The only place to be

Now you're just talking utter bollocks without the pretence of being a Chelsea supporter.

The category which doesn't believe there are just two types of people in the world. And you're not doing a very good job of 'leading' if that's your aim. You've not made a single convincing point because you don't seem to know much about football, and even less about Chelsea Football Club.

You're the only one.

Roman might not, but the club has to account for it's finances in a post-FFP world. Signing Courtois has not affected our ability to sign any other players. He hasn't cost us a penny in wages and his transfer fee was relatively low over 5 years.

Claude Makelele. Adored by every Chelsea fan, missed by them too. Ah, the 'football fans just don't understand him' argument. Two words, Claude Makelele. Could it just be that Chelsea fans have been well educated on what a DM is supposed to do (we also got to see Deschamps up close and personal) and Mikel simply doesn't come up to our high standards? Could it be we're not dumb and that we do in fact know what DMs are supposed to do and no amount of stat-wanking will change that?

Actually, there's a lot to think about. You have to weigh up the money you'd get for either against the amount of seasons you'd get from them, plus also the chance of getting another keeper of his calibre. Cech was a once in a generation signing for this club, and it looks like we might have done it again with Courtois. Which makes your constant jibes about his signing even more ridiculous. In the worst case scenario, we've at least tripled our money when we sell him. At least. Best case scenario, we've found a replacement for a key player who can be a feature for at least a decade.

I do. I also understand that sometimes you have to make tough decisions regarding players and this is one we'll have to make.

You realise that players can be sold whilst still under contract don't you? In fact that's the only way they can be sold (over a certain age). Why would you not keep players with transfer value under contract?

Mikel played about as many games under Ancelotti in 2010 as Kalou did, didn't he? Do you have any idea why he's so divisive amongst the fans?

To me, he has the potential to be a top keeper for over a decade. I don't know why we'd risk losing someone in a position that is notoriously difficult to replace. There's always the option of selling Cech and bringing Courtois back.

A fair point, but he's not the type of guy I want in that position. Maybe I was a little unfair on him, but to me he isn't a leader of men. He isn't that big presence that you need in the centre of the park. I have to keep reminding myself that he's almost 26 and that he will have played about 250 games for the first-team, because he still reminds me of a kid sometimes. Our success in recent years came on the back of men....leaders. Now we're reaching a point where he needs to step up and I simply don't think he does. I've never known a Chelsea player so divide fans (apart from Torres maybe, although most people were on the same page with him). To my mind, he's not good enough to be one of the main men in the team.

Why don't you tell me why you'd like Moyes here? Like I said, great manager but I simply don't think he'd be the right guy.

I'm not so sure Mourinho us unrealistic and out of those available, I'm not sure how Moyes is the best option. Good manager, but not really the person I'd see fitting in at our club especially when you look at his footballing philosophy.

Exactly. Although, as I've mentioned before, at some point we're going to have to choose between Courtois and Cech.

Because Roman made a new year's resolution to keep his sackings to one per season? I don't know. Part of me thinks he deserves to be stuck with him (and the shit that goes along with it) for a few more months to learn a lesson. On the plus side, he's hardly doing anything to make sure he stays on beyond the summer.

We don't exactly have a good track record with Laudrups. We hire him in August and by November we'll have Bjarne Goldbaek in charge. But I'd be cool with him. He fits the system, he's done pretty well in his first season and he might benefit from the dressing room being the power centre of the club that it once was. My only reservation is that he's not really stayed anywhere long-term, but his career has been on a steady upward curve since he started and he has a good pedigree.

In Roman's defence, he gave Robbie a job at a top club when he couldn't even get past an interview at a Championship team. Sure he sacked him, but that's happened to better managers than Robbie, and he knew the deal when he signed up. I think you're overstating Roman's 'itchy trigger finger' like a lot of the tabloids do. The sackings of AVB, Scolari, Ancelotti and Robbie all came after poor results or performances. The one he probably regrets is sacking Jose, but their relationship just fell apart. I thought the same as you when it came to Mourinho, but maybe he's reaching a point in his career where he wants to settle down and do something long-term. He's won almost all the top prizes, so what's the next challenge for someone like him? A project? I would hope he's learnt something from this Madrid experience and that he might have changed. The same goes for Roman. Maybe now is the perfect time for them to come together and look to build something new.

So we're doing Mourinho a favour? From what I heard we were looking for ways to reduce the wage bill by loaning out players who weren't going to be part of the first team squad. Benayoun had about half of his wages paid by West Ham whilst the figure I heard for Essien was a little higher. It made sense at the time, considering Essien hadn't looked like his old self for about two years.

Are we paying his wages? What percentage are Real Madrid paying?

People understand his role in the team and what he's asked to do (it's not about having eyes as you assert) but some (like me) simply don't think he's good enough. I don't like his attitude more than anything and I think he lacks the personality or assertiveness to really dominate in that position. It's funny that you mention maturity and discipline as being pivotal to the way we play- I agree which is why their absence when it comes to him makes us weak. My problem with him is that he's a weak human being. He's not a leader and it's getting high time that people stop making excuses for him because he's not a youngster anymore. He's a 26 year old man with over 200 appearances for this club and he should start stepping up especially when we're struggling, but too often he simply gets carried along with the tide. If we're playing well, he looks good but if we're playing poorly he simply fades into the background. This club's success was built on men, not boys.

Not really. Most players are contracted because they have transfer value, something Frank probably doesn't. I also don't know where you're getting this idea that 'most managers think' whatever. Yes some have spoken out, but I think we all have to acknowledge the issue of player power in our changing room. He's a big personality, and not every coach will want that looming presence around if they're trying to do something new. Anyone who has had a job knows that sometimes age and experience can be a bad thing (as well as a good thing). It's why I think it should be the coach's decision, and if Jose does come in then I think he could effectively manage Lamps. A younger, less experienced guy might not.

See, I don't understand this. Doesn't it depend on who the manager is whether or not you sign a player to a new contract, especially someone with so much power in the dressing room?

Same here. We simply missed someone who we could bring on to shore up the midfield a bit, especially at 2-1. I think he's competent enough to do that against Southampton.

The only other option would appear to be Man City for Jose and they hired Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain to work above the manager. I don't think the idea of going for Jose is as daft or unlikely as I previously did.

So you're questioning the validity of these loans without knowing what type of playing time they're getting?