The Liquidator

This came about on the night you was knocked out of the league cup. On a radio phone in it was said its common knowledge around Manchester that the agent got a "Bonus" payment for getting the boy signed when it was thought he had a number of clubs ready to offer him first team football. Maybe its the payment you speak of above? It's just seemed to be worded as it was an extra payment. Whatever it was, he made a mistake signing.

Home Man City EPL On the face of it, there are those who would have you believe Pep worked a number on us getting his first positive result against Thomas in 4 games. I didn't see anything new other than their 11 players leaving the pitch at the end of the game completely and utterly knackered. I don't think I have seen a club work so hard at Stamford Bridge to gain a positive result and for that City must be praised. We truly must have hurt them in the Euro final. So is that the reason we lost? I don't think so. They got what they needed with the goal, a deflection, but more importantly many of our players underperformed. For me the game was lost by our midfield 5, Kante Jorginho Kovacic and the two wing backs. They were charged with releasing the ball to the two forward players something they failed to do through the entire game. Again City must be praised for their work rate closing the 3 middle players and either fouling them or winning the ball back to stop any counter attacks. However, having three players who struggle to pass the ball forward is self inflicted and held us pinned in our own half for long periods. It was only when Reuben Loftus-Cheek was introduced we looked like we could move forward. Selection n tactics are down to the manager and I am pleased he again pointed to himself as being wrong. We had a breakaway in the 2nd half when Kovacic had both forwards ahead of him and both available for the right pass which of course isn't in Kovacic locker. It was painful sitting up in the stands cause you could see how open the forwards were yet somehow you knew there was little chance of a Fabregas ball. I feel sure Thomas and his staff know we have a problem from midfield as they took on the boy from Athletico who I am told has that pass in him. All that confirms is how much of a mistake of a team selection was made. Disappointing result, but a far more disappointing performance. We have only conceded two goals this season, one each from Jesus & Mohamad . Divine intervention for selling Moses and Abraham?

@Redcanuck Is it true Mn Utd made a payment to the agent of Dean Henderson for getting him to sign a long term contract? If true, isnt that illegal?

Aston Villa Home LC Not much to say other than we looked a little like Franks time by not being able to kill off a game. Everybody who took part looked to have put a shift in. Alas one or two had me raising an eyebrow suspecting their ability. Rather than name drop them, feel safe I don't expect to see them very often this season. Villa look to have one or two young players who will have a career in the Premier League. I have seen Villa twice with most of their squad gaining airtime. They should be fine this season. Back to London this weekend with the biggest match of the weekend being slotted into the lunchtime kick off. Kinda sums up how TV has helped create a monster at the detriment of its watching public.

Still having the same problem. Tried different browsers & VPN's. C'est la vie

Spurs Away Game of two halves with the manager being praised for his change of formation at half time when replacing the under performing Mount with a Third Holding midfielder. Of course if you are one of us you know this is the 2nd manager of Chelsea to use this formation to beat Spurs. Conte did exactly the same from the start at Wembley to win in a league game. Thomas says he wanted a higher tempo more energy. Spurs looked to have tired in the 2nd half which helped our dominance to steam roll them. I think we can all agree our performance in the first half was below average, but Spurs have to be praised for the effort they put in pressing our defenders in Keeper as we attempted to play out from the back. On the whole we kept the ball well and never looked in trouble. Alas being kept in our own half for so long kinda highlighted the Mount breakaway he fucked up with a pass behind Lukaku and then unable to finish off Lukaku's ball back to him with a miss hit shot. Many had Silva as MOTM. Not for me, I felt Alonso was most deserving of that and on another day he could\should have scored at least a brace. Kepa kept a clean sheet, but still has most of us on tender hooks when he is called into action. Lastly, I don't get to watch many of the games on TV, especially on Sky as I find their coverage terrible. This match I watched at a Golf club and without access to the remote control was forced to endure Sky's output and their chosen pundits & commentary team. I pity anyone who pays Sky to watch their EPL offerings.

I wondered who you was talking about? Yeah, its the biggest slap in the face to the other Chelsea players as their all season passenger picks up a gong for very little. I guess if France had won the Euro's or Croatia, Kante & Kovacic would have taken the UEFA gong. Maybe your boy would have got it if England had managed to fall over the line. Makes you wonder if Emerson Palmieri had made 10 more Chelsea appearances last season his name would already be engraved on the Ballon d'or. In his favor Jorginho is a better player today because of his time in the Premier League. Think back to his refusing to run back when losing the ball & pussy footed attitude to tackling when he first turned up. Both have improved and by all accounts he is well liked by the other players. For me he above all benefited from Co-vid ban on fans attending. Before the ban he was getting alot of stick both home and away. When we return he is holding the CL and shaking hands receiving a UEFA gong. The knowledge of those who don't attend games.

Must be pretty desparate to nick young Reece medals ~ I understand 4 potless Spurs players have been interviewed by the Police

@carefreeluke Mount has been our best player is a stretch. Not for me. Since this manager turned up the best performing players have been defenders and during Franks time, when Kante was on the pitch he was the best player. Mount is doing ok. For me if everybody is fit he isnt a shoe-in to start. His problem is & will continue to be is he is a jack of several positions n Master of none.

