The only place to be

When Fergie retires, United are going to have to spend big and I don't know if the Glazers want to do that to be honest. I also can't see Mourinho staying there for 10 years. City is the better fit for him in my opinion whilst I really could see United going for someone like Moyes. The way Roman is acting, I think he only has eyes for one person which is why he's avoided any long-term appointments.

Shit....so it is. That's my morning sorted. The players came out to the music from Star Wars :blue scalf: :blue scalf: Panucci at right back for Real, apparently Doobs in on our right-wing.

I love Mata. I love that he's an intelligent, well-rounded man who just happens to be a great footballer. The club, not just the team, should be built around men like this. Such a great role model for the young players too.

So Fellaini wouldn't be good for the DM role, but David Luiz would be??? David Luiz, to me, has none of the things you look for in a DM. They need intelligence, awareness and a high level of discipline. Which of those words applies to David Luiz without the words 'is entirely bereft of' in front of them?? Physically and technically he's brilliant. But he is a fucking moron. I'm sorry, but when it comes to the mental aspect of the game he is the opposite of someone like Makelele or even Terry. Fellaini on the other hand seems to offer all the things we'd need in that position. He's a hard-worker, he passes the ball well, he gets stuck in (a little too much at times but he's still young and learning) and he's great in the air. He also offers additional benefits going forward when you need a goal. As for David Luiz, if we could get more than £20 million for him then we should sell him. Great player, nice guy but not a defender in my opinion.

Agree with all of this. He won't stick around long and I don't know what the plan would be for him to be honest. If you look at his previous jobs then they all have similar motifs - we want you to come in and win NOW. What we want is completely different. We want someone to come in and build something new and long-term. I think that's probably why Man City would be the ideal spot for him. The target there would be Champions League within three years - that's Mourinho down to a tee. The United job would be slightly different - they'd want success after Ferguson to basically show everyone that they can survive when he goes. He could well win something there, but I honestly think they'd see a downturn in fortunes after he left. The smart move for United is to probably go for another long-term appointment and suffer through a few bad years. But I think you are spot on with the Roman things too. It's one thing to kiss and make up, but as soon as you're back in a working relationship and hit a bad spot it's way too easy to dredge up old shit.

"Jose Mourinho's Chelsea team had a lot of character but it is a different time now. What a barstard. I mean he's right, but what a barstard. There is a problem with character in the team. Terry and Lamps are missing so that's a big hole to fill, but when you look at the other senior players there aren't any real leaders there. Cech is a great player and a smart man, but he isn't a screamer like Schmeichel and goalkeeper is a tough position to impose yourself from. Ashley is an exemplary professional, but he's somewhat immature. Cahill hasn't ever stepped up to a leadership role, Luiz is just way too immature in almost every regard, Ivanovic doesn't do too much talking, Mikel is Mikel (his lack of maturity and discipline is a problem in more than simply this regard) and Mata is a cerebral quiet guy. And as for Torres....petulant little child is perhaps the kindest description. Right now we have no unifying voice, not even from the manager apparently. There's no identity to this team, no-one to give you a kick up the arse when you fuck up. There's no big personalities in the team. With Terry coming back, I think this could be solved a fair amount but I think we need other ones alongside him. Dare I say Fellaini again for this role? He's doing a great job of carrying that Everton team at times. Against United HE was the one who said give me the ball. HE was the one who drove them forward and he doesn't seem to disappear when they need him. We could do with someone like that right now.

Utter bollocks. Of course the club wants people to support the club, but that doesn't mean they hate the fans. Let's not forget that the board (Buck in particular) stood by the fan's favourite player when he was accused of racism. Now from a purely PR perspective, they cold have easily gone a different way that would have probably been better for the club's image amongst 'soccer moms'. But they didn't. They even put him back in as Chelsea captain.

You need to post the second verse where he tells us who we should appoint instead.

I agree with your Dzeko point, but not the Fellaini one. I think he could offer a little more steel in the DM position, but I also think you're seriously underrating his passing ability. I actually think that we play Ramires alongside Mikel to cover up a lot of Mikel's failings - he has a tendency to fall asleep and can look rather lethargic at times. I think Fellaini would make a massive difference in that regard which might enable us to move Oscar back into a deeper role beside him. Oscar has a fantastic work ethic as well, so I don't think we'd lose anything. The fact that Fellani offers a goal threat going forward would be an added bonus in an emergency.

Because I look at what he has to offer, the qualities he has and the work ethic he has in most games and I make a decision based on that. He actually said recently that DM was his favoured position and I think he would offer us a few things Mikel (and Ramires) don't.

