@ScouseSte I'm sorry but how is this bad?

We are getting a dividend increase and FI have made sure it is 'generous' but not over the top so they are financially stable to get through the storm.

I'm happy with the statement personally.

@ScouseSte said in Complicated:

Anyone else let out a big sigh now and think "Christ where do i start??" when a brand new user asks a general question about FI and how it works?

Start with how not to trade during a match day when you don't have any players in the games.

@Dronny-Gaz

Anyone who does not understand thousands of businesses are going to go out of business because of the pandemic and does not trust the FI management to do what is best for the company i.e increasing dividends when they think it is safe to do so, should question why they are on FI in the first place, FI will need cash reserves as will any business coming through this and whilst gambling companies normally thrive during recessions they still need to be smart. I think everyone on FI trusts the management or why would you have money in FI in the first place?

The first thing i look at when backing a company is the management, bad management will kill a business very quickly.

I understand the point you are making but it is not a normal situation, was it a good call to remove IS just before most likely the worst recession in living memory, who knows but what is done is done. The people who needed to cash out have now most likely done so. IS being gone protects FI more which is better in the long run for everyone who has money in the platform, does anyone know what FI's books actually look like other than FI?

Investing in FI the platform is the same as investing in FI the business to a degree and if you look at what most businesses have done recently it is cut dividends to make sure they survive, FI removing IS could be FI's take on preserving the company, without having full access to FI's books we can not make the judgement on if it would be safe to increase dividends so we have to trust the management to do that.

@Ericali said in Vote for change ✊:

Why Reece James (£3.56) costs more than Tammy Abraham (£2.75) - or any other Chelsea player for that matter. 🤔

Reece James is younger, HAS signed a new deal and will be Chelsea's RB for the next decade. Tammy Abraham the jury is still out on.

I argue, fullbacks are the most important role in football right now.

"Full-backs are being asked to attack a lot more, and provide the team's width, but at the same time they are expected to rush back if the ball is given away and defend.

"You’re being asked to do two positions at once, whereas it used to be just one. The demands are higher than in any other position. It’s the position where the distance in sprints required is highest because if they are in an advanced position they need to sprint over 30 or 40 yards to be back in a position where they can defend properly."

That's right. Full backs are wide playmaking midfielders and your traditional RB/LB as well.

Is the matrix flawed? Sure most things in life are flawed but to argue that the modern game has not changed to where fullbacks play the most crucial part in most teams is silly. There is a reason Klopp, Pep, Lampard, Rodgers, all have great fullbacks and are in the top 4 places in the table and yet Spurs with arguably the best goal scorer in the Prem are 8th.

@Dan-The-Man

Gonna ignore all the tiresome stuff on the thread and give you my thoughts.

Like i said on another thread, the ME looks to have been rushed through due to the pandemic FI removed IS long ago, it was 'suspended' for a long time, whilst having the option might have made people 'feel' safer it wasn't available and i believe the reason the ME was rushed through is purely down to keeping FI in the best health possible as a company.

They have allowed most people who needed the money to live to cash out to some degree, which they had not had for months prior and may not have had for a very long time going forward.

They introduced the buy part of the ME to replace IS (temporarily in my view) so they could continue to pad the balance sheet and weather the pandemic and for the same reason introduced 2% added commission on buys. It is very plausible to believe that sell orders will come into effect before the end of the commission free period and then we will have a complete matching engine, do you not think it is odd that FI allowed a bidding zone? makes me think they will offer IS at below the bidding zone levels once the ME is complete tbh.

Most companies at this point in time have suspended dividends and stopped share buybacks (IS is kind of a share buyback) to preserve cash, having a healthy balance sheet is the most important thing for any company right now and if what i am seeing turns out to be correct it shows good management from FI at every step.

Yes there might be a lack of communication (nothing really new) but if they said 'IS direct to FI is coming back soon' people wouldn't be accepting the bids now would they? They need people to use the ME to find any bugs or issues with it.

@GDS How can you have a problem with market manipulation? FI is a fake market, manipulated by FI with every promotion, every dividend increase, every update etc.

I won't pump not my style but some players to look at that i believe fit the criteria.

All have either been picked up below £1.60 via match engine or have a price below £1.60.

Leon Goretzka picked some up myself @ £1.59 so just qualifies.
Marcel Halstenberg
Jonathan Tah
Robert Skov
Lukas Klostermann
Robin Gosens
Hakan Çalhanoğlu
Maximilian Arnold
Philipp Max
Suat Serdar
Thomas Müller

Full disclosure i do own every player mentioned in various sizes.

@Black-wolf Pooled liquidity was always likely to be difficult to get BUT they would never confirm or hint at it being done until it was over the line as people would get seriously burnt.

