Paddy

Well BT sports on, sound most definitely OFF , Mendy in goal, MM on ( sorry I don’t actually mind ), let’s be ‘aving you - COYB !!

Sorry , I just re-read your post - are you really advocating that tackling, in what ever area of the game, is the most important criteria on which a striker should be judged ???

Slightly off tangent here and tongue in cheek, but I can think of one DD tackle that saved a match - against Ribery, v Bayern Munich , CL final , penalty . Robben really didnt fancy it , I truly believe that the penalty save/miss broke them, I honestly believe that at that moment, they knew our name was on that cup and it f**king was - get in!!! Back on point and extremely serious - you never rated DD ???

I obviously don't know for sure, but FL must have been interviewed for the position he currently occupies and I would be amazed if, as part of the interview process, he wasn’t asked or volunteered his vision for the future ........” where will we be in 3,4,5 years time and how do we get there ?” Presumably he did ok cause he’s sitting in the seat. I don't imagine for a minute that its a coincidence that he has publicly drawn parallels to Klopp, his time at the Micky’s and how long it took him to go from also rans to CL & PL winners - so I am expecting that Frank will have a plan for the next 2/3/4 years , including recruitment etc that underpins his intentions (or at least I f**king hope he does!!) and that this will have been “agreed” by the board ? I’m hoping that the attacking recruitment the club has undertaken this season is stage 1 and that there are plans to recruit further next summer and the summer after until he has “his” team which will be title winners and smashing the CL too. Maybe the club didn't see any value In what was available defensively during this window and that what was available (and at what cost) was no better than those already on board - hence the signing of Silva, which I don’t think was planned until very late in the day and maybe the youth/academy team coaches have a new JT in the wings that will be ready in a couple a years ? Anyways, long winded way of saying , barring Roman being Roman, Franks in it for the long haul I believe - and f**king good luck to him !!

It doesn’t really matter now, but I’ve looked at it again and again and I’m mystified as to why he doesn’t use his hands in the scramble by the post - do you think that he still thinks he can’t handle the ball - Has to be doesn’t it ??

I didn’t see the game live so it’s really difficult to make judgements from edited highlights, so I don’t know about fatigued, but pissed off, fed up, disappointed, annoyed, angry and a sense of expectation of an inevitability Southampton equaliser ( all the things us fans were feeling ) may have had something to do with their heavy legs and hearts !!!!

Brilliant angle and really telling - what other goalkeeper in the whole, complete, wide world doesn’t use his f**king paws ???

Not sure what the clubs view on the CL is this year ? Make the quarters? Anything more is unlikely IMO. Personally I think Frank needs to go with his strongest starting 11 for the manc game on Saturday on Tuesday night v Seville - not because the CL means much to me this season, it’s more that we need a settled starting 11 who play regularly, get comfortable with each other and get used to winning !!!!! Don’t know if Mendy is available but if he is then he plays. (For the record, I wrote the above in bold italics earlier in this thread.) It’s not that I disagree with your team selection, although I do, it’s more that I really disagree with your assertion of excessive football is in play here ? FL talks about the lack of a pre-season, the shortage of real game time, shortage of minutes in the legs, shortage of proper competitive football and was positively encouraging our players to go and the international managers to pick and play our players so that they would benefit from competitive football - hate international football but agree with the benefits they offer this time around. I’m not a sports scientist nor a medical man and I don’t really think I can properly claim to a true member of the 21st century with all the stats, graphs, facts and figures that are available meaning very little to me eg. Liverpool 70% possession v Aston Villa and lose 7-2 and VVD was playing btw ? I don’t know if you know something that I don’t with regards to who is available , hence your selection, but for me you pick your strongest available 11 for the game in question. We need to get the core 11 playing regularly, almost knowing that they are going to be picked, we need to get the practice of the 11 playing together regularly, developing a trust, confidence and understanding of each other. Playing Saturday lunchtime at home, Tuesday evening at home and away in Manchester on Saturday evening isn’t too much for these guys and especially at this stage of the season. We need the 11 who will play the mancs on Saturday to start tomorrow night, the result against Seville is important and giving a good account of ourselves is vital, but this is really about building confidence - Provided that they are available you CANNOT NOT pick Chilwell, Ziyech. Havertz. Werner - save your team for Krasnodar IMO.

