Celery1989

I think any manager would want to manage us, simply for the chance to coach world class players, earn sh*tloads of money (regardless of whether they get sacked or not!) and to compete for all the trophies. However, I do see the interference from above as being a deterrent to many managers, particularly those from the UK where managers tend to exercise greater autonomy than those from abroad. However, in Italy and Spain, its pretty common to have a technical director overshadowing the manager, as well as an owner/director involved in matters on the field (Berlusconi, Perez etc). So in that sense I don't think that, for example, Guardiola would be put off that much knowing how much input Roman has. At the end of the day I do wish that Roman wouldn't meddle as much as he does and tha would stand off and allow the manager to act freely. But we have to be grateful for the incomparable period of success he has helped to bring to our recent history, and when consider the investment he has made, I'm not sure anyone can really blame him for being so 'hands-on'.

Genuinely in tears after that, f*cking great vid!!

At the end of last season's Summer transfer window I remember the club tried to loan him to Stoke. That would have been a great place for him to learn, shame premier league rules didn't allow it to happen. I'm pretty certain he'll go on loan somewhere this year, the guy simply needs regular games and then hopefully in a year's time he may be ready. With Torres, Sturridge and potentially Hulk in the mix Lukaku won't get any games really.

Hulk wouldn't play upfront for us. He'd play on right of a 3 with Hazard on the left, Torres in the middle, and Mata just in behind. That would rival Man City for pure firepower, and would also mean that this is make or break for Fernando.

Seeing as we're the only club in London with a star above our crest: The city is ours, The city is ouuuurrs, We're European Champions, The city is ours.

In Brogan's going mental with my mates and around 200-300 other blues. Must have hugged half the people on Fulham Road!

Thank you for everything Didier - you will forever hold a special place in my heart for all the incredible memories that you have given me over the years through your heroic, legendary endeavours. I wish you every success in both football and potentially politics too, and hope that one day you can return to Chelsea in whatever capacity. Didier Drogba - The greatest centre forward of Chelsea's modern era and a true inspiration.

I'm so torn over Battersea: I seem to be stuck in a conflict between my pragmatic, modernist head and my conservative, traditional heart. I still hold out hope that the Bridge can be redeveloped. What's certain though is that the club has to have a bigger stadium, one way or another.

I'm really hoping we can come up with something innovative to celebrate the European Cup. Too many chants seem to be re-treads of others.

I think what Ruh Juh Buh said was right. We don't need a revolution, but evolution. Malouda, Kalou, Bosingwa, Essien out, Drogba sadly I think too. Therefore 2 wingers, a RB a CM and a striker needed either from the youth that has already been purchased/developed (Lukaku, Marin, McEachran, De Bruyne etc) or from elsewhere.

I sincerely hope this one sticks. Petr is a legend in the same vein as the other stalwarts in the Old Guard. Bout time we had a chant for him! The Media have naturally gone crazy on Drogba's heroics but Petr was a match-winner in his own right. Its a shame that many in the public seem to have not noticed that Petr saved 3 penalties on the night and guessed the right way every time. Given that he'd not saved many penalties for us before, guess he was saving it all up for when it really mattered!!

Not gonna lie, the idea of a statue for Didier has crossed my mind since Saturday. But only years down the line perhaps, and I don't know if it could happen (Zola? The rest of the Old Guard?).

As for AVB, I've pretty much had it with him. Coming into the season I was really optimistic, thinking this is the vibrant young manager we need to regenerate the squad with an attacking philosophy to take us back to the top. So far, aside from signing Mata, Romeu, and promoting Sturridge to the first team, AVB has been a disaster. I backed him so much this season and put up with his bullsh*t press conferences but I just don't see that this is the guy to take us forward. He reminds me a younger Arsene Wenger in many ways: a classic case of a self-centred, stubborn and autocratic manager whose unflinching conviction of his own philosophy is simply detrimental to the team. Not to mention that he gives Arsene a run for his money in the whinging stakes. At least the Arsenal players like playing for Arsene; AVB doesn't seem to care about team spirit in the slightest. AVB is tactically completely inept too, most graphically exemplified by the United game. If he'd brought on Romeu at 3-0 and told the players to take a "low block" as he calls it then we would never have lost that game. This debacle of a season, in my opinion, rests as much on the shoulders of the players as him, though. So many players have had poor seasons and many of them simply don't seem to care. However, as I've outlined above, AVB doesn't seem like the right guy to recharge our squad both in terms of player material and in creating the team spirit that under Jose was so pivotal. So, as far as I'm concerned, AVB can take his "project" somewhere else at the end of the season. If we fail to make the top 4, then I hope Roman personally goes to the changing room after the lasts day of the season, just like last year, and sacks him there and then.

