CodyBound

John Chapman â€@BelgoFoot Response to questions: I had Hazard off to #mcfc, however, delay seems to indicate #cfc in mix; prob said building team & u get game time. This guy specialises in Belgian players and has just tweeted this, and sadly he is usually quite accurate. I'm giving up on speculation cause the situation seems to keep changing. I'm just going to sit on the sofa and pray.

Various journalists on twiiter claiming that City are out of the race and that it is between us and city. We are the favourites though.

I've always been a big Hilario fan. Great back up keeper, great professional, great guy really. Better than Ross I might add too.

How can anyone criticise Hulk after he scored two goals and was pretty much single handedly responsible for the third? 35 Mill is worth it. no doubt.

You are correct sir.

Ha, not a good example but my point remains. I always like it when players come out and talk about the significance of a shirt number and how honoured they are to wear it. This happens more often with players that know the club obviously. Unfortunately I'm struggling to think of an example of that at Chelsea.

Fantastic input from Arruda, and I'm happy to know now for sure that everything I thought about the situation was bang on (sorry to be a little arrogant in this instance but I was getting a little bored of fighting his corner). I'm glad that you have backed up his quality as a player, far too many people on this forum were underestimating him. I think he will also have the physical attributes to make it here. I'm very very very very very very very very excited about this potential signing. I have thought for a long time and still do that it is extremely likely to go through (touchwood). The fact that the Times, one of the few reliable papers, is now reporting it as likely gives me even higher levels of confidence. Similarly reliable sources have been talking about it for a long time on twitter.

To be perfectly honest, this is the first time I would consider him as being a success should he come to Chelsea. Looking at the players we are offloading and the players we are looking to bring in, we could have the potential to have a squad of players that fit his philosophy of football. Torres, Marin, Hulk, Lucas, Hazard, KDB, Ramires. Not that we will have all of those next season but if you look at those players they are quite similar to those at Barca and we already have a similarly structured formation. For the first time since all the talk about Pep began, I believe he would be capable of success here. BUT. He won't be coming here anyway as he will be taking at the very least the whole summer off and probably the whole of the next season. PLUS. We all hope and there is probably a good chance of RDM being here next season anyway. So I reckon this kind of talk is pretty irrelevant anyway.

One of the best things for a new signing or up and coming youngster is being given a shirt with history attached to it. Shirt numbers represent not only the importance of the role but the legacy of the club and a new player taking on a famous club number will most surely feel more appreciated by the club, more honoured, and as such will fight as hard as possible for the team to fill the shoes of the legend before who had that number. The next person to get Drogba's #11 I hope will take this on board.

The title of this thread says everything about how I feel about this whole debate.

I think we should just see where we are after our pre-season tour and who we have managed to sign. If we sign all our targets then we won't need the guy. If we don't then he is ideal back up, certainly better than Malouda or Kalou were this season.

I've only read this page and the first page of this thread. Cannot believe the criticism that the guy who started this thread got. His views were maybe a little over the top but his core point I think was fair. I think Bosingwa acted in a selfish way that was down to the excitement of the moment, not due to a greedy personality. It didn't annoy me at all at the time or even for the next few days, but every time I see the image of the moment that we lift the cup I want to see Lamps and JT leading the celebrations like they did this club. It's an image that will be symbolic, and whilst he hasn't ruined it because I still love to look at it and all the payers going nuts, he certainly does take away from the moment. I would be saying the same thing no matter what player it was by the way.

I think Hulk is more likely than either Lucas or Hazard. I'd stick him in there.

Do we need him really? We have Ivan there who was the best RB in the prem, statistically and in my opinion. If VDW came then we would have four centre backs, all of whom are quality, none of which (other than Terry) who would get the playing time they deserve. Our defense is set and, I might add, one of the best in Europe player for player. The reason our defensive record isn't impressive this year is to do with the whole team and how much more we have been attacked this season than we usually have. Then we have Paulo and Kane as back up too.

I will be extremely excited if we end up with a squad like that.

