The only place to be

Let's put Harry's 'achievements' at Portsmouth into context. In the season the won the Cup he had a net spend of £21 million. The season before he had a net spend of £13 million. Winning the FA Cup was a fantastic achievement (although the semi-final was against West Brom and the Final was against Cardiff, but they did beat Man United as well) but look at where Portsmouth are now. To use a financial term, they are fucked. Now you could look at his transfers and admire the way he bought players in cheap and sold them for more, but you have to look at the totality of his tenure and where he left the club. But there's no getting around the fact that Moyes doesn't have trophies to his name yet if that's all we're going to judge managers on then we should discount Pellegrini too. In fact Redknapp has a better record than both of them but I wouldn't want him near this club. What Moyes does is surpass expectations. It says something that you think Everton should be doing better than they are. The reality of the situation is that they should be nowhere near where they have been for the last half of a decade. They've spent less (net) than over 75% of the teams currently in the Premier League in that time. By all rights they should be fighting relegation, not for a Champions League spot. I can't give you a stat that tells you he's the best we can do. But can you give me a single reason why Everton should be in the position they're in right now? It's a phenomenal achievement by any measure.

Not to be the grammar police, but I've always blamed Becks for popularising the surname 'Loos' and thus confusing people. Damn you Beckham!! Actually I reckon if Cech got sent-off then Luiz would be the first to volunteer to go in goal. He's just that kind of guy who steps up when it counts. He's not a midfielder, but he does a better impression of one than Mikel. I'm not defending him, just pointing out a few facts. Yes he overran it a few times, but he also brought it out of defence well at times and some of his one and two touch passing was not just accurate but quick too. I'm not saying we should keep him in midfield. He's our best defender right now, but when you look at the other options we have right now there's a good argument to be made for keeping him there. He's not a natural midfielder and right now he's not a great midfielder, but he might be better than the people at this club who put 'Midfielder' down on their CV at least for the foreseeable future.

I thought Frank had a good game. Some of his passing from deep looked almost Alonso-esque, but in the second-half there were periods where he was slow to get back and Luiz covered. However, there were moments when the opposite was true and he was defending on the edge of the box against a Basel counter. It was his best performance for a few months in my opinion (since Stoke away probably) and he should've got a goal too. Hazard was hit and miss, but the lack of support from Torres was abysmal. This was Fernando back to his worst, unable to hold up the ball and being less useful than a brick wall when it came to one-twos. Still, he took his chance that hit the post well and was unlucky on that occasion. What is encouraging is that we never really got out of second gear, and essentially coasted for much of the second-half. But when we actually needed a goal we applied pressure until we got it. Basel are not a great team but it was great to see us step up at the end and get what we needed and for the first time this season it came from the double pivot (Ramires winning the free-kick, Luiz scoring it).

Mediocrity last season was one spot behind us with a net transfer spend of MINUS £12.5 million. Just to put that into context (in case anyone doesn't realise how spectacular an achievement that is) we spent £60 million to finish one spot ahead and Liverpool spent £35 million to finish one spot behind. Then realise he's done something like that every season for the last six and the word 'mediocrity' is a tad unfair. Can you give a single justification for his achievements at Everton being in any way, shape or form mediocre? It would be like me asking you to go off and build me an F1 car that can compete at the top end of the sport, oh and I'd like change thanks. Oh, you only came 8th in the British Grand Prix?? How mediocre.

Wow, all that and I still wouldn't swap them. Baines is a great crosser of the ball. Ashley Cole is a once in a generation left-back.

Criticising a midfielder who isn't Mikel. Shocker! Luiz isn't a midfielder. He's a defender. But yesterday he put in a proper shift, moved the ball well (and quckly too, something we don't have when a certain player plays) and got stuck in. He actually looked like he wanted to be on the pitch (on a Thursday of all days) and didn't hide away. Most importantly, he stepped up at the end of the game and showed the guts to take the final kick to win us the match. Americans might call that being 'clutch' and we'd just call it having balls, but whatever you want to call it it's clear that this guy is becoming a real leader for this team wherever he plays. Was his performance perfect? No. But he's played less than a dozen games in midfield at this club so anyone with a modicum of sense and objectivity would say that the odd mistake is understandable. But even if his technique lets him down, he's got more than enough heart and character to carry him through and make sure he contributes to the team. Unfortunately there's no stat for that, but the supporters notice.

In fairness Luiz was lucky to be on the pitch to score that free-kick, but Sturridge and Suarez should've been off on Sunday so maybe these things have evened themselves out. Overall, wasteful. Should've been 3-0 at least and Torres had a shocker. Everyone else put in good performances to be honest, although Cech's distribution was appalling. Azpi seems to be back in form and it was never a penalty. Ivanovic and Terry were solid at both ends and Ashley's return was fantastic. Sometimes easy to forget how good he is. Lamps distributed well and got in the box well whilst Luiz was a hard-working yet calm presence alongside him. Hazard worked hard behind a striker who gave him absolutely nothing, Rami put in a decent shift and Moses was at his direct-running best again. So all in all, a solid performance with a bevy of wasted chances.....again. The tie should be over although I don't know what else Basel can really bring to the Bridge and Benitez rotated the squad well enough that we should be able to carry this momentum into Sunday with players like Moses and Terry pushing for a start.

Feels like the first Nordsjaellend game at the moment. Should be at least one more goal up but pretty good performances all round.

