Chelsea News 24/7Writer: GabeU 
Date:Saturday January 26 2013
Time: 2:12PM
UK time is: 16:00:03
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Squad depth; again!!!
I know many have heard this said time and again and i also know that many here dont rate Rafa at all but i just wanted to post this link for those who are interestd to read;
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1313489/benitez-urges-abramovich-spend?cc=5901
These are very recent comments from our interim manager.
Much as many love to hate the guy..the truth is compared to the members on our board and our owner Rafa has way more experience and knowledge about football matters and this is what he thinks.
It exactly mirrors what i and several others here have been saying this entire month. Roman and his three Amigos can choose to ignore the interims thoughts on this matter because after all he is just and interim and not favored by the Chelsea FC fanbase anyway.
We have only 5 days left in this window, the same board and ownership have decided to recall none of our 23 plus players on loan..in fact they added one more; Piazon and were actually contemplating sending out another; Marin. Thankfully Hazards suspension should have halted that suicidal thinking.
The point is with the game congestion coming once the Europa league reopens no coach whether he is called Rafa, Jose or Pep can succesfully manage a squad as thin as ours and compete effectively on all three fronts...something will need to give.
If i were Rafa and nothing changes i would just field a team of all youth players in the Europa league and hope they get bounced out post haste. I know Roman and his Amigos frankly could care less about the Europa league anyway. He however is trying to embellish his CV pending his summer departure so i doubt this will happen and i really fear as he further burdens our already tired first team players with the Europa league in addition to FA cup ties we will face injuries, worsening fatigue and further drop in quality on the field no matter the formation he chooses.
The bottom line is if we continue on this path a top 3 finish will be in serious jeopardy..I dont want to sound like an alarmist or a broken record saying the same thing again and again but the only Coach we have right now who works with our boys day in day out agrees. I think it is time Roman and the board listen to someone who knows more about these matters than they do.
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Your Comments
interesting observation @GabeU...i think the issues are quite clear...if we dont add to the present squad, then it has to be that Roman and his amigos do not give a hoot bout Europa or Fa cup...Even at that I am not sure just how far this present squad can take us in the BPL...clearly people runing our club do not appear to know a lot about the nature of the game itself and how much physical tireness can kick in when you play every 3 days...lets hope that the club is only playing some kind of joke and will get a lot more busy towards the end of the window starting monday like we always do....if that does not happen then I will have very genuine reasons to be afraid...and very afraid I will be!!
layorh12
I am worried about our lack of depth. So we've used for our outfield players: JT, Cole,Bertrand,Bane, Azpi, Cahill, Luiz, Marin,Moses,Lamps, Ramires, Mata,Oscar, Hazard, Mikel,Romeu, Ba,Torres and Piazon. Piazon and Romeu are out for the season so we have 16 players to cover our outfield positions, far from enough, not without reinforcements!
Seabourch
I have the first team photo as my screensaver on my ipad and I just counted 15 players. That's all he has to pick from and that was me counting cech and turnball. So if u don't count them then it is 13 to choose from. I didn't count Luiz cause he is hurt. I didn't count hazard cause who knows how long the horrible fa will suspend him for. Sturidge is gone Moses and mikel are at the African cup, oriel is hurt. Sorry I forgot ba so 14 not counting the keepers. Go look at that first team picture it is rather disturbing there really is no other options
Pantera98
Absolute truth... It now even looks like we are very thin in almost every position... look at the attack for example, if we don't play Oscar, Hazard and Mata, there is no one else to play except Marin.... Marin to me is not a solid back up and not the answer to our attacking problems.. Even Oscar and Hazard are still trying to gel in well... the Pivot has only Lamp and ramires... we have no winger now and will have only one when Moses returns, we need a back up striker, back up for cech and a solid back up for Mata. We also need to strengthen and restructure the pivot/deep midfield position.. The big question now is which position(s) do we give priority to and strengthen now as we obviously can't fix all now.... I still believe we are going to sign one or two more this window, I feel the management is just trying to analyse the situation well in order to buy the right player and fill the right positions....
