Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2011/2012

MUSEIST

Yeah, good results this weekend for the blues, little bit of daylight between ourselves and arsenal now but we won't keep that gap unless we become more consistant and push on.

willmunny1990

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Ya. looking good for the BNP Chelsea brigade. Looking good.Disgrace of a club.

The irony of this from a fella who supports a club with a history of Sectarianism:rolleyes:

ItsAWindUp

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Ya. looking good for the BNP Chelsea brigade. Looking good.Disgrace of a club.

Coming from a Celtic fan? You just have to love the irony!

tommyhaas

willmunny1990 wrote: »

The irony of this from a fella who supports a club with a history of Sectarianism:rolleyes:

ItsAWindUp wrote: »

Coming from a Celtic fan? You just have to love the irony!

Why not just call the post for the bull**** it is rather then, well fighting fire with fire?

tommyhaas

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

It is a high wire act, but the FPP rules are rather, relaxed?

A number of hig earners would have moved on by next year and some have gone already
Zhirkov
Anelka
Alex

And likely to go
Ferreira
Alex
Bose
Kalou
Mikel

Maybe even Drogba

Clubs can lose up to 45 mill over the first 2 years.

Sponsership and Global sales are up. Probably naming rights as well. In fatc we have the 3rd highest income in the league

Of course we arent that close, but we can show we have vastly improved, and are miles ahead of City

The FPP rules might even help AVB stay in a job without silverware, but he MUST stay in the CL places

Its a balancing act for many clubs, including spanish and italian ones, and another reason why we are looking to move to a bigger stadium

Chelsea's revenue may have increased, however its likely expenditure has too by at a least a similar margin. Torres wages being a case in point, alone amounting to an increase of what, about £10m p/a?

The FFP allows you to make a loss as you say of £45m,but I think its over 3 years as oppose to 2. Obviously provisions are in place to allow for the fact that clubs such as yourself's and City are currently unable to comply, and so can instead for the 3 or 4 years IIRC just demonstrate an improvement. This though would necessitate a complete overhaul in the manner in which you operate, and would require you to reverse the current trend, something I'd be sceptical about Chelsea doing given your current league position

Sgt Pepper 64

tommyhaas wrote: »

Chelsea's revenue may have increased, however its likely expenditure has too by at a least a similar margin. Torres wages being a case in point, alone amounting to an increase of what, about £10m p/a?

The FFP allows you to make a loss as you say of £45m,but I think its over 3 years as oppose to 2. Obviously provisions are in place to allow for the fact that clubs such as yourself's and City are currently unable to comply, and so can instead for the 3 or 4 years IIRC just demonstrate an improvement. This though would necessitate a complete overhaul in the manner in which you operate, and would require you to reverse the current trend, something I'd be sceptical about Chelsea doing given your current league position

Do you now what? I just dont give a crap. So Chelsea currently have a rich daddy and thats seen as unfair. Theres lots of unfairness in sport and thats just the way it is and will always be. Chelsea are an easy target but I could point out many other areas of "unfairness". FIFA are a bit "rich" with their rules - and look at UEFA FFS!

greendom

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Do you now what? I just dont give a crap. So Chelsea currently have a rich daddy and thats seen as unfair. Theres lots of unfairness in sport and thats just the way it is and will always be. Chelsea are an easy target but I could point out many other areas of "unfairness". FIFA are a bit "rich" with their rules - and look at UEFA FFS!

That's fair enough - but where will Chelsea be if (and I know its a big if) UEFA actually enforce the FFP

tommyhaas

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Do you now what? I just dont give a crap. So Chelsea currently have a rich daddy and thats seen as unfair. Theres lots of unfairness in sport and thats just the way it is and will always be. Chelsea are an easy target but I could point out many other areas of "unfairness". FIFA are a bit "rich" with their rules - and look at UEFA FFS!

What the hell are you talking about? If you don't want to discuss a point on a discussion board, then don't fooking reply, its not that difficult.

I never alluded to it being unfair or questioned the ethics of an owner-financed club. The point I initially raised was to contradict your assertion that Chelsea were reining in the spending, when the trend over the last couple of years is infact the opposite. If you don't want to discuss the financial implications of the clubs spending don't, but don't go getting your knickers in a twist when someone call's you up on a blatant inaccuracy

LanceStorm

tommyhaas wrote: »

What the hell are you talking about? If you don't want to discuss a point on a discussion board, then don't fooking reply, its not that difficult.

I never alluded to it being unfair or questioned the ethics of an owner-financed club. The point I initially raised was to contradict your assertion that Chelsea were reining in the spending, when the trend over the last couple of years is infact the opposite. If you don't want to discuss the financial implications of the clubs spending don't, but don't go getting your knickers in a twist when someone call's you up on a blatant inaccuracy

ah would ya ever calm down, I am not an accountant, I am not privy to Chelseas accounts, I have the sneaking suspicion neither are you!

Roman, is very rich and successful and im sure has in place some of the best people possible to run his club, I have nothing but confidence that they know what they are doing with our finances. I highly doubt they'd be stupid enough to have us not make FFP.

I might be completely alone in this, but im a football fan, I happen to follow Chelsea, we were a mid-table side when I started to follow them, we were extremely lucky to be bought by a Billionaire and be riding the wave we have been on and loving every second of it. The bubble might burst one day and Roman might move on but he'll have hopefully risen our profile to worldwide, given us one of the best training grounds in existence and maybe if we're lucky an amazing stadium to boot, if he leaves then we're a million times better off than before he bought us.

shall we talk about football instead??

MUSEIST

tommyhaas wrote: »

What the hell are you talking about? If you don't want to discuss a point on a discussion board, then don't fooking reply, its not that difficult.

