CHOULO19

By that mentality we should also stop discussing anything about Chelsea and just stick to reporting news because of course the club knows more than us. But they can make mistakes and I think this would be one of them. BTW, the only reason we broke even last season is because we got 67m from the CL win. No we're not in great shape financially. It matters to me because, don't we currently have a striker problem because we can't replace Torres because no one would pay the wages we decided to give him? Didn't we pay Malouda a few millions last season just so he can train with reserves because again no one would pay him the wages we were giving him?

Because at 160k/wk he's currently probably the world's highest paid sub. Yes, he can do a job for us but he's 30 and we're giving him a four year deal at 7m per year. Since basically we're not going to re sell him and he won't move until his contract is over because no one will match those wages. We are making a 41m investment (13m fee + 7m times four years). Is the job he's going to do here for the next couple of years worth 41m? For me the answer is NO. Anyway this is all speculation and we don't know what we are offering him or if we even made a bid. I just hope that the reported numbers are false.

No our problems will not be solved by one player. I'll never get why our fans like to create each transfer window a "Messiah" and start believing that only he will save our club. Last season it was Oscar and the season before it was Modric and in Jan it was Falcao. But football does not work that way. There are tons of variables and our problems won't be solved by one player. And unless the player we are trying to sign is Messi, then he will never be "The only one"; there will always be other options out there that will work just as well.

Terry's contract was a HUGE mistake by the club. You want us to repeat that?! How about we give Torres to Liverpool for free and then resign him for another 50m while we're at it? And please don't compare De Rossi to Toure. City bought him and made a team around him. Our team will NOT be built around De Rossi.

Th club found it "justifiable" last season to go into the longest season we ever played with the thinnest squad we had in a long time and with RDM as a manager for a transitional season. So, NO, I don't support their decision regardless. I wouldn't mind him here, but not on a 4 year deal and certainly not on 135K/wk!

Wait, 7m per year? For a 30yo? Really?! That's a 135K/wk! REALLY?!!

It doesn't work if you just type @NishC300 for example, you have to type [ member = 'NishC300' ] but without the spaces to get NishC300

Both only work if the member's name is made up from basic alphabet letters. That's why I love winter!

Here, 17 is winter!

Tom won it? Run for your lives! Congrats mate

Have fun

Even when I say I find you good-looking I get into trouble. I swear we can't win with you women!

I don't think the Eredivisie is worse than the championship. And since he is Dutch it makes sense that he goes there since he will probably be more comfortable there and might develop better as a result. He was never going to stay with the first team here after we signed Van Ginkel.

This hardly an ideal place for one...but if you insist! If it helps you settle the debate, you can have the WC here in Lebanon. We don't have the facilities to have it and we certainly don't have enough security, but we do have the world's larges Humos plate and you can go from the beach to the mountain in under an hour!

First, yes I think you are too harsh. No offense, but I really think that your opinion is affected too much by your hate towards Rafa. I'm not by any means a Rafa fan, but I think he is a good manager and an excellent tactician. To deny that, imo, would be delusional. He's man a who's outwitted on several occasions great managers like SAF and even Jose Mourinho while managing weaker teams. His achievements in football are by no means that of a "weak" manager. I am well aware of his weaknesses like his inability to change a game, and his stupid rotation policy and squad selection, but all that is irrelevant here because I was talking about the impact of hiring him on our future. He is by no means one of the best managers around, but tactically he was the best option available (which is why I reckon we chose him), he cannot even be compared to RDM (who I love so much); it'd be like comparing the Lebanese and English NTs. Regarding his time here, at the start of the season I expected a top 4 finish and a trophy (I expected the Capital One Cup tbh, did not see the EL coming ), and at some point in the middle of the season I even doubted that would happen. So to finish the season with just that makes it at least an average season for me; definitely not "terrible". Tactically I think he did a good job for the team consider how "raw" the material he had to work with and especially when you factor in the circumstances like the fans reactions, the schedule..etc. Here's a bold statement: Jose Mourinho would not have done as well as Benitez did in the same circumstances (I don't think he'd take the job to begin with). Not because Rafa is a better manager, far from it, but because Jose NEEDS certain circumstances to work with. If he does not have 100% the backing of the players and fans he cannot do his thing. A minor note about Oscar, even though he was the best at defending among Mazcar, he was also the least effective and affecting in offense. Rafa needed at times to take one of them out of the team to bring balance and since he needed immediate results he opted to go Mata and Hazard who are more likely to win you games and play Moses who made the side he played at very solid. Because of the hectic schedule he could not really work out a proper system for all three of them or work on Oscar's development properly and had to settle for a quick fix. Throughout Rafa's entire time in charge, I think we only had one week where we did not have a game in the middle of the week (or an international break), so that means that throughout that time, he could only have 2-3 light training sessions each week. There was absolutely no time to work on changing a lot of things. This is why I said he did well at improving the team tactically considering the circumstances. You are of course free to thank him or not, I don't think that will make much of a difference now, but I think that your decision is purely based on your emotions and has nothing to do with what Benitez did here. It is easy to discredit anyone if you want: There were no real strong teams in the PL when Carlo won it; Jose had unlimited cash back in 04-05, anyone else could have done what he did..etc (no I don't believe those things, just giving examples of what other people might say to discredit managers). The proof that this has more to do with feelings than achievements is that you'll probably thank RDM for the CL even though he had less to do with that than Rafa with the EL and top 4 finish. I couldn't care less what type of a man he is, I'm not asking you to marry him (you could if you want to, though ) all I care about is that he was given a job to do for my team and he did it so I'll thank him. Would you not thank the plumber for fixing your sink because you heard he was not a gentleman somewhere else? On any account, the article here had absolutely nothing to do with Benitez's personality. In fact, it was more about why Robbie had to go because of the work that needed to be done if we wanted to compete for the PL tittle next season. Most people were just 'offended' by the tittle. I meant it that way so that they would be provoked to actually reading it, but instead a lot of people just got angry and answered the tittle instead (I know you did not do this, but some people did). Anyway, I'm just glad that this season which was always going to be a transition is over, and for me, it has been a success despite seeming destined for failure back in November.

Was expecting to lose regardless tbh. Yeah they have that ability. Learned that the hard way in the opening match this season!

@Barbara, I have a problem with your new display name! No seriously, I can't mention you because of the 'á' in it.

Would't call it "surprising", but another fact about me is that I'm an introvert. I can't stand being with people for a prolonged period.

I'm not talking about traces but rather shape. All nose look exactly the same after plastic surgery.

Trust me, I'd know! They all have the exact same f***ing nose and lips! Not to mention the inability to smile..

Tbh, that looks a bit low-quality..

Haha I can NEVER date someone who's had plastic surgery.

Dude: I rest my case.

I have a very non-mainstream taste in women Just ask Barbara!

The US are really showing their true colors with their defense of Muslim extremism in Egypt. It goes without saying, but the Egyptian people are not happy about it: