ethicalstrategy

Cech & Drogba are uncontestable choices The third place is tougher but I went for Carvalho. Essien and Maka deserve an honourable mention too.

I hate it when I get mud and grass stuck in my cleats.

There are two issues here. Grant has done nothing to deserve stick. He isn't the same charismatic personality as Mourinho but that's really irrelevant now. Results have been good (the losses to Utd and Arsenal prevent me calling them excellent). However, it is still perfectly reasonable to defer judgement on whether he is a suitable long term replacement for Mourinho. That can only be determined by the success he has with the team. In the meantime I am enjoying my football as much as ever and hoping we can sneak by Utd and Arsenal come May.

Well he had been told their result, but the language barrier got in the way. As far as I could tell the conversation went along the lines of: Interviewer: Arsenal were held Grant: (to off screen interpreter) held? Interpreter: they drew Grant: you said they won Interpreter: I said it was one - one Grant: the communication at Chelsea is terrrible As for psyching Arsenal out, personally I think that being so nice to everyone - other teams, their managers, owners, refs - not to mention the worlds richest men is far more scary!

Is that supposed to be a helping hand?

It is nice though to see it happening at another club rather than about our own. The fact it is liverpool just makes it all the more fun

I agree with you Butch on two important points. Firstly, I too think both players will get back in on merit. Lamp's case is obviously helped by Mikel and Essien being away on international duty. If both those were available it would make it a more difficult choice. And when you consider the excellent game Maka had on Saturday, the choice becomes even more accute because, as you noted, Frank has not been at his dazzling best this season. The point you make about JT being so much more than a good central defender is one I thought many others would have picked up on. JT epitomises Chelsea in the same way Tony Adams did for Arsenal and Roy Mental did for Man U. He gives us the leadership and never-say-die spirit those two gave to their clubs. And that is a crucial factor to be considered. However, I still think Alex would have every right to feel aggreived if he's left out the minute JT is available. This assumes of course he continues to play to the same remarkably high standard until JT is fit. JT definitely has that little bit extra though. The goal we conceded against Everton the other night for example. I wouldn't say Alex did anything wrong when trying to block Yakubu's shot, but I did think at the time that JT would probably have blocked it. Alex went to block but sort of turned his body away slightly, which I am sure is a natural reaction. JT would have gone in face first if necessary - anything to stop the ball whatever the personal cost. It's what makes him the best.

For me a match that I was at will always be more memorable than one on TV. The Barca 4-2 was just a fantastic night for all the reasons already stated. The other match which deserves a mention - not for excitement, but just for the sheer joy and relief - was last years' FA Cup final. After everything that had happened, to beat Utd, to win the first final at the new Wembley, to go with the last one at the old wembley and to do it in the last minute of extra time, right in front of the Chelsea fans was just an amazing thing. When I saw the Utd players trudging up to get their losers medals you would never have known that they won the league. They looked shattered.

It was a really hard choice this week, for all the right reasons. Defensively we were excellent. When Spurs got on top a bit in the second half, after Taarabt came on, Ashley Cole defended against Lennon superbly. Maka reminded us of what he was like in our title winning seasons and I hope we see a lot more of him. Ballack was quiet yesterday, but SWP had a smashing game at inside right. Malouda was solid, but loses a lot of points for twice giving up on a chase back when Chimbonda was bombing forward. Joey had one of his best games for us this year. Not too much fancy stuff, pity his left foot isn't better as he created space for two or three shots cutting in from the right. Pizarro held it up well but never looked like scoring. Still one of his better performances. Anelka looked class and very nearly had a couple of goals. Spurs were poor. Keane and Berbatov were marked out of the game by Maka and the defence. Their midfield duo of O'Hara and Boateng was just out of its depth. O'Hara a a super prospect but this was step up too far for him at the moment. MOM for me was Alex. We have seen how hard an act JT is to replace - just ask Boulharouz and Ben Haim - but I really don't think we are missing him too much at the moment.

Agreed Butch. It's not as if we have an abundance of midfielders anyway at the moment. If the suggestion from some is that we leave Frank out because he can't play alongside Ballack then that is even more bizarre. When we have Maka, Mikel, Essien, Lamps, Ballack to chose from then I agree it makes for a very difficult situation. Do you play a diamond in midfield, ala last year, or do you play 3 or even just 2 with additional wide players? That is tricky.

That wasn't true on Saturday. Joe put in a number of very dangerous crosses. Our problem was that we didn't have anyone getting in to the box to get on the end of them.

Alex has done really well and is a very good replacement for JT. When JT is fit I'm sure he will get his place back but he can't afford to be complacent. Leaving Carvalho out would be a big mistake. He has the pace and mobility that JT and Alex lack. As far as Frank is concerned, he will be straight back in the team when fit and rightly so. I'm constantly amazed at those who question his contribution to the team.

