Samba 9 - In your opinion do you see Avram Grant delivering this so-called "attractive football"? Will he stand the test of time? As far as I'm concerned, this man has no pedigree and to compare himself to Arsene Wenger, when he took over at Arsenal, is laughable at the very least: they certainly are not birds of the same feather. Attractive football is in the eyes of the beholder, and I'd rather we just win whether its 1:0 or 5:0 "winning isn't everything; it's the only thing".

Secondly, which players do you see leaving Chelsea because of Mourinho's sudden departure? We know how much of a father figure Mourinho was to his players. His passion for the game and the genuine chemistry he had with most of his team translated into getting the very best out of them even under insurmountable circumstances. That is what Chelsea will miss most and that will severely affect results on the pitch unless they get another uniter. Who fits this bill; I just don't know. Finally, do you want to change you're season's predictions? I think you had Chelsea finishing first. If players do leave in January, even a Champions League spot will be huge task to ask.

Bobby –1. There is nothing in Grant’s background to indicate that he is up to the job. 2. I don’t see many players leaving Chelsea just because Mourinho has left. That kind of talk is generally knee jerk reaction from the media and there are very few examples of top-class players leaving a club on mass because the boss has been fired. 3. A prediction has to stay at prediction and isn’t something to change just because something unexpected happens. I think the doom and gloom around Chelsea is being overdone and people are forgetting that Claudio Ranieri made it into the Champions League with a team that was not as good as this Chelsea squad. The difference between Chelsea and the five placed team in the Premiership is far more than Jose Mourinho.

SynCrew - 1. Did you watch Juve-Roma; if so what did you think of the match? And how well do you think this Juve team will do both short and long term?
2 I missed the Friday's FSR and was told you mentioned Jose coaching Man Utd. Can you elaborate for me please? 3 What's your favorite Mourinho quote?

Bobby – 1. I watched the game on Sunday and enjoyed it.  In the short term, Juventus can certainly finish in the top four particularly given they do not have to worry about Europe this season. Beyond this season, they will have to spend some money if they want to be a force in Italy and Europe. 2. I said on Friday that I could see Jose Mourinho, taking charge at Old Trafford, one-day. 3. “There is no pressure at the top. The pressure's being second or third.”

Gabemar - A couple of years ago there was a club owner in Spain a Mr. Piterman coincidentally of Russian descent who bought Alaves. And announced that he had big dreams for the small club. He hired a manager and bought some players. The manager managed to put together a decent team who were competitive enough to avoid relegation from La Liga. But obviously to do so they played a cautious and tactically organized type of football.

Unfortunately Mr. Mr. Piterman did not like this, he wanted his team to play attacking and exciting brand of football. A tug of war for the control of the team ensued and just like in Chelsea the owner won. The manager left and another manager was brought in who was more receptive to the owner ideas.

Obviously the team started to lose more games with this new approach. The owner blamed the new manager because in his mind the manager was not doing enough to win while playing attacking football.

So Mr. Mr. Piterman decided to hire himself to the staff of his club so he could sit on the bench and tell the manager what he wanted done during the game.

I still remember a game against Real when Alaves fielded an ultra attacking 4-3-3 formation. The Owner in one end of the bench and the manager at the other end. Obviously Real routed them. Alaves went down, the fans rebelled against the owner forcing him to disengage from the ownership of the club. I wonder if we'll see Mr. Abramovich on the Chelsea bench sometime before the end of the season.

Bobby – Piterman was involved with Racing Santander before Alaves. I remember writing a story about his involvement. The Spanish Football Association would not grant him a license to be on the bench so he self accredited himself as a photographer and positioned himself next to the dugout so he could shout instructions to the official coach. Unless Abramovich starts taking his coaching qualifications unbelievably quickly he will not get any place near the Chelsea bench. I wonder if he can handle a camera?

