Who are we currently allowed to blame for this?

Chabolah is in our squad , replaces mikel. Ake/aina? replaces iva. Oscar maybe replaced by rlc? 

I would rather Ivanovic stayed until the end of the season. If we win the title, it would be a nice send off for him. He's been in decline for a while now but he's been one of our key players in the last decade.

9 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I would rather Ivanovic stayed until the end of the season. If we win the title, it would be a nice send off for him. He's been in decline for a while now but he's been one of our key players in the last decade.

You could have said the same for Oscar and Mikel about a nice send off. I just cringe every time I see him of the touch line getting ready to be subbed in. 

12 minutes ago, seanlu13913 said:

You could have said the same for Oscar and Mikel about a nice send off. I just cringe every time I see him of the touch line getting ready to be subbed in. 

Oscar was ok in patches for us, but he never made the impact at this club that Ivanovic did. Also, Mikel may have been here a long time, but he's been a rotation player more than anything. Ivanovic is far ahead of both of these two when you compare their careers with the club. Ivanovic is a club legend, the other two are cult hero's at best.

I also didn't mind him coming off the bench to play for us either. The problem was that when he came on, he would play wing back.

Edited January 26, 20179 yr by Scott Harris

Ivanovic has been a great player for us for a very long time and in terms of character a role model professional. I can't help but think that he'd have left being regarded as highly as Cech had he left 1-2 years ago. He inadvertently did a lot of damage to his reputation by a long array of catastrophic performances, but that should not mean that everything he had done before that is forgotten. Chelsea fans remember. Fact is, he's been the best right back in the Premier League for many seasons. On that note, good luck Bran!

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

Oscar was ok in patches for us, but he never made the impact at this club that Ivanovic did. Also, Mikel may have been here a long time, but he's been a rotation player more than anything. Ivanovic is far ahead of both of these two when you compare their careers with the club. Ivanovic is a club legend, the other two are cult hero's at best.

I also didn't mind him coming off the bench to play for us either. The problem was that when he came on, he would play wing back.

When he did come on we were defending a lead with a back five, so for all intents and purposes he was coming on at right back, and tbf apart from at home to Tottenham, he didn't really do anything wrong in his cameos.

6 hours ago, Floyd25 said:

Why would we lose more strength in depth, in the middle of a title challenge? I can't believe a word the journo's say. With hardly anytime to replace them, I can't see it. 

Might be why Ake was brought back from his loan spell

20 minutes ago, Sapper245 said:

Might be why Ake was brought back from his loan spell

Maybe, but Ivan has been used mainly as cover for Moses, I guess Aina will see more game time, still don't like the idea of shipping players out with little cover. 

7 minutes ago, Floyd25 said:

Maybe, but Ivan has been used mainly as cover for Moses, I guess Aina will see more game time, still don't like the idea of shipping players out with little cover. 

Zouma back from injury, Ake back from loan spell, Aina to get more game time. More than enough adequate cover.

 

Azpi/Zouma-DL/JT-GC/Ake

Moses/Azpi-Kante-Matic/Cesc-Alonso/Ake

I feel thats more than adequate cover. If Moses was to get injured, I honestly doubt that Iva will be played as a RWB. Azpi would be Conte's 2nd choice with Zouma replacing Azpi. Which means Iva is currently relegated to 3rd chouce RWB and about 6th/7th choice CB (behind azpi, DL, GC, Zouma, JT and probably ake too).

Ivan has been a great servant.  With others he suffered last season due to an inadequate pre-season, he never seemed fully fit.  This season he doesn't quite fit any of the roles in Antonio's formation.  I also suspect that he is a player that needs to play to maintain levels.  If he moves somewhere and gets to play regularly he can still do a good job. 

If you do leave Ivan, thanks for all the trophies.

Talk of it being a free transfer to Zenit.

If his contract runs out at the end of the season it will be free anyway?  Can't see why leaving in January is good for either party right now.

From a pure financial standpoint, I suppose that if Ivan leaves in January, we do not have to pay his wages for the remaining part of his contract, and if Ivan gets playing time at Zenit or wherever he ends up, that's good for him.  And maybe they will agree to pay him a higher weekly wage, who knows?

Would be a shame if he went in Jan, instead of sticking around and hopefully getting one more PL medal.

I will never forget the looping header in the Europa league final, to me right up there with Drogba's equalizer header in the CL final, Drogba's last penalty kick in the CL final, Ramires' goal in the CL semi, and Torres's goal in the CL semi.

Just now, Phillip said:

I will never forget the looping header in the Europa league final, to me right up there with Drogba's equalizer header in the CL final, Drogba's last penalty kick in the CL final, Ramires' goal in the CL semi, and Torres's goal in the CL semi.

His goal against Napoli is the one I remember most fondly. Such a beautiful hit.

6 hours ago, Van Butsen said:

Talk of it being a free transfer to Zenit.

If his contract runs out at the end of the season it will be free anyway?  Can't see why leaving in January is good for either party right now.

The season in Russia starts soon I believe? And for Ivanovic it's all about playing time I would assume. 

Think conte is looking at our young players to stand up and be counted,  probably why, bar begovic, we have been linked to no one really to replace oscar, Mikel or brana. 

We heard talk of conte telling rlc he now has a chance to step up and take Oscars place in the squad. He has already show favour to young nath, Ake can play midfield or defense, Ania has covered wing back before and Zouma is now back and able to play. 

Maybe that is it, giving youth the responsibility and chance. In any case when he goes a really big, heartfelt thank you to brana. He has been a fantastic servant and for many years a dependable player who popped up with a crucial goal here and there. Good luck brana. 

Probably another Petr Cech situation. Abramovich might be letting him go due to his service to the club..... and the season in Russia is due to start up again in March

We've got enough cover with Azpi and Aina who can both play there if Victor gets injured...

Good move for all parties I think

30 minutes ago, PythonLu said:

The season in Russia starts soon I believe? And for Ivanovic it's all about playing time I would assume. 

I meant for Ivanovic and Chelsea as the two parties, but yes Zenit would see the benefit absolutely.
 

8 hours ago, Zeta said:

Would be a shame if he went in Jan, instead of sticking around and hopefully getting one more PL medal.

5 appearances for a PL medal, if he goes now and we win the league, he still gets his honours.

I'd like to see him move on now, probably a year or more too late in fairness.

Been a tremendous player for us despite the last couple of years, and I'd like to see other younger players get more opportunities.

7 hours ago, 1905 said:

5 appearances for a PL medal, if he goes now and we win the league, he still gets his honours.

I thought the club now get a certain amount of medals to hand out as they decide?

ivanovic was a beast back in the day, couldn't have asked for a more reliable player. he always got us out of sticky patches with his winning headers. hope he can find a retirement place. the terminator will be missed. 

I know Avram Grant was in charge when we signed him but i don't think he had a say in the transfers of Anelka and Ivanovic but i could be wrong. So was this another great signing by Mr Emenalo?