Unbelievable

Wat? instead of playing to ba's strengths we can play to the teams strengths which will benefit colo, cabaye, ben arfa, cisse. not sure about the krul bit mind. Not sure what Ba's strengths are in this context that are keeping all those players back? Sticking the ball in the net? If anything he has proven to be much more versatile than other strikers we have recently seen, not less.

Wat?

We're not a selling club, we're a penny pinching club.

I get the gist of it, but he was never wanting to stay here long term. He engineered a move out of Hoffenheim, came to us with that ludicrous clause (cause he held all the cards and wanted a buying club not to be held to ransom) and now will be getting is one last big pay off. Nobody can begrude a player a chance to secure income for later life but to make out he we could have kept him is false imo. We'll never know for certain whether Ba could have been convinced to sign a contract without the clause as none of us are privy to information regarding the contract negotiations that went on. What we do know for certain is that Ashley has stopped investing in the club after the first two seasons or so, despite his promise of a yearly investment of 20 million. There are a lot of things to applaud in our approach to finances, but ultimately we are doomed for midtable mediocrity as long as we can't compete for players with the clubs above us.

Well, that part was a bit strange in the context of a Demba Ba to Chelsea thread, but not factually incorrect when you consider our transfer spending and wage ceiling compared to Premiership mid ranking clubs.

and again it's us who ends up a striker down Maybe we'll look at taking West Ham's striker again in the summer..

Will be delighted with that but obviously we need more. Delighted? We'd be a Cisse knock away from relegation contenders. Edit: didn't read correctly.

He's going to a team that wins things, if it was QPR I would have been first in line to shoot him with s*** but can you blame a player for wanting to play for a team who will challenge for stuff? To be fair he did say criticism not abuse. Can't blame him for leaving but don't feel upset about it either. We did get him to where he is though so I think Dinho is right in saying the favour was mutual rather than Saint Ba honouring us with his grace and blessings. We did?

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. He's clueless , you just have to watch him especially with his back to goal, even if he's on the halfway line 95 percent of the time will always decide to try and spin his marker and run towards goal and ultimately run into a brick wall then fall on his ass.

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.

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.

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.

Better striker than Torres for the past two years. Don't see why people assume he will not play.

Which would be fair enough considering it's Chelsea, but even if he did only move for money, wouldn't you? Multiple clubs appear to be willing to pay him what he wants, so he's obviously worth it. Point your blame at Ashley, not Ba.

Why do people always result to using words like 'magic' and 'automatically' when it comes to stuff like this? What does suggest that Cisse will be every bit as good as competent as Ba if he's deployed in his correct position, is his scoring record. Magic's got nowt to do with it. Cisse has played in the centre but struggled. This is why people are probably concerned. Maybe Cisse can only score if he is up top on his own which is fair enough if he does find his feet again but it's a risk to sell your leading scorer whilst hoping the one remaining who hasn't been in form finds it as soon as the other has left. We aren't really in a position to gamble imo, I know people have said 'well we aren't playing great as it is so why not!?' but we would be in a much bigger mess without Ba's goals if Cisse hadn't hit the ground running. We don't have a choice though Cajun. If Chelsea are indeed in for him he's gone, and I wouldn't even begrudge him it. What is really concerning is we are again at the mercy of tight arse Ashley, who has a record for gambling when it comes to transfer dealings, or more accurately, lack thereof. He's had that clause in the contract since day 1 and we've not tried very hard to remove it, despite him being a 1 in 2 striker. We haven't? How do you know?

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.

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 do people always result to using words like 'magic' and 'automatically' when it comes to stuff like this? What does suggest that Cisse will be every bit as good as competent as Ba if he's deployed in his correct position, is his scoring record. Magic's got nowt to do with it. Cisse has played in the centre but struggled. This is why people are probably concerned. Maybe Cisse can only score if he is up top on his own which is fair enough if he does find his feet again but it's a risk to sell your leading scorer whilst hoping the one remaining who hasn't been in form finds it as soon as the other has left. We aren't really in a position to gamble imo, I know people have said 'well we aren't playing great as it is so why not!?' but we would be in a much bigger mess without Ba's goals if Cisse hadn't hit the ground running. We don't have a choice though Cajun. If Chelsea are indeed in for him he's gone, and I wouldn't even begrudge him it. What is really concerning is we are again at the mercy of tight arse Ashley, who has a record for gambling when it comes to transfer dealings, or more accurately, lack thereof.

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.. We replaced Nzogbia with Ryan Taylor in same window Not sure if serious

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..

No they're not..

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.

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?