Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur 4 - 4 Chelsea

The best we played....

Sounds a little strange. "we'l scrape a win at sunderland but not at Tottenham, then a draw at best against the Arse"
I said that after the Derby game -- and it looks like I'm right so far.

We don't have the bottle.

BTW - you sound incredibly cheerful with that review.

What a bunch of wallys Chesea are. Showing their class after the Cole incident....honestly!! its embarrassing to watch this lot.

Great game of football though and look forward to next season when Mr Ramos has had the summer to massage his squad...not sure what Avrams going to massage to improve the blues.

I guess the kicker is Tottenham are going to finish the season with more silverware....your going to win F%$k all!!!

I know it is too obvious to be worth saying, but what Mourinho team would have given up a two goal lead, or a one goal lead for that matter? What crap.

Lordy Lordy!

Avram Grant, you're out of your depth. lease fuck off asap.

That is all.

It's bloody terrible. We used to be the most feared and organised team in the premiership in terms of set pieces, both in defense and offence, but watching us play since grant took over, I can't help but to look away whenever we concede a corner or a free kick. We have one of the tallest teams in the premiership, but marking in the box is terrible, and everyone seems to have forgotten to how to jump.

And dont get me started on Grant's substitutions, taking off the lively Kalou was questionable, then the bloody genius takes off our best player, Joe Cole, who had only just scored no less. OK OK, he wanted to protect the lead and bolster his midfield maybe? NO, five minutes later we catch him trying to put on Wright-Philips and that was before tottenham equalised. FFS FFS FFS.

Mark I really admire you for making such a comment. All the benefits go to nobody but Man Utd fans. Cheers to them for their back-to-back title.

Certainly this is not what a champion team should do, and not a manager who WANTS to hunt for his first ever trophy to do: Subbing Ballack for Joey and Alex for Kalou? Is he frigging crazy or out of his mind?


I hate the spurs, but I hate Grant even more.

What the fuck is wrong with this man???

One damning crazy thought:
let's just screw the rest of all the matches and get done with.
I don't want us to "believe" we could do it and wait till Man Utd/Arse slip up before we can catch back our 5 points.
Its already getting on my nerves, I want Grant to be sacked and sod off asap!!!!! He should sub SWP to use up some time, or maybe DO NOT LET GO OF Joey. Gosh, there never had been any tacts/moves from this old chap. Dont depend on him to even draw at SB this Sunday, cos' we are expected to break the record, and lose to the Arse.


Hope we can still KTBFFH, but as long as Boris is still available, I see let's sit back and enjoy the rest of the season.

This is sexy football aint it eh?

Straight up, Ballack should've come on for Lampard who did fuck all today (not that I hold it against him...he scored four last time out...not trying to start the Lampard debate again) and Joe should've remained in the game. The real shame is that we didn't have Mikel on the bench--he would've been a much smarter substitution for Kalou than Alex. He could've shored up the midfield and, perhaps, we wouldn't have played so much in our end the final half hour. Grant fucked it up royally and when we come up points short in May (United are going to win it again aren't they?) we should remember this one as AVRAM's fault.

Short of that nonsense, what a game from the guys. Joe was brilliant, Drogba looked strong again and it was one of Kalou's best games in Blue for me. If only someone on the back line could defend a set piece.

Absolutely spot on Stowe.

Bringing Mikel on as a second defensive midfielder would have killed the game off, as they could have kept possession and run the clock down.

Bringing Alex on for a forward simply invited them to run at us and let them get on the front foot.

Unfortunately the problem is the same one I have now mentioned after the last few poor results. Grant, nice man though he is, has absolutely no ability to change the course of a game (for the benefit of us, at least) once it is in play.


Alternatively, let Clarke decide on the substitutions. He must have learned something under Jose!

End of conversation.....

Stowe and Greenlight hit it. Not only are Grant's substitutions crap, but he often handicaps himself selecting poor bench players. No Mikel? How long has it been since Sheva was a threat to any defender in the reserve or first teams?

I also have to wonder what this game does for Terry's chances of the captainship or even starting for England. Surely Woodgate has earned a spot?

...I also have to wonder what this game does for Terry’s chances of the captainship or even starting for England. Surely Woodgate has earned a spot?...

Agreed! This perhaps was the surprise of the night with England manager in the stands for JT to put on a way below par performance at the same time Woodgate shining.... Crap.

No surprises there with Boris mind, and his inept substitutions!

With the bench he had, if only he had brought in Ballack at 1-3 to sure up the midfield and add height and fresh legs (either for Lamps or Kalou) I think it would have nicked all the points.

I am just happy Cudi saved the day at the end!!

Mixed emotions here as well regarding the rest of the season.

Scousers would have to get a result (at least a draw) and us winning on Sunday to
have a chance still.

And Sheva over Anelka? Did I miss something?

Deja-vu? Its the same story everytime.

Either we only attack during the last 10 minutes or we get into a good lead and players start doing stupid shit and try to score instead of picking out team-mates in good positions and end up shooting straight at the keeper or into the stands and in the end we end up drawing.

After that we get a win against shit teams and everyone is like oh its all good we are still in the race. Fuck the race if you can't win it.


Blue for life (until I get heart problems from watching them)

It's official then, we really are as crap as Spurs! I hadn't realised that defensive incompetence/incontinence was a contagious disease. If we're going to draw games, lets keep it low scoring to maintain some sort of credibility, who says lightening doesn't strike twice?

they scored 3 goals from set pieces, and it's grants fault. seriously.
the reason we're not winning is this constant barrage of insults, every time we don't trash opponents 6:0, and even then it's the players. when jt is pushed over by berbatov - it's grants fault, when riccy plays ball to keane with his a***, it's grant's fault. when makelele stays in 6 yard box picking his nose, watching huddlestone with the ball, it's grants fault.
we lost edge. and it's not grant's fault. dubious substitutions my a***.

It ain't over yet guys, PLEASE try to think more positive on this one!

We've still got Sunday to play, then Utd have got to come to our place, i ain't saying we've screwed up until i see how them 2 games pan out. They're the 2 toughest fixtures we've got left this season.

The boys have got the right attitude and their winning mentality was there on display last night. It was a case of 2 bad substitutions (Ballack and Sheva)that cost us 2 points, nothing else. When a team is scoring, playing well as a whole, he's got to realise....LEAVE IT ALONE!!!!!

Does he think substitutions HAVE to be made every game or what? If he insists on doing that, then why on earth take off your best player on the day/night? Very strange..

Ive concluded he's either;

On McFergie's payroll..
There are Dark Forces at work
OR
He's stark raving mad!!!!

Hmmmmm.....

I am so disappointed. Every time we hope again, Avram shoots us down. No coaching qualifications, no experience of a big job, no experience of even a half decent job, a couple of clubs in Israel and the national team. It's pathetic.

This is what happens when you don't run a club properly. I'm so confused about the whole structure of the club with all these technical directors, board members, assistants, none of whom seem to know what they're doing. We bring in Ten Cate who says he came to Chelsea 'for some peace and quiet'. The whole backroom staff of Avram Grant was obviously not selected by him, he doesn't even have his own staff.

When are people going to realise the continental coaching structure is not the best for England. You need a manager in charge of the whole club, e.g. Ferguson & Wenger. When is Roman going to stop using the club as an experiment in mismanagement. From top to bottom, from the owner to the players who step out on the pitch, we look confused and seem to have lost our way. I never saw such shocking defending in the Jose era. We can still go out and play, but especially in the important games, against half decent opposition (and it hurts me to include sp*rs - but only because we made them look good), Avram manages to make a right mess of it.

Please Roman, sort it out. Or whoever is running things. Arnesen, Kenyon, Buck, Tenebaum, Ten Cate, Clarke, the groundsman, the tea lady...

Mark,
tell me that you were high when you wrote this article :(.. cos you sound SO damn cheerful!! or have you just thrown in the towel? Cant say anything else but just laugh yourselves silly and enjoy??just plain...lost it?
Other than the hilarious joke about the Grant book having blank pages, I really didnt agree with your rating.

Pathetic defending at set pieces and in general our defending was bad, I remember the commentator saying, 'some excellent passes in the Spurs half but absolutely dubious passing within Chelsea's half...among themselves'!!!
It was a poor bench,surely.But, with what we had on bench, I would have brought in Alex earlier in place of...hold your breath Lampard!!! He was bad,invisible..Maka made some great moves, Lamps..where was he?????
Paulo is a shadow of what he was when TSO was around....
JT is still trying to be a leader,am sure he wants to lead from the front, but when he says the Toad, i guess he thinks 'I should do this for THIS guy?' and loses interest..motivation etc...Drogba, as much as he behaved like a little girl ballet, falling,holding his head ;) he TROUBLED the Spurs, he was lively, I wish he would be like this for the rest of the games, I think he has BIG issues when he looks at the toad,
Joe..standing ovation, he had possession, he moved through the Spurs defence, showed up at the right end of the passes, he came back to defend a couple of times,and he scored..twice, sweet..
Ashley, really lucky he didnt get red carded... but, these things happen, the tackle Chimbonda did on JC was at least a yellow and he got away, so i think it just evens out.
Essien, looks like he is coming back to his elements since the departure of JM, someone needs to show him the videos of his former self, when he was equal to 3(?) players on the field.
Saloman.... he was there, did his little thing, one very good move from the left flank, still lacks the poaching abilities a striker should posses like Owens or Rooney..
Carlo, He saved the day for us with two lovely saves, both from world class finishers..he deserves to share the credits with Joe Cole.

