OhForAGreavsie

Good shout. That said, it looks like New Stamford Bridge would fit comfortably inside the big dome at the heart of Germania.

^^Many people liked the Battersea plans but I must say that I hated them. This on the other hand I would get excited about.

Best wishes to Pter. He did brilliantly for our club and I'll never forget it. I'm sure he'll understand if we here hope that he'll be picking the ball out of his net a bit more often than he's been used to over the last decade. One note, I wish he hadn't said that bit about Roman. What he said is true but you just know how the media are going to spin it and milk it for all it's worth.

I dismissed Gael's Chelsea chances within 20 minutes of kick-off in the first game I saw him play live. (A youth team game as Stamford Bridge.) Speaking personally then, Gael was certainly not rated more highly than Charly. The two players are similarly talented but, in my opinion, Charly has a much better understanding of the game and is clearly a better prospect at 18 than Gael was. In fact it's not even close. Again, that's only my opinion of course.

What seems ridiculous in my opinion is to imagine it is possible to quantify a player's ability simply by counting goals. Thinking like that can lead to flushing £100m down the toilet if you're not careful. I frequently said, while Torres was scoring those goals, that he was nevertheless a very ordinary player. We have since learned from Danny Murphy that Torres's Liverpool teammates thought so too. Recently Iker Casillas has also broken cover, which I expect more professionals will as the years pass and the autobiographies are published. Forget the goals, the truth about Torres was inescapable if you just watched him play. A bloke might be able to beat the odds for a while but Nando's luck was always going to run out.

I felt that while his body language was imperious at times when playing CB, he simply had too many mistakes in him. He is capable of some great passing but this made him overambitious in what he tried to accomplish from the back. His passing, which invariably travelled right to left, was all too often poor and sometimes worse. I think Nate would struggle to get a Premier League contract at this stage but if he has hopes of one with a Championship club then, for me, DM is his best shot. I did say if though.

Sadly can't argue, and you are right, he was beyond shocking at Wembley. With Jose in attendance to boot. As for the switch to midfield, I think the first decision was that he wasn't going to be a top quality CB. I felt the move up field was therefore the right call.

Oh dear, it's not even a multi page thread and I still don't see it. Thanks Jason.

I'm not sure I believe this. Replay his early comments about Petr's potential destination. In those he talks about a legend's right to choose, about how normally it would be different but how Petr was special in the history of this club and that meant special treatment. Jose talked about pride in his club for allowing players to choose and about how the players we sell are very, very good so, wherever Petr went, it would have to be a big fee. Only more recently has he changed his tune. My reading of this change is that it's a negotiating stance and that Marina put him up to it. Will any club after Wenger leaves Arsenal?

Is this new? Wasn't there an announcement a while back that he had left the club to pursue a managerial career?

Of course.

I could not disagree more. For me the attitude you've described, one where a returning legend would not be cheered, is the one that is ridiculous, shameful and disrespectful to our club and its current players. An honest difference of opinion then but I hope more people think like me than think like you. Time will tell I suppose.

Just a manner of expression Leif. I won't in fact be the only one, there will be tens of thousands of us so you're going to need a lot of those cups. Fortunately they are free.

The Lampard issue was with his lie not his move. If Petr wins 5 Premier League titles with Arsenal, it should make no difference to his status here.

This is depressing. Are Chelsea fans really so small minded and silly? I can promise everyone this, as long as I've got my ticket there will be at least one voice cheering Petr every time he returns to Stamford Bridge.

This too is easy to say. I can only repeat that I'll be sad and disappointed if you turn out to be right. Chelsea fans will go down in my estimation if you are.

Sore point. I was on the other side of the bus, in Wandsworth Bridge Road. Couldn't hear a thing. Meanwhile, I was proud of Stamford Bridge for standing by Frank and I look forward to seeing Petr get an even more rousing reception. Let the other clubs get the reputation for booing their ex players while we cheer ours and then listen to them lighting up the phone-ins to call us classless.

Lamps did damage his reputation as far as I'm concerned but because of the dishonesty, not because he joined City. Had he just moved to City openly then said I want to play and I'd love to win another Premier League title, that would have been fine with me.

You may be right but I'll be sad if you are. Petr certainly won't damage his legacy in my eyes, no matter who he joins. If and when he returns to The Bridge I'll cheer him at the top of my voice and I'd bet a lot of money that I'll be in the majority. The large majority.

Just saw the very end of the BTSport coverage and Ruben played no part in the goal which came from a 20 yard strike following a corner. They did not show the build up to the corner however so I don't know if Ruben was involved in that. The two studio pundits, as well as England U21 manager Gareth Southgate, were full of praise for him. The two lads in the studio both said they feel he should start against Italy in game 3.

:) Forgive me if I have this wrong but I'm used to being one of the oldest people here. I'm therefore assuming that you are younger than me so allow me to make the following observation: - The day will also come when you can't tell what bloody colour it is!

We all love Shankley's brilliant witticism. The great man's words encapsulated the attitude of football fans all over the world, but he certainly wouldn't have meant it literally. Football is not more important than life. Taking care of the interests of his wife and children is the very essence of what it is to be a man. My own guess was that Petr and his wife would have chosen to give their children a chance to experience a different culture. If, however, their decision is that London is the place for their family, then London it has to be. That narrows Petr's choice to staying or going to Arsenal. He's a footballer, he's in the prime of his career, he wants to start. Of course he wants to start. I love the man too. I also love my club and I love it even more for being classy enough to allow one of our heroes to make his own choice. By the way, I've heard the argument before that Petr took over when Carlo was injured. That's not what Carlo says, it's not what Jose says and it's not what the evidence says. Carlo's agent, whose job it is to spin as hard as he can for his client, is quoted in one place (that I know of) as having made that claim. It ain't so however, Carlo lost the jersey before he was injured.

Thanks UJ, useful info. That's one for the lawyers.

I agree with all of this but I'm still not in favour. On the atmosphere, it's been an issue for our club for decades. People used to say the reason The Bridge lacked passion was because the terracing was so far from the pitch. I never bought that argument and I don't believe that the hope of improving atmosphere is a good enough reason to bring standing back.

Was a White Waller myself. Loved it but, for me, standing ramps up the testosterone levels. Outright hooliganism, racism and other assorted misbehaviour blighted our game for more than two decades and I don't think we are completely out of the woods yet. I'm not especially worried about violence in the ground, I think modern systems could help clubs keep a lid on that, but I am concerned about people returning to the excitable days. The ugly atmosphere that often surrounded football in the bad old days was horrible to live through and it emptied grounds all over the country. Each and ever one of the measures which were introduced as counter measures were opposed by fan groups and football people but every one has worked well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.