CodyBound

No, he's not. He is the best option we have at the moment though. I do like him but does he really fill anyone with confidence when you see him on the starting team sheet?

Don't think it is an opinion to be slated for but yes, I would like to see him start. Romeu (if fit) hasn't had enough playing time over the months and Essien just isn't as good right now. BUT you could make the argument Essien would be more fired up for it.

No, the minority of our fans who disgraced us should take the blame. You are right though that the FA set this up to happen by giving us a late kick off (everyone gets pissed before the game) and forcing us to play on Sunday. I have felt insulted by some of the comments by journalist and others affiliated with the media referring to Chelsea fans in general as disgusting and disrespectful. A surprising amount of people, although they must realise it, fail to publicly recognise that is was the 0.001% (as Myles points out) of our fans and refer to us in general. I was just sitting here whilst being labelled via twitter and other internet sites as scum due to the actions of others among our ranks. Of course most recognised it was the minority but those who didn't (and don't) infuriate me. However while the FA where obviously tactless with the whole thing, the blame and disgrace lies with those individuals.

Here you go mate: http://www.goalsarena.org/video/england-english-cups/15-04-2012-tottenham-chelsea-fa-cup_en.html

Having a scan tomorrow on the hamstring, we'll know then, but he is out for Barca at the very least. The picture is not photo-shopped, but it's still hard to say for sure if it's 100% over. What we do know for sure is that we 100% don't care anyway.

I'm sad to say that we do know for a fact that it was. A minority though.

We know he is not talent-less. Winning the Europa league is no easy feat. The amount of games and the competitiveness of it makes it a grand competition (although not as great as the CL) to win and I for one, if it is the cup we are involved with next season, would be proud to win it. Your final comment is bang on. This was not for him at his age and with his experience. Managers more experienced with more credentials with an easier task have failed to escape the axe before him. I love the guy and I wish him all the best. Wouldn't be surprised if he had a long successful career and came back to the bridge to make us regret our decision to sack him, even if it was the correct one.

WV2 Blue has said already what I came on this feed to say. I would be far more interested in seeing a wishlist of managers than of players. Appointing the right man as a long term manager is most important. I'll add though, and I'm prepared to get laughed at for this suggestion because of his age, Clint Dempsey would be a solid signing and is someone that never gets mentioned in this kind of conversation. We would get him for a smaller fee hopefully because he only has one year left on his contract and he would bring creativity and goals (and passion to boot). Of course this is only a short term solution because of his age and there will obviously be better youthful signings out there but if all else fails it's likely we would get more than our moneys worth until we sign the long term solution to our midfield. I'm not saying this after watching Chelsea play him the other night, I've been thinking about it since before January.

Funny post to read. He was responsible for Mata, Sturridge as well did well under him. In the end it was just his terrible relationship with the media and players, and his general people skills that ended him. I heard (cannot remember where) David Luiz was the only player who said goodbye to him and he left in tears, can anyone confirm that. Disgraceful if true.

I can't help but be optimistic, but prepared to be disappointed as well. What gives me hope against Barcelona is that we've never really been the favourites over our last 5 meetings but we've won two and were very close to victory in 1999/2000 and 2009 (-_-....) As for spurs, they're form is worse than ours which is encouraging. I would be more worried if we were up against Everton. But Arsenal away, I have little optimism for that.

What is this injury he has/had? It was said that he had a niggle, but for three and a bit months? He's been training with the first team as well in that time. If a player is out due to injury then it is generally made quite clear that that is the case.

Apparently the emirates is the most likely venue should that happen, and I think Craven Cottage is the second favourite.

There's talk about his contract. The whole buy-back clause issue. Nobody knows exactly what it says for sure but there are theories that say AVB and now RDM are not playing him because they realise how good he is and are worried about Barca taking him back at the end of this season or the next (when I think the clause expires). Apparently there may also be a clause in the contract that says Barca have this option if he makes a certain number of appearances. I think this is quite likely the reason because there can only be two other reasons for why he is not playing: 1. He is not good enough (pfffffff) 2. He has done something behind the scenes that has led to him being disregarded. Point 1. is just false, and point 2. seems extremely unlikely given that any kind of behind the scenes drama finds its way to the media very quickly these days. At the very least there are rumours. Complete silence on this suggests that he has done nothing wrong however. I would conclude from this that it is something to do with his contract. Chelsea are afraid of losing him, so they are either trying to make the world forget about him until Barca no longer have the option or they are trying not to surpass the amount of appearances necessary for them to buy him back (or both). If indeed this is the reason why he has vanished, then congratulations to the Chelsea board by putting in a ridiculous clause that ruins a signing that was actually promising.