I never alluded to it being unfair or questioned the ethics of an owner-financed club. The point I initially raised was to contradict your assertion that Chelsea were reining in the spending, when the trend over the last couple of years is infact the opposite. If you don't want to discuss the financial implications of the clubs spending don't, but don't go getting your knickers in a twist when someone call's you up on a blatant inaccuracy

relax man. chelsea are clearly reducing their wage bill. anelka, drogba, alex, malouda are all huge earners and will be gone by summer, chelsea are clearly not giving into the demands of players like we did a few years back. For example in the past chelsea would have offered drogba a 2 year contract he wants just like the long contracts for lampard and terry but the club has clearly said no to this. Kalou wants a 90k contract but the club refused. The younger players like mata, romeu and sturridge are on peanuts compared to the outgoing alex, anelka and drogba.

So the club is clearly trying to reduce the wage bill and at least look like they are trying to run a reasonable business which I suspect is the purpose of the FFP rules anyway.

If the FFP rules are implemented stricktly?
Well then chelsea will be in the same place as man city and PSG (no idea where) except we will be in a slightly better position because our income is larger than both those clubs.

DazMarz

If Financial Fair Play is stringently implemented across the various leagues in UEFA, the following clubs are royally, federally, anally, every-possible-orifice-available FÚKKED... no question:

-Real Madrid
-Barcelona
-Chelsea
-Man City
-Paris Saint-Germain
-Internazionale
-AC Milan

and personally I don't think those simpering idiots in UEFA simply have the balls to take on clubs that have the financial (and in some cases political) clout that the above clubs have. Even other clubs (Man United, Liverpool and a couple of others spring to mind; they have huge wage bills too, and United are up to their eyes in debt) may not be safe from UEFA, but I feel that they will fail to follow through and will slap wrists. Maybe I'm wrong, but I find it hard to believe that UEFA would seriously sanction some of the biggest clubs in Europe with bans from the CL or EL.

Blatter

DazMarz wrote: »

If Financial Fair Play is stringently implemented across the various leagues in UEFA, the following clubs are royally, federally, anally, every-possible-orifice-available FÚKKED... no question:

-Real Madrid
-Barcelona
-Chelsea
-Man City
-Paris Saint-Germain
-Internazionale
-AC Milan

and personally I don't think those simpering idiots in UEFA simply have the balls to take on clubs that have the financial (and in some cases political) clout that the above clubs have. Even other clubs (Man United, Liverpool and a couple of others spring to mind; they have huge wage bills too, and United are up to their eyes in debt) may not be safe from UEFA, but I feel that they will fail to follow through and will slap wrists. Maybe I'm wrong, but I find it hard to believe that UEFA would seriously sanction some of the biggest clubs in Europe with bans from the CL or EL.

From what I know, Barcelona and Real Madrid are not in danger with regards FFP. Their revenues are extraordinarily huge, Madrid are making fairly healthy profits, Barcelona are very close to breaking even. United's debt has receded and they also have massive turnover in line with Real/Barca and do live within their means.

I don't think AC Milan are in danger either. The last I read of it was that Man City, Chelsea and Inter Milan are the only 3 'major' clubs that are in real immediate danger. And then you have PSG, Malaga and some Russian clubs who don't really have much influence when it comes to UEFA.

First time offenders will be given a slap on the wrist but I'm hopeful that harsh punishment for falling foul of FFP will be implemented in time. The fact that FFP is in the interest of the vast majority of the members of G14 should aid the implementation of the rules.

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

yep, Take That have still got it!

Muse actually Close enough though I guess.

Great news that Cahill is all but done, even better news that Spurs and Liverpool drew and that Arsenal lost.

Theres hope for us yet.

GavRedKing

From the Telegraph : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9016396/Chelsea-receive-a-fillip-from-new-player-Fernando-Torres.html

Up in the stands — in Roman Abramovich’s private box (although the Russian billionaire was not there) — sat a beaming Gary Cahill, whose £7 million move from Bolton Wanderers will finally be confirmed on Monday after his wages dispute was settled.


Out on the pitch there was Michael Essien, wonderfully returning to first-team action six weeks ahead of schedule, and eight months after his last appearance, having recovered from another serious knee injury. And then there was Fernando Torres.


Without a doubt, this was the Spain international’s best performance for Chelsea. He may have passed 14 hours since he last scored but, whisper it, there were clear signs that Torres is finally capable of returning to the form that persuaded Abramovich to pursue him so relentlessly and pay that astronomical £50 million fee last January that has become such a burden for the player and the club.


“He’s improving in form, confidence, looking better and creating danger with the chances that he got,” Andre Villas-Boas, the Chelsea manager, said.


“He’s still not scoring but is ever so close to scoring which is already good. He’s assisting people a lot and via a crossbar he assisted Frank



Torres’s superb, powerful scissor-kick, which crashed back off the bar for Lampard to bundle into the net for the game’s only goal – putting the 33 year-old just 21 behind Bobby Tambling’s total of 202 goals as Chelsea’s all-time top scorer – was the contest’s stellar moment. It was beautifully executed, technically perfect from Juan Mata’s deep cross – and yet it was also unfortunate.

“For sure, I think it’s down to luck when things like this happen,” the Chelsea manager said of Torres’s continuing goal drought. “Of course, a goalscorer gets goals and Fernando has said exactly that. But he’s very willing to change his fortune and I think the goals will come.”

Despite the assists (now 11 this season), despite the better movement, despite the improved team-play, the nudging up of his confidence, despite the obvious platitudes that it is all about the team, Torres admitted himself it does also come down to the goals. It is why he wears that No 9 shirt. “Obviously as a striker I’m always trying to score,” he said.

