GodZola

It's possible he could end up at City but their owners are not so trigger happy as Roman? It is not about Jose being smart its about him being successful any person in everyday life who is successful in their role will be 'headhunted' & therefore more choice is given to them, Jose has earned that right through his achievements, just look at Inter, under Mancini they were successful domestically but got nowhere near winning the CL til Jose came in & bought a few players, made his stamp on the team & they then do the treble. Jose didn't have money at Porto but was still successful, you can't knock him just because he chooses to go where he wants & if that means he has money to spend then he still has to use it wisely & make that team successful.I guess we will just have to wait & see how he gets in when he finally goes into international management! Although the fact is he has been successful without money...........

If its 'the money' then here's a stat for you - Jose spent something like 2m when winning the UEFA cup & CL, so has shown he can do it without which was another amazing achievement & I will admit the likes of that happening again are pretty remote.

Ranieri was a dignified man & it still liked by all Chelsea fans, he did do as you say build the nucleus of that side but the Portuguese players including the brilliant Carvalho were brought in by Jose as well as the magnificent Drogba, also Essien who was fantastic before his injuries & Ashley Cole - still regarded as the best left back in the world to name a few! As much I respect Ranieri, he doesn't quite cut it at the sharp end, has any of his sides since he left been successful?

Think some on here have short memories, Jose was sacked by Roman cus he wanted a more attacking tippy-tappy Barcelona style football - Jose rightly pointed out we didn't have the players to play that way. Jose was pissed off cus he was planted with players he didn't want & bit by bit his authority in his role was ridiculously taken away from him - the last straw was Arneson put in charge of the academy which infuriated Jose to a point he wanted to resign but Roman was one step ahead. Bacon face & even whinger would not stand for it so why should Jose or any top class manager stand for the meddling? As much as I love Roman I think he made some mistakes regarding Jose tenure & I'm hoping that now they have repaired their relationship he can get the great man back. So he might & I do say 'might' stay for 3 years but noone knows how long his tenure will last so please stop using this pit stop management as an excuse for him not to return, I see there are Pep lovers on here & I'm not knocking that as I would welcome his appointment (second to Jose!) but Pep has already shown when it gets hot in the kitchen he gets out, again I'm not saying he will run but simply making a point the Pep lovers have overlooked. As for rebuilding - what a load of Tosh! I think we have a very good squad as it is which are very young & they will only get better, we are light upfront but I truly believe Falcao will be bought in January, we should get Lukaku back now that Sturridge his off & I think we just need a couple of decent defenders (from juve preferably, they are outstanding defenders) especially now we that luiz is going to be shifted in midfield - well done Rafa, its about time someone has seen his immense footballing ability. Yes I think we are 3/4 players off sustaining a title challenge, Jose will know he won't have to spend big or to make big changes, he will just make adjustments & instill belief into an already talented squad. Do I favour a Jose return? Well how many games were we unbeaten st home? How many records did we set winning those Prem titles? Most successful period in our history. One of only to 2 managers that has one a treble. Won the la liga last year against arguably the best side ever seen, certainly in my view only the great AC Milan side in late eighties/early nineties would come close, so a massive achievement. Ask JT & Lamps who gave them the confidence & made them into better players? How many trophies has he now won in 10 or so years? Well yeah, the man is a genius! Lastly you will have to consider that if he goes to another English club he will only make them stronger & the possibility of us winning another title will be even more difficult..........

Good debate, decent thread - well done Tomo! Firstly I didn't like most agree with RDMs sacking but can also understand Romans thinking- even Jose would of been fired for not making the last 16 of the CL so it came as no surprise to me, RDM was in the same boat as Ranieri in that he was a dead man walking, Roman was just waiting for the opportunity to sack him & recent results have given him that chance to wield the axe...again! I believe Romans pride has been stung in the very fact that bringing Torres to the club was a mistake & to get him out of the £50m hole he sacks a club legend who also happens to have class & brings in a man who is the last throw of the Torres dice just to try & justify his knee jerk January transfer because that is the sole reason Benitez is here - does that justify some of the ridiculous comments on here about Roman? Absolutely not, every fam has a right to be angry & to vent some steam towards Roman & his henchmen but some comments go over the line. Some of us waited a quarter of century to see us win something & had to endure watching crap most of the tine, Roman has taken us to the pinnacle of European elite & I will always be forever in his debt for that & some of you jonnycomelatelys should try to imagine what state we were in pre Roman & many years before that. I'm not happy about Benitez either & already vented my anger on his performance tonight but I will remain open minded & give the guy a chance, I hope the Chelsea faithful eventually do the same.

