@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.

@MickTurbo

As a Chelsea fan i think Onana is the most likely GK signing for us. Ziyech has been essentially tapping him up (like Rudiger did with Werner and Werner/Rudiger have done with Havertz)

I believe it was said Onana is also very interested in a Chelsea move due to Chelsea's history of having world class African players at the Club in the past (but can't find the quote).

I would expect the GK signing along with a LB to gather steam after Cech has met with Leverkusen to hammer out the deal for Havertz.

@MickTurbo I doubt he will play but i see Bayern getting to the final which he would be fit for.

@King-Fergus My current buy price is £1.88 so seems i might be able to pick up some more for around that price.

@MickTurbo I'd love to pick up more Pavard below £1.90.

TOTM + all the football he will play for Bayern and France with both teams likely to compete for silverware in everything they enter into can't see the injury being anything but good news IMO (which is very odd to say).

@ScouseSte Just skimmed the announcement, looks good to me.

Don't think it effects me too much personally but yet again another sign management are 'growing up'.

I might even purchase some IPD purchases for a bit of fun.

Lukas Klostermann @ 79p

@MickTurbo But i'm only 80% up Mick..

Riccardo Orsolini @ £1.43
Jorginho @ £1.14
Reece James @ £2.86

Apparently Chelsea have agreed personal terms with Havertz now.

@ScouseSte No.

Jonathan Tah @ 95p
Leon Goretzka @ £1.64