Ballack... he couldnt do much really he was a little confused to be there in the middle.
and Sheva...? what for he came on? time wasting tactics?I would have brought in SWP and somehow passed the ball to him, so that he could run all the way to the right corner, imagining he has dribbled around (4 players) when in reality all he would be doing would be tripping over the ball, clueless, no direction at all ;)!!!!! and then shoot... into the crowd!!!! thats our SWP.. ha ha.. ;)Even the Spurs fan could have a good laugh at him ;)!!!

I wish somehow all our players look right through the toad,think about us fans and do everything for the pride of the club..I wish they listen to Clarke, and Cate and they accept that game is bigger than the presence of Toad, Fans are important, we need someone to talk to the players... I hope someone floods the inboxes of our players with links from this website and they all realise how much we care..
one more thing,to all the 'fans' who concede that manure 'deserve' the title.. please stop it, how could you even say it? with blue running in your veins??!!! its pathetic..the very thought of Red Nose smiling gleefully at his boys play makes my blood boil..am sure for the Arse fans its all schadenfreude...
I am so tired,exhausted..exasperated at this AG guy, i wanna say one thing..DIE!!!!!

"We led 3-1 and then lost two goals from corners, and even when we went one up we lost an equaliser from a free-kick.

"It's very disapponting. One of our stengths is we defend well against corners and free-kicks but in the last two games Spurs scored five goals from set-pieces. I don't know how to explain this."

Avram Grant

Don't know how to explain this? You're the manager you idiot!!! It's because you probably haven't practiced set pieces in training properly and because you invited pressure onto us after establishing a comfortable 2 goal lead! Or maybe because you messed up the whole structure of our team and taking off our best player! We ended up playing some sort of variation of 5-4-1 with four central midfielders!

I hate being so negative but we could have won everything this season with a decent manager in charge. sp*rs in the carling cup final, no big teams left in the fa cup, the league was looking good, with the mancs and arse repeatedly slipping up and in the champions league, it's a decent draw. I'm not giving up on the league and champions league, but come on, with this idiot in charge, can we win any of the important games?

Why couldn't Roman just swallow his pride in January last year and give Jose the money he wanted and also in the summer?

Die? AG is already a dead man walking! We used to have 'The Special One', now we have 'The Stupid One'! AG has made Chelsea a laughing stock with his amateurish substitutions. Roman should stop putting personal friendship before the Club, he should send AG to Siberia now!

Biggs.....

Don'tget me wrong, the defence have been appalling and must take their share of the blame.

Ferreira is allowing average players to run at him

Cole is getting involved in bickering when he would be better off concentrating on defending.

JT has forgotten how to jump.

But the bottom line is that we should be able to use any combination of the enourmous squad we have and still beat shite like Tottenham. To allow them to come from behind 3 times to get anything out of this game is criminal and would never have happened in the past, because the players new that Mourinho did not tolerate fucking about. Think of his treatment of Robben, Joe Cole, Gallas, Carvalho over the years. They either to-ed the line, or they got dropped.

Avram is allowing games to slip away from the players, who are undoubtedly at fault, but losing has been allowed to become acceptable again.

It simply wasn't an option under Jose to lose or draw games, especially important ones.

Serious blow here. Really serious.

Anyway I still believe we're gonna beat the Arse (on the evidence of this game we are in the ascendant while they are stuttering and lacking both depth and plan b).
But unless they fuck up spectacularly, we're very unlikely to beat the Mancs.
Only hope is Manure dropping points to L'poop (not THAT unlikely) and Arsenal (pretty likely). Then we're back in with a chance.

I just think we're stumbling along with astonishing mediocrity, four goals shipped for the second time this season, and it's not over yet. Bluetone, I admire you optimism for Sunday's game, but if Utd outpoint us this weekend then it's all over, if it's not already.

Good revue Mark but, Jeez, some xenophobic reactions and hysterics on display. Anyway
Kind of expected a draw, no quiet that way, but … At least there was no bus parked in front of either goal (remember that?), at least we did not loose (2-1 remember a season ago?), so I would say: The fat lady still singing! Could be the last song Sunday, and then again could be further away. Anyhow, do not think anything is lost yet. There is lot to go MU-Lpool, Arse and the small matter of the Bridge + plus couple of “easy” games against “fighting for their life” teams…So I would say – Do not throw the towel just yet! Please?!

A few key points i want to make.

1) J.Cole should stop being a winger and play behind the striker. Absolutely world class. I love him to bits.
2) Essien and Drogba - They are back. (I hope)
3) Lets no be harsh on Cudicini. He's our 2nd choice and for that we got 2 world class saves.
4) Grant's tactical nous - He doesnt have a farking idea on team shape. Why did he take of J.Cole, i cannot understand. And he gave that crap excuse that we need more midfielders to pass well. My arse you toad! Lampard should had been replaced by Ballack and JT for Alex. JT has been a shadow of his past. He cannot jump. I dont know why but it looks like Jose was right before he left. The both of them had a quarral over the form of JT.
5) Verditct - Its tight games like this which wins titles. Unfortunately, we have faltered in games against the top 6 very often under Grant. Im not going to bluff myself here. We have surrendered the title to Arsenal or Man U.
6) Conclusion - As long as Grant is in charge, we WILL NEVER win anything.

BRING BACK VIALLI!!!

Well, a great game but fuck me, what sort of team gives up the lead three times in one game.

First hour, we were sensational, brilliant passing and movement up front and Lampard was in the middle of everything (seriously Stowe, he ran the game till Huddlestone came on - no way will Jenas get into the England team ahead of him now). But Ramos has done his homework, knows that Carlo and Terry can't jump, so Spurs pinged in set pieces and long balls and we just collapsed. Shocking.

And then the substitions. My word. From not doing anything, Grant went into full Ranieri mode. Ramos had him on a string.

Atrocious.

peter

it was more like full Trapattoni mode. Ranieri would take a centre back off and put JFH on as a winger (remember Monaco?)

"Unbelievable Incompetence" doesn't even start getting close to describing it

1) J.Cole should stop being a winger and play behind the striker. Absolutely world class. I love him to bits.

Well said Ken - he's very difficult to play against in that position and if Grant has any sense (who am I kidding?) he'll do so against Arsenal as it will keep Flamini occupied which plays a big part in stopping them. He'll be on the bench then.

All been said already, really. Good managers make good teams 5% better; bad managers make good teams 30% worse - says everything we need to know. The more confidence is allowed to slip, the more likely that the draws will become defeats. And all Grant can do is mumble that he is 'disappointed'. You're not the only one, Avram.

And Jiko - stating that the manager is a useless, tactically inept shower of shite isn't xenophobic; it's criticism largely based upon fact.

i didnt watch the game. once again thanks for the review sir. well which ever way you look at it, its not up to us anymore we are just waiting for something unfortunate to happen to either Arsenal or Man U. we do not have our destiny in our hands.
this is not the Chelsea we have known. we used to grab our destiny by the nuts and get on with it. it was always up to the rest to make their way. now we are waiting for a favour from some inept opponents of either Man U or Arsenal. this season will end without anything won.

a shame comrades.

Do you know I am going to be controversial.

I don’t want us to win the league or the champs league.

Purely as I don’t want grant here anymore - I have kept quiet for the last week or so on here - mainly thinking - keep quiet and see what happens. If we beat totts and ars then maybe he is a slow starter.

After this - he should be sacked for gross incompetence! My reasons are as follows.

If we concede from corners or free kicks - work on them in training, not a little, but every bloody day until there is no confusion. Tackle a problem head on - don’t hope it fixes itself!!

If you play this team - have ballack, anelka, mikel etc on the bench - unless you have an injury put those three on first. Ballack and mikel are so sublime on the ball they slow the game down and retain possession. Anelka is the sort to come on and get a goal.

You don’t put a bloody centre back on for a forward and then wonder why we play so bloody deep - inviting them onto us - rediculous.

I am sorry but it’s a fucking joke - sorry for swearing but I feel it is needed.

We have had the "too much" personality of JM - we have now had the "too little" personality of AG - please RA find someone in the middle.

We have standards now and this is way below.

