Premier League: Chelsea 0 - 0 Fulham
Match reports
The Observer, Duncan Castles: “You pay off your manager, you make your choice. Grant appears a less intelligent selection by the match. Comprehensively outplayed by Manchester United six days previously, Chelsea contrived to draw with Fulham - a team who had triumphed just once in the Premier League this season and had not won a capital derby in 10 attempts.”
Sunday Telegraph, Julian Bennetts: “[T]he fare on offer was dire. If Abramovich sacked Mourinho for not providing attractive football, then Grant has a long way to go before his employer can be satisfied.”
Sunday Times, Joe Lovejoy: “Abramovich spurned his customary seat in his private box for the Upper Shed where, surrounded by bodyguards, he was repeatedly told, in no uncertain terms, about the folly of his ways over Mourinho.”
Independent on Sunday, Paul Newman: “It was a sight that summed up Avram Grant’s plight. Chelsea’s manager stood on the touchline in the final minutes, desperately trying to shout instructions to his team, only to have his words drowned out by the loudest chant of the afternoon from a previously subdued Stamford Bridge crowd. The sound of “Jose Mourinho, Jose Mourinho” echoed around the ground.”
The good
- Boy, this is hard because in truth there is a very limited pool of events from which to extract any real highlights for “the good”. I suppose the return of Didier Drogba was good. He struggled for the first half and looked a yard off the pace, but the second half he was back to his battling best - until the sending off. But there’s more of that in “the bad” section.
- Petr Cech. Without his save near the end we would have lost today. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing if it means the players getting some focus back.
- Steve Sidwell. One of the few to play reasonably well today. Whilst most of the others were stinking the house out today Sidwell was strong in the tackle and barely misplaced a pass. Still some developing to do but a very good prospect.
- Claude Makalele. A player I don’t think should still be at the club played with grace, elegance and intelligence today. Without him we’d have lost.
- And that is seriously just about that.
The bad
- Didier Drogba’s sending off. The tackle was a tad clumsy with no intent and in my view didn’t warrant anything more than a warning to be careful. However, getting a yellow card for dissent in the first half was downright stupid and in the end costly for the team. I haven’t anything bad to say about the big Ivorian and it’s good that he’s fit again. We all have silly moments and today was not the best time for him to get an unnecessary red card.
- Andriy Shevchenko and Salomon Kalou. Useless and hopeless in equal measures.
- The set pieces. You know you’re in trouble when Makelele starts taking free kicks and corners. Joe Cole was hopeless at the corners, barely ever getting past the first man. Shevchenko’s free kick in the first half was plain embarrassing. This is what we miss when Frank Lampard is out. Hurry back Frank, all is forgiven.
- Florent Malouda. Incredibly useless. He patently doesn’t want to be at the club and he didn’t seem to want to play on the pitch today. Contributed a big, fat, lonely, frowning zero.
- The performance. Dismal, shocking, passionless, disjointed, ineffective and ultimately very sad. As you’ll see, for the first time I have now added an overall performance rating under the individual player ratings. It’s a shame I couldn’t assign a decent value to the figure. We were poor, very poor today and it’s thanks to the fact that Fulham’s finishing was equally as bad as ours that we didn’t lose. The players didn’t seem to know where each other was. The spirit of the team has gone, no-one is fighting for the badge and confidence is non-existent. The first half was worse than watching two Sunday pub teams on New Year’s Day. It was shocking in just about every department, barring the goalkeeping. The second half was a bit brighter and yes, we did have some chances, but the harsh fact is our players couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo at the moment. The Pompey/Reading game averaged a goal every 8 minutes today. We have averaged a goal every 103 minutes so far this season - less than one per game. Today was dire and I make no apologies for such harsh criticism.
- The boo boys. I will never boo the team or any player in blue, no matter how treacherous or useless they are. I think the stewards should eject these idiots as they would someone chanting racial insults. To the boo boys this message - f*ck off, you are pathetic, low life, disloyal, amoeba-brained, pond life scum. The club and the real fans don’t want you. Leave our club and never return you arseholes.
- No Michael Essien or Shaun Wright-Phillips. I know I criticised Essien last week but boy did we miss his power and ball holding skills today, and Wright-Phillips would have had a field day down either side against an average defence at best.
- The atmosphere. I can compare this directly to Boxing Day against Fulham, which despite being 2-2 was electric, in a game that was a real rollercoaster. To be fair on the fans who did try to get the atmosphere a bit charged this was soon doused by both teams’ pathetic first half displays.
- The injury to John Terry. Aren’t flying elbows a red card offence, or are the refs saving them all for us? This could be bad, depending on the extent of the damage, but it could be 3 months I’m told if it’s really damaged, and then playing in a mask for a while similar to Gary Mabbutt when it happened to him. I know Terry hasn’t been as imperious of late due to his toe injury, but he still commands our defence and we’re always the poorer without him. If he’s out for a while though there may be one silver lining in that his toe will also heal and he won’t be stuffing cortisone into himself to play through the pain.
Player ratings
- Petr Cech: We’d be dead and buried without him - 8/10.
- Juliano Belletti: Poor compared to previous games, but still one of our better players. Which tells you a lot about today - 5/10.
- Tal Ben Haim: God help us if this piss-poor excuse for a defender is part of our future - 2/10.
- Ashley Cole: Not a patch on last week’s performance at Old Trafford, but again was one of the better ones - 5/10.
- Didier Drogba: He patently doesn’t like Shevchenko as you can plainly see when they team up as a strike force. Looked off the pace for the first half, got a silly yellow card for being gobby but played like a titan in the second half especially after Shevchenko departed. The red card was a real blow to any chance we had of scoring a goal - 6/10.
- John Terry: Played well even after the elbow incident, which proves to me what a hard bastard this man is. I mean he has a depressed cheekbone fracture for God’s sake! And that really hurts… a lot - 6/10.
- Steve Sidwell: A good game by everyone else’s standards, but to be fair I reckon I would have looked pretty good out there today - 7/10.
- Claude Makelele: I thought he should have been sold, but I’ll eat my words on this because today his experience was critical in keeping us in the game - 7/10.
- Joe Cole: A mercurial talent some might say. Today he was ineffective and maybe guilty of trying too hard. A blip (I hope!) - 4/10.
- Andriy Shevchenko: He gets 1 out of 10 for putting the right shirt on. He has had his chance, and apparently he has had his day. Andriy - retire and play golf. You are not good enough for my club - 1/10.
- Salomon Kalou: At times in the first half I thought I saw flashes of brilliance, spirit and intelligence. Sadly, the second half revealed the full extent of his ineptitude. Missed at least 4, maybe 5 sitters today and shuts his eyes when he heads the ball, which is rubbish. Only gets 2/10 by virtue of the fact that Malouda and Shevchenko were so bad they masked his many faults - 2/10.
- Florent Malouda (sub): Banish this pillock to the reserves until the window opens and then unceremoniously chuck him through it so that some other club can waste good money on his salary - 0/10.
- Claudio Pizarro (sub): The jury is well and truly out. Looks a bit bewildered by the pace of the Premier League but I saw enough to see a potentially good partnership with Drogba. His effort and work rate are what get him the comparatively high rating - 6/10.
- Alex (sub): A much better bet than Ben Haim. Looks confident and reassuring if a tad slow - 6/10.
- Overall team performance: 4/10 - Go on… disagree with me… I dare you.
