Football
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Di Matteo gone, the return of thread icon Avram Grant presumably imminent. Yay!
Benitez in? 
Btw I'm good thanks for asking 
Hopefully I'll be moving to London next year 
I like Gary Neville's commentary of Torres' goal last year more.
Btw I'm good thanks for asking
We heard it here first, Roman's been in touch.
Very tough on Di Matteo. His team selection last night may have been tantamount to a resignation letter, but the speed at which he was placed under pressure by Abramovich was bordering on indecent. How can you sack a man who's just delivered your holy grail?
I can't believe any manager worth his salt would be prepared to work at Chelsea now, which is why I think 'Arry is favourite for the job. After all, a top, top club needs a top, top, top man.
All irony aside, Les Reed would give it a right good go.
It's actually quite good to see Rafa back. I don't consider myself a huge fan, but his funny ways usually make for decent telly. I'm still rather fond of Bolo Zenden too, and would probably take him back as a player even now. I assume he celebrated getting the assistant's job in this style...
Of course, this will all pale into insignificance should the recent rumours of Eva Carneiro's exit from the club turn out to be true. 
The lights go out on Sparky.
A headache-inducing match in which I honestly thought we were good value for at least a point. Lost because of a superb strike, a once-in-a-lifetime 'keeping howler and a dive that was beyond laughable. To a side third in the league, who beat Chelsea last week. It's not the end of the world. It's not the end of the world. It's not the end of the world. 
But tomorrow evening's game is now an absolutely massive one. Be interesting to see which of our best players is 'randomly' linked with a January move to QPR in the next 24 hours or so. 'Urry up 'Arry, come on.
Dear Chelsea fans,
Angry slogans look rubbish when printed on A4 paper.
Je suis un pillock...
Five points from three games counts as stability when you're down at the bottom but we're still frightening to watch most of the time.
Well, we lost again. Absolute rubbish in the first half. Much better in the second, but still too little too late. That’s one point from a possible nine in games against West Brom, QPR and Norwich. Chelsea up next and Man United, Man City and Spurs to come over next four weeks or so. Gulp...
I honestly thought O'Neill was building something very special at Villa, that it all went to pot wasn't (just) because of the some of the expensive deadwood he signed but also because of his inability to mix things up tactically. Arguably he had the most talented starting XI we've had for nigh on twenty years but ultimately lesser players in lesser eras were able to achieve a lot more than he could. At the time I thought Randy had played hard ball with him but really it was a cowardly exit from an ego maniac. I never understood why Bruce couldn't get Sunderland ticking and likewise with Martin. I just don't get it. Moreover, they seem to crumble against teams they should be out muscling in all departments. They look so timid, especially at home where they should be rampant, pressing high up the pitch. I don't see a single leader in their team but maybe its bigger than stuff like that. I don't know.
I honestly thought O'Neill was building something very special at Villa, that it all went to pot wasn't (just) because of the some of the expensive deadwood he signed but also because of his inability to mix things up tactically. Arguably he had the most talented starting XI we've had for nigh on twenty years but ultimately lesser players in lesser eras were able to achieve a lot more than he could. At the time I thought Randy had played hard ball with him but really it was a cowardly exit from an ego maniac. I never understood why Bruce couldn't get Sunderland ticking and likewise with Martin. I just don't get it. Moreover, they seem to crumble against teams they should be out muscling in all departments. They look so timid, especially at home where they should be rampant, pressing high up the pitch. I don't see a single leader in their team but maybe its bigger than stuff like that. I don't know.
I honestly thought O'Neill was building something very special at Villa, that it all went to pot wasn't (just) because of the some of the expensive deadwood he signed but also because of his inability to mix things up tactically. Arguably he had the most talented starting XI we've had for nigh on twenty years but ultimately lesser players in lesser eras were able to achieve a lot more than he could. At the time I thought Randy had played hard ball with him but really it was a cowardly exit from an ego maniac. I never understood why Bruce couldn't get Sunderland ticking and likewise with Martin. I just don't get it. Moreover, they seem to crumble against teams they should be out muscling in all departments. They look so timid, especially at home where they should be rampant, pressing high up the pitch. I don't see a single leader in their team but maybe its bigger than stuff like that. I don't know.
Very poor the way he left, shame for the club that the manager and owner couldnt have come to some sort of agreement, at the time it was reported that it was all about money, yet within a year they splashed £20m+ on Bent.
Interesting to see Darren Bent mentioned there, because for me, our current problems can be traced back to a series of decisions made immediately following his exit. Attempting to tough it out without a decent replacement until the summer, coupled with injuries and loss of form meant that our season ended up dying a slow and painful death, which in turn put serious pressure on Bruce for the first time. His response, a complete overhaul of the squad with a record number of new signings, fell completely flat. Most unforgiveable of all was to sign the untested Wickham and Ji as back up to a bored and decidedly overweight Gyan (who quickly did a runner) and the occasionally brilliant but often face-punchingly frustrating Sessegnon. We’ve hardly been a genuine attacking threat since.
