Champions League: CFR Cluj 0 - 0 Chelsea

A very poor showing tonight.

GOOD:
1. Cluj - The new Rosenborg in my mind. Last year they shocked many teams in our group and ultimately got Jose fired. This year it seems that Cluj are the new plucky upstarts whose energy and enthusiasm will carry them close to glory, but in the end, just like Hull, they'll find their rightful place nearer the bottom.
2. Cech - Another clean sheet and no shocking errors.
3. Di Santo - Got more than 1 minute against Spurs and 5 at Pompey. Still no goal though.
4. Malouda - He may have got taken off, but he did at least put in some crosses. A much better showing than Kalou.

BAD:
1. Injuries - We are cursed, either that or our highly paid physios are actually secret Utd insiders determined to knock over all of our best players. Out now are Ricky, Deco, Essien, A Cole (possibly), JT (possibly), Alex (possibly), J Cole and Didier. We saw JT moved into midfield as he couldn't run, Alex was even less mobile than usual and our attack looks very thin. JT and Alex will be patched up as will Ashley but against Villa we could be looking at:

Cech
Bosingwa Alex JT Cole
Ballack Mikel Lamps
Kalou Anelka Malouda

Of which 4 players have knocks and 2 of our attack are in shit form. Who would have thought that Malouda would be the most in form attacker at our disposal in October?
2. Didier - You either love him or hate him, but no-one likes to see him get seriously injured. Knee ligament damage could mean 6 months like Essien and if reports of a fracture/dislocation are true then we're looking longer term in the Bullard/Michael Owen territory. He was working his way back from 4 months out and it seems unlikely that we'll see him again this season or ever in a Chelsea shirt. It may seem cruel but he could fade away like Casiraghi did. I hope we get to the final in Rome and let Didier lead us out in the final. It would be a fitting tribute, just like we performed with Di Matteo at the Cup Final.

Continued...

3. Aston Villa - They came very close to ending our home record last season and this Sunday could be the biggest threat we've seen in recent seasons to our fortress. An in form front 3 of Ashley Young, Carew and Agbonlahor will be relishing running at 3 injured defenders in the form of Alex, JT and Bridge.
4. Performance - One of the worst of the Roman era. I thing it was worse than the Avram 0-0 against Liverpool as on that day we had no serious injuries. No ideas, no creativity and not even the basics worked. We could hardly pass the ball to a yellow shirt and we seemed intent on inviting pressure. An absolutely shocking game.
5. Attack - Anelka's showing was incredibly poor. He had a couple of half chances but at no point did i feel he would score. When he miss-controlled Bridge's cross, when unmarked, 6 yards out, it summed up why we're going to struggle to get to January whilst still top. He's just not good enough. As for Kalou, well he would have been taken off after 20mins if Jose was around, just like the Fulham game in 2006. Without Deco we seem to runout of ideas and look very average. I hate to bring it up again, but we are paying a huge price for not having a Plan B to Robinho. Many will say that Sinclair and Di Santo will now get a chance but no-one really thinks that 2 kids are going to solve our attacking problems. For me January will be a huge trasfer window to replace Didier and cover Essien. Those not cup-tied:

Kaka, Fabiano, Santa Cruz, Owen, Villa, Silva, Defoe, Yakubu, Huntelaar, Cahill, Young.

For me i'd obviously love Kaka and Villa but realistically i'd go for Santa Cruz and Cahill.

In conclusion tonight may have been the final nail in the Jose era. If Didier really has got a serious injury, we'll never see the best of him again and next summer could herald a whole new attacking approach. No more long balls to Didier when in need, instead we may have a new front pair of Aguero and Villa and a whole new style of play.

Thanks gents...... I think I will save 2 hours of my life tonight and not bother watching the game when it's shown late tonight!

Yayy for the simple and direct blog entry (I don't mean to say that the other entries weren't funny or smart but when I read football block, I just want straight up football. Cluj did a great job of narrowing down our attack. They worked hard (as hard as Manchester Unt did). Bridge was not that sharp this time around, might be the lack of games. But Cluj shut down out full back attack very efficiently. Also, they were doing all the right thing at the right time. They would have made mistakes on a different day and we could have made them pay. Some part of me believe that we are missing Deco's creativity in this game. Drogba's injury was very very very unlucky. He might have get the goal with the right touch but missed it and also got injured.
Anyway, love the blog. I'm always a fan. Keep it up!

Judging by the reports this was our first taste of an average game by the team which you get in any season no matter how good the players. The italian coach obviously did his homework and Cluj must be congratulated on making it very difficult for us to play. So its a point won and not 2 lost.

The injury to Drogba sounds bad and as pointed out will maybe mark the end of his Chelsea career and maybe even his football career depending on his motivation. Was is the same knee he had just recovered from ? His loss will be felt for what he offered the team in the coming months rather than what he has provided to the team so far. Scolari now has no choice but to blood Di Santo at least until January. Anelka is just not upto the task of playing that centre foward role or any other striking role it would seem. So with Di Santo now going to get more game time we shall see what he is made of. It should also mean another place on the bench for one of our other reserve players.

We still have a very strong team despite the injuries and the opportunity to blood younger players at this stage of the season is the best time before it gets serious at the end. I don't see us being beaten too often so we should be up there come january.

Whether we need to buy another striker is questionable because Anelka was a January buy and has turned out to be a flop so far. I would rather us stick to playing the younger players as our midfield will still be able to knock in enough goals to help us win games. Buying new players should be left to the end of season when we have more chance of getting the rights sort of players.

Still unbeaten this season, although Sunday's game will test that record...

KTBFFH

Great review TONY

I thought it was an abysmal performance from the boys, they were so inconsistent & couldn't pass or hold onto the ball for love nor money..Petr's save in the last 5 minutes was outstanding..he made a few good saves actually come to think of it!

I see the injuries are starting to clock up already..even though Drogs is obviously gonna be out for a while again, it's good to hear he hasn't fractured his knee as first thought..and he'll be going for further tests today..i didn't think he looked ready to play last night..my Ma even commented on how knackered he looked..i wish Uncle Phil had left him on the bench now!!

All in all..not a TERRIBLE result..we got 1 point and are still top of our group table, so it's not all doom & gloom i guess..a win would've been better though.

