The 2007/08 season review

Another good one TG - I wouldn't disagree with much of this. Any season when you part company with a very successful manager in September is almost bound to be a write-off with the inevitable disruption and re-adjustment even if you appoint from within [cf 2000-01 when Vialli got the boot at a similar point in the season and we exited all cup competitions early and finished a mediocre 6th) - so we over-achieved on expectations even if it was all "almost" success.

How much credit AG deserves for this compared to the rest of the coaching staff and the players could be argued about for ever and seems mostly pointless now that he's gone - the bit I still struggle to understand was giving AG a 4-year contract in October, guaranteeing we would waste millions getting rid of him at the end of the season - another dent in that "self-funding" target by whatever year it has shifted onto now.

Interested to see your backing for Sidwell - isn't this the point that we need reasonable quality back-up players who are willing to keep their head down and provide good cover when we need them without throwing hissy fits in the media when they don't get a game. We can't hope to keep happy even a 22 player squad of only top-class internationals who all expect to play every week.

The next manager appointment needs to be the right one and one that sticks for years if we're not to become a complete joke - and needs to be sorted out soon to give him input into player decisions.

'Claudio Pizarro: Hopeless in every sense. Goodbye - 2/10'

Maybe Pizarro has committed some terrible act against Chelsea FC that has escaped me.

(Ducking for cover!)

Honestly, though, 2?

Just as it looks in doubt Tony, you pull this review out of the bag and you're back in the hunt for the managers job ;-).

Excellent review which really does epitomise the shit-storm of a season we've had to endure. Most of our time as fans now is spent on a daily basis seeing what nonsense the hacks are making up in the shape of who are new manager will be / who's leaving / who's signing. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Agree with your sentiments on Anelka. Has to stay, he can be a huge asset next season given the chance to play in his natural position.

Not sure about a few of the marks you gave though :

Pizarro - Seems about 100% too generous in my opinion.
Kalou - More than one step up away from Messi and Ronaldo. Probably a step up to Mess(on) Ronaldo, mind.

All in all, I'm hugely optimistic about next season already. And we dont even have a manager. As you point out, we would have been Champions had we turned two shit draws into wins. Put the dismal displays against Barnsley and Spuds into perspective and we'd have won two cups and we all know how cruel a coat of Russian Dulux can be......

Get the right man at the helm, and a hand-ful of thoroughly classy individuals on the pitch and we'll be celebrating like its, erm, 2005. I promise.

Clearly my love for Jose runs nowhere near as deep as yours Tony – lol.

If I was forced to use the term love then mine would be directed at Roman since he is the man that has invested millions. In my opinion Roman is the best owner because all he wants is the best for the club. Unlike other owners he’s not in it to make a capital gain, he hasn’t reversed in all of the debt and he’s not trying to milk the club. Instead he’s invested in the team, the salaries and developed long term infrastructure such as Cobham.

Roman wasn’t happy with the employee he’d recruited to manage his assets and fired him. That’s Roman’s prerogative.

I know people say money can’t buy you success. However let’s work on the assumption that Avram was completely incompetent and yet even he managed to get us to within a whisker of 3 trophies. Therefore if we recruit someone with just a modicum of football management skill that could be the difference between failure and success. If at the same time this new recruit can act in a way that doesn’t constantly bring the club into disrepute and looks more PR friendly (e.g. Tony Blair vs Gordon Brown) then we’ll all be quids in.

I’m hugely optimistic for next season since despite playing rubbish in so many games we pushed Sir Fergies greatest ever 11 to the wire. With just an essence of management next season Fergie and Winger will be pleading for Platini to intervene with some rule on financial capping.

Maybe money will buy success.

cant you have a rating for pete kenyon

PETER KENYON-what a douchebag -3/10

'Maybe Pizarro has committed some terrible act against Chelsea FC that has escaped me.'

@Cashif. No, It was not Pizzaro, but the club committed the terrible act, that's to sign him.

Agree totally with the ratings, except maybe an addition of 0.5 each to Essien and Makalele.(Is it Makalele or Makelele? )

@4 Mark - I'd agree we're lucky Roman is not one of the asset-stripping owners rapidly taking over the EPL but the problem is the increasing likelihood of him turning into our version of that maniac Vladimir Romanov who treats Hearts as his very own real life Championship Manager sacking nominal managers by the bucketful and who has installed his son as puppet Chairman. I believe HE is the owner PurpleNose referred to recently as "faxing in the teamsheet to the manager on the day of the game" though it was taken by many to refer to us.

I suspect your last few paras are mainly a wind-up attempt, but if not while I feel more optimistic too about next season now that AG has gone I think we need to recognise that "someone with just a modicum of football management skill" will want to introduce their own system and move players in and out - not just keep TSO's system and players ticking over for another season - and instant success does not necessarily follow.

What I have I learnt from the season, well...

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in.

I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just arseholes.

I've learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better have a big dick or huge tits.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more
fucked up than you think.

I've learned you can carry on puking - long after you think you've finished

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are premiership
footballers.

I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take its place.

I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones who do.


I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones just never go away.

I've learned to say 'Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke' in erm.. one language.

The rating for Sheva is an insult, 28 appearences most as a sub in the last 5 minutes and he still scored 8 goals. Pizarro hasnt been given a chance end of

TG, great piece.
@Mark, looks like money can not buy victories, but your love seams to have found a buyer :-)

All the Best for the next season

@ 9 TBTJ - Pizzarro got plenty of chances and was fucking useless and if you think he's good enough for Chelsea then fine, but for me I wouldn't rate him as anything better than Championship standard...come to think of it he's not even that good. He's damn lucky to get 2/10 as is Malouda with 4/10.

As for Sheva I truly like the guy BUT he went missing with Sicknote Anderton Syndrome when we really needed him and in my view bottled it. Funny ...he was too badly injured to play for us, but happily able to play golf at Wentworth on numerous occasions. Got an explanation? I'm in favour of keeping him and letting him develop the Hughes type role because his ball skills are truly awesome...he needs to adopt a Ballack mentality and adapt or else he's as much good as the proverbial one legged man in an arse kicking contest.

Oh and my ratings scale doesn't do minus figures for Kenyon in terms of personality/dignity/compassion, but as a CEO in building the brand and raising the revenue and profile of the club...well he is bloody good at that.

Ahh Tone, just like the original film, you had us all reaching for the tissues long before the end sniff sniff.....(for the purposes of drying the tears and blowing the nose to any of you dirty minded b*st*rds out there).

What might have been eh....?

I assume the sub text of your review is that our new manager needs to have the looks of Ryan O'Neill in order to promote the brand beloved of Peter Kenyon?

More Toad Hall Football or The Toad - a Valediction

There are only 3 things important enough for this blog. Sex, football and Toads.

TG has more than adequately covered the first two and it falls to me to deal with the third.

(I suggest that SimonT and other haters of Toad Worship look away now.)

I am an urbanite and not living cheek by jowl with nature leaves most of my direct interaction with wildlife somehow portentous.

Last year for instance on a holiday in Dorset the children went to feed ducks every morning. On the first day there were eight or nine little ducklings scooting across the grass to the fence. By the end of the week there were two. Foxes, magpies, rats etc. had taken their toll. I felt rather sad and dreaded these encounters. One day I saw a bird hopping away with a duckling carcass in its mouth.

A few years ago, I found a dead pigeon behind the bin in the front garden. It un-nerved me in a way I couldn't describe. Days later I lay in the road with my left leg in two, my Triumph a write off and a hit and run driver tearing away.

