Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2011/2012

amiable

gavredking wrote: »

4-2-3-1

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Strikers means he'd be playing behind more than 1

Sgt Pepper 64

gavredking wrote: »

4-2-3-1

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I'm going with this: 1-3-2-4-1

Torres (In form and free scoring)

Hazard - Mata - Danny

Ramires - Romeu


Cashly - JT - Luiz\Cahill - Ivan\Luiz!

Cech

what a day

amiable wrote: »

Strikers means he'd be playing behind more than 1

Sturridge is a stricker but playes out right as an inverted winger


Hazard Torres Sturridge

Mata Ramires
Oriel

Cole Terry Cahil Ivanovic

Cech

amiable

what a day wrote: »

Sturridge is a stricker but playes out right as an inverted winger


Hazard Torres Sturridge

Mata Ramires
Oriel

Cole Terry Cahil Ivanovic

Cech

I posted about Mata being able to play in midfield months ago and it went down like a lead balloon.

I still think Mata is a good enough player to play in midfield or a free role could be considered for him.

Sgt Pepper 64

amiable wrote: »

I posted about Mata being able to play in midfield months ago and it went down like a lead balloon.

I still think Mata is a good enough player to play in midfield or a free role could be considered for him.

He's already a key player for us - he's opta stats for assists are through the roof. God help us if he gets an injury

amiable

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

He's already a key player for us - he's opta stats for assists are through the roof. God help us if he gets an injury

I didn't say he wasn't

Sgt Pepper 64

amiable wrote: »

I didn't say he wasn't

i didnt say you did!

Just pointing out how valuble he already is to us

what a day

IMO Mata has to play in midfield his movement positioning and vision is brilliant, not to mention is skill on the ball that can take him past a defender to unlock a killer pass for Torres to miss ha ha, only joking Torres is showing good form lately.

If we are to put Mata in Midfield that will leave us in need of a good winger, not Kalou, not malouda. Kakuta has yet to prove he is good enough for CFC and unfortunatly i dont see him play as much as AVB does. As for De Bruyne i dont think he is good enought to start in our squad at the moment and may need to be loaned out to a PL team.

GavRedKing

amiable wrote: »

I posted about Mata being able to play in midfield months ago and it went down like a lead balloon.

I still think Mata is a good enough player to play in midfield or a free role could be considered for him.

Hes played there for Valencia but more in a free role, like you suggested but he'd have to have a free role like Silva has, a rel playmaker, playing inbetween the lines and floating around the pitch.

Thats why the 4-2-3-1 would work. Mata would have to play directly behind Torres/ Drogba nad bwe flanked either side by Sturridge / Hazard / De Bruyne / Di Maria and have a good DM behind along with a good, energetic CM. So Ramires / Lamps and Meireles / Romeu / Essien.

GavRedKing

From the Telgraph :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9024842/Chelsea-striker-Didier-Drogba-in-talks-with-Shanghai-Shehua-according-to-Chinese-Super-League-side.html

Pinches of salt required I reckon.

Drogba, who rejected a one-year contract extension at Stamford Bridge after demanding a two-year deal, has been linked with a move to China for some time.


Dalian Aerbin reportedly offered the 33-year-old wages of £200,000 a week but their Chinese Super League rivals now appear to be in pole position.


A Shenhua spokesman was quoted today as saying talks have been taking place, and Shenhua owner Zhu Jun cryptically spoke of the pursuit on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, saying: "It's like flirting with a girl. Perhaps she will resist you at first, but if you continue to ask her out, it always ends well. Never give up."


Board member Zhou Jun told Shanghai Daily: "Everything is going well so far, though there have been a few obstacles.


"It's like making a blockbuster film. When superstars like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Zhou Xun have confirmed their participation, other actors and actress will be confident of the movie."


Anelka last month became one of the biggest names ever to move to Chinese football when he signed for Shenhua on a reported £200,000-a-week deal.

Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas has been hopeful of Drogba, who is currently on African Nations Cup duty with Ivory Coast, seeing out the remainder of his contract.

He is currently free to open negotiations with rival clubs over a summer move but, should an offer for him be made before the transfer window closes, the Blues must decide whether to cash in.

what a day

Pinch of fairy dust more like, that chinese chap sounds like he is away with the fairys.

