Premier League: Chelsea 3 - 1 Fulham
Saturday, 02 May 09, 07:51 PM · Comments (59)
Match reports
Sunday Times, John Aizlewood: "How to enable Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba to effectively combine their myriad gifts was a riddle that both Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari failed to solve and one that contributed to the demise of both. Now, Guus Hiddink might have just cracked it."
The Observer, Amy Lawrence: "Drogba was at his terrifying best, Anelka had one of his classiest displays for Chelsea and Malouda showed exactly why he was brought to London at great expense two years ago. The three of them looked hungry and sharp. Their combination play and clinical finishing was so stylish even Barça loyalists would be forced to admit it was easy on the eye."
Sunday Telegraph, Oliver Brown: "The stakes were not as high as Chelsea would have wished. But still Hiddink fielded a remarkablly strong line-up, such linchpins as John Terry, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien all present and correct amid the manager's anxieties about holding on to third place in the Premier League. It was an audacious gesture, only four days before a decisive Champions League confrontation with Barcelona, where Hiddink promised to "take more initiative.""
Independent on Sunday, Mark Fleming: "Guus Hiddink's side have been castigated for their stonewall defence in the 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final in the Nou Camp on Tuesday night. But given licence to spread their wings against neighbours Fulham, Chelsea at times were a joy to witness."
Official Chelsea FC Website, Andy Jones: "It was no less than the Blues deserved, the better side for almost the entire 90 minutes as Anelka in particular ran the normally sturdy Fulham defence ragged."
The goals
1' Anelka 1-0
4' Nevland 1-1
10' Malouda
53' Drogba
The starters
A second consecutive beautiful sunny day in London and the finale to my own couple of days in the busy capital of this green and pleasant land saw the Tony trusty steed tied up outside Stamford Bridge with a trough of cold clear water and a fresh bale of hay to munch on. Having lived in London for the first 26 years of my life and been only too happy to depart the hustle and bustle for the calm and peace of rural village existence my visits can genuinely now be savoured with a mixture of fond nostalgia and new found wide eyed wonderment at the myriad of changes the city has undergone.
Plus it was a suitable and timely reminder of just how London Transport can distort time with greater ease and power than Doctor Who himself. Seriously folks, only they have the power to fully redefine the minute from the globally accepted standard 60 seconds to anything between 90 seconds and two minutes. If you don’t believe me then take the simple test of standing on a Tube station platform... any one you like it doesn’t matter... and then time just how long it is until the actual next train arrives against the LED arrivals notice-board.
I digress... before riding into the sunset with haunting mouth organ music playing in the background, hat tilted lazily forward and a grateful frontier town waving me goodbye... I had to attend the hotly contested local rivalry of Chelsea and their local rivals Fulham. Of course we all know that the rivalry and enmity between the two teams had always been rather pallid and low key on account of Fulham generally playing in the lower divisions for many years and being over-shadowed by our rivalry with the both versions of Leeds United, the original one now found languishing in a league probably sponsored by some building supplies company, and New Leeds based in Anfield and playing in all red. But local derby it is and therefore I shall accord it the respect it deserves... or doesn’t. Oh... who really cares... it’s only Fulham... or North Putney as I like to call them.
The main course
The first thing to note about the match was the extraordinary achievement of our iconic and inspirational captain, John Terry, who was playing in his 400th game for Chelsea, ranking him 11th in the all time appearances league. Marvellous stuff and I am in no doubt he’ll play many more games for us and only us.
The team announcement was surprising in that Guus Hiddink chose not to rest any of the top players really. Everyone who played against Barcelona was either on the pitch or on the bench. He’s nothing if not brave.
The game started amidst some fearsome chanting from the plucky but misguided Fulham fans (misguided for picking the wrong team in Fulham to support) but they went remarkably silent when with just 50 seconds on the clock, with the usual sight of Stamford Bridge filling up to the latecomers, Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba carved Fulham open to get us a quick and surprising 1-0 lead. Watching the replays it was a move of stunning and simplistic beauty.
