BlueBeard

I've been having a think about cover versions, and have come up with the following (trying not to include the ones already mentioned): - Better than the original (IMO): - Al Green - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart (Bee Gees) Nazareth - This Flight Tonight (Joni Mitchell) Creedence Clearwater Revival - Susie Q (Dale Hawkins) Paul Davidson - Midnight Rider (Gregg Allman) Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down (Kris Kristofferson) Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Delilah (Tom Jones) PP Arnold - The First Cut Is The Deepest (Cat Stevens) Mot?rhead/Girlschool - Please Don't Touch (Johnny Kidd & The Pirates) Joan Baez - Don't Think Twice, It's Alright (Bob Dylan) Ken Boothe - Everything I Own (Bread) Rod Stewart - Mama You Been On My Mind (Bob Dylan) Rod Stewart - Only A Hobo (Bob Dylan) David Bowie - Sorrow (The Merseys) Tony Tribe - Red Red Wine (Neil Diamond) Elvis Presley - Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Bob Dylan) Neil Young - Four Strong Winds (Bobby Bare) Linda Lewis - It's In His Kiss (Betty Everett) Clash - I Fought The Law (Bobby Fuller Four) Desmond Dekker - You Can Get It If You Really Want (Jimmy Cliff) Elvis Presley - American Trilogy (Mickey Newbury) Four Tops - It's All In The Game (Tommy Edwards) Bob & Marcia - Pied Piper (Crispian St.Peter) Rod Stewart - I'd Rather Go Blind (Etta James) Stray - Move It (Cliff Richard) Faces - Maybe I'm Amazed (Paul McCartney) Gladys Knight & The Pips - Help Me Make It Through The Night (Kris Kristofferson) Matthews Southern Comfort - Woodstock (Joni Mitchell) Nazareth - Love Hurts (Everly Brothers) Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris - Love Hurts (Everly Brothers) Shaggy - Oh Carolina (Folkes Brothers) Rod Stewart - Oh! No Not My Baby (Manfred Mann)(UK) Who - Young Man Blues (Mose Allison) At least on a par with the original (IMO): - Dictators - Search And Destroy (Iggy Pop) The Byrds - All I Really Want To Do (Bob Dylan) Lynyrd Skynyrd - Call Me The Breeze (JJ Cale) Jimmy Cliff - Wild World (Cat Stevens) Johnny Cash - It Ain't Me Babe (Bob Dylan) Siouxsie & The Banshees - Dear Prudence (Beatles) Big Youth - Hit The Road Jack (Ray Charles) Frankie Miller - Jealous Guy (John Lennon) ELO - Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry) Blondie - The Tide Is High (John Holt) Gram Parsons - Wild Horses (Rolling Stones) Rod Stewart - Twistin' The Night Away (Sam Cooke) Quicksilver Messenger Service - Who Do You Love (Bo Diddley) Humble Pie - I Walk On Gilded Splinters (live) (Dr.John) Dave Edmunds - Baby I Love You (Ronettes) Cat Stevens - Another Saturday Night (Sam Cooke) Faces - I Wish It Would Rain (Temptations) Marianne Faithfull - The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan (Dr.Hook) Grand Funk Railroad - Gimme Shelter (live) (Rolling Stones) John Lennon - Stand By Me (Ben E.King) Kirsty MacColl - Days (Kinks) There are bound to be loads I've missed! And I don't agree with some of the previous posts, either - much as I like The Specials, how can their version of "Rudy" be better than Dandy Livingstone's??? Same goes for The Who's version of "Summertime Blues" - love it, but never as good as Eddie Cochran's. And I can't remember who chose Sid Vicious, but they need locking up! oh, nearly forgot Rolf Harris - Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)

I'm well pleased with Webster being brought in, albeit on loan. Hopefully Rangers will make the deal permanent in the summer. Thomson & Brown could also be very good signings - I've been signing them up for years in FM! I don't think bringing Walter Smith back would be a good idea, and as I said before, he's doing a good job for the national side - let him continue. And as for having McCoist & Durrant as back-up - not a good idea at all in my opinion! They were great players, but as Loz said, they've no management experience. And if McCoist's TV match analysis is anything to go by, we're doomed, doomed I tell ye...... I quite like Strachan, love his interview technique, he really makes me laugh. Clearly, he's not the best manager in the world, but he's got personality. O'Neill on the other hand, I f*ckin' despise! I never liked him as a player, and I think he's vastly overrated as a manager, the f*ckin' big mouthed tw*t. He's just one of those blokes that as soon as you see them you want to give 'em a slap

Hmm.... :? A lot of Rangers fans up here, including my mates, were happy to see the back of Commando Fernando I think Rangers would have got the best out of Le Guen NEXT season to be honest.......... I'm not surprised you wanted Le Guen to stay, being a Septic fan! I always liked Ricksen, he was a fighter, and quite influential in the side. Someone like Le Guen could never succeed at a club like Rangers - he seemed to want to stamp on any leadership that showed itself within the team, like Ricksen & Ferguson. I don't believe that players should run things, but when they're experienced pros, the manager should respect that and act accordingly. Le Guen is too arrogant to do that. And he's bleedin' French

