The only place to be

Rooney can still submit a formal transfer request and force United's hand.

Really? Oscar's a tenacious little bastard who gets stuck in way more than someone in his position or with his frame would be expected to.

Yep. So you're a doctor now? He suffered bad injuries that have long and tough recovery schedules but sportsmen like him are made of stronger stuff and if there's anyone I'd back to come back it would be him. I watched him too and I saw a player who was on the comeback trail, putting everything into his performances even when used out of position. That's the type of commitment we need in this team and that's the type of commitment the supporters will back every single fucking time.

I'm hoping that Essien can be somewhere back to his best for us. He got a full season under his belt and now he's got a full pre-season to look forward to, and he looks to be in tremendous shape. Far too many people willing to write him off and some taking a bit of joy in that for whatever reason. Think he could be a prominent player for us next season and that could make such a difference to our midfield.

All the noises coming out of the camp seem to suggest he is going to get a fairly prominent role. He made 34 appearances last year which was the second highest number he achieved in the last 5 seasons. Mourinho loves him and he looks in fantastic shape so I think he might surprise a few people. That leaves him, Ramires, Lamps, Van Ginkel and Chalobah as our midfield competition for Mikel, plus the possible acquisition of a De Rossi or Luis Gustavo.

What the fuck? Essien is a player who gave everything to this club EVERYTIME he pulled on the shirt. He doesn't deserve the shit that you and others give him. He seems to think he is back to somewhere close to his best, and other players within the squad are making similar noises so I'm hoping he might surprise a few people and become a starter for us again.

Not to pick on you, but this is the type of stuff that gets trotted out every now and again. The season before last he scored 34 goals in 44 games. To put that in context, Drogba surpassed that total just ONCE in his Chelsea career.

Let's be honest, he looked a bit fat. I'm hoping it's just part of a bulking up program that will even itself out by August but I really don't have any worries about him because he's always seemed like a good pro and the club know how to handle the players' fitness.

Hopefully this transfer moves along fairly quickly. Rooney wants to leave, we want to buy and Moyes has laid the groundwork for placating the United support by basically describing Rooney as RVP's backup. The next step is almost certainly another bid and maybe an official transfer request from Rooney which usually has positive financial implications for the selling club. Not getting too caught up in Jose's comments about us not being interested in anyone else because he's never had a problem lying about transfer dealings in the past and his comments simply ratcheted up the pressure on United. As for shirt numbers, ideally he'd have the 10 shirt from a marketing standpoint. Torres still sells well as our number 9, Lamps has number 8 and Rooney isn't really synonymous with any other number. Maybe he could go the Beckham route of having 23 but if you want to sell t-shirts then the number 10 shirt makes most sense (and I'm well aware of who currently has that shirt).

I expect a similar setup to the first match but with players used in different positions, maybe Nat to midfield, Ivanovic to the middle, Schurrle or Hazard on the right etc. These are just warm-up games, part of pre-season so I wouldn't read too much into them. The one thing that was noticeable was the speed with which we transitioned from attack to defence when we lost the ball - on one occasion in the second half we managed to have 9 men back behind the ball when Singha tried to counter-attack. New ideas will start coming through as pre-season progresses but the enthusiasm and intensity at times yesterday was fantastic.

Bit harsh but made me giggle. Mikel is a 26 year old boy, De Rossi is a 29 year old man. He's a leader, he makes the players next to him better and he never shies away from a challenge. He could be part of the new spine of Chelsea, something we've lacked since we lost players like Maka and Ballack. He could be one of those players that other players look to for leadership and to drive us on. He isn't a passenger....he's a man, with a beard who discovered fire and probably smells like a cross between leather and mahogany.

There is something delicious about Platini instituting FFP to primarily stop clubs like us and then us finding ways to work within the system whist two French clubs run headlong into contravening these rules. How many of these players will stick around if the only thing they've got a chance of winning is a French league winner's medal. :lol2:

Does it fuck. Players like Beckham got far worse abuse yet he would've been welcomed here like Rooney will. This isn't a Dean Saunders/Rio Ferdinand situation. He's booed for the same reason other teams used to boo JT (pre-2010) - they'd have still welcomed him.

I absolutely love this because it simply wouldn't have happened under Gill or Ferguson. Seriously, it's schoolboy behaviour and it took about 20 minutes for the club to smack it down and make United look like chumps. But at least the bid is confirmed. Rooney wants to leave, we want to buy, Moyes has looked to diminish his role in the club going forward to make it easier for United fans to swallow.....all bodes well.

Amateur hour from the United board if they actually tried to disrupt our squad. Absolutely fucking pathetic. David Gill must be laughing his tits off, in between cringing.

Which is why people have to come to their own judgments.

He was found not guilty based on one set of guidelines (which doesn't have a provision for not proven) and found guilty based on a separate set of guidelines. This discussion has been had thousands of times. People were talking about Suarez and how JT's ban factored into that way of thinking. My honest opinion is that I think he said it, not because he's racist but because he's prone to moments of poor judgment. If people actually want to have the same discussion (actually being honest and saying what they actually think) then that's fine but rehashing the arguments of last year really isn't worth it.

As far as I know the Cole incident was an accident and it really doesn't come close to the use of racist language by 'our captain and a club legend'. The whole incident was ugly, but ultimately people have to make their own judgments based on the evidence and if you can honestly tell me that you're certain he didn't say what he was accused of then that's fine. I can't and for that I'm sad.

Romeu will get the chance to start more games for Valencia than he would've for Chelsea, which any sensible person would think was important for a player coming back from a fairly serious injury at a point in his career where he needs as many minutes as possible. Let's not pretend that Lamps or Essien will be first choice - it's probably be Ramires and De Rossi. You have an agenda that is anti-Mourinho and increasingly anti-Chelsea. Grow the fuck up.

He was actually found guilty by The FA though. I suspect (but don't know) there would've been provision in his contract to terminate it on those grounds. Look, I've defended JT based on the real court's decision but if you want to put a gun to my head and ask me if I think he actually said it then I'd say he did. That doesn't make him a racist but it does diminish him somewhat in my eyes.

Yes he did. What's your point?

He was used as a striker just a season ago and scored 34 goals. Has he declined so much in the last 12 months that he's no longer capable of playing there? Has he lost that electric pace (which he never had in the first place)? So much shit spoken about one player it's unbelievable. I'm happy to point out that Lukaku could be a world class striker. He has all the tools. But so does Rooney as well. It seems people are prepared to make themselves look a little silly to support their arguments.

Mikel then went and put in the biggest 'I couldn't give a fuck' match against Rubin Kazan that I can remember seeing in the last decade.

People don't think that though. They think he's a world class striker who also offers these other things to the team. I'm all for giving Lukaku a chance and I've said that on many occasions, but if Rooney is actually available at this price and Jose thinks he can get him back to his form of 12 months ago (people tend to forget what he was like, or just choose to make shit up) then it's hard not to go for him.

If the club had sacked JT, I would have supported them. I certainly don't feel the same way about him as I did in 2008.