Jype

If you don't think that being the main man in pre-season and featuring in three out of our first four competitive games of the season is giving him a chance, I don't know what is. He would have eventually gotten a good run of games as a starter when Mourinho realized he can't trust Torres and Eto'o was often injured but no, he felt it's better to fuck off prematurely so he won't risk his place at the World Cup. In a way I understand because he's a young lad and this will be his first major international tournament but there's absolutely no way this can all be considered Mourinho's fault. This summer it's time for Lukaku to shut the fuck up and get on with it. Either accept the role as a second striker behind the new acquisition or demand a permanent move elsewhere. If he decides to go, then I wish him good luck trying to get anyone to pay the +25m asking price.

Eto'o: "Today I am 33 and it is not because a fool called me an old man that you must believe it. The old man was better than the youngsters." A needless dig at the club and at Jose, kind of a cuntish thing to do.

I'm well aware, there was a lot of talk about it last year before our final against Benfica. 8 out of 8 now, is it? Still, they've had an amazing season and the fans should be satisfied. Last year was more tough for them, they were fighting for the title until the last day of the season but lost to their bitter rivals Porto who ended up winning the league. After that they went on to lose the UEL final to us in injury time and a week later they were also beaten in the Portuguese cup final. Yesterday was nothing compared to that.

We could also give them Marin to sweeten the deal. Oh wait, they could actually ask for more money if we threatened to send Marin their way.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/10831871/Petr-Cech-may-leave-Chelsea-as-Thibaut-Courtois-emerges-as-Jose-Mourinhos-first-choice-keeper-at-Stamford-Bridge.html edit: Oh fuck you Jason.

Not really, they've already won the league and a domestic cup this season with another cup final still to be played. Enough is enough.

Always nice to see the cunt Jorge Jesus lose.

Really enjoyed reading the replies, you seem like an interesting lad. The next one in the hotseat will have a lot of expectations to live up to.

Surely there will be more but they're still yet to be arranged. Most likely some games in Central Europe like back in 2010 after the World Cup when we played the likes of Ajax, HSV etc. Also seen some rumours in the Finnish media that a local entrepreneur is trying to arrange a friendly in Helsinki between two top European clubs and Chelsea has been one of the names being whispered so far. Would love for that to happen!

The WBA loan was a no-brainer, it really was. After his debut season a lot of people were calling for Lukaku's head and calling him a donkey who can't play football. He went to West Brom where he was given a lot of games and he took that opportunity perfectly. This season he got plenty of games in pre-season where he did really well and I think Mourinho would have used him a lot throughout the course of the season but after starting the first few games on the bench while Benteke was banging them in for Villa he got worried his place at the World Cup might be in jeopardy and asked to go on loan. Maybe it's Jose's fault for not convincing him to stay and giving him enough playing time but then again it might just as well be Lukaku's own fault for throwing a tantrum and demanding a move so late in the window instead of being just patient and taking his opportunity when given. Just look at Azpilicueta, despite being a regular last season under RDM and Rafa he was nowhere near the first team when the season began but he waited for his chance and hasn't looked back since. Players' Player of the Year and now going to the World Cup even though the competition for his place is very tough in the Spain squad.

Someone will have ended the corruption by usurping power here at TC and putting Alex's head on a spike (ban).

I'll predict this guy will make a similar impact in world football than for example Marco Reus did after moving from a midtable club to a team in the CL. For 15m he could be a bargain for whoever gets him. Haven't watched enough of Hoffenheim to say if he'd be a good fit for us but been hearing great things about Firmino since the beginning of the season and scoring 22 goals in 37 games is no joke. A while back I was at the Allianz for the Bayern - Hoffenheim game and before the match I decided to focus on this guy, he had a great game and also scored the equalizing goal near the end of the match.

Just did a quick check on the HG status of our squad for next season, with the assumption of a few incoming and outgoing transfers. GK: 2 non-HG keepers (whoever they may be), Blackman? DF: Azpi, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Kalas*, Van Aanholt?, New CB signing, New LB signing MID: Matic, Ramires, Lampard, MvG, New CM signing AM: Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Schürrle, Salah CF: New striker (Costa?), Lukaku*, Torres I think it's safe to say that whoever we end up with between the sticks next season there will most likely be two non-homegrown keepers with Blackman as third choice. In defense we'd be pretty well covered homegrown-wise with Terry, Cahill, Kalas and Van Aanholt. The futures of Kalas and PvA are still very much unclear but their homegrown status should definitely be kept in mind when deciding what to do with them this summer. In midfield we'd have only Lampard as a HG player with four non-HG, including a new signing who would ideally just take Mikel's non-HG spot in the team. All five AMs are non-HG, although Salah will still count as an U21 next season so he will not have to be registered. Up front we would ideally have Costa, with Lukaku as second choice. Only including Torres there because we can't seem to get rid of him. If Lukaku is sold and replaced by a non-HG player, that won't affect our chances of meeting the squad limits this time but in the future it might, so that's also something to think about before deciding to ditch him. Grand total: 7 HG players (Blackman, Terry, Cahill, Kalas, PvA, Lampard and Lukaku)16 non-HG players (Ivanovic, Azpi, Matic, Ramires, MvG, Hazard, Willian, Oscar, Schürrle, Torres, 2 keepers, 2 new defender signings, new CM signing, new CF signing)One U21 player (Salah)Not included (assumed sold / released): Cole, Luiz, Mikel, Ba, Eto'oWould still leave enough room for one more non-HG player next season so we're fine, at least for now. The defenders we seem to be linked with (Varane, Moreno, Rodriguez) would all still count as U21s next season and wouldn't have to be registered in the squad just yet, same if we recalled Zouma instead of opting to buy a new central defender or Kurt just taking Kalas' place in the team. * not sure if Lukaku and Kalas count as HG, just going by what I was able to find on WAGNH. Both still U21 though, so either way they wouldn't take non-HG places in the team if we kept them next season.