Unfortunately Mikel finds it hard to get up for games on Thursdays.

I'm very aware Chelsea have worldwide support - they've been coming to the Bridge (that's in London, England) for many a year.

I think Martinez is an interesting manager. Like Moyes at Everton, he's probably overachieved at Wigan although they look to be going down this season. But he also begin the transformation at Swansea that Rodgers and Laudrup have built on. The problem he has is being a bit more pragmatic and grinding out results this season.He deserves to stay in the Prem with another team but I think he's got zero chance of coming here this summer. If you look at Moyes this season, he got Everton pushing for a Champions League spot despite making a profit in the transfer market.

Two pensioners who have either stated or suggested they're retiring....Neither is really a long-term option if we're being honest but if you want to throw their name into the ring then go for it. Who would you like us to hire 6 months after we hire them? In the last six season he hasn't finished below 8th despite having almost nothing to spend in the market. That's a remarkable achievement however you want to look at it and he is probably the best available manager in this league so of course he gets a mention.

Let's not pretend that there's a clear standout after Jose and Klopp. There's a bunch of managers at the level below and off that lot Moyes has one of the more compelling cases. He knows this league, he's overachieved as manager of Everton and he's shown a willingness to be pragmatic with his tactics. He isn't the ideal choice by any means, but I really don't think there is one if we discount the big two.

And we're an English club. Look, you're entitled to think what you want and prioritise which trophies you want. You're just in the minority when it comes to Chelsea supporters. And now you know.

I remember well, and long may it continue but there were some very special events that helped us make a profit last year. As for my concern, it's purely for the future of this club. See I care about this club and want to see it run sensibly so that it's around when I want to take my kids to games. I also appreciate Roman enough to not want to see him bankrolling this club again. I want us to continue the good work we've done in the market over the last two years and start giving youth a chance. And why do you call him Ferda? Is that short for Fernando in Spanish?

It's Juan Mata. Sure you could make a case for players like David Luiz (most improved) or Eden and Azpi because it's their first season, but it's Mata. In fact if we're doing a top three I'd have it as 1. Juan Mata 2. Daylight 3. Hazard

You don't seem to understand that people who support this club want it to be run efficiently. We don't want Roman to keep having to dip into his own pockets - we want to be self-sufficient and run sensibly.

I think you're on your own in that regard. The league has to be the priority.

Couldn't disagree more. The league is what you compete for week in and week out. It's against your closest rivals. It's the one you and your mates get up for. League first, Europe a very close second. As for Falcao, there are no certainties in life and whilst he is a fantastic striker he's completely untested in the Premier League. Saying he'll score 35 goals is a little....silly.

At the moment I'm excited but cautious. I think the reality is that we're going to get a different Mourinho from the one we had 6 years ago and that's not unexpected. People change and this experience at Madrid could be a humbling one in some ways. He's a great coach and a great leader, but he's still got to come here and do the job. The day we hire him (IF we hire him) will be a great day, but I'm looking forward to what he does the day after. I want to see what he says about our young players when he gets them together and I want him to be involved in planning the development of the Bogas and Musondas in our squad. The same goes for Falcao. Great player, great attributes, 0 goals in the Premier League. I'll be excited but until he starts scoring goals against Norwich and Newcastle I'm going to be a little worried. I'm not saying the CL isn't better quality, but the domestic league has got to be the first priority. I want this club to be the best team in Europe, and that means being the best team in England first.

I'm not talking about future superstars though am I. I'm talking about guys who are already at that level. It's true that Roman can spunk money up the wall, but you know who can't do that? Chelsea Football Club. If he wants to buy Ronaldo and Messi then he can, but unfortunately he can't put it on our books unless Gazprom are bankrolling us to the tune of £200 million per season. As for the Champions League it's a great competition but the league is the bread and butter. That's the true measure of how good you are in my opinion. For all the money, lustre and fireworks associated with the CL, it's still just a cup competition at the end of the day. We were the sixth best team in England and for all the excuses we can think up, the real reason was that there were five teams better than us. After all the millions spent, that is a total failure.

Except we don't and we haven't for the last two years. Look at our transfer record, the closest player to a 'superstar' that we signed was Hazard. In fact at the start of Roman's reign we didn't buy 'superstars' but players on the cusp, like Drogba, Robben and Cech. It's when we started chasing the Shevchenkos, Decos and ultimately Torres of this world that things started to fall apart. Oh, and last season we were the 6th best team in England. There's a massive difference between being the Champions of Europe and being the best club in Europe.

If Falcao leaves Atletico then they're in the market for a striker and they've been linked today with Suarez - I would love us to get Falcao and then be responsible for Suarez moving on. And if Suarez moves on then Liverpool are in the market for a new striker.....

I think people have reservations because they've seen what happens when you value short-term thinking over long-term planning and are worried that we're going to make the same mistakes again. Yes Mourinho is a winner, but the job he'd be asked to do here is something he's NEVER done before. We need to build something sustainable, incorporating young players and creating our own stars rather than buying them. I'm not saying he can't do that but there are certainly question marks. The same applies to Falcao. He's a great player but he's completely unproven in the Premier League, he's expensive and he's going to be 28 halfway through next season. Personally I'm not that keen on Cavani either and would've liked to have seen Lukaku given a chance to earn a starting job here next season alongside Ba and Schurrle.

My guess is that your dog is called Rafa and you make it lick peanut butter off of your nutsack.