waldron

It's between Cech and Bonetti, but remember the Cat was playing behind the likes of John Dempsey, John Mortimore and Micky Droy, so he has to get the vote - if he hadn't played that game in Mexico in 1970 he would be rated much higher by everyone. More interesting is the worst ever - Tommy Hughes, Peter Borota or Dave Beasant.

This may upset one or two people, but if we lose the top spot to United the reason is simple - JT. His antics throughout most of the season have destabilised the club and his performances in the last few weeks have been erratic, costly and downright horrible. The thought of England winning the WC with JT in his current form and Green in goal behind him is almost laughable. The irony would be if we batter Stoke without him, Alex and Ivo have blinders and Carlo leaves him out for the trip to Anfield. Having said that, it is as likely Delap's throws will cause panic at the back as Cech relives his role as Christopher Lee's stand-in for Hammer Horror and everyone will say how much we missed JT. One certainty is he won't be winning any player of the year awards.

Poetic justice at the San Siro - Barca denied a stonewall penalty - remember Ovrebo ?

He's going to have a role to play now that Mikel is injured.

Great players don't make great managers - Maradona, Blanchflower, Hoddle, Keegan for example. How good as players were: Mourinho, Ferguson, Paisley, Wenger, Guardiola, the bloke who coached Brazil 1970 ?

Exactly. This "we don't want United to beat our record of titles" is a media invention. United are going to beat the record sooner or later and Benitez doesn't give a monkeys about the Anfield legends bullsh*t. It's their last home game of the season, they won't want to lose. Our best hope is that Sunderland hold United to a draw.

It isn't a disaster to lose to Inter, but as many have identified this is an ageing team that is not going to improve long-term. The worry is Ancellotti has a track record of hanging on to oldies - anyone who saw what United did to the remnants of his Milan regime should be worried. Ivanovic has been a plus this season, as has Malouda and Drogba has been effective, but without Essien and recently Cole, we are struggling. I would offload Ferreira, Carvalho, Belletti, Ballack, Deco, Kalou and Anelka. We could have Ivanovic, Bosingwa, Alex, JT, Cole and Bruma (+ Zhirkov) in defence, Lampard, Mikel, Essien, Matic in midfield, Malouda and Kakuta out wide and Drog, Sturridge, Borini up front. That means we need at least one or two new players in midfield and the same up front (assuming Joe Cole leaves). Has Ancellotti got the bottle to do this ? I doubt it, but it will be fun watching.

That is the only team that has ever won anything with a shocking keeper. It is a specialist post and cannot be covered by brilliance elsewhere. I'm not blaming Hilarious for all four goals, but his presence seems to unsettle everyone. Does he ever look like stopping anything unless it is fired straight at him ? I cannot believe a team of Chelsea's standing in European football have such a lack of cover for Cech (although the Gooners have two jokers in goal). All the other reasons for the City debacle - loss of Cole, absence of Essien, madness of Ballack, ageing players unable to cope with two or three intense games a week - all need to be looked at, but when I see Hilario in goal I am just waiting for the first howler. How do you fancy him against Stoke or away at Blackburn ?

Team could be : Hilario Ferreira Zhirkov Alex Carvalho Mikel J cole Ballack Malouda Anelka Sturridge Subs: Turnbull Ivanovic Deco Kakuta Matic Bruma Kalou

Definitely 1975 - Hollins, Houseman, Hutchinson, Cooke & Kember. Man City - Tueart and Bell and a dodgy keeper. I was 19 by then so didn't use the boys entrance. Did you notice how there were zero girls or women in the shots ? Chelsea were utter sh*te that season, but didn't stop Chas wowing the crowds - he was 32 by then. I remember the relegation clash at the Lane - Wikins made captain - lost 2-0. We went down with Luton and Carlisle I recall. It's like another world.

Match of Decade : 4-4 against Liverpool last season, not great football, but what drama! Player of Decade : For consistency - Lamps; for guts - JT; for putting the fear of God into the opposition - the Drog Goal of the Decade : Lamps at Bolton - nothing can ever match it, not for its skill, but for what it meant. Defining Moment : Mourinho taking over - Ranieri was never going to cut it and look at all the efforts to fully replace him since Personality of Decade : Again it has to be Jose, not since Tommy Doc have we had a character like him Worst Moment : Avram Grant taking over - never appoint anyone to a job because he is your mate Hope for next decade : That we replace the ageing legends like Frank and JT and finally get hold of the Champions League trophy

