Premier League: West Bromwich Albion 0 - 3 Chelsea

Great review on another stroll away from home. 19 away wins this season could see us become champions seeing as our home form continues to be patchy.

GREAT:
1. Nico - I think he's the perfect striker when playing away from home. His pace can destroy opponents and right now he's the best striker in the premiership (form wise). 12 goals already, some amazing finishing and he's rightly keeping Didier out the side. We should all enjoy some humble pie but before we start saying he's our attacking saviour, i'm just wondering if he can be the answer when we have problems at home. With teams defending deep, not leaving any room for his pace, he may not be the answer when we need to knock it long. But that's for another day. A quality performance tonight.
2. Mancienne - An England call up already! He should be a future England great if only he could play for Chelsea. Is he able to dislodge Ricky. In the short term no, but i'd be happy to sell Alex to get him in the squad or move Paulo on and see Ivanovic moved to RB. He MUST be involved or he will leave and we'll lose a future great.
GOOD:
1. Away record - 10 straight wins, conceded only 1 deflected Robinho free kick, we're as close to perfect as any can be away from home. Another win at the Reebok will give us the new record and this run is starting to have the same effect as our home record did. Most teams appear beaten before they even face us.
2. Defence - Ivanovic looks a much better defender than Alex in my opinion. He's more mobile, better on the ball, more physical and less cumbersome. Another promising appearance alongside a towering JT.
3. Midfield - Deco was running the show with his immaculate passing. Mikel seemed to have forgotten his recent nightmares in Rome and against Burnley and Lamps was well, Lamps - full of running, a constant attacking threat and deserved a goal.
4. Bosingwa - A wonder goal with his left peg and is quickly develpoing into the best RB in the world.

Deco running the show??...i don't think so.

BAD:
1. WBA - It's admirable to want to play the beautiful game. But when you've got bad players, you'll just leave yourself wide open for good players to tear you apart. Certainties for the drop.
2. Finishing - Malouda's definitely improved and has got a good understanding with Nico but if he could stop thinking he's Jonny Wilkinson when he gets in front of goal, he'd be our top scorer by a mile. He has good build up play, makes good runs but just can't shoot straight.

WORRYING:
1. Didier - I agree that he's suffering from Ronaldo syndrome and appears to be sulking about how he missed out on his dream move to Italy. He's definitely rusty and probably jealous that Anelka's become our first choice but when he came on tonight, he looked disinterested. He's still awesome on his day, but those days are less and less frequent. Could it be his last season?
2. Injuries - JT this week. Expect another load after the international break.
3. Carlo - Still a little panicky and looks more like Hilario than Cech on present form.

AWFUL:
1. Kalou - An abysmal showing. Ran into defenders, gave the ball away every time we gave it to him, couldn't control the ball, couldn't cross the ball and his shooting was worse than Malouda's. His pass for Anelka's second must have been down to luck more than judgement judging by this showing and i'd happily see him sold if it means we can give Sinclair a chance or we can bring in a new player. I've been waiting for him to improve but he's destined to be a new SWP, just not good enough for Chelsea. I feel sorry for slating him as he seems like a nice kid, but he's now our worst winger by an awful long way.
2. Gomes - Is he really a goalkeeper?

So another great away day, made better by the call up to Mancienne. I hope we start giving the youngsters a chance. Even an appearance for 10 mins every few games will at least tell them that they're good enough for Chelsea. If not then we will lose Sinclair, Woods, Mancienne...

There was an interesting point made by someone about teams playing at home against Chelsea play to win thereby presenting a more open field in which we ofcourse revel. In Stamford Bridge, visiting teams tend to shut up shop and given that their defense is good, we tend to struggle, get frustrated and in the absence of a tested Plan B tend to falter. That surely has been the trend this season with us playing some brilliant football.
Drogba must be a fixture for us at home because he fits into the plan B which we can start off right in the beginning of the game and after getting a lead try playing a more pleasing game.

And please stop this Kalou hating. I know he gets onto peoples nerves by dragging the ball to the defender but I have seen Sinclair and the only thing he does different is do it quicker. We'll give him some time. He is not a big earner but he is genuinely happy to be at Chelsea and we must look to develop him as a good finisher and then sell him off if we must. Same with Malouda. I would like to think the African quartet, the French speakers and the portogeezers all have blended in beautufully under JT and Super Frank. So, Let it be. taking someone like Malouda off the team might upset The Bos as I saw him running straight at Malouda after scoring that rip snorter today.

KTBFFH

Good review Tony I didn't see the game but had to endure the 5Live commentary, but it did sound a composed and comfortable victory. I watch MOTD for the goals and listening to the ex Liverpool pundits (fuck.. there are sooo many of them on TV) they had the cheek to say that WBA made it easy for us, and one of their analysis examples was that there was no pressure on Deco when he made that sublime crossfield pass to Lamps for his first attempt.

Call me naive but Deco was well into his own half, and most teams are quite happy to sit back and give us possession there, it was the pass and the run Lamps made that split WBA open not the the lack of pressure, anyway only a minor gripe. But suffice to say even with injuries we're ticking over nicely and picking up the points, with a goal difference that is worth the extra point.

