supa luca vialli

Well, it looks like it's going to be Morata, which I have mixed feelings about.
 
Positives, well, he's obviously a top class striker and we're badly in need of one, so it's the major issue solved within our squad. He's a good age and he has lots of top level experience, with Spain, Juventus and Real Madrid. He's competed at the top with his clubs and his country, he has CL experience and he's won lots of trophies. 25 in October but he's only played about 190 games, and many of them will have been as a sub, if not most, which should mean there's not a lot of wear and tear on him but on the negative side it means he may not have developed as much as he should have done. Nevertheless you can't underestimate the importance of top-level experience, as it gives him an advantage coping with the pressure of a big money move and playing under intense scrutiny. Despite being hugely decorated I also imagine motivation won't be a problem, because he's desperate to get out of Madrid and play regularly it seems, something he has never done before in his career, having always had strikers ahead of him in the pecking order at Juve and Madrid.
 
Negatives, well, I haven't seen an awful lot of him so these are just first impressions, but I don't think he's got the wow factor all the best forwards have, or that magic ingredient if you like. I think he falls just short of that which is probably why Madrid are prepared to let him go. I also don't think he has natural athletic attributes like genuine strength and speed, things which would serve him well in the PL. He may find things tougher over here in terms of the pace of the game and the physicality and also the fact teams don't just roll over like they do in Italy and Spain. Morata reminds me a bit of Berbatov, probably not as skilful but probably not as lazy either. Berbatov was a sublime player who scored loads of goals but he struggled away from home particularly when you have to cope with a bit more physicality and ultimately he didn't quite have the all-round game to lead Utd's front line, because he didn't do enough to occupy defenders, neither by stretching them with his running or by giving them a physical battle. Morata in all likelihood will be a lone striker and I hope he has the all-round game. Certainly his touch and vision is superior to Lukaku's, so he should be able to link up well with his teammates and he can score all sorts of types of goals. I just hope he can't be bullied. You need to be tough in this league. You need to be a fighter. I have no doubt the manager can instil that into him.
 
Ultimately it comes down to presence. You need to have a presence as a front man. Too often Berbatov went missing. We all know in the modern game goals are not enough for a front man. You have to do way more than that, particularly if you're playing up front on your own. The other player Morata reminds me a bit of is Harry Kane, which bodes well for us I think. One of my misgivings about Lukaku was the impact he would have on our game, good striker but we would have to play to his strengths and that would mean sacrificing a bit of fluency, which when you have players like Hazard is a bit of a shame. Kane can play in a fluent side, he can play in tandem with skilful players and he's got a good all-round game, and I think Morata's of that ilk, hopefully even better. There's no doubt we're buying quality it's just whether he's quite good enough. After all we aspire to a very high level, a lot higher than Spurs currently aspire to.
 
As a comparison, in terms of goals, Kane has scored 99 in 165 games for Tottenham, which is pretty incredible, whereas Morata has scored only 58 in 188 games for Juve and Madrid. They are both more or less the same age, with Morata slightly older, by 9 months. Morata's stats are obscured by the fact he has often come on as sub although having said that it's probably easier to score for Juve and Madrid than it is for Tottenham. On the plus side, Morata scored 20 in a season for the first time last campaign, even though he was behind Benzema in the pecking order.
 
I was hoping we'd go for Belotti but he's probably more of a risk at the price being quoted. You want your centre-forward to capture the imagination. You want him to be the focal point of the team. You want him to be a personality that inspires passion. Belotti has all those qualities it appears to me, though I've only ever seen him on youtube videos. Belotti is a player I think the fans will identify with and get behind whereas Morata is more of a player you admire rather than one that inspires really strong emotions. That's the way I see it anyway though I could be wrong. How many of Morata's goals have been really crucial I'd like to know, and how many have been the 3rd or 4th in a rout with his team coasting? Is Morata a player that makes a difference, is he a player that will win you games, the tough games? You want a big player for the money we're spending, a big player that can win you the biggest games, a player that strikes fear into opponents. I'm not sure Morata's that man but obviously we have a decision to make and the manager seemingly believes it's the right decision in the circumstances and that's good enough for me. There aren't a huge amount of top centre-forwards to choose from and centre-forward is our priority so we have to look around and get the best that we can and in that sense we must be happy. Some of you were worried that we wouldn't splash the cash and we wouldn't go into the season with a top striker. Hopefully it's looking like those fears were unfounded.
 
