Horses for courses, some home games against park the bus teams should obviously see a more attacking line up. Might even be able to give Caicedo the odd rest.

Tough away CL games a more workman/defensive midfield. A midfield of Lavia, Caicedo and Santos would be hard to play through but doesn’t lack creativity either.

If we get a front 3 that clicks the rest are there to create the platform for them to win us games.

6 minutes ago, C3blue said:

Horses for courses, some home games against park the bus teams should obviously see a more attacking line up. Might even be able to give Caicedo the odd rest.

Tough away CL games a more workman/defensive midfield. A midfield of Lavia, Caicedo and Santos would be hard to play through but doesn’t lack creativity either.

If we get a front 3 that clicks the rest are there to create the platform for them to win us games.

Agreed.

Against pressing sides with top midfields we'll likely need to play a midfield 3. It's good to know that James can play there as well when needed.

Sides that have been our thorn, (mid block and clog the middle) is where we will need numerical advantages in the attack.

12 hours ago, Bob stark said:

If your RW is Palmer and you want him to do less defending your 10 has to be more of a "midfielder"

Not necessarily ... if you have two proper midfielders in the pivot !

Step forward Caicedo and Andrey Santos 😎

Of course if one of the pivot is Fernandez, then I'd be the first to agree with you LOL

But at #10, I don't think Estevao can do worse than a guy who won 1 of his 5 ground duels and made zero tackles against PSG ... which was 3 less duel wins and 3 less tackles than Santos managed in half the time btw.

13 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Not necessarily ... if you have two proper midfielders in the pivot !

Step forward Caicedo and Andrey Santos 😎

Of course if one of the pivot is Fernandez, then I'd be the first to agree with you LOL

But at #10, I don't think Estevao can do worse than a guy who won 1 of his 5 ground duels and made zero tackles against PSG ... which was 3 less duel wins and 3 less tackles than Santos managed in half the time btw.

If the plan is to play 343 which is what we played vs psg then you can get away with it because neto played as wb.

Most Importantly.

White socks and a suit? Oh no, oh dear, @Valerie 's going to be all over this

1 hour ago, WhiteWall said:

Most Importantly.

White socks and a suit? Oh no, oh dear, @Valerie 's going to be all over this

London is such a nothing hole in the wall, my internet is only half working, so I can't view the picture. @WhiteWall 's text say it all though ... White socks, oh dear!

A ton of talk of Cole winning the Ballon d'or. Personally I wouldn't care less of that award but if this season would win that the bar is low.

On 10/07/2025 at 05:15, nonotnowjim said:

After the game, Palmer didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. His eyes followed Jackson like a sniper’s scope - calm, patient, lethal. The missed assist, the wasted 3–0 moment, the way Jackson went for glory and missed the target like the donkey brained amateur that he is - Palmer burned it into his memory. Not just as a betrayal, but as proof. Proof that Jackson needed correcting. Palmer would make him pay.

That night, Jackson’s car wouldn’t start. When he popped the bonnet, it exploded in glitter and red paint - his entire windscreen sprayed with the words "PASS THE BALL." He laughed it off at first. Mistake.

He woke up the next morning in a dark room, wrists bound, ankles shackled. The air was damp, metallic. The walls echoed with the faint sound of his missed shot - looped, slowed, distorted into something monstrous. In front of him was a TV, and on it: Palmer.

“You had one job,” Palmer said. “You ignored me. Now you’ll learn the cost of your shell fish ness.”

The chair he was strapped into began to tilt backward. Cold water poured from above - ice water - freezing, relentless. The senegalese sulkers muscles locked up, his breathing shallow. Then, a hatch opened below and rats were released, crawling over his soaked legs, sniffing, scratching. One bit. Palmer’s voice returned: “Pain sharpens judgement. Let’s see what it teaches you.”

When he came to, he was in a different room. Shirtless. On a treadmill. A VR headset strapped to his face. The simulation showed a constant 3v0 breakaway - Palmer wide open - Jackson holding the ball. He was forced to run it again and again, always making the wrong choice. Each time he failed to pass, an electric jolt shot through the handles. His heart pounded. The smell of burnt skin rose. Palmer watched from a perch above. Eating popcorn.