I don't know if this is a fitness or training thing or what, but Drogba doesn't come back for the ball at all. He runs around near the box, waiting for it. While this used to work out well for him/us, Anelka and Scolari have changed things. Anelka often comes back into the midfield for passes, helping Lampard, Deco, Boz, Cole, or whoever else is playing develop the play into the final third.

And I didn't think Kalou was that bad. Nobody aside from Anelka and Boz had their shooting boots on today, so I can't really hold that against him. Yes, he made some bad passes and lost possession more than I would like, but he also made good passes and displayed some incredibly quick feet. Sure, I would take 2004 Duff or Robben over him, but Kalou is still young, 22 (I think) and has time to mature mentally, which I think will happen on this team, with this manager.

@ Ravenous - give Kalou-less some time? He's had 2 seasons and I've not seen anything consistent enough to suggest to me he'll make the grade. I think his substitution yesterday and Popeye's look told me that his days may be numbered.

Oh, and it isn't hate. The criticism is valid for yesterdays performance. If he turns in a good one I'll praise him, but really he was bloody awful yesterday.I'd also say this - have you seen enough of Sinclair to be able to make that comparison? Because despite watching 95% of our games Sinclair has barely played more than half a dozen for the first team, whereas Kalou-less............

I didn't see the game, but can i suggest(kindly) a more academic approach to these ratings. I DON'T FIND IT AMUSING that players get the same scores everyday.
-----------------------------------------------------------
How about doing this?:
Give everyone the average:

vs. Top-6, european teams, teams in europe 5/6
vs. middle teams 4/5
vs. relegation teams, lower league teams 3/4
(meaning if you control a vs. Top-6-team game you get 6)
----------------------------------------------------------
ADD A POINT EACH FOR A:
goal assist, crucial goal, well taken goal
crucial role, crucial tackle, match saving contribution,
skill and so on.
(NO POINTS FOR tap-ins, clear headers, Bramble goals,
goal assists for games already won, running around)
-----------------------------------------------------------
DEDUCT a point for:
being wasteful, selfish, stupid errors, ineffective role playing,
neglecting basic duties, needless fouls,poor setpiece
delivery[considering we've only scored 4 GOALS
from CORNERS over the last 3 seasons.]Feel free to prove me wrong!
------------------------------------------------------------
as an example give everyone a 4 for the west bromwich game(controlled):
give kalou a point for an assist.
give bosingwa a point for a crucial goal
give terry/ivan a point each for handling miller
and so on.
...

@ HNERY - when I've got my degree in Maths maybe.

The ratings all start at 6 and go up down depending on how they played during THE GAME BEING REVIEWED. other affecting criteria for the player ratings.

1.) what they contributed individually
2.) what they contributed to the team
3.) how hard they worked and the effort they put in
4.) whether or not I had a hangover
5.) whether we lost or won
6.) how Spurs and Liverpool did that day
7.) how my golf game went that weekend
8.) whether my boss has been nice to me or not that week
9.) whether or not I have a good meal before the game
10.) whether I drink Guinness or Magners or Rioja
11.) whether my daughters come in on time
12.) whether or not Planet Rock have played some good music that day
13.) What does ChelseaBob and Mrs ChelseaBob and Big Dave think (SB games only)
14.) whether or not I'm wearing lucky pants

Try getting a mathematician to formulate that.

It was a good result, but I didn't see the dominating game that the scoreline and some of the commentary suggests. We have 15 sublime minutes at the end of the second half, and a couple of goalmouth scrambles in the second, but otherwise the game looked remarkably even, with WBA holding the ball and making a number of runs into our area. To be honest, our defense looked suspect all game, with Bosingwa, Bridge and Ivanovic all getting beaten more than once. I'm surprised by the strong rating for Ivanovic who just never seemed comfortable at the back.

And Deco: how many balls did he give away? I counted at least five. He has these gorgeous little flicks, but they rarely release someone (unlike Frank or Mikel, or even Malouda), and too often they give up possession. Sometimes it looks like a pass for a pass sake, and a one-touch display that looks good on the highlight reel but doesn't create space. Contrast that with Ballack's first perfect touch to release Malouda (?) when he came on as a sub for Deco.

So, I'm happy with the win, but it didn't look as dominant a performance as many in recent weeks, and I want Ricky and Ashley back before Arsenal, and preferably before Bordeaux.

Is there injury news on Terry?

ChelseaTony - I think the player ratings are pretty much spot on every time. Great review again. I have been reading the blog for about two seasons and it's simply amazing how much more insightful and accurate it is compared to the cr*p written in papers by journalists who only ever watch the highlights each week. Anyway, rant over.

I thought maybe you should have picked out Deco's performance today a bit more, I know you did praise him, but it is the first game I have seen him play well since his injury. I was amazed such a class player kept giving the ball away, but at last the real Deco is back. Hopefully with him on form and Joey Cole fit we will be able to break down the stubborn defences we have lacked ideas against. I am still undecided if our style will work most of the time against the best teams, but perhaps with Lamps, the Bos, Ballack, Deco, Malouda, Cole, Drogba and Anelka there is enough sheer class to create those magic goals most of the time we need them.

And will it ever stop raining at our away games?

Keep the blue flag flying high over those scousers!

