League Cup Final review: Chelsea 1 - 2 Tottenham Hotspur (AET)

Oh how i miss Avram Grant in your 'The Bad' section - but i understand it at the same time, no words can describe the things he had done to the team on 24th of february. the whole month was one big pain while watching our Chelsea playing. Avram got his big boys back and if something has changed (but not for me) it did for wrong. I had some faith in this season (but not in the manager) and after performance like that one i guess the third place will be enough for me.. oh and after all this sacking that fat, cluless idiot, Avram you're the weakest link.

Agree with every word, Tony. Someone compared our clueless manager to Ranieri earlier but at least Ranieri looked as if he knew what he was doing whereas .......

I do hope this isn't the start of a Liverscum style slide but I have seen nothing in the last 3 or 4 games to inspire me.

I always wanted us to win the Premiership at least once before I departed this world just that I could say I remember the day we won the title. Of course all our Christmases and birthdays came big time when RA bought the club and with the arrival of JM gave us all what we wanted, but not once twice!!

It's a bit like taking a child into Toys'R'Us and telling him to pick the biggest and best toy in the shop, only to have it taken from him at the exit and put back on the shelf, it's not only cruel it's f**king criminal.

I would love to think we could go on and win bigger things this season, but every time I see that inept fool look on in total bewilderment at things it just sends shivers down my spine. And as for the rubbish he spouts on how well we played and were the better team, is only going to draw pity from the media, and piss taking by opposition fans, how I loved the days when we were hated. Jose may have said similar things when we lost from time to time but at least he was right on some of those occasions.

And yes Spurs were deserving of their victory, and if we would have sneaked it then it would have been a travesty on their part. So Spurs fans when you turn up here to add to the blog, try and be sensible and intelligent, then your gloating will be a little easier to take.

Mr Avram Grant blew it today in which had to be our easiest final.. It's the first time Chelsea have played in a full squad this season, and in my opinion that should have been enough to win the trophy... but that didn't happen because Tottenham's back four have not been tested enough.. players like Hutton and Woodgate (who have been signed recently) have not played enough with Ledley King (who has been injured all season) and chimbonda (who doesn't play at left back) were not troubled. They were not tested simply because of Avram Grant's funny tactics and substitutions. I mean why would someone leave Joe cole out of the starting line up? He was our best player when most of our top players where out injured.. And Wright Phillps.. He is mediocre player always has been always will be!
+ I disagree with you on who should be man of the match. I think it should be Wayne Bridge(other than the penalty he conceded which is a correct decision!) He has been our best player.

I feel lousy today.

For the last few years we have become reknowned for our winning mentality and the strength of character that this squad built under Mourinho, but with each week that passes that strength appears to be being sapped from us.

We used to take to the field in the knowledge that all of the preparation work had been thoroughly completed on our opponents and the dossiers that Jose's backroom team put together became the stuff of legend.

We also knew that the coach would be bold, make the difficult decisions, and if Plan A was not working, he would at a moments notice be able to turn to Plan B, C, D or E.

I now have no such confidence. We take the field with no shape or structure and if it wasn't for the fact thatwe have some of the best players in the world, Grant's lack of tactical nous would have been exposed long ago.

C'mon Chelsea..... Sort it out..... Either let Ten Cate off his leash to get stuck into the players, or bring in a real manager that is able you make the most of the undoubted talent we have in the squad.

Always Blue......

The bottom line for me is that with JM as manager, I always thought Chelsea could pull it out in the end. He fought, and he made the team fight, until the final whistle. Now I hope for the early goal, and that we can just hold on until the end. I hate talk of these intangibles like team spirit, but we used to have the mentality that we could win any game on any given day. Now we have talent but nothing else, and often the talent ain't even there. Remember the tactical substitutions under JM? WTF?

We had a run of wins against second-rate teams, but we haven't won against a big team or in a big game yet. Not good.

I would only blame Grant and Grant alone! He's just a bloody puppet... clueless and toothless!

What the hell was Grant playing at by creating unease and uncertainty amongst the senior players just before the important Final?
How the hell could Grant inspire the players when he refused to acknowledge the League Cup was important in the pre-match conference? Was he preparing to lose just in case?

I was screaming my head off for Joe Cole to come on in the second-half, but Grant was sitting there like Dr Dolittle because he had not got a clue on substitutions.

Just look at the body language between him and the players: there's no bond, there's no rapport, there's no passion. I'm ever so grateful that the quality of our players had overcome Grant's shortcoming for so long. It's about time now for Grandpa AG to step down and spend more time with his family!

As a spurs fan, I just wanted to say that I'm delighted that my team has lifted the trophy. What makes it better is that we beat both arsenal and chelsea in
successive rounds.

From an outside point of view, I think AG did a decent job when the big names
and africans were unavailable. But once they come back, Chelsea's form dips.
Surely this is not only the manager's fault but also perhaps the player's who've
just ocme. I found Chelsea to be rather lethargic in the game yesterday, at least till spurs made it 2-1. Had they played the game at the tempo that they
did in the second half of ET, perhaps the result would have been different.
I wouldn't say it's completely the manager's fault tho he does bear most of the
blame. Some of the bigger names in your team are too complacent and need to be
shaken up to maintain your challenge in the rest of the competitions u are vying for.

I wish you good luck for the other competitions you're in

A couple of days ago, I was playing Fifa 2008 with a friend of mine. A ball fell to Anelka's feet 8 yards out with an open net. He promptly fired it onto the bar and out to which I exclaimed, without even thinking about it, "Fucking shameful."

That pretty much sums up my feelings on today.

This paragraph from Henry Winter in the above Telegraph report says it all...

"A manager who never lost a cup final in England, Mourinho would have raged against the dying of the light, exhorting his players to find something extra, enacting one of his substitute master-strokes to vary Chelsea's danger. The Blues' huge army of support, who became so used to trophies under Mourinho, deserve better than Grant."

I think the days of us going 1-0 up and winning games are slipping fast. You only have to see in recent results that opposition players still think they can score and get back into the game. It's not like the days with them thinking bloody hell 1-0 Chelsea that's it, no point busting a gut, what's for tea? and whats on TV tonight?

We're playing crap football... the last few games have shown that without a doubt, and if it continues Barnsley might well be making even bigger headlines in a couple of weeks.

Well after getting up in the middle of the night to watch the game, Icannot remember a more inept performance by a recent chelsea team.

The players didn't know whether they were Arthur or Martha, and I've got to with all the comments to date, you can only blame one person and thats old boris karloff (AG). To say he hasn't a clue is an understatement. Were was he when the team need a bit of encouragement and drive, he left it to others, TSO would have been there boots 'n all

I honestly can't see us winning anything whilst ever he's in charge, and I wouldn't be surprised if the players are thinking the same thing.

I can only wonder how long AG can make his time at Chelsea last. If we win something, will that ensure he stays on into next season? If we get into the finals of the CC/FA Cup? If we come away with nothing, will he be able to spin himself into next year with lies about the team not being accustomed to his "style" or "tactics"? When we were in similar positions in the past, I was not scared. I am scared now. I fear for what we may become. Not so long ago, articles were written about Grant, Kenyon, Arnesen selling Emperor Roman a nice set of clothes spun from a very exotic new thread. How true can it be? I suppose not very, doomsayers are never totally right. But with the poor performances, propaganda, and empty hearts being slung about the Bridge, it feels like a shit farm.

I can now claim that I’ve seen Spurs twice beat Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley and I was only just getting over my emotional trauma from 1967. Back to the therapist!

Yesterday certainly managed to kill my enthusiasm for this season. I was going to buy tickets for Barnsley tomorrow but I’ve decided to cancel that plan, not because I think we’ll lose to Barnsley but because I don’t think we’ll win the FA Cup.

I thought the team selection was ok – everyone is muttering disbelief at Joe Cole being omitted but I think he’s been poor recently and if you read the comments after recent matches many criticised Joe. When Anelka came on as sub against Olympiakos he looked good and yesterday the subs looked better than the original 11, so maybe we’re now stuck with a squad that can only perform as substitutes. Also we’ve been useless in the last 3 games, Liverpool, Olympiakos and yesterday yet the teams were different each time, so I don’t think it’s a function of the starting 11 but a function of our style (bit of a stretch to call it style) of play. Our style is

1. Mastering the art of turning attack into defence. I’ve never seen a team get free kicks and throw ins high up the opposition half and so rapidly get it back to their own keeper
2. Boxing ourselves into a corner. If we get a free kick we seem intent on passing it to a team mate marked by 3 opponents
3. 2 passes is now considered a lengthy piece of interplay

There were so many poor things about yesterday but in particular we seemed intent on making suicidal passes, with Belletti in the first seconds and Lampard in the second half. Drogba seems to have reverted to his old tricks and spent much of the time prostrate clutching his face. Clearly he’s not interested so I’m willing to personally buy his Easyjet ticket to Barcelona.

We were outplayed man for man, including the manager and the fans. Spurs, throughout the whole club, wanted this more than us. We (fans) sat moaning quietly at our end whilst the Spurs fans supported their team.

I’ve been one of the minority defending Grant, partly because I enjoy playing devils advocate but also because I wasn’t disappointed to see Jose leave. Sure I enjoyed the trophies but his off field antics besmirched the reputation of the club. Anyhow I don’t want to re-open that debate. Avram was left moaning yesterday that the ref blew the final whistle too early. Clearly Avram isn’t up to the task at the highest level so let’s hope that Roman correctly reads the situation and blows his whistle early on Avram.

@Mark
I hope you're right with regard Roman reading the situation, perhaps it will take a beating by Arse or Utd 4 or 5 nil at fortress bridge to wake him up. If that's the case then I'm prepared for the short term pain it would cause for the longer term benefits.

Or lets keep with tradition and hope he wins the FA cup so we can sack him as our previous three cup winning incumbents suffered. ;-)

I have to agree with Mask 100%, We've got all our players back and we are playing like shite. With the Spuds fans
out supporting our fans maybe Boris's starting to effect the Chelsea faithful as well as the Players

> Mark...
Thanks for putting some perspectives to this issues...I'm quite happy that Lamps and Terry played otherwise our eyes and ears would have been inundated with claims like we lost cos 'we gambled and left our 2 best, experienced players on the bench'...

Scoring Cech a 4 is very unfair for a guy who kept us in the game long after our 'experienced' defenders went to sleep...the threat kept coming through the middle and he kept us in the match time and time again and i dont see why a Terry would score 7 whereas a Cech scored 4...If you recall also, it was Terry doing the bulk of 'back-passing' to Cech simply because of his 'defense only' mentality... I said before the match that i prefer alex cos he's a better player carrying the ball forward and putting pressure on the opposition...

AG fumbled....he succumbed to the pressure of playing Lampard who was nothing but ordinary (all huff n puff as usual) and Terry 'to organise the defense'...

Essien too was a waste of space and is probably overrated this season...Bridge had a much better match than i expected and should be 1st choice over AC...

We have very sharp and deadly finishers in DD and Anelka (both hardly throw chances away)... the only problem is service and that is where the midfield question rears its head again...what kind of service did they get in the course of the match?...i am talking about passes into space resulting in 1-on-1

AG and his crew should go back to the drawing board and strategise properly on the best way to play the team he has...we should be more incisive and create more chances when we play...He should also work on the fitness of the team as i suspect that the lack of fitness may be the reason why chelsea can not keep going full throttle for 90 minutes, opting instead to catch teams on the break or from slow patient build ups...

Evrything said, i still believe the season can be very fruitful...the goners camp is experincing 'self-doubt' syndrome now, so the premiership is far from over...lets wake up from our slumber, roll up our sleeves & keep the chase

Always Blue!

Managers live and die by their decisions, and Baron Greenback failed miserably with his yesterday.

I thought the decision to play both DD and Anelka was a complete cop out - neither would adapt to being one of the wide men and it showed. Anelka was happy to come infield, and invariably lose the ball with no-one to pass to. Drogba just stood out wide, whingeing like a little girl when he wasn't auditioning for the part of 'blown up soldier #37' in the new Rambo film. Utterly shameful.

The defence were o.k and nothing more. Midfield non-existant (does Mikel have a 50p shaped head ??? Free headers in 20 yards of space and the bounce off his bonce went in all directions, devoid of any control at all.)

Sod all up front, with the usual sight of SWP and Kalou running up their own arses, losing the ball, then giving up. We've seen it too often now. Cheerio.

Spurs definitely deserved to win. Head and shoulders above out tepid performance. Which was almost as bad as Olympiakos (thank God I was on holiday last week and couldnt be arsed to find somewhere showing it.)

What really scares me is the bigger picture from yesterday. It's likely we'll be trophyless come the end of the season. If DD and Lamps and one or two more jump ship in the summer, fair enough. It's the calibre of those that will replace them that is of concern. Joining a Chelsea side who won the league and did the cup double, with JM as your boss is infinitely more appealing than joining a side who finish 3rd in the league and lost a cup final, with a man in charge with no personality. Will the top, top names be interested ?? Are we destined to (shock horror) become the new Spurs, just win the fizzy pop cup every 10 years and be grateful for UEFA Cup footy ??

Under AG that's where I see us headed.

from the Times "One weekend newspaper report claimed that Chelsea had edited an article about Grant in the match programme to remove references to Mourinho. Why would they cut out mention of the greatest manager in the club's history? Because, presumably, he is the greatest manager in the club's history and therefore puts Grant under strain."
What the hell is going one at board level at Chelsea? This shows how much of their own hype the board of Chelsea believe their own and the anti mourinho media hype in the past about pretty football and the money. Put a monkey in charge with the talent you buy and anyone can win... Oh yeah? I hope they all choke on their caviar this morning!! F***ing idoits and prats all of them.

Tony. Get off Cech's back. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't even have been playing extra time. He might have done better on Woodgate's goal but on balance he was just unlucky. He had no choice but to come for the ball after Woodgate was left completely unmarked by our defence - which is where the real problem lies for that goal.

How was it that the top deck at our end was full of Spurs fans ? Was it that we could we not sell our allocation, which was then handed back and sold on to Spurs ? Does anyone know ? The support yesterday was dire, and this was a big part of it - having your end 'invaded' undermines everything. Things really are bad if we can't turn out for a final.

Utterly pitiful, a dreadful game of football (we passed the ball to them, they kicked it into touch) and a shockingly spineless performance from our players and supporters. I thought I'd be gutted beyond belief at losing a final to Spurs, but I honestly didn't care - I just wanted the game to end so I could home to read my kid bedtime stories, you know, the important stuff. Spurs were inept, but we were a different class of shit. I actually think we played better when we lost 4-0 to United in 94. We certainly sang better...

Atrocious. Grant has to go, he doesn't have a fucking clue. If Roman keeps him on and gives him a load of money in the summer, it will make the signings of Shevchenko and Veron look like the canniest decision since we signed Pat Nevin for 25p from Clyde.

@ Tony - Brilliant write up - i agree with everything you say - especially Cech - i love the big man but he needs to read the game. If drogs is overpowering the centre back a big hoof can be great to start it off again and unsettle the other teams defence, keep them back. However when someone like woodgate had DD in his pocket most of the game it was just stupid.

Definition of INSANITY - trying the SAME thing over and over and EXPECTING a different result!!!

I will have a bet with y'all that rikaard comes to chels, JM goes to barca and ten cate links back up with the crazy dutchman - DD will go to them with frank and messi or ronnie will come back this way with rikaard. Both them and us need wholesale changes.

Grant has to go - we arent even seeing glimpses of a way forward.

Utterly poor and as a chelsea fan its humiliating.