Mate, at least it didn't happen on your 18th Birthday!!!

Romeu could be great but I'm just worried that Barca are gonna come back and get him off us in a year or 2 due to that clause he has in his deal.

Agree completely Davey. By the beginning of the '11-'12 season, I don't expect any of those 4 to still be here. Anelka is as good as gone with 1 year left on his deal. The only one with any chance is Kalou because of age. If AVB's team and bench selections are anything to go by then Kalou has little chance at all.

It's piss poor up there almost always. Only when its a big game is there any kind of buzz. Very defeatist too. But even against Spurs etc. barely anybody joins the chant. Mind you once me and 5 others next to me were hammered at the game against City last year and we managed to do a bouncy. All the corporate stiffs around us didn't know wtf was going on!

How exactly did he screw up the semi against Monaco? Yeah he started with Veron on the left but I seem to remember we had no options. Also, it was 1-1 in the first leg, Monaco got a red card, yet we lost 3-1. That falls on the players I'm afraid.

You realize that without him Abramovich would never have bought Chelsea?

Who's NB? Neil Barnett?

United fans will tell you that he was instrumental in the title run in the 07/08 season. He's a good player there's no doubt, but it's equally indubitable that that England team was poor (standard).

Romeu was fantastic. He already looked as assured to me as Mikel ever has. Romeu, if he keeps that up, is the future at DMC without any shadow of a doubt. I also thought that Bertrand was very solid too, and offered a fair amount going forward for his first game too. I was delighted that we didn't loan him out because from what I'd seen before I thought he'd be able to do a job for us when Cole is rested or injured. Last night's endeavours showed that for sure. Well done Lukaku too. Threatened a fair amount in the first hour, looks a bit cumbersome i have to say though, but I think as he gets more used to the pace of the PL then his feet etc will quicken. Remember how much of a donkey Drogba looked the first 2 seasons? McEachran just oozes class. Can't wait til he's playing regularly for us. Luiz, what a hero! Finally, it looked like getting subbed off at OT at HT light a bit of a fire under Frank. Thought his effort was superb and he pressed the ball more than I'd ever seen. Also, you could clearly see that when he got the ball his first thought was to shift it further forward, rather than in days gone by when it would invariably go sideways.

Oriol Romeu.

Romeu was fantastic. He already looked as assured to me as Mikel ever has. Romeu, if he keeps that up, is the future at DMC without any shadow of a doubt. I also thought that Bertrand was very solid too, and offered a fair amount going forward for his first game too. I was delighted that we didn't loan him out because from what I'd seen before I thought he'd be able to do a job for us when Cole is rested or injured. Last night's endeavours showed that for sure. Well done Lukaku too. Constant threat, looks a bit cumbersome i have to say though, but I think as he gets more used to the pace of the PL then his feet etc will quicken. Remember how much of a donkey Drogba looked the first 2 seasons? McEachran just oozes class. Can't wait til he's playing regularly for us. Luiz, what a hero! Finally, it looked like getting subbed off at OT at HT light a bit of a fire under Frank. Thought his effort was superb and he pressed the ball more than I'd ever seen. Also, you could clearly see that when he got the ball his first thought was to shift it further forward, rather than in days gone by when it would invariably go sideways.

Agreed totally. As I've been saying AVB needs the January and in particular the next summer Transfer Window to really put his stamp on the squad. Anelka, Kalou, Malouda and maybe even Drogba will all go I reckon and in the former 3 will be replaced by better, actual wingers/offensive midfielders in the Mata mould. Also big blue I'd love to get Hamsik. Thought he was excellent against City. He's more a Lampard type though and so I'm not sure he'd really fit the "deep lying playmaker" role that we need.