The Liquidator

Havertz and Mount are the only two players I would refuse to move on. Everyone else has their price. I like the former alot. He reminds me so much of a young Osgood. My only question, where is he best placed on the pitch. I am not sure the manager has that decision made, although later in the season CF was his starting spot. Mount could truely be anything, other than a Penalty taker! I would consider deals for all other midfield n forward players, as long as we are covered twice in every position come the first game of the season. I think Dembélé would be a nice touch who I would hope to be more creative than the players we have used this season. It looks as thou Defender names are pretty much as last summer, so I am not expecting any new names. A player I like ad dont expect us to buy is a player on loan at Sheffield Unitrd from Wolves, Morgan Gibbs-White. Strong running with plenty of pace, I think he has a future. Time will tell ~ I'll be there 1st home game of the season, as per normal

Check your Private messages Mate

Interesting post Mate On your first point, It to be seen how binding the alleged Anti Glazer points are. We wont know for sure until paperwork is made public. With most of the creditable media outlets choosing to report as "These clauses are thought to bar the group from paying dividends or management fees until 2032, prohibit the sale of any shares of Chelsea for 10 years and place strict limits on the level of debt they could take on." Obviously the use of the word "thought" means they\everyone else don't know for sure. I am of the mind that they are a cute lot n unlikely to sign up for Ten, so I expect an escape will be slotted in the contract somehow. We will see. Yeah Roman made a few mistakes over the years, not being able to control Jose ego first time around being the most costly. I presume you know the Carlo story why he was got rid of and Ray Wilkins before him? While it may have come as a shock to some that day at Everton, I feel sure Carlo knew it from the day Wilkins was let go. Roman never forgave, I like that alot. Tuchel has had alot of forward talent this season, however he never devised a system that would score goals in games we failed kill off. All season he would answer the problem was not enough clean sheets. I as well as alot of others made wonder at what he was looking at. The owner splashing out on a few fav players I believe is a small price to pay for what he delivered over his time. If nothing else it gave opposing fans something to cling too while we continued success and who can forget Torres scoring at Barcelona A summer of in's n outs's looks to be on the menu and you are right about defense. Word has been at the ground for some weeks now that the manager will get his former player out of Barcelona on a free. Hell of a swap if he does!

Not a vintage season for our Blues. Maybe there a few reasons for the lackluster season, but for me its shown up many of the problems we have had for a number of years. Manager has been a credit off the pitch. Alas on the pitch he has been way below the standard needed. Yeah there are things beyond his control which were not foreseen before the season, however the squad he had at hand never consistently reached a level to be proud of and the loss of two wing backs for a long period of time showed him up as pretty much a one system only coach ( he even batted off a change of system after yesterdays game when pushed on the subject). The amount of poor results against teams who were cannon fodder for most clubs would have found him at the exit door had the Government not saved him. The only football reason that in my own mind saves him is these are still to be his players. Maybe at the start of next season that saving grace will be removed. I feel sure there will be alot of movement both in and out this summer, but whatever you do, forgrt anything you read from those who would have you believe they are in the know. It seems the previous manager has been the reason why 3 CH's have left the club including the one said to be best in Italy this past season. Rudiger has been as honest and clear as any fan would want. I stood and applauded him yesterday as he left us, but would like to remind everyone while he has been outstanding under this manager, he was bang average for the rest of his contract with us and wouldn't have been treated as he was by Frank if he had performed. Please don't forget David Luiz threw his toys out the pram to get away from Frank too. Add Christensen mental health and soon to be sold by Barcelona for nice lump sum, we have managed to move all 5 CH's Frank had. While the defense has been far more leaky all season, for me the underlining problem this season was lack of goals, lack of killing off games, the foot on the throat we became used too over the better seasons. The manager did not help us, at least can anyone think when he proved to help his misfiring selections? Maybe he will find that "Fabregas" to make chances which are harder to miss than score (Although Pulisic will still manage to miss) which our forwards have proved to need and this will fall under "his players" tag which should allow him to stick around. Lukaku should not be sold until we are happy with our squad going into the season. So much more could be written as its been quite a last few months and you can find my thoughts on in's n out's in the season outlook thread, Around the ground at the last two season games I felt my fellow season ticket holders down in confidence and a general worry for the future. Funny enough much the same feeling when Roman took over the club. Its to be seen if Todd falls hook line n sinker for the club as Roman followed us in doing. He and his fellow owners at the Dodgers sure have the right attitude on whats needed for success. A crappy season where we lost the best club owner in sports. What do the new owners hold dear? Profit Lucky for us to gain a profit on the money they spent we will have to be successful on the pitch. We will see.