This brings me to the two toad related incidents, which have book ended the season.

Last summer we rented a cottage in north Norfolk. I remember wandering across Holkham beach helping the boy fly his new Winnie the Pooh kite and listening to our win over Portsmouth.

There was an outhouse with the cottage we rented. One day I went in and saw a toad sitting in the corner. I tried to let it out the door. It evaded me and I lost sight of it. The next day when I went into the outhouse again and there was only the carcass of the toad. Who knows what had attacked it.

A couple of weeks later JM was on his way and Grant was manager.

Now I am in a cottage on the Isle of Wight. The other day I had to look at the fuse board in the under-stairs cupboard. There looking up at me was a toad. Despite my best efforts he evaded capture (with a view to release into the garden). On a couple of occasions through the day he was still there. Again he evaded capture. I have not seen him since.

Grant was sacked on Saturday, the day we arrived.

I do not expect to encounter toads again.

TG, I never said that he is the right player for Chelsea or that we should keep him, If you had seen him play before he joined us then you would know that he is not a lone striker and benefits from having a strike partner, Also bear in mind that this is his first season in england and the great man who bought him to this club has been sacked and the fact that he was banned from playing his national team for whom he is captain, thats must have been pretty demoralising dont you think?, Tell me again how many starts hes had? I can only remember 2 games 1. 3-2 vs Brum 2. `-0 vs QPR and he scored in both. However whilst I dont think he is the right player for us and he signed only a 1 year deal so I expect your wish to be granted sooner rather than later

Im not going on a rant or anything like that and have nothing against you and enjoy reguarly reading the opinions that are shown on this blog but I just think that some of your criticism is undeserved

Also Roberto Mancini will be sacked by Inter Milan according to his agent.
The official word comes from Giorgio De Giorgis - Mancini's agent - who has expressed Mancini's dismay at his dismissal, and confirmed that Mourinho will be replacing him as coach of the Italian champions. "Roberto didn't expect it to finish like this but I always knew that something wasn't right," began the agent.
"However, it has happened and Roberto is very disappointed because he still had alot of work which has not been finished. He could have tried to win other important trophies, like the Champions League. "Now Mourinho will arrive and he will have the task of trying to repeat what Mancini has done over the last few years." De Giorgis admitted that pressure has played a large part in Inter's underwhelming second half of the season and that despite the narrow title win, the theatrics after the Liverpool defeat did little to help Mancio's case.
"Looking at Inter's form since January, I believe the pressure from above began to take its toll," he explained. "And then after Liverpool's exit there was an outburst, maybe Roberto could have avoided this. "I think he made a mistake then, he shouldn't have told anyone he was leaving."

3 coaches have now left their clubs, 2 straight after Grants sacking, So who will it be? Mancini or Rijkaard? I dont really mind to be honest because both are great coaches but ive got the feeling its going to be Rijkaard but we will see. Who would you prefer?

"his ball skills are truly awesome…"

This is the guy who half the time has had the ball bouncing off his knees or shins.

Early on when he did play, the ball was actually sticking to Pizarro for a few moments unlike Sheva. He might not score too many goals, but if we want to play attacking football, Pizarro is excellent at dropping off and laying passes off either foot. He is the only player in our squad who can do that.

I'm getting a little tired of defending the guy... I just hope the next manager to come in makes use of his qualities. He doesn't go charging in, chasing down players and running around because if he did, he probably won't get near them with his lack of pace. But linking up play, and holding the ball, he is good at.
It's his first season and the only chances he got were when he was picked in our understrength teams in cup games.

If we don't have someone as exceptional as Drogba in our 4-5-1, it makes the lone striker look bad,

Kezman
Crespo
Sheva
Pizarro
and Anelka, you could argue

All struggled. It's worse when the guy isn't the quickest,

TG, when I read the first para of your review it felt like I was reading a passage written about the first 5 months of my life this year and I don't have to imagine it! Yes since the beginning of this year I have been madly in love with the most beautiful woman I have met and thankfully it is still going strong. She even got up with me to watch the CL final and provided a soft shoulder to cry on at the end along with some half time entertainment... now thats what I call a girfriend !

That aside I couldn't agree more with the assessment that this season was the wierdest yet, so much change, so many questions and yet we came so close to the ultimate glory for the club.

I have one vey special highlight that will live with me forever... Frank scoring that penalty to put us 2-1 up agains the scousers. The tears welled up as I watched him bare his soul on the hallowed SB turf. I lost my father last year and could feel his pain. Frank you have got balls the size of footballs and I will always tip my hat to you.

The good news is we will now get a new manager, a few new players and a new era to look forward too. Also our key English players will get a well earned rest after this weekend so they will be back stronger, leaner and hungrier than ever for next season.

If we get the right manager and pickup the right players to compliment our squad (and not lose any key players) then I can see a return to the trophy winning ways next season.

Whatever happens I remain the most passionate, loyal blue fan of this great football club as I enter my 40th year of being a supporter...Mmmmm, I should have a celebration next season !

I can still remember vividly watching the likes of Osgood, Harris, Hudson and Bonnetti play the FA Cup final against Leeds and the Cup Winners Cup against Real Madrid... I now dream of seeing Anelka, Lampard, Ze german, Essien and Cech playing in next seasons CL final and lifting the trophy.

KTBFFH

Great Review TG........

Agree almost entirely with your conclusions, but with one major exception.....

And that is Anelka. The man has a great first touch and looked interested for the 1st half a dozen games. I appreciate that he has been played out of position but frankly his outburst last week was laughable.

Tell me, if you are sitting on the bench in a Champions League final, and the game goes for 120 minutes, what the fuck did he think he was there for, if he wasn't ready to come on. To basically come out with the 'Don't Blame Me' line, when Terry had shouldered all the responsibility anyway, was piss-weak.

Belletti, (a man more than likely to leave this summer), had already shown him how a true club employee should behave in sticking away his penalty, with his only touch in the game.

I didn't much like him before he arrived. I like him less now!

@ BTBJ - acknowledged - we may be saying the same thing here. I just take the view that Sheva hasn't adapted to our game like Ballack and that IF he did then he may well find himself a useful footballer. I'll stick by my criticism of Pizzaro as I belive he had enough appearances to make an impact, he just wasn't good enough. Like Chris Sutton really.

@ Cashif - I find your defence of Pizzaro utterly bizarre. The ONLY player who can play two footed and lay off passes? That statement alone tells me that your understanding of the game might be impaired. Most players will alway be predominantly favouring one foot or another as being ambidextrous foot-wise is very rare, however they are trained to be able to play with both feet, in a similar way that Apache gunship pilots are taught/trained into using each eye.try a simple test.....when sitting down rotate your right foot in that air clockwise. As your doing this then with your favoured hand draw the number 6 in mid air. Which way does the foot go? Weird huh? But with practice and training you can keep the original motion..it takes time. My only other comments..... if Pizzaro was so bloody good, why the fuck was he free? If he was so good then why did Bayern let him go? If he was so good then why wasn't he snapped up by someone else?

