10 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

There is a difference though between keeping yourself fit and available to play and having a level of fitness gained from playing in elite level matches. He will still be monitored and measured for his fitness and conditioning on a regular basis included his body fat percentages. So my contention was that perhaps you were confused by what may have appeared as him letting himself go rather than the fact that he's actually a bit sh*t and has somehow got himself such a good contract and lifestyle that he is, indeed taking an early retirement paid for by the idiocy of our club.

From my POV there are two sides to this. One, like you said, the club made some questionable moves—Disasi, or maybe not really understanding Sterling’s ambition (or lack of it) at the time. Two, my own take as a fan. I wish Sterling had stayed focused and fit because he was such a good player and fun to watch. Now, given that his focus may be elsewhere, I don't feel that the club has an obligation to "integrate" him to the main squad.
Had the same feeling with Ronaldinho when he basically cut his career short to party. Totally fair—they can make their own choices—but personally, I just wanted to see more of him at the top level.

Though maybe my mistake was lumping Disasi and Sterling together—they seem to be totally different situations.

Edited January 22Jan 22 by acaeus

1 hour ago, acaeus said:

From my POV there are two sides to this. One, like you said, the club made some questionable moves—Disasi, or maybe not really understanding Sterling’s ambition (or lack of it) at the time. Two, my own take as a fan. I wish Sterling had stayed focused and fit because he was such a good player and fun to watch. Now, given that his focus may be elsewhere, I don't feel that the club has an obligation to "integrate" him to the main squad.
Had the same feeling with Ronaldinho when he basically cut his career short to party. Totally fair—they can make their own choices—but personally, I just wanted to see more of him at the top level.

Though maybe my mistake was lumping Disasi and Sterling together—they seem to be totally different situations.

A lot to unpack and I am largely in agreement with you.

I think Sterling was ambitious at the start and reveled in the part given to him of the senior pro. The reality I think was that he already was on the wane and I think a number of factors contributed to a downward spiral.

I have never actually overly rated Sterling but that is my personal opinion. Let me qualify that. I have always felt he is a back post Johnny on the spot one trick pony, so not rating him isn't really fair. I like my 9 iron and upon occasion its the perfect club for what I want to do. Driving off the tee though and it's a bit sh*t. So I have always felt he is limited.

However stepping away from the sporting endeavour for a moment, for the manager to come out, early in his tenure and publicly proclaim that Sterling didn't fit his model, purely because the puppet masters wanted the salary off the wage bill was commercially niave and a public humiliation to a guy that a short period before the owner was parading round the Dodgers stadium with his sh*t eating grin for the cameras and viewing public to see the flagship marquee player.

So for Sterling to adopt a bit of an entrenched fck you attitude is justified in my eyes. I felt the same for Chilwell.

I get what you are saying but for me, treat me like that and you'd be dead to me and I wouldn't pi$$ on you to douse the flames if you were on fire.

12 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

A lot to unpack and I am largely in agreement with you.

I think Sterling was ambitious at the start and reveled in the part given to him of the senior pro. The reality I think was that he already was on the wane and I think a number of factors contributed to a downward spiral.

I have never actually overly rated Sterling but that is my personal opinion. Let me qualify that. I have always felt he is a back post Johnny on the spot one trick pony, so not rating him isn't really fair. I like my 9 iron and upon occasion its the perfect club for what I want to do. Driving off the tee though and it's a bit sh*t. So I have always felt he is limited.

However stepping away from the sporting endeavour for a moment, for the manager to come out, early in his tenure and publicly proclaim that Sterling didn't fit his model, purely because the puppet masters wanted the salary off the wage bill was commercially niave and a public humiliation to a guy that a short period before the owner was parading round the Dodgers stadium with his sh*t eating grin for the cameras and viewing public to see the flagship marquee player.

So for Sterling to adopt a bit of an entrenched fck you attitude is justified in my eyes. I felt the same for Chilwell.

