The only place to be

That chimes somewhat with what I've heard. One thing I heard is that Rafa is more like a 'proper football manager' - basically he knows exactly what he wants and he's run through training exercises hundreds of times. Robbie simply wasn't like that. He was much less of an authoritarian which meant when things went south his voice wasn't the loudest one. But I definitely agree with the last part. I don't think he is the guy to lead us forward because he is seen very much as a stop-gap. It's an open secret who Roman really wants and it's very hard to get past that. That doesn't mean he can't do a job or that he doesn't have the respect of the players. The young guys especially grew up seeing him win in Spain and also lift the Champions League at Liverpool. None of them give a fuck about comments about plastic flags.

I blame him for not working hard enough to provide cover for the back four, and I also think his passing can become slow and laboured at times. He's in a tough position because it requires a lot from the person playing it, but I simply don't think he can do it well enough for us especially when he's under a bit of pressure. I think that it's ultimately a character issue, something that we sometimes overlook as fans.

I arrived when I needed to vent over the recent change. The problem is that whilst I don't like Rafa, I don't hate him as much as some people on here do. I wasn't booing him at the match like other people did either. What I'm finding is that people are repeating a lot of bs about him. Things like his transfer record aren't perfect, but if you subjected almost any other manager to the same scrutiny then neither would their's. Someone also brought up the old chestnut of zonal marking the other day, yet when I challenged them on it they couldn't explain what was the problem with it. You don't have to trust anything I say, but I think if people took a step back and tried to be a little more objective then they'd see that statements like The players will never respect him, simply because he doesn't deserve it are at best unlikely but because they fit with people's established biases they're much more readily accepted.

The signings thing is one of those points people bring up but when you actually look at some of the players he bought, I'm not so sure it actually holds up. Every manager has their Francis Jeffers/Juan Veron/Bebe/Sutton/Shevchenko etc. One could even look at Guardiola's deal to bring in Zlatan. I'll just list some of his signings from his first 4 seasons. £10.7m - Xabi Alonso £6m - Luis Garcia £6m - Pepe Reina £5.6m - Momo Sissoko £7m - Peter Crouch £5.8m - Daniel Agger £6m - Craig Bellamy £9m - Dirk Kuyt £2.5m - Alvaro Arbeloa £5m - Lucas Leiva £20.2m - Fernando Torres £5m - Yossi Benayoun £18.6m - Javier Mascherano Now I'm pretty sure every one of those players was worth more after Benitez signed them. Three of them arguably provide the spine of that team today (Reina, Agger, Leiva) whilst some have gone on to be truly world class. I hate being put in the position where it appears as though I'm defending him, but I'm simply trying to be as unbiased as possible. Of course there are the Pennants and Babels but I don't think his transfer dealings are much worse than any other teams - he doesn't have a SWP or Sheva in his history, although that's probably got more to do with our board than our managers. The reason he was bought in was partly due to his relationship with a roughly £100 million asset. The other is that there aren't a huge number of top class managers available who will accept 18 month contracts. Plus you can't expect me to say 'so and so said this'. I know that's frustrating but it's unfair. I just happen to work in an industry that has a lot of access to the club plus I just happen to know a few players and staff from just around. What you have to remember is that the vast majority of players don't have the same biases we have and that most of them just see this as business as usual. Plus Benitez's reputation in the game is pretty good. He's well-respected especially by the media.

Hopefully the team aren't approaching this in the same way you are. Modern European football is way too tight for this kind of complacency and Nordsjaelland have given good accounts of themselves in most of their games. They gave us enough problems for 75 minutes of the first game to make me think they could pose us problems. Should we win? Absolutely. Should we have qualified from the group? Almost certainly. Should we have been able to hold a two-goal lead at home to Juventus? Without doubt. Nordsjaelland will want to go out with a bang and we are ripe for the picking right now.

