Start the speculation

Ferrer and De Goey won't be around next year but the other question marks will likely be offered new deals.

GK: Cuducini, Evans, Pidgeley - can see Claudio shopping for a more experienced backup although I think the youngsters would do fine given the chance.

CB: Gallas, Terry, Desailly, Huth, Melchiot - and Di Cesare, Kitamirike, and othwers at the lower levels. We are fine here.

RB: Melchiot, Gallas, Stanic, Anis - a bit bare at this position, could use a solid, no-nonsense defender here.

LB: Baba, Le Saux, Gallas, Stanic - Le Saux's last season, I think we'll probably leave this spot alone. We have more pressing needs elsewhere.

CM: Lampard, Petit, Morris, De Lucas, Keenan, Nicolas - would like to see Morris get a new deal but he is not the future. We need a top player here, no question. Not sure if Keenan and Nicolas will ever pan out.

RW: Gronkjaer, Stanic, De Lucas, Zenden - No need for new blood here unless Zenden is sold. Gronks is the definite #1 now. Could use a backup to him if we lose Zenden. Oliveira and Knight could be tried here if necessary.

LW: Le Saux, Gronkjaer, Zenden, Stanic, De Lucas - Same situation as the other wing. De Lucas can leave for all he has shown this season.

S: Zola, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen, Cole, Forssell - We have to make room for the last 3. If we can't then Jimmy should be sold. No need for anyone new to be brought in here.

So the squad may consist of:
Cudicini
Terry
Desailly
Gallas
Melchiot
Le Saux
Babayaro
Lampard
Petit
Gronkjaer
Zenden
Stanic
Morris
De Lucas
Zola
Hasselbaink
Gudjohnsen
Forssell
Cole
Huth
Evans
Keenan
Pidgeley?
Oliveira?
Kinght?
Anis?

Any relegated players we might want? I know Cole and Defoe are high on many peoples lists. I would rather have Sinclair to team with Gronkjaer and Le Saux on the wing. Then we would have 3 solid wingers and hopefully 2 healthy ones at all times. Clement from West Brom would not be a bad backup to Baba at LB either.

I think we need an attacking CM from somewhere but I haven't seen too many from the lower divisions. Sheffield United's Brown has 20 goals in Div 1, if they don't make it up he could be a good candidate.

I think wholesale changes probably won't happen, but I can see 1 or 2 names leaving and 2 or 3 coming in.

 

Macho Man

Macho's agent Frank Schreier said: "If it's possible for him to play 15 to 20 games for Chelsea next season then he is interested in joining.

"Chelsea are involved in the Champions League and the manager [Claudio Ranieri] is keen to rotate his players.

"He has been offered a two-year deal and will have a clause written in guaranteeing him a certain number of games."

I can't think of 15 games per season that we would want Carlo not to be starting. I assume he would start the Worthington Cup matches and maybe the early rounds of the FA Cup, but I doubt Carlo won't be between the sticks when healthy for any EPL match, CL match, or the latter stages of the FA Cup. This escape clause sounds rather stupid especially since the deal is only for 2 years anyway. If he doesn't get the 15 games next season then he won't be able to command a better deal next summer since no one will have seen him perform.

If we are giving more than 17-18k per week to a backup we are nuts anyway, even if he is on a free. Let's hope Birch drives a hard bargain.

I hope Pidgeley starts in most reserve matches if this deal goes through. It would be a pity if this stunted his growth.

 

Madrid - Welcome

Don't think we'll see Cole at the Bridge, there are too many other suitors with more money to spend. Same goes for Kewell, but I think he would be an ideal replacement for Zola. Not in the same playmaker role, more of a roving left-winger/forward. Kind of like Jesper on the opposite flank, but I doubt we could play them both together after the failed Gronks-Bolo experiment (think of the pace that team would have though).

Unless we have a massive fire sale this summer I don't think you will see too many of our youngsters next season. Here are the ones we are hoping will make a big impact soon-

Carlton Cole - English striker, got his feet wet in the first team this year, looks to be a star in the making. Will fight for playing time with the other 4 strikers this year. When Zola retires and Hasselbaink moves on he will hopefully be ready to step up and share the spotlight with Gudjohnsen and Forssell.

