BlueLion.

Absolutely, it's not as if he'd played 82 games for club and country over the last 13 months, either!

^ at Chelsea, he was! I can't quite get my head around why people would say otherwise! Overall there is no doubt Roberto is hardly a world-class manager, but he did a good job at Chelsea! I cried when he was sacked, yet no-one shed a tear when Andre got the boot. That speaks volumes for what each man achieved at this club.

'Great' is a very subjective term. Sir Alex Ferguson is a 'great' manager. For me, Villas-Boas is doing the right thing by going to a club that will challenge him. Chelsea was too big a step. As for Guardiola, I am a cynical bastard and to me, him choosing Bayern is another easy job. Those players can manage themselves. It's like saying Avram Grant did a great job, whereas in truth he inherited from Mourinho the greatest squad in our history, and, in truth, it was down to the Drogbas, Lampards, Terrys, and Ballacks who led the team. Villas-Boas has the potential to be a good manager. Guardiola, well, the jury is still out on him until he goes and challenges himself somewhere. I'm not being disrespectful at all. I just think people are finding it fashionable to suddenly like Villas-Boas, whereas 15 months ago people were cursing him. As for Guardiola, he's a lovely person and was a very good player. Sure, you measure managers at big clubs by success and you see he has won an incredible haul of trophies, but I don't think either the Barcelona or Bayern job will define him as a coach. That is my opinion. To say I don't "know anything about football" - that is disrespectful. It's a difference in opinion. Deal with it.

For quite a lot of his games - and far, far more than 90% of people on here will ever concede - you could describe Drogba as "lazy" or "lethargic", take your pick. In my honest opinion, I remember as many games Drogba had in his latter two years here that would be described by those two terms, as opposed to being described as anything around "good". I'm just being absolutely objective here. I'm not "forgetting" anything. I loved and worshipped Didier as much as the next person. Hell, I've even got his name and number on the back of my 11/12 kit (an inspired choice considering his last five goals for us were absolutely massive!). I'm just saying that there is definitely a "Drogba Myth" on this forum. A definite cult of personality, that makes him out as some sort of messiah. He was a great player for us on the whole, no-one can doubt that. I just think many Chelsea fans over-rate him, or more specifically over-rate his performances and his playing qualities. Just think some aspects of what I was saying have been lost in translation! I love Didier, as I have said, but a lot of people are blinded by sentimentality, I think. I don't play FIFA. I play Call of Duty, and when you shoot people in the head on that game, they die. You also get extra points! My knowledge of anatomy is just fine, thanks. I can't believe people are so butt-hurt over a difference of opinion. If someone goes into the Cech thread and calls him shit, I don't throw my toys out of the pram, I have a civilised discussion rather than simply name-calling like YouNameIt.

^ I've merged it with the Drogba thread

If AVB is a "great" manager for winning with that Porto team, then so is Guardiola for inheriting the best Barcelona and Bayern sides in their respective histories. Andre certainly has potential and I would love him to have a long and successful career (provided it isn't in England), but to call him "great" when he only has two full seasons under his belt is premature in my view.

Think you might have taken my post the wrong way. Drogba used to be a fantastic defensive player with a phenomenal work-rate, but it was sporadic at best after his Malaria bout. Don't worry, I find it cute he's so butthurt by me calling Drogba "lazy". And let's face it, in his final two seasons, he was. People remember the great games when he scored some wonderful goals, but do people recall matches such as against Marseilles away in the UCL? I invite you to go back to the match thread and read some posts from it about Didier that night. Sadly, there were more of those nights, especially under Ancelotti, than there were Munichs. Here are a few comments from after that game against Marseille, and I can pull plenty more from other threads if you need. You see, I back my arguments up with evidence instead of just name-calling. zolayes said: "essien and drog are our big players with lamps missing ...essien has missed games thro a stupid tackle leading to the ban and then an injury.#in the 2 games he has been back he has been invisible...drog back to his very worst..." Peace. said: "i don't have enough courage to speak about the other players, some of them don't even deserve it (Drogba)..." RX8 said: "I am very disappointed, especially Drogba in the last 2 months". Shane said: "Drogba seemed more interested in the Marsielle fans then he did the match, I hope he fucks off in the summer, Nothing like what he was last season". Clevemayer said: "WTF is going on with Drogba? He looks more like the Drogs of 2004/05 than the Drogs of 2007/08 or 2009/2010 what a puffy, he isn't anymore the ram he used to be to just destroy defences." Aesthetic Relic said: "Drogba was a bloody joke tonight. He'd have been better getting paraded around the ground on a fucking float the amount of waving, apologising and general fannying about he done while he was on the pitch.". I might be a "moron", but you're totally blinded by perspective. One fluke prediction doesn't make your opinion gospel. I invite you to challenge what I'm arguing, but if you're just going to revert to name-calling then it would be nothing but a pointless exercise. I'm not quite sure why I've taken the time to reply to you. On that note, goodbye, and let's hope your predictions for this season aren't so horrifically and hilariously wayward.

