Eggy McMuffin

Haven't you lost your 'air yet?

The player Ancelotti sold because he didn't think he was good enough for Milan?

It's amazing that Sc**thorpe is filtered and Tottenham isn't.

How many of them do you think will actually make it though? I don't just mean in the Premiership, I mean at the very, very top level where we need our players to be? I'd only really suggest Kakuta as being that good, maybe Matic. Oh, and you did forget the goalkeeper we signed, Matej Delac. We can't rest the entire future of the club on these players though... we'd end up like Arsenal, or worse, West Ham. A few of those will end up being terrific back up players, or used in a rotation perhaps, but like I said, only one or two will become good enough to be our first choice in their given position. This is why we need signings, we don't need massive changes, but just the couple of players who are already at the top, to help us make the gradual change from one generation to the next. Personally, and as I've probably stated in a few places now, I think we just need 2 signings, Aguero and a holding midfielder. Preferably a holding midfielder who can move up into midfield to swap position with Essien, to make marking our side more difficult a thing to do. Players who come to my mind are De Rossi, Yaya Toure, and someone else mentioned Toulalan, and after searching out highlights and reviews of him, he does look like an excellent player, although he'd be more of a risk. Now, as for Aguero, I've had my mind swayed on the matter. I personally think he'd be perfect for us, because he would be great playing at the tip of the diamond, until one of Anelka and Drogba were to retire and he could take his rightful place up top for us. However another thought has crossed my mind and that is whether we actually need to have two up front? Maybe when the top Drog retires, we'll see the Christmas tree become our main formation? In which case, buying a player for the tip of the diamond, who can play that position and that position alone wouldn't be such a bad idea. I'm not much of a fan of Hamsik though, and I wouldn't want him to be that player. There's just something about him, it could be his lack of pace, but he just doesn't get me on the edge of my seat when I see him playing. If on the other hand we were to get, as someone else mentioned David Silva to play there, then yeah, I'd be delighted. I think we just need to see what happens, but if we don't get anyone, I won't be happy.

We've also had Lampard, and Cech topics. Does that also mean that they're not good enough? I might create an Essien one, would that mean that he's not good enough?

That assumes we're signing him at the start of the window... Have patience on the matter.

This should do you nicely. http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/downloads.p...ile&id=1202

They don't have the license for Premiership teams, so Championship ones like you mentioned do get them... you can however, download them for Premiership sides. I'll see if I can hunt a graphics pack out for you.

I listened to the whole thing (I win whatever prize is it is), and I seem to remember seeing it on MTV Dance or something at some point not long ago... Put a donk on it, is as you say, awful. Not sure if it's possible to find anything worse, but I don't think I want to try. Discovery is a brilliant album, but then again Daft Punk are just brilliant all over. Anyway, I spent last night listening to Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis and am now about to listen to Moon Safari by Air... mainly because they're good as background music while I do some reading.

Roma have debt problems though if I'm not mistaken, so the right offer might get them to tell him to leave. However, he's just the only one I could think of who fitted the bill. Someone else did mention that Toulalan was playing well in France, so he might be another option, although I haven't seen anything of him, so can't comment on that.

I covered this in my epic post in another thread, and really can't be arsed writing another one, so here's what I wrote.

They're fantastic. Where did you see them? :P

I'll post up my massive list. The Young Knives (before their awful second album) Lightspeed Champion 2ManyDJ's Zombie Nation I almost went to see Foals, but ended up missing out, which annoyed me a lot.

He would be mine too, not least because he can move into central midfield, to confuse markers, or to cover injuries. He's 25, so is young enough to keep us going into the future, and have time to adapt to the English league and climate, and quite importantly he won't have the problems of the ACoN. So when Essien is away, we still have the chance to field a top class midfield.

