should we retire the number 11 shirt for Drogba?

[Mod]

Hate people suggesting this. He was a very very good player but he's not up there with Ossie, Chopper, Zola & our most succesful captain JT. So for me it's a big fat NO.

No , to retire a shirt you have to be SUPER SPECIAL to the club , like Maldini was to Milan and Zanetti is to Inter. I know at times Drogba has been great to us but there has been times where i couldn't stand the guy.

I am quite disappointed reading a few of these posts from Chelsea fans. To say whether a shirt should be retired is one thing, but some still don't seem to realise just what Drogba meant to the club.

I supported Chelsea since the early 80's so never saw some of our legends like some of our older fans. I do realise though what we saw from 8 years of Drogba was truly special. Great players will come and go, and you can compare players and clubs all you want, but Drogba was ours! All our silverware and the way we have become a top club over recent years is a massive part down to Drogba (at least on the pitch)

Why on earth would we want to say that one player isn't a legend compared to some of our others? Go and look at all time goal scorers, years and scorers of trophies we have won, then come back and tell me Drogba was a good player, but not like..<enter name here>

If some people want to constitute a true legend by someone that makes history in some way, Drogba would top the lot for our club. The guy is irreplaceable, that's why we are now buying in a job lot of attacking players and need to change our style. We had a spine that brought massive success for the club, now a large part of that has broken off.

Say what you want about a number on a shirt, but don't say what Drogba wasn't or how he wouldn't compare to someone at another club.. he was far more than that for us!

I am sure in years to come, those that don't see it now, will realise just how good he was for us. Like Zola and others, people will forget their bad days and just remember the great games and how much they worked for the club. It sounds to me we have become very spoilt in the way we think of some players.

 

[Cam]

I love Drogba as next as the next guy, but retiring a shirt as significant as 11 would be a little short sighted in my opinion.

Just give him a statue or something lol

 

[moi]

When you get old, Mod (like what I am) there is a tendency to see the past through rose-tinted glasses, so that the legends of today are not a patch on the legends of yesteryear.

Heaven knows what your wee boy will hail as a "legend"!

But you're right, all the same!

My own opinion on the shirt issue is that shirts should never be retired, or only in exceptional circumstances when a footballer has passed away "in harness".

 

[Mod]

When you get old, Mod (like what I am) there is a tendency to see the past through rose-tinted glasses, so that the legends of today are not a patch on the legends of yesteryear.

I beg to differ, no player in a Chelsea shirt has achieved what Drogba has. Sure, he had plenty of help on the way and without Roman as owner, things may have been different. Our team achieved that success collectively but Drogba was a (or even, the) major part of it. That's why it is somewhat disappointing to read some fans not really appreciate what they have seen from a player like Drogs.

I do sort of get your point. I watched us home and some away as Second division sh*t so maybe you had to witness the crap times (though I wouldn't go back and change it) to really appreciate players like Drogba and the success the team has had since.

 

[moi]

I beg to differ, no player in a Chelsea shirt has achieved what Drogba has. Sure, he had plenty of help on the way and without Roman as owner, things may have been different. Our team achieved that success collectively but Drogba was a (or even, the) major part of it. That's why it is somewhat disappointing to read some fans not really appreciate what they have seen from a player like Drogs.

I do sort of get your point. I watched us home and some away as Second division sh*t so maybe you had to witness the crap times (though I wouldn't go back and change it) to really appreciate players like Drogba and the success the team has had since.

No, you've not really understood my point!! My point was that the old fogeys get the past all distorted!

 

[ace]

Drogba will go down as an all-time legend, as he should. However, I am just not a fan of retiring numbers. If we do it for Drogba, then we should do it for Lamps and JT, to say nothing of the legends of pre-Roman.

The only time I am in favor of it is when, as someone else has already mentioned, a player tragically dies on the field or in service to the club. Had Muamba not been so lucky I would not fault Bolton for retiring his number.

 

[ChelseaVeteran]

I am quite disappointed reading a few of these posts from Chelsea fans. To say whether a shirt should be retired is one thing, but some still don't seem to realise just what Drogba meant to the club.

I supported Chelsea since the early 80's so never saw some of our legends like some of our older fans. I do realise though what we saw from 8 years of Drogba was truly special. Great players will come and go, and you can compare players and clubs all you want, but Drogba was ours! All our silverware and the way we have become a top club over recent years is a massive part down to Drogba (at least on the pitch)

Why on earth would we want to say that one player isn't a legend compared to some of our others? Go and look at all time goal scorers, years and scorers of trophies we have won, then come back and tell me Drogba was a good player, but not like..<enter name here>

If some people want to constitute a true legend by someone that makes history in some way, Drogba would top the lot for our club. The guy is irreplaceable, that's why we are now buying in a job lot of attacking players and need to change our style. We had a spine that brought massive success for the club, now a large part of that has broken off.

Say what you want about a number on a shirt, but don't say what Drogba wasn't or how he wouldn't compare to someone at another club.. he was far more than that for us!