Saturday, against the Premier League’s form team, a revitalised and, here, unfortunate Sunderland under Martin O’Neill, was Torres’s third consecutive start for Chelsea brought about through expediency with Didier Drogba at the Africa Cup of Nations.

“To be fair, at the beginning of the season he had chances, was gaining confidence, scored,” Villas-Boas said. “The most important thing is for the team to win and the player to perform for the team and he has been doing that in the last three games. Obviously his confidence is improving and his form is improving.”

But are Chelsea improving? Villas-Boas chose an interesting way to describe the vulnerability that still afflicts the players and which he hopes the arrival of Cahill, who he said would help his side “become better as a team”, and Essien’s return will address.

“There is an obvious stigma around Stamford Bridge which is present for everybody to see,” he said adding that the “nerves” were due to “recent happenings” (poor form) – and because it means so much to the supporters. “As long as they continue to feel empathy with the team they will help us get results,” he added.

Sunderland sensed the unease. O’Neill has unearthed a star-in-the-making in James McClean who missed two glaring opportunities, but still became one of the game’s dominant players.

“He’s beating himself up in the dressing room but hiding isn’t in his nature,” O’Neill said approvingly of the 22 year-old, a summer signing from Derry City who failed to make the grade under Steve Bruce but has now played four consecutive matches, while the relief shown by Villas-Boas at final whistle was “a telling moment”. It was indeed.

There could have been more goals. Torres should probably have earned a penalty, rather than a caution for diving, while Nicklas Bendtner could also have been awarded a spot kick and showed no composure in blazing wide when through on goal in injury time.

“The chances we have missed have killed us,” O’Neill said while adding that he hoped his side’s burgeoning confidence would not be “eroded” by this defeat.

"It was a statement made by a man who appeared to already know the answer given the performances he has wrung out of the likes of Stephane Sessegnon and Matthew Kilgallon who has “returned from the wilderness” and the belief coursing through is players.

For Sunderland confidence is a commodity that will remain; for Torres it’s one that appears, at last, to be returning.

amiable

DazMarz wrote: »

If Financial Fair Play is stringently implemented across the various leagues in UEFA, the following clubs are royally, federally, anally, every-possible-orifice-available FÚKKED... no question:

-Real Madrid
-Barcelona
-Chelsea
-Man City
-Paris Saint-Germain
-Internazionale
-AC Milan

Have you a source to back this claim up?

Like Blatter as far as I know Real Madrid and Barcelona will be fine as their income is so huge.

Hardly fair on others telling Tommy to relax and calm down.
Tommy was debating and when he was proving his point to be correct Sgt spat the dummy out(again)

If people don't want to debate points on an open forum then don't but hardly fair to have a go at a poster who has taken the time to read up on the facts

amiable

Are Chelsea fans still happy with David Luiz?

I heard it suggested he move to a defensive midfield role but I personally think he'd forget his defensive responsibilties there.

He looked terrible on Saturday and nowhere near the 25 mill fee paid IMHO.

GavRedKing

amiable wrote: »

Have you a source to back this claim up?

Like Blatter as far as I know Real Madrid and Barcelona will be fine as their income is so huge.

Hardly fair on others telling Tommy to relax and calm down.
Tommy was debating and when he was proving his point to be correct Sgt spat the dummy out(again)

If people don't want to debate points on an open forum then don't but hardly fair to have a go at a poster who has taken the time to read up on the facts

Alot of people will know the main points of the FFP nad that UEFA are willing to hand out punishment for failure to meet there FFP demands but most of the joe soaps wouldnt have much insight into every major club in Europe with regards to figures and sums involved.

TBF, tommyhaas posted a relative point after a few posters here mentioned the FFP.

If every top club in UEFA meet the FFP in its first season I'll eat my words, I just dont see it happening.

What I do see happening though is every club eventually meeting UEFA's criteria for FFP, they have to. Every club will want to ensure long term sustanability and for most of the clubs mentioned, Real, Barca, Inter, AC, PSG, Chelsea, Man City & Utd will all have teams of advisors and delegates making sure the club, if they dont meet the FFP at least turn the corner and try and comply with the ruling.

Lets take Chelsea for example, as been pointed out we've spent the guts of £130 Million over the last nearly 3 transfer windows and we've recouped very little in transfer going out, apart from Zhirkov. We have however reduced the wage bill by getting rid of older guys and bringing in younger guys for less ££££ a week. One thing we can always work out is the wage bill on an annual basis. Nobody knows what a club can make or spend on transfers but we know what the wage bill will be like.

Currently we're 2nd highest on the EPL, behind City, but Barca, Real, AC Milan all spend more on wages. On the other side of that arguement all the above teams and including Man Utd, make more revenue through global sponsorship and merchandise sales.

GavRedKing

amiable wrote: »

Are Chelsea fans still happy with David Luiz?

I heard it suggested he move to a defensive midfield role but I personally think he'd forget his defensive responsibilties there.

He looked terrible on Saturday and nowhere near the 25 mill fee paid IMHO.

If anywhere, hes going to head to RB instead of DM. With Romeu, Meireles, Essien coming back I'd say his chances of been played at DM are very limited if hes dropped for Cahill.

If he is thrown out at RB I think he'd be wasted out there, he works better from the centre of the pitch and personally I'd play him at CB over all of CB's. Hes quicker and a better reader of the game then all of them but he has a tendecny to fly into EVERY tackle regardless of whether hes going to win the ball or not.

I have to try and find a tackle success % rate for him, I'm going to guess its not that high compared to most CB's but it isnt as low as some would believe.

amiable

Let's take Real Madrid as an example of one of the teams you mention.