@Tony

What i'm saying is:
start at 6(why start at 6 vs. WB, and same vs. Manure?),

give a point for a MATCH WINNING CONTRIBUTION +1
(Kalou, Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic)
give a point for something EXTRAORDINARY +1
(Nobody)
give the remaining 2 points for SOMETHING OUT OF THIS WORLD
(Nobody)
*If you can't do the above SIMPLE math, you not even worth my
time!!!!
SO DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND STOP ISSUING THOSE ARBITRAY SCORES!!!!

Chris, first off, Ze German came on as a sub for Kalou, not Deco, second, You can't expect EVERY defender to stop the attack EVERY Time. Ricky isn't on the field. Also, Ivanovic was covering constantly for JT, just like Ricky always does, (just not as good). And lastley, although Deco did provide some stray passes, he did enough to warrent his rating.

Why on earth would you want a 'more academic approach' to player ratings anyway, Hnrey? They are personal, subjective and entirely down to the individual doing the marking; if you don't agree, stick up your marks and let everyone put their viewpoint across and agree / disagree with you accordingly. All this "extra point for a defender handling a forward from a mid table side rather well"; good grief - you can't reduce football to a series of mathematic calculations; that would be to miss what has driven debate about the game since the year dot. And even some of your suggested rules are pretty subjective anyway. QED.

Go and take up trigonometry if you want equations worked out to a set of rules, for heavens' sake.

@JD
I already have my Computer Science Masters(5 years of sweat!).

"you can't reduce football to a series of mathematic calculations"

1. Manure scores 1 corner kick in every six. We score 1 corner kick every
6 months.
2. Manure has scored more free kicks in the last 5 months than we've in the last three seasons.
Guess who i dislike as a result of the above calculations?
*Feel free to prove me wrong!

@ 8 Hnery

I think part of the problem with the ratings is we're using integers whereas we could be going to 5 decimal places.

Also your system means you'd have to go to the game with a clipboard. I don't know about the others who write reports but I go firstly to watch and enjoy the game and then secondly to write a report. Occasionally if I'm watch in a pub I'll take notes, normally until some hairy arsed bruisers drinking bottles of Magners start staring at me.

You'll notice in my last report on Hull (I mean Burnley) I used adjective descriptors instead of numerics.

@Henry
I've said many times before, it always amazes me why people get so worked up with the guys that do the write ups with regard their players scoring. As JD says it's subjective not scientific, and besides what are the mathematical odds that you have suddenly started to post fairly sensible things on this blog? ;-)

"you can't reduce football to a series of mathematic calculations"

Sorry - I forgot - there is goals scored / goal difference...

Meh, frankly.

"you can't reduce football to a series of mathematic calculations"

4 3 3

4 2 4

5 1 3 1

"you can't reduce football to a series of mathematic calculations"

In the immortal words of David Coleman.... One - Nil!

4 3 3

4 2 4

5 1 3 1

Mark - you are in fact Charles Hughes and I claim my free autographed copy of " ...Basic Team Coaching" :-)

@Mark "Also your system means you'd have to go to the game with a clipboard."

And a Fisher Space Pen to away games.

@Henry - I like me some statistics - it's one of the reasons why I find baseball so appealing ( read Moneyball by Michael M. Lewis, highly recommended even if you don't like the sport LINK ) - so feel free to post your player ratings in the comments. I'm genuinely interested to see how Lampard fares using your criteria.

As for the game, while I don't usually lay into players who perform badly, I'm in agreement with Tony about Kalou. He was bad, bad, bad. The criteria I use to judge bad performances is whether I start using expletives under my breath every time the player in question makes a mistake. I found myself swearing at Kalou quite openly yesterday.

Thanks Big T, a good summary. As ever some forthright opinion to encourage debate. I like the topicality of the Bond Theme.

While I never assume Chelsea will win a game I did think that the fact WBA try to play football rather than go the physical, mass defence route might suit us.

While it’s still early days I have yet to hear any media outlet comment that our goal difference effectively puts us a point ahead of the Poo. Last season they never missed an opportunity to point this out when it favoured Manure over us. And why is the game in hand not seen as a real pressure on Manure when all last season we were reminded that it was better to have the points. What? Paranoid? Moi?

It seems we can’t agree over the method for player ratings.

As an alternative and in honour of our hosts, whose ground is at the highest altitude in the Football League, might I suggest an impressionistic soundscape where the Chelsea team are represented by mountaineering knots? I thought you’d say no. But I shall abseil on regardless.