Id cash in on the Drogmonster if we get an decent offer, either way id let him leave in the summer and focus on moving forward with a younger hungrier player.

There is a lot of players we need to cash in on if we are to get near europes top teams, Madrid/Barca are streets ahead of us and those are the teams we strive to keep up with. So far we are no where near them.

GavRedKing

what a day wrote: »

Pinch of fairy dust more like, that chinese chap sounds like he is away with the fairys.

Id cash in on the Drogmonster if we get an decent offer, either way id let him leave in the summer and focus on moving forward with a younger hungrier player.

There is a lot of players we need to cash in on if we are to get near europes top teams, Madrid/Barca are streets ahead of us and those are the teams we strive to keep up with. So far we are no where near them.

Well if Drogba can sign a pre-contract with any team around Europe and leave for nothing at the end of his contract, at the moment the only way we'll get money for him is if he goes to an English club.

Agreed on the younger squad though but we cant splash to much with the impending FFP.

GavRedKing

Seen this in the Sun this morning, although this too could be a load of balls.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4070750/SunSport-investigation-Chelsea-fans-suspicion-over-CPO-share-riddle.html

ALEX FERGUSON allegedly once claimed former Chelsea captain Dennis Wise could start a fight in an empty room.

At tomorrow's meeting of the Chelsea Pitch Owners, where shareholders will be asked to approve Wise's appointment to the board, there will be no need for his talent for creating confrontation.

Because, once again, some of Chelsea's most committed fans will be taking aim at the people who run their club.

They will ask whether the Chelsea hierarchy encouraged the purchase of shares in CPO by people likely to support the club's plans to leave Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea strongly deny trying to manipulate the crucial vote at last year's EGM.

And there would have been nothing illegal in senior Stamford Bridge figures encouraging friendly faces to buy CPO shares in order to vote in support of moves to leave SW6.

But some supporters, who have been following the club since long before Roman Abramovich's revolution began in 2003 and who joined CPO to protect the club from losing its home, believe something fishy is going on.
That their opinions and their votes are being diluted by people loyal to Abramovich and the Chelsea hierarchy.

Why do they think this?

Between October 3, 2011, when Chelsea announced their proposal to buy back the freehold of Stamford Bridge from CPO, and October 20, when sales of shares were suspended a week before the meeting, a number of people with apparent links to the Chelsea hierarchy bought stakes in the company.

SunSport has been unable to find out whether they voted in favour of the club's proposal at the October 27 meeting.

Of course, these people may have bought shares without any prompting from anyone at Chelsea and voted 'Yes' because they genuinely believed it was the best thing for the future of the club.

Or they may have acted in that way out of loyalty to the Chelsea hierarchy.

They included:

MARK SKIPP. The former SAS man is Abramovich's head of security and has been involved in protecting the Russian oligarch since soon after his Chelsea takeover.
But despite being connected to Abramovich, and therefore Chelsea, for several years, Skipp did not buy his 65 shares in CPO until October 17.

PAUL HEAGREN. The accountant has been a close associate of Abramovich for more than a decade and is a director of a number of Chelsea and/or Abramovich-related companies, some of which are based at Stamford Bridge.
They include Fordstam, the firm which is the ultimate holding company for Chelsea FC itself.
He did buy a share in CPO in 2010. But on October 14, 2011, he bought 99 more to take his holding to 100. You are allowed to own more but voting rights only go with the first 100.

Heagren's wife, Victoria, snapped up 50 shares on the same day.

PETER COULTON. Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck is a partner in the London office of American legal firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom.
So is a man named Peter J Coulton, an Australia-trained lawyer.
He has not responded to SunSport enquiries. But it is understood he is the same Peter Coulton who bought 100 CPO shares on October 20.

And there are also questions about others who bought up to 100 shares before the crucial meeting, such as a former director of a Chelsea-related company and a woman who lives in the same building as a senior Chelsea official. But one other purchase is particularly interesting. On October 14 an individual bought 25 shares and registered them to a London address.

Publicly available records do not confirm that person as living there.

But someone who is listed as an inhabitant of the address, and who co-owns the property according to the UK Land Registry, is a man named Brandon Scott Buck.