They have a home ground with 85,000 capacity and is sold out most weeks.
Real Madrid sell more shirts for Adidas than any other team.
I know their wage bill is high but Real have a clause in every players contract to take half their own personal endorsement deals.

I'm not totally up on everything on FFP but Real are probably in a strong position with the income they generate.

In saying all that I do think clubs like Chelsea and Man City will find loopholes.
I think it will be very hard to enforce completely

amiable

gavredking wrote: »

If anywhere, hes going to head to RB instead of DM. With Romeu, Meireles, Essien coming back I'd say his chances of been played at DM are very limited if hes dropped for Cahill.

If he is thrown out at RB I think he'd be wasted out there, he works better from the centre of the pitch and personally I'd play him at CB over all of CB's. Hes quicker and a better reader of the game then all of them but he has a tendecny to fly into EVERY tackle regardless of whether hes going to win the ball or not.

I have to try and find a tackle success % rate for him, I'm going to guess its not that high compared to most CB's but it isnt as low as some would believe.

Stats can be very handy alright at times and need to be used at appropriate times.
For example 4 men and 4 women in a room together. The average person has one testicle:)

From just watching on Saturday he looked awful and clueless.

Blatter

Here is an article on Real Madrid and FFP(a very long one). It's an interesting read and what's most surprising about it is how their revenue has dramatically increased over the last number of years despite not being hugely successful on the pitch.

http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2011/06/real-madrid-and-financial-fair-play.html


In short, they have a huge wage bill and spend a lot of money. However their revenue exceeds their expenses and they have been making steady profits for the last number of years now.

GavRedKing

amiable wrote: »

Let's take Real Madrid as an example of one of the teams you mention.

They have a home ground with 85,000 capacity and is sold out most weeks.
Real Madrid sell more shirts for Adidas than any other team.
I know their wage bill is high but Real have a clause in every players contract to take half their own personal endorsement deals.

I'm not totally up on everything on FFP but Real are probably in a strong position with the income they generate.

In saying all that I do think clubs like Chelsea and Man City will find loopholes.
I think it will be very hard to enforce completely

I hope UEFA can stop teams finding loopholes but ya can imagine that any club that can take advantage of any advanatges, will do so.

amiable wrote: »

Stats can be very handy alright at times and need to be used at appropriate times.
For example 4 men and 4 women in a room together. The average person has one testicle:)

From just watching on Saturday he looked awful and clueless.

John Terry David Luiz Gary Cahill
Game Started 20 8 19
Substitute Appearances 0 0 0
Minutes Played 1,800 720 1,638
Yellow Cards 7 4 2
Red Cards 0 0 1
Clean Sheets 4 2 2
Goals Conceded 25 9 38
Goals Conceded per Game 1.25 1.13 2
Ground 50-50′s 136 66 163
Ground 50-50′s Win % 68% 55% 56%
Mins per Ground 50-50 13.24 10.91 10.05
Aerial 50-50′s 49 14 103
Aerial 50-50′s Win % 76% 50% 61%
Mins per Aerial 50-50 36.73 51.43 1 5.90
Tackles 40 12 14
Tackle Success % 67.50% 75.00% 71.43%
Interceptions 42 29 43
Dribbled Past 11 3 6
Defensive Errors 3 1 0
Loss of Possession 7 9 7
Open Play Passes 1,166 420 587
Accurate Open Play Passes 1,068 364 437
Open Play Passes Completion % 92% 87% 74%
Goals 4 0 2
Mins per Goal 450 n/a 819
Shots on Target 6 2 7
Shots off Target 7 1 6
Shooting Accuracy 46% 67% 54%
Chance Conversion



Above is the most recent stats before play on Saturday. Doesnt read to bad really, as you said, Stats dont really prove anything but Luiz has plenty to learn and will do so hopefully as he plays more.

Edit : Ill fix the stats....gimme a minute :pac:

Blatter

I also agree with amiable in that I think Chelsea and Man City will find loopholes with regards FFP and will be okay in the sense that they should remain quite competitive but they won't have the same financial advantage that they've had over the other top clubs of recent years, the playing field will be much more even.

Blatter

gavredking wrote: »

Above is the most recent stats before play on Saturday. Doesnt read to bad really, as you said, Stats dont really prove anything but Luiz has plenty to learn and will do so hopefully as he plays more.

Edit : Ill fix the stats....gimme a minute :pac:

Are you sure those stats are accurate? It says that Luiz has only made one defensive error. That can't be right, can it?:pac:

amiable

gavredking wrote: »

I hope UEFA can stop teams finding loopholes but ya can imagine that any club that can take advantage of any advanatges, will do so.





John Terry David Luiz Gary Cahill
Game Started 20 8 19
Substitute Appearances 0 0 0
Minutes Played 1,800 720 1,638
Yellow Cards 7 4 2
Red Cards 0 0 1
Clean Sheets 4 2 2
Goals Conceded 25 9 38
Goals Conceded per Game 1.25 1.13 2
Ground 50-50′s 136 66 163
Ground 50-50′s Win % 68% 55% 56%
Mins per Ground 50-50 13.24 10.91 10.05
Aerial 50-50′s 49 14 103
Aerial 50-50′s Win % 76% 50% 61%
Mins per Aerial 50-50 36.73 51.43 15.90
Tackles 40 12 14
Tackle Success % 67.50% 75.00% 71.43%
Interceptions 42 29 43
Dribbled Past 11 3 6
Defensive Errors 3 1 0
Loss of Possession 7 9 7
Open Play Passes 1,166 420 587
Accurate Open Play Passes 1,068 364 437
Open Play Passes Completion % 92% 87% 74%
Goals 4 0 2
Mins per Goal 450 n/a 819
Shots on Target 6 2 7
Shots off Target 7 1 6
Shooting Accuracy 46% 67% 54%
Chance Conversion



Above is the most recent stats before play on Saturday. Doesnt read to bad really, as you said, Stats dont really prove anything but Luiz has plenty to learn and will do so hopefully as he plays more.

