Term-X

3 games into the season / thread void. Indeed. AVB and most managers for that matter, give politician style answers for the post-match interviews. Only headless chickens like Harry Redknapp will expose themselves publicly.

Carroll = Pikey Rooney has more class, and that's saying something.

Not the player, more the (potential) impact.. He went from having the greatest debut of any young player under the Roman era. Winning the Euro under-19 tournament Golden Player for outstanding performances, to being snubbed by Carlo in favour of Kalou. Or ‘King Kalou’ as people refer to him on here.

Carlo is responsible for Kakuta's fall, enough said. It has nothing to do with 'fan pressure' getting to him, or a lack of talent for that matter.

Video: http://vodpod.com/wa...debut-vs-wolves Kakuta's debut was far superior to any other young player under the Roman era.

23 years old... big future ahead of him here. Great signing, he sticks out like a sore thumb in this stagnant chelsea squad.

Exactly, this was a point I made in the David Luiz thread. It's ironic how everyone is dreaming up other positions for him (RB, DM, etc etc) out of love for Ivanovic, smh.

It was a reaction to a comment on Drogba's collision.

Inventive play from Mata, he really does look a different class. Hope Drogba's ok, nobody wants to see that.

Mata looks a different class. Wow.

Would have preferred an easier task tbh, the majority of the first team should be youngsters for league cup games. Drawing Fulham however, casts reasonable doubt on whether that will be the case or not.

Props.

A sign Kalou is finally leaving the club? ... It's like Birthday & christmas wrapped up into one.

The 'Streams thread' LDN posted has a bunch of other sites you can use.

AVB wants early closure of transfer window http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/26/andre-villas-boas-transfer-window-changes I can see his point about it being a distraction. Although this would mean La Liga & Serie A clubs would have more time, giving them a distinct advantage.

This particular point expels the myth it's entirely because of the pressure on managers. Particular games under Carlo, we had been comfortably in front and he was brining on the likes of Kalou instead of Kakuta.

Granted, most of the ‘No history’ & ‘Classless club’ insults from rival fans only grew stronger once we started collecting trophies. Yet Chelsea were finishing 4th before Roman took over, City came from relegation battles to replace Liverpool at the top. So surely in terms of scale, City’s transformation should have been open to worse criticism from fans of other clubs. I don’t recall the Arsenal fans greeting City with this particular chant last season.. The fact the media has seen all this before (wealthy foreign owners transforming clubs), and not so long ago either. May have sheltered City from the shit we were bombarded with, from the press & fans alike. Or is it simply because they have yet to win major honours. A south/north media/fan bias?.. or more a case of the media lapping up this new Manchester ‘competitive’ rivalry?

Great post. Players are bound to professional conduct. It's not as if Benayoun would publicly harm the clubs image, nor that of his own position/level of importance. The situation was out of his hands and not in his control, hence the ‘brothers and the toy’ analogy.

This is clearly going to be one of those deals that finalise during the final hours of the transfer window. He'd be better off at Bolton than joining the sinking ship that is Arsenal though. As long as Alex remains, defensive acquisitions are low-priority.

AVB on Barca & The Holy Grail.... http://www.dailymail...-Barcelona.html