Hope the poll isn't too confusing. I've put it into table form below to avoid confusion.

________________Drogba should leave________Drogba should stay

Drogba will leave_____Option 1_____________Option 2

Drogba will stay______Option 3_____________Option 4

The should part is about what in your opinion should happen (if you were Abramovich/Carlo/whoever makes the decision), and the will part is what you think will actually happen.

Below is my not so humble opinion:

As always, it's more fun for me to stick my neck out and say something when the majority would disagree with me.

Personally, despite a drop off in form, I consider Drogba one of our best players and would be disappointed if he isn't still here next season. All good to say his 33 and therefore his too old, but he doesn't look finished to me at all. Also, I feel that any manager who comes in (likely), or Ancellotti if we stick with me (less likely), it's probably going to see things as I do.

I guess we'll see if im right come the end of the season.

Edited February 17, 201115 yr by Guest

You should have added an option ...I don't know if he will leave but I think he should stay. that would have been my choice but as is I've gone as close as possible with Option 4 same option as I would have chosen had that question been about the Manager.

The evidence is contradictory. Drogba himself has at different times stated that he wants to finish his career at Chelsea, and that he'd love to go back to Marseilles. And then there's Torres, who is younger than Drogba so was he bought as a replacement (not like for like, obviously) or with the intention of getting a Drogba/Torres partnership to work?

Drogba has also stated that he feels his best years are ahead of him. He may well be right about that. The recent bout of Malaria has undoubtedly had a massively detrimental effect on his form and fitness. That this is a post-World Cup hasn't made recovery any easier. So it is very possible that he could be back at his best next season. Or maybe the effects of age are catching up with him after all.

You'll have to excuse me. I'm still looking for the "sh*t I really don't know" option.

I thought there were only so many times and ways we could debate the old "should Drogba stay or go issue?".

Clearly, I was wrong.

I thought there were only so many times and ways we could debate the old "should Drogba stay or go issue?".

Clearly, I was wrong.

Maybe Qaz should have made the thread "should Josh start every game" "should Josh's amazing Brother be signed and start every game" and "should we have first refusal on Josh's first born"?

Not much to talk about on here, hes only trying to get some coversation going to be fair.

Maybe Qaz should have made the thread "should Josh start every game" "should Josh's amazing Brother be signed and start every game" and "should we have first refusal on Josh's first born"?

Not much to talk about on here, hes only trying to get some coversation going to be fair.

Don't be so touchy.

At least that thread would be about the future and not the past.

Don't be so touchy.

At least that thread would be about the future and not the past.

I was joking Nibs, had I been serious I would have said he should have changed it to should a Jose come back Poll.

edit: Pulling your chain more than Joking but not meant as anything more

Edited February 17, 201115 yr by Chippy

I started a new thread because I wanted to have a poll. Polls are fun for me as they allow me to see what the collectove Chelsea fan's view is on any subject at a particular time.

I fully expect one of the mod's or even Mod himself to merge the thread

I was joking Nibs, had I been serious I would have said he should have changed it to should a Jose come back Poll.

edit: Pulling your chain more than Joking but not meant as anything more

Fair enough.

I'm just working on my new thread / poll entitled who should be our number 10 for next season? To make it easier I have narrowed it down to just the one option!!!

I think he will leave in the summer plainly because I've put a tenner on the fact that he won't.

I believe Drog's age at 33 next season, will be a deciding factor as to whether or not the club decides to let him go. It's fairly obvious, with the addition of David Luiz, the club is looking to add fresh young blood to our a squad.

As much as I'd like to see Drogs stay I've got to be realistic. I believe we should cash in on him and sign a fresh young striker to play alongside Torres.

Fair enough.

I'm just working on my new thread / poll entitled who should be our number 10 for next season? To make it easier I have narrowed it down to just the one option!!!

