Ruh Buh Juh

I thought Essien wearing a snood in Denmark was pretty expected, considering it was around -10 celsius!

FT! We stay 4th, great day for Chels!

Great win for us. We have to do the business tomorrow now. Come on lads, we really can't mess this up.

I don't think Boulahrouz had quite the effect as Luiz has already!

I disagree, I thought it was a 4-4-2 for the most part, but when either Lamps or Essien went further forward, the other would tuck in behind to make sure there was no space for Manure to exploit had we lost possesion, I really thought Esslen and Lamps got the balance spot on last night. Ramires was much wider than I thought he would be, he would obviously move inside a bit if he felt he could get there, but on the whole he gave us valuable width on that side. I will agree about Malouda though, I don't recall seeing him playing particularly wide the whole game, when Zhirkov came on, he was hugging the touchline, EXACTLY what we need in a 4-4-2.

I agree. Mark Clattenberg would've been much better.

Those trailers, BlueSkies, are impressive I'll admit, but when I first watched the Dead Island one I was absolutely blown away by it, neither of those excited me TOO much (although Deux Ex looks one hell of a game). The mixture of slow-motion and normal speed, backwards and forwards in time meeting in the middle right at the end, it's incredibly impressive.

I don't know, it's definitely up there, just for the cinematic quality of it. I've never seen ANY game trailer like that ever, it is damn impressive, add to that the graphics are insane too. Show me a few game trailers that are better.

Malouda and Anelka, yes, but I thought Lamps was exceptional today. You're exactly right about the last line though - the future of Chelsea right there! Side note: is there any chance of one of your amazing picture threads from amazing wins, Gem? :P

I said in the match chat that I'd vote for Essien because I thought he was immense, but seeing the poll I literally couldn't not vote for Luiz. He was INSANE and his goal was top, top quality.

That. Was. Incredible. I was in the common room, quite literally a room full of either Manure fans or just anti-Chelsea, with THREE solitary Chelsea fans. When Manure scored, the sound was alright. When Luiz scored, the sound was incredible, like double the Manure sound. When Lamps scored, we hit the freaking roof. Our passion for Chelsea was incredible compared to the supposed Manure fans. To the actual match. First 10 minutes were quality. Then we dropped off and let Manure come at us, which was poor, but I don't think we were ever poor, and were unlucky to go in a goal down. Second half, everything changed. We switched to 4-3-3, which was a bit odd, but it suited the MAGNIFICENT trio in midfield perfectly, and they were the backbone of every attack from then on. When Drogs came on, we went back to 4-4-2, and the magnificence remained, they all never stopped running (Malouda was pretty poor however, Zhirkov was immense when he came on, unlucky not to have sealed the victory when he struck the post after a sweet sweet strike), Essien deservedly got MOTM from Sky, he played the best he's played in a LONG LONG LONG time! Torres was quality leading the line aswell, he held the ball well, he knew when to pass (a superb spread of play in the first half with an inch perfect pass to Anelka), it's only a matter of time before he scores, it did look like today he played with confidence for the first time in a while, even without his first goal, he was immense. Drogba did really well too, definitely start those two against Blackpool next week. Finally, the defence. Oh my God. They were unbelievably good, especially Luiz. Ivan handled Nani perfectly, he was just the right mix of being a bit cautious, but also being rough when he needed to, Nani is good against poor full backs, against Ivan/Ashley, he never stood a chance. JT was mostly immense, but there were a few lax passes in the first half, I remember he gave the ball away twice to Manure, leading them straight into attack. But 2nd half he was excellent as usual. DAVID LUIZ. WHAT A PLAYER. He was a bit reckless and I do like a defender who throws himself into things, but he could've and possibly should've been sent off, but if he gets it under a bit more control, he will be an unbelievable defender, as if he already isn't! I woke up today in a FANTASTIC mood. I'm going to sleep in an even better one! Echoing coco: Stand up CARLO ANCELOTTI

BioShock 2 is fantastic, ace. One of my favourite games of all time. I wasn't too fussed on Mass Effect 2 myself, but I think that's more down to the fact that it's very talky, which is why I don't particularly like Fallout in general.

