bjd

Good effort there I'd say. Only one I'd really dispute is Luiz, he's not even close for me. Personally id put Paulo in there at RB but then I was a big fan, I know others weren't.. I'd have loved him to be getting all the crossing opportunities Ivanovic is getting now. Suspect others may shout for the inclusion of Duff ahead of Ramires or Oscar maybe too. It's a tough call. Gudjohnsen deserves a shout. Looking back it's amazing we had Maka, Ballack and Frank and Essien (at the peak of their powers) at the same time - that's absurdly strong, no wonder we used to bully teams. On a different planet to what we've got in midfield now.

As a possible short term solution i think he'd be perfect and would welcome this move, if it seem likely.

Rocky was a decent player for us, though he tended to filter in and out of games. I think he shouldve played a bIt more actually, he spent a lot of time on the bench. There was a touch of class about him when he got the ball, but for some reason he seemed to lose a lot of confidence and form when he left Arsenal. RIP

I think you may well be right though you can never tell with our mob. If Mourinho were to get the boot, i suggest it would be one sacking too far for a lot of fans, myself included. I think i would just about lose all sense of connection with the club and just be so disenchanted i would struggle to ever forgive them. The club wouldbe mad to do it, especially after the FSW nonsense. Thankfully thats not going to happen, we are clearly a club in transition and are suffering from some dodgy results and some dodgy performances due to it. Its understandable people may not be happy, but things could be so much worse. Jose is the man for this club, trust me. Staggered anyone could doubt it.

C'mon, you know full well thats an exception rather than the rule. I know its not his job to setup goals, but what we want in midfield is determined incisive play, quick feet, and most of all awareness. You dont get any of that with JOM.

Its a nice theory Yorkey, but lets be honest when was the last time JOM provided an outlet ? Or got in the way (people walk past him!), or re-cycled possession confidentley ? Id agree there is a degree of truth in that he must have the managers faith, because so many see to pick him so often. But hell knows what it is. I dont see any aspect of his game that stands out and never have. He does a limited job. But trust me, he wouldnt get anywhere near the other top teams in Europe starting XIs a regularly as he has at Chelsea. It baffles me. The club need to move on, hes done ok and been involved in a lot of medals. Good on him. But he isn't a top drawer player in a position where we need a top draw player. And ive said that so many times since 2006. Enough is enough.

Ultimate fuss about nothing. Deary me. Plenty of reasons to have a pop at Eto'o after last night but this is looking for something that isnt there.

For the record im yet to meet any Chelsea fans who have 'turned' on Jose. Id be really disappointed if there were some though. Basically im just going to copy and paste a post i made in a thread last week so i apologise for repeating myself here, but i think its appropriate in terms of the thread, as i think it sums up the situation. At least how i see it! For me the blame needs to go to the board, who have turned the mentality of the club into that of a cup team because of their insatiable thirst for sacking mangers and in the process destroying any hope of foundations being laid for a team that can make a serious tilt at a 38 game title run. We on our 5th manager now since 2011. Fifth! Jose is finding this out now, the squad is good but flawed and relies too much on the older more experienced players who unsurprisingly struggle with form and fitness. The squad hasn't had the chance to develop under a management team and therefore we are mostly best in the one off cup games (not last night!!) , but not ready to challenge in the league. This all stems back to the summer of 2010 , when we released 5 experienced players and bought just 2 in. The squad needed freshening and the age needed reducing but Carlo was really let down that summer and when the new season started and a couple of players got injured (Frank, JT) we were stuffed. January came and the club panicked and spent £75 million on deadline day, on 2 players, one of them a ludicrous signing that has been a millstone around our neck since. The damage was done and the club have struggled in the league since. If you look at our league form since 2010 it has , at best, been mediocre. It's not the players fault and certainly not the managers fault. We've got the right man at the moment but he isn't a miracle worker - it's going to take time. The squad is unbalanced and needs fixing up and the mentality needs to change and it's not going to happen overnight. Jose walked in and turned us into champions in 2004, it's not going to happen this time. The league is stronger and the squad isn't as good as it was then, or at least it isn't as balanced. I think it may take Jose a couple of seasons, and hopefully the club have learned the lessons. Dont be surprised if we won the FA Cup and had a good run in Europe, but the league? We're just not ready.

Some youre calling some of us mug fans now ? Great. Clearly, you are missing all manner of points here. You brought it up, we've answered. You keep talking about people being offended/up in arms by the questioning of a Rangers forum when clearly they are not - its you are the other guy who seem offended by the presence of this sub forum and you wont let it go!