Man of the Match
In any display as abject as today’s I would put the word “abstention” in here, but I’m feeling a little charitable so it goes to Steve Sidwell. It could have been Makelele, but for me Sidwell just edged it today. He was the only one who didn’t constantly make silly mistakes, kept a cool head, passed well, if a little too sideways like Ray Wilkins, but he’ll learn and adapt.
Final thoughts
Me and my neighbour fans laughed and joked about how it felt like the old days again. But in the end it isn’t very funny and as we left the ground, no-one was laughing. The players look lost. At times today they looked like strangers to each other. The spirit is gone and any confidence boost from the Hull game was extinguished today like a cigarette butt in the men’s urinals. This is verging on a crisis and Avram Grant will have to perform near miracles to turn the ship around. Everything about his body language tells me he is no messiah and I couldn’t help wondering if The Special One would have found something to change in order for us to win the game. Let’s face it he did have a rather good record for turning things around.
The ship is not sinking, but it is listing badly. We now sit in 7th place 7 points behind Arsenal, having played a game more than them. We have a negative goal difference, the only team in the top 12 that has this unwanted statistic. Drogba is banned, Lampard is still injured, Carvalho only started training this week, Wright-Phillips is out, Essien is out, Obi Mikel is banned, Malouda doesn’t want to be at the club and Ballack is still nowhere near returning. Make no mistake this is as close to a crisis as we’ve seen for many years.
If this is taking the club forwards, then I must be living in a weird world where forwards actually means backwards. We are in reverse gear and even if all the big players come back in the next month the stark simple truth is we have already lost too much ground to make any impact on the Premier League title. At this rate we will struggle to qualify for the Champions League next year. Is that what the board wanted, UEFA Cup football at best? How will they spin this as an improvement I wonder? Is “bad” really the new “good”?
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- Posted at 02:08 AM · Permalink · Print · 3530 views · Last indexed by Google on the 13th May 2008
- Tags: Alex, Andriy Shevchenko, Ashley Cole, Avram Grant, Chelsea, Claude Makelele, Claudio Pizarro, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, Fulham, Joe Cole, John Terry, Jose Mourinho, Juliano Belletti, Petr Cech, Premier League, Salomon Kalou, Steve Sidwell, Tal Ben Haim
Amen to that Tony. Just got off the ‘phone from a couple of people who are a little closer than most to the situation down in SW6 - will post soon on the subject; suffice to say it ain’t a bed of roses down there right now.
Yes pretty damning Tony… your observations reads like a Stephen King horror novel, but accurate.
We are becoming a bigger laughing stock by the day, and that hurts. To think we were 5 points ahead of Manure and now we’re 5 behind, and we don’t hear their fans and board screaming for more attractive football, as they seem only able to scrape 1-0 wins mostly at the moment.
And if they win the title again this year on that type of football, it will make Romans decision to get rid of Jose even more foolish.
And yes the boo boys at the bridge should be ashamed of themselves, I never have and never would boo any player in blue.
The only player that deserves to be booed for wearing a blue shirt is Andriy Shevchenko because his presence at the club is a disgrace to the shirt. His arrival and consistently mediocre performances, which are reminiscent of when I first started kicking the ball around, have caused turmoil at Chelsea. The favoritism showed towards him is a detriment to the club. And when he is playing, I am sure the players feel like they are starting with 10 men instead of 11. I mean, how does European player of the year become into this? how does a player of his stature fail to bring a single ball under control? Simple, when your chums with the owner, you take luxuries with the team and your performances. As long as 130,000 pounds is safely transferred into your London bank account, you do not feel the need to please the fans, fight for the club, bleed blue, or have a first touch. Yes, booing a man of ours in Blue is like insulting a man who has served in your respective country’s armed forces. But Andriy Shevchenko is a rat and a treacherous bastard. I think it was him and not Terry that revealed all the dirty little secrets to the board room. I will continue to boo this man until he finally suits up and leaves Chelsea. We wont be able to sell him so lets let him leave by “mutual consent.”
For me, the real title challenger is Arsenal. As much as it pains me to say it, they represent the model for any team striving to be a force in English football. I hate it, but financially, talent-wise, style-wise, and regarding results, Arsenal are miles ahead of us.
Hard to argue much. It is clear that there’s huge division amongst the lads and it is clear that they will not play for Grant.
I think that Chelsea will have no choice but to sell (loan) Sheva during the winter window since it is clear that the lads don’t want to play with him. Drogba made it crystal clear. By the way, the red card was indisputable (second yellow for reckless challenge - it doesn’t matter that it was or not with intent). Also, JT’s injury wasn’t produced by an elbow… was head to face, wasn’t it?
I don’t see the point in rating the players since the circumstances are what they are.
The club has to get very quickly a manager that can impose respect and bring back unity and desire.
I need to exorcise a few demons-
I arrived five minutes after kick off. So despite my genuine thoughts about being opitimistic, I was feeling down about the game. I realised that this is the first time I have arrived late in the ground since 2000-the game after Vialli was sacked. So this indicates how bad I’m starting to feel. I’m shuffled my feet as I past the turnstiles. I should have asked for some spare change to buy a cup of tea. I have a storm cloud in my head. It’s getting like Ruud all over again. I get to my seat and John Terry is down injured. The ship is sinking and the storm cloud is now a just a black hole. Black ….black (like Johnny the painter in the Fast Show) I ponder the injury list and the fact that any Chelsea player can get elbowed in the face or tripped in the penalty box and get sweet FA.THis is how the season is going to be. Add to that the pub team like approach to taking corners and free kicks, and I’m wondering just how quickly this team seems to have fallen apart. Malouda plays like he knows he should not have come. The set pieces are unworthy of Josies Giants. (a blast from the past there). I think the last time we scored from a corner was away at Bolton last season. Just how deep has the rot set in at all levels of the club. The only glimmer of hope in this storm in an FA and Carling Cup that might be our last for some time, the only life jacket I can cling on to is that I thought/hoped/begged the team were trying to attack down the wings with more pass and move and more cut backs from the touchline in the way Man Utd and Arsenal have been doing for years. It’s a not half bad idea decades old that I’ve see Sir Stanly Mathhews say it was the most lethal pass in football. This is how badly my mental landscape is scraping the barrell. But Arsenal and Man utd they have been doing that for years and Chelsea are suddenly expected to do it overnight.
I just hope that the players who looked nervous at against Fulham time can settle down and find some confidence sooner than us mugs who stump up hard earned money to follow the club we all love only to get get pilloried and slaughtered seven days a week by the media and those gloating c**ts at work who have been on my back since the day Tsar Abramovitch purchased the club. Oh sorry those gloating c**nts are the media.
Have to agree with with what you’ve written Tony, actually felt sorry for Sheva as he seemed so hapless, but the booing isn’t going to increase his confidence or anybody else’s. Certainly does feel like the old days too, I thought at the beginning of the match how my expectations had changed, and at the end of the match they’d dropped another notch. What a pale shadow of the power of the team in the past. With the three red contenders for the title all grinding out 0-1 away wins I think we are probably out of the race, if the four teams below us win their games in hand, we’ll be in the bottom half of the table. Despite all the positive spin the club has attempted I believe the unity and spirit in the squad is evaporating, the belief is diluted, and things will only improve once this “transition” phase is over, and AG is replaced. The main external variable must be waiting to see who becomes free once the Euro qualifiers are over.
Vik -
it’s a free country but should we really boo a player in a blue shirt. We can’t get another striker untill January. Booing our own will only serve the purposes of the scumbag media who are still in a feeding frenzy. All these stories and leaks and rumours of trying to blame one player and then another only gives them more coverage and stirs things up. I rememebr when the newspapers blamed Frank Lebeouf for the sacking of Vialli and the crowd booed him the next home game. That was a horrible atmosphere.
