Transfer rumours - who's in/out.Fact, fiction and opinions!

[srd....]

chelsea and birmingham have agreed a fee for jesper gronkjaer....

gronkjaer deal link... (http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,7-1139864,00.html)

sorry about the double post :o

[Dr_Intoxicated]

The more i read about this, the more i like it.
Some things starting to come out now.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/football/articles/11398040?source=Evening

You know, it may not turn out to be wishful thinking afterall.

And yes, Dr I, i agree - this would be the biggest signing to date!

Yes that article says just about the same as the Guardian one I refered to. It did make me think that it might be a possibility.

Well like him (I did) or not Gronks has gone. Birmingham still have to agree terms and the BBC says that Caludio and Valencia may try a late bid, but he is the 2nd one out after Veron. Who is next?

So Deco would be on the right of midfield, that sounds ok to me, I thought we might have had the same conflicts of interest with him as we had with Lamps and Veron.

I still like the look of Joaquin though.

[ZANI]

Has anyone ever thought of bringing Kluivert to the Bridge? I saw him scoring against Real. He is still good. At least better than Mutu upfront.

[jegerpenge]

I've seen many people score against Real, it doesn't mean that they are golden gods. It just means Real's crappy defense didn't prevent the ball from going into the back of the net.

[nicephoras]

Has anyone ever thought of bringing Kluivert to the Bridge? I saw him scoring against Real. He is still good. At least better than Mutu upfront.

Under no circumstances. The goal he scored against Real was into a wide open net. He'd have needed to find a creative way NOT to score that one, since he could have just run into it.
I'd much rather have Mutu, who at least has promise ahead of him. Kluivert has been getting worse for years.

[Joel Goodson]

I haven't seen any posts about the potential Ferriera signing since he was benched in the last match for Portugal. He was beaten like a rented mule in the Greece match. Wouldn't Chelsea be better off developing Glen Johnson? Then again, Mourino is going to bring in at least couple of his guys.

[nicephoras]

I haven't seen any posts about the potential Ferriera signing since he was benched in the last match for Portugal. He was beaten like a rented mule in the Greece match. Wouldn't Chelsea be better off developing Glen Johnson? Then again, Mourino is going to bring in at least couple of his guys.

I think "beaten like a rented mule" is far too harsh. He made a poor pass. I thought the rest of his game was solid.

Glen is 19, and can also play RW. I hope he gets enough playing time, because I love his upside.

[Clan]

How much static do you think that fat paycheck will draw in the locker room at Stamford Bridge? I've never seen any articles about any current Chelsea player complaining that another player is making more, but I also don't eat, breathe, and sleep Chelsea, either.

What's your take, Clan?

Thats a really hard question to give a straight forward answer to.
Things just don't work the same in the land of football as they do in the (for want of a better word) real world.The logical and first answer of many (us normal people) would be that it will not work to have a single player on such a high wage and the rest on another, lower wage.

However, first off, I highly doubt he'll get even a sniff of £100,000 pw, let alone £120,000.
Now, that being said, and as i said earlier, football players are a different breed.They fully recognise that certain players in a team will make more than they do, most are willing to accept this as part and parcel of the game they play.It's only the really good players that will egg on their agent to make noise about wanting a re-newed deal with the powers that be.
Go back a few seasons to when Zidane was signed by Madrid, Makelele was still earning a pittance compared to him, however, he realised that he wasn't in the same earning class as the great man and kept mum for quite a while.After winning just about everything possible and realising that he had precious few years left to play he made noise about it.

Thats the key there i think.
The likes of Bridge, Terry, Gallas, Duff (who's on a good earner btw) and quite a few more will accept what they are on as they are young and the very real chance of actually winning something will tip the scales.
Medals mean a lot more to footballers than most people realise.

I remember, many years ago ;), watching a post game interview of Kerry Dixon on The Big Match (i think it was) and him stating that he would feel a sense of failure in his career if he ended up winning nothing as a player - to put it in context it was in '84 and we were challenging for the title, albeit the second division (old)

Also though, and it can't be denied, the aforemention very good players, and lets throw Lampard in here for the comparison, will make noise if they feel they can stand on the same level as the new high earner.
Lumpy wants a new deal, it's in all the rags and he's come right out and said so himself.Now, he's not going to accept anything thats not in the same realm as the package that may be offered to Gerrard, only a fool would think otherwise, and, the club knows that as well - which is why i say that Gerrard will not get those big wages as they fully realise that they would in effect be offering huge wages to 2 players in one deal so to speak.

The problem of course won't be fully realised untill the following off season, being 2005.
I say this because if 1, or, perhaps as many as 3 players have stand out seasons they will be right up the stairs (with agents in hand) with their hands out for more.

So, as for this coming season, i don't really see much of a problem - however, what will happen after the new season ends will be highly interesting indeed if the Gerrard deal comes off.

*To long a reply to be bothered spell checking

[Clan]

I haven't seen any posts about the potential Ferriera signing since he was benched in the last match for Portugal. He was beaten like a rented mule in the Greece match. Wouldn't Chelsea be better off developing Glen Johnson? Then again, Mourino is going to bring in at least couple of his guys.