Although I detest Spurs - god I wish we could play football like them. Great fluid passing, creating chances and fantastic movement.

As mentioned above - the last few games Chelsea have never played so badly - what is going on with all our miss-passing? Why can't we keep the ball and carve out goal opportunities anymore? I really felt like they only we would score would be from a free kick or corner.

I think the whole "new manager" effect is over now - and our great run of games will come to an end. The fact that JT gave the ET half-time talk while Avi was behind him scratching his head really showed me that he has nothing to offer. Also - why were AG and Ten Cate wearing suits but not Steve Clark? Is there now a coach hierarchy? Steve looked like a trainer not a coach (i.e. Poyet wearing a suit for spurs).

In my opinion - our wingers are crap (with the excpetion of J.Cole) they are not strong enough for a 4-3-3 formation. We need to change to 4-4-2 or even a diamond formation. DD and Anelka upfront with Kalou or sheva as subs.

Shit - well at least our time at the top was fun while it lasted. Time to eat humble pie and admit that we no longer belong in the elite teams of the premier league.

we have not looked convincing in many past games under Avram. we look inept. we lack confidence and we do not look like we used to. we used to have teams under siege, whether a team scored first we never looked like we were caving in. you were always driven by that fighting spirit oozing through the players, from JM, to the blue boys at the Bridge and out of the screen to your living room wherever you would be as a chelsea fan. i remember how i used to be hated by the red crowds in my pub, we were hated like hell and it felt great because we turned that hate into a winning spirit to keep upsetting the Liverpools, Man-Us and Arsenals of this world.

that sounds like such a long time ago!!! its painful. i have always said that the string of wins by Avram was just delaying our inevitable disintegration and the earlier we started losing important games the more obvious it would be for Ambrmvch to get the picture and perhaps the easier it would be for us to to get a manager worthy of our team soon.

short term pain for long term gain i reckon.

We need a chant for the next home game to vent our anger and let grant know we are not happy. More importantly let Red Rom know

Any ideas?

True Blue - not sure about that. I thought Spurs were shit, but we were shitter. People thought the FA Cup final was bad, but at least that featured two teams who could pass to each other.

Grant out.

Absolutely disappointed with the tactics, team selection, and style. Even only from ethic and moral point, the players who made a contribution to get us to the finale should have played the final itself. Instead we see players just walk in to the team at will. That was the last that convinced me – AG is week, he may not be Abramovich “yes” men, but he is some players “yes” man and I am talking players coming back from ACN. Drogba and Essien especially.
The other disappointment – AG is copying what JM did with Drogba and Sheva, only he is doing it with Anelka. Why some managers play players out of position is beyond me. Anyone knows, play Sheva up front will score all day, or if you play to strikers go for 442 formation, it is in the #### basics of the game. Frustrating …since Lpool game we have been jinxed like. As the SKY commentary said – Spurs want it more! So Avram why not play players who want to win the finale, not self filed wingers
If we can not win final against Spurs, what could we win?
At one stage I was thinking, if we win 1-0 nobody will remember the bloody game. In a sense I was glad Spurs won at the end. If this is not a wake up call, do not know what is.

I can not believe how you can hide from the fact that even thou Grant does not measure up to Mourinho tactically...it has been his players that have let him down...

Essien was reason for this loss playing with the ball in his own half.

Lampard 6/10 were we watching the same match???? He was responsible for Cech keeping the scoreline down...lost a lot of possesion and did not help on the build up play....Ballack on coming on Chelsea had 4 shots on target and yet spurs had 5 defenders at the time...

People out here have failed to realize that even when gives something good, there has got to be life after their gone...Lampard out have said it before and am sticking to my guns...he is way past his best time...

Grant is another one at fault. We have all talked about the Didier-Anelka partnership. Why take a gamble to play a combination you have not tested????? There will be other times against less opposition and against less critical games(oh wait you had declared this game a no consequence encounter...how silly)

John Terry...No problem with him save for his tracking back that was responsible for the second goal...why change a true and tested partnership of Carlvalho-Alex.... The backline lacked confidence and Terry has the Sidwell disease...let me pass the ball back so someone else can hoof the ball up field...

When all is said and done...Spurs have upped their game. Credit to them and their team is decent...

It holds at Morinho 1: Avram 0

Lampard, whilst not particularly good, was infinitely better than Mikel and Essien who were, to put not too fine a point on it, fucking awful.

AG is becoming quite insightful in his old age, may I make another suggestion Avram swap jobs with him and he'll show you how it's done!

LINK

Musumba

I agree partly. A club is no different to a company - why are managers there - to motivate, inspire, give guidance and rollock those that are just doing enough to get by.

This is AGs fault exclusively - if he cant get this crop of talented players to rise up then he HAS to go and be replaced by someone who can! JM never had this problem did he and if they played a poor first half - we all know how the second half went.

Obviously steve clarke did give the bollocking at fulham - obviously the players dont respect AG and this is now showing as they have lost that extra 20% that made us so great - the I dont care what you have to do just do it and win mentality.

The SAS has the motto - He who dares wins - i think Red Rom needs to understand this is the british way and that AG is as clueless as pizzarro in the penality box!

I think the irony is with AG thinking that his job is tougher than Ramos, I reckon they could have swapped teams yesterday and Ramos would have got us to win by two clear goals.

Essien, Belletti, Anelka and SWP were hopeless. Everybody else was below average.

I said to my brother before hand that I would take a loss in the Carling Cup Final to Tottenham if the Chelsea board fired Grant on the Monday. That is how strongly I feel about him.

I had been predicting this result all week but when it actually hits you, as you walk out of that ground thinking that last year we beat Arsenal and United to lift the two domestic trophies and that this year we lost in a final to Tottenham... and that Grant will not be sacked in a month of Sundays.

Someone posted earlier that we will need to be beaten badly at home by either United or Arsenal for him to go. I think that's probably right. I am already convinced that we will lose our home record this year against either of those sides.

I have got good contacts at Chelsea and apparently the back slapping that has been going on in the boardroom has been quite phenomenal. They genuinely believe they have discovered the new Arsene Wenger. Plus they are under considerable pressure to talk him up and support him due to RA's affection for him. Kenyon, Buck et al are a bunch of yes-men unfortunately.

The turnaround from being invincible to vulnerable is incredibly alarming and has been coming for a while. All this nonsense about how JM and AG have comparable records. Any close analysis of the teams being beaten by those two respective managers tells the real story. With the squad at our disposal we should be getting results (i.e. at least a point away from home, three at the Bridge) against every single side with the exception of Arsenal and United. Even then under JM we regularly beat them home and away. People forget that we are really only in a mini league with those two teams.

OK, last season we only won two cups but we got to the semis of the CL and were in contention for the League, despite an horrific injury list and an owner completely unwilling to support the manager, until May.

What hope of anything like that this year with arguably a better and more substantial squad?

If possible, Mourinho's stock has risen since RA decided he had had enough.

What's even worse is that, unless the Milan or Real Madrid/Barca jobs come up, JM will be at Liverpool next year.

Peter,

Agreed apart from Anelka. He was anonymous because anyone who should have been giving him service was utter trash (the perfect game for Makelele - he cant pass (so wouldn't have looked out of place) but would have offered some protection in front of the back 4).

Drogba's continued falling to the ground angered me more than ever. I'd let him go in the summer, keep Anelka and get rid of Sheva and Pizarro too.

Anthony,

I agree with your post.

I predicted we'd lose (even called that we'd concede a penalty).

What I don't agree with is that it'll be United or Arsenal that do our home record. We've been so poor for such a long time, it'll be someone far more average than them. We tried to let Everton and Villa take it from us, bored Liverpool to tears at home. It's imminent that's for sure.

What hurts is that if RA actually does wake up and can AG, we'll have to foot a huge bill in unpaid wages. Which is why I can see him being here for a long time.

I know this sounds awful and, if we make it to Moscow I may feel very differently (but then again I had the same thoughts on Ranieri pre the Monaco debacle knowing thqat JM was potentially around the corner), I genuinely hope Avram does not fluke the Champions League this year a la Rafa otherwise we will end up in a Liverpool esque situation. i.e. hanging around the top five, picking up the odd cup but no longer a consistent force.

Grant must go in the summer.

> if we make it to Moscow

There is currently very little danger of that happening...

@Alex and Ethical Strategy

No, I won't get off Cechs back, which is why he features in the good and the bad. Great saves yes, piss poor penalty record and another howler, albeit with the catalyst being shite defending which didn't help. But...watch the game again and see the mindless hoofing that went on, irrespective of who played it back to him. It's rubbish and shows a lack of ability to read a game and he's been doing it for ages, whereas Carlo and Hilario adopt the other approach of pushing the ball back to the defence to build the move up. . It's route one football that Dave Bassett and Howard Wilkinson would be proud of, but to my mind isn't good enough for us

'What I don’t agree with is that it’ll be United or Arsenal that do our home record. We’ve been so poor for such a long time, it’ll be someone far more average than them. We tried to let Everton and Villa take it from us, bored Liverpool to tears at home. It’s imminent that’s for sure.

What hurts is that if RA actually does wake up and can AG, we’ll have to foot a huge bill in unpaid wages. Which is why I can see him being here for a long time.'

Agree with this, we'll lose the home record to somebody we don't expect to. They'll kick Grant upstairs rather than sack him, so that shouldn't be a problem. In fact, he'll probably get a raise.

If we play like we have so far this month, Olympiakos (who have a good away record) will turf us out the CL. We'll be okay in the FA Cup until we play United. We should hold out for third.

JD with performences like THAT, how in hell are we going to get to moscow?????

I'm impressed that Tony found anything to put in 'good' other than that the world got to see what a clueless tit we have for a manager.

Back at Tony - The distribution is not down to Cech in my view. It is the responsibility of the defenders to make themselves available. When they do that Cech is quite happy to give it to them. Yesterday, he was continually given the ball to clear when Spurs were pressing the midfield and defence. Passing it out was not an option.

# MikeL · 14th July · 9:42am
I can tell you one thing and I really do want to be a gloom merchant on this one. However, there will be nothing good about Avram Grant arrival to Chelsea. I know this guy and I know this type. Nothing else but intrigue and power fights.
LINK#comment-13545

This is my post from 14th of July 2007 seems like far far away Grant just appointed! In every my post since then the only thing is shouting that this guy(Grant) is fraud!!!! I will never give till the moment I see him leaving Chelsea!!!

Sorry, about too many spelling mistake in previous post. I just worry too much when I hear name Grant and I know this fraud since 1992!!!

"> if we make it to Moscow

There is currently very little danger of that happening…"

Oh I don't know there are lots of good flight bargains at the moment, and our boys earn far more than Spuds match winner who can't afford a house in London.

@Tony
You make a relevant point on Cech's penalty saves, or lack of... I think the last one he saved was against Blackburn a few years ago but i could be wrong. What I've noticed with him is that he moves too early and telegraphs his direction to the kicker, bloody hell I think even I would fancy my chances against him.

Also AG complaining that the Halsey blew to early when in the middle of an attack, Kalou hit the bloody post, and even if he had equalised
does anyone honestly believe we would have won the lottery of penalties?

@ Peter

It would have been too easy to have a go at Grant when it's obvious what was missing yesterday and recently...leadership. I've done another post which Nick might publish mid-week which expands on the Emperor's New Clothes theme. Like a few people I'm almost glad we lost because it might mean the departure (upstairs) of Jabba the Hut and the introduction of a proper coach...but I'm not holding my breath. Anthony's comment about mutual back slapping sound like a real worry because we're not paying anything like Arsenal...at least not since Bruce Rioch was in charge of them! I'll take dour with trophies, but not dismal with capitulation and defeat and that's what we saw yesterday.

@ Jose - Everyone starts from 6/10 and Lampard did as much bad as he did good, hence the default score. Whilst he didn't add much throughout the 90 , when we started to play after Spuds scored their second he became far more expansive and urgent. Too little, too late, but that was the case for everyone barring Bridge and Terry really.

@ Mark - I have criticised Joe Cole lately, and to my mind rightfully so, but he likes Wembley and has been integral to our progress and at the very least deserved the nod yesterday instead of SWP, as did Ballack in front of Lamps. He might be a fancy dan, but he does create problems and all the Spuds fans I've met today were downright bloody relieved (if not a bit mystified) that he was on the bench.

If AG is meant to be a good man manager, then by analogy obviously Margaret Thatcher was a great humanitarian! I would have left Terry, Lamps and SWP on the bench, started with Alex, Ballack and Cole with Drogba and Anelka up front in a 4-4-2 and stuck by the core of players who have seen us through a tough spell of injury and absenteeism. If things went pear shaped then by all means change them. To push them to one side in favour of players who have been out injured or away on International duty is downright shoddy and sends one message...form doesn't matter, friendships and player seniority do. Any business would sink quite quickly with that attitude.

This isn't a bring back JM rant...but it is a question, an open question to the hierarchy (some of who do read this blog allegedly) at Chelsea as to why they believe AG is the long term bet, rather than a young experienced coach who has played at all levels of the game, and even better managed as well?

@ Ethical Strategy - we'll have to agree to disagree. It's far to prevalent a part of his game - he rarely passes or throws. Might I suggest you watch him in future and we'll compare notes in a few games time? What he does is effectively give the opposition possession again, and if he doesn't then it's still Dave Bassett football. Even you have to agree with that surely?

If there has been back slapping amongst the board, I now think there should be some head knocking. If they want us to be the richest and biggest club brand globally, that's only going to happen if we win things, it's not rocket science. JM raised the profile of the club in two ways by being successful and controversial in equal measures, they go hand in hand surely peoples memories can't be that short, Fergie was such an angel wasn't he!

I bet if you ask most people who only have a slight interest in football either here or abroad, who manages Chelsea... the replies would either be JM or don't know.

Onwards to world domination eh!

I think Cech will have been told to lump it by the coaching staff before the game, and shouldn't be marked down for it.

For the Woodgate goal, I need to watch it again but why was he given essentially a free header unless Cech had come out and put him off. Cech was left exposed by a defence that looked out of sorts. JT needs some games under his belt to get his confidence back.

I hope we get knocked out of the Champions league next week and RA sacks AG and employs a world class manager.

9 points off the top with Arsenal stuttering, a game in hand and both top 2 teams have to come to Stamford Bridge. Lets get a new manager in and win the last 12 premiership games of the season!

Spurs won pretty much ball that was knocked into our box from free kicks. The defence gave Cech sod all protection - rumour is that Terry can't jump since his back operation.

Peter - JT certainly doesn't seem as mobile.

Just to clarify my Arsene Wenger comment, I don't think the senior managment are so deluded as to think they have found a manager who is capable of creating such stunning football as Wenger, but they do believe they have plucked someone from obscurity with as much talent.

Still pretty deluded then...

Terry was passing back to Cech an awful lot rather than moving out of defence; don't know whether this was a tactic (if that's what you call it) or because he isn't moving as well as he could.

JD/Tony - on the Cech hoofing it point I agree his kicking isn't great. But one of the most worrying things about yesterdays performance (and there were quite a few) was the lack of movement from the entire team. No-one wanted the ball. The amount of times Anelka, Lamps, anyone got stranded with no-one to pass to was ridiculous.

Also Woodgate seemed to win everything in the air against Drogba and this might have made Cech's kicking look even worse than it was.

Woodgate was brilliant yesterday.

Cech had a poor game but I'm not sure he's completely to blame for all the long balls. It seems to me that this sort of play is tactical & I would expect that Cech has been instructed to do this. It has occasionally had success with Drogba in the past but in situations where it is clearly not working then it is up to the manager to instruct his players to do things differently.