One of Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck's sons is called Brandon.

It has not been possible to establish whether the Brandon Buck registered at that address is related to Bruce. If so, though, this raises the intriguing possibility that Brandon Buck encouraged the purchaser to buy the 25 shares and register them to his address.

What can be confirmed is that a Brandon Buck works in the London office of an American firm of architects called Kohn Pedersen Fox, who have provided advice to Chelsea in the past.

There was no response from KPF's Brandon Buck, their head office in New York or Chelsea to requests to clarify the situation.

There are a number of other purchasers, whose full identity and motives remain a mystery.

The key issue is why buy the shares and why then?
CPO was set up in 1993, after Stamford Bridge had been saved from property developers.

The Chelsea chairman at the time, Ken Bates, agreed the club would loan CPO £10million to buy the Stamford Bridge freehold in 1997.
The club's proposal to buy it back was based on repaying the £100 cost price of each share — in other words, there was no financial gain to be made from buying them before the vote and then voting to sell them back for the same amount.

To attend the EGM, fans needed to buy just one share for £100 — not up to 100 at a cost of £10,000. Buying a chunk of shares could have had only one purpose. To influence the vote one way or the other.

In the end, the club failed to secure the 75 per cent of votes they needed when the October 27 meeting turned hostile.

Bruce Buck said afterwards: "We don't know who bought the shares. I certainly know that one of the leaders of 'Say No CPO' bought 100 shares during that period because he told me and he wasn't hiding it.

"During the course of the three weeks, there have been people who have come up to us at Chelsea and asked 'What can we do to help?' We said 'Vote in favour if you have shares or want to buy shares'. We've been pretty relaxed about it."

But other CPO shareholders — Buck himself bought 99 shares back in April to take his total to 100 — are less relaxed.

To some eyes, the connections between some of those who bought shares and key figures at Stamford Bridge — and the timing of their purchases — look like more than simply coincidence.

It was revealed that earlier in the year Bruce Buck had become so frustrated with a CPO shareholder and critic called Paul Todd that he had asked another supporter to get Todd 'under control' and ensure he was kept 'on the sidelines'. A Chelsea statement said that the comments, made in voice messages, were just a reflection of Buck's frustration at being unable to get hold of Todd to talk.

Many believe no new shares should have been issued after Chelsea had announced their buy-back proposal.

And it looks bad that the CPO board allowed many more shares to be sold after the announcement than they should.

A total of 1,686 of the 2,517 shares bought between October 3 and the suspension of trading on October 20 should NOT have been issued because of a restriction agreed by CPO directors themselves a year before.

New CPO board chairman Steve Frankham says this was an oversight — rather than a conspiracy — and that lawyers have advised the board the shares do not have to be cancelled.

But at tomorrow's Annual General Meeting, one of the motions is to allow the board to start selling shares again.

Many will now fear this would simply allow more people connected to the Abramovich regime to gain a say in the future of the club.

Chelsea have claimed they have exhausted every possibility of expanding Stamford Bridge to the 55,000 or 60,000 seats they need to compete with their domestic and European rivals.

Buying back the freehold of Stamford Bridge, they say, would just give them a stronger negotiating position if they found a new site.



It is also worth remembering that Stamford Bridge is 12 acres of prime real estate in one of the most expensive areas in the world.

There could be plenty of change from selling it, even if a new stadium elsewhere cost £500m to £600m.

Enough change, perhaps, to make a significant dent in the £740m that Abramovich has spent, at the last count, on transforming Chelsea.
On the other hand, cash spent on refurbishing Stamford Bridge would just add to his overall investment in the club.

If the share activity before last October's EGM of Chelsea Pitch Owners Plc was an attempt to manipulate the vote, it was a bad one because Chelsea lost.

Yet the fear among some fans is that they will one day soon be outnumbered by incoming CPO shareholders, who support the club's plans to leave Stamford Bridge.

GavRedKing

Press conference from AVB :

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2582104,00.html

Says we are done in yhe transfer market after Cahill's arrival as there was no value but a striker was been talked about.

Sgt Pepper 64

gavredking wrote: »

Press conference from AVB :

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2582104,00.html

Says we are done in yhe transfer market after Cahill's arrival as there was no value but a striker was been talked about.

