C'mon the chels

Sounds cool, only playing 30 minutes each way for two matches and then 45 each way is a bit scary, i'd be blowing out of my arse after the first 30 minutes!

As much as I hate to say it I think Lamps may stillbe moving on, I just think if all was well you wouldn't have heard anything about this. There would have been no stalling for a year, contract offered and signed no probs. All we've heard for a year from Chelsea is we love frank and we want him to stay and from lamps I love Chelsea and want to stay yet a deal remains unsigned.

I'm not the least bit surprised about this. I've been saying for months that I am absolutely certain he will not be in charge next season and got called crazy, and asked what I'm basing this insanity on. Well as I said months ago, Jose was the most successfulmanager in Chelsea's history nobody would have been able to fill his shoes, so the Chelsea regime did the smart thing and put a whipping boy in so that the next true long term coach would be living up to a bumbling idiot and not a charasmatic tactical genious. In all honesty though I don't think it has worked completely because most Chelsea fans are still struggling to pickout a manager they woould want at the club because they are still measuring against Mourinho.

I'm sorry GZ but this argument is poor. The big difference is that You could probably count on one hand in the four years Mourinho was boss the amount of times he messed his tactics up, and you could probably stand there all day picking games out that Mourinho changed the course of the game in our favour by making tactical decisions. You could probably stand there all day picking games out that Grant fucked up with his tactics which cost us and count on one hand the amount of times he got it right, I for one can only think of 3; Arsenal at the bridge, Man utd at the bridge and Liverpool at the bridge CL.

Its a fine line, every team has had to cope with the ACN and injuries, TBH if we are going to whine about the ACN don't buy as many fucking African players simple as. I think the league was a good result and I'm proud of everyone at the club for getting to the UCL final and playing so well, but when you consider how close we were to winning a trophy, be it FA cup or Carling Cup, to end up with nothing is poor. The players are the guys who have got us as far as they did this season I think most, bar Malouda, have given everything, the failure sits with Grant. At key times when we needed a tactical decision or word of encouragement or good sub we had the opposite which in all likelihood was the difference between winning something and not. Maybe we can't win something every year but in a year where we were close to a treble, to end with nothing shows a lack somewhere. It's poor and to make excuses like ACN, Mourinho getting the sack or injuries detracts from the fact that Chelsea Football Club as a whole have made the choices which contributed to this season ending the way it did.

May as well put the boot in as well then! Hmmm where to begin. I've said for ages that I didn't think Grant was right for the job but I thought I would see what happens at the end of the season before I passed full judgement. Firstly when all said and done Bombay blue is exactely correct Jose never lost a final and here we are at the end of the season having been in two finals and ending up trophyless, that is not good enough. Secondly the Loss of the UCL was not really Grant's fault maybe he could've made some different changes quicker but it was a very tight game, and Drogba being sent of with 6 mins to go was a fucking disgrace. We may not have one it in that 6 minutes but once Drog got sent off we had no chance of winning it before the penalty shoot out. Thirdly I don't think second in the league is bad at all, we should always aim to finish in the top two whilst recognising that we aren't going to win the league every year. Finishing third would have been really shit! All in all Grant's tactical ineptness was the difference between us finishing with 1 or 2 trophy's and no trophies, when you put it all together and think about the season as a whole it has to be viewed as a bad season. If we had won the FA and Carling cups finished second in the league and just pipped to the UCL then I would say give the guy another go because that is a good season, unfortunately considering how close we were to winnning something and ending up with nothing is not good enough.

Well there have been rumours about wet head going to Real Madrid in the last couple of days. The reason it is more focused on Chelsea is because Drogba has never quashed rumours that he will leave Chelsea and actually fuels speculation, I'm quite certain Lampard is going, its been on the cards for ages and Chelsea's inability to tie him to a contract is fueling this one. No idea where the Carvalho story came from, he's going no where.

I had a great dream last night......oh sorry not that kind of forum!

Won't happen.Doesn't fit Chelsea's policy of lowering the age of the squad, plus Ihate the fucker!!!!

I wouldn't want to give Malouda anymoretime, not because I think he is shit because clearly he isn't but because the lazy fucker showed no fight at all for most of the season, you don't need time to try or give 100% that should just be something he does even when things aren't going so well.

Yeah somethig to tell the grandkids!. When we were at Thames view primary school, I was about 8 and JT would have been around 6, we were playing footie in the playground with a tennis ball. I was steaming down the wing, Joe Cole like, and instead of making a proper tackle JT stuck his arm out and clothes lined me. I fell over bashed my head on the floor and burst into tears!

Hello suzzie welcome.

I'm not saying anything else about Essien other than I remember him saying he'll play anywhere for the team but he didn't say its because he loves the club. Its because the guy is as about as professional as they come, which is why you will never hear him talking about a move like that fuckwit Drogba. The test is when a club enquires......and they will.

