Tomo

Not that I think Greizman will come but I think you're overexaggarating somewhat, Gonzalo Castro gave up CL football to sign for Dortmund last summer. Also Leicester and Spurs being in the CL could work in our favour, one swallow not making a summer and all that.

Out of ten. My first was Hoddle, and i was very young at the time, but looking back it was his appointment that started the shift into the more modern day Chelsea we've seen in the last two decades. 7 Gullit, won us our first trophy for 27 years, but I do feel he wouldn't have taken us close to the title like Vialli did in 99, 7. Vialli, loved the trophies we were winning under him, and if Poyet didn't get injured in 98/99 who knows what may have happened, shame about how it all ended but great spell overall, 8. Ranieri, his second season (first full season) frustrated the fuck out of me, we go to the Cup Final but we were so inconsistent in the league, Ranieri brought his own players and had a pre season and we actually went backwards (Jimmy and Eidur carrying us even as high as 6th), but he made up for it the season after to get us that crucial 4th place, and the rest is history, 7.5 Mourinho first coming, all my dreams came true under this guy, the way we dominated the league those first two years was inhuman, I don't think that will ever be repeated, even a sour last couple of months can't stop me giving his first spell full scores, 10. Avram, hard one to score really, i was convinced Steve Clarke was the man in charge behind closed doors a theory that appears to have some substance giving what he did at Pompey and West Ham. Scolari, would have been a 3 for the Liverpool game onwards but I did enjoy the football we played under him the first month or two, 5. Hiddink first coming, the closest we have got to Jose's first spell in terms of the aura of invincibility we had, if we sacked Scolari at Christmas we would have probably won the title, 9. Ancelotti, would have been 9 if I factor just the double season, but that horrible second season just can't be ignored, he wasn't helped by the board but his one dimensional tactics and team selections played a big part in our downfall, so as I would say 9 for the double season but 5 for the second season I'll split the overall score in the middle, 7. AVB, what more can i say, @Henrique you were right I was wrong, 4. Di Matteo interim, fantastic job, although we didn't really improve in the league and he wasnt exactly a tactical genius, he brought the club together and got us the FA Cup and CL in adversity, his work to bring big ears home puts him up their with Zola in legend status in my eyes, 8.5. Di Matteo full time, I split his jobs in two because for me this was too much for him, we looked like a team split with 5 defenders and 6 attackers, as soon as the wheels fell off vs United he was totally out of his depth, 5. Rafa, some people won't like hearing this but I thought he did a good job under the circumstances, we has a record breaking number of games and a small squad and he delivered top 3 and a trophy, which is about as much as that squad could have got, 7. Mourinho second coming, he did a great job making the squad more equipped to challenge during his first two years, ultimately winning the league, everything went wrong this season but he still did a great job for two season's, 8. Hiddink second coming, yes he has frustrated with team lineups and tactics, and he looks a shadow of his 2009 self, but if you factor in the table from when he arrived the points he has delivered is top 4 challenging form which in a normal season for Chelsea is nothing to shout about but considering what he inherited, it simply can't be ignored or sniffed at, no gold watch this time, but a steady hand through a hard period, 7.

Ok maybe 1 in 10 is harsh, but it doesn't change the fact he is a wildly inconsistent player who looks dreadful on an off day, and I use to say exactly the same about Joe Cole back in the day. I remember a Liverpool game (think it might have been Blackburn last season) he was awful, lost the ball cheaply constant times in ways Ramires would Have been proud, had about three shots that nearly left that stadium, but scored a good goal at the end and got MOTM and a media wankfest. I don't deny that on song he is a very special player, but his consistency lacks a lot.

To be honest I haven't been convinced with his performances this season atall, the fact he's our greatest ever player and Cahill has been worse has took the heat of his displays, somewhat. I can understand the argument for keeping him as a squad player, but not sure he wants to see out his career playing once a month like Giggs.

Assume he's going and give him a brilliant send off, he can't play but he will be on the pitch afterwards. I am sad he's leaving and especially so the way he is (via a red card and 9th or below place finish), but on a footballing perspective this feels like the right time to be honest.

Im Not sure how I feel about us being linked with lots of players in their late 20s (Radja, Bonnucci, Higuain, Vidal and now Matudi). I'm not against signing late 20 or early 30 players per se, but too many of them could see a repeat of what happened in 10/11 somewhere down the line and I don't think anyone wants that. Although having said that, if we sign as many as three of them players mentioned above then top 4 would be almost certain (and would argubably make us second favorite's for the title behind Pep's City), and its vital we get back in next season.

It's actually quite fitting in a perverse way that Mourinho and Hiddink have between them overseen our worst season for over two decades. Before Jose's return, every time things were going not great with managers Jose's shadow loomed large, and after Hiddinks first spell their was always the temptation to call for him to save us. They are the only two managers that have ever really given us an aura of inviciblility. After this season I highly doubt we will be chanting for Jose (beyond sentimental) any time soon and while IMO Hiddink has done an admirable job, he has frustrated heavily with team lineup and tactics and isn't a patch on his 2009 self. For years I didn't actually want either manager to ever return (changed my mind after the AVB debarcle re Jose), my main worry was actually what has happened, that it won't be as good as the first time and would put dents in the legacy they built, but now it's happened, it could help us move on to the new era.

