The only place to be

Yeah....like all those other games where we haven't scored...all both of them.

That's a fantastic save. He gets it on target and 99 times out of 100 that's a goal. McGregor...that was incredible.

Hull are getting back well and our best chance seems to be to hit them in transition but that's a very tough thing to do. Teams do seem to tire over the course of 90 minutes so no need for panic right now.

The reaction on Twitter to Mata not starting always makes me giggle.

Team to face Hull today: Cech; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry ©, Cole; Ramires, David Luiz; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Torres. #CFC Chelsea subs: Schwarzer, Bertrand, Mikel, Essien, Schurrle, Mata, Eto'o. #CFC We were all wrong. Luiz for Mikel.

Made his debut off the bench for Derby, but they were on the end of a 4-1 tonking from Leicester.

So we should discard 'the next big thing' instead and hope we sign the next 'next big thing' when he comes along? You make it sound like signing the 'next big thing' is easy. He's 31but Courtois is 21 and there's an argument about who the better keeper is already. That type of talent is phenomenal and for you to dismiss it so lightly might sound loyal (I'd say overly sentimental) but in terms of managing talent seems rather short-sighted.

There's a chat going on Twitter about this right now. https://twitter.com/ianlynam/status/421602168194351104 Apparently it's not as clear cut as that article suggests and would apparently include his 'market value' included in any attempt to buy himself out. How you arrive at that would be fairly complicated but the bottom line is that he probably could force a move if he wanted to. Bear in mind that he never actually submitted a formal transfer request last time so going about it this other way would be unlikely, or at least a last resort. United's current predicament could impact a lot of their transfer dealings over the next couple of windows.

You're right. We need to be loved and to that end we should give Cech a 15 year contract. He is a legend after all and I'd to be thought a terrible fan. Also I suggest we donate Courtois to a needy team in order for us to be more loved by fans of teams I previously couldn't give a fuck about. Look, passion is why we're all supporters of this club but at the same time there are economic realities, as well as plain old human realities associated with managing players and they can't always be beholden to sentimentality. We aren't talking about kicking Cech out for a young prospect who is rough around the edges. We're talking about replacing him with someone who is arguably better than him at the age of 21 - people seem to ignore what an amazing achievement that already is. It's not OTT to suggest Courtois could become one of the all-time greats when all is said and done. He certainly has the pedigree at this young age.

I don't think people are desperate to do anything of the sort. I just think that when there are stories linking players to moves (however spurious they might be) it does make one think of what type of fee might be attached to such a move.

Since when do physios shower with the players?

Did you honestly expect Scott Parker or Shaun Wright-Philips to be 'world class' when we signed them? And (because this needs it's own separate question because it's just fantastic) were you expecting Steve Sidwell to be 'world class' when we signed him? Really??? Luke Shaw is a class above where these players were at the same age.

Save ratios don't take into account things like the types of shot keepers actually had to save. It's a fairly useless statistic as things go. The fact that there's even an argument about which keeper is better when Courtois is still only 21 shows just what a phenomenal talent this guy is.

Goalkeepers are completely different. You don't use different keepers for different tactical reasons. Once you've got a number one, you stick with him to give him a chance to build confidence and to give the defence a chance to build a relationship with him. This whole notion that they should 'fight for a spot' is supremely flawed. It will do more damage than good. Courtois has done more than anyone could have hoped or expected of him in his loan spell. He's become arguably a better keeper than Cech now and he's younger. He should be demanding that number one spot, or he should leave.

I think if a team wanted to sign him, then bidding would need to start at £100 million unless he expressed a desire to leave (like Bale and Ronaldo both did).

Realistically? Double that. He's actually starting to show consistency, he's yet to hit that 100 PL game mark that proved such a crucial point in Ronaldo's development, replacing him would be bloody tough and the hit to our 'prestige' and the possible bonus to not just PSG but the French league could be worth quite a bit in the long run too. Essentially he isn't for sale at any price.