But North Putney weren’t here to just make up the numbers and within three minutes the deficit was cancelled out when Erik Nevland sprung the offside trap to run through and beat Petr Cech with worrisome ease, in the process re-affirming many fears about the consistency and reliability of our number one goalkeeper. With the benefit of replays on Sky’s Game of the Day, only one conclusion can be drawn, and it is that Cech could and should have done better. However remembering how many times we’ve scored similar goals it is worth noting that it just proves that testing the goalkeeper with a decent shot rather than trying to walk the ball into the net can often pay surprising dividends.
Game on then, and both teams seemed to settle into a pattern of passing and moving, both possibly a bit jittery by having conceded and scored so early. The North Putney fans chanted away and got some suitably noisy responses from Chelsea fans, and after 10 minutes, the now fully functioning triumvirate of Malouda, Anelka and Drogba carved Fulham open again and Malouda... sorry... now officially called The Much Improved Malouda slotted home our second. It was marvellous and very promising stuff, which no doubt Barcelona spies will have duly noted. The rest of the half consisted of both teams huffing and puffing with both looking confident going forward and jittery at the back. Fulham came close through a good combination of Dempsey and Nevland again, and Drogba was flagged offside when scoring a goal that on replays was shown to have been perfectly onside. The rest of the half did seem to have that ‘end of season’ feeling rather than the passion and edge of a local derby. The only major note for alarm from Chelsea’s perspective was the alarming apathy and sloppiness from three players in particular. Michael Essien was poor, poor and thrice poor, giving away possession and unable to hold the ball in anything remotely resembling the normal Essien intransigence. Alex was a shadow of the player we’ve seen recently, playing negatively and looking very unsure and Frank Lampard was, to be honest, having a shocker by his normal standards. I’ll put their performances down to fatigue this time, and will err on each merely suffering a blip in form. Hiddink did exactly as expected and substituted two of those at half time, and I doubt many were shocked to see Alex and Essien be replaced by Branislav ‘Branners’ Ivanovic and Michael Ballack for the resumption of hostilities.
The substitutions made a world of difference. Ballack immediately bought several thousand Chelsea Pitch Owners shares as he bossed the midfield. Some people think he’s not been the player from last season but I believe he’s slipped into a deeper midfield general role, and unquestionably our midfield looks more solid with him in it than without. Where Essien seemed unsure about bombing forward or treading on Obi’s toes, Ballack merely unfussily and imperiously took control. It was a joy to watch. Ivanovic stepped into the Alex role and within minutes had made a timely intervention to prevent an almost certain goal from Kamara after Zamora had left John Terry for dead. After that, despite one rather badly misplaced back pass which North Putney failed to capitalise on, ‘Branners’ as he is affectionately known in my neck of The Bridge was utterly superb. Goodbye Riccy is all I can say. The next moment of note was superbly worked third goal for us, with Anelka playing Drogba in for a world class finish, in a lightning fast counter-attack that left North Putney reeling. From that point on, it was almost total control from the Chelsea players. There were one or two more half chances from North Putney, and a few more chances for us, with Lampard coming close from a free kick well saved by Schwarzer, Anelka heading just wide and a decent but wide long rage strike from Mikel Obi.
As the game petered out and the sun shone down, our thoughts could turn to Wednesday’s titanic clash with Barcelona. The final whistle went and we streamed away dumb, fat and happy.
The dessert trolley
Or, the bits that are good enough to lick as I like to think of them. Great performances across the team today bar the three I mentioned earlier. Cech looked a bit better in the air today although his reliance on the upfield hoof of the ball still seemed prevalent today, but in truth, other than the goal he wasn’t called into any really serious action. Ashley Cole linked well with Malouda and that is a relationship that seems to be growing into something fruitful. Mikel Obi, after a few indifferent performances was back to his disruptive best today and looked good on the ball. Ballack was superb as was Branners but the headlines should really all be about Drogba, Anelka and Malouda. Whether this hybrid 4-3-3/4-4-2 tactic would work against top opposition is a moot point, but I would say it was worth a go.
Player ratings
- Petr Cech – 7/10 – Could have done better for the goal but rarely called into serious action.