To be fair to the team the pitch looked extremely hard and played a bit like QPR astro turf circa 1986.

Of course we've been playing without the real Didier for some time now, where with his back to goal he could swivel and score, and we may have to conclude that we'll never see that Didier again.

If we want a big hold up man upfront we could sign Heskey in January for a 6 month stop gap. No big name decent players will move till next summer.

Heskey, nows there's an interesting thought, current England player so may have some experience with linking with Lampard and Cole. Of course he also could end up being another Anelka, Pizzarro etc.

Not sure Heskey will want move to chelsea to be a stop gap for 6 months though.

AFTER WATCHING CHELSEA LAST NIGHT I AM EVEN MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT SUNDAYS GAME,I RECKON ITS GOING TO BE 3.1 TO THE VILLA,AND HESKEY WILL BE AT VILLA IN JANUARY!

Not much to add really Tony your review was spot on, although I would have preferred one of your humerous reports to lighten the dull events of the game itself. Cluj are no mugs, well organised run for 90 mins credit to them. They obviously had got their confidence after beating Roma, and they wanted at least a point last night, and they could well qualify from this group.

The mounting injuries, well we just have to get on with it, really unfortunate for Drogs, but as Mark mentioned that pitch looked rather hard and unforgiving which may well have contributed to Drog's injury.

Anyway onto Villa Sunday should be interesting.

The villa fans are getting a bit cocky now...BLUEY... YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOUT YOUR PREDICTIONS on this blog...We can all read normal text on here...

Well, that's 90 minutes I'll never get back. I even rushed my way through the construction of a flat-pack bed for Fiftee Jnr.

Utter, utter dross as we've all alluded to.

Tony - the only (extremely slight) disagreement I have is around TSSO blooding Di Santo 'sensibly'. Sticking the 6ft+ Argy teenager on the left of the front 3 was a mistake in my eyes. Sure, it was only 20-odd minutes, but he should have been put through the middle with Anelka out wide - at least we could have resorted to a bit of long-ball tomfoolery that way.

The paper-thin squad gets thinner all the time. I said (on many occassions) during the summer how I thought we needed another wide man and a striker. DD was never going to return to the glorious form of a couple of seasons ago, and by selling SWP and failing to get Robinho, we all knew TSSO was after at least one extra person. Despite the plethora of 'decent' names that aren't European cup-tied in January, it'll be too late on the domestic front by then. The league has to be the priority, that's the real mark of a quality side.

At one of the numerous points last night I drifted into some sort of sub-conscious state, I actually began wondering if Kalou has any real thought process at all, or if what happens when he's on the ball is a direct result of blind panic. It appears the pressure of the Chelsea Blog collective stating he was starting to find form really got to him, so he put in such an abject display that I looked at Fiftee Jnr in his Chelsea kit, and actually wondered if the 2 year old would have done any worse. I also wondered why Liverpool get PSV every f'ing year in the Champions League - a 6 point gimmee for them.

Still, a points better than nothing. Win the home games, draw the away ones and 12 points will see us through. We were missing half a team, but the problem is how long will that continue. With only Ashley back for Sunday, I think the 'Home Record TM' is in real danger.

I am beginning to dislike this boy Scholari.
What Samba beat?
Kaka would've probably came if he hadn't learnt that Big Sco. doesn't rate him.
He's going to persist on sth. that doesn't work.

Come on Wigan!, goddamned!

We really are cursed.

Might be time to get Sahar back from his pointless loan at Pompey. He'll get more playing time with us. Deco is the one we really need though, especially with Ballack in such poor form.

And it's not just the outright injuries, it's the fact that so many players - Terry, Kalou, Ballack, Drogba (until the 'proper' injury) - are clearly playing when not fully fit.

Is it just me, or does this all coincide with us moving to Cobham?

Blimey, one lousy performance and all the nutters come out.......

"Beginning to dislike Scolari"...... He hasn't lost yet! Guess you don't remember John Hollins, Bobby Campbell or Ian Porterfield.

"Paper-thin squad"......We've ben unlucky with injuries, but to describe our squad as paper-thin would have every other fan in the country rolling in the aisles.

"Kaka, Fabiano, Santa Cruz, Owen, Villa, Silva, Defoe, Yakubu, Huntelaar, Cahill, Young"..... Get a grip..... There is no way we will get any of those players in the January transfer window, as their clubs will not want to sell.

Just relax a bit...the performance was lousy apparently, but 0-0 with Rosenberg last year was hardly inspiring and we still managed to do ok. Those shouting to give the young guns an opportunity should be pleased, and if Anelka can start hitting the proverbial cow's arse with his banjo again, there will be no need to spend more money.

Anelka's four goals in six starts is hardly a disgrace.

@ Petew......

Perhaps not Pete, but the reality is he should have 10 goals by now. Unfortunately when a club like Chelsea pay top money for a striker, he doesn't get the luxury of a 12 month settling in period.

As evidenced by last night's result, you don't even have to lose to be under pressure.

Ten goals in six starts?

Come on, be realistic.

Currently suffering an epic Oktoberfest hangover so argue quietly, would you?

Sounded like one of those games; always likely to be a tricky fixture given the unknown quantity aspect. Disappointing about Didier - really not sure he should have been playing at all if he wasn't fully fit; wonder if the increased likelihood of picking up illnesses when you're at a bit of a low ebb is the same for footballers picking up injuries when they aren't 100% fit.

Injury crisis is a concern; would be interesting to hear the CFC physios point of view on the subject - are we just unlucky or is there something more to it?

"Anelka's four goals in six starts is hardly a disgrace."
"Perhaps not Pete, but the reality is he should have 10 goals by now.!"

Anelka wouldn't be a flop with Fabregas or Scholes playing behind him. We'd a choice btwn a 20-goal-a-season MF and someone who bring others into the game. So lets all be happy with our choice. This Anelka debate is p***** me off!!!!!I hate brainless bloggers!!!
Everybody here knows the real reason why all these good players flop at Chelsea.

Bugger off Henry, there's a dear.

I agree with Greenlight, when we even draw people seem to get all hot and bothered. It wasn't a disaster, just a poor performance. Anyone have any news on Drogs' injury?

This Anelka debate is p***** me off!!!!!I hate brainless bloggers!!!

