The only place to be

No links recently but am I alone in thinking this guy could do a job for us? He isn't cup-tied, he knows the league, he'll be 28 and he'd probably cost just shy of £20 million. He's being linked to PSG and I expect a few other clubs come January.

Just noticed the final is in Lisbon, about half-hour from where Jose was born. Maybe it's a sign.

Hopefully that dispute with Vasco doesn't prove to be a fly in the ointment. It's funny that we're actually looking to sign a striker named after a blood-sucking parasite when we already have Torres and Eto'o on the books.

Boga is a 10 or a left-winger, Traore (from what I've seen of him) is the same. Maybe Piazon makes it here as a left-winger but I'm just not convinced by him. He's a very nice player but he doesn't seem to do anything exceptionally. Nice vision, nice touch, nice movement....but nothing that makes you stand up and take notice and it was the same in the youth team. His problem is that Hazard and Schurrle are both only a few years older than him but far better on the left wing, and Oscar, Mata, De Bruyne, Traore and Boga can all play through the middle. He'd need at least one more year on loan somewhere of a higher standard than Vitesse, unless they get into the Champions League and he can show something there.

At the moment I'd say he's got less chance than Boga and Traore of making it here. He's a very nice player but I've never been blown away by him. If we sell him then I'd expect maybe £8 million at the most with some clauses built-in

press conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYd3TKkxlZY

According to whoscored he made one. John Terry also made one, but no interceptions to Gary Cahill's one. John Obi Mikel also made just one (obviously wasn't on Steven Ireland). Ivanovic made no tackles. http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/720297/LiveStatistics/England-Premier-League-2013-2014-Stoke-Chelsea

The fact is that players like Lukaku SHOULD be getting more chances but instead we go for has-beens who are little more than names nowadays. If we can't develop a player like Lukaku at this point in his career then what is the fucking point? And the only reason Eto'o and Torres get the game time they do is because neither one of them has been able to nail the shirt down. Cech has. Ivanovic has. Terry has. Azpi has in recent weeks. Ramires has. Hazard has. Oscar had. SEVEN players have appeared in at least 15 games this season so why on Earth wouldn't Lukaku if he matched the form he is in with Everton??? Next season....next season....always next season. It's a Mail article so make of it what you will http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2404952/Chelsea-sign-Samuel-Etoo-7million-year-deal.html

So 10 goals in about 30 games is what is acceptable from a guy earning roughly £7 million per year and who cost about £5million. Lukaku has scored 8 goals in 11 games.

They're different in some senses, but once again this club has made the decision to go with 'proven' names over young talent. We're a club being run seemingly by charts and graphs rather than intuition. Eto'o has won leagues and Champions Leagues whereas Lukaku is still young, so Eto'o should statistically be more likely to help us win something....or maybe they're just going by their ratings on FIFA 14. I don't know, but there's a distinct lack of soul in some of this club's decisions.

Sorry, but he implied that we didn't bring in a midfielder because Mourinho wanted to keep Lampard's ego tamed. That is a lie. He is a liar. Lampard is starting games because we have no-one else who can. He isn't perfect and he's had poor games, but the other options are either not much better or non-existent.

He represents everything bad about this club over the last decade. In the space of 72 hours we signed him and loaned out Lukaku. Overpaid, under-performing and he could well be to Lukaku what Torres was to Sturridge.

Lies.

Because he's got a history of being a very selfish individual who seems to put himself above the team. He's fantastically talented but he has character issues and that's the last thing this club needs right now.

The problem is that the things Mourinho seems to be forgetting only happened in August of this year. :eyebrows: I think Lukaku will be a better player next season, but I think that would've been the case if he had stayed here too. As the skipper points out, Mourinho never seemed willing to give him a chance and that is why it's probably a good idea that he went to Everton but you can't help thinking that if Mourinho had stuck him in the team then maybe he would be that 10 goal striker that he seems to want. Instead he brought Eto'o out of semi-retirement....well almost. He's 50% out of semi-retirement.

Pretty well said. He's made mistakes but I still don't want anyone else in charge of us....I'm just impatient to see something taking shape. He just needs to get that one midfielder and I think the team will find some consistency. Maybe we are missing Oscar more than I thought because we looked like two seperate parts on Saturday (defence and attack), something that happened far too often last season.

He's still got the intelligence to make the right runs, but he is 32. Players get old and they lose part of what made them great. Torres seems to have lost pretty much everything that made him special, and Ba never really had it in the first place.

I haven't made it for at least 7 hours.

I still believe that Mourinho is the right guy for us and that we have to stick with him and give him total support, but I'll admit I'm concerned about the lack of consistency. It's not just him that I'm worried about, but everyone at the top of this club. I simply don't know what it is we're trying to do. I firmly believed that we would use players like Lukaku, De Bruyne and Chalobah in an exciting new system but it's December and I'm still sometimes mystified as to what it is we're trying to do. But I think it's the recent comments and the petulance that have raised my ire regarding Jose. The schoolyard bickering with Lukaku was pathetic and not what I want to see from any Chelsea manager. I still think he's the right man for us, but that's partly due to the fact that I don't know if there's anyone else out there who is better (and available).

The Lukaku comments bothered me and I'm severely underwhelmed with his performance so far. I still support him but each game raises more and more questions. I honestly don't know who this guy managing us is from what I see on the pitch. The only thing consistent is our inconsistency. Could be a good signing, but would he get in ahead of Distin? :eyebrows:

Has anyone worked out what identity he's trying to build at Chelsea yet? Ignore his words about young players because that's mostly bollocks, but focus one what's appeared on the pitch. What style is he trying to build? You look at the managers who are overachieving this season and it's the likes of Martinez and Pochettino, and even Rodgers who instil belief in their sides and play some fearless, distinctive football with a trust in young players. The more established managers like Mourinho and Moyes are underwhelming so far. The form side has been Arsenal who have exemplified fearless, skilful football with an emphasis on young players for years and are seeing the fruits of that commitment paying off whereas we look lumbering and old.

Eto'o has been passable but he has two goals in the Premier League, one from Ridgewell having a brainfart and one which the ref didn't realise was against the rules of football. He is what he is - a 32 year old version of Samuel Eto'o who went into what was effectively semi-retirement. This club chose that over a hungry, unpolished diamond. That is what this club does.

Jose said If we had eight, 10 or 12 goals, we would be top of the league. That's Lukaku and he chose to loan him out. This is despite him also saying that he could improve a 20 year old player but not a 30 year old player. To be quite honest I'm perplexed as to what Jose actually wants.

Shaw probably isn't going anywhere until summer at the very least, and we can probably get by with Ash and Azpi until then. Midfield is a must but it's been a must for a while now. Jose seems more bothered about a striker at the moment and we have a fine one on loan. Benteke hasn't scored since September so why he's in the list I don't know. I'd go so far as wanting a midfielder in but this mess won't be solved until summer and short-term fixes don't work.

All that and no mention of Courtois. The fact that Jose is in charge might be the only reason Cech is still number one next season.We'll probably sell Courtois to Barca....or loan him to Everton.