Max Fowler

If you don't think the following is a personal attack Sam, then honestly I have no clue what is: "Perhaps you are beginning to understand the difference between fact and opinion. The next step on your journey is in using the two correctly in formulating your monologues and in avoiding repetition and the introduction of straw men. I am an optimist; you can do it!" Which I am supposed to take as a joke from @RDCW who the other day told me, when we were having a serious discussion about conduct on the forum, that I am "too bombastic, too aggressive, logically flawed and way too many posts on the same subject". (Honest feedback that I take on board, but I will not take being patronised as in the italics). And yes, I do think I would be treated completely differently if I had made the above comments in italics. But that's the last I'll say on the subject - I apologise for clogging up the thread. Peace and best wishes to you Sam. X

So trolling and personal attacks are now allowed on CFCnet but critical comments focussing on football topics are not? I love all of you guys but the double standards are just too much. And yet I would absolutely reserve the right for @RDCW to fill up this thread as he is doing with positive comments focussing on football. Because that's what I thought the forum was - a place to discuss football in as much detail as we like and share our opinions even if they are strong. But if I am criticised for my contributions to the forum, when I am trying to improve, and blatant trolling and shit posting is just allowed, then I choose to spend my time and energy elsewhere. Let me just say to the vast majority of you who I have engaged in intense debates with, I have really enjoyed and valued our discussions. I feel despite the strength our disagreements, we have for the most part engaged in good faith and tried to avoid making it personal. Certainly I wish good health and best wishes to all of you no matter how much we have disagreed. Peace out and up the Chels X

The problem is over 90 minutes or the course of a season, you don’t just need players who can make the difference in moments, you need players who can cause physical problems, tire out the opposition, create a mental battle etc. We don’t have enough of those players but IMO Jackson is that. And if Nkunku is kept quiet he will cause less of a problem. I personally think he’s still a great option to have coming off the bench, but maybe injuries mean he has to start at some point anyway

I think Kante to be fair sometimes had his limitations going forward too

Leave it out, bro. I’ve explained how many people state their opinions like facts on here. It’s called a forum. You can assume people are posting their opinions. I’ve tried to use IMO more often but many people post the opinions on here like facts. I understand that they’re still giving their opinion. If you don’t like my posts, maybe you can ignore them? I don’t know why you are coming for me personally because I’ve never come after you personally. I’ve always tried to focus on the football - @JaneB and @My Blood Is Blue if you think these kind of personal attacks are what the forum should be then that’s up to you. I have strong opinions on football, on Jason Sancho, on Joao Felix. If that’s not what the forum should be about, then I’ll go. But in my opinion, the forum should not be about this kind of personal diatribe. Maybe I’m alone in this one too 👍

I thought caicedo was absolutely outstanding second half, or at least final 30 mins. Felt like he won the ball back so many times and imo there’s no one better in the league than that. And I liked his quick forward passing

I will say a couple of things I thought Felix had a dreadful cameo which reminded me exactly why we shouldn’t have bought him. Selfish, childish, weak, give me Jackson any day over Felix. Sancho was brilliant. Can’t say otherwise. When they replaced the full back I thought he became more ineffective but of course credit for the goal. He has a long way to go and IMO we will also rue signing Sancho when the going gets tough. We thought Madueke was brilliant one week and then he goes missing. I think Jadon will go even more AWOL when the going gets tough. everyone deserves another chance and I hope he can play like that every week, but leopards don’t tend to change their spots 👍

IMO Jackson leads the line well and I can see why he plays there ahead of Nkunku. His general hold up play, running the channels and tiring out of defenders is good. He is not absolutely prolific but few teams in the PL have an absolutely prolific striker. I think Jackson, Palmer, and Caicedo are our locked in players. Everyone else still needs to prove their positions. You could have improved Jackson with an Osimhen but I just don't think Nkunku can lead the line for the whole season. Great player to have if he can stay fit though.

I am not hell bent on Sheikh Jassim, though I don't know the closeness to the PSG situation or the relevance to ours. Point is - people are pretending like if we replaced Clearlake and Boehly we would have a coin toss or even less of a chance of getting better owners. Whereas the reality is they have been some of the worst owners possible, maybe only bested by the Glazers. It would be so easy to get better owners with a more sensible policy and far less chaos - they have been an absolute disaster from day one and some (not you) still seem to be pretending otherwise.

No, we spent the money we could have spent on wages for a few experienced players on countless transfers for young players. And don't take my word for it

No - you're wrong. You do realise that the money we could have spent on proper wages for a few experienced players that clearly improve the squad, we have instead spent on transfer fees (& wages) for young player after young player because our owner is, in the words of Todd Boehly, "obsessed with player trading"?

My point isn't we'd be able to buy a gazillion more players. My point is we would spend the money we have spent on less players, more experienced players on high wages. I.e. something similar to what we have historically done under Roman. Because the oil states would very likely be more winning to front the lower ROI / profits than our current lot. It's not about Arabs vs Americans. It's about motives and incentives. At some point you sound like every possible owner would do exactly the same as Clearlake, when they have clearly gone for an incredibly bold (rightly or wrongly) and unique strategy / project that many have been getting behind precisely for that very boldness. It just doesn't seem controversial to me that were we to get say Sheikh Jassim, we would see transfer policy much more similar to Roman, which IMHO would get us far more success.

Yep, nothing inherent against Americans - I am half-American - as long as they are investing to actually be successful on the pitch. Ours are clearly not and we are owned by an investment firm who cares primarily about ROI unlike the oil states.

Apparently the last manager who could play to the strengths of Felix was his Benfica manager, because he's been unable to get more than a goal or assist every three games since he was in the Portugese league, for club or country. But you don't need to look at his stats, lets hear some more about his general play and work rate, which is an even bigger problem: Here is Atleti legend Godin on Felix: "I have nothing against Joao Felix, I don’t know him. We can’t talk about him succeeding at Barça after two matches. At Atleti, he never understood what the locker room meant. The group is above any individual," he said via Barca Universal." Or Barcelona defender Abelardo: “The worst thing is not the mistakes João Félix makes, but the attitude he shows after the mistake. He is static... That bad image he gives,” he told Movistar. “You lose the ball, so go and get it, fight for it. He doesn’t do that.” What about Atleti shot stopper Oblak? "You have to prove it on the pitch and during training that you deserve to be in the lineup. You have to give your best so that the coach can trust you, and this doesn't just apply to Joao." And Real Madrid legend Guti? “Joao is somewhat to blame (for his situation). He’s a player of ups and downs and his mentality does not help him. At times he’s angry with the world and thinks it’s to blame for everything that happens to him, and it’s not.”, as per an interview with El Chiringuito, via Marca." Or Spain legend Canizares "He has talent, but he has to change his personality. The most important thing a coach can count on is the player's will and the player has never been humble enough to overcome difficult moments within the club. " No smoke without fire here I am afraid Mark and a leopard doesn't change its spots. Case closed 🫡

I respect what you are saying, but TBH Roman was hardly whiter than white and we still all benefitted from his stewardship. I also have very little confidence in the morality of Egbhali, let alone Boehly. The world's a complicated place (just my opinion). We can hold our nose about how Roman made his money, and we can hold our nose about having oil states in charge, because ultimately having foreign investment benefits our economies and local areas.