Jaehyun

I prefer losing 4-3.

we do, but don't forget how good HBA is as part of a front 3. We'll be fine if everyone's fit. Hasn't been that way this season though.

Better striker than Torres for the past two years. Don't see why people assume he will not play. http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01514/Roman-Abramovich_1514495c.jpg Your point being they can afford any striker in the world? Whilst that is true I think people underestimate Ba. He's proven to be one of the very best strikers in the Premiership over the course of the last two seasons, especially first half of last season and this. Playing in a better team that create loads more chances, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave Van Persie a run for his money for Premiership top goalscorer. My point being he will want Torres playing. Ah, that's fair enough then. I feel Ba has enough quality to displace Torres from the first team though. He will just have to prove himself all over again, which I guess is part of the attraction as far as he is concerned. Chelsea don't need Ba as an out and out striker as much as we did though as they have goals all over the pitch. Torres has started scoring recently though no where near as prolific as Ba. Even so Torres offers more than Ba in terms of overall play and he generally contributes a lot at times having major impact on games that he doesn't score in. It's more probable that Ba will offer goals off the bench when Chelsea are struggling to get past stubborn defences like Stoke. Something you need in all title-winning sides. Again I think that is an underestimation of Ba. He's a much better, more allround footballer than some people on here give him credit for. On the back of last season's performance I'd have to agree. On the back of this season's performances I'm not too sure if he's better than Torres (in terms of overall play). Maybe a change is what he needs though. I'm not saying he's overall play is bad by the way, it's not really an insult to most strikers to say their overall play is shaded by Torres.

Better striker than Torres for the past two years. Don't see why people assume he will not play. http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01514/Roman-Abramovich_1514495c.jpg Your point being they can afford any striker in the world? Whilst that is true I think people underestimate Ba. He's proven to be one of the very best strikers in the Premiership over the course of the last two seasons, especially first half of last season and this. Playing in a better team that create loads more chances, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave Van Persie a run for his money for Premiership top goalscorer. My point being he will want Torres playing. Ah, that's fair enough then. I feel Ba has enough quality to displace Torres from the first team though. He will just have to prove himself all over again, which I guess is part of the attraction as far as he is concerned. Chelsea don't need Ba as an out and out striker as much as we did though as they have goals all over the pitch. Torres has started scoring recently though no where near as prolific as Ba. Even so Torres offers more than Ba in terms of overall play and he generally contributes a lot at times having major impact on games that he doesn't score in. It's more probable that Ba will offer goals off the bench when Chelsea are struggling to get past stubborn defences like Stoke. Something you need in all title-winning sides.

He'll fire them into the title race by offering goals from off the bench. I actually think he'll be happy with that role at Chelsea though.

Three threads taking about the same topic. Someone should just start a 'Cisse, Ba, Debuchy' thread.

Why did one have to go? You could argue because they can't work together..... either Cisse is outwide and quite frankly useless or Ba and Cisse are up top and the whole team can't function. Despite the dreams of rotating Ba and Cisse it was never going to happen under this management so maybe in the long run shipping Ba out for someone who could you actually make the attack function as Ba and Cisse have never really functioned together. Will probably end up with egg on our faces but that's the rationale behind it i believe. I'm not even on about rotation per se. Again, despite everybody here getting a hard on for 433/451, that doesn't seem to be the formation Pardew favours most of the time, rightly or wrongly. I completely fail to see why we couldn't have two quality strikers. Isn't that the least any Premiership club aiming for Europe should have? People have a hard on for it because it's what suits the majority of our best players if they are put in the right positions anyway.... Pardew has used almost exclusively since the Southampton defeat and i know it hasn't brought results ( mainly due to injuries and other factors so players are out of position) but i feel performances have performed. I agree but it was never going to happen, as a two they don't work and you know what this board is like..... In an ideal scenario i'd like to see us bring in a forward to play wide, rotate Ba and Cisse for central striker spot but Ashley will never sanction that in a million years. I'm still skeptical because im not confident in this board doing the right thing but if we bought a winger-cum striker like Remy to replace him and put Cisse back in the centre i'd believe the team would have actually improved. I share your skepticism. When have they ever replaced an important player in the same window? Only one I remember since Ashley took over is Nolan/Cabaye. Nolan was replaced by Cabaye in the same window. Yes, that was what I was saying.. Was pointing out that you answered your own question but in all seriousness. Carroll and Ba were in the same window. Enrique and Santon were in the same window as well I believe. 2 clear examples so you focus on my one mistake. Nice one. Fair enough on Enrique/Santon, but for crying out loud, Carroll not being replaced is the classic example of an Ashley transfer gamble. Can't believe you came out with that one, and then pointing out I'm an idiot for laughing at you.. Anyway, my point stands that more often than not we have not replaced important outgoing players in the same transfer window, so I'm obviously very concerned the same thing may happen again considering we stand to lose the man who has been responsible for half our goals this season. Fair enough but have some hope for crying out loud, it's December 30th and you're already acting like it's February 1st with no signings.

