SilverPolish

To Blues of a certain vintage, Dave Sexton was a huge figure. Winning those cups meant so much, and he was the man that did it. He will always be a legend at Chelsea. RIP.

I was at the 13-0 Cup Winners Cup game at the Bridge in 1971, and one of their centre-backs wore glasses. I'm pretty sure that's the only occasion I've seen a bespectacled player in a Chelsea match. Mind you, their left back only had one arm, and I am absolutely sure he is the only uni-dexter player I've ever seen. With all this focus on what words can and cannot be said on a football pitch, I bet the FA are greatly relieved that Stephan Kuntz has retired.

While this is good new for us Chelsea fans, could we please spare a moment to commiserate with our less fortunate Arsenal brethren. They have to pay the highest ticket prices in the world, see their best player sold every summer and are saddled with an increasingly bonkers manager who is convinced that coming third in the League wins you a trophy. Despite these travails, at least they could hold their heads high by being financially pure, a model of honourable business practise unlike sugar-daddy bankrolled Chel$ki who had bought their success and were therefore killing football and would cease to exist once financial fair play regulations came into play. Now however, they have cruelly had that fantasy taken away and will have to accept that London's first Champions League winners are indeed the capital's top club. So commiserations Gooners, our hearts go out to you at this difficult time, and at least you can console yourselves next time you visit Ashburton that the £14 you just paid for your fish and chips has made the bloke that owns Walmart just that little bit richer.

Proper football team, keeps going right to the end. We do still need a result in Turin though, if Juve and Shaktar both win in the next round, then draw with each other in the final game we are out.

I voted no because, like many I'm sure, signed up on an impulse when reading through a recent thread. A two-day wait and the moment would have passed. The solution to the op's concern is actually is quite simple. Internet rule number one - don't feed the trolls!

The even bigger question: Will Rio shake Clattenburg's hand? Another national crisis in the making!

Understandably there is a lot of emotion here, but let's not get carried away. Firstly, we know that the club have reported Clattenburg for "inappropriate comments", but we don't know what those comments were and I would not pay any attention to what's appearing in the twittersphere. Chelsea have to be careful here, they will want to play this absolutely by the book so would not want anything leaked. If it's on twitter, it's speculation and nothing more. As to his performance. Perhaps I am being naive, after all a German ref was jailed for corruption not so long ago, but I don't think anything that blatant happens in the PL. But I do think perhaps we saw an effect of the relentless war of intimidation Ferguson has waged against refs for many years. The FA have been feeble and let him get away with this, but from the running up and down the touchline pointing to has watch onwards, Ferguson has persistently, and often completely unjustifiably, attacked refs. This must have an effect on them, even if only subconsciously. In those split second moments making key decisions, the prospect of getting lambasted by Ferg must affect a ref's judgement. I am not suggesting they are bent, or even that they are biased, but that Ferguson has instilled fear into them so they subconsciously avoid giving decisions that they know will enrage him. Refs have to be thick-skinned, but they are human and vulnerable to psychological pressures and Ferguson knows that and has exploited it. His record as manager is phenomenal, but the cynical and calculated way he has intimidated refs over the years is a giant stain on his achievements in my book.

What the media should stand for and what the media does stand for are two very different things. It becomes a question of having to deal with the fundamental wrongness of the reality.

I certainly don't blame Abramovich for not exposing himself to the madness of the press pack, but all the more reason for him to have made a definitive public declaration of intent. This could have been made under his control - Chelsea TV for example - and it would have provided a framework for subsequent speculations about him. By saying nothing at all he has allowed the space for more lurid memes to become established. At risk of trading stereotypes, aren't Russians supposed to be good at intrigue? The media is there to be won over, let's not call it corruption, instead call it a mutually beneficial re-alignment of interests. Boycott the media? Well firstly there are contractual obligations which apply, even if you are Fergie. Also, there will be clauses in all contracts with sponsors about media exposure. These things are very closely monitored, the more mentions that Samsung say, get from their association with Chelsea the higher the rewards the club gets. Boycotting the media would be an exercise in self harm. No, the answer is to win them over, by any means necessary. I seriously hope there is a policy in place for this. Perhaps the post-JT Chelsea world would be the time to launch it.

This is great! I was at that game, which took place on my birthday. There was quite a few of us who went in those days, and everyone bought me a pint. I think I drank between ten and twelve pints of Guiness before the game. Anyway, I got as far as Langley's goal - 1-3 - then passed out! One of the greatest comebacks in our history I was out sparko in the West Stand as everyone went nuts around me. So I learned an imporant lesson that day. Don't get so drunk pre-match that you pass out before the game is over because you mght miss something!

Think co-efficients.

On a Mac I can just drag them onto the desktop. Great pics though! I love the East Stand 1920-21 taken from the south. That must be smoke drifting up - 70,000 men, all wearing flat caps and all smoking a woodbine!

Rio and Anton Ferdinand reach out to Ashley Cole and John Terry http://www.guardian....cole-handshakes Nobel Peace Prize for Rio?

Helicopter enthusiast?

Nice piece, but you omitted where I, and many others, first met Ron. He used to run the old supporters club which had a shop opposite the North Stand entrance. Up a pair of rickety wooden stairs at the back and you would hand over your one pound fifty or whatever to him for the coach to Ipswich. There weren't always football specials in the early 70s, and a lot of my early out of London games were on his coaches. He certainly was extaordinarily dedicated. I thnk my favourte story of his was about going away to Newcastle by in the 1950s. No motorways of course, so they had to leave on Thursday evening to make the Saturday kick-off!