Superblue

One word - epic! Every player ran themselves into the ground for the cause tonight. The one thing Chelsea could be expected of over the last few years was to fight back when up against it, and we proved we still have those qualities tonight. I have been critical of Drogba at times, but my god he put a performance in tonight! Torres came on and just ran and ran and ran... And a huge positive was that tonight was the making of David Luiz as a centre half. Terry is still a massive player for us but I believe in Cahill and David Luiz, we have a superb centre back pairing for a good few years. What struck me tonight aswell is that despite riding our luck at times (which was going to happen when 3-1 down), we looked so much more defensively solid and attacked in a sensible yet dangerous manner. It does make you wonder whether AVB listened to anyone when at the club, because the small changes RDM has made have made a lot of difference!

We've been in a few over the last few years. Barcelona 4-2, Liverpool 3-1, Liverpool 4-4 and for some RDM and pre-Roman inspiration the 3-1 comeback against Vicenza the year we won the Cup Winners Cup. I think however given the circumstances and considering we are not the team we were over the last few seasons, getting past Napoli may well be the greatest of the lot!

I feel the more important aspect of the game will be Napoli's attitude and application to it. Remember when we beat Liverpool a couple of years ago in the first leg 3-1 at Anfield and how that match panned out at the Bridge. If Napoli come and think they can ride the game out, we'll have an excellent chance of putting them on the back foot early and nicking an early goal or two. The other consideration is how will Napoli cope coming into the game as favourites for the tie. I remember watching them in the last group game against Villareal, knowing and expecting a win would take them through and I felt they struggled with such pressure for large periods of the game and it took a wonder strike from Inler to break the deadlock fairly late on. If Napoli play with any sort of fear, Chelsea's experience will sense it and potentially take them apart. However if Napoli play with no fear, their natural game and look to attack us then we are in a difficult position chasing a minimum of 2 goals and trying to keep a clean sheet. Team for me: Cech Ivanovic Cahill Terry A Cole Mikel/Essien Ramires Lampard Sturridge Mata Torres Drogba was abysmal in the first leg against a defence which didn't look blessed with a good turn of pace. I think Torres on the last man's shoulder can cause problems, and the key for Chelsea will be the performances of Mata and Sturridge. We have to try and pull spaces about in that 3 man defence.

If Jose doesn't want the job (or Roman doesn't want to give it to him) I wouldn't be against Robbie and Eddie taking the team on full time if the club show signs of progression until the end of the season and make the top 4. If this isn't a realistic option, then there is only one man that I would want - David Moyes. This man WILL get a big job within the next couple of seasons and I would love us to give him that chance. He would stabilise the club, wouldn't accept egotistical players acting like they're above him, doesn't have any worries about blooding young players and would build a club for the future.

Players Out - Drogba (end of contract) Kalou (end of contract - pisses me off we should be getting a relatively decent fee for a player who is only 26) Ferreira - Unlikely to fetch a fee Bosingwa - £4m approx Malouda - £4m approx Mikel - £7m approx Essien - £12-15m Torres - If he hasn't performed and got his goal touch back by the end of the season, we may have to decide whether we are to cut our losses with him. If a foreign club comes in for him for £20m I would be inclined to sell him and use the money for a direct replacement. Players In - Junior Hoillett (Blackburn) - End of Contract Jordan Rhodes (Huddersfield) - £3-4m Lucas Moura (Sao Paulo) - £20-25m Tiote or Fellaini - £10-15m Any one from Soldado, Higuain, Gomez, Lavezzi or Cavani (regardless of whether Torres leaves or not) - £20-35m De Bruyne and McEachran back from their loan spells. Similar to a post above. If Sturridge has not signed a new contract by July then we must sell him in the summer to help fund a replacement - no point letting him leave for free the following summer. I personally think he will sign a new deal and that is my preference but if he doesn't I would hold out for as much as possible from Man City (between £15-20m) and use the money to buy a player like Willian or even Hazard.

