Aesthetic Relic

I'm not that fussed on losing Deco for this game. Having Riccy and Ash back in defence will be a boost.

Good Lord dont be mentioning his name, BlueLion will be pulling the plank of himself at the thought of it

Pizarro has never been a prolific striker, he's decent at best. When we signed him he was playing regularly for Bayern so his lack of game time with Chelsea obviously affected his overall game. The only reason I think he should be brought back is if we intend to use him. If he's going to be a bit part player it would be better to sell and move on.

A good part of the squad are portuguese speaking, I dont think it was a translation problem. Riccy and co could easily have put across what he was trying to implement. We didnt do too badly with Ranieri who couldnt speak a word of English when he first arrived. As you mentioned before, it was good to see the togetherness of the squad after the game.

Still dont rate this guy in the slightest. Theres better options out there we should be concentrating on.

Quaresma is cup tied isnt he? Thats probably why he didnt featue against Villa.

Doom and gloom on here? Dont be daft FB ....we're a level headed community and would have taken it on the chin and moved on

Didnt he say not that long ago that he wished he had blattered Vidic instead of his girly slap ? The mans confused.

Didnt know that.....quality stuff. This guy on the otherhand needs a hug. Taken from the comments.

I'm certain we'll get a guarenteed CL place for next season. As for this season there are alot of big guns who will go out at this stage as they all play each other. If we get through this round and get a favourable draw in the next then anything is possible.

Italian teams are known for their ability to sit back and soak up the pressure. Thats the only thing that concerns me. Breaking through their defence. We shown this season when we're up against a team like that we struggle. A clean sheet is the most important thing in this game, getting a goal is a bonus.

Anyone else feeling a bit more optimistic for the rest of the season? I know the league is a long shot, but the arrival of Hiddink has got me buzzing again. The Juve game cant come quick enough. I was very impressed with our 1st half performance against Villa. If we play like that for the remainder of the season we could end up with something to shout about.

We retired Zolas #25 I think.....could be an option with JT once he retires/moves on.

Again.....he wont be around for ever, so we will move on with him or without him.

If we sold those 3 we wouldnt get half of the reported money Citeh offered for JT. And to replace them we'd need to spend twice, maybe more than what we would get for them in the transfer market. This is why I see selling JT would be a more sensible "business" move as we could spend 1/5 of the fee adding a defender and still have a whopping amount to add to other areas of the squad like 2 wingers, plus we'd also have adequate replacements in Alex/Mancienne/Ivanovic.

Maybe, maybe not, but you're not going to get someone come in with a £60m bid for Malouda for example. Now that would be insane

I had the same problem. Could Jim not send an e-mail to every member making them aware that Internet Explorer is causing the problem ? I d-loaded firefox and everything was fine.

Dramatic changes we do need. We need to freshen things up, to do that we might need to sell a top player to bring in the cash as RA seems adamant that we need to sell before we can buy. I know we've heard that if the right player becomes available then RA will provide the funds, but I think you could also say if the right bid came in for any player we'd sell. Obviously we'd miss his presence on the pitch, but as I keep saying, its not the end of the world and we'll have to move on one day without him.

Sport.uk

We cant keep him forever. Should we get a wax work made of him and keep it in the changing room with a tape recording constantly playing to keep the spirits up in the dressing room for all the players generations from now to be inspired?....*takes a breath* Life moves on...football moves on...Thats a fact. I'm just looking at things with an open mind.

Its not a case of just selling him. We have quality defenders within the squad and getting a shit load of cash for JT wouldnt be the end of the world. If we sold Malouda we would need to spend twice the amount we get for him to get a better quality of replacement. If we sold Drogba, we would need to spend what we get for him and then some to get a quality replacement. This doesnt apply to JT I'm afraid. We could spend a fraction of what we could "potentially" get for him and still have a hell of alot money to strengthen the squad. For me Alex is a player who's best suited to replace JT long term IF he was to be sold. PEople said they couldnt play together as they are similar in style. ALex alongside Riccy wouldnt be a bad partner ship. Imo it would be a case of as you were.

Maybe because people call them idiots and they're insulted

Theres no doubting JT's commitment to the club, its there for all to see. I just think it would be madness not to consider a bid for 5/6 times his market value. Clubs sell their best players....thats a fact, we're no different to any other club. If JT doesnt want to leave then I'm happy for him to stick around and see his days out playing for Chelsea.

Sorry I cant agree with you on that. Just because we have Roman behind us with his billions doesnt mean we should now hold onto players for the sake of nostalgia. If we were a mid table side and a club came in with a massive OTT offer for JT would it be ok to accept it then? I'm not a regular to SB by any means, but I'd like to think I'm as loyal as the next man. Wether people want to accept it or not, Chelsea FC is now a business under Abramovich which is why were "supposed" to be going self sufficient. I thought that in itself would have turned on a few lightbulbs in peoples heads.