Arq

I'll appreciate it when he leaves.

Good to know. That makes my wallet much happier.

At some point I'll probably get Far Cry 3. I haven't played two and never beat one though, so I'm reluctant to just jump in a series without starting from the beginning...

This was my initial reaction as well. I know that Bayern has pressure to win, and they should. Only Dortmund, right now, is a real contender to Bayern. This just screams of the easy way out. England is more of a challenge and I don't think Pep wanted it. Even if he didn't want to come here, I'm sure Man City would have taken him in an instant.

This here is the problem. Any top level manager is going to look at organisation, with what's happened in the past, and turn this down quicker than I can down a morning cup of coffee. I don't place the blame solely on Roman. I know he wants to win and what owner doesn't? I place a lot of the blame on our board. Roman is not a stupid man by any means of the imagination and I'm sure he takes a lot of input from our board. They are the ones that lack the nous to steer our club in the right direction. They help influence the decision to sack managers quickly. No, I don't know this for a fact, but I cannot imagine that it's all Roman and that our board is vehemently against him. No, I'm pretty confident our board are the ones helping to make this situation worse than it already is. So what sales pitch would our board give any top level or world class manager? If you have one "bad moment" you'll probably be fired within a few months? That'll go over well. Unfortunately, we may have become too toxic for our own good. I don't know who would come here, I really don't.

Next.

That's a good level-headed post Butch. No matter how much anyone can agree or disagree, you make some very solid points. There is little doubt in my mind that the position of Chelsea manager is becoming more toxic as we continue to make rash firings because our managers are not getting the instant gratification that the board desires. It is not just the appointment that we need to think about very carefully, it is giving that manager the time and ability to truly shape the team into their mold so to speak. We had an up-and-coming manager with AVB, who was supposed to start this process, but he made a mistake and alienated the locker room (for the most part) which caused a loss in morale, a dip in form, and ultimately led to his firing. Our next manager is going to need time to put his stamp on the squad. We have a great core foundation of young and exciting players, but each manager has different thoughts of formations, style of play, etc as we all well know. With some of the old guard leaving (or close to leaving), that process could take a bit to implement and unfortunately the chances of us taking a dip in form while that occurs is pretty high. So where does that leave us currently? Let's put aside the vile for Benitez for a moment and look at what is happening on the pitch. Can you tell me that you have seen an improvement on the pitch that warrants Benitez getting the job full time? Comparing a few items to Robbie for a minute... For example, I believe there is some truth that defensively we have recaptured a bit of our discipline under Benitez. The negative to that point is that we have failed in taking advantage of teams that we should very well have beaten or at the very least given it a go (against Fulham is a prime example). Another example would be substitutions. Personally I believe Robbie was better at adjusting and making more "impact" substitutions than Benitez. I just do not see enough results on the pitch that tells me that Benitez is a good choice moving forward. That amplifies when the vile is added back in to the equation. Pep is more than likely a managerial upgrade to Benitez. To be honest, we really do not know since we have not seen Pep manage outside of the Barca system. However if that is what Roman wants, then he will do everything he can to get Pep to come here. And if Pep is interested, then by all means go for it. While I agree with you that I do not want to see us become the "English Barcelona" equivalent (unless we are talking about winning, which admittedly they do a lot of), I certainly feel that Pep as an appointment would be much better than Benitez. And I believe there are a lot better managers out there for us than Benitez. We just have to break our own mold and give our next appointment some time and support. Hopefully we will make the right choice for us.

No thanks, unless the choice is him or Benitez then I'd welcome him in with open arms.

Welcome!

If somehow Benitez was able to turn around our League Cup tie and go on to win it, win the F.A. Cup, and deliver the Europa League would I still want him out? Oh most definitely. And that's regardless of how well we finish in the PL. This man isn't Chelsea, and that's not going to change. Benitez OUT.

Congratulations!

Oh, that's good!

RM can have him. As others have said, a straight swap for Jose would be great.

Thanks Spiller. I'll keep that in mind. Sad that you cannot get 2012/2013 season rosters in FM2012. Oh well, I change most of the roster anyway within one or two years.

That's what I thought, my memory just goes in my old age.

I'm the same way. I hope Bradford can hold on and make it to the final as well. If any of them by chance read these forums, we're pulling for you! You're halfway there, finish it!

That's very true. I believe he studied the Bayern players penalty kicks and was able to make a calculated decision as to how and where they were going to take their shots.

I've heard it morphed into the phrase that we're the "worst Champions League winners ever". They can all f**k off. As The Brit perfectly said, no one said anything when Barca had Orvebo help them and we were completely robbed (lucky that the ref helped them through the second semi-final leg which they should have been soundly beat). No one said anything about Manu's win over us in 2008 because of JT's slip. And the list goes on. Yeah, ok. We're the first defending champions to be eliminated in the following year's group stage. So, who really cares? We had a difficult group. Shakhtar and Juventus deserved to go through. It still doesn't change that we're the Champions of Europe. And it doesn't change the fact that we won it last season. It's just people being jealous and bitter towards our club. It's not anything new. The Brit again said it best in his earlier post. You won't find a more determined group of men than our winning team from last season. And finally, we got what we deserved. Were we lucky? Yes, as are all the Champions League winners.

Is FM 2013 worth the cost to upgrade or should I just keep playing 2012? I know it's ultimately my decision as to whether or not it's "worth" it but I'm interested in reading some comparisons.

This list just shows how clueless FIFA really is. My 1st team: Petr Cech Phillip Lahm Thiago Silva Giorgio Chiellini Ashley Cole Andrea Pirlo Andres Iniesta Xavi Hernandez Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi Radamel Falcao

Here's a read (notice I didn't say good or even interesting) from a Liverpool supporter: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/name/liverpool/id/474?cc=4716 Suarez isn't a cheat, he's just labeled as one. Right...

The press did no favours and made it more nauseating than it could have been. I agree with Westway and thought she came off better than I expected. Still, it has to be uncomfortable for players, fans, and the other office personnel how this whole arrangement is setup. They seem to be able to pull it off, so good for them.

ESPN claiming Lamps' agent has confirmed he's gone at the end of the season. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=1290968&cc=4716

I wouldn't call it a success, but our future would certainly be brighter if (when) the FSW is removed of both parts of his "Interim" and "Manager" title at the end of the season. I'll personally buy him his plane ticket back to Abu Dhabi. Still, I hope we finish fourth and do well in the cups. It's tough but part of me just wants this season over and to move on. I'll still be watching every match I can and cheering on the Blues... Minus the Interim of course.

Mansfield robbed with the blatant hand ball by Suarez. I would say "unreal" but I'm not completely surprised. Mansfield players can hold their heads high. Well done to them for battling back.