On the point of him being bought by Mourinho, a man we 'all crave the return of' well every top manager makes fuck ups. Just ask Sir Rednose about Djemba-djemba Kleberson, David May, Poborsky or Massimo Taibi. Ask Wenger about Pascal Cygan, Davor Suker, Francis Jeffers, Silvain Wiltord or Richard Wright. I think Mourinho's poor choices (Boularouz, Kezman, Del Horno) stand up equally as well, which shows he was just as good as those two :-)

@Cashif and BTBJ

On Pizzaro,we should all be able to see how shit he is:
1. He's an overweight partyboy who as captain of Peru got banned for a night of partying before a game. Great professionalism.
2. He's too slow, is not a natural finisher and doesn't have as good a touch as many say. For those who think he'll do better playing the 'number 10' role well Chelsea have had two masters of that position in Zola and Eidur and compared to them he's a pile of shit. Next season that no. 10 will go to a Van Der Vaart or Kaka, not him.
3. The fact that we got him on a free shows how shit he is. Bayern let him go to replace him with Luca Toni who was top scorer in his first season in Germany. A great piece of business from Ze Germans. They must be laughing at how we seem to waste huge wages on shit players like him and TBH.
4. Two goals in a whole season is pathetic (on a par with Anelka, who shouls also be worried about his position). He's had enough starts, and should end up at the retirement home for ex blues that is Newcsatle. And in those starts he's played against crap like Hull, QPR and Spurs at home and he still couldn't score.
5. I also say him play for Bayern and what a scoring record he had for them! That's why they had the difficult choice of choosing him or Miroslav Klose to lead the attack. A toughy!
6. On Mourinho buying him. Well Mourinho was stuck with buying shit frees because of Roman's sulk. He wanted Dani Alves and got Belletti and he wanted Alexandre Pato but ended up with Pizarro. Claudio was bottom of the list and his record since proves how much of a failure he's been.

2/10 is generous for him, because of his lack of ability. The review was great but highlights the hige failings in our squad: The shit backups and the age. We need to clear the deadwood: Belletti, TBH, Maka (retire), Sidwell, Malouda, SWP, PIzarro, Sheva and Didier and replace them with a younger, pacier and more hungry set of players: Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Van Der Vaart, Bentley, Robinho, Kaka, Aguero, Villa... Whatever happens this preseason wil be the most exciting since Euro 2004 with the introduction of TSO. I was in America on that preseason tour and this summer has the same feeling of excitement, where Jose got rid of 10 and reduced the squad to 24 younger, better players. I for one can't wait for the tour to China.

KTBFFH

TG, "if Pizzaro was so bloody good, why the fuck was he free?", They offered him a new improved contract that he turned down because after spending almost his whole career in Germany he wanted a challenge abroad, I dont think he has played the role that he wouldve liked to have been in (the role that he was in under JM) with a strike partner. You think hes been given enough chances? Fair enough but tell me how many starts hes had? He had a shot hit the goalkeepers head and go in against QPR, HABS, How can you moan on about him not scoring enough? Without him we wouldnt have beaten QPR and maybe the Barnsley nightmare might have came earlier in the season?, You also inform me that he didnt score against Hull? Well he nearly scored on several occasions and gave at least 3 assists in that game. I believe if Pizarro had played more often and with another man un front then he wouldve had a MUCH better season but Grant didnt even give anyone the chance to become a 1st team striker, People like Sheva European Footballer of the year and the best striker in the world before he joined us were left stranded on the bench for the Champions League Final. If Sheva had been given a chance to play week in week out then im SURE he wouldve showed his true colours in his second season like Ze German has done but like I say Grant prioritised several players like Drogba even though he didnt care about the team and wanted to leave as soon as possible, Lampard was virtually guarenteed a place in the starting line-up, Grant didnt let players grow he just either played you or left you to rot on the bench or in the stands eg Sidwell, Pizarro but now that hes gone we can look forward to a coach that will give players the oppurtunity to earn a place in the team and make it their own and a man who will demand the best from every member of the squad and make sure they give their all. As for Pizarro I think the argument about our peruvian I think it should end here because like I already informed you of in my previous post his contract runs out in the summer and I dont think anyone expects him to sign an extension therefore he will be at a team where he will be played in his real position and show what he can do when given the chance. KTBFFH

Pizarros 3 starts for us

1. Chelsea vs Birmingham, 1 goal
2. Chelsea vs Hull, 3 assists
3. Chelsea vs QPR, 1 goal

Pizarro has started 10 games for us, made 21 subs appearances (from Chelsea's website) and scored 2 goals. That is utter shit. He must go and will go. The fact that he wasn't even good enough to stay in the CL squad, and the fact that he was dropped with Sidwell, shows the level he is at. A Striker who doesn't score goals is useless, that's why he will go and why Anelka has to sharpen up, otherwise he'll also be out with Sheva and Didier.

Hes already going, only signed a 1 year deal, "A good striker doesnt score goals"
Hmmm, He scored 36 in 70 appearences for Werder Bremen, 99 in 249 appearences at Bayern where he wasnt a starter either but at least was played in his position.
Claudio Pizarro was a top class international striker before the joined Chelsea

Drogba is one of the few strikers who can have balls hoofed up to him to 90 minutes and score goals on his own, Most strikers need support and Pizarro is one of them, Just like Kezman was useless as a lone striker

Alright alright... sure everyone is trained to use their weeker foot. The point is, how many are as comfortable with either foot?
In our curent squad, no one can lay off measured passes off either foot with as much ease as Pizarro from behind the forwards. We don't have that kind of player, unless you count Ballack, who we know will always be used a lot deeper.

Why the f*** was he free???
WHY THE F*** WAS BALLACK FREE???

Bayern got rid because of a disastrous season where they failed to qualify for the CL. Luca Toni and Klose are better, and whilst Pizarro has something to give to any team, he was never (barring one great season with Werder Brememn ) as prolific a goalscorer as Toni or Klose.

They wanted some fresh blood, some hunger in their squad, so they got rid of Salihamidzic and Pizarro and Santa Cruz and others.

Does that mean Pizarro or Santa Cruz or any of the others who left are completely useless?

What gets me is this F***** UP treating the guy like pure garbage. We gave him 21 appearances - how many of them were starts in our first team? How many were 10 minutes or 5 minutes or less, at the end of matches?

When he started it was usually with Sidwell, and Benhaim and Sinclair in cup games and in our centre-forward friendly 4-5-1.

How do you expect to get anything worthy out of a player when you let him feed off scraps, and any confidence he might have diminishes. It's hard enough for a player who's been playing in the premiership for years to slot into our team in his first year. Look at Wright Phillips, look at Anelka this year...

You're the boss Tony, You are paying punter who's followed CFC through decades. We're all going to have to call you Dr Tony soon so you're obviously a clever fellar.

All little old me is saying is, all things considered, does he really deserve this hammering?

@blue true blue joe

To rebut:

Pizarros 3 starts for us

1. Chelsea vs *Birmingham*, 1 goal
2. Chelsea vs *Hull*, 3 assists
3. Chelsea vs *QPR*, 1 goal

Don't get the Pizarro hate. He never got the chance to settle let along play in his preferred formation. Not sure what people expect from a fourth choice free signing. We need players like that to fill holes in the squad. He was no better or worse than Sidwell and Ben Haim.

Grant is completely deluded: 'Over the last three months of the season with me working as manager, we were never called boring Chelsea.'

Never mind Avram, I'm sure you'll be snapped up by one of the big European clubs given that you're such a genius.

I can almost see Grant now, with his fingers in his ears going 'La la la la I'm not listening la la la la' at every press conference where people mentioned our playing style......

Hi Peter, how are you doing?