Alas it turns out most of it has proved to be true. This past Wednesday the buzz was Raine group have a forth option. Tired of it all, but most of all of the so called Chelsea fans who have less than a decade put in but have the most say n conditions to be met on any new owner. My hope, if this goes pear shaped, these know nothings disappear as quickly as they appeared with the silverware.

So much being banded about in the pubs around Stamford Bridge & inside the ground last night. If just 25% of it turns out to be true we are in for one hell of a summer! Performance was better last night. Not sure if it was us or the opposition that had us looking slightly more fluid. Either way 2-0 is the minimum we would have accepted walking into the ground. Injuries: Always key players this season and now Kovacic. Killing us.

Hope you are well mate. Yeah I have no doubt tiredness is a major factor in our drop in form. Injuries too have played a part, but the fact that our forward players, like last season are not putting away the chances we create is allowing opponents to get something out of games few have deserved. I have never been against winter breaks, but firmly believe the breaks should not be used by clubs to arrange lucrative fixtures somewhere warm stating its to help the players warm down or whatever. Banning International football would get my vote too. It's become the worst 10 days to 2 weeks of each football season month when the International fixtures come around and your players come back injured.

I have posting problems no matter what time of day. Currently trying to respond to a Stan PM. Pressed icon to send 15 mins ago, still waiting. When I try and edit a posting I get timed out or told its been too long to edit the posting. Blocking is real hit or miss, but I have just found out blocking does not stop my own postings being seen by those who have been blocked. Thats different than I am used too elsewhere.

Over 25 minutes to post after clicking submit icon. Unable to edit postings. Blocking members hit or miss. Sometimes works, sometimes not.

A very tired looking performance not helped when you start the game with only 9 players on the pitch. I heard Simon Jordan this morning while driving, defending our manager of stating our whole squad is tired. I understand he is the only so called pundit to do so as other plebs have put the boot in on our draw epidemic. I believe since Dec 1st Brighton have played 9 games to our 16. So yeah its a little tough and when you throw in a couple of key injuries you start to see the true picture of why we have found ourselves as also rans for the title half way through January. Maybe the guys will be re-freshed at the business end of the cups?

I very much like our manager for the most part & I think his award last night is well deserved. He is very honest in his summing up of games, pretty much telling it as it is and wise enough not to fall into traps the garbage media set like this current postponements of games other clubs benefit from where we didn't. There is a huge weakness in his make up. He is very poor changing from the bench. Mount, who for some unknown reason was on the bench this past weekend, was looked over a full 12 mins after CHO & Werner were injected into the team from the bench and Havertz never got onto the pitch. This is just the tip of the Iceberg one could list as examples since he has been with us. I hope he gets better. Talking of CHO, this left footed cross that left the stadium should be just landing near Lands End by the time you read this. What a Pass --------------------------------- Congrats to Emma Hayes! Very deserved & the best studio pundit to be introduced to mens games in an age. Good on you Girl!

CANT EDIT ABOVE POST ------------------------------------------------ Encourging news coming out of Germany yesterday on the Rudiger situation. I think its the first time in months something positive of him staying.

Went to last nights game as a guest of a long time Tottenham fan. First time at the new White Hart Lane which is without doubt very impressive and wasted on them. I now have my Fingers crossed when my Green Bay Packers finally play in the UK, it's at Spurs over Wembley. Game was drab, There is only so much humour in singing "Tottenham Hotspur, it's happening again", although after VAR ruled in our favour for a third time, the chant got a whole new meaning. My Spurs friend n his fellow sufferers were really down on everything about their club. Sounds as thou Levy is one mistake from being hounded out. He is hanging on by a thread because of the new manager. They seem sure Conte will turn it all around if backed ect. There is no doubt Conte knows what he is doing, I am just not sure he will stick around the length of time needed. I enjoyed the night and it was nice to see a few old Spurs friends. Enough about them. We were average and below that infront of goal. Are we any better than during Franks time as far as putting teams away? It's a fair question. I guess Saturday will give us a few answers.

