The only place to be

He scores a goal every 104 minutes at West Brom. At Chelsea he might not have got 104 minutes all season.

Do we really want to bring in a 28 year old like Baines who would cost about £10 million minimum? If Bertrand doesn't make the grade, how about Neil Taylor at Swansea? Cheaper, younger and was really coming into his own before the injury.

Lampard isn't the player he was in the past. I honestly don't know where he fits in this team going forward and I can't imagine he'll want to spend his time on the bench. Cole is a different story. He could probably still do a job for a couple of seasons but the club don't want to set a precedent by going against their policy for players over the age of 30. He's irreplaceable.

And they're looking to change that. They've been looking to do that since they appointed Arnesen and completely revamped the the academy. We simply haven't had the quality of youngster that we do now, and we'll be looking to bring the talent through but it's tough at any club.

Welbeck wasn't unproven. He played almost 30 games for Sunderland. Smalling wasn't unproven. He played 20 games for Fulham, although he was a late developer. Cleverley wasn't unproven. He played 50 games in the Championship and 25 games for Wigan. He was about 21 before becoming a United regular if I remember correctly. Evans also had about 30 games at Sunderland. The reason I think we're going to give our 'unproven' (except they'll be about as unproven as some of the players you mentioned) players a go is because they're more talented than the ones we've had at the club previously.

I like the idea that after 26 years of Fergie being in charge of United, all that's been written about him, all the stories that we have heard about him, that he's just doing this to have a bit of fun. To me, that's very, very unlikely. Whatever you may have thought of him, he's our manager now and he needs our backing for the good of our club. If his name wasn't Rafa Benitez and it was some other guy with the same CV and history, it would probably be the best appointment under the circumstances. The fact that he said a few upsetting things when he was the Liverpool boss and he had to give Liverpool and competitive advantage and needed the backing of the Liverpool fans seems par for the course. If you can't get past that, I kinda understand.

Our youngsters simply aren't ready yet. That crop I'm talking about are still a season away from being ready at least. In my view we're in uncharted territory because we've never had a crop like this, which makes sense because the academy is relatively new in it's current form. Chucking youngsters into a team that is struggling in some areas but still needs to qualify for the Champions League would be a big mistake. We aren't Liverpool who aren't targeting a top four finish. We're essentially in a holding pattern. That's why we sent so many kids out on loan, so they could come back next season with some experience under their belts. From what I've seen, read and heard about them, a few of them will be straight into the squad. I absolutely believe McEachran has the skill and vision to be our Modric. It's the physical side of the game he struggles with, but at Boro he's improved on these elements. Chalobah looks to have everything he needs to be a Premier League player. He's stepped up to meet every challenge he's had in his short career and could be something very special indeed. Feruz has everything too. There's no guarantee with any young player but let's not pretend this is Jody Morris, Mark Nicholls, David Hopkin and Doooooobs. Clearly our owner does need a 'name'. He wants another Mourinho, and he sees Guardiola as that guy.

If Cole is off, then I'd be inclined to give Bertrand every opportunity this season to take that shirt. I think I've got the same view as you, that he's done okay but not really stood out. I think we could maybe give him a run of games to see if he steps up and takes it or if this is simply his level. The simple truth is that we aren't going to replace Ashley Cole. He's a one-off and probably the most underrated player of his generation.

You don't have to agree with me. i'd just hate for anyone reading this to think you represent anything that I recognise Chelsea to be. It's disgusting in my opinion, and I'd guess the majority of decent Chelsea fans would agree with me based on my experiences.