THe media are are in a feeding frenzy of near a near sexual nature. They are getting off on all this. And this Duncan Castles who wrote the John Terry ousting Jose last week …who is he. JT wrote in the programme that he is taking legal action, but this week Castle is writing what can only be called more lies about Abramovitch picking the team for Man Utd. Well, I assume they’re lies and I expect a denial from the club. If there is no denial……oh we really are in the shit.
This comment has already been submitted at Blue champions blog, however you find the comment intresting…
True score line Fulham 3-0 Chelsea…..
Having a bad throat didn’t make it easy for me to curse my luck and my coach…My luck for seeing such a performance and my coach (when say my I mean Blues coach) for such a ridiculous team selection….
For such an ambitious club seeing a 0-0 draw at home is no better than loosing 1-0 to the away side…It doesn’t make sense to choose differently just for the sake of choosing to act 360 degrees from your predecessor or probably its just a Russian with a huge ego trying to tell everyone he is the boss around here…. Before commenting in the game I have to confess today that all my optimism for the clubs hierarchy and the “3 match cant make miracles” philosophy owners success as a historical emotion….
True Blue fans are unbelievable…. people talk about liverpooler’s being vocal about their emotions and backing the team when needed however today I must say that I am proud to be a Blue even if we are crashing & burning at the moment…You must ask why? Its because loyalty for the Special one and recognition for his greatness was still so evident on the bridge that it was untrue…They all like us want to believe in the romantic notion that you & I can make a difference and bring back the special one (not likely to happen), however today I believe that even bringing a below average, under-rated, even a homeless minor league ex-coach might be able to look between the lines and utilize his options better…While making this comment I do not blame AV as the clowns who think that they are going to paint the world blue with an ex-coach of a national side in the later part of his life with no ambitions for even personal glories is pure and simple love for fantasy….Also don’t want to blame the owner and the management as all of them want a piece of what Murinho had built as a legacy….A legacy that was designed around his charisma they could have gotten a compromise of fame with JM….
I would like to share with you what I missed most about the Special one today…Not his team selection or anything to do with the way the blues played today but it was his would-be reaction to Drogba being showed the red card…JM would have exploded in support of his player and that is where the blues from down & out positions used to bounce back like champions…Seeing no support from the bench Drogba had to take of his shirt to hide his face, never seen emotion from the Ivory coast star…. I have to confess that I did have a tear shed for him…. Football and all competitive sports are about body language not about how rock solid strategy it about the hope & spirit around you, being unanimated at the side lines wearing a Chelsea Armani suit (how cool did JM looked in it) like an over-grown puppet doesn’t make the guys on the field spark their gun powder…. In all fairness AV is not to blame he is an administrator at best not what we are used to seeing an aggressive, charismatic leader…that where AV’s competence ends….. Today should have been an eye opener for Roman especially if he is serious in making this club a global force in football…Bring back JM (highly unlikely) or someone with a personality in this sport we all love….
It’s easy to go on and on about what is resulting into a spectacular display of immaturity however let me comment about the game before I can take a few pills to ease the pain, no event was more noticeable than the team selection. How can any one assume that the number of strikers is directly proportional to the number of goals you score? My game comments are as follow:
Kicking off with an aggressive lineup (in AV opinion or under Roman’s instructions) of 3 strikers or 4 forward players having Sidwell & Maka in the center was a little out of the box in the start which did make a some real good football stick out with some poor performance for the guy they named European footballer of the year…. Its bad form or lack of it, I have simply no words for such a poor finishing, passing & kicking display by Sheva (all respects to your previous glories but you don’t convince me for a second anymore). After which we saw wasteful free-kicks from the tip of our sword, didn’t mind it as much as his attitude of stealing away the ball from other deserving players who could have done well with the dead ball situation…
Chance after chance went flying here and there or barely in the net…that’s where you see lack of belief…ooooohhhhss and oooopppsss!!! Were everywhere in the first half, most noticeably by Sheva & Kalou…. Don’t blame Kalou he is too young & will be a great future for the club……Terry was the most out standing individual of the team as showed what a prized fighter is like!!! Fractured jaw isn’t a joke…. So even if they blame JT for JM’s departure its ok, as he is a True Blue leader, way beyond our wildest criticism’s there is a great leader in our ranks….
In the first half and across the second Ben showed a poor running, I never could imagine such sloppy work from the Israeli (probably CFC isn’t an equal opportunity employer anymore)…. Alex should start along side Terry in place of Ricardo….
3 strikers at the top were like a messed up formation for a system that works with a solid mid field in a diamond having a striker at top…. I could hear my brother laughing out loud when all three were after the same ball at the same time on the same side…crazy, absolutely crazy!!!!! I did see the team trying to believe their manager and play for the club however the screwed up formation caused them to play eventually within themselves…Maka for change played well however I feel his instructions were to pass the ball to Sheva, he was like Sheva’s feeder….
Joe Cole’s performance was marvelous as usual however Belleti & Ashley were not effective due to a slim mid-field…. You can’t move forward through the wings with such a weak center…
Second half start till Drogba’s dismissal was positive however Sheva still wasn’t making any sense in London…. Difference number two from the old Chelsea to the new one comes here again down to ten men they used to still win matches as the system of a thick strong mid-field didn’t change anything. Today the greatness of Petr Cech was re affirmed when he saved those great counter attacks, if I had to pay 30 million pounds to him for just staying around for the next year I would write a cheque this very instance…. Alex & Ben in the closing stages were just spectator as we couldn’t hold the ball in the mid-field… Belleti was doing a great job even when all were huffing & puffing against a bottom of the league team…
The Malouda case at the dying minutes replacing Ashely could only be because of his limping on the pith otherwise that change made no sense even for a poor manager like AV…I don’t know what going in Steve’s mind when he looks at such a formation & team selection; the man has to have some nerve to sick around in this job…probably the love of the club keeps him around…
More last minutes negative’s for you are as follows:
1- Such performances would definitely make sure that we would not have many left after the January transfers.
2- The above would result into a much weaker squad & the reputation of the club would make sure no one in their right minds would want to join the blues for junk loads of money.
3- Another new disease of no delivering corners past the first defender.
4- JM’s eye for players like Pato, Aliu & Alves was an act of a visionary however now no chance that these player would feel a development of their game with the likes of AV.
5- AV’s lack luster style should not be compared however giving him the benefit of being too new is like saying we are willing to wait for him to improve however we wanted instant success from JM, what hypocrisy!!!
Any positives from today, Yes only one!!! The blue performance wasn’t a player based issue but more strategic in nature therefore I believe all this will motivate Roman & the clowns to double their efforts for a worthy predecessor for JM “my special one†he’s the one who made me love this club…
Park you all with the words of the banner at the sidelines that replicated my thoughts by saying “THANK YOU JOSEâ€!!!
Thank you Jose!!! Go on blues!!!
Well I’m speechless….almost feeling like crying. It’s not nice to see Chelsea being booed by the fans. It’s also nice to see that the unit we once had is gone. I’m missing the Killer instinct we once had and I’m missing the Blue crashing machine. Never mind the beautiful football, where is the beauthy now?
For the fans that still are nursing Shevchenko, I just ask why???. He hasn’t born blue and he is a professional. He is only here because he is well paid. We are not discussing about some amateur league, it’s the EPL, highly professional. I only would have a bad conscious if we haven’t given him a fair chance, but we gave already many. He is simply a bad factor in the team. At work I also work in a team, and we fairly earn the same but we also perform the same. When one in the team is earning so much but not performing it’s not nice for its fellow team mates. In the Chelsea team is no different. Other payers performing much better than Shevchenko and getting less are pissed off. It’s just human.