It isn't really Pizzaro 'hate' on my point, I just think he's nowhere good enough for us. If we really need to fill holes in the squad then for me Sidwell does the job and is young enough to improve, whereas Pizzaro is not a hard enough worker or a flexible enough player.

Instead of Pizzaro, TBH and arguably Malouda, why not fill those holes with Sinclair, Sahar and Mancienne. We've bought these through the academy and seriously, do you think they'd have been any worse that the 'senior' 3 just mentioned?

As for AG plugging our exciting style......has he forgotten Wigan, Everton (home and away), Liverpool at home (surely the worst ever game played at SB), Portsmouth away and Middlesbrough at home amongst others? Thanks Uncle Avram, but now its time to ply your trade elsewhere and see how far you get.

TG - you say in your intro that articles on a number of topics will follow - I feel one I need is "A Puzzled Fan's Guide to Decoding Football Doublespeak".

I can generally recognise Kenyon/Buck's support for the manager as just one step below the proverbial "Board's vote of confidence" but I'm wondering if Ten Cate's confidence he still has a job is misplaced. He's quoted yesterday saying: "Half an hour before Chelsea officially announced the Grant news, I was called by (chief executive) Peter Kenyon. He told me the news and he also said that the sacking of Grant would have no consequences for me" - has he perhaps not recognised the unspoken second half of the sentence which possibly reads something like "..because we'd already decided weeks ago you're a bullying git who JT can't stand and we need to get rid of you no matter what"?

I struggled too with Inter Milan President Massimo Moratti's statement on Monday: "Mancini? In truth I have planned no meeting. I fully intend not to rush him," which I took at face value and ignored "A Bola" [I assume the Portugese Sun/Daily Sport?]the same day claiming a Mourinho deal was already done - but yesterday Moratti & Mancini held a 25 minute meeting which appears to have consisted of Your on your bike Roberto, Come on down, Jose.

Perhaps you can help explain the wonderful world of football journalism too where we now even get news stories on the BBC website about an alleged change of focus on Chelsea's search for a new manager which consist of nothing much but quotes from their own sports editor, Mihir Bose's latest blog which in turn is entirely devoid of any evidence he hasn't made it all up on the back of a fag packet - but then gets endlesly regurgitated on all BBC outlets as "BBC Sport understands"...... it's going to be a long, eventful summer I think.

A bit harsh on Malouda. He played reasonably well in the CL semis and final. He is no Duff or Robben and does get knocked off the ball too easily but four?. Pizzaro also did what it said on tin and anything else would have been exceeding expectations; two is an insult which in my opinion he does not deserve.

Otherwise I go along with your ratings, including Carvalho as Chelsea player of the season.

My vote goes for Mark Hughes. He's already gone grey so the pressure of managing us shouldn't have any worsening visual effect.

@ BlueboyDave

Decoding football doublespeak? If I could do that I'd be earning millions I think, either translating it or writing it! I'm afraid its up there with Senior management Gobbledygook BollocksSpeak as copyrighted at every big company in the world. You need to introduce words like 'synergy' and the make it a verb 'to synergise'. The word 'leverage' always goes down OK as well. When you get the hang of it you can shovel in meaningless phrases such as 'pick the low hanging fruit' or 'lets fill the thought tombola' . The Mihir Bose stuff made me laugh, no evidence, no substance and as speculative as most of my golf shots. If that's the standard at the BBC then expect to see my Tony blog soon, followed by appearances on News 24 with such pearls of wisdom as

"Alex Ferguson is rumoured to be leaving Manchester United at some time in the next 30 years"

"Arsene Wenger is having new bionic eye implants fitted"

"A team from the Premier League is expected to win the Premier League next season"

" The FA is rumoured to be an incompetent bunch of self serving idiots"

"Sepp Blatter is a fat, useless twat"

Whaddya reckon?

@ Emerald Blue - he played 'OK' in a handful of games and you reckon thats more than a 4? In my view he was wretched in a lot of games, most notably the home draw against Fulham where frankly he was lucky someone didn't run on the pitch and deck him. He was the FIRST player I've ever given 0/10 to and despite OK games towards the arse end of the season there is no way he deserves more than 4. As for Pizzaro, again just my view but a truly appalling player who contributed next to fuck all for us this season - a shocker when you think we have Sinclair and Sahar chomping at the bit.

Frankly, all this pro-Pizzaro/pro-Malouda stuff has got me utterly bemused.

Anelka 7??? no I disagree at all. His true rating should be like 4 or 5 not more.
Essien 7??? For me 8.
Terry 9, too.

@ Jericho and everyone else...this is a rating over the whole season. Anelka did OK when ALLOWED to by Avram. Essien had a shocker for the most part only shining at the ACN and the arse end of our season (thankfully the real Essien came back) - JT - 9? For half a season? And for half of the remaining half where he rushed back so quickly he couldn't jump? For guts, commitment and passion he would get 10, for common sense around his own fitness he scores somewhat less.

That's the last bit of ratings defending I'm doing. Those are the scores. If you don't like them then suggest a new one but back it up with evidence!

Oooh..I'm all flustered....

Nick, JD, Tony et al

Some point in the recent past, someone suggested that a platform be created for bloggers to rate the players for the season...any chance of that happening?

Cos it would be quite interesting to see what the results would be like...

By extension, same could also be done for the plethora of candidates mentioned/queuing up for AG's job...thats assuming the club continues footdragging in appointing a manager...

@TG - 1) I'd watch "Sports Newsnight with Tony G" - if they put it on BBC3 they might even let you keep in the expletives ;-)

2) Agree all the ratings quibbling is getting a bit tedious - come on people who cares if someone is a 3 or 4 - surely we have lots more interesting aspects to talk about after a season like that?

@ BlueBoyDave - how refreshing would it be to have a proper football show that encourages good, open, intelligent debate without the often moronic levels of comment seen on that abomination Football365 or the 'lets rush as many calls through as possible hence crushing any quality debate' attitude of 606

@ Alex - can't say too much at the moment and don't want to tempt fate or incur the Wrath of The Big Cheese (Nick), but there are some potentially very exciting developments on the horizon for this blog.

There, that's the groundbait laid........

Tony,

Seriously, where is the need to dangle such tempting bait in front of us ???

(Although the introduction of some sort of 'voting mechanism' to put to bed the squabbling about one authors player ratings would be nice just to stop arguments)

I thought the last round of changes were pretty damn amazing, any more and us casual posters will begin to expect more and more of the people in charge.

Much like we do of the football club itself......

@33, TG : Great point there!
>>"Instead of Pizzaro, TBH and arguably Malouda, why not fill those holes with Sinclair, Sahar and Mancienne. We’ve bought these through the academy and seriously, do you think they’d have been any worse that the ’senior’ 3 just mentioned?"
I may have to take malouda off this list because after the early promise he showed his play later on has been nothing short of catastrophic- and that was not expected!
On Hindsight: it would have been a genius of a move, if we had them academy players in the squad and blooded them by playing in cup competitions.
Loaning them out abroad like the eredivisie/la liga is one thing, or loaning them out to the bottom three is also Ok..given that they'll gain some good premiership experience (what Sir had been doing with Pique, Evans, Rossi etc) BUT all our loanees are in 2nd and 3rd division! Just doesnt make any sense!

All i hope is to see atleast 2-3 players from the academy to get into the first team. One of Sahar, Di Santo, Mancienne, Cork, Smith, Kakuta.

Oh and Alcides, Bouhla, Crespo and Slobodan Rajkovic are back from their loan spells this June! Profit, quick!

