22 minutes ago, forbzy said:

This article suggests that there is a reason we might be stallng with CAS:

https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/23/chelsea-might-accept-transfer-ban-bid-see-reduced-9658111/

The problem with that argument is that not a lot of major important business is done in the winter window, so having that window open up to us doesn't help a whole lot.  The advantage of the CAS appeal would be to allow us to do business in the summer, and hopefully have the ban reduced to one window...….that being the winter one.  

 

3 hours ago, Boston Blue said:

The advantage of the CAS appeal would be to allow us to do business in the summer, and hopefully have the ban reduced to one window...….that being the winter one. 

Stopping the club buy players in the winter window would be a reward not a punishment, we're World class in throwing money away in January.

6 hours ago, Boston Blue said:

The problem with that argument is that not a lot of major important business is done in the winter window, so having that window open up to us doesn't help a whole lot.  The advantage of the CAS appeal would be to allow us to do business in the summer, and hopefully have the ban reduced to one window...….that being the winter one.  

 

I agree with your logic there. Although the club may also think that FIFA will not reduce the ban, and they would rather get It out the way. I would say a lot depends on what is going on with Sarri etc. If Sarri is truly off and we plan to start again, the club may use the ban to buy some time to put the right management team in, especially if Cech ends up joining as DOF. It doesn't really make sense to make big signings without knowing who will be in charge. 

31 minutes ago, forbzy said:

I agree with your logic there. Although the club may also think that FIFA will not reduce the ban, and they would rather get It out the way. I would say a lot depends on what is going on with Sarri etc. If Sarri is truly off and we plan to start again, the club may use the ban to buy some time to put the right management team in, especially if Cech ends up joining as DOF. It doesn't really make sense to make big signings without knowing who will be in charge. 

I think the ban is the scenario by which we can appoint Frank & Jody now.  Integrating the young players with the coach back who knows them best is a great chance for their best possible development.  

Also, our expectations will be lowered allowing the coaching staff to gain experience managing in the PL, in the Champions League, the rhythm, the tactics, the substitutions, game management, man management, integrating youth.  Theoretically, the supporters will be patient allowing everyone the time to figure things out.  We'll have a better handle on which youth to keep, and what positions might need strengthening in the next window where we're allowed to buy.  

To be honest, I'd be quite happy with a ban and replacing Sarri with Frank. I think that it could be a huge blessing in disguise as we would end up giving so many youngsters a chance. Plus, Frank has Chelsea in his blood so he knows how important it is for us to give the young guys a chance.

If somehow we don't get the ban, we must sign Dybala and/or Icardi. Otherwise it is a waste of a window anyway.

I'm okay with us being banned in the summer too. Our transfer business since Jose's first season has been rancid with a couple of exceptions. 

A ban this summer  helps us focus on getting our backroom structure right including an overhaul of recruitment and scouting and allow us to come back fresh, with a better strategy and maybe even a new manager.

8 hours ago, Butterhampton FC said:

To be honest, I'd be quite happy with a ban and replacing Sarri with Frank. I think that it could be a huge blessing in disguise as we would end up giving so many youngsters a chance. Plus, Frank has Chelsea in his blood so he knows how important it is for us to give the young guys a chance.

If somehow we don't get the ban, we must sign Dybala and/or Icardi. Otherwise it is a waste of a window anyway.

This is good point. No point freezing the ban unless those key players are available - Jovic, Dybala, Pepe etc.

7 hours ago, Adamrb said:

This is good point. No point freezing the ban unless those key players are available - Jovic, Dybala, Pepe etc.

Lots of good options this summer though, Pepe, Fekir, Greizmann, all confirmed they are leaving. Icardi, Telles, Ziyech, all with buy out clauses. 

Its not even june yet and there seems to be loads of options in the market. I think theres going to be a lot of movement this summer, Real madrid making big moves will no doubt have a chain reaction, and im.hoping we can involved.