This quite similar to my epic post in another thread (longest post I have ever made), just moments ago, although I'd like to respond to your points about Aguero. I think it may not be his best position, but he has played there, and from the games I've seen in Spain, he was playing a very similar role, roaming behind Forlan. I think he has every attribute to play there, and not least, from what I've read on him, he has a similar attitude to our squad, which would help him fit in. However, I don't think we need him to just play at the tip, but also as a back up to the striker positions and also, in my view to eventually replace Drogba. He's an extremely versatile player in that respect and I think he'd be perfect for the role. I do massively agree about needing a holding midfielder as well as a player for the tip though. I just think a player who can play at the tip of the diamond, and move up front is more important, not just for this season, but for the future.

Sorry, I just read how that came across and that's not how I meant it... it was mainly because I don't like quoting mahoosive bits of text, so tend to focus on the parts to which I'm responding. I agree that it was relevant to what you were saying to Loz. I agree that Ballack could play there, yeah, although that's not the best solution in my view, and is probably just a temporary one at best... I think we actually need a top class, young holding midfielder as well as a player for the tip. The thing about Diarra was his lack of patience, which young players do require, so he asked to be moved on and forced our hand, then Arsenals and after shining at Pompey forced them to let him go to Madrid. He's a quality player, but he wants to be the number one, wherever he is and now founds himself pretty much there at Real (last I heard, I've lost Sky, so don't keep up with Spain much any more). Maybe a shock move for Yaya Toure would work, but that would leave us again with the ACoN problem. It's clearly not as big a problem as the player at the tip of the diamond, but it's still somewhere I see us needing an extra player to help us push on. I'm even a fan of Mikel and I detest the way some people attack him, here. However, I think we need someone to give him some proper competition for his place, and not just that, be good enough to make him feel the need to push on a level or two. He is our only real answer in that position, which means that he can relax and is probably what's responsible for his stagnation in terms of ability. So making a change there could conceivably help him, not to mention giving us a deeper and more rounded squad, the question I can't answer though, is who? Who is young enough, good enough, and preferably not going to be away during the ACoN every other year. We still need Aguero though. On to replacing Drogba... and Anelka too, well, this is how I see it panning out. Our striker force probably has another 2 years at best. However, we have Kakuta, Sturridge, Borini, Stoch, Di Santo, and -insert deity of choice- willing, Aguero. Not to mention Joe Cole and Kalou, who even though aren't the best (in Joe Cole's case we can hope it is just bad form), are useful as back ups. Drogba Anelka Aguero That's ridiculously formidable, and not much can match it, but I don't see it as being inconceivable to imagine a line up more like this, doing well. Aguero Sturridge Kakuta Which would leave us with a back up front three, looking like this. Borini Di Santo Stoch Now, there is wishful thinking involved in there, and not in a small dose, either. However, Kalou is a capable back up to either of those front two positions, in case one of the strikers doesn't make the grade, and at the moment it could well be Di Santo who is looking most likely to miss it. If either Stoch isn't suited, or Kakuta doesn't make it, we Cole who would be a still fine choice in either position, assuming it is just form he's battling against. However, my main point goes back to what I said near the start of this bit about the strike force... they have 2 years or so left at the top. The transfer ban, assuming it does come in place (plan for the worst, hope for the best), would be over by then and we could go out and sign someone if it looks necessary, which would really be the case if more than would be expected of our young hopefuls, fails to make the grade at the level we require. If we were to sign a striker on top of Aguero, he'd have to spend a fair amount of time warming the bench, not least stealing the thunder of the young hopefuls Sturridge and Borini as they look to make an impact. Now, before you say it, I'm going to pre-empt a point I expect someone (might not be you) to make. There is no direct replacement for Drogba there. That's because I firmly believe that there never will be. I don't think there is going to be a player exactly like Drogba, in fact I would wager that it could be said for most players who are right at the top. Consider Man Utd and Keane. None of their players have replaced him, there isn't a 'new Keane' in their midst, because players at the top don't get repeated too often. That didn't stop them from winning League and Champions League honours, though. It's like in Argentina. Every year since Maradonna retired, and probably a few years before that, there has been a youngster, probably several even, who has or have been dubbed 'the new Maradonna'. It has taken until Lionel Messi burst onto the scene for there to be anyone capable of the same heights and playing in a similar way. We simply can't afford to wait that long, or to stand still in that way. We need to accept it as a fact of football that players will get old, and they will retire. We just need to adapt our playing style to cope with the change in personnel, and buy a player who is top class, such as Aguero, who doesn't necessarily play in the same way, but is good enough to have the same (or similar at the least) impact. Before I finish, I'd also like to address something else which people have mentioned