Edit : Ill fix the stats....gimme a minute :pac:

I wouldn't say Stats are useless. They actually have a very important role to play.

GavRedKing

Blatter wrote: »

Here is an article on Real Madrid and FFP(a very long one). It's an interesting read and what's most surprising about it is how their revenue has dramatically increased over the last number of years despite not being hugely successful on the pitch.

http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2011/06/real-madrid-and-financial-fair-play.html


In short, they have a huge wage bill and spend a lot of money. However their revenue exceeds their expenses and they have been making steady profits for the last number of years now.

I'll have to read that in a bit, but it looks a damn good article and looks to provide soom good, detialed info.

Thnaks.

Blatter wrote: »

I also agree with amiable in that I think Chelsea and Man City will find loopholes with regards FFP and will be okay in the sense that they should remain quite competitive but they won't have the same financial advantage that they've had over the other top clubs of recent years, the playing field will be much more even.

Oh definetly, it will be much fairer and will make football more competitive in the long term, it will stop over spending and putting huge financial burdens on themselves and hopefully will change the way football is run and administered.

Edit : We'll also be in a better position the City to comply with the FFP.

Blatter wrote: »

Are you sure those stats are accurate? It says that Luiz has only made one defensive error. That can't be right, can it?:pac:

I was second guessing that too. I can only assume it means errors that lead directly to goals?? Like JT slipping to leave RVP in against Arsenal that springs to mind.

Blatter

gavredking wrote: »

I was second guessing that too. I can only assume it means errors that lead directly to goals?? Like JT slipping to leave RVP in against Arsenal that springs to mind.

That's what I was thinking, but I still have to question it:p

When he gave away the penalty against QPR earlier in the season, that was definitely a defensive error that directly led to a goal. Can you recall any others? Did he give away any other penalties?

GavRedKing

Blatter wrote: »

That's what I was thinking, but I still have to question it:p

When he gave away the penalty against QPR earlier in the season, that was definitely a defensive error that directly led to a goal. Can you recall any others? Did he give away any other penalties?

That was the only one I can think of, it directly led to us conceding which lost us the game.

The only other " Error " I can think of is away to Newcastle and getting tangled up / bringing down Ba. How he didnt see red that day is beyond me, even Foy, who was referre that day ( i think ) said after seeing it a second time that he should have sent him off, but on first viewing seen it as a coming together.

I'm struggling to think of JT's 3 error's though and what they judge to be a defensive error, other then Arsenal one.

I still think Bosingwa is our weakest link in defence and if I was targeting Chelsea I'd be going down the Left, Chelsea's right, as Bosiwnga plays RB and Luiz plays right side centre back.

GavRedKing

The next 2 games are vital for us. We are away to Norwich, who have only lost 1 in the last 6, that was at home to Spurs, which will be a tough game by all accounts and then we have to play Swansea away who are just 2 points behind Norwich and boast the same record as Norwich having lost 1 of the last 6 losing to Everton and have beat Arsenal yesterday.

If we take 6 points from these 2 games we will be well in the hunt for 3rd as Spurs this weekend have to go to the Ethiad to play City and Arsenal welcome Man Utd to the Emirates.

Best case scenario would be for Chelsea to beat Norwich and both games above ending in result tonight, leaving us 4 points behind Spurs, and 6 points clear of Arsenal.

Johner

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2578766,00.html

CAHILL SIGNS
Posted on: Mon 16 Jan 2012

Gary Cahill today (Monday) completed his transfer to Chelsea.

He becomes the fifth current England international in the squad and having passed a medical examination on Saturday morning, watched his new team-mates beat Sunderland in the afternoon.

On moving to Stamford Bridge from Bolton Wanderers, the 26-year-old central defender said:

'Chelsea is a massive club, it is a club that looks to win trophies season in season out and it is a big opportunity for me to be a part of that. Opportunities like this you can't turn down.'

He is eligible to play for Chelsea in the FA Cup this season having not featured in Bolton's third round tie. He will wear the no. 24 shirt.



Born in Sheffield in December 1985, Cahill joined Aston Villa's Academy as a 15-year-old but joined Burnley on a half-season loan in late 2004, making his Football League debut in a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

He made 32 appearances in all competitions for the Clarets, winning both Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards at Turf Moor before returning to Villa's first-team setup in late 2005, making his bow in an 8-3 win against Wycombe in the League Cup, but it was not until April that he made a Premier League appearance in a 5-0 defeat at Arsenal.

The defender kept his place however and began the next season at the centre of defence under Martin O' Neill, but after just two appearances in 2007/08 he went out on loan again, signing for Sheffield United in the Championship, scoring twice in 16 games for the Bramall Lane club.

A £5 million move to Bolton followed in January 2008 and Cahill quickly settled at the Reebok Stadium, becoming a fixture in Gary Megson's side and helping them avoid relegation.

An England Under 21 international since early 2007, Cahill was added to the England squad for a World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan in June 2009, but had to wait until September2010 for a debut, when he replaced the injured Michael Dawson to partner John Terry in a 4-0 win over Bulgaria.

In March 2011, Cahill made his first England start in a friendly against Ghana, and scored his first international goal away in Bulgaria in September (pictured below).



Form at club level had remained consistently high under the guidance of Owen Coyle, and he played 36 league games during 2010/11, but stated he would not be signing a new contract for the Lancashire club when his current deal expired in 2012.

