The Big Drog

Personally Id have Ander Herrera ahead of all of them.

Yes. Perhaps, which suggests uncertainty. Repetition, a tool used to hammer home a message. That message being that your claims are bloody ridiculous because you cant possibly prove them true. Not only are they ridiculous but they also come across as somewhat insulting. PERHAPS that is what Im trying to show you?

Or perhaps its simply a case of posters not posting even after they see La Liga games not involving the big two? Perhaps because they believe that nobody else on the forum is watching those games? I dont know what the reasoning might be, afterall, I dont have access to their minds, just as you dont have access to what they watch.

Unfortunately unless you are omnipresent and are watching each of these people then you cannot say for sure that that is the case.

Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe, just maybe, some people actually do watch La Liga? Afterall if nobody watched it then I doubt Sky would continue to show coverage of it. I watch it. I really enjoy it. I also enjoy Sky's coverage of it because they dont only show the big two's games. Perhaps if you stop to think for a second and ask yourself "geez maybe I shouldn't be so arrogant to assume that these people who I've never met don't actually watch the stuff they talk about" then you might not come across as such a douche.

Breathtaking. An incredibly rare talent, I cant wait until he eventually comes to Europe.

If it's true that PSG are in the hunt then maybe we could get 20-25 million, afterall his name still has value and for a rising club like PSG he would be great symbol to base their merchandise machine behind.

Given the crisis mode we apparently seem to be in, I fully expect the status quo to be maintained. Cech Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole Ramires, Essien, Lampard Sturridge, Drogba, Mata I think Cahill is cup tied. If he isn't then insert Cahill at centre back with Ivanovic at right back.

Romelu has his ear to the ground.

Stick Barcelona and Real Madrid in the Premier League and see what happens, they'd dominate the league in the same way they dominate Spain. They are the two best teams in the world, by a wide margin. Also, anyone who watches the league on a regular basis this season will have seen quite a few competitive and downright exciting games involving the big two against the smaller sides, particularly Barcelona away from home. Could the top of the league be more competitive? Sure. Its a two horse race. The Premier League is also a two horse race. Third place in Spain is wrapped up (by Valencia) third place in England is wrapped up (by Spurs) the race for 4th in Spain also encompasses far more teams than it does in England. Also the quality of football on show is higher in Spain than in England.Technically, the teams are far more advanced.

The good news from that article is that at least Roman realises that the players are at fault and the quote of 'massive changes' in the Summer is also promising. It doesn't matter who the manager is at the moment because the squad simply isn't good enough, too much deadweight, too many players past their prime, the squad has stagnated and hopefully now Roman will finally perform the big squad clear out that has been long overdue.

That is a fire hazard, I hope it is a controlled burn in a well ventilated area.

What top class manager in his right mind would want the job? Actually, no, Im wrong, I can imagine there will be a few scrambling for it simply because you are guaranteed a large payout when the club inevitably fire you. I dont even know who the serious options are. I cant imagine us gettign 4th place if Di Matteo is left in charge for the rest of the season, and with no Champions League, what manager will join us then? If we were living in some dream world then Id like Rafa Benitez or Fabio Capello, or hire one of those on the short term and then sign Mourinho for the start of next season. But that is about as hopeful as you can get.

Back to square one. What is the point? We spend a world record fee to get him out of his contract at Porto, we are unable to sign all of the targets we identified in the Summer (most importantly, Modric) and everyone is shocked when we do poorly. Despite Ancelotti doing poorly last season with practically the same squad. So either Ancelotti and AVB are the shits or the players aren't up to it, personally I think it is the latter. Now, before a crucial few games against Birmingham, Napoli and other Premier League games to secure 4th place, we have a new manager in charge, former West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo, who has been working with the squad all season anyway. I think its generally accepted that this is a transition period, sure results were worse than expected but then our squad is the worst it has ever been since Roman came to the club. So now what? We forget about AVB's best laid plans, his signings and the players who he had faith in (Mata, Meireles, Romeu, Luiz ect.) are now in limbo and for the rest of the season we get to see Di Matteo try to drag something out of an old guard that has declined at superhuman rate. AVB seemed to have a plan for the future. His constant talk of the 3 year plan, his outlining of transfer targets on Portuguese radio only this past week all sounded encouraging. Now those are gone, we have to find a new manager, who will have to get used to the squad again, who will need time to evaluate the players he has at his disposal, with the club being run like this is at any wonder Malouda, Kalou, Mikel and to a lesser extent Lampard, Essien and Drogba have survived so long, it is shocking. It reads like a comedy sketch, it played out like a comedy sketch.

The quotes sound encouraging. He would be an absolutely cracking signing. 25 years old, has all of the physical attributes you need to succeed in the Premier League, he is technically superb and is what the team is crying out for.

