gojo_ed

Oh I agree, we don't seem to have the squad players like Man Utd had with O'Shea coming through anywhere nearly enough and they aren't probably given enough games. And definitely agree about Sturridge, he has earned a chance despite some people on here still having doubts about him! The sad truth though is that whatever we say we want our academy to do, most the players aren't going to be up to the standard. It's the same at every academy around the world, even at Barca for every Pedro, Xavi and Iniesta there were probably 10 rejects.

Though I'm frustrated that we appear to not give youth a chance, it is unrealistic to expect an endless production line of talent. 1 player a year is fine by me, and if that's Josh last year and some one else (e.g. Bertrand, Chalobah, PVA) next season then we'll be doing reasonably well. Remember we hadn't won the FA Youth Cup for 50 years until recently, and so we're only just starting to see the results of investment in the Academy, the days of Joe Keenan, Danny Hollands and Joel Kitamarike (no offence to them) being our star products is long gone. As for your question about who has come through our youth team in the past 10 years, it's hardly amazing but we've still made decent-ish money out of the few that have come through. For example: Huth-sold for £6 million Carlton Cole-Undisclosed fee (£2-5 million ?) Mikael Forssell-£3 million Mancienne- £2 million Stoch- £5 million Sahar-£1 million Cork-£750,000 So that's around £12-20 million from these players, depending on which figures you believe. And these players, apart from Stoch and Sahar, were at Chelsea for the most part before our academy was revamped-Mancienne and Cork may have been here up till now but it's arguable that they're more of a product of pre-Abramovich youth systems having been here so long. My point being, surely with our academy improved since then, it is likely that we will make more money from better players than the ones listed above. Whilst in an ideal world the core of our team would be home grown, with our managerial instability and results pressure this is unlikely to happen soon. It's frustrating I know, but I reckon our academy will pay for its self pretty soon if not already.

He'll have a decent career. I'm disappointed he never got any playing time here, but in all honestly he was a level below our first team...wouldn't be surprised to see him at a mid-table club in the Premier League in a couple of years though, from what I saw on highlights he looked a good player for Burnley.

If he's not for sale then we should just move on. If anything it leaves Spurs with an unsettled player and without £35 million we would have no doubt coughed up. He's a decent player, but there are other options such as Nasri (probably going to end up at a Manchester club though) and Pastore.

Again to Jackson 5 AVB, He's better than tw*t Fergie Much better than King Kenny AVB, Can't you see, King of CFC I'll get my coat...

The Mail can't seem to make its mind up, honestly being a football journo in summer must be child's play. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2008987/Marseille-want-Chelsea-striker-Didier-Drogba.html#ixzz1QadvOgoV

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2008425/Chelsea-offered-Galatasarys-Arda-Turan-exchange-Didier-Drogba-plus-7m.html Sounds pretty random to me. I don't know a great deal about Turan, is he any good or just a nobody?

It's a tough one..whilst there'll always be strong opposition to it in this country because of Hillsborough, it's arguable that that disaster was caused by inept policing and crowd management rather than the standing in itself. Germany has shown that safe standing can be incorporated into modern stadia, and indeed there is still some terracing in this country- I'm at university in Exeter and Exeter City have a large home terrace with 4,000 capacity, with no problems there on the occasions I've visited. Of course there are the obvious pro sides to the argument- better atmosphere from standing, cheaper tickets and higher attendances. And in any case on the away trips I've been on everyone stands anyway which makes a mockery of the all-seater stadia. Personally I'd be for it if it was controlled and regulated sensibly-i.e. those who want to stand, can do so and vice versa. If anything it may bring down the ridiculous price of watching football at the moment...my two pennies-worth anyway

Fairly pleased with those fixtures, Stoke away is a challenging start but with a new manager we should be fired up to overcome them. I don't know who said it earlier, but yet again we go to Goodison Park in the 2nd half of the season...we owe them a thrashing or two, the number of last minute goals those jammy scousers have got against us recently

As others have already said, I think this would be a fantastic signing. If Henderson is worth £20million than then I don't think we can expect to pay less than £30million, and probably more considering he's in a long-term contract.

£750,000??? That seems like an absolute bargain for Blackpool

It gets better

Beyond parody. There are some excellent comments in the Guardian liveblog What's the point of staying in such a bent, corrupt organisation? If the FA quit then you'd hope at least some of the big names would follow suit too, hopefully the Spaniards/Australians/Americans/Dutch who lost out to the sham that was the Qatar World Cup bid.

Fair play to him for going abroad, not enough English players do so. To be honest he has yet to develop into the top drawer defender he looked like he could have been 2-3 years ago, but I do wish him all the best in Germany

Barca, only just. They are diving twats, but Messi for me is incredible. His football is a joy to watch and I feel it would be brilliant if he put on a show. Having said that I feel Utd have a decent chance, especially if Hernandez is in form. His movement could cause Barca all sorts of problems, whatever happens it'll be an interesting game...

Good point about Fergie with Bellion, Djemba-Djemba, Klerberson etc...we've just gotta hope Sturridge can kick on I suppose!

Can't we be the club who finds a hidden gem for once? I'd much rather spend £10 million on a few players a la Van der Vaart/Hernandez rather than pay top price for players who are already found/at their peak.

Amazing photos!!

Yep was Gourlay http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1225638/New-Chelsea-chief-Ron-Gourlay-targets-Champions-League-triumphs-years.html

I know from the other thread that you aren't a Carlo supporter...maybe I am just upset, but I think he has been treated badly. Yeah he said he was surprised he wasn't sacked, but surely this is more of a damning indictment of our board than the job he's done? I agree with you on the point about playing players off form, and similarly I'm disappointed with the lack of progress with younger players. Maybe if there was more stability managers would be more inclined to take a gamble? Hopefully there'll be a rapid turnaround in the squad this summer, I suppose it's encouraging in a way that the club have acted quickly. In trophy terms and development it has been a wasted season. But then again after we lost to Liverpool there was a real chance of us finishing outside the top 4, I would've bitten your arm off for 2nd, let alone what 2nd is in the wider context of our history. I just get a frustrating sense that we're back to square 1 for the umpteenth time, and felt Carlo's double season should've bought him more time than it did.

Carlo's been treated like dirt. Benitez finishes 2nd for Liverpool and is treated like the Messiah, Wenger would give anything to finish 2nd. If Roman was in charge of Utd Ferguson would have been sacked 20 years ago. It's just utterly frustrating, the players are the problem- Carlo wasn't perfect but sure as hell as proved last year he was capable of great results. This "long-term" crap from the club is ludicrous, how on earth can a team develop fluidly, bringing in youngsters when the manager is constantly changing?!

Thanks for the Double Carlo. All the best :/ I disagree with this, but at the very least it seems like the club isn't dithering. Hopefully the squad clearout will follow suit

Hmm perhaps so...but I would rather have someone who didn't change his tune every 2 weeks (in December he claimed Spurs were title challengers, in March he was moaning Spurs have no money, now it's their best season ever???), who hasn't been involved in dodgy dealings, who doesn't stock his clubs with surplus midfielders, and who has actually won more than a solitary FA Cup. He's done well with Spurs, but his nationality and management of media darlings Spurs sees him receive a lot of credit IMO

Redknapp

Oh I know, I'm not saying Carlo is perfect by any means. I would've thought that if any game was an opportunity for change then this would be it, but obviously it's not. His management this season has been disappointing compared to the last, but for me we can't keep on changing the manager- the players have to cop the blame for once.