This led to interest from a number of top clubs but it was Stamford Bridge Cahill favoured as a destination.

Stay tuned to Chelsea TV in the coming days for the first exclusive interview.

GavRedKing

^

Finally. :pac:

Number 24 though? I had heard it was to be number 13.

I suppose t doesnt really matter at all though, should go into the squad to face Norwich at the weekend.

Sgt Pepper 64

Thats good news.

Patrick Van A goes out on loan to Vitesse and apparently we are bidding for Stevan Jovetic, although it is the star.

I dont think we are finished yet and and still trying in the market

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/230484/Chelsea-target-Stevan-Jovetic/

bullpost

Its an interesting few weeks ahead.

Cant see us do better than 4th this season and with ACN we're down a few players during a critical period. If we dont make top 4 then we risk losing AVB and starting from scratch again.
Luckily for us Arsenal are struggling as well.
On the positive side once Essien gets up to speed he should make a difference and of course theres always the possibility of Torres finally hitting form.

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Thats good news.

Patrick Van A goes out on loan to Vitesse and apparently we are bidding for Stevan Jovetic, although it is the star.

I dont think we are finished yet and and still trying in the market

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/230484/Chelsea-target-Stevan-Jovetic/

GavRedKing

bullpost wrote: »

Its an interesting few weeks ahead.

Cant see us do better than 4th this season and with ACN we're down a few players during a critical period. If we dont make top 4 then we risk losing AVB and starting from scratch again.
Luckily for us Arsenal are struggling as well.
On the positive side once Essien gets up to speed he should make a difference and of course theres always the possibility of Torres finally hitting form.

We're only down Drogba and Kalou though.

I think we'll get 3rd at least, Spurs are due a slip up, they wont be able to sustain a challenge for the whole season, I'm willing to bank my house on it, in fact I've bet an Aston Villa supporting buddy €50 that Spurs wont finish above us, bet was made nearly 2 weeks ago now.

I will however agree, its a critical stage of the season, and if we can win our next 2 games we should be closer to Spurs then ever before,in saying that if you guarnteed me 4th right now I'd take it no problem.

bullpost

Ah - though Mikel was gone too.

Like you I'd take that 4th. spot if it was offered right now

gavredking wrote: »

We're only down Drogba and Kalou though.

GavRedKing

bullpost wrote: »

Ah - though Mikel was gone too.

Like you I'd take that 4th. spot if it was offered right now

Nope, just Kalou and Drogba, and to be fair if Mikel was to join them then I dont think it would be too much of a lose with Meireles, Romeu and Essien coming back.

I just hope that Drogba wont be missed. The good thing about the Norwich game is that we should have Ramires back in CM with Sturridge coming back and playing wide right thats always a good thing as Ramires offers more intensity then anyone else in our midfield.

TerryTibbs!

I wouldn't take 4th. Long way to go yet. Simply copping on can see a title charge mounted.

GavRedKing

TerryTibbs! wrote: »

I wouldn't take 4th. Long way to go yet. Simply copping on can see a title charge mounted.

I dont know about that TBH. City win tonight then there 11 points clear with the same amount of games played.

What cost us we're the 2 draws against Fulham and Wigan and the lose to Villa. That should have been 2 points from what should be 9, no disrespect to those teeams but as a title challenging club we have to turn these teams over and take 3 points all day long, thats 7 points dropped that we should have. Even if we take the 2 dropped from the Wigan game that would put us 4 behind Spurs going into this weekend with them playing Man City and ourselves playing Norwich.

Its so frustrating looking at the stupid points we've dropped but I suppose every team this year has had very strange results.

I still think that theres too many teams ahead of us to mount a challenge, maybe 2 of the 3 will slip up and drop points but I cant see all 3 of them dropping huge points between now and the end of the season.

willmunny1990

TerryTibbs! wrote: »

I wouldn't take 4th. Long way to go yet. Simply copping on can see a title charge mounted.

Getting a top four finish is top priority. Having notions of us mounting a title challenge are absurd.

Sgt Pepper 64

Good to see Wigan showing the sort of fight they showed against us.
City unable to kill them off, again like us

Go on Di Santo - get us a goal!

Barr

TerryTibbs! wrote: »

I wouldn't take 4th. Long way to go yet. Simply copping on can see a title charge mounted.

After watching the highlights against Sunderland I'd gladly take 4th.

Chelsea are lucky to be in 4th atm given the form they are in.

Sgt Pepper 64

Daily Fail - but flipping heck!

"and now sources at Lille believe the player has provisionally agreed terms with Chelsea"

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2087544/Chelsea-Eden-Hazard.html#ixzz1jfHS5Z42

tommyhaas

LanceStorm wrote: »

ah would ya ever calm down, I am not an accountant, I am not privy to Chelseas accounts, I have the sneaking suspicion neither are you!

Roman, is very rich and successful and im sure has in place some of the best people possible to run his club, I have nothing but confidence that they know what they are doing with our finances. I highly doubt they'd be stupid enough to have us not make FFP.

I might be completely alone in this, but im a football fan, I happen to follow Chelsea, we were a mid-table side when I started to follow them, we were extremely lucky to be bought by a Billionaire and be riding the wave we have been on and loving every second of it. The bubble might burst one day and Roman might move on but he'll have hopefully risen our profile to worldwide, given us one of the best training grounds in existence and maybe if we're lucky an amazing stadium to boot, if he leaves then we're a million times better off than before he bought us.

shall we talk about football instead??