Don't be too hard on yourself Henry there are plenty on this blog who will do that for you!
And ditto to what Pete said.

Scholes? Christ on a bike, someone's been tokin' a bit too much.

Home record definitely under threat for Sunday if we can't get JT and Alex fit in time. I dread to think how much wailing and gnashing of teeth there will be on here if Villa turn us over.

Despite having read all of the match reports and the comments here, I came home and watched the replay. Yes, it wasn't pretty, and we will certainly have to play better than this if we want to contest the final again, however I don't think that too many sides will come away from Transylvania with much to show for their efforts this season, so I don't think that there's any cause for panic!

Notwithstanding the mounting injury toll, which is certainly becoming alarming, we are still strong enough to be there or thereabouts come January when we will potentially have the opportunity to strengthen the squad. In the interim, we need to start bringing the Di Santo's and the Ivanovic's into the team and giving them a go - we've still got enough quality in the squad to fulfill our expectations this season. Bring on the Villa!

The problem with Henry's argument is that

a) It ignores the fact that Deco, Ballack, Malouda, Cole and Kalou are all there to bring others into the game (when they are fit).
b) Lampard has created plenty of chances for other players this season, as well as scoring his usual quota.
c) Anelka's scoring record this season is good. He's perhaps not converting as many chances as he could, but he's certainly getting plenty of chances. Anelka missing from three yards against United, for instance, isn't actually the fault of Frank Lampard.
d) Adeboyer's six from ten isn't any better than Anelka's four from six.
e) Fabregas was a more effective player when he added goals to his game in the first half of last season.
f) Ditto Scholes, who is anyway injured and over the hill.
g) Henry is a dickhead.

Funny animal, Anelka. If he can form some sort of understanding with Ballack and (more specifically), Deco he'll improve. Seems to do better for us away from home - greater proportion of his goals are scored on the road, probably because he's usually not up against such a deep lying defence as he is at the Bridge. Not entirely sure he's that great on crosses into the box which forms a sizeable part of our game these days, but his overall contribution seems fine to me.

Not had a look at his record for Bolton (and elsewhere) but I think it was the opposite in terms of scoring home / away which is odd, but maybe not inexplicable if you look at the way he was played (which I haven't in any great depth).

And what Pete said from points a) through to (and definitely including) g).

A few thoughts

The brown enevlopes passd around the dressing room by representatives of the chelseablog was money well spent. When we're winning and doing well you struggle to get 40 postings (see Stoke Report). Day after a poor display and 27 comments before 12pm.

Hrney is writing cogent sentences. A poor performance has flushed out the fact that the Musamba impersonation was just a front.

I don't think you can't attribute the injury crisis to Cobham, training, physios etc. when 3 of the ones that hurt us most are knee injuries that are not down to stress, poor conditioning etc. but accidents during play. However it is worrying if players then get pressed into playing too soon after injury as a result of dwindling numbers of fit players.

"However it is worrying if players then get pressed into playing too soon after injury as a result of dwindling numbers of fit players."

Aaaah, the single most perfect and well written example of the Principle of the Vicious Circle'.

The one thing I did notice last night, is that after watching most players in a a yellow shirt failing to demonstrate anything resembling a first touch, Di Santo appeared with boots that appeared to be coated in glue. He brought down a fair few high balls with aplomb. He needs to play more, and I guess will, with DD injured. Ditto Sinclair.

I have to say I wont be too disappointed if one or two Villa players took knocks tonight.

Still haven't watched the game, I was gonna watch it last night, but I had an Arsenal fan over and he didn't want to watch a nil nil draw, so we put on the liverpool game instead.

So we finally failed to score in a match. It was bound to happen, and at least this was an away game, unlike the 0-0 with rosenborg last year at the bridge. Losing Drogba hurts, I really can't stand to watch Anelka play anymore up front. I know, he has 4 goals in 6 apps, but every time he has scored, I can count 3-4 chances he had in the game before that where he should have. At least two of his goals have been tap-ins after rebounds or bad defending. And some of the misses he's had...(utd),have been terrible to watch.

If a striker wasn't at the top of our shopping list before, it most certainly is now. I'd love Villa, I dont think it will happen this year at least. What do you guys think is the most viable striker option for the upcoming January window?

"What do you guys think is the most viable striker option for the upcoming January window?"

How about Wigan's Amr Zaki? I know he's only played six games in the Premier League, but he's been amongst the goals and looks like he's got the physique to play a similar role to Drogba. And at 25, he's got the best years of his career ahead of him. Snap him up in January, before his transfer fee is inflated.

Steve Bruce described Zaki as "The best striker in the world" before he signed him. I laughed, but he could be right.

Not a bad call actually Nick; looked very handy against City at the weekend and looked adept enough with the graft as well as the craft. Isn't he only on loan up there at present too?

Has to be one of the few, viable and presumably fairly affordable options who would be available for Europe in January too (a pretty short list all round really).

Just had a look at his Wikipedia page. LINK One-year loan from Egyptian side El Zamalek. Nickname 'The Bulldozer'. Scored 29 in 48 for the Egyptian national side.

An Emile Heskey type player who can also score goals. And, as you said, J, one of the few, viable and affordable options who would be available for the Champions League in January.

Michael Owen would be my choice. Probably desperate to tunnel his way out of Stalag Toonland, still a great goal poacher and the sort of player likely to relish a big club coming in and rescuing him from the barcode nightmare. yes, he's been injury prone for 2 seasons now BUT that's no indicator of the future and I reckon we could turn his head. Then all we need to do is go for the Spanishman in the summer.

Yeah, but we really need someone who's proven they can score in the Champions League.

Some bloke notched for Werder Bremen in the San Siro against JM's Inter last night. Cloudy Pizza or something his name is, apparently he's only on loan to Bremen........

@ Fiftee.............please God, don't even joke about that.

I would love to see lampsy:
-charming snakes (poisonous)
-or hunting sharks
-or bungee jumping

The last time he was out we played BEAUTY!!! ---- HIM!!

Rocket science is not for dummies apparently!

@PETEW...GOD BLESS YOU!

Spurs got through. How depressing!

Warning this contains whimsy and b*ll*cks not straightforward football talk.

Big T has done his best to get a report out, but the bullets of anger and the grapeshot of overwhelming despair have been brought to his knees and so I grab the torn and bloodied standard from his manly grip and charge on.