"The options available are overpriced, we have full belief in what we have, we are not panicking, we spoke about a forward but it's not a necessity, it's not impossible that we won't buy but we will see" - AVB.

That says to me, "yes we are trying, but has to be the right player at the right price" "but we're not that bovvered if we dont get anyone!"
(Secretly yes we are!) :D:D

what a day

Interesting read on the CPO, i think the original CPO members are been hard done by now that shares are still available.
Have to say i would be interested in a move away from the bridge as long as we get a better state of the art stadium 4 or 5 star. We will also need extra room incase future developments are needed to extend the stadium.

Maybe AVBs comments are the nail in the coffin regarding Hazard/Cavani

Still think we could sign a RB and De Bruyne this window. Still better then over paying for a player. We need that Left sided winger/striker to allow Mata to play in midfield.

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

"The options available are overpriced, we have full belief in what we have, we are not panicking, we spoke about a forward but it's not a necessity, it's not impossible that we won't buy but we will see" - AVB.

That says to me, "yes we are trying, but has to be the right player at the right price" "but we're not that bovvered if we dont get anyone!"
(Secretly yes we are!) :D:D

Well any club that isnt actively trying to improve the squad is not going in the right direction.

I'd say theres deals been discussed but we wont know and we can second guess all we like at this stage until we get something concrete.

what a day wrote: »

Interesting read on the CPO, i think the original CPO members are been hard done by now that shares are still available.
Have to say i would be interested in a move away from the bridge as long as we get a better state of the art stadium 4 or 5 star. We will also need extra room incase future developments are needed to extend the stadium.

Maybe AVBs comments are the nail in the coffin regarding Hazard/Cavani

Still think we could sign a RB and De Bruyne this window. Still better then over paying for a player. We need that Left sided winger/striker to allow Mata to play in midfield.

The CPO are getting a raw deal alright, now it looks like the hierarchy of the club are trying to force out the CPO and push for a move at all costs which could very easily turn supporters on Ron Gourlay and Bruce Buck, well TBF a lot of fans have differing opinions on these two and thats putting it lightly.

We discussed a move in great detail a few months back on this thread and the general thought was a move would be good and necessary but only if Stamford Bridge couldnt be redeveloped.

I'd be sad to leave Stamford Bridge behind anyway but we have to move forward but not at the cost of turning the CPO against us and a good chunk of the support base.

I think Cavani/Hazard wont happen in this window, Lille and Napoli would be very stupid to sell there prized assists at this stage in the season.

If we go in for them in the summer and do the deal like Mata and its kept hush-hush it would be perfect.

what a day

We discussed a move in great detail a few months back on this thread and the general thought was a move would be good and necessary but only if Stamford Bridge couldnt be redeveloped.


What to people expect to become of the bridge if we were to move to battersea? Surely the best out come is to redevelope the bridge and make the most of the profits and reinvest into our new stadium. Even if we are left with change sure Roman has a right to pocket the change as he has been very generous and taken CFC to another level.

As for Cavani/Hazard i think a deal should be done ASAP for Hazard as his value may rocket in the Euros. Also we need the LW postion filled but can make due with what we have untill the summer, do a deal with Lille and leave Hazard in France untill end of season. Cavani no this Deal may be better left to the summer. And your right i dont think Napoli will sell to us before we face each other in CL.

PeterTwo

what a day wrote: »

As for Cavani/Hazard i think a deal should be done ASAP for Hazard as his value may rocket in the Euros. Also we need the LW postion filled but can make due with what we have untill the summer, do a deal with Lille and leave Hazard in France untill end of season. Cavani no this Deal may be better left to the summer. And your right i dont think Napoli will sell to us before we face each other in CL.

He's not playing in the Euros, Belgium didn't qualify.

I still think you're right though. Buy Hazard now and Cavani later (even if we sell Drogba)

Cavani's price will drop as they will probably fail to make 3rd in Seria A and will be in a far weaker situation for negotiations. Let's just make sure we treat them with respect next month.

GavRedKing

what a day wrote: »

What to people expect to become of the bridge if we were to move to battersea? Surely the best out come is to redevelope the bridge and make the most of the profits and reinvest into our new stadium. Even if we are left with change sure Roman has a right to pocket the change as he has been very generous and taken CFC to another level.