I am sure in years to come, those that don't see it now, will realise just how good he was for us. Like Zola and others, people will forget their bad days and just remember the great games and how much they worked for the club. It sounds to me we have become very spoilt in the way we think of some players.

Well said. Drogba is a legend and deserves to be next to Zola and so on. The guy gave everything to bring success to this club . It's ridiculous how someone can watch what he's achieved see him score in so many finals terrorise the best defenders in the world for so many seasons,power a header to equalise in the Cl final score the winning pen and say he shouldn't be listed with Chopper,Bonneti. What a joke lol. We hadnt even won the league since 50's. He comes in helps us win a ton of trophies and certain fans wouldn't call him a 'legend'. Imo was as big to us as Henry was to Arsenal.

 

[Mike Carefree]

RETIRE the 11 shirt. Absolutely not..The Drogs deserves a bust made of bronze in our museum for what he achieved at chelsea. The 11 shirt must still remain and be hard earned and not easily given

 

[Spiller86]

I think it is a difficult choice. 25 for example isn't worn as regularly as 11 anyway.

I wouldn't have an issue if it were left vacant for a season, but not forever

 

[BlueBeard]

Drogba was a wonderful player for us (most of the time), but he certainly wasn't more important than the likes of Peter Osgood, Kerry Dixon, Charlie Cooke, Alan Hudson, Ian Hutchinson, Ray Wilkins, Johnny Hollins, Eddie McCreadie or Ron Harris.

Younger posters clearly won't remember those players, but they are all Chelsea legends who gave their all for Chelsea, and played hundreds of games for the club through difficult times.

 

[Amputechture]

Drogba really is/was the best striker in the world. On his day, he is second to none. He is probably the most "complete" striker I have ever had the pleasure of watching and no matter who we bring in for the future, I'm certain about one thing. There will NEVER be another Didier Drogba.

Trying to replace Didier will prove to be the most difficult task the Chelsea board have ever faced, because it simply isn't possible.

 

[chelseablueboy]

I beg to differ, no player in a Chelsea shirt has achieved what Drogba has. Sure, he had plenty of help on the way and without Roman as owner, things may have been different. Our team achieved that success collectively but Drogba was a (or even, the) major part of it. .

I think that's a bit of a 'slur' on JT, Lamps, Ash & Cech.

There's no way Drogba's contribution was any more than theirs in our recent trophy laden history. The centre forward always gets the glory, but it's rare (and not imo in this case) that he is ''the major part'' of a top teams success.

Not having a pop at you Mod or the Drogs (who will/should go down as ONE OF the clubs legends), but the recent 'Drogba gushing' is becoming a bit OTT.. Retiring shirt numbers etc.

Alan

 

[loz]

For me Drogba is right up there with any of the greats from the past. It isn't really possible to definitively say where any players stands in the pecking order as they played in different eras, with different team mates and against different opposition. As long as there is a credible argument for any of them then I prefer to acknowledge each of them as being massive in the history of the club.

However I wouldn't retire a shirt number for any of them. Clubs evolve and great players come and go, retiring their number won't make us remember them any more or less, or make any impact on what they achieved. One day we will have another number 11 who will be remembered as much as Drogs will be.

 

[foreverblue21]

Let the new legend wear it!

 

[Celery1989]

Just throwing this out there, but how would people feel if there was a bronze statue made consisting of Drogs, Lamps, JT and Cech, (Possibly Ashley Cole) perhaps at the new stadium wherever it may eventually be? Or is that too cheesy lol?

 

[charierre]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwhKI1TcoQM&feature=youtu.be Drogs first goal for Shanghai . Watch and learn Nando and Studge thats how its done.

 

[moi]

Just throwing this out there, but how would people feel if there was a bronze statue made consisting of Drogs, Lamps, JT and Cech, (Possibly Ashley Cole) perhaps at the new stadium wherever it may eventually be? Or is that too cheesy lol?

My own feeling about statues is that they should be reserved for legends who have died.

 

[Mod]

We had a well crafted John Terry statue out on the pitch at the Falmer this afternoon.

 

[Tim W]

Drogba was a wonderful player for us (most of the time),

Most is perhaps a bit generous BB

but he certainly wasn't more important than the likes of Peter Osgood, Kerry Dixon, Charlie Cooke, Alan Hudson, Ian Hutchinson, Ray Wilkins, Johnny Hollins, Eddie McCreadie or Ron Harris.

Let's face if we were to retire shirt numbers today's player numbers would start at 13 as the whole seventies team shirt numbers would be retired.

 

[Greg_cfc_4life]

Didier Drogba is a Chelsea icon and legend. But I don't like the idea of retiring shirt numbers. What happens when Lampard isn't here are we going to retire his number 8 shirt ? There will be no good numbers from 1-11 left for any players who joins if we retire shirts. We should keep the number 11 and make it an iconic Chelsea shirt number and let the next legend wear it.

Also Oscar has been given the number 11.