Cheers. It was more of a statement about my feelings. It's all I've got these days when it comes to Mikel. I'm so Utterley tired of it/him. It's just been the same for so long now. It's like when Bryan Adams was number one with 'Everything I do (I do it for you). Seems endless. He's half decent defensively and often the team seem a tad more robust unit with him there but that's as good as youll get from me. It's been going on for ages now and the club need to move on. I think Jose has got his number actually. He is just so slow, at everything. It destroys the fluidity of the team. And yes. I'm very aware he came second to Messi in player of the tournament at the youth World Cup in 1995.

Yawn

Another midfield player would be brilliant. Looks like he has a bit of presence about him too which is a bonus. We still need a ball player though, is it greedy to ask for two midfielders?!

if we are talking about players being lightweight then surely the champion has to be Samuel Eto'o. When he first played it was very noticeable but i think we all felt with more time it would get better and he'd become more physical. It hasnt. I dont see whathe brings to the table at all. Certainly not having a pop at him just for the miss last night, but i think it says a lot when youve got 3 strikers and the least effective one is not Fernando Torres.

Is it me or did Sunderland outlast us last night? Perhaps it was just desire, I don't know. Don't recall a Moutinho team ever lacking in the fitness dept.

Agree with this. Workrate great , final ball poor. Hes clearly a fine player, but I'm sorry - we just didn't need to buy him and certainly not for £30 million.

Come on mate, we are dying for some extra bodies in CM. Dying. Its totally affecting how this team plays, and how Jose wants this team to play. Jose sees these players every day, he wouldve tried some somebody else if he thought they were up to it.

Leon Knight has a bit of history on this forum. Well , not him exactly...

Dont see anyone being offended, not sure where thats come from. Just people pointing out that a element of Chelsea support do have an affiliation with Rangers and that this affiliation is very much non political, and if there is one other team who deserve its own thread on a Chelsea forum its most certainly Rangers, but then i do understand the need for people as to question why. The baffling thing is why people who do seem offended by the presence of a Rangers section keep posting in it, surely the best thing would be to ignore it and focus on the other parts of the site.

But can it not also be argued that if you don't like there being a Rangers section on a Chelsea site then then don't go there/here! Everyone is aware of the political element surrounding this and no one is denying it. What myself and others are trying to point out is that there are other reasons why many Chelsea fans have Rangers as a second team. I've given mine. I don't think anyone is saying there is a 'blues brothers' thing going on, because there clearly isn't. A lot of Chelsea fans follow Rangers results too, certainly more so than any other team I know and this has nothing to do with politics and all that bollocks, just more for being a product of a certain generation. Just trying to readdress the balance as tarring everyone with the same brush is a little unfair. Your point about the the 80s friendly attendances is fair. But by the same token the last 2 friendlies in Glasgow were sell outs, home and away fans. Seriously, if it offends you so much just don't click the link and just visit the Chelsea threads.

Fantastic post Scotty. Ive highlighted the most important bit, as i dont think it can be emphasised enough.

Reckon Galatasaray will fancy themselves for this one. Think it will be close over the two legs.

We already have about 4 coaches, no need to add any more however romantic it may sound. Agree he'll get a job somewhere else soon. WBA have only won 7 games this year incidentally.

Sorry can't agree with that. Our best defender continues to be JT. However I agree he isn't a right back though, I always subscribed to that. It's amazing he still holds down that position.

Hard to argue, but it just shows the squad issues we have really. He's still our best midfielder and certainly one of the first names on the team sheet so read into that what you will. No so concerned about his shooting, but his passing certainly is substandard. Think with a proper midfield partner he'd be awesome, as it is he walks into the team.

Personally I thought it was a good 3 points, a tough game. They are going to be hard to beat under Pullis and I wouldn't bet again them staying up. Pleased with the 3 points and some people who moan about it need to take a look at themselves. Didn't learn anything today we didn't already know . We are a work in progress and the squad is flawed , especially the midfield. That's all you need to know. Despite this we are 2nd in the league - it's worth pointing out. The digging out of Ramires a few pages back is absurd and reading this forum sometimes I wonder what team people watch. He's our best midfielder by a trillion miles, has his flaws for sure but for me he's 3rd or 4th on the team sheet everytime. The slow build up play is still our Achilles heel and until we get some new personnel it's not going to change. It's the same every time, slow slow slow and then the opposition has time to line up two banks of 4 and thus the ball ends up with the spare man and the man the opposition are most happy to have the ball. And nine time out of ten it's Ivanovic. Which means a whipped cross to the first defender. Can't even blame Mikel for it today.