Madmax

I'm not trying to belittle Mourinho's success at all. I have no grudge against him, yes I'm not a big fan of his but I respect the guy and what he's done for us. But I'm not wrong if I think Carlo has done better than him so far, don't know why you would take offence to that and develop a weird notion about me. Anyway, not my problem. As for the debate, I'm not interested in one either, but if you accuse me of something, it's natural I'd respond, so if you don't want to have an argument, don't accuse me of something.

LOL at you playing that card. Who brought up in the points comparison? Hint - it wasn't me. Fact - The league is more competitive now than when Mourinho arrived AND the FA Cup > League Cup, so it's an obvious conclusion that Carlo did better than Mourinho in his opening season. If you can't live with it, your problem.

1.At the end of the day, the FA Cup being the oldest club competition in the world will always hold more prestige than the Carling Cup. Besides, we can only beat the team in front of us, it's no fault of Carlo's if we came up against the so-called 'weaker' teams (if there's any such thing in a knockout style tournament). Also, those 'weaker' teams reached that stage of the competition because they had beaten the 'tougher' teams at some point, so that argument is not really valid either. 2.The league has changed so much in 6 years that the points comparison is fruitless. 3.I was never fond of Mourinho, mainly because of all his antics. Sure they were good for the laughs, but in the cold light of day, what did that help him achieve apart from media coverage, more hatred from other clubs and supporters and boos wherever he went?

I'd have Carlo over Mourinho any day. I like quiet managers who prefer to go about their jobs rather than shout their mouths off about anything and everything. Precisely the reason why I hate Wenger, such a fucking moaner. Carlo's got class ... a true gentleman, not that Jose isn't, but Carlo's a lot more humble and that's something I really like and admire about him. Let's face it, Jose will probably never return - one club is not big enough for Roman and Jose's egos. P.S. Who was the last non-British manager before Carlo to win the traditional double in his first season as manager in England's top flight? That's right - No one. Carlo > Jose in terms of immediate impact.

Nicolas Anelka Having burst onto the scene as an 18 year old at Arsenal, Nicolas Anelka has come a long way. Multiple moves later, he is back in London, just across town to Chelsea, a place where he claims he's 'found his home'. Not many were aware of this young 17 year old French kid when he first stepped on English shores back in 1997. Bought for a measly sum from Paris St Germain, the young Anelka soon grew by leaps and bounds as he helped Arsenal to the English 'Double' in 1997-98, his electric pace setting him apart from other talented strikers of the era. Winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award in his first full season in the Premiership was testimony to his immense talent. Contract disputes however cut short his stay at Highbury and Real Madrid took him to Spain in the summer of 1998 for an astounding 22.3 million pounds. Once again, his work ethic was called into question while at Real and Anelka started gaining an unwelcome reputation as an unprofessional, selfish player. His performances on the pitch though were not too bad, he scored 4 goals in all competitions as Real won the UEFA Champions League in 1999-2000. This however didn't give him a longer stay in Spain, Anelka was sold back to PSG as the 'Galactico' era under Fiorentino Perez began to take shape. The striker found good form on the pitch, but problems with the manager again led to him becoming unsettled, and he made a surprise return to England in a loan spell with Liverpool in the second half of the 2001-02 season. Impressive showings at Liverpool couldn't however persuade manager Gerard Houllier to sign him on a permanent basis. Newly promoted Manchester City took him off PSG's hands for 15 million, their then record transfer fee. 2 hugely successful seasons at City followed, and he finished both as the club's top goalscorer. In 2004-05, Anelka also scored against his future club Chelsea (in then manager Jose Mourinho's first loss as Chelsea boss), before moving to Turkey's Fenerbahce in Jan 2005, where he won the Turkish League that year. Anelka returned to England for the second time in 2006, this time with Bolton Wanderers, and found great goalscoring form immediately, ending the season as the club's top scorer. Continued impressive performances since his return to England persuaded newly appointed Chelsea manager Avram Grant to make a bid for him in the January transfer window of 2008. Anelka joined in a 15 million pound move, and was handed the no.39 shirt upon his arrival at the club. He faced competition from fellow forwards Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and Claudio Pizarro. He made his debut against Tottenham Hotspurs and scored his first goal for the Blues in an FA Cup match against Wigan. Largely substitute appearances and a change in position to the wing meant that Anelka could not enjoy a very successful first few months at Chelsea, and managed to score just 2 goals in all competitions. He played in a Champions League final for the second time in his career that May of 2008, but missed the decisive penalty as Chelsea lost out to English rivals Manchester United in Moscow. It marked the end of what had been a hugely disappointing season for the club as they lost out on 3 trophies also including the Premier League title and the Carling Cup. Luiz Felipe Scolari was made the new Chelsea manager for the 2008-09 season in a bid to drive the club to success again after a largely barren two years under Mourinho and Grant. This was a welcome change for Anelka as the new gaffer preferred him over Didier Drogba. The confidence shown in him by the manager paid rich dividends as Anelka made a storming start to the season, scoring goals by the hatful. The team's performances as a whole slipped in to mediocrity by the middle of the season however, and another managerial change meant that Guus Hiddink was named caretaker manager till the season end. Hiddink solved the striker problem at Chelsea by deciding to play Anelka in tandem with Drogba, rather than playing one for the other like Scolari had preferred. This change played a huge role in the tremendous performances by the team over the latter part of the season as Chelsea made it to the semifinals of the Champions League before being knocked out in very controversial circumstances by Barcelona. Anelka's form flourished as he scored 1 and assisted 2 more on a return to his old club Arsenal. He finished the season with 25 goals in all competitions, 19 of them in the league, and was awarded the Golden Boot for the latter feat. Carlo Ancelotti became the latest manager charged with restoring the glory days at Stamford Bridge as the 2009-10 season got underway. Anelka played alongside Drogba in Carlo's diamond formation as Chelsea made a roaring start to the season. However, mid-season blues set in and this was accompanied by a switch to the more familiar 4-3-3 system, which saw Anelka played out wide on the right or the left rather than in the centre. Drogba's African nations duty meant that Anelka was charged with leading the line in the months of January and February, and he responded brilliantly, scoring 2 goals in a 7-2 rout of Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. Earlier in the season too, Anelka had performed admirably during Drogba's suspension in the group stages of the Champions League, scoring winning goals against APOEL Nicosia and FC Porto away from home. Drogba's return however saw Anelka reprise his role as the supplier rather than the scorer, and he delivered largely good performances as Chelsea sought to put their season back on track after a Champions League exit to eventual winners Internazionale and a draw with Blackburn Rovers. Anelka had probably the two best games of his season in the crunch matches against Aston Villa and Manchester United, helping the team get ever closer to another Premier League title. Chelsea eventually held their nerve and were crowned champions of England for the fourth time after beating Wigan 8-0 at home on the final day of the season, with Anelka bragging a brace. They also achieved their first ever 'double' in May 2010 by beating Portsmouth in the FA Cup final. Anelka had become just the 3rd player ever to win the Premier League with two different clubs. The passing of years has seen Nicolas Anelka's game undergo a transition. Earlier he was known as a very pacy forward with clinical finsihing abilities, and those qualities are still visible in him, but what years of experience has added to his game is that most uncommon attribute - maturity. No longer is he the man they once called 'Le Sulk'. In fact he is one of the several wise old heads in the Chelsea team of today, and thus forms the core of the team along with the likes of Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba. Chelsea fans will be hoping the man they call 'Nico' will help the team claim the holy grail they've caressed but not quite yet got their hands on - the elusive Champions League.