But this is no place for simple minded hackery and so I will swerve around the temptation to engage in hopeless puns about Vlad the Impaler, Dracula and Transylvannia. No, when you think of Dracula, two great actors comes to mind, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. One represents dark and the other light.

Because we at chelseablog are a force for good we will view last night’s performances through the prism of Peter Cushing’s impressive contribution to the cannon of film and particularly horror.

Chech - Vigil In The Night (1940) – stayed awake to make a couple of vital stops

Boswinga – Some May Live (1967) – we’ll let him off this time

Alex – The Abominable Snowman (1957) – similar level of mobility

Terry - Fear In The Night (1972) – some of his defending is giving me nightmares

Bridge –Dr Phibes Rises Again (1972) – and didn’t do too much wrong this time

Mikel - If This Be Error (1952) – then he made quite a few

Lampard - Torture Garden (1967) – looked a little lost and a little tortured by it all

Ballack – The Mummy’s Shroud (1967) – played a bit sheet

Malouda – They Dare not Love (1941) – but perhaps we’re starting to like?

Drogba - The Beast Must Die (1974) – has he been downed for the last time?

Kalou - The End of the Affair (1955) – just when we were starting to love him

Anelka - Shatter (1974) – as in could he possibly be any….?

Belleti - From Beyond The Grave (1973) – we all thought he was gone in the summer

DeSantos – Madhouse (1974) – welcome to the one that is Chelsea’s first team

Scolari - And Now The Screaming Starts (1973) – if it hadn’t already

Getting Strikers is key for us at the mo - however rather then buy again I would really like to see Sahar and Di Santo given the go ahead.

Also - with Deco and essien injured would also like to see Stoch given a chance in the first team.

No matter how much I hate Arsenal - I really respect their ability to bring players up from the youth team. We have a great chance to start doing this and to see if Arnesen was worth the money we paid for him.

Please TSSO - unless a big name like Huntlaar or Villa is up for grabs - blood our youngsters. I know many will disagree - but I would rather wait another season or 2 for trophies if it means playing our young up and coming players like Manciene, Terja, Stoch, Sinclair, Sahar etc.

We have invested heavily in our youth team structure - let's see it pay-off. We can't keep buying first team players otherwise we won't create another John Terry!

God Bless Roman's Blue Army!!

P.S. Here's hoping Ivanovic is played against Villa rather then putting Mikel in CB positon as I am sure Jose would have done!!

LINK


Pizarro was a classy centre forward before he came to us.

Seems to have found the goalscoring knack again.

How strange...

Anyone who saw Egypt in the AFCON last year would have known Zaki would get a few goals.

Surprised he wasn't snapped up earlier, and by a slightly bigger club than Wigan (Who btw played us off the park in our 1-0 win)

Owen would be easily available in January. With just over a year left on his contract he'll be available for the value of the remainder of his deal - £5m. If he does arrive, it will be the beginning of the 'new' Chelsea. We cannot rely on playing a rigid 4-3-3 with a big man as Jose did. Scolari was beginning to move away from it in pre-season, with Cole in behind Anelka and the 'awesome foursome' of Essien, Mikel, Lamps and Deco behind them. If we do get an Owen, a Zaki, or Yakubu it will mean that we have to play a more patient passing game. At times it'll be frustrating when it doesn't work, but if it comes off, Roman will love it.

And Anelka just isn't up to it. As many have pointed out 4 goals from 6 games is the minimum he should have. And as Matt Huges of The Times observed, he only performs when the pressure isn't on him. At Bolton he didn't have to deal with the expectation of playing for a side like Chelsea and that's why he could score more regularly. At Chelsea he knows that in the big games, he cannot afford to miss and that's what makes him nervous. We've seen him score a tap-in against Pompey, Bordeaux and Stoke and the final goal in a 3-1 cruise at City. However he missed a one-on-one against David James, he missed a sitter against Spurs from Belletti's pass, he hit the post against Bordeaux when he should have scored and against Utd he had a shocker. He also missed his half chance against Cluj. He just can't perform when under pressure, and the prime example of this was his pen in Moscow. As a back-up he's the best we've got, but in an ideal world, Scolari always wanted a front 2 of Robinho and Didier.

And our squad is very thin. Against Villa:

Cech, Hilario
Bosingwa, Paulo
Ivanovic, Alex (knock)
JT (knock)
Cole (knock), Bridge
Mikel, Lamps, Ballack (not fit yet), Belletti
Sinclair, Kalou, Anelka, Di Santo, Malouda

That's 18 players. 4 of which aren't fully fit and 3 player's form (Ballack, Kalou, Anelka) is poor at present.

I'd agree Zaki looks very promising so far but he wouldn't be the first newcomer to EPL to have a good first season and then fade badly as opposing defences become familiar with his style and figure out how to play him - not to mention the perennial "he won't like a wet night in Wigan in February" cliche that always gets trotted out against any player from a country with average temperatures hotter than ours [just about everywhere outside the Arctic Circle, then?].

I thought I read somewhere that Wigan have a buy option for him in his loan deal that Bruce was already thinking of exercising in January to fend off other interest - perhaps we could offer him that "Cloudy Pizza" bloke as an encouragement now he's doing so well......

not to mention the perennial "he won't like a wet night in Wigan in February"

He'd better ask for a transfer now! :-)

Looks like he's also sprained his wrist LINK

Good news on the official site - statement after Drogba's scan says he's out for "weeks not months"

i was gonna post about Drogba's injury being shorter than expected.. good news there.

I saw Zaki play well for Wigan over the weekend, and he impressed. Owen would be interesting to say the least...I'm not sure it would work though. Sorry if I am a little nieve, but what is the actual definition of "cup tied". Can we not use someone in CL if they already played CL football for another team during the season or something?

Regardless of Drogba's status, a striker should be #1 on the shopping list come January. So far our goals have been due to the midfield: great overlapping runs on the wings and precision passing from Deco and Lampard. Most of the finishes required by the strikers thus far have been simple. We used to rely on Drogba's brilliance and strength for our goals. While I don't wish for Chelsea to revert to that, it would be nice to have another striker capable of pulling a rabbit out of the hat when needed.

KTBFFH...