The only good thing that might come from this result is that Grant has been exposed. Could you imagine Mourinho (or any other manager with the talent of Cole & Ballack on the bench) leaving it so late to make changes. Spuds must have been laughing when they seen the line-up - why did Grant choose to experiment in a final?

The most worrying thought is the board think that Grant is a good choice and intend to keep him on. After Mourinho went I was very vocal in shouting down the the "bring back Mourinho" chants in the MHL - JM is gone & we need to move on. However, I've never believed Grant was the right choice except maybe as a caretaker until then end of the season. For now we need to continue to support the team for the rest of the season. At the end of the season we need to make sure the board are fully aware that they've made the wrong choice.

On the other hand we could win the treble. We could start playing the "expansive" football (whatever that is) that Grant goes on about. He could bring a couple of Chelsea youth players through & develop them into international class players. I'm not asking much really but unless he can achieve all this in the next 3 months then I want him out.

Spurs have excellent centre backs and shit full backs. Which is why we picked two players who aren't wingers to attack them.

The lack of movement and dynamism from midfield and the full backs was stunning. I'm not sure Belletti got goalside of SWP once. Carvalho is usually the player who brings the ball forward - was Keane sitting on him? I didn't notice, but it would be a sensible tactic.

I have 3 points to make:

1) Avram Grant
2) The dead branches in the squad.
3) Roman Abramovich

The manager - Basically i think he has done a decent job in keeping us in all 4 competitions until Woodgate's header yesterday. What i want to say is that we have a squad that any manager in the world of football desires. But how they utilise them is another story, which brings me to this: Any average manager e.g. Curbs, Sparky or Moyes can come in and do what Avram did or even better. Grant needs to go. The sooner the better. Unfortunately, we may have to wait a couple years more as he has a contract with us. At least til the end of next season where he will get the chance to build his own squad this summer. Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. Im not going into his tactical abilities which are very pathetic as a manager because you guys have discussed the whole issue throughly already.

The players - We need an influx of top quality players this summer. E.g. Quaresma, Lahm, Van Der Vaart and Benzema etc. Especially on the right flank. Its been quite sometime with this bugging problem at right back and right wing. Belletti is a typical Brazillian full back who doesnt defend much. Fine. But a serious lack of pace at the back is killing us. I was surprised that SWP started as a winger to flank Drogba. Ten Cate covered his flaws by shifting him to central midfield but once again, he doesnt have what it takes to play as a right winger. Other then mindless running, he has nothing else which was evident in yesterday's game. If we still had the team we had 3 seasons ago with Duff/Robben, im sure we would have over ran Spurs.

The owner - Someone needs to justify the decision of appointing Avram Grant. He may dislike Jose but surely he can think of someone better? Its one of the most bizzare decisions i have ever witnessed in my life.

A worried Chelsea fan.

@Ken
You're not the only worried Chelsea fan there's a long list on this site alone please form an orderly queue! Yes I think you'll find most people in agreement with you about the bizzare decision to replace JM with someone.... well we all know the rest. He has recently asked for a Director of Football to come in to make his job easier, perhaps just perhaps it's a coded message to the board that he's in over his head and wants the job.
Why not give Ten Cate the reins until the end of the season he couldn't be any worse and he certainly won't pick players out of loyalty or sentimentality if his reputation is anything to go by.

Pete - Keane seemed to be doing a very good job at keeping Mikel (and to an extent Carvalho) occupied when he dropped off; contributed a lot to our lack of any control in midfield. If he wasn't doing that he was going wide with Jenas pushed up on Mikel.

Read an interesting article recently on the subject - might have been Henry Winter - about managers dealing with the 'Makelele role' by putting a deep lying forward on the midfield lynchpin to disrupt; also tricky for the centre half marking him (which as you mention was Riccy) as it creates indecision about when to go with him and when not to; mentioned that Bilic did it in the England v Croatia game. I'll post it if I can dig it out.

Bilic - now there's a man we could use here - smart, young, bit mischievious...

yeah I'd give Clarke and Ten Cate the job till the end of the season then bring in a heavyweight in the summer.

Yeah, I love the look of Bilic. His kid's a Chelsea fan as well!

JD - who was the midfiled lynchpin in the England Croatia game - Gareth Barry?! Ha ha.

Bilic would be great, though more of a gamble than JM was in terms of pedigree. He could do with a bit of experience at a football club first.

I'd plump for Hughes. Please not Rikjjaard...

Mikel wasn't that awful. Most of the game went over his head, and when he did get a chaance to put his foot on the ball he looked more likely than most to keep possession and make a forward pass. For me the really hideous feature was the absence of any movement in the attacking half. Everyone seemed to be waiting for the ball to go up to Drogba, all the time.

Thre's no point flipping out about a bad couple of weeks now. Most of us have suspected that Grant was probably not much of a leader or tactician ever since he was appointed, for the simple reason that there was no evidence at all to suggest that he was. But there's *ample* evidence that freaking out and chanting for the manager's head in the middle of a season does nothing for anyone. As a lot of us have been syaing all along: let's wait and see where we are at the end of the season.

If, as seems likely, at the end of the season we are 3rd or 4th in the league, runners up in the Mickey Mouse Cup, out of the Champions League at the quarterfinal stage, and out of the FA Cup in the semis (or thereabouts), then ... I can't say I was expecting much more when the boss's toady took over. The suits will talk about a "transitional year" and say Grant needs time to make it "his" team. The fans will think that an excellent squad has badly underachieved, but really it won't be much less than a lot of us expected.

I think it's going to take something much worse than the above scenario for us to have any chance of getting rid of Grant. Like finishing 5th (seems improbable).

They blew it when they fell out with José. (I can't see how there can be any possible argument about that.) It's too late now. Even if we got Mr. Brilliant Euro Manager in tomorrow he'd need a while to turn the team around. (Look at Ramos, you say: but Spurs were far more broken than we are when he came in.)

I'm afraid the best hope is to remember that the team has played quite well under Grant, for whatever reason (obviously nothing to do with Grant himself), and just hope we can do that again.

Guys, Cech did not do much wrong
Essien lost carelessly the ball that led to the cross for the “penalty”

Second goal to me is not the defence or Cech, Drogba lost his man

I think Slaven Bilic is the men for the future and hope we get him after the summer...

@ limetreebower

Agree that we should wait til the end of the season and see where we are. What im concerned about is that the authorities at Chelsea are not realising the mistakes they made. Something is wrong in the set up. My brithday wish is that Roman is reading this blog right now.

Sorry to join a little late, still in shock after yesterday. Very happy to read that the press have stopped saying what a fantastic manager the "normal one" is. He has rightly got destroyed this morning.

I was saying to my Chelsea/Tottenham supporting friends on Friday and Saturday night, that wierdly our downfall on Sunday would be because we had too many world class players available and Grant would mess up the tactics/team selection. Sure enough he did. It cannot be coincidence that he has done well when we have had injuries/suspensions depleting our squad to such an extent that the team basically picked itself.

Leaving out Ballack was a complete joke. Putting Anelka on the wing was a complete joke. Useless manager, useless performance.

We need an overhaul of the squad in the summer with Grant, Pizarro, Sheva, Malouda, SWP, Lampard and Drogba (irreplaceble but he obviously does not want to be here so let him go) going. We need to sign Benzema, and a World class winger who scares the hell out of teams like Robben used to, like Ronaldo does now. We will obviously need further additions but no more central midfielders.

One question, if Abramovich wanted flair why not appoint Ramos? I was very impreesed with them yesterday, and can only see us losing to them at 3 point lane again. It is so depressing.

A lot of guys here amaze me...Tottenham's game has been on the rise recently (see what they did to the goners and the stress they put manure through)... currently, they are as good as the so-called 'top 4' in my opinion

I recalled asking what the fuss was about Lamps and JT not playing in the final and JD inferring that they were our 'best players...when fit'...maybe sometimes in the past they were best, but here and now...they are not! AG was stupid to fall in for undue pressure in fielding both players as they made no positive impact on the scoreline... and play!

We played the same Tottenham a few backs in case you all have forgotten (practically the same set of spuds players) and what was the result...2-0 And the spuds did not as much as trouble Cech like they did yesterday...we change the team and what did we get?

Those clamouring for JC seem to have forgotten that he was anonymous in his last match...no guarantee that he would have played well for 90 mins (he's not even fit enough for 90 mins in my opinion, would burn out after some runs and remain anonymous for the most part)...

> Tony Glover...
You keep harping about Cech and have been silent on JT why?...was he not supposed to 'lead our defence'?...the same defence that was broken at will by the spuds?...Did you notice JT stooping and ball-watching while berbatov narrowly missed the sitter of a header in the 1st half from keane's cross?...what did JT do to merit a 7 and Cech a 4?...Countlessly, when we were 1 goal up, JT had the ball with acres of space in front of him and opted to back-pass to Cech (and you opt to blame Cech and stay Silent on JT)? Thats not leadership and i think you are not being fair here!

I think the undue pressure from 'sentimentality for the english' would be our undoing as i stated in my previous post...especially if AG continues to be swayed by the sentiments

Lets face it...the same team that beat the spuds some weeks back (perhaps with the inclusion of Drogba) should have been allowed to play and i'm sure they would have done us proud...

Hope AG has learnt his lessons and would stop playing to sentiments as the buck stops at his footmat...

The season is not over yet... AG should show balls and do what i think he should..."shelf the 'names' and play the game"

Always Blue!

MEN YOU GUYS HAVE GIVEN ME A LAUGH.
SOME MEMORABLE QUOTES.
BUT SERIOUSLY, THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER FOR US.
FIRST THE SPUDS GET US. NEXT BURNSLEY BURNS US THEN COME THE GREEKS,WELL LET US SAY THEY GET THE BETTER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. WHAT NEXT? WELL GRANT IS GRANTED A GARDENING LEAVE AND WE GET RID OF SOME OF OUR SUPPOSADE STARS. SOME GUYS JUST NEED TO MOVE ON. LAMPARD,MALOUDA,SWP,PIZZAMEN, SHEVA,BRING IN A YOUNG RB AND PAULO WAS GIVEN 4 YEARS? WHAT FOR? OBEDIENT BENCHING, HILARIO OUT,DD SHOULD MAKE UP HIS MIND, WE DONT WANT ANOTHER GALLAS ON OUR HAND. NEXT SEASON WE NEED ATLEAST 4 MIDFIELD PLAYERS BTWN 18 AND 24 YEARS. MEN JUST LOOK AT ANDERSON OF UTD. HOW COME OUR SECRET SERVICE NEVER SPOTS SUCH TALENT? WELL I DONT KNOW THE SCOUTS BUT MEN THEY DESERVE A SUCK.
I DOUBT WHETHER ANY CLUBS WOULD WANT OUR JUNK,MAYBE START CHELSEA TELVIV OR CLUB AMERICA WITH THESE CLOWNS.

To start off with, I am a huge JM mark. But my problem is that I am a bigger Chelsea maniac. However for the first time, I don't feel the pain that we lost, maybe I was expecting this!!! It's not the feeling when we lost the CL Semi's at Looserpool, not like the feeling I had when a defeated JM came and gave us the chins up... I was so proud to be on the losing side, with the team that lay in shambles from failing to conquer Europe again... Boring??? Yea, hell yea, if that was boring football, bring it on, week after week, and I will sing my heart out... I mean I don't like Grant, I didn't like him and I don't think that I'd ever like him!!! I'd be glad to eat my words, but it’s gonna take a hell of a turn around for that to happen. And it's not just the tactical nous that we are talking about here. Where is the passion??? Where is the love for everything blue??? JM was controversial, but then it showed more than that… It showed that he loved the club; he was passionate about the club… And you could see that every time he was on the touch line… I know that my feelings don’t amount to anything, but I’d rather have a brash controversial man who loved the club rather than a politically correct dumb f**kwit…

One question for all the Chelsea supporters who said we were playing boring football before Grant supposedly rescued us … What’s your idea of boring football??? Winning all the time??? Or maybe lightning quick counter attack football??? Maybe scaring the s**t out of your opponents??? Or was it because we never looked like loosing at the revered Bridge??? Really, when was the last time you really thought about it rather than make up your mind by reading the papers??? And wasn’t the orchestrator of all this boring football hailed as the savior of England by the same people who said he was the enemy of football while at Chelsea??? And before anyone starts off, this is not a post to start a “Bring Back The Special One” campaign, no, far from it… I just wanted to share a few thoughts…

I have no hope that we’re gonna see the light at the end of the tunnel, not just yet, but I fear that by the time the board realize and come around, it might be too late… But whatever happens, the memories of the past three glorious years are more than nuff to keep me going for a few more years…

And as my signature in all my official mails say, “I Bleed Chelsea Blue!!!”… always…

Im not done, where on earth are we going to get a brilliant manager?
Ancelloti for champs league
frank of barca? ur kidding, that guy tactically?
ramos, well we let him go i hear for a younger guy, that will be grant
who? Rafa. to show us things can get worse
ah, that leaves me, yes me jard. JARD FOR MANAGER.
IF U MAKE ME MANAGER, I PROMISE TO MAKE THE SPECIAL ONE THE DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL, I HEAR THERE IS A VACANCY AT THE BRIDGE.
TO MAKE RA HAPPY, I WILL MAKE AVRAM THE FORMER MANAGER OF CHELSEA.MY CHELSEA

@Alex

I think you are reading my mind exactly... Lampard and JT SHOULD NOT have played this game. We need to sell Lampard and get Modric...I am almost getting tired of saying this...It is so obvious...his heart and body are no longer with us....

We have gone a couple of games without losing and then silly toad looking Avram decides to croak a "benitez"...

Hopeless...

Cech
Belleti-Alex-Carlvalho-Wayne
JCole-SWP(Essien 2nd Half)-Makelele-Ballack (Lampard 2nd half) -Kalou
Drogs (Anelka 2nd Half)

That line up would have white washed our psycho friends..

@ Alex - Why not JT...because when JT passes back to Cech it doesn't follow that Cech then needs to hoof it out mindlessly. Explain to me why he did that when JT was injured? When Riccy was injured? It's his way of clearing from the back and it's wrong. JT had a reasonable game yesterday, but he did little wrong and warranted an extra mark from the default 6 for staying on the whole game.....BUT...I don't think he shouldn't have started. Alex played to get us there so should have been rewarded with the start, as should Ballack instead of Lamps and Cole instead of SWP, because he is a better big game player.

Oh, and our piss poor form and negative style of play should include the Reading match as well. Go a goal up and then sit back and let them come at us. Under Mourinho, yes, under Grant no because the players don't believe!

Well, if this below is true then Roman can kiss goodbye to the Cl for the forseable future.

!Mourinho already discussing backroom staff with Barcelona
tribalfooball.com - February 25, 2008
Jose Mourinho has agreed to work with existing Barcelona coaching staff should he replace Frank Rijkaard at the end of the season.
El Mundo Deportivo says during talks in Portugal, former Chelsea boss Mourinho spoke with Barcelona directors Txiki Begiristain and Marc Ingla about his backroom staff.
Pep Guardiola (current coach of Barca B), Luis Enrique and Eusebio Sacristan were all put forward to Mourinho as potential assistants - ahead of Rijkaard's current No2 Johan Neeskens.
Mourinho already knows Guardiola and Luis Enrique from the first spell he had at Barca as Sir Bobby Robson's assistant. "

The board should all be rounded up and put on a boat out to sea frankly. Bunch of idiots.

