The only place to be

Market research showed that Cavani's face on a t-shirt sold 24% better than Lukaku's in the South China province of Guangdong.

You don't score 17 goals in your first season in the Premier League with potential either. You win leagues with loyalty and bravery. But I'm sure I'll be swayed when there's a flag with Cavani's face printed on it waiting for me on my seat in August.

Can you talk about things in terms other than 'fanboys' - we're Chelsea supporters We're the people who care about the long-term future of this club and want to see it acting responsibly but also giving young players the chance they've earned. Because we care about this club and want to see it something sustainable in the long-term, and not just a business to sell t-shirts around the world. Fucking ridiculous post considering the age of players like Cech, Mata, Hazard, Ramires and Luiz. Also a complete misunderstanding of what Arsenal did (look at their panic buys of Mertesacker, Arteta, Podolski etc.). If you're going to try and be funny, try and be accurate otherwise you just look a bit silly.

No, I was saying that we don't sack players for under-performing. Chelsea supporters are able to recognise a player's contribution to the team, and also the effort their putting into their performance. It's not a coincidence that Mikel has never really been taken to heart by a large part of the support.

Let's not fall into this trap of thinking we sack managers for no reason. We sack them because they under-perform....players, not so much. Again with this 'people just don't understand/notice Mikel' argument? One word - Makelele. Got so much love, attention and respect from the supporters.

So we've got a young striker with promise, but we're going out to buy a £50 million shirt-seller instead? Nice to see us moving in a new direction.

I'm suggesting that their judgment may not have been something we should place much faith in. By the way, Charlie Adam was the player who 'starred' for Blackpool in the Premier League when the team was built around him. When he moved to Liverpool and was asked to play a role in the team rather than be the main man, he looked far less effective. The same appears to be true of Mikel.

Two of those managers were sacked, one left by 'mutual consent' and one was an interim, was roundly hated and also dropped Mikel. But if you want to hang your argument about Mikel being a great player on 'Big Phil chose him' then it's as good as any other argument put forward.

Really? He's a decent enough player but he's no Zaha. He'll probably be another Scottie Sinclair or Stewart Downing. There's a reason he went to Blackpool and there's a reason he's going to Cardiff and neither of those gives me cause to be sad.

He looks good in a team that is built around him, but that really isn't that unusual. There was one player who had a team built around him, scored 12 goals with 8 assists and was shortlisted for player of the year. A virtual cookie for the person who can guess that player (it wasn't Juan Mata - he had 4 more assists last season).

It was crazy when we were bought by Roman and it wasn't like it was now - all of a sudden we'd sign someone and for a few weeks it was like we were signing players everyday. I remember us having a pre-season friendly at Watford, leaving the house and by the time we got to Vicarage Lane hearing talk of us having signed Joe Cole not long after we got Veron. Every player seemed to be linked with us from Davids to Vieri to Nesta. As for Ranieri, he was a very popular guy and did well for us. In retrospect it was more of a plateau after the years of Hoddle, Gullit and Vialli when we seemed to be growing every year but it set the stage for the last decade and he'll always hold a special spot in the fans' hearts.

There is a lot of middle ground between those two ways of thinking about him. Whatever people might have thought about him, over the last couple of months he has picked up his performances and seems to be in some kind of form. That's not to say 'he's back' but whether we decide to sell him or not people have to acknowledge that something looks a bit better about him. He lost his most important weapon - his pace. The same thing happened to Alan Shearer, but he adjusted his game and was still a threat. Maybe Torres is starting to re-mould himself into a different type of striker?

I don't think you can seriously compare Lukaku and Chalobah with Kakuta. Come on....re-read what you just wrote above and you'll see that it's a little bit silly.

So rather than building a new 'freak' team, we should just ignore the imbalance and stick an expensive striker in. Like I said, success at all costs. Fuck it, let's just park the bus all season because that's how we won the CL. Why bother taking a chance on young players when they might not be good enough straight away. Who can be bothered to pay and turn up to see that shit?

So can a £50 million price tag. I have faith in Lukaku's character. He's got more than 20 international caps and almost 150 first-team appearances. Let's get out of this frame of mind that a striker is the be all and end all of our chances. It's a team game and we won the league in 2005 and 2006 with a main striker who scored FIVE less goals than Lukaku managed last season. Getting Cavani doesn't guarantee us the league. In fact I'd say the midfield and defence are far more important.

Martinez also helped out Bayern by augmenting his wages to help them out - will Cavani's mummy and daddy let him do the same?

Torres, Ba, Lukaku and Schurrle. Like I've said, we're lucky Lukaku loves this club because if he had any sense he'd put in a transfer request and find a club where the people in charge had enough faith in their support to give youth a chance. But no, we need immediate success. We want it now and if we don't get it we'll hold our breath and stomp our feet....

