Butch

I actually believe tournaments such as the Carling Cup require a bit of passion and so I would not be averse to playing Lamps and JT. They'd also be able to provide guidance and lead the younger players by example. Too many second string + youth players is a recipe for disaster. There's no point if we get knocked out at the first hurdle. For the "kids" to learn and gain experience, we need a bit of a run in the tournament. My Carling Cup side would be: Turnbull, Ferreira, van Aanholt, Terry, Bruma, Essien, Lampard, Matic, Kalou, Sturridge and maybe Benayoun, but with Kakuta figuring prominently off the bench, meaning at least 30 minutes each time. Cheers, Butch

Dear friends, We will have a BPL 2010 test run so participants can "dust off the old cobwebs" and get back into the groove. Please feel free to send in your predictions for the Charity Shield this Sunday (meaning entries must reach me by Saturday midnight Stamford Bridge time. I'll tally the scores but they won't count towards the 2010 BPL season. Cheers, Butch

A helipad me tells 'ya! At 10 fans a pop, it would only take 4,200 trips! Cheers, Butch

Too late, Yossi's already gone through his "You'll Never Walk Alone" repertoire! Cheers, Butch

I bet JT put him up to it, for it certainly sounded like Yossi got a lot of heckling from his new team mates during the song. Cheers, Butch

The reason Chelsea have been successful is the drive and leadership of Terry and Lampard. All the money in the world will not win you much if you don't have all the parts pulling in the same direction. Part of that is down to the manager, but a lot of that is down to the players and team chemistry. You need leaders on the pitch, leaders who can "dominate" and "organize" egos. Cheers, Butch

1. We've had better squads and failed to win it. 2. We almost always are on the wrong end of important refereeing decisions. 3. Our star players are not getting any younger. Obviously, being EPL champions counts for something. We must have at least a good a chance as anyone, on paper, of winning the competition, prior to a ball being kicked. I think it will depend on 2 things: 1. All our star players being fit and available (not suspended) for the key knock-out matches, and 2. The addition of a "weapon" this off-season - someone with either/both speed or trickery (ability to get past an opposing player). The EPL will always be the number 1 priority for me, but I have to admit I'd really like for us to win the Champions League, if for no other reason so we can shove it down UEFA's throat! Cheers, Butch

I hope it does; I've gone on record as saying I don't want him to leave. Not yet. Cheers, Butch

I have to say I agree with Dorset that it is VERY odd we haven't wrapped this up already. All the signs, over several seasons, points to a deal being done eventually. My personal opinion is that Aguero has probably already agreed to a move, but we are haggling with Atletico on a transfer fee and we're just letting them wait on an improved offer with the hope that as the window draws to a close they will get impatient and lower their asking fee (could backfire, of course). I feel that the lack of rumors linking him anywhere else is because the player probably has his mind set of Chelsea and a deal is pretty "close" to being done. Just my opinion. Cheers, Butch

I'm in the "both camps" camp :) We don't have a problem scoring in the EPL, as can be seen from the records we broke last season, but when push comes to shove in the Champions League we are still found wanting, as big blue says, mainly up front. So, yes, I think we need to make a couple of impact signings that will allow Carlo greater tactical flexibility to change things around as needed. As far as I know, Bruma has already stated the Hamburg thing is only a rumor. With Riccy being linked with Madrid, it is likely, provided we don't pursue Alves, that he will get that much closer to playing. As a matter of fact, as previously stated, I am in two minds about allowing Riccy to leave. I think we need 4 CB's going into a season, and while Ivanovic can fill in as needed, we have no idea what Bossa's injury situation is. I supposed Paulo could fill in at RB and allow Ivan to move to CB as needed, so maybe a CB trio of JT, Alex and Bruma is sufficient. Anyway, assuming Deco and Carvalho leave as expected, we're left with: GK: Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, Delac RB: Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Ferreira LB: Cole, Zhirkov, van Aanholt CB1: Terry (Ivanovic) CB2: Alex, Bruma CM: Lampard, Essien, Mikel, Matic AM: Malouda, Benayoun, Kakuta ST: Drogba, Anelka, Kalou, Sturridge, Borini I still think the AM/deep forward position is one we could do to strengthen. And the more I think about it, the less I want Riccy to leave. Cheers, Butch