I get what you are saying but for me, treat me like that and you'd be dead to me and I wouldn't pi$$ on you to douse the flames if you were on fire.

Fair, and I mostly agree.

I think Sterling’s form dipped well before he left City. To me he looked a bit “run into the ground,” similar to Oscar immediately after our title-winning season. Sterling was never really a creative force, but he was intense and committed on the pitch—and you’d assume the same applied in training, given how it showed during matches. He looked a bit heavier (slower) when playing for us though, at least to me.

I also think bringing a disillusioned player into the main squad can be detrimental, especially when it comes to training intensity and the natural dynamics within the group.

14 hours ago, acaeus said:

Wow, seriously?!
I am clearly talking about professional players, not individuals—which would be none of my business. The professional side of things—how he trains, how he keeps fit—that’s very much fair game in my book.
Isn’t Sterling a Chelsea FC player? Isn’t he being paid to be 100% focused on his fitness and form?

BTW, clubs absolutely look at all aspects of a player’s life before signing them. There’s simply too much money involved not to.

Professional players are individuals. You have no insight whatsoever how they lead their life unless they personally tell you so. If ever you read something, odds are it's speculation as it's not from the horse's mouth. Do you get this worked up about people doing other jobs, like people who actually help your life along such as dustmen or shopkeepers? Or do you feel resentment because someone is earning much more than you and in your view are not delivering what your morals think they should?

11 hours ago, acaeus said:

From my POV there are two sides to this. One, like you said, the club made some questionable moves—Disasi, or maybe not really understanding Sterling’s ambition (or lack of it) at the time. Two, my own take as a fan. I wish Sterling had stayed focused and fit because he was such a good player and fun to watch. Now, given that his focus may be elsewhere, I don't feel that the club has an obligation to "integrate" him to the main squad.
Had the same feeling with Ronaldinho when he basically cut his career short to party. Totally fair—they can make their own choices—but personally, I just wanted to see more of him at the top level.

Though maybe my mistake was lumping Disasi and Sterling together—they seem to be totally different situations.

Why are you pretending like we signed a fat and uninterested Sterling? He was professional for two seasons with us and played 81 games for us in that time. The club then decided they wanted rid because he was on too much money and threw him to the bomb squad. He didn't choose to go to the bomb squad, that was the owners. At this point he has every right to his contract, its up to the club to pay him off or find him a suitable loan.

People did this with Jackson too and pretending like he forced his way out of the club, when it was the owners forcing him out.

10 hours ago, Valerie said:

Professional players are individuals. You have no insight whatsoever how they lead their life unless they personally tell you so. If ever you read something, odds are it's speculation as it's not from the horse's mouth. Do you get this worked up about people doing other jobs, like people who actually help your life along such as dustmen or shopkeepers? Or do you feel resentment because someone is earning much more than you and in your view are not delivering what your morals think they should?

I don’t really feel anything about it, and there’s no envy involved.
I was simply pointing out that at this level of elite football, a player’s dedication and focus can make or break a career — which I honestly thought was obvious.

In Sterling’s case specifically, this is a professional discussion, not a personal one. Clubs themselves assess these factors because they directly affect training standards and match performance. What might be personal or irrelevant in a normal job isn’t necessarily so when discussing elite athletes.

I’m commenting on what I saw on the pitch. Maybe age played a part — that is speculation on my part — but it’s still based on what I observed.

We’ve seen this countless times: United’s Anderson not looking after himself, or Drinkwater at Chelsea clearly not looking after himself either. Talent alone doesn’t carry you at the top level if the application isn’t there.

8 hours ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Why are you pretending like we signed a fat and uninterested Sterling? He was professional for two seasons with us and played 81 games for us in that time. The club then decided they wanted rid because he was on too much money and threw him to the bomb squad. He didn't choose to go to the bomb squad, that was the owners. At this point he has every right to his contract, its up to the club to pay him off or find him a suitable loan.

