BlueLion.

I fear we may be generalising here!

Nobody is saying Courtois can't step up. A lot of people just feel emboldened when Cech is in goal for us. Not everyone, myself included, got to watch Thibaut's every game for Atletico, so we are still find out about his game. When Cech plays, you are secured by the knowledge of eleven years' of consistently good performances and naturally you can feel more secure. It was the same when Cech arrived, people doubted him and preferred Carlo. But yes, people are reactive. Reactive to a - the fact Cech is playing more regularly; and b - the fact Lampard has done what he has done makes us a little more protective of our current batch of "legends".

I wouldn't feel threatened by Arsenal if they signed Messi, they'd still finish fourth.

Salah is obviously leaving, Schurrle is inconsistent beyond belief and Willian doesn't set the world alight all the while. Lavezzi would be a cracking option for a couple of years/or if we eventually sign Reus.

va bene.

Quantitatively or qualitatively? On a qualitative basis I don't think you can beat AlexIsMyLilHooker.

Absolutely. Imagine him playing in a side that operates on the counter-attack, relying on their wingers' high work rate and defensive cover? Oh I'm talking about us now, woops.

What's Italian for "fuck off"?

Lavezzi is quality and will tear shit up in the Premier League. Just watch.

From what I can recall, as a club we tend not to do contracts mid-season and usually do them in the summer.

Cech has 11 years' experience of doing it well at Chelsea. Courtois has less experience, but by doing it elsewhere - of course it is not reasonable to see Cech as the more dependable goalkeeper. Courtois is our future and will one day surpass Cech (if he hasn't already in some departments). But I just love the way José, the club and the fans are treating Pete with an incredible amount of respect, and whether he manages to get to the 500 game mark and/or break the PL clean sheets record, he will leave a legend, wherever he goes, because he deserves it. Even if he goes to Arsenal, I couldn't hate on the man. He clearly loves life in London/England, he has children and a family and they are all settled here. Arsenal is a real possibility for Petr, but if he went there he would go with my respect, and he would break the clean sheets record there eventually as well.

Chelsea's opponents in the FA Cup fourth round will be Bradford City, after the Bantams saw off Millwall in their third round replay. Through to the fourth round for the first time in fifteen years, City were comfortable 4-0 winners in their home replay, City, League Cup finalists in 2013, dominated their Championship visitors, scoring three first-half goals after Lions defender Mark Beevers was sent off. The Blues will now host their League One opponents on Saturday 24 January. The game, a 3pm kick-off, will be sandwiched between two League Cup semi-final ties with Liverpool as Chelsea's attentions switch towards potential cup success after this weekend's away Premier League fixture at Swansea. The latest odds for the game see Bradford at 16/1 to cause an upset. Click here to view the article

I was only thinking about this the other day. Cracking homegrown option to be 2nd/3rd choice.

Which you'd expect from any striker in all honesty, forwards are strange beasts that thrive off confidence, he's naturally going to be more confident playing in front of 41,000 people screaming "DIEGO, DIEGO, DIEGO" every time he even farts near the ball than at Old Trafford where his every touch would be jeered.

Every player on the bench warms up during the game except for the GK, don't look too much into it. Mikel was warming up at the same time; shall we assume Jose was going to haul off Costa and settle for 0-0? Don't read cryptically into simple things, he was warming up for the simple reason of there being a potential injury. JT has had a number of poor games this season. Spurs and even last weekend are two very recent examples. But he is playing poorly in those games because he's too old to play 60 games a season consistently well, IMO.

On his current form he's nowhere near Drogba or Remy's level, let alone Costa. Our decision to sell was a good one.

Exactly, all of a sudden Courtois and shit and Cech is world-class. Whilst the latter is true, Courtois is just as good and should be number 1. I just think Chelsea fans would like Petr to reach 500 games, and break the PL clean sheets record. But only the former looks possible.

And he was truly awful in that match as well. But then again so was everyone - I explicitly recall that as the worst game I've ever seen in terms of a performance from John Terry, as well.

Bullet well and truly dodged.

Yeah I don't think that shirt is the new one, it's a 2014 template and is probably being used as a promotional stopgap.

This was definitely the result of a mass stoner session.

Which is what some of us have said from the beginning! but that isn't to say Courtois is a bad shot stopper. To the contrary, he's one of the best in the world.

Because of how good both Cech and Thibaut are, I don't think you can use the word "dropped" to describe which of them is playing. "Rotated" is more of an accurate term IMO.

If Arsenal were hosting City they'd have a chance. At the Etihad City will annihilate them.

Gomis is an absolute bastard of a striker to mark. Watched him in France for the best part of seven years, he's a fucking nuisance. Anyone who thinks we'll have an easy game because Bony is on ACoN duty is mistaken. This will be a tough 1-0.