Also JD - i totally agree - J Cole is a legend - he always has been and to put him behind Drogs (villa in the summer :)) and anelka would scare teams half to death.

I can't believe Mikel wasn't on the bench. Fucking insanity.

Grant can't see what he gem he is in that lad. Remember the 2-1 in the Cup last year? MIkel controlled that from start to finish.

JD you have not read all the postings obviously

@Jiko

You're a nice boy but why the hell you keep subtly defending that fat toad? If you love AG, just say it!

I can see Zico filling a whole scrapbook with notes. Then scribbling a final one before throwing the rest in the bin: "play long balls"

My guess is that something's up with Obi. Wasn't the "Training Ground Incident" that got the media wretches so excited centered on him? (Ten Cate picking on him, JT siding with him.) Since then he seems to have gone off the radar -- partly because Maka's been in such great form, but it seems like there's something else there too. I suspect Obi's screwed up somehow and is being sidelined for a while.

All the press coverage is about Grant's tactical failings. The analysis may be superficial, but it's what we need. Since the press seem to have persuaded RA that José's football was "boring" -- stupid nonsense, but everyone lapped it up because he was so successful that there was no other way to get back at him -- then maybe the press can also persuade RA that Grant isn't up to the job.

I'm with Munkey. We do *not* want to be champions this year. We want to end up with nothing (but still be playing CL football next year), make the managerial change, and start building on the squad's excellent mix of good youngsters and proven stars.

Anyway we won't be champions whether we want to or not. Either Arse or Man U may drop enough points -- but not both, that just won't happen.

Guys, all these heart breaks we suffered this season point towards one man - Avram 'The Toad' Grant. He's the root of all the problems since he came to Chelsea. To reach our peak once more, we need to plug the roots and chop down that poisonous tree.

@simon not to lie and die now is not THE SAME as defending your loved AG

Joe Cole has been my favourite player for about four years. It's great to watch him mature. Cappelo must have gone home and jerked one off after that display last night. He's got Joey and Rooney in his team, two absolutely world class forwards who are still young and developing. As for us...we've got Avram Grant as a manager. I try to find some human sympathy. I mean, haven't we all enhanced a cv, bullshitted at an interview to gain an advantage at some time in our life? Well, I have. But I've never over-reached beyond any reasonable assessment of my capacity to do a job. Unlike this guy. And I don't feel sympathy. At some point, back in the summer, he must have been telling Roman stuff about what he could do and what Jose couldn't do. So fuck him! He's brought it on himself. What must JT, Frank and players like Makka and Ballack make of it? Their pay packets will keep them on board I'm sure, but they must go home after training sessions and think "What is going on?" And what is going on is that Roman funds the club and wants to win everything with thrilling football that will "make a difference", as he famously put it to Bruce Buck and co when he started out on this adventure. Personally, I don't find games like last night's that thrilling. I just find them shot through with incompetence and shoddiness. Sure, 4 goals scored away from home is cool to watch. But as I've always argued on here, there is nothing essentially 'bad' or 'ugly' about controlling a game once you are in front. The real problem though, as I see it is this. A team - any kind of team, in any walk of life - takes its cue from the leader. The leader sets the tone, his imprint must be on the style, the method the spirit of the group. Lieutenants emerge who then lead within the group. We saw this clearly with Jose who had JT, Lamps and Drogs embodying the collective will. What we have now is a wet, clueless over-reacher who clearly has no respect among the troops. We are in a halfway house...limbo. Our players quality getting us so far, but unable to get further. Everyone can see this. The press, for once, are right about us. I can' be bothered to comment on the game last night - it just seems secondary to all this other stuff.

@Jiko

Whatever! You have every right to love whoever you love!

Watched the game in a pub here in Beirut also showing the Man U game. Once Ronaldo had filled his boots, the Man U fans' attention turned to the Chelsea game with all their applause egging on Tottenham which I was fine with. What I couldn't stand was their laughter when Grant made his substitutions.
Being what I think is a solitary Blues fan here is tough enough but having our manager making unbelievably miscalculated subs is more than I can bear. He's got to go. He's dragging the team down whilst playing at pretend manager. The looks on the players' faces was telling enough but don't Cats & Clark have any say in it? Fuck me, it's Ranieri all over again. Grant is a sneaky little rat who wheedled his way into one of football's most coveted posts and all the guff about giving him the benefit of the doubt should have stopped after the CC final.
I don't even think changing the manager right now could worsen the predicament.

Players play the way they are told but should still shoulder some blame. A.Cole should shut the fuck up and get on with it & be thankful he didn't get sent off. J.Cole was visionary playing where he was but as JD said, he'll probably be on the bench for the Arse game.

I can't find the words to express my disgust. I'm no longer worried about whether we win the league or not, I just don't want to see my lovely Chelsea wither & atrophy.
Maybe Grant is in fact a Manchester mole.

Interesting finding, Desmond, Grant could be a bloody Manchester mole!

Grant could be a bloody Manchester mole

I don't think he's that smart to be perfectly honest.

Yeah, JD, a toad cannot be that smart!

It’s absolutely rubbish what’s happening with our football club. We are playing football like 10 year old kids, unintelligent, and just pure dumb. It looks like they won’t get paid if we don’t score and concede about 4 goals every match (it happened twice this year v Villa & Spurs - and we conceded 3 v Leicester!).

Why the heck didn’t AG bring Obi (a defensive midfielder) for Lamps or Kalou when we were 3-1 up? What is the point of bringing Alex and creating confusion among the Back 4? Joey was by a mile the best player on the pitch & he replaced him for Ballack?! Illogical nonsense. Grant & Ten Cate needs to be sacked ASAP. I will bring Zola in and a Zola-Clarke managerial partnership for the rest of the season and then bring Hiddink in for next season (if we are not able to bring Jose back).

We are turning out to be like the Arse-Anal of the last 3 seasons, thrashing the Derbies by 6-1 etc and getting beat or drawing against the teams at the top half of the league, in knockout competitions against mediocre teams & in Cup Finals, therefore finishing trophyless and playing “exciting” football! What a load of bull!

I don't think we deserve to win the PL or CL we have been given so many opportunities this year to climb the table but just waste them everytime. I really thought the title would be ours if we beat Spurs and Arsenal on Sunday, it felt like we were just hitting top form with our top players fresh because they are all back from injury, but then you look at it and in that time we lost to Tottenham in the CC, i was there and that was horrible and then went out to Barnsley.. i mean fucking Barnsley!! The last memory of them i have is when we dicked them 6-1 at there place.

Does anyone know how you apply to be a director of football? i might do it and i can be in the hot seat in no time at all :-) i'll just claim i won some poncy cup in Azerbaijan and get paid shit loads of cash for ruining a football club!!

I know the ideal situation would be that he leaves in the summer but has anyone thought about RA sticking with him...... SCARY!!!

that's right simont I love Chelsea and I am glad Abramovitch come to the club.

matt - stick with avram - screw that buddy - I think everyone should take a pair of pants to the next game - we should sing "Avram, avram what is he" and then wave them in the air.

keep doing that enough and he should fuck off

MunkeyFeet- Do you know what i mean though mate everyone expects him to be gone including myself but that might not be the case then we will have a whole other season with him!
It's strange because i find him quite funny... Let's face it Mourinho was losing hte plot towards the end! and it got a bit stupid, i was getting into the office and slated for some of the things he ws saying. anyone remember the penalty i think it was liverpool he claimed was a def but the tackle was about 6 yards outside the box?

But anyway, Avram clearly doesn't have the mentality to be a top manager and i hope it is a short appointment but you never know!! we could be stuck with regardless of what all the fans are saying!!

Matt - no i dont want to think about that. I think if its the end of the season and we are trophyless a few fan campaigns and the scribe of JD and we should have enough evidence to make him see its not what we want.

If we contuinue to turn on him, be more vocal over decisions he makes - a few boo's etc then they will sense the feeling.

I still think the pants idea would work - it would certainly make the likes of J Cole laugh.

It was done at reading and it soon got the team going and the manager gone!

anyone know a place where we can knock up 30,000 blue pants?

Grant is not good enough, simple as.

Matt "Does anyone know how you apply to be a director of football?"

As a thought, why don't we flood the club with letters applying for the Managers job in Russian.

Surely it would get Mr Abramovichs attention if 10,000+ letters turned up in his mother tongue. I'm sure there are some capable people on this blog that could write an appropriate letter and similarly there must be a Russian translator on here !?

"Grant" and "good" should never be together in any other sentence than one including the word "riddance"

“Does anyone know how you apply to be a director of football?”

I'd like to see Avram's application from last year - up there with the works of Hans Christian feckin' Anderson.

Munkey

how would you translate the briliant Gianni Brera's line about "sollecitare un invito al ballo di corte e presentarsi con le pezze al culo?". That would suit AG purrfectly :)

Im lost for words. I pains my heart to see my beloved club slidding down like this. The players are in the wrong hands.