- Jose Boswingwa – 7/10 – Feeling his way back in, but a superb ball stopper and always looked a threat.
- John Terry – 8/10 – Left for dead by Zamora, but still inspirational and worthy of his 400 match milestone.
- Alex – 5/10 – Looked out of sorts. Like one of those days where everything you do seems slightly out of phase with what's going on around you.
- Ashley Cole – 7.5/10 – Linking nicely with Malouda but went missing from time to time at left-back.
- John Mikel Obi – 7.5/10 – Back to his early season best today.
- Michael Essien – 5/10 – After ‘owning’ Stevie Me at Anfield has gone worryingly off the boil. Is the real Essien on a beach somewhere to be replaced by a Stepford clone?
- Frank Lampard – 6/10 – First half shocker including a truly dreadful free kick into row Z of The Shed. Improved when Ballack turned up but still a little off beam in all aspects.
- Florent Malouda – 8.5/10 – Much, much and greatly improved. If he’d played like this all season then I would be happy for him to stay. As Attillio, my Matthew Harding Upper seat neighbour said, ‘It just goes to show what a good coach can do for a player’. Bang on the money there Attillio.
- Nicolas Anelka – 9/10 – World class today. Defended when required, played a key part in all three goals, linked well with Drogba sitting just behind him and at the side. Magnificent – which begs the questions why we don’t see more of this. Spun players time and again, held the ball wonderfully and well... just superb.
- Didier Drogba – 8.5/10 – Superbly taken goal(s) and seems to have worked out how to link with Anelka. Unfortunately showed some sign of the petulance and drama queen nature of his personality.
- Branislav Ivanovic (sub for Alex) – 8/10 – A great score for a great performance covering just the second half.
- Michael Ballack (sub for Essien) – 8.5/10 – Took ownership of the midfield and was faultless in every detail.
- Franco Di Santo (sub for Drogba) – 6/10 – My jury is well and truly still out on this guy.
- Overall team performance – 8.5/10 – End of season-ish, in anticipation of a much bigger match on Wednesday, but still a decent show.
Man of the Match
To be honest it could have been any from Obi, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba (despite a few of his shenanigans), Ivanovic, Ballack or Ashley Cole. Every one of those players had an outstanding game. The true winner though is an enigmatic Frenchman who when Drogba was injured seemed like a striker reborn. He’s gone a little off the boil recently although for ball skill and vision he has, for me, always been a class act.
Step forward Nicolas Anelka and accept this fine virtual bouquet for what was a truly world class performance.
The brandy and Cuban cigars
North Putney came, saw and sort of crept away with their tails between their legs. We’ve had a so-so time against them of late and so it is nice to finish the season with local bragging rights until next season. This was a fairly routine win in the end, against a fairly reasonable team who to their credit didn’t come to park the bus. I think Roy Hodgson is a good coach who has fashioned North Putney into a decent mid-table team. They should be happy with that. In the end our class all over the pitch showed, and Guus once again showed that he generally makes the right decisions on tactics and substitutions.
Our thoughts can now turn to Wednesday night and a big big game against Barcelona. Any hope that they might have a tough away game in the Bernabeu against Real Madrid in ‘El Classico’ were dashed as they utterly destroyed them 6-2. One good thing about that is that it puts New Leeds' Champions League despatch of Real Madrid into perspective. As Danny Baker said at the time, beating Real Madrid now is very different to beating them in their 60s heyday. In fact as Baker also said, it’s like meeting Elvis Presley in his overweight Vegas days... yes, it’s still Elvis, but a bloated overweight, sluggish shadow of the young Elvis.
It’s a timely warning that Barcelona are both the favourites and the media darlings for good reason. They do play flowing attacking football, but we have party pooped many of these teams before and I’m sure Guus will be planning some spoiling tactics for Wednesday, and that our boys are eager to show the preening primadonna diving and play acting tarts of Barcelona and their blinkered ‘attack is the only way’ fans just what they can do.