The talk is to move away to a site and sell the ground Stamford Bridge resides on and make a fortune. We are talking about prime real estate where Stamford Bridge currently resides, it looks like since Roman took over hes tried every avenue to redevelop Stamford Bridge but Fulham & Hammersmith council havent helped and are blocking all avenues so a move at the moment is the only way we are going to get a 60,000 seater stadium.

All posibilities have been mentioned, knocking the shed end and building it agin but digging the foundations deeper to allow a bigger stand bu tit wouldnt give us too many extra seats and I think the council rejected that as it could disrupte the underground.

We have to move basically if we ever want to see a big stadium and big gates as numerous architects have been unable to come up with anything given the current space that Stamford Bridge currently resides on.

As for Cavani/Hazard i think a deal should be done ASAP for Hazard as his value may rocket in the Euros. Also we need the LW postion filled but can make due with what we have untill the summer, do a deal with Lille and leave Hazard in France untill end of season. Cavani no this Deal may be better left to the summer. And your right i dont think Napoli will sell to us before we face each other in CL.

Hazard isnt going to be playing in the Euros. Belgium finsihed 3rd in their group behind Germany and I think Turkey. His price may go up if they get UCL football as they will not want to lose there star player for the biggest competition in their history.

Napoli wont sell him now there in the UCL knockouts and especially to us, Napoli will keep him until the summer at least and if he goes we'd be talking £35-40 Milloin I think. He wont be cheap anyway.

what a day

could have swarn Belguim made the euros, just checked there your right, also saw Jedward are the mascots!!

I think this season will be the last of the so called Mourinho squad. AVB will make his mark on the squad in the next few windows. I can see the likes of Drogba, Kalou, Mikel, Malouda, Yossi, ferreira, even Essien going in the summer. And to be fair id be happy enough, Drogba and Essien would be missed but i cant see essien getting back to his best and may be wise to cash in on him in the summer. Drogba a living chelsea legend will be missed but we have to look to the future, we have Lukaku in to replace the Drog already but i dont honestly see him as an AVB type of striker.

Sorry to rattle a few cages but its my honest opinion.

Sgt Pepper 64

The new rumour is that we are trying secure first refusal on Hazard for a move next summer

amiable

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

The new rumour is that we are trying secure first refusal on Hazard for a move next summer

How would that work?

Would the player not need to agree to this too?

Sgt Pepper 64

amiable wrote: »

How would that work?

Would the player not need to agree to this too?

Yep!

amiable

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Yep!

So the player and Lille would agree? Why not just put through the transfer so?
You haven't thought this through?

Ease up on the info there sgt.

Sounds like a load of bull to me again

Sgt Pepper 64

'The options available are overpriced, we have full belief in what we have, we are not panicking, we spoke about a forward but its not a necessity, it's not impossible that we won't buy but we will see,' said Villas-Boas.

HULK

Sgt Pepper 64

amiable wrote: »

So the player and Lille would agree? Why not just put through the transfer so?
You haven't thought this through?

Ease up on the info there sgt.

Sounds like a load of bull to me again

I did say RUMOUR!

http://www.footballf...rst-option.html

amiable

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

I did say RUMOUR!

http://www.footballf...rst-option.html

No quotes in that and no mention of Hazard potentially agreeing to it as you stated.

While Eden Hazard may actually end up at Chelsea this story is bull IMO.

Sgt Pepper 64

amiable wrote: »

No quotes in that and no mention of Hazard potentially agreeing to it as you stated.

While Eden Hazard may actually end up at Chelsea this story is bull IMO.

Oh good grief! I never said he had, I agreed that he would have to!

Most transfer rumours are bs!

Sense of humour much?

Youre going back on ignore my friend!

amiable

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Oh good grief! I never said he had, I agreed that he would have to!

Most transfer rumours are bs!

Sense of humour much?

Youre going back on ignore my friend!

Please no I'm sorry please don't do this to me. Anything but this. Please I beg you.

For a bloke your age you do behave like a child and spit the dummy out a lot.

Go have another Hillsborough dig there when you are annoyed

A person makes valid points about a post and because of that he's put on an ignore list.