Alas I fell into that category too. He has been a real eye-opener and one of the best decisions Frank made.

On my way into the ground last night the team was announced which as the news filtered through to us mobile fans was greeted with more than a touch of shock. A four? As weak a central Midfield as we could muster and conformation the League cup keeper, Kepa returns. Hey I am not so fussed the latter point as he is the reason we are in the semi's, but Alonso up against Moura or Son without any help just a few days after Salah had made a Monkey out of him. A bit of a head shaker. What we didn't know was Spurs were about to offer probably their worst performance at Stamford Bridge in living memory. It sure helped us, but only conceding two was a positive result from such a poor performance. Was chatting to a Spurs friend on the way home who felt they were still in it because we failed to kill them off. He is probably right. Lukaku didn't score and missed a very good chance with a header. Havertz played very well while he was on the pitch and Ziyech again showed why he should always play some part in games. Sarr looks a wonderful athlete who is completely at the other end of the scale than Silva as far as reading and self control goes for a central defender. I believe he will be some player by the time he is 30. Can we afford to play him in tougher games till he reaches fruition? I am not so sure. Saul offered his best performance in a Chelsea shirt, but for me I have already seen enough to say he has problems and we should not sign him full time. How honest was Conte after the game, or was he just suckering us in?

So with a starting place in tonights fixture, there will be some who will say we can draw a line under the Lukaku saga. He has been made to look a fool and this seems to be a case where a player feels guilty on how he left one club to join another and dug a hole big enough pleading his case that both fan bases would be happy to fill that hole in with him at the bottom. As long as he does his job, I dont care what crap comes from him off the field. Last nights video is cringy, very much coached, but the correct step. Score a couple of goals tonight against tonights opposition and he will know better than most what it means to us. How did the club handle the event? Not sure I would be happy with the manager who didnt do anything until the senior players gave him their blessing. Probably makes me a bit more old school, but I would have prefered him to step all over the player so the whole dressing room were left without doubt where the line is. Some might say he did act by dropping him from a important fixture. For me all he did was buy a little time to the detriment of the team. From what we have heard here (thx CFCclive) and elsewhere the players were to a man against Lukaku, so I guess that will be another bridge he will have to fix. I think the manager got lucky the player become penitent from Monday meeting and I for one would have loved a Newcastle bid which I am sure would have jolted Lukaku had we open minded questioned him on it. Hope to see some of you tonight

Never before would a "Why aye man" accent be more welcome calling Stamford Bridge Lukaku has proved he can succeed at their level, West Brom Everton.... Man Utd 100m, Cheap at the price for PL survival

Home Leeds Utd PL Played ok but the win can only be described as lucky. I sat in the ground marveling at the way Leeds set up and at the shift their players put in. They deserved at least a draw, but you have to feel for their fans for the two bonehead fouls that lead to penalty's. It was championship defending and destroyed what should have been an excellent day for them. What can we say about our lot which hasn't already been noted of late? Has the managers fav system been sussed or is it the lack of personnel in key positions which is allowing opposition teams to handle us more easily? This is where we go over what we have already suggested . The lack of Kante and Kovacic means we do not regain possession during games as much and our back three are exposed far more often to breakaways by teams set up that way. To be fair to the manager he pretty much said as much without mentioning names. I do like his honesty, but not his substitutions. The removal of Werner for Callum almost cost us the game. It was his weakness defending the ball which lead to their possession which gave them the 2nd goal. What pissed me more was his half hearted effort to try n win the ball back. He is going backwards while Gallagher continues to see his stock rise at Palace. Credit to Jorginho for keeping his nerve. I am still to find a Chelsea fan who states they were 100% sure he would either spot kick. Still he did it so huge slap on the back to him. Back to London Thursday, look forward to catching up with you all then.