Latunvic
In the least we need to recall mceachran & KDB.
shaf86
Whom is loaning these players out? Is it the board or is it the manager? A bunch of clowns running this organization.. It just shows you how clueless this organization is...by having a manager ask the owner to purchase more players when Chelsea has at least 3 players that could be recalled RIGHT NOW...Josh, KDB and why was PIAZON loaned out? CLUELESS just a dumb ass with a big ego that has too much money...with a bunch of YES men clowns surrounding him.
lamarochs
Its an issue that need to be looked into in only 2 ways:either we buy players or we call back some of our loanees.its serious and hope something is done very soon
blue5
You could almost field a whole new team with all the money this organization wastes...I am just sick how ***** poor this organization is run...
lamarochs
It is very naïve to say a player is not solid when he haven't been given time, rafa is the architect of our downward spiral, if he played marin and we see that marin is not good enough then we'll be in sympathy and it might just serve as a catalyst for the board to splash out, who is to say he will use the replacement if bought sef
Desmondadonis
#RafaOut #TorresOut #EmanaloOut
funkyav
The question is how many players have we got out on loan leaving us short
Of players is anyone of any competence running our club makes you think!
herefordchelsea
Offtopic!!
threeandin.com/2013/01/25/carzola-vs-mata-vs-silva/
Desmondadonis
Everyone has known this from the beginning of the season, which imberciles let Essien and Meirieles go without replacing them ? 1 striker, 1 goalie and 26 players out on loan, a great way to enter into the season ! Emenalo, Buck and Gourlay make the Venky`s look as if they know what they are doing.
Blueheart9
The truth is chelsea can't recall any of their loan player now!!!!you don't just recall a player because you sent him on loan,chelsea can't recall josh,lukaku or de bruyne because chelsea's option to recall them back expired on the 2nd monday of january,there is sometimes a clause that if a club loaning out a player doesn't recall the player before a specific date,it can not recall the player after a specific date,lukaku,josh and de bruyne had that clause and for now those are the players that deserves a recall but they can't be recalled anymore because the recall date has elapsed!........
......So if we have to strenghten this january,we have to buy!!!!
Hazard11
Then talking about signing players we have 2 position as priority,first the pivot and the forward line,the daily star just reported that chelsea are looking to sign fernandinho of shakhtar but he might not leave until summer,while in the forward line,for me,I would prefer we get another striker like the jovetic who has 23.5m pounds,if jovetic is out of our reach then we could activate isco release clause before he signs a new contract maybe willian will just be our last resort if we can't pull any of those deals.....for me,I would love to see a pivot player and jovetic/isco this january....it might be a tough deal to pull but we just have to do something!!
Hazard11
Hazard11 - thank you...I understand your point...but the problem is that the organization is reactive and not proactive..Basically, they don't have a plan and it really shows as they look like fools with their pants down because they are now left short handed.. What I am upset about is that we didn't recall players...I would rather recall loan players than go out and purchase players in January...Chelsea has to stop buying players without the next coaches input..this is one of the big problems.
lamarochs
@Desmond... well, I think it's equally fatuous and complete delusional to think Marin is the answer to our attacking problem or is better than Mata... Marin is just decent as back up and that's it for now... He has gotten some game time, and started some games... but he still hasn't done enough to replace Mata....
Latunvic
The problem with waiting till the 11th hour to do transfer business even if we end up getting anyone is that everyone will know that we are deperate. We will end up being swindled and paying well above actual market value for whoever we do get. Compared to last summer when the board actually did fairly well in the transfer window their activity this window has been abysmal. The one decent thing they have done is replace Danny with Ba..beyond that absolutely nothing of note.
