Madmax

lmao, this is like when India lost to the Maldives. ... actually, it's even worse because New Zealand actually have some pedigree when you compare them with India.

What's the outrage about? We've done the sensible thing. There's a conflict of interest here if a loaned player is allowed to play against his parent club. We have it in the league, why not here? Not to mention a PR disaster regardless of the outcome - "Courtois helps Chelsea beat temporary team''/'' Blues not good enough to beat reserve keeper''.

First time I've seen SeB pissed

Best - Napoli home, Barca away, Munich, Wembley. Worst - any of the losses to Liverpool, that defeat to Arsenal, giving up those 3 goals against Utd, WBA away.

It's that time of the year again when performances over the course of the season are assessed and plans for the forthcoming one are drawn up. In young Gael Kakuta's case, it's been a bittersweet season, frustration and redemption in more or less equal measure. The loan to Bolton didn't go according to plan and as a result it was decided to ship him out to Dijon once the winter window rolled around. It should be borne in mind that his original loan to Bolton was for 6 months only, the club probably saw a role for him in the team for the latter part of the season. Nevertheless, Kakuta sparkled at Dijon in the initial months, notching up 5 goals and a couple of assists, not too shabby in a predominantly defense-oriented league, moreover in a team battling relegation. However he was left out of the team during the run-in at the season's end, with rumours of ill-attitude doing the rounds. Kakuta hasn't been shy about expressing his desire to rejoin Chelsea during close season and try and make an impact for the future. He has a contract that runs until 2015 and still just 20 years old, he has time on his side. The question is whether he is or looks like something approaching a player Chelsea can find useful. So, what would you do with Gael Kakuta next season, were it up to you?

Congats fella.

Good idea! I'll put them up.

Maybe something like this - (as things stand) - Ramires -- Mikel -- Lampard --- Hazard --- Mata --- --- Torres --- There's room for some flexibility there while getting all our most important players in the side. Hazard and Mata can pretty much roam in the attacking band. In any case playmaking is a role, not a position. There is fluidity in the front 3. Ramires can break down the right while offering additional cover against a potent attacker on that flank, thus covering for the two luxury players ahead of him. Mikel and Lampard can continue the feature of their partnership towards the end of this season when if one ventured forward to close down opponent in possession or to join the attack, the other stands off/ stays back.

From the always excellent Carefree Chronicles : Apologies if already posted somewhere.

How fucking hard is it to push a virtual button?

Ramires' sending off in CL second leg, blatant penalty (Evra) in closing stages of first leg, 2 offside goals at OT last year, atleast one penalty at the bridge - just off the top of my head.

I like him a little more now.

Whether Kakuta (or any other similar academy/reserve product) possesses the mentality or ability to claim a starting role is debatable till they're actually thrown in at the deep end but what cannot be refuted is that these players can certainly be utilised as a part of the 24-25 man squad, instead of using guys like Benayoun/Ferreira and that too for a fraction of their wages. With all the additional competitions we're going to be playing this season, surely Kakuta is good enough to get a few games here and there. Until you've given him the chance to prove himself here, I don't understand how he can be written off.

United have certainly got themselves a top young player. What will be interesting to see is how Ferguson changes the team's setup to get Kagawa into the side.

Madrid/Barca talk gets on my tits. Not everyone that comes here wants to stay on till they're 80 and go down as a Shed End legend. What matters is that we've beaten elite competition to land the hottest prospect in all of Europe - key word being 'prospect', not some over-the-hill superstar like Shevchenko. Hazard is on the cusp of greatness. He is hungry, ambitious, driven .. just the kind of signing you make when you're looking to kickstart another era in the club's history. The torch has been passed and here's hoping we achieve great things together. Yay Hazard! Shit .. apocalypse now!

A vasty majority already do that, hence the reason why this heavy-handedness is off-putting.

Feel the staff are overreacting. Rules and regulations are alright; even necessary, but the way things are going, this place will lose it's 'community' feel. Just another forum where you need to watch every word you type for the fear of falling foul of someone's expectations or forum regulations. It's meant to be a place where we can vent and let off steam. Occassionally you get the odd idiot like SHM or Beast before him but by and large we have posters who know where to draw the line. The rest of us don't need to be patronized because of the actions of a few.

Hazard again, brilliant at finding his teammates. He'll be creating plenty for Torres here, don't worry about that.

Lukaku's touch is embarrassing for a professional footballer.

Lukaku coming on.

Collided with Hart. Looked a little dazed and is missing a tooth.

Cahill's having a precautionary x-ray on his jaw.

Should've seen that coming

He'll probably be back with a different account.