This is my biggest worry. Apparently Jose has said his preference is to stay at Madrid. With him and Guardiola potentially and effectively ruled out, I would love to see Robbie steady the ship. If he were to get us top 4 and win the FA Cup, who's not to say the board don't give him a chance. He almost certainly would clearout having worked with the players for the last year (for starters he's already leaving Malouda out!) I would be very happy with a couple of good young players plying their trade already in Britain for decent prices. I already in the opening article mentioned there being very little harm in buying a player like Jordan Rhodes to bolster our squad, and if Wigan were to go down I would be looking at not just Moses but McCarthy aswell. But for me Junior Hoillett is a must, the lad has very good potential as evident today. If we can get him for free or a nominal sum in the summer that is a must - we are crying out for a right footed winger.

I agree with this however I have campaigned for the club to show more willingness to buy direct at a much cheaper price. What I mean is, for how good a player Ramires is and will over his time at Chelsea justify his £18m price tag, Benfica only paid £6m for him a season before. We should be making more of an effort in doing this. The signs are good with the signings of KDB and Courtois. In the past we would have let them go to a team like Valencia or Porto and signed them a season later for double or triple the price. Courtois' price has probably doubled this season! I certainly don't want it, but if there is any positive to take from not getting top 4 is that the club are going to have to be much more astute and clever with their summer activity, which may be of a greater long term benefit to the club...and also we wouldn't be able to buy anymore over the hill players with big reputations like Kaka for a stupid fee and stupid wages!

This might be long-winded but I need to get this off my chest and see what others think. I don't think it's an over-exaggeration to say that this summer's transfer activity could well be the most important in the club's recent history. I think it's widely agreed upon that the club needs a clearout of players, and an influx of young, hungry players. However unlike 7-8 years ago when Roman first built our squad, we have to consider the financial fair play restrictions on our spending. Therefore it may not be only a case of clearing out the 'deadwood' within our squad but also moving on a couple of players who still hold decent sell on value. In terms of players moving on, I expect Drogba and Kalou to leave at the end of their contracts. I'm a bit annoyed we've let Kalou's contract run down, because we could have recouped a few million for him if he still had a year or two left - once again poor management from the top. Hilario may well stay another year depending on the situation regarding Courtois. If Cech is going to remain our number 1 next season (which I think will be a good idea just to ensure we still have a good balance of experience remaining in the squad) then Courtois should go out on loan for another season before perhaps coming back the next season. In defence Ferreira and Bosingwa should be moved on. We may recoup a little money for Bosingwa, perhaps £4-5m. Malouda, similarly, should be moved on and recoup a similar figure and hopefully Arsenal will pay a couple of million to buy Benayoun. However a couple will need to be moved on who can command decent fee's still to help aid the rebuilding process - and my choices would be Mikel and Essien. I don't expect Barca to buy back Romeu, at least this summer, and I place him above Mikel in terms of what he can give to the team. I don't see us recouping anywhere near what we originally paid for Mikel but we could still command a figure between £6-8m from abroad IMO. And for how much I love him, I believe now is the right time to sell Essien. At 29, he is still considered one of the best box to box midfielders in the world, but injuries have taken their toll and I don't think he will ever return to his rampaging best. With Ramires, we already have Essien's replacement. I saw a rumour Juventus planned to buy him for £18m in the summer and although I don't think we will receive that much money, it should still be significant at closer to £12-15m. The other player over whether we stick or twist is Torres. There is no question that we won't get anywhere near £50m for him if we were to sell him, but if a team came in and bid around £20m for him should we cut our losses and sell? I think that will depend on what we could get as his replacement. For example if a player like Soldado was available for a similar figure I would be inclined to sell. However if we are to play with a younger, more direct team, he would surely benefit with receiving the ball much earlier than he does already?! With the players mentioned above leaving that will open up the doors to a number of players coming in. Firstly I think even more so now with financial fair play is to look at the younger players. I don't expect them to become first team regulars overnight, but some have to be given opportunities to make part of our first team squad. I look at the likes of Scott Sinclair and Fabio Borini and although they may not be good enough to be starters at Chelsea, they are certainly better than what we have had on the bench recently. (I would much rather have Sinclair than Kalou or Malouda for example) Therefore the likes of Bertrand, Hutchinson, McEachran and Lukaku must have more chances in the first team setup next season if they are to progress. There is no point having a player like Bertrand as our backup LB, but when Cole is injured, play someone like Bosingwa there instead. They need to be trusted to come in when first team players aren't available. In a similar circumstance to above I see no reason to loan out De Bruyne next season when we already lack wide players and are likely to get rid of Kalou and Malouda. I would bring him in next season, even if he starts as backup. I would like to see a couple more young players signed for much more competitive prices like Romeu, KDB and Courtois have been, who could also make up the fringes of our squad. In the last couple of seasons the club have actually shown themselves to be pretty good in this regards and have made some very astute buys. I also think the club should move for Jordan Rhodes. We wouldn't need to pay any more than £3-4m for him, especially if Huddersfield don't get promoted, and he is a very promising young English player who would beef up our attack. IF Torres were to leave I wouldn't be against us having a high quality striker as first choice, with Lukaku and Rhodes backup and the ability to switch Sturridge into the centre aswell. Then it comes to a couple of big hitters. I'm looking at maybe 3 big signings, all around the age bracket of 22-25 (like Mata was last season) - and I believe we need a creative midfielder, a winger and a central striker. The creative midfielder could well be Mata if we were to switch him centrally and therefore I wouldn't be against buying two quality wide men or a similar player to Mata who can operate both out wide and centrally and have the two continuously switch to make space. I'm thinking players like Hazard, Willian, Lavezzi and maybe even Adam Johnson for the wide berths, and a player such as Cavani, Higuain or Soldado as the central striker. Whatever happens, big decisions must be made this summer if we are going to keep pace with both England's and Europe's elite!

