capriccioso

I'm starting university on Thursday and I'm a bit nervous about it all.

I think he was between 60-80 when his contract was winding down in 2010, and he demanded 120. IIRC he was injured for a lot of that campaign and there was some speculation as to whether he'd ever regain top form, so in my view, the board quite rightfully told him to fuck off.

Regardless of that he wasn't worth 120k a week. Glad we let him go.

Lamps. No contest.

Roman's got to be smart enough to weed out the lackeys and the yes men, surely?

Now that would get them interested sharpish, wouldn't it? Make it happen, Roman.

I'm not sure how they'd include that in a contract, they'd need an objective opinion as to how he plays. He could easily dispute any claim that he played sub-par. Instead of 12.5k/goal we could give him around 1-2 million for hitting 15 goals in one season or something like that. That may work out cheaper for us, we won't have to pay him a thing should he fail to achieve our target, and it'll motivate him to try his best- not that he doesn't put in 100% every time he plays anyway.

I guess we could get away with 80k a week if they're performance based, say a basic wage of 55k, plus 12.5 for every game he starts and 12.5 per goal. That would bring it up to 80 and put the onus on him to get out and earn that money.

Eurosport are pretty legit, aren't they? Looks like Meireles is starting

Do you have a link for that, BlueHemp? I hope that Meireles never comes near a Blue shirt again.

Squad players don't deserve 80 grand a week, which is reportedly what he wants. I love Kalou and all, but he's got to step up if he wants that kind of money.

If we had a better right back I'd have chosen him ahead of Ivanovic, he was way too easily beaten for pace by Lavezzi/Cavani.

New contract for Kalou? http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/2/23/2820150/salomon-kalou-contract-extension-chelsea-fc?

I can see us not winning. Then again I can also see us running out 4-0 winners.

Agree with nearly all of that, but the English faction of the dressing room has been on the wane for several years now. It's Drogba's mixed foreign mob that hold the real power. I guess thats why Lampard was agitating for a move away in January. Previously, it was the English politicians, spearheaded by Terry and Lampard that were more powerful. But that was only due to them being the best players at the club, and because they had a glut of allies and were also virtually unopposed. After José left, the foreigners allied themselves with Roman, and ever since then have been favoured by him more so than the Englishmen. Also, Terry and Lampard have declined not only in playing standards, but also influence over the squad, which was exacerbated by the Wayne Bridge thing. AVB has to turn to the history books and pull a Stalin to dig himself out of this hole. Side with Drogba on every single issue- let him manage the team if need be, give him the armband on a permanent basis- whatever it takes to keep the foreign faction onside. Then let him go in the summer, sell Lampard and demote the other politicians to the reserves or transfer list them as well. While he's at it, he should ensure the loyalty of the younger players by building a cult of personality around himself. With the challengers to the power vacuum gone, Villas-Boas will stand as the undoubted leader of Chelsea Football Club.

We've always said the same thing about Manchester United, the referee's always give them 5-6 minutes added time if they're losing

Bit unfair to consider him a good decision maker. Eto'o for Ibra must rival Torres as one of the worst transfers of all time. And he's been found out by Mourinho as well, 13 points is an unacceptable gap for the so-called greatest team of all time.

Pep will be humiliated anywhere he goes except in Spain.

As a foreign fan, I want to go to an away match just as much as I want to see Stamford Bridge. The notion of being surrounded by fanatical Mancs/Scousers etc. while wearing a Chelsea shirt defiantly appeals to me. Having said that, should I ever move to England (unlikely as the weather is shocking and I'll never be able to leave Australia without getting homesick in a few weeks), I'll make it a point to try and attend as many away games as possible.

Capello is excellent at managing clubs. Even at England he was not bad, he won 2 out of every 3 games.

Yeah but England are rubbish. Even if somehow, scientists combined all the greatest managers that history has produced into 1 person, and got him to manage England, they'd still never win a thing. Given the individual talent that England has produced over the decades, they have to go down as one of the great underachievers of football, along with the Netherlands and Spain.

Capello is a good manager, but I think he will be too much like Ancelotti, he won't try to change anything and will keep letting the old players play every game. We don't want that, our old players are legends and we all love them but they are not good enough to play every week any more.

I'm from Australia so I don't know many good young coaches in England, but Brendan Rogers at Swansea is doing really well, Swansea are playing in the Premier League for the first time and they're 11th at the moment. He also used to work at Chelsea, but I think like Villas-Boas, if we make him our new manager, the players will give him bad attitudes, because he is young and has never managed a big team.

I forgot about Capello. But I'm not convinced he's the type to bring about a revolution or even an evolution at Chelsea.