The only place to be

Pretty much how he's always looked. Tidy, not afraid to get stuck in, nice touch albeit with the occasional mistake. Good for a first start but Boro really aren't throwing much at him.

He's been playing more and more in midfield in recent times, and he's looked good doing it in my opinion. Wasn't Gullit playing as a sweeper at Ake's age?

I can see both sides. Yes we've put up a different photo, but the new one is actually better isn't it? From what I can tell he was never in the original so he's been neither airbrushed or cropped out has he? Silly PR cock-up though because the media were always going to make something of it.

You couldn't want anything more from a modern footballer. He sounds absolutely brilliant in that interview and is exactly the type of player (along with people like Mata) that we need, not just on the pitch but off it too. I think we have a genuine star here.

Yeah, because Makelele sounds all French and stuff.

I want Lukaku back, but I want this Lukaku not the one we had 6 months ago. The problem is I don't know if he's the same guy without his loan to West Brom. Look at the thread before his loan - people were moaning about his touch, his technique and whether he would be a bust. Now look at what people are saying about him. This was a good move by the club after the disastrous handling of him by AVB. As for Ba, he's been good for us but suffers from the same problem the rest of the team does - the midfield. They don't effectively move the ball forward so he's either isolated or chasing long or high balls. That's the one area where the board can certainly take some criticism because we simply don't have a playmaker in the double pivot (sorry Frank).

The one thing that sets Shaw apart from Bertrand is the same thing that has always set Chalobah away from his contemporaries - composure. Top class players always look like they have at least a second's more time on the ball than every one else around them and unfortunately that seems to be something people either have or don't have, especially when they're still teenagers. The other thing about Ryan (and I hate to pick on him because he's a good lad) is that he's always seemed a little too happy just waiting for Cole to hang up the boots and take over. Now I'm not going to say young pros should bitch and moan but look at Lukaku - he was genuinely pissed not to be playing and he went on loan and showed everyone what they were missing out on. Yes it's hard for a left-back to set the world on fire by the very nature of their position and he is a very capable player, but I've never really seen in him what I've seen in Shaw. But then again, I thought Jon Harley was the next Le Saux so I could be very wrong and Ryan could be the guy for the next decade, and I'd be delighted at that.

And if it doesn't happen then I would have to re-assess my views on the job that's being done. But you've gone from talking about what has happened to what might happen - I agree that right now it's probably to soon to properly assess the job Emenalo is doing but based on what he's working towards I don't think it's right to call for him to be sacked.

You realise that Chelsea fans will be travelling to the game. Boro is quite some distance and this is still the FA Cup, so 'rooting' for the opposition to win......what the fuck?

M view on the loans is that it was us playing catch-up after years of mismanaging young players. We simply haven't brought through the young players we need to supplement or replace the first-teamers. Now we're trying to get this group of 18-22 year olds up to speed and experienced enough to play a part at this club. You say Lukaku was needed, but if you actually look at his thread on this forum then you'll see people saying he wasn't ready, that the loan was needed and even some members saying he was already a busted flush. That's what I mean by misremembering history, because it really doesn't service this discussion. He was wasted last year because AVB said he had a role for him in the squad (same goes for Josh). This year he's become the heir to Drogba. Does he become that without this loan? I don't know. Again, the 23 loans issue was something Bushman brought up and I think you're both being unfair. Besides Essien (who has had a bad injury record and poor form for about FOUR YEARS) there aren't many people who you would have said could have contributed before the start of the season. Now we're realistically talking about at least half-a-dozen contributing to the first-team squad next season. Is that not successful? I can't believe you're criticising the Courtois loan though. We bought a young Belgian keeper with potential. We now have a Europa League and Super Cup winning keeper who is arguably the best young keeper in Europe. Next year he might even have Champions League experience if he stays there and even if we sold him we'd make at least THREE TIMES what we paid for him. You're right about us missing him against Brentford though. I think this sums up the debate though. You're criticising him for something short-term when I'm praising him for what might be major long-term benefits. I'd really advise you look at the Lukaku thread from around July to August of last year because I don't think you realise just what the feeling was around him then. Compare it to now and see if that loan was good.

He would be partly responsible for those things I'm sure. Of course if you're giving him the 'blame' for sending Lukaku out on loan, do you give him no credit for the succes of that loan? If you blame him for letting Kalou leave (is that a bad thing?) do you not give him credit for signing Moses? What about the signing of Ba? Yes we were light up front but clearly the club wanted to take every chance they could to make the £100 million man Torres work out. In any business, that's not an asset you can simply write-off. What about Azpilicueta though? Or the youth team's success? Or the amazingly successful loans of Courtois, De Bruyne, Chalobah and a few others one could mention? In fact before he took over in July 2011, we signed players like Benayoun, Torres and Zhirkov. After that we've really prioritised young players, which again seeks to remedy one of the biggest problems that faced us a club. We didn't do the right things in the first 5 years of Roman's reign which is why we're playing catch-up now. I actually agree that there is blame to be attributed to people - I just don't know if we still pay their wages.

There seems to be this myth that one can only watch players if they're playing us. I've actually seen him in a few games and he's been nothing short of impressive in each. Shaw could be shit, but isn't that the chance you take with young players? There aren't any guarantees so you judge them on what they show you and he's shown more at age 17 than either of the other two did by age 20. By that logic, don't you think he is a more promising youngster and don't you think we should be in the business of buying promising youngsters?

We also finished 6th in the league. Solomon Kalou and Jose Bosingwa by the way.

Luke Shaw at age 17 has shown far more potential than either PVA or Bertrand in my opinion. He looks like he could be genuinely world-class whereas I'm not sure Bertrand could and PVA is still untested in the Premier League. Since when is young English talent not needed?