And there was I thinking that the arrival of September had finally brought a long-awaited end to all the posts about which players we "need" to buy.

You'd have thought lessons would have been learned in this regard. (Anelkaone -- sorry, *anyone* remember last January?)

If one away draw in the CL qualifying rounds is going to make people start thinking that we need to get Michael Owen to Chelsea ... dearie me.

It might be worth remembering that Mr Big himself acknowledges that he's still a new manager with a new team. We can all see that he's trying to do something completely different with the players. I think the odd bad game is permissible at this stage. And what's the point of even having a reserve team full of hand-picked young proto-superstars if there's going to be panic buying in every transfer window? It's a nasty run of injuries, and we may lose a couple of games here and there. But the squad we have is good enough for what Mr Big wants to do.

Some may not like it, but Scolari is looking for new attacking reinforcements. A lot of papers tomorrow are linking us with Luis Fabiano:

LINK

They also say that Didier is out for about 1 month. But with both knees now injured and with Didier having missed all of pre-season, when is it until we risk him again? A couple of bad results, i.e. draws, will see us rush him back, but that will only result in another injury. I remember when Ballack was injured against Pompey on the opening day. We rushed him back for Wigan and he was then out for a couple of weeks, and since then he has looked slow and unfit.

Come next summer we will definitely have a new attacking line-up. Scolari has said that he knows about the African Nations Cup in 2010 when we'll miss Kalou and Didier in attack and Mikel and Essien in midfield. It is only a matter of when we get some new strikers and not if.

Let's hope that Fabiano doesn't turn out to be the next Anelka.

ENGLANDS YOUNG LIONS YO DO YA 3.1 ON SUNDAY.YOUNG GABBY AND BARRY TO SCORE,ALSO MARTIN O NEILL IS THEE!!!! SPECIAL ONE.UP THE VILLA

@ Habs 51.....'A lot of papers tomorrow are linking us with Luis Fabiano'

Have you learnt nothing from the Summer break when we were linked with everyone and bought Deco (and no-one else). Hopefully by 2010 we will at least have given Di Santo, Sinclair and Sahar a chance to fill the gaps.


Can we also have a policy of ignoring fans from other clubs that contribute nothing sensible to the blog? I'm quite happy to engage in proper debate with real fans, but those incapable of forming sentences that insist on SHOUTING, should be blanked.

Honestly, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at some of the revisionist history being spouted around here and elsewhere. Chelsea were lucky with injuries in Mourinho's first two seasons?! Okay, if you discount things like Robben's broken foot, Bridge's broken ankle, Duff's dislocated shoulder, Drogba's and Crespo's multiple muscle strains. Terry, Lampard, and Gudjohnsen all played with broken bones at some point; Petr Cech actually played for months with *two fractured shoulders* because he delayed surgery until after the World Cup. Does no one remember Scott Parker being sidelined almost immediately, Del Horno being hamstrung, or Gallas playing with back strapping all the time as well as having to fill in at full-back because everyone else was injured too? Even squad players like Geremi, Huth, Jarosik, Carlton Cole, and Maniche all spent quality time on the treatment table.

If you want to talk about an injury 'curse' I'd suggest first looking at how the majority of the serious injuries have been sustained. There are the obvious examples of H*nt's attempted reckless homicide and Diaby, Eboue, and Dempsey all kicking/studding/elbowing Terry hard enough to break bones. Then you have Mokoena's stamp on Robben, Shearer's late slide into Bridge, Reo-Coker taking out Essien's knee, Bramble going in late on Ballack's ankle, Wes Brown's stamp on Sinclair, Sonko barging Cudicini, and plenty more that have caused me innumerable rage blackouts and ulcers. What's the common factor? All were dangerous challenges that went unpunished both at the time and after the fact, so we can thank the bias and/or incompetence of Poll, Riley, Rennie, and co. for our medical staff working overtime for the last five years. I don't expect that to change either, judging from some of the shocking challenges I've already seen go unpunished this season.

As for Drogba...

...I'd be very surprised if he's been fully fit for even 30% of the matches he's played since he arrived. Remember that he was injured both before and after the ACON in his first season (and last); he's had trouble with his knees before and often played with minor knocks and/or muscle strains. Given that he has mostly been played alone up front with two or more defenders on his back (often quite literally--Blackburn's Ooijer springs to mind) and/or hacking at his legs all match it's actually a testament to his physical strength that he hasn't suffered *more* serious injuries up to this point. And it's no coincidence that when he was finally able to get fully fit for the first time he promptly banged in 30 goals, helped of course by Shevchenko's presence up front if not his actual footballing contributions. Yet even in that stellar season Drogba played the last month or so (including the FA Cup Final) with broken ribs sustained in the CL semi with Liverpool. I suppose nobody talks about that because it doesn't fit the myth of him being a lazy player who doesn't care about the team that the media has been only too happy to perpetuate, and sadly many supporters are ignorant and weak enough to believe. The point is that even an 80% fit Drogba is still a better option than most other strikers in the world, so we should all hope for his sake and ours that he can get back to that point at least. Thankfully the news coming out of the club today is that the ligament damage isn't as bad as first feared.

As far as the Cluj match goes, the result really should not have come as a surprise given the injuries and fitness issues Chelsea carried into the match, the loss of Drogba, the sandy pitch, and Cluj's spoiling tactics (and serial diving) aided by a referee who made Mike Riley look like Collina. No wonder the Blues failed to build momentum when three or four throw-ins were wrongly awarded to the home side, two Chelsea corners were given as goal kicks, and fouls...

...were given for laughable dives like Pereira's superb effort (he must have seen Ronaldo's at the Bridge last month). Funnily enough the referee failed to spot numerous legitimate fouls on Chelsea players, including one where the defender literally jumped on Drogba's back, wrapped an arm around his throat, and smacked him in the mouth hard enough to draw blood, just as Vidic had done in Moscow. Obviously I'm not saying it was a good performance, but it certainly wasn't the worst. Chelsea actually had more shots on target, more possession, greater passing success (yes, really), and greater tackling success than the Romanians and were unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions. Given the circumstances surrounding the match and the situation in the group I'd say there are more reasons to be pleased with a point than disappointed about dropping two.