GabeU
We need two players .striker who can play behind Ba or AMD like willian,or Garcia.Then the pivot we need CAPOUR or BENAT.But Willian is a must buy to bring competition for mata and hazard.
mzee69
We need two players .striker who can play behind Ba or AMD like willian,or Garcia.Then the pivot we need CAPOUR or BENAT.But Willian is a must buy to bring competition for mata and hazard.
mzee69
Benat+jovetic
(tevez?)
chelsea_pass
You know its funny cause all of this talk about the lack of squad depth and so on, is a lack of organizational competence and understanding of needed squad numbers to participated in certain comp's and playing so many games. It just shows how incompetent who ever is in charge of the playing squad is... CFC NEEDS TO STRAIGHTEN IT SELF OUT WITH A MANAGER WHO CAN CONTROL THE SQUAD... until its done, and organizational problems behind the closed doors are addressed, we will always have issues that will destabilize us further...
Tiraspol
its only at chelsea that the coach has next to zero say on player recruitments....becuase its common knowledge (by players and the board) that the coach is the most insecured in this club...that is why i have a lot respect for Mou..they tried the nonsense with him with the sheva purchase and he reacted immediately..evry other coach has been largely beaten to submission....we cant continue this way...i am even begining to think its Emenalo that solely determines which young player goes on loan and where...now that is pathetic!...coaches here are more like zombies to the board...while the board is like zombie to roman cos they wanta keep collecting the fat cheques...its a terrible spiral....on a lighter note we the fans are all obviously bored...hoping and hoping that we sign players...lool...i have hit refresh on my laptop today over a 100 times and m not kidding...still there is no slightest rumour regarding chelsea and transfers...i am worried
layorh12
Chelsea must buy Williams + Benat if we want to compete for top 3. Williams wont cost more than 17m.
Abidemi
Layorh12 i identify with you ..i have been searching everywhere online..in every reputable and disreputable web site imagineable to find anything to suggest that we are even looking to sign someone..anyone..It has been very slim pickings. For goodness sake NewCastle have signed 4 players within a week or so and are stlll looking to add more because they need the help. ManU who need no help have got one quality player for the summer. the moment Real knew Casillas was injured they did not waste 72hrs to get a replacement quality goal keeper immediately. Liverpool already have a decent midfield and are still after Coutinhio with the very intent of adding depth to what they have already. Meanwhile we have sent Piazon out on loan while Florent Malouda remains on our books, our wage package and our first team squad list..i am not trying to be saucy here but i honestly and seriously am beginning to think even i with absolutely no experience at all can do better than the guys Roman is paying to run this club and make the big decisions.
GabeU
Nobody is saying marin is better than mata, to think of that and even say it out is moronic, last time I checked marin have not been giving more than a start, which is not enough to judge him, if rafa the gaffer have used mata intelligently when I was pointing it out, he won't be this tired and useless by now, thank god hazard will have a rest, as for those that think if chelsea get willian he won't start over mata, well u have to think again, mata is suited where he won't be involved in midfield battles, play him behind a striker and u'll see him excel, if he continues in the middle, we'll be losing key midfield battles, there are a few players in the transfer market that have enough quality to help us, but I don't think we will buy
Desmondadonis
@GebeU... ''reputable and disreputable web site imagineable''...that got some good laughter off mee...What do we do?...a part of me keeps telling me good things will happen on or before deadline but then I am consciously not raising my hopes...bcos with chelsea you never can tell...nobody seem to understand the club these days...in my over 20 years of supporting the club..the level of uncertainty and apprehension has never been this high....**sigh sigh....
layorh12
For the striker jovetic can be good or we try Alexandria Matri.And a cheap winger like Bryne luis of fulham this lad plays like dembele.then get benat.
mzee69
without disrespect to Emanalo and the other amigos..it appears .a team of some intelligent folks in here will do a far better job than the present board...of course with other folks like and Mq and FV giving some uncommon suggestions...loooool.....!!