There is no doubts this is a bad season and I just hope it would not get worse. However, the most important thing that pisses me off it is not even the fact that Mourinho left, no!!!It is the fact that Abramovich hasn’t prepared plan B. How on earth you sack your manager without planning for the successor. Please do not tell me that he seriously thought that Grant can be as good as T.S.O.? He must be lunatic ravaging lunatic, if he really thought so.
I said after Rosenborg that I would reserve my judgment of Avram Grant until after the Hull game, which was obviously a wise decision.
Being at university now, I was only able to hear the game on Talksport (pity me now), but the result was obviously poor, and I wholeheartedly agree with the disgust some people have shown regarding the boos dished out by some supporters at the end of the game. One ray of hope I found was that Didier Drogba was predominantly applauded off after his second yellow (which, typically, the Talksport commentators found appalling). There is some slight optimism gained from knowing that the majority have not forgotten the miraclework he performed for us last year.
After his showing on Wednesday, I thought that Scott Sinclair had deserved a start to this game but it was not to be. We are clearly in freefall at the moment and before any reparations can be made to our season, the bell jar over the dressing room needs to be lifted and the injury crisis carried over from last season abated. The former will begin, in my eyes, as soon as Steve Clarke becomes caretaker manager and Grant’s influence is eradicated.
We are looking at a season of damage limitation at this rate. Right now, if we finish fourth and find ourselves on a League Cup run then I would be extremely thankful. Europe is going to have to wait for another year until we regroup; trying to multitask at this moment in time is highly risky business, and the League should be our highest priority.
KTBFFH, no matter the circumstances.
I’ve just realised that my patience after Rosenborg was intended for Jose Mourinho. My initial expectations of ‘three wins and a draw’ from Hull, this, Valencia and Bolton have since lowered considerably. Grant does not seem to be able to reap such deference or hope from the players, or the supporters.
Because my faith is still hanging around, I’m hopeful we’ll get a draw from Valencia, but we are currently a shadow of the team that triumphed there so spectacularly. Bolton is a possibility if we get some of the big boys back. That’s all for now.
Let’s get realistic – this performance was Jose’s legacy. This is the team and style that Jose built so quite why the muppet in front of me wasted £5 on a “Bring Back Jose†T-shirt is beyond me.
It’s said that to understand hot you need to experience cold, or sweet then sour bla bla, so this reality check may be valuable to some of our more recently acquired fans.
Last year Arsenal were in crisis with their results and Thierry / Dein leaving, but now they are being lauded as the new Brazil, so things can change quickly in football.
Once Lampard is back, despite his critics here, things should improve. At the back we’re ok, in the middle we’re ok but up front we need a transfusion.
1. Sheva is finished and the fans have been fantastically loyal to him. I think that now a bit of booing is appropriate. If you employed a top accountant and found later that he couldn’t add up you’d sack him.
2. Kalou isn’t going to make the grade.
3. Joe Cole plays for himself and showboats
4. Drogba is fantastic but his style enforces us to be one dimensional with the long ball, bit like Everton used to be with Duncan Ferguson (Drogba is a thousand times better)
Whatever happens lets just enjoy it.
Maybe one day Grant would announce his wish to work for charities and to retire early. That’s the best escape route for him!
To Mark, didn’t you notice Arsenal have the same manager there for a long time?
Hey mark, are you on drugs? Stop crying about being all Joses’s fault and get down to earth. You start to sound pathetic.
Jonathan are you going to follow up on what you mentioned earlier?
Dont have as many words to express as those above me, but I will say this; This crisis will finally lose us younger Chelsea fans the tag of jumping on “abramovich’s money-wagon” and that we only started supporting Chelsea because they started winning. And anyone who actually did that, well the chalk will be separated from the cheese now won’t it ?
Thanks Deep Blue.
I’m not crying and I am on planet earth. Stop thinking Jose is the Messiah - you sound and act pathetic!
The reality is that we are just not good enough (the old addage that “the table doesn’t lie” comes to mind). Our summer transfers didn’t do anything to strengthen the squad (and arguably we are weaker than last season). Our manager has no idea what he is doing, and is ill-equipped to manage the players. We are out of the title race, and probably the best we can hope for is a good domestic cup run and, if we improve significantly, a place in the Champions League next season.
I am a lifelong supporter from “down under” and for the first time ever, I considered turning off the TV last night. I didn’t and suffered right to the end (the only consolation was the All Blacks running amok in the Rugby World Cup - I suspect that might be the only thing that I will have to cheer about in the next month!)
I cannot think of anything positive to say right now…
All members of the Blue Army,
Let’s face it! The only thing we should expect at the bestest from this season is winning either the FA Cup or the Carling Cup along with a Champions League spot. Winning the Carling Cup seems, to me, the likeliest and the easiest possibility.
Now Jose’s gone! We cannot stop mourning as we are in a mess of our own… Terrible and pathetic indeed!
The only solutions I (and hope most of Chelsea fans) are:
1. Organise a march to ask for an immediate departure of our head coach and his replacement by Steve Clark (I think most of players will rally him)
2. Get rid of the following players: we really do need to be some realistic. We MUST GET RID OF Schevchenko, Benhaim and Sidwell. That’s an obligation
3. Buy a couple of good players not average one, to fill-in the gap until the end of the season. We need a good centre back, two good midfielders, and two good centre forwards
P.S:
1.These are only suggestions for a transitory period in order to limit further damage not only to our reputation but as well putting the club miles backward. Because great players do not come to clubs not playing in the Champions League and we might face an exodus of our star players because they will all want to play in Champions League. That’s the aim of all world class players.
2. I don’t wanna us start panicking, but the consequences of knee-jerk decisions (from the Board: Kenyon and the clique of Abrahamovic’s advisors are putting the club really backwards). How come we could be at the top of the world with such actions. The next year is likely to be club without cups, playing in UEFA Cup without world-class players and with millionaire owner willing to sell at a symbolic pound…
3. If we would have let Mourinho buying his players and leave him free of all first team matters. we would have won the Champions League so far.. Check this link: http://www.clubcall.com/index.jsp?storyID=326224 You will see that if everything start leaking we will be thunderstruck at what was going on as far as transfers are concerned. This merely implies should we have a new manager he will need to be freed!!!
4. I will soon write an interesting article on what might have really happened at Stamford bridge behind the scenes. Not all conspiracy but clear evidence and inferences on motives behind Jose’s departure, perspectives for the Club and actions to be led by us (SUPPORTERS)
WE ALL NEED TO BOND AND SAVE OUR BLUE BOAT EVEN IF IT MEANS GET RID OF THE OWNER OR PLAYERS!!!!