Just be glad he didn't go to Liverpool. Won't be too rank watching him on the bench. As fantastic of a finisher he is I don't think he'll be in front of Torres.

Why did one have to go? You could argue because they can't work together..... either Cisse is outwide and quite frankly useless or Ba and Cisse are up top and the whole team can't function. Despite the dreams of rotating Ba and Cisse it was never going to happen under this management so maybe in the long run shipping Ba out for someone who could you actually make the attack function as Ba and Cisse have never really functioned together. Will probably end up with egg on our faces but that's the rationale behind it i believe. I'm not even on about rotation per se. Again, despite everybody here getting a hard on for 433/451, that doesn't seem to be the formation Pardew favours most of the time, rightly or wrongly. I completely fail to see why we couldn't have two quality strikers. Isn't that the least any Premiership club aiming for Europe should have? People have a hard on for it because it's what suits the majority of our best players if they are put in the right positions anyway.... Pardew has used almost exclusively since the Southampton defeat and i know it hasn't brought results ( mainly due to injuries and other factors so players are out of position) but i feel performances have performed. I agree but it was never going to happen, as a two they don't work and you know what this board is like..... In an ideal scenario i'd like to see us bring in a forward to play wide, rotate Ba and Cisse for central striker spot but Ashley will never sanction that in a million years. I'm still skeptical because im not confident in this board doing the right thing but if we bought a winger-cum striker like Remy to replace him and put Cisse back in the centre i'd believe the team would have actually improved. I share your skepticism. When have they ever replaced an important player in the same window? Only one I remember since Ashley took over is Nolan/Cabaye. Nolan was replaced by Cabaye in the same window. Yes, that was what I was saying.. Was pointing out that you answered your own question but in all seriousness. Carroll and Ba were in the same window. Enrique and Santon were in the same window as well I believe. 2 clear examples so you focus on my one mistake. Nice one.

Why did one have to go? You could argue because they can't work together..... either Cisse is outwide and quite frankly useless or Ba and Cisse are up top and the whole team can't function. Despite the dreams of rotating Ba and Cisse it was never going to happen under this management so maybe in the long run shipping Ba out for someone who could you actually make the attack function as Ba and Cisse have never really functioned together. Will probably end up with egg on our faces but that's the rationale behind it i believe. I'm not even on about rotation per se. Again, despite everybody here getting a hard on for 433/451, that doesn't seem to be the formation Pardew favours most of the time, rightly or wrongly. I completely fail to see why we couldn't have two quality strikers. Isn't that the least any Premiership club aiming for Europe should have? People have a hard on for it because it's what suits the majority of our best players if they are put in the right positions anyway.... Pardew has used almost exclusively since the Southampton defeat and i know it hasn't brought results ( mainly due to injuries and other factors so players are out of position) but i feel performances have performed. I agree but it was never going to happen, as a two they don't work and you know what this board is like..... In an ideal scenario i'd like to see us bring in a forward to play wide, rotate Ba and Cisse for central striker spot but Ashley will never sanction that in a million years. I'm still skeptical because im not confident in this board doing the right thing but if we bought a winger-cum striker like Remy to replace him and put Cisse back in the centre i'd believe the team would have actually improved. I share your skepticism. When have they ever replaced an important player in the same window? Only one I remember since Ashley took over is Nolan/Cabaye. Nolan was replaced by Cabaye in the same window. Yes, that was what I was saying.. Was pointing out that you answered your own question but in all seriousness. Carroll and Ba were in the same window. Enrique and Santon were in the same window as well I believe. The reason he was laughing is that Carroll and Ba were not in the same window. Okay maybe my memory isn't that clear. Enrique Santon still holds and he answered himself with Nolan Cabaye.

