The only place to be

Has been man of the match in about five games. BUT He hasn't been match of the match in about ten. Should loan him to Everton.

Good player but young. Should loan him to Everton.

The quick fix has been what got us in this mess. We're spineless and I mean that in both senses. We lack character and we lack a solid spine that runs through the team. Cech has become error-prone, Cahill and Luiz have both failed to nail down that shirt, the midfield is missing (literally - where was Mikel for Ireland's goal and where was ANYONE for Assaidi) and our strikers are woeful. They're costing us points by missing chances and Eto'o cost us a point on Saturday. If we could bring back Courtois, Chalobah and Lukaku then maybe that could be the foundation of a new spine for this club. But instead Mourinho pines for a Sturridge......we had a Sturridge and we let him go because WE DON'T TRUST YOUTH. United lack a midfielder and Pogba would cost them £30 million. We're lacking a striker and Sturridge would cost us at least £35 million. Yet the teams who are surpassing expectations are the ones who trusted youth.

Derby are doing well in the Championship and McLaren isn't the joke of a manager that the media like to portray him as, so this is a massive potential banana skin. We're very beatable right now and I wouldn't be surprised if Derby got the draw at the very least.

The defence problems stem from the midfield. That pivot is the root of all our problems and it wasn't addressed this summer or the summer before and the common denominator there is Emenalo. Even players like Chalobah who might be a possible solution haven't been tried because we don't give young players a chance. There's something deeply wrong at this club and the only thing keeping us adrift is our chequebook.

Should we send him on loan to Everton? He's still inconsistent and when you look at how Martinez has brought on youngsters like Lukaku, McCarthy and Deulofeu then maybe it's better that he goes to Everton and we try and sign someone like Angel Di Maria.

Man City and West Brom as well. I still wouldn't drop him because we don't have anyone better at the club....right now. But Courtois is pencilled in for the starting spot next season.

Was it an eye injury? He cost us that third goal because he gave the ball away at the worst possible point. What was he trying to do? Why did he not pass the ball to the right-wing to a wide-open Mata? What could returning from an injury and being rusty possibly have to do with what he did when he received the ball? I'm not having a go but let's try and be consistent when appraising our strikers be they 20 or 32. If you can explain what rustiness has to do with what happened in that single incident when he receives the ball in transition then fine. It might explain his general shit play and ineffectiveness in the rest of his game, but in that precise instance I think it's just him not being a particularly good play anymore.

Lukaku has embarrassed Mourinho. The fact that Mourinho had to try and mug him off in a press conference is pathetic and the simple fact is that Mourinho is moaning about not having a top scoring striker when HE DECIDED to loan one out. The fact that Mourinho tried to blame Lukaku is utterly pathetic. He's basically admitting that if we had Lukaku, we'd be top of the league. If Mourinho hadn't loaned out Lukaku, we'd be top of the league.

Unfortunately you might be right. We have the best academy in the country and one of the best in the world, but we have a manager who is more likely to slag off a young player than actually play him.

If United and Liverpool are title-challengers, so are Everton. Jose seems embarrassed by this whole Lukaku thing which is why he acted in such a petulant manner towards Romelu in those press conferences. We deify Jose at times, and he's an excellent coach but he's also the person who gouged an opposing coach's eye.

And yet he still made a nuisance of himself and almost created something out of nothing at the end. I think he develops wherever he plays. I think he also makes us a better team and that his loaning could be the difference between us winning the league or not. He is our most effective striker and we loaned him out. We could loan him to Barcelona and I think it would be the wrong move for both him and this club.

If you tell me Aguero has scored already 10 or 12 goals, Negredo 10 or 12 goals, Dzeko four or five, Rooney eight or 10, Giroud eight or 10, ­Sturridge eight or 10, Suarez 10 or 12,” “If you ask me would I like my strikers to score eight, 10 or 12 goals? Yes. “If we had eight, 10 or 12 goals, we would be top of the league. That’s a reality, but my strikers give everything and the team works hard. I think he's leaving one name out of that list. I swear there's another striker who is amongst the top scorers in the league, but for the life of me I can't remember his name.

Dan Levene is an utter cunt. I apologise for linking to that cunt's shit twitter page and won't do it again, mainly because he's a cunt. An absolute non-story. No wonder he writes for such a shit paper. Even the crap he makes up is unimaginative.

Dan Levene tweeted Chelsea story coming here later this evening that will be making headlines tomorrow. Don't say I didn't warn you... Hate shit like this so be ready to delete this thread when it hopefully turns out to be nothing.

What is CFC level?

Put more into that match today than our strikers could manage between them. Here's the thing....we've loaned him to a club who I think are probably better than us. What Martinez has got them playing is remarkable in such a short space of time.

Keeps it to five points....thanks Everton.

1. Bollocks 2. What the fuck? Why should he fight for his place?? Are you serious? 3. Meh. That last thing shows a complete lack of understanding of English football. This is the country of Bobby Moore. Don't chat shit.

I don't consider John O'Shea a league winning centre-back but he's got 5 league winner's medals. You don't win the league with 25 superstars, but with solid back-ups like Cahill. Everyone probably saw him as third choice, but Luiz simply hasn't been good enough. If you want Cahill playing less then your hero has to start giving a fuck about the badge on his blue shirt and not just the one on the shitty yellow one.

There's a few people who constantly dismiss Cahill with glee as a 'mid-table' defender. He isn't. He's at a top club. Funnily enough if we were a mid-table club these 'fans' wouldn't bother following this club.

I think I agree with what you say about Rami - his workrate is utterly phenomenal but I've always preferred players who can control the tempo of a game with the skill and vision rather than simply run around a lot. He's capable of sublime pieces of skill but it's unreliable and in that position you need a metronomic presence like a Xavi or a Scholes who can make other players play at his speed rather than trying to keep up with them.

Arsenal are where they are by virtue of consistency - or being less shit than the rest. There is a chance that they are also a good team though. They've had a weak schedule and lost to United and us (albeit in the cup) but they've got some good players and people seem to be waiting for them to slip....it might not happen. The tumult at other clubs might be benefitting them simply because they haven't changed much and could hit the ground running, but as each week passes I'm getting more worried.

I have a feeling they'll feel obliged to stick with him rather than sack him in order to seem 'better' than us. They would hate to be seen to be as ruthless as Roman can be and I think that will be to their detriment because there are serious questions about whether he is actually good enough. He'll get the season at least, but that midfield of their's has been a problem for about 5 years now and the hierarchy haven't done anything about it.

If we had a young keeper who made those mistakes, then maybe dropping Cech would be worth it but the guy is 31. What exactly are we expecting him to learn from some time on the bench? His preparation for matches is still first-class, but maybe this is just who he is now. He looks a little gun-shy so why not let him have a couple of games against Steuau and Palace to get some confidence back? If we had Courtois waiting on the bench then it would absolutely make sense to pull the trigger, but we need Cech to be at his best for the rest of this season and I don't know what dropping him actually does.