Henry14 - q1. Can people blame Benitez for not playing Torres, if they fail to beat Birmingham with Gerrard, Mascherano, Pennant and other quality players, do you think Benitez is to blame?
q2. What do you make of Roman, being a tactical guru?
q3. What did you make of Tevez and Rooney on their first outing together?

Bobby – 1. Fans find it difficult to understand how you can spend so much money on a player and then not start him two straight weeks against teams that Liverpool should be beating comfortably. Benitez didn’t help his case by claiming that Torres would not have helped the Liverpool cause. As for who is to blame – if it is not Benitez who is it? 2. About the same as me being a billionaire. 3. That’s like asking a couple if they are going to get married when they’ve just gone out for their first cup of coffee.

Ringo - You used to mention on the report which teams had the highest average attendances in Europe. Could you give us an update?

Bobby – Some of the websites I used to get the information from either have stopped quoting attendance or the information is a bit suspect. The best information I  could find was from wikipedia and it lists the average attendances from last season.

CIAO - 1. Regarding Arsenal's profits from each game... Are they selling out each game?
2. What do you think of Mourinho taking over at Inter considering the dive in performance in Milan? I think Moratti’s could jump the gun knowing Mourinho is available now. If not, do you think Mourinho might take the post at Spurs?
3. Knowing Arsenal have a large sum for transfers, and Wenger's tight purse, do you think he may consider splurging for a top or up and coming keeper [i.e. Marco Amelia (age 25, Livorno), Igor Akinfeev (age 21, CSKA Moscow) or Veniamin Madrykin (age 26, CSKA Moscow)]? Can you think of any other goalkeepers that might be interesting choices? I think the two keepers from CSKA should be considered by most every top side as they are doing very good in European competitions.
4. Who do you think should be the next manager at Chelsea? I think Hiddink would be able to make out the mess and put RA in his place.
5. There is a lot of talk regarding United bringing in another striker. I think this would be wrong without giving Tevez the opportunity to build on a partnership with Saha and Rooney. What do you think?
6. Today Hierro was made the Sporting Director for the RFEF. Essentially does he now oversee the direction that the national side is headed and if the current manager is fired would he be the interim caretaker?
7. I watched some highlights of Giuseppe Rossi. He seems to be very skilled and creative player. I have never watched one of his games. How do you rate him? Why didn't other big clubs didn't make a move for him?

Bobby – 1. Pretty much. 2. It is almost inconceivable that Chelsea would pay Mourinho off and then allow him to take over at Spurs. Inter Milan is a viable and very possible destination – particularly if results don’t go Inter’s way in the next few weeks. 3. Wenger will give all three keepers a chance before he dips into the transfer market. Don’t be surprised if Lehmann is back as #1 within a month. 4. Hiddink should be considered the favourite and the odds will shorten if Russia fails to make it to Euro 08. 5. I think you have been hearing talk that I haven’t been hearing. They can’t do anything until January anyway so it is a mute discussion. 6. From what I understand his position is a new one and he will take over from Aragones after Euro 08 as Spanish coach. 7. I was surprised that Fergie did not give him a look at Old Trafford this season. He is a bit on the small side but he looks to be a good player to me. 

Ummufan - SAF seems to have annointed Queiroz as his successor. Is this likely to happen? Why JM as a replacement?

Bobby – I think Fergie is saying what he has to say. I don’t think it would be wise to undermine your assistant if that is his goal. Personally, I don’t see Queiroz taking over from Fergie when the Scotsman retires. Mourinho and Old Trafford seems to be a fit to me.

Craigyf - I’ve looked at the FIFA rules and still can’t see why the ref gave Juve the throw in; that was originally a Roma throw in; if Cicinho was time wasting he should have got a yellow, but he got no card. I think the ref made a monumental blunder but I’m not sure can you clarify?

Bobby – Referee’s rarely give a foul throw for stealing yards and a yellow card. A yellow card might appear if the player maintains one position and delays but rarely for creeping.