I woke up today in a fantastic mood for seemingly no reason at all. I've stayed in that mood all day. Please Chelsea, don't ruin it!

He was immense against Arsenal yesterday. He did something to his leg with around 40 minutes still to play, he played with a tremendous limp, but that didn't stop him from out pacing Bendtner :P Always rated him, when he was at Cardiff he was awesome, now he's even better!

I've already partially accepted Drogba's departure in the summer, it's inevitable I think. However I don't think JT and Frank will leave, I fully expect both of them to retire here. Lamps won't be as prominent next season because he's getting on a bit now and he has that niggling injury in his thigh, but I expect him to be a mainstay on the bench and occasional starter. Getting someone LIKE Sneijder or Kaka would be ideal to replace Frankie.

Sarcasm is a great quality in a human being.

Q3 2011? Not entirely sure what that means, I'm guessing Autumn?

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! GET IN BIRMINGHAM! Great final I have to say, Birmingham defended heroically and took their chances. Absolutely BRILLIANT end to it, hilarious howler :D

I have to say murph, CL Final, JT getting sent off and coming back from 4-2 down is something special. If you get into football manager as much as I do, I can only imagine your reaction when Dzeko scored his two!

I think when we signed Zhirkov we ALL saw him as a winger, as opposed to cover for Ashley, and I really expected him to become a real talent for us given a lengthy run in the side. Early this season when he was deployed in CM in Lamps' absence he grew to improve in that position, but he couldn't do what he's good at there. He needs to be out there, preferably on the left of the 4 man midfield we deployed on Tuesday with Ramires on the right. I did just ponder the idea of a 4 man midfield of Zhirkov on the left, Essien or Ramires and Lamps in the middle, Malouda on the right. I remember coco saying in another thread (possibly the Man U match chat) that we should effectly play a 4-1-3-2, like so: --------------------------Cech --Ivan-------Luiz-----------------JT-------Ashley ------------------------Essien --Malouda----------Lampard--------Zhirkov -------------Anelka------------Torres I don't mind that at all. The movement of Malouda/Anelka/Torres/Zhirkov would be unbelievable, incredibly difficult to defend against. Add to that that the opposing back four would have to mark one of the four each, add Lamps to the mix then it gets incredibly interesting. I can see that working incredibly well. Whether we'll ever see it deployed though, is another matter entirely.

Bayern's winner was hilarious. 89th minute, horrible Cesar howler, Gomez tap in. Brilliant!

Looking at seeing Frank Turner again, in Nottingham's Rescue Rooms. I saw him before Christmas and Leicester's O2 Academy and he was brilliant, but I definitely feel he's much better performing to a smaller crowd, being more interactive, with just his acoustic guitar.