I do think that Droba should play against Barca. They've struggled in the past with his physicality, something they don't see much of in La Liga, and as Belgian_SW6_Lover says: For that reason I would argue that he doesn't start, but other than that play our strongest team (although he probably isn't part of our strongest team now anyway). I don't think that we should or need to sacrifice one game to win the other.

I'm personally not a big fan of the gold, but other than that I like the kit. The Green kit is especially good in my opinion. I wonder if the classic green kit may have some other purpose rather than style. Cech has tended to have a bright kit because the opposition subconsciously pick him out and aim closer to him with their shooting. Maybe Chelsea have gone the opposite way here and given him a colour that is less conspicuous so that the opposition (how to put this....) notice him less and subconsciously feel less need to aim and put it in the middle of the goal instead. Hope that makes sense. I know this sounds like wild theorising, but Chelsea do take this stuff into account, so it's just a thought. It might just be green for the classic look.

A very touching read. I didn't realise what Halsey had gone through. I have even more respect for Jose having read this.

Agree, I think he may of just signed a new contract too (could be wrong, may have just been offered one). Clear out list: Bosingwa - liability Ferreira - never use him so a waste of wages Cole - falling away and stopping PVA and Bertrand from progressing. Miereles - crime against football Essien - saddens me greatly to include him but I can't see him coming back into form Drogba - another player that I'm sad to include, but he doesn't seem as interested and is holding us from moving into a new future Kalou - has never really convinced me he deserves to be at the club Malouda - old, inconsistent, and now rarely even used I also think that Lampard needs to maybe accept that he won't start every game. We can't play him every game but it would break my heart if he left. If he could stay on as an occasional starter and as an impact sub though, just as Giggs and Scholes do at united, then I would be very happy.

I will never forget his Champions league debut (and possibly 1st team debut too????) for Chelsea at Anfield.....

Spurs have lost! Time for us to pounce!

This will be a very difficult match. Fulham, strong at home and treating this match as a cup final, will be tough to beat. Because of this and the fact that we have a six day rest I think we should play more or less our strongest team. We can't afford to drop any points really and we must treat each match with the level of respect it deserves. Cech Ivan - Luiz - Cahill - Bertrand (assuming JT is out) Mikel - Lampard - Mata (just in front of the other two. Can't really afford to rest him although we need to at some point!) Ramires - Torres - Sturridge

I was sad to see Claudio go and at the time thought he should have stayed, but obviously with hindsight we know that appointing JM was the best thing that could have happened. Grant was just meant to be an temporary manager I think. Plus his success was largely down to the players controlling the team. #playerpower Carlo has to be the worst sacking of the lot though. Delivers us our most successful season ever (in terms of trophies) and then gets sacked because he didn't win anything the next year within the toughest league in the world. Impatient and incompetence. You will struggle to appoint a manger with a better CV than him. Board acted like infants and threw their toys out the pram. AVB.......... correctly sacked. In the end his relationship with the media and his lack of communication with the players created disharmony. You could say that he was there to create a bright future for Chelsea and should have had time but other than signing Mata I struggle to see how he was moving in that direction (especially as KDB, Courtois and Lukaku weren't his signings and he failed to include good prospects, such as Josh, Lukaku and Bertrand, at all). I do think we need to sign a manager for this purpose though.

Completely agree. I think first and foremost we must address the lack of creativity within our midfield. Without that we will struggle to pose any attacking threat, although indeed, new wingers are needed. As for spending, I don't mind how much we spend (within reason) as long as they are worth the money. If we spent a radical amount on a player and they transformed our game then I would care about the large fee. Obviously not spending much on a player that significantly contributes is ideal, but that doesn't mean we don't have to spend big, because sometimes spending big is spending wisely also. On another note since we are playing Fulham later: Clint Dempsy - He could (arguably) fit into the "spend wisely" category as he is almost out of contract (therefore likely to be relatively cheap) and is an absolute quality player who would thrive in a big team with similarly quality players around him. He may not be 29 but he would bring experience, leadership, creativity and goals. Of course this signing would only work if we saw the end of Miereles and Frank accepted a impact substitute role. Obviously there will be better youthful signings out there but I expect it would not be hard to acquire his signature and would solve a lot of our problems in the short term (next couple of seasons).