Jonathan you are right, AG convinced RA he was the ugly duckling that will become the graceful swan.

"Dear Mr. Grant,

We here at the 'Make a Dream Come True Foundation' hope that you have thoroughly enjoyed you 'Make a Wish' request of being a big-time football manager in a country outside of Israel. We would like to congratulate you on the semi-good success you have enjoyed at the club and realize that you believe Chelsea’s current status is on account of your own talents. We must, however, inform you that your time as Manager for Chelsea F.C. has now come to an end. For this decision, we cite the following reasons in violation of our original agreement:
1- Your physical appearance: It is in no one’s interest that you make the world more depressed by horrible fashion sense and your ever-increasing look of confusion as you prove that you were indeed gifted this job and did not earn it.
2- Your continuance to spread lies and take credit for success that is completely void of your contribution, but due to a world class squad and remnants of legendary coaching ideals: We here at the 'Make a Dream Come True Foundation' completely condemn lying in any form, shape or fashion. You should be ashamed at yourself for these mockeries of a true football manager.
3- Your complete destruction of the English language: We realize that English is a very hard language, but to continually use the same words in the incorrect way is truly disgraceful.
We firmly ask you to relinquish your position immediately as Chelsea F.C.’s Manager. We do hope that you enjoy your life after Chelsea F.C and strongly encourage you to never pursue a real career in the world of football. The world of football has suffered enough on account of your ineptitude; please do not make it suffer any more.

Sincerely,

'The Make A Dream Come True Foundation'"


there that should do it, anybody here good with forging stationary?

I am so disappointed. Every time we hope again, Avram shoots us down. No coaching qualifications, no experience of a big job, no experience of even a half decent job, a couple of clubs in Israel and the national team. It’s pathetic.

This is what happens when you don’t run a club properly. I’m so confused about the whole structure of the club with all these technical directors, board members, assistants, none of whom seem to know what they’re doing. We bring in Ten Cate who says he came to Chelsea ‘for some peace and quiet’. The whole backroom staff of Avram Grant was obviously not selected by him, he doesn’t even have his own staff.

When are people going to realise the continental coaching structure is not the best for England. You need a manager in charge of the whole club, e.g. Ferguson & Wenger. When is Roman going to stop using the club as an experiment in mismanagement. From top to bottom, from the owner to the players who step out on the pitch, we look confused and seem to have lost our way. I never saw such shocking defending in the Jose era. We can still go out and play, but especially in the important games, against half decent opposition (and it hurts me to include sp*rs - but only because we made them look good), Avram manages to make a right mess of it.

Please Roman, sort it out. Or whoever is running things. Arnesen, Kenyon, Buck, Tenebaum, Ten Cate, Clarke, the groundsman, the tea lady…

“We led 3-1 and then lost two goals from corners, and even when we went one up we lost an equaliser from a free-kick.
“It’s very disapponting. One of our stengths is we defend well against corners and free-kicks but in the last two games Spurs scored five goals from set-pieces. I don’t know how to explain this.”

Avram Grant

Don’t know how to explain this? You’re the manager you idiot!!! It’s because you probably haven’t practiced set pieces in training properly and because you invited pressure onto us after establishing a comfortable 2 goal lead! Or maybe because you messed up the whole structure of our team and taking off our best player! We ended up playing some sort of variation of 5-4-1 with four central midfielders!

I hate being so negative but we could have won everything this season with a decent manager in charge. sp*rs in the carling cup final, no big teams left in the fa cup, the league was looking good, with the mancs and arse repeatedly slipping up and in the champions league, it’s a decent draw. I’m not giving up on the league and champions league, but come on, with this idiot in charge, can we win any of the important games?

Why couldn’t Roman just swallow his pride in January last year and give Jose the money he wanted and also in the summer?

I think we've all got to realise as well that there are too many cooks spoiling the broth at chelsea. They've all got to take some blame for this mess we're in, including Roman.

For those of you old enough to remember Fantasy Island, my recurring dream is seeing the plane fly in, Tattoo shouting "Both, both, it's de plane, it's de plane" to Ricardo Montalban and then Avram Grant gets off the plane looking smug & feckless outside what looks suspiciously like the West Stand.

I thought the early signs were good, good tempo, players looked up for it, DD getting the early confidence booster, Essien displaying something more like the dynamism and flair from last year, Joe Cole on fire - again, and at 3-1 up I thought it was in the bag, but as everyone, well, almost everyone above agrees, AG managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory.

@Biggs "the reason we’re not winning is this constant barrage of insults, every time we don’t trash opponents 6:0, and even then it’s the players."
Do you seriously think that when the team doesn't win it's due to a series of insults? And has nothing to do with the coaches tactical naivety?

Looking at replays of the goals, it strikes me that apart from our first, the opportunities for the others had an element of fortune in the way they opened up, although they were well-taken, what really strikes me is that Woodgate was able to hang in the air so long because he's using DD's shoulders as a vaulting horse!

Would I have felt any different if that last ball hadn't fallen just right for Keane right at the end? Yes, I'd have been proud of the players for their efforts but still bemused at the way AG tried to influence the game with his 'tactical substitutions'. How can it be when drawing a match feels like we lost it? A match destined to go down as a classic that will do wonders for the EPL brand, but I'm with Munkey and others regarding the rest of this season, shits me to tears the way this rollercoaster keeps going. An 'eight goal thriller' that pleases neutrals? Do we all marvel at how the team has been transformed into an expansive, free-flowing, attacking, all-conquering unit? Nope, my patience is up already, AG has had his chance, and some luck in my eyes, and has not delivered when it has counted, time to go, but I know he won't. Shits me to know that.

Guys, can we all write a letter of petition to the board or Peter Kenyon to sack Avram! I have had enough of all these nonsense. His presense in the entire Chelsea organization is taking its toll on my lifeforce. Right now i still live to fight another day. But for how long more?

Please, can we all do something? Before its too late.

A Chelsea fan with a weak heart lying in the hospital.

@Matt "I know the ideal situation would be that he leaves in the summer but has anyone thought about RA sticking with him…… SCARY!!!"

EXACTLY!

Roman gives his mate some priceless work experience while we suffer his learning curve.

The two words that sum it up for me are 'pathetic' and un-professional'.

Chelsea don't surrender 2 goal leads. As simple as that.

Mark - in the links to the goals, you seem to have forgotten the word 'unmarked' next to Woodgate. And Berbatov. And Huddlestone.

We resembled Derby's back five when we scored 6 past them last week. We actualy played football to score our 4 goals. Spurs just had wait for another defensive f*ck up for their 4. It's simply not good enough, and better teams than Spurs would have made off with all 3 points.

As soon as the report on Sky sid they'd made it 3 - 2, and JT made no effort to jump, I knew it would end in a draw.

I watched the higlights on Sky after the ManUSA game. No surprise then that I saw nothing of Kalou. Ashley should have seen red for the challenge on Hutton, and then for his petulance, he's very lucky. I just cant understand what was going on at set pieces, so many Spurs chances going unchallenged - has AG insitilled some sort of non-contact regime all of a sudden ???

A win on Sunday is now vital. Anything less and the challenge for the league is over, the wheels well and truly fallen off. And the ramifications extend beyond that. A trophyless season will have an impact on potential signings.

AG's not only destroying the current crop of players, he's leaving a negative legacy as well.

Ken, you said it exactly how I feel it: my life force is draining out of me. I think we are all in an episode of Torchwood and some alien has taken over a top club and is sucking souls into another dimension to keep some dying planet alive - or something!

i'm looking at the positives

we played well DESPITE AG
Drog's back
Essien's back
Joey firing on all cylinders
JT with something to prove
Arse on the slide

Two-nil to the chels

Oh and look closer: Berbatov's hand on JT's neck. Definitely a foul

Fifty, Kalou played well, his passing is getting better, he waltzed past the full back a few times and almost scored from a great cross from Joe. All the midfield and front players were excellent, we were pinging it around brilliantly for most of the game. If Drogba had taken his chance on half-time (or squared to Frank) or Essien's effort had gone an inch inside the post...

But as you say, Spurs had to do nothing for their point other than knock it into the box and watch our defenders fail to get a head to it. Credit to them for not keeling over - and i've no idea why they were trying so hard - but they were completed outclassed when the ball was on the floor for most of the game. They are not a great side, but they've a manager who is prepared to take intelligent gambles and who they really want to play for.

What's worrying is that Arsenal are pretty good from set pieces this season.

Some have commented that my report was too positive and I must be on drugs. Generally I’m a pessimist and fear the worst so I feel quite positive that you feel I’m positive.

