ethicalstrategy

No-one said life was easy or fair!

Not even the wealthiest by age or in Russia anymore Perhaps we should be thinking about putting him on the transfer list!

Maka played well last night but I didn't see him as outstanding. Olympiakos never pressed him (or Ballack and Lampard) and so it was a really easy ride. In games like that I feel we would be better served with someone who can do a bit more with the ball given that amount of time,space and possession - Mikel perhaps. Claude's special skills come in to their own against teams like Barca where he is needed to constantly put out little fires all over the pitch. Last night there wasn't so much as a damp squib for him to deal with. I'm also amazed at the disparity in the voting for Lampard and Ballack. Frank was every bit as good as Ballack. They were both excellent.

But what a great chance for Grant to get the Mourinho monkey off his back. If he can do what the special one failed to do twice.....

You obviously didn't see their match against Arsenal. Tactically naive - let's give Arsenal all the time in the world to play. Even Birmingham have worked out that you don't do that. Ageing squad - maybe they wanted to close down Arsenal but weren't quick enough? People have been saying that they are over the hill for 3 or 4 years and each time they have been able to pull out a performance when it mattered in europe in particular. This time I really do think they are over that hill and well on their way down the other side. Their home form in the league this season has been shocking and they will do well even to qualify for the CL next season.

Qaz. In the circumstances that prevailed, I would think it unlikely that Mourinho would have done any better overall than Grant has done results wise. (Excepting the CC Final, which I am convinced we would have won if he had still been in charge). The whole saga, starting from xmas last season had a very negative effect on the club and the team and cost us any chance of retaining the premier league in my view. So we can safely say that Grant has done just as badly as Jose would have done had he remained Of course Grant's circumstances were very different. He has had the full backing of the club and the owner, but he has also had to contend with a ridiculous amount of injuries and the ACN and the general upset caused by a change of manager mid season. I think, however, that had Jose still been manager and still had the same support from the club that he enjoyed in the first 2 seasons he would have done better than Grant has done. His record against the bigger clubs would have been better - I say that based on his time at the club, where he lost only once to Man U and never to Arsenal, and as a result it is likely that we would be level with or ahead of both Utd and Arsenal.

You obviously have erased the memory of our group game in germany against them from your mind! Good thing too.

I'd have liked a joint MoM option as Ballack and Lampard were individually excellent and worked together really well too. It was interesting to see that they played further apart than they have in the past with Ballack, in particular, popping up very wide on the right. All three midfielders must have thought that Xmas had come early with the amount of time and space they were given on the ball. They won't be seeing that again in a hurry. I gave it to Frank, just edging it over Ballack.

I believe that the Referee actually reviewed the footage and changed his opinion. In those circumstances the FA had little choice.

I'm screaming for Grant's head after the performance Milan put in last night!

I don't think there is any question of Grant going before the end of the season whatever happens. It would be madness to make any change until a successor is properly lined up and that would have to be in the summer.

So you would feel that to be successful going forward we need to rebuild the squad? I agree we probably need another wide player/winger but beyond that I would say we have top quality in all positions.

Why would we need to build a new squad? Don't we have one of the best and deepest squads in Europe already?

It is always the same though with Arsenal. If you get in amongst them then you have a good chance against them. If you sit off like milan did then they will run rings around you. Even though they dominated it took a howler from their keeper for Arsenal to actually score. Arsenal thoroughly deserved to win though. They were much better than Milan.

Now, now Chippy. Exactly which bit of your first post in this thread related to Essien and his desire or otherwise to leave Chelsea for Madrid? Looks like never then

Might have been. There again he could equally have been hit by a feather and suffered the same consequences. That's harsh Nibs. Makoena "the axe" nearly took his leg off at the ankle. I can guarantee you he wasn't making it up! The tackle that did for him on saturday was also very nasty. The fact that he gets injured so much must be more than coincidence. I am guessing it is down to him being very quick and defenders catching late as a consequence. Personally, I feel sorry for him. He has the potential to be one of the world's great footballers if he can stay fit.

