Champions League: Fenerbahce 2 - 1 Chelsea

I can't be arsed to have my usual rant about Grant. We played quite well tonight, Drogba looked a little tired at times but his heart was in it. We cruised the game for at least 3/4s of the match and should have gotten at least a draw. The second goal they scored was quality, nowt to do about that, but JT et co were asleep for the first goal.

I'm pretty certain we'll win comfortable at SB and to be honest I've seen it all with Chelsea this season, so I just can be bothered to rant.

Must do better Chelsea, etc etc etc, Grant out etc etc etc.

you know the author of the topic is behaving like he knows much better than Grant!
please...
drogba was so selfish.
but we are winning in London !!!

Avram Grant ... one-nil lead away in Europe ... no response to subsitutions ... would never have happened under Mourinho ... clueless berk ... blah blah blah

I am not as confident as you two (Mark and Emma) regarding the second leg.
Just ask Sevilla!!!

This lot have a goal in them for the second leg, let's just hope that we at least get two! May just end up at 2-1 and onto the pens again.

They will not be the same team at the Bridge as they have beaten us already.
They'll have more self belief, certainly much more than they showed today in the first half. Sad that we could not take advantage of the respect and space they gave us in the said first half.

They also have easily a better manager by a mile. Their's won them the game with second half tactic changes and substitutions and ours could not match that, nor will he next Tuesday.

My only hope is that the players turn up next week and put it out of reach early, so Taody's ineptness will prove irrelevant!!!!!

C'mon You Blues...

I too can't be bothered to rant.....

6 times in Avram's 30 odd games we have failed to hold onto a lead, costing us 8 league points ( Everton, Villa, Pompey and Spuds), the Carling Cup ( Spuds again) and tonight.

Did we surrender a lead 6 times during the whole of Mourinho's 3 years?

We should have won by 2-3 goals difference if it was not for DD selfishness. And please, can anyone stand his moans anymore? The disappointing thing is we absolutely outplayed them for 70min despite not starting the best 11 for the job. Anyway 0-0 and 2-1 is almost same result away! We will beet them at least by 2 goals next week I am pretty sure! They have nothing to scare us at all!

Oh, whwre is big Pit? Minor injury, out fot ages

I mean "for ages"

Mark I think Carlo could have come out to meet the ball for the first goal...but after the past game he did not have the confidence to do that. I think he could have done better in that situation...oh well

Agree about Joe Cole's hair (or lack thereof) too. He played well today so he's not a Samsonbayor, but he looked like a skinhead without his cute locks. Do not want.

DD is right to complain,he is only person who every week makes us realize that Grant isnt producing best from the squad.first half we dominated but could not turn it into anything real.Last 20 minutes i almost died when i saw the long balls coming back,suddenly terry became the playmaker lauching balls forward at drogba who was well marked.(great tactics)
Anelka playing on differnet wing today ..uhmm maybe he is converting him to a wide player for future.Anelka probably has really great attributed for a wing player which i am not privy 2.
Throughout team lacked cutting edge and timing.
last but least Essien totally wasted on at fullback could of properly ruled the midfield.something that ballack and franck consistently cant do.
Ps we are now beginning to mourn the death of our steel defense.i will vomit the next time a someone calls us a solid defensive unit ,those days are long gone

Oh stop it with the indignance. "Not sure if he was substituted because he was tired or whether Grant felt guilty"? He's barely recovered from a virus - what did you expect would happen?

Frank clearly felt he could go on, otherwise he would not have reacted the way he did.

I'm apathetic. Seen it all before. Grant's not good enough. Etc... I want the season to end now. Surely Grant will be gone in the summer?

Sid - Get a sense of humour. The whole post seems to have been written with tongue firmly in cheek.

Like Grant, who's a joke although he seems to be serious.

dear chelsea-fans
you win the 2nd match in london
i hope fenerbahce loose the 2nd match
ULTRA_GALATASARAY

Last week i wrote how Avram compared himself to Vicente Del Bosque. In many ways he is right... both are Gordon Brown lookalikes who are duller than watching the preverbial streams of paint dry. Both failed to motivate their sides who rely on a team full of World Class players to get them out of jail. Both failed to communicate passionately or clearly to their teams and both will ultimately meet in the unemployed managers scrap yard alongside steve mcclaren. However there are some key differences... del bosque won 2 EU Cup finals whereas Avram has won 0. Del Bosque won a league title as well whereas AG has won nothing and Del Bosque had some qualifications to thrown in as well.

I know many of you are too tired to rant but we mustn't stop in our ultimate goal... to drive this inept, boring, passionless, fat and ugly man out of our club. He complains that he came in to a difficult situation in succeeding Jose and that he has made the team progress. FUCK THAT and FUCK HIM. He deserves to be booed and ridiculed for even comparing himself to Jose. I would be upset if he compared himself to me let alone the greatest manager in EU at the moment. Here are a few problems with the self proclaimed NORMAL ONE:
1. Tactically inept - too many examples to fit in tonight but Anelka on the fucking wing!!! How big a sign or loud a chant can we sing at Man City to tell him that the only idiot in the world who thinks Anelka is a winger is him. 3 games as anelka as a winger (Spurs cup final, Boro, Fenerbahce). Please remind me in how many of those we played well in?
2. Boring - No passion, no leadership and no ideas. No-one gives a shit about playing for him (picture DD running and shooting wide when we had 3 men free). JT, Lamps and DD would run through fires for Jose whereas this team are playing like individuals. I don't blame the players (apart from Belletti and Malouda who are a waste of space) because they are running on cruise control or auto pilot and are rapidly running out of fuel. How i long for a return to the headlines of Jose. Press conferences are so boring i wonder whether the press need to turn up.
3. Subs - He has no fucking idea. NUFF SAID! I think he wants to ruin our club as quickly as possible. He hasn't lost the home record yet but Ronaldo is awaiting and subbing Lamps and his reaction is only driving our best players out faster. If Lamps was ill then don't start him, move Essien to midfield (he is a midfielder) and play Paulo (we did give him a new 5 yr contract).
4. Team talks and interviews - As he speaks worse English than the Tinkerman he can't motivate or even talk to his players who show an amazing lack of respect towards him (Cup final Extra time)and he doesn't deserve any. And have you seen his interviews. He called this defeat a GOOD RESULT and his answer to any criticism is that ''this is football.'' Fucking idiot.
5. His appearance - Don't judge a book by its cover was Chelsea TVs defence of Avram because even they accept he has the tactical nous of a monkey and a dumb one at that. But we should. Jose brough theatre (sliding on the Nou Camp Pitch, running down Old Trafford with Porto) and style (his coats which raised money for Chelsea's charity and then his scarves) whereas Avram brings an ill fitting black outfit or tracksuit and why does he keep SCRATCHING HIS FUCKING HEAD after every goal we concede and then turning round and sitting down.
6. No qualifications.
7. No staff - Christophe Lollichon has fucked up Petr Cech and as a GK coach he should have no input over tactics yet he does. We don't have enough scouts and are using the youth teams fitness coaches because AG doesn't have enough contacts. Where is Brendan Rodgers? He deserves a promotion. Remeber Jose's crew e.g. Rui Faria who led the team to victory against Bayern with that famous wooly hat?
8. The fact he is a fucking idiot.

Keep up the boooing. I'm proud of you my fellow believers that the only way is up...that is when Avram finally fucks off.

@HABS

After a very depressing last few hours, I must admit I thouroughly enjoyed reading your post and got a good few chuckles out of it!!

Absolutely spot on.

Cheers mate!