layorh12
@Desmond...your post hurts!....how dare you say you dont think we'll buy when I am here fasting and praying...refreshing my browser waiting for the breaking news..loool..not buying will be soo terrible...hmm...i hope we buy ooo.....
layorh12
As for me, I'll prefer we get a player like willian, his skill set with hazard's and moses's will unlock defenses, we can get fellaini if he'll come, or get gustavo, I heard he is available, this two players can help our cause, gustavo can be available for 15m, while willian will cost atleast 22-25m, that is about 40m, but I don't think roman would buy, why I think so is that they won't want too many players that mite not work for the next coach's pattern, after pep have snubbed us I don't see us buying players like hazard except it is by the next gaffer's choice, and rafa should know his priorities, if we believe it or not, he made us crash out of the capital one cup with his idiotic lineup, if he has started ba in the first leg, we'll surely be in the final by now. I hope he learns from that in our run for top 3, as being out of the UCL next season is inconcievable
Desmondadonis
@layorh, I am hoping as I type this that there would be a breaking news to the fact that we have bought 2-3 players, because I sincerely believe we can't achieve top 4 with this tired team, only if rafa haven't consistently played the mazacar for over 80 minutes in all games even when we are winning by 4-0, now we are reaping the dividends, it hurts too when I think about it, it still hurt when I remember the abuse I got for pointing it out and calling the coach clueless, now we are suffering from the after effects
Desmondadonis
How about an SOS to Malouda :-)
djangbahevans
How about an SOS to Malouda :-) He can play cm, cam, left wing even leftback
djangbahevans
the problem is that malouda is now very heavy...!!!!...dont need him
layorh12
Pls layorh try and go through this if u are free and tell me what u notice both good and bad, u might get some of my rants
Juan Mata
soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/103025/juan-manuel-mata-garca?cc=5739
soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/103025/juan-manuel-mata-garca?cc=5739
www.whoscored.com/Players/25363
Desmondadonis
Pls take note of when he is mostly subbed, his goals and assists and u can tell me what u think, I'll appreciate ur opinions
Desmondadonis
Anyone for romain alessandrini from Rennes. There was a Chelsea scout/official at the Rennes vs marseille game today. Romain was being watched. Perhaps we should employ the Newcastle scout, he seems to know what he's doing.
Blue1989
I think we should get fellaini. His versatility will ensure tht he can play AM, CAM, DM, pivot and in a pinch, as a CF. Tht sorted, we need to get a pnother winger, wllian comes into play here and another forward. All in all we are sorted till the Summer when de bryne comes back to replace a departing lampard and lukaku to repláce torres,
Dwonder
@GabeU: Nice article as alwasys, you have been saying all along about squad depth. When Rafa joined Chelsea he said the first thing squad depth but the transfer window was closed at that time now he is asking the board again, he asked for Alvaro Negredo but the board got him Demba Ba. IMO Chelsea board are going to wait till summer when they get the new manager then they will sign more players unless they know Rafa will get the job then they will sign some players for him. I would go for 1) Fellaini 2) Willian 3) ISCO 4) BENAT, I am greedy, lol.
B2K420
@dwonder, my exact sentiments, if everton will release him, this guy alone is worth 3 players, and someone has the guts to say we don't need him, a fantastic player that will add a lot to the team, I mean a lot
Desmondadonis
@Desmond that link keeps hanging on my system maybe you can resend.....
layorh12
@if we get those 4 players and a decent striker....we'll compete with anybody and my anybody includes barca of course!!!!......but will it happen??.. I seriously doubt it....the cost will be little above 100m.....does not look real...so dont lets think about it...
layorh12
mzee69
Football Manager 13!!!!!!!!
