Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15

Blatter

The one small worry I'd have if I was a Chelsea fan is City are playing Barca in the last 16 and it's fairly likely that they'll get knocked out.

PSG will be no walk in the park but you'd expect Chelsea would have a much better chance of progressing than City.

If ye make it to the semi final you're talking an extra 4 big, big intensity games whereas City will likely have a free run.

The 5 point gap and relative ease of the remaining fixtures should see ye through but it could be very tight if the above scenario plays out.

RichT

Blatter wrote: »

The one small worry I'd have if I was a Chelsea fan is City are playing Barca in the last 16 and it's fairly likely that they'll get knocked out.

PSG will be no walk in the park but you'd expect Chelsea would have a much better chance of progressing than City.

If ye make it to the semi final you're talking an extra 4 big, big intensity games whereas City will likely have a free run.

The 5 point gap and relative ease of the remaining fixtures should see ye through but it could be very tight if the above scenario plays out.

........ and we wouldn't have it any other way. :cool:

GavRedKing

Barr wrote: »

I always liked the look of the older skylines. Don't see to many around Cork these days post celtic tiger.

Remember reading before that SAF banned sports cars for the younger players at UTD.

Probably the real reason Pogda left Old Trafford :pac:

Ive a buddy that has a R32 2.5 GTS, has it awhile now, hes a mechanic himself so maintenance isnt an issue for him. I've a quick enough car but always want moe BHP

Blatter wrote: »

The one small worry I'd have if I was a Chelsea fan is City are playing Barca in the last 16 and it's fairly likely that they'll get knocked out.

PSG will be no walk in the park but you'd expect Chelsea would have a much better chance of progressing than City.

If ye make it to the semi final you're talking an extra 4 big, big intensity games whereas City will likely have a free run.

The 5 point gap and relative ease of the remaining fixtures should see ye through but it could be very tight if the above scenario plays out.

Oh ya, of course, one decent thing is being out of the FA cup so early, avoids replays and tough games but with City among others out of it early too, theres no advantage to that.

I actually think City will beat them over the 2 legs, Barca are finding form again though s right now isnt a good time to play them but I think City will have a decent chance this year.

A lot can happen though over the next 15 or so league games, a 5 point gap is nothing really and it could swing back and forth between us and another team or two yet.

Blatter

RichT wrote: »

........ and we wouldn't have it any other way. :cool:

Give me a comfortable league title win any day of the week. This neck and neck lark isn't good for the heart :pac:

Blatter

GavRedKing wrote: »

I actually think City will beat them over the 2 legs, Barca are finding form again though s right now isnt a good time to play them but I think City will have a decent chance this year.

I think City will need Aguero to get back up to speed in time for it to stand a good chance. Messi and Neymar are in serious form at the minute and I find it hard to see City having enough over the two legs to beat them. They'll have a chance of course but I think Barca deserve to be clear favorites. It's a tie I'm really looking forward to seeing actually.

Edit: Just looked at the odds there, Barca are best price 5/4 to win at the Etihad, 4/9 to progress in the tie. Chelsea are 1/2 to qualify.

GavRedKing

Blatter wrote: »

Give me a comfortable league title win any day of the week. This neck and neck lark isn't good for the heart :pac:

Oh of course, although its not always that easy. We've been blessed that when we've dropped points we've usually kicked on again and picked up a good few wins on the spin on the back of it, where as the rest of the league has struggled for some consistencty or have won a good few games and then dropped silly points over a small period of 2 oe 3 games and then the points difference has been restored.

Blatter wrote: »

I think City will need Aguero to get back up to speed in time for it to stand a good chance. Messi and Neymar are in serious form at the minute and I find it hard to see City having enough over the two legs to beat them. They'll have a chance of course but I think Barca deserve to be clear favorites. It's a tie I'm really looking forward to seeing actually.

Ya, Messi looks back to his devasting best, seen the Villareal game the other night and theyre a very potent attacking force but theyre still giving up chances, City will need a huge performance but if they can keep it tight at the Etihad and have something to play for going to Spain, you never know if they score first they could rattle Barca.

I'd agree though, I think its one of the best ties of the Round of 16, although I think we've pulled the most difficult team that finished second from this years group stages.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Not true, if hes being taxed what, 45% of his supposed salary he'd have to wait at least 2 weeks before getting one. :pac:

Any top notch player paying 45% tax needs a new beancounter in a serious way. That rate is for joe public.