CHELSEA IS OUR PASSION, OUR LINK, AND NOT OUR TOY…
Come on the blues!
not a bad performance yesterday, not great either by any means but at least we held onto being unbeaten at home, so i suppose that`s some consolation. i agree that Drogs shouldn`t of got a yellow card for arguing his point with the ref, it WAS a penalty after all and he was in the right to have a go in my opinion. i was over the moon to see him back early from injury, thinking to myself, NOW things will start to happen, only to be brought quickly crashing back down to earth when he got sent off. watching Chelsea the last couple of games reminds me of all the world like when you`re a kid and the folks are away, leaving you in charge of the house. you tend to run a bit wild, doing whatever the hell you like because your parents are`nt there to tell you what you`re doing is wrong. that`s how i see them right now, lacking discipline. if they were having a bad game, Jose would be up on that touchline, screaming at his players, telling them what he wanted them to do, and they`d do it. when they came back onto the pitch after a half time chat in the dressing room, you could just tell he must`ve give them all a right royal rollicking just by the way they`d perform better. that`s the difference between T.S.O and Grant. Grant sits in the dug-outs trying his best to crawl up his own arse before anyone notices he`s even turned up to watch the game. he does`nt utter a word, he always looks to me like he doesn`t paticularly give a rat`s arse if Chelsea win or lose. it`s so difficult to respect someone who`s meant to be the “saviour” (god help us) of your club, when it`s blatantly obvious to anyone watching that the team who play for him don`t respect him. you only have to look at their faces when they walk out onto the pitch to see that all`s not as rosy as them at the top would have us believe. i do agree with comments made here about the boo boys. there`s enough crap going on behind the scenes at the Bridge, so the last thing the boys need is the fans against them on the field. if anything will batter confidence and lose us precious points, THAT will and gawd…do we need those points!! so please, please, please, lay off, keep negative thoughts to yourselves. most Blues fans feel the same on everything that`s happened, i still keep thinking it`s a bad joke, but the boys need our support right now. i`ll keep everything croosed for wednesday`s game against Valencia, even though i think the result is a forgone conclusion but i can still hope can`t i? as for things at the Bridge…i`m a firm believer in things getting worse before they get better. can things get much worse for us right now? i seriously doubt it. so that means we`re owed..BIG TIME!!
up the Chels xxx
p.s reports in today`s edition of news of the world that Steve Clarke is quitting Chelsea after the Bolton game. He`s apparently become disillusioned with everything at Chelsea since Jose left…BUGGER!!!
I must say that I agree with everything on this Article except.. the thing about Claude Makelele.. ok he is 34 and a club like Chelsea that already has 2 defensive midfielder..or even 4 if your going to add (Michael Ballack and Steve Sidwell).. But he still looks like the youngest of them all and the most experienced…he might give away some passes but reads the game well and still is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.
We will be bringing in some expert Israeli coaches as part of the set-up… And if we begin each game with a jewish prayer, by the power of Yahweh, we will be okay!!!
On a serious note, Russians losing their qualifiers could mean the ned of Hiddink for them and the beginning of something new for us.
BTW - agreed about Makelele, and he has two feet unlike most of our other midfielders. Yeah he gives the ball away sometimes but he knows what he’s doing most of the time.
Good summing up Tony, agree with pretty much all of that.
For some reason, and I don’t know whether it is the fault of Jose or Roman - and don’t care particularly - we’ve let excellent players go and replaced them with the ordinary. Tal Ben Haim??? Do me a favour, a club with real ambitions for world domination would have broken the bank for Micah Richards.
And can we have Eidur back, seeing as again we didn’t want to stump up for Tevez, even though he would be much more use for us than United?
And can someone just take Sheva, please. Eidur may be a little fond of his dinner, but at least he could control a ball and see a pass.
We still have an exceptional team when everyone is fit: Carvalho, Essien (though not this season’s version please), Lamps, Drogs and Ballack (maybe). But two seasons ago I would have backed our reserves against most. Now we have Bolton-level players in the first team.
Good to see Chelsea returning to our historic traditions (yes, we do have history Scousers and Hill-Wood, 100 years of it in fact). The sublime to the bloody ridiculous.
Already posted it at Blue champions, would be relevant read about here at Chelsea blog, Title is “Power+Money=crazy”
It’s a great feeling to note that so many good comments are posted over Blue champions with some genuine suggestions & concerns. It is really heart warming to be around such like-minded people.
It is very easy for me to understand what is going inside our Mecca (Stamford bridge executive offices), even if I have no contact with any of the executives even the janitors (figure of speech to show hierarchal diversity-not a discriminating comment). How do I know all this? Simple, many of you live in different parts of the world and have diverse environmental stimuli that develop our understanding of what is ideal & what’s not. I consider my self extremely lucky to have such stimuli that make me understand the current Blue’s woes in a blink of my eye.
I live in Pakistan which is going through what my beloved club is going through for the last 8 years & you would ask what is your beloved club going through? CFC is going through an ugly patch of a single individual demonstrating his urge to be supreme commander of all that goes around in the club or in our case the whole country without having a single of the consequences to the supporters or in our case the people of the nation. We have a General & the club has a billionaire, I do not intend to make this post political however I am only trying to relate how clubs are like micro countries having their own residents (fans), friends (allies), enemies (rivals), intellectuals (you), ministers (management personnel like Buck & Kenyon), heroes (JM), puppets (AV) & the Supremo (Roman)-all of you can come up with more examples. So in a case where you have absolute power or single strong owner there is always a support structure available that only talks the talk of the Supremo in social or locally acceptable language even if they personally disagree to the decisions. Kenyon & Buck are a part of the support structure, which in any state are the ministries & judiciary and more appropriately in my state are completely manipulated in which they make decisions, comments & actions which are in coherence with the limited glass house vision of the Supremo (Roman in this case). I live in a third world country so it is understandable to have such problems however to have people acting so strange in an intellectually superior environment I come to the judgment that these all human attributes free from borders & societies.
I guess enough pain has been shared amongst you to make an understanding of how these decisions are being made and no one within the ranks disagrees, as the ranks are an extension to the Supremo.
After reading CFC’s comments I was glad he had so many alternates for many of the current lot, I would not be that knowledgeable to give you more than two alternates however I believe that it not about replacing the lot with newer and better player (arguably better), it really is about utilizing the current resources. Not even for one moment in the game against Fulham that I believe that we had substandard players or less effective first team or ineffective bench or ridiculous reserves. We are just not utilizing the resources for success we are utilizing them based on like and dislikes for someone or “Change for the sake of Changeâ€.
The glass tower strategies are a part & parcel of too much wealth combined with reasonably early successes (even through JM) that have resulted into complete blurry of visions eg; JM had to win everything while AV comes up with statements that “we are creating chances but goal shy and need to work on this problem†(not a quote however it is summary from recent AV sayings). Completely disoriented approach of our Supreme owner wanting to call the shot to become the most acceptable and cheered personality of an organization, club or country. This would never happen because a Russian will never be able to become the darling of the club as he has not worked his way up the ranks to become who he is at the blues or we can simply put it this way that he has no mandate from the people of the blue (us), the only way to receive warmth from the supporters was to have front men like JM working in the greater interest of the club, now minus JM and addition of the puppet AV you will never be able to become loved by the fans. The way we all heard the boo’s from the fans were not because of the players they were for the glass castle inhabitants exactly the same is happening in our country for the General where anybody and everybody who can make his voice heard has made sure they say something in socially acceptable or unacceptable manner.
As I had mentioned in my match analysis comment I feel that AV is a good administrator, a good friend to the owner but not an animated, charismatic, visionary & killer instinct holder. He is not good enough for a managerial position for such a passionate club that wants to move forward rather than moving forward to go backwards.
Let me finalize some more important facts for all of us:
1- Malouda or SWP would have been JM’s favorites this season however just being the loved ones of the sacked (arguably) will always make them second stringers having no motivation to play cutting edge games.
2- Specifically for Malouda he has no history with the club & thus increasing his probability of a January exit.
3- However you select the team TBH is very sporadic in his efforts, flashes of brilliance to splashes of idiocarcy, a definite 3-string defender (accept this fact even if he is an Israeli.
