I’ll believe that he had a passport issue. It happens. 

11 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

Some people don't half get disgusted easily.

Prunes.

That's what disgusts me.

Them and UKIP

Not like Van Morrison YB? I always liked 'Here Comes The Night' though Bowie did a great cover.

Van the Man is a bit over-rated as far as I'm concerned.  Saw him live a couple of times  - great voice but a miserable f**ker.

Got the start to Jackie Wilson said as a ringtone, though :)

BUT - the bloke wouldn't sign my arse when I saw him in a cafe in Bath, so that disgusted me.

26 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

Some people don't half get disgusted easily.

Prunes.

That's what disgusts me.

Them and UKIP

I love prunes, dam tasty.

5 minutes ago, coco said:

I love prunes, dam tasty.

But you're just f**king weird.

I know you meant to type wired, i forgive you.

This early?  On a Tuesday??? You youngsters!!!! 

1 hour ago, chiefBlueCFC said:

It was utterly disgusting what he did. As you said, complete lack of professionalism. Seeing that post really made me disappointed in Willian. 

I was annoyed more than disgusted. It just bought the mood down when the focus should have been fully on us winning another F.A Cup.

I should probably keep this to myself, but I was not upset in the slightest by what Willian did with the FA cup photo.

 

Something "school's out for summer" about it. Made me smile.

14 minutes ago, Ilya said:

I should probably keep this to myself, but I was not upset in the slightest by what Willian did with the FA cup photo.

 

Something "school's out for summer" about it. Made me smile.

Me too. 

 

Its actually surprising that Conte didn’t get more pelters. 

In truth I can’t stand all the platitudes  players spout when a manager gets the sack. In a way it’s actually quite refreshing for a player to be honest and indicate things werent all rosy. 

 

 

 

 

11 hours ago, terraloon said:

Me too. 

 

Its actually surprising that Conte didn’t get more pelters. 

In truth I can’t stand all the platitudes  players spout when a manager gets the sack. In a way it’s actually quite refreshing for a player to be honest and indicate things werent all rosy. 

 

 

 

 

There's a difference to simply saying he wasn't happy and being a petulant little baby. What he did was childish and shone a bad light upon the club. 

Everyone will respect someone more when they can show grace and decorum towards someone they may not like. 

2 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

There's a difference to simply saying he wasn't happy and being a petulant little baby. What he did was childish and shone a bad light upon the club. 

Everyone will respect someone more when they can show grace and decorum towards someone they may not like. 

Yes that's true, but the way some people drag it out every time we discuss Willian is getting boring now, i wouldn't mind but it's the same people who want him gone that keep bringing it all up, go figure. It won't be the first or last time a player has a swipe at their departing manager, at least he did it digitally on his own back, and didn't go bleating to the media with a load of verbals. We don't know what happened between them, but we do know that Conte has gone and Willian is still here.

20 hours ago, coco said:

Sarri may be able to do something about that, i think it's worth a try, the rewards would be staggering, imagine that Barca performance every other game.

Really? At 30 years old he’s going to suddenly become a consistent footballer?

I love the thought of that and I hope you’re right mate but I really can’t see it & if it’s true (I can’t imagine it is) and Madrid are offering £65m for a 30 year old who has a history of being inconsistent then we should be taking that.

We should take the 65 mn pound reports with a huge mound of salt. If Barca did bid that it seems odd they then went to a 30 mn pound option with Malcolm - so maybe it was much less, if anything. I still think it’s possible the club are trying to drum up interest in him or a counter offer for, say, United.

Should we be eager to flog Willian at 30 mn? Or 20 mn? I’m much less enthusiastic at those levels than 50+. 

I thought it was made quite clear we never received an actual bid for him, let alone 65m??? 

I think Willian is an underrated player.  He can really piss me off sometimes because he has a tendency to slow the ball down on counters and he tends to like to dribble a bit too much.  But Hazard is guilty of exactly the same things.  Our two most creative/technical players I believe carried too much burden when it came to our attacking play and it forced them to hold the ball a bit.  On his day Willian is a huge asset.  Defenders do NOT like to line up against him as he has the quick/fast combination and can play off both feet.

That said 65m is hard to turn down. Even the staunchest Willian supporters understand he has some dry spells and will be 30 in the next few days. I just don't think a bid that high was ever made...

All I'm saying is that considering Martial and Willian have been linked with a swap deal, isn't it quite the coincidence that they are both currently absent from their respective teams pre-seasons. 

33 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Really? At 30 years old he’s going to suddenly become a consistent footballer?

I love the thought of that and I hope you’re right mate but I really can’t see it & if it’s true (I can’t imagine it is) and Madrid are offering £65m for a 30 year old who has a history of being inconsistent then we should be taking that.

You make it sound like he's at the bottom of a mountain. 

He's so good when he turns up, it must be really hard to achieve that level every game.

Anyway consistent performances are a myth for forward positions. Some of the best we've had were never really consistent, look at Drogba, good seasons followed by mediocre ones. Hazard has had a couple of season where he was anything but consistent.

