Castiel

At this rate Chelsea will be the Brazilian national team.

Really really hope there is no truth in this. Roman is an intelligent man, you have to be to become a billionaire. I refuse to believe that he'd make the same mistake twice.

I agree with your general point but Villas-Boas has saved one team from certain relegation (complete turn around from the moment he arrived) and is on course to win every trophy Porto was involved in this season, beating Mourinho's record with them - playing much more attractive football to boot. He's one of those special managers who makes up for inexperience with genius and determination.

Well people are saying he's the next Messi so lets see if he can do it in England. If he is in fact coming here. He does seem to mention us a lot.

If we want to build a dynasty we need continuity. That equals sustained success. Mourinho built a dynasty here, and the squad has survived right up until now. Had he stayed I'm sure we would have dominated the league like United and Liverpool have done. We need to assemble the right coaching team, with a clear vision concerning playing style, long term goals and youth and stick with it to achieve more than sporadic success. I'm not convinced that Carlo is the man to take us to that level, but I do think he's a good manager. Rapid success is all well and good but its becoming tiresome. I'd much rather have lasting dominance and I'm sure most fans would agree with me.

I'm choosing to believe that you're a psychic of cosmic proportions so I have something to look forward to. :D

I heard he wants out because of his family issues. His ex wife (with the kids) wont live in the UK but will live in Spain or Italy for some reason. If he came here he'd be another £50m striker and he'd be having the same family issues he has at City. Also he's a bit petulant if he's not top dog. With Torres and Drogba here as it is, both top dogs, we don't need another one. Besides if we were in for that sort of player, Aguero is cheaper and a younger version of Tevez.

That may be the case but the end result is the same, and it wasn't good for us. We missed out on a world class DMC and we're left in a position with Mikel not living up to expectations and Essien nowhere near his best.

Yes your reasoning behind it is perfect, thats how its going to work. But like Rahul said with Diarra once here, then Pompy sold him to Real and he's become an awesome holding midfielder - we really missed the mark on that one. I even think Makelele said Diarra would become his successor and we didn't listen! I'd hate to see us selling people on who end up becoming exactly what we need just because we're afraid to give them a chance. Thank God Josh looks to be on his way in.

I don't want our youth academy to become a feeder system for lesser clubs who could end up selling on potential superstars to our rivals for massive profits. However I do have some trust in our scouts to identify what we need. If his demands (via his agent or otherwise) were unreasonable then he's got to go. It is a shame though as he could end up becoming a prospect.

I heard it in an interview. AVB has his teams playing in a way that reminds me of Arsenal's invincibles, which is incredibly difficult to achieve. They don't share a playing style - Jose of course being very defensive minded against equal or superior opposition. But wanting to try his hand at management is his primary reason for leaving, you are right. As for Porto's record this season, their defeats in cup ties are strategically insignificant so I wouldn't count them. I didn't personally watch any of them but I presume the tactical approach to those games permitted a draw or light defeat over going in guns blazing. Personally I'd love him here to build a dynasty if the opportunity arises, however you're right in saying he has a special affinity to Porto. Hopefully he has a special affinity to us as well, having stated his great appreciation for his time as a scout for us and his love of the city of London as a place to work and live. He has also stated that he considers the Prem to be the finest league in the world so once he's done his business in Porto he may well end up here. This only occurs to me because he never mentioned Inter or their league in the same light but has gone into detail about his experiences at Chelsea. For anyone interested I found one of his scouting reports for us on another board: http://www.bragafut.com/artigos/art18.pdf

He was integral to Inters treble.

Yes they do traditionally go to Spain but I don't think its that significant. Look at Ronaldo, the only player in the world who can compare to Messi and he rose in England. Hernandez, Mexican, could well be the next in line. I'll agree that the Spanish sides seem to have better scouting in South America than us which probably contributes to their pull a lot more, but since this guy is on the global radar he could end up anywhere. England being just as likely as anywhere else. A lot of Barcelona's super talents are also cultivated from a younger age in the youth academy, Neymar is already a senior player. He wouldn't fit the same MO as Messi and the rest of them in Barca's ranks for that reason. I just think you're underestimating our pulling power a little bit. :P

Why wouldn't we be able to compete with the Spanish sides? We're wealthier than Barcelona at least and Brazilians are descendent from Portugal not Spain, so the cultural advantage isn't really significant. It'd depend entirely on what the player prefers and nobody but he can know that. I've been meaning to ask since I don't follow him, can Neymar play as an out and out winger without wasting his talent? Because thats what we really need. We have strikers and need wingers.

Isn't the world scheduled to end next year? Get with the program!

I've gone back and watched some of Torres' good games with Spain and Liverpool and the defence I and others have been using is that Torres can't create something out of nothing and needs good service. Well I was actually wrong, a good proportion of his goals were pulled out of a hat and he hasn't shown anything like that with us yet. One thing I've just noticed is he seems to have gained a bit of weight. Is that just me or does anyone else share that opinion? He might need someone to kick him in the ass over his fitness training and get a good preseason in. I know it isn't fair to judge him yet. Give him at least a season to show us what he can do. But he's got a long way to go before regaining his best and we can certainly make him (any any other striker we use) more effective by investing in some width and a creative mid fielder.

I wouldn't put in a ridiculous experimental team like some are suggesting. Cech out for Turnbull? Everton away isn't an easy fixture. What if they absolutely batter us? Nobody wants to end the season like that.

Porto win it 1-0. Absolutely dire game though.

Cracking goal by Falcao, 1-0 Porto at half time. Very boring game otherwise though.

If he does end up managing those horrible bar stewards I will never forgive him.

Its not impossible but frankly he'd carry City. Not sure if he'd enjoy doing that for too long. He's also a massive ego and would get a lot of media hate from United. I wouldn't be surprised if he left Spain though after what happened with Barcelona this season. He's clearly convinced that UEFA is biased in favour of them.

I can't fairly judge him on a youtube video. Just seems strange to me that he never got into a bigger club. Though Aguero is clearly talented and he's still at Athletico so you never know. If he does what he does in the video consistently, then he'd certainly be worth a bid.

Plays (and looks a bit) like Modric. Could be a relative unknown to our rivals thus cheaper. Would be the sort of signing Fergie would make. He looks like he could set Torres up all day, those long ball passes were weighted perfectly (though can't trust you tube for a complete profile). I worry that Inter or AC didn't pick him up, maybe he isn't consistent or something?

I don't see why people are convinced Mourinho would go to Man United. For a start he isn't a long term manager. He also likes to have money behind him, the Glazers wont give him that. He's more likely to go to City IMO. But thats another discussion. I'd take Villas-Boas if Carlo were to leave though. The guy has done incredible things in Portugal so far and could win the Europa league tonight. Undefeated in all competitions for the entire season and I believe only 2 of them were draws. He's said to have motivational and tactical skills on par with Mourinho and is said to have eventually parted ways because he disagreed with his overly negative approach! He also seems a lot more likeable than Jose was (to the press anyway). But I still back Carlo until the day he's left the Bridge, but if Villas-Boas were to settle here as our long term future I wouldn't look back (based on what I've seen of him so far).

126 pages but Mod closed it before the saga was over!