I don't know if it's bad to worse, but it certainly seems like we're flailing a little. This two team-talk thing seems utterly bizarre in all honesty. It's the complete opposite of what managers like Guardiola insist on when it comes to languages - how can you have a team spirit when you're doing shit like that. In all honesty it seems as though Roman knows what he wants to happen in the summer, but he doesn't know how to get us there whilst maintaining fourth spot. Could Grant really help? He's a confidante of Roman so there may be a little more insight into the club and the players. Fuck.

How does Courtois get chances though? He's already a Europa League winning keeper let's not forget. If there's no chance for him in the next 2-3 years, isn't there a danger we lose him?

I actually agree with most of those points, but the way I see it Cech could conceivably be a top keeper for 7 years. What do we do with Courtois in that case? Ask him to sign at least one more contract whilst we're either sticking on the bench or sending him out on loan every year? Eventually we're going to have to make a choice and if the choice is to sell Cech, then the sooner we sell him the more value he has.

So what do we do with Courtois? I sorta agree. I disagree with keeping Cech around though - too expensive and takes up a foreign spot.

We spent big because we had to. We looked to make savings because we had to, I'm not sure of the details of the Luiz 'massive' contract - how much more is he being paid? Personally I don't think it's ridiculous in the slightest. If you're increasing your expenditure then you have to make cuts where you can. Like I said, Chelsea is going to be run differently than it was in the past and that means cutting the existing costs as well as looking to use the academy better.

What's people's thoughts on what we do with Cech now that we have a 20 year old prospect in Courtois?

Part of me finds it funny that we were moaning about not having enough youth in our 'ageing squad' a couple of seasons back, and now we're saying we've got enough (which we don't). The truth is it isn't an either/or situation. We need to focus on both.

That's got to be the understatement of the century. 'May be selfish' Try unbelievably selfish to the detriment of the team. He's 23 with almost 150 professional games under his belt. This is who he is. He is the antithesis of the player we will be looking to include going forward. I think the board were essentially writing this season off. They basically looked for ways to reduce costs, which would explain the Meireles and Essien moves. Malouda is clearly being punished for not leaving. When you look at all the players being sent out on loan, I think the club is trying to put itself in a position for a run at trophies from next season. The club we were 8 years ago is not the club we're going to be next year in terms of personnel, their wages, their transfer fees and their ages. Chelsea FC is going to be a business in future.

It's a tough choice. Bony is unproven and who know if the manager in six months will want him. Bent has a proven track record in this league and may well be available on a short-term move.

Unsurprisingly a job that pays around £2 million a year has high demands on it. The manager has to show potential whilst getting results. They also need a strong track record ideally. The only person who has shown that since Mourinho has been Ancelotti, and even that didn't work out in his second year. Guardiola would have the track record to get more time than someone like Robbie, but he would also need to show short-term success too. But no-one coming into this job thinks any differently.

Ancelotti was never going to be the long-term answer after the downturn in performances in his second year (yes, it coincided with Wilkins leaving) and Roman never had any faith in Robbie. He tried with AVB but that was a disaster. Roman does want long-term stability, but he wants it with the right manager.

Given the choice between a short-term loan or a cut-price fee for Bent, or a £15 million punt on a player who plays fairly similarly to Lukaku, I think I'd go with Bent considering where our club is right now. It's a tough choice.

What I'm saying is that Bent has a proven track record without being overly expensive. We might even be able to get him on loan, so why not? He doesn't have to be the only one we bring in, so we could make a move for someone like Bony too. We've just got to get someone in for six months, rather than letting Benitez loose with the credit card when he's likely to be gone by summer.

So we can defend Torres because he doesn't get service, but Darren Bent doesn't get that same defence at Villa?? But yeah, let's go and buy someone unproven in our league for twice as much. What's the cheat code we have to enter at the title screen for unlimited funds? Anyone?

I would just point out that Barcelona work harder in defence than almost any other team in world football. It isn't just pretty football, but working your bollocks off to win the ball back when you lose it. The appeal of their style is that it's logical - you keep possession of the ball and let it do the work whilst knackering out the opposition and forcing them to make mistakes which creates space for your players. We actually have a few of the pieces you need in that style of football (the full-backs, the centre-backs, the skill players who can pass the ball) but we're missing a striker and a 'Busquets-type' midfielder. When you look at our youth teams, the likes of McEachran, Ake, Chalobah, Feruz etc. would all seem to be able to play in that formation too.