manpe

you mean this?

oh no, not one of those again actually it's fine, our counter-troll unit has always been up to the task, and so far the OP is being humiliated.

We won the FA Cup pretty convincingly. Dumped a load on spuds in semis, then went on to dominate turdpool for 60 minutes of the game in the final. As far as I remember we played ultra defensively only in the 2 games against barca and against bayern - two teams far ahead of us at keeping possession and attacking potency.

[OT] What did Neville mean by "FIFA, UEFA - stop football"? [/OT]

He was pissed because he thought we were "lucky bitches" who played crap, and he's not a fan of Chelsea. He is a fan of London, so every club in London he supports, arsenal and spuds the most because they play the prettiest football. He is also a fan of bayern, barca and shitload of other clubs I can't remember. His moods are like roller coaster, one day he's a supporter of Chelsea the other he isn't. PS I feel like shit snitch talking about another member like that. In the end it was him who convinced me to come back to TC, so you all must be grateful for that - a monumental feat indeed

I won't because I don't want my inbox bombarded with accusations of destroying one's non-existent Chelsea career and he apologized for being angry after the game.

I posted a picture earlier in the forum where Tommy said to me in msn he hated Chelsea and called us bitches after we won the biggest trophy of our lives (I removed the picture later as per Tommy's request because in his words it "would destroy his chances of getting a job in Chelsea and become rich"). It was not the first time, and he also claims to be a fan of arsenal and spuds instead. It was a travesty in first place to make him a TC Legend based on his bipolar ramblings, while belittling a much worthier member. Wanting Tommy back is like wanting a chelsea hating arse/spud fan back. And FYI he still comes here from time to time to completely derail his BDFL/FM thread with nonsensical posts.

Not sure I share the same view with you there. The league and the champions league > everything else. The prestige and monetary gain of those competitions are superior to the few cup games we'll be playing against 2nd string teams. But to be realistic, we can't expect to bump from 6th to 1st so quickly in the league, and it's extremely rare to successfully defend the champions league title, especially in the manner which we won it - it won't happen again next season unless we considerably strengthen all our areas and eliminate the element of luck as much as possible. So in that sense, in a transitional period, I would be happiest with this title and wouldn't mind a carling or a FA to accompany it. But if I were given a choice between (champions) league and this, I would choose one of the leagues in a heartbeat.

Yeah, it reminds me of the intense emotions when watching live. I was somewhy especially nervous during Cole's pen, dunno why (never confident when a defender takes them). I also had a feeling that Olic would fuck up, because he was the first non-German to take, his face wasn't very confident and I felt Cech was bound to save at least one.

Actually Mata has been here for only 9 months and Luiz 16 months. I hate myself

You stated "Jose signing", he was not signed by Jose. I'm a nitpicking fact freak. And I maintain that Bertrand also was not signed by Mourinho, so there were 7 Jose signings in the match squad, and 8 players who you can call his players (this includes Cech, not Bertrand though, he was forever a loan).

Čech had a trial with Chelsea in 2003. It was Claudio Ranieri, then manager of Chelsea, who decided that Čech was his choice as understudy to Carlo Cudicini. Bertrand is as much Mourinho's signing as Bamford was AVB's.

9? I think there were 7. Cole, Mikel, Kalou, Drogba, Ferreira, Essien and Malouda. E: Sorry, 8.. forgot Bertrand. But I doubt he was Mourinho's signing. He was most likely another prospect signed by the board, and I think he never played under TSO.

I will just comment on the title. In an endless cycle an ending of something (an era for ex.) marks a beginning another (in simple words, old evolves into new). So it may be an end of an era, while it can still be the beginning of another. One doesn't exclude the other.

Tbf most of us said exactly the same thing last season. First we gave him till January, then we gave him until Drogba was in AFCON (the infamous make or break period which he wholeheartedly broke), then we gave him until the end of the season, where he finally started showing some flashes. I wouldn't be surprised if in 2 years we'd still be singing the same old song about time and patience and non-existent service. Next season truly is his to take with Drogba out of the way, if he fails to capitalize, there must be no mercy shown. For the sake of the team I hope he shows why he felt he had the right to whine.

I guess people have misunderstood my words. The original post was that if Torres wins everything with us, including the community shield, he won't have anything more to play for. My point was that if he won every major trophy with us (the league, the champions league and the FA cup, carling cup to some extent), then I can't see him staying just to play for the community shield. For comparison Drogba said he would have possibly stayed if we hadn't won the CL, that's called "playing for something" in my book. Having a community shield in your medals collection is hardly something really ambitious players aspire to, it's just something that either comes or doesn't, but it isn't played for per se. It is there to be won along the road, but the road itself is something bigger.

If every footballer got put under the microscope and judged like Terry for their personal lives and blips in form and individual mistakes, I am bold enough to say that over 50% of professional footballers would fall into the same category if not worse. John is a Chelsea player and an ex-England captain, a deadly PR combination. His parents didn't help either. I'm saying that because I'm a Chelsea fan. If I were a scouser (god forbid), I'd hate his guts.

I suppose manoeuvre is me in French? Oh I have a few community shields, no biggie... don't you?

He is a con of a right back, a hoax by his previous coaches. His best performances came at CB and LB. He plays the wrong position. With Bosi and Paulo(?) gone, we'll jump the market for an established right back. Can't have a fish backing up Big Bran.

He must be very unambitious if he puts any weight on the community shield. Imagine a player saying "naah, I will stay another season because I still haven't added the much craved community shield to my collection."

Are we sure that Mata is better at the trequartista role than Hazard? For all we know Hazard could be an improvement. Although Mata does require marginally less salary, hence he is lower maintenance option. Using Mata and Hazard at the same time would be a great option, because both are universal and can play anywhere in the attacking third. I don't see why we are in disadvantage in the playing position argument, we can offer him any position and all the gametime he wants.

Is there some kind of physiological reason for that? I notice lefties not using their right because for me using the left side is unnatural, but I could be wrong, maybe they really use their right less than right footed their left? I do notice, however, when right footed players use their left, and to me it seems to happen more often.

That's what I was afraid of ever since everybody started saying that he should be offered a 1 year contract just to be safe. I didn't think Robbie would like only a one year deal, he rightfully thinks he deserves more reassurance and recognition. Although we don't know yet.

As it's in the middle of the season, winning it would boost morale, reignite the winning mentality and it would help us psychologically in the tough winter period where we usually hit a bad moment. But as a con it will make us play more games, thus having greater risk of injury and fatigue. Nevertheless, trophies are there to win them and it's a pretty unique trophy at that... only a select few can boast it - first you have to be champions of Europe, then you must beat champions of other continents too. How often do we get the chance to market our brand internationally? Only in pre-seasons in meaningless tours. Being the rightful owner of a worldwide club competition would boost our brand value and extend our trophy cabinet. When we enter the competition, we must think of it as an extension to the champions league, and that we beat the likes of Bayern and Barcelona on the way to get it.

As Cole put it: "You need to ride your luck to win this competition and we did."