Yes as others have said in this popular thread it was sure a new low under this manager last night. From selection to set up and general defending for that matter it was back to the dark days Scolari AVB & late Jose 2nd time around. Listening to him in his presser I got the feeling there is more happening behind the scenes which isn't being made public just now. Players in their last years of there contract which look to be unlikely to be re-newed has already seen the manager doctor his starting elevens and give one or two cryptic answers when questioned on their situations. Not sure how much credence we should give to the Dave rumors, and not the one about him leaving. Andy Dillion hit a nerve with his question in the after game presser when he suggested the players were no longer listening to the manager. The managers response was illuminating. Best we look upon this as a calculated gamble which failed, but should have given answers to the manager on who he can and can't trust. Defenders did a wonderful job showing our possible future & enough information to educate how serious a position we have allowed ourselves to get in with the for mentioned contracts. I hope HuddyBlue is right with his news. Werner played well and for the first time looked to link up better with Lukaku, although both looked far from match fit. SonOfOssie: You know you can't ask questions like who had the more influential game between Hudson-Odoi and Saul as its not fair to whoever you put up against Saul? Your answer BlueBob is priceless!!

Away West Ham PL Well it was coming and if truth be told all the weak points we have listed of late combined to bite us in the ass. First up, West Ham are a very good side who given a little more depth in their squad could make a sustained run at top four. With that said, leading twice in the game, this result said more about us than it did the winning team. I am tired listing our passengers over the past 2 seasons. Jorginho's "losing it in the lights" and contributing to West Ham first has him the leading assist maker against us this season. Third best player over the past year? You'd think clubs would be falling over themselves to buy him? We can't catch a break. Mount again played well after his break, but I do feel while we lack a couple of important bodies he should be used in the middle of the park. Ziyech was one of our brighter players only to get tugged for waste of a shirt CHO when it became 2-2. During his 26 min cameo he managed to prove he had the beating of his man on the outside only to keep on fucking checking back onto his right foot. It's not his fault it's the manager for putting him on the pitch when the guy he replaced was playing ok. Injuries starting to make a difference mainly because of who they are, Kovacic and Kante really hurt and because of how he was playing, loosing Chilwell playing as a false Nine leaves us far less potent in their box. Lots more could be said about the game, but I read others have already covered them in this thread.

Away Watford PL One of the things I like about our current manager is his honesty. To state again, against one of the weaker sides in the PL, we were lucky to get the win is calling it exactly what it was. However I don't feel he helps his team during games with his changes from the bench. I read this morning in this thread I am not alone in this thought and I guess we should happy we fell over the line. Biggest questions from the game. Why no Lukaku till that late minute and does he look bigger today than the start of the season? Were Athletico Madrid trying a fast one with Saul? He sure looks nothing like the player I remember. What's with the manager playing forwards as wing backs, none of which up to now look comfortable? Ziyech looks good from the bench and helped to be the difference, so is this his future, being introduced from the bench? The last 2 games we have been as weak as I can remember in the middle of the pitch. Without Kovacic and Kante leaves us lacking players who regain the ball. His last two performances have shown Reuben Loftus-Cheek limits and while Mount was good last night further forward, one does wonder why hasn't slotted into one of the central spots during this spell? Another slice of luck used up ~ How many more will we need for a successful season?

Aww Danny, You'd think right? I am sure it's been pointed out to you in the past, best you don't think on something that pains you so. Thanks for the illuminating education about yourself mate.

Man U Home PL As you can imagine I left the ground thoroughly pissed off as yet again we are unable to finish off an inferior team as we lack a killing instinct and for whatever reason the bloke we signed to remedy that problem sat watching the game as I did frustrated as players we already know don't have it in them in these kind of fixtures struggled with their normal form. I am done with CHO. He isn't good enough to be learning his trade at our club and should have been carted off to a loan club to make his mistakes and improve one on ones both with defenders and keepers. I am sick to death of hearing reporters pundits and even dumbass Chelsea fans say the result would have been different of Hudson-Odi had put away his one on one with the keeper or then say he didn't quite get hold of that chance or his cross was a little over hit. For fucks sake earn your fucking cheque you blackmailed the club to get by doing your job. I thought the manager fucked up big style in his starting 11 and I have no idea why he took so long to make changes? Those sitting around me and as well as myself were calling for him to act way before Jorginho burst his Balloon with a new low. An abysmal result. Two points dropped and proper weakness shown crystal clear by the manager for the first time. ------------------------------------------------------------- I see someone here asked a question about Lukaku. Burnley and Man Utd results tell you the correct answer.

Yes, I have enjoyed how his leading the line of late is looking. There is quite a dilemma among my fellow Chelsea fans what would be his best position. The answer probably isnt cast in Stone just yet, time will tell.

Excellent point