dumps

As much as I and we all think and know Mourinho is pretty much our manager next season, it does scare me quite a lot there are now two massively rich clubs (Man city and PSG) looking for managers. whats to say they wont offer him money he cant turn down?! it does scare me. just cant wait for it to be announced that we have Jose so i can relax.

I think Jose is going to love Lukaku. Jose was a huge fan of Drogba, Lukaku is so similar and has proven this season he's got what it takes to make it in the premier league. I think jose would chose lukaku over Torres. Torres has hit form this last quarter of this season, and for that reason i think its Ba who will suffer on the bench. If we sign a big striker, then i see lukaku going out on loan again, but then what happens the season after that and the season after that? he will probably accept 1 more season out on loan, then he will be off if we arent going to give him some first team football and this is one player i really dont want to go.

I reckon it may start as 4-4-2 then depending on how it goes we may go back to a 4-2-3-1. Torres is more than capable of playing on the wing though. good to see Ake getting a start, this will be a proper challenge for him. I look forward to seeing how this team performs!

pretty sure the one on the left is straight out of the Football Manager animation for the barca kit...

I am honestly still amazed to see so much hatred for Rafa. He did exactly what we wanted. got champions league. won the Europa league (a competition we were in before he joined us, it was out of his hands) and managed to give Frank the oppurtunity to get a contract extension. I for one would agree with those saying it wasnt the best, i believe we may be a bit fortunate to be in the top 4, we just about did it BUT we did it. Rafa did it. He has made some tactical decisions we hated, BUT he also made some great tactical decisions (see games Vs united). I was one of those who didn't mind us getting Rafa as an interim manager. i would have hated it if he was here as a manager for 2+ years, but he was hired as an interim, and hes done exactly what was asked of him, and now he makes room for Jose. he deserves a warm send off tomorrow from us. and those that really hated him being here, just be happy its his last game, and be thankful for what he has done. He'll never be held high by us fans, but he has earnt a decent send off and some respect. he's had to put up with some real shit at his time here thanks to the majority of our fans. just chill out. theres only one person who would have had a tougher time managing us... Adolf Hitler... and i for one dont think he would have had the knowledge of the game to get us in to the top 10 let alone the top 4 for christ sakes, sure press conferences would have been good, but i really dont think he'd have set up the team as well as Rafa. Hitler OUT! wait, what? On a side note thats got me thinking, how awesome would it have been to have some big world leaders managing football teams. Hussain, Hitler, Stalin, Bush, Churchill, Hirohito, Kim Jung-Un etc. I smell a comedy TV show being born. and that reminds me of this:

IF we did sign him, i couldnt see him staying more than a season. I don't think we're big enough. literally! Madrid sold out their stadium just to introduce him! to say i wouldnt want him would be a lie. he's one of the greatest footballers of our time. but like so many have already said, it would most likely damage the morale of our other players like mata and hazard who are becoming our own ronaldos in terms of popularity and status. Ronaldo would come along and stick them in a shadow. money is obviously another issue, but like i said, i would see us only having him for a season and making back most of the transfer fee (would have lost masses in wages though, maybe some of the merch would help pay for that!). I personally dont think it would happen full stop anyway. but its nice to be linked so heavily. 10/11 on skybet for us to sign him in the summer...

Monaco are going to be title contenders straight away if they pull off the rumours ive heard so far! french league still sucks though. will be very similar to the spanish league: 2 top teams, 2 or 3 above average teams and then 15 average - below average teams.

Your attitude stinks.... fair enough

I cant wait to see Mourinho back. The difference between us and real is that we love him. and the players that played under him in his first stint love him. rollon next season. i really wanted him to announce his official return tonight. shame he didnt

whats to say we can't do what man united did with de gea and lindegard. Cech has ages left in him, but courtois is a top quality goal keeper. i say we have them both and rotate them. then maybe send out courtois for half a season or something. i think he needs to start getting a sniff in a chelsea shirt, his ability is crazy.

