The only place to be

Is it only me who trusts our scouting network in this transfer? When was the last time we spent around £10 million on a player for him to turn out to be a flop? Azpi, Moses, Ba, Cahill, De Bruyne, Courtois, Lukaku and Marin all cost around that much and I'd only call Marin a flop so far. Even Meireles did a job for a while. Then there's the Matas and Ramires of this world who cost a bit more but seem to have worked out. Could it be that the scouts know far more than people on here do and that he might be a useful player for us?

Talking me down from the roof :tophat: Cheers. I think a large portion of those people who haven't jumped on the Rafa Out bandwagon have only done so because of the 'interim' title. If he actually got the job full-time then things could get nasty. Unbelievable how important this summer is going to be.

Contradicting myself how?

If that's true then we might be fucked. Either stuck with Benitez or going after someone who probably won't have the stature not to be sacked within 6 months. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

Stop opening it then - you only do it so you can moan about the same thing over and over again.

Robbie was a temporary manager in reality, so is Rafa. We all know who the real target is so I'm not too bothered what happens in the meantime so long as we finish Top Four. We were already out of the Champions League under Robbie so one of the main targets for this season was already gone. I have no problem with us losing Drogba (perfect ending), Anelka (simply wasn't performing), Kalou (hated him playing for us, hated him coming off the bench, glad he's gone) or Sturridge (most selfish player I've ever seen, better in theory than reality). But if you want to criticise the board, I'd suggest you also credit them for astute signings like Azpi, Moses, Cahill and also investing in some of the best youth players on Earth (Courtois, De Bruyne, Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Lukaku), as well as developing the youth academy so that we have some really exciting youngsters on the cusp of breaking through. Letting Lampard go when his contract expires at the age of 35 and his position in the team doesn't really exist anymore (he's not a deep lying midfielder nor is he good enough to oust Mata behind the striker) and we have a host of youngsters fighting for his space is not the worst thing in the world. Calling for a boycott of games when you have absolutely nothing invested in such an action is fucking ridiculous in all honesty.

Apparently Liverpool are the biggest club in the Premier League according to old Danny. :lol2: Even the Liverpool fans might start to think he's laying it on a bit thick.

I'm not getting into a debate about fandom, I'm simply saying that it's easy to call for a boycott when you don't actually have to do anything about it. If people don't want to go to a game because we're letting a player's contract run down then that's their choice but an organised protest is a little bit silly in my opinion. My attitude towards him is simple - he's been a great player for us, one of the best ever, but we're moving on. If that makes you want to 'question my longevity as a Chelsea supporter' then that's fine, but you know it won't mean much coming from you - no offence.

That's not very nice. Although being told by someone who doesn't go to matches that I should consider boycotting a match because a 35 year old's contract is running out and the club aren't renewing it has given me something to laugh about this morning. :lol2: :lol2:

Not to have a dig at Robbie, but wasn't the last job he was linked with the Nottingham Forest one?

A boycott of what? :lol2:

He played as a DM before he signed for Everton and started there as well if I remember correctly. We were tracking him and were interested in signing him, primarily because De Visser was very high on him. At Everton, he began to impress in that role too before he suffered an injury (again, this is from memory so might be slightly inaccurate). The reason Everton are using him there is because that's where they have a need for him. It's not that complex a notion that one team might use a player in one way because they have a need there, whilst another might use him in a different position. £22 million for a proven, top-class (in my opinion) midfielder is about right considering that's roughly what we spent on Essien. As for what he is, I think people are judging him too much by how Everton have recently used him. Like I said above, we first became interested in him when he was a DM but Everton got him. He's moved forward for Everton, but I still think he could be an excellent DM alongside someone like Oscar, De Bruyne or even Ramires or Luiz. Beyond his obvious physical gifts, he's very good technically and he has a certain steel about him that I like. His versatility and ability to get goals in advanced positions would be a bonus. Look at the QPR game for example, where we struggled for penetration. Pushing him forward when we were in possession would have caused problems in the QPR defence, and that's something that can get you a couple of invaluable points a season.