On 24/05/2019 at 20:31, Butterhampton FC said:

To be honest, I'd be quite happy with a ban and replacing Sarri with Frank. I think that it could be a huge blessing in disguise as we would end up giving so many youngsters a chance. Plus, Frank has Chelsea in his blood so he knows how important it is for us to give the young guys a chance.

If somehow we don't get the ban, we must sign Dybala and/or Icardi. Otherwise it is a waste of a window anyway.

It could also be a nightmare. Without adding to the club, we're likely finishing outside of the top 4. I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate it when Chelsea are not playing CL football. I know we are slightly spoiled, but I want to go back to playing Champions League football every season.

I have tried to look at this from all sorts of different angles and I can’t see any disadvantage in  requesting CAS for a stay of the ban.

Some reports are saying that it’s possible the club are far from confident that the appeal would be successful so might as well get the ban out the way that is if the main targets aren’t available .Other reports suggest that we are still in discussion with FIFA and that if the ban were to be reduced to one window we will accept that. Neither make any sense for the club was adamant they would go to CAS so what has changed from a club perspective I can’t think  anything has or if anything has changed its led by FIFA .

If ,and it’s a big if the ban is negotiated down to one window namely this one ,that wouldn’t mean we can’t sign players all it means is we can’t play them till January. That’s in effect what happened in Spain.

There’s two or three options what you do with the players if that were the case.

Bring them to the club immediately but don’t play them immediately  , put them out in short term loan till say November to keep match fit, put them out on loan till the next window. 

Having said all that I go to my first paragraph and can’t see any disadvantage by appealing and asking for a stay. For me it’s all about timing and that timing centres around the EL final which coincidentally is played on the last day of the 21 day appeal period.

Edited May 26, 20197 yr by terraloon

So is tomorrow the deadline day for lodging our appeal with CAS, if we haven't already, but the story doing the rounds is we won't submit a declaration to CAS?

9 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

So is tomorrow the deadline day for lodging our appeal with CAS, if we haven't already, but the story doing the rounds is we won't submit a declaration to CAS?

club have publicly said theyre appealing.  I'd go with that over any other news to be  honest

Still no word from the club, this silence is killing me....

People who are OK with us being banned and wonder if it'll help us, I'm sorry, but I don't share your optimism.

Our squad needs serious improvement. The transfer business over the last few years was mostly poor, we've spent a lot on average players, all the more reason to identify real quality in the market and spend big, if needed. 

We're losing our best player. Without Hazard we wouldn't have made it in the top four and we wouldn't have won the EL. He carried the team, scored or otherwise contributed to probably half of our goals. We can't replace him, but we'll need to find a way to build a new side that'll rely on different players, and those players have to be of the high standard. In that sense, this summer is very important, if we once again buy the wrong players, we're in trouble.

We need a new first choice striker, better full backs, possibly a new midfielder to strengthen the squad. RLC and CHO will need time to come back from injuries and regain their form, Pulisic is still a question mark and our struggle to score goals will be even more apparent next season because now we won't have Hazard to bail us out time and again.

 

Edited May 31, 20197 yr by abramovich

51 minutes ago, abramovich said:

People who are OK with us being banned and wonder if it'll help us, I'm sorry, but I don't share your optimism.

Whistling in the dark, that's what that is. Mind you, I'm not whining we are doomed and bound to be relegated  but a few more youngsters will hopefully gain some very valuable experience. And what it will mean in terms of our attractiveness to top players after the ban, I just don't know. Much will depend on money: what are we prepared to pay in transfer fees, and on salary. In football terms we thankfully can point to a very healthy and consistent  trophy haul.

2 hours ago, abramovich said:

People who are OK with us being banned and wonder if it'll help us, I'm sorry, but I don't share your optimism.

The idea of starting the season with Willian/Giroud/Pulisic as our front three depresses me.

 

2 hours ago, abramovich said:

People who are OK with us being banned and wonder if it'll help us, I'm sorry, but I don't share your optimism.