4- Terry still deserves to be my blues captain.
5- Loosing Lampard at the end of this season along with Drogba would be the biggest consequence of Roman’s decision to have a non-prolific coach, not AV’s fault.
6- Hanging on with Sheva even for a bench warmer is stupidity and will be a burden on our salary expense, the club has given more chance to him than any other, I would suggest you give guys like Bridge a chance before they leave your club.
7- Severely stupid philosophy of clouding the front with strikers and forwards does not make you aggressive as a team; look around you in the league to support my claim.
8- Time is not lost to bring in a better coach like Klinsman who would save some of us with more embarrassing moments when almost three players are running for the same ball (even I had a laugh about that, imagine what the rival fans would have done).
9- Current team minus Sheva is good enough to go forward for a campaign having 4 trophies at the highest level.
Greatest fear;
1- It is only one; AV screws up CL (not fiction will be witnessed by us) as without Lamps, Drogba and now Terry don’t expect him to being belief into the less played boys where they would go and get themselves killed for his word. After the CL screw up, poor sow up in PL will result into CL qualifying which he cannot even dream to achieve (Roman can try it himself) & you are left struggling with really old players from top flight teams as no one wants to mess up his career at CFC. Over paid & practically injured roaster for the new manager or AV.
If without any billions in my bank account I can figure out these things than why cant a guy in his late thirties having billions can understand it??? How?? Is it too much Vodka or just plain simple dumbness or maybe I am not a billionaire just because I can figure out these things.
Please remember that all the people at the blues are exceptional, all due credits should be given to Roman, AV, Kenyon, Buck etc and hats off to my living hero Mr. Steve Clarke loving known as Stevie or Clarkie (will write about him soon). Giving them what they deserve let me park this comment by saying “all is not lost all that has happened is that you have lost sight through the romantic notion of invincibilityâ€
My blues the only real blues !!!!
I was reading this story on the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/h.....020854.stm
Bruce Buck is quoted as saying “We welcome constructive points of view but we’ve had a few which could be seen as racist and anti-Semitic,” said Buck.
“This is one thing we will not tolerate whether written, on banners, or through singing and it must stop immediately.”
Can anyone tell me if he’s right or not? Were Chelsea fans singing racist songs at Grant?
Bring Back J only the special one can make this team the great4est again with him teams like manu and arsenal shit their pants when playing us..that stupid roman has destroyed our club by sacking the specail one only because jose didnt play a a player who dosent even have a first touch and is off the pace by miles i equally blame shevchenko for destroying our beloved club iam sure roman and jose woudnt have had such a bad relationship if it wasnt for roman..
It always darkest before the dawn. Much as I despise you historyless bandwagon jumpers I’m confident that you will be competing for honours next year. All that’s happened is that you’re trying to grapple with that fact you are a billionaire’s plaything. Still, 2 league titles are not to be sniffed at — you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
So what is this “near racist” behaviour that your fans are being accused of? Is it justified or diversionary bollocks?
I cant read the paper, i dread turning on the net, i cant watch MOTD or Goals on sunday because apart from 1 or 2 players i have to stay we’r an absolute disgrace, why did he play sheva hes not gettin any poaxy better and wont he was shit last season shit on pre season and shit this year get him out he wont even score in the reserves they’d run all over him, why sheva and not Sinclair makin space running at people, id keep lamp, terry, swp, bridge, Joey, belletti, essien, riccy and sell everyone else and start again ah god i cant even finish this comment i feel sick about whats goin on, just i agree with everything you’v said and we the REAL Fans not you Roman will keep this team together,
K.T.B.F.F.H
Grant added: “First we need to score and then we need to win. I can’t argue with that.”
What a deep insight into the game of football!!!! Thank you Avi now we all know that to win we need to score!!! I hope that calling this guy “not clever” will not be considered as racist abuse.
On the day he arrived to Chelsea I knew it is going to end up badly and have written about it on this blog. The guy is well know in Israel for his intrigue skills and not football manager skills. He has got a nickname “restless intriguer” and believe me this means something.
As great a manager as he was, and as much as we all love and miss him, it has to be said that all those players that people are saying are not good enough for Chelsea, are ALL JM signings. Roll on January eh?
What’s REALLY starting to worry me though, is all this anti-Abramovich and anti-semitic abuse stuff.
Yahweh help us if Roman decides he’s had enough!
If Roman quits, there will be Arab sheiks and Chinese tycoons queuing to buyout Chelsea then!
Gloating Gooner
“historyless bandwagon jumpers”
Oh the irony!
I don’t like this…
“CHELSEA stars have been told that Avram Grant is the future of the club.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/articl.....00,00.html
I’m finding it hard to put into words how the past couple have weeks have left me as a Chelsea fan.
I was (and still am) gutted Jose has gone, but I realised it was always going to happen - the behind the scenes rumblings were always going to have an impact.
I was happy to give Grant a chance to prove himself, even disregarding our trip to ManUSA as it was too soon for him to implement his own management style; game plan etc. I can even disregard last Wednesday. Lets face it, it was Hull in the League Cup.
Based on this he’s had one ’serious’ challenge in his short-lived managerial career at the Bridge. We’ve had bad luck all season and that didn’t change Saturday. JT’s injury (not sure how deliberate it was, but even a brick-sh1thouse like JT is going to feel a broken cheekbone) had an impact - we lost our leader. Maybe we were unlucky and Drogs should have had a penalty, we’d have held on and won one-nil etc.
The performace was poor, and I’m afraid it’s the usual suspects every week. Sheva, Kalou, Ben Haim etc.
Theres a good title race developing, between three teams. And then there’s us. We’re out of it already and need to make sure we finish fourth.
What hurts the most, is going from being universally hated, but hugely successful at performaing and getting results in the face of adversity to being the laughing stock and just being poor.
To answer those who asked about Bruce Buck’s allegations of anti-semitism, I heard nothing at all of that nature at the game; I think it comes from the fact that AV has been sent some hate mail, which is presumably … hateful.
Actually I was surprised by the general air of resignation in the crowd. We were totally outsung by Fulham. The atmosphere generated at the beginning of the season has been killed. People don’t want to boo the team, but no one feels like getting behind a manager who has no credentials and appears to be saying nothing but what Abramovich wants him to say, presumably because that’s the only way to hang on to the job. So, everyone just sat there getting more and more depressed. The booing at the end was directed more at the overall situation — the unbelievable mess that has been made of an incredibly strong position — than at the team, or the manager. That’s what I thought anyway.
Have to disagree with a couple of parts of the blog. I think Makalele had a game that really showed his age. Yes, he’s a fantastic player, but there were a number of occasions on Saturday when he was really struggling to keep possession when two years ago, or even last year, he’d have shrugged off the challenges. Without Lampard, Ballack, Essien and Mikel, the midfield looked really average.
And I don’t agree with the people who think Kalou is hopeless. He’s clearly not an English-style centre-forward. He’s not (to say the least) a good finisher, although he put some good ones away last season. But it was really really obvious that he was one of the few people in the team who looked like they could beat a defender, or find space around the box. When he received the ball, he kept the play going forwards. He fluffed his chances pretty horribly but he did well to get those chances. If José was still in place I’d be saying, the manager can turn this kid around the way he turned around Frank, Joe, and Drogs.
But does anyone really think Grant can make a player great? Let alone make a team of good players work effectively together.
It’s going to be a long season. Just like ten years ago, I think we’ll be happy if we can get a CL spot by the end of it.