Zola for Chelsea pleasee!!!

What is everyones thoughts on the managers?

Mancini - Arguably a potential great but not done that well in Europe and won his last 2 titles fighting only roma - juve, fiorentina and milan were all docked points, lost players.

Hughes - Great player - potentially a great manager - should we not give him the chance?

Rikaard - Seems to need ten cate to be any good - is he a broken man? Would he not be better off taking a break from football and not jumping into another hotseat!

Laudrup - I like him - young, passionate and with Zola - sexy football for everyone?!!

Deschamps - I hate this man - he came to us for the money and did nothing for us on the pitch - yes he did well with monaco and yes he did well with Juve but i dont like the chap.

Mourinho - for me he is like an ex GF - just like a good book that has been finished you might flick thru the odd chapter but do you want to re-buy it? Let him come back in 3 or so years when he has gotten a bit better - winning in Italy will only be good for his overall package.

And Tony - i think i was the only other one with you who championed Ze German??!!! I love how he got 0.5 more than Lollipop's 2nd rate player!!

@ 46 Bluemunkeyfeet

"And Tony - i think i was the only other one with you who championed Ze German??!!! I love how he got 0.5 more than Lollipop’s 2nd rate player!!"

Oh boy, I think you may just have lit the blue touch paper there......

It baffles me why people get so worked with Tony's ratings of players, after all it's his subjective opinion and not some scientific formula he's hatched in his garden shed, where he's been secretly drinking his hidden stash of Magners.

I'd give the lot of them 5 each, a nice average score as we won zilch this season.(dons flak jacket,and tin hat)

Changing the topic slightly,sorry.
From BBC website.



Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and his assistant Carlos Queiroz have been cleared of a charge of improper conduct by the Football Association.

The charge related to comments made following United's FA Cup defeat to Portsmouth on March 8.

Ferguson's charge concerned comments about referee Martin Atkinson and Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) general manager Keith Hackett.

Queiroz's charge related to comments about Atkinson.

Speaking after Sulley Muntari's penalty gave Pompey a shock victory at Old Trafford, Ferguson felt his side had earlier had a blatant spot-kick denied when Cristiano Ronaldo was blocked by Sylvain Distin.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," Ferguson said. "I cannot explain it. Managers get sacked because of things like that and he's going to referee a game next week."

He added: "He (Hackett) is not doing his job properly and he needs to be assessed.

"I'm assessed as a manager, players are assessed, referees should be assessed properly by the right people. That performance today should not be accepted by our game"


I can't say I'm shocked that Old Rednose has got away with it again.I'm sure that the FA are afraid of him and Manure.I wonder what he's got to do or say to actually get charged with something.

@ Munkey (and Tony)

"And Tony - i think i was the only other one with you who championed Ze German??!!! I love how he got 0.5 more than Lollipop’s 2nd rate player!!"

Shame he left his shooting boots in the locker room for the final!!
Or did he think he was in the NFL finals going for 3 points every time. ;-)

MUNKEY

What's "0.5"? That's NOTHING..Besides, i think Tony's finger slipped or he's been drinking too much vino IMO..
I keep telling you over and over and over..Ze German will NEVER be as good as my SuperFrank..as long as he's got a hole in his erm..you know...
2nd rate?! How dare you, you cheeky git?!!!! Me and you will fall out before long!

TONY
Great review. Wasn't quite sure what i was reading at first but thought it was great. Certainly held MY interest anyways..Was a bit gutted when it got onto the subject of football! LOL Just kidding!!
You're in the wrong job my sweet..

CLIVE
Has someone upset you this week? You don't seem too happy..

My overall player of the season has been Riccy, followed by Joey, then the dynamic duo of SuperFrank/J.T.

It's been a thoroughly enjoyable season and i hope we can do better next time..providing we don't start the new season with injuries (as we tend to have a habit of doing!)..

Also hope that whoever our next Manager is, he plays more of Anelka. He deserves more play time for definite..

Also get new contracts for Lampsie and (hopefully) Drogs!!

CELERY

Have i ever told you that i love you?

Seems like i have a new comrade..

@ Lynn

That is so bloody frustrating, innit? Drives me bonkers!

And nothing for all their harrassing of the ref against us at the Bridge either!
Rion, Rooney, Tevez and Hargreaves were all over the ref and not a mention of it.

Now had that been JT @ Co............

CLIVE
Has someone upset you this week? You don’t seem too happy..

@Lolli
I'm still grieving from last weeks loss, and I'm not happy unless I'm miserable.

CLIVE

Cheer up hunnybunny..England are playing tonight!!! *ahem*

.I’m sure that the FA are afraid of him and Manure.I wonder what he’s got to do or say to actually get charged with something.

LYNN

I agree. It's outrageous that McFergie can say whatever he likes to whoever he wants and nothing gets done about it. He should've been fined at the very least..
I find it amazing that he's flown out to Portugal today as well to have a "face to face" chat with his golden boy in a bid to convince him to stay at Old Trafford..the league season is over. Surely he could be stopped from doing that? I'm sure as much as i despise him, Ronaldo would prefer to be concentrating on matches for his country?

Speaking of the Euro's, as our England boys aren't there..who do we support?

France?, Portugal?, Germany?...
I was gonna suggest Italy for our Italian bloggers until MUNKEY upset me..

Lolli

No you haven't, and yes you do!

Oh....and I love you too!

CELERY

Cool!!! x x

Good post TG

A few thoughts on my part

The main canker within our club is the lack of veracity and professionalism of those in charge, and by that I mean the gruesome foursome (Kenyon, Buck, Greenberg and Tennenbaum): the treatment of Claudio, Jose and Avram; the fact that they all seem incapable of disagreeing with some of Roman's crazy ideas e.g. sacking Jose, hiring Avram. Worst of all was extending Avram to a 4 year contract, before sacking him. The only explanation I can think of is that Roman wanted to insure his mate was given a reasonable payout at the end, in which case, why not quietly give him the money at the end. I suspect my explanation is wrong, why would Chelsea be arguing with AG by offering him 1 year of the 3 years we owe him otherwise? In which case they really are a bunch of toothless toadying yes men who are managing to drag Chelsea's name in the mud - which is some achievement given the depth of hatred towards us. To paraphrase Charles Shaar Murray's review of David Bowie's Low in the NME back in the 70's - our reputaion is so low that you have to reach up to touch bottom.

Where is Roman in all of this? After all, they are following his instructions. Obviously we all want and need Roman to stay, or every Chelsea hater's dream will come true - "you will become another Leeds when Roman leaves". BUT, the culture of a club and its management team comes from the top, and it is difficult to believe that the gruesome foursome are not just carrying out orders as well as their own agendas (add Arnessen to that as well). Our management team are nearly as despicable as Ken Bates is. If you sleep with the devil... you tend to burn your genitals.

Pretty much in agreement re team matters (apart from that 4 for Malouda... only joking). For me, players of the year, in order, are Riccy, Ze German, and Joey.

Highlight of the year is Drogba's slide towards Rafa scoring the goal in the CL semi - Rafa had his tiresome comments about DD stuffed up that place where the sun don't shine (and I don't mean the Buddha's midriff).

Finally, some on this blog were implying that if you get someone on a free transfer, they can't be that good. Presumably, they include Ze German in that??? FYI - Bosman has changed the old certainties

Enough from me now

JT............


LOVELY!

it has to be italy for bluetone and me!! Come on the Spags!