Our squad needs serious improvement. The transfer business over the last few years was mostly poor, we've spent a lot on average players, all the more reason to identify real quality in the market and spend big, if needed. 

We're losing our best player. Without Hazard we wouldn't have made it in the top four and we wouldn't have won the EL. He carried the team, scored or otherwise contributed to probably half of our goals. We can't replace him, but we'll need to find a way to build a new side that'll rely on different players, and those players have to be of the high standard. In that sense, this summer is very important, if we once again buy the wrong players, we're in trouble.

We need a new first choice striker, better full backs, possibly a new midfielder to strengthen the squad. RLC and CHO will need time to come back from injuries and regain their form, Pulisic is still a question mark and our struggle to score goals will be even more apparent next season because now we won't have Hazard to bail us out time and again.

 

We need a lot to be at the level of challenging City and Liverpool in the League, and being a threat in the CL. The chances of us being able to recruit all that we need even with the ban suspended is slim to none in my eyes.

 

So next season is more about blending in our best youth players and keeping us competitive with Spurs, Arsenal and United. I believe we can do that while banned from registering players. I don't believe any number of new players while losing Hazard will help us to compete with the very top sides.

38 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

We need a lot to be at the level of challenging City and Liverpool in the League, and being a threat in the CL. The chances of us being able to recruit all that we need even with the ban suspended is slim to none in my eyes.

 

So next season is more about blending in our best youth players and keeping us competitive with Spurs, Arsenal and United. I believe we can do that while banned from registering players. I don't believe any number of new players while losing Hazard will help us to compete with the very top sides.

The problem is that, with RLC and CHO with long-term injuries, we won't be able to compete with Spurs or Utd (I don't include Arsenal, who are in complete meltdown) if we don't bring in some new players. I agree, bring on Ampadu (who I believe can start getting minutes this season) and Abraham, maybe start to integrate Mount (though I'd give him another year on loan if we can keep Kovacic), but with Pedro, William and Giroud up front, and no upgrades in there, we are not good enough. We badly need to upgrade those positions now that Hazard is gone and Hudson-Odoi is injured.

Edited May 31, 20197 yr by RMH

 

 

 

2

Just now, axman2526 said:

We need a lot to be at the level of challenging City and Liverpool in the League, and being a threat in the CL. The chances of us being able to recruit all that we need even with the ban suspended is slim to none in my eyes.

 

So next season is more about blending in our best youth players and keeping us competitive with Spurs, Arsenal and United. I believe we can do that while banned from registering players. I don't believe any number of new players while losing Hazard will help us to compete with the very top sides.

100% agree. In terms of next season there is no way aside from spending outlandish sums of money we can compete with them. I think the goal has to be to get closer to them in the league and compete in the CL. After that is when the benefit could kick in.

Another year of experience and development for RLC, CHO, Christensen and whichever other young players we are forced to blood in because we can't buy players to immediately slide into the first team. Sarri will have more time to implement his style with everyone and in summer 2020 the ban will be lifted and the club will have a clearer picture of where they need to strengthen to compete for the title. 

 The biggest appeal of a transfer ban in my eyes is it's going to force the club to use our loanees and academy players. The perfect example is RB for us. Sure we could use a new shiny 23-year-old RB right now but what happens to Reece James? He would literally have another new player blocking his path to the first team. CHO to a lesser extent had this same issue and we think it's been resolved but he still hasn't committed to staying. Instead of buying Drinkwaters and Zappacostas the club need to be forced to play our EXTREMELY promising young players. If we don't learn that lesson they will not stick around at the club, Ola Aina is a great example. 

3 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

We need a lot to be at the level of challenging City and Liverpool in the League, and being a threat in the CL. The chances of us being able to recruit all that we need even with the ban suspended is slim to none in my eyes.

