WeeFranco

Sky Sports missed that one then? Surprised?

1998 Cup winners cup. When Zola was brought on after a injury layoff to score the winner with his first touch. It was a bit of a gamble, but I remember Gullit, totally relaxed in the dugout. This, I thought, is my club.

Yes. It's a no brainer. He's everything you want in a player and ambassador for the club. He's still got the desire, the vision and the experience. Play him until his legs drop off.

Well, there's no bloody point letting Mikel get forward. The only possible advantage there is that when he inevitably gives the ball away, at least it's higher up the field.

Mikel gets caught in possession too often. Maybe if we should've invested a bit more in Diarra when we had him, or maybe we could do away with the holding mid and just ping the ball around instead. Oscar could do that.

On the plus side, there's absolutely no pressure on us. According to the blogs we've no chance and don't even deserve to share the same pitch. Providing the team don't believe all that guff; psychologically, we're in the best possible position.

Liverpool. Difficult choice, but the spuds fans are worse. Liverpool have actually won things - spurs have merely benefitted from the slump in the quality of the Premier league - not that they've even done much with that. All they've managed was winning The Consolation Cup. That's it.

Joachim Loew is our man. He's intelligent, he's got the swagger and he's German. The players would respect him and he would be a good fit for Chelsea's playing style.

All right.. Beyond Drogba & Malouda, who are halfway through the door anyway, who else goes depends on the new boss. Lukaku will never get a look in, so he'll probably go on loan. Cole will want CL, so may go to spain or italy. Cech might not like it if Courtois comes in and might be tempted away - depends on the new boss Romeu will go back to Barcelona Bosingwa and Ferreira will be the most likely victims of a clear-out

The fans and the club have been incredibly loyal to Torres for the duration of his goal drought. It would seem a bid strange for him to contemplate leaving now he has just started to find his form again and risk that happening all over again at another club, which might not be so patient.

I'd like to see Ribery in the team. I think Hazard will end up at Spurs. Can't see us getting Hulk. The only signing we need to worry about is the manager.

I agree AVB went about it all wrong but his initial pitch must have sounded good to the board - a new team rebuilt from the bottom up. His big mistake was to try and initiate this without having achieved any real success at the club - if he had the team believing in him, he could have done anything he wanted with it. His best bet would've been to continue with the team he inherited which, when correctly motivated, is still very competitive. A lot of the strong personalities he had so much trouble with would probably have gone in the summer anyway. Ultimately AVB's job was to manage and he mismanaged the situation and the team. So he was probably sacked with some justification.

I haven't read it all, but somebody must've mentioned Sheva? £35M of gold plated crap.

I still like Kakuta and I don't think he's been given a fair crack. I'd quite like to see:- Cech/Courtois Ivanovic/Bertrand Cahill Terry/Luiz Cole Mata/Kakuta Essien Lampard/McEachran Ramires Lukaku/Sturridge Torres To quote Mike Bassett : "four-four-f*****g two"

Of course, the flipside is that non-qualification would really reduce the pressure of expectation on the new manager coming in for next season. Realistically, he would only be expected to guarantee a top four finish and a few decent runs in the domestic cups to be considered a success. By then, a few of the big name players will have moved on and the ones left would have less to shout about. This should give the new man an easier introduction and a chance to put his stamp on the team. Maybe it's just what we need?

It's a nice thought but I don't think Abramovich and Chelsea work that way. This ship runs on success and status - it's clear there is no tolerance for taking a step backwards to rebuild. If the club isn't moving forwards, it's failing. Non qualification for the CL may well be better for the club in the long term because it would force a change in strategy, but you can be sure that, initially, it'll be like the sky has fallen in.

It's that middle block we've got to hit some sort of form for - Fulham (A), Arsenal (A), QPR (H), Liverpool (A). If we can got to Arsenal on the back of a win and set the record straight there, then we can settle a score with QPR at home. Liverpool away is always a bad fixture for me - but it's got to be won. The boys just have to deliver. That's it.

I still fancy Spurs to fal apart, personally. But with only 9 games left I'm starting to sweat on it. We've been to the wire before - last time it was Gronkjaer. This time I bet it's Kalou.

Another disappointing result. Spurs stalling, but not falling. Arsenal clambering to safety. And all the while we are still unable to capitalise on any opportunities to move up the table. If we really are going to miss out on that C/L spot for next year what are the consequences? The next manager. A bit of a poisoned chalice these days anyway - this reputation and the lack of C/L football cripples our bargaining power. At least previous candidates were guaranteed a C/L spot and a huge payoff when things went sour. Now they'll have to settle for the Europa league. Reduced expectations. Will C/L qualification alone now be the target required for a season to be considered a success? Is actually winning the P/L again reduced to a pipe dream? Stars leave. At least it will make it easier for the new manager to clear out the old guard - they won't need asking. Roman loses interest. If C/L success really is Roman's motivation, could he be tempted to sell up and move on? What are your thoughts?

It's obvious Torres is happier now. Winning always helps, but I think the relentless support has surprised him. Can't admit this has always been the case with me, I've had my doubts. He still needs big goals in big games, and he'll get his chance in the next few weeks. If he can build on today's goals in those games then I'll be chuffed for him.

The criticism of Terry 'managing' from the sidelines realy hacked me off. He's a player, but he's also a fan. Who wasn't shouting instructions at the telly during that game? The timing and choice of RDM's subs was superb. Like me, Terry probably had his own ideas at the time, but the manager called it.

Abramovich would probably have to literally beg on his knees to get Jose back, and promise total control of all football matters. Fine, do it. The thing is I'm not sure even Jose could turn this speeding turd wagon around now.

As things were, we were probably going to finish outside of a european place. The question is do we sink or swim?

They never really played for him, did they?

I do wonder if a lot of the people grumbling that this latest sacking is a terrible decision now would still be of the same opinion if we won the next three games. I'm not proud the revolving door management policy is still happening, but we all knew this was going to happen. A new manager was never going to be allowed to keep losing 1-0 to mid table teams and ditch all the marquee names in the summer. We just have to roll with it like we always have. We'll know if player power to blame on Tuesday night.