I watched the game last night in a local pub. I’ve watched games there several times before but only last night did I realise it was a Spurs pub. The giveaway signs were a signed photo of Alfie Conn behind the bar and the publican ringing a bell every time Spurs scored, ringing for at least 2 minutes when they scored their fourth.

The pub was packed with 50:50 split between us and them. The atmosphere was great, I’d had a few sherbets and there was no trouble despite the delirious celebrations four times by each set of fans.

How can I best describe my feelings for last night?

Imagine going to a fine restaurant, excellent food, wonderful company, flowing wine. It couldn’t have been a better experience but later you discover you’ve got food poisoning.

Or imagine you’re having sex with a beautiful woman (or man if that’s your preference) and it’s unbridled pleasure for at least 90 minutes (alright 30 seconds). It couldn’t have been a better experience but later you discover you’ve got some hideous infection.

That’s how I feel about last night. The 90 minute experience was truly enjoyable but I’m unhappy with the outcome, so in future I’ll be manage more careful where I eat and where I stick my …..

P.S. The second scenario is wholly hypothetical and I have never contracted a sexual disease.

If the worst case scenario happens and RA persists with AG for another season even if we win nothing, does anyone have any faith in him winning the qualifying match to get into the CL next time round?
If this inconsistency continues, and we do have some tough matches coming up, we might not even finish in the top four, bloody hell if Liverpool win and we lose this weekend the gap is three points!

Peter,

My apologies, as I said I only saw what Sky showed me. Although I assumed he did bugger all as I'm not a big fan.

Your comment of "but they’ve a manager who is prepared to take intelligent gambles and who they really want to play for" hurts. I can remember what it was like when that applied to Chelsea...........

Not looking forward to Sunday in the slightest. Kicking off second means we'll be under even more pressure when ManUSA beat Liverpool. I bet the Gooners watched last night, and realised all they need to do is fall over a lot for cheap free kicks, and goals are a cetainty.

One thing I did notice last night. Is Robbie Keane the biggest whinger ever ?? The bloke did not stop crying to Mike Riley all night.

Must just say a big congratulations to the Youth team, great result last night (despite one of them being taught to tackle by Ashley Cole....).

Avram, when you've thrown away any chance of us winning anything this season, on your way out please be kind enough to leave the door open for one or two of the youth team to get a chance. They look pretty good from what I watched this morning, particularly Tejera and Kakuta.

Frankly, this was Grant's chance to show what he was made of, but instead, we got another example of a man who rattles when his back is against the wall.

Subbing Joe Cole, when you have a one goal lead, was insane (almost as much as starting him on the bench in the final).

Defending a 3-4 lead is the same as defending a one goal lead; the best way is to attack and try and get another, by defending we only invited them to come at us.

Roman may want exciting football, but at what cost?

Grant out!!!

The footballing gods or angels from heaven have given Avram chance after chance with Arsenal slipping up 4 times in a month and Man U loosing to Pompey in the FA Cup. You can call that beginner's luck but at the end of the day, he had to make those slip ups count. Unfortunately, everything went quite the opposite. Grant got away yet again with a draw against Fernabache. And when we loose the semis, he will come out with the most ridiculous explainations on his tactics and that how we have been doing a good job blah blah blah.

I dont think it matters how many more times Man U or Arsenal will slip up now because even if our destiney at our own hands, that toad throws everything out of the window. Until he's out of Stamford Bridge, i will never be able to sleep peacefully.

This should cheer you up.

LINK

Ken is quite right and Roman and Kenyon must have noticed that everytime we've had a chance to really put pressure to move above or level with Arse and Utd - like if we'd beaten Liverpool or won last night - we've bottled it. We're like Liverpool in the league under Rafa, can go on amazing runs when nobody is looking but as soon there's the chance to put our money where our mouth is, it all goes tits up.

There's no chance whatsoever we'll get a win against Arsenal.

Thats no consolation to me. Even if we win it. =(

Well done lads!!
Just happy Grant can't cock that up.

Over 10,000 at Villa Park!! How many did we have at the Bridge in the first leg?

@PETER

At least Rafa is a genuis in Europe who won titles and has a proper/decent CV to show for. Grant has shit! I feeling like stranggling Kenyon and those members at the board. Hiding somewhere and not addressing all these issues. Are they blind or what? My tolerance level has reached its maximum. Its clear that something needs to be done yet no one is doing anything. Damn it. I feel like its the end of the world.

@ Ken

...The footballing gods or angels from heaven have given Avram chance after chance with Arsenal slipping up 4 times in a month and Man U loosing to Pompey in the FA Cup. You can call that beginner’s luck but at the end of the day, he had to make those slip ups count. Unfortunately, everything went quite the opposite. Grant got away yet again with a draw against Fernabache. And when we loose the semis, he will come out with the most ridiculous explainations on his tactics and that how we have been doing a good job blah blah blah.....

Perhaps the good news in this is he won't be around next term.
Oh, please God!

Celery - about half that I think.

Will def be aiming to get to the final. The club should really promote this, it's the only good publicity they're going to get this season.

Bluetone - not a literal translation but i guess

"Beg for an invitation to a royal dance and then arrive with tatty, patched up clothes"

basically - do not live up to the occasion!

that quote is perfect for grant

Anyone here know of any spells or dark arts? Lets use it to get Grant off his post as manager. I am that desperate to see him go.

I DIDNT THINK I HAD IT IN ME TO HATE A HUMAN SO MUCH.
THIS GUY MAKES ME WANT TO KILL.
HE LUCKY I CAN'T COME TO THE BRIDGE. I'D SHOW HIM HOW I FEEL ABOUT HIM.
WHAT ARE U GUYS WAITING FOR?

Peter- winning the FAYC will be just too brilliant!! I hope the Young ones will pull it off. I certainly believe in their manager.

And as you say the club had better promote this heavily as the lads deserve all the support they can get.

Was at the game last night.

I thought Kalou and Cole J were our two best players. Grant took them both off.

One of them for a centreback when we already had two on the pitch along with two full backs. On seventy minutes.

It's miserable.

That's summed it up perfectly in a few sentences anthony. not worth wasting anymore on that fat twat anyway.

Easter evening prayer:
"Dear God! Can you please make this season end as soon as possible, because amount of humiliation I am going through is close to unbearable. Dear God! Can you please remove Avram Grant from Chelsea. I do not wish him anything bad at all the only thing I want is that you make him leave Chelsea. You don't have to do it now, but can we please start our next season without him. Thank you Lord."

Dead agreed Mikel.

When AG was first appointed we all felt a mixture of emotions: shock,sadness at the loss of the greatest manager in our history and annoyance at the club appointing someone because of his relationship with RA. This lack of respect shown by the men in suits has been covered up by our winning streak against the might of Derby, Birmingham, Sunderland and Fulham.. But now the truth is coming out. Why appoint a man with 0 UEFA qualifications and a track record of losing 3/4 Israeli cup finals? Why appoint a man who makes substitutions to turn the game…against us (see Cup Final, tonight where 5-4-1 with no Joe Cole desperate to get his hat-trick was the worst possible change and even the 6-1 against Derby where he switched from the terrorising 4-3-3 to a 4-2-4 where we preceded to bypass midfield and hoof the ball forward). Why sppoint a man who can’t motivate the team or even do the simple things such as bark out the orders. Seeing him after RK made it 4-4 scratching his head a la Cup Final and returning to the dugout was beyond laughable it was actually sad to see a man so out of his depth. But i wont be wasting my sympathies on him who i now see as selfish baffoon. I only feel one emotion to a man who is willing to selfishly ruin our season and not present an explanation to the fans. After being quizzed in his press conference about failing in every challenge he has had against a manager with any tactical acumen (AF, AW, RBenitez, JRamos and Mr. Davey of Barnsley!!!) he simply dissmisses the point as not being important. After tonights match he was asked about the result and he called it REASONABLE. WTF is that? Is it reasonable to concede 4 and lose the title against a mid-table side with nothing to play for who have just lost to Birmingham 4-1 or was he admitting that he went there for a draw? All i feel towards this selfish bastard is anger. I will be at the bridge to see our proud home record implode as we go 1-0 up against the Arse and i see AG walk to the touchline and bring off J.C. for Sheva quickly prompting a 2-1 collapse where Mr. Grant will scratch his head and sit back down to Clarkey lost in thought at the good old days under Jose and then it will be over officially. Our home record will be gone, the title will be gone, the season will be over and our players will be booking their tickets to Jose’s next club. I for one hope the fans will begin to boo AG’s every decision and appearance on the touchline. That’s what it will take to save this club. Who can see the Kaka’a or Benzema’s or young talent like Pato choosing the chaos of football under AG over the organisation and most importantly success of Jose’s new club? Too all of you who say you can never boo a blue, well i agree because in my eyes AG is anything but blue inside. He’s admitted on many occassion that he is a Liverpool fan so we should all start to sing/chant/scream anything we can on Sunday to get him up to Anfield to ruin their lives where this time next year we’ll be basking in the glory of returning to Wembley and lifting the League trophy under the stewardship of manager who understands how much the fans care for this club. AG doesn’t appreciate or even care about how painful these results are to us and i am torn between the greater good yet embarrassment of winning nothing or winning the Cl and sticking with AG? I’ll be listening on Sunday to all other fans who wish to get this joke of a man out of our beloved club. As for who's next: Mark Hughes, Laudrup with Zola as assistant, Clarkey and Brendan Rodgers or how about the return of TSO? Anyone but this joke of a man. KTBFFH on Sunday.

