The only place to be

If that's the case the only person whose legacy is getting pissed on is your own because you are talking utter bollocks. :wank2:

Actually it's not just this season. It's Chelsea's future which is dependent on getting the right manager this summer. And here's a little secret for you - Mourinho's legacy is set in stone. Mancini winning the league won't change that you insecure little fraud. Pish-posh - all you're doing there is caring about this club's future. How very silly of you. Don't you know that Mourinho's legacy is so fragile that Mancini winning another title (with a fantastic squad by the way) will cause our league titles to disappear. WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN :cry:

Why? They're both fine managers who have done well to win trophies in both Italy and England. Not only do you know fuck all about Chelsea, it seems as though you're completely ignorant about football in general. :D

Exactly. From a short-term perspective, we're still in the title race however remote it is (personally I think we're done, but it's still possible). Long-term, we need to look at the manger situation. Guardiola and Mourinho are the two biggest prizes and right now it seems to be us and Milan in the race for one. If City don't win the title then Mancini is almost certainly done and they go after them. If United wins then Fergie has a brilliant chance to go out on top and they go after them. How anyone who even has the slightest amount of intelligence can't see this is beyond me. Plus it's United for fuck's sake. They've got some of the worst fans in the league. At least City fans know a bit about football (which is more than can be said than one of the people on this thread).

The people cheering for United obviously have no idea what is best for Chelsea's future. They don't even seem to care. :wank2: :wank2:

1. I will always prioritise those fans who have turned up to add their voices to the support for a number of years over those who simply turned up when we became 'a global brand'. 2. Before Roman, I don't think the Europa League actually existed (UEFA Cup still). We were already a Champions League team though and had some truly glorious nights. We are obviously bigger now, but this trophy still holds very little in the way of prestige in my opinion. 3. That's actually been my point, that this trophy probably means a lot more to non-British fans than the British fans. Whatever you may think of me, we're actually in agreement on this point. In fact I think that it's been my main point throughout. A good place to end then. I'm not sure if I agree. Put it like this, if we win the FA Cup then I'd be expecting an open-top bus parade. If we win this i doubt we'll get the same. Not the most scientific measure I know.

We're in the middle of a building phase. What we're lacking is a manager to lead us and we need the other teams to be out of the running for the best possible chance to get our main target. How any Chelsea fan could want United to win more than City beggars belief.

1. I'm not going to get into a 'who's the bigger supporter' argument. What I'm explaining is that there's something distinct about this club because of where it's from. That's something that's hard to explain to someone who has never experienced it. 2. Oh ok. Thanks. 3. I really don't know how much 'glory' it brings to be honest. If we win, great.

We aren't a 'billionaire club' - we're Chelsea Football Club. The type of fan who thinks City winning the title diminishes our achievement is the type of fan whose opinion doesn't mean shit to PROPER CHELSEA SUPPORTERS.

Maybe. But Barcelona were the best team in the world before their CWC win and Liverpool could've won the CWC and still wouldn't have been the best team on Merseyside. Being Champions of Europe is more important than being Champions of the World. We beat the best team in the world last year over two legs in the Semis. In these semis we're playing a team 80% of fans probably hadn't heard of before last week.

1. Chelsea exists because of it's fans who actually go to games, the ones who saved the club from extinction. Don't ever try and tell me the club isn't a London club when you have absolutely no idea what a London club looks, feels and smells like. Yes the brand is grown worldwide and we're grateful to all the kids who see the club on tv and buy the t-shirts but the club's heart and soul is distinctly West London. 2. It's cool that we're getting exposure in Brazil considering it's an emerging market but right now I care more about the 3 points we could get against Villa because we need CL football next year. 3. The cup has historical links but in it's current guise it's still very young and there is very little prestige associated with it. I'd have thought our CL win would've been much bigger for our brand than the CWC could be.

Chelsea is a London club. In fact it's a West London club first and foremost. I understand we're a global brand but please don't try and tell me we're not an English team. I can totally understand the branding of clubs in the modern world, but there is something distinctly West London about Chelsea Football Club. It's the foundation of our identity. Now onto the larger point of the CWC - I can respect it's historical underpinnings, but for fans in this country and fans of Chelsea Football Club it's simply never held that much significance. For us Chelsea fans it's always been about the domestic and European competitions. In fact the view of this competition from most British fans is that it's a marketing exercise by FIFA and that the prestige associated really isn't that great.