@habs
please dont forgot that he cant handle the big names.everybody can see that when lampard and ballack play together(although they have improved of late) the tactics he employs doesnt get best out of either player.
Ballack has improved since last season but still far off what is expected for those wages.He still scouffs volleys and misses chances which frank puts in the back of the net.
AG has also ruined our defense.(2all you pro grant people stop saying its the players fault for not producing.When a team does not have balance ,individual brilliance must take over and i can only think of 3players to provide that. Compare that to MAN USA who have always got 5 match winners on the pitch and few on the bench Nani springs to mind.
Set pieces - dont get me started,we concede so many that stats speak for themselves.
Scouting of opposition- last few matches the dangermen have not been marked properly.AG prob has not got that part of the fifa tactical manual yet.deivid scored a great goal but i could alot of people standing in front of him
Pre match tV talks- Grant please stop using the JM arrogance that kind of charm only works when your team truly over powers.

@Habs
1. Anelka didn't come on until the 86th minute. Nothing to do with anything.
2. Jose was boring too. Boring would be good. Malouda got MotM in the Sun (for what little that's worth)
3. Frank was ill and drained.
4. Nothing to do with anything
5. Nothing to do with anything
6. Untrue. He has a Uefa A licence. Clarke and Ten Cate both have Pro licences. They're all on the bench and prepared the team. Clarke has every title in England and Ten Cate has Spanish titles and the CL.
7. Cech didn't play. Nothing to do with anything.
8. Nothing to do with anything

It wasn't good enough because we pissed all over them and it wasn't reflected in a win. If anything you wrote had anything to do with anything we might get somewhere. It didn't.

Thanks for your input.

@Sid
Wow you certainly know what you're talking about as i was referring to Avram's total failures not just his latest disaster against Fenerbahce.

1. If you don't think he is tactically inept then you are either blind, stupid or both. Just to repeat for you and Avram, ANELKA IS NOT A WINGER and yet another example: bringing alex on against spurs and playing 5 at the back for the first time - tactical masterstroke from your hero Avram as it got the desired effect a 4-4.
2. Being devoid of passion affects the team as none of the players are willing to play for him anymore and no-one even listens to him. Picture extra time in the cup final with Avram scratching his head (a weird obsession of his) whilst JT performs a teamtalk. Anyone compared to Avram is a riot and calling Jose boring!!! When were we ever off the backpages? Any news is good news and his controversy created a siege mentality which brought 6 trophies to Avram's how many? I'l let you remind me. I'll even let you count the great haul he had in the footballing hotbed that is Israel.
3. Frank was ill and drained. well fit enough to start and having watched Chelsea TV he played the FA Cup Final when ill for 1 week (watch the re-run) and how long did he last? Oh yes it was 120 mins. More evidence that no-one gives a shit about busting a gut for Avram.
4. In your words team talks have nothing to do with anything. OK then so why is it that Jose was able to change games with a TEAM TALK. Also interviews are important. Jose's were hilarious and influential by putting pressure on referees or just adding to the siege mentality with controversy or taking pressure off the players. His headlines allowed the players to concentrate e.g. i'm more scaed of bird flu, or him naming the whole barca team before the match... the list goes on. The only headline of Avrams i can remeber is: 'I am the Normal one.' Wow! That didn;t even make the back page.
5. His appearance. well lets just say he has as much style as Jeremy clarkson. Jose brought style and class and his actions on the touchline were passionate and he helped bond the team. Who would see Avram sliding down the nou camp to celebrate or running on to join the team after beating barca 4-2 or spurs in the last minute thanks to gallas? His appearance and passion was typical of the old Chelsea in the 60s and 70s and created jealousy and hatred from other fans which the team played upon.
6. OK then i know that Clarkey is qualified but AG isn't. Just think how embarrassing it is that we have hired an old man who has to jet off to Israel every Monday because he hasn't taken the right exam yet. It is a joke. I know hundreds of people who go on trips abroad why not hire them? No matter what you say he hasn't got the required qualifications otherwise why leave? Is he just bored of fucking up our season?
7. Cech's form has dipped. Why? Well the loss of Silvino must be looked at. He doesn't have enough staff otherwise why is a gk coach helping with tactics? Why has he only got 1 scout?
8. No denying he is an idiot - this is the man who thinks anelka is a winger and that we have improved since his arrival. Remind me Sid if losing the Carling Cup, being knocked out by lower league opposition (never under Jose), having fewer wins, scoring fewer goals, fewer clean sheets and fewer premeiership points is an improvement?
9. Another point - camaraderie. I've seen how fun Jose's pre season tours to LA were. The team bonding, the events such as film premieres with Snoop and playing an 11 vs 11 against the press when Jose went in goal. The team and the press loved it and him. All the fun has gone out of Chelsea and will only return once this toad is gone.

So thanks for your input Sid, your points were very insightful. And again to all those true fans, lets keep up the chanting to remind Avram that finally Anelka is a striker. Hopefully he'll learn something like you have Sid.

btw, local hack sticks the boot into Chelsea because Jose Mourinho is "arrogant"

LINK

No, I'd never heard of him either.

Pathetic article, trotting out the usual shite!

Are you in Brisbane, Nick?

I'm dead tired to ramble on and on, but as I've always insisted: Grant out is a must.

The team wins, no credits to him; the team loses, just point guns at him and shoot.

Well what can I say other than the turks had once proper chance and scored we had many and only scored through an amazing deflection ! Then they get the winner from one of those 30 yard screamers that I am sure football hit in hope rather than expecting to score.

The team has no real confidence in either it's ability to score and finish teams off or to defend resolutely when the tide goes against them. This undoubtably comes down to the manager's influence or lack of this case.

We may well do enough to beat them at SB next week but we won't beat Loserpool in the Semis, lets hope Arsenal pull another miracle and beat them next week as we would stand more chance against them.

My final word is - Mr sour face, please go back to the back room where you belong and lets see a properly qualified and motivating manager employed for next season.

It would be laughable if we can't win at the Bridge.
The case would be like Barnsley pushing their way to FA cup final.

LOL

Drogba was pissing me off like no other today, is pass not in his vocabulary or something. He had at least 2 golden chances to set someone up and he just shot it over.

Greenlight,

Yes for my sins. Five years.

You get less for manslaughter these days.

Regarding Sid's response to Habs' first comments, you cannot be so dismissive of everything Habs rightly pointed out. Avram's failings and shortcomings cannot be overlooked so flippantly.

Adding to Habs' points, although Avram's dress sense does leave a lot to be desired, it is not particularly important to me. But if Kenyon wants to create a global brand, does he honestly think Avram is the perfect poster-boy for their campaign of world domination?! Imagine countless numbers of Adidas-sponsored images of his ugly-mug plastered all over Asia and America. They sure won't attract the ladies (or men for that matter), but maybe these new fans so craved for by the Chelsea board will instead be attracted to Avram's luminous personality, enchanted by his sharp wit, astounded by his tactical ability and mesmerised at the number of trophies he will no doubt win us. The future looks rosy people!!

Seem to be a few Aussie ex-pats on this blog.... I spent 10 years in QLD before moving to Victoria.

Nice place QLD.... Wasted on the Queenslanders though!

@ HABS

Agree. Why oh why oh why does A.G insist on playing Anelka on the wing when he's a striker?! And WTF was he thinking playing Essien at right back?! It's not like we haven't got any players who are competent enough to play in those positions.
Whether or not as LLEWAN says, he's testing Anelka in that position for the future, i don't know but it's blatantly obvious to all of us that he's unhappy AND uncomfortable in that position. If we can all see what A.G's doing wrong, then how come HE seems to be blind to his own errors?!

We dominated 75% of the game last night and i'm still outraged at how we lost! Bringing Frank and Joey off who were both having a good game is again baffling. Avram doesn't like to see Joey on a pitch for a full 90 minutes does he?!!!!

Also agree with most people's comments about Didier. I absolutely adore the guy, but he was a bit selfish with the ball. I think i saw at least 3 times when he could of passed to either Joey/Frank/Ballack but instead went for goal himself and screwed up big time, each time firing the ball into the stands. I was tearing my hair out! At 1 stage Joe and Frank were both in the box, either could of got a goal if he'd of just passed it. God!!!
Can understand as a striker that it's his job to get the goal if he's in that vicinity and he loves to score but he HAS to pass when it's obvious to anyone with 2 eyes in their head that HE won't get a goal.

