54veteran

"Captain Fabio Borini netted an amazing five times to bring Chelsea Reserves back from 3-0 down on a cold afternoon in Birmingham, against West Bromwich Albion Reserves on 20 Oct 2010" Time we sent him out on loan then

And what a breath of fresh air that would be

Interesting that both Milan sides have been undone this season by Spurs wing play. Not exactly rocket science.

These are just the ups and downs of a normal season, which are easier to deal with when everyone is pulling in the same direction. It looks to me as though Carlo is becoming increasingly isolated, either through his own bloody mindedness, or because of language problems. It's one thing to explain basic tactics to the team, but to navigate your way round the corridors of power requires a bit more command of the language. Jose had his entourage of staff and players, and Benitez had his clique of influential Spanish players, but Carlo is out on a limb, and his facial expressions bear that out. Is there another Italian anywhere in the club? Probably not even an Italian speaker after Ray left. My hunch is that he's fed up and waiting to be sacked, and I can't say I blame him.

Seems to me you've just described the perfect corporate muddle. Someone decides to release senior players, but someone else refuses to promote youth. You can't run anything that way, not even a football club.

And somewhere in the middle might be a more sensible way to run a football club

You can take your pick about exactly where in the club things have gone wrong, but my hunch is that it's everywhere. Cutbacks followed by lunatic spending? Sounds like the big man has lost it.

Well, you were at the game, so let no one question your loyalty. Gets bloody cold by the river as I recall

I think this puts us top of the list, even if not everybody went through the turnstiles Moscow Dynamo No, I wasn't there...

If the jury's still out on whether Drogba and Anelka can really play together, the mind boggles at the prospect of Torres being tossed into the equation. Not only do we now have three of the world's greatest strikers, but three of the most canny, intelligent players. I just hope Carlo consults them about how best they can play together rather than stuffing them into a rigid formation. A bit of sexy football wouldn't go amiss right now, and the goals will surely follow.

Adulation when he's scoring, but probably not enough recognition for his overall contribution. He's certainly created more chances for others than your typical striker

Probably because he's the only decent crosser of a ball we have. With Frank off the boil, you could say he's our only genuinely creative player. Of course he's a prima donna, and so I suspect is his new strike partner, but we can accommodate that if the midfield gets its act together. At the moment they just don't seem to have the appetite or the stamina, and they don't actually look fit enough. Does Essien have sore feet? Either that or his boots are too small, because he seems to hobble rather than run. A goal from Torres (any old tap-in will do) could change everything though.

It seems to me we're looking a bit like the England team at the last The World Cup, stuffed full of tactics, probably over-trained, and looking knackered before the match even starts. Carlo's master plan needs to be relaxed and more emphasis put on players' natural strengths, but his stubbornness prevents that. I have no doubt that Drogba meant it when he welcomed Torres. He's never been a selfish player and his intricate passing is probably second to none, so I'm sure he would relish the role of provider for Torres. We've been asking too much of him this season, expecting him to be front man, to go looking for the ball, to defend set pieces, take corners, free kicks. Alright, he's not taking goal kicks yet, but he's doing pretty much everything else.

SWP had the wizardry, but couldn't develop the resilience. I hope the same won't be true of Kakuta.

Yes, we tend not to appreciate our assistant managers. A shrewd move by Dalglish

No, a Chinese stream was the best I could manage on the day (why do families choose Sunday to visit?), but one would expect Ray to return the loyalty that Carlo had shown him . CarIo might agree with the decision (who wouldn't in isolation?) but, if your house is falling down, you don't go out and buy a fur coat. Drogba and Anelka are still good enough to score the goals if they were getting any kind of service from midfield, so for me it's money badly spent, and our strikers are in effect being blamed for the shortcomings elsewhere in the team.

But you were tempted to add it, which is taking us back to the playground.

Only in keeping with what was written all over our players, and our manager. I take the view(hardly controversial) that he was foisted on Carlo, and the team's lack of appetite for the game reflected that. If you had £50m to spend, would you have spent it on Torres? Our ability to score goals is the one thing that has never been in doubt. If you want something positive from me (but I'll only be repeating what numerous others have said, so what's the point?), Luis was a real breath of fresh air. He tackles cleanly, has that extra yard of pace, and generally looks full of beans. Let's hope his attitude rubs off on the rest of them rather than the other way round. That's my opinion. Either ignore it, or disagree with it, but the star key is just such a yawn. The Shedend Taliban are not keen on free speech, and this forum is a worse place because of it.

It's not an answer at all. He went on strike at Anfield, and he'll do the same here if everything isn't to his liking. How many more prima donnas do we need?

Perhaps we need another couple of strikers.

So we now have three moody strikers and no midfield. It's a pantomime.

You're right, you win. I've had enough of all this. One less dissident in your ranks from now on. Don't bother with the good riddance messages, I won't be around to see them

You really are a nasty, vindictive little gutter snipe.

You're wasting your time mate. You probably remember the real shed end, which was populated mainly by hoolligans who used their undying loyalty as an excuse to behave like morons, and some of them have obviously ended up here.

Yes, enough from you.