Ben Chilwell

[Badger11]

Good business
The combined wages of the players we have loaned out will probably cover Ben Chilwell salary - so actually it could be a great move

Not sure I agree with this. If he plays well then Chelsea will price him out of our range and maybe a West Ham or Spurs type club will sign him. If he's rubbish or injured then we've wasted our money.

Either way we have not resolved the LWB issue in this window it's a sticking plaster.

 

[PatrickA]

I agree it's a sticking plaster, but think it could still serve it's purpose.
A few days ago I thought that Mitchell would retain his spot in the team with Chilwell getting minutes in the team here and there.
Now I'm not so sure.
He's come here to play, not to make up the squad.
Tuchel is a big fan of his and has supposedly encouraged him to get playing again with a view to involving him again with the national team.

If Chilwell does replace Mitchell , it may seem unfair on Mitchell who, despite his attacking shortcomings, is a master of defensive consistency.

However, I'm reminded of the great manager, Brian Clough, who at the beginning of the season would address his squad and say the only thing he could guarantee is that if somebody better became available then they would be replaced.
It's about the pursuit of excellence and maximising available resources.

Furthermore, it's only until the end of the season as I don't think Chilwell be joining whether he does well or badly.

 

[JHB]

I’m quite happy with the Chilwell deal. Yes it isn’t for the long term but it gives us another option in a key position which we had no squad depth in. The reported wages etc are ok. Hopefully we have a proven EPL quality player who wants to re prove his worth and will be hungry to do well. If he isn’t or it doesn’t work out we haven’t lost a lot. Either way we are in a better position than we were at the start of the window.

Of course ideally we’d have been able to make a permanent signing in this position. However, it doesn’t look like there was a viable option at a sensible price. We tried with Diouf but his club didn’t want to sell and clearly nobody else thought he was worth it at £20m either.

 

[Badger11]

I’m quite happy with the Chilwell deal. Yes it isn’t for the long term but it gives us another option in a key position which we had no squad depth in. The reported wages etc are ok. Hopefully we have a proven EPL quality player who wants to re prove his worth and will be hungry to do well. If he isn’t or it doesn’t work out we haven’t lost a lot. Either way we are in a better position than we were at the start of the window.

Of course ideally we’d have been able to make a permanent signing in this position. However, it doesn’t look like there was a viable option at a sensible price. We tried with Diouf but his club didn’t want to sell and clearly nobody else thought he was worth it at £20m either.

I think we got scuppered by them selling a player to Spurs, early in the window? My guess is it meant they did not need the money so could sit back and hope that someone was desperate to sign him.

I expect we will go in for him during the summer.

 

[JHB]

I think we got scuppered by them selling a player to Spurs, early in the window? My guess is it meant they did not need the money so could sit back and hope that someone was desperate to sign him.

I expect we will go in for him during the summer.

That’s what it looks like. Spurs had a keeper crisis so paid a bit over the odds for the one they brought in. Meant Slavia Prague could then jack up the fee for Diouf. Who can blame them?

 

[Palacesince64]

It’s sensible business. I think the team of Ollie, Dougie and Steve (Stevie?) are working well together. The initial aim was to sign a permanent right sided striker and a LWB. The latter proved too difficult due to Slavia Prague resisting so we pick up the best available loan and revisit in the summer.
The only downside is that we couldn’t use the funds available in this window to sign cover at centre back. I’m guessing we had less than £20 million to spend based on the bids we made during the window. Pavlovic would have been a good buy especially if he’s seen as a future replacement for Guehi. Its unlikely we would get a fit, game ready, Serbian international playing in Serie A for that amount in January so we go back in the summer when we have the funds and when there are other options available.

 

[tonypeers5]

I think somebody else said it best with this.

January is about filling gaps.

Summer is about building the squad and setting direction.


Yes, a permanent would have been great, but it seems that there are many teams looking for left footed players. We got 2 (albeit 1 on loan). I think the summer could be tricky. Liverpool, Man U & a few others are also looking for LWBs (Man U were linked to Mitchell earlier in the window). Diouf looks a great prospect, but teams are now alert to him. However, you do have to ask yourself the question that if he was worth £20m surely other teams would have submitted bids too, but we were the only ones. I'm not saying he's not a good player. I'm saying he's probably not worth £20m. Plus, we were mainly looking for backup to Mitchell this window, so prospective signings will be aware of that.

We're playing well now (best away defence in the league) and have injured players like Wharton coming back into the fold. I agree we are light in CB, but we do have options (like Lerma & Clyne) if desperate. I think unfortunately, teams like Forest and Bournemouth have caught the league by surprise so other fans are thinking "why couldn't we have done that this year". Our reason was our start with an unsettled first team! If we had picked up 9-10 more pts in the 10 games of the season (which was achievable), we'd be top 8, so we're not far off. Injuries have hampered us hugely. Yes, we should have signed cover for the wing-backs, but we have purchased many players. There was no way of knowing at the beginning of the season that Wharton & Riad would have been as injured as they were. I also think there was optimism that Doucoure & Franca would feature more. Plus, no-one thought Kamala & Nketiah would be as bad as they have been.