IF it its confirmed you will see real rockets the like of which the platform may never have seen before.

The stand out thing for me is he reckons they can get 10 x growth in 2 years! If they get even half of that it will be a fun ride.

@Black-wolf It sounds pretty underwhelming and i wasn't even expecting much.

@Dronny-Gaz
I have tried not to do that, I tried to explain why FI removing IS and increasing commission looks to me as an investor in other businesses that they are looking to preserve the future of the company similar to a FTSE 100 company suspending or cutting their current dividend output so they can get through the pandemic and to not trust the management through a time of turbulence as in investor your options are to jump ship or to trust in the management to make the right decisions and to increase dividends when the time is right, when the cash is there.

Look at the airlines that are begging for government money because they did share buybacks and paid dividends instead of focusing on a strong balance sheet. IS is FI buying back shares and increasing dividends when they are not in a financial position to do so would be exactly the same as what the airlines did and if a downturn was to hit FI they would then need bailing out, No one would bail FI out and everyone's entire stake would be gone.

@trig Messi could play on one leg with a blindfold and still win PB at Barca.

He is also a professional if you read his statement he has wanted to leave for a year and he has still won a lot of PB, Messi loves Barca he will continue to play.

I think this is the BEST outcome for holders, Messi is pissed media will love that he will continue to mop up PB at barca too along with decent MB for a year and then the city move is likely to go through.

@howsthebacon Yeah, this is the most excited i have been for a season in a very long time and Lampard being the manager makes things that much better. I think most managers would love to be in the position Lampard is in, he's been fully backed.

@Vaughany Bulka would probably be first team keeper right now if he had stayed at Chelsea. Great keeper, played for us in preseason before we signed Kepa and looked very good. I would back him personally but PSG don't really seem the team to back youth.

@Notanyoldnewuser I think the Havertz deal was not planned, it was a case of this guy is going to be a world beater and no one else can afford him/wants him we need to sign him.

It depends on how Lampard plans to use Havertz. The rumors are Declan Rice is still on which is another option in Midfield.

I'm happy for the Midfield to rotate to prevent injuries this season, I think Jorginho is pretty much gone to Roma, Barkley can leave as well and that means the midfield even with Rice coming in wouldn't be too bad in terms of numbers.

I mean you could very well be looking at a fluid front three of Ziyech, Werner, Pulisic and a midfield three of Kante or Gilmour or Rice in the holding role and Havertz and Mount against the lower teams and then in big games one of Mount/Havertz swapping for Kovacic and RLC as cover.

I think we need to wait to see how Lampard is going to play because the options are near endless could be two up top with Werner/Havertz. The thing i have loved about Lampard is he is capable of changing the formation and the way the team play when needed, Sarri/Conte played the same way no matter what and being able to adapt with the squad Chelsea have is going to keep other teams guessing (like we are now) which can only be good for Chelsea.

@Sol said in Messi:

Just bought another 100 @£6.10 👍🏼

You are not the only one!

@Notanyoldnewuser said in Kai Havertz:

@Marksandygill crazy, and I don't see how any of Werner, Pulisic, Havertz and Ziyech can be rotation players. Equally a front 4 would surely not work and would deem Mount, Barkley, Abraham, Giroud, Cheek, Odoi pretty useless as far as first team goes. If I was a Chelsea fan I think I'd have wanted the money spent on a defender.

There is still money for a defender if the right player is available it would have been stupid to pass up on Havertz, he has all the potential to be top 3 players in the world and there was no competition. Not only that but he can play in a multitude of positions including up front. Chelsea have some incredible young CBs in the ranks at the moment as well.

Everyone is saying about how Chelsea need to upgrade the defense but the way Lampard looks at it is if you can kill a team off quickly, then it demoralizes them and then they are out of the game.

@Marksandygill said in Kai Havertz:

@Notanyoldnewuser yeah and I can remember last year when Frank was being lauded for bringing young English players through! If I were Mount, Cheek, Barkley, Odoi or Abraham I'd be knocking on his door for a chat!

Lampard has said previous when Chelsea signed Ballack it pushed him onto another level and this is what he expects the signings to do. Also given the huge congestion of fixtures this year, i wouldn't be worried about game time at all. Injuries will happen, players will need to rest etc.

Messi @ £6.10

@Black-Wolf They could do. I personally think and it's just my opinion that Mendy would likely take the number one spot initially just because Kepa's confidence is completely gone. There was a few moments at the end of last season the defense was screaming at Kepa to come claim the ball and he wouldn't.

I think Kepa needs time away from Chelsea or at least out of the first team, he has the talent to be a top tier keeper but when a player is completely demoralized you see their game is a fraction of what it should be.