Consistency is something you can achieve further back down the pitch, where you just have to do a job, up front you have to be pro-active all of the time.

 

54 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

All I'm saying is that considering Martial and Willian have been linked with a swap deal, isn't it quite the coincidence that they are both currently absent from their respective teams pre-seasons. 

Seems likely that is the only way Willian goes. If we get a player we want in exchange. Not much time left in the window to sell and go somewhere else.

2 hours ago, coco said:

You make it sound like he's at the bottom of a mountain. 

He's so good when he turns up, it must be really hard to achieve that level every game.

Anyway consistent performances are a myth for forward positions. Some of the best we've had were never really consistent, look at Drogba, good seasons followed by mediocre ones. Hazard has had a couple of season where he was anything but consistent.

Consistency is something you can achieve further back down the pitch, where you just have to do a job, up front you have to be pro-active all of the time.

 

It was your original point that we could get the performance against Barca every other game but you’ve just stated that it’s not possible for a forward to be a consistent performer? Surely it’s either or?

 

Willian has hot periods and then goes off the boil for 2 or 3 months, I don’t think that’s as common as you’re making it out to be.

 

The problem is he doesn’t have to reach that top level but he should at least be getting close to it, when Willian is poor he can be really poor. 

 

I suppose we’ll have to agree to disagree, I think he’s a good player and on his day is unplayable, unfortunately I don’t think his day is as regular as it should be and at 30 years old, I can’t see that changing, I hope I’m wrong but that’s just how I see it. 

I find this one pretty weird. I mean, I'm a pretty negative person: pessimistic, cynical, bitter, grumpy... :)

But aren't these our guys and aren't we meant to support them? I mean, there is a limit to this logic, I suppose, so when someone is properly useless and there are obviously better options available - it's probably inevitable to feel a little frustration - e.g. Bakayoko.

But Willian? What exactly is the charge against him - that he's not as good as Hazard? Who is...  That we didn't go out and spend a gazzilion quid on some superstar upgrade? - well, you know, it doesn't work like that. That his presence in the team prevents CHO from playing? Well they are not even in the same position, never mind the fact that CHO is not ready to become first choice week in and week out.

So what? Hate on Willian for not being a better player? Really? Why him? By this rational anyone outside of Hazard, Kante, Cortois and Azpilicueta should get a regular bollocking on here...

HE actually said " imagine that Barca performance every other game."

And I think you are being overly dramatic when you say "then goes off the boil for 2 or 3 months," -  That's just nonsense.  Yes his performance levels go up and down, as it does for all footballers.  Just look at Messi in nearly every Champions League match he played against us.

I think a lot or people disregard or don't understand the benefits of a player like Willian, one of our very best outlets to transition from defence to attack, and, yes, I know he quite often slows the movement down when he gets near the opponent's area, but that's  mostly because there are no outlets in front of him, and very little movement.  When Hazard/A.M.Other are on their game and moving, Willian creates a lot of genuine attacking opportunities.

Just now, Ilya said:

anyone outside of Hazard, Kante, Cortois and Azpilicueta should get a regular bollocking on here.

You'll soon find out that they do, as do the ones you've listed,mate.  I think you are yet to enjoy the sheer delights of the match-day discussion thread in here, particularly if we aren't 5-0 up  in the first 20  minutes.

1 minute ago, Ilya said:

I find this one pretty weird. I mean, I'm a pretty negative person: pessimistic, cynical, bitter, grumpy... :)

But aren't these our guys and aren't we meant to support them? I mean, there is a limit to this logic, I suppose, so when someone is properly useless and there are obviously better options available - it's probably inevitable to feel a little frustration - e.g. Bakayoko.

But Willian? What exactly is the charge against him - that he's not as good as Hazard? Who is...  That we didn't go out and spend a gazzilion quid on some superstar upgrade? - well, you know, it doesn't work like that. That his presence in the team prevents CHO from playing? Well they are not even in the same position, never mind the fact that CHO is not ready to become first choice week in and week out.

So what? Hate on Willian for not being a better player? Really? Why him? By this rational anyone outside of Hazard, Kante, Cortois and Azpilicueta should get a regular bollocking on here...

I'll always support Willian for 90 minutes on match days and cheer his name. Doesn't change the fact that he only turns it on for one month a season at the very most and we could achieve his goal output from someone 10 years younger with the potential to grow into a better player. 

I love that he's still here, top 3 current favourite players at Chelsea

4 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

he only turns it on for one month a season

That's just drama queen hyperbole with no  possible basis in actual  fact.

Unless you have genuine statistics to  back it up,  of course.

18 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

It was your original point that we could get the performance against Barca every other game but you’ve just stated that it’s not possible for a forward to be a consistent performer? Surely it’s either or?

Yeah not consistent enough to please everyone. We don't need that top level performance from him every game, against the lesser teams he can just be solid without being at that top level. I just said imagine that Barca performance every other game, as something of a target, a carrot to the Willian doubters.