BlueLion.

It's Jim's call as it's his forum. If another Admin allows him back then so be it, but for me to ban someone and then allow them back is pretty pointless and is just poor moderating.

Great professional. Get well soon Drup!

This season could prove to be a very memorable one, considering all the goals we've already seen. Let's just hope it continues, and that Drogba gets 30 goals this year!

Cudicini Johnson Gallas Carvalho Bridge Makelele Ballack Gudjohnsen Robben Crespo Duff Now, that is one hell of a team!

Terry and Lampard are (presumably) honoured to play for their country and always talk how proud they are to play for England; I can't see them retiring, although I wish they would. I cringe every time I see one of them tackled when watching England.

Thanks for reading. I find Cole to be very undervalued, hence the reason why I felt he needed some recognition.

TX was banned mainly for being disruptive. He was controversial and generated a lot of activity but I took the decision because more often than not he was taking threads off-track and mainly arguing with everything any of the Mods did. But that's another story - just keep posting, there will be cookies

Ashley Cole tonight played his 85th game for England, making him the highest-capped full-back in the history of the country. Though Cole has his critics for his actions off the field and what would appear to be a very wild temper, on the pitch he is an exemplary athlete. His stamina is incredible; from the first minute to the last, a manager is guaranteed that his left-back will put in that extra distance to make that crucial block or to provide a killer pass. And that's exactly what the Chelsea man did. With England 2-1 up in Basel, Cole supplied a perfect through ball for Sunderland striker Darren Bent, who duly finished with aplomb. Bent will take the plaudits for the finish and Fabio Capello will be praised for his team selection, tactics and substitutions, but Cole was the true star of the show. Having barely been tested in a defensive sense on Friday evening against a dismally-poor Bulgaria side, Cole faced a much tougher proposition in a Swiss side notorious for their defensive discipline and patient build-up play. In fact, Diego Benaglio had conceded just one goal in his last five internationals, and had even kept a clean sheet against World Cup winners Spain in the tournament's group stages. But Capello's England were rampant early on; scoring through media sweetheart Wayne Rooney, who, despite newspaper allegations about his private life, seems unable to do anything wrong at all. The Manchester United striker's first goal for his country in almost exactly a year (363 days to be precise) was later added to by strikes from Adam Johnson and Bent, whilst young Swiss talent Xherdan Shaqiri replied for the hosts. Cole's performance was nothing extraordinary to the appreciative eye - since his début in 2001, the full-back has consistently been overlooked as one of England's stars. Instead, the media focus has been on David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and now Wayne Rooney. However, his undervalued status only fuels his desire to achieve. As a footballer, Cole has won everything in the English game - and with six FA Cup winners medals, he is the most-successful player to have ever played in that tournament. A natural-born winner, Cole is hugely appreciated at Chelsea for his dynamic style of play; he is seen in the opponent's half more regularly than his own when the Blues take to the field at Stamford Bridge. However his attack-mindedness isn't a typical attribute of the player; in fact, he began his career as an out-and-out left-back at Arsenal, rarely venturing forward. Under the guidance of great minds such as Arsene Wenger and José Mourinho he was encouraged to act as an attacking outlet, although always with caution. It was under Luis Felipe Scolari that his career as a flying full-back truly blossomed. At Arsenal and under Mourinho and then Avram Grant at Chelsea, he was always tied to a leash; he would attack infrequently but rarely dared to go much further than the half-way line. Under Scolari, famous for his attacking wing-backs Cafu and Roberto Carlos in Brazil's glorious 2002 World Cup campaign, he was allowed to attack on his own accord. His game continued to mature and by the end of the 2009/10 season - incidentally his highest-ever scoring campaign with four goals - Cole was the complete defender, reliable at the back and adventurous along the left-flank. His quick reading of the game and excellent timing of the tackle make him a valuable asset to Chelsea, and Cole is now beginning to show his prowess at club level on the international stage. Against Bulgaria he set up Jermain Defoe's first goal with a clever run and lob to the back post, and his assist for Darren Bent's game-clincher in Basel are the first signs of Cole's new footballing philosophy. He might have his problems off the pitch, and his on-field antics (such as constantly berating match officials) may drive many people crazy, but there is no doubt in saying that having developed from a youngster with massive potential to the world's best full-back, Ashley Cole truly is England's finest.

