Fruity66

Its pretty appalling and you gotta feel for Exeter. You can't blame either side for trying to get the best deal but the Panel have robbed Exeter of a decent Fee. Hopefully we get them in the FA Cup some time and can repay with tv revenue fees etc.

It will be interesting to see which Conte pushes for .. an attempt at top 4 or a definite final position and a chance for a trophy.. it wouldn't surprise me if we saw Kante, Azpi, Hazard (Willian) rested for the FA Cup...

No chance Alonso is getting away with that... If ref says he didn't see it and with the media attention it got... the Review Panel would have to be all ex-Chelsea and have a free holiday on one of Roman's yachts not to ban him for that. Bit of rotation required I reckon, maybe rest one of Willian & Hazard who look a little Jaded (although both made BBC TOTW) Giroud deservedly starts and maybe being either Barkley or Drinkwater in for Fab. Think Rudiger maybe on naughty step little longer. TC Azpi Christensen Cahill Moses Emerson Kante Drinkwater Pedro Hazard Giroud Bench: WC, Baka, Barkley, Morata, Willian, Chalobah or Hudson Odoi, Zappa

Unfortunately your probably right... suppose it depends who comes in? I mean I went on a hunt to see the regularity of youth brought through by the managers It seems we are after. (Enrique, tuchel, Jardim, Allegri and Sarri) Enrique, --> gave 16 youngsters debuts whilst coaching Barcelona. Seems to have preference for youngsters in cup competitions. Tuchel --> brought through the likes of Weigl, Passlack, Dembele and Pulisic. the later two have been very positive about his impact on their careers. Allegri --> has developed a few players such as Rugani and Pjaca but not as many. Jardim --> bringing youngsters through left right and centre. Sarri --> not as many as others but still promotes. Not sure who i'd rather have to be honest.

Suppose the one giant benefit of not making the Champions League this season (and to be honest it looks a challenge) is that we can look to use the Europa League as a breeding ground for the young guns. Bring back Abraham, Loftus Cheek, Baker, Jay Da Silva, Zouma, Tomori, Aina etc. and combine with CHO, Sterling, Ampadu and T Chalobah and use it to breed the next gen in a tested environment. Let the main squad focus on the Prem and champions league qualification and then we can start taking it more seriously if we need to.

so lets say we lost Hazard for the £100 -£150 + Bale that's reported, Swapped Bats for Pulisic & took Bailey too (especially as he may qualify/play for England).... I wouldn't be screaming at that. Admittedly losing HAzard would be awful but if he decided he wanted to leave and we had to replace that's not a bad group to bring in.

The biggest appealing factor for me is like Terry he reads the game fantastically and spots the issue before it arises... works well with Rudiger/Azpi and often keeps Cahill out of trouble

The memories that man created. on a serious note would be brilliant to have someone even as half as talented and successful as Lamps.

BBC Sport and Sky Sports both picked up the Story as an official source now. Usually when both pick it up its fairly clear its a done deal. Happy with this.

In all honestly its fairly clever, we have knocked 20m off his valuation and he's been injured and not played a game. Sensible business by all accounts. My slight query is wouldn't he and Loftus Cheek almost play the same position ? both probably prefer the Central Attacking Midfielder role and with Cesc, Drinkwater, Kante, Baka and potentially Barkley & Loftus Cheek we have a strong midfield.

The Style and Type of Striker that Carroll is makes sense, big bloke to hold the ball up and the likes of Willian, Pedro, Hazard etc. Makes sense but not sure anyone would accept Carroll

I would like to see one of Hudson Odoi & Musonda aswell as Ampardu play prominent roles and Sterling and Clarke Salter to be at least on the bench. The likes of Palmer, Scott, Castillo (maybe), Ugbo around but unlikely.... with Ugbo and Palmer I'm not really sure what our plans are for them

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/11195158/thibaut-courtois-says-a-new-chelsea-deal-is-close sounds like a real positive step.. I wonder if this means his family may come live in the UK too? Now if Hazard stays then we are in good stead.

Really unsure which was Conte will go with this ... theoretically a 2nd XI Chelsea team should beat Everton but who knows on his decision. I'd say we will see. Willy Rudiger Ampadu Cahill Zappa Drinkwater Baka Kenedy Hudson Odoi Pedro Bats Bench: Eduardo, Sterling, Clarke Salter, Cesc, Willian, Morata, Christiensen (Scott, Palmer, Ugbo, etc. would be fun!) To be honest It could be anything

I'd prefer Bertrand to be honest.... Knows the Prem, not champions league registered and therefore available plus helps English quota and I'd hope fancies showing Stamford Bridge he's got more in him than his outstanding performance against Bayern.