Lakupiippu
@Desmond....: Rafa said that we don't have physical players in the midfield, we have Oscar, Mata, Hazard, that is where we loose the battle, he said we don't have a plan B, if BA wins the first header there is NOBODY physically strong enough behind him to win the SECOND BALL, Mazcar loose the second ball mostly, Rafa said we have to get the ball to these players by playing from the back, opposition teams know this so they defend high/close down our CBs and Cech then Cech kicks long and we loose the 2nd ball if Ba is playing and First ball if Torres is playing upfront. THAT is why we need Fellaini.
B2K420
@layorh, I hope it works this time, they are Insightful stats
soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/103025/juan-manuel-mata-garca?cc=5739
soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/103025/juan-manuel-mata-garca?cc=5739
www.whoscored.com/Players/25363
www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/juan-mata/leistungsdaten-detail/spieler_44068.html
Desmondadonis
@Desmond...theres this nigerian player called Obiorah N*****wo presently in the Nigerian afcon team...I rate him very very highly..he is very close to Fernadhinho...he is DM and a rare schemer...very fast and his thinking is fantastic...tall as well with good defensive charactristic...I think he is chelsea quality...at 20...he plays at serie B on loan at the moment from Inter...what do you think?....
layorh12
@layorh, I know all about him and joel obi, fantastic players if u ask me, but I doubt if we'll go for him as he is not an household name and his fee won't be in the 25m-30m mark, so chelsea won't be interested lol
Desmondadonis
Haha! I'm glad you are now coming back to senses @Desmond.... as I believe your earlier claim that Marin is better than Mata was probably your mind playing tricks on you.... And at this stage of the game, a tired Mata is better than Marin... There is no way we can bench Mata for Marin, if there is anyone we're gonna bench for Marin it will probably be Hazard or Oscar, never Mata.. Our attack is useless without Mata.... The only reason we can sit Mata on the bench is to rest him for league games...
Latunvic
@Desmond....the chelsea way....smh...!!!...loool
layorh12
RECALL KDB FOR F*** SAKE , We need him since he's good on the wings as well , call feruz up from the u-21 side and then buy a dm(Fellaini , Capoue , Benat) We really missed out yann m'vila , rubin kazan bought him....
CFCTalal
@cfc...get the facts right before showing your frustrations... we are all clearly frustrated but we CANT recall KDB from the loan at bremen bcos they paid us some money for the loan arrangement..and the loan agrement is for a season...so he is stuck there till the end of the season...next please!
layorh12
@layorh12: agreed but it would nice to have those 4 players and a decent striker then we won't loose to teams like QPR, West Ham and Swansea. I know if Essien was in our team he would have taken care of Diame (who is Arsenal's top January target). @Latunvic: I believe we are a one man (MATA) team. If is not playing no mata who plays we don't create that many chances, we just hoof the ball long and hope for the best as he is the only one who will look up and try to make things happen. We need Willian/Isco so we can give Mata some rest.
B2K420
@b2k420, the player we need most right now is in the mould of fellaini, if we have this guy, mata's weaknesses won't mata anymore as we'll have a steely midfield that would be dping the dirty job for him
Desmondadonis
one thing you guys should realise is that since Peter Kenyon left CFC has been rubbish administratively because d people in charge thereafter are not football people just pure business men (Buick and Gournlay) and the only person that seems to have a football brain(Emenalo) is too afraid to talk so dat he Won't lose his job. Am afraid we might get to sign any player b4 the window slam shut midnight thursday.
sojofjand
We can only watch and hope they sign one or two more players..... @B2K420... you are right, we are a one man team at the moment and that is why I feel we can't afford to drop Mata, we've tried it before with no good result...we need a reliable back up for him....