I agree about Walter Smith, he's doing a good job for the national side, and it wouldn't be right to bollox that up. I've disliked/hated Le Guen from the start - he didn't exactly endear himself to Gers fans when he banished Ricksen to St.Petersburg for the season after they had a disagreement in the close season. This was followed by the worst Rangers season that I can remember, and then he decides to strip Barry Ferguson of his captaincy and states he'll never play for the Gers again as long as he, Le Guen, was in charge - great man-management skills

That's the best news I've heard in bleedin' ages! ::Smilie waver:: Rangers have got to go back to having a Scots manager. I never liked the idea of Le Guen at Ibrox, and he showed himself to be totally ignorant of Scottish football, as well as being an arrogant c*nt. All part of being French, I suppose Billy Davies sounds good, but I'd even be happy to have Graeme Souness back

It would appear that my Christmas period was worse than Chelsea's!

Well, I did say Boulah or a new RB. To be honest, on current form I'd rather have my granny at RB than Ferreira Kind of harsh! Im a huge fan of Paulo, not a week goes past when i stick up for him on here. I think he should also be commended for his performances at CB right now, lets face it , he aint no CB but he is doing the best he can. Like ive said when everyone is fit angain stick him at RB and KEEP HIM THERE. I wouldnt swap a confident and on form Paulo for any other RB in the world. He makes far too many mistakes, and gives away too many silly free-kicks - it's a bit like having Frank Sinclair back again. But at least Frank always gave 100% for Chelsea, you couldn't question his commitment. I'm not sure what's happened to Ferreira's form, I know he was a lot better when he first arrived - but even then, I always thought he was an OK or average right back. Not in the same class as someone like Steve Clarke, for instance. Something we'll just have to agree to disagree on

Well, I did say Boulah or a new RB. To be honest, on current form I'd rather have my granny at RB than Ferreira

This brings us to the interesting question. If we accept that the narrow diamond isn't working AND we acknowledge that we need to be looking to get the best out of both Drogba and Sheva then what formation do we play? Playing either Sheva or Drogba out wide is a waste and so we are looking at an orthodox formation with two up top. Now we also have to acknowledge that that these two need to be getting more support from the midfielders and the flank men then they are just now. Is it time to take a gamble? Is it time to do the unthinkable and drop Maka? As things stand we need to start creating more chances than we have been. The gap is only 6 points and there are still enough games to go to claw it back however if that gap was to be extended (and our rent run of results against mediocre teams suggest that may well happen) then we really are in sh*t creek territory. On the flip side we have been conceding too many goals and dropping Maka is not going to help in that department. Jose has some big decisions to make and he doesn't have long to think about it. I'd play an attacking flat 4-4-2, we've got the players to do it but Mourinho seems terrified of using that system. Maybe it isn't deemed 'cool' enough in management circles? If we had a fully fit squad, I'd play: - -----------------------Cech Boulah (or a new RB) - Carvalho - JT - Bridge or Cole ------Joey - Lampard - Essien - Robben ----------------Sheva - Drogs It's a very attacking line-up, which could be used against most sides. For the stronger opponents I'd play Maka instead of Lamps (sacrilege, I hear you scream - but I ignore you, cos I know f*ckin' best!)