1. CC Guarde Knot
2. JB Bowline-on-a-Coil
3. WB Transport Knot
4. BI Prusik Knot
5. JT Square Knot
6. JMO Mule Knot
7. FL Directional Figure-Eight
8. D Three-Loop Bowline
9. SK Munter Hitch
10. FM Round Turn and Two Half Hitches
11. NA Butterfly Knot
12. MB Kleimhiest Knot
13. DD Girth Hitch
14. PF Bowline

M LSF Double Fisherman’s Knot

@7 Chelseatony: Kalou is not an established starter with us yet and I agree thats entirely due to his limited skill and impact he makes in a game. For me, Kalou is not a bad 2nd choice winger to have given that wingers generally are very fragile creatures and our own Joey is as strong as a ginger bread man now. Try finding a winger who would agree to play second fiddle to Cole and be better than Kalou. Kalou for me comes across as a really nice bloke who is extremely non-invasive. Did anyone notice the Chuck and Larry moment between him and Anelka after the 3rd goal?
LINK
Ughhh :|
I would feel sad if anyone of the current crop is necked out of the club forcibly into wilderness. Instead give them chances while things are going good. Their break would come and then offers would come naturally like it came even for Boularouz ( and all that money on the evidence of that One game agnst barca! hahaha!) On seeing a few interviews of Kalou and Mikel in Chelsea TV and/or in the tube (search Kalou interview), I can bet that kalou leaving the club would definitely upset Mikel a great deal and I say this on learning abt the bond these two guys have. Dont be surprised if Mikel puts in a little strike asking for a transfer once Kalou leaves. All these things are ofcourse hyperboles and at the same time thats where the man management skills of Felipao will be tested. Look no further than the Heinze episode which Fergie just spoke abt. One year after heinze left, Ronaldo was at it.
On Sinclair's case (or any youngster for that matter) JT's words on Mancienne sure has a point. "there are players who are not playing week in and week out who deserve to play. They get paid a lot of money to be part of our squad and it is difficult sometimes to throw the younger lads in ..." So thats that! Kids cant play in our team because we have Ivanovich. Simple as that. And as long as its profitable with respect to victories and trophies this sys

If Hnrey's new system for weekly rankings is to be adopted by the Blog, I am more than happy to give up 6 hours of each weekend to re-watch the game on slow-mo and add up the points...... I just need to clear it with the wife first!

Hard to dis-agree with the assessment that Kalou had a shocker..... Still rate him though, and he would be snapped up by every other side in the league should we decide to let him go.

Don't really agree with the Deco assessment..... Although he was much improved and played a coule of wonderful balls. Now he is fit again, I think Ballcak has to take his place in the side.

And as for Hnrey's comments on Utd and their set pieces, if you take the Portugese Lady-Boy out of the side, their conversion rate would be no better. Free Kicks these days are shared between Lampard, Deco and Ballack, and no-one seems able to perform regularly.

As for corners didn't Deco take almost all of them at the weekend, which rather makes your slating of Lampard look 'a bit silly'.

Finally, great to see Spurs back in the bottom 2!

Mancienne - great to see a chelsea academy player being called up for his national squad. great advert for chelsea! The thing that worries me is that hes involved in championship football.. when will he get his chance at chelsea? shame for english football that a player of his quality at the youth level is not getting a chance at his club consdiering chelsea got him at age 8.. I hope he gets to play on wednesday and maybe and hopefully soon chelsea will bring him back from loan in january and give him some games..
I also feel drogba is not the same drogba from 2-3 yrs back. maybe in our and his best interests, its better he moves on and use the money to buy a world class striker in january(i heard we are limited to resources these days considering the economic crisis). our strike force is concerning me in the long run.. Nic is great but we need another world class striker. pizzaro is out on loan. Di santo needs more time... drogba.. who else do we have?

@Ravenous1 @4

I think I made that point about the pitch opening up for Anelka at away games... nice to know that someone actually thinks about my quips.

@Radicalevan @6

Drogba isn't Anelka. Anelka isn't Drogba. Drogba plays some really impressive high pressure defense when he is fit. He isn't now. Give him time, let his ego subside. I wouldn't wish away either Drogba or Anelka right now. What is the point?

On player ratings in general...
Quantitative ratings really don't tell you too much (and are subjective themselves anyway). But case in point- top of form Makelele. If he plays well, he does nothing exciting. He makes no great passes. He doesn't have any great tackles. Yet that means he had a brilliant game (assuming a win or undeserved loss, etc.)

That said, I'm still unsure about Kalou. He has some moments that you just don't see from many players, and yet he also makes horrible errors. I think he should get less playing time, but we shouldn't ship him...

FFS Hnery, post whatever ratings you personally want, but unless you're (God forbid) writing the match summary, give the guys who do it a bit of credit. There's nothing legally binding about Tony's ratings, after all they are what he thought players were worthy of.

A bit of a routine performance, but 3 points and a further goal away from Liverpool in the 'goals for' category (Hnery, maybe the FA want some help handicapping goals for - maybe 0.5 against anyone in the bottom 3, but 1.5 for any against the top 4 ???)

Another game, another injury. Hopefully JT will get rested midweek and be o.k for next weekend. Hopefully Kalou will play and get injured so we can actually give someone else a chance. I've never been his biggest fan and, on occassions, have held my hands up when he's put in a good performance. Unfortunately, they seem to be so few and far between that they catch us all by surprise. We're now accustomed to him being average at best.

To quote Habs : "His pass for Anelka's second must have been down to luck more than judgement judging by this showing...." It's a recurring theme, anything productive he does is by pure chance. He's had long enough now to settle into our game and start getting better. And it's not really happened. We do seemed to have very mixed results when we buy from the Dutch league. He's definitely more Kezman than Robben. Definitely time for Sinclair to show us if he can do anything different before we stick Kalou out the front of the house on a blanket with a hand-written 'For Sale' notice hanging round his neck. Next to the homemade lemonade, and the rose perfume your sister has made.