Mikael Forssell - Finnish striker, supersub for us last year, had a bad knee injury and finished the season on loan in Germany. Many think he is the most talented player we have up front and that is saying a lot. CR should give him the chance to show what he can do next season. If we make it past the group stage in the CL and deep into the FA Cup there should be enough games for all the strikers.

Robert Huth - big German CB, played well early in the season when we were hit by injuries to Terry and Dessa. 4th choice CB now, will be the main backup to Gallas and Terry next season after Marcel retires and should see a lot of time in 2004-05. Lots of potential here.

Joe Keenan - English midfielder, played a lot in preseason last year then broke his leg in an early reserve match. Hopefully will be able to make it back. Looks a bit lightweight to play CM in EPL, but could be deceiving. Probably a squad player at best.

The rest seem to be a few years away:

Lenny Pidgeley - England youth GK. Played well for the reserves last season and sat on the bench for the first team a few times. Still very young, needs time to learn the trade.

Alexis Nicolas - English midfielder, picked up from Villa's youth team last year. Didn't make it into the first team squad. Played well but sounds a lot like Keenan, maybe a bit too lightweight.

Felipe Oliveira - Portuguese striker, winger - played a lot of preseason minutes like Keenan but never featured in the first team setup. Still young but probably needs to show he can play against better competition

Valerio Di Cesare - Italian CB - supposedly Lazio's best prospect when we snagged him at 17. Hasn't moved up as fast as Huth but still has potential. Probably only has another year or two to impress the coaches before being set free.

Joel Kitamarike - English/Ugandan CB - played in the UEFA Cup vs Tel-Aviv when the other CB's didn't show. Probably on the same track as Di Cesare.

Sebastian Kniessl - German striker - scored loads of goals in the reserves, hasn't featured in the first team.

Bmark Boufassa - Dutch striker - tiny guy in the Zola mold. Pretty fast, hopefully can be molded into a playmaker.

Michele Gallaccio - Italian striker - don't know too much about him.

Reserve/Youth players we just released:
Rhsy Evans - England U-21 GK
Rob Wolleaston - English CM
Jena-Yves Anis - French RB
Mauro Da Silva - Portuguese CB
Scott Cousins - English LB
Andy Ross - Scottish CM
Glann Wizik - English GK

I didn't want to work today anyway...

 

Clan's rumors

I think if Macca comes it would be the end of Zenden's career at Chelsea, and Le Saux's as well after the upcoming season. Pity that Zenden can't defend, if he developed a little bit of defensive ability he could be a tremendous player and would almost certainly be playing most weeks for us. He's our second most creative player after Zola, some of of the tricks I saw him pull out were amazing and he can cross the ball.

Is Macca on a free? If he isn't I would bet that Real would let him go on a free (they were willing to last year) but I can't see how we can match his current wages.

I'd be willing to take Dunn for about 5-6 mil and fill out the rest of the squad with Bosmans.

There have been rumours on the CFC message board that we are in talks with a decent EPL right back. Same person called the Macho rumour 10 days ago so I am taking what they say in good faith. It could be Geremi, Mills or Carr - but I'm hoping that it's Finnan as Fulham seem ready to recoup some investment.

 

Madrid -

Don't think Terry or Gallas are going anywhere. Of course any team would like to have them, but that's exactly why they will be staying. They are both young and have just helped push Chelsea into the CL. They know they are the #1 CB pairing after this coming season (and maybe even during this season) and they are both going to get improved deals. I wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep over the tabloid frenzy.

I doubt Barca will come back in for JFH unless they move Kluivert which may happen. Even then they won't offer over 3 mil for him so I doubt we will take it. I can only see him going if we get an offer over 5 mil, Franco decides to come back for another year, and CR feels that the other 3 strikers can cover for the loss.

Don't think we're in the market for Duff. There are rumors that Kewell and Cole are Chelsea fans but that's what every fan says about their team. I don't think we are in for either of these 2 with the prices that Man Utd and Pool are willing to pay.

I definitely would NOT want to see Viduka in blue, we have no need for him or his attitude. Let him rot at Spurs with the rest of the rejects.

I would like to see Michael Brown at Chelsea but Sheffield United haven't been eliminated from the Div 1 playoffs yet. In fact they are playing Wolves Monday night for promotion and if they win there is no way we will be able to get him. Even if we lose we will have to pay upwards of 5 mil which is quite a lot these days for someone that is not EPL-tested.