Realistically the Players who will leave potentially are Bats (Sell/Loan), Luiz (Sell), Kenedy (Loan), Musonda (Loan) if we have to sign and replace before we sell I reckon that we won't see Luiz leave until the Summer. There aren't too many Centre Backs of his (potential) talent floating around and if so they will cost a fortune. The only ones I can think of would be Benatia (Juventus) or maybe Manolas (Roma) ? . Also must remember Zouma has to come back and assume he will play some role next season. Clarke Salter and Ampadu aren't at the standard yet to cover the loss of Luiz anyway (not sure whats happening with Clarke -Salter to be honest). Bats will go on loan I would assume but every chance he might be sold... Everton could use a striker and have enjoyed our Belgian players before? In terms of replacement ? maybe someone Conte has used before? Immobile is having a good season at Lazio and Conte like the Boakye character. Id love Mandzukic as another option but unlikely to happen even if behind Dybala and Higuaín. Kenedy and Musonda may just be loaned out for experience but would surprise me if Kenedy was sold as no long term deal signed like Musonda and doesn't really seem to have a position.. unless Conte fancies him for a left sided Moses. Sandro would be the obvious choice at LWB and seems to be more readily available than before but Gaya, Sessegnon, Telles, Jonas Hector & Philipp Max all seem strong candidates. I could also see a slightly wacky move for a midfielder... maybe on loan to cover CM/DM as may be slightly light here ... especially someone who isn't Champions League registered. This will be crucial in who we sign if we plan to go further too.

Longshot but I wonder if he will play against Norwich, does anyone know his official return date? Would take some pressure off our attackers/midfielders as proven championship player at least and still fairly young.

Well from his Instagram activity seems that Musonda is most likely starting. Lots of passionate quotes and messages about pulling on the shirt and seeing Stamford bridge soon. I think we see an interesting combination of the squad tonight as I don't believe Ampadu or Scott are ready for first team starts but yet we cant be using Baka, Luiz and Fab too much with big games to come and Drinkwater and Kante out. This game would be perfect for Baker, RLC, Van Ginkel etc. (but won't moan haha) Think squad will be Willy, Rudiger, Christansen, Cahill, Zappacosta, Kenedy, Luiz, Ampadu , Musonda , Willian , Bats Bench: Eduardo, JCS, Sterling, Scott, Fab, Hazard, Morata Not sure about whether JCS will play more significant role or who will partner in midfield but reckon Conte will test the likes of Ampadu, Musonda etc. to step up and play major role. Hopefully Andreas will show class tonight and move above Ruidger and especially Cahill in pecking order which is where he should be (honestly).

Outplayed by the better team today, Conte got tactics wrong and we look tired. Not sure putting Willian on for Morata was right move as no target man... Hazard looked annoyed at that. Christiansen looked really good today and we looked better without 3 central mids although still exposed.

Reckon Ampadu, Sterling and J-CS will all come on if we score another... might as well

Makes a lot of sense and reckon he will fit the formation well, Conte obvs knows what he's getting after selecting him for the Italy squad. Better than ox for sure. now if we could sneak some Drinkwater, Llorente, Mahrez and Barkley would be decent.

So if Llorente, Barkley and Drinkwater come off then we have LWB and RWB to deal with.... I'd say we have Tomori, Rudger, Dave as RWB options and Baba and maybe Dave & Moses at LWB ? https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2017/8/29/16222012/baba-rahman-set-to-stay-at-chelsea i haven't heard of chelsea having any other links to RWB or LWB really apart from the occasional rumours of Cedric, Candreva and Bertrand. Realistically I'm not sure if we will get those two positions in but id be interested to see what Baba can do and Tomori looks good at RWB on tour (obvs. some way to go). Big couple of days to come.

Apparently the youngest brother Ethan is very good... (although very young). Maybe a move to get him in the academy early?

Congrats Nat on call up to England Squad. Great Effort, shame you couldn't still be at the Bridge, but who knows you may be back

Thought he was very composed, especially in the second half. Marshalled Kane well and reassured after that blip of a miss kick at the start. Can be given a little bit of a let off for the post hit by Kane (personally thought was a mistake by Dave charging out that opened up the space. Sky pundits were impressed and haven't seen many negatives with him