Can also understand Frank's reaction to being subbed, even though the T.V is making a big issue of it this morning, as usual.

Don't think Anelka looked particularly impressed at being brought into a game with 5 minutes to go either. Would of liked to of seen him for a full 90 minutes last night and he was desperate to play against his old side.

Just baffled by it all really..dazed and extremely confused...
A bit like Avram Grant....

P.s Credit to the fans who went to the game last night. The atmosphere was intimidating enough in my living room! Ther's no way in hell you'd get me in a football ground like that one. Just sad the result wasn't better for them and made their journey more bearable.

A goal please boys.. (2 would be better), at the Bridge, then DEFEND, DEFEND, DEFEND!!!

I think I've found a solution to prevent us being angry and frustrated with Chelsea and Grant, it's working for me. I've just pretended that the JM era never existed and we're the usual bunch of fans who lived in hope rather than expectation that our team would sometimes compete for the title, and occasionally win the odd cup.
That way it keeps our blood pressure and pulse rates at an acceptable level and doesn't put a strain on NHS resources, perhaps even Paul Mckenna could appear at halftime on a match day for some mass hypnotism to help the supporters that can't erase JM.

The other option is something that Lynn previously mentioned, get Paul Jewell in to get some passion into the lads, and possibly Max Mosley as his number two to instill the discipline, just think how much Ashley Cole will improve under their guidance!!!

I was even more angry and frustrated when I used to go to virtually every game of the season, home and away, when we were winning bugger all. Christ, who remembers the capitulation over two legs in the Hokey Cokey semi against Sheffield Wednesday or Bristol City away in the FA Cup.

The way we're leaking goals getting in Paul Jewell could be the solution to stiffen up our defence and make the players more flexible to adopt different positions.

I suppose it's fair to say Deivid's goal was pretty special, and on 99 other occassions it would have knocked the donner meat out of a kebab in row Z.

Had he been there Cech would have got a finger tip to it, whether he'd have stopped it going in, who knows.

As soon as I saw Essien at right-back I knew he'd bottled a call on dropping Ballack or Lamps. Essien's form has been better of late, but Ballack and Lamps should thrive on games like this and AG got it badly wrong. Why pick Ferreira and Belletti in the squad and play neither ?? Ridiculous.

The 6 / 10 Mark gave Drogba is generous IMO. Last night he looked like the DD of his first season, falling down at every opportunity; first 'touches' that travel 30 yards; free-kicks that travel 30 yards. Over the bar. Zero ability to pass to team-mates. Goodbye DD, thanks for all you've done but it's time for someone else.

Very poor, I feel so sorry for Anelka. What a waste of £15m to give him very limited opportunities since he signed.

In general, the finishing was indescribably bad. Ballack 10 yards out, middle of the goal picks the keeper out a treat. A few headers here and there. Never troubled the keeper, hence it took a Fenerbahce player to score for us. A natural finisher HAS to be a priority in the summer. It could be that bloke from Valencia, or Huntelaar, or Aguero - but anyone who can actually finish.

We defended reasonably well for 65 - 70 minutes, but then went to pieces. The 'flat back line' that should have been in place when the ball got lofted over for Kazim Kazim Kazim (or whatever he's called in Turkey) resembled a stellar constellation. Players all over the place.

So 2 - 1 is bad, very bad based on how we played, but not un-assailable. The away goal is a bonus.

However, Avram, a 2 - 1 defeat is not a 'good result' as you said on Sky last night. You deluded fuck-wit.

And while we're on interviews with out 'illustrious' leader, was anyone able to count how many times he used the cliche 'this is football' in his interview. I got to 13 in just over a minute.

And here I was thinking we were playing golf.

@ Clive - i do that as well buddy.

At half time i was thinking yup - 1-0 up - grant is wearing black - i might predict this one bang on! Oh no its 2-1 to the bloody fener!!

Anelka is not a winger - please for the love of God do not play him there - ever and i mean EVER. He is fast, plays on the last defenders shoulder and a clinical finisher who could benefit from the drogs hold up play or knock on headers.

Drogs was selfish but most of the time it was because he was either - annoyed that the runs ahead werent great (no anelka) or was looking utterly pissed off and wanted to make it a one man show to increase his stock and real madrids interest.

Please dont sub j cole ever again unless he forgets how to kick a ball or is injured. When we need a goal we dont want two defensive players in maka and mikel on the pitch!!

My last and final point is this - if JM had conducted the team talk at half time would we have been 3 or 4 nil up within 15 mins of the second half - he would have put a rocket up them and said the game is there for the taking.

fenerbahce hell.

# 34. Munkeyfeet · 3rd April · 8:32am

*if JM had conducted the team talk at half time*

AG would go 15 mins with "this is football". Not sure it'd sort things out.

Hows your fake tan today?

Mine is the usual yellowish/greenish shade of pale.
Must have a word with my fake tan provider soon

Everybody hacking into DD now,this a player who carried us last season. This is the only player who actually shows the fans that grant does not know what to do.
if we are talking about departures lets add a few names ,Ballack-not exactly world class and im done with waiting for him to get his bayern form please stop deluding yourselves that he is half the player he was.Sheva-Enough said never reached any form resembling a world class striker looks for like reserve.malouda-english league to rough for you mate...book out you toss. and last but least grant-2much said already.both fullbacks one is hopeless at going forward the other hopeless at defending.

DD and joe cole are only things keeping us afloat nowadays.They must be retained.

It has to be said, I want Grant to leave but the team have been piss poor the last two games.
I had a big smile on my face watching the first half last night we were in total control. Essien at right back doesn't bother me it means we effectively play three at the back which is an attacking stance to have.
I agree with many above Drogba's days are numbered he was totally shite last night and started to piss me off. Everytime he wasted a chance he was flapping his hands in the air like it was someone elses fault if i was the ref i would book him for lying on the ground for 5 minutes!
JT has been shite of late, i am usually the first to defend him but since he has been back from injury he looks nowhere near the same player. Defending set pieces is something we just don't do anymore, Both goals they scored we V good the first was a defensive mistake but the second was out of the top draw i don't think anyone would've saved it.
We only need 1 goal at the bridge to go through which is fine, but going on how we played against boro on Sunday and considering they will be proper up for it something needs to change.
I don't understand all the guff about Anelka playing on the wing, he used to come in from wide left for Bolton much like Henry that's how he plays?? i don't think it is tactics just where he wants to be, even against England he wasn't the CF but he needs to be playing top class player needs to play!!
Totally Dissapointed cannot seem to kill teams off anymore, the question remains though, who takes over in the summer we toadie goes

It is getting boring to keep discussing Avram Grant, his art of tactical substitution, his glittering CV, his snappy dressing, his pyschological presence, his man management and so on.

I tell you what Uncle Avram, we have no more than a possible 10 games left this season, do you think you could do your utmost to win them all. I don't care how we do it. Then you can have your moment in time, your place in the sun and then on behalf of Chelsea fans across the world crawl back to the hole where you came from. Good riddance.

See i didn't think last night was his fault but then he goes and does the post match interview and i just think what a cock!!

I know most of us have taken the piss out of Kevin Keegan on this blog in the past, but I do admire him for one thing. Give the guy credit when he resigned as England manager after the Germany defeat, admitting he wasn't good enough tactically at that level. How refreshing it would be if AG took a leaf out of that book, and left instead of deluding himself, and trying to fool others he's up to the job.

Matt - your getting boring with the same stuff each week :)

I agree with you - it wasnt his fault - the players could have played for another 90 mins and not scored. I do wish he would get a bit more angry though and actually drive the players forward - he should say, ney he should fucking demand they play at their peak no matter how easy it is - never take your foot off the gas. recipe for disaster.

I must admit i turned to the mrs and said cock when he started spouting all the rubbish about zis iz football.

@ Bluetone - mine is pretty streaky today - lolli - any tips?

Great posts from Habs.