Finally someone who has a similar love of the Oscars to my own! This year I've actually gone out of my way to try and watch all 10 nominated Best Picture films, but with 3 days left I've yet to watch True Grit, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right and Winter's Bone so it will be a close run thing, but at the moment I want: Black Swan for Best Picture. I started watching it thinking I wouldn't enjoy it too much, I was more intrigued by it, because I'd heard from people who had seen it that it was "insane" and "messed up". And considering it's effectively a film about ballet to the outsider (when you finish it, however, you realise it's definitely NOT a ballet film!) I didn't have high hopes. After it finished, I was absolutely blown away by it. I loved every second of it. From the way it's directed, the lighting, the attention to detail, the acting, it's very nearly the (well, my) perfect film. However, though I haven't seen it and I'll come back to clarify a decision after I've seen it, but I do think The Fighter might pull up a shock victory on this one because of all the things I've heard about it. We'll have to see. I don't think The Social Network should be counted out either, thinking about it, another film I absolutely adored. Colin Firth is nearly definitely going to win this one, let's face facts, but for me James Franco shouldn't be counted out and should win it. Franco managed to carry a pretty much 2 hour film almost entirely on his own with the most of the film in a cave, with him rambling to his slowly dying camera, fighting off a cloud of insanity that gradually sets in and grows stronger. You can see with every passing minute in the film, Ralston (the character) is slowly giving up trying to get out, until one surge of positive insanity leads him to cutting his own arm off, easily the most important decision Ralston himself has ever made. Having said that, one has to think that Ryan Reynolds for Buried missed out too, seen as the basic idea are both very similar, except that Franco is helped out slightly by short scenes from Ralston's past - in Buried, Reynolds is literally on his own for the entire film, only talking to people on the phone and seeing one person via a video through his phone for quite literally a few seconds. Reynolds's performance isn't quite as remarkable as Franco's because Buried is more a pure survival story, compared to Franco battling off his own mental demons. Natalie Portman for Best Actress. Hands down my favourite and a clear favourite in general, her performance is remarkable. It seems Oscar likes his mental problems in performances, and Portman's is exceptional. Her transfer from this image of perfection (her White Swan) to a more let loose, free Black Swan is unbelievable. Supporting Actor, for me, should go to Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech. I thought he was the strongest point of the film if you ask me, the way he held Firth's Bertie together at his weakest moments is amazing, how he stays calm when it would be so much easier to just scream back at the incredibly frustrated King. I did not enjoy King's Speech as much as I should've, but I can appreciate a good performance when I see one, and Rush's is exactly that. Supporting Actress is a bit more of a challenge for me to choose because I've only seen the always fantastic Helena Bonham Carter performance (but in The King's Speech I didn't really get that blown away by her performance, it was good definitely, but Oscar worthy is another matter entirely. I'll have to skip this one for now, but I can see myself wanting Amy Adams to win it, we'll see. Animated - Toy Story 3. Without a shadow of a doubt. Normally sequels to films are never as good as the original, but somehow, Pixar actually made 2 better than 1, and then somehow made 3 better than 2. Absolutely remarkable. Any film that can reduce and 18 year old to near tears is good enough to win in my book. I think I loved this even more because I actually grew up with the film, I saw the first one in the cinema when I was 3, and relived it an incredible amount of times since, I saw 2 in the cinema when I was 7 (this one I can actually remember going to the cinema to see, because it was one of the few occasions my Dad came along to watch a film in the cinema with us as a family) and waited 11 years for the conclusion to one of, if not the, best trilogy of all time, alongside Lord of the Rings and Back To The Future (for me, anyway). As mentioned earlier, I think Darren Aronofsky should walk away with this one, simply for his attention to detail when making it (I love the mirrors in every single scene, for example), the clothing choice, and his over-the-shoulder filming technique as seen in his other fantastic sports epic The Wrestler suits the films dark tone perfectly. The use of one camera for the most high-tempo scenes putting you right into the action. Plus, I loved how the shots in the film were either very in your face, right up close to the actors, or far away, looking down or in on a scene (the arguments between Nina (Portman) and Thomas (portrayed incredibly well by Vincent Cassell are up close, and when he storms out, we cut to a distance shot of her on her own in a ballet studio, completely surrounded by mirrors). Definite contendor. David Fincher won the BAFTA for this one and though I did love The Social Network, I didn't see too much direction in comparison to Black Swan or The King's Speech. One thing I will note though is why isn't Christopher Nolan nominated for this one AT ALL? To quote my favourite film critic Mark Kermode, "Inception is the MOST directed film of the year" and he's absolutey right. Every shot is absolutely key to the story (how difficult it is to see Cobb's ring finger for example (people who've seen it will know what I mean as to how important it is)). Oscar missed a trick on that one.

I've picked up on loads of your posts BlueSkies, you really do radiate optimism. Mr. Ancelotti please.

From the BBC: "After a faltering season, it was a welcome win for Ancelotti's side and a surprisingly comfortable one given the fact Copenhagen had never before suffered defeat at home in the Champions League. " Copenhagen have been in the CL for a total of 8 seasons. They've faced teams like Barcelona and came away with something. Beating them away is a great result. You've got your bar set FAR too high - we haven't performed well (excluding Sunderland the other week) since SEPTEMBER. A performance like that, a comfortable 2-0 clean sheet win is nothing more than we would've hoped from a "faltering season" (which is probably the understatement of the century). All we ever hear from you on here is criticism. I take it that if we play awfully but scrape a 1-0 win v Man U next week you'll be bitter again?