Of course I'm not privy to the Chelsea accounts, I never claimed otherwise. I'm working on the figures released by Chelsea and reported on by David Conn in the Guardian

Regarding who Roman has running the club, needless to say I don't know, however what is obvious is that if the club don't re-asses their current spending, its unlikely they will comply, even if they do manage to cut expenditure elsewhere. However if they did stop spending mad money, I'd imagine it could be achievable

I'm not questioning the overall impact Roman has had on Chelsea by any means, obviously Chelsea fans like yourself are far better placed to do that, I was just questioning the merits of the claim made earlier with regard to complying

MUSEIST wrote: »

relax man. chelsea are clearly reducing their wage bill. anelka, drogba, alex, malouda are all huge earners and will be gone by summer, chelsea are clearly not giving into the demands of players like we did a few years back. For example in the past chelsea would have offered drogba a 2 year contract he wants just like the long contracts for lampard and terry but the club has clearly said no to this. Kalou wants a 90k contract but the club refused. The younger players like mata, romeu and sturridge are on peanuts compared to the outgoing alex, anelka and drogba.

So the club is clearly trying to reduce the wage bill and at least look like they are trying to run a reasonable business which I suspect is the purpose of the FFP rules anyway.

If the FFP rules are implemented stricktly?
Well then chelsea will be in the same place as man city and PSG (no idea where) except we will be in a slightly better position because our income is larger than both those clubs.

As you said, the aim seems to be to substantially reduce the wage bill, I'm just questioning whether this can be achieved in tandem with Romans ambitions for success. Obviously only Chelsea's business in the next few windows will determine this

Regarding the FFP being strictly implemented, well if Chelsea do cut their losses and make progress towards breaking even,they'll be complying within the grace period

As for others not complying, I firmly believe that the extent of punishment handed down by UEFA will depend entirely on who those clubs are. Obviously those complying will pressurise UEFA to take sanctions against those that don't comply. If for example PSG, City and Malaga were the biggest clubs complying, I don't think UEFA would have the balls to ban the likes of Utd, Real, Barca, Inter etc from Europe, however if the latter group were to comply and the former not, I think they could force UEFA's hand in to taking sanctions

Sgt Pepper 64

Nobody is under any illusions that Chelsea will probably ever break even, BUT

There is a change in philosophy and an attempt to comply more.
Look at Cahill - previously we would have either gone for someone a lot more expensive or not played hardball over the wages.

The days of big fat cat wages are over, except for probably a few exceptional players like Neymar.
Torres was/is probably the last

Like I said before, a number of high earners will be gone later this year and that will make a big difference.

Chelsea now seem to be looking for younger stars of the future rather than off the peg and even Mata is on quite low wages for his status

so yes, i still back up my statement that we are doing well, I never said we would break even or anything like that, I said we are doing well and if you take out the Torres fee, it looks a lot better.
In fact - I have argued that we got rid of Ballack too soon in an effort to cut wages as he could have done a job for us in last seasons "difficult moment"

So remember "doing well" is not "breaking even", its just doing well compared to previous years. Of course now we havent won anything for since the double, so there you go!

pistolpetes11

ON the FFP this is why we are looking for a new stadium and the vote with the CPO is on the 20/01/11. Hopefully it gets the yes this time around.

Secondly if Chelsea had too , Roman could have one of his many companies take the naming rites on the ground .

Thirdly : We need to be competing there or there abouts at the top table for most of these plans to work, it will take a few seasons for players wages demands to come in line with these new rulings , I reckon most clubs will be ok and only in the most extreme cases can I see UEFA stepping in.

GavRedKing

From the Telegraph, Nando is working hard to rediscover his scoring touch.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9018208/Chelsea-striker-Fernando-Torres-undergoes-extra-training-to-work-on-his-finishing.html

The Spanish striker, 27, has not scored in almost three months and has just three league goals for Chelsea since joining them from Liverpool for £50m in January 2011.

Torres' last goal came during October's 5-0 win over Genk in the Champions League and the striker is now taking drastic measures to get his game back on track.

Chelsea's Assistant coach Steve Holland told Chelsea TV: "Fernando is working very hard at his finishing in training.

"We do a lot of finishing as part of the sessions anyway but he is doing extra at the end of every session during the week.

"His finishing is looking very good in training, the ball is flying in. I have personally spent some time with him on making sure [he's in the right position].

"Sometimes when you're trying hard to score, you end up in areas where you're less likely to score.
"It's not a bad crime, it's only because he's so determined."
Frank Lampard benefitted from a misplaced Torres shot on Saturday, when the Spaniard's shot rebounded off the bar onto Lampard's knee, giving Chelsea a 1-0 win over Sunderland.
The midfielder believes Torres will rediscover his best form soon, but needs a run of goals to get back to full confidence.
"He is doing it in training and you can see a lift in him," Lampard said. "I feel for him because he made a great connection for my goal when it hit the bar first.
"You're just waiting for that moment when he is going to bang two or three in.
He is working his socks off, making runs and creating goals. We're all talking about that and rightly so."
Fellow Spaniard Oriol Romeu is also supportive of Torres, praising his role in the Chelsea team and asking his critics to look beyond his lack of goals.
"People used to say that if he doesn't score goals then he is not playing good but that is not true," Romeu said to Chelsea's official wesite.
"He is playing good for us and he helped us to get the goals.
"He was playing very good in the game at Wolves and now he played another big game for us [against Sunderland]. Every ball, he fights and he is big player for us.
"If he is happy, if he is enjoying it on the pitch, then he is going to play better and he helps us much more than if he is not enjoying it on the pitch.
"He is playing very good in the two last games and that is good news for us."

amiable

Here's a good article from last year on FFP.
It's all about spin I'm afraid IMO.
Chelsea have been trying to break even since Kenyon was there.
Turnover up 2.5million is only a tiny step in the right direction.
IMO Chelsea's best option is to look at loopholes and I have no doubt they are.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/01/chelsea-losses-uefa-fair-play

Chelsea yesterday insisted they were "well-positioned" to meet forthcoming Uefa rules that require clubs to operate close to break-even, despite announcing increased annual losses of more than £70m.