Sid, your head-in-the-sand, ifs-and-buts, weren't-we-unlucky, stance might have worked for Chelsea pre-2003, but it's not good enough these days. Times have changed and we need a manager who can get the best out of our excellent squad and has their respect, otherwise we're heading for a major fall next season. 99% of us can see it, in writing 40 fucking feet high. Grant is a notch below Ranieri on the managerometer. Is that really good enough?

Whatever, I'm going to see the kids tonight. Might try and start a few 'Grant Out' chants while I'm there.

As it was, I don't think Avram can be blamed for the players dreadful finishing, or Drogba's staggering greed, but you could argue that he didn't do enough at half time to make the players realise that although they were finding it embarrassingly easy, they needed to keep their wits about them. But we were playing very well and should have been three up by then - it's not Avram's fault we weren't.

After that, it was revert to type. Zico made a few changes, and Grant was unable to respond. The players had found it so easy they were totally knocked about by the fact they were suddenly level and never recovered. And Grant's substitutions, once again, left us looking weaker after the changes than we did before they were made.

I was racking my brain this morning trying to think of one single occasion when Mourinho made a substitution that left us looking weaker rather than stronger and I honestly cannot recall one. For Grant, I can think of two in the last four days alone.

Peter "Grant is a notch below Ranieri on the managerometer"

A notch !! Being a tad generous there - give me Ranieri any day, at least the players & fans liked him.

In AG's case, I'm not even sure a managerometer is the right tool

I'll actually stick my neck out and say that I think we'll be OK next week, with the caveat that our concentration needs to improve; giving away goals in the last 10 minutes or so is the mark of a team that aren't fully on their game (superb strike, granted). But if they score, we might find ourselves in trouble.

In AG’s case, I’m not even sure a managerometer is the right tool

Correct there Bluetone, AG is just a tool!

>>Joe Cole: Hard working if uninspiring. Hair too short - 7/10.

Oh yes about Joe's short hair. Call me superstitious, but I think always when he cuts his hair, we lost the luck, look at him at the start of season 06/07 when Jose got Ballack, Sheva, Lamp and Joe to shave their hair short. Then Joe got nearly half to 3/4 season injured.

Wicked.

Joe Cole looks like he should be wearing Burberry and drinking odd coloured WKD outside an off licence with a haircut like that.

JD,

"But if they score, we might find ourselves in trouble.".

Call me a pessimist, but we've never looked so far from keeping a clean sheet, that we'll have to score more than once on Tuesday (or get a Fenerbahce player to show us how).

I'm still flabbergasted that he called it a 'good result'.

I find I watch him and think it's not actually possible for him to come across any less like a manager, then he wheels out delusion like that.

What next, a defeat on Tuesday and him being all chirpy because 'it's good for Turkish football' ??

Do me a favour Avram and, well, do one. And take all that black attire with you, it depresses me as much as your tactics !!!

Joe Cole looks like he should be wearing Burberry and drinking odd coloured WKD outside an off licence with a haircut like that.

Are you speaking from experience JD?

Does anyone see a major slide coming for us? Or can you see RA actually getting rid of AG and we start again next season? I'm worried.

Did anyone see that dirty Kuyt manhandle Hleb last night?
I love these Scummy Scouse fans who think they're so great, only good in europe because they always have fuck all to play for when it gets to the knockout rounds and then get by through cheating. I wonder how much Parry pays officials off.
Remeber the goal that was never over the line? or that season when Gerrard dived for a penalty in the final and Dudek was 6 feat off his line every time AC took a penalty. Fucking wankers!! still no longer a 1 man team now a 2 man team at home anyway!!
Go on Arsenal (never thought i would say that)

Looking at the bright side

its a no-lose situation really

either we win something..............
...............................or..................................
...........................................................we get rid of the toad

as simple as that

cheer up. the future's bright

the futures orange - like bluetones tan!! ;)

But what if we win somethign and he signs a 5year deal and stays?!

then we all borrow Man utd shirts off clive.

# 58. Munkeyfeet · 3rd April · 11:43am
the futures orange - like bluetones tan!! ;)

leave my tan alone....it was swept away by Deivid's shot



# 59. Matt · 3rd April · 11:43am
But what if we win somethign and he signs a 5year deal and stays?

by then we'll have done a Wimbledon. How does Kuala Lumpur Blues sound to you?

i have a horrible feeling AG will stay whether we win something or not. the official line will be something like 'he kept us in contention until the end of the season and now we want to give him some more money and help him rebuild the squad so they can play his nice attacking football the way he wants to play'. then halfway thru the season we'll be 4th and out of the cups. that's a very pessimistic view but i can't see it any better if he stays on.

Matt - "But what if we win something and he signs a 5year deal and stays?!"

I didn't realise we'd entered this seasons Makita Tools tournament. That's all he'd win.

And we'd have to play someone really poor to win it.

Like Barnsley. Oh bugger.......

# 63. Fifty · 3rd April · 12:10pm

I didn’t realise we’d entered this seasons Makita Tools tournament. That’s all he’d win. And we’d have to play someone really poor to win it.


Feels like 93 when we thumped spuds (4-0, Cascarino hat-trick!)
It will be a Pizarro hat-trick, then

Only heard the first half and saw the 2nd on a small telly (on a German Channel I think) in a pub, since only having poor people's TV means I was dependant on the local publicans who were all showing Arsenal v Liverpool on the big screens.

However what I saw dimly in the distance re-enforced certain impressions:

1. Once teams push onto Makelele (or Mikel) we lose our fluidity as we seem to depend on him to initiate the play. There doesn't appear to be a Plan B. That seemed to happen last night as the second half wore on. I think this was a problem last season as well.

2. As the 2nd half wore on we seemed to lose the ability to break up the play and move forward quickly, as we were doing earlier in the game. Perhaps they had more bodies forward so more options and therefore fewer risky passes? This has happened before.

3. Are we as fit as we were? We seem to lose drive as the game goes on these days (the hour mark seems to be a watershed). While we individually get through the work, there doesn't seem to be a another gear, we don't get that late last goal any more. The substitutions only add to the confusion rather than injecting something.

4. The good partnerships we had don't seem to work as smoothly (defence)and particularly going forward we don't seem to be building new ones. We get into the right areas but the understanding to finish things off doesn't seem to be there (Drogba last night). Too much playing as individuals.

5. As with last season, rather than shifting up through the gears as we get to the business end of the season we seem flat.

The Arsenal game was perhaps an exception but these problems have been fairly constant, some of them from last season.

I'd be interested in other views on this. I don't see enough games live and that's the only way to really judge properly as on TV you can never see the full field to see what's really happening.

A couple of other observations:

I always assume that a player who has never scored for his club (Woodgate, Sagna, very nearly Alves) or hasn't scored for ages (the Barnsley fella), or about whom there is a particular story (Kazim last night) or the useless herbet everyone boos will score against us. I assume this is some trick of the mind like deja vu and the facts don't really bear it out? (reassurance being sought or professional help.)

I don't fully understand why we have to worry so much about our manager's appearance or general demeanour. Perhaps it's a generational thing. Harry Catterick, Joe Mercer, Ron Saunders, Jock Stein all suggest body shapes, jowls, personalities, dress sense that might upset some of those looking for the svelt extrovert..... maybe I'm just getting old.

I suppose there would be fewer objections if there was confidence in the current incumbent.

While Ranieri had certain limitations and will never be forgiven for Monaco, I seem to remember a general feeling that things were moving forward, there was greater consistency in the league (if not the UEFA cup), we were better away from home (no more falling apart at the Stadium of Light)and until Romans money arrived he was considered to be doing a reasonable job.

It pains me when he seems to be used as the yardstick for failure when discussing Grant and I feel there is a re-writing of history to shoehorn in a point of view.

Again perhaps its my memory...

Still I'll be there on Tuesday to watch it all unfold.

Are many of us going tonight? I'm going.

