Raf's an interesting one, and it seems clear now that some fans at the bridge liked Mourhino because he always had time for them. Rafa doesn't do that at any club, and just gets on with focusing on the squad and results.

Guardiola? The best manager in the world, and I think the players could adjust to his attacking style and would want to attack more. Oscar, case in point.

Pellegrini I agree is no better than Rafa, and probably worse.

I still don't understand the massive reaction against Mourhino leaving. I honestly think that his first choice English club after Porto and after Real was Man Utd. He's an extremely crafty individual.

Also think his wages were a problem. £250 k / week, insisting he's always paid more than any player? Too much if all he was ever going to do was the same approach as the season before. At Man Utd, if he goes, he'll fail. The fans there will never accept his overly defensive football philosophy.

Nice to see JT on side. Come on the Chels'!

I was loving the way Rafa was getting Oscar, Mata and Hazard cllcking together, when everyone else was saying we could only play two of them. Yes, Mata over Oscar,but when it was proved all three could work i wanted them all in the team.
And yes, i would get rid of Mikel and Ramires, but that's for next year and the next manager to sort out. If either of those two are still being used ahead of Loftus, then the signs will be worrying.

Rafa was a terrible manager, an awful fit for most fans. He is about to be sacked again.

Pep should be our #1 target.

There;s a big difference between getting your players to work hard when they don't have the ball and running them into the ground, like Jose was doing.

Well as he never fails to win big trophies I don't get why he would fail at the biggest club in England. Seems a perfect fit which I am not looking forward to.

Anyway, what did you think of Ake yesterday ? Great to see him scoring right

You recently said Rudd did a fantastic job for us under the circumstances.
You really do seem to think that anyone who doesn't agree with Jose's idea of how to play football is a complete idiot who knows next to nothing about the game.
Funny how the worlds number one manager, most in demand manager and the Fergie, the greatest manager to have ever managed in English football, don't/didn't go in for his boring, sterile ideas on the game,.

Guardiola ? It would certainly be interesting. I'm not so sure his attacking style would work in the PL, but I guess top class managers can adapt their style to suit any league.
The PL is very competitive though, as we can see from this season nobody gets an easy ride. Chelsea aren't the only club (though our results have been terrible) to struggle against teams that used to be considered cannon fodder for the big boys.

Mourinho is shrewd (or crafty as you say) but I think it's a conspiracy theory too far to suggest he signed a new contract and then forced Chelsea to sack him. But you're not the only one to suggest it. I'm still wondering what happened during the summer, Jose wasn't really the same guy at the very beginning of the season, and that was before we went on our terrible run of games. I'm beginning to think it was more than a falling-out with a few players, perhaps personal issues were getting him down.

He did, But just because he did a decent job for us I am not going to make out he is some all knowing amazing person. When it comes to winning titles and what players should be doing or not doing then I am going to take a person who has actually managed at that level. He did ok for us but his career after us has shown more of his abilities as manager and what it takes to be successful in football management. Very good player but when it comes to the highest level of the premiership? His views are about as relevant as some random who you get talking to down the pub

I do not think that at all, But once again and I am sorry if it goes over your head but I think I have explained it quite clearly in the past of course there are many different ways to be successful you only seem to think the way you like is the only way to go about it. The main part is Chelsea are successful. If we do it winning every game 4-0 then all good, If we do it winning every game 1-0 then all good. I will never accept success for a club at our level being double points from the league title season after season and a nice "cup". Of course Jose style will not work all the time and there will be times when it doesn't work but he will win you more titles then just about every other manager out there. Its not about personal choice or what people like or want, Its not how you get the title, Its about winning and winning league titles. It's not worked this season but if I was going to bet on who is going to win a league title first Jose or Chelsea? Then I think the smart money would be on Jose and that is before we even know where he is going

No doubt Jose will win another title, but, as i've said elsewhere, it will come at a price!
He's left behind a mess that is going to need an awful lot of time and money on to sort out. In terms of development, we are now much worse off than when he took over! When he took over we were in the process of changing the way were going to play for generations to come. That was ripped up by Jose for short term success and now, once again, we a re going to have to start all over again. Has it been worth it?

However, i guess and accept that the days of us, or anyone else building a Fergie type empire are now over and done with. From now on it will be managers at all the top clubs only staying for a few seasons then moving on.

Yes, I think you're right Don. It was said many times by various pundits that the difference last season between Chelsea and contenders like Arsenal, the Machester clubs and Liverpool etc was that we had Mourinho as manager. Love him or loathe him, the guy's a winner.

Also, I'm fed up with saying it, but I'll say it again. The business about "parking the bus" and boring, defensive football is a myth. If I could be bothered, I'd post a video compilation of a selection of games that we played with Jose as manager and challenge anyone to call our football dull and boring. Yes, Mourinho knew when to shut games down, usually when 3 points were secure. But we also played some great football with Jose at the helm.

Success comes at a price and if you want it then you have to pay it.

