Baggio

But Abramovich and his new manager will be constrained if Chelsea cannot finish in the top four or win the Champions League, an alternative way to qualify for next season's competition. Abramovich has spent around £800m since his takeover in 2003. But, under UEFA's new Financial Fair Play rules, which are unlikely to face legal challenges by the clubs after being backed by the European Commission last week, the Russian's lavish subsidies of Chelsea will have to end, making Champions League qualification a must. Last year Chelsea made £37m from Champions League TV money alone, plus an estimated £25m from the matches. And next season looks like being a financial nightmare if they fail to qualify. Without that money there seems little hope of Chelsea meeting the criteria for UEFA's new rules unless the naming rights of Stamford Bridge can be sold for a huge sum. Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay has said he is confident of a deal this summer, but £10m a year would be a generous valuation and UE FA have already said they will outlaw any massively overvalued deal that looks like a disguised subsidy. The FFP rules do not come into force until 2013 but it is this season's finances and next season's that will determine whether a club comply. Any club who do not will risk being excluded from UEFA competitions, including the Champions League. Clubs will be allowed to lose a total of £35m in the first two years of UEFA's scheme - that is, this season and next. Exemptions mean Chelsea had been confident of meeting the new requirements even though they posted a £67.7m loss last year. The club might even cut that loss to a few million pounds this season under UEFA's accounting rules. But take £37m out of the pot and it is difficult to see how they can make the grade. One of the mitigating factors UEFA will take into account in deciding whether the rules have been broken is whether losses are heading in the right direction. But if Chelsea do not qualify for the Champions League, their losses are likely to grow rather than fall. Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1qBFvFcfw

Please make a mug out of Enrique next weekend.

It amazes me how Cisse has managed 4 goals and Ben Arfa 2 while Ba has been struggling with the hoof ball. He's just hit a lean patch, the penalty miss wouldn't have done his confidence much good either but his contribution to the team is still pretty good.

6.

People can't live with those 3 up front, we just need more players suited to play it if we want to carry it on next season.

Quality first half, West Brom put the pressure on in the second half as you expected them too but the damage was already done. 50 points with 8 to play is fantastic.

I'm saying the majority of their play isn't about strength, it's about having the pace to get back and marshal their area to stop crosses coming in, in fact strength doesn't play a part much at all for a fullback. It seems a moot point anyway as you've made up your mind that because he's not very big to look at he must lack strength which is bollocks btw, it's like saying everyone tall must be good in the air but it just doesn't work like that, unless you've got some specific incidence that you can point to of him lacking strength and getting brushed off the ball easily?

i didn't say huge, did i mention the word huge anywhere? no what i said was he looks like a ballboy and he makes the da silva twins look built like tiote, it's not that he's "not huge" it's that he looks like bono needs to start up a charity to feed the starving fullback He's lightweight for a winger, let alone a fullback. Evra for instance, isn't huge, but he's clearly got a bit of strength, Enrique, baines, even that muppet at spurs, all of which look about 3x the size of Ferguson, jesus even simpson looks like mr.t beside him. But why does it matter if he looks small? It's not like he's at centre back and up against a physical striker is it? Wingers are usually more of a spender build. Seems like people are having a cry for the sake of it to me, especially as he's not shown any signs of being brushed off the ball easily that o can remember.

Since when have you had to be huge to play at full back? I would have given Ferguson a run there before now, if the club sees him as a fullback and he can get up and down well then go for it.

Strong in the air? Fierce in the tackle? Anticipates well? Phenomenal in one on one situations? Sounds nothing like Bounding

A guy that writes on the Ligue1 site has done an article on the most wanted players in the French league and where he thinks they will end up. 10. Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, 22, Montpellier centre-back Despite his young age, the athletic defender from the Central African Republic has already played 160 league games and is club captain. Phenomenal in a one-on-one situation, strikers never get the better of the pacy and highly competitive stopper. Montpellier will be hoping the possibility of leading the club in to the Champions League next season will be enough to keep him on board. Strengths: Strong in the air. Fierce in the tackle. Anticipates well. Weakness: Still prone to lapses in concentration Valuation: €8m Who (reportedly) wants him? Lyon, Newcastle, Arsenal, Bayern Munich Where's he most likely to go? Newcastle http://www.ligue1.com/ligue1/article/spiro-blog-ligue-1-s-most-wanted.htm

We've been linked with these 2 for a while now, I can see Douglas being the centre back that Pardew was prepared to wait until the summer for which is why he told Mariappa he wouldn't be back in for him.

So not only would we have had no chance of scoring if he hadn't played but we would have lost against the likes of Villa and Norwich too! Brilliant logic, you're so smart HF.

I'm laughing at Enrique because he is wrong and we have been up here challenging for a top 6 place all season, even if we do get beaten to 7th by them in the last few games he will still be wrong as we are up there. It just makes it all the more enjoyable that it's his fuck up that is helping us strengthen our chance of staying there. As for Leazes, I've got no reason to think anyone else is lying about what he said. Maybe he deleted it like he does with his random IRA comments that he aims at Irish posters? Or maybe I don't really care if it's true or not, since he's happy to accuse people of saying all sorts to back up his argument that are simply not true.

I'm not arguing either point, the only point I'm arguing is the point where you think if Cisse didn't score then nobody else could have possibly done so, whoever we played as a replacement which is terrible logic. So can you give me a breakdown of these 7 points?

The argument isn't about an individual player, the single player is just an example people have used against me to say the club have changed policy. We sold no-one in January and spent £10m which has allowed us to maintain our challenge for 6th. This is clear evidence of a change in direction and a new found ambition. Either that, or we haven't changed policy at all and we should laugh at Enrique, we can expect to sell our best players in the summer...and challenge for 6th again next year despite it. I don't know which is true, but you can't have it both ways. You're getting as bad as Leazes with 'what people said' I didn't say it so I'm not having it both ways.

It is indeed. He's single handedly dragged them up to third this season, unless you think Chamakh would fill the gap he'd leave just as well. I would say someone else would of contributed to the goals, not as many of course but more than zero. Can I have a breakdown of where those 7 points would have been dropped please?

He's talking about Cisse, not Ba. Although using HF logic it's a good job Arsenal have kept Van Persie fit as they would only have 28 points if he was injured all season.

Chelsea linked with Ba too now

Whenever those of us that agree with Enrique have said similar, it's been argued (not unreasonably) that the purchase of Cisse evinced a turning point in the policy at the club. Without Cisse we'd be 7 points worse off and not in the top 6, so he's not wrong really. Even if you go with the opinion that we would be 7 points better off (which I don't btw) then we would still be fighting to be in the top 6, as we have been all season, so he is wrong really.

Maybe Happy Face can dig up a quote from N-O, he seems to like digging up old quotes.

Jose Enrique:'The club is allowing all the major players of the team to go. Seriously, do you think it is the fault of the players? Andy (Carroll), nobby (Kevin Nolan) etc etc. 'This club will never again fight to be among the top 6 again with this policy.'

I don't believe that for one minute. I wasn't on the board at the time but it was brought up here > http://www.toontastic.net/board/topic/32523-leazes-statement/page__st__60 Although my experience of him reveling in a defeat was him bumping the European thead after we lost to West Brom.

He's a guy that gets more pleasure out of being right on the internet than seeing the team do well, he's even gone as far as posting smilies after West Brom equalised in the final game of last season meaning we finished in the bottom half. I don't think he's got any pleasure out of this season and won't until Mike Ashley matches all of the finishes the club had under Keegan and Robson. He likes to tell you about it too, preferably as often as possible in as many different threads as possible.

WBA 1 Liverpool 1 Swansea 0 Bolton 3 Stoke 3 Wigan 3 Man City 0 Chelsea 0 Everton 0 So still 58 for me.