capriccioso

Has the Premier League fixture list come out yet? How great would it be if we hosted Tottenham on the first matchday and decided to parade around Big Ears at half time?

What a campaign. From the group stages down to the final itself we were clinging onto staying alive. We pulled through by the skin of the teeth, and that, for me, is more satisfying then winning every game 6-0. I would probably be happier if the latter scenario were to happen than I am now but the drama of the campaign, the fact that we were just one slice of bad fortune away from going out at several points along the journey, made it all the more compelling.

That's harsh. He is/was an arrogant fool, but he still didn't deserve what he got from the club. He had our best interests, as he saw them, at heart and worked tirelessly to try and achieve what he thought would be best for the club. Also he didn't want to sign Lukaku.

Where are our medals? Also, thanks for everyone who voted for me and congratulations to the winners all those nominated

My point was that it's easier to replace a dribbler/skillful type player than it is to replace a target man/power type player. It's only been 5 years since we were talking about Ronaldinho as irreplaceable, and Messi has come along and Barcelona haven't missed a trick. It's plausible that in 10 years time Messi will hang up his boots/leave Barcelona and they'll already have a readymade replacement lined up who will pick up from where Messi left off. I don't think the same thing will happen for Chelsea with a new Drogba style player coming along.

They shouldn't have, given the precedents. It makes us look a bit tacky.

Why did the other suspended players come out in their kit at all?

Man United didn't do it in 1999: Keane was captain, if I remember correctly and Scholes was one of their best players. They didn't come out in their kit.

I revise my earlier position, he could actually be importance to us. Our players are excellent at lifting their game several notches for the big games, but get complacent when playing the littler teams. Someone like Gomez who thrives on little teams could be the difference for us. Lets not forget he has 25 league goals this season (last season?), albeit against dubious opposition, we don't have anyone capable of getting 25 in matches against Wigan, Stoke, Liverpool, QPR, etc. Whether that is worth the massive fee Bayern will demand is another story.

It shot the Bayern morale to shit, while van Buyten for Muller was one of those epoch defining substitutions. Up there with those changes Tinkerman Ranieri made for Chelsea in 2004 and more recently, Ferreira for Bosingwa by Villas-Boas when Chelsea were 1-0 down to Fulham with 10 minutes to go.

Bosingwa's getting a lot of criticism but he had a good game and was obviously thrilled to have won. Terry, on the other hand, jeopardised our chances of even getting to the final and he came out in his kit to try and edit history so when people look at the photos 10 years down the track they'll think he played.

Fair enough. He's outright 5th then

Who's to say Real/Barcelona have the same appeal to him as they would to a Southern European/Latin American? He may be very happy in the Premiership. I don't think we'll see any of that Fabregas 'time to go home' or Ronaldo 'it is my dream to play for Real Madrid'. Man City can pay him twice what Real and Barcelona put together can, and he's certain to win some trophies in his career regardless of which of the Manchester's or even us he signs for.

He also had a run of close to two years with one win to his name. Only if Di Matteo and Capello reject us would I want him to be the manager. International football is very different to club football, you only have to manage about 10 games a season and most of those are against countries like Azerbaijan or San Marino.

A lot of fans, especially Nigerian fans, think we've ruined Mikel as he was once a great attacking prospect. I would disagree, as his performances since Di Matteo took over have been out of this world and have surely cemented him as one of the best DM's going around. I'd have him below the likes of Pirlo, Mascherano, Busquets and Xabi Alonso and on par with Yaya Toure. Ahead of everybody else, for me.

The thing with Löw is that he's awful at club management. His record with his previous clubs leaves a lot to be desired: Appointing an international manager to a club job is rarely successful. We have experienced that before with Scolari.

Who are the other candidates as the media have speculated? Capello and Pep, right? There are problems with both. Fabio is getting on now, though he would have the undying support of Terry and be popular with the other English players as well. He commands a lot of respect with his CV and personality and I would support his appointment had he been perhaps 5 years younger. Pep's style of football is not suited to any Premiership team except perhaps Arsenal, he would be a disaster in the short term at least and Roman would boot him out. I've also seen Rafa Benitez's name being thrown around, would describe that appointment better than words. Given the alternatives, Di Matteo staying would be the best thing for us. A one year deal, so even if he underachieves he can honourably resign and still be considered a Chelsea legend rather than getting sacked. It would also give us room to maneuver around the market, perhaps even bring back Jose.

He is 30th now. Poor list given that Redknapp hasn't won anything at Spurs and is still in the top 10.

Fuck off Cruyff you no-mark has been. I hope we embark on an era of "anti"-football (whatever that means). Defensive teams to dominate Europe. Shut these idiots up. If football is dead, as a lot have been saying, I am delighted it's dead. May we urinate on its grave.

Come on, KOF. I was joking hence the roll eyes emoticon.

Choulo19 said it, but did not provide a link.

We've got about 55 games (assuming we get out of the CL group stages and go fairly deep) next season. 25 starts for Torres, 20 for Drogba, and 10 for Lukaku.

I don't know what you lot are on about. Clearly it was Salomon Kalou's goal at Benfica that won the tournament

If true, then AVB must get a 1 for Man Management in FM 2013.

Ollie you... (lost for words)