The former chief executive, Peter Kenyon, had said as recently as 2008 that the club remained "determined" to reach operating break-even by 2009-10.

But the summary of the club's accounts, released on the day Chelsea spent more than £70m on Fernando Torres and David Luiz, revealed that in the year to the end of April 2010 operating losses stood at £68.6m.

The total loss of £70.9m was a substantial increase on the previous year's total of £44.4m, a reduction on the previous year aided by the banking of transfer fees for Wayne Bridge, Glen Johnson and Steve Sidwell.

The chief executive, Ron Gourlay, attempted to put a positive spin on the figures, arguing that increased turnover (up £2.5m to £205.8m) and a £3.6m reduction in operating loss from the previous year proved the club was moving in the right direction.

"The reduction in operating losses and increased sales in 2009-10 shows that we are moving in the right direction especially when viewed against the difficult macroeconomic environment," he said. "The club is in a strong position to meet the challenges of Uefa financial fair play initiatives which will be relevant to the financial statements to be released in early 2013."

Despite winning the domestic double last season, and reining in transfer spending in comparison with previous seasons, the club appears a long way from meeting Uefa's financial fair play criteria, which will require clubs to break even on all football activities. With an ageing squad, nor is there much resale value in many of their big names.

But Chelsea are confident that next year's figures will show that they are moving in the right direction, because they will show the impact of last summer's rationalisation of the squad and recent moves to cut costs.

The sale or release of Joe Cole, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti is estimated to have brought in around £15m in transfer fees and saved £20m a year in wages.

Even once the impact of the Torres fee and wages are absorbed, there is confidence that improved revenues from ticket price increases, reduced bonus payments for players, a renegotiated deal with Adidas and more money from new Champions League and Premier League TV deals will more than mitigate the impact. The club is also continuing to search for a buyer for the naming rights for Stamford Bridge.

Like all transfer expenditure, the Torres fee will be amortised over the course of his contract.

Under the new Uefa financial fair play rules, clubs must pledge to break even on all football activities, subject to a sliding scale of acceptable losses that can be covered by a club's owner.

In the first two years that will be analysed by Uefa's team of accountants – 2011-12 and 2012-13 – clubs will be permitted to overspend by a total of €45m (£37.4m) as long as that figure is cancelled out by an equity injection from the owner.

Over the following three seasons, the permitted losses will again be set at €45m over the entire period. That will then drop to €30m over three seasons, then €15m, then zero.

Once a club, which will be investigated in detail if it exhibits one of a number of warning signs, fails the test the case will pass to a new panel set up to decide on sanctions.

But there are crucial caveats. If clubs can show that they are travelling in the right direction, that their losses are reducing year on year and can point to them being a result of contracts signed before June 2010 when the rules were enshrined in Uefa's rulebook, that may reduce the sanction.

Chelsea's chairman, Bruce Buck, said: "That the club was cash generative in the year when we recorded a historic FAPL and FA Cup double is a great encouragement and demonstrates significant progress as regards our financial results."

Gourlay has previously conceded that the club would not meet his predecessor's break-even target. In February 2008, Kenyon had said: "Our long-term target of operating profit break even by 2009-10 remains ambitious but we are determined to meet it or get as close as we can."

Manchester City's most recent accounts showed they made losses of £121m in 2009-10. At Manchester United, operating profits topped £100m for the first time but the club was left in the red by £79.6m due to interest payments on its £521.7m debt and one-off losses on interest rate swaps.

amiable

Article from a few years ago

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1144502/Are-sure-Peter-Chelseas-Kenyon-continues-target-breaking-year.html

GavRedKing

Carlo Ancelotti says hes been offered Torres but wants Tevez.

:eek:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2087752/Fernando-Torres-offered-PSG--want-Carlos-Tevez.html

Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that Paris St Germain have been offered Chelsea flop Fernando Torres - as they line up a swoop for Carlos Tevez.

The Blues striker has scored just five goals since his £50million arrival from Liverpool - and has even been booked in for extra shooting practice.



Sportsmail revealed last month that Chelsea were considering offloading the British record signing for a cut-price fee after just a year at Stamford Bridge.

And Ancelotti has claimed that the Spain international has been touted as a potential signing for his mega-rich French side.

The PSG boss said: 'There is a lot of choice for this January market. Do you want the names?

'OK, now I tell you the players the agents are offering on the market, officially or not: Carlos Tevez, Fernando Torres, Dimitar Berbatov, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Edinson Cavani, Fernando Llorente.'

Whether Chelsea would take a huge loss on Torres remains to be seen, but Ancelotti's admission suggests he is under threat.




Ancelotti, who was the manager in charge when Torres arrived at the Bridge, is unlikely to be interested in linking up with him again.


But one man he is genuinely keen on is Tevez, who is on his way out of Manchester City.


Inter Milan are set to fail with their £21m bid for the Argentina striker - but PSG are able to pay more after their recent injection of Qatari cash.


It is believed Sheikh Tamim - who owns PSG - has even spoken directly to City chief Sheikh Mansour about a deal.

City are believed to be holding out for at least £30m for Tevez and the French side would be the leading contenders to stump up the money.

Sgt Pepper 64

gavredking wrote: »

Carlo Ancelotti says hes been offered Torres but wants Tevez.

:eek:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2087752/Fernando-Torres-offered-PSG--want-Carlos-Tevez.html

Anything with sportsmail in it is usually bogus

hazard to Chelsea signed already - LOL!