Judging from some of the reactions here and on other forums it's clear that a large number of Chelsea's so-called supporters (note the root word 'support') need to buck up their ideas big style. I'm reminded of the reaction following the 1-1 draw with Rosenborg last season, when the team was booed and the players accused of not trying and not caring (although 25-odd attempts at goal in the match might have suggested otherwise). What did all the moaning and panicking achieve? The sacking of the club's most successful manager and a season of constant turmoil. And yet the same players who were judged unfit to wear the blue shirt that night still managed to not only qualify top of the group but get all the way to the final, which they would have won if not for Lubos Michel perpetrating the most blatant stitch-up since Graham Poll at White Hart Lane. I think it's high time the fans start showing a bit of character in the face of adversity just as the players have had to do time and again in recent seasons.

One last thing now that I've exceeded the character limit twenty times over. People need to accept that football is not about always having everything go your way. Every team is going to struggle at some point, whether through injuries or dodgy officiating or poor management or just plain bad luck. The measure of your success is how you deal with those hard times, not how great you appear when everything is rosy.

So if you want to support a team whose players often cause injuries but rarely become victims themselves, a team that more often than not benefits from kind cup draws, and a team that is consistently gifted rather than denied points by refereeing howlers, then frak off and support Manchester United. Me, I'm sticking with a team that doesn't need to cheat to win trophies, one that knows how to rise to every challenge, and one that has proven more than once that it isn't just silverware that makes you a champion.

Rant over. I'm off to buy some nappies and dummies for everyone who chucked their toys out of the pram last night...

@#18 that ranks as the longest rant/post ever on this blog..nice work. You make some interesting points which others have made as well and I certainly believe some posters have over reacted to one bad performance. Despite our injury list we are still a very strong team and well placed to win trophies this year.

You comment "What did all the moaning and panicking achieve? The sacking of the club's most successful manager and a season of constant turmoil" is drawing a very long bow indeed. Mourinho lost his job because of a clash of ideals with RA/PK and not because of fans reaction to one game. I was disappointed when it happened and yes we were saddled with a buffoon for the rest of the season, but there were lessons learnt and it will make us stronger this year under Scolari.

I watched the highlights last night and despite falling asleep several times, what I did see wasn't as bad as some posters made out. Yes there was some sloppy passing but that appeared to be due to the pressure Cluj placed on our players. The pitch is also very small which makes it harder still for a passing team like chelsea to play expansive and decisive football. The ground is so small that FIFA made the club keep the first 3 rows empty to ensure there is sufficient space between the fans and the players ! Add to that the injury to Drobga which would have upset the team balance particularly with Di Santo not playing his role.

I still feel a draw away to an unknown but clearly well drilled team who are champions of their league is not such a bad result. Have we forgotten that the CL is the pinnacle of European footbal and therefore we cannot win every game !

We remain unbeaten and I am confident the team will raise their game on Sunday and be too strong for Villa to maintain that record.

KTBFFH

"Chelsea actually had more shots on target, more possession, greater passing success (yes, really), and greater tackling success than the Romanians and were unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions"

Revisionist history anyone?

No worries Tony, I think you and #18 are more or less on the same page if you think about it. (Great report too.)

I'm really looking forward to Sunday. I've never hated Villa so I won't be sitting there with the gut-wrenching tension of knowing that a bad result will make me grumpy/miserable for a week. And this season especially I have the impression that everyone's admiring the Villa set-up. Hands-off owner, talented manager getting support whatever the results, patience with talented but erratic players, conecntrating on building a squad rather than always bringing people in and out. The fact that they managed to hang on to Barry is quite impressive. I can't think of another example of a player angling for a move so openly and then ending up having to stay, and apparently being happy to do so. So, it'll be interesting to see them. Have they played anyone good yet?

@ #18 Quality post, although a bit long! Completely agree, we play around 60 games a season, some of them won't be great games and we'll have to scrape through and we're going through a rough patch at the moment with injuries so the squad is doing really well.

We don't get nearly enough credit for how well we do with all these problems. The media never highlight that we've got half a team missing, they create this fake view that we're Chelsea and we have a massive squad, when it's actually the same size as the mancs and the scousers etc.

The ginger ninja or shrek get injured and they scream about it for a couple of weeks and 'admire' how well the mancs are coping without them, how about the coverage of ronaldo and his ankle over the summer?!

Yet we have much worse injuries to lots of important players and just get on with it. Scolari doesn't like making excuses which is really refreshing to see as well. It's gonna make it even sweeter when we win a major trophy at the end of the season, I can feel it.

F*** em all, f*** em all, cos we are the chelsea and we are the best, we are the chelsea so f*** all the rest!

@50. limetreebower - Agree it would be good if the volume of discussions of "we need to buy X/Y/Z" could dissipate a bit until we at least get within kicking distance of the transfer window - and apols for joining in the Zaki debate just because it was an interesting choice away from the usual suspects.

@51. haberdashers - let's not start using next season's ACN as an excuse for accumulating lots more players. Just had a quick check on last season's record and we played 6 games while all our ACN players were unavailable resulting in 5 wins and 1 draw, including a tricky 2nd leg Carling Cup semi at Everton.

'Arry "Bare Bones" Redknapp and most other EPL managers would laugh us off the pitch at the whingeing on here about our supposed threadbare squad....

Joe seems almost as wound up as #18

LINK

Joe Kinnear has just produced football's very own version of the Troggs Tapes. Cracking stuff - looking very well set to be one of the most spectacular and comedic relegation battles in the history of the game.

Is #18 out of the oxygen tent yet? Spectacular ranting, it has to be said.

That Joe Kinnear tirade was hilarious. It must be time for a bet on Newcastle for relegation. They are an embarrassment at the moment and if they finally go down, i for one will be glad to finally see the back of all the Toon Army chants about how they're a big club, and how they deserve to win something. They are actually a shit club who happen to have a big stadium. They haven't won anything in decades and their fans seem to have an obsession with Shearer and Keegan. Keegan must be one of the worst managers in the league, and yet their fans pine for him, day and night, turning up to the ground as soon as Sky Sports News report anything new. They forced out Bobby Robson, Ruud Gullit and Big Sam, all because they weren't Keegan or Shearer. You give them Jose, and they still wouldn't be happy at having a manager with any connections to the Cockney Mafia working for them. I for one think that Dennis is doing a great job for us up there. Kinnear seems to be a perfect match for Newcastle. A crazy manager joining a crazy club. What price on them getting fewer points than Derby?