This is such a stupid thing that in my experiences only happens whenever we travel away from the Bridge, and it really annoys me when people in crowds get angry about it. If people are stood up in front of you then stand up. If they are not then you are free to sit down (if you want to). If you've come to football but are too f**king lazy to stand up for extended periods of time then you shouldn't be there, especially in a final or away day. The ONLY situation in which you have the right to argue for fans to sit down is when you have your son or a small child with you, and you want them to see the game so they can enjoy it, have the same experiences that you had growing up, and grow up loving this club. Although my little brother just stands on the chair and uses me for support.

As long as he gets offered some kind of deal and is here next season

I can absolutely see that it is in many ways disrespectful to offer him this contract after he has just won was a HUGE cup double. Honestly though he is not a proven manager quite yet. Giving him a long term contract could very easily be a big mistake. I don't want to disrespect the legend himself or anything, but I think/hope even he himself could possibly see that he still has to prove himself a little more before receiving long term deals.

Moving back to the contract debate: I want RDM to become our next manager. BUT I also want him to have just a one year contract for now. I know how this might look. It's disrespectful to him, it will keep him on edge not knowing if his job is safe, it may just seem that the board are biding their time until someone like Pep comes along, yada yada yada. However, I'm not really sure I would want to risk giving him a lengthy contract when we are not 100% sure how good he really is. Certainly there will be people who believe he is the real thing and the dogs bollocks (and after what he has done they have every right to) and as such should get a long term contract that any other manager would get. but IMO I'm not really sure how good he is though. As has been said he has limited managerial experience, and was sacked from West Brom. Furthermore his league form was very poor (worse than AVB I think??). I think the only reason anyone on this site would say he deserve the job is because of his incredible cup achievements, in which he demonstrated some obvious motivational skill and tactical awareness (one of things that impressed me most about him was his decision to start Bertrand in the final, I thought it was the right thing to do before the game, it was certainly brave, and it was proven as an act of genius). What happened in the cups has made him a club legend, and he deserves to be at the helm next season because of it. That said it was just a few months of good form that did not translate into good league results. What I don't want to happen is for the usual pattern to occur where he has his good start as manager, but then to see the performances of the team fall apart about two months into the season, leading to his sacking, leading to huge amounts of needless compensation being paid. Lets give him a one year deal. Lets see how he does. If he does well then give him the big contract he deserves! If he doesn't, well then we haven't made the classic error of appointing a long term manager, only to sack him and pay out compensation. We can see out the season and then respectfully go our separate ways thanking him for this season and the efforts he has made. I would be happy to win nothing next season, as long as we saw some progression in the club. By this I mean good performances, players having the grit, spirit and desire to play for this team, and the groundwork for this club to progress into the future. If we see that, even if we win nothing, then give him the long-term contract. Sorry if I pissed anyone off with this opinion, but I believe he should be given the one year contract because if he is successful, we will be able to extend it, and if he is not, well, at least we have given him the chance he deserved and we can move on without any great cost to the club. I love RDM and I hope to see him as manager next season.

Yeah, this is scientific fact. The club have come out and said this. We shall know his choice by the second of June, hopefully earlier.

http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/kzqrhfcuwea5ku3gvebxcg/Show/Dribbling-Masters-of-Europe Something interesting here. Marin was the second best dribbler in terms of completions all of last season in Europe, losing out on first to Lionel Messi. Hazard was 12th. Maybe we (myself included) should be less concerned about Hazard and more excited about Marin. I for one was not (although not still fully) convinced of Marin and obviously need to give him more credit. I'm not 100% sure how much attention should be paid to these stats though.

Leavemyarsealona are going to tear this league up. Look out for Polanski!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cech Alba - Spain Johnson - England Rami - France AlekSandr - Russia Ozil - Germany Robben - Netherlands Polanski - Poland Lorente - Spain Gomez - Germany Van Persi - Netherlands 0.7 million to spare.

