BlueLion.

Absolutely fascinating to read. And I think this kind of encapsulates what a few of us have been saying regarding fixtures; City's first "half" to the season was considerably easier than ours, with us really only needing to go to the Emirates in terms of very "difficult" away fixtures. City conversely have a few tense looking trips, such as Old Trafford and of course Stamford Bridge this Saturday. Well worked out and presented, thank you.

With regards to Lukaku, I don't think I'll ever regret us selling him. KbD I wish had stayed, but he was only ever going to be a wide player under Mourinho at best, and if he'd have stayed then we'd probably have gotten rid of Oscar.

Cannot fucking wait for this. I pray to see us handing out a right fucking kicking tonight.

Bye Shirley, please don't score against us in the UCL next season.

Would absolutely love it if we signed him, not going to lie to you.

Transfer news: Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado wants to join ChelseaLast Updated: 26/01/15 10:16am 26Juan Cuadrado: Fiorentina winger wants a move to Chelsea Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado has made it clear he wants to join Chelsea, Sky sources understand. Sky Bet The Serie A club are reluctant to let the Colombian winger leave for anything less thant his £26.8m buyout clause, and Sky Sports News HQunderstands discussions are still ongoing over a potential move to Stamford Bridge before the deadline. No formal offer has yet been accepted for Cuadrado, who played for Fiorentina against Roma on Sunday, and his current manager Vincenzo Montella is at pains to let him leave following 21 goals in 82 appearances for the club. Montella said last week: “I believe, as of today, there are no possibilities he will leave Fiorentina. He knows this and that these situations get exaggerated. “I’m not angry with the media, In this case I’m not referring to the media, but to football. All that is being said is just talk and nothing more. The player is not involved in all of this.” Source: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11668/9661484/colombian-winger-juan-cuadrado-tells-fiorentina-he-wants-to-join-chelsea

If we really wanted him, he'd be here by now. The club look set to sell Schurrle; we've surely learnt from past mistakes not to sell before we buy - so if Schurrle is leaving then it is only a matter of time before he arrives. Right?

Chelsea legend Michael Essien has only furthered his reputation amongst Blues fans by declaring he could never play for another Premier League side. Essien, who left the club on a free transfer for AC Milan in January 2014, played more than 250 times for the West London club, scoring 25 goals and winning multiple major honours. A then record signing from Olympique Lyonnais, the Ghanaian international cost Roman Abramovich a hefty £24.4 million - but that investment can be seen as money well spent. 'The Bison', as Essien was affectionately known amongst the Chelsea faithful due to his marauding runs from midfield and his boundless energy, scored arguably when he volleyed the Blues ahead in an ill-fated draw with Barcelona in 2009. Essien has reportedly snubbed a move to Chelsea's local rivals QPR and has also turned down West Brom as he seeks a new club in Europe - as he does not want to play against his former club. The 32 year old, out of contract with Milan in the summer and unlikely to be handed a new deal, is instead setting his sights on a move elsewhere in Europe. Though UEFA Champions League football could bring about the possibility of Essien one day playing against the Blues in European competition, the Ghanaian has ruled out the possibility of playing for another English club - and is shocked that Frank Lampard could have the heart to do so. Lampard, who left Chelsea for Manchester City in the summer, has not only played against the Blues but also scored against them in a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in September. The Blues' highest scorer of all time is now, injury permitting, set to return to Stamford Bridge for the first time as a rival player - but that is something Essien simply could not stomach. "It will be a very strange situation [for Frank]. I cannot see myself doing that against Chelsea", said Essien. Essien insists that playing against the Blues in Europe - just as Didier Drogba did for Galatasaray last year - would "be different", but claims he could not compete against his club of nine seasons in the Premier League, unlike Lampard. "But, at the end of the day it’s another game and he [Lampard] is a professional". Essien believes that Chelsea fans will not forget what Lampard gave the club: "I believe the Chelsea fans are always going to give him their warmth and respect everything that he did for the club", he said. "I’m sure that they will give him a welcome". With Arsenal supposedly interested in taking the former Blues star on a short-term deal, Essien concluded by saying it would "be difficult" to ever play for a "different team in England. Going back to play your old club when you’ve been there for so long... wow!". Click here to view the article

We won't. We'll attack from minute one.