We may want to preserve our anonymity but if we want to show some sign that we're posters to this blog maybe we could have an agreed calling card. Something like sucking on a lollipop?

Mark - is lolli Ok with that?

Have fun tonight.

I'd love to go, but it's too far to travel on a school night.

I read this morning that Man City will have Daniel Sturridge up front. Who's already played for the first team and scored.

Wonder how close any of our youth team are to that...

What can I say that hasn't already been said,
please god let Grant piss off in the summer before he destroys
everything Jose achived, I reckon we won't win anything this season,
and I think we will lose our home record....and drogba, lamps and a few others

hopefully the youth team can win something

Trudie

One of things that irritates me most about Grant, and I'd be interested to hear your views on this Sid, is his total inability to explain anything tactically or football related when he is interviewd. It is is deeply troubling.

So yesterday, we had him totally unable to explain why he picked Drogba ahead of Anelka pre-match ("because Drogba is good" I think was his response) and asked why we lost post game he said he didn't know. Jesus fucking Christ. What is he paid to do exactly?

Post Tottenham 4-4 he didn't know why we conceded four goals - "it's hard to explain". Post Barnsley he didn't know why we lost. Post Tottenham Carling Cup debacle, he didn't fucking know. What is going on? This man has no football intelligence whatsoever.

It's devastating.

The goalkeeping coach was something I mentioned before... except I wasn't sure it was the same bloke.

The players needed to know that getting too casual when things were going well would be their undoing.

That was one of the things about JM, he made sure the players stayed focused, and if they got sloppy, he made sure they knew, the individuals especially.
Whether it be on the touchline, gesturing in frustration at a missed opportunity, or after the match in the interview.

The Mikel/Makelele point is something that stood out even when JM was here.

On another note, I was gonna throw in a few new players we are 'loking at', but I've just lost the interest. It doesn't matter who we get, this toad will still be here next season.

It's difficult trying to watch this mumbling slob.
Too busy being repulsed by that ugly mug, how can you pay attention to the sounds that slither out of his gob.

Ten seconds is enough to arouse powerful urges to smash something...

Most of AG's fans have stayed away from posting at the moment, but I dare say they'll be back if we beat them in the return leg. On saying that I agree with JD I think we will beat them, and then it looks like our annual semi with Liverpoo, that fills me with utter gloom, just for the sheer boredom that will ensue.

@ ANTHONY

LOL!! That is so true! He never seems to have a clue what's going on in "his" team. Another thing, when players are injured and an interviewer asks how they are, he always says he thinks they're fine. That was classic after the Arsenal game last year when J.T got his foot broken and he was asked in a post match interview; "So what's the news on John Terry?" Answer, "Errrrrrr.....i don't know, i am not a doctor." Shrugs his shoulders, "I think J.T will be fine"
How long was he out for exactly???!!!!!!! don't think he knows who any of the boys are! He certainly doesn't know where to play them on the pitch, that's for sure! God! If you didn't laugh, you'd cry! What a knob!

@ MUNKEY & BLUETONE

I highly recommend a sunbed for your decidedly dodgy tans. 9 minutes- £6...Use 3/4 times a week and job's a good 'un!!

Anthony,

I agree with your sentiments, he used the phrase "This is football" in every sentence.

No shit Sherlock.

On a side note, anyone who needs cheering up should read this :

LINK

Not sure if the Telegraph are 48 hours late, or this is genuine, but it would surely make Sky consider if it's worth showing La Liga any more........

@ Clive

2nd leg will be tougher than you might think! Here is what I think and said earlier (post 4):

This lot have a goal in them for the second leg, let’s just hope that we at least get two! May just end up at 2-1 and onto the pens again.

They will not be the same team at the Bridge as they have beaten us already.
They’ll have more self belief, certainly much more than they showed today in the first half. Sad that we could not take advantage of the respect and space they gave us in the said first half.

They also have easily a better manager by a mile. Their’s won them the game with second half tactic changes and substitutions and ours could not match that, nor will he next Tuesday.

My only hope is that the players turn up next week and put it out of reach early, so Taody’s ineptness will prove irrelevant!!!!!

So first thing is first, let's hope we get through. Also let's not forget Arsenal's past success at Anfield either.

# 74. Clive · 3rd April · 3:12pm
it looks like our annual semi with Liverpoo, that fills me with utter gloom, just for the sheer boredom that will ensue.

Clive, Clive, no gloom please. cfc v poo is just another reminder that spring is coming

70. TRUDIE WINDOW · 3rd April · 2:18pm
please god let Grant piss off in the summer before he destroys
everything Jose achieved

and Glenn, Ruud, Luca, Claudio. Even John Neal (he SAVED this club didn't he)

That said, we'll go through. Spring simply cannot happen without a UCL semi between us and the scousers. It's an environmental matter.

The really troubling thing for me is the way the team completely loses any shape after substitutions. It suggests messages aren't being transmitted and players aren't being told what they are supposed to be doing.

This is simply poor coaching.

78. Bluetone of course Jose didn't make the club great but Jose made us Winners
and thats something that uncle fester has no idea how to do
'Some Clubs do AVram'

@Fifty
I’d love to go, but it’s too far to travel on a school night.

Surely if you ask your mum and dad nicely they'll let you go ...

Wow...William Hill make CFC v ManUre their 10/3 favourite for CL final!!!


LINK

Mark

"Surely if you ask your mum and dad nicely they’ll let you go …"

I'm sure my parents would.

Mrs Fifty wouldn't. I was in a football-related rage last night.

She'd leave me if it happened again in the same week.

Hold on, I'll see you there...........

@ Trudie Window,

Uncle Fester.....*snigger*

I'm sure I heard AG twice say in the pre-match press conference that we were in the last 16. Now I can't profess to speak any language except english, but it is scary to consider that he doesn't know where we are in the competitiion.

I yearn for the days when 'the Sun' felt compelled to put up a £10000 reward to charity for the first player to score against us, because we had played 7 consecutive premiership games without conceding a single goal.

LINK

Hats off to the club for doing this. Roman's done loads of good work in this sort of area (subsidised travel, bringing back the old badge, looking after ex players). Shame he had to spoilt it all by making his mate the manager.

LINK

# 80. TRUDIE WINDOW · 3rd April · 4:04pm

Jose made us Winners

sure he did. or, better, he did remind us we are :)
AG is trying to make us forget

JT for manager and Frank for YTS director?

LINK

I think i know why we dont know what we are doing - AG has spent a lot of time in the movies and not at training!!

LINK

LINK

LINK

LINK

See he has turned us into a laughing stock on and off the bloody pitch.

Fook it - who is up for a bit of Jose chanting at the bridge - we should make it mandatory - every flaming game.

Lollipop - "That was classic after the Arsenal game last year when J.T got his foot broken and he was asked in a post match interview; “So what’s the news on John Terry?” Answer, “Errrrrrr…..i don’t know, i am not a doctor.” Shrugs his shoulders, “I think J.T will be fine”

That is mind boggling - things are even worse than I thought ....

As for last night, Lampard off for Mikel? No wonder he was pissed off. If he wants to close it down after 75, don't take off Lampard, take off Malouda. Lampard is the key to possession football FFS.

Simple formula - forward off, midfielder on. Against Spurs it was forward off, defender on. Last night it was midfielder off, midfielder on.

But look on the bright side - two stupid alternatives have now been crossed off his little list. Statistically, he should have a better chance of finding the right one next time.

Hats off to the club for doing this. Roman’s done loads of good work in this sort of area (subsidised travel, bringing back the old badge, looking after ex players). Shame he had to spoilt it all by making his mate the manager.

LINK;ito=1490

Am I being a bit cynical in thinking that Roman knows he's made a mistake and is trying to buy our affections. I just feel it smacks of a little desperation to make sure fans will turn up to support the team.

@ JACK
Simple formula - forward off, midfielder on. Against Spurs it was forward off, defender on. Last night it was midfielder off, midfielder on.