A lot of positives tonight. Ok it was only Birmingham but given how a couple of weeks ago we limped to a home draw with them, this certainly shows progression. Cahill and David Luiz at the back looked at their most solid yet, and with Terry coming back in we have the competition at the back to the season's end. David Luiz in particular looked very solid, swept well and just got rid when needing to. At times I felt our passing and movement looked very good and much more confident then in recent weeks. Despite not being their biggest fans, I'm glad Robbie played Mikel and Kalou today because there was no doubt they were out of favour under AVB and the club needs every player pulling in the right direction and hungry to the end of the season if we are going to rescue this. Rotating the squad a bit will keep everybody feeling involved. I was also very impressed with Robbie himself. He made brave decisions tonight, both tactically and personnel, and also conducted himself to the media after the game very well. He looks so calm and I think that rubs off on the players. Very good start and hopefully more to come. The acid test will be Napoli, if we can turn around the tie I think the end of this season could prove very successful.

The news that Eddie Newton has joined up with Di Matteo until the end of the season I think indicates that they will hand the reigns to Robbie for the remainder of the season. I would love him to succeed and if he gets us fourth he will be an even bigger legend than before! The one thing about his West Brom reign was that he gained a lot of plaudits for how they passed the ball around the deck and played good football. If Benitez were to become our new manager we would appoint him now to allow him to bed in this season and pre season could then be done properly! For the first time, I'm starting to seriously think Mourinho's return is a real possibility!

If AVB is going to go, it has to be now. There is no point sacking him at the end of the season and bringing in new manager who will want to see what everyone can do over a pre season before making changes. It is the reason why the likes of Drogba, Malouda, Kalou, Ferreira and Bosingwa have maintained their places in the squad for too long! I personally think every game that passes, my faith and patience in AVB wears down more, and I believe a lot of other Chelsea fans think this aswell. If Mourinho would return that would be a godsend, but if AVB is going to go, realistically our best shout is Capello. He already commands respect from the English boys, especially the senior ones, tactically and defensively desciplined and he gets results and success wherever he goes. HOWEVER whoever is in charge, a summer clearout of players is most essential!

When the likes of Cavani and Pato are being quoted in the £30-40m bracket and have no previous Premier League experience, Demba Ba would be a fantastic signing for £10m. The perfect age to be playing now, but to plan ahead with for the next 3-4 years, proven goalscoring record in the Premiership, very quick and strong, capable of leading the line. Who else can we get for the same quality for £10m?! Also the issue of another African player is not likely to impact as hard in the future, with the likely departures of Drogba, Kalou and Mikel by the next competition. I think though this will happen in the summer - he's away on African Nations duty throughout January, so I can't see anybody completing a deal for him in this window. I could easily see the entire top 6 bid for him in the summer though if his release clause is indeed £10m.

Amidst the fantastic news that Sam Hutchinson has managed to resume what we all hope to be a promising football career with this football club, the fact remains that the club lacks a regular first choice right back. Ivanovic's favoured position is centre back, Ferreira's best days are well behind him and Bosingwa is regularly at fault for goals conceded due to his defensive indiscipline. Hutch has already shown the desire to get back to playing football again, I wouldn't put it past him to nail down the RB position in the first team by the end of the season, providing he can stay fit. Expect him to be given a run out against Portsmouth and I really hope he takes his chance - it would be nice during what is clearly a transitional season to get another position sewn down with another youngster with lots of potential.

I wouldn't be surprised to see AVB sacked for another manager put under immediate pressure to get results, and hence a spine to our team in 2015 that still comprises of Terry, Lampard and Drogba. Roman will by then have also probably brought another couple of superstar signings on a whim who are unfortunately now over the top and well into their 30's by 2015, like Kaka and Ibrahimovic.

Gary Cahill - Not only do we lack depth at centre half at the moment, but if JT gets a big ban in the new year, we need a replacement for him. Somebody who is used to leading and marshalling a defence. I don't know what his wage demands are and I would like to hope we stick to our guns and don't pay him over the top. However a good, solid homegrown centre half for £7m is very good business IMO. Gonzalo Higuain - If we had a central striker who could score this season we would be right up with City and United. Our midfield finally has legs, Mata provides the creativity and Ramires and Sturridge give us serious pace when attacking. All we need is someone to guarantee the team 20 goals a season (I think Sturridge could, but shouldn't have this burden), Higuain would provide this and if media reports are true that he could be available for £24m he is a must for that price! Milos Krasic - No doubt a talented winger and a different option that the team currently lacks (an out and out wide player). I worry about spending big money on him and he fails to settle (i.e. Zhirkov), but I would be delighted to sign him on loan for the season in exchange for Juventus maybe taking Alex on loan. That way we can see how he performs and if he does well then hopefully a fee can be pre-agreed and we can buy him for a good price in the summer all things equal.

I really like that, it shows a sign of arrogance that I feel we've been lacking for the last 12-18 months. All the top teams have it, and all the top teams are used to facing up to the arrogance of the other top teams. It's something Man City have to learn. On a separate note, I hope that the FA throw the book at Yaya Toure. After some of the crap our club has had to deal with this season, I hope this doesn't get swept under the rug. Toure should get a 3 match ban if not for the kick on Mata, but for the slap. There's not really any defence for it, and I hope the referee puts it in his notes as something he didn't see because they will then have to punish it. Also I don't see any difference to the City players crowding the ref when Clichy was sent off to what Chelsea players did when Bosingwa was sent off at QPR, so that should also be a charge for failing to control their players. I don't mind us being punished for wrongdoings if the other teams are given the same treatment so we'll wait and see.