Joey Cole to come back it is then :D

seriously Next season could be a good one for Josh, I think Carlo can only stick with Essien and Frank for so long hoping they hit some form and we might well see him get another chance.

I'm not saying I don't think the Manager has been right to keep with the two of them as I think their experience in the big CL games and could help us but I think his patience will wear thin if they dont start showing more soon, I think Essien could end up losing out as Ramires has become the new engine of the team and the important Goals Lampard has scored in the CL could just sway Carlo to prefer him over Ess.

I'm not changing my tune as I would have stuck with them up to now hoping they would hit form in time for the business end but I must admit I'd have given Josh at least more time off the bench and definately in the last couple of games.

I hope he gets at least half an hour against Everton (although they are tough in midfield) and if he looks as assured as his last few outings I think Carlo might just think again.

Too cooshti picking up 130,000 a week for a little effort now and again

The Drogba haters are so funny. They claim Drogba is too old but he is 32, same age as Frank Lampard. They will both be 33 by the time next season starts.

They say Drogba's having a poor season and is finished, well Lampard has been even worse.

If you want Drogba out then you should also want Lampard gone. Not many would want that though would they? Funny that.

In my opinion Drogba should stay for another year. We finally have another good striker in Torres to ease the burden on Drogba but people want him gone which is just laughable.

This has been a big topic of conversation amongst me and my football buddies, none of them Chelsea and it's quite interesting what they've said. All of whom agreed that he should stay because (though they couldn't help digging at his diving record) he's an absolute beast, and he's a useful asset to have. However, I was the only one who saw it differently, I genuinely believe we've had the best out of Drogba in his time year, last year being his last great year for us. It's time to move on I think, especially with the signing of Torres.

We should easily get a few bob out of him (something around £20million I think) considering his age, but it'll still be a useful sum of money for Abra/Carlo to play with to bring in some personnel in the summer, ideally a winger for the 4-3-3 (I don't think Malouda can quite cut it there anymore, even with Zhirkov now back, I don't think Carlo sees Zhirkov as a winger, more a left mid/cover for Ash), or a proper #10 if he wants to go the diamond/4-3-1-2 route. The summer will be very interesting transitionally, I think we'll see quite a few faces go, with quite a few coming in, maybe not like for like replacements. I think Drogba and Anelka will leave in the summer, bringing in Lukaku (hopefully...) a creative midfielder, around the same age as Ramires, who I'm not quite sure about, and finally a winger, preferably Sanchez.

I'm aware this is just a pipe dream, but I genuinely think that in the summer, we should have a look at the 4-2-3-1 formation. The back 5 picks itself (Cech, Ivan, Luiz, JT, Ash (Alex a more than capable substitute)), and Torres (Lukaku/Sturridge being his replacement) will be up front on his own. The five in midfield will be a bit more difficult to breakdown, plus it's more than capable of merging to a 4-1-4-1 when we're on the attack. What I would LOVE to see is:

----------------------------Cech

----Ivan-----------Luiz-----------JT-----------Ash

--------------Ramires--------Essien/Mikel

---Sanchez----Josh/NewCreativeMid----Zhirkov

------------------------Torres

Subs: Turnbull, PVA, Alex, Essien/Mikel, Lampard, Kalou/Kakuta, Sturridge/Lukaku

I know it's incredibly early to suggest a change like this, but I think it'd work.

This has been a big topic of conversation amongst me and my football buddies, none of them Chelsea and it's quite interesting what they've said. All of whom agreed that he should stay because (though they couldn't help digging at his diving record) he's an absolute beast, and he's a useful asset to have. However, I was the only one who saw it differently, I genuinely believe we've had the best out of Drogba in his time year, last year being his last great year for us. It's time to move on I think, especially with the signing of Torres.

But if Drogba leaves we're back to square one which is not having enough quality forwards at the club. We started the season with Drogba, Anelka, Kalou and Sturridge.