No risk to you you mean. RVP came through that last season at Arsenal unscathed, and there was a general feeling that he'd put his injury concerns behind him. Drogba took two seasons to really become a great goalscorer, but was still an effective player for us. The fact is that we have a young man who cost up to £18 million who scored more goals in his first proper season in the EPL than Drogba managed in each of his first two. He also happens to be a massive Chelsea fan, but some people want to sign Cavani because he's the only 'big' striker left and they really don't care how much for. That's still €20 million less than we're discussing for Cavani. Mandzukic about €16 million and started the final. They also incorporated plenty of young homegrown talent over the years and reaped the benefits - it wasn't the easy decision, but it was the brave decision and it was the right decision because they've been the best team in Europe.

Fantastic point. People have been saying that Luiz's heart is worth more than the prices being banded around for him and that's a great point, yet it's something that even Mikel's staunchest supporters can't really defend. I had doubts about him for much of last season, but that performance away to Rubin Kazan was an absolute disgrace and I think even Bosingwa would've felt shame picking up a paycheque after that game. It's not surprising because he was like that as a 19 year old, but just looking at people like Chalobah, Ake and Lukaku to see the difference in their mentalities. They respect the shirt EVERY TIME they put it on.

There are 'what ifs' based on reality and ones that aren't. Your's is statistically less likely on both counts, whereas mine was based on something that we've been living through for the last two and a half years. Doesn't mean it can't happen, but transfers should be a percentage game which is how we've treated them lately. If players like Hazard flop, then they have residual value and a lower initial cost. Players like De Bruyne cost less, but have higher upside. The Cavani price is high and we'd be looking at a loss of close to £30 million if it goes the way of Sheva or Torres.

Funnily enough there was another chap on here who made that dig at me a few months ago and he was an Aussie too. But no, I'm not. In fact people like Lukaku and Chalobah are both adults (over the age of 18) so having any attraction to them would simply be homesexual desires and nothing more. You're really not the sharpest tool in the box are you? I'm pretty sure it was a weak month. I don't think my 'attacks' are snide - I'm quite upfront about the fact that I don't understand what motivates you to want this transfer and my reasons for wanting us to take another course that is far less risky to our long-term future. This isn't my club. It isn't your club. It isn't anyone here's club. It isn't Roman's club. We're just temporary custodians and I am old enough to remember the tail-end of the fight to keep this club in business, to hear the stories of buckets being passed around for money. And trophies aren't the be all and end all of watching this club. I want to see us build something long-term and sustainable where new heroes like Chalobah and Lukaku can take the places of those who came before, rather than simply throwing money at whoever the flavour of the month happens to be.

I haven't been proven wrong, and I didn't call 'everyone' plastic. In fact I haven't used that word. Maybe it's your age or maybe it's something else, but I honestly don't get what it is you gain enjoyment from in watching this club. You slate the fans for supporting young players and you just want us to buy the shiniest toy in the shop rather than maybe giving people like Lukaku the chance to lead the line. Let's try and put it in terms you can understand - it's like that point in a football game where you've got enough money to buy whomever you wish. Where's the fun in that? Where's the challenge? Colin Bowden. Never heard of him? Well he's not a real person. I signed Colin Bowden when he was 16 years old from Southampton and he went on to become the greatest player in Chelsea history. It was tough at first and I could've just spent money on the most expensive player around but I didn't. I stuck by him and he rewarded that trust. Now life isn't a videogame and there are thousands of permutations involved but there's nothing like seeing someone go from a young kid with enthusiasm and hope to a club legend. Why do you have to be such a lowlife? What's with all the homophobic language? I'm not saying stop because the sooner you're banned the better, but is there anyway you could just be a better human being?

We've always been hated by certain fans simply because of what Chelsea Football Club is and where we're situated. There's always been a chip on our shoulders, which especially rankles fans of teams like Leeds who spend all week down t'pit and only come up for air to watch their shitty football team and fuck their sisters. There will also be a grudging respect for us though when players like Hazard and Mata really show their stuff under Mourinho. But I really don't want us to be like Swansea or Arsenal who teams like because they play pretty football and don't offer much of a threat.

Did I say that? There's a massive difference between buying someone like Hazard who is young, cheaper and has sell-on value if he doesn't make it here and someone like Cavani who costs twice as much, would be closer to 30 and have a sell-on value roughly £30 million less than we bought him for. Are you unable to make these links because explaining this to you is fucking tedious.

Why don't you stick to talking complete bollocks about videogames, rather than trying to have an opinion about this club? People are cautious about this deal because it's a massive financial commitment, not just now but for the next five years. Personally I've enjoyed the way we've looked for value in young players and I enjoy watching them develop. In fact it's always been one of the joys of supporting a football club, seeing young men grow and become part of the family. But there's a modern-day fan who doesn't understand that connection and simply wants the shiniest name printed on their shirt. To me, those fans are a cancer to football. They don't understand what it means to support a club and in all honesty I pity them because they're missing out on 95% of what it means to be a football supporter. Now please....don't forget to buy the new shirts with Cavani's name and number printed on them. Thank you, come again.