This also made me laugh:

LINK

More crazy ideas from Spurs. They think that they can lure Mark Hughes away from City to join them at the bottom of the League! They seem to forget that money is the one thing Hughes does not need to move for. At least Spurs will soon be out of a manager. I predict that 2 more defeats and Ramos is a gonner. I wonder who we can poach from Spurs, just to confirm their relegation. I'd quite like Gareth Bale. But apart from that their £80m spending spree seems to have replaced some quality players with worse players. At this rate it'll be Newcastle and Spurs for relegation. Only one spot left.

The Joe Kinnear thing is comedy gold. I can't read it without laughing, I'd be in a coma if I'd seen it. My favourite bit is the very beginning :

Joe Kinnear (JK): Which one is Simon Bird [football writer for the Daily Mirror]?

SB: Me.

JK: You're a c***.

SB: Thank you

It's too bad that he decided to unleash his rant once all the cameras were turned off and only the newspaper journos were left. It would have ranked alongisde Jose's 'Special One', 'naming Barca's team in the Nou Camp' and 'Bird Flu' performances, as one of the best ever press conferences. But as we didn't see it, Jose still lies head and shoulders above the rest.

@67 Fiftee

That bit did make me roar with laughter; ironic that on the day Peter Mandelson, master of twisted words, spin and doublespeak returned from the political wilderness, Joe Kinnear gave us all a very timely reminder that strong, straightforward words are sometimes the only answer. Just magnificent.

@59 Tony

Will be in the usual place if you fancy a beer on Sunday mate; 12.30 onwards.

Where's the usual place?

Afternoon Mark

White Horse on Parsons Green; pop in if you're in the area...

They've cleared Theatre 1 at Newcastle General 'cause JK's dicky heart is unlikely to last the weekend at that rate.

I wonder who his anger management practioner is? They'll be keeping their head down for a few days.

PL position 19 Newcastle - Director of Footie - D Wise
PL position 20 Spurs - Coach - G Poyet

Spot a trend there?

So good together at Swindon and Leeds yet now.......

Perhaps we should have an award for ex-chelsea player in management position based on League position?

JD - I'd love to - but I'll be en vacances, location Sud de France!

but I'm back for the next home game and will dutifully be there to chew the fat and buy you a beer.

Tony - on holiday?

Have a good break.

However, this blog's seen more vacations than Judith Chalmers. We're supposed to be in the throes of a credit crunch !!!!

What can I say, some things just really get up my nose. Players suffering career- or life-threatening injuries because people aren't doing their jobs is one of them. The typical knee-jerk reaction to every match we don't win 4-0 from the average yobbish, S*n-reading supporter who doesn't know the meaning of the word is another.

Peterthegreat, I don't believe the reaction to Rosenborg last year was the only reason Mourinho got the boot, but it certainly couldn't have helped and seemed to contribute to all the other issues reaching boiling point after that match. Who knows what might have happened had everyone including the board and manager maintained a sense of perspective and gotten on with the job as usual. In any case I've never understood what people hope to achieve by booing their own team. Surely such negative pressure only makes underperforming players more nervous and tentative because they fear making mistakes that will only upset the fans further. Call me crazy, but I've always thought the purpose of going to a match is to cheer your team and offer encouragement rather than derision when things aren't going well.

ChelseaTony, you may not agree but I didn't make up those stats. If you could bear to watch the match again without the nerves and tension of seeing it live you might end up with a different view. Just because we didn't do anything effective with our possession and chances doesn't mean we didn't have them. And something tells me that if Frank's snap shot at the death hadn't bounced just wide everyone here would be talking about how well the team did to battle through and grind out a victory in a tough away match instead of how dire the performance was.

Obviously there are aspects of the team and performance that deserve criticism, and it's always good to discuss how improvements can be made. People just need to try to keep everything in perspective while doing so. Could things be better? Of course. But could they be a lot worse? Hell, yes. Let's just remember that we're still top of the league and top of the group in Europe, and do our part to help the boys to victory on Sunday. Villa certainly owe us one after a number of penalties we've been denied against them (Rob Styles, anyone?) and that ridiculous 'handball' decision last Boxing Day.

@ #18

I have been away from the blog for many a week as my schedule has been hectic to put it mildly, but am extremely happy to have popped in today. Unfortunately still pressed for time to contribute more at the minute but only to say:

A brilliant post mate and absolutely spot on! Agree with every word of it.
To be honest it's the only one that long I have ever read all the way to the end. Thanks for taking the time! I raise my glass, tip my hat, etc.

An in your honour....

Oh Wayne Bridge, scored a f**kin' great goal, in the gooner sh*t hole, w/ three minutes to go...........

CareFree.....

@ #18 - nerves and tension? After 10 minutes I was willing myself to stay awake as the pattern of the game was pretty obvious by then. I think you make some good points, but I'll stick to my perception of the game as us being closer to losing than winning, but being happy with a draw and understanding that sometimes 'grinding' out results mean just that. If Lamps scuffer had by some miracle gone in then it might have made it 2-1 to them had Cech not made a great save and the post not been shaved by Trica's shot.

It's swings and roundabouts like any aspect of football. I'll refute me being prt of the clamour for new signings....my review clearly states an opportunity to emulate the Gooners and run some 'kids' out, if they're good enough then blood them, if not then don't put them in the squad. However when posed with the question of who might be worthy of buying in January to bolster us, then Michael Owen is my clear choice. Those who have written him off at 28 are ....well Joe Kinnear knows the term.

I'm thinking of adopting that style for my weekly team meeting....anyone see a flaw?

Oh...and Fiftee....yes I know it seems like ANOTHER holiday, but its to revise for my exam. Mrs CT has also decreed I transport large amounts of home-making things to Chez CT (our mobile home) to stamp ourselves on it. At first I thought, great, paint the outside blue, write the Samsung logo over the ends, get a mural of Stamford Bridge on the decking, buy the SB model for the table as a centrepiece, get some CFC curtains, sheets and duvet covers, mugs, glasses, pans and cushions, a doorbell that plays Blue is the Colour and some CFC fridge magnets.

I lost that argument.