and that's the central midfield area, which is an interesting position, but not one where I see it necessary to sign anyone for... not at the moment at least. I've already laid out my view as to who could come through where in terms of the tip and how we have adequate cover for it, so now I'll do the same with the bottom triangle. Assuming my idea of a holding midfielder being signed is one they go with and the criteria I stated are met, this would be our first choice midfield Lampard Essien Signing Which could be excellent. I'm ignoring the tip of the diamond, as I've already covered that position. Our back up midfield would be this. Deco Ballack Mikel I agree that it looks very pedestrian and isn't ideal, but you have to take into account that, it would mean our entire first choice midfield would have to be injured for that to happen, which is very unlikely, and in that extreme event, I'm sure a pedestrian midfield with that level of quality could be excused. That doesn't of course include Beletti, Matic, which shows our depth (although some would argue a lack of strength) in the midfield area. So what happens when Deco and Ballack retire, or leave, or whatever fate befalls them... well, Ballack is rumoured to be signing a new 2 year contract extension, which would take us beyond the transfer ban, but I'll ignore that for now and assume that he's retired along with Deco and Beletti. Our first choice would be this, still. Lampard Essien Signing Just as excellent as before, with the added bonus of having played together and gelled as a midfield unit. Lampard would be getting into his 30's, but I can't see him being done within the next 2 years, maybe 4, yes, but not before the ban is over, giving us time to properly think about a replacement then. Our backup would be lighter, though. Matic Bridcutt Mikel Now, I know that this seems extremely light, however I'll explain why I think it would be fine. Of course it wouldn't be ideal, but it wouldn't be detrimental to our team's hopes in my view. The versatility of the diamond, means that we could play our mystery signing in either Essien, or Lampard's position and bring Mikel in, with little impact on the quality of the midfield. Matic would have to make the step up in this time, but could certainly be expected to play a decent amount of games. Bridcutt I would be less confident of, but we would need an entire midfield's worth of players to be missing for him to play. Which makes it sound far less threatening than it may look. However, we could also draft in a player who would normally play at the tip, such as Cole, or Kakuta to play in midfield if Bridcutt doesn't cut it. So now, it'd need 5 injuries to midfield positions alone for him to play, which seems a little difficult to envisage. I know it's not the ideal though. I will gladly concede that point, however it must be mentioned that it would not be a long term problem to face. Deco and Ballack will retire near the end of the ban, if it's during it at all. So we would only have to deal with this situation for half a season or so, which makes it seem more bearable. We could then make a signing after the ban is over to add cover in that position. This isn't my main reason for being against making a central midfielder a target as well as the other key positions. My main problem would be that if we were to sign someone, we would have 3 entire midfields worth of players, but not just that, the level of player some are mentioning would be disruptive and unsettling for the midfield. Can you imagine Hamsik, or whoever else being content with a place on the bench? A place behind Lampard or Essien in the midfield? I can't imagine Lampard being pleased at having such competition for his place, but of course that would be something which could be channelled for good, however, I could also see Deco and Ballack kicking up a stink too. I think it would cause far too many problems to be worth it. In my view it would be a waste of money, because as the old adage (which Man City had to face) goes, 'you can only put 11 players on the pitch'. However, all this being said, I wouldn't be against signing youth for this position. A Matic like signing, although in a different mould perhaps. A youngster happy to work his way through the reserves and come into the team once Ballack and Deco do leave for greyer pastures. Again though, it would be a question of finding such a player. One who would be good enough, won't be easy to find, but might be useful for the years to come. If that were to happen though, we'd have to sell a midfielder... I say Beletti, although his versatility may be missed. So as you can see from that, rather long post, I only think we need two real players. Perhaps we could bring in some more youngsters to bolster the youth set up, so that during our ban we don't have a missing year in terms of production, but two top players will do me fine. A holding midfielder and an Aguero. We could get a new back up to Cech, but I don't think we need to. Our bench is warm enough, and Hilario is a good back up, although not as good as Cudicini or Cech, he's capable enough. He may be getting on as well, but goal keepers can keep going into their 40's... especially ones who don't play much. This window is quite a bit about the future of the club, we do need an overhaul as players get older, but doing it gradually is by far the better option. Blooding youngsters in, is a cheaper option and more importantly, an option which provides us with a better future. Throughout this, I've assumed that the ban will be upheld, planning for the worst case. Some of the striking options do look weak and rely on our youth making it, however by the time Drogba and Anelka are setting up their retirement plans, the transfer ban will be over and should a youngster not make it, or look like he won't make it, then we can worry about bringing in another option. I think I've covered most topics... what's next on my list?... A cure for world hunger? AID's? Scousers?