JT dedicated his goal tonight to all the Chelsea fans in his post match interview..
God bless ya J.T..you're the best!!!

The ONLY choice for England Captain IMO

I'll be supporting Ze Germans but i'll also be following the progress of our last truly world class winger that was Arjen Robben. I'll always remember how in his first season he could win a game on his own before Blackburn kicked the pace out of him, but a Holland vs Germany final would suit me perfectly.

A bit of a boring game tonight, Of course I was delighted that JT scored, He absolutley deserves to be captain, Rio Ferdinand? Oh please. As for the Euros...
I will be supporting Ze Germans because one of my parents is from Barvaria

Man I cant spell :)

Hey all, check out who are in front of Liverpool in the UEFA rankings!!!!!!

The Reds are currently third behind AC Milan and Chelsea in UEFA's official rankings thanks to their Champions League performances over the past four seasons, having accrued more ranking points, 104.288, than any other club in Europe.

Thats right CFC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's great news Dio...... Shame we still don't have that star in the shirt though, as Cup Winners!

Hat's off to JT.... Didn't see Rio or Gerard leading with a goal when they captained the side. I didn't get to see the game in Oz, how did Frank play? I see he was replaced by Gareth Barry in the second half.

When England had Rio the duck as captain, they lost to the frogs!

Come on Fabio, just keep this lion Terry as England captain!

@ 14. Blue Bayou

Fascinating events!... The reincarnation of the toad! :-)

67, Frank was pretty anonymous, He was proberbly tired or maybe that scumbag Gerrard was just refusing to play well with him in hope that Lamps gets dropped

The 2007-08 season was really a frustrating season for Chelsea fans. I think Roman was trying to prove that Chelsea did not need Jose to win trophies, so he put Average Grant in charge just to make his point. In these 8 months under the Toadist regime, almost everyone had suffered... the fans, the players and the staff.

In the end, I must admire Roman's decisiveness in sacking the loser AG and mending the damage quickly. Chelsea are liberated at last! And I'm just reliving the dream of possible quadruple trophies for Chelsea in the new season!

England fans calling up Five Live grumbling about…
…Wayne Rooney?

Gareth Barry hss been impressive whenever he’s played, if he suddenly discovered a knack for goalscoring (though unlikely of course)Frank might have something to worry about…

CASHIF

Complaining about Fat Boy? Why? Because of how crap he was? He wasn't the only one though to be fair. I felt optimistic when i saw the Defoe was in the starting line-up but he had an awful game! Seriously doubt he'll get a call up for the next game on the weekend.

VERY unlikely that Barry will get a goal, i agree. He feeds the ball to Gerro so HE can get the glory.

Haven't seen any of the morning's papers until i get to work but no doubt they'll be full of how J.T wished he could of got a goal like that last week and how much better England played when Lamps went off and was replaced by Barry, how Lamps and Gerro can't play well together and one has to be dropped (and we ALL know who that would be)..blah blah yawwwnnnnn...

I know one thing for definite about last night's match, we CAN'T let Becks go yet. His set pieces are the best in the world..

Regarding Chelsea, Mancini has said on SSN this morning that he wants CFC to "come and get me" as he won't run after the job..
WOW..What a Diva!!!

Also, regarding England last night (sorry to bloggers not interested in the England team) how the hell did Gerro get MOTM? Why does that honour ALWAYS go to him whenever we play? I don't get it. Yeah, he got a goal and the lead up to his goal was fab (best move of the game) but J.T played loads better IMO. Even my Man Ure loving Pa said that he was the best player on the pitch and that he should be England's permanent Captain..

I was well chuffed when he said that..from someone as patriotic about Man U as my Pa is, trust me, it was sweet music to my delicate ears!!

A much needed boost for JT. Great goal, great leadership on the pitch. =)

Both Capello and Beckham's post match comments on JT were positively glowing and should mean he gets the armband permanently. There is noone better at the moment than JT for leading club and country. Ferdinand does not have what it takes to be a true leader of men. At Man U he relies heavily on Vidic to make him look good and the same for England where JT makes him look good.

On Lamps while I am sure he takes pride on pulling on the England shirt and I know he is not at his best at the moment, but I fear his days are numbered if he cannot produce his club form for England in the next few games. I know the thoughts of other bloggers about Gerrard etc but the facts are Lamps has not performed for England and Barry is fast becoming a viable alternative. Time will tell and all sentiments aside, but do not be surprised to see Lamps take a back seat under Capello. If that happens then it will be good for Chelsea as he waon't be playing so many games !

KTBFFH

Some stats:

• 29 clean sheets, compared to 34 in the previous season
• Longest non-losing sequence was 16 games, 23 in the previous season
• 105 goals scored, 115 in the previous season
• 42 goals conceded, 37 in the previous season
• Nine non scoring games, six last season
• Five game consecutive sequence of clean sheets, six in the previous season

• Lampard top scorer with 20 goals
• Four players with average number of goals in double figures:
o Drogba, 19.5 (four seasons)
o Lampard, 18.8 (five seasons)
o Sheva, 10 (two seasons)
o Kalou, 10 (two seasons)

Have I really understood this story Sky Sports News were propagating all last night:

Mancini's agent has confirmed that his client has been sacked by Inter and will be replaced by Mourinho. Mancini is suitably "devastated" and wants his full entitlement to compensation on 4 years left on his contract which amounts to double figures millions of GBP - and he has had no contact from Chelsea yet.

Inter meanwhile are maintaing a no comment stony silence supposedly believing they can con Chelsea into coughing up for Mancini's compensation and/or agreeing to sell Lampard with the fee being used as part of Mancini's compensation rather than us benefitting.

I know Roman has a track record of throwing silly amounts of money around to get what he wants but I think the classic John McEnroe reaction is called for - makes Mark Hughes look even more like the best candidate to me.

Peter the great - i agree with you there - if barry goes to liverpool and ends up playing with gerrard every week then lamps will almost certainly be on the bench.

The whole manager thing makes me laugh - bbc.co.uk has a seperate "chelsea manager gossip column"

Hughes or Mancini for me. Mancini should only come if he can bring ballotelli

Latest news on that bastion of truth.... Tribal Football..... is that Inter are planning a 35 million pound bill for 3 players, Drogba, Lampard and Carvalho.

So let's assume for the moment that it happens..... How the hell will we all feel about Jose if that rumour actually happens? Drogba, I can live with, but if we lose Ricky or Frank, I will find it difficult to accept.

If we lose riccy that will be hard to stomach - but i guess Micah would be a long term replacement - big, strong, quick - would learn a lot from JT.

Frank? - does that matter? we have ze german hey lolli LOL - No, then i guess refael van der vaart - I honestly cant see Lamps going though - he is as Chelsea as Mr JT.

DD - this is a when not an if - Villa, Huntelaar plus any other number of good players we could go for - just depends on the £££ their clubs demand as to which one makes the most sense.

If we were to loose Lampard and Carvalho, i hope we can get Richards and a new traditional playmaker as their replacements. Or else we are sure to suffer next season. We have to replace them before we let them go.

its either Big Phil or Sparky for me.

Really don't see the appeal of Big Phil - the Scot in me has enjoyed the hex his teams have had over England at national level - but do we want to go for an almost 60-year old who hasn't faced the daily grind of club football for a long time, with a bit of history of stringing suitors along and then backing out and whose English is still poor I believe?

St Etienne's 'new Drogba' in France squad for Euros. You might have seen the couple of goals he got against Ecuador the other night.