From what I've seen no one's really complaining about JT's wages, it would just be nice to know how much he got.

Just glad he didn't go to City last year...

Like I said in one of my later posts, Juanfran has no doubt been the best of their right-backs this season and IIRC he's also featured most often at RB in Spain's last few international friendlies. They could easily drop both Moreno and Carvajal by playing a full-back pairing of Alba and Juanfran with Azpilicueta as backup for either side, and if things got really bad for them they could also play Ramos at right-back. Also already agreed that Negredo should probably be selected. The drop-outs will most likely be picked out of Moreno, Carvajal, Iturraspe, Thiago, Mata, Cazorla, Navas, Torres, Llorente and Villa. That's ten players, seven of which have to be dropped.

Question is, did he get a pay rise to make him the highest paid defender in the PL or is it just a case of higher paid players like Ferdinand, and Vidic being released? Either way, with the season he just had he deserves a good contract for next season and I'm glad he got it.

I don't actually, I was already too intoxicated at that point. Anyway, the mental aspect of the game certainly seems to be one of Costa's strengths and in that respect he's like the complete opposite of Torres.

Moyes for Spurs?

True, but their squad is just too deep and some of them have to be dropped even if they deserved to be in. For right-backs, in addition to Carvajal, they have Juanfran and Azpilicueta, both of whom have also enjoyed maybe the best season of their careers. Granted I haven't watched Real Madrid enough to say for sure and my blue tinted glasses might affect my thinking but I wouldn't drop Azpi before Carvajal and Juanfran has been a part of the best defense in Europe this season so him being first choice is pretty much a no-brainer. Also in my opinion Azpilicueta would be a more preferable option to Cavajal because he can also cover Alba at left-back if needed and with Moreno almost certainly dropped they only have one proper LB. Can't see Albiol being one of the dropped players because he's been one of VdB's favorites ever since he took over the Spain squad in 2008 and always got in even if he was just warming the bench at Real Madrid but this time he's also had a great season with Napoli. Also they only have like Ramos and Pique for CBs if they don't take Albiol. Martinez can play there if needed but he's shit as a CB. Reckon they'll drop two of the strikers (Torres, Llorente), two of the defenders (Moreno, Carvajal/Azpi) and three of their endless selection of midfielders (Iturraspe being a clear choice and then two out of Mata, Cazorla, Navas, Thiago).

I factored in both the injury and that he wasn't really a part of the squad for the qualifiers. With midfielders like Martinez, Busquets, Alonso, Iniesta, Xavi, Silva, Fabregas, Koke, Mata, Cazorla etc. it's hard to see a place for Thiago so no matter how good he is the fact remains some of the guys in the preliminary squad have to be dropped and if I was Del Bosque I would go for the guy who's not 100% fit and did fuck all in the qualifying campaign. Yeah, probably makes sense to have at least three forwards in there even though Negredo's been out of form lately. In that case one of the midfielders would have to be dropped, maybe Navas, Mata or Cazorla.

Say what you say about Sherwood but the fact remains he's the Spurs manager with the highest PL win% in the history of their whole club and the way he was treated was a disgrace. The board and the players never even gave him a chance. Will probably do well somewhere else. His football is not so pleasing to watch but at least with Tottenham he got the results and also promoted youth players so I'm sure there's some club in the PL willing to try their luck with him. West Ham maybe after they've sacked Big Sam?

All over Twitter. Not likely to make the final 23 man squad though, there's still seven names to be dropped before the tournament and Torres has got to be the first to go. Players who will probably be dropped are for example Llorente, Negredo, Iturraspe, Thiago, Moreno and Carvajal so it's not so easy to get in the Spain squad.

Best. Argument. Ever.

Just seen some reports that the owner of newly-promoted Leicester is planning to invest 180m in the team and make them a contender for European football qualification. Maybe we could convince them to buy Torres, that signing could work as a statement of intent for them.