Davey Baby

He'll have his full Chelsea kit on under his tracksuit. He's going to get some welcome.

Thanks Boyne. I believe you are correct with your last sentence, but I also don't know what advanced works means. Maybe somebody on here knows? It's looking less and less likely this particular project will ever happen, which is a great shame. Monumentally disappointing as far as I'm concerned, because I love everything about it. I wonder if the General Election may change things. I suspect Roman will only resurrect this project if there's a change of attitude towards him from the Home Office.

I believe there is a deadline by which, if we haven't started the building works, or the demolition, we lose our planning consent. I believe that deadline occurs during this season. Perhaps somebody can confirm.

They're both thinking, "What a prat".

He's a horrible man and a horrible manager. He's perfect for Spurs.

Just a shame Moreno's no longer manager.

Yup, Drinkwater's a good player. Maybe not Chelsea quality but light years ahead of Bakayoko.

If you go back over the RLC thread, you'll see a million (yes I've counted them) posts all saying the same thing. Too casual, poor workrate, can't impose himself etc etc. People forget how young this boy is. He turned 19 last week. He's playing for Chelsea and for England, with sky high expectations and enormous hype around him. He's playing against big strong men in their prime. It's hard. Stamina will be an issue, loads of things will be an issue. Remember, he hasn't had a loan spell like the others, just as RLC hadn't had a loan spell when he was getting all the criticism. Age and a lack of first team football are a massive factor, considering he's competing at such a high level.

I find it strange how little Kane is celebrated in England. He's a genuine world class star, an absolutely brilliant striker and a prolific goalscorer. He guarantees you goals and his overall game is quality. One of the best in the world and he's going to smash Rooney's scoring record, yet there isn't a lot of hype around him. I know he's Tottenham and some of you will scoff but the guy probably walks into any team in the world. He does it both at club level and international level, and in tournaments. When you consider all the hype around Sterling you have to wonder why there's so little hype around Kane. Maybe we all take him for granted.

Lampard has nothing to learn off Jose, not anymore. Jose is yesterday's man. He's a dinosaur. We're playing open, expansive football full of young kids. It's as far removed from a Jose team as can possibly be. Frank needs to ignore everything he says. If Jose had his way all our kids would be out on loan and we'd be parking the bus and lumping it long for Giroud. He's got a nerve offering us advice, and let's be clear, nothing would make him happier than seeing Chelsea trounced.

Glad I'm not the only one who rates Kovacic so highly. Didn't much rate him last season. This season different gravy. Probably our best player so far but there's a few contenders.

Watched it now thanks.

That video's not working for me unfortunately.

I didn't know that Amputechture. As well as being talented he's also got a bit of that old warrior spirit. He's a tough boy, mentally and physically I reckon.

Croatians are hard bastards. They're fighters. They're not drama queens. They produce good, technical footballers. Kovacic just goes about his business, without screaming for attention. He keeps this team ticking along. He gets his hands dirty. Every game he's unfazed, he wants the ball all the time. He has a superb temperament. He's a throwback. I love him.

Frank knows our strongest team. He started it against Palace.

The amazing thing is the time it took to look at the handball and the Salah goal. You'd have thought, given previous examples, it would take a few minutes. No, the handball was dismissed straight away by VAR, as the Sky commentators confirmed upon Liverpool scoring the opener. No sooner did it hit the back of the net than they were telling us it had been confirmed it was standing. Salah's goal was very tight. You'd think VAR would want to look at it again and again, as they did the previous day with Sheffield Utd. Nope, again given in seconds. Edit: Then there was the push on Sterling, which was a definite pen. I'm not sure VAR even looked at it, and if they did they couldn't have given it more than a cursory glance.

This video is poor quality and only 2 minutes long and you'll have to turn the volume down, but it's quality throughout. I especially like the pass on 1min30secs. It looks a simple pass but it's the pace on the ball and he hits it with such confidence. Frank talks a lot about switching the play and shifting our opponents around the pitch. That can only be done if you move the ball quickly. Nobody moves it faster than Kovacic. I just enjoy watching this boy play.

He's been given way more freedom and he's a completely different player. Unrecognisable. Sure, we could see he was technically sound last year but it was hard to see what the point of him was. As @JMaher94 says above, contender for POTY if he carries on like this. He'd be the first name on my team sheet.

I thought he made it better, despite the fact it wasn't his finest game. We were far more secure, far less vulnerable on the counter. They never looked remotely like scoring apart from one set piece. Yes the tempo slowed as the first half progressed and we started to get frustrated by Palace, but it was a really impressive performance overall, especially considering we have struggled at home, struggled with Jorginho in the side by the way. Second half we were really good and we controlled the game throughout. Jorginho isn't Pirlo, though some people may talk about him as if he were. He's a good player but Pirlo he ain't. Pirlo was more skilful, had more vision, was better at shooting and passing, and could control the tempo of a football game. He could simply do things Jorginho can't. I like Jorginho but if it's 2 from 3 I don't think his place is assured. Edit: Palace have been very good on the road this year and they are very hard to break down. That wasn't an easy game by any means, though we made it look like it was.

You're right about their defence, they were a bit of a shambles, but I though they showed a lot of fight, a huge amount in fact, and I thought they created loads and played some really nice stuff, especially considering the absence of Silva. On another day, Aguero scores a hattrick easily. On another day they get two penalties. On another day that one that hit the post goes in, etc etc. I thought KDB was majestic, he put at least two that I can remember on a plate for Aguero. He just looked a cut above everybody else. A magnificent footballer.

KDB was the best player on the pitch Nibs.

There are people on these boards that will tell you anybody claiming Chelsea get the rough end of the stick with referees and VAR are paranoid and conspiracy theorists. These same people presumably believe all teams get treated equally. They probably watched Utd under Fergie and thought they were getting treated equally. Similarly, they must watch Liverpool and think they get treated equally. Either I'm a paranoid conspiracy theorist or they're mad. Michael Oliver at the Bridge might as well have been wearing a red shirt, and today the same. It's not so much the handball (which I think is debatable), it's just the fact he was never going to give a 50/50 decision to Man City. Liverpool could foul at will in that first half. A cynical foul right in front of Oliver to halt an attack. No booking. A talking to but no booking. City's players were rightfully incensed. Second half there was a blatant push on Sterling by Mane. It's a stonewall penalty. Mane is well behind Sterling, he stretches in order to push him in the back and make him fall to ground. No penalty. It's clear and obvious. What does VAR say? No penalty. A City player gets booked for arguing. City deserved the win. They were the better side. However Liverpool had the numerical advantage. They had the officials on their side. As ever.

While I argued long and hard in favour of Frank's appointment, I never saw this coming. I thought Frank would bring the club together, he would lift morale, and he would introduce the kids. I also thought we would struggle with the ban, without Hazard, with an inexperienced team and an inexperienced manager. I thought we would end up nearer the foot of the table than the top. That was my prediction. How stupid that looks now. With Spurs, Arsenal and Utd all struggling we have a real chance to surpass expectations and get that top four spot. Frank has done brilliantly, I think better than we all imagined. He's getting the better of seasoned experienced managers, like Dyche, Hodgson and Nuno. More than that, we're playing great football, with 5 or 6 kids featuring every week. It's incredible really. We've played a lot of teams in the bottom half and we have real tests to come, and a win against a big team would do Frank and these kids a lot of good, but right now it couldn't be going any better. Well done to all involved.

Caught ball-watching for our first goal.