OK so it's January 1st, what about looking at the EPL in the decade just gone ? NOUGHTIES - PREMIER LEAGUE HOME AWAY P W D L F A W D L F A PTS Man United 381 142 29 19 422 125 113 38 40 335 191 832 Chelsea 382 130 47 14 395 133 102 45 44 287 161 788 Arsenal 379 135 38 15 434 163 91 57 43 314 193 773 Liverpool 380 118 51 20 352 131 86 43 62 269 202 706 Aston Villa 380 84 61 45 254 176 52 64 74 239 284 533 Tottenham 381 101 43 47 339 222 44 49 97 191 291 527 Everton 379 89 51 51 283 208 52 50 86 193 268 524 Newcastle 360 92 47 42 281 195 41 52 86 200 284 498 Middlesbro 361 70 54 56 246 225 38 51 92 164 251 429 Blackburn 324 67 49 46 226 183 46 39 77 177 252 427 Man City 323 70 35 56 229 182 38 44 80 174 252 403 Bolton 322 63 52 47 211 187 41 39 80 170 262 403 Fulham 323 77 37 48 219 173 23 54 84 149 258 391 West Ham 305 64 37 52 213 187 38 36 78 151 257 379 Charlton 266 54 33 46 179 178 31 37 65 122 208 325 Pompey 248 52 31 41 173 143 24 29 71 103 203 288 South'ton 209 46 31 28 144 116 19 29 56 96 173 255 Sunderland 266 43 32 57 137 168 20 28 86 105 234 249 Birm'ham 210 41 32 32 132 110 20 29 56 86 163 244 Leeds Utd 170 36 20 29 130 110 31 18 36 109 127 239 Wigan 171 31 20 34 90 104 21 17 48 81 147 193 Leicester 132 20 22 23 76 96 12 17 38 68 111 135 WBA 152 21 18 37 81 115 6 23 47 51 136 122 Derby Co 132 18 19 29 70 100 6 14 46 47 136 105 Ipswich 76 17 9 12 51 39 12 6 20 47 67 102 Reading 76 19 4 15 48 45 7 9 22 45 68 91 Stoke City 57 14 7 7 33 25 3 8 18 20 53 66 Coventry 57 10 8 10 32 33 4 4 21 25 62 54 Hull City 58 7 8 14 31 52 5 9 15 28 54 53 Wolves 58 10 7 12 32 50 2 9 18 23 63 52 Bradford 57 8 10 11 37 46 2 5 21 16 63 45 Sheff Utd 38 7 6 6 24 21 3 2 14 8 34 38 Watford 56 5 12 11 30 38 2 5 21 17 56 38 C. Palace 38 6 5 8 21 19 1 7 11 20 43 33 Norwich 38 7 5 7 29 32 0 7 12 13 45 33 Sheff Wed 19 4 1 6 11 12 2 3 3 11 13 22 Burnley 20 5 4 1 14 9 0 1 9 8 31 20 Wimbledon 18 3 2 4 11 15 0 0 9 4 24 11 Conclusions to draw from this: How about the home record ? 14 defeats in 10 years - sensational. The big four concept is backed up by the stats - they average 70/71 to 83 points a season while nobody else manages more than 53. Chelsea do have a history, despite what the Scousers say. Remember these stats include years before Roman, never mind the 90s with Gullit or the 70s with Osgood or the 60s with Venables or even the 50s with Bentley. The top seven down to Everton are the only ever-presents in the Noughties.

Ballack is coasting - all the way to the World Cup. However, both Ballack and Lampard are struggling because they don't have Essien to do their running for them. By the way, can someone teach Obi how to tackle ? How many free kicks does the man give away ?

The current faves - Liverpool The old time faves - Leeds The local upstarts - QPR Since 1967 - Spuds

I take it the Eddie Newton reference was a joke ! Anyway, how about : GK - Cech (no contest) RB - Petrescu (Dan the man) LB - A Cole (how many good left backs do you know ? ) CB - Desailly ( pure class ) CB - JT ( Inspiration ) DM - Claude ( no contest ) M - Wisey ( good for a ruck) M - Di Matteo ( reliable ) AM - Lamps ( who else ? ) F - Zola ( Legend ) F - The Drog ( on song, unplayable )

What is going on ? Has noone looked at English clubs record in Europe over the last few years ? Suddenly the Spanish league is tops, or should I say Real followed at some distance by Barcelona, then a lot of Mickey Mouse clubs who sell all their best players to the big two on a regular basis. How many forwards can Real play in an 11 man team ?

Look we all love JT, but if he wants to join a Europa League seeking outfit good luck to him. If they are offering silly money for a guy who has maybe three years left at the top level, then let's bite their hands off. JT is no Osgood or Zola.

We need a reserve keeper, a replacement for Kalou (Joe Cole ?) and a 20 goal a season striker - what about Huntelaar ?

I don't want Glen Johnson back - you should never return to the scene of your crimes.

Yeah, remember the goal in the Charity Shield - classic. Unfortunately, after that it all went tits up. Just for the record. I said we should have signed Berbatov from Spurs and despite all the negative stuff you hear from United fans he didn't exactly stop them winning the league did he ? Let's see if we can tempt Sir with a crafty offer.

Is this another of those close seasons where Chelsea are linked and turned down by everyone (Kaka, Villa, Pato, Seedorf, Ribery etc) and end up buying yet another 30plus midfielder ? (Pirlo)

Bye bye hasbeen, while you've got room in the cab take Hilarious, Ferreira and Kalou with you.

Who voted for Alex ?

Regardless of whether it's Ancelotti or Mark Hughes or Robbie DiM, now we have to make some hard decisions. As Guus has indicated we have to renew the squad. Here goes: Untouchables - Cech, JT, A Cole, Essien, Lamps Keep - Bosingwa, Mancienne, Ivanovic, Alex, Anelka, Malouda, J Cole Unless we get a good offer - Carvalho, Belletti, Mikel, Drogba The jury's out - Di Santo, Stoch, Sinclair Offload - Hilario, Ferreira, Kalou, Quaresma, Deco, Ballack We need a good No 2 keeper and we need to get the average age down, hence Deco & Ballack must go. If Drogba is to go we must get a good replacement first. Carvalho going was unthinkable a year ago, but Alex & Ivanovic have improved immeasurably and Mancienne is one for the future. If Joe comes back strong, Anelka will struggle to hold his place, so we have to get a target man who can score his share, if the Drog leaves. Any ideas ?