Courtois - already arguably one of the top 15 keepers in Europe. Blackman - a decent English backup; Hilario's replacement probably Ake - Looks like Ruud, moves like Ruud, has all the talent just needs a bit more nastiness/alertness about him Chalobah - just a class above at every level he's played at. Has the 'x'factor. Hopefully a future Chelsea captain. Sky's the limit. Kalas - Assured, classy player. Very similar to Ivanovic and probably needs a loan in this country for at least a season. John Swift - seems to get overlooked by I've always been impressed with him. Reminds me a little of a young Lamps. Loftus-Cheek - Looks a bit like Chalobah but not as good in all honesty. Could still be a good player though. Feruz - Another player with 'it'. Confident, fast, strong, hard-working, good finisher. Could live up to the Scottish Rooney tag. Plus you've got the De Bruynes and McEachrans who could all be top class but are more established. There's also the Bogas, Huntes and Musondas who are all still young but are very highly-regarded. The key to all of this is getting a system that promotes and trust the young players and for that we need stability and a manager prepared to put them in the team.

Seems to be a sensible move all round. The price seems fair, he seems to have re-sale value, he solves a few squad problems (which might precipitate a loan move for Piazon), he'll be on lowish wages and he's got a cool name. Some people could at least give him the obligatory 6 minutes into his first game before deciding he's shit.

Our 'transformation' coincided with a Russian billionaire taking us over and spending about £250 million in two years. Funnily enough that's when Lamps really kicked on as a player too. Raul left Madrid aged 33 because he didn't want to be a backup. People seem to want Lamps to stay even if he'll be a bench player. And what the fuck are you saying with the 'clubs with more history' shit. Seriously, what the fuck??? You don't think we have as much history as other clubs you need to pick up the biggest book you can find on Chelsea's history. Now hit yourself round the head with it. The club have signed young, talented players and also have a couple of youngsters coming through the ranks who are Chelsea through and through. They need time, and they need support. It was his first season in English football. He was a great player for us but I'm sorry if that wasn't good enough for you. This season he's scored big goals in big games. He's been our most important player and he will be next season in all likelihood whilst Lamps is at LA Galaxy. I hope they've got enough history for you.

And the most ridiculous argument ever is this "Mata is on course to score 25 goals bla bla". Well, he also was last season in January. But you know what, we entered the crucial time of the season, suddenly his goals and assists began to dry up, his performances went downhill. So I could also say, mata is on course to be outscored by Lamps once again. I made that point, and I think you're totally wrong. You suggest that Mata went downhill in the second-half of the season. I haven't actually checked the stats but is it that surprising in his first season? The simple fact is that he's started scoring important goals in our games and at a decent rate too. The idea that we're going to enter a period of darkness just because he leaves is utter cunting bollocks. It's the type of thinking of the person who didn't know what Chelsea football club was before Lampard joined and ignores the fact that even with Lampard in the team last season, we finished sixth in the league. The truth is that no-one knows what will happen to the club after he leaves, but the board are putting us in a pretty strong position for that eventuality. The type of fan condemning us to failure before we even begin this new period in the club's life isn't the type of fan we really need in all honesty. On a separate note, it's interesting to read that Frank's missus is also coming to the end of her tv contract and has apparently told friends that it's between Italy and America - considering the fact that she already struggles with English I would've thought LA was the best move for both of them.

I lost a lot of respect for Mourinho after this. In rugby there's a term for this type of person - 'gouging cunt'.

You make it sound like there's nothing at Chelsea to tempt him. This is a guy who took his family to New York to experience something new - at Chelsea he could live in the greatest city on Earth, rather than some grim northern shithole. That type of thing would matter to him I think. Plus he has the chance to build something truly amazing at Chelsea. The playing staff is tailor-made for him, the academy is coming of age and he could lead his team into a brand new stadium. Plus he'd get more time than any other manager since Mourinho. Hopefully City win the title and Mancini is retained.

Poor guy. It's a tough time to be out of work and the average person has to wait about 6 months between losing a job and getting a new one. Maybe he could do an IT course to brush up on his Office skills. Hopefully his CV is up to date too.

33, but I agree. Who would sign him (no Zenit jokes) and would his body be up to it?

If Ba plays well and Torres still gets games, then that could finally be what turns the fans against him. In the ground, people feel sorry for him more than anything but if he actually starts to get in the way of someone like Ba getting games then I think things could get ugly for him. Personally, I want him gone as soon as possible so that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

Are they AVB's coaching notes?

Wait....are we now saying we weren't after Modric?

Ooh, and we can have Hazard doing that too. The other team just has to promise not to attack though, right?

His contract is up next summer (2014). Anyone think he's not heading for the door?