BlueLion.

LDN Blue is the winner of the award, congratulations!

SeB is the winner of the award, congratulations!

Fair play, but I am English and therefore use the word in the English context

Cech's a fucking unit. He is incredibly strong; his upper-body strength is ridiculous. When he comes out for crosses he cleans out anyone in his path. There are other keepers in the EPL, like de Gea or Reina, that fall over or get blocked off. The only goalkeeper in the Premier League I can think of who is stronger than Cech is Joe Hart.

We do.... menage a trois?

This was 15:15 last night and now Sloth has again edged ahead! Will FB pull it back before 12? Who knows?!?!

Kez hands off Jim, he's mine! You can have Steve

I love how you advertise your own 'articulate ramblings' and yet this is the most eloquent expression you have ever put forward, LDN!

The polls close at 12 noon BST!

Come on Napoli!

Yeah, Esk is rarely on these days. One of the best posters around here. Also that little alien Zashko has disappeared!

Yeah, new goalie kit is fantastic. Fits a little tighter than the previous two (the white and the lime green) around the waist and arms but still pretty generous elsewhere. Good material. Green and gold looks amazing as well. Glad I got it!

^ Villa Park is one of the best stadiums in the country. Totally unique.

Why Villa Park? Has anyone thought because it is roughly geographically equidistant from London to Manchester? Makes perfect sense to play the game there, and it is the biggest stadium not being used for friendlies or Olympic football during that period. Plus its 25 minutes from where I live so I won't complain.

What a career the man had. 6 league titles, 2 Champions League, 1 cup, 6 supercups, 2 UEFA supercups, and 2 FIFA World Club Cups. Champion.

I actually want some motherfuckers to join, I'm going to be so pumped and on such an emotional high/low I'll be ready to verbally rip the fuck into anybody and his brother.

Don't know what you're talking about

I'm going to be crying too much at the final whistle regardless of the outcome to want to come on here anyway.

Not necessarily. From the past experiences of running these awards we have never had any arguments or fall-outs. People take this awards with a pinch of salt and in good grace. I think above all people recognise this is just a bit of fun, to reward those members who have made outstanding contributions over the last 12 months, and are not a definitive facet of recognition. Rather that type of recognition is granted by acceptance into the TalkChelsea core I was talking about earlier. You could say that yes, it is some sort of marketing strategy; they are deemed to create a sense of competition and above all; 'banter'. It is about enjoying yourself with a bit of friendly rivalry. And yes, there is little in the means of factuality about it - because the singular causation is entertainment, rather than it being formal recognition, etc.

Yeah the topic post time is 'bumped' to reflect there have been new votes in the poll. It's a bit of a weird system, but that is standard for IP Boards.

Technically yes, if you're only counting this particular TalkChelsea. If you go back to CFC-Fans or even the old TC, then that honour belongs to yours truly. However I'm just going by the staff who got the most nominations. And Kez more than deserves her place considering her commitment to the forum, not just over the years, but also recently - despite some incredible circumstances.

Love you Sammy Basically said that I was going to ban Jim and make him Admin if he gets his friends to sign up and vote for me.

I actually agree with you there, but I think any new member would feel incompetent when coming to a forum like this. As you say, people have respect for members, and for the core group of members (such as myself, Kez, Ollie, Steve, Gianfranco Z, TrueBlue, Badboy, Fulham Broadway, Jim, DavidEU, CJ Revo, etc. etc.) who have been on TalkChelsea since the old forum and then CFC-Fans after it, we are actually all good friends. It is hard for new members to establish themselves here and I guess these awards are testament to that - but after a year and a handful of nominations, new members are able to feel like they are 'accepted' into the gang. Of course that isn't really the case and members are accepted a lot sooner than that (and there is no need for them to prove themselves). Also we make it our policy as staff to listen to all views from all members, as it is our prerogative. And as for your final point, again I agree. The awards do take activity into account as the biggest contributing factor, I agree, yet even though quality is better than quantity, regular activity is what helps establish members as part of the TC core, and that, in the eyes of the members, seems worthy of nomination.

Brendan Rodgers said he would never manage this club and he is quite correct not to want to.

Capello would be my choice. He is an authoritarian with exceptional experience in club football at the world's biggest clubs. He would be able to handle the egos with ease, plus he has considerable experience of the English game having handled the Premier League's best with the national team. If RDM isn't going to be offered the job, Capello would be my choice. He would probably keep RDM on as an assistant if Robbie would accept such a role.