As Mourinho said about Didier, the same about Cesc. Let's judge him when he leaves Although Drogba and Cech will always be my two favourite Chelsea players, they'll take a lot of beating. Fuck Costa and Courtois

1. He's bald as anything 2. I don't have Cech's name on the back of that shirt sadly. 3. That isn't my scrum cap. Mainly because I don't wear one. Limits your peripheral vision and what's the point of a prop wearing one? 4. I wasn't at the Bradford game on Saturday. 5. If I was, I'd be too much of a pussy not to be wearing a coat. 6. That guy is taller than me, I think. 7. I can't move my left elbow into that position at the minute. Cricket injury. 8. Are those jogging bottoms he's wearing? Ewwwwwwww. Otherwise a very good shout.

I'm not sure if I'd advocate Schurrle's sale. Not at this stage, and not until a replacement is guaranteed.

Andre Schurrle looks set to leave Stamford Bridge this month after being left out of Chelsea's 18-man squad for their cup clash with Bradford. The German World Cup winner had a phenomenal start to the season off the back of his international success in Brazil, but has since found first-team opportunities under José Mourinho hard to come by. The former Bayer Leverkusen man was an £18 million acquisition in the summer of 2013 in what was Mourinho's first signing in his second spell as Blues boss, but rumours of a big-money offer from Wolfsburg have prompted speculation over the German's future with the West London club. There has been a suggestion that the sale of Schurrle would free up funds for a move for Fiorentina's Juan Cuadrado, who is supposedly Chelsea's primary target this transfer window. Mourinho has suggested that "only a phenomenal offer" would see Schurrle leave, adding that he wanted the Blues' number 14 to stay. But after on Friday saying that the German would be involved in yesterday's clash with Bradford at Stamford Bridge, the German was left out of the Blues' matchday squad altogether, prompting speculation that he may have played his last game for the Blues. Schurrle has scored five goals this season despite making only a dozen starts in all competitions as he has found the form of Eden Hazard and Willian a tough obstacle to overcome in nailing a consistent run of games in the side. His overall tally of fourteen goals in 64 games - of which only 35 were starts - is a respectable return, but Mourinho has identified the more consistent output of Cuadrado, who netted fifteen goals for Fiorentina last season, as an option out wide. Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella has insisted Chelsea can only sign Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina by paying his £26.8m release clause, however. Chelsea have so far offered £20m plus bonuses but Fiorentina coach Montella said: "The issue around Cuadrado is very simple: he has a buy-out clause, which was written into his contract along with the club. If a team comes along and pays it, and the player wants to leave, then he can go". The Blues will have to act fast, though, as the end of the month and the closure of the transfer window approaches swiftly. Having baulked at the price Fiorentina have set for their star midfield, Chelsea are maintaining negotiations with Shakhtar Donetsk for Douglas Costa and have offered £18.7million. They have also considered Enner Valencia of West Ham as a back-up option.

He's as good as gone.

Essien, if he ever comes back here, would get an incredible reception to be sure, especially after turning down offers from other English sides (though I for one wouldn't have begrudged him a move elsewhere in England).

It's one of the reasons I don't go to the Bridge that often anymore. One being it's too expensive for me (add the price of a 250-mile round trip in fuel and parking to the match ticket cost - while I can go and watch unlimited cricket at Trent Bridge for £80 a year and it costs me next to nothing in fuel to go to Nottingham; a 50-mile round trip at most) and the other being that unless you're in the Shed or MHL, if you stand up to sing you get told to sit down by stewards who can't speak a word of English, or someone munching on a prawn sandwich whilst using selfie sticks shoots you a glare. An embarrassment, and until the ticket costs come down there won't be an atmosphere at Stamford Bridge because of the tourists and fairweathers that don't care how much it costs to go to the Bridge and will pay silly money.