LINK

@ 80 Greenlight

DD - shake his hand let him go and get Villa or someone similar

Lamps - he'll sign for us again I've no real doubt unless the new man doesn't want him - if it's Sparky then Frank will stay. I would be happy for Frank to do a Scholes on the England front and quit now for the sake of making his club career with us even more spectacular. It certainly worked for Scholes and possibly extended his United tenure.

Riccy - I've said it before - break the bank and do whatever it takes to keep him. My daughter is on standby for dating him in 2 years when she reaches 18!

LINK

LINK

LINK

LINK

This after he was appareently assured his place was safe...

So does that rule out Rijkaard now?

I don't know if it does rule out Rijkaard. Maybe Rijkaard knows what Ten Cate is like and wouldn't want to have him as is 2nd in command?

@89 - if it does then Good :)

I've been harping this but Barca has been poor after Ten Cate left as he was the 'bad cop' to Rijkaard's 'good cop' so I guess the balance was lost.

Will continue to hope for a Laudrup/Zola combination or even a Sparky/Zola one and for Clark to stay too.

Agree with WestLondonBlue. A Laudrup/Zola or Hughes/Zola combo would signal a new era for the club, with a more youthful and attack minded style.

The top 3 candidates that remain now:

1) Big Phil Scholari
2) Roberto Mancini
3) Mark Hughes

Time to recast your votes lads based on these 3 managers.

The plot thickens

LINK

I don't understand why you all ruled FR from the managerial post?
For me sacking Ten Cats is a sign for getting FR...
1-RA is a fan of FR
2-FR and Ten Cats hate each other
3-FR is more important to RA than a couple of millions to be paid to Cate for terminating his contract

now does this lead to?
My money's on FR, although I would hate to see him on the bench

KTBFFH

It'll be Rijkaard or Mancini obviously..no-one else.

@Lollipop

since we both agree on these two possibilities, whom do you prefer?
I think Mancini would give a constant-but-not-so-brilliant kind of season, while FR is set to beat medium and weak sides with 3 or 4 goals difference then fail in the big matches, I'd go for Mancini if it was the ONLY other choice aside FR.

We are we stuck with managers who have been ditched by their own clubs? I still want Sparky or Deschamp. I feel that an opportunity has presented itself for us to appoint a manager who will GROW with the club. I hope Roman gives the new manager plenty of time to rebuild this Chelsea team for the present and future.

Rikjaard? i would go for Mancini everytime...all the time because right now we need to win as many things as possible and for as long as possible. we need to dominate the premiership and win the continental cup (though i know Mancini failed to deliver that for Inter). i still think Mancini offers us the best opportunity to do that. Agree with Bluemania and believe thats true of the two men. Rikjaard, i dont see him doing a stick up on the rude old man called Sir Alex Ferguson, thats a tough little weasel that SAF...he needs someone who can win, regardless of style...win and win and win until the SAF goes to retirement. to leave us dominating everything. thats what i crave right now.
by the way, i was watching Gianfranco Zola highlights the other day, got me all nostalgic, thinking how we used to be the mid-table boys, perhaps nicking a few around the big boys now and then, but Zola always was the eternal sunshine ...ZOOOOOOOLLLLLAAAAAAAAA

BLUEMANIA

As i said in an earlier post, even though Rijkaard has had a howler of a season, looking at his time at Barca, he's been fantastic. I would prefer him at Chelsea more than anyone really. He's won 2 Champs Leagues, that's nothing to be sniffed at.
Mancini, although respectable, has won nothing outside of Italy, so he'd have to be my second choice. I wouldn't want anyone else.

I adore Sparky but he has yet to win a trophy, therefore i don't think he'd be the right choice just yet. Maybe in the future some time?

Whoever we get HAS GOT TO have a big name with the necessary pulling power to attract new players. Personally, i don't think Sparky would have that allure..

I reckon our new Manager will be announced by Saturday. (if not tomorrow)

@Lollipop

Interesting point made about the "Big Name" that attracts players, totally agree.

Is it just a gut feeling about the new manager being named soon or what? I'm almost biting my fingers now as my nails are done for, this new manager can define the shape of the second Abramo-Chelsea era.

BLUEMANIA

It's a gut feeling, yeah. T.S.O will be named Inter Manager tomorrow as well i think..finally!
You've only just got down down to your fingers?..i'm down to the knuckles!!!

Lollipop

Well then, we'll be seeing what your gut feeling is turning out to be tomorrow :)

it's 00:42 a.m. here in Syria and I wish everyone in this blog a good night and happy dreams :)

God, waiting is sooo tiring!!

BLUEMANIA

Fingers (what's left of them!) and toes crossed..sweet dreams. I'm going to retire to bed myself. Goodnight :) x

I dont know why, Maybe its because my standards have dropped since he had AG in charge but I absolutley cant wait for our next manager whether its Mancini, Rijkaard, Laudrup or Sparky. Maybe because now that HTC has bitten the dust it means that the chance of ZOLA returning are now greater than ever

If we get Mancini should we swap Drogba for Ibrahimovic? I heard that Ibra only came to Inter because of Mancini and Jose doesnt rate him, What do you guys think?

@ 99 Jang - I agree totally - the whole concept of 'proven track record' pisses me off. It implies that something that happened in the past will greatly influence something in the future, which is just as much bollocks as using astrology to predict the future. JM won the CL so had a 'proven track record' yet failed to take us beyond a semi-final. Wenger had no 'proven track record'when he arrived at Arsenal but you can't say that now. If the big clubs only ever employed those with a 'proven track record' then the pool of eligible coaches will only ever get smaller until you end up with 5 coaches rotating around 5 huge clubs. Its an illogical notion and for once I'd like to see us select a coach based on potential, as we do with younger players. For me, both Deschamps and Sparky fit the 'potential' bill in the same way that SAF and Wenger did when taken on by Manure and Airline respectively - yes SAF had some Euro experience in the ECWC and the Scottish First Division (as was)but it was hardly 'big league' stuff. Wenger had pretty much nothing more than revolutionary ideas and patience on arrival at Arsenal and yet is undoubtedly one of the best coaches in the world. Do you see what I'm saying here.

I like Rijkaard as a person but he looked pretty broken during his last days at Barca and may well be looking for a decent break...hardly appropriate for us is it? Mancini is an interesting one as well, having done well at Inter for 3 years, albeit in the shadow of the match fixing scandals. People on here love to throw him out on the basis of some perceived failure to win the CL for Inter...again using the premise that previous success will bring continued success, and hence no previous success means no future success. I see similar arguments against Laudrup, despite his achievements as a player and the respect he would garner, coupled with what I see as a very exciting vision of how to play the game. I firmly believe that previous success or proven track record is no indicator of continued success and that what we need is to spot true potential that can be realised through the backing of the senior hierarchy within the club, both morally and financially.

So, for me, putting my cock on the block as we like to say I would love to see Sparky or Deschamps or Laudrup or Mancini in the first tier, with a strong maybe for Rijkaard as long as his head is mended, a less strong maybe for SGE or Hiddinck (the main reservations being around age) but a definite no for Scolari or Lippi.

@ 107 BTBJ - Ibrahimovic is a fucking donkey, a spent force and would be the equivalent of signing Thomas Brolin. Sorry mate, he's not even as useful as Pizzaro these days and is nowhere near good enough for us. I still hanker for David Villa to replace Drogba and team up with Anelka and maybe Sheva, David Bentley to replace SWP, and if Riccy goes then get Micah Richards to maintain and increase the English presence. If Frank goes then there's a chance for Sidwell to develop, but if not then Van de Vaart would be a decent choice. However to keep the lovely Lolli sweet I predict Frank will STAY.