With the international break I've noticed there's been a severe decline in activity over the last couple of days. So basically, get posting! There's plenty to discuss - the West Ham game on Saturday and the return to fitness of Super Frank for starters!

Marchetti's a decent goalkeeper. Would be a good move to go for him in January in all honesty - Hilario is likely to retire sooner rather than later and neither he nor Turnbull give me much confidence as back-up keepers. Plus I don't like the idea of placing my faith in a young goalkeeper I've never seen play in our league.

Fantastic read. Absolutely brilliant, and what a fantastic cause as well. My Carlo Approval Rating has just gone beyond 100.

It's lucky we're playing West Ham next week, as opposed to Arsenal, or Barcelona in the Champions League! I'm hoping Terry will be fit for Saturday, but if not, I imagine we'll see Bruma alongside Alex at the back. The Mikel injury is an easy one to deal with; any one of Ramires, Benayoun or Zhirkov can come into the midfield. Personally I hope it's Yuri; we're phenomenal when we have Yuri, Ash, Flo and Nico all playing on the wings.

It should be working now.

I don't feel sorry for them at all - time for any player who does the dirty to get the flak for it. Its the same as any person who cheats, they deserve what's coming to them.

West Ham vs Chelsea 11 September 2010, 1500 KO - EPL, Upton Park West Ham host leaders Chelsea in a Barclays Premier League encounter. West Ham held the eventual champions to a 1-1 draw in the corresponding fixture last term, but Chelsea will be looking to retain local bragging rights after their 4-1 demolition of the Hammers in March. Florent Malouda set up goals for Alex and Didier Drogba in that game and also scored a superb low strike after an excellent run - and the Frenchman has been showing similar conviction in front of goal this term, having scored four times in the league already. Malouda scored 15 in total in the 2009/10 season - his best ever tally - and he will be looking to open the scoring for the fourth game running as he bids to better last term's form in front of goal. The Blues have been boosted by the news that super Frankie Lampard will be back to face his old team, and he is likely to be joined by John Terry despite the Chelsea skipper having missed the international break. Can Lampard instigate another Chelsea masterclass to continue their perfect start to the season? And can Petr Cech maintain his superb clean sheet run? MATCH CHAT HERE

Wouldn't be so cold if that young Brazilian didn't have a Brazilian

The single best post I have ever seen on this forum Although I bet £110 (all I've got at the minute ) he doesn't get even a hundredth of the flak JT got.

I'll let you off then Sorry if I came across a bit harsh!

I say what I think. Whether that agrees or disagrees with other members of this forum, or indeed the manager of Chelsea Football Club doesn't concern me in the slightest. I believe we have adequate cover across the whole of the squad to mount an effective challenge on our league title and the Champions League this season. Just because you disagree with me doesn't give you the right to call me a 'blind' football fan. I moan quite a lot about this club - a lot of the time with good reason. But for the record, I think we all should support Carlo, considering he is our manager, as well as someone who won us the Double last season.

I must have posted this amount a million times - our defensive cover is absolutely fine in my view. We have utility players who can play along the back four and when we're stuck for cover we have Flo and Essien as emergency LB and RB respectively.

As a brand, we've done brilliantly over the last few years, especially with Kenyon. Pre-season tours to America and Asia have worked wonders for the club financially - arguably even moreso than winning trophies and playing in a UCL final

Was at first surprised to see Hanhemann in goal, but that's a disservice to him; in fairness he's actually a very good goalkeeper and in my view was one of the reasons why they stayed up last year. Top keeper. Nice to see Chelsea players there though - although Silva's inclusion is laughable.

Let's not have a geography lesson please

Had a very good game judging by those highlights. Well-taken hat-trick as well. Some of that in a Chelsea shirt would be excellent

Wow, Spartak and Genoa spent more than us! Not really that surprising considering how little we actually spend this summer, but I'd never really have thought I'd see the day those two clubs would out-spend the Blues in the market.