As for cars give me their salary and this would be my mode of transport

http://www.brabus.com/en/raster.php?page=3&sub=2&id=20799

Brabus do some serious engineering.

GavRedKing

Its grand for F1 drivers, Golf or Tennis Pro's to claim they live in Monaco all year but hard for an EPL player to avoid taxes I'd imagine. Especailly with the clubfooting the tax bill.

They could hide some assets like sponsorships through a few offshore accounts and investments but I doubt theyed manage that with their salary.

grumpymunster

Or Monaco players must be real annoying for other French teams that. I think a few of them are companies and a good chunk of the payment deferred, makes no difference to me anyway certainly don't have that problem sadly. Would dearly love a Brabus though, not sure I would survive more than a week or two but even a Smart car doing 0 - 100kph in less than 10 seconds is mad.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Or Monaco players must be real annoying for other French teams that. I think a few of them are companies and a good chunk of the payment deferred, makes no difference to me anyway certainly don't have that problem sadly. Would dearly love a Brabus though, not sure I would survive more than a week or two but even a Smart car doing 0 - 100kph in less than 10 seconds is mad.

Ya, playing for monaco and earning a clean 100% of your wages would be sweet, for the higher earners it must be a dream.

South of France, good living, mad money, what could be better :pac:

GavRedKing

Redknapp resigns from qpr.

Duck Soup

Not the worst team in the world (although José would quickly tell you "Not the best, either".

GavRedKing

That team would beat alot of EPL sides easily enough :eek:

All of the players gone have been replaced and upgraded.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Redknapp resigns from qpr.

No loss for the premier league really

GavRedKing

There was a brilliant chant directed at Jamie Redknapp on Saturday but sung towards Lampard.

Made me chuckle.

chelseaaremagic

so what was the chant gav?

GavRedKing

Well it was the 2nd best chant actually.

1st one was when City piped up about being the champions, after our top of the league cringe chants, the shed broke into a chorus of "You'll never sign that, you'll never sing thaaaaaaat, Champions of Europe, you'll never sing that" :pac:

The one directed at lamps went to the same tune/melody and was " Your cousins a c**t, your cousins a c******T, Frankie Lampard, your cousins a c**t" :P

I only wish Redknapp was in the ground to hear it and not in the Sky studio in London somewhere.

grumpymunster

Yea the first one was nice and clear on telly all right, didn't hear the second one maybe they turned the volume down, did the City fans join in the second one?

GavRedKing

No idea TBH, as most of the ground was singing it, even the reserved West Stand had a few people shouting it once we realised what the Shed had started.

I hope it takes off in general across the UK.

For the first time this year I didnt hear the Steve Gerrard chant, so hopefully that fecks off.

I still hate the "we're top of the league" chant.

Its pretty cringey, although I still wanna stay top of the league

GavRedKing

I'm glad we didnt get that replay against Bradford, a win would have been nice but we've no midweek game this week and a good week off to recover from a very difficult 210 mins of football over 2 games.

Villa, if we're switched on should hopefully be a mauling, at the very least a win, one can hope that Cesc will be recovered in time and we wont miss Costa.

Cuadrado could feature, I doubt he'll start but we can switch it up if needed, willian did limp off against City so if hes anyway doubtful we've got an expensive replacement ready to take his place.

grumpymunster

Nice goodbye from Schurrle sure he will get a good reception if he ever returns to the Bridge with Wolfsburg

http://www.thickaccent.com/2015/02/03/andre-schurrle-cherishes-his-time-at-chelsea-says-goodbye-on-instagram/?

GavRedKing

Loftus-Cheek and Izzy Brown are set to be pused intot the 1st team fold permanently, Chelsea have confirmed.

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/02/more-academy-graduates-in-first-team-squad.html

GavRedKing

Full EPL squad list is as follows:

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/02/squad-lists-announced-.html

The regulations for each squad composition differ slightly between the two competitions and are outlined below.

New-signing Juan Cuadrado is eligible for both squads as his European appearances for Fiorentina this season were in the Europa League.

For the knockout stage of the Champions League a club may register a maximum of three new players, with one able to have played in a UEFA competition group stage match for another club provided that the player has not been fielded in the Champions League.