I dont get it at all. He has looked pretty decent whenever he has played for the first team and shown a great work ethic. Why is he constantly ignored? I understand that he is 18 but even so, other clubs play young players, we have one that we paid 18 million pound for, you would think that would be worth at least one Premier League start. the lad seems disillusioned by the situation at Chelsea and why wouldn't he be?

Just on the "best manager in the world" thing. For me, it's Jose Mourinho. What he has accomplished is nothing short of astounding. To win the Portuguese league, to then go to a completely different culture in England and win that league back to back, to then go to another completely different culture in Italy and win that league back to back, to then go to an entirely different culture again in Spain, home of the greatest team in the world (and arguably the greatest team in football history) and be on course to beat them to the Spanish league and on top of all of that, to win 2 Champions League's in the process on top of a host of domestic cups in the countries he has managed in, it is truly remarkable. The man is a proven serial winner, he has proven to the world that wherever he goes, he wins. His handling of the media is the best of any manager I've ever seen, his eye for spotting players that fit into whatever system he is looking to build is exceptional. or me, he has proven that without a shadow of a doubt, he is the best manager in the world.

So are those the official new kit for next season?

Could you just imagine what an amazing moment it would be when you see the SSN breaking news tab running the story that Mourinho has joined Chelsea and several nameless, faceless SSN hacks scrambling about all over the place to find a few random talking heads to fill up air time. And then the first press conference back, what a great occasion that would be too. I really like AVB, if we dont get Mourinho then sticking with AVB is absolutely fine by me, I think that given the time he will turn the club around. That being said, the lure of Mourinho is great, a proven winner and, as already pointed out, has such a superstar reputation that we would find it far easier to attract big name players. Not only that but if he were to return, you just know that he would be given the funds to go on a big spending spree to rejuvenate a tired squad. For me, the good outweighs the bad. As I said, if he stays in Madrid then I hope we stick with AVB because, bar Mourinho, I wouldn't rather anyone else at the helm.

Hopefully this is true, His best position is clearly as a number 10, having him out wide only negates his effectiveness. What an incredible signing he has been, a tremendous player, an absolute joy to watch.

Odd thread. Mata and Luiz have given it their all since joining, their attitude is exemplary.

If you can't be happy about a 3-0 win that has kept us in a good position to get the vital 4th spot on a day when serious pressure was on the manager then I just don't know what kind of emotional connection you have to the club, Id say one that is minimal at best.

Im not sure what your standards are, they appear to be ridiculously high. If you judge the performance today by the general standard of the top teams in England this season, it was a good performance. No it wasn't Barcelona or Real Madrid, but then no team in England can rival them at the moment, however 3-0 on any day is a good result, even for the two big Spanish teams. So because a defender scored it lessens the performance? Somebody should alert those Barca fans that they shouldn't have celebrated that victory over Madrid with Puyol scoring for them (from a set piece no less), it definitely took away from their performance and the joy of their victory..... Obviously there are tougher teams ahead but maybe you should consider the phrase "you can only beat what is put in front of you" we did that today, by 3 goals, will we win the Champions League and the Premier League this season? No. However, considering that you are, apparently, a Chelsea fan, perhaps you could show a bit of joy that we have just beaten a team by 3 goals to move into the 4th spot that we are fighting for this season. Is it ideal? No. But today was an important 3 points because getting 4th place to set us up for next season is vital.

Ye we played far better today. The tempo was higher from the start, we kept possession well and always looked dangerous going forward and the backline was mistake free. Yes it was against struggling Bolton but we needed this kind of result and performance. Fair play to the players for stepping up. Lampard was excellent, Essien did well in midfield alongside Ramires, Sturridge, while a bit greedy, provided a genuine threat, Mata created well and put in a lovely cross for Lampard's goal and Drogba led the line well, had a few nice touches and scored a vintage Drogba header. It was easily Gary Cahill's best game for Chelsea, but my pick for man of the match is David Luiz, scored a beauty, defended very well when he had to and played some wonderful passes in the process, unlucky not to score a second. Im also glad Roman was there to see it in person, I hope he has the patience to stick with AVB. This was always going to be a difficult season, lets get it out oft he way, get new players in that suit AVB's vision and lets push forward from there. Anyway important win, puts us 4th with pressure on Arsenal to get a result against Spurs tomorrow.

In the few games we have seen him play for the first team he has looked dangerous, he works hard, he clearly wants to succeed. He has got a lot of power and pace. Granted his technical ability isn't what it should be, though I imagine Drogba's technical ability isn't near what it is now when he was Romelu's age. I think he will put in the work and improve that side of his game, if he can do that then we have a hell of a player on our hands because he has all of the physical attributes you need to be a top player in England.