Those ratios are a bit misleading, Conte spent 5 years managing lower sides before his break with Juve. For a more accurate comparison, we should remove Antonio's ratios at the lesser clubs, and Jose's at Uniao Liera for that matter.

It's the end of the season and we have nothing to play for, Gerrard and Steven Fletcher scored at Stamford Bridge after we secured the title last term and both looked like they weren't bothered.

Also if Arsenal finish second it might convince the board to give Wenger a new deal, or is that one wish too far?

Of course we've been rubbish, but that doesn't hide from the fact that Liverpool also regularly have shockers that are every bit as bad as what we have produced most of the season. Believe me I'm under no illusions about the problems with us, but if the awful Liverpool show up Wednesday then we have every chance of getting some points, like I alluded to earlier, the only difference in that game at The Bridge was Coutinho, if say both teams are crap Wednesday but this time Hazard brings his A game (which he always seems to do at Anfield) and Coutinho is kept quiet, then that could swing the pendulum in our favour. And of course what you've said could happen in the summer might actually happen, but he can't make any signings ready for this game.

Bamford isn't good enough, the others should have got some chances tho.

Hes been dreadful this season, absolutely awful, but given the he circumstances of this season I'd be happy to be patient for one more season, but I equally won't complain if we cut our loses. He was good against Dynamo and PSG, but beyond that he's been hopeless. Any other season he would have got the critics he deserves, but the sheer desperation for Ivan to be dropped has ended up with people praising even diabolical performances from him.

Let's also put in perspective that they have picked up one point out of six against two teams that have been flirting with relegation for most of the season, and were dogshit in both. And Klopp may or may not sign those players in the summer but it's not the summer yet, and quite frankly domestically Liverpool have been average and you and a few others are acting like we are playing Atletico. We have took points off better teams than Liverpool this season.

I've got a hunch he's back as a different member.

I'm confused, I thought the Copa America was once every four years, what's changed?

Liverpool have two sides, the one that looks very good like the team against City and Villarreal, or the team that look really bad, and when I say bad, I mean even worse than us. At The Bridge they were just as bad as us the only difference between the two sides was that Coutinho had his one in ten. If the good Liverpool show up it will be a long night, but if the crap version that blew 2 goal leads to Sunderland and Newcastle do we can win even if we play crap.

Ronaldos general play is shit but he's forgiven because he scores 50 goals a season. I'm not saying he is on Ronaldos level, but apart from the first half of this season he's always scored a good number of goals, and his movement creates numerous inroads, we create a lot more chances with him than without and that's not a coincidence. Of course if there is a genuine avalible upgrade than by all means drop/sell him, but considering a fully fit Eto'o is the closest we have had to Costas level ever since Drogba declined, we defiantly should not be rash with Diego. Hopefully in the summer we get rid of the shit strikers on the bench and sign one that offers something different to Costa, what do you think about Troy Deeney? He doesn't score too often but he is top notch at all round technical play which is Costa's weakness.

Torres was just rubbish, 20 league goals in 110 games says it all.

The period where Hiddink took over would have been the worse time to take such a gamble, we are taking sort of one with Conte anyway. The situations we found ourselves in this season required a safe pair of hands to guide us through the season, the reveloution can start in the summer.

I could be wrong but aren't we in or around the top 4 based on the form table since he took over? We were actually 2nd until the players heads ended up in the beach. Has he been perfect? No, to be honest he looks a pale shadow of the tactical genius that we were treated to in 2009, has he made mistakes? Yes, the cup exits weren't pleasant to say the least. But ultimately he was brought in to stabilise a season that was going down quicker than the titanic, and he did that.

Bit harsh on Sterling, first season at 20 years old, he will be a fantastic player. And that isn't the case for me, when I was a teenager, their was a group of about 30-40 of us that played football up the park almost every day (obviously not every one was out every day but that was how many came up regularly), Wembley, matches, head and Vols etc, two players stood out, both of which has trials for Plymouth one even making a couple of appearances (although he fell back in oblivion), but if every person in our group was told two of you will be pro footballers when you're older, everyone to a man (well boy at the time ) would have said those two, and if anyone said otherwise then they were quite simply trolling. Which brings me to the "throw them in see if they sink or swim" argument, if a group of teenagers can spot the most talented players who have a chance of getting somewhere, thensurely highly qualified coaches will know who in our academy have the potential to succeed and who are complete write offs, and that's before we factor in the data they have access to in the modern day.

The most naturally gifted player to come out of our academy in the modern era, which just goes to show that talent alone is just a small small fraction of the formula. Off the ball he makes Mata look like Makalele.

It was the same for periods under Kenny and Brendan, when things are going remotely good at Liverpool they pipe up, the wankfest starts etc etc. Klopps done well in Europe, but in the league he and Liverpool have been bang average.

He's not a world class footballer but absolutely he's a world class striker. His link up isn't all that but his movement causes havoc to defenses, if Conte can channel a full season off Diego in top form I can easily see a 30 goal season (with European football I would say 40 but that's looking unlikely).