On the subject of, erm, subjectivity, I didn't feel that Deco had such a great game. He had some lovely turns and flicks but nothing that really affected the game.
I loved one of the commentator's comments about Albion keeping possession "because once Chelsea get the ball it is death by a thousand passes". To echo Nick's sentiment on judging players, I certainly swore loudly every time Kalou did what he did.
At least Hnery's on form....

My feeling on Kalou are unchanged. He's an excellent player to bring off the bench _ see his equaliser against United – but should not be a regular starter, and probably wouldn't be if Joe Cole and Essien/Ballack were fit. He's also a clearly confidence player, so barracking him won't make life any better. He's also the only player we've got with pace who can run at players.

And, as Ravenous1 astutely notes, his popularity in the squad is obvious and crucial to morale - anybody see his 'eyebrows' celebration after Boswinga's goal, drawing attention to our elegant right backs hairy eyewarmer?

Anyway, an assist apiece for Kalou and Malouda and two goals for Anelka: once again, our pisspoor triumvirate forward line comes up trumps. Funny that.

Great news about Mancienne. So what do we do? Sell Alex and promote Mancienne? Is it worth the risk? Why not...

Another week when Kalou/Malouda were at their frustrating worst. All I would say in their defence is that I watched live on TV Arsenal v ManUre last week and Bolton v Liverpoo this week [OK my attention wandered after Poo's 2nd goal went in] and was struck by the thought that if we had the misfortune to be fans of these clubs we'd probably be holding similar discussions about the useless ball control and rubbish finishing of Bendtner/Rooney/Keane as appropriate. As Clive likes to rummage in opposition blogs perhaps he'd like to test out this theory and report back?

@23 BlueBayou - what an exciting childhood you must have had - trainspotting and Boy Scouts ;-)

'Another week when Kalou/Malouda were at their frustrating worst.'

Bbbbbbut they both got assists and we won 3-0 away from home - again!

I don't get it, this constant need to bemoan a provenly successful side who, despite serious injury problems, have delivered our best attacking statistics and performances for years and are currently waltzing through every good-to-average team in the division. Sure, they're not doing it against the very strongest sides, but, y'know, that's why they are the very strongest sides... We know that Kalou and Malouda aren't world class, but they are clearly delivering enough to get us top of the table during an injury crisis. Respect that, at least.

Frankly, it's just another manifestation of Henry's Lampard fetish.

So look at United fans and their relationship with Nani/Park - they know they aren't the best, but they respect them for the job they do when called upon. They know the squad needs players like that.

And that support has helped a similar player, Fletcher, who I've always thought is one of the worst United players ever, become arguably their best midfield player this season.

But we prefer to harp and moan and whinge and then wonder why our second-choice players aren't responding...

Christ, give me Nani or Park over Kalou any day. I'd take Ishmael Miller instead of him.

There's a chasm of difference between being them 'not being the best' and being plain ordinary. Nani and Park have got arguably the World's best winger in front of them, something to really test them and make them work for their place and chance.

We've just got injuries and kids, and unfortunately it seems a bit of complacency now. Kalou knows he's in the side come rain or shine (rain for each away game) and does nothing to make it seem like he's really making the place his own. For sure, he's an asset to the squad, it's just my opinion that we could (and should) be benefitting so much more from him, or from someone else entirely.

You make a great point that despite Malouda and Kalou, we're still winning and it seems we all just want a scapegoat (I know I do). He's just frustrated me for so long that I feel someone else deserves a chance. If it means I have to slate them for being equally as ordinary then so be it, but I think it's only fair to see what Sinclair / Stoch etc could do given the same extended opportunity.

If you watched Nani and Park week in and out you'd know they aren't any better than Kalou. I know you're joking about Ishmael Miller but it can't help but remind me of the people who were moaning cos we didn't sign than prancing over-rated drama queen David Bentley. The grass ain't greener people.

Complacency - give me a break. This squad, to a man, is an hungry as it's ever been. Complacency? Go to the Emirates.

If Kalou struggles, it's undoubtedly a confidence thing - look at the bloke's eyes when you're at the Bridge and you can see he's just waiting for the moaning he'll hear for making the sort of mistake everybody seems happy to tolerate from Joe Cole.

We are top of the league, with a massive goal difference, with an injury-riddle squad. If that doesn't show you how impressive our strength in depth is, I despair.

As Clive likes to rummage in opposition blogs perhaps he'd like to test out this theory and report back?

Will have a look and see what I can find, but on recent reconnaissance haven't seen much, that's worth highlighting.

PeteW,

I meant complacency in the sense we're picking two wide men from, umm, the two fit ones we have. At the moment, Kalou's a shoe in as there's no-one to challenge him or for him to challenge for the place. When Joe returns I hope it'll give him a bit of a kick and we'll see an improvement - in much the same way I think Sinclair deserves a chance.

But I never, ever wanted to sign Bentley. Far too English and over-rated for me. I wanted (and still do) Ribery. He really would make the difference.

Hope you all noticed that Kenyon's "Break-Even by 2010" plan is now homing in on those really crucial areas of spend:

LINK

- though the "senior Chelsea player" quoted is clearly not an out-of-touch, over-pampered rich git and can expect his Man of the People nomination to follow swiftly.....