Why did one have to go? You could argue because they can't work together..... either Cisse is outwide and quite frankly useless or Ba and Cisse are up top and the whole team can't function. Despite the dreams of rotating Ba and Cisse it was never going to happen under this management so maybe in the long run shipping Ba out for someone who could you actually make the attack function as Ba and Cisse have never really functioned together. Will probably end up with egg on our faces but that's the rationale behind it i believe. I'm not even on about rotation per se. Again, despite everybody here getting a hard on for 433/451, that doesn't seem to be the formation Pardew favours most of the time, rightly or wrongly. I completely fail to see why we couldn't have two quality strikers. Isn't that the least any Premiership club aiming for Europe should have? People have a hard on for it because it's what suits the majority of our best players if they are put in the right positions anyway.... Pardew has used almost exclusively since the Southampton defeat and i know it hasn't brought results ( mainly due to injuries and other factors so players are out of position) but i feel performances have performed. I agree but it was never going to happen, as a two they don't work and you know what this board is like..... In an ideal scenario i'd like to see us bring in a forward to play wide, rotate Ba and Cisse for central striker spot but Ashley will never sanction that in a million years. I'm still skeptical because im not confident in this board doing the right thing but if we bought a winger-cum striker like Remy to replace him and put Cisse back in the centre i'd believe the team would have actually improved. I share your skepticism. When have they ever replaced an important player in the same window? Only one I remember since Ashley took over is Nolan/Cabaye. Nolan was replaced by Cabaye in the same window. Yes, that was what I was saying.. Was pointing out that you answered your own question but in all seriousness. Carroll and Ba were in the same window. Enrique and Santon were in the same window as well I believe.

Why did one have to go? You could argue because they can't work together..... either Cisse is outwide and quite frankly useless or Ba and Cisse are up top and the whole team can't function. Despite the dreams of rotating Ba and Cisse it was never going to happen under this management so maybe in the long run shipping Ba out for someone who could you actually make the attack function as Ba and Cisse have never really functioned together. Will probably end up with egg on our faces but that's the rationale behind it i believe. I'm not even on about rotation per se. Again, despite everybody here getting a hard on for 433/451, that doesn't seem to be the formation Pardew favours most of the time, rightly or wrongly. I completely fail to see why we couldn't have two quality strikers. Isn't that the least any Premiership club aiming for Europe should have? People have a hard on for it because it's what suits the majority of our best players if they are put in the right positions anyway.... Pardew has used almost exclusively since the Southampton defeat and i know it hasn't brought results ( mainly due to injuries and other factors so players are out of position) but i feel performances have performed. I agree but it was never going to happen, as a two they don't work and you know what this board is like..... In an ideal scenario i'd like to see us bring in a forward to play wide, rotate Ba and Cisse for central striker spot but Ashley will never sanction that in a million years. I'm still skeptical because im not confident in this board doing the right thing but if we bought a winger-cum striker like Remy to replace him and put Cisse back in the centre i'd believe the team would have actually improved. I share your skepticism. When have they ever replaced an important player in the same window? Only one I remember since Ashley took over is Nolan/Cabaye. Nolan was replaced by Cabaye in the same window. Yes, that was what I was saying.. Was pointing out that you answered your own question but in all seriousness. Carroll and Ba were in the same window. Enrique and Santon were in the same window as well I believe.

Why did one have to go? You could argue because they can't work together..... either Cisse is outwide and quite frankly useless or Ba and Cisse are up top and the whole team can't function. Despite the dreams of rotating Ba and Cisse it was never going to happen under this management so maybe in the long run shipping Ba out for someone who could you actually make the attack function as Ba and Cisse have never really functioned together. Will probably end up with egg on our faces but that's the rationale behind it i believe. I'm not even on about rotation per se. Again, despite everybody here getting a hard on for 433/451, that doesn't seem to be the formation Pardew favours most of the time, rightly or wrongly. I completely fail to see why we couldn't have two quality strikers. Isn't that the least any Premiership club aiming for Europe should have? People have a hard on for it because it's what suits the majority of our best players if they are put in the right positions anyway.... Pardew has used almost exclusively since the Southampton defeat and i know it hasn't brought results ( mainly due to injuries and other factors so players are out of position) but i feel performances have performed. I agree but it was never going to happen, as a two they don't work and you know what this board is like..... In an ideal scenario i'd like to see us bring in a forward to play wide, rotate Ba and Cisse for central striker spot but Ashley will never sanction that in a million years. I'm still skeptical because im not confident in this board doing the right thing but if we bought a winger-cum striker like Remy to replace him and put Cisse back in the centre i'd believe the team would have actually improved. I share your skepticism. When have they ever replaced an important player in the same window? Only one I remember since Ashley took over is Nolan/Cabaye. Nolan was replaced by Cabaye in the same window.

