How many of those were n the starting XI for at least 2/3 of the PL fixtures in a season in the past 6+ seasons ?? I suspect the count is very low. Which gets down to the fact that in the PL for all the good these players are, they effectively become luxuries that clubs with lesser squad strength and shallower pockets cannot carry,.
Milner was a regular starter up until about 18 months ago. Moutinho always starts, as does Thiago Silva and Vardy. Lennon’s started the last 10 or so league games. The only thing a lot of 30+ players lose is pace and that’s even if they had it in the first place. If you’re smart enough to adapt then you can easily play in the Prem without it. Obviously there’ll come a point where 90 minutes becomes tougher to complete and that’s when their future needs to be considered but plenty of players are capable of playing 90 mins well into their 30s and at a very good level. If Modric and Benzema came into the Prem, they’d likely be amongst the upper tier of players in the league, even at their ages.
"In sanctioning Abramovich, UK govt says he "has had a close relationship [with Putin] for decades...[including] gaining a financial or other material benefit from Putin"." Fit and proper person?
In a week I get admitted to hospital this happens. Can say I've had better weeks. This is unprecedented though. I have my own thoughts on the entire Ukraine-Russia situation but need more time to digest this.
Nicked from The Pathetic What Chelsea CAN do Pay wages, pensions for the employees, coaching staff and players Pay fees, dividends to the directors of the Club, which pre-date the seizure Pay taxes (haha), Maintenance, Insurance, Inspections Spend No more than 20K pounds for each away trip - For context, a usual Premier League away game with a flight, security, food, hotels etc would be about £30k. Going abroad, don’t see how they can do anything other than either commercial flights or drive their bus & significant drop in standard of hotel. Will make a big impact. - @HugoScheckter If progress as expected to #UCL quarters, longer trips could be problematic. - @HenryWinter Pay for home ground security, catering, stewarding not exceeding 500K per game. What Chelsea CANNOT do Player trading - Buying, Selling & Contract Renewals For context, the players that are out of contract by next summer are: Rudiger, Christensen, Azpilicueta Sell Merchandise Sell new tickets - only season tickets are allowed in, this includes Women & U23. Away games for Chelsea are OK. Away games at Stamford Bridge are not. - @MiguelDelaney No stadium work or redevelopment Unsure on sale of club - Atheltic states that: "Potential buyers still keen on Chelsea despite Government's sanctioning of Roman Abramovich" However, Telegraph Sport understands that special dispensation will be given if the Government sees a sale of ownership as in the best interests of Chelsea that does not benefit Abramovich. "HM Treasury may vary, revoke or suspend this licence at any time," the licence states. Sources close to Abramovich have always argued that he is desperate to protect his Chelsea legacy and his only way of doing this with supporters would appear to be to agree to whatever it takes for the club to be sold. - @TheAthletic, Matt Law American billionaire Todd Boehly, together with Hansjorg Wyss and another businessman, have already made a bid believed to be between £2bn and £2.5bn which remains on the table, while the Ricketts family and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson are understood to be interested. British billionaire Nick Candy and Turkish businessman Muhsin Bayrak have also claimed to be in the running. Sky, on the other hand, states that: So in short, based on this freezing order, no he can't sell the club. Now if the government is prepared to give a special licence in relation to the operation of the club, then the question is whether they would then give another special license in relation to the sale of the club. But based on the terms of this freezing order, no he can't. Some more stuff They may receive a 9 point deduction if they are still in administration by May - @RobDraper Shirt sponsors currently "reviewing the situation and are in discussion with Chelsea FC" - @TheAtheltic In sanctioning Abramovich, UK govt says he "has had a close relationship [with Putin] for decades...[including] gaining a financial or other material benefit from Putin".
Or walking! I don't get why everyone's under the impression that Chelsea are going to be taking the ****ing bus. Pretty sure that the players can afford the extra £10k per match it would normally cost between them. Can't see Lukaku staying at the Holiday Inn in Middlesbrough, somehow. Rather ironic that you've got Newcastle on the weekend, though. Nothing wrong with their ownership...
Couldn’t happen to a nicer club or set of fans. Hopefully this really messes up the football club, they’ve had 20 years of financial doping so this is well overdue.
You forget the fringe benefits: if they're deducted nine points and that gets us into the CL in their place, which also keeps Kane and Conte around, that means we get to hand the "Spursy" tag onto them in an official ceremony
Spurs finishing 5th but actually 4th because of a Chelsea point deduction would be lovely. It would almost make up for 2012 when they stole the last CL place