People did this with Jackson too and pretending like he forced his way out of the club, when it was the owners forcing him out.

No, not "fat." At this level, “good enough” isn’t enough — especially when the margins are so thin.

Edited January 23Jan 23 by acaeus

12 minutes ago, acaeus said:

I don’t really feel anything about it, and there’s no envy involved either.
I was simply pointing out that at this level of elite football, a player’s dedication and focus can make or break a career — which I honestly thought was obvious.

In Sterling’s case specifically, that’s a professional discussion, not a personal one. Clubs themselves assess these things because they directly affect training standards and match performance.

We’ve seen this countless times: United’s Anderson not looking after himself, or Drinkwater at Chelsea very clearly not liking water enough. Talent alone doesn’t carry you at the top level if the application isn’t there.

No, not "fat." At this level, “good enough” isn’t enough — especially when the margins are so thin.

Explain what he did wrong please? He was in shape and played 2 full seasons with us.

3 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Explain what he did wrong please? He was in shape and played 2 full seasons with us.

I don't know what he did wrong--I was speculating in
"I’m commenting on what I saw on the pitch. Maybe age played a part — that is speculation on my part — but it’s still based on what I observed."

Whether that’s age, role, or something else is open to debate — but the difference was visible.

bo**ocks….he’s just fat that’s all…they all end up fat in the end

54 minutes ago, acaeus said:

I don’t really feel anything about it, and there’s no envy involved.
I was simply pointing out that at this level of elite football, a player’s dedication and focus can make or break a career — which I honestly thought was obvious.

In Sterling’s case specifically, this is a professional discussion, not a personal one. Clubs themselves assess these factors because they directly affect training standards and match performance. What might be personal or irrelevant in a normal job isn’t necessarily so when discussing elite athletes.

I’m commenting on what I saw on the pitch. Maybe age played a part — that is speculation on my part — but it’s still based on what I observed.

We’ve seen this countless times: United’s Anderson not looking after himself, or Drinkwater at Chelsea clearly not looking after himself either. Talent alone doesn’t carry you at the top level if the application isn’t there.

Again, you're making assumptions, you present your opinion as a fact. Your "observations" don't mean anything, as they are subjective. You just don't know what is going on, what a player is doing or not doing, what he is thinking, what the interaction with the club is. Yet you slag a player like Sterling for not doing what you think he should do. To recap: you know f**k all about his situation. None of us do.

And now I'm done with this discussion.

Edited January 23Jan 23 by Valerie

12 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Again, you're making assumptions, you present your opinion as a fact. Your "observations" don't mean anything, as they are subjective. You just don't know what is going on, what a player is doing or not doing, what he is thinking, what the interaction with the club is. Yet you slag a player like Sterling for not doing what you think he should do. To recap: you know f**k all about his situation. None of us do.

And now I'm done with this discussion.

Almost everything written here on this forum is an opinion, and very much subjective. The only fact I presented was about how clubs operate when signing players.
Yes, I am speculating as to why the player we got was so different from the player I saw at City... so? we speculate a lot here.

Edited January 23Jan 23 by acaeus

Let me remind the backpedalling acaeus what he has written in this thread and what brought on this whole discussion.

On 22/01/2026 at 03:39, acaeus said:

I agree there is speculation in the mix and I don't trust the club at all (to be doing the right thing).
On the other hand, I think professional players should be doing anything in their power to actually play; and honestly I don't see that desire in certain players especially once they reach that 30-something and sign that last good contract.

Perhaps Sterling would be a more obvious example of "sitting on the contract" and we know the reasons: his focus may lie elsewhere these days (large family etc).

On 22/01/2026 at 18:14, acaeus said:

Wow, seriously?!
I am clearly talking about professional players, not individuals—which would be none of my business. The professional side of things—how he trains, how he keeps fit—that’s very much fair game in my book.
Isn’t Sterling a Chelsea FC player? Isn’t he being paid to be 100% focused on his fitness and form?

