Styles

The comment wasn't meant to be disrespectful it was about his contract situation. Essien before the injuries was a fantastic player for us and was a great lad. Truth is he has a big contract and only a club like Madrid could take him on loan and pay his wages.

This is a very good article http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/may/01/jose-mourinho-real-madrid There's also comment section at the end which makes for good reading.

Of course Essien is staying. He has a massive contract with two more years to go. He's staying put even if he isn't part of the team.

Fair enough. It would definitely be more a marriage of convenience than one of want, especially in our case considering the club were absolutely gagging for Guardiola who is a completely different type of manager to Mourinho. Just wish we had a contingency plan for Guardiola turning us down. I think that caught the club completely unaware and they're lost now. You're right he has definitely been humbled and I hope that improves him as a manager because whatever he's doing now isn't working.

True. I haven't watched them play but followed results and they went through a massive period of shit form. He's unlucky he didn't go to a good team like Chalobah.

I'd agree that he's a great motivator (not so much a great tactician) and there would be benefits for his return most notably fighting our battle when it comes to referees. Honestly if he came back I wouldn't be upset but I'd be disappointed that we've become such a basket case of a club that we can't entice somebody like Klopp/Guardiola when perhaps a few years ago we could have. I know you wanted Guardiola so don't you think it's a massive swing from Guardiola to Mourinho? Do you think the club has a plan any more or are they just making it up as they go along? When the Guardiola option was still available people here and everywhere else were talking about tactics/players/youth but with Mourinho you don't get that sort of discussion.

He did fluff a few chances last night. Unlucky to hit the bar with one effort. 65 goals in his last two seasons however means he is a goalscorer.

Interesting comments here on a Middlesbrough forum about McEachran's season - http://oneboro.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=5002

He spent one season at Madrid in which he had no say over transfers. Mourinho has had more power at Madrid than any other manager in decades. Valdano (director) was sacked just to give him more influence at the club. He has had free reign and this what you have; a club in turmoil, falling out with own players, uncompetitive in the league basically all season and comprehensively beaten by a team that cost a fraction of Madrid's in the Champions League. And apparently he wants assurances he will have free reign at Chelsea! Amazing. I loved Mourinho in his first two seasons at Chelsea but then something happened in the third season and I went off him. The football was awful, he was forever moaning about players/transfers and his narcissism since then has gone through the roof. Listening to him talk last night I forgot he was a football manager and could have mistaken him for a pop star the way he was talking about the media hating him and wanting to be loved etc. I just want a competent manager who coaches well and no extra drama. Mourinho is more trouble than he's worth...both figuratively and literally.

Well Mourinho isn't technically available. He signed a contract extension until 2016 last season.

Pellegrini. I'd contact Heynckes and see if he's interested. Just anybody else at this point. I want the club to exhaust all options before we start paying Mourinho 11m a season.

Ha, you're right. He'd fit in well in that case.

There are no better options if you have no imagination.

Yep. One league title and no Champions League finals with the most expensive squad in football. Nobody seems to care about his record though or the fact he's once again leaving a club in turmoil having fallen out with several players. He wins but at what cost? He has been out-thought and out-coached several times in the last 3 years.

Long time Max. :tophat:

Compare that to the little girl we've had leading the line all season.

I really liked that he kissed your badge after his goal on Saturday. West Brom have been great for him and I'm glad he appreciates your club and the supporters. Top lad Lukaku.

Crazy right? No rest for nearly a full year and then confederations cup again this summer. I feel sorry for the kid. He deserves a few weeks off at the start of next season.

See that's a significant difference and then you add in the pace of the games, especially in England, it's almost a different game altogether. He's going to be fine, I have no worries about Oscar at all.

Not sure maybe small injury or fatigue? Played 90 last Thursday so not surprised he wasn't involved. Will most likely be back on Thursday.

People complaining about his first touch are being harsh but it has looked poor at times. I think it's to do with playing on smaller pitches in quicker games than he was used to in Brazil. Have you ever seen how big those pitches are in Brazil? HUGE would be an understatement and the games are played at a slow tempo. He doesn't have the same time and space which is a big change for him. Compare that to players like Hazard and Mata who have grown up in the culture of smaller pitches + higher intensity games in Europe and you'll see that their touch is more refined. But his touch isn't always bad. I'd say 75% of the time it's good to great but us supporters seem to remember the bad more than the good unfortunately. I don't think it will be a problem in the long-term however.

It was really bad. This season hasn't been much better either in my opinion. 22 points behind the Champions is embarrassing.

There isn't a team in the world that has a squad of 25 special players.

I know expectations are through the roof. He is a special talent though so it comes with the territory. I actually went on to a Watford forum to read the reactions and quite a few were saying besides the goal he was a bit sloppy and lackadaisical: Just hope he continues to play competitive football regularly for the next year or two to continue his development hopefully at Premier League level.