Slam Dunk

;Not too sure about that. City have a very strong squad and a lot of possibility for rotation. Carlo does not have that option.

I've read many articles about Ancelotti's so called 'resignation' to the fact the board want him gone. I know a lot can happen between now and summer, but I genuinely can't think of who would replace him. Hiddink: Doesn't seem to be willing to break his contract with Turkey, and the earliest we could see him leave would be November. Mourinho: Would obviously want to win something at Madrid (CL) and I would expect him to honor his contract until he does so. Benitez: Readily available, but I doubt his appointment would go down well with the fans. His transfer policy is also very questionable. Villas-Boas: Seems very good tactically. Unproven in any other league so would be a big risk. Not that i'm doubting the professionalism of our players but I find it hard to see him handling the egos of our big name players. Rijkaard: Had a bad spell at Galatasaray, but has a good/calm nature and I imagine him to be the kind of man that Roman would want coaching the team. Lippi: Wouldn't become a long term option. Don't forget, the Chelsea job is probably the hardest in England, the pressure on Ancelotti has been enormous. He has delivered the double to us and as Chelsea fans we should show him the respect he deserves. We all knew at the start of the season, that there would be a period of transition in the squad that we would have to endure. We knew that an ageing, threadbare squad with 5 youngsters being promoted was not as strong as last season. In the summer (2010), Ancelotti was told that the purse strings would be tightened and signings would be limited. This meant that our experienced players were too old, and our youngsters had absolutely zero experience, we had no in between anymore. With the emergence of teams such as Tottenham/others lower in the table, we've seen a much smaller gap between the so called 'top 4 teams' and the rest of the division, added to a gruelling league schedule, it is not surprising the position that we found ourselves in. Obviously we had a few injuries (Lampard/Drogba/Alex) at a difficult point in the season, but in no way do I consider a possible 2nd/3rd, even 4th position in the table and CL quarter final exit a bad season to the extent that some others do, when you consider what Ancelotti was working with. How do you drop Frank Lampard, a Chelsea legend and one of our most consistent players, for a 18 year old youth academy product at a crucial point in the season? I genuinely hope that the board sees some sense, injects some youth into the squad and gradually integrate them into the team, but also provides signings that combine youth with experience. We've seen how well Luiz and Ramires have done since their arrival, and these are exactly the types of signings we should be looking at, 23/24 year olds that will be here for the long term. Ancelotti deserves at least one season, even two, to build a team that is his, and not having to work with what he has inherited from previous managers. I feel that as Chelsea fans we've had everything too easy as of late, relying on the current squad and expecting them to carry on performing forever because it's what has worked in the past. Obviously it would be befitting of the players if they were to win the Champions League finally, but sometimes it doesn't work out as we would like. We are in a period of transition, it happens to every club. Keep the faith.

Because CB isn't a position in our squad that needs strengthening. I genuinely believe we have the best group of 4 CB's in the world in JT, Luiz, Alex and Ivanovic. Adding Nesta to that would be pointless, plus the wages he would command for such a short term deal would be ridiculous.

Cech Ivan Luiz JT Ash Ramires Mikel Kalou Benayoun Zhirkov Torres Or Cech Ivan Luiz JT Ash Essien Mikel Ramires Benayoun Zhirkov Torres

Nice. Makes me really look forward to the inevitable disappointment that will be our new away kit...

Because our squad is the smallest in the league as it is, and you want us to release/sell 10 players? Do you honestly believe we will sign 10+ players this summer to replace them/bulk the squad?

Ridiculous.

And what do we do for the final games of the season, with no manager, and Emenalo/Clement in charge? We'd be hard pressed to find a manager that would be willing to take over asap, or one that has no current managerial position. We are still not guaranteed 3rd place.

I think it was a return to the 4-3-2-1 christmas tree that we haven't played for a while. The only real mistake was Torres starting imo, and we didn't play that badly in the first 20/25 mins, Lampard definitely should have scored.

Precisely. From what i've heard i've no doubts he is a good tactical manager (can't say i've watched Porto this season) and don't doubt his ability, but Carlo was given the job here because of his CL pedigree. The ONLY person i'd be happy with (if Carlo were to leave) is Guus Hiddink, or even better, bring back Ray Wilkins.

And the fact that April 12 is exactly 1 month before the official release date of May 12 is just a coincidence?

Why does everyone want to sell Mikel all of a sudden? Granted he hasn't played much, but there isn't really a need for him in the 4-4-2. We all know that the formation will go back to a 4-3-3 next season, and he is perfect to take the holding role. Anyway, as soon as the older players leave, he is very experienced for such a young age and will be invaluable to the team.

Fletcher won't be playing (according to BBC).

And just like that, i'm back! Appreciate the help mate.

That selection seems much more naturally suited to a 4-3-3 to me. Oh well, hopeful of a win.

Anyone else having trouble logging in? Every time I try to, I get a warning message, "Warning: Require_once" then a fatal error relating to a php file. Meaning I can't access the forum until I delete cookies/empty cache. Then I can read the forum, but get the same error when I try to login. Am I doing something wrong and not realising? Lucky I was still logged in on my phone to post this.

^ Apparently, it's black with blue squares repeated and fading towards the bottom of the shirt (like the orange on this years away shirt). This is only from one source though, obviously it could very well be wrong.

I read the third will be white/lemon/navy - as opposed to black. Hopefully it's true. Black/yellow is a combination which should not be used on a Chelsea shirt.

Think the V shape looks better than the round personally.

It's fake. Middleoftheshed was right, it's a PS of the new Mexico shirt. I imagine we'll get a different template for our home kit.

^ Hopefully not, it all seems a bit 'training wear'. The away info on that site just reminds me of this:

So according to this site we're looking at: Home: Blue w/ lighter horizontal stripes. Away: Black with fading blue patterned squares. Third: White with a navy/bright yellow horizontal chest band. Yellow polo collar. Hmmm... Oh, and the home is confirmed as blue & white, no mention of other colours (i.e red). Released in May.

This pic seems to be doing the rounds: Stripes look very odd at the bottom so i'm sure it's a mock up. Looks nice though!

Sorry, had the colour profile all wrong.