Tony, I agree about Czech. I think hes the best in the world I really do but I noticed his long ball kicking many times especially in the CL against barca when we should have worked up from the back. A long kick is always a 50-50 as to which team ends up with it on the pitch. He defiantley does it too many times and has cost us countless hours of possesion during many games. I noticed it most last year. Maybe some players are starting to believe they are invincible without having to work for it.

I Usually Agree totally with these blogs however how the referee has been praised is just ridiculous!
I was at Wembley yesterday (unlike the person who wrote this blog because your views are way off!!) and found some of his decisions totally shocking. Drogba was being wrestled to the ground from behind in the box towards the end of normal time and a free kcik was awarded against him?! But I am not being totally biased towards Chelsea Spurs had some dirty tackles agaisnt them only for the ref to award us a free kick for making them? Absolutely pathetic and the near side linesman wasn't much better.
I don't believe Tottenham deserved to win at all although they wer clearly the better team before we scored. I hope we learn from losing this final as we have been well consistent of late!

Another shocking contribution to the game was Shaun Wright Phillips absolutly pathetic all game why Avram (Hope he gets sacked, may aswell give Steve Clarke the job as no one else does f*ck all!) kept him on instead of J Cole and Essien instead of Ballack come to think about it, puzzles me. To buy Anelka and play him on the left wing is ridiculous as well
Yet some moron on the tube back with me was saying we should sell JT because he jsut doesn't cut it anymore yeah nice one mate!!
When are we going to start playing some proper football instead of that b0llocks?!

The worst of all is this. How many of the worlds top players are even contemplating coming to Chelsea. I know money talks but so does the wish for glory in sport. Ask y0ourself this. If you were Ronaldinho, Messi, Kaka, Alves or even Man-u's Ronaldo would you even have in your mind to move to us if your agent came to you in this situation? No, I did'nt htink do and this is what we had the last three seasons where all the best players were mulling over coming here. Now, it all seems so lost.......

@ DIO

Its all because of Avram Grant.

@Tony, I dont get the excuse to other fans down the pub about being a transitional year. that's fo rteams that loads of players are being replaced for a new sqaud and hence the transition. When you take over and manage a squad which previously was almost an invincible sqaud who won six cups in three years and challenged the best top clubs in europe and they are all still there, that's not transition, that's down to the only change there was, i.e the manager. and that says it all......

Matt - your post has been allowed to stay but has been edited; it may well be a nickname that Spurs give themselves, but it is insulting and has no place on here. If it gets used again (by anyone) the post in question will disappear, as will the poster's future contributions.

Matt,

The point you make about DD be wrestled to the floor is, well, point-less. He was offside, hence the free-kick against him.

Having spent a fair bit of the afternoon reading the post-match analysis from various journalists and player interviews, what really takes the p*ss is Avram and his continual whingeing about how it wasn't a penalty or when the ref blew the final whistle (despite the fact when we were attacking it was PAST the alloted added-on time). For all his flaws, had JM been in charge and the same result ensued, I think he'd have been honest enough to admit we got what we deserved.

All Grant is trying to do is detract attention away from the fact that his decisions are ultimately what cost us. He's just not big enough to admit it.

However, I think it's unfair to point the finger solely at Grant. In the past, where we've discussed his lack of anything resembling managerial abilities, the players have dug in and performed. We've scraped 1 - 0 wins and claimed it's all because the players wanted to show what they could do in the face of adversity. Yesterday they didn't and some of them can't hide from the fact they were apalling.

Picking the popular players and dropping the form players to the bench is something from the realms of a no-mark nobody managing the England team (Hello Steve McLaren), and Grant has no way of hiding that. He and the board may put a brave face on it, and attribute the loss to any one of their wildly vivid conspiracy theories. The fact of the matter is the real sense seems to be talked about on here, where the fans appear to be the ones with the footballing management knowledge, and Grant is left looking like, well, a look-a-like from your favourite Sci-Fi film. With as much footballing knowledge as someone from the Planet Tatooine.

Jog on Avram, jog on.

@KEN your'e right mate, You all know I've been saying it all along. It's more than Grant though, it goes to the top. An owner who got jealous and replaced one of the best pound for pound managers in the world because he could'nt put up with the established anti-anyone-new media and also, believed the hype that money alone wins things and personally because he was overshadowed by JM on the world stage and that's why he went for Grant, not a real proven world manager. In fact, I would go so far as to say to everyone here that Abromovich has put his own self before Chelsea. You do what is good for the club not yourslef and that includes personal sacrifices which he is'nt willing to do since he's the boss.....and that's why we lost yesterday. Simple as that!

Apologies i didn't know he was given offside.

There is definatly a problem within the club from top to bottom but i do believe they are picking up points when they do because they are a squad who has always done so in recent years. Mourinho didn't make some of the best signings lets not forget. whatever anyone said about Ranieri he created the back bone i mean Mutu,Kezman,Smertin,Tiago,Del Horno,Boulharouz... all shocking Ranieri signed Lampard (whatever anyone says about him now he gave so many goals) Duff, j cole i even think Robben was signed before Mourinho came.

The point i am making is i could be there manager right now and absolutely nothing would be diffrent Grant is hopeless and is in way over his depth! and there needs to be changes i want to enjoy going to the bridge to watch us play football not see us scrape 1 nil against the likes of West Ham!

We won't win anything with this peice of shit in charge. We no longer play with any convitcion that well score a goal if we keep at it. When the players feel that way, we won't win anything, and that's what it's been lking like for a while now.

Everton both legs, Portsmouth, Liverscum, Olympiakos, and now Spurs -
HOW MANY PROPER GAOLSCORING CHANCES DID WE MAKE IN ALL THOSE GAMES COMBINED?
Probably less than MAN U do in one game.

That's the truth.
We have no ideas, our central midfielders are are all slow and ponderous.
Too many big lumps who wont break out of a trot.

ESSIEN NEEDS a good kicking up his lazy arse. When Ghana were a goal down againstNigeria, he singlehandedly got them ack in it with fantastic header. Where's the determination?

KICK OUT SWP! ASAP

@ Dio,
Got to agree with you mate. It's been this way for quite some time though and his interest in the club definitely seems to be fading. I think that perhaps he is just waiting for the moment to jump ship and I can see that moment coming soon.
Not that I think that would be bad for the club, since he has come in it's been like his play-thing, hence the reason why Sheva signed and Jose left. He has so many people below him carrying out his dirty-work, Peter Kenyon, Bruce Buck, Henk Ten Cate and while Mourinho was still in charge Avram himself that he has lost touch with the way the club should be run and most importantly, the fans.
We will still be around supporting the club long after Roman and his rubles have packed up and moved. The way things are going though Chelsea by that time will already have become the laughing stock of the Premiership.

Can someone explaimn what Henk Ten Cate's role at the club is?

If the assumptions that some of the Chelsea heirachy read this blog are true... might I make a suggestion. They obviously read it because they find it informative with a wide range of opinions from the general fan base, some of which are nonsense and some which are very insightful (and I don't include myself in the former or latter) just in case someone has a go at me.

So here's my suggestion why don't we, and I mean by we... JD ;-) pen an open letter type blog to RA and the board raising our concerns as to the direction the club is taking with managerial structure. After all JD would have enough material from various posts and blogs since AG took over to give a balanced consensus of views.

A lot of us on here pay good money to watch Chelsea, I spend on average not far off a £1000 a year with tickets/travel etc.. not a small ammount by anyone standards, so why shouldn't we attempt to provoke some sort of response, we buy into brand it must count for something, clutching at straws? am I being naive, probably... but if you don't buy a ticket you don't win the raffle!

Clive

I agree completely with you. If they are going to sit in their ivory towers then we may have to take this route to awaken them and bring them back to the real world.

I dont really care whether or not RA wants to hear it - the truth is he bought our club, says he loves football and will best represent us. Well come on then RA. Get rid of AG and appoint someone with a back bone, tactical nouse and who will live and die by the sword. I for one would rather someone take a chance and fail than not try - provided they didnt jeep making the same ones obviously.

Count me in and let me know if you need any help with the logistics of it all.

The bluest munkey in the jungle :)

Clive - Tony is penning his thoughts on the subject, as am I - to appear later in the week...

@Jonathan
Thanks to you both

Managers who base their game on organization and making it difficult for the opposition don't generally last at a club even if they do win (?)
Maybe we should be looking for someone who combines winning football with more attacking football.

Mourinho's time was up because of that, and it looks that way for Rafa.
Ramos had a reputation for serving up attacking football as well as winning Trophies.

He falls into the Wneger, Ferguson category. Two managers who have been succesful now over a long period at one club.

'A pot of gold'. Really?

He's composed, a neat passer, physically strong and that's about it.
We have those kind of players already.

What's the big fuss about Mikel Jon Obi?

On the club direction, If we really want to be the great club he keeps telling us, maybe it's time Kenyon started trying to take us in the Manc's direction, by looking at all the elements that make tem the top team in the country.

As much as I hate them, you've got to respect and admire what they are.

@Cashif
We played pretty much attacking football in the first 2 seasons under JM the two tables show that, look at the stats from the top four each year, especially goals scored and goal difference.

2004/05
P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Chelsea 38 29 8 1 72 15 57 95
2 Arsenal 38 25 8 5 87 36 51 83
3 Man Utd 38 22 11 5 58 26 32 77
4 Everton 38 18 7 13 45 46 -1 61


2005/06
P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Chelsea 38 29 4 5 72 22 +50 91
2 Man Utd 38 25 8 5 72 34 +38 83
3 L'pool 38 25 7 6 57 25 +32 82
4 Arsenal 38 20 7 11 68 31 +37 67

> Tony...
The other matches you referred to where Cech was 'hoofing' the ball was he scored a '4' too or did the '4' just crop up cos we lost?...did you not notice that most of the other players too were hoofing the ball to Drogba throughout the match?...what much difference would it have made for him to 1st play the ball to say a Riccy/Belletti (definitely not to an uncomposed captain JT) who would then hoof the ball upfield...and how many of these other players did you rate a '4', even though most of them made no visible contribution in the game?

CECH MADE SOME FABULOUS SAVES THAT MADE THE SCORELINE MORE RESPECTABLE THAN THAT OF THE GONERS, HE WAS LET DOWN BY HIS DEFENCE ON DIFFERENT OCCASSIONS BUT SHOWED HOW GOOD HE WAS WITH THE SAVES HE MADE...HE DESERVES MUCH BETTER THAN A '4' IF THE LIKES OF JT AND LAMPS THAT MADE NO CONTRIBUTION IN THE MATCH ARE GETTING 7s AND 6s

Sorry i got aggravated and shouted...but i dont think there is any tangible defence for the relative '4' you scored Cech...

Always Blue!

@ Clive

Im a Chelsea fan from Singapore. If you add any assistance in conveying this 'Avram is not the man' message to Roman or anyone relevant, feel free to drop me a mail. I will get the top people from the local official chelsea supporter's club to help out too.

My emal: flyingpoker@hotmail.com

@ Matt

"I Usually Agree totally with these blogs however how the referee has been praised is just ridiculous!
I was at Wembley yesterday (unlike the person who wrote this blog because your views are way off!!) and found some of his decisions totally shocking."

My presence or otherwise at the live event is irrelevant here. I watched the game on TV which means I missed some of the "bigger picture" stuff like how people play off the ball. However, what I did have the advantage of was Sky's slow motion replays which called just about every decision Halsey made as correct, thus vindicating my decision to hand out some ref praise for once. yes, he got picky towards the end, a frustration at Spurs time-wasting techniques...but hey..they were winning, but they're just not as used to holding the ball as we USED to be when winning.

"I don’t believe Tottenham deserved to win at all although they were clearly the better team before we scored.

So who should have won based on possession stats, which Spurs bossed?
So who should have won based on attempts on goal? Spurs 17 to our 8?
So who should have won based on attempts on target? Until the second part of extra time we'd had about ....yeah...1.

Take the blinkers off Matt, they were better than us in every department yesterday, and the blame is shared between the uninspiring laughingly labelled leadership of Grant, and bloated apathy and complacency of the majority of the team.

@ Alex - he's fucked up too many times this season. I even agree with F365. he should now be called the Former Best Keeper in the world. I don't want rid of him, i just want a decent coach to bring him back into line and show some consistency. Someone like Silvinho Louro....oh wait...sorry we did have him but he left with Jose.

tottenham beat arse 5-1 in the semis.
just saying...

this game wasn't a gimme, you guys are going off like winning the cup was just a formality that AG ruined by incompetence.

it was a piss poor game by us, no doubt, but i wouldn't judge the AG era by it.
we were playing superb football up until 2 weeks ago, lets wait and see how the other titles play out...

"we were playing superb football up until 2 weeks ago, lets wait and see how the other titles play out…"
@Sayid
What games and matches have you been watching?

Whilst we're in whinge mode … I also found Wembley disappointing on two fronts.

Firstly the sound / acoustics. Somehow the sound doesn't travel very well around the stadium so you only really hear fans very close by. I know us Chelsea fans were all sitting in shocked silence but the stadium is deficient.

Secondly the toilets. There aren't enough of them and at half time the queues were about 80 yards long. Also one set of toilets, on the outer wall of the concourse, had one door to serve in and out, so fans were struggling passed each other. I know Bates was involved in the development and clearly he used our East Stand upper tier as the crappy template.

P.S. In case you’re wondering I don’t have a problem prostate gland.

Nope – just checked and it’s absolutely fine

> Tony...
Hmmmm...just wonder exactly how many is 'too many'...maybe if he was English and manning the post for the national team he'd be better appreciated and scored a '7' or even an '8'...like his crap 'counterparts'

Just thinking!

Always Blue!

“we were playing superb football up until 2 weeks ago, lets wait and see how the other titles play out…”
@Sayid
What games and matches have you been watching?

Certainly not Chelsea ones Clive, that's for sure!

> Sayid...
Some of the people screaming here for AG's neck did the same thing some months back when he 1st took charge of the team...when the results were favourable, they kept mute and were waiting for the slip (even some here commended him for holding the forte)...they'v gotten their chance to go 4 his jogular now, so let them have their go...

Gooner's in contention for 2;
Manure's in contetion for 3;
Looserfool's in contention for 1, and
we are still in contention for 3...

Lets see how it all pans out...

Always Blue!

As the very first match report at the top of the page by Martin Samuel of the Times says; "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE OWNER PHONES A FRIEND INSTEAD OF A MANAGER WITH VISION". Couldn`t of put it better myself.

@ Tony
Well done on a great review...boy..you weren`t kidding when you said you were gonna write a scathing report were you?! I`d hate to make an enemy of you!! I agree with you 100%, as i said last night, we were outclassed. They made us look like total amateurs. A.G is unbelievable..what colour is the sky in his world??!! What planet does he come from?!! More importantly, when is he gonna sod off back there??!! To say that we had the upper hand, controlling the game until Spurs got their penalty is a joke and as you said, makes a complete mockery of everyone watching.

I see the typical " gives us time to concentrate on the FA Cup, Prem and CL" crap came out of his mouth last night.( McFergie couldn`t of said it better! )Just as well he didn`t really give a toss about yesterday then isn`t it if that`s the case?! My predicted piss-take comments came after 8 minutes of being at work today...7.08am to be exact and practically continued throughout the day until i made hurried exit home at 3pm...it`s been a very long day indeed....all that`s left to say is;
"TAXI FOR AVRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

@Clive

My mistake for not clarifying what I meant. Goals scored was high, you're right. But even in games where we won 4-0 for example, we'd make very few chances.
I think a lot of people would agree it wasn't as attacking as United are playing now.

Even in those games we 'battered' teams under JM , we never bombarded opposition goals. In truth we usually scored even though teams looked comfortable. It was lethally effective stuff, but not attacking in the sense I'm intimating.