What would be the point of buying him if we didn't want him to score hatfuls straightaway? We already have someone who can not score hatfuls.

When Frank was taking all the corners he was getting dogs abuse. Since we have switched it round I'm longing for Frank to come back. He may have been inconsistent but used to get our fair share of goals from them. Now we are much more consistent - consistently bad.

Grant has said that Sheva is nowhere near ready to play. So my revised team is: Cech Belletti, Carvalho, Alex, Bridge Sidwell, Ballack Cole, SWP, Malouda Anelka

It's understandable that you don't feel as confident under Grant as you did under Jose. I feel the same. Jose has been there and done it whereas Grant is unproven. I'm prepared to give Grant time, not that I have a choice anyway. At the moment results generally are pretty good. Performances are mixed but we have had a ridiculous number of injuries. I am nervous that it will all fall down in a heap, but so far we haven't. I do think that the losses to Man U and, in particular, Arsenal are a little worrying. They suggest to me that my instinct about Grant not being a winner are right. As far as new signings are concerned I am expecting that they will be a mixture of younger, unknown players such as Ivanovic and some "star" names who are probably towards the latter part of their career (you can include Anelka in that). I don't see us attracting the Messi's and Iniesta's and Dos Santos' of this world. Nothing to do with Grant, just that I don't see that type of player coming to england until they are on the wrong side of the hill and looking for a last pay day. Has the club gone backwards since Jose left? I would certainly have preferred for him to have been able to stay. I believe that we would have gone on to win more PL's and to get our hands on the holy grail of the CL under his management. To that extent I think we have gone backwards because I don't believe will will do either of those things under Grant. There are other little things that also hint that the change wasn't for the best. Things like the warm ups before the matches where it used to be so organised and structured it now just looks very haphazard.

I was just doing a bit of research and the best return he has managed in a league season for any club, Premier League or otherwise, is 17. He did that with Arsenal in 98/99 and again with Man City in 03/04. Last year he scored 11 in 35 games and this year he has 10 in 18. On that basis I wouldn't be expecting any more than 8-10 goals max and that would beat his best season ever. 15-20 is very hopeful. Sorry to sound so sceptical, but I can't get too excited about it. Compare that to David Villa: 2006/07 Valencia CF 33 14 2005/06 Valencia CF 35 25 2004/05 Zaragoza 32 15 2003/04 Zaragoza 38 17 2002/03 Sporting Gijón 35 20 2001/02 Sporting Gijón 36 18 2000/01 Sporting Gijón 1 0 I would be excited by his arrival!

Now the deal has been done... am I the only one who is luke warm about the whole thing? I'm sure he will be a decent addition to the squad but I can't see him really setting the world alight.

I think that not just chelsea, but also all top english teams struggle to sign the really top level players. Often they are south american and prefer to go to spain because of the culture/language/climate. I can't really think of many superstar players who have chosen the premier league. Players like Bergkamp/Cantona/Henri all came after failing to impress in France and Italy. Players like Sheva/Ballack/Gullit/Desailly/Zola/Vialli all of whom would fall in to the superstar category only came to england towards the end of their careers. The likes of Messi, Ronaldinho, Kaka haven't been persuaded to come here in their prime.

To be fair, the possibility it might move back to the original date was mentioned when the initial move to Monday was announced.

I heard on the football weekly pod today that Diarra is off to Newcastle for £5.5 mill. or at least he was before big sam was canned. Anyone else heard anything?

It was originally scheduled for saturday at 3. Then it was moved to monday night for Setanta. Because Spurs couldn't beat Reading in the cup it had to be moved back to its original time. Little or no trouble for anyone

There was some talk that Essien would be allowed back to play in this match

Now the match is back on Saturday it's not too early to start this thread: It should be an interesting match. Spurs look good going forward but weak at the back. Do we have enough going forward to exploit that? We have to win if we have any hope of challenging for the title so will Avram go with the 4-2-3-1 again or revert to 4-3-3. Depending on the injury situation I'd start with: Carlo/Cech Belletti, Alex, Carvalho, Bridge Ballack, Sidwell Cole, SWP, Malouda Pizarro Obviously I'd swap in Anelka if signed or Sheva if fit for Pizarro and Makelele for Sidwell. Belletti would be a better bet than Ferreira - every time he comes up against a small quick winger he has a 'mare. (Lennon last year in the league and cup and Young against Villa on boxing day) I think it will be a tough one.

I have to say that article is an absolutely accurate assessment of the situation. Quite a change though from last weeks papers who were saying Bridge was out of favour and on his way to Anfield!