We must have huge financial worries if all they're serving is tea and shit filled sandwiches!

@BBD #31 and #37

The following quote from that link worried me....

"We have cut down significantly on scouts and other activities."

Its sad to see the youngsters not getting the opportunities that I had as a young man. Perhaps I'll drop Kenyon a line and offer some free knot tying sessions. Of course without the chance to take the badge it doesn't have the same kudos but hell it could save a life one day.

No, don't thank me its the least I can do for the club I love.

I wonder what Lord Baden Powell would have to say. Must be spinning in the ol' grave there.

@BB
I think you may have spent too long around campfires, eating drug infused melted marshmallows. ;-)

Note that Lampard is out for England with a rib injury. This plus Terry added to the existing list means we'll bit a bit thin on the ground for Saturday. I might have to make myself available so I'm going out for a run tonight and then ask my wife to apply the embrocation cream to ensure I don't stiffen up.

5-playing like leRoy lita, lee bowyer,lee dixon
6-being average
7-match winners
8-like Walcott vs. Liverpool, Frank vs. Citeh
9,10-anything out of Jay Jay *Okocha ('s cookbook)!!!

*such a shame nobody thought of changing his age in time
for us to snap him.

**anybody fancy doing frank's shots+freekicks to goals ratio???

A quick look at the Chelsea website reveals that Frank's shots/goals ratio is 0.15 and his shots on target ratio is 0.57....Joe Cole is 0.11 and 0.55 respectively and Drogba's stats are 0.17 and 0.50
Just for reference, Anelka is 0.22 and 0.62.

Frank ain't doing too badly, I'm afraid.

(try to read in yer best stage oirish accent – in the head o’course so as not to worry the neighbours)

2 seemingly unrelated topics

1. More injuries #41, Lampard's ribs now.

2. A suspicion, if the link on #37 is correct, that the squad is living on cups o’ tea and miserable sandwiches.

Lads (and Ladies) it doesn’t take a genius to work out where the injury crisis originates, but while I’m on here I might as well take you through it.

I’ve been worried for some time by the pictures in glossy Chelsea publications of our lads being dished up plates o’ pasta and sundry nuts and other hamster food. As my father used to say, being a stout hearted man of the Kingdom (that’s Kerry in south west Eire for the uninitiated), “It’s a long way from eating bits of oul sawdust I was reared”.

Now we find its even worse. Once the cameras are gone they grab the plates off ‘em and throw ‘em a few ol’ mouldy bits of sandwich and a watery cup o’ tea.

Is it any wonder they can’t get through the week without taking to the bed with some mysterious ache or pain.

I see I’m going to have to roll up the sleeves and get involved. Its time to crack a few heads together and get this sorted out.

Anyone who knows anything about football (that’s Gaelic Football) will know that over the years the Kingdom has produced more winners of the All Ireland then the rest of ‘em put together. How did they do this? Well apart from the inate superiority of yer Kerryman its been down to diet. Ye don’t breed powerful men like Eoin “Bomber” Liston on bits o’salad an’ the like.

So I’m taking a few pages of the Kingdom Sporting Diet down to Cobham with me. The whole basis of it is plates of good honest hairy bacon, boiled cabbage and a rake o' floury spuds for the dinner every day, washed down with pints of decent porter. For breakfast they can have slices o’ black pudding and fried bread. The tea has to be strong, not stewed and have at least 3 or 4 sugars in it.

(hold that accent)

(away ye go again)

A few weeks of this and I expect to see a turn around.

I shoulder some of the responsibility for the mess we are in as I took my eye off the ball, but ‘twas criminal that they should be sending lads out without a proper bite to eat in their bellies.

For shame.

@ BB = and keeping der 1950's Ealing Studio's Oirish accent.

Now den, now den, to be sure, to be sure, to be half feckin' sure. Dare's no point in blamin yer goodself now. 'Twas a fair ol' mistake and dats fer sure, but it seems to me dat yer on der roight path to redemption. My ol' Mam was from Kerry as well, Sneem to be precoise so OI share der coltural beckground wiz yer.

I can't write anymore in this accent, but I remember being bought up on a solid diet of post-war Irish cooking . My grandparents owned the Village Bakery in Sneem and so my childhood food fayre was littered with floury spuds boiled to the point where they crumbled at the movement of the eyes over the pot. Cabbage was the staple vegetable along with greens and carrots, but only hairy knobbly ones. As for Bacon, it isn't bacon without hairs, and Black Pudding is a culinary masterpiece which should be mandatory in all schools. Perhaps this is where my taste for der Black Stuff comes from, perhaps its inherent. To my eternal shame I have yet to visit my other spiritual home of Sneem, the first being Stamford Bridge of course, even more shameful when I think of the vast amounts of Irish relatives living out there.One day I will visit though, but only on successful completion of the Cultural Roots Visit Marathon Guinness Quaffing Course. I am reliably informed that this would be a pre-requisite.

Of course, the transformation in Spurs lately is also attributed to the move away from a diet of Rocket, Iceberg, Fennel, Artichokes etc, with meagre bowls of pasta to 'Arry's own ratified diet of Jellied Eeels, Pie and Mash with Gravy, and Fish and Chip suppers. Marvellous.