If he does come and if he costs 70 or 80 million quid, I really don't care about the money. Yes he's overpriced but isn't everybody nowadays, and besides, we got good money for Oscar and a few others, we'll get maybe as much as 40 million for Costa, who knows, strikers cost money, I'm quite happy if we pay over the odds for one, we're pretty shrewd with our transfer dealings recently so we're entitled to spend big when we see fit and we're not going to get a top striker on the cheap, not in the present climate and not when everybody knows how badly we need one. Besides, if we spend that sort of money it will show the manager that we're backing him and that we share the same ambition as him.
 
I'm glad Costa's going. I think Conte's got it bang on, for reasons I won't go into now. Having said that Costa's a fine player when his head's right, and he's contributed significantly to two league titles and a LC in 3 seasons, which isn't bad. Costa occupies central defenders, he can play with his back to goal, he can play off the shoulder and he will run the channels. He can also of course sniff a goal around the six yard box. He may not have blistering pace nor be great in the air and he can give away possession easily either though a poor touch or poor dribbling, but he's a handful, he bangs in a lot of important goals and he forages alone up front and does an awful lot of work for the team. Often he has made the difference. Morata is clearly a different player, with different strengths and weaknesses. He'll have something to prove because he's never been a number one and he knows he was only our second choice, so hopefully this makes him even more determined, but he will need to be the difference in important games if he wants to be deemed a success. That's what we're looking for our centre-forward to do. It's not just about how many you score, it's when you score them and against who. If we get him he'll be the man. There won't be anyone else ahead of him. It will be all on him. That's something he's never encountered before. You need to have balls, as well as ability. You need to be a big player. Hopefully he'll rise to the challenge.

I did for one game standing at the front. My 2nd ever game 3-1 win against Wham. They knocked it down at the end of the season.

I did for one game standing at the front. My 2nd ever game 3-1 win against Wham. They knocked it down at the end of the season.

Chelsea at Liverpool 84/85 German Footage
 
https://www.facebook.com/lancs.lads/videos/970475372971022/?type=1&theater

Chelsea at Grimsby 1984
 

 

 

 

Doug Rougvie putting John Fashanu on his arse, 1987, we lost 4.0 that day.
 

 
Strange old day for me that was involving my mum & dad having a tear up, johnnys, & the family dog being put down. not in that order!

Greaves carried off the pitch after his last Chelsea match.
 

 
What would Health and Safety think of those seating arrangements?
 

 
Famous pic of Sir Tom Finney at the Bridge.
 

 
Aerial photograph.

Chelsea(top right) at Sunderland 1975/76
 

The Adelaide
 

The Balloon.
Once called “The Ferret and Firkin in the balloon up the creek”, Lots Road.

The Jolly Malsters, used to love this pub in the early 90s.
 

I dont remember these pubs some of you probably will..
 
Live & Let Live 1973
 

 
The Clarence 1974
 
The Salisbury Tavern 1974, is this now The Finborough Arms?

 
 

When i was dating my now mrs, she lived around the corner from here for a while so we used to go there quite a bit back in 98.
 
The Wilton Arms 1974
 

The Swan Fulham Broadway 1978
 

The Rising Sun 1978, what year did this become the Stamford Arms?
 

The Neil Gwynne 1978
 

The Mitre 1974
 

The Britannia pub 1978
 

1956
 

johnny neal's boys v The gers bradford city fire fund 1985.

Chelsea v Fulham on April 7 1984: David Speedie celebrating a goal with Joey Jones and Kerry Dixon!

War Cup 1944!

The 1985 Chelsea Team Photo!