And that's the exact point. It's not his fault - he just isn't the player we need in the first team going forward. We need a holding midfielder and a playmaker in the double pivot - he isn't either. He also isn't a right-winger but that doesn't mean he can't play a role in the squad.

Backtracking? I think that's rather unfair isn't it when you actually read what I've said. Emenalo - based on what direction the club has taken in regards player acquisition and development, I think he's done some good things. What you've actually written there is the very opposite of 'enough said' if we're being quite honest. I think this is a very important discussion by the way, and I hope fans do become engaged with these types of issues and educate themselves on them as best they can.

He was the best player. Our midfield was shit in the second-half and overrun by Arsenal's. How do you reconcile those two things? My belief is that he thrives in games where we're playing with our backs against the wall (Barcelona, Arsenal) and his fast breaks enable us to take advantage of broken transitions. But we can't win football like that consistently and nor should we aspire to.

I understand Emenalo doesn't have much experience but when you look at our transfer dealings over his time here, do you have any major issue with it? The signings have been geared towards long-term investments in cheaper players, and it seems to be paying off, right? In fact doesn't it directly address one of the key failings of the people who were in charge before him? Then look at the loans - Lukaku, Courtois, De Bruyne, Chalobah etc. are all on very worthwhile loans aren't they? Compare that to what happened in the last 5-7 years of this club when kids with promise pissed it away on teams subs benches. Yes we're lacking in the first-team but that is the result of ZERO medium-term planning in the years 2005-2010 isn't it? We're moving from a system where we'd spend millions of pounds on the transfer fees and wages of players aged 28-30 who had no sell-on value, to one where we're targetting players aged 19-24 with fees and wages significantly down on what they used to be (with the occasional marquee signing). Isn't that a vast improvement on what we had? Then there's the fact we made a profit which astounded pretty much everyone. I sound like a fanboy for the board, but I'm simply the only person urging caution in calling for people's heads at a moment of crisis.

I don't rate Gourlay. I promise I haven't got him on my shirt but I know a few people who work on football boards and they accept that they're not going to be liked by the fans most of the time. They're the people who spend most of their lives saying no and when they do have good news (like a sponsorship deal) then it's seen as a given that they should be doing these. But I think in this case they're being given an unfair appraisal by certain people. That doesn't mean I'm on the wind-up. When I look at the financial and commercial side of the club, I don't see many things I can criticise Gourlay for that specifically come under his remit. If you want to have an informed, grown-up discussion about him then that's fine but that list of things he's done wrong is either unfair (no-one could have predicted the youth team players not stepping up, and I think many of us are still surprised at Josh's lack of progress), a misremembering of history (the writing for Ancelotti was on the wall for at least two months before the Everton game) or uninformed (we still don't know the full story regarding the Wilkins sacking, although my gut instinct is still that it's wrong). The Emenalo discussion is also one worthy of a more engaged debate and it'd be a good thread title. I judge him by our player recruitment and development over his time here and I'm encouraged by that, but he certainly has some black marks against his name. With regards Buck, I've altered my stance precisely so I'm consistent in the way I appraise these people (such that I can). He's been a constant over Roman's time here and ultimately (if you'll excuse the pun) the buck stops with him. I also see other candidates who might be able to do that job, although I do appreciate the support he gave JT. I'm not saying people don't have the right to criticise, but I think people need to be aware that they are people doing a job the best they can. Calling them shysters or yes men from an uninformed opinion, or saying they do very little is at best unfair. A discussion on these issues deserves better than that.

Peace, although I like most of what he says, has given a one-sided view of Gourlay's job. I try and look at things a little more balanced. I think the fans have been treated like modern football fans. We were given the guy we wanted as manager in the summer and then we got the worst possible candidate when he was fired. It's a shite state of affairs but I personally look at it as something that's the result of a number of years of bad practices. I don't just blame the current regime as some people do. I think people either avoid going into specifics or misrepresent the facts (that we're aware of) when discussing the board. Take for instance the loans. Now we're playing catch-up to get experience for the youngsters precisely because we fucked up in that department 3-5 years ago. We never had that group of players aged 20-25 to supplement the Ballacks and Makeleles in the team. That's been one of the fundamental failings of this club but I don't think we can fire many of the people responsible for that. By your logic (of blaming Gourlay) shouldn't Kenyon take the fall for that? But I hear very few people criticising him. In fact in the original article, the author suggest re-hiring him! Do you think he's 'nailed it' with that suggestion? The reason I've said that Buck might have a case to go is for two reasons - firstly, by using the standard I've used to judge Gourlay and Emenalo I think he actually is responsible for those issues we faced. He was the Chairman at the time after all. Secondly, I can think of someone else I'd like in his spot who has a proven track record in this type of role. It's very easy to slip into the pantomime of being a football supporter, but these are people's jobs....people who have bills and families and wake up in the morning and stub their toes on doors. Saying they should be sacked without a little bit of considered thought is a little unkind in my view. I think any person, be it the cleaner or the owner, should have their employment situation treated with the same regard.

Torres was purely a choice by Roman?

Did football people not sign Azpilicueta?

I would prefer us to not be in the competition. I think it will damage us long-term.

I've said we should prioritise certain competitions over others and that I didn't like the idea of us playing midweek games before important league games, but I always support the team on the day. Don't try and paint me as something I'm not. I may not like the Europa League but I still go to the fucking games and support my team.

I like the direction we've taken with regard our commercial, transfer and recruitment activities in the last couple of years (with the obvious exception of the Torres signing). I may well change my mind if things change though. Why would I have an inflexible mind incapable of admitting mistakes?