Oh come on Warnie, for the two times you can say the difference between the two is two games against Man utd and Liverpool anyone in their right mind can pick 10 against smaller clubs that never stood a chance against us with Jose. And anyway we had a good record against UTD under Mourinho so I don't see how that game is relevant. The only game anyone can pick out as us doing better in under Grant is the Liverpool CL match and like I said for that one game I could probably sit here and pull 10 off the top of my head where we've done worse.

If you like that FB you'll love some of the stories about our younger days! Esk may remember this area but there was a little green on Bastable Avenue as you were coming from River road on the left hand side where we used to have a kick about. That was the site of my stunning 3-2 wembley singles victory against JT! Paul Terry was in goal and it was me and JT in the final, the little bastard tried to cheat but I still did him.

The league table doesn't lie.

I was in the same year as his brother Paul, I knew them from Thames View Primary school up until we left Eastbury Comprehensive. Speak to Paul Terry rarely and JT once in a blue moon but he's brought new friends now!

Small world, which schools did you attend?

I would never condone chanting hateful things at Grant and never have done it myself, and I never sat there once this season chanting Jose's name. Football isn't as simple as Avram Grant beat Liverpool in a Champions League semi final and Jose couldn't therefore Grant is a better manager. There is no doubt in my mind that Jose would have taken us to a Champions League final at some point, we know he could do it as he won the thing at Porto, but being successful in football means having a little bit of luck and the luck Jose needed was to not come up against Liverpool in the Champions league as he appeared to have a specific problem beating them!

Hello ladies and gents, just so you know a bit about me as its easier to chat then! I've been a supporter for 24 years and was brainwashed as a child by my father and uncles who have been supporters for around 40 years. Father is Turkish Mother is English although I don't speak any Turkish (well some swear words) and the only indication you will probably get that I have Turkish roots are my strangely coloured eyes. I live in Hornchurch Essex now but was born in Dulwhich Hospital South London and lived in Elephant and Castle for a while before I moved to Barking when I was about 4 and went through primary school and secondary school with among others Paul Terry and JT. I also used to know Curtis Davies when he was a young lad living in Leytonstone East London, and friends of my family are chums with the Lampards. WHY THE HELL DID I NEVER MAKE IT AS A FOOTBALLER??? SO UNFAIR. Anyways speak to you all soon. Ciao.

Someone's been thinking hard, but well said I don't think there can be any argument.

I'm not so sure about Bridge leaving. There's been quite alot of speculation surrounding Bridge for some time now but I can't see it happening. If there is one position I do not worry about at Chelsea it is the left back position.

Bloody hell yeah, I think he is one of the most important members of our squad and it would be great to have him for the next five years. But you have to realise that Chelsea aren't one of the biggest clubs in the World, not yet anyway, and it goes back to what I was saying before when a Real Madrid, a Barca, an AC milan or the such like come calling its not as straight forward as we don't need the money so we aren't selling. When these clubs come for our players there is an increased chance that the player will be interested and so you have to make a judgement whether to force the player to stay once he learns of the interest or to talk realistic numbers. The reason that Barca don't talk realistic numbers about Messi is because Messi himself is not interested in a move away from Barca so they can afford to say £80m please or fuck off, if he expressed an interest in the move and was dead set on it Barca would have to say OK £30m please. It will be a testing time, and don't misunderstand I'm not saying I know Michael Essien and know he will jump at the chance I'm saying from what I've heard I don't know if he would catagorically say 'I want to stay at Chelsea'.

The evidence is not so much in the public domain and I can't say where it comes from unfortunately. Like I said lets wait and see, I know that Essien is very hot property at the moment and is extremely sought after especially by Real Madrid, and in the past I have heard of Essien's desire to capture as many trophies as he can (don't ask where I got that from because I won't tell you!). Knowing that, I am saying that the probability of Essien being interested in a move to Madrid, especially if we lift the European cup is higher than most people would like to believe. Oh and it has nothing to do with Mourinho leaving, Essien isn't an emotional animal like Drogba who forms very strong bonds with people. Anyway's it may not happen and I don't think it will if we lose the European cup final, but at the very least I think there will be some serious courtship from Real this pre-season.

Elliot, it is fine to disagree that is your choice, but you should do it in the correct way as in not make it personal buy accusing me of making things up. You could just say I disagree because I have heard nothing about this. And i would say as I did very early on in this debate 'I'll guess we will have to wait and see'. You can't attack someone personally because you don't agree and expect them not to say anything. So baisically I understand that you disagree but I can 't understand the basic summation that I am making it up simply because you have heard nothing about it, and then attacking me for it....its very immature.