No, but Cudicini was injured (injured players find it hard to play because, well they're injured). He'd also become injury-prone in the season before Cech arrived, so once again different situations. Ah yes, the old 'right click, tutor player' argument. Courtois is an established international, a European champions and possibly a league winner (fingers crossed) who will have played about 200 first-team games and be coming off of a World Cup. Sorry if you thought I was talking about keeping Cech at the club for the next 10 years. I thought I made it quite clear that I could see very little use in keeping him for 10 days after Courtois arrived back at Cobham. Now this is laughable. In training, very maybe. I like how you say arguably in pre-season matches though - the only person who would argue that would be a very stupid little boy. Are you arguing that? Exactly. Whatever was to happen in pre-season, it's still only pre-season. Goalkeepers are judged very differently from every other position on the pitch and the watchword is always stability. You want that guy in goal to be 'THE GUY', not 'THE GUY FOR TODAY, BUT MAYBE NOT NEXT WEEK'. Schwarzer signed for this club knowing Cech was number one. I've seen nothing to suggest he would go elsewhere. It's another spurious argument that holds little to no water. There is a lot of middle ground between having Blackman as back-up and the financial costs associated with keeping Cech around.

The Cudicini/Cech situation was very different. Cech wasn't in Courtois's position before he joined us for a starters. I also disagree with the notion that we would all want Cech as the back-up. Yes he's a great keeper but having someone like that can cause problems when a new young keeper is trying to establish themselves. As for me 'jumping in with a comment like that'...what the fuck? You suggested something and I asked how it would work. No reason for you to get all snotty about it for fucks sake. It might make sense on FIFA or FM to have two great keepers in the squad but in the real world there are real issues about how it actually works. Cech earns a fair chunk of change but also has a decent amount of value. Are you seriously suggesting we spend that much on a player who makes maybe 9 appearances a season as well as taking up a non-homegrown squad place? How exactly does he 'fight for a spot' by the way? I've seen that notion thrown around here a couple of times but how does that work in practice?

Good for him, although on the day that FIFA reveals what a clusterfuck the Qatar World Cup is going to be old Thomas has probably made sure he can't attend it.

The bid was for the summer world cup of 2022....we could now have a winter world cup in 2023. Plus you've got the African Cup of Nations in January 2023. So are we supposed to have a season start in August and then have a month-long break (realistically it would need to be more than that for training camps and the such)? Then you've got other considerations like American networks screening games when the NFL Playoffs are in full swing, as well as the College Football bowl games. It's a massive fucking joke and they should just put it in a more suitable country.

Fucking pathetic. Hope The FA threatens to boycott it. Fifa has completely ruled out any prospect of the Qatar 2022 World Cup being played in the summer. President Sepp Blatter had already said the tournament would be in November or December but organisers had still hoped to host it in June and July. But Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke says it could take place between 15 November and 15 January. "The dates for the World Cup (in Qatar) will not be June-July," Valcke told Radio France. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25653594

That's essentially what Bertrand gives you. 200 games and very little impression left is perhaps why people shouldn't be too surprised if Mourinho doesn't really rate him. Maybe there's an issue with his attitude that Jose doesn't like, or something in training but Bertrand's legend does seem to be growing in his absence.

How's that actually work? Do they get alternate games? One plays the first half, the other the second? If we make the switch then it has to be done cleanly - Courtois is made number one and gets a proper chance to bed in and build a relationship with the team. The argument used to be that he was the better choice for the future, but there's a very strong case that he's the better keeper right now. Would Cech want to be the back-up too?

I think you're completely ignoring the romance of sport. We went to Barcelona and Munich as the underdog (the reasons for which you may have a point about - with our resources we should've been far better but we were mismanaged in the years after Jose left) yet the character and resolve we showed were absolutely remarkable. Some of the greatest sports stories that survive decades of retelling are based on those values, so I'm not that ashamed by what I saw those nights. To be honest I couldn't give a fuck what neutrals thought about us that night either. They don't factor into my thinking because I'm a Chelsea supporter. The guys next to me in Munich didn't seem to care what neutrals thought of us either. But like you said, to each his own.

He's also two and a bit years older, made his top division debut at 19 not 17 like Luke and really this is a fairly subjective debate to be having.