At least we're more apologetic than we used to be LINK#/page/Homepage

That's nice, isn't it?

Quick question: Would you prefer the newest comments to be displayed first instead of having to scroll to the bottom of the list? (You can click the 'Add yours' link above to get quick access to the comment form.)

@Nick

Yes please. In an ideal world I'd like it to remain as it is on my pc but be newest first on my mobile.

But then in an ideal world ...

Can anyone work out when the Yoof Cup Final is? The FA website is comically crap (hmmm, funny that). It appears to suggest that the final is a two-legged home and away thing, but it's impossible to be sure.

I'm not quite sure why so many bloggers here are going so hysterical. Yes, it was a bit of an embarrassing result, and yes, AG seems to have messed up quite badly, but all in all it's just another away draw. We're third in the league. We're underperforming and our manager is clearly way out of his depth, but it's hardly the greatest humiliation ever, or the kind of situation that justifies homicide. If you want humiliation, look at Newcastle, or Leeds, or Valencia. Even Spuds have a lot more to be embarrassed about than we do (remember how everyone was saying they might break into the top four this season?).

Incidentally, at the last home game (Derby), when the big screens showed AG taking his seat on the bench after the teams had come out of the tunnel, there was a small spattering of booing. It'll be interesting to see if the chorus has gathered strength. I'm getting the impression that, having reserved judgment on AG for a while, the fans are about ready to show what they think.

Im looking forward to hear the lads boo AG loud and clear. Come on guys. Do it. For the sake of our beloved club, lets make our feelings known.

I think you'll find the cameraman is under strict instructions to keep Avram out of shot (not easy considering his size) to avoid this situation developing.

I’m starting now to understand how TSO felt, when Roman assigned AG to „control his work”. He a TOP trainer, and as we all know he was conscious of that, got a top clown with out any experience to work with him. I Doubt Fergie oder Wenger would have endured such a situation too. Roman, you may be feeling very stupid now,or…? Well …just get over it and correct it. We all will pretend it never happened.

I find this amazing. How is it that majority of the Chelsea fans can see that Avram is crap including the neutrals. Yet the board are not doing anything or showing some response to us?

Nick, Jonathan, any possibility that the site can adapted to run on a windows mobile platform or the like such as blackberry? Posting would be instant, even at the match, while on the train, on the beach, while looking at the girls go pass etc etc?? maybe even a little soon? thanks

We can all see where it went wrong with this clown and the other Bollocks, ooops sorry, ballack! is this the way professional footballers behave, this guy has now lost all credibility as a human being even though I thought he was the best footballer years ago. What a complete nightmarish shambles CFC is becoming. When will it all stop! Can someone stop this laughable merry go round please!!! I'm feeling quite sick and I want to get offf!!!

Chelsea's Shevchenko wants free loan move to AC Milan
tribalfooball.com - March 20, 2008

Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko is in talks with Roman Abramovich.
Corriere dello Sport says Shevchenko has asked Abramovich to allow him to join AC Milan on-loan - without a fee being involved.

The board are not responding or doing anything because at the end of the day, everyone in charge KNOWS for a fact that no matter how hard or how long you complain, people will still turn up and pay to watch football being played.

Look at Liverpool for example. I don't think i've ever seen a more public demonstration of disagreement from the fans toward goings-on at their club. They've had the help of the media through television and newspapers and have also demonstrated how they feel on the internet and what's happened? Absolutely nothing. Because as i said, the people in charge know deep down that people will always turn up to watch.

The only way A.G would get the push is if fans refused to go to games.. an empty football ground would speak volumes, but we all know that will NEVER,EVER happen! For starters, it's unrealistic!!

If people did refuse to turn up for games, Chelsea still rake in millions every year through merchandising, sponsorship deals, Sky Tv etc..

I'm afraid, as much as we all hate it, it's an obvious case of keep paying your money, put up and shut up

So were just supposed to lose 30 million and that's it!!! Oh well, I can see the accounts books balance next year....not!

There was a certain gentleman on this blog that has been making noise about how cudicini throws the ball to his defenders rather than hoof it upfield and that cech should learn from him.

I didnt see that yesterday, carlo was just hoofing the ball any which way.

Some of you guys should not feed us crap here when some players have offdays.

Nonesense!

1-3 at 60+ and couldn't get the 3 points. Man, get rid of this pathetic manager.
He doesn't even know the Basics.

@ NICK BENFIELD

I think most recent comments at the top of the page are a great idea, or have a fresh page daily for new comments, like a diary.

Whatever you choose to do, you're doing a great job.

How funny is it! If we beat Arsenal and Man -u Draw we will be back to before the game yesterday!!!! and if United were per chance to lose then we will actually make up three points and be better off than before yesterdays game only two points behind with them to play at the bridge! You know, something tells me that just might happen!! The problem of course, even though that would be great is that the Toad and the board would say, I told you so see! completley not understanding that we could have been on top of the league if these results had gone our way yesterday! What a mediocre set of expectations with a sqaud worth over 150 million! What a bunch of losers, all of them! and of course it will probably mean mr toad will stay next year. !! Aw mee good, I wonder where JM will end up, that's got to be more exciting next year than watching Grant us lose the prem by December after this team is split up as it will be at the end of the season!. Even Liverpool will finish above us and possibly Spurs. Oh God it's getting worse, I'd better take some blood pressure tsblets quick!!!

@ DIO

you can have some of mine if you like...oh...sorry, i took a full box last night!

@llolipop, thanks but I've decided I'll take something to chill out instead and get the giggles every time we concede a goal!! At least I'll be able to see the funny side and won't get a heart attack!!

I feel pity for all the season ticket holders. They pay their hard earned cash for expensive tickets and saw rubbish. And yet they cannot voice their opinions on Grant or whatever they say are taken for granted by the board.

Kenyon, if see this message, please stop dreaming about this global brand shit. We are not winning anything under Grant and we never will as long as he is in charge. 2 European Cups in 5 years? You talk big and yet you deliver a mickey mouse manager to all of us who cannot even win the mickey mouse cup. Your actions dont fufil your ambitions.

@ DIO

Soz babes...haven't got those types of pills. Can fully recommend a full day's drinking though, at least i think that's what i'm gonna do in future. You never know, being sloshed may even help in understanding Avram's tactical decisions!!

Dio....... How funny is it! If we beat Arsenal and Man -u Draw we will be back to before the game yesterday!!!!

Great in theory mate, but does anyone have any confidence at all in our ability to beat Arsenal. I know that I don't.

Chelsea’s Shevchenko wants free loan move to AC Milan.... If this happens, we will become a total laughing stock. I understand the need to offload him for wages reasons, but for fuck sake..... Tell him he can go anywhere else in the world, so long as they cover his wages, but not to a side that just mugged us for 30 million. Unfortunately, there is no one else in the world prepared to pay ridiculous money for him anymore.

Boycott...... Unfortunately not an option anymore. In the days when the club didn't have a pot to piss in and Uncle Ken was in charge, the thought of no money coming in would have sent him into a cold sweat, but if Roman is prepared to give Sheva back for nothing, it is going to take us a hell of a long time to make a dent in his bank balance!

Nick...... Personally, being here in Oz, I miss most of the action on the blog during the day, and enjoy scrolling through it to see the nonsense spouted by everyone throughout the day. My vote would be to leave it as it is, but either way, I think we have just about the most sensible and balanced football blog on the web (that I have come across) and really enjoy it.

From The Guardian....

The assessment was uttered with a sigh. Cue the now familiar accusations that the Israeli's team have tended to buckle on high-profile occasions. Grant's is a remarkable league record but points have been dropped to the top two and, when the moment demands more, there is a tendency to wilt. "I don't know whether to laugh or not when you say that," said the manager, his mood transformed from miserable to prickly. "Every game in which we drop points suddenly becomes a big game. Would you have said that if we'd won?

"We lost against Barnsley [in the FA Cup] and it became a big game. Every game here is big. What is a critical game, so I know? Every game at Chelsea is critical. If we'd lost other games we wouldn't be in this position. Every game we win is a normal game. Every time we drop points is a big game. Come on."

Just so it is absolutely clear Avram...... That is what managing at the top of Premier League is all about. Chelsea do not expect to lose, or draw, games like this, and every game, when you get to the last 8 in a Championship run in is huge!

