But I am concerned with the approach.
13 May 2024 16:40:33
Ed002
It's being reported that the Cobham training ground has been sold and that a share in the womens team might be sold as well.
Can you confirm if this is true?
{Ed002's Note - Not really, I think you may have been misled about Cobham.}
1.) 13 May 2024 17:42:56
Its being reported that it was sold to a group company thus allowing the income to be reported by the club.
Is that correct?
Thanks.
{Ed002's Note - Yes, but you don’t understand the background.}
2.) 13 May 2024 18:48:34
Could you explain the background Ed002?
Thanks.
{Ed002's Note - Just forget the finances - it is hopeless.}
3.) 14 May 2024 21:52:04
Ed002, that’s what my bank manager said to me decades ago when I enquired about an overdraft- he was right.
{Ed002's Note - He wa right.}
15 Aug 2024 12:11:21
No but plenty got a 6/ 7 year contract who are not fit to lace Conors boots.
Why offer one of our best players and captain for much of the season less than a 5year contract at his age?
{Ed001's Note - I am not disagreeing. I was just pointing out an inaccuracy. I think it is clear that the club were not really sure they wanted him to stay, hence only giving out a short term deal. Also that Gallagher feels that they didn't really want him to stay.}
09 Jul 2024 13:31:53
And how do you all know he's been offered a competitive salary?
He's made it very clear he wants to stay so it's a simple task to make him a competitive offer.
The truth is the club were planning to cash in on him and until he prospered under Poch and would still prefer that option if the price is right.
You have only to take note of blowing £19m on the Villa kid to see the strategy if indeed it can be called that.
Why you lot would trust the clubs version of events God knows.
09 Jul 2024 11:54:50
How about he receives an offer commensurate with his age, experience and status as an England international and captain.
22 Jun 2024 21:51:58
Who knows plenty have foundered, but he will have to compete with Paez, Cole and Madueke which seems like madness to me.
You would have thought the money could have been spent more wisely on a young Brazilian striker.
12 Jun 2024 18:31:46
Thanks for the detailed response Ed002.
06 Aug 2024 14:40:39
You missed your vocation.
05 Aug 2024 18:05:46
Plenty of 'stuff' happened under Roman but the talented a academy boys were always offered generous contracts, maybe too generous at times and looked at as the future of the club.
The ethos built around the academy has been purged thoroughly like just about all aspects of the club and in it's place we have a couple of individuals who have built how many successful squads in there very short career?
And they are considered qualified to build a new squad and appoint a novice manager who won't question any dubious decision making.
What could go wrong?
05 Aug 2024 15:37:20
The club offered Conor a 2year extension when they have offered players not fit to lace his boots 5/ 7 years.
Yet again this was set up for him to quite rightly turn down the offer so they could bag the money and sign yet another Brazilian teenager.
Nothing remotely like this would have happened under Roman.
04 Aug 2024 12:04:03
We were shocking for the most part and that against a city team full of kids.
We were lucky not to have conceded six and only started playing once city had made even more inexperienced subs and switched off.
The blueprint is established now for PL teams against us press high/ close down and we will crumble more often than not.
And playing James in a position that nullifys his greatest asset is absolute genius and Gusto at LB worked a treat as well!
The only decent performance was from Noni who the club are willing to sell.
And we looked so much better without Conor in midfield didn't we!
28 Jul 2024 11:29:48
Everything is academic until we have appointed an experienced manager capable of organising and galvanising the young squad we have.
That was achieved under Poch despite the worst injury crisis in the clubs history.
We now have a novice who is determined to play in one way irrespective of the players we have.
Make no mistake this is the worse managerial appointment the club has made since AVB who at least was successful before he joined.
Once the players realise how inflexible and clueless he is the party will be over.
But it's quite another thing how long it will take the Sporting Directors to admit they got it wrong AGAIN.