Starting Bertrand ahead of Mata...... Starting with 2 holding mids against a side that will park the bus....... We are drawing at home & what time does he bring an offensive player on? & why not take off an holding mid & bring on Moses earlier too? Just priceless! Poor team selection, poor tactics, poor substitutions or lack of & to top it all it was terrible to watch - welcome to the world of Mr defensive don't lose & play safe Benitez! That said, some of our players need a rocket up their arse, Hazards form is on a par with Torres, Oscar not been much better either & dead ball situations are doing my nut, not just tonight but in so many games recently. I'm all for shoring things up at the back a little but would prefer to watch an entertaining game & us win than that rubbish......well Roman sometimes its better the devil you know!

As i stated SeB, a new system brings along different problems and changing formations and style of play will have it's set backs - sometimes you need to go back before moving forward, we also have several new players who also need time to bed in and get used to a different culture etc, so whilst last years thread had some relevance i cannot for the life of me understand why fans don't show a little more understanding and more pertinently patience!

I've read most your post Tricky and concur with you fella. Fans are spoilt nowadays - they want to try thinking what it was like supporting us in the late 70's, periods of the 80's and early 90's and perhaps they may have a little more patience! You hit the nail on the head and sum it up with the word 'balance'! I have to say i don't like Torres's body language at times or his strops but give the boy a chance to show he is capable in a well machined team before being judge and jury!

First of all i hope the Police get these idiots, no need for that type of abuse and talk about short memories - the guy was instrumental in bringing home that trophy with the big ears! This new system will not suit Mikel or Lampard, it worked with them towards the end of last season because our style and formation was set up to be defensive, Frank was disciplined in that role but his natural game is to get forward and support the attackers, you simply cannot cage a bird for long and RDM needs to use him differently so he can get forward and let other players cover him when he plays. As for Mikel, the new set up will and has exposed his weaknesses already - we need our deep lying players to get the ball moving quickly and forward incisively (any of you see Alan Shearers analysis on motd of Liverpool's performance against Sunderland were he highlighted the importance of Gerrard moving the ball this way as opposed to their others DM recently will know exactly what i am alluding to and my point about Ballack a while back in that role were he was magnificent) Mikel takes 2 touches as opposed to 1 or 3 when it could be 2 and just slows everything down, pace is not essential in this role but the way we are setting up now i think we need quicker players there that are also aware of whats going on around them. I've said it before and i will say it again, if Mikel plays regularly we will have no chance of winning the league and will struggle for 4th place at best, However like Frank i would like to see him used for certain opposition and this weeks game against Stoke i would have Mikel first on the team sheet.

It's no wonder members like myself hardly come on here now, just reading this thread is enough to make you feel suicidal! There is no doubt that Torres needs a boot up the arse and the likes of Jose or a Fergy would do that although i am unsure Di Matteo will do it and that is a small part of the problem, i also stated last season that i feel he has lost a yard of pace which is a massive loss to any leading striker. Nonetheless the patience and lack of understanding of some of our fans now is shocking, Roman has given RDM the tools to bring out the best in Torres - everything has been put in place to get him scoring again, unfortunately the set up behind him isn't working, team selection needs some surgery because my issue with all this is - i would be worried more if his team mates were actually creating chances for him and he was missing them regularly - I would be critical then too, like the majority on here but please give Torres and RDM time to get it right! I am not going to go into details about where i believe things could be improved but i will sum it up by stating that we need to attack in numbers which is not happening with this system, it's designed to be more offensive but looks more defensive to me especially with team selection which has a detrimental effect on Torres. We were patient with Drogba, and i would urge fans to give Torres til January at least - if RDM selects the right players/formation and takes the shackles off a little we will start creating those chances for Torres, then and only then be critical not after half a dozen games in a new system that is in it's infancy.

