Unbelievable

It's a massive shame that Barnes has got injured as that may give Mitchell and Howe cold feet to cut our losses here, which we really should do, especially considering (I bellieve) Almiron has another 1,5 years on his current deal and is on decent wages, which need to be reinvested into his replacement to help us push on.

Apologies, hadn’t read the thread until the end, only the few posts after yours

Makes a hell of a difference when you need to shift or renew a player…

With respect to our "big six" competitors, I think it is fair to assume that not qualifying for Champions League will make them significantly less appealing for sponsors, and there are probably bonus related commercial agreements in place depending on the club featuring on the highest European club competition level, as well as perhaps doing well domestically. In the past five years (including current edition) with respect to Champions League participation: Spurs has missed out four times and will probably miss out again Arsenal has missed out three times Man U has missed out twice and will probably miss out again Chelsea has missed out twice (last two editions) and might miss out again if their slump continues Liverpool missed out once Only City was an ever present in the CL Should we manage to qualify for CL this year it would be the second time in three years since the takeover. If this pattern continues, I would expect commercial revenue at some of these "big six" clubs to stagnate, whereas ours is clearly on the up and, sustained by becoming a regular CL participant, could well continue to grow rapidly. A few years down the line things could look very differently indeed.

The cycle of improvement we need to keep doing is indeed "do well on the pitch" -> "get more media attention and more high profile games televised, i.e. get more TV revenue" -> "attract better sponsors and/or renegotiate with existing sponsors" and "sell more merchandise" -> "get more commercial revenue" -> "buy better players" -> "do better on the pitch" -> etc. Somewhere in there there is also a place for selling an buying the right players at the right time for the right price. We have great owners, who have brought in great directors and other staff, so I am fairly confident that we can keep moving in the right direction. Actually qualifying for CL again will be massive, and the more of the traditional six don't, the better for us too (howay Forest, Villa and others).

On Talksport the other day there was a PSR specialist who said that although Chelsea have not been charged, there is also no conclusion yet of the investigation into the sales by Chelsea of the hotel and their women's team. Apparently these things run independently of each other somehow.

FWIW: https://www.capology.com/features/#sources

So who is taking one for the team and ensuring BoSelecta doesn’t enter the ground tonight whatever happens..?

Capology states the 150k as verified, which at least gives it some credibility.

For me the thing with Kelly is all about his wages, which in fairness we can’t know for absolutely certain (but the club do). Despite not impressing much so far I have complete faith in Howe and the coaching staff that they can make Kelly into a more than adequate squad option at center back, and a fallback option at left back. I am therefore happy to see him stay in principle. That said if (big if) his reported wage of 150k base per week is true, that makes him one of the best paid players in the squad, and he’s certainly not fulfilling that role in the squad right now. So IF true (and the club will know) I’d seriously entertain any transfer options for him. We have cover at the moment and we could then plan for the summer knowing a massive wage on a long contract and which will be very hard to shift, is off the wage bill. I can’t however see any Turkish club paying Lloyd Kelly anywhere near that reported wage, so this whole thing is a non-starter anyway.

Some set of results tonight

Sels is unbelievable tonight

Look dangerous on the break like

FT at Stamford bridge

Chelsea score ffs

Could be an amazing night for us in terms of results this. Ideally need Liverpool to get a draw

That’s a mad statement like. They’ve been dominant and playing very well for quite a while. Wheels coming of a bit past few weeks mind you.

Almost a third for Bournemouth

Absolutely

Dean Huijsen is some player

Some goal Semenyo

Get in! edit: Bournemouth 2-1 in front at Chelsea

Liverpool are having a stinker here