But look on the bright side - two stupid alternatives have now been crossed off his little list. Statistically, he should have a better chance of finding the right one next time.


Not bloody likely!! He has a penchant for rotation systems!!!!!
Sweet Jesus!!!

I know it's not the end of the world but this defeat was painful. We had so many chances but Drogba was so selfish and we were not clinical enough. What pains me is that we lost our concentration, we did not take advantage of our superiority and that cost us in the end. I'm really passionate about Chelsea and I feel sad whenever they lose but this really hit me hard.

First of all, I'm so sick about complaining about Avram. I mean, god, get lost you toad. I hate the fact he makes substitutions really late on in games, I hate the fact he plays Essien and Anelka out of position, I mean, I just dislike the guy. Bloody toad.

He's made us a laughing stock. Im not trying to be overly mean towards Avram, but why do we keep losing leads when he's around? I mean, when Jose was here, we did not lose leads this often. We should have beat Spurs twice, Villa, Everton and so many others. I know Roman wants his freaking entertaining football but I think, away from home in Europe, we should just defend a lead we've got and play counter-attacking football. Going out there all gung-ho trying to get a second is dangerous.

I've said this many times, but I know the players will carry the team through when the team needs a result. Not Avram. I have confidence we will defeat Fenerbahce at the Bridge and qualify for the semi-finals because Fenerbahce do not travel well. Inter lost there in Istanbul on Matchday 1 but trashed them 3-0 at the San Siro. Sevilla lost in Turkey too but beat Fenerbahce in the return leg. So there should be no embarassment in losing there I guess. The thing is, it could have been easier. But the away goal we got, I think, could prove very crucial.

COME ON CHELSEA!!

Anyone know how the Youth Cup final is going?

@ Harry:

Well said; there is no embarassment in losing there. They have won all their CL games this year at home and the away goal surely will help back in SB.
The thing is their 3-0 Inter game at San Siro was just a bad loss, just like ours in Istanbul.

About the game in Sevilla? Yes they did lose in Spain but they also scored 2 goals against the last UEFA winner; two years in a row actually. And they did that after conceding 2 goals before it was even 10 minutes after kick-off. So they never let go and imagine what will happen if they ever find the slightest chance to do that at SB.

I don't really think AG will be able to make the necessary moves if we ever let them score one. He just lacks the IQ.

"this is football". At least he knows the name of the game, we should be safe now.

Lollipop - rotation? Careful, that might imply the use of logic, however skewed.

youth cup final
chelsea 1 1 man city
kakuta

@ JACK
rotation? Careful, that might imply the use of logic, however skewed.

Well, you know the saying? There's a first time for everything!

Can't see anything new happening for a while yet though. Or am i just being over-negative?

@ Blue Bayou - after such a well written and informed posting the least I can do is give you my response, no matter how ignorant I am in the ways of football.

1. Once teams push onto Makelele (or Mikel) we lose our fluidity as we seem to depend on him to initiate the play. There doesn’t appear to be a Plan B. That seemed to happen last night as the second half wore on. I think this was a problem last season as well.

[TG] I don't agree totally, last season we were happy to let the 'keeper initiate play from the back, and JT and Riccy (when available) both seemed happy to build from the back. I think Maka's age is telling at the highest level and this may be why you get that impression. For me, Mikel is one of the calmest players around even when being pushed - if he was playing anywhere else the press would be raving about him.

2. As the 2nd half wore on we seemed to lose the ability to break up the play and move forward quickly, as we were doing earlier in the game. Perhaps they had more bodies forward so more options and therefore fewer risky passes? This has happened before.

[TG] Our confidence has been blown. The 'fear' factor we used to genrate is badly diminished, results like the Barnsley one are noted throughout Europe, just as we not Barca going down to the likes of Getafe. if we try to break the game up it seems to me the opposition are happy to 'bite' us harder to find the soft spot and are more willing to upset our players by going in hard.

3. Are we as fit as we were? We seem to lose drive as the game goes on these days (the hour mark seems to be a watershed). While we individually get through the work, there doesn’t seem to be a another gear, we don’t get that late last goal any more. The substitutions only add to the confusion rather than injecting something.

[TG] In a word, no. We definitely look off the pace as far as fitness goes compared to where we were. This still makes us as fit as any other PL or CL team, but under JM the regime was such that we were 15% or more fitter than any other team (imho) - this comes from a dedicated fitness coach and backroom team all singing from the same songsheet

4. The good partnerships we had don’t seem to work as smoothly (defence)and particularly going forward we don’t seem to be building new ones. We get into the right areas but the understanding to finish things off doesn’t seem to be there (Drogba last night). Too much playing as individuals.

[TG] Agreed, but again I fear that the new management team don't have the nouse, the creativity, inventiveness or the experience to deliver new partnerships or to encourage new methods. Drogba's greed is, I fear and as someone else said, the fact that he was in his own shop window last night. God knows he's a great striker, and has been fantastic for us, but his commitment seems sporadic, and i can't help but think AG is picking him automatically in order to try and persuade him to stay. On the partnerships front and the new ways of playing the beauty of JM and his boys was the meticulous homework done on every aspect of the opposition, to the point of being anal, which allowed so many options around weaknesses to be exploited. JM and team would be called 'geeks' in any other industry.

5. As with last season, rather than shifting up through the gears as we get to the business end of the season we seem flat.

The Arsenal game was perhaps an exception but these problems have been fairly constant, some of them from last season.

Back to the fitness thing, plus the lack of inspiration and leadership. Did you see Steve Clarke last night? Static is one word. Pissed off is another (Ok it's two words, but my point is if he's like it then you can see why the players are losing faith and belief, albeit subconsciously probably..

I’d be interested in other views on this. I don’t see enough games live and that’s the only way to really judge properly as on TV you can never see the full field to see what’s really happening.

[TG] Yes, being at the home games this season you can see that we don't move and create as freely as before. We seems to have a gap between the reality of the game and our perception of it, hence the apparent arrogance and lack of 'another gear'. It would be rare to panic at going a goal behind, but these days it strikes fear into me. Arsenal was different but to be honest when they scored i doubt anyone in SB thought we'd be capable of coming back like we did. I still think that game was a one off. I hope I'm wrong.

A couple of other observations:

I always assume that a player who has never scored for his club (Woodgate, Sagna, very nearly Alves) or hasn’t scored for ages (the Barnsley fella), or about whom there is a particular story (Kazim last night) or the useless herbet everyone boos will score against us. I assume this is some trick of the mind like deja vu and the facts don’t really bear it out? (reassurance being sought or professional help.)

[TG] Unfortunately the facts do seem to bear this out, although I would say it always ever thus! I don't think that's a recent curse!

I don’t fully understand why we have to worry so much about our manager’s appearance or general demeanour. Perhaps it’s a generational thing. Harry Catterick, Joe Mercer, Ron Saunders, Jock Stein all suggest body shapes, jowls, personalities, dress sense that might upset some of those looking for the svelt extrovert….. maybe I’m just getting old.

[TG] Frankly i couldn't care less how our manager looks, after all Ranieri looked like an Italian Widow, John Neal like a miner and Luca Vialli like a member of franki Goes to Hollywood. But, even the most curmudgeonly would have to admit that Gullitt and Mourinho had style. And that helps 'the brand' which helps sell any number of goods (phones , TV's etc) - has the club considered the loss of Mourinho's X-factor marketability?

I suppose there would be fewer objections if there was confidence in the current incumbent.

While Ranieri had certain limitations and will never be forgiven for Monaco, I seem to remember a general feeling that things were moving forward, there was greater consistency in the league (if not the UEFA cup), we were better away from home (no more falling apart at the Stadium of Light)and until Romans money arrived he was considered to be doing a reasonable job.

It pains me when he seems to be used as the yardstick for failure when discussing Grant and I feel there is a re-writing of history to shoehorn in a point of view.