SURELY SHEVA KALOU AND BENHAIM COST MOURINHO HIS JOB AND THEY WILL ALSO COST CHELSEA FC ITS POSITION AND ABRAMOVIC JUST SELL THEM AND BUY SOME DESCENT STRIKERS I
Still counting 1 loss, 1 win and 1 draw seven more matches before I make my judgement.
I’ve always thought the Intertoto Cup looked like a terrific competition.
Duncan Castles of the Observer is clearly pursuing a personal agenda - see his match report with its claim of JT getting booed before kick off. Nobody I’ve spoken to mentioned that and I’ve not seen it any other match report.
SURELY SHEVA KALOU AND BENHAIM COST MOURINHO HIS JOB AND THEY WILL ALSO COST CHELSEA FC ITS POSITION AND ABRAMOVIC JUST SELL THEM AND BUY SOME DESCENT STRIKERS I
KARIUKI
SURELY YOU SHOULD STOP SHOUTING.
We heard you the first time.
Pretty much agree with everything you said.
Shevchenko - I don’t know whether to cry for the bugger or take an axe and hack those legs off good and proper. Then we can all see the’ye non existant …
Avram Grant seems lke a decent fellar but Chelsea need a proven winner. we really can’t expect to achieve anything with a nobody in charge. And from all the signs it looks like he’s staying for a while yet. Must brace ourselves for some unhappy times ahead…
And please, people, lay off Kalou. He might not score, but he’s miles ahead of that useless waste of space SWP.
How things have changed since the our much-maligned Frank Lampard has been out injured. FOUR LEAGUE GAMES WITHOUT A GOAL.
I cant help but think the lack of purpose and belief in the midfield is more down to his absence than anything else. This Chelsea team just doesn’t know how to play their game without him. Gross over-dependance on lampard must be a major factor in all of this.
We saw it before, when lampard would be rested for cup games. The team doesn’t click, because when he’s on the pitch pretty much every meaningful attack involves him and Drogba.
The more I read on the net from various sites, the more bewildered I become. The press are absolutely loving this, some of the rubbish and digs at the club are uncalled for. Although they have raised some valid points and questions which have not been answered by the club, but the overall tone of the reporting is one of mockery against the club, which I believe is reasonable, (it hurts to a admit it).
We have no idea what Roman has in mind, it would be good if he spoke directly to the fans through the media, bloody hell he must have learnt english by now to an acceptable level.
But if the continued reports are true in that he sees Grant as taking this club forward, then my personal view is he has lost the plot big time.
There is no point having a world class symphony orchestra, if the only conductor you have is only good enough to be working on public transport.
ROMAN SHOULD SELL OUT NOW.
Clive… The digs are well deserved. Chelsea have been inviting hatred for at least 3 years now.
I think we’re going to lose to Valencia midweek, which means a hard qualification campaign ahead of us in the Champions League. Who’d have thought?
And all the mockery around the press about the club actually makes sense for once. I mean, god, Chelsea is just in turmoil. As a fan, you just wish it were over but I deep down, you know it’s going to take a long time to be over.
And god, Avram, please, TAKE BEN HAIM OFF! He’s just pathetic. Alex looks and is far more accomplished in defense.
Compared to all the other foreign owners I think Roman is the best. All the others are in it as an investment and will aim to sell out in 3-5 years and make a profit.
Roman just wants success and excitement, bugger the cost. Personally I’m happy with that.
jard he is not going to sell out, why would he? btw harry ur so right Ben Haim has been doing VERY BADLY, all of his tackles are the same. I Would play alex and terry/carvalho as much as possible.
Sam… I did say some of the digs not all of them. And as far as inviting hatred that’s only true in the case of Chelsea being successful, if it wasn’t us it would be somebody else. I’m sure United and Arsenal fans are only too aware of some of the media coverage they’ve had over the years which has been spiteful to say the least.
That’s the nature of being British, we just don’t like winners.
We need Quaresma.
Pizarro Fan we only need YOU to shut up, now!
You are clueless.
There are only so many ways this can turn out. I can think of four:
Roman gets his way. Grant becomes an effective conduit for his dreams and wins over the squad, reveals himself to be a great motivator and tactician, gets his best players back to fitness and after these initial wobbles, tears back up the League, gets through the Champions League group and goes on to win a historic double. Then, using intelligent spending on great players who complement the product of our maturing youth academy, we go on to become the best club in the world. Unlikely.
Roman realises his mistake. Realises he doesn’t understand football like he thought he did. That it requires more experience and creative thinking than just signing some good players, placing his mate in charge and telling him to get them to attack the opposition. In which case, he withdraws from interfering, sacks Grant, signs a capable and experienced head coach - with a more attacking approach than the capable and experienced head coach he forced out before Grant - and lets him get on with it, supporting him with necessary funds within a budget. We become a top 4 club again, occasionally winning the title and challenging for the Champions League every year, eventually winning it when we least expect to. More likely.
Abramovich grows tired of the effort of building a world-beating club, grows tired of the abuse from supporters and the press, cannot stand the embarrassment of failure, sells up, taking his debts with him, and makes way for another owner. Chelsea, a going concern in the Premiership, with a decent brand identity built under Mourhino, attracts a decent buyer, re-structures to accomodate a more sensible spending policy, and becomes another Premier League club struggling to get into Europe each year. Unlikely (given the extent of Roman’s investment and obvious committment).
Abramovich grows tired etc (ditto above) and insists on his debt being taken up by new owners, fails to find one, loses interest and presides over the running down of the club. We become a sinking ship, lose all will on the field and terraces and end up going down through the divisions or even in liquidation, going out of business. A 100 year blip in the history of football. Unthinkable.
If Avram Grantsi the Future in Chelsea….. I can only say that Chelsea’s future is already in the past.
http://www.lentik.ru/content/view/30/43/
Five most funniest goals of the 20 century.
“I’ve always thought the Intertoto Cup looked like a terrific competition.”
Wonderful, Peter. Actually laughed out loud at what is becoming an increasingly unfunny time.
Just wanted to chime in with support for Limetreebower’s comments about Kalou. The boy’s 22 and he looked, in my eyes, one of our best on the pitch on Saturday. His finishing and his ability to deliver a final ball need some work but he looked one of the few able to take on a defender. He does magnificent things with the ball and I only wish I thought we had a manager who could transform those flashes of brilliance into something sustained. Jose might not have been the man for that (he couldn’t do it with Arjen) but I feel pretty certain that neither is Avram.
Why Shaun Wright-Phillips can’t get a game is absolutely baffling to me. And leaving Essien out of the lineup in inexcusable (I never heard anything about him picking up a knock). Gutted.
Stowe,
SWP pulled his hamstring and Essien got a calf injury. Are you living on the moon?
Confrontational little fucker, aren’t you andy?
danny, I think no 2 will happen, it’s just a question of when.
All sorts of speculation emerging from various sources at the Bridge - our club leaks worse than a Catholic condom – but strong rumour that there will be a new face in November.
I normally treat rumours with he contempt they deserve Peter… but that one about a new face in November, I really hope it comes to fruition.