If we do lose then I for one, will probably be happy to support them in the final. It will be no disgrace to lose to Barcelona at the semi-final stage after the early season of turmoil and inconsistency under Scolari. Despite this resurgence under Hiddink, I still agree that we need to refresh the squad and the new man will need to ensure he gets all the intelligence he can so as to choose the right ones to keep and the right ones to go. Isn’t it odd that last season I said break the bank to keep Riccy Carvalho, but am now sitting here thinking we should let him go and get what we can?
But then again, like many of you, I am the archetypal, stereotypical, bipolar Chelsea fan.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!
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59 Comments · Add yours
Today was a strange game really. Firstly, Guus picked a ridiculously strong team for this rather end of season feeling game. I know Fulham are a lot better than Pompey but seeing Arsenal stroll to a 3-0 win with kids in the first XI and some babies on the bench, i did wonder if we'd missed a trick by no resting some big boys. But again Guus proved me wrong as he used this game to get the team back in the groove of attacking and scoring goals after two defensive performances against Barca and Everton. Secondly, the first half was a very strange half. The first 10 minutes exposed the positives and negatives of the 4-4-2 formation which Guus complained about earlier. We attacked with a fluency and pace that has been lacking at home but as Guus said, we were sloppy and wide open at times. Having Frank on the right wing was a disaster, with him failing to even touch the ball for long stretches and seeming lost out there, probably having flashbacks to those early Ranieri days when he was parked out there. We also failed to have a holding midfield player which was strange for a central pairing of Essien and Mikel. Neither sat in front of the back four to look for danger and on numerous occasions Dempsey, Murphy or Nevland would be free. And the sloppiness was alarming especially from Essien and Alex but having watched the brilliant Barca tonight, Essien should be in for a big job on Wednesday. Anyone would have to say that Barca were incredible tonight and Messi was back to his best but it was interesting how Pep moved him into the central striking role after only 3 minutes when he saw that Real were not patrolling the space where Essien will be. I know that we won't defend like Real and we'll be much more aggressive on our small pitch, not allowing them space but Essien should have Messi to mark in the middle on Wednesday.
But desite these minor gripes we did have some big positives. When we switched to a 4-3-3 in the second half we looked much more solid...
I can't wait to hear what Musamba says, he's a very insightful blogger.
A fantastic game to watch, the first and third goals were pure team poetry. Drogba's lay-off to set up the first.. without Anelka even 'breaking stride'.. the joy on the Frenchman's face. It was beautiful.
For the third.. Lampard sliding in to stop a dangerous Fulham attack (and some questionable Chelsea defending) and then linking with Mikel to set Anelka free, and game over. It was really a magical game to watch.
which was also thanks to the brilliant Ivanovic and Ballack but we did look a lot more balanced and Lamps was beginning to get on the ball which will be crucial when we look for those crucial goals against Barca. But the biggest positives were our front 3. Didier was brilliant but Malouda and Anelka were the stars of the show. Anelka especially looked as if he wanted to impress enough to gain a start for Wednesday and his tracking back and effort were a little shocking to be honest. I just didn't expect him to be that committed but his link up play and passing were superb. We can all ignore Hiddink when he says that he may play 4-4-2 on Wednesday as we'd be torn apart by Barca but in a 4-3-3 he does have some tough choices to make. I'd love to see Branner play as watching El Classico, Barca can't defend set pieces at all but it would have to be for Bosingwa and finally who gets that right wing role. Essien is a great defensive option but as a draw will put us out we probably need goals and so Mikel will be dropped but for who? Anelka put in a great audition today but any loss in concentration when tracking back could cost us and i'd still go for Kalou.
But all in all it was a lovely game on a lovely day. Pretty comfortable really which is the total opposite of Wednesday when it'll finally hit me that we're 90 minutes away from Rome. After waiting so long for one chance to win the trophy, we've suddenly got a chance to have a second try and as some journos have been writing, it does seem like our year doesn't it?
this the best match
Excellent game all round. I think maybe the Cottagers deserve a touch more credit. They've metamorphosed in a very short time from Lawrie Sanchez's catastrophic attempt to turn them into Norn-Ireland-on-Thames into a very well-organised team that plays proper football. If they make it into Europe they won't be embarrassed.
