Premier League: Manchester United 2 - 0 Chelsea

It should have been 0-0 and who knows what would have happened if Mikel hadnt been undeservingly sent off!

Disagree about Kalou, It was Malouda who was especially crap today. I predict Roman will see the light and hire Zola, and we'll win the quadruple, and Spurs are going down. Berbatov will look brilliant in blue.

I thought Joe was extremely careless on the ball and all of our service through midfield was crap after Mikel was sent off. Maka seemed the only one capable of stringing a pass together. And the over the top crap doesn't work with Sheva; he's not Didier.

Malouda deserved to be hauled off though he was hacked down at every turn it seemed to me. Was extremely disappointed with the like for like substitutions; did anyone else feel the that Jose would've taken off Ben Haim or Paulo for Kalou/Pizarro/SWP, maybe even at halftime.

Not very encouraging (other than Ashley and Cech for me)...

Shellshocked.
I thought we were under the pump from the word go, and didn't look like scoring even before the sending off, after that we were on the ropes. Found myself at the end thinking about individual performances and agree that only Big Pete and Ashley played well. It
was the same as recent weeks, but with less possession and dominance, less invention, less hope and less fight. I was expecting something to be different, but the new era is the same as the old one, and I can't see anything changing until we get another coach.

Quite a few horrible decisions by various refs already this season, and not just for/against Chelsea, either. Interesting.

KTBFFH

This text is a lot of s***. Too optimistical. How dear Joe Cole was at his best. My goodness. A part from Cech and Ashley, I would say Malouda in his defensive task, everyone was out of sorts. Scheva has his legs gone and I am definitely convinced TSO was right when leaving him on the bench. Have we seen glimpse of brilliance anywhere, possession. I haven't seen anything over there to be honest. I too think we were defensively well-organised before the sending-off of Mikel but the formation was looking more of 4-5-1 than 4-3-3. The future isn't bright. We need to address plenty things quickly. Let go players who aren't feeling well right now, bring a new manager and not a mere coach and try to bring in some couple of good players (and not average players). Tal Ben Haim ain't good enough. That's for sure. He's very clumsy. Any good strikers (I am not talking about world-class players, simply good players) could easily ridicule him. When I saw the team formation I already knew it was a bit of politic. Why play Ferreira instead of Belletti? Just to say that everybody will get his chance. I ain't that crazy. Ben Haim will get more chance than Alex even though he's clumsy, slow, ineffective. I am afraid we will be struggling for a UEFA cup spot.
Come on the Chels' ... I hope so

Yes we put up a spirited display, but we seemed to lack any real passion, and were certainly bereft of ideas. Grant looked clueless and lost, and if the players looked to him for inspiration, all they would have seen would have been a startled rabbit caught between the headlights of a very fast red car.

I don't care if people scream it's too early to judge him, the simple fact is he probably isn't anywhere near as good as Claudio.
Lets just hope the Premier League refuse Chelsea to let him work beyond the 90 days, that way perhaps the search will begin in earnest for someone more qualified.

But one thing is for sure, if we lose our home record on Saturday, and especially to Fulham, it will nigh on impossible for him to win over any Chelsea fan in the short or long term!

Maybe the team selection would have been different if Carvalho/Lampard/Drogba had been fit, but to put Ferreira and Ben Haim instead of Belleti and Alex shows a defensive mind-set. Ben Haim was left for dead against Torres for his goal the other week, and Rooney got round him yesterday and would've scored but for a world-class save. Alex has pace and offers more going forward.

Like Tony I've been a supporter since the days of Ossie and Chopper and the last week has been hard to take. But I've learnt not to tempt fate by saying "Things couldn't get any worse..."

They most certainly can.