Have you got inside information on this, then?

Hiddink creates a system around the players, that's why. He's a very rare manager, in that he can do that and do it comfortably. The problem of course being that it makes transfers extremely difficult, as it's hard for him to decide who to get, which is why he sticks to international management these days.

I agree with quite a lot of what you said there, although I deleted the stuff about your own experiences as I don't really see how it's too important with the discussion at hand (I also sorted the code for the diamond you posted). One thing I would say though is that I disagree a little with how you see Essien's role. I think he's far better in one of the two central positions than at the base. It's a place he can give us a bit more drive from and won't have to worry so much about holding position, but I do agree with the need for constant switching and swapping of positions in the diamond. This is why I think we need a new holding midfield player, now just who to get is a very difficult question, as there aren't many young players out there who are world class (or close enough for a club like ours) in this position. Really if we got a Lassana Diarra, or a De Rossi (yes, I'm a big fan and have mentioned him previously, and possibly caused us to be linked to him, but f**k it) we'd be sorted. Not forgetting a player for the tip of course. A diamond of..... Aguero Lampard Essien De Rossi Which could rotate to be... Lampard Aguero De Rossi Essien or a few other combinations of that same idea would be the best midfield we could ever hope for. What's more though is the fact that it would leave us with unbelievable options on the bench, and presuming a fully fit squad we could come up with this. Cole Deco Ballack Mikel Clearly not a first choice midfield, and clearly not capable of beating the very best, but the fact that it would be our back ups making that midfield is not something to sniff at. It would mean that If Ancelotti feels the need to tinker and rotate the squad, we would be able to and do so. Not to mention the fact that when we finally let Deco and Ballack go, we'd have Matic to come in, so even if the ban is in place we'd have enough options, with just two signings. This of course though is living in dreamland. De Rossi, nor Diarra are likely to come, and there aren't exactly many other young players who can play that same position who jump to mind. It's an old man's position really. Which might be why Mikel isn't exactly a star there, but that's not the point, we could still do with someone to come in and make that role their own, preferably one who could as you say swap position with Essien to move the midfield around, but that in itself is not an easy feat, especially in this age of massive transfer fees and wages. Hopefully though, there's someone out there who can do the job perfectly and at the level required, but it's not looking great. I did start a fairly long paragraph here, but realised half way through the prospects we already have at the club as far as replacing Drogba and Anelka goes, so that trail of thought stopped fairly quickly. On that slightly pointless note, I think I'll leave this meandering post and hope that someone feels the need to reply to it.

