nullabletype

Probably because Roman has made his investment and would like the club to be heading toward self sufficiency or at least something resembling it.

Just reading through this thread and it's been a bit of a head scratcher. You know your reading a truly wonderful forum when people lose it over the signing of the virtually unknown Baba Rahman -- who? -- and immediately place him in their fantasy Chelsea XI, but at the same time are disappointed at the signing of Barcelona "reject" Pedro, at peak playing age, who comes with many winners medals which include multiple Champions League and La Liga titles.

4-2-3-1 it is then...

Well that's disappointing. Linesman is never giving that though and I can understand why. Really wish the offside rule required clear daylight between defender and forward. It would result in fewer errors cutting down on levels of speculation and controversy whilst allowing more goals but still being strict enough to avoid ending the game with a cricket score.

Okay, allow me to have a go. Good football managers are few and far between. Great ones even more so. Mourinho is a great one. Nay, he's a special one -- did you like that? Anyway, the talent pool for players is much wider and as such they are easier to replace, save for a maybe the top 10 in the world or so. So a change of playing staff is a much smaller affair. Particularly when you consider that the majority usually only want rid of players when they are either 1) not good enough or 2) coming to the end of their short careers -- relative to the length of a good managers. Mourinho is a serial winner. Doesn't matter what you think about him or his style, he wins.

Hadn't heard of him until a week ago so my hype levels are zero. Still, after Ivanovic's recent outings I'd not object to the idea of him starting with Azpilicueta back on the right.

I'm all for critique as we were blown away today, and I'll accept that José loves to play the blame game, but who exactly is he supposed to have blamed today? He acknowledged the best team won. He acknowledge their defensive change to ensure the result as a good one. He acknowledged they completely bossed the first half. Myself and the City supporters I watched with agree that we controlled the majority of second half but we just couldn't make our few chances count. The only blaming he did, and he didn't make a meal of it, was the mistakes for the second and third goals and he was absolutely correct to do so. Ivan showed the strength of a wet fart and was shrugged off easily for the second and he played a diabolically poor pass for the build up to the third. Two fair and valid criticisms. Perhaps his opinion on a potential red card? But he was hardly dwelling on it. We were bad, and Mourinho has his part to play for sure, but when the 11 are on the pitch it's down to them, and they just weren't good enough.

Dear oh dear. How is playing to your strength and nullifying your opponent with a firm defense undignified? Am I to assume you'd rather be gung-ho and risk getting scalped by a direct rival but score some points on the football morality table instead? I'd bite your hand off right now for a point away to the joint league favorites.

I'll take a punt and say they don't really care and are concentrating just fine. The boys on Match of the Day 2 Extra have just rightly pointed out that hardly a word has been spoken about the result to Swansea and that even less has been said about today's game. The team are about to play one of the hardest games of the season after a poor start and are walking in to it with basically no speculation from the press because the media are all going to be looking toward the bench. I'd say that's great for a player. They also noted an interview during the week with Matic, where he said he loves how spiky -- to use their term -- José is. Matic said that Mourinho in the press conference is not Mourinho on the training ground. Couple that with the training ground pictures this week where players and manager alike were all smiles. The players know what they have in Mourinho. These guys watch managers drop, remove and let well liked players/friends leave all the time -- think Mata. So why is it you think they'll to go to bits mentally because Mourinho had a spat with two doctors? It was a mistake that has been blown out of proportion by the press and has now been discussed to death by fans who are more worried about popularity contests and PR than football results... How very Arsenal.

Just read a piece from the Telegraph about how disliked Chelsea and Mourinho are -- apparently we care. Anyway, it got me wondering if the Mourinho dissenters within the media, with their hundreds of articles every time José opens his mouth, have ever considered how they'd manage to put food on the table if Mourinho decided to knock the management on the head. Because if this week is anything to go by, there's nothing else to talk about.

What difference does it make and why do we need to know? Presumably another 2 members of the 12 strong medical team will be there instead. I'm all for the everybody from the tea lady to the owner matters mantra, but this is a football club and our concerns should probably start and end with which 7 substitutes will be on the bench. What odds does it make as to which kit man or medical professional gets the nod? Their not going to nick a last minute goal, pull a special set piece out of the bag or keep a clean sheet. We wouldn't be concerned with which backroom staff would be on the bench any other week, why should this one be any different?

Appreciate it.

Edit: I'm an idiot... Hopefully nobody saw my previous post and has already worked on it. Anyway, name change to nullabletype ​please?​​

Well no, that would make somebody a hypocrite. Supporting Mourinho and occasionally looking the other way when he's been a naughty boy because you like having arguably the best manager around isn't delusional, that just makes good sense. I don't disagree with you on principle though. I don't have a lot of time for people who call out person A for doing something whilst letting person B away with it. But what could this current situation be compared to to say that people supported Mourinho but lambasted person X?

Warnings be damned. It's nothing to do with being clever. I was making the perfectly valid point that I wasn't in fact doing what you had accused me of doing.