Tony, I would start by reminding everyone else reading this blog that while your passion and love for Chelsea are commendable, your understanding of the beautiful game is limited at best and clearly points out to the fact that you look at the game as a supporter who "thinks" he understands and not like a pro who really understands when analyzing his team's games.
For most of those who wrote here about what's happened to Chelsea today, psychology and logic are not their strong suit. And I don't mean to be insulting. I understand that most of you are too emotional right now to think straight.
Take out your "Mourinho" emotion and you'll see that it wasn't more than a game completely decided by absurd refereeing.
The best example supporting your lack of logic is your suggestion that the ref screwed us because he's a Liverpool man. Well, if you assume that as a Liverpool fan he hates Chelsea, let me tell you that Liverpool fans hate ManU even more and for a lot longer! And that's a fact. If you think that he wanted us not to get the points so Liverpool would get a table advantage, well.... he would have whistled for a tie, since ManU is just as much of a threat to Liverpool. Do you see how all this unfolds?
The referee was just plain stupid, as most English referees are! That's another fact!
Quit comparing today's game to games under TSO. Although, if you wanna look at it that way, under Jose we got smoked 2-0 by Villa in a game where the ref didn't influence the final result. And nobody will be stupid enough to compare ManU to Villa.
Since the ref got every important decision in the game wrong, Mikel's tackle wasn't a red card, the first ManU goal was scored 1'35" after the half should have ended and the ref was the only guy seeing a penalty on Saha, it becomes unappropriated to judge the team or the management on the bases of this game.
Martin Samuel of "The Times" was 100% right when he said: "If the jury is out on the new Chelsea manager, Avram Grant, it is because the performance of the referee ruled this match a mistrial".
The only thing that you can reasonably look at today, is team selection. And that was done right and doesn't leave a lot of room for argument. Ben Haim was selected because he contained Rooney every time he played against him. (Plus I think that Haim and Alex are very close value wise). Paulo was selected to show all players that the beef was with TSO and not with players brought in by him. The rest were selected for tactical reasons and nobody can complain.
Well, I'd like to continue explaining but have stuff to do and therefore, have to go.
In conclusion, settle down and let things play out. Abramovich has a vested interest to see the club do well. I am sure that his boys are out there searching for the perfect manager.
van Basten was in Roman's box today! He might be tempted to leave the Dutch national team. Not sure if he's THE GUY or not... but let's wait and see.

Andy, my "understanding is based on 37 years of watching football. Thats more than enough experience to qualify me to comment on any game. I don't deny the emotional side, but I watched the game in full yesterday and the highlights on MOTD, where the comments were similar to mine. Yes, we got smoked by Villa, but that was in a game we dominated and we got caught unluckily twice. Under TSO that was a RARE event - the facts and stats of his reign do not lie. To say that Ben Haim contained Rooney is laughable.

I've not heard if Belletti was injured, but if not the decision to play Ferreira instead is a curious one, based on the fact Belletti has probably been our best defender recently.

I'm afraid Ben Haim in for Alex was a shoe-in, purely because he's Israeli and despite the fact he's utter garbage. It's reminiscent of kids football where the manager picks his son, completely ignoring the fact he has to over-look better players.

I've never been a fan of Mikel and, while I agree the red-card was harsh, it's little more than he deserved for an ill-disciplined attempt in a 50-50. Quite simply he can't tackle, and past bookings / sendings off have been for similarly rash challenges. How we decided to waste £12m on someone with all the tackling skills of Paul Scholes is bizarre.

Anyone who fooled themselves into thinking that Jose's departure would signal a turn in the form of Shevchenko can now join the list of people who have known for quite some time that the bloke is simply past it. This must be his last season, and he's hardly going out in style.

Overall, just glad to get this week over. It's been a horrible time, as some have alluded to it's been similar to losing a loved one. The seasons not far from being over already, and the lack of noise coming from the club on players returning from injury is worrying. No-one in reserve seems to be good enough to replace those we've lost.

Andy you mention the ref didn't influence the final result at Villa, that may be so, but there was certainly an extremely valid claim for a penalty on SWP

Who's to say that it wouldn't have had some effect on the game if we had have scored from it, and there have been a number of important decisions which have affected the results since the Rob Styles penalty.

1.SWP against Villa penalty not given
2.Disallowed goal against Blackburn
3.Freekick for Rosenberg when Maka was fouled (not their player) which they scored from
4.Well I suppose you can take your pick from yesterday.

I'm not saying that every decision is going against us, but we are having a run of bad luck with officialdom at the moment.

And as far as being emotional well I'm with Tony on this one, as well as Nick, but that doesn't stop us in singing from the same hymn sheet... in that Grant isn't good enough and you don't have to be a footballing pro to work that one out.

The press in this country have almost brainwashed people into thinking that we owe football a debt by playing with style. Their systematic assault on Chelsea in an attempt to destabilise the club since our first title has been there for all to see.
It's the nature of the beast in this country as we don't like winners, they build you up... and then knock you down.

If Lewis Hamilton wins the drivers championship this year in F1 I wonder how long it will be before the assassination starts?

I agree with you on Roman and him wanting the best for the club, but it's the cronies he's surrounded himself with that worry me more.

Man Utd 2 - Chelsea 0

The result was almost irrelevant, though 11 against 11 and a decent bit of time keeping might have at least made it a contest. What was needed was a display and by and large we got one. We were never going to just roll over and there were some positives from the game however what is clear is that the post Jose era is going to be tough on Avram Grant who already has the demeanour of 'dead man walkin'.