You're absolutely fucking ridiculous. We were a Champions League side pushing for the title before Roman even came here. City, as much as I like their fans, weren't. It doesn't tarnish anything. What City losing does is damage some of our prospects going forward when it comes to going for managers. :wank2:

I'm a Chelsea fan and I want a Man City win today. In fact if it comes down to the two Manchester clubs, I absolutely want City to win it. I hate United with a passion. I've hated them since that cunt Ellery gave them that second penalty when contact first occurred outside the area. If United win, Ferguson retires and Mancini gets sacked in all likelihood. That throws two more hats into the ring for the available managers. If City win, I don't see either of those happening. So tell me now that I'm not a Chelsea fan.

I'm not quite as pessimistic about our future as you. I think the only reason we won't compete in this competition is due to it being abandoned due to lack of interest. I'll be gutted if we lose this mainly because it might affect morale before the Leeds and Villa games. It'd be a nice line in the history of the club, but I simply don't have the affinity for this trophy that I do for something like the FA Cup. That to me is a special day for all football fans. Like I said, I appreciate there is an upside in winning it. Now that we're in it I hope we do bring it home. But to me it's like the Super Cup.

Fans know that, but I'm not so sure they care. We won the big one, this is something we're obliged to do because of that. I was talking about this with some guys who I go to the games with - going to Munich to see that was a dream come true. But none of us are going to Tokyo. We didn't even know exactly when the games were. Personally I think this competition is much more important to the Brazilian teams and their fans because their own competitions don't have the prestige that our's do. The Champions League is the biggest competition in world club football - it has the best players, the best teams and a much better looking trophy. :blue scalf: I'm not sure if the upside of use winning it is bigger than the downside of us travelling to Japan and losing it (of course if we win it I reserve the right to say it's the best thing ever).

I mentioned this earlier and I agree with you - losing Romeu was a major blow yet it still took something extremely special/lucky for them to score. Yes they were missing key players today, but we looked to lose all structure when Romeu went off as both Ramires and Oscar seemed to drift out of position much too easily.

Part of this story seems to be about him wanting more money, but if Guardiola did decide to become our manager then I could see this transfer going from 'improbable' to 'possible'. He's arguably the best in the world at what he does and the most available of that Barca midfield. Plus he's still young in football terms, and very young in terms of the position he plays and it would also be a case of weakening a competitor. To have him as part of the spine of our team would be a massive coup.

Out of interest, do any of the British-based supporters here really care about this trophy? Obviously now that we're in it I would like to win it, but was anyone here thinking in May whilst they were hugging and kissing complete strangers and having the greatest night of their life that 'great, now we get to play in the Club World Cup'? I certainly wasn't.

Whilst Falcao is undeniably a great player, I can't be the only supporter who has reservations about is signing him. 1. We signed a 26 year old 'world class' striker almost two years ago in the same transfer window, and it hasn't quite worked out. 2. In six months time, we will probably have a new manager who may or may not want this new striker or might have a formation that requires someone different and we're then left with two £50 million strikers on the payroll. 3. January is a notoriously tough time to buy players because prices are inflated and it's hard for new players to settle. Now this could all be solved by Torres getting his form back and us just bringing in a PL-proven backup like Ba. Even if that doesn't happen though, this is a transfer that really has me worried.

vs

Exactly. Some of the crowd singing anti-Rafa songs when we were 3-0 up have to have a word with themselves. And that chant they kept singing is fucking awful.

Wow, the toys really came out of the pram with that one. I'm sorry but I have to disagree with your assessment of Fellaini and I don't really care if 'members of the month' disagree with me too. To be quite honest, I don't think it's that big of an award in the real world (but congrats on having won it ). I actually don't play FM anymore either as it's too much of a time sink. The thing is I've been watching football all my life. There are people on here who clearly didn't know Fellaini was a DM just a couple of years ago and has recently restated his desire to go back to that position. In my assessment having watched him play that position and seen him play in person a number of times, and also having spoken to Everton fans and people actually involved in the game, I think he could be a world-class DM and has the positional sense, passing ability and has that innate sense of where the ball is going. It's hard to explain that last point to someone who doesn't understand the DM position properly, but it's very important in my mind and it's one of the reasons he's also so impactful in attack. There's no need to cry about it though. Tell you what, if you ever actually make it to a football match at the Bridge I'll buy you a drink to say sorry for hurting your feelings. I can only make assumptions on the evidence in front of me.

:D Like. Fuck.

I didn't say I wanted to lose it, I just find it a little lacking in prestige if I'm totally honest. It might be important in the trophy but right now it really doesn't hold much importance in English football fans' hearts.