[TG] I think I coined the phrase Clownio Fuckwit for Ranieri after nearly losing pressure in several arteries during the Monaco game. That was an unforgiveable bollocks up, and yes he admitted it was gamble, but it was the gamble of desperation that a good percentage of us would never have sanctioned. For me he was dignified man, a good man with good intentions and a loveable manner. He was also a very frustrating tactician. I don't know if Grant is worse than Ranieri, but from what I've seen he is not better. Are we using Ranieri as a yardstick for failure? Well, after the promise of the Hoddle, Gullitt, Vialli era's I think that was inevitable, albeit a tad harsh. Whilst Gullitt and Vialli were funded comparatively richly by Uncle Ken 'Killer' Bates, Ranieri wasn't. Whilst our erstwhile Dutchman and Italian footballing icons were able to look across Europe at the top teams for targets, Ranieri was told to look at the likes of Barnet and Slough. That makes what he did achieve remarkable, but for me he will always be nothing more than a capable hand on the tiller to keep the boat in a straight line. He lacked the cold hearted assassin mentality that the likes of Ferguson and Wenger have. And what did he do for Joe Cole, apart from humiliate and under-use him criminally. During the Monaco game when veron was bought on, Joe must have been wondering just how shiot does everyone else have to be before he would get a game. When Clownio left a lot thought he was treated shabbily and i have no argument with that. His departure could and should have been handled much more sensitively. But 2 months into Mourinho's reign, any lingering nostalgia had soon been blown away by the 'tour de force' we had been given.

Having said that. I'd take Clownio back right now if it meant Grant was removed from our first team affairs. As an addendum to this - Kenyon ousted Clownio on the grounds that he wasn't the right man and his track record of 'success' wasn't great. So how does he rationalise the current choice? I suppose on several million a year as Chief Exec he doesn't need to........

One final point. The club felt we needed a Director of Football at the start of the season. Presumably that vacancy still exists, as the incumbent has now taken the coaching role. So is it just me, or have we employed a new DoF on the quiet? Why did Jose need a DoF, but Grant doesn't?

@ TONY

Check this statement out from Dave Bassett when he was Director of Football at Leaicester, i think you'll find the last 2 paragraph's interesting..i know i did!

He says about the job; "You're a buffer. The Director of Football is answerable to the board but there to assist the Manager. He's experienced in Football and there to help the board members who don't have that experience.
It means the Manager is left to look after all the professionalals at the club, the teamwork, tactics, fitness, medical side and picking the team.
The Director is responsible for the budget to be spent on wages and make sure it is adhered to. He should be above the academy level to ensure that the money on youth level is not being overspent.

Secondly, the Director of Football has to be involved in the selection of the Manager so that when the Manager gets the job he knows the Director of Football is fully supportive because he selected him.

That means to some extent the Director of Football's head is on the line because it was his decision"

What do you think? Roman is DoF behind the scenes? Ok, he's not experienced in football but neither was (is?) A.G when he was DoF!

AG is Kalouless, Roman maybe be right when he says "He has a future at Chelsea" but that is NOT as manager!

@TG

Thanks for that very full and interesting reply. I hope you didn't have something on the hob when you started typing, then get engrossed as you picked up the pace only to look around as you signed off at the smoking ruin of your house.

On the subject of the DoF, I remember one of the reasons JM was greeted enthusiastically was becuase while CR was only 1st team coach JM would become a Wenger or Ferguson figure controlling all aspects from Youth upwards. Now I don't know if that was just opinion and expectation or people in the know were given that impression from within the club, but it certainly turned out not to be the case.

The competition and antagonism between senior figures, advisors and sundry other bods demonstrated that JM was far from being allowed to assume a role as head of the football side and certainly contributed to the poisonous atmosphere that was building for some time. As you point out we ended up with a DoF, which showed just how undermined JM's position had become.

Whatever happens with the Grant situation, anyone coming in will become embroiled in the internal politicking, with so many people having their own little piece of turf to defend, and I don't see a solution in the short term.

If we are to have a DoF then surely from DoF down, they all have to be a team that stand or fall together, in the same way that a coach and backroom staff tend to.

RA, Kenyon et al need to sort out the management of the football side so that there is a structure that makes sense and removes the confusion and what seems(since we are reduced to titbits of info and speculation) to be a case of too many cooks and not enough indians.

Lets face it what with the season of undermining CR and then at least last season undermining JM and this season undermining all of us, there has been precious little stability considering how good the times have been since RA took over.

101. JK · 3rd April · 10:15 PM

Roman maybe be right when he says “He has a future at Chelsea” but that is NOT as manager!


you're being harsh here. a kit manager vacancy might exist

oh and about the DoF being supportive of the manager....?

great quote lolli. Always had a soft spot for DB

@ Lolli

Bassett was a solicitor so is far more intelligent than credited. It's a good explanation, but if Roman is DoF for AG, then why not for JM....unless of course JM's knowledge was so far out there that Roman couldn't get it...it would fit with my Mourinho 'geek' assessment. At my place the Managers buffer the engineers from the Execs by translating the engineering lingo to a business language appropriate for them.

I'm just baffled as to how the Board seem oblivious to the level of feeling the fans have. And for me Kenyon is the biggest hypocrite of all, Ranieri bad, grant good...it's nonsensical and is unwitting testimony to how he really feels about Chelsea winning stuff....as a long term, self confessed Manure fan, why wouldn't he be happy to grow the 'brand' without us winning stuff his precious Manure could be winning. It's a win-win for him, he gets paid obscene amounts, we rake in more money to reduce our dependence on RA, Manure win things, RA eases himself out, we're solvent but the key to our success our benefactor is gone and we're vulnerable, Kenyon leaves saying job done and what's left is a brand not backed up by success and without it's financial safety net that started the revolution.

And then we're Leeds.

Paranoid? Moi?

@ TRUEBLUE

The quote says a lot doesn't it? It just doesn't tally up with what's really going on at Chelsea from when T.S.O was there. I found this part rather hilarious fom when A.G was Dof;
"He’s experienced in Football and there to help the board members who don’t have that experience." LOL.

@ TONY

Regarding Kenyon, maybe he's getting back-handers from Man Ure to make sure we perform miserably? Wouldn't put it past the snidey lokking git! He's quite happy to rake in the money, but doesn't look to me like he gives a rats arse about what the results are down Chelsea way. As you say, he's a Red Devil lover at heart, probably wa**ks regularly over his Ronaldo posters...nobody likes to see their fave team lose matches do they? Chelsea's just his job. Man Utd is his passion. Arsehole!!

Sorry, meant BLUETONE not TRUEBLUE!!

105. lollipop · 3rd April · 10:48 PM

Sorry, meant BLUETONE not TRUEBLUE!!

both are true lurrve - unlike my tan :)

Both are also Blue, when you take the two colours of your current tan, yellow/green, it makes a lovely shade of Blue.
Got that sunbed booked yet? No streaks on a sunbed!

LINK

even kezman gets it!!!

I feel if we have won nothing and things havent seriously improved then we should all go to stamford and protest in the last few games.

All print off an A4 sheet with "Avram" on it and then sing - He's gotta go, He's gotta go.

Couple that with a few - "you dont know what your doing"

and then end with "Jose Mourinho, Jose Mourinho".

I try to defend the chap loosely with a wait and see and then he goes and chuffing fooks it all up again!

bored of the piss being taken from colleagues, friends and team mates for all the wrong reasons.

Lolli i have booked a sunbed - what is the done thing? do you go commando, or accept a white patch where the wedding veg is?

so you're going to the Lampados, as we wops would put it :)

Indeed bluetone. Just unsure of the proceedings and i wouldnt want sunburn in that area!!

Did you get my translation of the very appropriate quote you stuck on.

yup i did. just puurfect

Brera could be a bit of a merchant and shall we say a tad full of himself.
He had great lines though. And invented the word libero. and many others

6 for a boro win
4 for a Man City win

he did bluetone - he was also proud that he never shot another man in world war 2 - which kind of defeats the purpose of a war. But he disliked southern Italians so i guess he wasnt all bad :)

Lads

going into the eastland game

First i wanna point out that i'm pretty optimistic about the second leg v fenertykes

but is it me or city away has "banana skin" written all over?

