Stiliyan Petrov - The Poll Verdict

Who's next for the "fans" vendetta? BOOOO

I can think of several players in the past who "needed time to settle in" which was much longer than 12 months and, despite suffering terrible abuse from a number of our fickle fans, still went on to deliver the goods....McNaught, Evans, Morley, Swain, Ehiogu, Yorke to name but a few!!!! Lord only knows why players would want to come and play for us when we have fans who turn on you so quickly.

Its nothing to do with being fickle or a vendetta. Petrov just isnt good enough and the sooner O'Neill realises this the better

I hope i'm wrong aswell, but he seems to be getting worse every game now.

It's not a question of his ability - it's purely about the quality he's producing. And the plain and simple truth is for all of his ability, he isn't producing at all. Fulham may have played the last half an hour on Saturday with only ten men, but we essentially did the same in the first half. We're carrying Petrov at the moment and have been for some time. When he does have a reasonable game (as most agreed he did at Newcastle last week), it's never more than workmanlike. He plays too deep, always goes sideways instead of forward, never creating. If we didn't have better options, I could see why we were persisting. But we do - for me, Maloney has played his way into the team and has earnt a place in the line-up for Chelsea. If MO'N elects to pick Petrov ahead of him on Sunday, I will be very disappointed. We're starting to look good playing 4-4-2 - Barry and Reo-Coker in the centre with wingers on both flanks. It gives us balance and pace. In this system, there's really no room to accomodate Petrov and any attempt to keep trying to fit him in is nullifying the effectiveness of our approach play. So MO'N needs to demonstrate this week that he is willing to drop one of his big money signings and Petrov needs to seriously dig in and decide if he's going to fight for a place in the side or accept defeat. I've said it before and I'll say it again - this can't be just another season of transition, and if we're not going forward, we're going backward. Petrov's not a kid to be developed for the future - he's an experienced professional who needs to perform now. We're a club that needs to be about achieving results and we cannot carry anyone who isn't contributing.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt last season, but for all his talk he still hasn't shown anything special so far this season, he is supposed to be a play maker, and he just isn't producing, his positioning and awareness on the field is awfull. He will have to be dropped until he improves, if he doesn't improve then bye bye, thanks for nothing.

How many games has he played this season? You guys are way too impatient. Its all about results and if we get a few dodgy results, Marlon or big John will be next for your whinging. I agree what has been said about the strating 11 for Chelski, but no matter what 11 we put up against them, its going to be very difficult to even get a draw.

We got a draw the last two seasons, and Chelsea were terrible. We have a better chance this time around, we may even nick it .....

agreed judgevillian, Maloney should be in the first X1 on saturday, and I think he will start to be honest. We have the ability up front to cause an upset, and its getting a bit better by the week. They just have to remember its Chelsea, and not only are they a very strong unit, they will try every trick in the book on the field. UTV