Petr Cech's face said it all as Chelsea were yesterday dumped out of the FA Cup by League One side Bradford City. The Bantams, famous for another recent "cupset" when they surprised Arsenal en route to the 2013 League Cup final, were truly magnificent as they came from 2-0 down to end up 4-2 victors at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were cruising through first-half strikes by Gary Cahill and Ramires, but when Cech was surprised at his near post by a powerful drive from Jon Stead, Bradford were reinvigorated and ended up worthy victors. "It’s one of the biggest ever surprises in the FA Cup", Cech said in an interview with chelseafc.com. "It’s one of those where it can always happen. Obviously we are not proud of the result but I wouldn’t want to take anything away from the Bradford team because they came here, they fought hard for their luck, they got chances and they scored four goals. Credit to them. "I’ve been here for more than 10 years and every year you can see these kinds of results in the FA Cup. That’s why I have always said it’s special. This can always happen and unfortunately for the first time I was on the wrong side of that. That’s the way it goes". Cech has identified Tuesday's second leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge as being the perfect opportunity to make amends. "We need to take it on the chin and pick ourselves up. It’s up to us. We have put ourselves in this position and we only have ourselves to blame for what happened. We play at home on Tuesday [against Liverpool] and we would like to use that as an advantage. We need to clean the mess up". Cech made a number of excellent saves throughout yesterday's fixture, not least a stunning reaction stop from a well-worked corner routine from the visitors, but he was left over-exposed by a leaderless Blues defence and could do little to prevent the League One side from exploiting gaps in Chelsea's rearguard - stretched in search of a leveller - late on. The Czech international stresses that Chelsea were not complacent and that José Mourinho warned that an upset was on the cards at the break, but was thoroughly magnanimous in accepting the better team went through - as was Blues boss Mourinho, who entered the jubilant visiting dressing room after full-time to congratulate each of the Bradford players individually. "Sometimes it’s hard to explain why things happen. We came out for the second half perfectly aware the game was far from over and it was going to be difficult. They came out, had a number of set-plays and corners and gained some confidence. "We let them feel they might have some chances. When we conceded the second goal we lost control of our game. We forced everything and it was not working for us".

You play attacking football, you have a shit defence. It really is that simple. There is no need to over-analyse defensive mistakes. If you want to play possession football you play with a higher defensive "block" which has to be able to cope with the constant threat of over exposure. When all of our natural width comes from our full-backs, it leaves massive gaps to be exploited by teams with a microcosm of pace. We're just going to have to either a, deal with it; or b, return to playing shit football.

He could have one leg and still be better than Mikel, let's be fair.

Get him back in the squad. He can't be any worse than the other options we have right now.

I feel this is partly directed at me so I'll respond to it quite simply: I'm not happy we lost today, in fact I'm very upset. I clearly react differently to others after defeats. If people on here would prefer for me to try and get #MourinhoOut trending on Twitter or to punch a wall or two, I'm afraid I've grown out of that stage now! I'll be very blunt with you and say that if we win the PL and the League Cup this season, that is more than enough for me. People are overanalysing this result. We've been caught up in the magic of the FA Cup. This is a classic giant-killing and they will talk about this one for years to come. But results like this happen every now and again. All we have to do is dust ourselves down and bounce back for the next game. Edit - If I don't reply to you its because I'm logging out now; but basically I'm not getting worked up because it really isn't healthy for me.

Could there possibly be a better game to bounce back from today's disappointment?! Liverpool at the Bridge in a semi-final, bring it on. I'm bothered about the League Cup because we've got this far - why not win it? With the FA Cup there were weeks left; weeks where, if we'd have gone through, City could be racking up the points while we have to play catch up. The League Cup won't offer too many more distractions.

That's something I'd have to discuss with Jim, especially regarding the potential cost of it. But it's an option.

Every now and again, but not every game. But that isn't my point. There are a lot of fraying tempers on this board and I want to log off now before I get further frustrated. What I personally believe is that the level of criticism directed at Mourinho is totally unjustifiable compared to the relative lack of congratulations he gets at the end of most matches. Ultimately I hold the players responsible for almost every defeat. They're the ones kicking the ball around, not José. He shouldn't have to motivate £100,000-a-week players to score more goals than the opposition, especially a side 45 places lower down the Football League pyramid than ourselves. There are times when you can critique José's team selection, his substitutions or his tactics, but the side we put out today was good enough to beat Bradford. We were just undone by an horrific second half performance and were caught up in the magic of the FA Cup.

For obvious reasons I can't explicitly disclose every detail that can bed pulled from the Admin CP, but people need to appreciate that we don't actually have physical access to those records - only the Police can, but we will share whatever information we can. Totally agree Sam. I'm going to put the entire tickets section under stricter rules.