It's strange, but I used to get the autographs of actors from The Bill went they went to the Bridge. I've got Alec Stewart's at least twice and god knows how many Erland Johnson autographs I've got (always with drips of sweat). But I assume you were confusing the Hutchinsons. It's an easy mistake I suppose. The academy hasn't produced what it should have. But I personally think the current crop of youngsters has some real gems in it, moreso than any period that I can personally remember. It's that step between the academy and the first-team that is the problem, but it's not just our club that suffers with it. Hopefully the recent changes in youth competitions help remedy that. Firstly, McEachran started on the right wing but has been moved centrally alongside Leadbitter recently and has been doing very well. His stats might not be all that but if you watch his games and listen to Boro fans, you can see how important he is to that team. He also isn't a Mata - he's primarily suited to a much deeper role, akin to a Xavi or Modric who keeps the team ticking over with the ball. Chalobah has also been key to Watford's start to the season and looks closer to a first-team start for us then anyone expected. Feruz is younger than the other two but I'd expect to see him step up next season. It isn't ridiculous to think these players could be part of our club going forward, but we should be cautious with them. i think your final sentence is completely out of step with what everyone at the club envisions for Chelsea going forward. I think there will be a mix of players bought in who are already established, players who are bought in from other club's academies and then loaned out (de Bruyne, Courtois etc.) and then players who come up through the ranks (McEachran, Chalobah, Loftus-Cheek). That is the sensible approach and that's the one the club wants.

Are you confusing Colin Hutchinson with Ian Hutchinson? I have both of their autographs too.

Maybe he should be given more chances, but I don't personally think he'll ever be the main guy.

I don't seem to remember Bates and Hutchinson being particularly popular to be honest. It's part of the reason Harding was so beloved. I don't remember Kenyon being at all liked either, but I don't expect the board to be. They get stick at most clubs, but the work they've done on the financial side of the team has been pretty impressive and I see the academy as being vital to our future. The problem comes in the gap between the reserves/youth team and the first-team, but that's the same at almost every top club in Europe.

I completely disagree with your assessment of our academy. There are players will real potential like McEachran, Chalobah and Feruz who I think will establish themselves in our first team. Then there are players like Piazon, Ake, Swift and Kane who could go either way and either become first-teamers, squad players or sold on for a decent price. Then there are the youngsters we've bought in like Courtois who is already one of the most exciting young prospects in his position. It's virtually unheard of for a team to go from one world-class keeper to another. Look at United after Schmeichel. They were flawed in that position until the got Van Der Sar, and now he's gone they're struggling. There's also the De Bruynes, Wallaces and Lukakus that we've taken punts on. Compared to watching the likes of Mark Nicholls and Paul Hughes, this academy is virtually sparkling.

I agree with this, but it HAS to be with the right man. That's why we went for AVB. He didn't pan out so the next target was Pep, but he wasn't available so we have stop-gaps. And Roman obviously thinks Benitez is a better stop-gap that Robbie.

Again, you're criticising the board without taking a broad overview of what they've done to establish the academy and also attract outside investment. Managerial stability is great but it has to be with the right guy and we've not had that since Jose. United have had that, but the game has changed and Fergie's successor won't get that. They also won't get one of the greatest crop of youngsters ever to come up at one time (Giggs, Beckham, Nevilles, Scholes, Butt).

It depends entirely on who the coach is. If we do get Guardiola in then I'd want Josh to be part of the squad. As for Sturridge, I don't know if he'll ever be happy simply being a role player at Chelsea. In his time here I simply haven't seen him mature and develop as a team player. Even at West Brom he was taking shots from 25 yards out when he had other options available. When he was given the chance to play up front he got in a couple of good positions but squandered them - I don't know if he can be trusted to be our main striker. So you have to look at what he offers, what he costs and what he could bring in. A £10 million+ offer from Liverpool would probably be good business.

Same here. Whatever we do going forward, I can't see Lamps being part of it and I doubt he'll want to sit on the bench. I don't know if it's in our best interests to have one more guy in front of youngsters like Chalobah, McEachran or de Bruyne when they return next year. Cole is still a fantastic player though. I know we have this policy of contracts for players over-30 and I agree with it BUT if there's one player you make an exception for it's him. He's not a typical 30-plus player because he has tremendous natural fitness and has stayed relatively injury-free. He certainly hasn't taken the battering of a John Terry for instance.

I actually didn't have a problem with the Wigan game. We won the game in the first 5 minutes and then sat back. Then in the next game we played well for about 25 minutes. Then in the next game it was a bit more and so on. We got to Spurs where we played really well for about 60 minutes, but since then we've really stuttered. The gradual improvement turned into a rather sharp decline and Robbie didn't look like he had any plan to change in around. Now we can point to injuries or even outside distractions, but he always knew that he simply had to given Roman a chance to sack him and he would.

