Let me first say that i'm not pushing for Jose ousting. Apparently he was given the backing before the Newcatle match and since his coaching staff renewed their contracts, it appears that he'll be our manager come next season. He's done a lot of positive things since arriving at the club in 2004, and deserves a vote of confidence from Roman, even if they see certain things differently.

Don't get me wrong, four years ago finishing 2nd in the league,winning Carling, reaching CL semis and FA Cup final would seem to me like a dream come true. But a lot of things has changed since then,among them obviously the level of expectations set by both Roman's fortune and Mourinho's managinhg expertise.

There's one reason though and one reason only why JM was able to get away for so long with his unreasonably big mouth, silly antics and childish behaviour that managed to antagonise and turn so many clubs and people in and outside England against CFC - it's because he kept winning trophies.

But the act is getting old and doesn't seem to have much of an effect anymore. And once the results start matching the displays, all this mind game stuff turns into a sad joke. I'm getting more and more convinced and concerned that the only

way Jose seems to be able to sustain success on the pitch is by staying controvercial and confrontational off it. It may have seemed like a breath of fresh air in the beginning but by now i just wish he'd just shut the hell up and stop embarassing himself and the club.

I'm sure to a large degree we're hated for our money and success, it's nothing new. And yet you have to admit, there's more to it than mere jealousy. 'The end justifies the means' -that was JM's message to Roman and Chelsea's faithful since day one and, desperate for success, we all bought into it. But Chelsea's style of play unlike Barca's or United's will not entice a lot of neutrals to our cause and our mahager's attitude won't help things in that department, either.

I do hope though that Roman at some point will have a sitdown with the 'Special One' and outlines for him what he feels is missing from Mourinho's Chelsea(positive approach,flair,style etc) and what is constantly there but he could live without( foolish rants,constant complaints, lack of humility and respect towards other teams and players ,unimaginative tactics,etc).

If he wants to stay in his position and he obviously does(who wouldn't?) JM needs to realize that everything he does or says reflects positively or negatively on Chelsea club ,its owner and its supporters.

Jose is a winner, no doubt about it. I just wonder sometimes, this season more than ever, if the price he demands for success is too heavy. If Mourinho loves the club like he claims he does, he should show that he cares about how Chelsea will be seen and regarded after he's gone. Some things are more important than a trophy cabinet.

Rant over.

I thought I couldn't be arsed to even reply to this, but I had to.

One trophy, one final, one semi-final and second in the league is a GOOD THING. JM does what he does, I don't see it as being any different to the last two seasons, and I also don't agree with a lot of people on here (you know who you are) who would surrender being one of the top teams in Europe for some un-defined "sexy" football.

I have lost count of the number of new names suggested, new formations required, new tactics, yada, yada, yada. A scouser w**ker at work today told me that one of the reasons that he hates my CFC is because we have spent 500 million pounds amassing a huge squad and have ruined football. When I asked him to tell me all of the 500 million pounds worth of purchases and how big our squad is he mumbled Shevchenko and SWP.

We can't go on just trying to apply a cash fix each transfer window and hope that the world will love us. We have a stunning set of players, and, in my HUMBLE opinion, the best manager in Europe. We are sticking two very big SW6 fingers up to the G14, Mancs, Scousers, L'Arse and the Spuds scum all of the time. I want my CFC to be winning all of the time, I was gutted as much as the rest of you last night, and found it very difficult today with the army of various reds at work, all fully paid-up members of the ABC brigade.

Play sexy football if we can, thrash teams whenever possible by all means, but, and this is paramount, we MUST keep on winning and winning and winning.

f**k em all, WE ARE THE CHELSEA AND WE ARE THE BEST

Don't give up on that, don't yearn for the days of flashy mediocrity and most of all remember that we have been up and we have been down. We all love our club, regardless of whether it's up or down. I know which I prefer, but I will still be blue when JM, RA and the current team have gone and we are still worrying about possible relegation in March

KTBFFH

Kev

also rant over

Play sexy football if we can, thrash teams whenever possible by all means, but, and this is paramount, we MUST keep on winning and winning and winning.

that for me is the key thing- I think our chances of winning are hurt by playing in a way that doesn't get the maximum out of many of our attacking players.

abramovich wrote, in the milan game thread:

G4 do you ever wonder if our squad could have been better off playing AC Milan style of football?

I thought when Jose first arrived, he was very much influenced by italian footballing style.

Outclassed mancs tonight, no doubt about it. Kaka,Gattuso and Seedorf were immense.

I'll keep it in here to avoid the doom and gloom taking over the place!

bear in mind when I talk about the milan midfield I'll be talking about it before they switched to a 4321 with ambrosini in the side- the football has stayed the same but a comparison is easier to do if we talk about when they used a diamond.

I don't think we have the players to do that. you saw tonight how both oddo and jankalovski got forward and crossed the ball- we don't really have a player on the right who can do it... then there is the midfield. seedorf is great, creative, short passes, running into space. ballack is the closest we have to that, and in fact he is a better player IMO. lampard is similar also, though less creative and not quite as good at keeping the ball in a tight space. in front of the defence milan have the first of 2 of their truly creative players in the midfield, pirlo. he's a great passer, not a good defensive player, but very creative. we actually do have a player like that now with mikel, though he's not yet shown the creative scope of pirlo, I think there's more to come from him. on the right of the diamond they have gattuso, who does compensate for pirlo's lacking in defensive quality- he does all the pressing and defensive things... good tactical fouling etc. IMO essien is a similar player, very similar, and better in almost every way. my one criticism of essien is sometimes he'll get on the ball and take lots of touches before moving it on. but, it wouldn't be difficult with training for him to play one and two touch, he's a better passer than gattuso IMO. the other problem (after the fullbacks) is that we don't have a player who can play behind the strikers- robben, swp and kalou are all wide players, and joe cole is also. joe himself, I think, sees himself as someone who can play behind the strikers but for me he only became a proper champions league class footballer once he was moved out wide and based his game on beating a player and then playing a pass or cross. he won't consistently open up a side with creative passing.

so, no I don't think we can do it untill we sign a kaka/ deco/ totti / rui costa. someone who is a truly creative passer of the ball who is most comfortable behind the strikers. I don't think we should play the milan way though, because ancelotti's side is not built around him going "okay you lot, this is how I want to play" and then trying to fit the players into a formation, it is based on looking at his best players and creating a way of playing that suits their strengths. and that is what I think we should do.

just my opinion!

a brilliant analysis

First class stuff G4.

a brilliant analysis

First class stuff G4.

you're too kind! but you missed out this beauty:

joe himself, I think, sees himself

D'OH!