Maybe some do and some don't. But which ones? Who knows.

He has now apologised. Personally, I'd leave it at that. It's understandable that he would want to support his brother. It doesn't mean he condones what he did. And, as was pointed out already, he wasn't simulating the crime!

Nope, not thick. You are quite right. But it's easily done. Brian posts about Essien Chippy tells Brian not to be so gloomy Someone chips in with some punctuation and grammar lessons Chippy tells Brian to stop being so pessimistic Brian says he thinks Grant will fail Chippy defends Grant I attack Grant Chippy defends Grant I attack Grant... See easily done So back on topic: Who thinks it's Grant's fault that Essien wants to leave?

With all due respect, you are the one who feels the need to defend Grant whenever anyone posts something against him. I do my best to restrain myself from trying to put you right on this matter, but every now and then I just can't help myself

FA rescind Frank's card!! Common sense at last

You make it sound as though Played 22 Won 18 Drew 3 Lost 1 is some kind of impossible dream 04/05 we started: Played 22 Won 17 Drew 4 Lost 1 and 05/06 we started: Played 22 Won 20 Drew 1 Lost 1 I admit that these are great results, but they are not unattainable. That's what won us the league two years in a row.

The reason we get the winner and loser thing so often is because it is highly pertinent to the discussion about whether Grant has what it takes. Being a winner isn't about "never" losing Chippy. It's about getting the job done more often than not when it really matters. Mourinho has a track record of achievement, not just at Chelsea but with Porto before us. We don't call him a loser because he won 2 league titles in three years along with 3 other trophies I sometimes feel that some people don't see this as the magnificent achievement that it clearly was. It is a lot easier to accept losing on occasion when that is balanced with some wins too. Especially if those wins are the PL. Interesting to hear that you think it was JT and Frank who "made" Grant make a mistake in the CC team selection. You really portray him as a man who knows his own mind! That sounds a rather desperate argument mate. Having said all that, Mourinho is really not that relevant to any assessment of Grant. Grant needs to be judged on his own merits as he will always fall short when compared to Jose - and there's no shame in that. On the positive side: so far he has proved that he is a more than competent manager. He has guided us through a difficult period and kept us in contention on, until recently, 4 fronts. On the negative side: He has shown some fallibility when it comes to making changes during matches that aren't going our way and his record against the better teams is not that impressive. In the big cup final he made a pig's ear of the selection/formation and wasn't able to turn it around. He was a choice which was unexpected because of his lack of credentials and to date he has done nothing to show that he has what it takes to make the difference between competing and winning. The problem with backing him through the summer and giving him the funds and the opportunity to create "his own" team is having the confidence that he would be successful. If he isn't then the club will have spent the best part of two years going backwards. I think it would be a huge gamble - absolutely huge.

Chippy, you forget Jose had one mammoth obstacle to overcome. One that no Chelsea manager had been able to overcome for 50 years. The lack of a Title. It was a huge pyschological barrier. I know I never thought I would ever see it achieved during my lifetime. I still felt like that under the management of Claudio, even after the arrival of Roman and all his money. Money alone does not buy you the title. Just ask Newcastle, who were the biggest overall EPL spenders prior to Abramovich's reign. And I know many other fans who felt the same way. There was a distinct lack of belief that we could win the "big one" both within the supporters and the players themselves. Where Ranieri spoke about "building and foundations" and reminded everyone how United and Arsenal were better than us, Mourinho was the complete opposite. He changed the mindset of the fans and the players almost immediately. He made us all believe. That was some feat. Exactly. You either have it or you don't. Claudio doesn't. Grant doesn't. Jose does.

I've no idea what to expect in this match. The first leg was so sterile it's untrue. We ought to have plenty in hand to win this though. ---------------Cech -----------JT---------Carvalho Belletti--------------------------Cole ---------------Mikel -------Lampard--------Ballack Cole--------------------------Kalou --------------Drogba Subs: Carlo, Bridge, Alex, Essien, Malouda, Sheva, Anelka