I think our problem is Jose Mourinho. Last summer, anyone with any sense could see that when we sold Huth & Gallas we were very light in the centre-back department. OK, he brought in Boulahrouz, who IMO is a decent enough player - but he neglected to bring in any other CB's. I could understand this if he intended to play our youngsters, like Mancienne - but no, when we're in the sh*t, Mourinho plays people out of position, ie Ferreira & Essien. Again, anyone with any sense could also see that we were very short of strikers - we just have Drogba & Shevchenko. Kalou is more of an attacking midfielder, whose best position is just behind the two strikers - but of course, he's hardly been given the opportunity to play there as it doesn't fit in with Mourinho's sh*te tactics this season. We're also short in the right-back position. Ferreira isn't up to the job, Geremi is more of a wing-back than a defender, and so is Glen Johnson. As if to make up for this dearth of players, Mourinho strengthened the one part of our team that didn't need strengthening - central midfield. We already had Makelele, Lampard, Diarra & Essien, yet for some reason, Mourinho decided we also needed Ballack & Mikel, neither of whom have justified their inclusion as far as I'm concerned. Mourinho has been sh*te in the transfer market, generally speaking. Plus points? He sold Duff, who is now struggling to get into the Newcastle team either through injury or lack of form. He sold Gudjohnsen (who was looking stale, and in need of a change of scene), who he seemed to think was a central midfielder (is this some kind of obsession?) He got rid of Jarosik & Smertin - but then, why the f*ck did he buy them? Same goes for Maniche, but I'm pretty sure there was a hidden agenda there. I believe Mourinho was persuaded by someone(?) to take Maniche on in order to get him fit for the Portuguese side in the World Cup, as he wasn't doing anything in Russia. Why else did we take him? He certainly never intended spending any more time at Chelsea than he needed to. Minus points? He bought Wright-Phillips, then destroyed his confidence by never playing him. He sold Scotty Parker, who is now playing out of his skin for the Geordies. He bought Del Horno, say no more. He sold Gallas. I wouldn't mind, given the verbals Gallas had been coming out with, but to sell him to the Arse was unforgivable. He bought Ashley Cole when we had a perfectly good left back already. If he wanted to replace Del Horno, he should have brought in a younger player. Mourinho is a very stubborn man, and refuses to change things even when it's painfully obvious to everyone that they're not working. He persists in playing a 4-4-2 narrow diamond, and then wonders why Shevchenko doesn't get any service. And when he changes it, he goes for a 4-3-3 which means we only have one striker, with Shevchenko playing out of position out wide (if at all). Kalou is also played out of position out wide, while SWP, who, given half a chance, might actually excel in this position, is ignored. OK, I know we've had a sh*tload of injuries this year. Nobody could have predicted Petr Cech & Carlo Cudicini both getting crocked. The absence of JT has disabled the team to an alarming degree, while we're really missing Joey Cole, and Arjen Robben (who seems to get injured every other game). Under these circumstances, any team would struggle - but if Mourinho had managed his transfers well in the summer, we wouldn't be in the position we are now, we'd have adequate cover where we need it. We've been playing crap all season, and have been scraping a lot of results. Now it seems our luck has run out a bit. I'm a bit concerned that it may not be a coincidence that our recent run of "not-winning" has come since Mourinho declared his 'untouchables'. That couldn't have helped build team confidence, and since then he's slagged the team down more than once in public. I know that in certain circumstances, this can have a positive effect on players, but looking at our players over the last couple of weeks I'd say it's had totally the opposite effect. After reading all the sh*te directed at certain players over the last week or so, I thought I'd deflect the blame to another area. I know that there are a lot of people out there who are convinced that the sun shines out of Mourinho's arse, but it's time they looked at the situation in black and white. I'm not advocating getting rid of Mourinho, as I believe he's the best manager we've had since the Doc, and I really like the guy. I just wish he'd accept that he's capable of making mistakes now and then, just like the rest of us. I don't like to see him blaming players, yet not taking any responsibility himself - that's just bad man-management. I'm sure he'll turn it around though - he's got the lucky touch! On the other hand, Paul Le Guen needs a napalm enema, and I'm the man to deliver!

I can remember that being utter sh*te at the time, and it certainly hasn't improved over the years

Oh come on !!! this is in the wrong thread ... isn't this one of the best ever... its the lyrics that move me I agree, I can't believe I called it irritating! A truly inspiring song the tart is fit as well She certainly is/was - well worth watching TOTP for!

I realised my mistake some time ago, and swapped Sheva for Drogs

Only 15 minutes???

Oh come on !!! this is in the wrong thread ... isn't this one of the best ever... its the lyrics that move me I agree, I can't believe I called it irritating! A truly inspiring song

Bloody hell, that one brings back a lot of memories Really irritating song (on a par with 'Tie A Yellow Ribbon'), but I always looked forward to seeing them on TOTP - well, the singer did have great legs

Any list of worst songs ever would have to include "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" by St.Winifred's School Choir, which topped the charts in 1980. My Christmas present to you all, is not posting a link for it

Can't argue with any of that!

Yes. Don't ask me who though, I can't be bothered going through a sh*tload of old posts - I just don't care enough It's nothing new - I can remember people criticising Peter Osgood for being too lazy, yet he was the best player to have ever pulled on a Chelsea shirt (in my humble opinion).

I was in the anti-Drogba camp up until the last few weeks of last season. I thought he was crap, and I hated his whinging, and theatrical rolling around after being tackled - even his most ardent fans can't deny that he was a real drama queen Towards the end of last season, he turned it around, and he hasn't looked back since. I rate him very highly now - his confidence is sky-high, and his work-rate is second to none. He's finally looking like a world class forward, something I've got to admit I never thought I'd see. I'm really pleased that I've been proved wrong, let's hope he can keep up his excellent form. Be interesting to see if all the people slagging off Shevchenko and Ballack will give them credit when they start doing the business on a regular basis

Got to be one of the finest vocals around. Stevie Marriott could sing a bit too, especially with Humble Pie. Try and find Frankie Miller singing "Take Good Care Of Yourself" - brilliant!

Well, I was originally going for just the one line-up, but had to amend that when I saw you'd cheated There are so many great lead guitarists, past and present, it's near impossible to select just one, or even four.

Druma - Keith Moon Bass - Phil Lynott (doubling on backing vocals) Rhythm Guitar - Chuck Berry Dual Lead Guitar - Angus Young & Jimi Hendrix Dual Vocals - Janis Joplin & Paul Rodgers and if Loz is allowed a bench, then I'm having one too! Drums - Ian Paice Bass - John Entwistle Rhythm Guitar - Keith Richard Dual Lead Guitar - Paul Kossoff & Roy Buchanan Dual Vocals - Frankie Miller & John Fogerty (Creedence)

Yeah, get rid of the git! Bring back Ian Porterfield, with Geoff Hurst as his #2, that's what I say

Absolutely - you summed it up perfectly, Brit