Frank looked well off his game. I'm not sure this idea of pushing him forward and having two more defensive midfielders behind him works so well. Frank's most dangerous when he's the first or second player to receive the ball out of defence, because he sees the long passes so quickly if they're on. In the new setup he seems to get less possession, and everyone tends to be covered by the time he gets the ball.
Ballack seems to be doing what he did this time last season. Perhaps he just likes the sunshine, like Robinho.
In other news, I see that Leeds and Millwall will be playing each other in the league "1" playoffs, so creating the largest gathering of nice people in one place outside HM Prison Wandsworth.
Good win. Now lets see Guus use the same formation against Barca.
Things I dreamt this morning, and what will probably happen in the real world:
1. I dreamt that we will start with the 4-4-1-1 (as I thought it was) against Barca, with Lampard back in the centre with Mikel and Essien out wide. Realistically, I would like to see this team on Wednesday, as we all saw what can happen yesterday if you have to open up against Barca. (As an aside, the American commentary I heard watching that game called us 'cowards' for turning up at the Nou Camp as we did. We'll see who the cowards are when Barca have to get through a real defence.)
Cech
Bosingwa - Alex - Terry - A.Cole
Ballack - Mikel
Essien - Lampard - Malouda
Drogba
Subs: Hilario, Mancienne, Ivanovic, Belletti, Kalou, DiSanto, Anelka
There are a few conundrums for Guus to solve for Wednesday: should we continue the successful defence of last week and keep Ivanovic on to offer more threat at set pieces? If so, does Alex, Bosingwa, or Ash sit on the bench? Should Essien play over Anelka for his sheer presence? I'm personally caught in two minds, but I think the 442 option is definitely one to look at later in the game should we need a goal.
2. I also dreamt that we scored the first two goals, before Barca score to make it a nervy 2-1. Unfortunately, the fact that I scored the second goal does damage the quality of this prediction somewhat!
Well this result certainly has set up Wednesday's game to be interesting. I think we all know it's too close to call, and I'm sure amongst us fans, there will be a lot of squeaky bums.
And having just watched Sky's Sunday Supplement this morning and spitting venom at Patrick Barclay. What a self righteous obnoxious twat the man is. I've always known his dislike for Chelsea, but to come and say, "I'm sorry to have to say it but, I think Chelsea will prevail"... and the result we got at Camp Nou was... "Chelsea fouled their way to that result, no doubt about it"
It really pisses me off when wankers like him are allowed to vent his dislike of all things Chelsea, loose on TV!
Mini Rant over, going to lay down until Wednesday.
I am glad Nicolas Anelka is back...
I really think he deserves a place in the first team, no matter that Drogba is better ...
Barcelona kicked Real Madrid's ass...
...about the comment above... i didn't mean to substitute drogba ...just for two of them to play together ;)
Ballack is the best no matter what....
The question is.....Where would we be in the league if we had played Anelka and Drogba together more often
LINK
Good news this, wonder if it means Riccy's out?
Reply to 13joe13:
Perhaps the question is also if Anelka, Drogba and Malouda can play together to such good effect should we be contemplating selling any of them in the summer?
Entirely off-topic - but it was shamefully enjoyable when half-watching the Reading v Birmingham game on Sky earlier to see Kevin Phillips execute a stunning "Glasgow Kiss" on that little turd Stephen Hunt that left the latter with blood streaming down his forehead - Karma or something I guess...
Reply to blueboydave:
All we need now is for Reading to get beat in the playoffs. Ta ta. See you another year.
Perhaps the question is, if Anelka, Drogba and Malouda can play like that, who the f*ck were the 3 imposters that have been turning up week after week and collecting their pay cheques!
This was perhaps the best performance that the front 3 have showed this year and it would be nice to see them have a go at Barcda on Wednesday with similar gusto, but I can't really see it happening.
I think the Barca result against Madrid is more likely to see us play another very tight game at home, rather than opening up and risking a hefty thrashing.
