BlueLion.

Proud to say I was right behind the goal that night, saw some right beauties! (Alex's fk also).

People who think Cole has been anywhere near good overall this season are blinded by loyalty in the same way they think Drogba is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Granted, I even said that a few posts back. RB34 needs a string of matches at left-back to prove himself.

You mean the team when we had Gianfranco Zola behind Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen? Yeah, we were really boring in those days...

They can have Torres instead.

My man of the match yesterday. Think that the Aké performance last night has been seriously over-rated, though he played well. He was our most consistent attacking threat and did a good job defensively.

The Press Association credit him with 21, and Mata with 23. I'm going with them, personally.

Good performance. Nothing spectacular but very composed from the young man. Let's no get carried away though. He did well against Middlesbrough, like Luiz did well against Aston Villa. Let's wait and see if he can do it against Bayern Munich and Barcelona, like Mikel can. We all got ahead of ourselves with Kakuta and McEachran, and look how those two have ended up.

Can't fault his performance at all, in truth. A couple of occasions his passing was poor and he also jumped into a couple of tackles which he had no chance of winning, meaning he was running the chance of getting a yellow. But an overall competent showing.

Hasn't he signed a new deal though? Seems he is intent to stay there.

Well done to Jim and to everyone! Been a pleasure and privilege (and sometimes a friggin' pain in the arse) talking about all things Chelsea with you all. Here's to the next 600,000 posts.... let's see if I can be at 50,000 posts myself by then!

Grant wouldn't be the worst choice. He was moreorless accepted come the end of the season, even though none of our success on the pitch was down to him. If it means as a club we can focus on the field of play rather than who is standing at the side of it, then we might be able to move on and win games.

The only photo that has been changed is the one of the squad (which includes loads of players not even in the first team now, such as Malouda and Sturridge). Plus there's no Benayoun (and after last night, Aké) in it, though loads of youngsters like Chalobah, Blackman and Piazon who aren't even the squad are in it. Plus the fact Robbie and Eddie are no longer here. It's horrifically out of date, so rather than taking a new one they've simply replaced it with a photo RDM simply happens to not be in. Mountain. Molehill.

Now this is all out in the open it might help the team. The players clearly won't back him but right now the situation is clear - he is leaving come what may (no pun intended), and we may as well just get on with our common goal which is winning matches. That being said, I'm currently raping the F5 button!

Can honestly see Roman appointing Shevchenko as manager until the end of the season.

You're welcome. The evening needed brightening up, and some good old-fashioned English piss-taking always does the trick!

I watch more Ligue Un football than most French people do! He hasn't been particularly spectacular on occasions, but then neither has Cahill. Alex can be quite inconsistent, but when he is good, he is superb. I just think we replaced a player you'd rate 7/10 most games with a player you'd rate 6/10 in most matches.

And if he does, West Brom will beat us on Sat.

You're missing my point, I think. Essien gets stuck in. Be honest - who had a real go against City on Sunday? Who in the midfield took the game by the balls, put in a few bad tackles and roughed up the likes of Rodwell and Silva? Nobody. Essien, by his mere nature alone, would. You need the physical side to the midfield on some occasions. I'm not saying he would solve all our problems because he is quite obviously well off his best and somewhat injury-prone, but he can do a better job in the midfield than Ramires can, IMO.

Absolutely hate him at right-back. He must be allergic to the ball because he NEVER closes the cross down.

He had a good game on Sunday but that doesn't disguise the fact he's been poor recently. However I do like his attitude, his honesty and his commitment to the cause. When he is at his absolute best he is good enough to be a regular starting centre-back for this club in my honest opinion. However when you consider he is essentially a replacement for Alex when he signed in January 2012, you have to ask yourself; who would you rather have in your side? A fully-fit and on-form Alex, or a fully-fit and on-form Cahill? As much as I like Cahill, I would chose Alex.

But unlike all of our midfielders besides Mikel, he can actually make a tackle. That always helps in the game of football, right?

Luiz is hyped around one good game in midfield against Aston Villa. I've not seen any improvement in his game in either position over the course of the season. That offer Barcelona made looks better and better every time you see it.

Couldn't agree more. In the old 4-3-3 we played under Mourinho, he'd have been a perfect fit as an alternative to any of Mikel/Makelele/Essien/Ballack in behind Lampard. However in the current side he is a square peg for a round hole. A top player and a great guy, but just not the player we need in our squad any longer, sadly. Not unless we get a new manager with a new style.

I keep saying it; if he's good enough to play nearly 30 games for Real Madrid this season then he is good enough in some capacity here. I'd rather see a half-fit Essien than that fucking leach Benayoun.

Mikel and Makelele are ridiculously similar in their role and function for the team. The difference is that Makelele is a fashionable name to throw around, whereas Mikel is simply the guy that does the donkey-work. Ridiculously under-appreciated. He might offer little offensively but when you have error-prone lunatics like Luiz and Cahill that have infantile concentration spans, the guy that does the donkey-work is bloody important.