 

So next season is more about blending in our best youth players and keeping us competitive with Spurs, Arsenal and United. I believe we can do that while banned from registering players. I don't believe any number of new players while losing Hazard will help us to compete with the very top sides.

So what's the answer, then? Do nothing? The clubs you've mentioned will try and improve, and that means spending money. We're already behind City/Liverpool in terms of quality, United will spend plenty, as usual, we can't just stay put and hope for the best, especially with Hazard leaving.

And blending in our best youth players and keeping us competitive may prove to be incompatible. There are some serious problems within the squad, it was obvious throughout the season. I'm not expecting us to fight for the title any time soon but I'm afraid if we don't bring some real quality in the summer, players that can help us remain competitive now, we may easily miss out even on the top four spot a year from now.

Doesn't mean we shouldn't involve the youngsters, by the way, I'm all for it and there'll be plenty of competitions for them to be involved in and learn valuable experience. Hopefully CHO and RLC come back stronger and stake their claim in the first eleven, if Mount or Abraham do well in the preseason, would be great to have them in the squad, too.

i agree wholeheartedly with the comments, but none answered my Q, what are we definitively doing IE CAS, we need word, and some sort of communication as to chelseas plan

31 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

We need a lot to be at the level of challenging City and Liverpool in the League, and being a threat in the CL. The chances of us being able to recruit all that we need even with the ban suspended is slim to none in my eyes.

 

So next season is more about blending in our best youth players and keeping us competitive with Spurs, Arsenal and United. I believe we can do that while banned from registering players. I don't believe any number of new players while losing Hazard will help us to compete with the very top sides.

I completely agree with this. I think we’ll have to face its gonna take a few years before we can even think it challenging for the title/CL honours. 

Heck we may even still win cups in the meantime. I actually think our ability to keep on winning silverware is often overlooked and sometimes even by our own fans is taken for granted.

Every team around us will strengthen.  Not just the traditional top 6, but we should expect a Top 4 challenge from the likes of Wolves and Leicester as well.  If we can't strengthen and we go into next season with essentially the same team (less Hazard) and Pulisic + a couple of kids, then we will find it very difficult to duplicate what we did this season.

In addition, accepting the ban will bot do us any favors in the Champions League either.  

After all the work this season to get into the CL, do we really want to take the chance of being outside the Top 4 and going back to the Europa league 2020/2021?

30 minutes ago, Boston Blue said:

Every team around us will strengthen.  Not just the traditional top 6, but we should expect a Top 4 challenge from the likes of Wolves and Leicester as well.  If we can't strengthen and we go into next season with essentially the same team (less Hazard) and Pulisic + a couple of kids, then we will find it very difficult to duplicate what we did this season.

In addition, accepting the ban will bot do us any favors in the Champions League either.  

After all the work this season to get into the CL, do we really want to take the chance of being outside the Top 4 and going back to the Europa league 2020/2021??

There's a high chance of us being in the Europa league in 20/21 even if we do strengthen. 

Most important thing for me is keeping Sarri. That is crucial. 

Secondary, if we can get the ban stayed, it would be good - but only if we make the most of it. No point in doing that and then signing dross and having the same issue next Summer we do now. It is why I am not that fussed if we do have the ban, take our lumps, integrate the youth, come back stronger in 20/21.

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

There's a high chance of us being in the Europa league in 20/21 even if we do strengthen. 

Most important thing for me is keeping Sarri. That is crucial. 

Secondary, if we can get the ban stayed, it would be good - but only if we make the most of it. No point in doing that and then signing dross and having the same issue next Summer we do now. It is why I am not that fussed if we do have the ban, take our lumps, integrate the youth, come back stronger in 20/21.

Yes there is, but that chance increases if we use the same combination of existing players and mixing in a few unproven youth players.  Especially as those around us buy players and get better.

I don't think we should be in a one year CL/one year EL rotation.  The financial differences make it harder to plan and buy, and make us less desirable for potential transfers.  We belong in the Champion's League every year.