Madmax

Unfortunately in a team sport the manager gets the sack even if it's the players who are under-performing. Because it's easy to blame one guy than blame eleven. Everyone loves a scapegoat. Regulars know I love Carlo and I want him to stay and get a chance at building his own dynasty. But I won't be surprised if he gets sacked/quits. He has been undermined by everyone from the board to the players to the fans.

We're overdue some fucking luck in this competition. If we win the CL, I win run around naked. When I'm at home. Alone. And by naked, I mean in a towel. Over my undies.

Official Chelsea response

Optimism needed? You're obviously missing me

A best ever XI is out of the question simply because none of us 106 years old. Looking back upon my time watching Chelsea, I'd go with - Petrescu, Terry, Carvalho, Cole.

We knew before the season started that our midfield is too similar, especially after we got Ramires. Lampard's injury and subsequent lackluster performances have just magnified what was already evident. We would have been better with Benayoun around.

Losing out on top 4 is unimaginable. We must qualify for CL.

Josh doesn't solve our problems. Not now. He's far too early in his developmental period to be salvaging our season. Our sole problem was/is creativity and we haven't addressed it. Hence we're paying the price when coming up against teams who sit back and defend. We needed a creative force in the form of an attacking midfielder and a winger but who did we go out and buy? A centre half and a striker.

Ooh "Top 10 Members" I like the sound of that

Brazilian World Cup-winner Ronaldo is set to retire from football at the age of 34. Ronaldo, who is considered one of the game's greatest ever strikers, has been playing at Corinthians but his body can no longer handle the rigours of professional football. Ronaldo played at many of Europe's top clubs during a memorable career, including Barcelona, Inter, Real Madrid and AC Milan. He was FIFA player of the year three times between 1996 and 2002 and he scored a record 15 goals in World Cups. Ronaldo will formally announce his retirement at a press conference in Brazil on Monday. He was expected to continue with Corinthians until later in the year but the club's shock early exit from the Copa Libertadores this month, which irate fans partly blamed on the visibly unfit striker, has helped convince Ronaldo to call time early. He reportedly told local media he has "cried like a baby" since Corinthians fell to Deportes Tolima in the two-legged first stage of South America's premier club tournament. "I wanted to continue but I can't," he is quoted as saying. "I think about making a play but I can't execute it. The time is up." Ronaldo started his career at Cruzeiro in 1993 and was taken to the 1994 World Cup in the United States as a 17-year-old. He did not play at his first of four World Cups but he secured a transfer to PSV Eindhoven soon after, starting a prolific 13-year stint in Europe where he would become the game's most feared striker and the world's most expensive footballer when bought by Inter from Barcelona in 1997. In a career of staggering highs and the occasional low, Ronaldo is perhaps best known around the globe for his role in the World Cup finals in 1998 and 2002. Ronaldo nearly missed the 1998 final after suffering a fit before the match but he did feature and played below his usual standards as France recorded a 3-0 win. In 2002, Ronaldo scored both goals in Brazil's 2-0 win over Germany in the final. From ESPN Soccernet Buhbye El Fenomeno .... Thanks for the memories ....

He could do worse than that. If true, it paves the way for Guus to take over when Carlo's contract expires.

Hello troll Stop trying to kick up arguments

Gotta love people trying to be smart while having nothing concrete to contribute.

Yeah but you only need to look at the general doubting that followed Kakuta's first few performances where he didn't do anything special.

Really?

You're unwilling to listen to equally pertinent points made by me and the rest of us who want him to stay. Nobody will deny that the guy has made mistakes. But he really isn't as clueless and useless as some are painting him out to be.

Huh? I don't get you.

I understand the point of giving youth a chance when they couldn't be doing any worse than the regulars. But it will only take one bad performance from them to get people on their backs. Then people will say 'oh why is he playing kids when we need the experience of that other guy.' It's a thankless job - that was what I was pointing out. Example - Torres wasn't exactly playing well so Carlo brought on Kalou. And he got stick for that. But he would've gotten stick even if he had kept Torres on because then people would have said he's playing people who're not cutting it. He brought Josh on in that Villa away game in October. Josh almost gave away 3 points when Reo Cocker nicked the ball off him in injury time and went through on goal but fortunately fluffed his shot. Would Josh and Carlo have escaped criticism had the guy scored? No. We wouldn't hear the end of how he lost us the game.

I think he was talking about the summer. Loaning him out in the summer would be a nice idea I reckon. He would already have a n understanding with the team by then and the first team experience (on loan) will help him to get settled straight into the squad the year after. And then we could do with Connor what we did with Josh this year ie some cup starts and a few minutes here n there every other game.

Yes sure let's compare the English league to the World Cup. That makes so much sense

Ok cheers Jim

^Agreed mate

He is in a no win situation. If he plays the youth and results suffer, it's his fault for giving them too much responsibility. If he continues with the established order and results suffer, it's his fault he can't motivate them. Basically there will be grumblings if we lose, no matter if the youth play or not. If he plays the same first eleven every week and we win every game, nobody will complain.

Honestly I like how Carlo's been handling him, giving him decent play time while not pressurizing him too much. A couple more starts wouldn't hurt though.