How many times did you hear managers come out after losing to us saying things along the lines of... 'We never really looked in danger but we ended up losing by three...' or 'I don't think the scoreline reflects the play today'.

Yes we may have scored but our chances/goals scored conversion ratio was probaby unbelievably good.
I don' know. Maybe we did surge forward wave after wave, put teams to the sword and mercilessly torment the with our attacking play... if we did though, al I can say is I don't remember it that way.

Take that 4-0 against Norwich at the bridge, it was probably one of our better attacking displays, and we scored four. But on the hughlights, there wren't much to show in terms of chances apart from the four we scored.

We go a a goal up, and wait and wait, psss along the back, nick another one when our opposition thinks there's no danger. We do some more of the same and there you have it, a impressive 3-0 or maybe 4-0 scoreline.

I'm not trying to be deliberately irritating or anything Clive, that's just the way it seems to me...

Just to reinforce what I said earlier. In light of yesterdays piss poor (but predictable) performance the priorities should be:

1) Full support to the team for the rest of the season (please let there be no Jose Mourinho chants at the next home game)

2) Pray hard that the board are already searching for a new manager to take over next season. Alternatively I'll go along with the suggestion that we start a campaign to get the message across that Grant is not the future of Chelsea

Where are all those pathetic anti good catholic JM damn good manager, brilliant Ave Marias JM now?
I always told you Chelsea is a christian club, cant be ruled by, I need to be careful here, as i said as a good catholic myself chelsea cant be ruled by infidels, damn it every player should learn Ave Maria, did u here that AG?

LOL

Patience is wearing thin.....

LINK

Hopefully some light at the end of the tunnel for us all!

Too much to disagree with here, but too little motivation from me to write, but:

> So who should have won based on possession stats, which Spurs bossed?

Possession: Spuds 46.9 Chels 53.1
Territory: Spuds 45.6 Chels 54.4

> So who should have won based on attempts on goal? Spurs 17 to our 8?

On Target: Spuds 8 Chels 5
Off target: Spuds 6 Chels 7
Blocked: Spuds 4 Chels 8
Total: Spuds 18 Chels 20

> So who should have won based on attempts on target? Until the second part
> of extra time we’d had about ….yeah…1.

Until 90 minutes we were drawing. What's your point?

And on the reffing: Bridge did handle the ball - after Huddlestone knocked it towards towards him with his own hand. The linesman didn't flag when it happened. The ball had cleared the area from Lampard before he indicated anything at all. Huddlestone also made several late challenges on several player, all of them worse than any challenge made by any player in the whole game. How he wasn't off within 15 minutes of arriving is a mystery. And the extra 40 seconds of extra time wasn't enough when you consider the 2 minutes of Tainio time wasting - it was clear when Halsey restarted his watch and it was long after Drogba's daft intervention. Strange how that disappeared jus as Kalou entered the area. Lucky it didn't go in else there'd have been bigger trouble.

Spuds had loads of chances at the start, none of which they scored from. From the 20th minute we started to get into our game. From the 30th minute we were in complete control until about the hour mark - in fact it got quite embarassing for a while and we seemed to get overconfident about it. Whatever chances Spuds had was irrelevant if they didn't make any of them. I only got anxious when it seemed to me we left the game too open. The critical change was Lennon finally switching to face Belletti who was terrible from the first minute - and has been for weeks. Paulo should definitely have started for me. We must have given him a new 5 year contract for some reason. I was comfortable with Frank and JT starting and I saw nothing in the game to show that was wrong. I didn't think we should've left Ballack out, and starting both Mikel and Essien wasn't what I'd have done - choices. Anelka wide left wasn't ideal, but we could've switched SWP to play behind Drogba and Anelka at any time. I thought SWP's selection was fine because he's always done well against them in the past.

To claim Grant had no plan B is a bit ignorant in my opinion. We did switch to FL\MB centre mid, Kalou and Cole wide, Drogba Anelka central, everyone and their dog forward with only Bridge at the back against Berbatov. You could argue about late subs if you like, but Spuds played on Thursday to our Tuesday and you could argue SWP was worth persisting with against an injured Chimbonda, an out of position Malbranque (who was dreadful himself after the first 5 minutes) or out of position Tainio. Fine if it didn't work, but we weren't losing while it was in place. Bringing on a fresh Cole in injury time with 25 minutes to play was plenty of time.

We didn't make it count and we lost - fine. That means we didn't deserve to win - I can live with that, just. But to go on to claim it's some kind of proof of how dreadful we were, I happen to find daft. To claim there was no plan A or B is plain wrong. To decide it's proof of Grant's ineptitude, I see no clear evidence for it.

I have some problems with certain aspects, certainly, but (maybe perversely) I'm actually quite encouraged for the rest of the season. We lost a showpiece game (sort of) and it provides a right kick up the arse for the rest of the season. There's no divine right to win cups. The manner Lampard and Ballack played together (with no-one behind them) was excellent. The drive in extra time was excellent (if not for a free-kick the scorer knew nothing about we were on top throughout) in comparison to what went before. I think we now know we have a fit squad which allows us not to worry about conserving energy so we can go at the opposition with a much higher tempo in the remaining games, which is exactly what we need to do in this run-in.

It's a point often missed now we have such long unbeaten runs, but many teams lose many games and have disastrous patches much worse than we've seen for years, yet can still come back and win games after that. Look at Spuds themselves for that. I get the feeling that some people think that because we lost one game then we'll never win again. That's just rubbish.

Lucky I didn't have the inclination to write much, wasn't it...

A lot to disagree with here too, why is it every time chelsea has a bad stretch everyone starts calling for new signings, how about we try to play with the player's we have for a while. In my opinion Grant isn't hopeless but he did have horrible tactics for this match. In my opinion the line-up should be terry, Belleti, Alex and Bridge at the back. Carvalho didn't play well against Spurs, he was getting killed by Keane the whole game. In midfield it should be Ballack, Essien, Frank, and Joe Cole and up front Drogba and yes I'm saying this with a straight face: Shevchenko. We all know he lost what pace he had but as he proved against Villa in the last game he played he still has his other skills intact. If someone provides him he can still score and he could provide good link-up play from the midfield to Drogba, I know i'll probably get attacked for this but it's my opinion.

and to think AG was 30 minutes short of breaking the club record for most consecutive wins...yeah, i think it's all his fault.

@ sid - i agree.

"and to think AG was 30 minutes short of breaking the club record for most consecutive wins…yeah, i think it’s all his fault.
@ sid - i agree.

@Biggs
If AG goes on winning runs and breaks records, that's always good for the club, fans and players. It's trophies that count in my book and most other peoples book as well, in the four big matches he's been in charge of we haven't won any of them, that's another record you can add.
And your reference with regard the Portsmouth game, if Defoe had taken his clear cut chances we would have been beaten by at least two clear goals and the record of not being beaten by Portsmouth since the 60's in the league (I think) would have gone. Records are there to be broken in all sports, but ask an athlete if he would prefer a world record or an Olympic gold, I think we all know what the answer would be.

grant does not simply know who his big match players/winners are,SWP may be good but he does develop cold feet during big games likewise lampard, i think the biggest undoing was the ommision of joe cole and michael ballack these players really play their hearts out during big matches.
cole has proven himself over and over again he is a big match player likewise ballack and for his leadership qualities too . j cole played 20+ minutes and he had more shots on target than anelka did 120+minutes goes to show you alot that there was some thing wrong with the partnership between drogba and anelka,its just not feasibe! didier needs an attacking midfielder who can double up as a strike partner and not another striker.neither didier nor anelka is well suited to playing as attacking midfielder.they both lack the inventiveness and creativity ,their first touch and passing accuracy is at times below par. what avram is doing is the same mistake jose made trying to force a striker(sheva) into playing a wingers position. same script different casts!!! we should just get a good winger or two attacking midfielders who can blend well and can pass the ball between themselves with fairly good understanding of each other , look at arsenal we have hleb and fab and they link up well with the striker who happens to be adebayor , barca we have messi iniesta/xavi and they link quite well with eto`o . in my opinion we cant string more than 10 passes while making a meaningful attack it seems more of fluke than real expectation and thats what makes us look or seem quite boring. rather than the individual brilliance of a few just to mention drogba and jc might just count for our success.first we should get rid of the following players malouda sidwell shevchenko, pizzaro,swp ,benhaim ,lampard,and go for a players like diego, arfa, benzema,modric, who in my opinion might forge a better patnership and make us more interesting to watch and more successful. i think bridge is far much better than ashley cole !!!!

Just read this on the official site from the Pat Nevin column, I'm surprised it wasn't edited or censored in some way, because it's not the sort of spin you would see or hear from the suits in the boardroom!

Here's the paragraph


Maybe the most disappointed man will actually be the manager. After a fantastic run of results since he took over with only two defeats, a trophy in the cabinet would have made life much more comfortable. As Chelsea manager these days you will not be judged by long unbeaten runs or even by the style of play as many have suggested, but on results in the crucial, blue riband fixtures, the ones that are hardest to win.

Greenlight,

Thanks for the link. It's cheered me up (despite the fact it's nothing more than paper talk) to think those with the power at the club are angry with him and his selections.

This paragraph made me laugh :

"Andriy Shevchenko is also said to be unhappy with Grant after the Ukraine striker was asked to play in a behind-closed doors match against Chelsea's youth team — and ended up, incredibly, on the losing side."

I dont know if that means we've got some really promising young centre backs who kept a superstar like Sheva under wraps, or if he was about as effective as normal. In which case I could have marked him out of the game.

The 'revelation' in the Sun this morning about AG's supposedly awful pre-match preparation scare me. If it's true, he's even further away from being a football manager than I ever thought.

@ SID,

I'm sorry I'm the one to bring you the news about the facts of live, but here goes.... no one gives a f... about statistics, they don't decide a game. In the real world it's all about scoring goals and not conceding them.

Stuff about Terry and Ten Cate having a row as well. Some people have to get their head out the sand if they can't see what's going on. Sid, you miss the point that Grant's great run came when he had no options and the team picked itself; as soon as he he's had to make decisions, he's looked badly, embarrassingly, out of his depth. It's all very well saying: it might have worked. It didn't, Spurs looked the most likely to score from the opening minute (even though they were shit) and he didn't do anything about it until much too late.

I can't think of a worse performance by a major side in a cup final for years.

In fact reading that stuff about Terry makes me wonder whether he is turning into our own Alan Shearer. What a horrible thought.

Must admit I'm starting to have that concern too. Can't seem to keep his mouth shut, ability on the slide, apparently throwing his weight around. Not good.

I think the pressure is on. How can Roman be happy and not demand improvements? But it is good pressure to have on Grant at least til the end of the season to win a trophy. Surely the owner will demand some rewards for his investment come May. At least the FA Cup for Toady will face the axe. Is that likely?

@Deep Blue, @Clive
were all of AG's results so far "meaningless"?
we are alive and kicking in the 3 races that count...

it was a tough loss, but we got farther in the cup than man-u and arse without half of our starting 11..
we made a run and lost to a team that wanted it more. i dont fault AG for that.

now if we lose to olympiakos... well that would be a different story.

No-one cares about stats? Sure, but I didn't bring it up. Someone else claimed they showed how 'bad' we were. They didn't and we weren't. Selecting Joe Cole ahead of SWP? Cole has been completely useless for weeks on end. SWP has been poor too, but he has a great record against Spuds. It's a decision I'd have made too. Kalou came on before Cole, but he also had a big effect - probably holding the ball too long. He manufactured a good shot, while Cole had the beating of makeshift full backs but made wrong choices in delivery. 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. The decisions there were probably right. I'd have picked Ferreira over Belletti and Ballack over Mikel to start, but if one or two players don't have great games, that's only what you expect. Wisdom after the event is easy but gets you nowhere.

Bottom line is cups, sure. That doesn't take a genius to work out. But like Arsenal's unbeaten run was a millstone a few years ago, our unbeaten run has made us a bit complacent and has seen us ending games just so we retain that run. Well, no need for that any more. When I started this season my target wasn't a quadruple. That's another rather stupid millstone (cue Joe Cole talking about it). Fact is, it's a set-up. We got further on the road to a quad for two seasons running and all it does is give the press a target to shoot at when we're the only one who can still achieve it, so a single loss is a bigger criticism against us than it is for Man Utd (humiliated at home by Coventry), Liverpool (humiliated at home against Barnsley after getting knocked out by us) or Arsenal (humiliated 5-1 against Spuds).

The target was never a quad and it was never the Carling Cup. The Carling is a great stepping stone - for us a couple of years ago and as Spuds hope this time - but outside North London no-one is interested. The world knows about the FA Cup, CL and PL. No-one knows about the Carling. If, and only if, this loss sees us re-double our efforts for the balance of the season then we can have a great season. If it doesn't, both in performances and any one meaningful cup, then we can have something to genuinely complain about.

But remind me - when JM left and Grant arrived were you expecting better than to win nothing and scrape to a Uefa place? If so, where's the news here?

@Sid
couldn't agree more.

there's really no use to crying "abandon ship!" after losing a contested final, in extra-time, that no one (even here) expected us to reach, and wasn't one of our main goals anyway...

A lot of arguments presented Sid, some valid and some not so. There are any number of factors by which we can mitigate defeats, but the simple question a great number of people are now asking is as follows:

Is Grant good enough to manage this club?

If there is anyone out there that can convince us after such a pitiful display against a Spurs side that is really no better than average, then they should be working for Roman. For a side containing as much quality as we have, to muster a handful of shots on target in three key games against Liverpool, Olympiakos and Spurs is pitiful, whichever way you spin it.

You mention wisdom after the event which is natural on a site like this where football is discussed, but the worry is that Grant displayed very little wisdom during the event. It wasn't good enough. He wasn't good enough and the buck stops with the manager, end of.

Thank you JD, you summed it like no-one could.

AG does not have the experience to manage a team full of names, neither has the talent.
if Chelsea fans are ready to give him sometime, say 6-7 years, he will learn how to do it, who's up for that?

I don't want to sound glommy but unless he gets some hints,tips, inspiration... etc. I can't see us go past Olompyackus.

sorry for the typos

@Deep Blue, @Clive
were all of AG’s results so far “meaningless”?
we are alive and kicking in the 3 races that count…

there’s really no use to crying “abandon ship!” after losing a contested final, in extra-time, that no one (even here) expected us to reach, and wasn’t one of our main goals anyway…

@Sayid
Nobody said any win was meaningless as a matter of fact quite the opposite. Yes we're in three more competitions and hopefully we'll get something, but until then.... And why were we not expcected to reach the Carling Cup final, considering the other so called big three never play anywhere near their strongest sides, it should be the easiest trophy for us to win.

You know, after the result, I tried to not care. I mean, I was thinking, it was the Carling Cup after all. But losing to a London rival and losing the way we did. It was an absolute disgrace.

I havent been hurling insults at Grant because at least he was getting the results. But he got it all wrong today. Horribly wrong. Why did Jose leave? Because he did not play entertaining football? You're having a laugh! What are we playing under Grant? What has be brought to our football that Jose could not do. Actually, I feel that we played better football under Jose. And we were actually scoring goals, keeping clean sheets and winning games. Without a doubt, Jose would have won this final.

Selections, selections, selections. Why did Ballack not start? How can he not start? He has been in outstanding form this season. And how the hell did Joe Cole not start? He's the reason we're in the final! How can you pick Wright-Phillips over J. Cole? SWP makes something simple look very difficult. In this game, his touch was always poor and he kept passing the ball to a Spurs player.