@ BB - As my ol' Mam would also say to a healthy appetite.

"Sure, wouldn't just eat a bucket of stones if I cooked dem"

Correction (oh for the edit facility return :-( )

@ BB - As my ol' Mam would also say to a healthy appetite.

"Sure, wouldn't ya just eat a bucket of stones if I cooked dem"

LINK

Sometimes you have to be looking in from outside to really appreciate what is going on.

Nice to see Frank's had the common sense to have a rest in midweek with a 'rib injury!' Although JT refuses to give in and is gonna play with his broken toe or whatever it is. Hopefully Mancienne will get a cap and not just go along for some sightseeing.

Would any of us be surprised if Ballack, Deco, Bridge, Malouda or Anelka came back injured after these meaningless friendlies? At this rate the yougsters will get their chance in the proper competitions as we're so low on numbers.

Does our Mancienne load deal have a clause allowing his recall on demand?

What about the possiblity of Fabio Paim playing for the 1st team in case of massive injuries in our squad? anyone have any thoughts?
i dont know much about this kid but is there a possibility?

@ PeteW

I have to agree. First, I think Kalou and Malouda are coming along nicely. If Anelka is brilliant for vulturing 2 goals (and he is) then surely there is nothing wrong with Malouda and Kalou setting him up.

Second, players at Chelsea seem to have a "2 Year Rule" in which they need to play for an entire year, look like crap, and then look nothing like the player from last season. Ballack did it (remember when everyone wanted to ship him out?), even Drogba had this problem. Drogba "wasn't scoring enough" on year. Meanwhile, Frank is putting them in left and right.

Has Kalou had a lot of time in the side? Yes. Malouda? Definitely not. I consider his year under Grant lost. How exactly was he to mature as a footballer under that manager? Do they both have deficiencies? Yes.

Honestly, all this griping reminds me of the arguments of the England selection. Do we want the "best" 11, or do we want a winning 11? Right now we are winning. Right now we are putting in goals like no tomorrow. Right now we can even improve... a scary thought considering our goal differential. What exactly is the problem?

Remember- supposedly Felipão is the psychological master- he knows how to harness the players in the best way to get them to win. Clearly the magic has been working. We are winning with a decimated side. When we start beating the big 4 teams he can do no more. Win... with style. What else can you ask of a manager?

@ ChelseaTony,

You may have hit on something there.

Should I be successful with my dietary changes I can just see Sky billing the next game with the Spuds (ha ha) as the collision of 2 potato based culinary cultures, "The Clash of the Mash".

It was foreseen by whoever wrote the immortal lines that preface the song McAlpines Fusilliers

"I come from the County Kerry,
The land of eggs and bacon,
And if you think I'll eat your fish and chips,
Then Bejaysus your mistaken."

And you should certainly go and take a look around the Ring of Kerry

How good is Lampard! What a gun. Scores tons perfect captain

Bosingwa was real star, scored one and set up one.
Good buy for Abra!

Mancienna looks so much like kalou.. any takers??

Drogs banned for 3 games, with immediate effect.

Should be o.k without him on Saturday at home to the barcodes, and Bolton in 3 weeks time, but will miss him against Arsenal for sure.

I'm not a big fan of Drogs, he's ok if you create chances for him.
His absence means one less cook in the increasingly chaotic freekick
broth.
=====================================================================
Anybody remember Sco's world cup squad?

Marcos || Cech
Lúcio Edmílson* Júnior || Terry Obi* Calv
Cafu Carlos|| Bosingwa Cole
Gilberto* Kléberson* || Lampard* Ballack*
Ronaldinho || Anelka
Rivaldo Ronaldo || Deco Joey
==========================================================================
I'm getting the impression he was
only luck to win it. If he saw the need of three 'WORKERS'(Edmil,Gilbe,Kleber)
then, why does he think Obi alone is enough? You just have to rewind the
Liver-Manure-Roma-Wigan to know our current system is a complete disarray vs.
any real test.
Works fine against WB,Portsmouth; I don't need to remind you who else's
beaten WB. If he had a Juninho instead of Gil, he probably wouldn't have won
that worldcup, so why is he doing it now? I'm not saying take off Lampard, i think Ballack(who cannot do what lamps does) has become a luxury. Instead of
too much beauty try to find room for at least one of Minero or Belleti(in
addition to Obi), just to balance things up.
===========================================================================

I know Anelka's come on a bit (sorry, Tony, but I'm going to reserve judgment on how far he's come on until I actually get to see him -- I've missed far far too many home games recently), but I think "Ronaldinho || Anelka" is pushing it a little bit ...

And I'm certainly not qualified to be a footy manager, but I'm guessing that the job doesn't consist of trying to find one-to-one tactical equivalents between team A and team B just because team B won the World Cup six years ago.

Although it might be fun to try and continue the spirit of Hnery's post by proposing analogies between Premiership teams and international teams (Tottenham || Belgium etc)

From what I can see, when we've played badly the problems have tended to be at the front end of the pitch rather than the back, except for the games when for whatever reason the players have visibly not given a toss (Burnley/Barnsley/Alderney/Guernsey/Jersey/whoever it was, Roma away).

look at Sir Rednose for instance, an array of all those stars any yet he still finds regular spots for Park, Fletcher. Experience has taught him the need for a balanced system unlike Sparky's teams that always feature 6 players that 'need a ball each'. And guess who's beaten them so far?