I'm sitting firmly on the fence as far as the new right full is concerned.
Living in the states these days i have seen precious little of him ( although i am continually f***ing amazed at how well informed the hoards of people on Bigsoccer seem to think they are on European players when they see as little of them as i do ..;)) except for a couple of games in the champs league - and even then i can't seem to remember him as being a stand out, chiefly as i wasn't looking for him i suppose.
However, his coach of the past few years rates him and thats got to count for something.
Every player on the face of the planey has a 'mare from time to time, so he's excused the gaff.

Johnson, although hugely talented and full of typical English spirit for the game, is at least 1 more (probably 2) season away from the caliber of player thats needed to put in consistant performances at Europen level of olay, week in week out.

Besides, he'll get quite a few games this up coming season (i hope)

[nicephoras]

Living in the states these days i have seen precious little of him ( although i am [b]continually f***ing amazed at how well informed the hoards of people on Bigsoccer seem to think they are on European players when they see as little of them as i do ..;)) except for a couple of games in the champs league - and even then i can't seem to remember him as being a stand out, chiefly as i wasn't looking for him i suppose.
However, his coach of the past few years rates him and thats got to count for something.


Tivo, Clan, Tivo! (Or my gimpy Time Warner DVR. I HATE Time Warner, btw.) You'd be surprised the sort of stuff they show on TV. I have mine set to record pretty much any soccer programming on TV, including CL games. So that's quite a few Porto matches too, since the UEFA cup was on FSW last year. Porto also played Real this year in the CL, so we got to see that too.
That being said, I have heard good thigns about PFerreira, seen good things in about 15 games I've seen of Porto, but that's about it.
But hey - I'd been "lobbying" for Javier Zanetti this whole time . :p

[Clan]

Tivo, Clan, Tivo! (Or my gimpy Time Warner DVR. I HATE Time Warner, btw.) You'd be surprised the sort of stuff they show on TV. I have mine set to record pretty much any soccer programming on TV, including CL games. So that's quite a few Porto matches too, since the UEFA cup was on FSW last year. Porto also played Real this year in the CL, so we got to see that too.
That being said, I have heard good thigns about PFerreira, seen good things in about 15 games I've seen of Porto, but that's about it.
But hey - I'd been "lobbying" for Javier Zanetti this whole time . :p


No, no, no.
I don't mean you - you actually watch the games that are shown - as i do, i also have Tivo and have the "season pass" set up to record anything with "soccer" (when in Rome...) on DirecTV.

I was actually refering to many, many, who offer opinion on players that they couldn't possibly have seen play on telly in the States.
It has always made me chuckle.

[nicephoras]

I wasn't suggesting you meant me clan :p
Now where ZANI gets his information from is what I'd like to know. Well, not really, actually :D

[ZANI]

I wasn't suggesting you meant me clan :p
Now where ZANI gets his information from is what I'd like to know. Well, not really, actually :D

Get International channels. Not from Comcast though. They suck.

[fernb8]

Interesting one here, altthough it has come up before

According to rumours, the club have offered Zola a one year contract with plans on moving him into coaching afterwards.

Would be nice to see Franco again, a few thoughts on this if (and thats a big if) it happens

1. Obviously a move by Lord Roman and the Dark Prince Satan (aka Kenyon) to win the adoration of the fans. Bring back the old favourite and the fans will forgive you, while we are at it can we bring back Petrescu and Chopper Harris on one year contracts.

2. I dont know how he would fit into Mourhinos plans for a foward. It seems as if JFH is leaving and Zola would be an ideal replacement since he can actually run and kick the ball at the same time and some his free kicks actually come close to scoring rather than landing in Row ZZ Seat 125 of the Matthew Harding Stand!

3. He is a likeable player and would certianly be a positive mentor to the younger players at the club.

4. Does Mourhino know anything about this? Surely the control freak would not approve of Roman and Satan making a move without his approval.

[srd....]

roman want's frey... (http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,46-1139929,00.html)

frey's a class keeper,but i dont see this deal happening to be honest.i mean we already have like five or six keepers if you count your man at watford.lol :D

[Clan]

I can only see that happening if we let Cudicini leave.

Sounds like it won't happen if thats the case, but, who knows what the new manager thinks of Cudicini?
Perhaps Abramovich saw enough Cudicini gaffs last season to have made up his mind in which direction he wants to go as well.

New manager, new players, thats a given - but this one is starnge.

[srd....]

but this one is starnge.

i know but saying that maybe they get rid of,ambrosio,sullivan,makalamby and macho,and go with cudicini,chech and frey.

only thing tho,i can't see the three of them being happy warming the bench.
like you said strange one this :confused:

[qazwsx]

Unlikely to happen, though it will probably mean they Mourinho doesnt see Cudicini as good enough for his new Chelsea.

[Clan]

More on Gerrard to Chelsea.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/euro2004/story/0,14577,1242626,00.html

http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2004/06/19/sfnhan19.xml&sSheet=/sport/2004/06/19/ixfooty.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-1150382,00.html

[BridgeMonkee]

Well it would be nice to knick the Gerrard (and perhaps the Owen too?) from under the noses of the Liverpool. Oh, it sends a clear signal to scouse land, before the race even begins. I like it nearly as much as buying the Duff-er, all those Man U fans insisting the Duff man belonged to them. Stealing the dark-prince of marketing from OT was another coup. HA! Now I would like to see us poach Henry from the Arse and sign Sir Alex to run our ladies team. Now that would be a power play from Emperor Roman :D

Totti and the spitting. Was that the first time Totti was on target all game?