Next came the boots. One was filled with broken glass. The other with boiling deep heat. He had to choose which to wear for a mandatory “light jog” around a treadmill lined with coarse sandpaper. Every step shredded him. Palmer stood at the finish line with a clipboard, saying nothing, nodding.

The worst part wasn’t the pain. It was the silence. No rage. No shouting. Just Palmer, clinically cold. Calculated.

In the final chamber, Jackson found a football placed on a pedestal. A sign above it read: “Last chance. Make the right choice.”
Palmer appeared behind him. He pointed to two mannequins: one dressed as Jackson, the other as Palmer. A gun sat on a table.
“One shot,” Palmer said. “Either forgive yourself, or pass to me.”

Jackson aimed the gun. He paused. Then turned, trembling, and fired into the mannequin of himself.

The lights shut off. The door opened. Palmer smiled.

The next match, Jackson didn’t look up once. The moment Palmer moved, he passed. Even from the halfway line. Even when the goal was open. His face was blank. His legs bandaged. His mind, broken.

Palmer patted his shoulder gently.

“Good lad.”

opened. Palmer smiled.

The next match, Jackson didn’t look up once. The moment Palmer moved, he passed. Even from the halfway line. Even when the goal was open. His face was blank. His legs bandaged. His mind, broken.

Palmer patted his shoulder gently.

“Good lad.”

On 17/07/2025 at 14:14, Valerie said:

London is such a nothing hole in the wall, my internet is only half working, so I can't view the picture. @WhiteWall 's text say it all though ... White socks, oh dear!

It is supposed to be bad, have you not seen the advert?

What a player. Best we have had since Hazard. He's a joy to watch. Not everything he will try will come off but boy when it does it's sublime.

My only negative is that no doubt Real Madrid will come sniffing at some point. Hope that is a long way off.

On 19/07/2025 at 00:44, guddy69 said:

opened. Palmer smiled.

The next match, Jackson didn’t look up once. The moment Palmer moved, he passed. Even from the halfway line. Even when the goal was open. His face was blank. His legs bandaged. His mind, broken.

Palmer patted his shoulder gently.

“Good lad.”

It is supposed to be bad, have you not seen the advert?

confused.... did you like my little story?

3 hours ago, Nibs said:

What a player. Best we have had since Hazard. He's a joy to watch. Not everything he will try will come off but boy when it does it's sublime.

My only negative is that no doubt Real Madrid will come sniffing at some point. Hope that is a long way off.

Rumours are PSG eyeing up a £250m bid.

That will test the resolve of Clearlake.....

2 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Rumours are PSG eyeing up a £250m bid.

That will test the resolve of Clearlake.....

Oh come on, £250 million, that's gotta be made up out of thin air!

4 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Oh come on, £250 million, that's gotta be made up out of thin air!

Yes and probably by Jim!!

PSG to have a bidding war with City ?

LOL

Football365

Man City 'offer' £147m for Chelsea superstar as Guardiola...

🤯Man City have reportedly offered €170m (£147m) to Chelsea in order to bring Cole Palmer back...

5 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

PSG to have a bidding war with City ?

LOL

Football365

Man City 'offer' £147m for Chelsea superstar as Guardiola...

🤯Man City have reportedly offered €170m (£147m) to Chelsea in order to bring Cole Palmer back...

Pep's ego would never allow for this.

/end rumor.

9 hours ago, Nibs said:

Yes and probably by Jim!!

also lining up world record fee for jackson.....

8 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

PSG to have a bidding war with City ?

LOL

Football365

Man City 'offer' £147m for Chelsea superstar as Guardiola...

🤯Man City have reportedly offered €170m (£147m) to Chelsea in order to bring Cole Palmer back...

There's not a realistic offer anybody can come up with that would be good enough for me. Everybody loves his personality, kids pretend to be him and copy his celebration, and he's fast turning into one of the best players on the planet. Fans from clubs all over the world will want a shirt with Palmer's name on it. He's become one of the faces of world football. They can give us a billion and we wouldn't be able to replace that.

