Leif

Liar.

Oh yeah, just for those who've forgotten - Jose has beaten Barcelona three times this season. Once with pretty much Real's second team.

Since the Champions League actually became the Champions League and not the "European Cup", Porto are the only team outside of the top 5 leagues (PL, L1, LaLiga, Bundesliga & Serie A) to win the trophy. Inter were the first Italian side to ever win the treble; and only the second team out of the top 5 leagues to do such a feat after Manchester United. Chelsea hold records in the PL for most clean sheets, least goals conceded, most goals scored, most points at the end of the season etc. Porto was managed by Mourinho. Inter was managed by Mourinho. Chelsea was managed by Mourinho and every manager after him used the spine of the team which he built. Name one manager in the history of football who has done something like Mou has done here. /discussion

I am nearly crying. In my head, this move doesn't make loads of sense. He plays counter-attacking football. But at the same time - I believe he's the only one who can take Hazard to the next level and genuinely make him the best player in the league. I also can't imagine anyone else being our boss next season and being successful. He isn't known for youth integration, yet I have such high hopes for Chalobah, Feruz, Loftus-Cheek (won't make it here I feel but I'll follow him regardless), Baker, etc. and would be very sad to not see them in our team under him. Include Kalas, perhaps Piazon & McEachran and some others in this list too. He brought us our best times, happiness only rivalled by Di Matteo's time in charge (in my opinion). He could come and leave, leaving us in shambles in the process. Am I blinded by sentiment? Probably. But he literally is like a God here so I can't be blamed. Like Maradona is to Argentina, SaF is to United, Henry is to Arsenal, Raul is to Madrid - he is the top guy here regardless which club he's at. My head's a mess. I feel like people who only started following our club recently don't understand the sort of connection he made with fans & players here. Shit man. I HAVE BUTTERFLIES JUST THINKING OF HIM BEING AT THE HELM NEXT SEASON. I need a drink. I'm ageing. This is stressing me out.

Who knows. For all we know, we'll sign Mourinho, then viola - Chalobah is our Varane - only playing in midfield instead. Or defence. We'll see. No one can determine whether he is ready or not. I respect both opinions. I personally feel that he is ready to be thrown into the deep-end, but at the same time, I'd much rather see him loaned out for another season so I can get excited while tracking his progress over 30 or so games.

He's always played above his age group at both youth level and U21 etc. with the national team. I don't see why he can't do the same with senior club football at Chelsea.

Had a dream last night that we were against Celtic next season in the Champions League with all our senior strikers injured as well as all our goalkeepers. Mourinho was manager. He promoted Islam Feruz to the starting line-up for the game. He got a brace inside 5 minutes. Mourinho started as the goalkeeper..

Chris Cohen has also tweeted that Roman + Mourinho met today. (The guy who does the songs when our players arrive...)

Just gone through that Porto Youth Coach's Twitter. Went through his faves and noticed professional footballers (not incredibly well known) have tweeted him a few times. He's been favouriting tweets since 2011, so I assume this is a 3-year old account. The majority of favourites are in Spanish. Edit: The account has now been, er, deleted, I think. Second Edit: After doing loads of quick internet research (articles tagged with his name and Twitter, now deactivated), I personally can confirm in my mind that is/was a real account. Another Edit: Account is back up and running. I AM FUCKING EXCITED.

Never understand the want for Bony considering how similar he is to Ba and Lukaku.

Kalou got a hat-trick once.

Bertrand feels comfortable on the left wing but it doesn't mean he should play there. Kalas plays at right back because Vitesse lack options. He's a centre back. Always has been, and most likely always will be. I think some would argue that Ivanovic is actually better at CB than RB. He's a good option for the RB position but Azpi has that spot nailed down. Ivan is better than Cahill at CB, less erratic and more solid than Luiz in general, and then there's only Terry left for a comparison.

So apparently Atletico are hinting they want to sign Torres in the Summer. They'd only be able to afford him and his wages if they were to lose Falcao though... eurgh. Really don't want Falcao here.

Even with his bit of decline, Terry is our best centre back. I hope most agree. I also think/hope most agree that our poorest centre-back is Cahill. So currently, I'd have to put Luiz - Terry. Ivanovic - Terry is decent in some games too. Anyway - You know what pairing I want to see one day? Ivanovic - Kalas. Yep. I honestly think that would be rock solid after Kalas developes a bit more. Their styles would compliment eachother's.

I can only think that players like Messi, Ronaldo, maybe Hazard, Torres of old and Inzaghi-type poachers would even try that finish he did tonight. He's got balls. heh.

I WANT ZOUMA SO MUCH. LIKE *SO* MUCH. LIKE I CANNOT DESCRIBE IT. ASIDE FROM PERHAPS VARANE I THINK HE'S MY FAVOURITE YOUNG CENTRE BACK. I WILL JIZZ ALL OVER MY ROOM IF THERE'S ANY CONCRETE INFO RELEASED IN REGARDS TO US PURSUING HIM.

Let's try and get Witsel for anything under £30m (not saying he's worth that, but I doubt he'd come cheap) and Hulk for roughly the same; perhaps a bit less. That improves our right-hand side quite a bit, adds a back-up striker if needed (Hulk can surely get the job done) and adds a real gem to midfield. We could try and include Torres, Benayoun or Malouda in the deals to entice Zenit further

Hulk is better than Moses when both of them are on top form. Moses is adequate, a good squad player, but not someone I'd feel completely comfortable with (yet) playing against European giants. Hulk, on his day (he's quite inconsistent at Zenit and for the NT isn't he?) is one of the best inside-forwards, wingers, whatever - in the world. Porto wanted an incredible amount of money for him, but Zenit, despite being a powerhouse when it comes to cash like ourselves, aren't as smart as us from what I've seen - meaning they'd probably be willing to cut their losses already by offloading him in the Summer. If we could get Hulk for anything under £25m I think he'd be worth a shot.

I love him as a player but every single time he's interviewed about us he just seems to not give a shit about the club. Hope he has a good career because I no longer see it happening here purely based on his attitude. I think he's a decent professional but he's not got that humbleness which Lukaku is blessed with and even worse he sounds arrogant a lot of the time. Almost like he feels he should have instantly been slotted into our XI ahead of Hazard or Mata before even proving his worth at the top level which he is now doing. Even lying would be decent. Is it that hard to say:- "Yes I track Chelsea's results"? For all he knows we could be fighting relegation from the sounds of it. Grrr.

Simeone is an average manager who'll probably arrive here with Falcao because the board are fucking clueless yay :)

If this bitch of ours doesn't score or assist tomorrow I shall be posting a photo of poo in this thread. Just a heads-up.

Oh Oscar. what a finish.

I'm starting to feel like we'll get a 'smaller' manager who's more balanced and less tactical than Mou (perhaps Capello) yet actually be competing for the title next season. No manager is bigger than the club. Hopefully regardless who we get, it's a good season.

^^ Thank fuck if true

I don't think Wolfswinkel is worth the £8.5m quoted for him. Although he'll probably have a hit season to start with, he is simply not built for Norwich's style of play. He's lazy and seems to think he's better than he is. Not a good finisher really either. I used to have high hopes for him before he moved to Portugal. If they convert him to a 'in the hole' role or winger position I think he'll do better than I'm predicting.