It's not about options, it's about needs. We don't need another centre-half at this moment in time when we have 4 very good ones. If Azpi gets injured then we have 3. If one of them gets injured we have 2 and then you're looking at someone like Romeu being the back-up or maybe even promoting Ake. This is how squad building works. It would be great to have 5 players for each position, just in case but you have to be sensible about it and you have to think about the future. You also have to look at nationalities and the squad make-up. If a young English centre-half became available then you make an exception but as it stands it's not something I see us doing.

People I know who are involved with the club. Sometimes I think the fans can let their own prejudices cloud their judgment, but Benitez is fairly well-regarded throughout the game. I've seen fans on here berate him for bizarre things like zonal marking and some of his signings which really aren't shared within the game.

When Ferreria was asked to come in against Benfica last year, he was magnificent. He's been a great servant so to call him unreliable when he's essentially our third choice is a little unfair. The players you mentioned might not be unreliable but they are untested and like I said, it's about prioritising your needs and not making signings like this when you're not sure the new guy will want them.

But you have to prioritise these things and think logically about the future. You're also forgetting about Ferreira who is a good deputy in case something does go wrong. You're talking about a six month period before a new manager comes in who might want something totally different from his personnel. I would be very, very surprised if our board went after a £15 million defender 'just in case' Azpi gets injured.

Why would we buy a centre-back now when we have Terry, Ivanovic, Luis and Cahill? Unless we sell one (Luiz) or someone special becomes available, it's not an area we're going to strengthen. I honestly don't think we need to because most of our problems come from..... DM. We need one. An imposing, alert, hard-working, never-say-die guy. That guy is Fellaini in my opinion. He can replace Mikel and hopefully produce the type of performances that mean we can play Oscar in the double-pivot rather than Ramires (who covers up a lot of Mikel's failings). In fact, maybe Mikel could be tested in the double-pivot where he'd have less defensive responsibilities. I'm not saying it would work, but we could try it. Strikers. With Sturridge 99% gone, we need someone who is a going to be happy fighting for a place but also able to play wide. He should also be English if possible and to me that sounds like just one guy - Theo Walcott. Desperately needs a change of workplace but still young enough to fulfil some of that potential. And what's the one thing that all Wenger products can do?? PASS THE FUCKING BALL. The main striker purchase would be someone short-term in my opinion. We'll have a new manager in the summer and committing to a £40 million+ striker when you're not sure if the new guy will want him is dangerous. Ergo I'd be inclined to go with the 'cheap and proven' route and maybe take a punt on Demba Ba and Darren Bent. Instant competition from proven goalscorers on the cheap and who you could flog in the summer for minimal loss (and maybe possible profit). Not exciting, not forward thinking but simply pragmatic choices to hopefully secure a top four spot.

I'm not so sure your fear isn't well-founded. The first game against them was not as convincing as the 4-0 suggested. However I have a feeling this will be the type of game Torres scores at hat-trick in which guarantees him another 12 starts.

I was going to read the whole post, but i stopped here because it's actually factually incorrect. A number of the players within the Chelsea squad do really respect Benitez. I know a lot of the fans don't like him but most of the players don't have that view.

It's great that they've got a meeting but I can't see a single thing about what they actually want to say to him. I feel like I'm repeating myself but I really don't have a clue what issues they actually want to put to the club.

Yeah, I got that from reading it. What I didn't get is an example of the type of issues they want to communicate about. Without knowing that it's hard to know what to think.

Create a voice, establish links etc. It's very light on specifics. It's hard to judge how effective it could be without knowing what issues it actually wants to address. Apparently the ultimate goal is to get someone on the board, which some cynical people might think is simply a bit of wish fulfilment for someone to play Football Manager.

I'm reading through the site and what's been posted on here, and I'm seeing the references to a 'voice for the supporters' and such things but I'm not seeing much about what they want to say with this voice.