@ GREENLIGHT

Boycott…… Unfortunately not an option anymore. In the days when the club didn’t have a pot to piss in and Uncle Ken was in charge, the thought of no money coming in would have sent him into a cold sweat, but if Roman is prepared to give Sheva back for nothing, it is going to take us a hell of a long time to make a dent in his bank balance!

That's a fair point but how many people with money have you heard of that actually enjoy LOSING money on a regular basis? There ain't many, i assure you!
As i said, an empty football ground is NEVER gonna gappen and it's a bit extreme to think it ever would but if a sizeable proportion of fans refused to go to games, maybe he'd sit up and take notice. Then again, maybe he wouldn't.

Has anyone else noticed how bored R.A seems of late, or is it my imagination?
Perhaps his interest in all things Chels related is coming to an end as more than a few people on here have commented in the past..
Or perhaps it's just the permanent blank expression he has on his face and here's me arriving at unconfirmed conclusions!
Sorry Roman!!

Can't the players take the blame for this one? They were 3 1 up and even managed to take the lead again when pegged back to 3 3. They're should have been able to dig in - they've had enough experience FFS. I'm not a fan of Grant and think he will go in the summer but he can't be blamed evey time for how the players perform once out on the pitch.

I'd love to have seen this game, but isn't the scoreline what Jose would have described as a hockey score?

Matt,

You're right, it seems harsh to lump it all at Avrams door (even though I do it all the time).

Yeah, to a degree the players need to be accountable on the pitch for things like not marking for 3 Spurs goals.

But then the extra from Star Wars feels left out and removes your most dangerous player. It's hard not to blame him all the time. It is his fault we are where we are after all.

Nick

I would aggree with greenlight, changing the format would be like seeing the answers before the questions if you get my drift. But whatever you do, I would be happy with as I think it is a great site with some very interesting points of view both balanced and some slightly unbalanced. The site is always my first visit of the the day.

Yes, the players are responsible for the results. But the players themselves are loosing faith with the manager. How can we win anything if thats the kind of atmosphere in the dressing room? Toady cannot inspire or motivate. Rubbish manager.

Hey folks,

Check this out:

LINK

If this is true, it chills me to the bone.

To all you that have the propoganda machine that is Chelsea TV, i hope a few of these calls to criticise AG's tactics, subs, persona, image, lack of talent at anything in life... can actually get through without being blocked by 1. the channel or 2. Neil Barnett on Big Match Countdown who dismisses every negative word that is placed against AG through e-mails and calls. A nice flood of messages highlighting Ag's deficiencies (many to choose from) will be the perfect warm up before the reception we'll give him on Sunday.

I dont think it was grant fault it is we defenders and cudichini that cost chelsea a draw and worst yet second place.If we owner let grant bring in some people we could win but grant only looking 4 stars and not building on 1 team.He might bring in david villa,van da vaart,ronaldiniho when d window open.We need 2 work more on defense and we need 2 get cech back by sunday or our home streak gone through.If grant change the upper formation we will improve.Oh and drogba going barca and sheva going back ACmilan.

Have mercy...
CAPTACULAR we are swimming in one big pool of Toadshit, without you having to push our heads down into it. There's only so much that can be taken without going completely bonkers.

1) MIKEL point-
is a very god one. I was dismayed to find that we did not have him on the bench when we needed suring up.

2) PLAYERS were trying their absolute utmost, but even when they do that it isn't enough. Just how do you think those boys felt when they walked into off the pitch yesterday. SICK TO THE BONE would be my guess.
What does it do to set of players to see all their effort being wasted because of the incompetence of that bag of slime that is meant to be their MANAGER.?

3) SOME CHELSEA FANS WANTED EXCITING FOOTBALL
No one was hoping to see winning football being comprised for bullshit like that. It bloody infuriates me to hear those arsewipe pundits making those comments. 'But Chelsea fans were calling for exciting football..."
NO WE FUCKING WEREN'T!!!
Not the way you shit heads think . EXCITING FOOTBALL for US, not for frigginthe 'neutrals' or Chelsea haters.
Sure we want goals, we want chances to be made by US, for aome incisive play in the opposition half, not to score 4 and chuck away a lead three times.

4) THE CUDICINI POINT-
@Shadow, I think it was one of our more venerated contributors who made the point that Carlo makes sure we keep the ball and build from the back. Maybe now we know why. His feet must me missing bone and tissue or something cos he messed up every time

5) EMPTY STADIUMS PROTEST
@Lollipop, I wonder how marketable a product Chelsea will be if fans like you were to boycott the bridge. It'l have an impact, surely. I'll be honest, for my own reasons I'm not able to go and flll Stamford Bridge like JD, Clive, Nick etc and all the rest who do, so I'm not in a position to advocate anything All I'm saying is, It will have an impact -- won't it?

6) SHEVA
Roman is bankrolling everything at Chelsea, if he want's to waste his 30 million cmpletely, then let him go ahead and make himself look as stupid as his face suggests. After all, he's done it on more than occasion already.

We all think AG is a poor manager.

We might be wrong...

He could be an 'ok' manager, he might even be (though that's difficult to postulate) a 'g-o-o-d' manager.

But everyone has to accept that he isn't up to Chelsea's title winning, seeking to dominate globally standards. For that reason alone, setting all other points aside, HE MUST GO.

We won't settle for second best, we certainly won't settle fo mediocrity, why then are we settling for this?

Im not asking too much from this toad. At least a semi final spot in the CL and 2nd/3rd place in the league. Then off he goes. Good luck to the next club that takes him.

i'd like to share an e-mail i got from a friend of a friend, and i believe this was posted on some other chelsea forums and blogs:

An Israeli Chelsea supporter's opinion

I'm an Israeli by birth and lived most of my life in Israel, some of it as a sports journalist, I don't think it entitles me to any privileges, but it seems our owner tends to appoint people according to their origin and faith and in that context maybe an objective opinion of an Israeli who's been supporting Chelsea for the past 24 years could open some board members eyes, If they are aware of anti-Semitic remarks on the Chelsea website forum then there's the smallest of chances they'll also be aware of this one and if any can influence RA than my job is done.

Mr. Grant with all his supposedly success in Israeli football was never a popular manager, not in Maccabi Tel-Aviv where he won two titles (and then came back for another 3 years that a were described as the most boring and pathetic years in the history of the club by its own fans) and not in Maccabi Haifa where he won the title - with Benayoun and Yakubu at his disposal nothing less would have been excepted by the Haifa Fans and rightfully so in such a miserable league.

Even as Israel manager Grant's success was arguable, he did manage to finish 3rd but he didn't win a single important match against the 3 other opponents who challenged Israel in the group (France, Switzerland and Ireland). This guy is not a popular manager in his native country and we're not talking about Spain, France or even Denmark or Greece. Israeli football is the level of Finnish football at best, and if Mr. Grant is not the equivalent of Ireland's Jack Charlton then what is the reason that this guy is managing one of the best teams in the world? The answer lies in his ability to establish personal relationship with the owner: Grant got to 6 Israeli cup finals (in 5 of those he was expected to win), he lost 5 and won just one. But at the same time his relationship with the owner of Maccabi TA and Maccabi Haifa were so tight that even when the fans (TA) were boycotting the home games Grant's position was unshakable.

The bottom line is that AG is not a popular figure in Israeli football, If you were to ask supporters of the top 4 teams in Israel would they rather see Grant as their manger the result was overwhelming NO !

As for his credentials – Grant was offered to QPR in the summer but was denied the job because of his lack in European experience (He never managed to get an Israeli side into the CL).

Grants appointment is down to his personal abilities as a diplomat (some might use other terms for that) plus the fact he shares the same faith and religion with the owner of the club.

Winning the CL by chance could only make things worse for us in the long run (as it ruined Liverpool's progress by sticking to Benitez who is by far a better manager than Grant).

If RA's ambition is to get the best for Chelsea, sacking Grant now is not a moment too soon. His successor should be someone with a proven record in European football, a special one if possible.

Oded

Biggs, thank you for that most insightful contribution. It fills in the gaps in our knowledge about Grant and how on earth he got this job. Do you think there is actually more than simply a shared religion between him and Roman? That in some way faith is crucial to the relationship, that they think that God in some way is on their side? Because, for all his youthful naivety and idealism regarding winning games by playing open and exciting football, Roman is obviously an astute businessman - albeit one who gained his power and wealth in a broken society with much backing from Putin - and surely must see he has over-promoted an incompetent. I ask because, the way you explain it, it looks like Grant is here to stay. It is important we gain a clear picture of what is in store for us as fans, because adjusting my expectation levels allows me to cope with the pain of what I'm watching.

Another interesting piece by Zola. If he can see it , why then cant Roman?
What I can say is that having a lot of money doesn't make a winning team. It's not easy to make big players bond together. That's why Mourinho did a great job.