Latunvic
*might not get to sign*
sojofjand
@latunvic, I never said and would say marin is better than mata, I am not idiotic, I say we can change mata with marin to preserve mata, as I said u misunderstand me most times
Desmondadonis
Well we have all been saying one thing,we need players,I just hope the squad realises this,its all over,I still keep refreshing my laptop hoping for a chelsea transfer news,I just hope we sign a striker that can play as a winger and behind the striker too like jovetic or if we must get another hazard kind of player then we should activate isco clause before he finally signs a new contract with malaga and a pivot player is also needed.......our players are exhausted,oscar and hazard are not used to the stress tn english league especially when there is no break,lampard and ramires can't keep playing every game,lampard will only be efficient when he is given so much rest....from what people have said here we have less than 19 players to select from,how do we expect to challenge man united with about 24 players...as for emenalo,I don't just know how to qualify him,I reas he was the one that adviced roman to hire Benitez,i won't be surprised if he was really the one.....As fans we can just support,hope and pray for our dear club
Hazard11
The article is spot on. Our lack of squad depth is really disturbing. Now with hazard suspended, piazon off on loan, mikel and moses on afcon duties and luiz injured, we have just 14 1st team players with the likes of fereira yet to even start a match. I dont think chelsea were planning to make key signings this winter window. However the current squad depth issues might force them to rethink and sign one player who would be versatile enough to play in more than one position. Its just 6days to go, i hope they make the right decision cos our top 4 agenda might be in the balance.
Chelz Akamz
Stay optimistic, January 31st isn't the same without a Chelsea splurge.
Blue1989
to me i think the board is just wary to buy players because benitez might not last the summer and the coacn who will take over from him might also have his own players he would want to sign (and am sure the board will want to give the coach all he needs to succeed) so if benitez signs now it will leave little room for the next coach to sign his own players. we have to think abt this as a fan
BluesInMe
IMO, Malaga are asking Isco to sign the new contract only so that they can put a MASSIVE release CLAUSE in his contract so when they sell him they get loads of dosh.
B2K420
Whatever i say here simply amount to stating the obvious. Let the board do what they find necessary...end off!!
Ohans
heiy guys , whts laurent blanc up to nowadays ???
haji ahmed
in all honestly , we could have used malouda right now....but that ship has sailed.
CFCTalal
Obiora Nwa.nkwo is really a good player with good football brains. We certainly make a decent pivot player,much better than Mikel.
Ohans
That is what I am thinking too, if we buy too much in this window, they mite be useless for the next coach, hence the reason for our board hesitating, I really hope we get two of fellaini, willian, gustavo and trigger isco's clause, @haji ahmed, I don't know what he is up to, but I don't think he is an upgrade to rafa either
Desmondadonis
It's a great point people are making about maybe not making any signings due to not knowing who the manager is going to be. If that's the case why not a loan move, Isaac Cuenca is allowed to go on loan. Is it worth a shout. Recall kdb and buy Luke shaw and loan back to saints till 2014 season.
Blue1989
I blame RDM for the lack of depth. Did we hear him say anything in the beginning of the season when it was clear to everyone looking from outside that the team is thin? He did the prseason and a top coach would have flag that as a potential issue as season progressed. But Rafa mention it in the very first week he took over that the team lack balance and again pushing for the team to be strengthen.
jollyheart Torres
Isaac who? I would rather play kiwomya than develop cuenca for uefalona that way he gets to know what he is about face in the first team setup
djangbahevans
@jollyheart torres. What else could he have done. The board clearly did not want him there and you expected him to talk. That would have hastened his departure. He didnt have any say in the loaning of essien and raul so his hand was forced to come into battle without any ammo
djangbahevans
I say we should just pay back any money we recieved for those loanees. It wont be anywhere near two million euros
djangbahevans
I say we should just pay back any money we recieved for those loanees. It wont be anywhere near two million euros(for our owner its just a chump change)
djangbahevans
Sorry for the typos
djangbahevans
@djangbahevans, he should have at least make some noise. I remember when he was asked about KDB in preseason he was clear the guy has to go on loan. He used kakuta on the right during the preseason to prove why we need Moses. The coach determine the depth why the board determine the quality.