LOL

wonderful stuff mate

Maybe one of Terry or Ivan ...

No no I know about the flag, I was asking where did you get the pic of the flag ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fu9oSyy1sA&feature=related

Mate I just saw that pic with the Pride of London flag on the bottom right corner of the page, it's fucking class! Absolutely fantastic, where did you get it? P.S. It's sitting on my desktop now!

Alex was rested against West Ham, can't see him missing out tomorrow. The only changes I'd make there are, start Ramires for Mikel, Essien can rest in the next game against Newcastle. Also, play Bena on the right wing, Yuri on the left and Malouda in midfield.

I've got my accountancy exams coming up in November and I've got a lot of ground to cover with not very much time at hand. Every minute is important and I need to use it to the fullest. So I won't be as regular on here over the next couple of months, will still drop in every other day to keep up but the level of activity will surely go down. Nevertheless, it's only a couple of months. Carefree!

Best Moment - Double winners 09-10 Worst Moment - Final whistle after Barcelona 08-09 Funniest Moment - I laugh whenever Drogba scores against Le Arse Best Manager - Carlo Worst Manager - Scolari Favourite player - Lamps Least favourite player - SWP Favourite goal - Essien v Barcelona 08-09 Favourite chant/song - Carefree! What does being a Chelsea fan mean to you? - Everything. C'est l'amour de ma vie!

If there's one thing I know about football, it's that there's no 'deserve to' in it.

Don't respond to his African posts, he probably just wants you to reply to start an argument of some sorts or gain attention. So don't give it to him, he'll probably get tired of saying the same thing over and over again pretty soon.

I'm not sure if he missed 3 consecutive ones, but if it's happened, it's got to have happened in 07-08, that's the only season i remember when he was injured for a significant part of the campaign.

^ Let's see what great 'advice' and 'career plan' Pele and Santos come up with if his petulance continues. From the start of this whole saga, what puzzled me most was the way everyone at Santos reacted. It was like everyone took our bid for him as a personal insult or something and it seemed that everyone in Brazil was out on a mission to stop him leaving.

Gosh sounds painful. Hope he's okay.

As far as i know, Everton FC is in Liverpool, and Liverpool is in England, not Wales, so how come Everton fans = Welsh?

We batter teams whenever I say it'll be a tough game, so I'm gonna say that this will be a tough game Judging by Carlo's squad rotation, looks like Anelka and maybe one out of Essien/Mikel will be rested. I'd persist with giving Lamps a break against Blackpool and also Newcastle and bring him back only next weekend for Citeh. Cech Ivan, Alex, JT, Cole Essien Ramires, Malouda Benayoun, Drogba, Zhirkov Subs : Hilario, Ferreira, PvA/Bruma, Kakuta, Kalou, Sturridge, Mikel

I've never liked this kid, and every passing day he gives me another reason not to like him.

^ That's not Kakuta

Cheers mate, thanks for clarifying. All's well