I think he's deserved a warm welcome and a thanks on Sunday. He has had some highs, but he's also had some lows. Lampard should have played more and he did make many tactical blunders during games. but he has won the europa league and got us champions league football next season. exactly what we asked for. Doesn't matter how he did it, but he got it done. I hope he gets a warm welcome and send off on Sunday, he has deserved it.

anyone got a likely day for us to finally get confirmation of who our manager will actually be? Our season finishes next Sunday (or maybe after the post season friendlies in USA?) and Madrid's season finishes on the 1st of June. Obviously whoever we get is going to want to be here ASAP, so would it be a good bet to look to 1 week after Madrids last game? 7th/8th of June? i dont think ill be able to relax until i know who is in charge for next season. officially.

I think he's the one person in our current squad who can break Lampards goal scoring record. I really want him to come back, be our main striker, stay with us till he retires and become a legend. We could have him next season, but as we appear to be after another striker he'll probably get loaned out again. win win either way in my eyes, he is better than both Ba and Torres IMO, but i doubt staff see it that way.

Gotta be spurs. specifically over the last 3 seasons. they've been at that top 4 spot, we mugged them right off last seasons with our champions league final win, and we look to have done them over this year. Arsenal and Man utd are also up there as well. I would say QPR as well, but not until they become some kind of threat in terms of football. so yeah, i think i'd say spurs for the moment.

there were 6 of us and i was the only chelsea fan thanks though.

the most worrying thing is, if we win the Europa league and as we have secured top 4, that they may consider giving him a contract. however the Jose rumours are too strong, and we've got the top 4 which should certainly seal that deal. im greatful for waht rafa has done this season, he has managed to scrape us that top 4. could have been a lot easier if he made some decent subs... but hes done it. so thanks, but now let Jose take over. chersthenbyethx

Incredible! So happy for frank. and we've got top 4!!!! I was at this game, and i sat with the villa fans as it was easier for me to get a ticket and i went with a bunch of neutrals. never ever will i not sit with the chelsea fans. sooooo frustrating. i wanted ot celebrate so much and instead i had to keep it quiet as after hte first goal the die hard fans around me started shouting "I SMELL CHELSEA! I SMELL CHELSEA!" at me which scared me a bit. great eventful game. poor first half performance from us. great ending. fantastic. I havent read through here yet but im about to do so, but any info on the Terry and Hazard injuries?

Read today that he's also on the ESPN Classic panel for a viewing of the Man utd Vs Chelsea classic champions league match. wonder if they'll ask him about this season... and i wonder what he'll say... ESPN Classic ‏@espnclassicuk 6h @realflorentm will be joining us to preview Man Utd V Chelsea Champions League 2008 final on Mon 20th May on @espnclassicuk #CFC @chelseafc

Im going to this game. sitting with the home fans though. undercover blue and i will not be discrete! would love to win, but i will also not be too bothered if we dont win because its Villa's last home game, and if they win they are deffo safe meaning there is potential for a pitch invasion which i would love to get in on! as long as its not a draw ill be happy(ish) either way

cant see it happening. He wouldnt be worth it either, people will just mock us. we'll pay 40mill+ for him, he'll be on 200k+ a week and he'll perform nowhere near that worth. he'd be a great addition at the right price. but otherwise he's just going to be another Torres. Rooney is past it now and for the money he'd want we'd expect him to be a star again, and he's looked rusty for the last couple of seasons. atleast compared to his glory days.

We played so well for 70minutes. should have got 4 or 5. Rafa's subs where unjustified. especially Yossi for Oscar, that is an insane substitute when lampard is on the bench. very suprised to see Torres play hte full 90, he deserved to start, but he didnt deserve to finish. awful subs and lack of finishing cost us. just thank god we didn't lose it. superb game though.

great sub. we are for sure to win now. super sub.

We really need a third goal (should have had 5 by now...) because all it takes is one chance for spurs to equalise, as we saw earlier. cracking game. Hazard is just an absolute joy to watch.

I think Torres deserves to start. soooo happy to see Luiz in DM but its a shame we arent seeing one of Lampard or Terry, i think their presence in a game like this is vital. this is looking to be a good game going by the line ups. for a neutral at least. could be a tense game for spurs nad CFC fans though. im expecting a few goals in this one.

within the next 48h apparently. Kiss my face Also: Moyes to United... Mourinho to Everton. and we get Roberto Martinez. #WorstCaseScenario.