ethicalstrategy

I just read this on the Guardian website I thought it was a very clear and reasonable assessment of what has happened during the season. Full article

Oh, there's an awful lot more that I'd like to do with this thread than just correct a spelling mistake, believe me!

I'm still torn on this one. Logic says it makes no sense to keep changing the manager, but my heart says that Carlo lacks something when the going gets tough. Despite everything, and there have been a lot of challenges this season, I can't help feeling that he has lost the plot at times. Had he been able to keep us even half way on track over the winter then the league would have been there for the taking. I think that his unwillingness to put his own position on the line for Wilkins did undermine him in the eyes of the players and was a big mistake. Whether he can recover from that remains to be seen. His biggest problem is that he has under achieved in the CL. Both against Inter last year and against Utd this year we have gone out of the competition with little more than a whimper. This year, in particular, represented a really good opportunity to at least reach the final. Instead, indecision or lack of bottle led to us getting personnel and tactics wrong. The big question is who could take over and do a better job. There aren't a huge number of candidates. If Carlo does stay then the ground rules need to be set out and agreed. Are we going to splash the cash and buy a new team or are we going to build for the future and really encourage our youth development? That's a decision that needs to be made and then stuck with rather than thrown out at the first sign of problems, as it was this year. My vote is, on balance, for Carlo to stay and oversee an investment in the youth policy provided he believes in it - not something that we could say for this current season.

Omar, Can you search for existing relevant threads first before starting new ones? Also, the rumours forum is for rumours, not just your views on various things. Thanks ES

Must be Mikel's influence! The performance, I mean

This will be played in the stadium before our match with Spurs. It features, amongst others, Frank Lampard. The Y-Word

I presume that Carlo will be toast at the end of the season whatever happens from here on in. Even in the massively unlikely event that we were to overhaul Utd, his job was to win the CL for Roman and both his attempts have been pretty abject. So, he may as well do what he wants rather than worry about what Roman wants. If we are to go out with a bang and get ourselves up to second then we need to find some kind of pattern of play, something that has been missing since September. At the moment we just look like a bunch of individuals winging it and hoping for the best. Even last night we played with no width. any team worth their salt will find it a lot easier to shut us out if we persist in trying to play through the middle. My team would be: Cech Ivanovic Terry Luiz Cole Mikel Essien Lampard Kalou Drogba Malouda BUT, both Malouda and Kalou need to play wide in a front three, NOT narrow in a Xmas tree. We also need to play at a high tempo. We can't afford to give teams time to get set defensively. We have to move the ball quickly and accurately. I can't say I have high hopes of any of this happening.

Irrespective of anything else, the option isn't there so it is a completely pointless exercise.

BBC iPlayer Tapatalk - for forums Kindle - ebook reader Beyondpod - podcasts Beautiful Widgets - nice clock and weather Dropbox - for getting files on and off your tab Evernote- for notes Sky+ - set your sky box remotely Tunein radio - all your favourite radio stations Soccer scores pro - keep upto date with the latest scores. Spotify - online music Twitter I'm sure there are many more.

I look forward to hearing him alongside Redkapp for the Liverpool v. Utd games. Should be great. I will say that when he was on the other week he wasn't too bad despite my misgivings and the fact that I've always regarded him as a prize c**t.

I was just about to tear in to Nibs for including Wenger on his list and then you go and put that wheeler dealer on there!!

I tend to agree. A lot of players have missed big chunks of the season. There's no particular reason they should be too tired. It's far more important that we settle on a formation and line up and stick with it. I'm sure that all the chopping and changing up front is hurting rather than helping us.

Should do. I'm not an expert, but I think most android marketplace apps will work on tablets. It won't look any different to how it is on any android phone though until they make a tablet version. Give it a try. I'd be interested to hear what you think about the Tab. I've had a little play with it in the shops. I've got an iPad which is very good but also quite big. I like the look of the HTC Flyer which is due out soon and which is 7 inches. I'm very tempted to give that a go.

Depends. If he can maintain fitness and we play to his strengths then he has plenty still to offer. At the moment we are doing the opposite. No width. Cramping the space through the middle. You'll never see the best from him in that set up.

That sounds like a good thing for a striker.

I'd like to nominate this post for the "biggest load of bollocks" award.

It was a good ball Chippy, but I was sitting there watching and could see exactly what was going to happen. It was as if someone had lifted one side of the pitch and everyone had tipped to the far side. Giggs was out there waiting for about 30 seconds and no-one was picking him up. It really was shocking defending even before Giggs waltzed past Bosingwa's feeble attempt to stop him.

Bosingwa l understand but why Malouda? He only played 20 minutes and did well.

Actually, that is exactly whose fault it is. It's the manager who shapes the team.

I think Carlo was desperate to get Bosingwa off and needed to bring Mikel on to release Essien. Actually, we looked better in a 4-3-3 with Mikel holding. Agree totally about Drogba. The whole striker situation is a complete mess. It's what you get when you just randomly buy players rather than working to a plan.

As we lined up at the start, I thought that we have some really good players. We should be a very good team. Unfortunately we aren't and I don't know why. We were always in trouble after they scored. They could afford to sit back and hit us on the break. They hassled and harried us and we were second best for much of the time. We probably deserved a draw but fortune didn't go our way. Bosingwa is a liability defensively. All Utd's threat came down our right. I wouldn't mind so much if he offered anything going forward. The decision to switch to 4-3-3 and move Essien to right back was a good one but too little, too late. Carlo really has to get a grip on what he is trying to do with the strikers. At the moment it's just decided by some strange random plucking of straws, or at least it seems that way. If we can win at OT the chances are we will go through. But for that to happen we will have to play a lot better than we did tonight.

Wasn't his first attempt but it could be his last! I like Ray as much as the next man but last night was so bad he was even trending on twitter!

A nice blog on Butch's commentary last night #stayingonhisfeet

I'll be heading off from work around 3 to get up to the match. I'm very unsure about how I feel. I think the unpredictable nature of our performances this season have left me more relaxed. Anything could happen tonight. We could be very good or very sh*t or possibly both. If we can manage to play well then we ought to be too good for Utd. But at the same time I haven't been all that convinced about our recent upturn in form. Good results against City and Utd have been mixed in with less impressive showings against Copenhagen and Stoke. Our season basically rests on these next two matches against Utd. If we get through then we will never have a better opportunity of getting to the final. If we go out then Carlo will be on his way in the summer, if not before. And now I start to think about it, I'm getting more nervous!

Classic Mourinho interview: Shreeves "how do you prepare for a semi final against Barca?" Jose "if it happens we must train to play with 10 men. Every time I go there we have a man sent off" Top stuff.