Jby

By the way, who was it that said Ba's teammates did not celebrate with him when he scored for Newcastle??? When Ba scores, this is the first thing he does below, and his teammates seem to allow him to finish before celebrating with him.

Real?

Which is why thankfully, he is only the interim manager

I know it might start fireworks, but I beg to disagree. But knowing in this forum I am unlikely to make any headway with such an argument, there is no need to start one. The bottom line for me is for Chelsea to start winning again and resume its position as a formidable and fantastic club. I am sure in the clubs over a century history, worse things have happened in the past, yet the club endures...

Maybe, When everyone apparently keeps complaining about how RA runs the club, what can fans do about it save boo??? This is an unusual situation, most times a player wants to leave a club, even if the fans want him to stay, he wants to leave, like RVP did at Arsenal, so there was nobody to appeal to except the player himself. If we are not prepared to try to do anything about the way RA runs the club, then we should all shut up and let him do a he pleases. Booing and heckling Benitez at games does nothing to help. Even if it does nothing to change the situation, it can send a message.

Lets give it a shot and try top put some pressure on the board! Sign the petition! Chelsea! Keep Frank Lampard & Ashley Cole! Please SIGN! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/chelsea-keep-frank-lampard-and-ashley-cole/

NICE!!!!

So right! If you watch the last couple of games especially since Hazard, Oscar and Moses came on board, they ALWAYS find ways to get the ball to Torres, It has been rare for him to lack service. Hazard and Moses have delightful ways to drive into the box and lay off the ball, too many times, the receipt of the ball was the problem. Lets hope that Ba helps to solve that problem. As Benitez has noted, I think this signing is a relief to Torres, He will have the weight less on him and he can take a break, but he needs to do a lot of work to become much more deadly in front of goal. The bigger prayer for Ba is not that he stays fit, it is that he KEEPS his from and fitness. Let's be positive as well as honest, if that fellow keeps his current form and stays fit, with Mata, Hazard and Moses and even Torres getting balls to him, he is very likely going to end up as one of the leagues top goal scorers. This season and probably next season. I pray he does not become a selfish player like Sturridge.

In the Europa League, he might be. Newcastle made it to the round of 32, so I am not sure if he can feature and simply not play against them or if he can't feature at all.

If you read the articles about his time at 1899 Hoffenheim, it is clear there was an issue between himself and the club. But you should also look at his stats. He made 97 appearances and scored 37 goals. So that equates to him scoring about one goal for every three games he played. At West Ham, he appeared 12 times and scored 7 goals. Would you consider those good or bad statistics? Then compare that to a real bad boy like Balotelli...?

The only way he will have any pull in the dressing room is if he delivers results. That might give him some say. With all due respects to Newcastle, what players do they have in their dressing room to challenge Ba? Chelsea has a dressing room of John Terry and Ivanovic, Luiz appears to be quite a character! Anyway, consider this with all the HIGH DRAMA that City had in its dressing room with Tevez and Balotelli, they still managed to win the FA Cup and premiership! Balotelli is in the dog house now because he is not productive on the pitch. If he was, all would be forgiven. Do you recall how much of a problem Anelka was to his various teams?

Especially after reportedly selling Sturridge for 12m, that is a profitable deal eight there. Sell a less productive player for a much more productive player. If we can get 2-3 productive years from him, that would be great. As for Falcao, I am still a bit suspicious on him, But even with Ba, we still need an additional striker. I thought we were chasing Napoli's Cavani who I think is a very very good striker. One major type player / striker we are missing in Chelsea now is an outright goal poacher, clinical finishers. A Dafoe / Henadzez.or even like Everton's Jelavic. These are strikers who are not your everyday reliable productive strikers at the level of say RVP, but they can come into a game and make even a half chance count. In addition to Torres and even Ba, we will need that kind of striker. The last striker we had like that was Solomon Kalou and Anelka is also that kind of player. By the way can folks stop mentioning Ba and ANC? Senegal did not qualify... Period.

When a guy is good a guy is good. People might forget that Tevez was once a West Ham player. He went to Man U, then to Man City, is anyone now speaking about his hiatus back to his country when he said he wanted to leave City? Almost all foreign players travel between clubs, very few are lucky to make it right in to the big time. And I should correct myself, almost all players PERIOD. Was Rooney not a budding sensation at Everton before Man U snapped him up?

I think if he can come in for about 10m its a bargain compared to the 45m or more for Falcao. And as for selling him, We will certainly be able to sell him to a team in China! Falcao is the ultimate target, but we can't wait till the summer, especially is Sturridge leave and Lukaku sees out the season at WB. The fact is he is already 27 years old. So he already only has about 3 years left anyways. We actually need TWO strikers this month, so we can keep chasing Falcao and others as we wrap up Ba. And don't forget, he is not going anywhere like Mikel and especially Moses for the ANC.

Some of them have gotta rest at some point. Even if only for the first half! Or the option will be to do it the other way round, Field the strongest team in the first half, work on at least a 3 goal margin and then rest then in the second. The season is going to be crazy! Aside from the premier league, this month we have FA Cup and League Cup games. Next month we start the next stage of the UEFA Cup. When there is time to take a breather, we should. I accept one thing, no need to theatrics or record breaking, all we need is a WIN. Could be 1/2-0 for all I care!

I would be surprised if he changes, but not if Torres does not start as I propose, I believe its an option to consider. Any of the front three, can move into the central position. Oscar is a good finisher, it might be an ideal time to test his versatility. I believe Benitez needs to move away from the 4-2-3-1 system. This was Chelsea's main mode of play when we had such a strong central striker in Drogba. Remember, Drogba in his hey days could back a defender, turn, take on two and still make the shot on goal. Torres once upon a time could do that, BUT NOT since coming to Chelsea. Hence it is high time we changed that formation. Torres needs a LOT of work on his confidence and also finishing. If you recall in the Everton game, he had two good chances that a striker of his caliber would have needed only ONE touch and goal bound, in both instances he tried to control with his first touch first, a it was too late. Contrast that to one of the sweet goals Demba Ba scored for Newcastle about two weeks ago, through center pass, one touch, a shot, goal. If Benitez can't get Torres to fire on all cylinders who will? It is sticking to that 4-2-3-1 formation and it NOT working that cost Robbie the gaffers job. Look at Man U. Rooney plays along side RVP, as does Welbeck when he comes in or starts. Yet you still have attacking wingers like Young and Valencia also in the mix stalking the goal. Of Course as well as old horses Giggs and Scholes. If Torres is not firing on all cylinders, 4-2-3-1 will not work for Chelsea.

The chap needs a rest. It is part of why he is not at his best, he is close to being overworked. AND there are several very important games coming up. That team I posted should certainly be able to handle QPR. Right now we don't need a goal fest, we simply need to make sure we win, like we did at Everton and Norwich. And don't forget they can be on the bench if needed. And I think we need to concentrate on some trophies we can most certainly win. Topping the league is going to be real tough this year. But we wait to see what happens next month.

For QPR: --------------Cech------------------- Az---Ivanovic---Cahill / JT---Cole ---Ramires---Lampard---Mikel--- ---Moses---Oscar---Hazard--- Torres / Mata / Luiz on the bench to rest at last for the first half. Moses and Mikel should still be around and should play before leaving for ANC.

Just joined folks permit me to submit this: A petition to have Lamps and Cole stay at least for one more season. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/chelsea-keep-frank-lampard-and-ashley-cole/