It's an open forum FFS

TerryTibbs!

I wish amiable would get banned.

Right little Sherlock Holmes aint ya.

A rumor was posted and you get aggressive about it and jump down peoples throats, cop on to yourself.

TerryTibbs!

Also don't PM me amiable, reply here.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

willmunny1990

amiable wrote: »

Please no I'm sorry please don't do this to me. Anything but this. Please I beg you.

For a bloke your age you do behave like a child and spit the dummy out a lot.

Go have another Hillsborough dig there when you are annoyed

A person makes valid points about a post and because of that he's put on an ignore list.

It's an open forum FFS

Your aggressive behavior and tone is not wanted in this thread amiable.

:P

McDave

Whatever about rumours, if I was asked to speculate on AVB's thoughts on our strikeforce, I'm pretty sure he'd:

1. Offload Drogba in January were a large fee to be offered; and

2. Play Torres for the rest of the season giving him the chance to prove himself. If he knocks in a goal a game he's a keeper - and I don't mean in competition with Cech! :-) . If he manages 9 or 10, that will get his value up enough to sell during the summer.

Outcome: if Torres comes really good, AVB is maybe €20 million up on Drogba. If he's only OK, then AVB just may have €50 million to play with on the sale of Drogba and Torres combined.

But that's just me speculating!

Gonzovision

Where are you getting 20m for Drogba? He only has 6 months left on his contract.

willmunny1990

At this stage i personally would like to see the back of Drogba, he has done great things for us but his time is up IMO. He only does it when he feels like it and when he has an off day he drags the whole team down with him.

20 million is never going to happen IMO, 33 years going on 34 in March if i am not mistaken, and 6 months left on his current contract.

amiable

gonzovision wrote: »

Where are you getting 20m for Drogba? He only has 6 months left on his contract.

He's also nearly 34

pistolpetes11

HAHAHAHA,

Hearing King Kenny is after Kalou ,


O please let it be so , Pretty please :D:D

http://www.facebook.com/transfernewscentral

amiable

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

HAHAHAHA,

Hearing King Kenny is after Kalou ,


O please let it be so , Pretty please :D:D

http://www.facebook.com/transfernewscentral

pauledwards1973 Paul Edwards
“@TransferNewsCen: Rumour: Kalou who is looking at other clubs is targeted by Kenny Daglish from Liverpool. -W.” ****ing ****e rumour

pistolpetes11

amiable wrote: »

pauledwards1973 Paul Edwards
“@TransferNewsCen: Rumour: Kalou who is looking at other clubs is targeted by Kenny Daglish from Liverpool. -W.” ****ing ****e rumour

I knew that would shake your tail !

amiable

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

I knew that would shake your tail !

Not at all Pete. Just seconds before hand I had read that tweet.

Paul Edwards is good source for LFC stuff

Sgt Pepper 64

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

HAHAHAHA,

Hearing King Kenny is after Kalou ,


O please let it be so , Pretty please :D:D

http://www.facebook.com/transfernewscentral

He's worth double a pony tail anyway!

Sgt Pepper 64

McDave wrote: »

Whatever about rumours, if I was asked to speculate on AVB's thoughts on our strikeforce, I'm pretty sure he'd:

1. Offload Drogba in January were a large fee to be offered; and

2. Play Torres for the rest of the season giving him the chance to prove himself. If he knocks in a goal a game he's a keeper - and I don't mean in competition with Cech! :-) . If he manages 9 or 10, that will get his value up enough to sell during the summer.

Outcome: if Torres comes really good, AVB is maybe €20 million up on Drogba. If he's only OK, then AVB just may have €50 million to play with on the sale of Drogba and Torres combined.

But that's just me speculating!

We wont let Drogba go this window - it leaves us short - only Danny and Torres, maybe Kalou and Luka. Drogba is seen as too important and has some sort of form unless we can find that magical cheap non cup tied striker to buy, but we just wont take the chance.
We'd be lucky to get 2 million for him anyway.

GavRedKing

Ye may have seen AVB's take on development in the main SF section but here it is incase ya havent.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2582294,00.html

Andre Villas-Boas has spoken publicly about the decision to move the reserve team squad from the main building at Cobham back into the adjacent Academy facility.