jollyheart Torres
Jollyheart Torres please dont attempt to rewrite history as you would like it to be. There is no credible evidence to suggest RDM had any say in the loan outs in preseason. To blame RDM for the sorry state of our squad depth and absolve the board and Roman who make all the decisions is just mischevious. If you have any facts to prove RDM had any credible say in the loan outs beyond just parroting what the board already decided please provide it for all of us to peruse over. There is in fact significant evdience to the contrary. Miereles was sold of days after RDM played him with Mikel in one of the best showings of our central midfield against NewCastle..it was clear RDM had no clue about that. It is also clear that the decision to send Essien to Real was made above RDMs ahead and happened virtually out of the blue in the very latest days of the transfer window. furthermore it is on record that RDM asked for just two specific signings of the board; moses which he got and Radamel Falcao who Atletico were willing to sell before the CWC game. He was told to make do with El nino and even when he asked for some other striker late in the window he was again rebuffed. I do agree with you that one of RDMs faults (some would say it is a virture) is that he is a gentleman..(like Carlo ancelloti) and unfortunately those kind of men are probably not the best fit for chelsea as manager. I did say early on when Rafa came that history shows he is a guy who will not keep quiet when all is not well..he will not play the role of the good company man who keeps his mouth shut (this is one trait he shares with Mourinhio). He did not at Valencia, not at Liverpool and not at Inter. As desperate as he is to keep his job he cant help himself and that is why he is saying it to the media that our squad depth is an issue and that he has said this to our decision makers. He has also be very clear whenever he speaks that all he does is coach and train the players and that he has no decision making power regarding contracts, loans out or in nor transfers. For this depending on how you see it you can either commend his courage or say he really should not be washing the dirty linens of our decision makers in public. We have a very interesting 6 days ahead.
GabeU
we should not have loaned out KDB , the guy looks good enough for our squad , who on earth thought about loaning ESSIEN? our biggest presence in midfield? He's still a quality CDM , we could have used him , meireles was fantastic against newcastle , the pivot was so well-balanced. Leave it to Buck , Gourlay and Emenalo to screw ***** up. I suggest we buy FC Porto's scouts and get hiddink on the board. That's moving CFC in the right direction but will Roman ever fire Buck , gourlay and Emenalo? Heaven knows! Tough times , keep it toghether lads!
CFCTalal
ESsien would have been extremely handy, fellaini would be a great pick up about now, havent heard much about him lately
Bain^DoggZ
Recall Essien and Josh.
icebluelg
Good morning guys....still nothing on the transfer front??....**sigh sigh....
layorh12
@GabeU: Good point about Rafa & RDM. Rafa is making sure the whole world knows why Chelsea is not consistent because when he applies for a NEW JOB he can say to them it was not my fault, it was the Chelsea board, who did not give me the players I asked for (like what happened at Inter), they did not give me a preseason with the squad, I did not had control on who plays in the first team I was told to play TORRES, I told them when I got the Chelsea job that squad is not good enough, it lacks quality & depth but nobody listened to me. I was on a 6 months contract and they were waiting for a NEW manager to agree to take over from me in the summer that is why they did not want to sign any new players.
B2K420
Benteke: Spurs, Man City, Arsenal & Liverpool. I told you guys before, he is destined for a top 4 club, you first heard it here.
Diame: To Arsenal looks like it is going to happen
Bony: Newcastle have made an offer for him.
Nicolas N'Koulou: Chelsea are motioning him insidefutbol.com/2013/01/27/chelsea-hot-for-marseille-defensive-talent-nicolas-nkoulou/78005/
B2K420
Bony wasn't ideal for us, he doesn't have enough experience to handle Chelsea-type expectations. Besides, it's not even like he's making waves in Belgium, he didn't even top their league goal-scoring charts
@Mq
@b2k..Nkoulou is a defender....that rumour does not mak sensee to me to be honest...'ll say pass...next please!
layorh12
Bony don't play in the belgian league, when u want to debate make sure u don't make a fool out of urself
Desmondadonis
I would say Benteke is better than Bony. @layorh12: As you said Nicolas is a CB maybe we are looking for a John Terry replacement.
