Tomo

When did Courtois make such a mess of controlling his area the way De Gea did for Ben Yeddar's second goal?

He will be regardless, at least as far as the top level is concerned. His first touch is more miss than hit and he is useless when he doesn't have acres of space

Far too erratic, will still be a 'prospect' at 30.

Yeah, and soon Morata will have another good spell while Lukaku can't hit a barn door as was the case in the Autumn.

He was fired for having them in the bottom half, was the main reason Juve fans were so against him.

Well, he choose to work in the last environment that Conte thought was impossible to work at, and did the exact thing Conte said was impossible to do (do well in the CL).

Sulky Hazard ?

But that's the point, in this current climate were goal record seems to be everything, would Figo even be considered for a Balon Dor, let alone win one? At Barca his trophy haul was similar to Eden's here, it was only at Madrid he was in teams that started to make serious waves in CL.

I don't think a player who has carried us numerous times can have his mentality questioned. As for his goal record, he's the type of player that won't shoot unless the shots on, Luis Figo best tally for a season was 14 and he was never questioned.

Oh i agree, i just believe that's possibly Roman's thinking and because of that he will probably see the season out and maybe even get a 3rd (is Conte stubbornly refusing to walk away from a payout and Roman stubbornly refusing to give him one really out of the question?). I think what this also shows is what i have suspected all along and that Roman isn't this impulsive trigger happy lunatic he's made out to be, he just won't give time to people who haven't earned it (be it either track record or showing positive signs despite average results).

When his mentality is questioned and claims he doesn't do enough purely because he's "only" scoring in the teens every season (amoungst other things) are ridiculously unfair and untrue. Constructive criticism on occasions is fine, but i have never seen a sheer volume of supporters try and play down a special player of their's the way we do with Hazard, ever!

Well im not even 1% Belgium and i think most of the criticism he gets is truly ridiculous.

Because unlike AVB and Scolari, Conte has a track record at not only Chelsea but other major European clubs to fall back on, and unlike Jose we ain't 16th.

We have won many late points under Conte.

If we can find one like that then ok, but looking in hindsight imagine how brutal it would have been had we backed Jose over Hazard? It would have made KDB's sale look like a masterstroke. When we have players as special as Hazard then i would choose them over any manager outside of by some miracle finding our own Fergie, and i wouldn't have to think twice.

Im responding to Polo's comment which means im talking about the eyes of the fans. Kalou, Malouda and Anelka were getting the piss taken out of them the season after they helped deliver the double while the same success protected Carlo from a lot of criticism. You can blame the recruitment on the fact we are not retaining the title but the fact we are odds on to dive into Europa next season is a lot to do with Conte and his tactics, man management and manchild like behavior. The fact we were comfortably in top 4 and even looked a good bet for second till his latest episode makes this all the more hard to take.

Players don't get free passes because of the past, so why should managers? Conte has done a poor job this season no matter what way it's spun.

He's basically replicating Wenger's tenure at Arsenal, only instead of doing it in twenty years he's doing it in two.

Hazard > any manager.

The main reason his United side was so boring was because they didn't have the players for his style, we do (although serious question marks have to be raised about how he didn't recruit suitable players given his outlay). United didn't have the two most crucial elements he needed, ball playing defenders and pace up top, we have both. His youth integration is also a massive plus (given the quality of the 99/00 generation getting a manager with a respectable youth record is crucial), if he can get a tune out of Blackett,Mcnair, Borthwick Jackson and Rashford the likes of Ampadu, Mount and CHO should be childs play. Now don't get me wrong he isn't my first choice, far from it, but should it happen for the short term it certainly won't be the doomsday confirmation like some will inevitably make out.

Gut instinct, i feel he's a bit too narrow minded at times (his comments on Robbie Savage prime example, and how he just wouldn't let the Rafa fued go) and that's a massive red flag, Lampard out of our old guard will if anyone be the world class manager.

Terry will be an awful manager.

I dont blame him for not retaining the title but if we miss out on top four, it's all on him.

You weren't about under the Benitez, AVB and Scolari reigns then? Thats before we mention the first two using their status to get new deals oh and Drogba speaking out with public transfer requests for about a year.

Bit extreme.