LDN Blue

Wasn't Drogba sh*t as a youngster?

Good stuff! I have some match pictures I took a while back, I'll upload them later on

Yeah! The one thing we've got to remember is Chelsea was his first club job in a bloody long while. So from the first minute it was never going to be an easy task for the World Cup winning manager. We were off to a great start and then got into a rut, but when player-power took over, that was it for him. Maybe if Abramovich had backed him at that stage the dressing room would've come back to him. There's no doubt we were in a sticky situation around the time of his departure & he is at fault for some of that. But people should remember, in those first few months, we were playing exciting football! In a way we'd never played under Mourinho. It's kind of like this season, if this was 2008, Carlo would've been sacked. Abramovich has learnt this is not the most viable option now, he has learned that if he'll support the manager, so will everyone else at the club.

Well in that case, of course we should keep Josh. However, Carlo being Carlo, that looks unlikely.

I'd kind of rate him for staying in Brazil, for a few more years. He'd be doing Brazilian Football great credit & would leave Santos with them getting a very good fee from him. Of course, the other side of that coin is, he won't get as much exposure to top level football as much as he would in Brazil, he wouldn't play the likes of Barcelona or Bayern Munich for a good few years.

Yeah! They don't even play him regularly. It's a shame Plymouth went into administration! He was a regular there & they said he really made the difference.

Problem is, Ancelotti's not using Josh as a playmaker. He's using him as a defensive midfielder & for that reason I've voted new playmaker. Unless Carlo plays him in that playmaker role, we'll still have a gap there.

I may be scrutinised for this, but I think there's some truth into what Scolari's saying. About player power anyway. Drogba, on his best day, is the best striker in the world. There's not many who can really argue with this. But on a bad day, he's one of the worst (like TX said, curse & gift). It doesn't surprise me that Drogba was annoyed he couldn't reclaim his place & it wouldn't surprise me if he bitched about it. Fact is, in that season, Anelka finished the golden boot winner. Not just for us, but for the whole league! So for Drogba to demand his first choice status to be restored is quite a dumb decision to make. I'd rather have the in-form striker, scoring the goals, starting. Not the one who's not 100% & unhappy. One of the things you've got to credit Scolari for is his refusal to play players unless they're 100%. He went on record to say he never did that & his training regimes were noted as difficult but he did it in the interest of increasing the player's careers. He thought long term - not short. It's easy to criticise him 100% in hindsight. But not everything he did was totally wrong.

You can see the players were really annoyed! Howard & Zanetti especially.

Nah, just straight league competition

Sorry BL, can't hear you from all the way up here

A USED sub tonight. Came on in the 71st minute for Israel as they beat Georgia 1-0. Looks like he's back

Hey! Welcome

Cech Ivanovic - Luiz - Terry - Cole Ramires - Lampard - Essien - Zhirkov Torres - Kalou Looks good on paper & theory.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/899896/german-tourist-admits-emirates-banana-throw?cc=5739 It was a German tourist. He's [Nemar] not making a complaint over it

Did you meet him?

I thought I saw a picture somewhere of a protester with weaponry. Hmm.. Haha good old Boris. I did see BBC News got a former politician to praise the protesters for their systematic approach. They targeted specific places like the banks - Who've been stealing our money in terms of bail-outs of the last 3 years. It really is a shame that all that keeping being highlighted is the negativity, the arrests & the "cost of damage" & all that irrelevant sh*t. They've failed to make the most important point, the headline. That we are not willing to accept these cuts, just because we're told too. Chances of an election will probably be nought for this year.

David Silva & Sergio Aguero have all claimed their "dream" to play for Chelsea in the past. I sincerely hope this one will be true

Yeah, hence their cock up for not anticipating that

Chalobah's just 16 so he may need more than a few years. Delac we can't comment on, because he's been sitting on the bench of Vitesse for the last year. Cork will most likely seek a transfer request as he's already stated his love for Burnley and vice-versa. Agree about Josh, Connor & Billy though. Impressive talents no doubt, but remember, there's no rush

Sigh, it hurts to see some of these "protesters" going to such extremes to make their points known. I refer to those who got physical and brought weapons, such as baseball bats in an attempt to cause destruction. All this does is give more ammunition for the government to show how we're a failing generation of democratic, peaceful, intelligent students. I was ashamed of my co-peers for their actions, which the media now use as a façade to cover up the real issue.. Why there was a protest initially. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it. So I can't comment if the vandalism & extremism was a much as the media is making out - usually it's not. There's been a severe lack of spotlight on the true reason people protested & this pains me. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

Newcastle fixture was moved to accomodate for the FA Cup Final Seems someone cocked up at the FA when deciding the Final date.

Cork off :subs: Cleverly on

Ah bummer. England 1-1 Iceland

& just as I say that McEachran starts showing that great control & composure he has