RINGO - One question about the Gabriele Marcotti piece, who is Dave Worthington? Never heard of him.

Bobby – Former Bolton scout.

Danielgregg - Let's say no internal problems existed inside Chelsea, that Mourinho and Abramovich were the best of pals and Mourinho had the freedom and authority Wenger enjoys. How long do you think Mourinho would've stayed at Chelsea even under the best of circumstances? Certainly he would've stayed longer than he did, but how much longer? I ask this because everyone assumes he would've stayed on permanently for many years had it not been for Abramovich's and Kenyon's meddling. Mourinho has always struck me as a brilliant manager who burns brightly for a short while, gets bored and frustrated and leaves. It's interesting that in the tunnel of Porto's Dragao stadium--where there are photos and tributes all over the walls of the 2004 CL-winning team--there are no photos and tributes of Mourinho. Mourinho to me does not seem to be a builder of anything that lasts.

Bobby – It’s not something we are going to find out anytime soon but there is a definitely a view that Mourinho might be more effective in the short term rather than a decade plus manager like Ferguson or Wenger. There again when you look at the length of time that Prem managers have been in their jobs then it is clear that Ferguson and Wenger are exceptions. If I am not mistaken Steve Bruce is now the third longest serving Premiership manager with 5 years services.

RINGO - On last night’s report you mentioned all the intelligent discussion on the blog, I assume that was not including Verbal....or myself.

Bobby – It is all relative!

Some articles that have run in the last few days.

A little piece on Brazilian Jose Altafini who scored twice in Milan’s first European Cup Final win in 1963.What the article doesn’t point out is that Altafini scored 8 of his 14 goals against Union Luxembourg in a 14-0 aggregate win. In the same round Ipswich Town, with Alf Ramsey as manager, beat Floriana of Malta 14-1 with Ray Crawford scoring seven. Milan and Ipswich were drawn together in the second round.

Technology and its increasing application in the game.

Joachim Buwembo on a “surprising” result in last weekend’s African Cup of Nations qualifying round.

Fergie and things Portuguese.

David Bond and the recent trading Arsenal shares.

Lithuania midfielder Saulius Mikoliunas has been given a two-match ban for diving.

This weekend has a number of exceptional match-ups. Over the last few seasons any time Manchester United has played Chelsea the hype has been extraordinary although on occasion the actual performance has disappointed. Even without the exit of Jose Mourinho this game was going to garner all sorts of attention but Wednesday’s dramatics will only bring to bear more story lines. 

Neither side has started this season strongly. Both sit with 11 points from the first six games and goals have been difficult to come by. Manchester United has not scored more than a goal in a game and has been shut out twice. Chelsea has been kept off the score sheet in the last two Premiership matches and will likely be without their two greatest attacking threats – Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard.

Given the background to this game there will be a terrific temptation to read more into the result than there might actually be. A United win and Grant’s reign as manager might be counted in days rather than weeks; a Chelsea win and the knee jerk reaction will be Jose who.

Perhaps the more interesting contrast between these two teams is not on the field but in how the two organizations are managed. The Glazers have come in for a ton of criticism – mainly for burdening a debt free club with a debt-load that might sink a small country – but when you consider the shenanigans at Stamford Bridge you quickly realize that they understand how to run an organization - division of responsibility, accountability and singing of the same song sheet.

At Stamford Bridge you have a business working without a common purpose, layers of management that appear to overlap and an owner that thinks that money endows with football knowledge. What is worse are the indications that things will only get worse. This mornings English papers are suggesting that Abramovich “will take a more active role in team affairs after the departure from Chelsea of Jose Mourinho”, - (RA on the tracksuit will be next).

Central to Abramovich tightening the reins is the expectation that Avram Grant is going to suddenly turn Chelsea into an attractive footballing side. A noble goal but there is nothing in Grant’s background to show that he is capable of such a turnaround. We are more likely to get told that Chelsea is playing more attractive football rather than seeing it for ourselves.