Nothing personal, Guus has all the experience and expertise to knock Guardiola et al out of the Champions League He is too smart to get knocked out by Pep "talk" .Barcelona F.C was really outclassed tactically at camp nou,To the point they started blaming the ref,in any case if we had alot of fouls commited against them its because they were diving too much.No need to worry they should come prepared for anything including a potato pitch,I still think we should deploy bosingwa on the left to prevent messi from cutting inside where he is most dangerous. Ashley cole may be good yes but messi rarely crosses from the outside,I think his yellow card was a blessing
@ Prodicky, I have been thinking about this and it is confusing me a lot! Ash is a great defender and we miss him attacking wise, but you are right, Messi rarely (in fact, never) goes to the byline. This is because he is a predominantly left footed player playing on the right wing. Ash could struggle with him repeatedly cutting in but we would miss him linking up with Malouda and this could definitely work for us as Alves likes to bomb forward as well (he shouldn't be playing in this match - how he didn't get a yellow in the first leg is mindboggling)
At the end of the day, I think I'd play with Ash and stick Ivan on the other side as defensively and at set pieces he is outstanding. I would be very nervous with Bosingwa coming up against Henry, who was in inspired form against Real.
Just heard Henry is out of the match. Someone must have heard me :-) Now Bosingwa can play because Ivan won't be needed as much defensively on that side of the pitch. Still, I'd rather play Ivanovic, I'm really confused.
Ivanovic in the middle and Alex on the bench. There, I made up my mind.
I see the O'Drogbas have noticed the near-identity of the flags of the Ivory Coast and Ireland, and called their son Kieran. Congratulations to them. Let's hope if they have a daughter she's Deirdre. Deirde O'Drogba, beat that.
Reply to Chelsea Play Attractive:
Sorry did not watch the match...I was caught up in a World other than our world...
Am waiting for the main course...I kind of gave up on the league and are waiting for the Champions League Cup and the FA Cup...Being realistic...
'Sorry did not watch the match...I was caught up in a World other than our world... '
Never a truer word spoken!
Boswinga and Messi? Messi played in the centre on Saturday against Real. That move would nullify the selection. Ashley has to play, if only to put attacking pressure on Messi (if he plays out wide) and Alves. We need to win this. The tactics will be different. Tight defence, but much more pressure up the pitch. I expect a lot of long balls to turn the defence. Directed at the Drog with Lamps deployed higher up and Malouda and Essien on respective flanks - with plenty of defensive commitments. Boswinga on right to get forward? Or Branners for his offensive heading abilities? Both of them with Branners in the middle? And lose Alex and his 40 yard free kick potential? Oh my god! Guus's notepad must be a mess.
One thing. Until it's over, Barca are an enemy who I will denounce in all the usual ways. But they have qualities to be admired and not just in attack. The pressing and work rate of their midfielders - allied to their great skill on the ball - is phenomenal. If they beat us and set a trend for future tactical thinking in football generally (every generation has a team that leads the way) then it can only be a good thing.
The funeral march has begun, the yellow and green hearse is on a non-stop journey to League 1.
The Blues have to win tomorrow night to lighten the mood out my way.
Thought we were excellent on Saturday, knocked the ball round really well and thoroughly trounced a very decent Fulham side.
Barcelona are a slightly different kettle of fish, however.
Also, how the hell can Fulham fans sing 'where were you when you were shit' when they used to get crowds of 1,000 in the fourth division!
"Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League Semi-Final Second Leg match against Manchester United is possibly the most important match ever to be played at Emirates Stadium.
With the encounter delicately poised, we urge all Arsenal supporters to arrive early at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, so that the stadium is completely full by kick-off.
We also urge all Arsenal supporters to wear red on the night and to make as much noise as possible to support the team throughout this huge evening.
To turn Emirates Stadium completely red and white, the Club has produced 60,000 specially designed flags for every Arsenal supporter to wave on the night. The flags will be on each seat in the stadium and we urge all supporters to help us create a fantastic atmosphere by waving their flags, especially when the teams come out at the start of the match.