You know, I really felt like we were undefeatable with Jose. I used to have this thing that we would do it, no matter how. We would nick a late goal, just somehow, we would do it. Even when we went behind several times, we could comeback and even win the game. Like at Everton last year. But with Grant, I feel we are so vulnerable after taking the lead. Today's game is a prime example and the game against Villa and Everton and home. And I also feel we lack the character that Jose instilled in us. I mean, remember when we fought Arsenal last year? We conceded so late on but still managed to equalise and could have even won the game. The same against United and the Gunners away. We could come back from anything when Jose was here. But, all of that is slowly going away.

In my opinion, Grant was never the reason we got the brilliant results we did in the trying times after Jose's departure. It was because the players rallied together, they produced those results. Because Jose had instilled that winning mentality in them. Im so sorry if I'm sounding like its all doom and gloom because it isn't. We still have a lot to fight for this season. But this is just how I feel.

And also, Grant lacks the tactical know how Jose had. I mean, if it was Jose, he would have played A. Cole, because A. Cole is fast, very defensive and you sort of needed that against a player like Lennon. Eventhough Lennon did not trouble Bridge at all in the game, I mean, it's just an example. Also, I mean, we should be going for more than a 0-0 draw against opposition like Olympiacos, despite the match being at home or away from home. Grant just doesn't know how to do it.

We have the BEST SQUAD in Europe yet we struggle to score goals. We barely had shots on target in our last three games. Our strength is usually having a very strong defense but that is faltering too nowadays. Grant does not know how to manage a squad filled with big egos. He does not know how to pick a team. His selections are becoming very Benitez-ish. I mean, think about it. We played two different teams against Huddersfield and Olympiacos. And he made so many changes to the team against Spurs from the one in Greece. Jose would play his best team against every team he met albeit with a few changes here and there.

My point? Grant isn't good enough! It is kind of obvious. This will be a transitional season for us. I dont expect us to get anything this season, but that's fine. We need a new manager. Maybe at the end of the season perhaps. I have a lot of faith in this Chelsea team, I always have. And I fully expect them to bounce back from this defeat against West Ham. This squad of players have come back from more than losing a pathetic Carling Cup final.

BLUE IS THE COLOUR!

I agree with Sid that it's a bit hysterical to start howling for the manager's head after one bad loss. (And I'm no AG fan.)

Where I can't agree with Sid, even slightly, is in your assessment of our control over the game. Even at half time, when we were *winning*, and looked perfectly likely to keep winning, I was horrified by our performance, and so was every single other fan within earshot of my seat. "We haven't shown up yet" is what I heard from everyone. Apart from Belletti, who had one of those days where he looks even more hopelessly morose thean Berbatov, the last line of defence was playing well, so Spurs didn't have a lot of chances: but they moved the ball through midfield more or less at will, whereas we went round the back and sides until someone knocked it back to Cech who then hoofed it up towards Drogba. Also, they won the huge majority of contested possession in their own half.

I keep thinking of the contrast with last May's Wembley trip. That was an awful game, ghastly, hideous, I remember sitting there praying for it (and the whole season) to end: but at least we could all see that the team was doing something coherent -- i.e. neutralising Rooney, Ronaldo et. al. It wasn't much fun and there wasn't much happening at the attacking end, but it looked organised, it looked like it had a point. There was a plan.

If anyone can tell me how our football on Sunday added up to a plan, be my guest.

I seriously suspect that AG says -- "Okay, we will not play like in old days when boss says too many bad headlines, we will play in new way like Arsenal so everyone will love us! So! All of you play like Arsenal! You know, pass to each other and run around and stuff!" And then if that doesn't happen, everyone just lumps it up to Drogba and hopes for the best. (Which is ironically the new Arsenal way now that Adebayor is the new Drogs.)

I had to ask the cable guy to show the channel the match was on. I am going to pay him for an extra channel to watch the champions league games.

Why ?

Why have I forgotten that the club I have been supporting for the past decade of my 19 year old existence is being managed by the antithesis of imagination, intelligence and passion ?

How can a manager be devoid of passion, the way old AG is ?

Suddenly Chelsea F.C. has a lot of catching up to do .. Blue is the colour of hope for now ..

Two days on, and only now can I talk about it without ramming my fist into the computer monitor.

Chelsea were atrocious. Ballack, Mikel, Carvalho, Kalou and Drogba were OK; feck everyone else in the arse; cos they were shite. Kalou really deserves more starts, WTF was Grant thinking with Shaun Wright Philips?

As for Anelka... well, I still think he's a good signing, he's just being played in the shittiest formations ever.

Grant out. Not only does he lack the looks, charisma and je ne seqouis of our Special One, but he also lacks the tactical acumen. I could do a better job of managing Chelsea.

Wayne Bridge? Are you havin' a laff? Handball?!?!?!?! (Seeing the cool-as-shite way in which Berbatov took it didn't sweeten the pill either. God, I hate him.)

Petr Cech's gaffes are coming with alarming frequency nowadays. I love the man to bits, he's gorgeous, a lovely person and I do believe he's world-class, but some of the errors he's made cannot be forgiven. His blunder cost us the match against Arsenal @ the Emirates, he conceded some crap goals against Aston Villa, and his poor-goal-keeping syndrome was at it today.

I think part of the reason things sting so is the harshly biased coverage that that shit Barry Glendenning was doing in his minute-by-minute report of the match for Guardian Unlimited. For example, whenever a Tottenham player went up to bug the referee, he turned a blind eye, but on the ocassions when Chelsea did it, he acted as if we were trying to bribe the ref. What an absolute gimp, no wonder The Guardian don't want him writing for their actual paper.

As for Tottenham winning, they deserved it, and let's face it, what else are they gonna get? Seeing Robbie Keane's over-the-moon celebrations were quite heartwarming; seeing Berbatov smirk was not.

That's all folks.

I agree with Sid that it’s a bit hysterical to start howling for the manager’s head after one bad loss.
@limetreebower
Now that's not true we've been calling for his head from the day he was appointed. ;-) but in all seriousness it's not just this game we've been critical of his tactical acumen... it's been the three other big important games we've failed to win.
And yes your views on the game are spot on, the vast majority of fans will certainly agree with you.

any suggestions as to how we could make our displeasure known to the powers that be? lets form some form of protest group made up of everyone from this site. i would be prepared to do mass email, to call, to do anything to get the message clear that we are unhappy and worried too. any ideas? quick

I thought last year's Cup final was good. Clever, intense, cagey and at least the two sets of players were capable of passing the ball to one another. Sunday was just a mess and pretty much confirmed what we've all suspected since the players returned.

I can't believe anybody thinks that Grant has what it takes to move Chelsea to the next level - because, after all, what is the point in changing managers unless it is take a step up? And if he's not good enough, why piss around for a year before giving him the inevitable boot?

Would any of the top seven clubs or Spurs swap their manager for him? Surely that says it all. We have a manager who even Aston Villa and Portsmouth would turn down.

Most people don't believe he is good enough Peter, I wonder what the AG fanboys will say if we don't win anything this season. Perhaps they might suggest that he needs more time, or another season to bring in his own players, so he can mould the team to his image and personality.
That should be fascinating, watching eleven players in badly fitting shirts and shorts, wondering around the pitch looking confused and disinterested..... sounds like fun!

Lets start the GET AVRAM GRANT OUT campaign! But how?

'Perhaps they might suggest that he needs more time, or another season to bring in his own players, so he can mould the team to his image and personality.'

This is the real problem, that Roman sticks to his guns out of loyalty/stubborness and gives Grant a fortune to spend in the summer. I wonder what sort of player he would attract?

I wonder what sort of player he would attract?

Rooney and Tevez are pretty ugly, so he could start there ;-)

@Clive and all the beavers in that clone...

I am really wondering what you lot would have said if Avram had won this final...

He played your beloved...Frank Lampard and John Terry...Hopeless lot totally useless...

Cech saves because of the blunders originating from terry's failure to command the line and guess who is blamed...Cech????? Cech scores a 4 and Terry gets one higher?????

It is not that you are watching different matches in which Cech has hoofed the ball and pulled of a decent save as well...you were just being biased!

I hold Avram responsible for this loss...I am NOT calling for his head though...I blame him for playing Lampard, Drogba and JT in the final after not contributing to our success tot he final...

I am happy he gave SWP a chance, did not give Malouda one, played Anelka and Mikele, pissed that he played Essien infront of Ballack...just plain pissed that he thought of playing Lampard and JT...Total waste of money...

You can not be on the pitch and just fail to know what to do with the ball...(JT) be on the field as a creative player and fail to create even one opening(Lampard is the debate on Gerrard and Lampard still valid???/), be on the field and need a goal while time is running out and decide to engage the opponent in a debate...(Drogba....okay sweet goal but what else????), be on the goal and pass worse than Makelele while combining the fall about act...(Essien)...

Blaming Grant? Blame him for playing these sods...

Avram Grant.

It is possible to make a safe assumption about a person after meeting them face to face for ten minutes, you could tell if they were genuine. It is possible to make an asumption about a person after watching them on television and listening to the press for a little while.

These assumptions that 'people' make are more often then not, right. It's plain to see what kind of person Avram Grant is and how he works. The same is true for Jose Mourinhno.

Avram Grant is a slippery charactor who i imagine is happy to carry out commands without question. I wouldn't trust him for anything.

I'm telling everyone that supports this snake thet we're better off without him and with a different manager in the hot seat. If AG doesn't leave our beloved club soon a think our reputation as a team and place of work for players will be tarnished for a long while.

I would love to win the Prem, the Champs League and the FA cup. Even if Avram does the trebble i'd still want him gone. Some times you can see something in a person and know it's not right; for me in this case something is definately wrong.

K/T/B/F/F/H

Blaming Grant? Blame him for playing these sods…

So if the manager doesn't have the courage of his convictions to pick the right team for the job, I'd say that means he isn't qualified to stay in the role. We are at least in agreement there.

Always seems to be the English players that attract most of your disdain Jose. Funny that.

@ Musumbi or whatever your name is,

Are you actually a Chelsea fan or some arm chair twat who hasn't got a clue?

John Terry is Chelsea through and through anyone who writes a bad word against him on this blog is an absolute idiot how can anyone question his commitment to Chelsea, how can he be a waste of money he came through the youth team dipshit. People like you are pathetic mate i was at Wembley and how anyone can single our captain out for the poor show is ridiculous.

Super Frank has scoredover 100 qoals from midfield and you have a go at him aswell?

Why bother you sound like a cricket fan anyway!

@Jose
I normally don't read your dross and nonsense, but as you have my name at the top of your post it got my attention.
So I'll keep it short, do what I do to your posts ignore them! That way we can avoid an international incident.

what should the GET GRANT OUT campagin entail?

we have three types of people here

1) the guys who attend the games
2) those who are perhaps able to also make public appearances although perhaps not inside the stadium
3) and some of us who are around the world, available through the net and perhaps even through making those expensive calls.

lets find a way that we can choreograph our campaign to make the most of out these three categories. online i am ready to mass email. we could flood those chelsea people with out opinions. or mass mail them. and i am ready to even call the chelsea offices. lets create a state of siege.

i am of the opinion that, if consistently kept, the campaign inside the stadium could make the message clear, and if the guys who enter the stadium keep visibility high then we could have some impact.

this is our chelsea boys, lets fix it for ourselves and Abrmvch

@ Emma

To be fair to Glendenning, he hates everyone about equally, and as a wind-up artists go he's a pretty good one. Almost as good as Jose Musumba! "Lampard and Terry should be left out " -- good one, Jose!

Oh yeah, and about Cech. He my fav player for the Blues. But these howlers from him are getting a little frequent. His blunder against Reading went unnoticed because Chelsea won the game in the end but he has cost us points this season.

His blunder cost us at the Emirates because there was no way Arsenal would have scored against us. He conceded crappy goals against Villa and now this which isn't the reason we lost two points but still, we could have lost three and our home record. And the one in the final was the most costly one. It cost us the cup. He should and would be very dissapointed in himself.

If he wants to be best in the world, he has to cut out these mistakes from his game. The best in the world, Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas, Gregory Coupet, they dont make these type of mistakes.

@ tshireletso

I'm all for a campaign like that. ALL FOR IT BABEH! Bring it.

@clive, peter..guys, There should no be AG fanboys or JM fanboys, there should be Chelsea fanboys.
Absolutely no argument that AG got it wrong when it mattered, bad tactics, bad team selection, bad influence on the game if any. We lost may be deservedly, but there was a huge slice of good luck for Spurs as well. So it is a bit excessive to send the lynch mob after the first real disappointment. Last time I felt the same was when we lost first semi-final against Lpoo. So this is a part of being a football fan I guess. One could only hope that the lesson will be learn from that. We do not have a divine right to win a final. We have to win it by playing well!!! So in a sence loosing this final could be a good thing. So let’s hope we win something this year, although to be honest I do not have a great confidence in that. The point is AG will be there to the summer at least, so if we get something- then good, if not- his arse (AG’s) is on the line, but to give up hope now on everything it is a bit much

@Jiko
This is not about JM he's gone, it's about AG and if he's competent enough to manage Chelsea, that's why the argument is passionate because we want what's best for Chelsea. You mention a lynch mob after our first real disappointment, well it's not the first, he has failed to win in three other important and big games.
And yes everyone on here wants us to win something this season, we're not petty minded to the extent where we want failure because of our views on AG.

@Clive
Point taken...agreed

@ JD
I seem to be on the English players...Hmmmm that is funny...I thought I was only on Lampard's case. Note that I have noted Drogs and Essien in there as well...Not English just poor on the day...

I have no problem with Terry when fit but as you will learn he is still playing at 65%, can not jump or track back...I have never seen Cech exposed that much with Terry on the pitch... Unlike most here, Terry captain or not English or foreigner, when one has a bad game let us not behind nationalities and remain focused on the football...lest we appear dull-witted...

@Matt
From your intro and word usage sentence construction and mind trend, I think do a Clive and just ignore me...;-)

Terry wasn't fit, granted - but your constant berating always appears to be rather biased; your inability to accept players for what they are and what they can bring rather than what they are not is somewhat perpelxing.

And why play Drogba? Because he's scored in every cup final we've played in. Good enough reason to include him if he's fit.

Guy's JT is absoluteley Class regardless of how match fit he is when he is 100% he is the best centre back in the world!his presence alone lifts the team I really don't get how anyone can have a go at him????

I tell you another thing that's slightly perplexing JD, is the surprising angst that either you or Tony get when you do the player rating scores from some posters.
Perhaps they should come with a health warning and state that they are your "subjective" scores, and should not be used as a stick to beat you both with.

Since the debate is flowing...Drogba...granted he has scored in every final we have played in...is that justification enough to start him??? Look at his game in Greece...Not encouraging...Let me present this in different light...

World Cup 1990...Romario had been quite the influential player for Brazil and yet when cut came to cut for the good of the team it had to be done...I do not see Sir Alex Ferguson playing a player because of status against the betterment of the team (Van Nisteleroy).

We beat Everton playing without Drogba and we did this very convincingly home and away... This argument for big name players should not stand rather play a player on form...

Someone mentioned up here that it has been two weeks since we put in a decent game...that game was Chelsea V Wigan (Score was 1:0) Could have scored more but at least we controlled the game...