BTW, clubs absolutely look at all aspects of a player’s life before signing them. There’s simply too much money involved not to.

I watched a YouTube clip from Talksport with Gabby Agbonlahor (spelling) talking about being put in a bomb squad by Di Matteo. It's quite enlightening as we often forget the human aspect as we are all fans of our teams. This is their job and like all of us they have professional pride. Being "demoted" to train alone or train and play with kids that should have respect for you will naturally affect some players. Not many will take a positive view and will "knuckle down". Most I would imagine would adopt a similar fck you attitude as Agbonlahor did. And all these years later the animosity remains. In truth I can relate to the mindset even though its never happened to me

2 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

I watched a YouTube clip from Talksport with Gabby Agbonlahor (spelling) talking about being put in a bomb squad by Di Matteo. It's quite enlightening as we often forget the human aspect as we are all fans of our teams. This is their job and like all of us they have professional pride. Being "demoted" to train alone or train and play with kids that should have respect for you will naturally affect some players. Not many will take a positive view and will "knuckle down". Most I would imagine would adopt a similar fck you attitude as Agbonlahor did. And all these years later the animosity remains. In truth I can relate to the mindset even though its never happened to me

Haven't watched it but imho... they should remain part of the team until sold.

Isolating them like Chelsea have done to a few of ours is a form of bullying and something CFC shouldn't want on their CV.

Only surprised the medical team haven't intervened yet - how many days of solitary has Sterling had to endure ?

Another avoidable problem caused by the clowns upstairs...

On 24/01/2026 at 00:26, Valerie said:

Let me remind the backpedalling acaeus what he has written in this thread and what brought on this whole discussion.

The horror!!! 🙂

Edited January 25Jan 25 by acaeus

Loan to West Ham.

Crazy Stewart has gotten away with this.

31 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Loan to West Ham.

Crazy Stewart has gotten away with this.

Surely we will write into the loan deal that he has to play against us

10 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Loan to West Ham.

Crazy Stewart has gotten away with this.

Good for Disasi. Can't say that I rate him, but it can't have been much fun rotting in the bomb squad. If he does a few useful things at West Ham, we can offload him permanently this summer.

1 hour ago, Valerie said:

Good for Disasi. Can't say that I rate him, but it can't have been much fun rotting in the bomb squad. If he does a few useful things at West Ham, we can offload him permanently this summer.

We said the same after his Villa loan that was pretty successful. No one will offer us what we want for him because they know we're desperate to get rid. Its the weird thing about the bomb squad that the owners don't understand.

Think we’ve set a precedent now with Raheem that the bomb squad can just be paid off.

Who’s going to stump up a transfer fee when they see the potential of a free if they just wait til the end of the window?

53 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Think we’ve set a precedent now with Raheem that the bomb squad can just be paid off.

Who’s going to stump up a transfer fee when they see the potential of a free if they just wait til the end of the window?

On the other hand, freeing up a zillion in wasted wages.

1 hour ago, GarnachoCheese said:

We said the same after his Villa loan that was pretty successful. No one will offer us what we want for him because they know we're desperate to get rid. Its the weird thing about the bomb squad that the owners don't understand.

54 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Think we’ve set a precedent now with Raheem that the bomb squad can just be paid off.

Who’s going to stump up a transfer fee when they see the potential of a free if they just wait til the end of the window?

Stop ruining my hope, guys 🤬

15 minutes ago, dermott said:

On the other hand, freeing up a zillion in wasted wages.

I wouldn't really say paying it all up in a lump sum is freeing it all up.

1 minute ago, GarnachoCheese said:

I wouldn't really say paying it all up in a lump sum is freeing it all up.

Unlikely to have been a 100% pay out.

9 minutes ago, dermott said:

Unlikely to have been a 100% pay out.

i would imagine its going to be 75% at least, the difference can be offset by the transfer/loan fee we lose out on.