City are definitely on the slide, but they can't have become THAT bad all of a sudden.

Finds me a bit shaking.....

oh by the way i wouldnt be so confident if i was a manu supporter going to the rivershite

bbc match brief:
Manchester City have gone completely off the boil, with one win in six outings. They started 2008 in fourth place with a win at Newcastle, but are now sliding towards the bottom half.

scary, very scary....

@Bluetone
We're back to the good old days and that famous saying "it all depends on which Chelsea turns up".
I think AG is fast losing the changing room, you only have to see Frank's reaction and others at recent substitutions. Did anyone see how disinterested Alex looked on the bench the other night, he's got to be wondering what he's doing there. As far as Steve Clarke goes he's looked miserable for ages.

@ BLUETONE

We'll be fine, don't panic! It'll be a walk in the park!
*she says eyes darting side to side like eagle eye action man!*

@ MUNKEY

Up to you but i'm not sure Mrs Munkey would be over impressed ripping your kit off on your wedding night to see a very unsightly y-front outline! Personally, i go commando..no tan lines. Why am i telling you that??!!!! You're becoming a bad influence! Gonna have to stop talking to you and your partner in crime, (BLUETONE...you know who you are!).

Haven't heard of any fresh injuries as of yet, fingers crossed there are none. Why can't A.G pick up an injury or something so we have to have a stand-in manager? Just a thought..
Has anyone else seen in one of the tabloids today where they're quoting Chelsea fans as saying they'd prefer not to win anything this season if it meant we'd be rid of Avram? I think they've been reading some of the comments on this blog!

119. lollipop · 4th April · 12:15 PM

"Personally, i go commando"

suddenly losing to City appears acceptable :)

"bad influence! Gonna have to stop talking to you and your partner in crime, (BLUETONE…you know who you are!)"

Are you my Greek Literature teacher in disguise?

Peeps - I'm doing a preview, unless JD or Nick have the time.

In the meantime this will make you smile

LINK

@ BLUETONE

Are you my Greek Literature teacher in disguise?

DAMN! Who told you? Now i know what you get up to all day when you say you're working hard! Shirker!

As for the other comment..you cheeky sod!!

@ TONY

Look forward to reading the preview. I've missed them.
P.s Hope she doesn't go to Stamford Bridge dressed like that!

Amusing story from the telegraph link Tony, sounds as if Lolli was driving the taxi. ;-)

122. lollipop · 4th April · 12:30 PM

"cheeky sod"

well, you could see it coming. be thankful Munks didn't get there first


"Now i know what you get up to all day when you say you’re working hard"
actually my Greek Literature years were around 1978
as for the

"Shirker!"

you're daaaaamn right ***heavily wah-wah'd guitar in the background***

@ CLIVE

What do you mean by that?! Almost afraid to ask!

Or did the Mercedes give it away?

Went to see the kids last night - very enjoyable. Decent sized crowd (12,000) and lots of yoof in the stands getting a bit of an atmosphere going. City had about 900 there, which was fantastic - credit to them.

On the pitch, the most eye-catching player was probably City's Slovakian right-winger Weiss - very gifted dribbler, hangs on to the ball a bit but exciting to watching and had the edge over our Slovakian right-winger, the talented but perhaps too diminutive Miraslov Stoch. I reckon Weiss will be in the City first team very soon.

Gael Kakuta is a great talent - only 16, so could improve massively in the next couple of years and is worth a spot on the bench this time next year. I also liked Tejera, the Spanish playmaker, technically excellent, although he's a bit lightweight, and I was really impressed by Michael Woods (the ginger who has played for the first team). Very clever, economical, intelligent midfielder - probably the most mature footballer on the pitch. Our number 4, a dutch centre back, also looked useful.

The game was very enjoyable. Played at a great pace for 60 mins and then they were all knackered - it's interesting to see which areas the youngsters struggle at. One is pacinng themselves and the other is finishing- they are so concerned with getting the shots on target, they end up dribbling them straight at the keeper.

But I reckon there's two potential first-teamers there - Woods and Kakuta - and a couple of others (Stoch, Tejera, Dutchy and the British Ghanian captain at right back) who could make the grade if they step up their rate of progression.

Great to see the investment paying off. Could save us a fortune in the next few seasons.

@Lollipop
Just stereotyping women and the inability to read maps or even work anything technical like sat nav. You have a Mercedes??? overpriced german crap, bit like Ballack :-)

@ BLUETONE

1978?! God, how old are you?! I'd practically only just started school a couple of years then!

As for Munkey..nah problems..

@ CLIVE

Admit to struggling a bit with sat nav, get my Pa to program directions in for me! LOL. Overprced german crap like Ballack? Don't let the Munkey hear you saying that about his fave footie player!

129. lollipop · 4th April · 12:43 PM
1978?! God, how old are you?

i'm not old. more like "stagionato"

@ BLUETONE

And what's that?

I remember how the Geordies took care of Big sam and he is no more.
The liverpoo funs made a stand and Rafa is still there. The fans threatened to buy off the club, it worked.

WHERE IS YOUR SENSE OF MILITANCY, OUTRAGE. Instead you pricks decide to worry about your blood pressures, fucking tans and whatever else you talk about.
AVRAN OUT is just word, cheap talk. WE NEED A TASK FORCE TO LIBERATE CFC. A COUP WILL DO FINE( BLOODY OR BLOODLESS IT DOESENT MATTER).

STARTING THE NEXT HOME GAME IN THE SHED END

Ooooh, a task force.

Avram would look good in a balaclava.

@ Jard

WHERE IS YOUR SENSE OF MILITANCY, OUTRAGE. Instead you pricks decide to worry about your blood pressures, fucking tans and whatever else you talk about.

It's because we're civilised you twat. A BLOODY revolution? It's football for fucks sake. This blog accepts most views, but coming on here insulting people who are having a bit of banter amongst the generally sensible level of debate is a sure fire way of getting my back up. Well done, success.

Piss off and support someone else.

Avram would look good in a balaclava.

He'd probably wear it the wrong way round!

PETER

I think the task force would be AGAINST Avram, not including him! Whatever fans decide to do about him, sing/chant about him, we all know he'll still be there next season.
I think fans buying shares in the club would be a great idea, would certainly give them a voice. The Boardroom would have no choice but to listen to us then.

"stagionato"

bit like "seasoned". esp food and wine

136. Tony Glover · 4th April · 1:02 PM

"It’s because we’re civilised "

yeah, in my case it took a while, but i fin'ly nailed it :)

Thx TG

lassies/lads

off to a gig (where i'm the one ON stage). wish me luck and may the Blue Force be with you

@ BLUETONE

Love the translations, they're cool. Still say you should type in Italian, then translate underneath in English.

Break a leg.

@ BLUETONE

What do you do on stage, magician, comedian?..

Good luck whatever it is x

Jard, whilst i agree we should be more vocal in our annoyance with AG - as TG said - there is no need to come on here and have a go at people - we are all bored of AG and in saying how utterly useless he is - his comments are very trite - look it up.

Lolli - i would have said something worse than that tbh - good man blue - loving your work there buddy.

We could write in italian and translate but that is a lot of effort!! plus how bored would the other readers get.

@ MUNKEY

Good job you didn't say what you thought then isn't it? LOL
It's a good job i have a sense of humour. I could rip you to pieces!

Think we'd better stick to talking football anyway...too scared to say anything else!!

Peter,

Thanks for the insight. Good to hear there are a few who look promising. I've seen clips of Katuka before, but hope the others progress as well.

Whether they're given a fair chance is another thing. Sturridge for Man Citeh is clearly good enough as he's scored two for the first team.

We're content to trundle along with Sheva and Pizarro as our back up.

I hope that changes in the summer. Katuka, Di Santo, Sinclair et al need to be given a chance.