The reason we need a new face by November, whatever the results between now and then, is this. Mourinho is going to turn up at a decent club very soon and if Chelsea are still in this state, we’re going to have transfer requests from our best players.
we just dont have a match winner in drogba and lampards abscence. i think jose knew this …and thats why he quit and come ACN i think we would probably be languishing in relegation…. week in week out it seems we are moving in the opposite direction downwards the table….. i think we should just buy a descent strikers then sell kalou wright phillips sheva and benhaim…….(SERIOUSLY I WOULD RATHER DONATE THIS MONEY TO CHARITY THAN HAVE HIM PLAY ON MY TEAM AND FORK OUT ~130000 FOR DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING …ROMAN U CANT BE TOO BLIND TO SEE THIS … THE BOARD AT MILAN MUST REALLY BE LAUGHING AM SURE THEY HAVENT EXHAUSTED THE CASH TO DATE…. JUST PLAY SINCLAIR FOR HEAVENS SAKE)
Peter,
I’m not sure that “little” was the word you were looking for… hehe
Yeah, you could be right, maybe I should tone it down or quit writing all together.
It is nothing more than banter to me, even though, sometimes, I might come across a bit strong.
Go, Chelsea!
Andy go away you moron, dont rip on people because they are stating their opinions. I think Quaresma would do well at chelsea.
Testing times eh, lads? This is what i wanted to face. A crisis. This is the time all the Johnny come lately’s will second guess! This will, for you know, bring to us..real glory!
I just pray that all the muppet fans dont go and petition RA for new manager. Nobody can handle the situation now except Grant. i dont care if he is good or not but he has been full pre-season with the boys and atleast has a clue. Hiddink ,Klinsmann anybody would have to re-invent the wheel and that could be disastrous and full of lame excuses. Lets see this season off, salvage whatever we get (we honestly dont look like winning much, save the Mickey Mouse Cup again :-)), stabilize, re-build! I dont want to make too much of a fuss. Its sad that this is happening but I fervently hope all this pressure doesnt make Roman/Chelsea like what Real madrid did. or for that matter what the Moron at Steaua Bucaresti is doing with the likes of Hagi and Pedrazzini. Its very important to weather the storm. Lets face it. Stick through the thick and thin of this season. Next season we either have Roman or nobody. No Chinese tycoon or Sheikh. One more owner like that especially after a problem like this, that is almost like prostituting this club.
Two words - (Not “Avram Grant”) - -
“CHIN UP!”
Chelsea!
Ravenous1
CHIN UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
joe #10;
people with your IQ have no right to an opinion!
I really tried to resist but you are just too dumb not to be acknowledged!
What makes me dumb? If you are gonna be a moron and not talk chelsea then why are you on here?
Hey guys what do you think about Valencia? Will Lamps play?
guru/andy
a polite word of advice - this blog isn’t here for you to abuse people and the comments that they make, so kindly pack it in.
no response necessary - just stick to football and we’ll all get along fine.
Hahahahahahahaha.
joe #10;
I apologize for being a bit harsh and am glad to see that you took it as a joke (just the way it was intended).
Lets hope we’ll win 2-0 our game to Valencia tomorrow. That’s my guess.
Such score will help us all relax a bit and quit being so edgy!
Peace!
Ok bro, btw guys do you know if Lampard will play? I dont think Essien will play. I predict Drogba or Lamps to secure a 1-0 win.
Chelsea to win 2.1 just to salvage our reputation and honour
Come on the Blues.
1.0 Kalou/Joe Cole (Either has the goal, i won’t get bother at all! lol)
1.1 Villa
2.1 Drogba
Come on the blues
Look at how ridiculous Grant is.
How can he say we wasn’t create many chances under Mourinho. Our problem was to put the ball at the back of the net. I am afraid but Chelsea seem to be a set of liars nowadays.
Thats shit mates!!!!!!!!
John Terry, Michael Essien and Ricardo Carvalho have taken part in a squad training session on the pitch that will stage Wednesday evening’s Champions League encounter….
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/.....55,00.html
Those not making the journey to Spain from the registered Champions League squad are Frank Lampard, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Wayne Bridge who plays tonight in reserves to improve his match fitness.
John Mikel Obi and Didier Drogba are free from their domestic suspensions.
All above info is from the Chelsea official site. You can get the whole story by clicking on the link provided.
Go, Chelsea!
Cool cheers Guru.
Do we see an unchanged team from Saturday? Does Malouda come in for Kalou?
To Bobiyou, it’s ridiculous. Grant should try to show results instead of minimize the results from his predecessor.
Anyway, if he means that under JM Chelsea was not creating many chances (ridiculous) it must be easier then for him now to over match JM achievements. Let’s wait and see….perhaps he still will regret his big mouth.
Pinochio’s made an interesting prediction over at Sky Sports :
http://www.skysports.com/exper.....03,00.html
Being the eternal pessimist, I agree with him in that I don’t think we’ll get anything from tonight. The problem is how well equipped will we be to win 4 out of 4 after tonight ??
With SWP injured, Lampard suffering a set-back, Drogba suspended in the league (I’ll discount Mikel - don’t think he offers us anything), it’s going to be a long time before things get any better.
We’re going to get tonked tonight.
Mikel is going to be a great player, but is suffering a crisis of confidence like most of the rest of the squad. Can’t think why…
Will be good to get Carvalho back -always feel more comfortable with him and JT together in defence. Don’t see us winning out there but a clean sheet would at least be something to build on.
JT looks really freaky in that mask, he’ll be the Phantom of the Mestalla. Think it could go either way tonight, either a heroic away win with star performances, or a real ‘on-the-ropes’ pasting. Sheva, there couldn’t be a better time for you to score a hat-trick.
Come on you bluuuuuuuuuuuuuues!!!
I couldnt agree more with the guy above me, GO BLUES. btw I heard Avram is going 4-3-3 With Kalou,Sheva and Drog up front.
Well, I’ve put my money where my mouth is… I’ve bet on a 2-0 win for Chelsea and also bet a bit higher amount on a Chelsea win regardless of score!
The odds are very much against us (as far as the bookie is concerned)… so the win will be so much sweeter.
Go, Chelsea!
Just saw the team that will start… I like!!!
Chech
Ferreira; JT; Carvalho; A. Cole
Essien; Mikel; Makelele;
J.Cole; Drogba; Malouda
Go, Chelsea!!!
We’ll kill Valencia in the midfield!!!
I wouldn’t want to be a midfielder playing for Valencia today!!! :-)
Whooa good to see Ricardo Carvalho will be back, I think J.cole and Malouda will play on the wings with Drog in the center and Essien/Mikel and Makelele protecting the back 4. 2-0 would be sweet.
Fuck! I’ve lost the 2-0 bet but still hoping for the win… it’s 1-1 now.
joe10 (haha) scored a beauty after the ball went Drogba - Malouda - J. Cole… nice!
C’mon guys, we can do it!
Go, Chelsea!
GO CHELSEA, IM PICKING 3-1 OR 3-2
GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
2-1 Chelsea Droggggbbbbaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
1 WORD DROGBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
DAMN YOU BEAT ME TO IT BRO!
Always follow the recommendations and analyses from Bobiyou. I always beat the market better than any bookmakers…lol
Bobiyou the Blues · 2nd October 2007 at 11:11pm
Chelsea to win 2.1 just to salvage our reputation and honour
Come on the Blues.
1.0 Kalou/Joe Cole (Either has the goal, i won’t get bother at all! lol)
1.1 Villa
2.1 Drogba
Come on the blues
FINAL SCORE : VALENCIA 1 CHELSEA 2 GO DROGBAAAAAAA!
That’s my Chelsea!
Yes, Baby!!
BLUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
joe #10, my friend…. the sky it’s so BLUE!!!
Don’t you love it?
Bobiyou the Blues, scary stuff, man!
The order a bit screwed but that was spooky!
Bloody hell. Now that, I was not expecting. Funny old game etc.
CHIN UP!!!!! We are back to business, hopefully!!!
Y