Socrates

21m opening offer? Didn't he cost them 24m? Why would we make an offer that is not just well below the release clause but less than what they paid for him only a season ago? Makes no sense.

I read it was Michael Emenalo behind the signing of Cuadrado as a replacement for Salah. We don't know what role Jose had in the signing, or at what stage he was consulted. But it smacks of a Board signing to me.

They have to give their fans the impression that they don't let their players go without a tough negotiation and with great reluctance in which they prised maximum fee for the player. Can you imagine the reaction if we offered 30m and they said straight away 'yes, okay'? No club likes to give the impression they're a pushover. I mean it's taken us a whole summer to agree a deal for a little known left back from Augsburg - a team no-one's ever heard of.

“Chelsea are eyeing up a surprise swoop for Cagliari teenager Godfred Donsah, dubbed the 'new Michael Essien', claim reports in Italy. “The Ghanaian central midfielder, 19, is considered hot property after impressing in Serie A last season and he looks set for pastures new following the Sardinian side's relegation from the top flight. “According to Football Italia, Blues boss Jose Mourinho is ready to send members of his scouting team to Italy this week in order to close a deal for the player.” http://talksport.com/football/reports-chelsea-sending-scouts-watch-ghana-teen-star-godfred-donsah-150817163060#5Extc8IHGwvUYSmY.99

It's not just going backwards by not recruiting, it's going backwards by selling players like De Bruyne and Lukaku and replacing them with the likes of Cuadrado and Falcao. What is the point of recruiting worse players than the ones you let go? If you're going to sell De Bruyne then you'd better make sure you bring in a Griezmann or a Bale. If you sell Lukaku then bring in a Pedro or a Benzema. But don't even think about it if your solution is to bring in Cuadrado and Falcao. That's just nonsense.

Yes but Zouma can play right-back can't he? Have West Brom got any pacy wingers they will target Ivanovic with? Because that seems to be an obvious tactic of the opposition these days.

What is it that Cuadrado gave us today that Moses or Traore couldn't? I cannot see it. The more we play him the more his value plummets. Did he do anything of note in his 20 mins?

Think today's defensive display just added another five million on to Stones' transfer fee. Marina will be told to do the deal for 35m. If they say no, we'll have to try and outbid City for this Otamendi guy. After that we're into panic buy territory. In which case I’d rather we recalled Kalas.

Stalin would've been proud. Next we'll be getting reports on how abundant the grain harvest is this year.

Rather than sack Jose and compensate him four years on his new contract, it'd be simpler to buy a couple of quality players instead and give him a fighting chance of kick-starting the season. When Jose asked for a defender, midfielder and attacker, I wonder if he thought Rahman, Falcao and Traore were what the Board we're going to get him. No wonder he's in a sour mood.

Well that defensive display just added another 5 million on to the price of John Stones. Personally I'd also keep Ivanovic well away from any pacy wingers for the rest of the season. Has started the season like a beached whale. As for Cuadrado, that was twenty minutes of nothing to add to his illustrious Chelsea career. Takes a special eye for footballing talent to sell De Bruyne and buy Cuadrado. To add insult to injury I’d say Lukaku is a miles better option than Remy or Falcao. What the hell are we playing at? Selling promising talent and bringing in mediocre rubbish. Is this a joke?

Pretty low even by the Sun’s dismal standards. Serious allegation of sexual misconduct thrown in for good measure. Not sure how this is going to end but she'd be well advised to make peace with the club and move on to pastures new. Nothing can be worth having your privacy and reputation trampled on in this way. Real villains of this affair are the British press and media who have taken a non-story and run with it, culminating in this sorry rubbish from the Scummy Sun.

I disagree. She had never used her Facebook much before apparently. She could have gone on to say something conciliatory or she could have kept quiet. Instead she thanks people for their 'support’. For what? At that point she hadn't been reassigned duties, she had been called 'naive', along with Jon Fearn, and had been shouted at from the sidelines, along with Jon Fearn, in the heat of a football match. So why is it worthy of her going public to thank people for their support? It's directly blowing up the situation into one of her being victimised for being a woman when all that had happened was that she had been criticised by the manager, along with Jon Fearn, for potentially handing the opposition an advantage. That's Jose's remit. Jose should maybe have ducked the question on live TV and dealt with it behind closed doors after. That's his fault. But he was saying why he lost his temper, in full view of the cameras, at the end of the game. It was an honest answer. But equally she is backroom staff and answerable to Jose. Going onto social media and making out she had been a wronged victim was challenging the manager. It wasn't clever and a provocative escalation if you ask me. It left the club no choice.