I agree its only the carling cup, we don't need to buy, we need to sell - maybe upgrade a couple but nothing else.

our issue is we haven't improved. where is the sexy football. why are we losing or drawing without much fight. if it came in patches I would say give him time but we had 1 shot on target for the first 55 mins!

ag needs to deliver his promises v soon or pay the price. deliver silverwear or show signs of making us like barca/ars but without the frailty at the back.

ag is the one who isn't world class and lacks the ability to drive them through the rough times. he should have put a rocket up them at half time. made subs at 60 mins and like wenger stuck with the team that got him there. at 1/2 time in et he should have literally been doing a braveheart!

still the bluest munkey in the jungle

Wasn't it 2-1?

Let me present this in a different light; whilst he didn't play well in Greece (who did?) Drogba is by far and away the best goalscorer we have. It was a cup final. Against a team with an unfamiliar centre half pairing. Presumably if you've already taken the rather obscure choice to play Anelka out wide, you put Drogba up front? Be delighted to hear any other suggestions, obviously.

I don't give a shit about sexy football - well, I do, but I don't object to the fact that hasn't happened yet - I just want the team to look like they know what they are doing. From the moment Mourinho arrived, you suddenly felt the players knew exactly what was being asked of them, what positions to occupy, whether to attack or defend, and that remained the case in pretty much every single game up until the end.

For the past month, the players have looked completely confused about what's going on. It really is as if somebody has stuck 11 strangers on the pitch together. None of the combinations worked on Sunday. I still can't get over how pitiful it was. I mean, this was Tottenham ffs, not Barcelona, Manchester United or even bloody Liverpool.

Lampard and Terry I'm fine with, but drop Drogba for a cup final and you're a fucking fruitcake. End of discussion.

"...just plain pissed that he thought of playing Lampard and JT…Total waste of money…"

Jose, old chap, kindly explain how the home grown captain of our side and Lamps who, despite your protestations, continues to be one of the best midfielders in the league, constitutes a 'total waste of money'.

Malouda would signal a waste of money as he clearly has about as much to offer Chelsea as, say, Shevchenko (waste of money #2), but JT and Frank - do me a favour.

Line up

First Half
Cech
Belleti--Alex--Carlvalho--Bridge
Joe Cole--SWP--Mikele--Ballack--Kalou
Anelka

Second Half
Cech
Belleti--Alex--Carlvalho--Bridge
Essien--Makelele---Lampard
Joe Cole
Anelka--Drogba

Maybe I am advantaged in that I know what the tots put out but with a line up like this we would have kept the winning structure. This was the first loss since the Arsenal debacle...

musumbia,

That's more than 3 subs your fucking idiot!

@ Peter

Do you realize that TSO came with his backline? Okay Carlvalho and ferreira... Found an on form Terry and Wayne Bridge...

What were are scorelines that season...remember we played Wigan and struggled to score 1:0 in the dying minutes...Just wondering had that game ended 0:0 with many crying for Ranieri... I would have expected the same reaction....

@JD
You are sounding more like Avram Grant...a big name player and not a form player

Jesus wept...

Not sure what your point is, but that was in Mourinho's second season, when he'd already broken any number of records to win the league and having opened his Chelsea career with a home victory over United.

I very much doubt anybody would have been 'crying for Ranieri'.

Clive, different people have a different opinion what is good for Chelsea and what is not, one thing is for certain- negativity can not be good. If you tell someone he is crap long enough it will become so. Sheva case is there for all to see. I say again it was a Grant own undoing, why he did not play JC instead of Anelka for example, or Ballak instead of Essien , why Paolo was not on the bench but Pizzaro was (imagine we lost for some reason 1 of our wingbacks?) only he knows. Let’s hope he learns (I doubt it, but lets see), if not then he is a goner. I know is hard to be positive after that, but negativity is not good and is not a help.

I very much doubt anybody would have been ‘crying for Ranieri’.

Some of Grant's post match interviews have left me nostalgic for a spot of Claudio-esque lunacy. If we're going to be crap, at least we could be amusing about it.

Avram Grant out - Ian Holloway in!

Avram Grant out - Ian Holloway in!

Noooo surely you mean Kevin Keegan!

Noooo surely you mean Kevin Keegan!

There is a fine line between comedy and tragedy...

Oh God please not Ian Holloway! Claudio may have been a nutter at times - anyone remember the quote he made after one match on putting all the players in a fridge? - but that was because he never really got to grips with the English language, Holloway on the other hand is English and should realise what he's saying, sometimes though I'm not too sure!
On Avram, we may as well see how the rest of the season goes, if like me a victory for anyone over Chelsea see's the rest of your mates hankering over the possibility of a slight dig at you, getting behind the club no matter how much it seems to be falling apart would be the least we can do.
One things for certain, AG is going to be here until the end of the season and if he wins nothing and we still seem to be going backwards then give him the sack - that's business - but on the other hand if we claw back Arsenal or finally get our hands on the Champions League the solidarity would have been well worth it.

in the first two seasons we scored a bucket load with mourinho and played great footy - remember barca at ours when duff et al were on the scoresheet - now that was entertaining! We only stopped in our third season as JM went to a more 4-4-2 formation so teams couldnt predict how we would play as he argued 3 years with the same formation would be stoppable.

Basically we havent moved forward under AG and in fact i believe we have gone backwards - everyone is moaning as their is obviously no leadership.

I believe the army call it dissention in the ranks and the leader is the one who gets the blame!

Agree a fit DD has to be in.

I guess the Q is - if you were a big name footballer and had played for some of the best managers in the world and lifted numerous trophies would you respect grant, his decisions in games and also his team sheets!!

No I wouldnt and i would be thinking about chilling in my mansion with my 5 cars and numerous playboy ladies rather than getting on with my job.

@Munkeyfeet
The problem in JM's third season was that not only had Duff gone, but Cole and Robben spent large amounts of the season unfit. Who knows what we would have achieved with both of them fit the entire season. With only a sporadic threat from wide, we didn't (and still don't) have a really creative central midfielder who can open up defences - Ballack comes closest, which is why he should be in the side. Alternatively it might be interesting to see JMO/OJM playing further forward. While Joe Cole and SWP offer respectively an occasional and once in a blue moon threat from wide, Malouda and Kalou, despite their other failings, provide more of an end product. And the question I would like an answer to is 'What has happened to Michael Essien ?'. For Ghana in the ANC he seemed like the player at Chelsea last season, for us this season merely an average (above average if I'm generous) Premiership player.

Wow...a day out of the office doing "Chariddy Work Me Old Mate" and the discussion is moving along nicely. There#'s too many comments for me to ...ahem...comment on. However, for Jose's sake int eh debate over Terry passing to cech and that being the cause of Cech hoofing the ball out and making errors. Wrong. How does one entail the other. How does a back pass from Terry be the causal action for cech to hoof the ball up the field to....Ledley King..or Woodgate...or Riise...or Vidic.....shall I carry on?

Secondly...it hasn't just been 3 piss poor games. We were dreadful in the second half against Reading, a team with the capacity to leak goals akin to the ability of my DIY fitted shower to leak water into the spare room! Let me tell you the area in Block 13 of the MHL where I sit was bloody frustrated with that performance after a first half that promised much.

After the "don't know what you're doing chants" earlier at Stamford bridge, it did appear that the ship had settled, but as JD so rightfully said in The Observer..."neccessity was the mother of invention"...that team was forged through the fact that there was little else to chose from and it DID well. But the results in some cases were more by luck than judgement. We scraped a win over Birmingham, we scraped a win against Newcastle (possibly the worst Newcastle side ever), we beat the mighty Fulham...but only after conceding a goal, we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Villa, we drew at home with Everton. The last good games we played in my view were Everton at home in the CC, and the Man City drubbing. Other than that I don't think we can get anywhere near claiming we have

a.) dominated games
b.) scored hatfuls of goals
c.) looked solid at the back
d.) played entertaining football
e.) come close to emulating Arsenal or Manchester United for ruthlessness

Now, I am not calling for AG's head now, merely thinking that he may be better suited to a Director role than a coaching role. Let him stay until the end of the season and lets see what he's got. At the moment it appears he's had some luck and some backing from certain players. But on Sunday...that seemed to disappear.

For me, he is way too inexperienced at any level of the game, domestically and Internationally. managing an Israeli club side is hardly big league with due respect, and managing the Israeli national team is hardly the pinnacle of world football either. Now, I know JM was hardly "experienced" but he did win the Champions league with a motley squad on relatively unknown players...which showed verve. He stuck one up Fergies pipe at Old Trafford having questioned just who Rednose thought he was by dismissing Porto pre-match. So when he came to us...it seemed he had a certain "specialness" about him. Cool, arrogant, brave and unfettered by English good manners and stiff upper lip bollocks. Refreshingly un-pc as well. He oozed class and that 'je ne ses quoi' that WINNERS have. What I see in AG is a well meaning, well intentioned bumbling clown. My God, his tactical fuckwittery so far has made Claudio look like Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. I still don't see him as an undiscovered Arsene Wenger, despite what the hierarchy at SB think. But, they hold the keys to the safe that contains success, and in time they will see that they replaced well planned, robust, resilient football with back up plans, with unplanned guesswork. They will discover that not just anybody can manage a highly capable group of players.

There will be change, that much is inevitable...but it may just take some time and the board will NEVER admit the error..it will be spun as part of the great plan.

PS - what would the press have made of Wengers comments about Martin Taylor has say....a certain Portuguese gentleman said that? Any wild guesses.......?

LINK

i know its the sun but they tend to be quite good with footy news imho

LINK

what is going on?!?

@Munkeyfeet

This is perfectly normal - the guys have got passion. What do you want them to do, sit in the centre circle and read love poems to each other?

The Sun should not be used with the following words in the same sentence, good, news, truth, reliable source! ;-)

I'm all for a spot of passion (cue Barry White), but I'm not entirely sure the club captain and a senior member of the coaching staff squaring up to each other is an ideal way of expressing it.

Opinions clearly differ, but it seems abundantly clear that it is far from a happy ship down in SW6. Again - the buck stops with the manager who has to crack some heads and get it sorted.

I don't really have a problem with the personel he put out to start the game ( with the exception of swapping SWP for Joe Cole).

What I have a problem with is his total inability to alter a game once it has started.

As a kid playing up front, if you were being beaten by your defender, it was normal to swap positions with your team-mate. DD was totally outplayed by Woodgate, so someone should have had the balls to tell him so, and shuffle ANelka into the middle, or at very least closer to the action.

Most of us would have started the game with Lampard, Mikel and Essien, but since it clearly wasn't working, Ballack or Cole should have been introduced far earlier.

JD..... I have had a sneaking suspicion for a while now that Terry is getting too big for his boots and I have tried to push it out of my mind. It is once again time someone told him to focus on his football and shut the fuck up.

On Monday I was disappointed, but by today I am pissed off that we can have so many good players playing poorly and the person that carries the can is Grant.

It is wrong to suggest it is only the Carling Cup. We have always wanted to win it, and unlike other teams, usually pick our best side. Having to play Tottenham, the players should all know what it means to the fans and it seemed they didn't.

As for the other games we have done so well in, we are yet to play anyone of substance in the FA Cup. I expect us to continue winning until we draw Utd at which point we will lose.

We have lost the 2 most important games under Avram in the league ( and from memory, I dont think we have beaten anyone in the top 8 - Man City aside) and as a result we are way off the pace.

I accept that the Champions League formhas been good, but I am more than a little worried about the home tie with Olympiacos.

If we had one the Cup Final, sure Grant would have bought himself some more time and everyone would have been ok for now. But the bottom line is WE DIDNT. Fans accept teams playing below par when they win. They don't when they lose!

Rant Over... For now!

'one the Cup Final'....... Oops, should have been 'Won'!

'What I have a problem with is his total inability to alter a game once it has started.'

Absofuckinglutely. The problem with Grant is that if he doesn't pick the right team from the off, we're buggered.

The Sun have a very well-placed source at CFC.

At least Chelsea Youth are doing us proud. Think I'll get along to the semi and check out the lads Kakuta and Stoch.

Opinions clearly differ, but it seems abundantly clear that it is far from a happy ship down in SW6. Again

But this time most of us won't be too concerned if the manager parts the club by the usual mutual consent bollocks!

RE: the alleged bust up between Ten Cate and Terry...*If* it's true, and given the source that's a big if, I don't think it means JT's gotten too big for his boots. If you'll remember back when Jose was here, JT always said it was a relief to see his name on the team sheet, and at that point he had the least reason to worry about it. He wouldn't have told Jose who to play and I highly doubt he would do so to Grant. However, I can see him being a bit upset if preparations are as shambolic as reports suggest. As the voice of the other players I think it's his job to put across their concerns to the management. The fact that he's willing to stand up and ask questions just shows me that he and the other lads want to win. I'm sure JT wanted to play and would have been gutted to miss out, but I think he'd much rather Chelsea win the trophy even without him on the pitch. The problem isn't whether or not he played; it's the fact that no one knowing whether they would or wouldn't gave them no time to mentally prepare or work together on team chemistry. That is diabolical management.

If we can all see that Grant is clueless, how must the players feel having to take instructions from someone in whom they have lost all faith (if indeed they had it to begin with)? The fact that their most recent benchmark for comparison is Jose certainly isn't helping, either. Jose made them feel invincible and capable of playing beyond their abilities even when all the odds were stacked against them. With him the boys always knew exactly where they stood, for better or worse, and what was expected of them. Grant doesn't seem to know what he's doing himself, never mind the players. They look uncertain, frustrated, and confused, and well they should be. I am certainly confused as to why the powers that be saw fit to replace a proven winner with someone who is barely qualified to keep the club where it was, much less move it forward.

Some people argue that Jose was pushed out because he thought he was too big for the club, but it looks to me as though certain higher-ups are the ones who got too big for their britches. If they didn't like Jose's personality/ego/whatever, they should have been the bigger party and sucked it up, because they had absolutely NO footballing reasons for getting rid of him. They're the ones who put personal agendas above the welfare of the club, not Jose. It makes me sick.

@ Left Footer,

spot on mate.

Grants selection was Benitez like bad, Ballack should start every game when he is fit, J.Cole should be our first choice on either of the wings, Who plays better on the wing? Malouda?,SWP?,Kalou? He should be ahead of all of them!
Sheva should have started or came on, what a load of crap, He scored 2 goals in his last game and isnt played in a cup FINAL? WTF!

Tony Glover · 26th February · 7:13pm
"Now, I know JM was hardly “experienced” but he did win the Champions league with a motley squad on relatively unknown players…which showed verve. He stuck one up Fergies pipe at Old Trafford having questioned...."

relatively unknown players for some 1 that only follows the EPL, after all most Porto players were internationals for Portugal and with a technic and skill matched only by Brazilians.
No brainer that Scollari says potuguese players are the european brazilians in football terms, as skifully as any brazilian no wonder he has been with Portugal for the last 5 years and does not intend to leave Portugal in the near future.
Ask the FA.
I wish he could come to Italy or for that matter replace that clown that we have in Chelsea.

@Munkeyfeet · 26th February · 7:30pm

LOL this nothing new to me he had to leave Barca
because of his bullying and ajax was very happy
that Chelsea came for him.
If you guys thought JM was arrogant, albeit with charisma
wait until you see ten cate.
Particularly when he knows he is much better than AG.

@Greenlight

I agree with most you have written...not all of it but am 80% in agreement with your discussion.

I know a number of people are going to come out at me...but if Terry had a go at Ten Cate...this would be a very silly thing to do by our captain...

The one side to Terry's game I totally dislike is his constant belligerent tendency towards the refs when we fail to play or things are not going our way...Now if he has extended this to Ten Cate...I would be very disappointed...

Interesting that the last game we lost was...when Terry last played for us (okay he was not on the field when we conceeded)and we lose again when he has returned to our backline...Stats do not lie...

Just testing...