I've mentioned this elsewhere, but in the spirit of looking on the bright side it's worthwhile nothing that in the early days of Roman's reign the club focused very much on the short-term. They had to in many ways because the developing of the youth and scouting systems was going to take a while. That meant almost instantaneous success as soon as Mourinho arrived. Unfortunately, we've been coasting ever since. The spine of Cech, Terry, Lamps and Drogba has remained but not renewed. Now we've started rebuilding at a breakneck speed and the fruits of the youth system are starting to ripen. We're just at an awkward stage in our 'transition' and not only is it almost unavoidable, it's actually beneficial in some ways. You need to hit rock bottom to develop the resolve to better yourselves and kill any of the complacency that might be in the system. But when you come out of it the other side, you're much better having overcome the tough times.

I know exactly what you're saying. I'm just explaining that in sports we don't give simply allow our unconscious desires to run free. We treat opponents with respect and act with a certain amount of decorum.

I think there's a massive difference between Carvalho and Luiz and it goes back to my earlier point - Carvalho loved defending. He loved a crunching tackle or a goal-line clearance. When Carvalho tackled a player, that was it. Job Done. When Luiz tackles a player he sees it as an opportunity to get forward and join the attack. He has every single physical tool he needs to be the best defender in the world, but it's those top 2 inches that I think he might lack and in the Premier League defending is a very instinctive thing because of the speed of the game. In Spain he might get a fraction more time and he could be phenomenal there.

You're not really understanding my point. There is a world of difference between celebrating your own success and glorying in another's defeat. There's a certain thing known as sportsmanship and whilst it may not be 'human nature' as prescribed by Freud, there are certain things we do as humans to rise above our base instincts. It's why in sport we congratulate our opponents or shake hands before a match, despite us wanting them to lose. It's why you have a drink in the bar after a rugby match with some guy who just tried to rip your head off. It all comes down to class and mocking your opponent after a good contest is classless. That's how I was raised and that's how I've conducted myself throughout ever contest I've competed in be it sporting or otherwise. That type of thing is what I associate with Chelsea and it's real supporters. The type who can get the train back after a match and have a beer with an opposition supporter.

Couldn't disagree more, and there is a world of difference between celebrating your own success and glorying in your opponent's defeat. Well I'm definitely a Chelsea fan, and I'm definitely human. I don't think I'm lying to myself either. I simply think that mocking a worthy opponent after they've been defeated in a fair contest is not sporting. It's one of those things that is best left on the playground as you enter adulthood, although I may be doing a disservice to the many, many children who actually no what sporting etiquette actually is. Oh...... (slowly backs out the door)

I have to say I'm surprised at the amount of spite aimed at the Barca team by some of the 'supporters' in this thread. Or maybe I'm not. I have nothing but respect and admiration for that Barcelona team, as I do for most of our opponents. Seeing them devastated isn't something that I get off on particularly. I tend to focus on the joy of my own players and support. Yes I realise I'm no my high horse and all that, but this type of spite and schadenfreude isn't a quality I particularly like. Sorry about the tiny rant but I honestly don't think it reflects well on this club and I hate it when other fans use that picture of John Terry in tears after the CL Final to attack him and us. Giving a shit about your badge is what makes football great.

That would imply that AVB and RDM are on the same level as Guardiola. They aren't. He has a track record that is second to none and that would almost certainly guarantee him more time than either of those two. People need to understand the esteem in which Roman holds Guardiola, and the way in which he is viewed throughout the football world. I agree that he is smart, but I think that would mean he would demand the time needed to build something new here.

You say Guardiola will go to City at the end of the season - is that even if Mancini wins the title? And if Mancini wins the title, are you saying that Fergie will bow out with his last two seasons being second place finishes to his closest rivals? There's way too much up in the air for anyone to be certain of what is going to happen. We've just got to hope that City beat United to the title.

I'd argue exactly the same for Guardiola. We also have players who play in his style and it wouldn't be a case of us chasing the past, but looking to the future. I wouldn't be upset if we got Jose, but of all the managers out there I'd say Guardiola is the best fit for us.