Let's take the positives and have a great second half to the season. Wharton seems to be back. Sarr & Lacroix have been great signings now that they have settled. Esse looks a great buy to come of the bench and change games & Franca maybe back (maybe...). We're building a good squad now. We all know our first team would give any team a game, so it's just the bench options that we needed strengthen and that is starting to now look better.

I've noticed that the atmosphere in Selhurst is not as positive or raucous as it used to be. Yes, that is not usual for the amount of time we've been in the Premier League, but we need to get behind the team and especially this manager. He is probably the best manager we've had (potentially), so let's get behind him, show appreciation and make sure he enjoys being here so he doesn't leave.

 

[doombear]

I think somebody else said it best with this.

January is about filling gaps.

Summer is about building the squad and setting direction.


Yes, a permanent would have been great, but it seems that there are many teams looking for left footed players. We got 2 (albeit 1 on loan). I think the summer could be tricky. Liverpool, Man U & a few others are also looking for LWBs (Man U were linked to Mitchell earlier in the window). Diouf looks a great prospect, but teams are now alert to him. However, you do have to ask yourself the question that if he was worth £20m surely other teams would have submitted bids too, but we were the only ones. I'm not saying he's not a good player. I'm saying he's probably not worth £20m. Plus, we were mainly looking for backup to Mitchell this window, so prospective signings will be aware of that.

We're playing well now (best away defence in the league) and have injured players like Wharton coming back into the fold. I agree we are light in CB, but we do have options (like Lerma & Clyne) if desperate. I think unfortunately, teams like Forest and Bournemouth have caught the league by surprise so other fans are thinking "why couldn't we have done that this year". Our reason was our start with an unsettled first team! If we had picked up 9-10 more pts in the 10 games of the season (which was achievable), we'd be top 8, so we're not far off. Injuries have hampered us hugely. Yes, we should have signed cover for the wing-backs, but we have purchased many players. There was no way of knowing at the beginning of the season that Wharton & Riad would have been as injured as they were. I also think there was optimism that Doucoure & Franca would feature more. Plus, no-one thought Kamala & Nketiah would be as bad as they have been.

Let's take the positives and have a great second half to the season. Wharton seems to be back. Sarr & Lacroix have been great signings now that they have settled. Esse looks a great buy to come of the bench and change games & Franca maybe back (maybe...). We're building a good squad now. We all know our first team would give any team a game, so it's just the bench options that we needed strengthen and that is starting to now look better.

I've noticed that the atmosphere in Selhurst is not as positive or raucous as it used to be. Yes, that is not usual for the amount of time we've been in the Premier League, but we need to get behind the team and especially this manager. He is probably the best manager we've had (potentially), so let's get behind him, show appreciation and make sure he enjoys being here so he doesn't leave.

Excellent post. Tony.

 

[Casual]

I like Chillwell, if he plays well and we sign him , great, 28 is a good age.
But if he starts , plays well for the rest of the season and we don’t buy him , like Gallagher , Loftus cheek. Then we are left with a disillusioned Mitchell, who’s still not a wing back, but now knows he’s not wanted and low in confidence.

Excellent post. Tony.

 

[Palacesince64]

I like Chillwell, if he plays well and we sign him , great, 28 is a good age.
But if he starts , plays well for the rest of the season and we don’t buy him , like Gallagher , Loftus cheek. Then we are left with a disillusioned Mitchell, who’s still not a wing back, but now knows he’s not wanted and low in confidence.

We’re clearly after a more attack minded LWB anyway so I suspect we will sign one in the summer and sell Mitchell if we get a decent offer for him. Cant see it being Chilwell given Chelsea will want a big fee and he’s on £200k a week with a long contract. Meantime it’ll be interesting to see how Ollie uses them both. My guess is Mitchell will start for now with Chilwell coming on in games where we need a goal.

 

[BelfastEagle]

Meantime it’ll be interesting to see how Ollie uses them both. My guess is Mitchell will start for now with Chilwell coming on in games where we need a goal.

Bearing in mind that we now really have no cover at all for the 3 centre backs he may find himself playing very frequently in an emergency back 3……

 

[CT Charlie]

Bearing in mind that we now really have no cover at all for the 3 centre backs he may find himself playing very frequently in an emergency back 3……

Which "he" ?! (It's a Chilwell thread, but you replied to a statement about where Mitchell would play.)

I think most of us believe that Mitchell is the superior defender, so Mitchell would go to the back line and Chilwell would play wingback.

 

[ASCPFC]

Chilwell might need some time to get used to the system and even get to decent fitness. But if Mitchell has a knock, then presumably he'll have to play. But Mitchell usually tends to be pretty fit (I feel a jinx) which has been incredibly lucky/useful for us.

 

[doombear]

Chilwell might need some time to get used to the system and even get to decent fitness. But if Mitchell has a knock, then presumably he'll have to play. But Mitchell usually tends to be pretty fit (I feel a jinx) which has been incredibly lucky/useful for us.

If I'm not mistaken he's played as a wing-back on a number of previous occasions for Chelsea and was in the side as LWB when they beat Citeh in the Champions League final, so he may not need too much acclimatisation to the system.

Match fitness is a different matter, of course.