So I've been sitting at work googling some of our old transfers, trying to get a feeling of what the reaction was like when we signed some of our current players. I also went all the way back to the oldest posts on this board...man, a lot of hatred for Ashley a couple summers ago (understandably so) . Anyways, I'm sure I'll update this again, but I saw this on a different site and it made me chuckle "Drogba and Kezman? If I were a Chelsea fan I would be thinking with the money we have we can go and sign the real top world class talent, Who do we get? Two players who nobody else wanted, Well nobody who matters anyway, Charlton wanted Kezman and nobody wanted Drogba. Try again Chelsea, Maybe next season eh!! 05/06" Granted he was right about Kezman and Drogba took a bit to get adjusted, but stuff like this can be fun to read.

Any one else remember anything good said about the likes of Frank, Essien, Didier, Riccy, etc?

So I quickly learned that a lot of news sites remove the comments section after awhile on these old stories, so my dreams of real comments from 9 years ago regarding our signing of Frank have been smashed :angry:

Well, I've just been thinking lately...about the fact that we seem to have signed Ramires...and I'm thinking, while I've been impressed with what I have seen of him, I don't get coverage of Portugese league, so can't make a fully informed judgement.

Then it got me thinking...I didn't know a lot about some of the other Chelsea signings...Essien and Drogba included...and some of the players I was more confident about, were average (Shevchenko)

I remember a lot of people saying that it was a mistake that we signed Frank instead of Giovanni Van Bronckhorst. If I remember rightly we couldn't afford both, so pulled out of the Van Bronckhorst signing to go for Frank. So many people tthought that it would be a mistake.

I remember a lot of people saying that it was a mistake that we signed Frank instead of Giovanni Van Bronckhorst. If I remember rightly we couldn't afford both, so pulled out of the Van Bronckhorst signing to go for Frank. So many people tthought that it would be a mistake.

God your right, I can remember that. I can remember most Chelsea fans thinking paying that much for Frank was ridiculous too. How wrong everyone was.

It wasnt this site, but I remember alot of people on the interwebz (Chelsea and otherwise) thinking highly of Kezman. The phrase "I bet the 5m pound Kezman scores more than the 24m pound Drogba next year" was tossed around a few times. Although Kezman was a total flop, it did take Drogba a couple of seasons to really hit the heights we expect now.

I personally remember thinkin Essien was a mistake. We romped the league with a midfield three of Lampard/Maka/Tiago, in addition to Tiago being a fan favorite, and then we decided we needed Essien. While 24 million or whatever it was turned out to be a snip for the talent we were buying, at the time we were being held to ransom by JM Aulas their chairman and the saga looked like one expensive disaster.

I remember too when Jose shoehorned Riccy C into our backline by shifting Gallas out wide, there was anger (here and on other chelsea forums) as to how a loyal club servant (har) and an excellent defender could be pushed out to accomodate this last ditch larry Jose had seen fit to buy from Portugal. It took Riccy a while to be appreciated for what he brings as a defender, becasue of that, and because of the tactical way he plays.

I remember being over the moon when we signed Crespo, thinking he would be our Ruud van Nistelrooy, but that might have been the resonant joy from Roman's takeover. Duffer too, but maybe that was the Irish in me. Thats not fair, though, becasue both those players really hit the heights.

Then again, I have been wrong about just about everybody. Mutu, Guddy, Anelka, Shevchenko, Khalid the Cannibal. You name it. If I like the signing alot, its probably an indication of a flop, and vice versa.

One of the things I've noticed a lot in reading old posts on this board is the obvious hatred most people used to have for Ashley. I didn't start getting into football until the 2006 season after I spent that summer abroad in London, so I've never known Ashley as anything but a Chelsea player. While I know it makes sense given his attitude and reputation, plus the team he was coming from, it just feels weird to me that one of our best players was hated by a fair number of CFC fans. I guess the fastest way to a fan's heart is through on-pitch performances.

TWW - going off how you ended your post, how do you feel about Yossi, Ramires, etc.? :lol:

TWW - going off how you ended your post, how do you feel about Yossi, Ramires, etc.? :lol:

I dont know if I want him to answer this, he will ruin them....