Tiago close to Lyon move

i never realy heard anything about this til now, its very understandable, but i thought gerimi would have gone first, was this part of the essien deal, if not y dint they just knock 6.8 mil off his price??stupid.i can see why tiago wants to leave, i think it is probably for the best because we have so much backup, with essien maka and lamps in centre i dont think ul get anyone else coming in instead of them, if one is injured joey cole is always there as a replacement or he can play on the wings.i think mourinho knows that those 3 will be our strongest midfiled and that they will prob start most matches.

Its a bit of a shame because I think he started to show a bit of promise late last season. But with Essien slotting in now, Tiago wouldve struggled to even get on the bench.

We still have Geremi, Gudjohnsen, Diarra and Cole who can play in the centre of midfield even with the departures of Smertin, Jurassic and now Tiago. And as a result or squad players like Geremi, Diarra will get more game time which is a plus.
It also shows that rather than have seldom used guys in the squad, perhaps youth team graduates will get a chance rather than 6 Million pound backups.

I hope Joey Cole gets the nod when either Essien or Lamps are rested because he plays better when in that attacking mid position.

I do think also that we will release one of our defenders before seasons end, whether it be Huth, RC, Johnson or Bridge. Perhaps it may be Bridgey.

Tiago's move is not one-hundred percent definite yet - but looks very likely from the reports I've seen and read.

I cannot see Wayne Bridge being transferred. There's no way Mourinho would leave himself with one specialist left-back like he did last season when he allowed Babayaro to leave for Newcastle. Gallas certainly wouldn't relish playing left-back again! Bridge will get his chance when he's fully recovered from his broken ankle.

Huth or Johnson could go out on loan I suppose, but I doubt Mourinho will allow Ricardo Carvalho to leave after his non-sensical outburst last week. If he doesn't want to play for the first team, let him rot in the reserves! (Hopefully it won't come to this - he's one of my favourite players and I would like to see him stay and make the most of his chances.)

Shame to see him go, he looked like a good player and began to show promise at the tail end of last season, but with it being World Cup year he wants first team football and he wont get much of it at Chelsea now that Essien has arrived.

I think JM is showing some compassion. In light of the Robben and Carvalho dust ups, he's showing that he can back down.

Tiago was a solid player, and I wish him the best of luck. He could've handled his exit very differently.

I could see Bridge moving, as Carvalho seems like he could play full back. But you're right, I don't think JM wants to re-live the Gallas experiment.

How many clean sheets have Gallas and Terry (CB) had under Mourinho?

As long as you conduct yourself in professional manner, Jose is capable of supporting his players even if it's not what he wants. Tiago showed true professionalism and he will be missed.

I am wondering maybe Tiago transfer was part of the Essien deal but they did in two separate transactions so Essien's number appears high for marketing reasons. At any rate, it looks like we just paid 21-22 mil for Essien.

I agree with the Webmaster. Mourinho builds his team around the defense, and there's no way he would leave a hole in the cover. We have two players for each position on D, with Geremi as an emergency backup. Esp, Johnson can also cover midfield in emergency.

It's really a bad news for the club. With Essien coming in, we lost two midfield players. Even though they are not the same class as Essien, at least we got two back up players. Hope no more player asks to leave the club.
With one less player, I don't think the club would be able to let anyone injured.

sorry ted, but how much backup do you need?we have gudjohnson,cole,diarra,essien,lamps,maka, not to mention gerimi if it came to it. thats 7 players 4 3 positions, i think we are ok from those facts ted..if one gets injured which (touch wood) i hope not we have enough cover easily.some people need 2 look at the team sheet.....