Blue In Green

Pele never played for a European club...(:offtopic:) Anyway, I'd hate to see fans turn on Neymar in November or December. The English game is much different than in Brazil; I do not expect him to torch the league right away. This could be a big problem if Roman decides to spend X amount of pounds on him. There will be a lot of pressure from the moment he signs, and considering his age and some of his "behavior", I'm not totally convinced he is ready from a maturity standpoint. At his age, Neymar is a big gamble with a potentially huge reward, but I think he is worth the risk.

Why don't we get more North American players? ...wait, I know the answer to that one...:unsure:

Holland's government better think long and hard about this one.

There's something to be said about keeping a team that supremely talented in line. They have been focused and hungry since the day he was appointed. Teams like this should implode because Player A thinks he is better than Player B, who cares less about training than the celebrity limelight while Player C is annoyed about riding the bench and thinks he should be starting ahead of Player D who thinks he isn't getting paid enough for his inherent "greatness". Managing one of the greatest football sides ever is not as easy as it sounds.

Anyone will take this job if the price is right. I actually think Jose is whipping that back room into shape. He has silenced Jorge Valdano after his early-season "comments" and Florentino Perez seems to be on his side. I think Jose is being treated a lot better than a Manuel Pellegrini or Bernd Schuster because he demands to be.

Very good! Though, it would be worth seeing how our acquaintances at the Lane react..

I would think it implies that they will let the new manager make decisions on who he wants. It might also be a concession to all of that "Fair Play" crap, who knows...

This will be my next week if this is true... :mellow::cfc:

Happy birthday

Rip Cooper

I agree with this. Rafa is a lot better than Redknapp; he won the CL once and came very close to winning it again. He made a serious title run a couple of years ago with a Liverpoop side that was visibly crumbling. I don't think he's the best option out there, but I'd hire Martin O'Neill before Redknapp.

The superpower I want most is to be able to make microwaves heat things evenly. This bag of popcorn sucks, I'm crunching kernels here...

:ballack: But seriously, congrats to Malouda.

When you have about £7 billion to burn, £50 million seems like buying a pack of gum.

Two CL sides in a preseason fixture...wonder if this will be the only time we see Rangers in 2011-12?

If you want to eat out, look around Earl's Court. () On the pitch, keep the locker room in line. Do that and the talent will do the rest.

Roman has led a renaissance over the past decade or so and I am grateful he's here. He could have just as easily purchased the Cottagers. His aspirations and his money are a double-edged sword. Yes, we can afford players like Torres now, but his sometimes rash decisions don't always make sense on the surface. In that case, we as fans are right to question the thought process behind them. His way is much better than the alternative, though - who knows where this club would be now if he never got involved?

Villas-Boas has managed for less than TWO full seasons. I don't think he is ready to manage a veteran tabloid fodder club, accomplishments aside. How will he handle the next JT/Ashley Cole screwup? How will he assert himself to what is becoming a belligerent boss? Porto is, despite their accomplishments, a regional club. Chelsea has global appeal and attracts global interest. In this league and this club, you can be a great tactical manager but mishandle things in the press and in the locker room and you will fail all the same. I'm not saying that Villas-Boas doesn't have potential, he has lots of it in fact. But do you think Roman will give him the time to grow into the job when others have not had that luxury?

Roman should get rid of all pretense and appoint himself manager. He determines the transfer targets, the staff, etc. anyway. Not like it's a big leap for him. I'm surprised any manager would be willing to work here, seeing as Roman goes through managers more often than most people go through a bog roll/roll of toilet paper.

If Roman really is serious, he should put his ego away, hand The Special One a blank check and tell him to write in however much he wants to get him back at Stamford Bridge. However, I think Roman may want a guy who would be cheaper to fire in 12-24 months if things don't work out, so I would put my money on Villas-Boas.

Well, there you go. That's what I thought would happen. This has probably been known since Old Trafford; I'm not surprised at all. We are running into a problem, though. How many "world-class" managers can you run through before there aren't any left? I fear that we will soon be hiring 'Arry Redknapp or Gerard Houllier...

Carlo's fate was probably decided one way or the other before this match, considering we looked so flat today. I find it hard to believe the players would sabotage a man fighting for his job.

This, pretty much. The logic here is visible; out of the list of managers Chelsea has had since Roman took over, Grant was manager the year we went to the final. (Personally, I think the strength of that side deserves more of the credit.) I thought his performance at Portsmouth last year was admirable, getting them to a cup final when the existence of the club was under serious threat and the side was clearly worse than some in the Championship. However, he crapped the bed with West Ham. On the basis of his performance this year, I don't want him here in any role.