Agree with Meireles. As for Kalou, he has plenty of seasons and consistently failed to prove himself; i think it's time to say thank you for your time here and move on. And I have said this so many times on various threads when people start talking about him: KDB is going back on loan to Genk. It was part of the deal when we signed him.

I am so proud of every man who plays for this club. -John Obi, 10/10 performance, I'm so glad that everybody in the world was watching this because you will finally get the recognition you deserve. -Ryan Bertrand, I said from the word go you should start on the left wing, you did and you played your heart out. Future Chelsea and England starting left back. TO EVERYONE WHO SAID HE SHOULDN'T HAVE PLAYED, EAT YOUR f**kING WORDS! RDM KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING AND ANYONE WHO DIDN'T BELIEVE IN HIM SHOULD BE ASHAMED!!!!!! -Frank, you lead by example, played with more passion than anyone has ever played within a final. I love you. -Cech, you are a beautiful man. It's boring when you only save one penalty in a game, so thanks for making it three. Another player I am delighted to have proved the critics wrong. -Bosingwa, a great game. You haven't always played your best this season but you pulled it out the bag last night and came good a the big moments. -Ashley Cole, what a game you had. You always step up on the big occasion, and what you did for us last night will never be forgotten. Broke the record for the most blocks and last ditch tackles ever in CL match! -Gary Cahill, you played the whole game with an injury and a limp. I don't know if anyone else noticed but he didn't start limping in extra time, he'd been doing it the whole game. It only took you a couple of month learn what Chelsea spirit is about and I am so happy for you and your first ever two trophies. -David Luiz, I said when it went to penalties that you would take one and score it emphatically. I bet my mate £10 on it and you delivered. Not to mention you played like a hero the whole game. -Juan Mata, even though we only scored the one goal, you were pivotal in all our attacking threat. One of our best signings for many years. You may have missed a penalty but in the end it didn't Mata!!! -Kalou, I'm getting that bug on the back of your head shaved onto mine! some great defensive team work last night and some impressive link up play too. -Oh Fernando Torres, once again I said that you should have started on the right. How right was I?! You had a huge impact on the game, worked your socks off and showed a lot of people watching that despite your goals record you are a force to be reckoned with. Wish you had taken a pen though. -Malouda, fantastic performance. Again so much hard work put into the those final minutes and extra time. You epitomized what it is to play for Chelsea when you came on: this may not be our strongest squad or your personal best season, but you showed that never say die Chelsea attitude that will make this squad famous. -Didier Drogba. What the hell do I say about this guy? No wonder you are a f**king God back in the Ivory Coast. You are without a doubt the best big game player ever to grace football. When Bayern scored, the biggest reason that I still believed was that you were still on the pitch. Bayern may take 20 corners but you only need one. You just cemented yourself as the best striker in Chelsea history. I am so unbelievably upset that that could have been your last game. That said, if it is, what a way to go out. One of the best headers I have ever seen and the final pen. If I was a Liverpool fan I'd probably be disgustingly chatting about how you mean more to me than my wife or mother; you don't but you are a close runner up! I could write an essay devoted to you, thank you for everything you have done for this club, last night and throughout your career. -RDM, you are a night in shinning armour. What you did with this team, in the situation you were in, in the time you had, is nothing short of miraculous. I was saying this before the game but now more than ever: I will be disgusted if you are sacked. -Finally to every player who helped us get here, Ramires, Raul, Ivan, Paulo, Terry, etc. just because you didn't play does not mean you are forgotten. You were all instrumental and a lot of you aren't here as you were forced to put you hearts and body on the line against Barca. I feel so sorry for all of you missing out on playing on the biggest stage of them all, especially for Rami, Raul and Ivan, who were only absent due to the farcical rules of UEFA. Platini looked like he was gonna cry when we won. Genuine sadness on his face when giving Bayern their runner up medals, and very begrudgingly handed us our winners medals. He proved by the way he carried himself last night how much of an anti-England agenda there is operating in UEFA. What's that? we haven't got a hope in Europe? Bitch Please!!!

Make a separate thread for that mate, can't wait to go through them all.