Interesting to note that both the coiffeured Pizarro and tartan panted golfer Sheva both managed to score for their teams in Europe this week, whilst our forward line pulled up lame......

Such is life....

An interesting article on whether Chelsea need an interim striker to fill the void or a new youth promotion. With Didier out for a month, he'll need at least another 2-3 weeks to catch up on the pre-season he missed. So here are the options:

LINK

Fat Ronaldo, i would not be happy with. But don't underestimate the power of Scolari's bias towards any Brazilian. Just look at how he bought Miniero despite us having Belletti and Paulo to cover and some youth team players who can play the holding role (Michael Woods, Mancienne). But the small reference to Fabio Borini is interesting. He reminds me a lot of a young Michael Owen. Same raw pace and same deadly finishing. 7 goals this season is a great record. Hope to see him given a chance on the bench especially with only 18 fit players. Maybe we'll see the likes of him, Stoch, Sinclair, Di Santo and Mancienne unleashed against the mighty Burnley.

So for the next 8 weeks we should see a new face come in to cover for Didier's attacking threat. Out of Sinclair, Stoch and Borini, one of them will definitely be given a chance.

I pray we get 3 points this Sunday. The situation is not good and we need to avoid dropping points at home once more. Key would be Anelka and the defence. If we can contain Villa's attack or stifle their forwards, half the battle is won. We need A.Cole and Bosingwa to track back alot more then go forward or we will get the sucker punch. And Anelka needs to start taking his chances. Its becoming too glaring. How many more times must he miss infront of goal? Its starting to make me sick. Sheva would probably have scored.

80. haberdashers

Out of Sinclair, Stoch and Borini ...thats ok

huntelaar,huntelaar,huntelaar

drogba should leave.he is always injured and deicided to play for us when he realised mourinho doesnt need another striker!anelka is ...lazy

It looks like we did do everything to buy Robinho:

LINK

"Ribeiro has revealed that Robinho was just about to sign for Chelsea when Premier League rivals City came in with a bigger offer which was eventually accepted by the Real Madrid hierarchy.

Wagner Ribeiro has even claimed that he had bought tickets to fly to London ready to confirm and seal the deal with Chelsea.

It has also been revealed that Chelsea made a later offer of £33million for Robinho, but Madrid would not accept it."

Anelka v the big bastards in the Villa defence.
Bosingwa and Cole flying forward, leaving space for the Villa widemen.

This could be the end of the home record.

(Fabino in January rumours in the papers again. Wouldn't mind that one coming true.)

Scolari says he is devoted catholic and prays to God for Chelsea. Is it all our hope for tomorrow?

LINK

This confirms Spurs' relegation:

LINK

As Chelsea fans we all know what's going to happen next. Avram gets appointed Director of Football against the manager's wishes. He then demands a seat in the dugout, despite him not doing any coaching. Then the team goes on a run of poor results. The manager gets fired and who comes to the rescue? The team then realises that he's a clueless idiot who doesn't understand football and that they have to run the team themselves. Except their players aren't good enough and in the end they experience widespread failure.

@ Habs....

Very harsh on Avram.... It would be interesting to see how he gets on with a mid table side to see if he was unfairly treated at Chelsea. That does of course assume that you consider the Spuds a mid table side!

@HABERDASHERS

Haaa finally people learned :-)

Chelsea vs Aston Villa

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Joe Cole, Ballack, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka

Subs: Hilario, Di Santo, Bridge, Ferreira, Kalou, Belletti, Mancienne

Aston Villa: Friedel, Luke Young, Davies, Laursen, Shorey, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Barry, Ashley Young, Carew, Agbonlahor

Subs: Guzan, Milner, Harewood, Knight, Salifou, Cuellar, Gardner

Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside

Absolutely outstanding display against Villa. It's actually quite weird looking at the comments above and trying to remember how worried a lot of us were. We were better in every single position (except perhaps goalie) for the whole game. Once again the obvious effect of having a manager who knows what he is doing and has the players' complete trust was the most striking thing. Everyone was always in the right place, except perhaps Anelka who kept dropping really deep as he often seems to, and so the passing was simple and swift. We went through one of the league's better defences time and time again, with balls over the top, crosses, quick passes around the D ... from everywhere. Magnificent. The best I've seen since José's first year.

Other things: our fourth-choice centre back looks international class. He did brilliantly against some very tough opponents. (If he was watching, Capello will have been wondering what all the fuss was about both Agbonlahor and A. Young -- oh and as for Barry being better than Frank ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.)

Mikel was effortless.

Herr B looks like he's coming back to form.

The latest Frank-haters on the blog may have to slink away as quietly as our old friend Jose Musumba did.

Di Santo looks like his technique is a bit wobbly, but his runs were superb. He's going to be a good player.

And, as usual, we scored goals that would have the pundits needing to change their pants if Arse had scored them. Two fantastic team goals. Watch how the second one starts with Ivanovic making a mistake, getting the ball back from Cashley in a here-have-another-go sort of way, and then moving into space, looking up, and setting the whole front six in motion.

Good luck to whoever has to pick MotM. I'd be tempted to award it to Mr Big. If managers are going to take the heat when the team plays badly, then managers should get the credit for a team performance, perhaps.

I'm a late substitution for the report and the MOTM will be ...

Just got back home quite elated from a fantastic display of sexy football. I agree with you on the second goal LTB and the final little interchange between Ashley and Frank would even have the Arsenal fans drooling.

It will be difficult to pick out a MOTM because everyone played well, but if I had to pick one then it would go to Geovanni for keeping Rottenham where they belong!

The only downer on the day for me was that Flukeypool get another late winner.

i have to hold my hands up and say chelsea were great today and deserved to win,we were really poor today.at least the spuds lost again.

don't want to say i told you so but...

people shouldn't be so worried when we have an off day. remember as well we had about 5 first team out today and others playing with knocks. ivanovic looks like a quality player. brilliant.

@ BLUEY

Nice one babe!! x x

Another fantastic performance from ALL of the boys today..they really are on fire & sooooooo exciting to watch!! Phew!! Great to see Nicky getting his name on the scoresheet..his confidence is slowly growing & it's starting to show. Gutted for Joey mind..Just getting back to fitness, now he's crocked again..great goal though :)

THAT is how you play classy football!!

Well done Chels x x