Thomas Williams

I think we can sum up this wage talks as such: Having Lamps on the team is very beneficial to us, but not at his current wages. We would like to have him back but on reduced wages. Then all we can do is wait and see.

I wonder if we could all start a "save lampard fund." If die hard lampard fan donated a fiver, I'm sure we could resign him How could the club complain then?

The beautiful thing about Ba is that he can score very well from a well placed aerial ball, which our team is so good at delivering, we finally have someone who will have the off the ball movement to receive it and score.

I'm racking my brain for other examples, it's very difficult. Robben for 12 million wasn't a bad investment, but that was ages ago. Sturridge is probably our best under 8 million signing in a long time, and I think Mata has probably been worth double what we paid for his transfer fee (which was still very high). Mind you, every good investment Chelsea ever made in recent years has been nullified by Torres. At least we have Abramovich's near endless pockets to make up the difference.

I mentioned in my post that the immense differences in the sports make them hard to compare (except in name) but I feel the idea that we need to give Benitez time before we give him the final verdict. I think you agree with me on that .And about my passion being American football---I actually prefer the European version, and no sport gives me as much pleasure as watching the Blues (haven't missed game in years that I wasn't in class/work for [damn time zone differences]). But I am much more an expert on American football, and I make a few hundred dollars a year betting American football (much more predictable sport to me at least--Chelsea beats Aston Villas 8-0? Man-ure beats reading by 1? How you guys could profit off betting these games I have no idea).

Hey guys, I'm going to give you some "bloody yank" perspective. My passion in addition to real football is our American version (with the pads and helmets ). University sports are huge here (bigger than national league sports where I live), and my local "football" team was awful for the better part of a century, despite being a large university with a large fanbase. One conference title in a dreadful conference in all those years. Then we signed a new coach with a famous record for a large fee hoping to turn the program around. The first few years the team did no better and tons of fans complained of him and said he was a waste of money. But now closer to a decade record he has brought the team to success it has never known before and consistently ranks in top 10 in the country (would be like reading becoming a consistent top 10 in the premier league).z Now I understand the sports are very different, and a football manager especially with Chelsea's resources can make or break a team very quickly compared to what an american football coach can. But my point (finally) is Oftentimes it takes a while for a coach to make his complete impact-positive or negative. I'll praise or ridicule Benitez on a game to game basis, but I feel it's way too early to call him sh*t or call him our savior. I don't think we can fairly say yet. At the end of the season, when I see our silverware (or lack thereof) and premier ranking, then I'll decide.

Especially with the manchester teams struggling lately (Manure seems to be getting by more on luck than dominating their opponents) and Chelsea keep looking better and better.

I'm betting on the draw, but hoping for the win! That way I'm content no matter what. I'm definitely feeling a 1-1 or 2-2, but seeing the blues win is definitely worth the $10 I'd lose. (A littler over a fiver to you folk?)

Fair enough! At Norwich Torres showed signs of his typical self again, so I'm still having my reserves about keeping him as our main striker (I try to stay so optimistic about him). It would be nice to see Lewandowski start off as a good striker here and then over the years become Chelsea legend. I'd still hate to see all that transfer fee and all that wage sitting on the bench (and i can't see a decent way to sell him).

I think Lewandowski would be perfect- Affordable (to us), young enough to be a good investment, good enough that we could rely on him should torres be injured, and good enough to compete with torres and/or play two strikers if we change our formation. Besides, I like the chap and don't want to see him end up at Manure.

Thanks for clearing that up Stingray I'm glad, I love the little guy

Have you guys seen this? http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4710904/Christian-Benteke-Eden-Hazard-wants-to-join-Real-Madrid.html Obviously take it with a bit of salt but if it is true I would rather Hazard's dream job be here with Chelsea..

I know the knee surgery must have been brutal, but I think more than anything it has helped hurt his mentality. I think he feels like now since his surgery and the past couple seasons, that he'll only ever be a shadow of the goalscorer he used to be, and because of this, he's not even close to giving it his all here at Chelsea. Instead, he's just playing for the (immense) paycheck, with no love of the game or heart. Although with the special attention Benitez is giving him, that aspect does seem to be improving. At least I hope. By the way, hey guys! I just made an account, this is my first post.