I felt that the performance last night was a sign that the players are really behind AVB, and in turn AVB is showing more flexibility in his methods. The fight against Valencia and particularly in this game was brilliant, and the crowd responded in turn as well. I thought that Romeu once again was outstanding. He is so composed on the ball and shows real maturity in the holding position. At times I'm just willing him to give the ball a shoe in tight positions, but I think that's because we haven't had such a technically gifted player in that position since Maka (who's actual footballing ability I felt was always underrated). There is no doubt in my mind now that Romeu is our first choice in that position. I was just as pleased with Meireles and Ramires. Chelsea have always had such a powerful midfield in the past and dominated teams accordingly, and I think Man City have replicated that to an extent. But our midfield showed real fight last night and superbly took control over City. Ramires for me is one of the first names on the teamsheet, his energy and pace breaking from deep is unparalleled in the premiership and he has taken over the box to box duties of Essien. Again Mata and Sturridge were our most creative players and have brought a huge new impetus to our attacking play that was severely lacking last season. And hats off to Lamps. He has to get used to not playing every week from now on - he'll be 34 at the end of the season. But he can still contribute at the very least for the next 18 months. His penalty was first class under enormous pressure and I believe he is now 25 goals away from beating Bobby Tambling's club goals record. I'm sure I'm not the only Chelsea fan that hopes to see him break that record.

Why would he go back when the reason he left was to play football? He's getting that at Chelsea, and it's hardly like we're a small team...we're one of the biggest sides in the world challenging consistently for trophies, and he's just starting to break into the team on a regular basis. I feel his style of play also suits the Premier League - he loves to get his foot in and make tackles, and he's a strong and imposing figure. Romeu is the type of player I have been talking up us signing for some time - in the past we would have let him move to Porto or Benfica for example, play well there for a season or two and buy him for £15-20m in a couple of years time. £5m is looking like an absolute steal and a couple more inexpensive gems like this from AVB over the next couple of transfer windows will do very nicely!

It's just ironic that things like this will generally happen. At potentially the weakest we have been in years, and in need of rebuilding we get the breaks this year that we haven't previously. Also after years of trying for some in our squad it will also be ironic if we were to win it with a number of them arguably past their prime (Lamps, JT, Drogba, Cole) What I think could be the biggest factor this season will be where we are stationed in the league come February. If we are, say 10-12 points behind City or the league leader (a possibility given our inconsistencies this season) then there is a chance that we will play for top 4, with the concentration on the Champs League, allowing us to keep the squad fresh for Europe. We learnt this to our detriment with Liverpool a couple of times that it can be a great benefit to not be in the title race.

Whoever wins the Champions League every year requires some form of luck at some point during the competition. Unfortunately for us, some of the teams that have gone on to win it have had their fair share of luck against us over the years. One thing that I personally have never enjoyed (and we've subsequently struggled with) is playing against English teams in the Champs League. Since Abramovich brought the club we have played an English team in the Champs League in 7 out of the last 8 seasons: 2004 - Arsenal (QF) 2005 - Liverpool (SF) 2006 - Liverpool (Group Stage) 2007 - Liverpool (SF) 2008 - Liverpool (SF), Man Utd (F) 2009 - Liverpool (QF) 2011 - Man Utd (QF) With United and City's plight, not only have two real top teams fallen away, but there is a lot less chance of playing an English team this year. And if we do, despite our loss a couple of weeks ago, Arsenal are arguably the weakest of the English teams to play. I just have this feeling that we will be much stronger in 2012 under AVB, and with a couple of decent draws and some of the bigger sides knocking each other out, this could be the year when luck is on our side and during our supposed period of 'transition' it would be highly ironic if this were the time the holy grail finally arrives at the Bridge?!

I would have said that I don't want Napoli but they were very poor against Villareal and I think as the competition progresses and the pressure heats up, they may struggle with that. AC Milan are not the force of old, although they should be respected for some of the players they still have, they are more than beatable. I don't think there are any real banana skins this year and with a one or two additions in January, Essien, and another couple of months getting used to the new ideas and styles of AVB I see no reason why we can't find ourselves in the 1/4 final draw no matter who we get in this round.