Which in part brings me to one of O’Neill’s biggest failings this season. He’s placed far too much trust in Bruce signings (only six of our current 24-man squad are O'Neill's - Fletcher and Johnson were signed for admittedly large fees but three were freebies and Rose is a loan) who simply aren’t up to much. Most of them served him well intially, but it’s clear now that they were simply running on adrenaline. Until Martin has more of his own players in, it is of course extremely harsh to call for him to be sacked, though there’s no doubt that massive improvement is urgently required, both tactically and in terms of team selection. And while sticking resolutely to tactics that have worked for you in the past is understandable, he also had far better players to work with back then. I mean, who could even begin to place James McClean in the same solar system as Ashley Young or compare Jack Colback with Stiliyan Petrov?
Looking at the upcoming fixtures, there’s surely a strong possibility of finding ourselves somewhere in the bottom three come January, and to get out we’ll need a minimum of four decent new players and a change of tactics.
Will it ever get any better? Who knows…
Interesting to see Darren Bent mentioned there, because for me, our current problems can be traced back to a series of decisions made immediately following his exit. Attempting to tough it out without a decent replacement until the summer, coupled with injuries and loss of form meant that our season ended up dying a slow and painful death, which in turn put serious pressure on Bruce for the first time. His response, a complete overhaul of the squad with a record number of new signings, fell completely flat. Most unforgiveable of all was to sign the untested Wickham and Ji as back up to a bored and decidedly overweight Gyan (who quickly did a runner) and the occasionally brilliant but often face-punchingly frustrating Sessegnon. We’ve hardly been a genuine attacking threat since.
Which in part brings me to one of O’Neill’s biggest failings this season. He’s placed far too much trust in Bruce signings (only six of our current 24-man squad are O'Neill's - Fletcher and Johnson were signed for admittedly large fees but three were freebies and Rose is a loan) who simply aren’t up to much. Most of them served him well intially, but it’s clear now that they were simply running on adrenaline. Until Martin has more of his own players in, it is of course extremely harsh to call for him to be sacked, though there’s no doubt that massive improvement is urgently required, both tactically and in terms of team selection. And while sticking resolutely to tactics that have worked for you in the past is understandable, he also had far better players to work with back then. I mean, who could even begin to place James McClean in the same solar system as Ashley Young or compare Jack Colback with Stiliyan Petrov?
Looking at the upcoming fixtures, there’s surely a strong possibility of finding ourselves somewhere in the bottom three come January, and to get out we’ll need a minimum of four decent new players and a change of tactics.
Will it ever get any better? Who knows…
Wickham was a risk, highly thought off in the Championship but unproven, amazing when they come off, but look foolish when they dont. Its fine when your a Chelsea or Man City and you have bags of money, if it doesnt work you can just stick him the reserves and forget about him, for most other sides its a big lay out.
In all honesty, I doubt we bought Wickham for any other reason than to sell him for a huge profit a year or two down the line, he just hasn't developed at the speed the club would have probably hoped for. The daft thing is, while Bruce stuck two injury prone over-30s (O'Shea and Brown) on five-year contracts at roughly the same time, he only signed Wickham up for three. Which means that if he actually does start to look like a player at some point in the next year or so (and there were encouraging signs when he came on against Norwich at the weekend), there'll be big clubs sniffing round him faster than you can say 'can we at least have our money back?' 
Wickham was a risk, highly thought off in the Championship but unproven, amazing when they come off, but look foolish when they dont. Its fine when your a Chelsea or Man City and you have bags of money, if it doesnt work you can just stick him the reserves and forget about him, for most other sides its a big lay out.
In all honesty, I doubt we bought Wickham for any other reason than to sell him for a huge profit a year or two down the line, he just hasn't developed at the speed the club would have probably hoped for. The daft thing is, while Bruce stuck two injury prone over-30s (O'Shea and Brown) on five-year contracts at roughly the same time, he only signed Wickham up for three. Which means that if he actually does start to look like a player at some point in the next year or so (and there were encouraging signs when he came on against Norwich at the weekend), there'll be big clubs sniffing round him faster than you can say 'can we at least have our money back?'
(to the tuneful dirge known as Blue Moon) - altogether now!
Blue Moon,
You saw me standing alone
In the elimination zone
Even got battered by Ajax
Blue Moon,
You know we're forth out of four
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone Italian hired by Sheikh Mansour.
^ 
I can appreciate that the post-Van Persie/Fabregas/Nasri Arsenal are a seemingly constant source of frustration these days, but I believe their detractors got it rather skew-whiff after the Olympiakos game. Looking at the teams who are now safely through to the Champions League knock outs, there appears to be no real advantage in finishing first or second in your group this year, apart from the obvious benefit of raking a few extra quid in. Finish first and there's a strong possibility of drawing Madrid or Juventus. Finish second, you could end up with Dortmund or Barcelona. Equally daunting either way.
Luck of the draw