Kalou is woeful and Ancelotti for whatever reason doesn't rate Sturridge so essentially we had just Didier and Anelka. Now we have added another good forward which allows for a little more rotation. Drogba looked sharp and hungry when he came on against Fulham, much sharper than I've seen him in months. Why would you want to deprive us of this extra forward? Especially with Torres' lengthy injury record with all sorts of knee, groin and hamstring injuries.

If Drogba left we'd have to buy another quality forward and as you've seen with Torres they don't come cheap. Will Roman pay big money for another player having spent so much on Torres? I doubt it.

And we would never get £20m for a 33 year old striker in the last year of his contract.

I think he will go, he has said many times he would love to play in Spain or Italy one day and this is probably his final chance at that. I dont want him to leave though because imagine having the luxury of him in the squad or off the bench if need be, though I doubt he would be happy with that.

Old father time catches up with all of us in the end,Didier did look lively when he came on against Fulham,but it was only 20mins and not the whole game.To play at your best you have to want to be at your best,95% effort isn't enough when going for the big trophies.The big man/lone striker role, which he has done better than anyone else in the world for quite some time, is the toughest and most demanding role on the pitch.If he really wanted it,then i would say stay another year,but i suspect deep down, his mind is somewere else,the challenge for the club is surely to find the next Didier Drogba.

Didier is a legend, if he feels he should wind-down his football somewhere else in his latter years, good for him. I don't think his dip in form is down to age or anything else, other than the whole team has pretty much dipped and he is part of that.

He is quality, and if he stays on for longer, it would be a result for Chelsea.

I hope he stays, but if he goes I hope it's on his terms and the club don't force him out the door to bring on a new striker. I'd rather see anelka leave, if we were planning on bringing in another striker. I think we'l sign an attacking midfielder, a winger and a striker, I'd prefer pastore, hazard, and lukaku. But I'd also be ecstatic if we signed hamsik, sanchez and neymar. Were being linked with that many players at the moment though, all you can do is wildly guess. The way ramires and David luiz have freshened things up, it highlights how stale we let things get imho. we should have been making that sort of signing pretty much one a season, and now it looks as if we as a team look tired and stale. Which could be a reason for why we are finding it difficult to get back on form.

I have no idea what will happen, I am guessing that football aside, personal circumstance will have a deciding factor. Drogba has moved home fourteen times since he was five and has stated that he has no desire move his three children around, although, I would assume moving anywhere with a millionaires bank balance would ease the upheaval somewhat.

I have gone with option four as I hope he will stay, which I think will have a lot to do with whether the management want him to stay or not and...should he stay, if he returns to form, I think the answer is obviously yes.

Should he leave? That to me is 100% dependent on how things pan out this season.

You would have to compare the value of any possible transfer fee against how well he is partnering with Torres.

If he and Torres end up really clicking, it would be worth letting DD go on a free to have that partnership for a full season considering the possible trophies/prize monies they could win would way out value any transfer fee (plus the marketability of DD will still rake in revenue through other platforms if he remains a impact player).

If they do not click, you let Drogba go for a decent fee and have him leave as a first team legend, and not have him end his Chelsea career as a back up to Torres (and he would likely be that if they do not click and DD stays next season).

Our love and hate affair with Drogba. He should have gone 3-4 times now if the rumour were true. As I see it, he has a pattern of good then bad season. If this year is a bad one, next year he will be awesome. If we can get someone like Lakuka next year, I'm happy to let him go, otherwise we need him even just as a plan B.

Best for both parties if he leaves IMO, all indications are that we will totally revamp the squad come summer, in order to add new players we have to let others go, Drogba, Anelka, Lampard, Essein all candidates to make way...not saying all will leave but over the next 2 seasons they should all be moved on

I hope he stays, he had his best ever season with us... last year. He's not past it, he's just having a bad year probably in no small part due to Malaria. Also he's one of my favourite chelsea players and so I'd like him to stay.