True Blue Joe....

Tribal Football has an article this morning saying that Ibrahimovic is pleased that Mancini has been replaced by Mourinho, and he is really looking forward to working with Mourinho!

Looks likely to be either one or the other of Mancini or Ibra, if that is to be believed.

Personally, I don't rate either!

Tony.....

I'm not sure why, but none of the named parties really excites me.

From your choice of 4, I would take Sparky every time, despite his so-called lack of experience. Did anyone else see the Champions League segment where Kenyon and Hughes were sitting round the same table before the Champions League Final? Perhaps PK was in initial discussions about a move back to The Bridge.

I am not impressed by the talk of Scolari, Lippi, Mancini or 'The Water Carrier'.... and Rijkaard was clearly well out of his depth by the end at Barca, so that's a no as well.

Whoever it is, I hope they make a decision soon...... How can they hope to rebuild the squad and shape the team, if they leave things until after the EuroS?

Roberto Mancini : 2001,2004,2005 and 2006 Coppa Italia, 2 Supercoppa Italiana (2005 and 2006) and 3 Scudetti (2005–06, 2006–07 and 2007-08)

Frank Rijkaard : UEFA Champions League 2005/2006, La Liga Championship 2004/2005, 2005/2006 and Spanish Supercup 2005, 2006

May of you would go for Rijkaard because of his record in the CL but Mancini is also a great manager who is getting more successfull every year and has a great domestic record unlike Rijkaard who never won the Copa Del Rey (Spains FA Cup)
and RM has won 8 trophies in the last 4 years to FRs 5. I would have Mancini and Zola but unfortunetly its not up to me ;)

Guys, as i have said, the opportunity for us to start ANEW and rebuild this ageing team(The spine) has presented itself. It would be a waste if we get the likes of Mancini and Rikjaard to come in. Can they guarentee us CL success in the forseeable future? No right? We need to build this team over a period of time for the present but ALSO FOR THE FUTURE. As TG said, both Saprky and Deschamp are young managers with good potential to take us further. So why not give them a chance to grow with the club while rebuilding the team for another dynasty? I know that CV is an indication of how good the manager's credentials are but it doesnt work like that all the time against managers with huge potential.

@ Jang

All good common sense and I would include Laudrap in that "potential" group, however RA is not noted for planning for the future at the expense of immediate success. The club were extremely fortunate to have secured JM when they did as what he did with 'gelling' a group of established stars into a League winning team 2 years in a row was nothing short of amazing. The problem arose when JM wanted to do it his way for the future and then it broke down.

Maybe I will be proved wrong but I fancy RA will go with supposed proven track record to get instant success over the possibility of the potential to succeed in the long run.

I am still a Laudrap fan although I am warming to the idea of Sparky coming back to the club given his Prem experience, but will RA see either of these managers delivering the CL next season... i think not.

Since my original tip of Hiddink appears off the radar now then the logical choice for RA and PK is Mancini.. since he happens to be looking for a job now !

If that proves to be the case then we could do a lot worse.. besides for me the real interesting appointment will be Ten Cate's replacement... BRING ON ZOLA !!!!

KTBFFH

I just realised a Mancini, Zola coaching team with Cudicini as GK coach means we have an italian dream team ! If we want Zola then I reckon appointing Mancini might just convince Zola to make his move back to SW6. All we need then is for Clarkie to stay for another year or two and it really could be a dream team.... with immediate success a possibility but future growth also factored in....

And then we have Capello as England coach so the England boys will feel right at home am maybe have already started learning italian. Who cares if Mancini can't speak English now.. he will soon learn enough broken english to communicate, plus with Zola there to help no problemo...

We all seem to be mentioning the same names of who we want/don't want/we predict will be our new Manager, Rijkaard, Mancini, Sparky, Laudrup and Deschamps..ALL of them very strong names in my opinion.

HOWEVER, according to SSN this morning, Scholari is a front runner as he's very respected by RA. They also reckon Carlo Ancelotti has ALREADY been made an offer to come to the Bridge.

I'd say a definite oh God no to Scholari
and a yes to Ancelotti..
At the end of the day, it's all down to Roman who he wants at the helm.

Reports also this morning that Clarkey could also be on his way out..

TONY

Bless you my lovely!! :) x x

I'd say a huge 'No Thanks' to Ancelotti.

And not even because he can't speak a word of the Queens. No, Milan got found out for match fixing, and whether he had any involvement or not, that's not the sort of baggage I want our new manager to be carrying.

I want a 'Chelsea' man to run the club. A manager with a sense of identity who can relate himself to Chelsea FC.

Come on over mancini - then bring us balotelli/adriano and the next Zola/Di Matteo.

I agree with Fifty, no to ancelotti - he was in the same boat as fergie a few years back - fergie updated well - ancelotti didnt.

I want clarkie to stay as well Peterthegreat - that dream team would be excellent - for me Mancini/Zola with Clarke - now bring that on!!

I'm finding this very weird. In my naivity, i thought the club had the succession carefully planned ever since the Fat Caretaker was given the job in September, but actually, they clearly haven't got a fucking clue what they are playing at.

Meanwhile, Grant continues to mine new depths in self-delusion:

'Sacked Chelsea boss Avram Grant has revealed how he gave Didier Drogba a "b******ing" for rowing with Michael Ballack during their Premiership victory over Manchester United.
Grant, speaking at a Pro licence course in the Israeli capital, revealed: "In the team meeting after the game, I gave Drogba a b******ing he will never forget. The players all know I am the boss."

Course they do Avram, course they do.

lol peter - you speak for all of us i think with your comments. I did chuckle over my bowl of frosted shreddies that i warmed for a minute in the microwave this morning. I tell thee that is delicious. But alas i digress, grant = a total joke.

Any reason the letters 'UMKISS' were ommitted from that post ???

(Before you ask, yeah, it took ages to find something that fitted in)

@108 TG - Good point that we've all been getting a bit obsessed with track record - like it says in the small print of those dull financial investment adverts "past performance is no guide to the future".

While I'd love to see Zola back as assistant to someone I read at least one article today where that well-known neo-fascist, Sinisa Mihajlovic, said he's confident of moving with his best mate Roberto Mancini wherever he ends up which would leave no room unless Steve Clarke really is going too.

Fresh from my recent triumphant lucky guess at spotting the unstated bit of Kenyon's "assurance" to Ten Cate I'm hoping the important bit of his comment on transfer activity this summer was players "with potential" to become stars - meaning we might actually concentrate on building a new team for the long term with a manager who develops with the club like Sparky - who has a good track record [oops there's that phrase again] of spotting some one like Santa Cruz.

SimonT re #71. Roman caused the problem and we have had to live with it since Jose was sacked in September, and it took Roman until May to sort it out. I would hardly call that descisive in righting the damage he himself caused!

@ ZO&O

AG's contract had 4 years, and Roman could have given him another season to try his luck but Roman decided not to.

Bravo !! Magnificently written !! Nothing less than a thunderous applause for your brilliance !! I enjoyed every word, woven into the emotion and intelligence !! One of the best season reviews - flirts with the moments, leaves the thinker reminiscing !! A few steps further next season !! Blue is the colour !!