How we play is not important, That obsession replaced the obsession with the Champions League one before that and keeps holding us back. It why we have failed in the league more then we have succeed. We was more going down The Arsenal route then any route that is actually successful. "ohhh" we won a couple of cups and finished top 4 lets hire a open top bus. That might be ok for Wenger and Arsenal but my demands will always be higher then Arsenals. There is nothing wrong with not winning the title but never to have a real chance of winning it then that's a problem, We need to be playing at the level where we are in with a shout until the final whistle in the final game of the season is blown, We need to be doing that season after season after season, There is no reason why we cannot do that.

Winning the title is worth anything. That is the be all and end all, It is everything.

Once we start winning titles back to back and then in 3's once we have 6/7 titles in 10 years once we have actually become not a force in premiership BUT THE FORCE in the premiership then we can sort of the hows of how we do it. At the moment we are trying to run before we can walk, Its the curse of modern society "I WANT IT NOW" "I DON'T WANT TO DO IT THAT WAY I WANT TO DO IT MY WAY". Before we get everything that comes with a top top top club in football we need to start winning titles

Now that I agree with you. Wenger is the last of a breed.
Even if we managed to get Pep, which is unlikely, he will only be here for 3 seasons.

Perhaps Chelsea were ahead of the game. Get in a manager for a few seasons, win trophies and move on......

Oh come on, lets be honest about this!
With the players we had in our teams it would have been almost impossible for us to have not player some great football at times. But the great football we played would have been inspite of Jose, not because of him!

When we had a really great team, his ideal scoreline was 2=0. Our defence was so rock solid back then, that when we went 2 up it was game over! Too many times, insTead of us going on to hammer teams and put on a real show for both the Chelsea fans and the neutrals watching on tv, we would stroll through the rest of the game and conserve energy for the next game.
The likes of Carlo, Fergie, Wenger, Pep and many many others, would want their teams to put on a show and go for 4, 5 or 6 goals.
And, too many times in big games, he set up Chelsea to spoil and try and scratch out a boring one nil win. He did not trust his players enough to let them go out and take the game to the opposition.

The chances of us, or any team winning 6/7 titles in 10 years is going to be extremely slim from here on in. Us winning 4 has been as good as we're ever likely to get, no matter who the manager is or how much money we spend,.

And the difference? One that actually matters?

There is none

Of course but we should still be in with a chance of doing it.

All to often we have not been.

We should still always be within touching point of first place.

All to often we have not been anywhere near the title and that's just not good enough

I guess it comes down to personal preferences when you start talking about football styles. As a neutral watching a game, I agree an end to end game with plenty of goals is more exciting. But as a supporter I used to get a kick out of watching us being in control of a game. You're right 2-0 used to be game over quite frequently, but we usually continued in total control and never looked like conceding in those games. It was domination without going for a bucket load of goals.
In my book, 2-0 is better than 5-3, but if you can go on to crush a team 5-0 so much the better I suppose. As I say, for me being in total control of a game is what impresses me most.

I would love Pep to come to us next summer, i think hes the best coach in the world, with Jose not far behind.

I am however not very confident that he will choose us. I think he will come to England but i think he is more likely to pick one of the Manchester clubs than us sadly. I think he will feel he will get more freedom to work and pick the squad as he likes at those two clubs, rather than have Abramovich watching over him.

That's where you differ from most fans. You want to watch and be entertained with the result seemingly unimportant. At the end of the season we finish with no trophies but you enjoyed it.
The rest of us want to celebrate winning silverware as ultimately that the point of it all.
Each to their own of course.

His missus and kids might have something to say about it.

A good point about Guardiola and he might struggle in the PL, who knows. Be careful about bandying the 'conspiracy theory' thing about. Mourhino is a crafty old fox, and you just never know. Back when Real knocked Man U out of the CL, he was trying to cosy up to Man Utd fans; watch the videos. Back then, Man Utd fans were having none of it, when he said that 'the best team lost'.

Imo, he would jump at the chance of being the Man Utd boss, and there'll be no loyalty there, despite the adulation that some fans give him. But.. it will be no Inter dream treble, and he will fail. That's my opinion any way. He's no SAF.

Dixon, keep on going, and don't listen to Man U fans. Most Chelsea fans want exactly that, a show. You're absolutely right. It's what the players want as well thankfully, to express themselves.

This year, now that Mourhino has gone thankfully, we've got a great chance of winning the CL, and pressing for a top 4 place.

Hiddink is the right coach for now, and we need a manager long term that will encourage attacking football in true blue Chelsea tradition.

Before Abramovich and Mourinho we had gone 50 years without winning the league title. That's one "tradition" I can do without.

Absolutely zero chance of winning the champions league

I think Hiddink is past his prime and hasn't shown anything spectacular for some time. He was a good coach for average sides in the past though.

Can people explain to me all the Pep love on here?! Best manager in the world? Really? As a Bayern fan, I can't wait for Ancelotti and both Hitzfeld and Heynckes were MILES better than him. Pep can only play one way (admittedly, a pretty way) and if that goes wrong, there is never a plan B. If Pep fails to win the Champions League (again!) with the current Bayern squad, he really isn't great.