Since the main building was opened in 2007, the reserves have always had a changing room at one end, but in the last month Villas-Boas has relocated them to the Academy building, which was opened a year later.

The manager is hopeful that the switch will aid the first-team focus in the main building as well as creating a hunger in the second string to 'cross the road'.

'The move wasn't made on the basis of punishment, it was made for the benefit of the first team, and to do with infrastructure,' he said. 'Regarding talent coming through, I would negate that because of [Sam] Hutchinson, [Ryan] Bertrand and [Josh] McEachran who is now on loan.

'There is a generation coming through but they have to make the most difficult jump possible, JT made it through as one of the best in the world. Look at Oriol Romeu, he couldn't make it where he was [Barcelona] and now he's flourishing, from second division in Spain to the Premier League, the ones who make it under difficult circumstances go on to become great.

'We have a good youth team coming through at Chelsea, good talent coming through but it's a massive jump, is it too big a gap to come straight in the first team? Yes, if they explode or not depends on various factors, we have to wait on this generation, we have big hopes for the likes of Nathan Ake, Adam Nditi and Lucas Piazon.'

Villas-Boas believes a system similar to that in Spain, with 'B' sides playing competitively within the Football League could benefit the development of English youngsters.

'Competitive structures of youth football in England are not right in my opinion, the reserve league is not competitive,' the Portuguese said. 'I know there is plenty of work being done to get it right but it's not right.
'The Under 18s should play a national championship with the younger ones playing a regional championship, and this promotes talent and competitiveness.

'The European model could be applied to England, the reserve league over here serves the first team but doesn't serve long-term progression.
'There is more cultural identity with a B team, what happens at Barça B is down to a good model at the club and in competitions, they promote talent.

'If there is talent available within a competitive league, there is immediate identification, plus there could be a great benefit as you don't have to work with a 26-man squad, you can work with 19 and recall.

'We had a long-term injury to Essien at the start of the season and, with the window closed I could have recalled a player from our B team if we had one - you can just recall the best young players.

'The academy should assist us with quality talent and they are doing that now. It's up to the players to triumph in that environment, it's difficult for somebody like Ryan Bertrand to overcome Ashley Cole, the England left-back.

'Josh has to triumph in a difficult place, he has to make his way and have the same impact Sturridge had at Bolton, players have to prove they are capable when they go out. It gets even more difficult. With Josh's playing time we will see another vision of his talent, playing time is what he needs, and if he flourishes we will call him back.'

SlipperyPeople

Lucas piazon turned 18 today so he's able to play competitively now for us. hope to get a look at him soon.

amiable

hungoverbunny wrote: »

Lucas piazon turned 18 today so he's able to play competitively now for us. hope to get a look at him soon.

Why was he not allowed play at 17?

Work permit issue?

SlipperyPeople

yeah according to wiki he could play for the youth team from the start of the January transfer window but not for the Senior team. Now that hes 18 hes free to play with the big boys.

GavRedKing

amiable wrote: »

Why was he not allowed play at 17?

Work permit issue?

Yup, as he was under 18 when he signed he had to wait until he was 18 to apply for a working Visa. He's been doing well at Reserve level but I dont think he'll get to many opportunities in the first team this season.

Sgt Pepper 64

hungoverbunny wrote: »

Lucas piazon turned 18 today so he's able to play competitively now for us. hope to get a look at him soon.

He's one of AVB's "Theres a generation coming"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9026600/Brazilian-teenager-Piazon-heads-Chelseas-next-generation.html

"We have a good youth team coming through at Chelsea, good talent coming through but it's a massive jump, is it too big a gap to come straight in the first team? Yes, if they explode or not depends on various factors, we have to wait on this generation, we have big hopes for the likes of Nathan Ake, Adam Nditi and Lucas Piazon.'"

I dont expect to see him soon though - reserves I reckon for the next couple of years - carling cup run next year.
20 years old seems to be the breakthrough age

IMO The tinkerman (Ranieri) never got the credit he deserved.
It was him who plucked JT from the reserves and signed Lamps, and all before Romans money
Mourinho just came along and moulded them into a league winning team, but Ranieri wasnt far off. Very underrated manager IMO and nice man (met him once) to boot