It actually doesn't matter that the personnel in the Chelsea dressing room haven't changed. At this level its all about mentality and Jose had the winning mentality. Sure he was arrogant and his comments were often poorly chosen but things were black and white - you either loved him (and us) or hated him (and us). The football was not THAT dull - to a fan, winning is never dull - but the style question became a stick to whip us with.

Winning ultimately breeds respect, even if it doesn't come in the short term. Could Arsenal really be where they are now if it wasn't for the "1-0 to the Arsenal" days of George Graham and co ?. Would people respect Man U if they hadn't won so many premier league titles ?

We have sacked a winner and as fans are now the object of pity in many quarters. I heard Henry Winter saying that he felt sorry for Chelsea fans who had got used to "visiting great stadia and picking up trophies over the last 4 years".

I / We don't want anyones pity. I want my Chelsea back.

Hard to tell whether the red card caused a bad performance or offered an excuse for one. We were never going to get more than a draw, with or without JM, and really need to try and start afresh this week and try to put some points on the board.

It's time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and make sure we don't drop out the Champions League places. We've got the personnel, we can't let it slip and then we can make serious changes next summer.

Peter, good point but feeling sorry for ourselves is part of the change process described in my review. That doesn't just apply to the fans, but to the players as well. As discussed on 5 Live this morning the players need a coach who garner respect through achievements as well as earning it through the normal course of interaction. AG can't help the hangdog look, but the eyes of the world are on us and he looked like an overweight, overgrown ball boy whose Mum had failed to dress him properly. Whilst Gullit and Vialli both lacked managerial experience tey both had a world of playing experience at every level of the game and that immediately garners some respect from other players.

And starting again next summer means we have merely missed this season out. If the feeling was anti-JM then the close season would have been the best choice immediately after the FA Cup. The shock would have been no less, but we'd have had time to seek a replacement who could inspire both the players and the fans and that's something that will not happen with AG. We can see it, other fans can see it, the press can see it and in my view Kenyon also sees it but does whatever RA says so as to remain the highest paid CE in football. We should not have had to effectively lose a season, and what if they keep AG and let him rebuild next summer? What major players are going to be attracted to a club run by a man with no pedigree at any important level of football?

Jose Mourinho would not have selected Mikel and Tal Ben Haim to start. Chelsea are now going backward to the bad old days competing for the 4th place!

I can't bear this, I feel like killing myself! I want Zola to be our manager now!

Ben Haim was definmately only picked becuase he's an Isreali!

It's like this is all a bad dream and we'll be on top again before long. I just hope Roman replaces The Special One with a decent manager. If he didn't like Jose's defensive style of football, he definately won't like Avram's loosing style, so we should have someone installed by January.

If Grant looses our home record against Fulham i think he should be lynched outside the bridge and..........ahhhhh, i might say something incriminating!!!!

This man must know how much he is lothed by us supporters, if he had any dignity he'd leave. I Can't bare to even look at him!!!

K/T/B/F/F/H

Tony - I absolutely agree. Winning the FA Cup was probably the worst thing we could have done, because it meant RA couldn't sack Jose in the summer, which would have been better for all concerned.

Grant isn't up to the job, I have no doubt about that, but he should still be good enough to get us to fourth IF the club pulls together. And we have to do that, because if we don't qualify for the CL, we'll be really sunk in the summer, with or without Grant (and I don't think he'll last).

Yesterday was always going to happen - and could have been a LOT worse (United are looking really average this season) - but we can't afford for the moodiness and ill-feeling to continue much longer or it's going to get really ugly.

We look like we never close to scoring, Chelsea game reminds the one of Airline FC last season. We make lot of passing but we never really threaten oppositon.

All things considered, it could have been far worse. Players definitely distracted, refereeing conference standard at best and result fairly inevitable.

Two questions though. a) what does Wayne Rooney have to do to see red - infanticide? b) when does the 'kick these divers out of the game!' campaign turn its guns on Saha? Old school Drogba as his best, that was...

Watching Rooney reminds me of Mark Hughes when he first joined Chelsea. He complained that he was suddenly getting booked for the sort of tackles that he used to get away with playing for United. Wonder why, eh Sparky?

Got to say, in terms of hounding the ref, fouling, whinging and diving, United were up there with the very, very worst of JM's Chelsea yesterday.

I'm sure their supporters and the newspapers will be quick to condemn such behaviour.

Yes that was one thing I noticed with Chelsea yesterday Peter, we didn't hound the referee on his somewhat dubious decisions. It looks as if Roman has issued orders down to his foot soldiers and is trying to win the hearts and minds of the media and footballing public with a more sporting Chelsea.
Someone should inform him that it looks highly unlikely that other teams will follow suit, and besides I'm not advocating that the ref should be badgered (rodgered perhaps in Dean's case) but it does take away a little passion and desire to win.

The only query with Grant was the use of players when we went down. I know JM would have done one of his crazy formations because tactically JM had mastered his players...Grant as ugly and lost as he may look I give him credit for giving Manu a game... The facts that the ref was a fake can not be emphasised enough...

JM is gone and am not going to cry over spilt milk...We have to move on and that is that...

I had asked for a miracle against Manu but with Hull no requests of the same. There will be no excuses for any similar displays...

This season is not over...it is us to decide when it is over and if Essien puts in a isplay like that we should sell the whole lot and then we can say the season is over.

Thumbs up to the fans for the booing of the display...We shall not accept this kind of display from players being paid loads of money as professionals.

We didnt really threaten then because we had a player sent off and many key players out with injury, I thought the refereeing was ridiculous Rooney and Scholes both commited red card offences!

No doubt the story will be different at the bridge!

Let's see if this referee will be suspended, or chief referee isssues aplogy to Chelsea.

I've only just caught on that the media vultures are circling high above us. The Hull game which wasn't on the list to be televised originally now is.
It's quite obvious that they're not content with any possible slip up that might occur only being witnessed by the crowd at the game.
Oh no... lets put it out to a bigger audience, so everyone can have a laugh, and if Mr Dean refs he can let Hull score a couple of goals during the half time break.

I know we're trying to get over this mess, but i read a beleivable timeline of TSO's career at Chelsea on the guardian web site

LINK

Essien played a howler yesterday and needs to refocus, so do all of our players. Hopefully we'll see Lamps and Drogs in the strip soon, they seem to be the most heart broken over TSO's departure.

K/T/B/F/F/H

the earlier we realize sheva legs and strenght are gone the better. how long should we continue to be handicapped by Drogba’s injury.am confident we should have won blackburn and rosenborg matches if we had competent stricker afterall we had more possesions,played entertaining football and lots of chances. premiership is now 100miles/hr and he’s lost the pace

Kalopu 4 - rubber legged eubber brained headless chicken???
At least the guy can go past players...

Shevchenko 7??? How many times did his first touch let us down. It's almost as if he's forgotten he's a footballer. For F*** sake!!! Losing your pace is bad enough but if you can't control a ball than you should be sent to the bloody knackers .

Maka played well and and Benhaim looks a liability.

Overall though, like JD says, it could have been far worse.
Add Carvalho , Lampard and Drogba and a settled backline and things will without doubt be a lot better.

And Malouda is no Robben but he's a solid, hardworking, intelligent winger who's got a bit of everything, pace, heart, a good left foot and looks lke he will get us a few goals.

It's not his fault he had no one up top along with him. Everytime he passed to Sheva, the guy lost the ball.

Lay off him. He isn't Robben but he's a good player and he'll get a better for us.

One has to wonder quite what sort of team we'll be presented with on Wednesday. If we were at full strength and injury-free, I could see a few of them being rested.

The problem is we're so devoid of form at the moment it's like they all need to play !!! Maybe one or two of the youngsters getting involved (Sinclair, Hutchison etc.) And it would be a nice confidence booster to score a few. So drop Sheva and Kalou and take it from there.

Sorry Cashif, but Malouda (apparently homesick)hasn't impressed me and Kalou may well go past players but it would help if he had the ball when he did it.

Tony Count me out...He is no Robben but He cuts way above some players we have.

You lot amuse me...when JM bought Belleti he was a hopeless buy...am definately not going to go back and quote some of your statements...kalou yes did lose the ball but he was not bein supported and was being kicked off the park by that classless manu backup...it was shoddy...

now that Jose's gone...I reckon we'll finish 5th and id be
surprised if we win anything at all this year...the way this club is run is farcical and roman seems to have completely
lost the plot, I reckon he will stick with grant even if we keep losing..I think Roman doesn't want a top manager..he just wants another yes man like kenyon, buck and the rest of the corporate scum.
the team is falling apart and everything the TSO built
is unraveling
we are Fu**ed

Belleti and Malouda have impressed me alot, Robben never played well and got injured every 5 minutes!

Im sick of the hate on Shevi, there are big differences between seria a and the premiership he will het better trust me guys!

I understand that there is to be a big protest on Saturday against the decision to remove TSO. Apparently the intention is that everyone will leave at halftime. Has anybody else heard this?

BTW1. Supposedly Van Basten was there as a guest of ManUSA not CFC.

BTW2. I don't imagine Joe would have made the tackle (lunge) on The Winker if he hadn't been so frustrated with Dean's bizarre & biased decisions. No excuse I know but mitigation.

My syncretic attempt was waisted on most of those sharing ideas here (although am sure helped those who read the blog but are too shy to write). I tried to give you a logical way to reconcile your off the charts emotions with the reality of our team.
Now, let me explain Sheva to you.
Sheva hasn't lost any pace, or not much, anyway. Deadly strikers like Sheva, van Nistelrooy, Owen, Crespo, or going back a few years, Gerd Muller, Keegan etc. were not as deadly as they were due to their pace(!!!) but for their instinctive presence in the right place, at the right time. None of these guys have scored their countless goals by chasing balls at great speed, where they beat the defenders for pace, but for their fabulous movement and placement combined with brilliant ball control. None of the above mentioned strikers could perform without consistent service. Should Sheva get the service he was getting from the likes of Kaka, Seedorf and Pirlo, he'd be scoring over 25 goals a season. Mourinho knew that but wasn't prepared to help Sheva succeed! He wanted Sheva to fail because Sheva was bought against his will. Shearer knew this the other day when he was telling everyone that Sheva will soon show his class and prove his critics wrong. So, try and get it... it's not about pace.... it's about service.
On team selection, read again my post above regarding why were Ben Haim and Ferreira selected. Hope this will help with your better understanding of the beautiful game.
One last thought... the last straw for Mourinho's dismissal was the fact that Chelsea fans were not attending the games anymore... so, when you add poor results with what was perceived as not too sexy play and you piss off the owner with your attitude, I guess you gotta go!
Go, Chelsea!

100% right, No doubt when Lamps,Drog get back from injury and Ronaldinho or Quaresma are bought we will see the best of Shevchenko!

ChelseaJoe
Sheva will not play better and btw you have sounded the reason PL is not Serie A and he is too old to adapt to whatsoever! From Chelsea he is going either to USA or back to Dynamo Kiev and btw it will happen very soon. Abramovich must learn not to interfere with manager's job.

I highly doubt that, Look at Shevchenko last season then this season and tell me he hasnt improved or adapted. Ballack and Shevchenko will both stay at chelsea!

I think (thanks to that twat of a ref) we can disregard yesterdays fiasco of a football match as any kind of benchmark as to how we're gonna perform from now on.

OK, We're all worried as to wether Grant has what it takes to be successful at this level, and wether or not some of our squad players are good enough (all mourinho signings by the way). But ANY team would struggle if they were missing their equivalents of Lampard, Ballack, Drogba and Carvalho.

We've gotta give him (Grant) time to implement his ideas with a full squad at his disposal, and then see how things pan out over the next ten games or so.

Ya gotta admit though, whatever else, supporting Chelsea's never dull eh?

If it wasn't for that goal against spurs in the fa cup, i would have given up on sheva a long time ago. As it is he is on borrowed time until drogs get back.

Bring back Eidur!!!

Ok, just so there is no confusion, this is the other 'Andy'.

The performance at Old Trafford was for my money depressing.... not because the side didn't play well, but because if you look behind the performance, the fire had gone from the eyes of the likes of Terry, Essien, Kalou and Malouda.

What has made Chelsea 'special' in the last threee years is their ability to win. JM had the players believing that they were invincible and whilst it is not always the nicest thing to see, the sight of Grant jesticulating at the ref over the sending off, or the players surrounding the ref over any one of a number of frankly ridiculous decisions, would have at least shown that the players were fighting together to get out of the mess..... but I didn't get that impression at all.

It is time to stop all the bollocks about defending Shevchenko. He is quite clearly not the player he once was. His first touch is rubbish, ge gets outmuscled for every ball, and if his strength is to get into good positions behind defenders, he simply ain't doing it. I acknowledge that the fact we had 10 men made it almost impossible for him to play his own game on Sunday, but it has been 18 months now, and as commented, other than the goal at Tottenham, he has done absolutely nothing to impress me.

Kalou has promise, but currently he is too prone to trying to beat one man too many. It costs us so many decent opportunities.

I would love to think that the return of Lamps, Drogba and Carvalho will improve things, but let's not forget that these three are Jose's biggest fans in the dressing room, and they will be hurting more than most.

I believe the best hope for Chelsea, is that the players will bond together in the face of all of the criticism and re-kindle the backs to the wall mentality.

Otherwise, brace yourselves...... This will be a very long year.

I always hoped that Sheva would come good, accepted that he'd take time to adjust to the pace and attain full fitness, but I'm starting to think this is not going to happen. It seemed at the time that Sheva and Ballack were bought to increase the experience and quality for the CL effort, and you could say Sheva has fared better in those games with important goals.

Having read the article CheBeef linked to above, it seems incredulous that Sheva would excuse himself from the Brondby match, then play golf, so maybe he can't be bothered chasing that extra half-yard of pace. So if he can't/won't change to suit the team, then the team has to change to suit him?

The absurdity of Roman telling Essien how to play beggars belief. If he's a fan like the rest of us then yes, he has his ideas about who should play and what formation etc. and like the rest of us has an opinion about the team. It would be unwise to let any of us manage the team, despite our best intentions. Being the owner no-one can stop him meddling but it does not augur well for the future.

Really worrying article.... albeit from a piss-poor source!

LINK

Drogs out for 2 months.... I don't think I can stand watching Sheva and Kalou for that long.

I think what's more worrying than the rumours he could leave, is that with Grant in charge, no-one would want to come and play for him.

Hardly the same appeal as playing under someone as dynamic as Jose is it ???

I think we'll finish top 4. We've played two of the 'Big 4' already and the others havent (Liverpool and ManUSA played us once, Arsenal played none). Obviously they'll drop points against each other in these games so we'll have the chance to close the gap(s).

We need to start winning though. And at this stage, despite JM having left, all we want is to win. Sod attractive football, it's that desparate already.

Looking at the next 9 fixtures before we face the Arse... I think we should be looking at getting maximum points for those games.

Yeah I know, easier said than done considering our current predicament. But if we want to be in contention then we can't really afford to drop much more than 3 to 4 points during those games, especially if we want to close the gap on Wengers boys, or infants, or whatever the press call them.

andy (the one in lower case, for the avoidance of doubt)

some slightly high-handed suggestions and assertions from you in relation to certain issues raised on here, but the one that made me laugh most was this:

>> Sheva hasn’t lost any pace

Possibly one of the most ridiculous and laughable misconceptions I think I've ever read on here.

Mourinho's treatment of Sheva was undoubtedly part of his downfall, but the simple fact is that our expensive Ukranian friend's legs are completely fucked. Mourinho, stubborn bugger though he was at times, knew his players and their strengths and weaknesses far better than anyone else - especially Abramovich.

Watching Sheva run now is almost painful; you talk about the service he received at Milan which is correct to an extent, but he exploited this due to combination of a classic striker's instinct AND 'pace' (a much misunderstood concept in football).

The examples you use are all the same; there was always the ability to combine the brain and the legs to deadly effect. Whether they used their 'pace' half a dozen times in a game over 5 yards or through a number of 50 yard sprints obviously depended on the player and their particular style.

There are always classic examples of players that cliche spouting pundits like Shearer always label as "not the quickest" and the inevitable Hoddle classic "first five yards is in his head". In short - it is generally utter nonsense.

Take a look at Vialli's book "The Italian Job"; he cites a couple of interesting points about the concept of 'pace' and how it is misunderstood in the English game; the three quickest players in the Arsenal 'Invincibles' side of 2003-4? Henry, obviously; Pennant, not that it was seen much on the pitch - and the third?

Bergkamp. Not 100 metre style Henry sprints that people traditionally associate with a 'pacey' player, but (and Zola falls into this category too) what the Italians call 'explosive pace'; that powerful 5 yard burst which coupled with a great 'football brain' makes certain players so deadly.

Whether we like it or not, Sheva's legs have gone; no question. He's still talented and will still score goals if he adapts (we certainly shouldn't be adapting our game to a 30 year old striker with his obvious problems), but if Roman thinks that simply changing the coach will get the 26 year old AC Milan Sheva back, it explains perfectly why he should stick to making money and leave the football to those that know better.

Also, his first touch is shit.

I came across this article from Martin Samuels this morning LINK
which is self explanatory.
Of course you get he usual diatribe from the haters in the comments. But to save you the pain of trawling through them all, one in particular from an extremely knowledgeable Chelsea fan was excellent and worth a cut and paste for all to read...



Same old same old! Honestly Martin! Expected better from you! You really must learn to hide your West Ham hat a bit better!

What makes a big club?

Attendances? Well if so, they have the 2nd highest attendance out of those in the Premier League (82,905, Man City is higher but then they had Man Utd fans in their crowd as their team was playing away!). Chelsea also had an estimated 120,000 to watch a friendly against Dynamo Moscow. Ah! But its consistency that counts I hear you say; well then, Chelsea have the 5th highest average attendance in the ALL-TIME English league. That’s right 5th! Higher than Newcastle, Everton, Sunderland and co - so if Chelsea are small than how big are the other 130 odd clubs behind them that have been in the English league then?

As for the Rosenborg attendance why not look back in history at other “big clubs” attendances for European matches? For example, Liverpool at Anfield with only 12,021 v Dundalk, 1982/83 European Cup 1st rd, 1st leg (knock-out phase as well) there are many many more examples of the “big clubs” not selling out in this and other competitions. Attendance often can be linked with economy –even with a reduced price of 44 quid for Rosenborg this is still much more expensive than the Man Utd or Liverpool tickets. Chelsea fans have been typically paying 50 quid a pop for a match – if the other shad to pay that then would be protests and boycotts. You might also want to look at how many of these clubs have the Champions League games included in their season tickets (Chelsea don’t). Still, why spoil a good old Chelsea bashing session eh!

The lowest Premier League attendance is actually held by Wimbledon, and on a more historic note, the lowest attendance in the old English 1st Division is held by…wait for it…Arsenal.

Trophies are what count! What a glory-hunting attitude! Ok then; Chelsea have won more silverware then approx 16 of the current Premier League and a darn sight more than the majority of league clubs in history. So again, if Chelsea are small, then the rest are smaller. Incidentally we won a major European trophy before Liverpool and in fact were the first to qualify for the European Cup (the FA “recommended” that we didn´t enter).

Money? Well we currently are about 3rd in the list of highest income and about 6th in the world. So if Chelsea aren’t a big club what does that make the rest?

As some are so keen on history, why not look at how some of these clubs got big in the first place? Arsenal were saved from liquidation by Henry Norris who then promptly moved them to North London and got then promoted despite finishing 6th in the 2nd division (they are the only club not to have earned the right to play in the top flight on the field of play). Then go to the 30s (Arsenals most successful period), Herbert Chapman with those mysterious payments to get the best players in! How about Man Utd? Saved twice from liquidation in their history- first by John Henry Davis and then later, again, by W Gibson. How about Liverpool? Shankly frustrated by not being able to get out of the 2nd division, so Everton chairman Moores (of Littlewoods Pools and one of the richest families in Britain) puts his chief accountant on the Liverpool board to sign the cheques for Shanks! He also bought 20-25% of Liverpool as well as owning Everton!

Tradition? How many names or grounds have some of these “big clubs” ever had? Chelsea only their original in each case.

…and the rest, as they say, is HISTORY!

The 'big club' argument is so ridiculous. I spent my youth being told that Chelsea were a 'sleeping giant'; now we've woken up, we've become a 'small club with no history'.

Make your minds up!

Another fact to make the blood boil;

The Sloth AKA Avram Grant doesn't work on Saturdays! As he's a jew!!!

That's not going to work not is it Roman!!!

K/T/B/F/F/H

To Andy · 25th September 2007 at 2:22am
Completely agree!

Clive, very well said. Wish those Arse scumbags read your comments, and stop being silly calling us as "small" club.

J. Dyer,

spot on mate. Really enjoyed your rant about Shevchecnkos legs.

I don't suppose you write regularly for anyone? these days you have to read a lot of shit before you find a nugget of journalistic gold.

Looking forward to seeing if this modern Chelsea play with as much heart as the fans deserve.. A real big test of Chelsea's character..

Afternoon Dylbo,

My ramblings are generally restricted to this blog; keeps me off the streets and saves the wife from having to listen to it all!!

my heart just shattered into a million pieces

keep up the good work then!

Finally found time to listen to yesterday's Guardian Football Weekly podcast. Lots of discussion about the 'Turncoat Terry' article published in Sunday's Observer.

All very worrying.

I can't face listening to it, but the Guardian has a pretty crap record of getting Chelsea stories right and it's been poo-poohed in the Times, who have much better contacts at the Bridge, and also the odious but well-informed Harry Harris.

The Times have generally been shown to be spot on with everything they've said has gone on behind the scenes at CFC.

As a Chelsea supporter living in Manchester this was one of the games that I really wasn't looking forward to. As it goes Uniteds own indiffrenet performance , the farcical refereeing and the genuine loss about Mourinho dulled even most United fans. This wasn't beating Chelsea but beating a man when they are down.

The performance itself lacked shape, lacked any real zip apart from some backheels and some one touch passing before Mikel was sent off and whilst we never looked out of the game completely until the penalty we never really looked in it as well.

Sorry but for me Shevchenko is no more effective than Pizzaro and Pizarro looks stronger.SWP for all his faults is a better option than Kalou, Sidwell a better attacking option in midfield.

I am not sure who will lift the team, it won't be Grant and I am not sure what the situation is with Terry after the newspaper reports, he might not have the dressing room with him as captain.

Been said before I am sure but Jose going was the worst thing I have experienced in 45 years of supporting the club. He was a winner, someone to die for.

I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist but reading here

LINK

the news about Obi Mikel being banned for 3 games, as well as potential action over JT's alleged attempt to grab that prick Dean's red card, along with a potential charge of failing to control our players because they complained about that shite decision then I am seriously beginning to think the whole thing is crumbling around us. It seems the FA are only too happy to kick a club when it's down whilst allowing others to behave in a far worse way than us.

Perhaps the club should just keep the FA at arms length - remain professional but perhaps keep a low profile by pulling out of any FA sponsored initiatives and charity events for the foreseeable future.

But this part of the report I read before the ruling...
"As Fifa does not allow cards to be downgraded Chelsea could only have won the appeal if they had proved that no action at all should have been taken"

We all know it was more of a yellow card than red so it was a lost cuase before we started.

I think Dean could have reviewed his decision and downgraded it to yellow... but I suppose he was too pig headed to admit he made a mistake.

And I'll add quickly with the irony of the Essien tackle on Hamman in the Champions League.
I think he got a yellow when he should have had a red, but we all know what UEFA decided to do after SKY showed it umpteen times over the week.

The game was not good. 1 shot on goal! ManU was average, but still deserved the win. Water under the bridge...

There are plenty of good players waiting in the wings, and if we play Pizarro, SWP, 2xCole, Essien, Makka, Sidwell, Belletti, JT, Alex on Saturday, then we will win. A home defeat against Fullham would be a total dissaster!

sky sports reported this morning that R.A says he`s "willing to sack any player at chelsea that rocks the boat" at the moment. oh really?! what the bloody hell`s it turning into down at stamford bridge? sounds for all the world like the nazi`s are in there, never mind the bleeding russians!! apparently he`s taking more of a `hands on` roll, dictating tactics, team selection etc. well that`s just great, 2 *!$!heads in charge who haven`t got a clue between em what they`re doing!! the only thing that brought a grin to my face was the news that Ronaldinho might be coming to play for us, but then again, i`ve already had sly comments from friends about that today (man ure, liverscum and newcastle fans), "oh, what`s abramovich trying to do, buy the prem again? or is it because his manager`s that shit that he`s gotta get someone like ronaldinho in to score goals, take the pressure off him and keep the fans on side?" naturally i told them all to go forth and multiply..ahem! suppose they have made a fair point. abramovich wants to win the champs league..erm..TWICE. with grant? no chance!! i`m all for giving the guy time and as ray wilkins has said, if he gets us a win (or a few wins at the mo!!) then MAYBE i`d change my opinion. just can`t picture it in my mind at all though. he hasn`t even got the necessary qualifications to be a manager, then to top it off, he can`t turn up at training sessions because of religious reasons. that`s fair enough, but not very good when you`re trying to reclaim a premiership title AND win the champs league, FA and carling cup!! i`m just getting more and more depressed by the day. bet the press can`t wait for tomorrow night`s game against hull, some already predict we`re gonna lose. god help us if we do. we`ll be in the news for ANOTHER week. talk about kicking someone when they`re down..p.s T.S.O says he wants to come back to us as manager..as soon as abramovich leaves. i`ve got my pen at the ready...now where`s that petition??!!
up the chels xxx

formerly known as "andy"

MARCO VAN BASTEN has been offered the Chelsea job

LINK

guru

That'd do me!

It's here as well - dunno if this can be considered a more reliable source

LINK

Slightly concerning is the Times this morning that reports Lampard and Drogba wont be back until after the International break in October.

No goals for us for another month !!!!!

the ref should have just worn a manu jersy and continued refreeing the game we cant put up with this shit on the stick kind of stuff in the long run it manifests itself in the world cup just as graham poll did in the world cup tottenham etc .... now they are cahrging chelsea for infringing the ref absolute double standards considering our case against liverpool

the ref should have just worn a manu jersy and continued refreeing the game we cant put up with this shit on the stick kind of stuff in the long run it manifests itself in the world cup just as graham poll did in the world cup tottenham etc .... now they are cahrging chelsea for infringing the ref absolute double standards considering our case against liverpool

[...] with the team now having gone three league games without scoring. See this from Tony Glover at Chelseablog, for example: “Whilst we are hurting as fans, the rest of football sees us as a laughing [...]

For those who were shouting that Jose off mean us playing attacking football are all speechless. Even the Arsenal's performance was not as classy as usual...

I am very disappointed, not a great pessimistic but I reckon woes are ahead of the schedule I am afraid