^ of course I meant that. RDM was a far more successful manager for us. Fair enough we kind of gave up in the league, but his win percentage was 57.15% compared to AVB's 47.5%. Unlike stats for players, managerial stats are easy to diagnose. The more games you win = the better manager you are. Fair enough people will say Manager A has done a great job at Team Y because he had hardly any money to spend and got the best out of his players to finish mid-table, or Manager B did brilliantly to steady the ship and stop Team Z from getting relegated, but at a big club managers are judged on how many games they win, and what trophies they win. AVB managed us for 40 matches, and won 19 of them. RDM managed us for 42 matches and won 24. In that time he won two trophies and fucked Spurs over 5-1 and, under AVB's tutelage, 4-2. That, for me, is enough to say at Chelsea, Roberto di Matteo is categorically the superior manager. Okay, we suffered a few shite results under Robbie, such as the 3-0 at Juventus, losing 4-1 at Anfield and losing 0-2 at home to Newcastle, but we won the ones that mattered. Under AVB, do you recall the state of absolute dejection you felt after getting dicked over at Old Trafford; losing 3-5 at home to fucking Arsenal; then 1-2 in the league and the cup to Liverpool, both at home; drawing at home to Birmingham in the FA Cup; losing to Leverkusen and Napoli in Europe; losing to West Brom for the first time in about sixteen centuries, etc. etc. etc. - it was fucking dire. You never felt that sort of desperation under any previous manager since probably before I was born!

Slightly unfair, Torres has come up with goals when we've needed him to, especially in Europe. Drogba was lazy. One day I will write an essay called "The Drogba Myth". His work-rate was incredible until around about 2010, after he suffered his bout of malaria. He lost a lot of muscle build and his stamina dropped big-time as well. In 10/11 and 11/12, at times he was borderline useless - he just had the benefit of scoring goals in massive games and he was up against Torres when he was at his absolute worst. He walked around a lot, he sulked. Sure, he has always been a beast at defending corners, but I'd personally say that players like Cavani, Falcao and even Ibrahimovic are good at defending set plays. Not as good, but still pretty proficient. The romantic image of Didier terrorising defenders with his work-rate, like against Liverpool in the 4-1 at Anfield in 05/06 or the 6-0 away at Wigan in 2010 is one that people remember, not the lazy bastard who sulked like fuck under Ancelotti and Villas-Boas.

Seems to have a wonderful attitude towards life, much like Luiz. Seems to have a good work ethic, and has an air of humility and a genuine quality to his person. Looking forward to seeing him play for us, I have a funny feeling he might well become my favourite player.

Not sure on the thick collar from that photo...

For that amount of money, people will give him the benefit of the doubt in his first season. But if he, likes Torres, doesn't score a minimum of 30 goals in his second season, he'll be condemned to the scrap heap to join the long list of ruined strikers this club has blown millions on. Let's be fair, people were unhappy with 23 goals from Torres, so anything less than that from Cavani and there will be anarchy in SW6.

£18 million was reported on Sky Sports News, and the BBC are going with that, too.

Look on Twitter, everyone is shitting themselves.

Well our free numbers between 1 & 23 are 15, 19, 22 and 23 - those are the four you can see him picking from, and 19 seems to suit him in my mind.

Chelsea FC have confirmed the signing of Germany international Andre Schurrle on a five-year contract. The versatile attacking player - who can operate either as a number 9, or on the left or right flank - has played 24 times for his national team, scoring seven goals in the process. The highlight of his international career thus far was netting the winning goal in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Brazil in August 2011. He joins from Bayer Leverkusen, and having had two productive seasons with the German giants in which he scored 23 times in just 83 appearances he will add to the expansive list of attacking talent the Blues can now boast. At just 22 years of age, he joins the likes of Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Oscar and Kevin de Bruyne in a youth-orientated squad, and due to his versatility he will not only provide competition for Romelu Lukaku, Demba Ba and Fernando Torres up front, but he will also offer a degree of genuine width that has been missing since the departure of Florent Malouda. Schurrle in fact played against the Blues during the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League campaign, starting in Chelsea's hard-fought 2-0 win over Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge in September, before coming on as a substitute to help turn the reverse fixture on its head as the German team came from behind to win 2-1. You can officially welcome the player by heading over to Schurrle's thread in the Player Database. Click here to view the article

I've tentatively "designated" 19 to KDB until his number is confirmed.

On 18 April 2013, it was confirmed that Bayer Leverkusen's director of sport Rudi Völler had travelled to London to hold talks with Chelsea over the transfer of Schürrle, although no fee had yet been agreed. On 13 June 2013, Chelsea confirmed via their official website that they had reached an agreement with Leverkusen for the transfer of Schürrle. With the transfer fee reported to be in the region of 21 million (£18 million). On 25 June 2013, Chelsea announced that they had completed the transfer of Schürrle. With Schürrle signing a five-year contract and was given the No.14 shirt. Click here to view the record

Tactically, yes, but:

Meh. Mourinho > di Matteo > AVB.

I wouldn't listen to a word he says. I'm pretty sure "Tancredi" is the Italian for "troll".

Looks like we're on the same page here, then. I would welcome and support Cavani, but to me the prospect of allowing our £18 million investment in Lukaku to be given a fair go this season is something I am really, really excited about.

The first season of the Abramovich era was the most exciting year in Chelsea's history, I think. Yes, we didn't achieve what we wanted to on the pitch, but the promise of amazing things to come was incredible. Signing new players every couple of days... it was absolutely incredible.

The buy-out clause "running out" is potentially bad news. If Napoli won't sell him for £50 million, when we know £53 million releases him from his contract, what will they sell him for when there is no maximum bid? £90 million?! I don't think he's going anywhere.

No, it isn't off-topic at all. This is the Isco thread, who may well be joining Real Madrid or Man City. Since we're discussing the player, it is prudent to discuss where he would fit in at his next club, including formations, tactics, and other players being sold to make way. How that classifies as "off topic" is beyond me.