Arq

Russia has 5 games left to play. They have one in June, then four relatively close together between early September and mid October. If they finish second in the division (they're behind Germany at the moment by 4 pts with 1 game in hand), then they'll need to compete in a play-off in November. Now that I've looked at Russia's remaining WCQ schedule, I can see why he wouldn't want to try to do both jobs (I had hoped he might want to do that as well). Imagine being in the beginning stages of the Premiership and having the stress of four national team games in a little over a month plus a possible play-off scenario afterwords. Like Loz said, it appears that he is an honorable man when it comes to his contract and is going to stick to the contract he originally committed to. I respect him greatly for that. I don't see any way that he could give 100% to both Russia and Chelsea during that time frame. It's not fair to either team and I'm sure he already knows that. When it comes down to it, his contract is with Russia and it looks like that's what he's going to stick with. I just hope whoever comes in next can keep this team going in the direction that Guus has it going in.

I hope Guus does have a change of heart and decides to stay. What Guus has done over the last months has been nothing short of amazing. I hope that Roman can somehow pull how all the stops to get Guus to stay (even sharing him with the Russian national squad for another year wouldn't be a bad thing if Guus thinks he could handle both).

Quoted for truth on ALL accounts. Being American, my list is probably different then what some people will put. Here it is in all it's glory though... I just voted for my #1, but here are my top 5: 1. Liverpool - I despise everything about this team, the fans, players, just downright everything... 2. Man U - If I hear/read one more thing about how good or special SAF is, I'll hurl. With that said, I do hope they beat Barca, and that's hard for me to type... Can both teams lose by chance? 3. Arsenal - They'd be #2 if they were winning more. Their lack of silverware moves them down the list. I must admit, the 4-1 beat down we just gave them felt good. And like TheWestwayWonder said, seems like the majority that's into football here is an Arsenal fan. Blargh... 4. Spuds - They're just spiteful, rude, and act downright disgusting imho... Welcome to spot #4. 5. Liverpool - If being #1 wasn't enough, this is to reinforce it...

I like this idea as well. Just add any challenge time on as extra time to each half's stoppage time. It's working pretty well for the NFL, I don't see why it wouldn't work here.

Understandable... but I had my blue Lamps one on yesterday.

Hey guys, new here. I'm in the US. Still in pain over the game with Barca yesterday. Great forum, glad I signed up.

Hey guys, This is my first post here, I finally decided to sign up after reading for a little bit of time. I have to say that now that it's afternoon of the day after, I'm still in shock. I'm in what I'm calling "protest" mode at work because of how strongly I feel that they got ripped off. I'm appalled at the referee, but I know I can't do anything about it. It's just something that has to be lived with and moved on. With that said, I'm extremely proud of the way Chelsea played last night. I think they ARE the better team, even if they don't get to move on. I'm wearing my yellow Ballack (yeah, he was a little over the top with his yelling at the ref but you can't deny his heart) CL jersey with pride today. I'm looking forward to the FA Cup, next year, and talking to you lot. Cheers, Arq N.B.: Somehow, someway, Roman needs to convince Guus to stay. What an amazing job that man has done to get the Chelsea train back on track.