The reason I'd go with Turnbull is this: if he ain't good enough, i.e. better than Hilario, what the heck is he doing here at Chelsea? Cheers, Butch

Surely someone at Chelsea can lend him a suitcase?! Cheers, Butch

Let's hope its not Emile. Cheers, Butch

I reckon he may be eye-ing a massive pay-day when his current contract runs down at Bremen next summer; free agent and all that. Oh, well. I still believe he would be one of the more exciting possibilities this summer. Cheers, Butch

I have a feeling we are, or were, genuinely interested; however, his injury situation must weigh heavily, and now even moreso, on Roman's mind. Cheers, Butch

I think he's keeping his options open for 1-2 years down the road; I still find it very difficult to believe he would leave now. Unless of course we went in with a crazy offer to tempt Bayern to sell, and then offered a crazy salary to entice him to leave now. He just doesn't sound like he genuinely wants to leave now, rather that he won't rule it out later. Cheers, Butch

Playmaker? Man, people certainly use the word lightly. Cheers, Butch

Have to say I totally agree with you. I have seen nothing from Aguero to suggest he could do what Anelka is doing any better than Anelka. Aguero would likely be best tucked in inside very close to Drogba, feeding off scraps from knock-downs and defensive mistakes. Cheers, Butch

From a purely footballing perspective, this signing couldn't go wrong. He has all the attributes of a very good striker. I wouldn't say he was similar to either Drogs or Nic. Drogs is much more physical and not as nimble. Nic is about as nimble, but not as direct and tends to drift out of range. Torres, I feel, would likely edge ahead of Nic relatively quickly (provided he's fit) and could over the next 3-4 seasons transition into our number one striker. The biggest risk is the injury situation, but I'm sure if Roman is really interested, our medical department will go over this with a fine tooth comb. The next issue would be the price, but considering the first two points above, if Roman/Carlo really wanted this, it's probably a non-issue. Cheers, Butch

I didn't particularly fancy him when we signed him, not because he wasn't a good player for he was undoubtedly so, but more for his on-field shenanigans for Barcelona against us in the CL in previous seasons. However, when he did play, I felt he did do a good job for the most part, and I enjoyed his skill on the ball and vision in the pass. Cheers, Butch

Totally agree, mate. With JT and Alex or possibly Ivan if Bossa's back at RB, we have a good first choice pairing and decent back-up. I'd be happy to have, e.g. Bruma as fourth choice CB. Thinking back, Riccy didn't get that many games for us last season. I'm sure Bruma would be able to handle that. Cheers, Butch

Man, I thought you had fallen off the face of the earth! Welcome back! Cheers, Butch

Cech Bosingwa Carvalho Terry Cole Essien Mikel Lampard Benayoun Drogba Malouda By my estimation, this is about our best line-up of the current players we have in our squad. Where are the weak links? We'd also have Turnbull, Hilario, Ivanovic, Alex, Hutchinson, van Anholt, Bruma, Ferreira, Zhirkov, Matic, Kakuta, Kalou, Anelka and Sturridge to choose from for the bench. Cheers, Butch

This is really the kind of thing I was expecting to hear from Bayern regarding Schweinsteiger. It's akin to someone coming in for Terry or Lampard. Cheers, Butch

Bosingwa as part exchange for Schweinsteiger, and Ashley Cole as part exchange for Kaka are rumors I would not be surprised to hear increasingly as the summer progresses. Mind you, I am not saying I want them to happen. Ideally, I would like to keep Ash and Bossa, and sign Schweiny. I'm less excited by Kaka but I would welcome him for a reasonable fee if Carlo really wanted him. Cheers, Butch