B2K420
@GabU, it's the manager position to make a strong argument why he needs those players around. The board got a job to do as well reduce the cost of the team. Why have 10 or more on the roster when they won't get a game? Any decision to keep them would have be financially suicidal re FFP rules. In any big organisation the person responsible for the staff are the ones who going to make a strong case for the amount of personnel they need to do their job to the best of their ability. We will be the ones to be crying if the board has brought in players without the manager consent. When Mou came he argued that he need 2 players in each positions and AVB in his preseason was always saying we were short in certain positions and the board listen and got him Raul Meireles and Oriol Romeu even if he wasn't his first choice. Did we hear RDM say anything about the squad? Those players on loan was deemed surplus to requirement by the coach. And the board then have to think about the cost of having those guys around. That is the main reason why they were loaned out. U have to know how this things work before responding.
jollyheart Torres
layorh12, Malouda is fit as a fiddle and is training as hard as ever. Whether he is passed his best or not it is absolute lunacy to have him banished from the 1st team squad when we are short of players. Another crazy Chelsea decision. Yosi Benayoun, a player that has done absolutely nothing for Chelsea is part of the 1st team squad and Malouda, a player who has played in 3 FA Cup Finals, 2 Champions League Finals and scored in 3 FA Cup semi-finals is banished to the U21s. Crazy stuff!
CobhamBlue
@CobhamBlue, Malouda situation is a business decision rather than a footballing one. He wanted to go on a free and if the board had bowed to his demand, believe me that would have be the first of many and setting a bad example. Inter milan did the same to sneijder.
jollyheart Torres
If we had three internationals for every position, all in the best of health this Man would make excuses.
We have got a small squad but its a good squad and the most important missing ingrediant is a good Manager.
chipthechap
This is a big problem. it would be difficult for CFc to be competing of all fronts with the squad we have. Man Utd have 5 players that have played more than 20 games and Man City have 7 while we have 10 players. man utd and man city have been able to rotate their squad without too much problem with the quality of play. That just confirmed the problem we are in.
jollyheart Torres
jollyheart Torres, You're correct we wanted to go on a free as a signing on fee was the only way he could make up the short fall in wages. It seemed a reasonable request considering Chelsea didn't really want him. After Chelsea said he couldn't leave for nothing he said he would stay. Which doesn't seem unreasonable. Why Roman decided to treat him as an outcast is difficult to understand.
CobhamBlue
*he wanted to go on a free
CobhamBlue
*Hell using smartphone* loads of Typo. I meant " to be competing on all fronts".............
jollyheart Torres
Bony would come in handy but considering we aren't buying any players...sigh.
CFCTalal
@Cobhamblue....I know he has been training but Malouda has always been heavy I mean for the past 2 seasons...thats why he can no longer run!!!...looool..
layorh12
Squad depth is a real concern but for some reason the funds do not appear to be as forthcoming as they used to be...i think this is down to FFP on the one hand, and on the other the board have already decided to disperse with Benitez at the end of the season...they are finding it difficult to purchase a player he wants when they know he will be gone in May...Either way, we're lacking in depth and we should have had solutions by now...you snooze you loose cfc management...Anyway if we dont finish in the top three, we know where the blame lies...and for me it wont be with RB
JohnnyOz
if it's really because of the FFP the board has refused to spend in this window then will have a big big problem. And Afraid that trend will continue into the summer as well and will be back to 1st sell to buy policies. The need for a bigger stadium is becoming a survival issue. We are the only team on the top 5 of the richest team in the world income wise with 41K stadium. Imagine were w will be on the list if we have 60k stadium.
jollyheart Torres
Why should we lack squad depth when we have plenty of good players on loan. Lukaku, KDB, PVA, Josh, Kakuta, Essien etc. We can recall some of them
Kelly11
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