The only place to be

Miley Cyrus when in Paris Braindead.

No. That just seems silly.

I think you're reading more into it than is there.

And he does stuff like this http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2718793/Former-Chelsea-Leeds-owner-Ken-Bates-donates-10-000-help-pay-surgery-disabled-toddler-play-football.html A complicated character to say the least.

I assume he meant top Premier League/Champions League side....so the same as us.

True, but I'm talking about purely him covering his own cost to leave and the Torres-sized hole he'd leave.

Oh no....I have to be offended by this statement because it's in bold but I'm not quite sure I know why. This is so frustrating.

As a person he is probably massively flawed, a megalomaniac, an occasionally petty man and from my own experience and a few others I've heard, a bit of a git. And that's probably the reason he managed to turn the club around from what it was when he acquired it to where we were in the late-90s and early - 00s. For 20 years the club was mismanaged and under-performed to the point we were extremely close to going out of existence but from the point he bought it there was a massive change. That's not to say he was perfect but it's hard to slate a guy when you have those results. Things like the electric fencing were indicative of the extreme side he had but it was an extreme solution to a very real problem that existed at the time. Of course he did take over when English football was about to change radically, but he's very much responsible for us being around to take advantage of that and we prospered at that time. Of course there are issues with the whole Chelsea Village thing and the hotels but personally it's hard to dislike the guy too much because from when I started going in the early-90s it's been nothing but improvement year on year.

Honestly never understood the hype. I had never seen such an average girl receive so much praise before. A mathematic equation as to why a girl who is massively out of your league isn't hot. Maths + misogyny = virgin.

So if we sold him we'd have to add about £18 million to the FFP expenditure because the rest of his fee would be due. But we'd save about £7 million this year in wages and £8 million next year. So we'd need a fee of about £11 million to break even on him (the fee covering the final transfer balance minus his wages). That's right isn't it? Fact is that he costs us about £18 million per year which is more than enough for another marquee signing.

Many congrats mate.

Player who scores goals for mid-tier teams in scoring goals for mid-tier teams shocker!!

Are you kidding? So you're taking one frame and extrapolating so much rubbish from it?

Fucking harsh. He's a decent player who did a decent job for us when we were in a tough spot. Don't quite get the derision some supporters have towards him because he really doesn't deserve it. As a player he has his uses, specifically in a counter-attacking system but he probably won't be here for much longer. Simple fact is that he probably did more than certain players who cost three times as much.

Oscar has the potential to be a great player so if he can find some form he'll be fine. Willian....he puts in a shift so he'll probably never be hated.

One of the greatest things I've ever seen a Chelsea player do. The emotion in that moment....phenomenal.

Flog one of the Brazilians and sign this guy.

I agree. Best ref in the modern game for me and a massive loss when you consider cunts like Mike Dean are still around.

No he didn't. The most impressive thing about him is those occasional bursts where he'll close down the keeper. His passing is tidy but unexceptional, his set-piece delivery is decent but nothing special, his pace is good over the first few yards but he's not exceptionally speedy and his shooting is ok but doesn't produce enough results. As Skipper said, he's not a £30 million in the slightest yet he doesn't get any criticism which is remarkable. I think he had maybe one really strong game last season (Stoke at home) but beyond that he really wasn't anything to write home about. Really needs to step it up but I'd go with Schurrle to start the season.

As TorontoChelsea said, he's never been that productive though. He's 26 in 3 days time so this might just be who he is in much the same way Luiz isn't likely to become some defensive juggernaut anytime soon. The most surprising thing about Willian is that he's escaped almost all criticism from other fans or commentators. It's almost crazy to think that he cost £30 million and produced so little but hasn't been labelled a flop. He cost three times what Moses did and produced less in his first season.

Willian is a great dribbler in the same way Mikel is a great passer. His lack of productivity is rather shocking.

Would love to see this guy deployed on the right-wing more often, as he was against Fulham and Arsenal because there's a real difference between him and Willian when that happens. He's direct and he's dangerous, in a very German manner. He's a combination of intelligent running and precise execution and he's a genuine goal threat from 20-30 yards out from goal. He's also worked exceptionally hard on his strength and conditioning. I'd really love for him to get the nod from the start of the season because I genuinely think he's one of the most dangerous players in the league. When we face teams who defend deep it's going to be about exploiting the tiny gaps they leave rather than aimless dribbling.

Fair play to City. That's a decent statement to put out from all parties, not gloating and making it plain this is more about his future at New York rather than anything else. It's of course disappointing that he will play for them but I think it's been handled by them about as well as could be expected.

Honestly I could see us having a slightly inconsistent start to the season, both on the pitch and in terms of results which will lead to he same old faces bashing us right up November. I reckon one might be bold enough to start a Mourinho Out thread too and for the usual suspects to be gleeful in questioning our style of play. But from about late November through to mid-April we have a run of games where we face only three teams who finished in the top six last season (Man City, Spurs and Everton) and I expect that to be when we win or lose the league.

That's certainly not the case in the UK.