The row is TRUE!! The Sun are having a field day with this story! WTF?

Headline news - Chelsea coach confirms : "My F-Word War with Terry"

LINK

Here is your chance. Sign in to this online petition if you want Avram Grant sacked. LINK

LINK

@ Mark - yup and a good chorus of Coombaya meh lord!!

Ummmm No but i do think that professionally you shouldnt have to be pulled away by team mates. If your captain will show a lack of respect then what message does that send to the lower ranks?? If you arent happy go and have a quiet word - dont fooking scream and shout like a 6 yr old child who didnt get the red chupa chup he wanted.

If Ten Cate was being the idiot why didnt AG have the balls to push him away ala Ballack on DD in the CC final - and take control - he IS the manager.

My beef isnt really at either JT or Ten Cate - it's more pointing out that AG doesn't have CONTROL of the club we love and as such it is worrying when you add in his tactical ineptitude. Yes JM had spats but when did it go this far!

@ Marco - I know he is but he also won over Ronnie and made him the player he is today - his dip is blamed on Ten Cate leaving. I think we need a task master but if AG is undermining what Ten Cate is trying to put in place with Steve Clarke then I am not surprised we dont know what to do on the pitch.

@ Left footer - I completely agree with you except for one point - footballing wise you are right in that JM was a winner - no doubt. But RA wants to play attractive football as Barca, Ars, Man U, Real Madrid, AC Milan will play. This is what makes a wider audience fall in love with Chelsea and that sells shirts - no matter how much we say it shouldnt matter it does and always will - those that say that is wrong are living in a dream land - would you rather have his money or not - he needs to make some back!!! Also RA felt that JMs face didn't fit the corporate banner he wanted to create - those that say RA is a crook are very wrong - he is shrewd and can create brands that make him money - in Japan and the far east it is all about respect - JM didnt help them sell tickets or shirts or mugs or any other commercial rubbish you can get now so what do you do?

I do agree they put personal battles into it - he should have given JM more money in the infamous jan transfer window and when they sat down they should not have agreed to let him go - wait till the end of the season - find a world class replacement and then let him go - it all seems as if they have a very short term view but try to sell it as a long term vision.

The row is TRUE!! The Sun are having a field day with this story! WTF?

Headline news - Chelsea coach confirms : “My F-Word War with Terry”

@Harry
Why people are getting carried away with a bout of swearing is somewhat beyond me. I'm sure it happens on training grounds all over the country every day, it's no big deal. It's not as if someone has been kicked in the head like Hartson did to a team mate a few years back at West Ham.

What you make make out of this guys, I do not know what to say

"Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich will hand under-fire manager Avram Grant a £100m transfer kitty for next season. (Daily Express)"

I think he should sell first... in no particular order:
Sidwell, Ben haim, Malouda, Pizzarro, Shevchenko, and Ashley Cole!

To many duff players in the squad

@ Jiko

I say if he has that little regards for his money he should give me some!! :)

I agree with you Matt - a big clear out - but i would put AG first on the list ;)

It would be cruel to sell Ashley. Cheryl's just kicked him out of his home so if he lost his job as well where would he rest his head? (visions of a hairdressers beaver spring to mind)

Poor Ashley, that is what I call bad patch :)

Feet of a monkey :) looks like RA is very single minded.
About the clearout - do not think we need big clearout, just a small bit up the top

We should sell first. Starting with AG. Star Wars episode VII must be missing 'random villain #36' or something.

Then bye-bye to Sheva, Pizarro, Sidwell, Malouda, Ben Haim, Ferreira, Cudicini, Makelele. Maybe SWP and, Barca dependent, DD and Lamps.

So with the £100m Roman puts up, and the £56.32 (not including Lamps and DD) we get from selling all the tosh above, we should try and sign :

Philip Lahm
Rafael Van Der Vaart
Ricardo Quaresma
That guy from Valencia I refuse to talk about
Klaas Jan Huntelaar

Among others.

Of course, this is pure fantasy. Because, in reality, AG wont be shipped off to the Death Star; no club in the World would be stupid enough to buy any of our rejects so we'll just sign another 3 or 4 players to made the squad even bigger and, consequently, even more unhappy.

I'm all doom and gloom I'm afraid. Narky in fact. Took ages to get Fifty Jnr off to sleep last night, then 20 minutes later, in a sleepy suburb of Norwich, that bloody Earthquake woke him.

Not funny.

I was watching revista la liga last night - jm has met them and stated what he would do. rikaard will stay but only if eto'o and ronnie go. he believes they create too much of a side show and that you only need 1.5 stars (messi n henry). maybe dd will stay and eto'o will come - kenyon only said no to ronnie. dd, eto'o and anelka! hmm that's not bad.

what are your thoughts chaps?

Eto'o - just what we need, another moody African.

i'd sell the same players as Matt, but fancy Lampard and Drogba could be on the way out as well.

We're going to go bonkers in the transfer market this summer. It'll be like 2003 all over again! Perhaps we'll even get Crespo back - third time lucky Hernan!

I hope Super Frank doesn't leave as for Drogba if he's not happy move on i don't think Eto'o will come to Chelsea, We need to find some young players all the established 'superstars' we have bought don't perform! Shevchenko sits on his arse and earns 130k a week it's pathetic!

Please not Eto!!! Why should we go after other teams rejects?
Why our scouts can not find young tallent as Arse does?

And else, do you think if AG does not win anything this year with the players available to him, do you think Grant could leave himself DESPITE of RA and board support?
LINK

> Left Footer (and all the JT apologists)...
There is nothing right about JT's action...As a captain, he should know better about team/individual discipline...If he has issues with the technical crew there are much more better ways to handle them (one of which is a 1-on-1 chat) not an open confrontation in the full view of other players...its the height of INDISCIPLINE if you ask me...But i guess some of our 'patrons' here would never see it that way given that "he's chelsea thru n thru...came thru the academy...plays his socks/heart out for the team.... bla bla bla"

And those making the noise about JM should look at his last results before he left:

Premiership:
Chelsea 3 v 2 Birmingham
Reading 1 v 2 Chelsea
Liverpool 1 v 1 Chelsea
Chelsea 1 v 0 Portsmouth
Villa 2 v 0 Chelsea
Chelsea 0 v 0 B/Burn

Champs League:
Chelsea 1 v 1 Rosenburg

Recall also that the team was drab in ALL its pre-season matches...even though it never engaged any quality opposition...should i mention the Charity shield match?

I dont think Roman made (or sustained) his wealth by rash decisions, and i dont think he enjoys throwing his money away otherwise there are much better and easier ways than coming to the stadium to watch your youth team play...He has passion for the game, no doubt and he exhibits it intermitently.

Perhaps he felt (and has every cause to feel that JM would not sacrifice results for flair...whether in the short or long run) It is an inate part of JM, who it must be said had the benefit of the 'element of surprise' in his 1st season...

JM's approach to the premiership was to start running aggressively from the very go, fight and pick all points possible and create as much buffer of a difference as possible...Other teams/managers felt that the tempo would not be sustained but before they knew it...Chelsea had run away with the league...

Ferguson wisened up to JM's antics in the second season but only at some point midway into the season...that the secret is to start aggressively from the begining and fight for all points even if it means a lean 1-0

By season 3, JM himself knew that he had to vary his team tactics/play as the others had wisened up to him...Winning matches became more difficult, the element of surprise had been lost and teams were no longer in awe...his players were more of individuals than a team (meaning no real playing structure) as such when one or two 'untouchable' players are out, the whole team is a shadow of itself...

Roman i'm sure wanted better, and the results leading into this fourth season did not indicate that much, from a manager who is expected to know how to get the best from ALL his players having had the bulk of them for at least 2.5 years...nothing seemed to be changing, no flair and the team was still struggling to get points...a change was needed!

In comes AG whose real assessment can only be made at the end of the season, if we all must be objective...Yes he's made some wrong decisions...yes, he's lost some key matches...but please show me which manager has not? Wenger won the most of matches amongst the so called 'top 4' last season but where did that leave him on the final table?

The season is not over yet no matter what anyone says or believes...there are still trophies to be fought for and we are here moaning...some are even suggesting a campaign inside the stadium to make their 'grievances' felt...if we think like this when we still have things to fight for, what would we do if there's nothin in the horizon?...As experienced, renowned and established as wenger is...he's been without a trophy now for how many years?...yet the heavens haven't fallen...

I see many players transiting at the end of the season to accomodate some young players (with speed and flair) that would suit the football style Roman craves for (possibly, with a new manager too...)who knows...

But for here and now...we still have things to chase, so lets start channelling our energies in the right direction...not the disruptive path!

Always Blue!

JD: "...the simple question a great number of people are now asking is as follows: Is Grant good enough to manage this club?"

First the debating point, then my attempt at an answer.

People aren't 'now asking' this question. It's largely the people who didn't want him at the start, but who didn't have a leg to stand on after just 2 defeats in 34 games who now smell blood after 3 defeats in 35 games, with that 3rd defeat being the Final.

Characterisations like 'pitiful display' don't reflect the game. After my suggestion that some people think, when we draw or lose a game, that we'll never win again. I've remembered another which is more true. When the opposition have the gall to get a shot on goal there's a view that we were lucky to get away with it. If we have a shot on goal saved or missed we couldn't hit a barn door and our forwards are useless. There's a double-standard which is quite funny if you can step back and see it.

In big picture terms regarding the game, it doesn't matter how good or not good anyone is, advantage has to be taken where a clear advantage exists. SWP didn't take advantage of an injured Chimbonda playing the wrong flank, nor Malbranque, while Lennon took advantage of Belletti and the right flank after Essien went off. That's the whole game in a nutshell. Spud centrebacks balanced Drogba, our centrebacks didn't give a lot to Spuds forwards and they didn't take what chances they had. Ramos took until well into the 2nd half to switch Lennon at all, Grant attacked the makeshift full-back, Ramos replaced him with a defensive midfielder. If I was to be bold (and it's taken me 2 days to think of it) the only person we could've replaced Belletti with was Essien - a typical JM move in fact.

Does all this give some definitive answer to whether Grant is good enough? I don't think so, but let's allow the opportunists to have their head for a while. I think my best contribution might be not to read it.

Some fair points Sid; our inability to even test Spurs' glaring areas of weakness confirmed to me that the guy does not have what it takes at this level - I was prepared to give him time, but if Sunday's showing was anything to go by then I genuinely fear for the future when it comes to big games of the type that separate contenders from also-rans.

Given all this, you probably won't be keen on the latest article just posted...!

If I'm wrong about Grant, I'll happily admit so, but what I've seen so far is not only unimpressive but also rather worrying.

@ Clive

Exactly the point I was trying to make! Well, I didn't make it in my previous post but I totally understand what you mean. Lose one final and the club is in crisis. Apparently, that is. Personally, I dont think it's that big a deal.

I mean, like you said, it happens at training grounds all around Europe but you never hear about it. But if it happens at Chelsea, then oh yeah, it is a big deal. Sheesh.

So the guy's who are saying there is no crisis and all is fine it's only 1 match, are you happy with how Chelsea are playing right now?

I'm not why should i keep shelling out 50quid a ticket to watch b0llocks football at the bridge forget bring back JM bring back Vialli!! When we had Zola,Flo,Di matteo,Wise,Vialli we played alot better football than the last four seasons. Grinding results is fine but a bit of flair would be nice once in a while.

And Avram Grant needs to leave because of this!!

Ive said it on here before anyone of us could sit there on the bench as manager of Chelsea and the results would be exacltley the same because the team knows how to win Grant has had no impact whatsoever on Chelsea!

ALEX spot on!

Spurs fan and I am not going gloat......

Just an observation, agree completely with the comments about Ballack & J Cole and I would have even started with Alex at the back personally....

It seems to me looking at the two clubs, that they have almost swapped managers..

Chelsea had the tactical brilliance and imagination of JM, and now have the tactically inept Avram Grant.....

Spurs had the tactically inept Martin Jol.... and now have the tactical brilliance of Juande Ramos....

And if any of you think that's harsh on Jol, remember the FA Cup 1/4 Final at Stamford Bridge last season when we were 3-1 and cruising and Jol takes off Berbatov and Lennon..... if that's not being tactically inept I don't know what is......

Look on the bright side, us winning the Carling Cup, may stop Wet Spam getting into Europe next season, as if you had won it an extra UEFA place in the league would have become available.

@Alex

You my friend are so right but you are preaching to the wrong congregation..Some people out here have failed to see reason even as it bitch-slaps them in their faces...

I have resoreted to why even bother reasoning to an adult who has set their mind on one thing...Avram Grant...

It is called being objective...but like they say you can not teach an old dog new tricks....

For everyone arguing that the supposed lack of attractive football in Jose's third season and the beginning of this one cost him the job, answer me this: What were the reasons behind it? Last season we had our explosive midfielder playing centre half because Roman refused to allow the purchase of one measly defender in the transfer window. WTF? Despite that, and despite being lumbered with unfit and unintegrated Ballack and Shevchenko (who have not been as dire as made out and may have been better if not for injuries), we managed to play winning and even on several occasions flair football. Jose had no Robben and no Joey Cole for half the season, no cover at the back, two top goalkeepers out, and most of the threadbare squad playing through niggles whilst competing right to the end in FOUR competitions, two of which they managed to win. Didier, Riccy, Frank, Essien, Wrighty, Mikel, and Bridgey had fantastic seasons. The squad mastered another formation (diamond), played some awesome games with it, and adapted to practically everything thrown at them. I actually believe that the injury to Riccy in the Bolton game at the Bridge is what cost us the title and the CL. Honestly, it was that close. I think that was the final straw where we just couldn't stretch the squad any more. If we had had Alex or even Ben Haim as cover, Essien could have stayed in midfield to give us some of the attacking verve we lacked without Joey and Robben. So who's fault is that?

As for the start of this season, remember that we still didn't have a settled back line because Riccy was out. We were integrating our few purchases and free transfers whilst trying to immediately produce attacking champagne football the owner demanded. There was no Robben and a recovering Joey plus several others out with problems on and off. Of course we were also expected to keep winning everything in sight. Um, hello??? It doesn't work that way. If you want a successful team, keep your most successful manager, get him the players he needs, and let him get on with his job without sticking your nose in areas about which you know nothing. Does nobody remember Jose talking about his plans for the long-term development of the team and how it would evolve each year? I'm pretty sure winning, attractive football was at the end, but now we will never know.

In any case I think that explanation for Jose's departure is a load of cack. If it were true Roman would have hired a proven winner with a record of beautiful football to replace him in the summer, not given the job to Grant in the middle of the season. Roman didn't like Jose for whatever reason, got in a strop, forced him out, and then had the club cover it up with the "pretty football" line of b******s. It stinks and I don't buy it.

I don't care if we're not the winners of every trophy every season. I DO care if the reasons are ridiculous and avoidable. We are not being run in a professional manner with realistic long-term plans.

@Left Footer

well said and wriiten.
The idea was to get rid of JM before he would win the CL, what he would eityher this year or next, that would make even his sacking more unbearable for the fans.
The fact is, in my opinion, RA sees this as his toy, hence the reason he put in charge another "yes man", although an absolutely absurd decision, trying to lead a squad full of internationals, world class players with a very very mediocre manager, a man that can not even win the CC against a team with the players that spuds have, albeit a very very good manager, in the mold of JM tells you everything.
I would like to tell you that when commentators in the continental TV show him they laugh their heads off, lol, one TV stations' commentators called him "rospo" lol monkfish LMFAO. Thats the respect people that know the "business" have 4 him.
I have to admit he looked like a monkfish out of water in the final.
I mean AG not Buck.