I've just looked through this thread and was surprised that I hadn't already posted mine up! Anyway, it was the 3-0 win over Valerenga in the cup winner's cup. It was a comfortable win, but I'll be honest, I can't remember much from the match other than it raining a little bit and us not being in the covered bit, Wise and Zola scored, and I got told off by my dad for singing one of the songs wrong. I misheard it and wanted to join in. It's more the day surrounding it that I remember. I was getting to go as a special treat. My granddad had just died and my parents were amazed by how I handled it and wanted to do something special for me, so this was it. I was really excited all day at school and couldn't wait, I was jumping up and down... well... not quite as it isn't my style, but close enough. We took the train into to London, and then the tube on to Stamford Bridge, as I'm sure you'd expect. While we were waiting for ours to come, we heard this huge amount of noise and saw the Valerenga supporters almost knocking this tube car off the rails with their jumping, so we (quite sensibly) waited for a quieter one. So the next one, is a bit quieter so we get on, and on here this huge mountain of a guy, about 10 foot tall, 6 foot wide, wearing a viking helmet (maybe not), and a massive beard (I was 10, so might be exaggerating that, but he was huge compared to me at least), asked for my mum's permission to speak to me and gave me a Valerenga pin to put on my scarf after I explained to him how it was my first game and that I was really excited. I think we got off a couple of stops before Fulham Broadway, because I remember walking for ages, and having a McDonald's. The game was good and Albert Ferrer was phenomenal, he was just constantly running. I was also amazed by some crazy jumping thing the Valerenga fans did where it looked like they were all changing seats, but like I said, I don't remember much about the actual match. After the game though, everything got even better. We went for a curry at a place near by, which was great and I got a free dessert for some reason (this seemed to happen a lot back then), I think I told the owner about the day I'd had so far and he was impressed, so that might have been why I got the free thing... I think it was ice cream I had. So the bill came and my dad paid for it as usual and we asked him to order us a taxi, as we couldn't be bothered to walk to the tube. This would be a good enough day already, right? It got better. The owner said that, unfortunately the taxi rank had run out of taxis at that time, so we couldn't get one back to the train station. He did say however that they were willing to cut us a deal and provide us with a limousine for the same price as a taxi. So me, a 10 year old kid who's had a ridiculously good day, gets to go home in a limo. That pretty much tops off any day and makes it a bit special.... not to mention that DAVID HASSLEHOFF (of single-handedly breaking down the Berlin wall fame) himself was in that very limo, just a few hours prior. Yes it was a great day, during a not too great time, but I don't think I could have asked for a better first experience with Chelsea. I just wish I could have been more often.

* Action : Dark Knight * Adventure : Raiders Of The Lost Ark * Animation : Toy Story * Biography : I'm Not There * Comedy : House Of Wax (yes it is in the right genre) * Crime : The Godfather * Documentary : Rocky IV * Drama : Shawshank * Family : Lion King * Fantasy : Star Wars Ep V: Empire Strikes Back * Historical epic : Zulu * Musical : Spinal Tap :) ... well, it is musical. * Horror : Alien * Romance : When Harry Met Sally.... hush, it's good. * Sci Fi : Star Trek: The Wrath Of KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!! * Mystery: The Usual Suspects * Sport : Dodgeball * Thriller/Suspense : Fight Club * War : Full Metal Jacket * Western : Not a fan of westerns... picking a favourite is like picking a favourite scouser. I think that will do.

Now I might be totally off here, but I think you're misinterpreting, or perhaps the reporter is misinterpreting what Ancelotti is going to do. By support from the flanks I don't think he means as wide as we're mostly assuming. Thinking back to the Champions League when Drogba was out, didn't we play in a very similar way to that? A 4-3-2-1, Christmas tree formation, no? If Deco and Cole support Anelka, they would be wider than him, and that could be what he meant. That's just a thought though.

It's the first I've heard of it too, but DKW did mention him being frozen out of the team, and I'm aware of a law stating that if a player, plays less than a certain percentage of games which he's eligible for, he can get out of the contract, so I wonder if it's something to do with that.

That's impressive, unfortunately Hull are 1-0 down. :D

Post of the year? :D