BlueLion.

Anyone up for doing the Norwich game? Will give +20 rep.

Oriol Lampard - McEachran Problem solved.

Glad he'll be back soon, I love Hilario to bits but he is a liability at times. Cech offers a greater extent of security and confidence.

Maybe that's why he may not feature on Saturday, because they want to award him the number ten if Benayoun moves on.

Double-bluff?

Superb post, couldn't agree more, especially on the emboldened part. The gap between the first and reserve teams is ridiculous.

Glad I missed the actual draw, it's so unbelievably anal and tedious. A good and challenging draw. Going to be lovely seeing a legend of football in Ballack coming back to the Bridge.

£10 million and we have an understanding.

This is just the original topic from transfer talk, and we have the other one in the player database, so this is just the same as normal really

Because they have poor UEFA co-efficients, this link may help your understanding.

That isn't fair, he's quite clearly using the Force to win the ball here. Gotta love Lampard's expression in the background as well, it's like he's saying "oh ffs this little shit is going to be a nightmare in training."

I don't think we have anything to lose by giving him a run out... I'd say it's worth it, just to see what the hype is about. I've not seen him play besides YouTube videos, but from what I have heard he strikes me as an exciting prospect. Personally I'm fed up of seeing quality players with endless potential being wasted here, largely because of the time they spend rotting in the reserves, such as di Santo. Granted Franco has hardly set the league alight at Wigan and Blackburn, but he started his career here like a house on fire and suddenly stagnated by being dumped in the reserve team when he clearly should have been given minutes.

Re: Torres/Drogba passing, let's not forget they are completely different strikers. Drogba prefers direct balls into feet and chest, whereas Torres prefers through-balls into the channels, that require greater passing accuracy and are difficult to pull off. Though I do believe the service into him is shameful, it would seem the most creativity we have in the team comes from Bosingwa.

This isn't in transfer talk though....

Hi AJ, I'm AH, nice to see you here.

Haha, I'm all for him staying but an extension would be a mistake Couldn't agree more, Jaimin. That's impossible, TX has a case of tourettes when it comes to anything Benayoun-related.

Does he though? Obviously I support him, but if he thinks Perreira is the best option available then perhaps his judgement is no better than Ancelotti's.

I agree. The French Ligue Un gets a lot of undeserved criticism, it is a very competitive league and again it is an open championship. Eden has more chance of silverware with LOSC than he does at Olympique d'Arsene.

Erm... why? Would you prefer for us to do what we always used to do and sell before we buy, and risk having a small squad again?

I fancy Lyon, Zagreb and Ajax, just so our away support get to see some quality teams and experience three wonderful cities.

That's a standard response. "I came here because of the fans/success/club's history/BIG FAT WAGE PACKETS/the manager/being friends with other players". You can choose whichever ones are relevant.

I do hope we'll see him against Norwich, another minute of Kalou this season and I may top myself.

True, people underestimate the importance of the squad 'joker' on team morale. He reminds me very much of Makelele, how he can't be serious for one minute David is almost like a team mascot, which is very important for the squad's chemistry, and that on top of the fact he is a great player makes him a vital cog in the Chelsea machine.

I'm aware that he isn't contracted, but he will be allowed to play in behind-closed-doors friendlies should the club wish to arrange one, I believe. I believe he will probably spend time amongst the Reserves for the rest of this season, however, since we will be two strikers down one striker down because of the Cup of Nations, he may potentially get some playing time in the FA Cup, for instance.

We're not going to buy Hulk, he costs £88 million ffs.