West Brom and Sunderland? I don't think any of their players will fill our problem spots - CM, RB cover. We have alreayd made an offer to Sunderland's backup keeper Macho since he is on a free. Neil Clement is WB's left back and would not be a bad pickup, he came out of the Chelsea youth setup but was let go. Has a hard free kick, not as quick as Baba but also not as prone to silly mistakes. He's also a lot bigger so he could handle the stronger forwards and wingers in the league better than Baba. At the worst he'd be decent squad cover and we could release Le Saux without worry after this coming season.

 

Al-Qatar huh?

Aren't they in the Champions League? I don't think there is any way Franco will leave us to play for another team after leading us back to the CL. His choice is down to whether he wants to retire or not. No amount of money will tempt him to play for another team, he is the epitome of what Chelsea should be aiming for.

Then again, isn't Beefy playing for some Middle Eastern team next year?

 

Good news all around

Looks like we have gotten our backup keeper, expect to see Ed sign with a Dutch team sometime this summer. Wish we could have given him something for his years of service.

Goalkeeper Jurgen Macho looks set to join Kevin Phillips in leaving relegated Sunderland after agreeing `in principle' to join Chelsea.

Macho will not put pen to paper until July 1 when his contract at the Stadium of Light runs out.

A statement from Chelsea read: ``We have agreed in principle that he will join Chelsea but he won't sign until July 1.''

Macho found himself behind Thomas Sorensen and Mart Poom in the pecking order when the duo returned to fitness, despite producing some superb displays when called upon last season.

The 25-year-old was in inspired form in the 0-0 draw at Anfield under former boss Howard Wilkinson, and also in the return fixture at the Stadium of Light in December.
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And now for the really good stuff (at least it will satisfy the Monkee):

Blackburn have revealed midfielder David Dunn does not see his long-term future at the club after turning down the opportunity of a new contract with the Barclaycard Premiership side.

Rovers chief executive John Williams held talks with the England player regarding the possibility of extending his current deal, which still has two years left to run - but the 23-year-old declined the offer.

Dunn fell out with Ewood Park boss Graeme Souness this season and the manager said he was willing to let the midfielder go if Rovers received a suitable bid. However, the Ewood Park boss has denied reports that Dunn was given an ultimatum of 'sign or leave' during talks at the weekend.

Souness told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph: "That's totally unfair. No-one has told him he has to leave at all. What we have done is ask him if he would be willing to sign a new contract and he's said 'no' he won't.

"So the reality is we've offered him an extension. I'm under no pressure to make a decision. I want him in the squad for next year and it will be in everyone's interests if he starts next season here and does well for us."

Souness, whose team finished sixth in the table to ensure UEFA Cup football again next season, continued: "We'd be very reluctant sellers if it ever came to losing David Dunn. We've just had a great season and we'd be foolish to think we can't do any better than that, so I'm not about to sell off all my best players if I can help it."

Dunn was asked if he would be prepared to extend his stay at Rovers beyond the remaining two years of his contract and he said "no".

"There was no mention of the length of contract or money," said Souness.

"John Williams simply asked him if he was prepared to sign a new deal and he said 'no' and that was the end of it."

I know we hate it when stories like this crop up about Chelsea players but in this case all signs point to him leaving this summer. Fractured relationship with the manager, midtable team about to lose their best player (Duff), aspirations of an England place and CL football... It all sounds too good to be true. Plus he is mates with Terry from his U-21 days and we are in need of a young CM. If Rovers do pick up Jody on a free then they would have Thompson and Jody to fill his place, plus the transfer money to fill in their squad.

For next year he could slot in at LM when Frank and Manu are in the center - this would give us a solid presence there instead of the De Lucas/Stanic/Morris/Zenden platoon we have had to make do with this year. He would also be first choice to deputise for Petit when he picks up his recurring leg injuries (and Manu has said he may not be fully fit for the start for next season...). If he is willing to move to Chelsea and we have the money I don't see how this doesn't work out for everyone. Keenan and De Lucas can combine to fill the 4th CM spot which we never really needed this year. Dunn can then assume his favored position in CM full-time when Petit leaves next summer.

But what am I saying, this is pure tabloid speculation, right...?