Well all I can say is mate is let's see what happens next season if Cech gets a layoff or suffers a loss of form like this season? We then have to bring in mediocrity & lose yet more ground on the likes of City because we don't have the quality to replace him - 25 points behind them is just not good enough for a club of our stature nowadays, as I said we need 2 players of quality for each position, Courtois will gives us the security, confidence & belief on his return that you cannot associate with any keepers at the club at present. We will have to wait & see what the future brings but those that have a different opinion to ours, including club hierarchy (if he stays at AM) will have to eat a very large slice of humble pie if it goes wrong with a back up keeper next season & we finish out of the top 4 again..........let's see what their views will be then?!

Now we are talking my language, when Capello omitted Hart from the England WC squad of 2010 I was enraged - if you are good enough age should not come into any managers thought process. This current situation reminds me of the decision that Jose had to make when Cudicini (first choice) was ousted by Cech in 2004. Even if Cech is still first choice we need a quality back up that is going to put the pressure on him to ensure he performs weekin-weekout, Courtois looks ready to me, a massive presence, had experience of winning a title & a massive game in the euro final as well as a super season in la liga. For me he has to be brought back now & ready to compete for the jersey, its one area we have got covered & why go out spend on yet another keeper when we have this quality already who cost 7m, all our efforts in the transfer market should be exhausted in a RB, wingers & perhaps a AM.

Umm, his poor form lasted sometime after his father got abducted, Birmingham at home in the FA cup was a prime example, he was atrocious & halled off at half time & rightly so, I was there that game & I can tell you large parts of the crowd wanted him off long before then! As for AVB's instructions, well he wanted all our players (not just Mikel) to start moving the ball vertically instead of horizontally which I agreed with 100%, he also wanted the same as Ancelotti had kept stating in that he wanted the ball moved quicker, unfortunately AVB's ideals didn't work for this team & players like Mikel would of been sold if he had kept his Job, unfortunately AVB's man-management skills let him down. Good players adapt to a different way of playing what their used too, Mikel was struggling along with others, AVB was trying to change our philosophy & for the better imho, he just tried to do it all to quickly instead of a gradual change. As I stated before, I've never been convinced by him but credit where & when it is due, for me he is playing the best I have ever seen him in a Chelsea shirt, I think he has raised his game due to competition amongst the squad - exactly the reaction you would want as a manager.

Sums it up almost perfectly, goes to show you don't have to write an essay to get adulation on here - one sentence was enough.... Not going to go over old ground - got the tee shirt, will just add a couple of pointers. Mikel without question deserves his place in the team at present, he has finally found some consistency in his game (albeit a couple of months) something he has been devoid of, I hope he continues this form into the whole of next season. Some members on here are hypocrites as they were slating him for large parts of this season because he had a very poor spell under AVB but now he shows some progress & is finally starting to show his potential they won't have a word said against him.....its forbidden!!! What I have noticed is that he plays so much better when he has Frank playing with him, seems that they have a great understanding, also think Mata has helped him too because his movement helps all the midfielders as he is not just giving them an outlet he also takes others opponents out of the way thus giving options to move the ball to our other attackers, such a clever intelligent player is Mata, very underated player in PL terms. Won't go overboard with praise as this has been a short spell but Mikel has made a stride forward in improvement, let's hope its the start of things to come.

My thoughts entirely, I have never been convinced by Turnbull or Hilario and my worry has always been if Cech suffers an injury, not to mention loss of form or bans. We need 2 capable players in each position to mount a serious title challenge - unfortunately i don't see that currently in our goalkeeping department. I can see the logic (experience,develop) behind him being loaned again but he could still get a number of games playing for us next season which will give him vital PL experience and a shoe in before he becomes number 1.