If Palmer can add Premier League and Champions League titles to his collection with us, he will go down as a better signing than Hazard.

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

There's not a realistic offer anybody can come up with that would be good enough for me. Everybody loves his personality, kids pretend to be him and copy his celebration, and he's fast turning into one of the best players on the planet. Fans from clubs all over the world will want a shirt with Palmer's name on it. He's become one of the faces of world football. They can give us a billion and we wouldn't be able to replace that.

If Palmer can add Premier League and Champions League titles to his collection with us, he will go down as a better signing than Hazard.

Agreed. There just aren't many examples where a big club has sold its star player for mega-money and still gone on to success. Barcelona wasted the Neymar money, Monaco wasted the Mbappe fee, Juve weren't a force after they sold Pogba, Liverpool collapsed after selling Sterling and Suarez and Atletico Madrid managed to f**k it up so bad we're stuck with the consequences (Joao Felix).

The only two counter examples have extenuating circumstances too; Liverpool-Coutinho was after they realised Mane - Firmino - Salah was their actual attacking weapon and he was expendable, and Chelsea-Hazard was magnified because of a combination of transfer ban and PSR rules supercharged our spending ability in 2020 and 2021.

11 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

PSG to have a bidding war with City ?

LOL

Football365

Man City 'offer' £147m for Chelsea superstar as Guardiola...

🤯Man City have reportedly offered €170m (£147m) to Chelsea in order to bring Cole Palmer back...

PSG indicated 250mill (albeit in a rage at being beaten by us) if Citeh do fancy a bidding war they might have to do better than a derisory 147mill, especially as Jackson has now been valued at 80-100mill - without a desire to sell. I think it will take offers around 250mill to test the owners resolve and the bad news for any cheeky buyers out there is i expect the figure of 250mill is only going to rise with time.

The club wont mind the speculation as it all adds to story. Cold is a World Champion now. Ooh that sounds reassuringly expensive.

Edited July 22, 2025Jul 22 by OneTommyLangley

He’s not going anywhere.

He’s the face of the reigning Champions of the World.

10 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

He’s not going anywhere.

He’s the face of the reigning Champions of the World.

He also has a contract that extends to, well, the Second Coming.

Who is he up against for the Ballon D'or? Whilst I do not think he is there yet, there is an argument that the pieces are falling into place:

• Fifa love an angle, and the whole "Cold" thing is a marketing gimmick that can be sold.

• The narrative that he single handedly won Chelsea the title of Best Club in the World.

• The narrative that he single handedly won Chelsea another European cup (albeit conference)

• Already won Young Player of the year award.

He only needs a couple of other 'moments' to be in with a real shout. Think he will still miss out to Lamine Yamal - but our Cole is up there.

20 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Rumours are PSG eyeing up a £250m bid.

That will test the resolve of Clearlake.....

He is still worth more to us.. Advertising, fan base, social media etc etc.. He is the character of Chelsea. Not worth selling.

On 22/07/2025 at 20:20, nonotnowjim said:

Who is he up against for the Ballon D'or? Whilst I do not think he is there yet, there is an argument that the pieces are falling into place:

• Fifa love an angle, and the whole "Cold" thing is a marketing gimmick that can be sold.

• The narrative that he single handedly won Chelsea the title of Best Club in the World.

• The narrative that he single handedly won Chelsea another European cup (albeit conference)

• Already won Young Player of the year award.

He only needs a couple of other 'moments' to be in with a real shout. Think he will still miss out to Lamine Yamal - but our Cole is up there.

The Ballon D'or is voted on by national team captains and is pretty biased towards international football so Yamal's Nations League performances will count heavily in his favour, but I also wonder if the CWC will heavily influence that too.

On 21/07/2025 at 23:01, nonotnowjim said:

Rumours are PSG eyeing up a £250m bid.

That will test the resolve of Clearlake.....

Not really. Selling star player is not good for team brand.

The one that will test Clearlake is how much salary psg is willing to pay Palmer