The Premier League squad number list is

1. Petr Cech
2. Branislav Ivanovic
3. Filipe Luis
4. Cesc Fabregas
7. Ramires
8. Oscar
10. Eden Hazard
11. Didier Drogba
12. John Mikel Obi
13. Thibaut Courtois
18. Loic Remy
19. Diego Costa
21. Nemanja Matic
22. Willian
23. Juan Cuadrado
24. Gary Cahill
26. John Terry
28. Cesar Azpilicueta


Under-21 Players

5. Kurt Zouma
6. Nathan Ake
31. Andreas Christensen
32. Jeremie Boga
33. Mitchell Beeney
35. Dominic Solanke
36. Ruben Loftus-Cheek
37. Isaiah Brown
46. Jamal Blackman

UEFA Champions League squad numbers List


1. Petr Cech
2. Branislav Ivanovic
3. Filipe Luis
4. Cesc Fabregas
5. Kurt Zouma
7. Ramires
8. Oscar
10. Eden Hazard
11. Didier Drogba
12. John Mikel Obi
13. Thibaut Courtois
18. Loic Remy
19. Diego Costa
21. Nemanja Matic
22. Willian
23. Juan Cuadrado
24. Gary Cahill
26. John Terry
28. Cesar Azpilicueta
37. Isaiah Brown



B List

6. Nathan Ake
31. Andreas Christensen
32. Jeremie Boga
33. Mitchell Beeney
35. Dominic Solanke
36. Ruben Loftus-Cheek
47. Jamal Blackman

Premier League regulations:

The squad can be up to 25 players of whom a maximum of 17 may not be home-grown players. A reduced squad can be submitted if a club does not have eight falling into the home-grown category.

A home-grown player is one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).

In addition to the 25-man named squad, clubs can use an unlimited number of players aged 21 or under. An Under-21 player means a player under the age of 21 as at the 1st January in the year in which the season concerned commences. Under-21 players can be added to the squad during the season.

These rules cover league games only.


For the Champions League:

No club may have more than 25 players on List A during the season. Eight places on List A are reserved for 'locally trained players'.

A 'locally trained player' is either a 'club-trained player' or an 'association-trained player' and no club may have more than four 'association-trained players' listed among the eight.

A 'club-trained player' is a player who, between the age of 15 and 21, and irrespective of his nationality and age, has been registered with his current club for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or of 36 months.

In the case of Chelsea, an 'association-trained player' is a player who, between the age of 15 and 21 and irrespective of his nationality and age, has been registered with another club affiliated to the FA for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or of 36 months.

A player may be registered on List B if he is born on or after 1 January 1993 and has been eligible to play for Chelsea for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday. An unlimited number of players can registered on List B provided the list is submitted by the day before the match in question.

Following the submission of these lists, for all matches from the start of the round of 16, a club may register a maximum of three new eligible players. Such registration must be completed by 3 February 2015. One of three who has been fielded in a UEFA club competition group stage match for another club in the current season may exceptionally be registered, provided that the player has not been fielded in the same competition for another club; or for another club that is currently in the same competition.

If the registration of such new players causes the number of players on List A to exceed 25, the club must remove the necessary number of currently registered players to reduce the squad to 25 players again. The quota of the 'locally trained players' must be respected when registering new players.

hots

Shows that we're actually pretty thin when it comes to squad players... I wonder how that compares to other prem squads?

GavRedKing

We're pretty thin now that we've ditched two squad players but the youngsters being pushed is good to see, hopefully they make the grade.

Some of them are very, very talented.

phobia2011

were always going on about the youth not getting a chance, hopefully they make the most of it.

GavRedKing

phobia2011 wrote: »

were always going on about the youth not getting a chance, hopefully they make the most of it.

They'll only make up the numbers in the match day squads if we've got injuries/suspensions.

We should still have 18 senior players to play the big games but its gives the guys great experience with the 1st team.

GavRedKing

I guy who grew up around the corner from me has made his Cambridge debut against Utd at Old trafford.

Panthro

GavRedKing wrote: »

I guy who grew up around the corner from me has made his Cambridge debut against Utd at Old trafford.

Yeah well......that's pretty impressive stuff in fairness to him!
Go wan my son!

GavRedKing

Ya, played well for Cork City last year too.