Yes I have heard others voice your Mount\Lampard point. There is no doubt he has alot of minutes in his legs over the last year and been exposed to a level of importance very few of his age get to enjoy. I feel sure his production will return and agree Tuchel will be watched by as all for how he handles our best talent. He has always striked me as level headed kinda guy and I dont feel Mason will be a problem.

Shame for Lingard after building his confidence at West Ham and getting a Ole vote to stay at United. Result shouldnt hurt too much other than you probably having to play a full team in the last fixture.

@Redcanuck Did West Ham ever play in Yellow while Lingard was on loan there? :)

CL Home Zenit St Petersburg I felt Zenit showed excellent discipline throughout the game & for long periods looked comfortable. We helped them by playing far too narrow with our supposedly wide front players Ziyech & Mount almost touching each other in the middle of the pitch. The latter was particularly poor for almost the entire length he was on the pitch. I fully understand when you play 3 at the back your width should come from wing backs, but we failed to release either of them with penetrating balls from our slow retention of possession, something which is evident when we start Kovacic & Jorginho together. We should be thankful for the positive result because while I was sitting in the East Stand I could see the result going the same way as the first game of last seasons CL against Seville 0-0 Antonio Rudiger set a fire under the team with two or three runs storming forward giving us our few moments of excitement. Only two shots on goal in 90 mins kinda paints a full boring picture of the game. Thank fuck for Romelu. Chilwell got an outing & even Reuben Loftus-Cheek showed his face. Felt Werner might have been given a chance alongside Romelu, or even a run out wide to stretch the game. Nice to hear Frank having one of his tunes sung a number of times through the game. I am kinda surprised he is still to surface via punditry as he proved quite adept on BT before his managerial career kicked off. This mornings chuckle came from reading Anthony Taylor was at it again last night only to be saved by onlookers when he sent the wrong guy off. Something new for his thread :)

Hope your well mate. I had to laugh, when I read he joined the 100 club I thought of you & knew you wouldnt be able to resist bringing up my correct forcast for the 17-18 season. As you know 16-17 Liverpool finished 4th with 76 points 22 June 2017 Liverpool sign Salah 17-18 Liverpool finish 4th with 75 points No improvement exactly as I told you. Other players arrived via the Coutinho money and over the coming seasons Liverpool improved climaxing with a PL title after a 30 year wait. Obviously Salah has contributed to Liverpools success, but on the 17-18 season, the season I stated you would not improve, I was proved correct. Keep making me smile mate!

Home Aston Villa Very interesting game in which Villa came with a plan and in a few seasons gone by, would probably left with at least a point. For me, Tucel is a lucky manager. 2 or 3 times since he has come to the club he has made line up decisions which turned out to be badly wrong, without paying the ultimate price in losing. Saul really wasn't ready for the Premier League and had one of the worst debuts I have seen. Slow, none understanding how even the poor teams in the EPL press and hassle in the middle of the pitch, he got away with numerous passes direct to grateful Villa players who should have made more of their oppotunity's. He reminded me of the wayward passes Jorginho became famous for when he first pulled on a Chelsea shirt. Feller sitting next to me during the game said at half time, "Can see why Athletico wanted obligation to buy after the loan rather than an option" Marina saw through that one and with time maybe he will find his feet in the best league. Sure can't play worse. Happy to read the manager pointed to himself as his mistake in selecting Saul. Hudson Odi: The manager keeps giving huge votes of confidence for the player, but without much in return. If he is so good, why are we having to manufacture a position, Wing Back, for someone who obviously isn't good enough to nail down either of the forward wide positions since he broke through? The loan to Germany, a weaker standard of football may well have been the making of him, or as I suspect out him as a very lucky boy to get that contract. I agree with CFC7Oaks that up to now we haven't seen him progress from the performances against his own age group where he would burn defenders for fun. It sounds like he has a huge fan in the manager, so we are saddled with him for now and must take notice of which games he starts. Many picked out Mendy for praise after he kept us in the game with many saves. Saves that do not stick. Almost all his stops stay in play and often straight back into the middle of the box. My son says I am being harsh. I think there will come a time during this season the other feller is given a chance to re-earn his spot. Alonso made captain, Rudiger playing like he knows his best ever contract is his prize come the end of the season and a 36 year old Brazilian are all performing at a very high defensive level. I have always been a fan of Alonso as a wing back and it pleases me he again is showing his worth when played in his correct position\formation. Rudiger, while still pissing me off with his 40 yards shots at goal, is playing at his highest level since being at the club. I am sure you are all aware of what has been said about his future since the opening day home game against Palace. Silva is a man who is a master of his trade. His positioning behind Mendy when young Watkins should have slotted home only to hit Silva directly in the chest was wonderful defending. We must not forget the Home Runs Frank hit while in charge and Silva's Signing is an out the ground Home Run. While many Chelsea fans felt the Lukaku signing could be suspect when other desirable names were linked, I stated on the day he signed that I liked the signing. This isn't the headstrong young man who left us and he sure isn't the guy United paid an agent a small fortune to get his signature when his first choice to return to us. Whatever Conte has done with him has paid off for us in spades. His first goal proved he now has it between the ears and the confidence to go to his lesser foot (Can you imagine Morata doing that?) and while his 2nd cost me plenty of £££ as I had 2-0, it was very well taken and also proved his touch has improved past the days of Cobham where it had to roll to his left foot for the Hammer time to take place. Talking of gambling, congratulations to StamfordHillCowboy on your big win. A great result which flattered us as Villa played very well. I must finish on a serious note. Returning home after the game I was delayed at Liverpool Street Station, so on hearing the delay I walked off to get myself a Coffee. On returning to the gate of the Platform my Train was departing from the was alot of noise & I saw four blokes in Arsenal shirts playing football with a Cat. I was just about to call the Police and RSPCA when the Cat went 1-0 up

Yep, if nobody else has a time lapse in posting then the problem may well lay with my PC. I will try another browser or just post less often. My thanks for the reply

15mins to post in Chelsea thread just now @Rab

I can't find a Chelsea fan who feels we didn't have a wonderful window. Making a profit and adding two top international players to ones squad is a cut above almost all other windows we have experienced over the past couple of decades. What I would say as the most stand out deal is the one that didn't happen. Offering an amount to Sevilla and not budging from that position for their CH after they turned it down and asked us to try again feels like new ground for us. Remember the never ending saga to get Michael Essien where we caved in and coughed up the full asking price after offering a number of low bids. Damian Duff was pulled off a plane to the States when we did much the same. Of course if we lose a couple of defenders over the next few months we might question being 1 CH short, but for me its about time we did this sort of thing. Many players moved out but still one or two who could well have been shifted are stuck at Cobham as make weights on the training pitch. I guess we will get to see them all at Stamford Bridge when we entertain Villa in the League cup. Not sure any of them can be moved out on loan before the new window, but other than some progression in the League cup they wont get much airtime in the first eleven.

Maybe others have already spoken of this as they have found the same. When I post to some threads, Stans world league, Man utd thread, its takes sometime for the posting to go through. 30 mins for the World League this week and almost 20 for Utd thread just now.

I have to admit I am happy too see him back, especially if it goes tits up.

Away Liverpool & A. Taylor In our Officials section there is a thread all for Mr. Taylor which now has close to 300 posts. This Saturday he again gave us something to add to his "stiffing us" tally. I think there is little doubt it was a penalty, although there are some who believe the ball hitting James thigh before his arm should rule out Hand Ball. I can't be arsed to argue the toss on that, but I feel strongly the Red Card was wrong. I think that decision alone cost us 2 points, but our performance from that moment on showed, if we needed to have it confirmed, how strong we have become. ------------------------------ Sorry to see Zouma leaving the club. I loved a bet on him to score at anytime and he often boosted my bank account in doing just that. I figure I will have to look out for him doing the same for West Ham, who paid a pretty price in the end. I wish Happy luck, but ask him not to score against us! ----------------------------------- Hudson-Odi has another chance to go to Germany and I for one hope the club allow him to go. I am still of the mind we should have sold him when we had the chance and will never forgive him n his people for how they took advantage of Chelsea through Munich interest. Huge ideas above his actual worth, he has refused an under 21 call up to stay n train at Cobham. I find it very difficult to think of anything he has done in a first team shirt that makes him worthy of a squad position and question those of you who believe him to be the 2nd coming of Charlie Cooke. As someone who saw Charlie play in his pomp, I can assure you its a Chalk n Cheese comparison between the two.

Yes, I do agree on Portugal in the Euro's. My son pointed out the rest of the players looked in awe of Ronaldo, almost steping back and needing him to do his stuff. Fernandez wasnt as "punchy" in his national shirt as he has been in United's and I guess that will be one of the things we will have to look out for once they all start playing together. My question for @Redcanuck How much of this signing is the vision of newly signed long contract manager Ole against stopping Ronaldo from signing for City and hurting your fanbase for the rest of this decade?

Yes, I do agree on Portugal in the Euro's. My son pointed out the rest of the players looked in awe of Ronaldo, almost steping back and needing him to do his stuff. Fernandez wasnt as "punchy" in his national shirt as he has been in United's and I guess that will be one of the things we will have to look out for once they all start playing together. My question for @Redcanuck How much of this signing is the vision of newly signed long contract manager Ole against stopping Ronaldo from signing for City and hurting your fanbase for the rest of this decade?

Oh I have no doubt he will bring a number of goals with him and again he goes up in my rating of him as he chooses our league again to ply his trade unlike the little feller over in Paris. The best thing about his signing is he will push Sancho and Greenwoods minutes on the pitch down. They are the best two players on your books, plus best to sell Fernandes if he is in your fantasy team, no more penalties for him.

@Redcanuck Ibrahimovic Cavani and now Ronaldo... United becoming the Los Angeles Galaxy of Northern Europe mate? Anyone who was once half decent can earn a small fortune before retirement which used to be the poster recruitment for the American league.