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Turnbull ultimately decided the game, it's frightening that he's 'the back up' for an all too fragile Cech.. We used to have a goalkeeping dream team in Cech & Cudicini.

Nah, his last kick of the ball for Chelsea should always be the CL winner.. That's how you end an era.

On paper he was/is a decent stopgap.. The club have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at trying to make the 50m investment a success, hopefully Rafa's impending exit will be the final straw.

Thinking back to THAT Ramires goal at the Nou Camp. Like the Andrea Pirlo penalty against England at the Euro’s, it was a psychological turning point. Barca 2-0 up, 45mins in.. preparing for half time, everything going as planned. And all of a sudden an exquisitely composed world class finish from Ramires, set up by a team with 10 men on the pitch. Making it an almost 'troll' like moment ala Pirlo's nonchalant penalty kick, which was completely against the formality & flow of the moment. Think of the mind frame of the England players after witnessing Pirlo’s troll penalty, it was almost like whatever happened next in the shootout was never going to live up to that.

Meh..

I can barley even fathom the idea of him returning this summer.. I suppose the justification would be that he has unfinished business and wants to create a dynasty. Or that Roman has seen the error of his ways etc, but atm it's the stuff of fantasy.

Hazard man of the match, joy to watch atm, Ramires could have easily been the villain yesterday.

Torres is unrecognisable with that haircut, let's hope his usual performance is too.

Mats Hummels & El Shaarawy in the summer please Roman.

Torres, like Sturridge also scored 1 goal against Norwich.

A semi-legend at the club, so it's good for PR, maintains an english backbone in the side, 3rd in line for the captaincy when Lampard leaves. Plus, it gives us a year to find a long term replacement. Bertrand isn't ready.. he might not ever be, and signing someone likes Baines for upwards of £20m isn't really an option.

You are very much speaking 'right now' though, i.e under Rafa and our current crop/form. Serie A needs to get back to what it used to be if Juve was to try and sign a top player from a club owned by Roman Abramovich in the PL. Robben was an anomaly.. and somewhat justifiable from our end (his injury record etc).

Snoopy D O Double G

No chance. Lampard is a class act who understands how important his legacy is.

City wanted him to sign a contract.. yes, but that obviously doesn't mean they 'wanted' him in that sense. More so they had an eye on the future transfer fee, we earned £10m+ from the deal, whilst they had to settle for mere compensation. His departure is nothing to be mourning about in the grand scheme of things.

Back when the award used to be two seperate accolades, fifa/ballon d'or.

Imagine a Chelsea player being nominated and winning this, the closest we got was Lampard but Ronaldinho beat him to it. It certainly gives Hazard and possibly Oscar something to aim for..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20921261 ^ Either the BBC are trying to be philosophical or this is a typo..

The father of comedian Alan Carr (Newcastles head scout) will find them a replacement in no time.

If Torres goes on another barren run and we have a miserable end to the season with Rafa, I don't think Roman will hesitate.

An Anelka type/calibre signing, in terms of being a reasonably priced forward at his peak.. Not necessarily doom & gloom for Lukaku either, given the inevitable Torres exit next season.

Tbf to Terry, Harry Redknapp is illiterate, so there's hope yet. You may have a point with the hunger argument, usually the best managers have a point to prove, i.e short/unfulfilled playing careers.

Sublime.

Roman needs to handle this well, it will have long term implications. Lampard is a future ambassador of the club.. officially/unofficially, he will go down as our greatest ever player and with the highest I.Q in the PL he is a future manager. Play your cards right CFC, let's not create any bitterness.