Spent a good chunk of his teens over with Blackburn youths and hes back across channel, fair play I say.

kessler182

GavRedKing wrote: »

Cuadrado could feature, I doubt he'll start but we can switch it up if needed, willian did limp off against City so if hes anyway doubtful we've got an expensive replacement ready to take his place.

No more Ramires on the right wing

the_monkey

Hi all, I've been on a forced holiday :P

So I watched the city game last weekend and was relieved with the draw tbh, the 2nd half was so bad ... still edgy about this league - 5 pts is not a lot.

City seem to have easier fixtures - at least in the immediate few weeks anyway.

galwaylad14

GavRedKing wrote: »

The one directed at lamps went to the same tune/melody and was " Your cousins a c**t, your cousins a c******T, Frankie Lampard, your cousins a c**t" :P

I only wish Redknapp was in the ground to hear it and not in the Sky studio in London somewhere.

In fairness Shakespeare, Wilde and Yeats had nothing on that sort of literary genius

GavRedKing

galwaylad14 wrote: »

In fairness Shakespeare, Wilde and Yeats had nothing on that sort of literary genius

Good, theyed have been Rugby fans anyway :P

GavRedKing

kessler182 wrote: »

No more Ramires on the right wing

Ya id say the pecking order is

Rw - Willian/ Cudarado - for now
Cam - Oscar/Cesc/Willian
Lw - Hazard/Remy

Weve enough to see us through barring a lot of injuries.

peteeeed

daily mail in good chelsea youth article shock

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2937796/It-s-not-quite-Jody-Morris-cleaning-Dennis-Wise-s-boots-Chelsea-filling-youth-teams-local-heroes.html

GavRedKing

Decent read alright, paints the youth setup in a good light, which it really has become recently.

rottie 11

Just read an article there about cuadrados childhood

His father was murdered while he was hiding under a bed . He was 4

GavRedKing

Ya, I've heard so.

Must have been pretty horrible for the kid.

I'm hoping Willian isnt 100% for the Villa game so Cuadrado can get a start.

rottie 11

GavRedKing wrote: »

Ya, I've heard so.

Must have been pretty horrible for the kid.

I'm hoping Willian isnt 100% for the Villa game so Cuadrado can get a start.

Ya me 2 mad to see him in action

GavRedKing

I hope i dont jinx it but playing villa right now should be an automatic win for any good side if they go out prepared and focused.

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

I hope i dont jinx it but playing villa right now should be an automatic win for any good side if they go out prepared and focused.

Absolutely, Remy to get more gametime too, Zouma to keep it up and Cuadrado to come on for a run out with 20 to go... all in an ideal world!

GavRedKing

hobbit of the shire wrote: »

Absolutely, Remy to get more gametime too, Zouma to keep it up and Cuadrado to come on for a run out with 20 to go... all in an ideal world!

Depnds on whos fit really I guess.

I'd go with

T-bo
Ivan Zouma JT Azp
Matic Cesc
Cuadrado Oscar Hazard
Remy

If Cesc is still out then I'd love to see Oscar CM, Willian #10 and Cuadrado RW.

GavRedKing

If you look at our over haul in the 4 transfer windows since Joses come back its pretty mental that

a) we've made money on players that have not been here long
b) not fallen off like some other clubs after big spends

Great deals being done by Jose and the board.

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

If you look at our over haul in the 4 transfer windows since Joses come back its pretty mental that

a) we've made money on players that have not been here long
b) not fallen off like some other clubs after big spends

Great deals being done by Jose and the board.

Yeah really has been some change from the early Roman days, can't think of any recent 'misses' that have either flopped or been serious losses... The only one I can think of since Torres might be Willian as his resale will never be close to 30 imo, but if he stays long term that doesn't matter anyway.

GavRedKing

A couple havent lived up to the expectation but they were bought and sold on at a profit which is excellent work by Marina granovskaia.

She deserves an awful lot of credit for brokering the deals for the both buying and selling of players.

blue-army

Anyone got any idea roughly how many season ticket holders/uk away scheme members we've got?
Can't find a concrete answer online.

GavRedKing

blue-army wrote: »

Anyone got any idea roughly how many season ticket holders/uk away scheme members we've got?
Can't find a concrete answer online.

No idea about the away scheme but I think theres about 25k ST holders.

GavRedKing

Eidur Gudjohnsen scored against the Pool

hullaballoo

Eidur Gudjohnsen penalty for Bolton. :pac: