ethicalstrategy

Given Mourinho is 7/1 and there's not a cat in hell's chance that he'll be back, I wouldn't read too much in to those odds.

Olympic football final is the day before so Wembley isn't available. I'd have preferred the Emirates because it's nearer, but Villa Park is a good old traditional stadium and I've never been there before so I don't mind.

Well that's 3:44 of my life I'll never get back!

He tried, but someone had nicked the wheels off his car!

Funny though, because he was getting a bit of grief from Fernando Duarte yesterday. Apparently refused to talk to ESPN Brazil because they'd been criticising him!

I'll see your Adele and raise you Enya.

Can I just add that Val has a special peeing talent which could come in very hand tomorrow evening. Isn't that right Val?? Wanna tell them about it?

I agree with the general sentiment, but whether you like his music or not, Will Young is certainly not average.

I don't have too much of a problem with that squad. One or two players I wouldn't have and, of course, I don't like Gerrard as captain, but over all I think it's as good as we could have done, injuries aside. I would imagine that we'd start with Hart Johnson, Cahill, Terry, Cole Parker Lampard Walcott Gerrard Young Carroll I also thought Roy did well in his press conference. Handled the Terry/Rio questions well. Made it quite clear that he preferred JT as a player to Ferdinand - rightly so.

They have already started. Henry Winter seems to be the worst. Loves Rio, hates JT. Says that picking JT will cause a rift in the squad and that everyone loves and respects Rio. I call bullsh*t. I don't think the players give a toss. It's not like Rio has even been playing for England regularly for quite some time.

Malouda if fit, otherwise Torres.

Booked the Thomas Cook day trip. Leave Gatwick at 5.35 on Saturday morning so will be in Munich by 8.30!! Sounds like there'll be no shortage of places (or time!) to drink. Weather forecast is 23c and sunny so should be a great day. Let's just make sure we bring that Jug home with us. KTBFFH

I was being facetious. However, there was a serious point to be made. Our league position does give a pretty accurate reflection of where we are as a club right now. I'd argue that what we have done in the FA Cup and CL ought to bump us up above Newcastle and probably Spurs. If we manage to win next Saturday then in effect it will do just that. We shouldn't kid ourselves that we don't have a long way to go to be challenging Man City though. 89 points is a total we've only bettered twice (95 and 91 points in the first two years under Mourinho) Unfortunately, even if we do win the CL, we haven't made lot of progress in rejuvenating the squad or getting a settled coaching staff. It does feel a bit like groundhog day.

6th

I'm liking a lot of what you are saying there RBJ. The one thing that worries me is that it looks a bit lightweight in midfield. Also, despite last night, I would still include Romeu in that squad.

Too harsh Just. He has done well since Robbie has been playing out wide left in the 4-2-3-1 formation. We know his limitations and he is never going to be a world beater, but he works hard and provides cover for Ashley - something we will need against Robben. There is no doubt he'll start against Bayern.

Hard to be critical of Torres last night. He had no service and was once again desperately unlucky not to score a spectacular goal. Essien is finished. It's very sad, but after his last injury he was only a shadow of the player he once was and now he is just a shadow of a shadow.

That was shockingly bad last night. I understand why Robbie made a lot of changes but I can't accept that the players seemed to have clocked off for the season. We still had a chance for third. Yes, it required other teams to slip up, but there was still a chance. The majority of the players had nothing to lose by trying. Most wouldn't have been playing in Munich, either through suspension or simply because they weren't in contention for a first team slot and so had nothing to lose. One or two had the opportunity to make a case to play. Instead, led by the club captain, they really couldn't be arsed. Turnbull, Ferreira, Romeu, Essien, Malouda and Sturridge all did their best to play themselves out of contention. Very poor.

I can only imagine the disappointment you'll feel as he runs out in the starting line up for the CL final!!

Well at least it's helped with a few selection issues for the final. Turnbull, Ferreira, Romeu, Essien, Malouda, Sturridge all pretty much ensured they won't be starting. Overall, a shocking effort when a win would have put us in with a chance of 3rd still. Very disappointing and I hope Robbie comes out and says so.

Well at least it's helped with a few selection issues for the final. Turnbull, Ferreira, Romeu, Essien, Malouda, Sturridge all pretty much ensured they won't be starting. Overall, a shocking effort when a win would have put us in with a chance of 3rd still. Very disappointing and I hope Robbie comes out and says so.

Well at least it's helped with a few selection issues for the final. Turnbull, Ferreira, Romeu, Essien, Malouda, Sturridge all pretty much ensured they won't be starting. Overall, a shocking effort when a win would have put us in with a chance of 3rd still. Very disappointing and I hope Robbie comes out and says so.

That's easily explained though - he's a twat. Not sure it's got anything to do with Chelsea. They just wanted something exciting to happen after we were strolling the game.

Benzema is a fantastic player. Higuain is also very good. Hulk and Gomez are ordinary. Drogba is the best on his day, but, even as one of his biggest fans, I'd have to admit that his best days are fewer now than they used to be. Having said that, he is a man who steps up in the really big games. I knew he'd start on Saturday and I knew he'd score. And, I'll bet you a pound to a pinch of sh*t that he'll start the CL final and score.

Why would we play a weakened side for this game when we still have a chance of finishing in the top four? We need Spurs and Newcastle to fail to win on Sunday and we can nick fourth. Newcastle are at Everton and Spurs have Fulham. Both teams drawing is not hard to envisage. If Arsenal do lose at WBA then we could even get third. The CL final isn't for another 11 days and we have four players who won't be able to play anyway, so we have to do everything we can to try and win tonight.