Martin Samuel follows up his piece on why Chelsea have gone backwards by standing still... ‘There is a lot of complacency on here. Why do they need to improve a winning team? Here’s why. Say you and I have a road race. We’ve both got ten-year-old Ford Sierras. You win. We agree to meet the next week. I turn up in a Ferrari. Now, technically, your Sierra isn’t broke and doesn’t need fixing. It’s a winning car. It won last time. But, suddenly, circumstances have changed. And that is what has happened in the summer. Circumstances have changed. Now I don’t think too many Ferraris have been bought but to act as if all other factors remain consistent, just because Chelsea haven’t changed, is ludicrous....’ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3195478/Jose-Mourinho-play-starting-XI-year-ago-no-wonder-s-angry.html#ixzz3ihwbjgK8

What was the ref doing calling the physios on to the pitch? Couldn't he tell that Hazard was just winded? Or was he actually trying to get Hazard off the pitch? What people don't mention much is this rule that penalizes a team for having to treat an injured player. Too often the refs call on the physios not to treat a player but to punish them for what they think is time wasting by reducing the team to ten men (in our case to 9). My feeling is that Oliver was not acting over medical concerns but to punish Hazard for having a breather.

Just thought I'd lower the tone a bit: Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois accused of cheating on Spanish girlfriend with Miss Belgium hopeful

Our former doctor with an interesting viewpoint that suggests that Eva is partly to blame for the situation: 'She's a naive, celebrity doctor...’ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-3195294/She-s-naive-celebrity-doctor-Chelsea-medic-frozen-Mourinho-treating-player-against-wishes-slammed-Chelsea-predecessor.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Jose has been really irritable start of this campaign. Don't think he's happy with the lack of activity in the transfer market. Don't think he's happy with the current squad and this is reflected in the team's recent performances. After all, that's all Jose really cares about. He’s let his frustrations at the Board spill over. Can't help but feel that Eva isn't the reason behind any of this. Jose is letting the Board know that he isn't happy and he's taken it out on the medics to let the Board know that he can be bloody-minded if he doesn't get what he wants. So get him Griezmann and Witsel and all will be well again with Jose. But lumber him with Cuadrado and a couple of academy players and we're in for a long hard season. And an unhappy Jose is not good for the Club.

Suggests she was over enthusiastic by running on to the pitch while Hazard was having a breather. This is where the 'naive' criticism seems to come from. That she failed to understand that this was sporting gamesmanship not a medical emergency.

Well Jose was extremely annoyed by Diego Costa's hamstring issues cropping up again at the start of the season. It's the only medical issue I can think of but can't see how Eva Carneiro can be held responsible for it. Of course she might just be a scapegoat. Jose likes to make examples of people by manufacturing issues around them in order to get rid of them. He did it with Mata, Schurrle and De Bruyne who allegedly didn't fall into the Mourinho way of doing things and thus had to go. Jose will get rid of anyone, no matter how popular, in order to lay down a marker for the rest of the group. I think it's more likely that she's completely innocent of any wrong doing and is just being made an example of to get everyone to fall into line behind Jose. That's why it seems so unfair on her. It's the Jose way folks, and it usually works. That's why he's so successful.

Maybe we're just pretending we're not going to sign any really top quality players this Summer in order to lull our rivals into a false sense of security. We just want to appear complacent and a bit smug but in reality we're preparing deals for any of the likes of Gotze, Reus, Koke, Griezmann or Pedro behind the scenes and in secret. By leaving it late to make a couple of such signings we won't give our rivals enough time to react. There might actually be a logic to our apparent complacency. TBH I'm not sure. We might just be smug enough to think we could get away with just a tweak to last year's squad. You can't tell with our Board.

Appeal rejected. Banned for one game. Not surprised... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3193873/Thibaut-Courtois-suspended-Chelsea-s-trip-Manchester-City-FA-reject-appeal-against-Swansea-red-card.html

Guess we'll just have to watch the football from now on... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/11796150/Eva-Carneiro-braced-for-axe-from-Chelsea-after-criticism-from-Mourinho.html

Cuadrado was supposed to be the answer to all these problems but he didn't make the bench on Saturday, so I think that's pretty telling. I'm sure the idea preseason was to integrate Traore, or even Kenedy into the first team but that now seems unlikely. Moses looks like the only one who Jose feels can do a job and I'm sure that's why we haven't gone for anyone.Of the alternatives it looks, as you say, that Griezmann and Reus are considered too expensive while Memphis Dupay went to Man United. There's also been mention of the Lyon winger Nabil Fekir or Felipe Anderson who our scouts have probably looked at but I've not seen enough of either to judge if they're an upgrade on what we have. I also think selling De Bruyne was a huge mistake. Pedro still remains a good option far as I can see. Did I mention that selling De Bruyne was a huge mistake?

Just because Jose insists on playing Willian and Oscar every week, it doesn't mean that we can't do better. Willian, for all his work rate, creates little and doesn't contribute enough goals. Oscar has still a lot to prove over a whole season. I personally prefer Alexis Sanchez to either as a starter. Works hard, creative, assists, scores goals. Of course he's not available but I choose him as an example of the quality of player we should be looking for because I don't think Willian and Oscar are in the same class.