...........and I also remember when football was mostly about how far Hutch could lob a throw in into the opposition’s 18 yard box ?!!

you definitely lost me there mate ? Cant even be arsed to google it 🤷‍♂️

Yep, I had to google too .

Except we all knew we would concede goals - Kepa, defenders blah blah blah - and we were fairly certain with 20 to go that they would equalise , it was inevitable, just a question of time, but that lot, 3 up with 8 minutes of normal time left, the prodigal son returning and on the pitch with god harry, Jose and that mob all with their hard on’s - what could go wrong ? Oh how I f**king laughed 🤣🤣

Cheered me up no end - I was thinking that seeing that lot going from 3-0 to 3-3 , equaliser scored 15 seconds before the end of added time , was soooooo enjoyable?? Lept off the sofa when the 3-3 goal went in, what a beauty

yes, we have got change 😂😂

Mad ain’t it ??

Not sure what the clubs view on the CL is this year ? Make the quarters? Anything more is unlikely IMO. Personally I think Frank needs to go with his strongest and expected starting 11 for the manc game on Saturday - not because the CL means much to me this season, it’s more that we need a settled starting 11 who play regularly, get comfortable with each other and get used to winning !!!!! Don’t know if Mendy is available but if he is then he plays.

100%. There is a danger here that some might believe the Kepa lack of form is temporary , brought on by loss of confidence, wrong colour away kit, lost lucky rabbits foot, being home sick blah, blah, blah and that somehow he will come good - I’m afraid I don’t subscribe to that point of view, the bloke just isn’t a very capable or talented goalkeeper and certainly not good enough to play for Chelsea or any other team with CL and top 4 PL pedigree and ambition, don’t even think anywhere in the PL tbh - simply put, we bought a pup !! Its not his fault that we paid what we did for him, but sometimes you have to cut your losses - it’s all very well saying he has to go but he ain’t gonna give up the £40-50 million in wages that he will “earn” for the remainder of his contract and actually, who the fu;k would have him ?? Doubt he will accept being consigned to “light duties” that doesn’t involve football for the next 5 fu;king years, YES UNTIL 2025 , picking up his almost 200k a week dosh. Time to dig deep Bruce, Roman et al, pay up and look big , give him a settlement, he has to be gone or he will become cancerous.

Actually, the comparison was with Bakayoka not Kepa and was very tongue in cheek, although my blood went stone cold when I realised that Ivanović wouldn’t be able to play in the CL final - (a) because Branislav seems a top fella, was great player for us, served us well and deserved a place (b) cause I knew his replacement would be Bosingwa 😱 your right, he did win the CL with us but our winning the CL had little or nothing to do with Bosingwa’s performance that evening and everything to do with Gary Neville’s, “ ....... it’s written in the stars !” prophecy during the Barça semi final 🤣🤣 Oh, did you happen to notice mr B during the trophy presentation? you might have noticed him briefly, it was his best effort that evening !!

Thought you were gonna say even with only one good knee he’d still be better than what we’ve got 😂🤣🤣

Remember Dave Webb going in goal, v Ipswich I think, in the early 70’s - did alright, wonder if he’s got anything on on Tuesday night ?

Bosingwa ?

Well I too feel for him, genuinely I do but I wonder what it must be like to get a 7 year contract worth £70 million ? I wonder if he ever thought “am I good enough?” before he signed that almost 200k a week deal in 2018 ? It’s not his fault that some fool at CFC decided to buy him for £70 + million, but he’s too small, he isn’t a presence, he doesn’t command and I swear the whole of our defensive unit feel zero confidence in him when he plays - almost every shot on target is a goal when he’s between the jumpers. Guess he’ll have to do a Bogarde and Ozil, see out his seven years and bank the dosh - probably best he go to after work classes and get qualified in something to do from 2025 - agent perhaps ?

10 whole minutes of not thinking about Kepa and co ??

Keys and Gray, takes me back - quality - BT sports commentary and pundits are fu’king rubbish - when I watch BT it’s always with the sound off.

Blimey mr B, your not thinking that the woolie cardigan wearing, PC brigade that is the BBC are gonna have an opinion that might be in anyway be honest and truthful if it’s even remotely likely gonna be nasty towards the “victim” !!!! Doubt they would risk their easy money salary’s and walkers crisps ?