Except I never asked him not to quote me, so you've had a 'mare there. He quoted me, I quoted him back. Standard forum discussion, innit? I made one reply -- the last one -- pointing out the absurdity of having a discussion with somebody, making a point, and then effectively trying to draw a line under it by requesting that he not be responded to. Every other post was a response to the points he was making. So don't give me "Punch and Judy" when all of my posts were discussion bar the last one. Take it up with him.

I was having a back and forth. Fairly standard forum procedure, no? He threw the toys out of the pram. I'm not wanting to put anybody on the ignore list. Jesus. Edit: ah, thread abandoned.

So you have your last word and I forgo mine because you forbid me from quoting you? And that somehow reflects on my reading comprehension? I read and comprehended it just fine. I just chose to ignore it.

Good for you and the many others who don't support her based on her looks. Welcome to the club, which also includes folks who don't care about the club doctor in any way, shape or form regardless of gender or any other identifier you care to mention. The reasons I, and many others, believe that most only care based on it being Eva are; 1) the internet is flooded with pictures of her from every time she has ever bent over -- and that image of a model who isn't her. 2) submit posts to the effect of "Eva!!! :heart: :" every time she enters the field of play or talking about how attractive she is. 3) the fact that this whole thing, be it forum posts or news articles, has become about Eva despite the fact Jose never specifically mentioned her but instead his "medical staff" which includes Jon Fearn who, by all accounts, has had his roles equally diminished. I'd love to be wrong and it genuinely be the case that most people were bothered because of how a good a doctor she was, but I don't think that's the case. I'd Maybe think that if people lost their shit every time she came on to the pitch because of how good a medical professional she was; or if you can image such a thing, didn't so much as bat an eyelid at a female doctor. Then maybe, just maybe, I'd think that's why people cared. So it is not sexist, nor does it say anything of my character that I believe what I believe based on how I see people react to her.

lol Again, you infer that, and it's a leap. Why does naturally follow that he means "get back in the kitchen"? Why can't it mean, hook him up with a dietitian and a PT? Or are you one of these people who actively looks for controversy. I bet that's what it is...

Holy inference Batman! Sorry, but he didn't. What he did effectively say was; your husband is fat, concern yourself with him and you won't have time to worry about me. He was responding to a woman though, so I suppose the perfectly sound and logical conclusion is that he must mean that she rolls up her sleeves and makes Rafa a pie. Big ol' sexist Jose believes women belong in the kitchen. I could be wrong and will hold my hands up if it's the case, but I don't even remember the various media outlets, who love to get at Jose, reporting it as a sexist comment. In fact, most seemed to frame it, as I have, as a comment on Rafa's weight. Anyway, I don't think I can be bothered any more.

You what? Highlight the sexism please. I'll wait... "The lady is a bit confused, with all respect. I'm not laughing, because her husband went to Chelsea to replace Roberto Di Matteo and he went to Real Madrid and replaced Carlo Ancelotti. The only club where her husband replaces me was at Inter Milan, where in six months he destroyed the best team in Europe at the time. And for her to think about me and to speak about me, I think the lady needs to occupy her time and if she takes care of her husband's diet she will have less time to speak about me."

Who brought gender in to it? I'll concede that one because it was away from football and could be considered particularly personal. Also, the comment wasn't really a dig at Rafa's wife, it was a dig at Rafa's time at Inter after Mourinho and at Rafa's weight -- not that that makes it better. Would I love him? No. Would I consider him a cunt? No. Did I like Fergie for all his whinging and comments? Nope. Is he a cunt? Nope. Do I consider things, as I said, sliding on your knees and silence gestures the behavior of a cunt? No, cause I'm a grown up. I find it so hard to understand adults who stand in football stadiums hissing, booing and chanting insults at football personalities only to cry foul when somebody like Mourinho gives them a bit back in the form of a silencing gesture or the like. I'm even more confused seeing our own fans bothered by it.

I'll concede the first one on your list. However, if any of those, or even a collection of those make somebody a cunt then I don't know. Imagine, a gesture to Liverppol fans, sliding on your knees at Old Trafford, wee jabs that he receives back in kind. What a terrible cunt. What a bad man... Wise up.

lol The other side to the Mourinho cult coin are comments like this, "goes around poking people in the eye". Poked a single person in the eye... once. Was it stupid? Yes. But he's not some serial eye poker. It hardly sums up his character. Outside of that, what has he done? Gurns about referees -- the standard football manager trope. Oh, and this non issue comment about team doctors which the media decided to go wild with. It's hardly a surprise he's not all shits and giggles these days given that the media report everything that comes out of his mouth and can't wait to go all in on anything that bares the slightest resemblance to controversy. What's delusional about fans backing the best manager this club, and potentially the world, has ever known? Particularly in a debate regarding him vs some nonentity, replaceable, backroom staffer who we would never have even heard of if it wasn't for the infatuations of some internet virgins. Also, has anybody ever stopped to think that maybe this hasn't been the first issue the manager has had with the staff?