ethicalstrategy

Blimey! We've got a match on Saturday guys. Didn't anyone notice? Presumably we will see Ashley, Frank, Essien and Drogba restored to the line up after being "rested" for the cup game. I can't believe JT is really fit. I wouldn't risk him if there's a chance he'll be able to play against Napoli next Wednesday.

It is a problem if you are viewing the full site on a phone or tablet. I agree that the solution on the phone is to use the mobile site or tapatalk. I do find though that if I chose the mobile site on my phone then I get the mobile view on my computer the next time I log in. On a tablet it is a monumental pita. With the larger screen I prefer to view the full site because it allows me to perform some moderating tasks which I can't do in tapatalk or when in mobile layout. The amazon issue is quite frustrating.

Fergie falls in to the same category for me. I have no idea what he's like as a person. His football persona I find unpleasant. As a manager he is one of the greats. If he was our manager I suspect that I'd love him to bits.

I'm not able to watch the match tonight, but ethical junior is at Uni in Birmingham and will be there at his first Chelsea away game. I hope that AVB's dismissal will lift he mood and see us through to the next round. It will be interesting to see the line up and if there are any surprises. By all accounts Birmingham will have a fairly weak team out so we really ought to win this.

To be fair moi, you don't know "the man" (unless there is something your not telling us!) Those who do know him best, the people who have worked with him and played for him, seem to be happy to run through brick walls for him. Whoever the new manager is has to be able to engender the same degree of loyalty and togetherness. The task of rebuilding the squad will never happen without that. I don't think there are a huge number of candidates for the job and Mourinho is certainly the best. Sadly, I can't see it happening.

Can't say that having RDM and Eddie as his assistant inspires much confidence in me. If the players weren't impressed by AVB then they are going be underwhelmed by the new combo. I hear lots of positive things because they are both well loved Chelsea old boys but whilst that might carry some sway with the fans it won't count for anything with the players. The biggest single thing that is needed in the short term is to get the players motivated and together. It's easy to say but incredibly hard to do. The team needs a leader. At the moment it is just drifting along without any cohesion. If we don't find that unity then the rest of the season will be a train wreck. (Even more than it already has been!)

There were a number of threads essentially covering the same issue. I have merged them all together in to this thread.

Oh, there's been the odd comment here and there, usually in response to being asked. But I don't really believe that he has been making a point of doing anything that would actually have any substantive impact on the success or otherwise of successive Chelsea managers. He's been a bit too busy winning things.

You might want to throw the 2 CL matches with Utd in to that pot. We were truly dreadful when we had every opportunity to reach the final.

Touché! Though it was less a comment about his tactical prowess and more a counter to the idea that he spent his time undermining successive Chelsea managers.

AVB calling Robbie to offer him the job and the club being behind the move aren't wholly incompatible truths. Of course Wallace could be lying, or could be misinformed. Or he could be right.

I think that's a pretty fair assessment Nibs. I'm not going to castigate the players based on a lot of unsubstantiated rumours, but I do think that Roman has to give any new manager his full support. He has to be allowed to bring in new players and, most importantly, be given the authority to ship out those players, young or old, who aren't happy to be part of the "project". Otherwise we'll just be back here again next season in some kind of footballing groundhog day.

I was just reading Sam Wallace in the Independent and he suggested that RDM wasn't universally liked. He also said that RDM was imposed on AVB by the club rather than being his choice - not something I'd heard before. It would explain why he didn't really get much responsibility from AVB. (I know that we generally view journalists as low life pond scum, and often with good reason, but they do generally have a fair idea about what's going in clubs that they cover)

Sorry. I wasn't suggesting that you should say who he is or what he does. More that it would be interesting to hear more detail about what was going on behind the scenes. That is an interesting story. I'm not sure that how Frank felt about AVB is a surprise. That's been out in the public domain for a while now. Thanks though for the insight.

I particularly like the way he undermined Carlo by coming to the Bridge with Inter Milan and pulling his pants down. What was he thinking?

I'd maintain that Frank always puts in 100% whether he plays well or not. Assuming, of course, that he gets selected.

Would you care to share details? Rather than just implying stuff.

So he's not the groundsman then?

Ah! The good old "inside info" line. Always one of my favourites.

I don't see the team being dramatically different. We were playing pretty much our strongest team in the last couple of games. What I hope will be different is the organisation and belief. We may have a squad which needs surgery but it is perfectly good enough to beat Birmingham and to carry us in to the top four in the league. Transition will have to wait until the summer. For now we just have to win games and play to our best.

Home against Bolton on 25th February. Next question.

I've read two or three different people saying that RDM is not particularly well liked. That doesn't bode well for any sudden up turn in form from the team. Although, maybe just getting rid of AVB will be enough of a lift for us to go on some sort of run. I thin RDM's appointment is more a reflection of our desperation than anything else. We couldn't get a Hiddink like stop gap - thank god for that, as it seems that Benitez was the prime candidate - and so we had to ask RDM to do it.

You'll have to jog my memory about that time when we were playing well. Why would Lampard saying he wanted to be playing upset the apple cart, especially if we were playing well and winning without him?

You should read Neil Ashton piece in the Mail Chippy. Throws an interesting light on the whole situation. You can argue the rights and wrongs but if this is true then he had no choice with AVB.

Quite right.