Jase

Gosens was briefly mentioned as well but the strongest link so far has been Chilwell.

Maybe he's not that good? Porto don't want to sell? Lampard and the board do seem to be putting all the eggs into the Chilwell basket because that's the only LB we have been seriously linked with over the last few months.

If we're gonna just sack Lampard after one season, when he hasn't been able to fully build his own squad and regardless of the results, then we don't deserve any manager at all. Roman should appoint Marina as the manager or better, put himself as one! The board are the prime cause for us having this mess of a squad to begin with, not the manager!

Is Batshuayi really suitable a benchmark to be used for a good backup ST? It should say a lot about finding a good backup ST in January when the likes of Man United are reportedly going after Bournemouth's Josh King (IIRC, people weren't too happy when we were linked with Callum Wilson).

If it helps make our relationship with Leipzig better to get Werner, so be it.

OR maybe, the board have learned their lesson to not buy average players for short term gains. Lampard's frustration today was clear to see but let's not forget, he has also said many times that signing players, the right players this months is always gonna be difficult. We obviously don't know the full story and all that but if the board had really tried to get Cavani, Mertens etc and they don't want to come for one reason or another, then I'm not sure Lampard can be super frustrated over the situation because he knows signing the right players in January is difficult. It was always gonna be a catch 22 situation. Moreover, had our transfer ban not been overturned, Lampard would have had to work with the same squad for the entire season. And now that it would be the case, despite the ban being overturned, maybe it's time for Lampard to focus on the management side of things and try to get the best out of the players, the team for the remaining months of the season. We will see what happens in the transfer market in the summer.

Inexperience or just being stubborn? I still remember Pedro and Giroud were suddenly thrown into the starting XI against West Ham and they looked awful (hardly a surprise). It's like Lampard expected two oldies to suddenly just turn it on having not played them for some time.

You're not hurting anyone here but it's not a good joke.

I know you're trying to make a joke but that situation with Ed Woodward wasn't funny at all. I mean, that was really taking things too far.

The board can be blamed for not able to sign anyone this month perhaps but I don't think Lampard should be excused for the way he has managed this squad TBH. I mean yeah, Pedro and Giroud aren't great anymore but could he have made better use of them? Both of them started the season well but they suddenly got tossed aside - Giroud after the Super Cup game and Pedro after getting injured. Like why? He had rather flogged Willian, Pulisic and Abraham to death rather than put a bit more trust in them.

TEAM NEWS On Abraham, Lampard said he will assess his availability tomorrow but he is in training today.

We never had a chance with Cavani, did we? Best start praying we have a 2014/15 summer...

His use of Giroud and Pedro really. For example, since a lot of teams sit back against us, why don't we try to use Giroud upfront and have the others play off him? As you said, Batshuayi is so USELESS as a backup. Doesn't do anything apart from scoring! I hope he re-evaluates the squad again and try to make better use of them, although I'm not holding out much hope after his response about Giroud earlier.

You're right. Some players are just bad. But I'm talking about our problems in general. I mean, every time we have to defend, we look like conceding especially with crosses. Every time we attack, it amounts to nothing more than dumping crosses to Abraham or god knows which other short player on the far side to score these days. Why? Lampard needs to re-evaluate things during the upcoming break because while we have some bad players in the team, like half of the problems we have comes down to coaching. If we're being honest, who expects us to beat Bayern? Get knocked out early and we can solely concentrate on the Premier League and maybe the FA Cup as well.

You're right but how about making sure we don't look vulnerable at defending set pieces? How about making sure we don't look like conceding every time a cross comes in? How about making sure our attacking play amounts to something more than dumping crosses into the box via James? How about making better use of whatever resources we have? Inconsistency was to be expected of this side given what we had to begin the season with but we went through a good period earlier this season where we played good stuff and were winning games. So, how about Lampard try to use his management skills to get us right back on track? Our problems won't be solved entirely with signings if, for example, we continue to look vulnerable in defensive situations.

You seem to also conveniently leave out the fact that Lampard has said we won't do panic buys, it's hard to find the right players etc. It's not just about getting the players. Yeah, our squad ain't great right now but it's time Lampard and co. to get back to the drawing board and get the team back on track. Some of our more obvious problems are fixable through coaching.

It may be fine next season aka in the short term but as I said, Lamptey probably gave the long term more of a thought.

Giroud is training today...

Yay...

But if we're gonna commit to James, then we better commit to it. Don't tell me you think we should start rotating the defenders, which we already have massive problems with this season!