What the fuck wee club indeed Well played.

The hope being clinged to is that Cisse will play through the centre and we bring someone for wing. I for one think he will start banging them in when he is main man Anita - Tiote Ben Arfa Cabaye Marveaux Cisse Makes me drool tbh...

The better all-round player is going, don't think there's any doubt about that at all. However, I've personally got no doubt that if it's down to Cisse to take the central role on his shoulders and be the "main man" again he'll come up trumps for us. He's a special player in his own right. Agreed. Think Ba is the better all-round footballer but Cisse is the better out-and-out striker. Completely disagree like. Yep I disagree too, I think it's the other way around.

Have to agree. I feel exactly the same. As long as he doesn't go to Liverpool that is. Maybe the fact that Carroll and Enrique had been with us for years and the fact that they got us promoted made them feel more like 'our' players. I also think it might be because when Carroll and Enrique left we didn't have much hope of finding a good replacement whereas now, after witnessing them being replaced by Ba, Cisse and to some extent Santon we now that our club is back in a position; largely down to Graham Carr; where Ba can be replaced.

I'm not really sure if Cisse is a better player though. The fact is Ba outscored anyone in our team by a country mile. Yes it's not a fair statistic on Cisse because he was playing outwide but numbers are numbers. Considering last season and all I'd say in terms of finishing ability Cisse and Ba are quite similar. Cisse has better link up with the team but Ba is much more intimidating due to his physical prowess. It's hard to say who the better player is really. I know we all want to believe Cisse is the better player since he's the one that's staying and because Ba is the seemingly more sefish one, but I'd say they are around the same though they offer something different. Well from watching the two play i'd feel Cisse is the better player - all things considered. Fair enough, personally I think Ba can offer a bit more by himself due to his physique but we play better as a team with Cisse due to his link up. Though Ba is a fantastic striker I personally do like Cisse more as a player.

I don't know why people hold this against Demba. We could have given him an improved contract if we wanted to but clearly other clubs can pay a lot more than us. At least we'll get something back from it and we've had one and a half magic seasons from him. Good luck to him I say. It's been very, very annoying reading about this shite for over 12 months though, hope we avoid these clauses going forward. Agree with the idea that it's no good for squad morale either. Yeah but again, that was hardly Ba's fault. We put the clause in to safeguard our interests. If we hadn't put that clause in I doubt we'd have done the deal so just got to take what we can from this one I think. The clause doesn't protect us whatsoever FFS. Well it would if his knee had exploded. That was the point wasn't it? If his knee had exploded no other club out there would fork out 7 million + agents fees for Ba so it doesn't really protect us. The clause is really in there so that Ba can leave when a bigger club came calling.

I'm not really sure if Cisse is a better player though. The fact is Ba outscored anyone in our team by a country mile. Yes it's not a fair statistic on Cisse because he was playing outwide but numbers are numbers. Considering last season and all I'd say in terms of finishing ability Cisse and Ba are quite similar. Cisse has better link up with the team but Ba is much more intimidating due to his physical prowess. It's hard to say who the better player is really. I know we all want to believe Cisse is the better player since he's the one that's staying and because Ba is the seemingly more sefish one, but I'd say they are around the same though they offer something different.

I don't know why people hold this against Demba. We could have given him an improved contract if we wanted to but clearly other clubs can pay a lot more than us. At least we'll get something back from it and we've had one and a half magic seasons from him. Good luck to him I say. Probably because we were absolutely gutted when Carroll and Enrique left to Liverpool. A mild form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder perhaps.

Not sure how Rafa plans on using Ba at this point... Poor Demba will probably get thrown out wide there too. Wouldn't that be a laugh....He probably won't complain playing out wide for Chelsea though. He'll suddenly become Mr Team Player

Because it's an internet forum designed for people to discuss things. Oh thanks, haven't heard that one in a while. I'm just saying I'd be very disappointed (but not completely surprised, admittedly) if our only January business was Debuchy in and Ba out. Therefore the thread seems pretty pointless. The owner's an even bigger div than I thought if he thinks bringing Debuchy alone in would be sufficient in these circumstances. Mmm I see what you meant now. Definitely if you felt that the OP shows that we have already accepted the fact that this was going to be our only business in January then it does become somewhat superfluous.

It's a shame we're losing such a fine player but to look at the positives I'm fucking glad it's not Liverpool.

Because it's an internet forum designed for people to discuss things.