The United - Chelsea provides Liverpool and Arsenal with an opportunity to take advantage given that one, or perhaps both, of the teams playing at Old Trafford on Sunday will drop points. Liverpool plays Birmingham, a side that was a bit of a bogey side the last time they were in the Premiership. Liverpool is without a win in the last four Premiership match-ups and in the 2004/05 season Birmingham did the double over the Merseyside club.

Liverpool will be hoping to do what they did three weeks ago when another promoted side visited Anfield. On that occasion Derby was put to the sword with Alonso and Torres contributing the first double/double by Liverpool players since April 2003 in a 6-0 win.

Arsenal hosts Derby who will be buoyed after their first Premiership win of the season last Monday over Newcastle. However, they have to find a way to blunt Arsenal’s attack. Adebayor is working his socks off; Van Persie has three goals already; da Silva is looking comfortable when Wenger slides him into the line up; Cesc Fabregas has added goal scoring to his repertoire with three game winners in the last three Premiership games. The goal threat from Fabregas in midfield should only increase the number of chances coming the way of the strikers. 

Officially only three of eight MLS play off spots have been decided so far but Chivas is likely to be added to that list this weekend. Chivas is unbeaten in their last seven games and their last loss was back at the end of July against the Kansas City Wizards – the team they play on Saturday evening. Goals have come in bucket loads whenever the Wizards have left the confines of Arrowhead although not always in their favour. Over twelve away games the Wizards have scored 19 goals and conceded 23. Meanwhile Chivas has only surrendered 4 goals at home in 11 games while scoring 24.

The first big encounter of the new Serie A season takes place in the Olympic Stadium in Rome with the undefeated home side, Roma, taking on recently promoted Juventus. After three straight wins Roma is sitting alone at the top of Serie A for the first time in four years. What is more this is the first time since 2001 that Roma have started with three straight wins and that season they went on to take the title. This is the first in a series of tough games for Roma that will see then face Fiorentina, Inter, Parma, Napoli, Milan and Lazio in succession.

Former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri (could Mourinho lightning hit twice!) has injury problems and a need to bounce back after a lackluster loss last Sunday to Udinsese.
Juventus defender Jean-Alain Boumsong is out for an extended spell after picking up a thigh injury while Marco Marchionni, Zdenek Grygera and Hasan Salihamidzic are also hurt. These two teams have played 146 times – Roma with 35 wins, 44 draws and Juventus 67 wins. Roma has only beaten Juventus twice in their last 12 Serie A encounters.
A true derby game will see Sampdoria and Genoa go at it in the top flight for the first time in 13 seasons. Sampdoria loan signing Antonio Cassano will be missing through injury although Vincenzo Montella should see action. Montella one of the few players in history to have represented both Sampdoria and Genoa, but up to now he has never appeared in a Genoa derby.

The teams that chased Real Madrid to the finish line in Spain last season clash at the Nou Camp with a cracking game in prospect. The last time Barcelona and Seville faced each other was in March with Sevilla winning 2-1. It was a game that saw three red cards (two for Barcelona) and Sevilla coming from a goal down to win the game with goals from Alexander Kerzhakov and Dani Alves.

Kerzhakov only signed for Sevilla last January but scored 8 goals in the 17 games to the end of the 2007 season. The Russian striker was often used off the bench but there are signs that he may just establish himself with Freddy Kanoute as manager Juande Ramos’ first choice partnership. Both have scored three times for a Sevilla side that has opened this league season with consecutive 4-1 wins over Getafe and Recreativo Huelva.

On the other hand Barcelona has been slow out of the blocks with a single home win a two scoreless road draws so far. However, Henry opened his Barcelona account on Wednesday in the Champions League against Lyon and Messi also chipped in with a marker in an impressive 3-0 win over Lyon.