With the Mata-Hazard-Oscar triumvirate, I think there is a workable way around it. I personally always thought Oscar would drop back into the double-pivot role alongside Mikel, with Hazard on the left-wing and Mata ahead of them. We went to that a few times when we were chasing games but rarely before that. As for the construction of the squad, I think they deserve a lot of credit for what they are doing in the academy and the reserves. If you look at some of the young talent we have going forward, I think it's mightily unfair to call them 'clueless'. But I think you sort of have a point when you say Robbie was set up to fail. I actually think it was more of a case of him not being set up to succeed, simply because this squad wasn't designed for him - it's been designed with Guardiola in mind. Oscar is his Iniesta and Hazard is his Messi. This season was always going to be a transition season. I think that's why we've let players like Essien and De Bruyne go on loan - it makes sense if you're using this season to build and not to win. But going back to my earlier point about the board, I think it's unfair to call them clueless when you look at the big picture of what they're trying to build. They've acknowledged the mistakes of trying to build a squad with ageing players and are looking to build a homegrown, young talented squad with a unified footballing philosophy. They deserve praise for that.

I completely disagree with what you said about managers coming in and making immediate differences. What can happen is a new guy can come in and they essentially have to start from the beginning. That means players have to go back to basics and focus on the simple things, that sometimes get lost over the course of a season. Especially in defence you'll find that simple things like positions and spacings become the focus of the first few days. Everyone gets a clean slate - even Malouda apparently. I'll be honest, I was worried about this game. Now I'm excited about what we'll see. As for the Champions League, we may still qualify. But the point still stands that Roman expects more from Chelsea.

But Robbie knew this coming in. He knew he had to be almost flawless to win over a guy who never really wanted him there long-term. Fair play to Robbie for still going for it because he loved the club, but trust me this didn't come out of the blue for him. With regards the Champions League, it's going to take a miracle for us to go through. But even then, I don't think fluking through having been comprehensively outplayed away to both Shakhtar and Juventus is good enough for Roman. The guy needed evidence that long-term we were moving in the right direction. The league situation is slightly different. We've been better than most people expected, but the away games to both Swansea and West Brom were rather foreboding. We can point to individuals underperforming but Robbie knew he would never be able to use those excuses. It simply comes down to Roman never seeing Robbie as the long-term solution, and thinking that in the short-term Benitez was the better option and may also be able to get a £50 million investment firing again. Out of interest, did you feel better about this Sunday's game with Robbie in charge, or with Benitez in charge? Because I'm going to be honest - I was worried about this game immediately after the Juve game. I felt the same way as I did before the West Brom game in fact.

Because he had to. Guardiola wasn't available so guess what Roman did. HE LISTENED TO THE FANS. He appointed Robbie because he's a Chelsea legend who galvanised the squad and won the Champions League. But coming in and uniting a squad is completely different from building something long-term. He never trusted Robbie to do that and in his first season, Robbie failed to qualify from the group stages of the Champions League. In purely financial terms that is a big deal, but for a club of our stature and as holders, it simply wasn't up to Roman's standards.

We can't win the Champions League (probably), but we could win the CWC. Why not give the new manager a chance to get his feet under the table before it starts? This was the best time to do it. He can assess the squad, make minor changes and then the club can bring some new faces in come January.

The owner wants us to succeed. The owner helped us win 3 league titles and a Champions League. The owner has been trying to secure the stability of our club by trying to find us a new home. The owner is trying to secure the services of possibly the most highly-coveted manager in world football right now. Yes the fans are the heart of this club, and the true ones will still be there because nothing important has really changed. I went through this when Gullit was sacked, when Mourinho was sacked and now when Di Matteo has been sacked. This club's history hasn't changed. If you want to take Roman's decision as a personal slight then I hope this little protest makes you feel better. But he's doing it for the right reasons, and I can't be that angry with him for that.