Whilst I concur that it was a meaningless game we have previous with this lot & its never nice at any time losing to them, so agree with your post, I also feel sorry for our fans that travelled & paid good money to watch such an abysmal performance - I don't mind us losing but atleast put up a fight, think some of our players were in hangover mode!

Going by these stats then there will be more controversy as I seem to remember Leeds got some shocking decisions given against them? Might be wrong as I've only seen the highlights but the game I saw, Leeds definitely got a raw deal.

Yes it was unforgettable but one question, how did Messi stay on the pitch for raising his hands at Lampard - normally a red card offence but not even a yellow? Messi later gets a yellow.............. Where were these sharp assistants then? Turn the other way I suppose?

I don't post as much I should but I can tell you all now that when Fernando Torres scored it was the biggest, longest, loudest celebration that I have ever encountered supporting Chelsea in 40 years - yes 40 years!!! I have witnessed so many great occasions in that time but I can tell you I never ever, ever, ever eveeeeer expected us to get through but to do it against all the odds that we had to go through tonight is something that will live long & forever in ALL our memory's. I know we have won nothing but what a performance from our boys, & a message to all the younger fans on this site is to enjoy this moment & take it with you as this night is something you will be proud of not only now but later in your Chelsea supporting life - I was PROUD of the performance against Napoli but I cannot describe into words what would optimize what happened tonight. Just loving it!!!

Unfortunately mate, these tickets will be like gold dust and if you are not a season ticket holder or a member with reasonably high loyalty points then you will probably be out of luck i'm afraid. The only place that you might get a ticket beyond that is on Viagogo but i'm unsure whether anybody will sell their tickets for this game, plus you have to be a member to purchase tickets on their site. Good luck anyway.

There was a similar thread last season and the same players i wanted out then i STILL want out now and would add a few to the list, Malouda Kalou Bosingwa Hilario Mikel Ferriera and unfortunately Essien, seems that second ACL injury has finished him. Undecided about Meireles, squad player only but leaning towards him being shown the door too. Still believe Lamps, Drogba and Cole are worthy of squad places and their experience will be vital especially to bring along the talented youth players we have in the ranks, including Feroze and Kiyomya who i was impressed with and should be given first team experience next season. Hoilett for me is a no brainer, he has 2 good feet, quick and the fact he will cost nothing just puts the icing on a deal. I have campaigned for years to see a Arjen Robben return, quality, quality player, would take some pressure off Mata too, imagine a front four of Mata (AM), Robben (LW), Hoilett (RW) and Sturridge/Torres (CF) full of pace and creativity. I hope Romeu is brought back to the fold next season, with Lakaku, De Byuyne and MacEachran also given opportunities. Courtois should also be given the nod ahead of Turnbull as he has shown he is capable. I believe our defence to be all but there with our wealth of CB's and the ever improving Bertrand, for me its just a right back required and haven't got a Scooby Doo who to buy? There you have it a youthful looking squad with experience, although it doesn't make a diddly squat what we think, it will all be about our new managers ideals. i just hope that he implements an attacking formation against defensive opposition which for the large part of our Prem season gets rid of the dreaded holding midfield position - especially at home.

Poor performance but job done, end of. Well played Benfica deserved better on the night. Just one thing to say, I was & still am absolutely incensed by the decision to play the FA cup semi-final on the Sunday & at poxy 6pm - I'm fucking raging now.....

Some good post by Kyle so gets my vote, congratulations Capri.

Obviously a fantastic milestone but...... How many of those 5,000 members actually post? 100 to 200 perhaps? Lots of voyeur's (guests) 2 to 300 sometimes, which is fine but forum could improve with their participation. How many members like Layla has stated, have 2 or more accounts? What percentage of the 5,000 have donated? If a fifth of that figure donated just a couple of quid it would help the site run for a year - all but.....

We ask for a Friday evening fixture, instead we get a Sunday & at the latest time available - what a bunch of fucking arseholes! They have no thought of English clubs or the supporters going to these games, seen more common sense in politicians this week with the fuel strike & that takes some doing!!!