The only place to be

How does signing a player that you've known of for 5 years make AVB a good scout?

I've not seen anything that suggests Roman is the cunt you think he is. In fact I think it's massively unfair. Lamps isn't a young man anymore. He's going to be 35, he's not the player he once was and we have a number of youngsters who are going to be pushing for a spot in the team. What more do you actually want?

That's not what she told me......BOOM!! Sorry.

Makes sense - Torres does play like a Donkey.

Wait...so we're letting Millwall fans on trains now? I would have thought their chief complaint would be the rough floors of trains scratching their knuckles.

It's both. Even if we ignore the money side, there's always the point that Roman might want to move on to a new era and make a break with the old one. Sometimes age and experience is a good thing to have around, and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it can be a barrier to change. I'm not saying that's definitely the case here, but it's a possible factor.

He was probably in the wrong place - based on his positioning skills at City, that isn't unlikely.

How is it ruthless? He signs a contract for a certain number of years, he's well paid and looked after during them and then the contract comes to an end. That's how a lot of people spend their working lives. Both parties will then move on and in a few year's time he'll probably come back and be part of the Chelsea family again. Hard as it may be for some to believe, this club did exist before 2001.

I really don't want to think our captain is trying to play 'angles' on social media in order to get the board to sign up certain players. That seems a tad bit unprofessional if you ask me. Pay tribute to a guy when he's leaving, but JT seems to be going by newspaper rumours.

We've been going for value for about two years now - Cahill, Azpi, Moses, Mata and now Ba. This could have a great effect on the team because he'll just do the basics and keep defenders honest which creates space for people behind him.

Good news. We've got a nice run of games for him to establish himself in the team.

Stoke Away Southampton Home Arsenal Home in 8 days? Then I look forward to Mata being rested and Lambert scoring a 79th minute winner.

We don't officially retire numbers, but Zola's hasn't been used since he left and I doubt JT's will be either. If I had to guess, I'd say it won't be issued to a player next season and someone will have to win it. I'd love for that to be Josh.

His brother might be but I like Yaya. I think the comparisons are in their builds but also in that laid-back way they move around the pitch. I'm glad he's staying at Watford but he needs to be given a chance in the summer. If we do get a new manager in then he'll want to assess all the players and I think Chalobah has got a good chance of winning a spot in the squad partly because of what he's shown on loan but also because of his versatility. And if Watford miss promotion (or maybe even if they don't) they can take a couple of other youngsters like Ake or even Feruz.

Retiring the shirt is unlikely. It's not like it's the number 25, it's number 8 which probably sounds weird but actually makes a lot of sense..... maybe Anyway, it's sad and there will be tears at the end of the season but this is football. Old heroes move on so that new ones can take their place and I've said it before, but you have to give the board credit for the job they've done recruiting young players to fight for that spot.

I felt the same when Neil Shipperley left.

The club isn't falling apart - it's just moving from one phase to another. Lamps, JT and Drogba defined the last decade and another group will define the next. The pieces are all there but we need to get the right man in charge to put it together.

Good thing he's at Tottenham then.

I think he'll be let go next season. I wouldn't be surprised if he retired though, rather than find another club. Firstly, he's Mr Chelsea so I doubt he'll want to. Secondly, I don't think his body will be up to it and most importantly, I don't know if another team would make a move for him. He comes with a lot of baggage.

I still think you're way off the mark with regards our board. Firstly, our squad is assembled by far more people than simply the four that you're apparently aware of. Secondly, if you look at the academy and reserves the identity and system of football is relatively uniform which has contributed to a decent amount of success in the youth teams. You don't seem to give the board any credit whatsoever for this. They've also amassed a shockingly large amount of young talent and secured a surprisingly high number of them high-profile, rewarding loans. That is invaluable. The one point I think you're correct about is the need for stability in the coach position. But I actually think they've identified the guy they want and are doing everything possible to secure him for next season. Plus NONE of our managers have been sacked out of nowhere. Each one knew it was coming and I actually don't think any of them have been that unfair. But clearly the board actually recognises most of the failings you have identified and have been trying to rectify them, but they've been unsuccessful thus far.

He's a massive fucking dick, with a demeanour that some football followers think is 'personality'. He's got serious issues which his talent simply isn't consistent enough to apologise for and signing him would be a clusterfuck.

That was last year. It's different this year and he's been key to everything we do going forward. What we missed was penetration last night which was why the defenders were shooting - Harry would've loved to let them have the ball and set his team up deep. The problem wasn't just us missing Mata, but the deeper players like Lampard and Luiz not offering anything either. Personally I would've liked to have seen Oscar deeper and Mata in his normal position. Rest the players against Southampton's reserve team in the FA Cup or against Swansea. Send Mata for a few days in Dubai or a health spa in Berkshire for fucks sake. Don't rest him in the league and don't rest him against QPR.

I'd hate to be in a position where you have a poisonous presence up-front who struggles to score goals and actually makes the team worse.

There's a difference between what we should be doing, and what we're capable of doing. Leaving it so long was fucking ridiculous.