Kerry

So then just flip the question asking is Scolari worse than Clarkey and Ten Cate?

If this is going to go on like this that everytime we lose our head when having conceded a goal then we could only win in keeping a clean sheet. That means we will never be able to win when a referee beserks, when a cheater is diving and so else on. This is worrying

How long will they keep Schuster? As I know from Real Madrid it seems like a miracle to me that they haven't sacked him yet

Didn't AG manage the same team just without Bosingwa and Deco? OK he had Maka, a fit Drogba and a in-form Ballack. He even signed Anelka.

I'm neither lobbying for Grant nor for Scolari, though my sympathies for Scolari are ... low to non-existent at the moment. If I talk about Avram I cannot free myself from my own impression that for that he's been laughed and mobbed all the time he's done quite well. As I've never thought it could be him leading us to the final in Moscow - he deserves merit. Scolari on the other side is of some other pedigree. Maybe I have expected too much of him, I can't say, but I've been, as so far, heavily disappointed by him so far. Or maybe I have the wrong preferences. I'm one of those who doesn't care about speed, system, Samba and beauty as long as we keep winning, as long as we keep the Bridge as our fortress. So it's clear I'm one of those having been disappointed; those who see the holy grail in beauty, he might have found the pot of gold in Scolari, or I'm just utterly unfair to him.

No of course you can't, but then what is a normal job? Some positions in financial management or legal consulting do require as much responsibility and skills as required by a manager. Of course it's not directly comparable but I think a judgement in the first 6 months is possible and often even necessary; and I don't think 6 months are too short for a first verdict. But don't feel offended, bjd - it's just my very, very limited point of view and you're also right saying 6 month's too short.

When I have a look at his opposition than I'm wondering why he's not stormed straightly to the top of the league. And especially when I compare him to his predecessor, I'm asking what all his revolutions were for. Though I'm the only one I think that a manager is a normal employee like everyone else just he does another job and he get's paid a lot for it. A normal employee is fired in the first 6 months when he proves to be a loser without any notices. Only after 6 months he enjoys job protection. So when a "normal" employer is able to judge the work of his employee after 6 months then a verdict is also possible for a manager. Of course it could be a wrong one. But needn't be.

We can't look into Roman's head but the thought Roman prefers Samba over winning is hard to imagine. Or we couldn't just test how it feels to score an early goal and then park the bus like scum does. It couldn't be the players. I've still the impression that after some months of Samba they looked more convincing in the old style than in the new though they weren't able to win 5-0

Besides Roman I'm not sure if a young man with the will to change everything would do Chelsea any good. Klinsmann is a young manager and at FCB he's changed everything completely, and he was one of the choices to succeed Mourinho/AG. But I'm glad he didn't arrive.

That's right, but I'm wondering if there could be cases where it's obvious that a man's ability is not up to it. I don't mean Scolari. Unfortunately I have the impression he could be out the door himself. He gets a lot of money. Money means responsibility. I'm prepared to do a job with great responsibility - it's hard, it's exhausting, the pressure is enormous but the reward isn't bad either. And here it's the same for me. Given the large amount of money he receives he should know for him well enough what is expected of him.

I know you're right that it needs some seasons to see the real ability of a manager but the pure thought that it takes so much time just to find out a manager is not capable is horrifying! Suffering all the years and at the end just finding out he's really crap!

Maybe Kenyon doning so could even be cunning. In the past we've always pushed the transfer fee up high to the sky when annlounced we were tracking a player. A bit of this has influenced the Robinho saga also. So maybe now keeping quiet could result in a joker in January. I hope it's this way

My question is what will happen if the amount of cash he receives from selling is far from what he needs for buying? Just think of he sells Drogba, Kalou and Malouda. Except maybe for Drogba if Inter is willing to pay enough (I can't imagine other clubs to make heavy bids, to be honest) - I cannot imagine we'll get that much of Kalou and Malouda. If this is the only transfer income, what sort of striker will we have in order to improve for that price?

Great analysis. Though I'm a bit surprised to see Carvalho in the Ability and Form list as he's been out for a period of time now. OK not that long as Essien is. But when he returns I expect him needing some time to regain his fitness again. I'd fully agree on the third category of the list - is this also equal to the "paper bin - get rid of them" - category?

Maybe even if we have enough cash it would be more effective to our results if we give the money to the referees rather than buying a player

Dear Santa, your last presents Malou, Kalou and Deco haven't been that good. If you're hit by the financial crisis too, it would be OK when we could just return your presents because they were crap and you give us what we really have wished. I used to think once that Chelsea - surprisingly - is stronger away than at home. After Cluj, Roma and Bordeaux I gave up this thought immediately.

Ahh, if Roman can cut the price a bit I'd be even happy when we lanced in Arshavin. He's not a real striker but strong offensively, can play on the wings, in the middle, is not an old wise man and is agile. And maybe when Kenyon and Scolari weren't so obsessed with Robinho maybe we would have landed him already

Which proves to me he's got no real plan B and was just reacting to the situation and throw some names onto the pitch chaotically so that people don't come saying he's done nothing at all. He's thrown on Malouda - thanks God I believe he could have saved us! And when Stoch came on I believe many faces were screaming WTH????

For a striker: he could develop Di Santo. A bit more. For a midfielder: Till now I still don't understand why we have signed Deco. He has some better display earlier in September - yes. But we have many quality midfield players and there is a fashion to moan about the age of our midfield but instead of reacting and bringing in a young player around his 25 - no Scolari has brought Deco. This man used to be a miracle to me and today he's proven he is an enigma.

In the recent months I got the impression that Robinho is the only, only, only player in the world who would suit Chelsea. In the summer months it was annoying because it was obvious he wouldn't join us, although nobody would have thought of the final outcome. When he joined City I was convinced the story has found an ugly ending. But now I'm really fed up with every Robinho-story. If Scolari will leave after Cluj we would be out of the CL competition. Maybe out of every competition this year. But this will have a positive thing: we could finally forget Robinho forever.

Not to forget we'd ultimatively become the richest club in the world. Haha

It used to be quite early but soon after we've lost to scum I've suspected that, and - beg my pardon - never doubted it.

I don't get the point why Roman needs to deal with tactics or substitutions, to be honest

Well said. I've always been skeptical on how the board used to spend the money. New records in wages e.g. Why? To keep some of the starlets at Stamford Bridge? I would have been sad when seeing Frank leaving, but if he's just after the money then damn him let him go to Papa Mourinho. But instead of showing him a sign they made him the best paid player in the EPL. That's ridiculous. That would open doors widely to copycats. Don't understand me wrong but I'm always wondering why on the one side we'd offer Ballack contract extension / signed Deco but on the hand we're moaning our midfield becomes too old! And buying new fresh blood? No way! Youth development? I hope Di Santo, Sinclair and Co can break into the first squad soon, but when Scolari brings youngsters on in the final 10 minutes of a match when we're 1 down I'm not sure if this will give them the breakthrough

Chelsea and Arsenal were training on the pitch for most parts of the 90 min but only the referee decided to play after some time - so if someone deserved it, then it's him