"People say they bought the Premiership title, but a few years ago in Italy Internazionale were every year spending double, treble, what other teams spent. They couldn't win anything. That tells you that money is not everything. A winning team must have quality, but it means nothing if the players are not connected to each other."

@cashif –“Roman is bankrolling everything at Chelsea, if he want’s to waste his 30 million completely, then let him go ahead and make himself look as stupid as his face suggests. After all, he’s done it on more than occasion already.”

Well if you look at the “stupid man” bank account and yours, where does this put you? Imbecile level? If you do not appreciate what RA is done for the club so far, what is doing for the academy, you are seriously one dementional. I don’t know if you realize that but: Bringing players, managers (including TSO) and titles is largely after and because of RA arriving at the club. And he is done not bad for the “stupid” men for last few years at Chelsea.
So acting like a spoiled brats and not appreciating the level he brought the club at is stupid and childish. Mistakes? Well, anyone can make a mistake. Except few guys in here, whose postings suggest they never made one!

Spot on Zola. You need a manager whos ego is larger than life to manage a bunch of big egos. At the very least, a proper CV to gain the player's respect. Let me ask you guys: If you were one of the players inside that dressing room, how much faith do you have in Grant?

@JIKO

Are you Peter Kenyon in disguise?

I'd say A.G's made quite a few mistakes so far hasn't he?

Problem is, he came to Chelsea without a noteworthy C.V, be honest how many people here had ever heard of Avram Grant before he came to Stamford Bridge? I know i hadn't! No-one i know had either. Chelsea FC were riciculed mercilessly for that reason.

A percentage of fans, me included, were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and to let him prove himself worhty of managing a top Premiership club. Ok, fair do's, everything went smoothly at the start, winning games, retaining our unbeaten record and equalling T.S.O's success. Avram didn't seem that bad after all, perhaps we could be successful under him, maybe even win that elusive Champions League..

Then it all went drastically wrong, at a time when we don't need things to go wrong! We're coming into the home straight and flagging behind, when we should be a prime contender. We're losing our grip and it hurts me to see it.

Yes, Jiko, we ALL make mistakes, i am not immune to that and don't make myself out to be perfect, never have done, never will. Please try to understand people's frustration though, especially at this vital time of the season. We crashed out of 2 competitions, it will be 3 soon in my opinion when we meet ( i just know it) Liverpool in the C.L Semi's. That leaves us all desperately clinging onto hope that we'll get the Prem back. Most people here see us failing there too but i refuse to give up hope on that one until we've played Man U at the Bridge. If we lose, i will carry on with everyone here, slating A.G. If we win, then ok, I will defend him. But we have to win something first. He's got to prove himself to the boys, the media and most of all, us.

Easter Egg

i assume most of you must know this. For those who don't:

LINK

and find some gems


Have it large for Easter

The longer Toady stays as Chelsea manager, the faster we will fall. Whats the point of winning 9 in a row in all competitions, then loose the finals and drop points in important games? That 9 game winning streak will still count for nothing eh? Please Toady, stop all your bullshit comments thinking you can con us like we are simpletons.

And Kenyon or Buck still got the cheek to say that they judge a manager by their results. If so, why sack Jose? Utter rubbish. Why not sack Grant? 2 cups lost in the space of 2 weeks! So its pretty obvious that the chance of Grant staying is high. That will be the day where CFC RIP.

Lets all pray to god that he will be gone come end of the season. But if they keep giving Toady false hopes such as Arsenal or Man U slipping up, im seriously worried. Angels in heaven, please hear our prayers.

Amen.

As of yet, the only injuries for Sunday are Cech, so Cudicini will start and Rosicky and Diaby are injured for Arsenal.

It's gonna be tough Ken..but fingers and toes crossed eh?

Keep the faith...

There will be some selection problems ahead. Drogba or Anelka? Lampard, Ballack or Essien? Lampard tends to go AWOL in the big games. Quite evident against Spurs. I believe we need to play Ballack, Essien and Makalele flanked by J.Cole and Kalou. If Grant dares to leave Joey on the bench again, i will absolutely murder him.

If it isnt broken, dont fix it. I think we start the trio of Drogba, J.Cole and Kalou in attack.

I think it's time to play Anelka more, try to integrate him into our style of play. That way if Didier does decide to leave in the summer, Anelka will be settled. Look how he was scoring at Bolton, yet since we've had him at Chelsea, he hardly ever plays.

On the other hand Didier's been one of our top goalscorers, would it be right to leave him out of any game at this stage of the season, knowing that if anyone can stick the ball in the net, he can?

it's a double edged sword...

I think Ken's comment is spot on but obviously the people in charge don't quite follow that. Getting rid of the most successful manager we've ever had, and now Grant tinkering with the team, which wouldn't be so bad if it was effective, but it isn't, it's counter productive. I think in this game, Cech's presence won't be missed as much as Arsenal tend to keep the ball on the ground. The back four should stay the same but they need to take a long look at themselves after the performance against sp*rs.

In midfield I think we should play Lamps, Ballack & Maka. They're the best 3 for me. Especially Ballack. If he played from the start against sp*rs we would have been much better in controlling the play and had an extra presence in the air.

In attack, we have to play the same three. I thought Kalou, Drogs & Joey were inventive, creative, pure quality. Drogs was doing some of his usual petty stuff but he's still a brilliant striker with so many options. Anelka seems to pull too wide and too deep all the time but Drogs knows when and how to do it.

Please Grant, we will know the manure result before we play, and IF they lose, you cannot fuck this one up. If you get your managing right on the day and lose, I will have no problem. But if we have a good chance of winning f*cked up because of your pathetic decisions, I will have no problem raging against you for the rest of the season.

I have my questions on Lampard. Like i said, he tends to go AWOL in matches. Whether Grant has the balls to remove him if its not working remains to be seen although i doubt he will. I thought Essien played well in the last match. Showed alot of drive from midfield. He and Ballack should do a fine job for us in that area.

I think we need to go for a 4-4-2 formation - not just for the Arse - but for good. 4-3-3 requires really good WF's and CF. I think we tend to go for 4-3-3 cause we have so many good midefielders, but it's not our best formation.

Cech
Belliti-Terry-Riccy-A.Cole
J.Cole-Essien-Lamps-Malouda
Drogs-Anelka

Subs: Carlo, Kalou, Obi, Alex, Ballack/ SWP

Arse will be tough - but even if we beat them I think dropping points at spurs as cost us the league. As for the CPL - I am actually worried about Fenerbache - they are very strong at home and should we get through - we face either the Arse or the Pool.

Under JM I would relish these encounters - but under Avram I just feel sick. I have supported CFC for 20 years and never minded being a medicore club that we were pre-RA. But having tasted glory it really hurts to see us sliding down the pecking order.

My only concern now is RA. Without him we are truly screwed because maybe Grany and his ass kissing methods can convince him to spend another 100million on Aguero, Kaka, Vela, Messi etc.

No matter what happens this season - I think our boys have been great. They handled themselves real well after JM left and have all played their guts out. The board let us down, maybe even RA - but if it wasn't for him - JM would never have come at all.

Tis better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all ...

God bless the Blues - we love you no matter what. So our time at the top is fadding out - fuck em all - we enjoyed it while it lasted and at least we got to taste it.

Screw you Spurs, Screw you Barca - WE ARE THE CHELS SO FUCK ALL THE REST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did previously say that I live in hope of Chelsea winning a title this season rather than expecting them to win something. But still, I was gutted when Keane scored. It was the worst feeling. Aston Villa all over again.

The sad thing was, the best thing about us, our defending, was absolutely woeful. Spurs just kept hitting balls into the box and we just couldn't deal with them. We just couldn't. The entire defense, except for perhaps Cudicini, haave to take blame for conceding four pathetic goals, and three of them from set pieces.

And dont get me started with Grant. Bringing on Alex for Kalou in the 70th minute? Surely he's having a laugh. I mean, we had the iniative and attack is the best method of defense. Doesn't he know that? Bringing of one of our attacking players for a defender and playing a 5-4-1 totally handed Tottenham the opportunity to attack our fragile back four. And I can't believe he took Joe Cole off!! I JUST CANT!! I mean, the man was having the game of his Chelsea career. Why take him off? WHY?

Oh, how I wish we had a manager with brains. Calling Grant a pea brain would be an insult to peas.

Let's just hope we beat Arsenal on Sunday. As much as Grant is a non-entity, I feel and hope the players will see us through this season. I mean, like at Valencia, it definitely wasn't the toad who made us win the game, it was the players and I think and hope that we'll never lose that character. That's why I think the players will be pumped up for Arsenal. I mean, they should.

Okay, let me try to be a little bit more optimistic. Behind every cloud, there's a silver lining and hopefully that is the