Drogba has been a fantastic servant at the club, a wonderful striker and showed last night, he's still capable of rolling back the years and putting in stellar performances. The problem is I don't believe the club can justify giving him a 2 year contract on such large wages - he would be 36 by the end of it! I'm glad the club have stuck to their guns on this one only offering a one year extension and if Drogba rejects this then so be it. The club will move on, simply because it has to. We will adapt our game accordingly to not having Drogba anymore. The same questions have been asked over the last couple of years of how are we ever going to replace Lampard. The answer is you will not find a replacement who will score the same amount of goals, but instead find an alternative which may benefit the team as a whole allowing others to spread those missing goals out between eachother. You would hope that next season Lukaku is in a position to take over from Drogba as the physical battering ram focal point of the attack. I believe then another striker may be purchased of a different type and style. There's no harm having 2 or 3 strikers with very different attributes because it can ask more questions of opposition defenders. There's always the risk of buying a big name striker from abroad aswell - some come in and perform, and others bomb. Every English club has experienced it! Attitude permitting I just wonder whether Tevez would be a decent bet for the next 2-3 years. He's shown at Man City he can lead an attack as the central lone striker, would give plenty of fight and energy, not to mention goals and creativity to the front line. The biggest sticking points are of course his attitude being a risk, and if Man City would sell him at a realistic price. Maybe a swap with Torres? One thing is, given the signings of Romeu, Meireles and Mata, I fully trust AVB's judgement in the transfer market to rebuild our squad.

The problem is Barca and Real Madrid are excellent at using the media and their own players to their advantage as an almost 'legal' way of tapping up players. I agree if they want him back the emotional attachments, and pressure Barca would put on him to come back may be too great. However I think we can still hold on to him even if Barca come knocking. The lad is talented, very talented and has the potential to play as our holding midfielder for the next 8-10 years minimum if he keeps developing as he is. If by the end of this season he can establish himself as first choice at Chelsea in that position (which I think is what AVB wants) then next season push on and make himself an integral part of our team then he may look at the situation and consider himself to have a very promising career here, where he is hopefully part of a new, vibrant, young football team where he is playing week in week out. I know Barca are such a massive club, but I think a lot of people on these forums are doing us a lot of injustice because we are also a huge, worldwide renowned football club, capable of success. For him if he is playing regularly for Chelsea, the clause will give him a bargaining chip with which to re-negotiate his contract.

Yeah it's important to remember that Anelka carried our front line through both the Scolari era and numerous Champs League group stages that Drogba was suspended for. I actually feel at the moment he is the best fit to play central striker alongside Sturridge and Mata because he is still explosive and clinical. I agree with the other comments regarding his attitude being first class and he has always spoken of the club in high regard. Alex IMO has always been underrated, particularly in the media who have never considered him a first choice at Chelsea. He was first choice throughout Hiddink and Ancelotti's reigns and deserved to be. His free kick will always go down as one of my favourite Chelsea goals ever! I can see us trying to get around £7m for Alex and using it on Cahill. If we can get him for the same money we have made selling Alex I will be happy with that. I wish both every success in their football careers beyond Chelsea.

On the basis that we are talking about a rebuilding job which is likely going to span a couple of seasons, I would look at in January snapping up a couple of players in their early 20's who have the potential to make an impact in the 2nd half of the season, but are also given the breathing space of being purchased in January to 'bed in' before the following season. I don't think these players need to be world beaters for £20m+ each. If we could nab 2 or 3 in January for about £20-25m combined, the rebuilding continues. Despite not playing great against us, I'm talking about players like a De Bruyne (£8m?) as opposed to a Di Maria (£25-30m?). Areas of focus would be a centre back with pace and good anticipation to sweep behind him. Somebody who if we are going to perservere with it, can help us play this high defensive line to good effect, a left winger/front man who will allow Mata to play as our central creative player, and a young striker, preferably one with lightening pace to play off the last man. Having written the above which makes so much sense to me, why am I so worried we will splash out £30m on Kaka and another obscene amount of money at the next 'past great' striker!