I'm worried about 4th place

[Madmax 9,219]

I will hold back until after the Spurs game, anything less than 3 pts will surely snuff out our fading hopes.

[capriccioso 2,545]

I am now convinced that we will not make 4th place. We blew our chances during the dec-Jan period. But as zolayes so wisely said, it's not a big deal. One year away from the CL is not the end of the world, imo, even with FFP rules. Having to cut down our wage bill might will force us to do what we should have done two years ago.

Don't see much sense in the argument that we can't get any players in the summer if we don't make 4th place. Juve the like of Del Piero and Camoranesi and Buffon etc...when they played in the second division because all those players believed that in a couple of years Juve will back in the CL and competing for titles.

That's because they were all Italian and loved Juventus. The likes of Ibrahimovic and Vieira left straightaway because they had no connection with the club and therefore no reason to stay, and Juventus were only able to sign wank like Amauri for years after. A South American, German or Spanish talent isn't going to sign for Chelsea unless we can at the least offer them way more money than the two Spanish clubs. Even that may not be enough if we can't give them UCL football. And as for the Germans, forget it. They love their country and see every other league as inherently weaker, and I have to agree with them, for me, the Bundesliga is the best league in the world.

[teignman 441]

I've resigned to the distinct possibility that we won't finish 4th. While this is, of course, a bad thing for the club, it is not catastrophic in any way, shape, or form. I think it is far more damaging to the egos and sense of entitlement of some of the fans than the club and its future prospects of success.

[Jase 43,479]

Drogba is worth retaining, Ashley Cole isn't. We need to get rid of the one time best left back in the world while we still can, his name still resonates in certain quarters and we could well make 10-15m pounds off him. If we keep him until next year we might only get a fraction of that.

We should be looking to sell Bosingwa, Malouda, Essien, Lampard, Kalou, Cole, Benayoun, Bruma, Meireles, Turnbull, Ferreira, Kakuta, and Drogba or Sturridge.

Erm, what??

[CHOULO19 24,332]

That's because they were all Italian and loved Juventus. The likes of Ibrahimovic and Vieira left straightaway because they had no connection with the club and therefore no reason to stay, and Juventus were only able to sign wank like Amauri for years after. A South American, German or Spanish talent isn't going to sign for Chelsea unless we can at the least offer them way more money than the two Spanish clubs. Even that may not be enough if we can't give them UCL football. And as for the Germans, forget it. They love their country and see every other league as inherently weaker, and I have to agree with them, for me, the Bundesliga is the best league in the world.

City signed the likes of Silva, Dzeko, Kompany and many more while playing in Europa league. My point is: If we can convince a player that we have an important project going on and that we will be playing CL the following season, I see no reason why any player won't sign for us.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Hmm, what??

Brain fart on my part, should have specified that Drogba is a stubborn git who won't accept the 1 year deal so we'll have to free transfer him.

[Jase 43,479]

City signed the likes of Silva, Dzeko, Kompany and many more while playing in Europa league. My point is: If we can convince a player that we have an important project going on and that we will be playing CL the following season, I see no reason why any player won't sign for us.

It will also depend on who our next manager will be IMO.

[capriccioso 2,545]

City signed the likes of Silva, Dzeko, Kompany and many more while playing in Europa league. My point is: If we can convince a player that we have an important project going on and that we will be playing CL the following season, I see no reason why any player won't sign for us.

City also have millions the likes of which even Roman can't compete with. People like Kompany and Dzeko had already won a couple of trophies in their careers and were probably looking for a fat paycheck. You may be onto something with Silva though.

[Jase 43,479]

Brain fart on my part, should have specified that Drogba is a stubborn git who won't accept the 1 year deal so we'll have to free transfer him.

We should definitely let him go. Need to break up this old guard thing and his best performances are already few and far between. No point keeping him any longer. He's already 34 as well.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

It will also depend on who our next manager will be IMO.

And how good our negotiators are. (judging by past signing fees/contracts I'd say they're terrible)

[capriccioso 2,545]

We've been getting ripped off since Roman first bought us. Clubs think ''Oh they can afford it, we'll jack up the price for them but keep it low for other interested clubs''.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

City also have millions the likes of which even Roman can't compete with. People like Kompany and Dzeko had already won a couple of trophies in their careers and were probably looking for a fat paycheck. You may be onto something with Silva though.

I think that Roman is more than capable of paying the 27m that Dzeko cost and Garry cahil actually cost more than Kompany (7m opposed to 6m). And Dzeko had only one Bundes Liga while Kompany won nothing with Hamburg (won 2 Belgian leagues with Anderlecht though), not exactly the silverware that would satisfy any player, imo. They weren't even headed towards the end of their career either. I think they realized that the potential successes that City will have over the next few years and wanted to be part of it. I think many players will see that at chelsea as well.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

We cannot afford to miss out on the UCL. Looks like we're going to have to win it!

Thankfully Spurs are in free-fall at the minute, I actually think they're most at risk of falling out of the top 4!

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Not worried, even if we don't make it there. Just hope we give it a good fight for it, obviously it'll suck not being there, but meh, we've seen worse things in this club

[Laylabelle 9,534]

We cannot afford to miss out on the UCL. Looks like we're going to have to win it!

Thankfully Spurs are in free-fall at the minute, I actually think they're most at risk of falling out of the top 4!

Teams always have a bad run till they come against us...remember few seasons back Spurs only had a point for about a month which they'd gotten of us..win on Sat all be good.Loose then Spurs no doubt go skipping back to form and god knows whats going on with Arsenal dont like it though lol