The stadium will be open from 6.30pm on Tuesday night. So get to Emirates Stadium early to create a winning atmosphere in one of the biggest nights in Arsenal’s history. "
Well.... I think we can assume the Gooners won't be laughing at our blue flags anymore!
Reply to PeteW:
And it ended your 'hoodoo' from the Corporate seats.
Agreed about Barca, and even now the nerves aren't jangling just yet...it must be the thought of an FA Cup final prevailing. I'm taking the pragmatic view that if we lose then it's no shame to lose to a team like Barca, and it'll be one less thing to worry about. If we win then it's another CL final but one we've got to win this time because the law of averages says a 3rd consecutive final is unlikely.
My landlord rang me in the morning and I did not answer. I put his money on Barcelona winning tomorrow and bought a sleeping bag and some mosquito cream with change.
The Chelsea Times will be delayed this week as there seems little point in postiing it now with a game just one day away. Maybe friday.....
Reply to ChelseaTony:
This is true, and probably means I won't get invited back next season (the invitee is a Fulham fan and knows about my record).
Very good seats, it has to be said. Roman tried to buy their box when he bought the club but they refused so he is stuck in the box next door. he wasn't there on Saturday,but Bobby Campbell was very conspicuous. Does anybody know how this failed ex-manager wormed his way on to the payroll?
Reply to moffat:
Ummm, answers on a postcard anyone?
Reply to Fiftee:
@Fiftee
Not worth the price of a stamp mate.
Reply to Fiftee:
I think I get it. Everything I bet on loses me money. Hence if I put moneuy on Barca then they'll lose. I think Moffat may bh valiantly spending his rent on a bet that Barca will win. If they do, he makes a few bob, if they lose he loses a few quid, gets to kip on a beach somewhere warm (hence the mozzie reference)but Chelsea get through. he takes one for the team so to speak.
If so, then its surprisingly altruistic of him.
Reply to PeteW:
The Bobby Campbell business is all a bit curious!
Your description is a little on the harsh side. He did get us promoted out of the old Division 2 with 99 points and scoring 99 goals, totals, which I believe are yet to be bettered.
Have never felt particularly virulently anti-Campbell. In addition to the promotion he also had a couple of indifferent mid-table seasons back in old Division 1 [5th and 11th] when he failed to get the best out of a reasonably decent squad including Dixon and Durie as strike partnership.
I feel far more antipathy to his successor, Ian Porterfield, who inflicted the mercifully short Vinnie Jones era on us before Hoddle arrived to start the long journey to where we are now.
Couldn't Campbell's presence on Saturday be partly down to his old connections with Fulham too?
According to The Sun...
'Ex- Blues boss Bobby Campbell is another who has charmed his way into Abramovich’s inner circle after the two men met at Stamford Bridge’s leisure club and gym... had to introduce himself as a former Chelsea boss. Invited to attend a game in the owner’s box. A regular ever since.
Campbell is believed to have been a strong critic of Mourinho and his style, which led to the Portuguese coach’s sacking.'
Reply to Greenlight:
That's a really good idea from the Arses:
A heaving, red bedecked stadium should make Manu feel right at home.
Campbell did okay in his first two full seasons, but the drop off in his third (when we came 11th) was a massive disappointment. given that we'd just spent big on Townsend and Wise and had a pretty good strong all told.
I mainly blame him for inflicting upon us one of our worst ever Christmases - Wimbledon 2-5, QPR 2-4, Liverpool 2-5, Luton 0-3 (as I recall) - and for signing the spectacularly awful Alan Dickens.
Porterfield was utterly dire. Probably our worst manager in my time as a Chelsea fan.
Excellent hyperbole-free article on tomorrow's game from a Barca-based Fulham fan (and my former landlord). Interesting stuff on Xavi and John Terry and a class above everything else I read this weekend (mainly Barclay's terrible article apeing Barca talking points).
LINK
That talk of Campbell & Co. serves as a timely reminder that there have been times when we really were a bit shite!
Mind you, for Fulham to chime in is stretching supporter's licence a little too far.
Reply to fansincethesixties:
By that I meant that I can't remember when they weren't shite.
Probably a bit slow to post this, what with having been away over the Bank Holiday, but one question :
WTF is the new home shirt all about?
Looks like a royal blue stab-vest more than a football shirt. Not a fan.
Greetings all, it's been a while but you all seem in fine fettle. Good to see the boy Habs and the boy Glover getting a foot in and entertaining and informing us all in equal measure.
Its been a great day for the Chelsea fan. To start with the Chelsea Weekly Times is not out on a Monday (and for very good reasons I agree TG)and so a worrying trend towards consistency and dependibility has been stopped in its tracks.
Then Manure are rumoured to be ready to shell out £63 million on Ribery. It may be cobblers but it's good to see that even those teams with class and history are not beyond attempting to "buy" success ho ho.
Then Greenlight gives us the flag story. And here I sit the proud possessor of a photo of an empty Cashburton Library replete with a flag wedged in every seat. It looks like a cornfield just after harvest with this stubble in among the seats.
For (cough cough) various reasons I cannot tell how this came into my possession and I do not possess the skills to upload but I shall treasure it for use in future debates about the plasticity of fandom.
@ PeteW
As always a quality link. Unfortunately it led me onto the Patrick Barclay "man impersonates large penis impersonating journalist" column.
Would it surprise you to know that in his report on the 4-4 with Liverpool where they committed an astonishing 29 fouls to our 14 he did not see fit to mention continuous fouling as a tactic?
Thought not.
Reply to Greenlight:
@gREENlight
Seen any greenlight lately?
Reply to Jose Musumba:
"Nurse!"
"Nurse!"
"Morphine. Need. More. Morphine."
Oh yes and on a more sombre note I've read a few bits today about the 60th anniversary of the air crash that killed the great Torino team of the 40's. I see someone has posted on the Barca report with a link.
I have to confess I knew little of this until "researching" my Turin nonsense some weeks back.
It is something that goes unreported over here because I suppose from a sports point of view the 40's and earlier was another country in many ways and we really only start from the late 50's early 60's to recognise those sporting achievements as being comparable to more modern times.
Having nearly worked in Turin back in the late 80's and being of a "Chelsea" frame of mind I would of course have followed Torino as opposed to Juventus had I gone there.
In it's time I guess it was equivalent to the Munich air disaster and its effect on English football.
LINK
Ah, Blue Bayou, but that was 'different'.
It always is.
Up the Goons for one night only, got to love fellow southern softy flag waving shitehouses.
Conspiracy alert: no footage of our three previous wins against Barca at the Bridge can be found on You Tube.
Reply to PeteW:
Ouch - I recall those consecutive 2-5 home defeats in December [the first one was on the weekend of my birthday]:-(
The other great holiday time disaster was the Easter weekend a few years earlier when we lost 0-4 to the Wet Spammers on Saturday and 0-6 at QPR on the Monday [though at least we had the excuse of still being knackered after playing a league game and the Full Members Cup final on consecutive days the previous weekend that time].
An economist looks at the 6+5 rule.
LINK#comments
A simple question is how the hell did Arsenal make it into the semis of the Champions League.
Without temepting fate, I think the contest is effectively over. All we need now is for us to do the job tomorrow night, and then to serve that dish that's best served cold when we meet them again.
As much as i hate Utd, i love even more the fact that Arsene and his fucking pointless football philosophy is being embarrassed. Well done Utd but this is our year.
@ Clive your being generous calling it a contest lol.
I can imagine Arsene's pre game speech 'well lads we shown them beautiful passing football lets give them the rolling over and playing dead'.
Probably best if we don't gloat just yet.
Reply to Mark25:
Exactly how I felt when our lot started singing 'We're going to Rome' on Saturday.
Chickens, counting , hatched etc....
Fellow Blues
For those at the Bridge tomo night for the big one .... please make your best effort to lift our boys on their march to Rome.... Barca should fall apart right from the whistle....
Revenge on ManU at Rome. cant wait to see it...
Blue is te color..Winning is our Aim...