@limetree
i thought you'd be able to equate ronaldo for anelka, and ...

I think the idea that Felipao was lucky to win the WC is preposterous. Any side is "lucky" to win the WC- that is the nature of the beast. But he took a team that was on the bubble to qualify and took them all the way.

Then he took a Portugal side that always underachieved and did rather impressive things with it. If all he is is "lucky," then I want that luck, and I'm glad to have him as the manager.

In the meantime, he has only a few games with this team, he has only 3 of "his" players in the side (Carvalho, Ferreira, Minero), and we have done fine so far. Come on... we could have Mark Hughes...

In any case, shoehorning the Chelsea team in to the 2002 Brazil side doesn't much work. Not only are the players entirely different in their skills, temperament and character, the style of play in international ball is much different than the Prem. Plus, any side with Ronaldinho at that time could park the bus in the back and just let a few go forward and expect to score...

I don't care that we lost to Roma. I don't care that we lost the home record. I care that we win the CL, the Prem and the FA cup. That's it. Scolari seems to have a good track record of getting teams to cup finals. I'll take it.

And Ballack as a luxury? We couldn't be further apart in our rating of the player...

At Groy......

'Scolari seems to have a good track record of getting teams to cup finals. I'll take it.'

So did AVRAM! Be careful what you wish for.

@63

Oh please. Taking over someone else's expensively assembled machine mid-season is not the same as winning leagues and cups (and the WC) over 20 years.

Just got around to reading yesterday's Grauniad Fiver column which carried a couple of rumours which had passed me by:

1)Scott Sinclair being lined up for loan deal to that home of classy football, Birmingham City

2) LGF supposedly willing to sell Wayne Bridge to Liverpoo in January transfer window - presumably to fund that tranfer in he wants that Kenyon [and now Buck] says isn't going to happen.

I'd hope Sinclair is now beyond the point where he'd benefit from a spell with a mediocre Championship side and I'd put the Bridge rumour alongside the one this time last year which had him in Newcastle finalising terms - except LGF does seem to think Paulo can play left back and might consider him enough cover for Ashley.

This link at least suggests Mancienne might have a future with us:

LINK

- though does have Buck squelching expectations of strengthening in January.

@ BBD - Popeye often deployed Paolo at left back for Portugal even though I dare say none of us knew he could play there. As for bridge, those weren't rumours...he was very close to signing (this comes from his Mum and Dad) but the counter offer from us was far too tempting. Despite this I can see why a club like Liverpool would appeal to him if first team football is more or less guaranteed. I wonder who Popeye has in mind?

My own theory is that we might be saying goodbye to DD, apparently Real Madrid are interested as Van Nistelrooy is injured. Judging by his attitude recently I can see DD going for that deal. My concern is just who is going to be available and eligible for the CL during the January window whose any good?

@66 ChelseaTony - you mean apart from Michael Owen, presumably ;-)

@ChelseaTony

If Didier goes in January (I agree that he might judging by his Ronaldo like attitude) expect the press to link us with all the big names who aren't cuptied: Villa, Kaka, Fabiano, Owen... But that's all tosh, firstly because they'll never movfe in January, secondly because we're skint (relatively for us) and thirdly because any big name will be targeted by City who'll raise the price to some ridiculous level and then fail to get them.

So our only chances are with young players or good players who aren't big names (basically who the Arabs haven't heard of up at City). My outside bet for a striker in January would be Daniel Sturridge. Arnesen's always wanted him, City's owners don't know who he is and if we can swap Bridge for him then i'd happily welcome Sturridge. Getting rid of Bridge would also free up a spot in defence for Mancienne to return whether at CB or RB.

Habs, If I'm not mistaken, Daniel actually PLAYS for City so I believe that the Arabs MAY know of him. Just a sinking feeling

Just watched the England game and quite impressed. One question

Just how much of a c*nt is Andy Townshend?

Another discussion point - I thought Spurs as a club was as mad as a bag of bollocks, but maybe they've been knocked off that spot

LINK

Im suprised that only TG has reflected on the England game. I was impressed too but being England of course we have to make at least 1 cock-up. I originally thought we made a bad decision in getting rid of SWP but ive changed my mind now.
Ive never seen a more pathetic attempt to cross the ball. It also great to see our JT get on the scoresheet and Bridge played well also. I dont resent the germans but I enjoy it when we beat them. ARE YOU TOTTENHAM IN DISGUISE? LOL
KTBFFH

Decent Setpiece delivery = about 10 goals/season from Terry!

@Tony
Flavio is a self opinionated arsehole, most people in the F1 fraternity think he's a wanker, so why should it change in football. I'm surprised the other investors Bernie and co are letting him make the footballing decisions, how may managers have they been through so far?

PS
Townshend is a c*nt of epic proportions!

As long as JT limits his cock-ups to International friendlies, it's all good by me. And goals as well, we're scoring enough domestically.

Bridge is always being rumoured to be leaving. I really dont want him to go, Ferreira is in no way a left-back.

I can see DD's head being turned by Real in January. TBH if the money's right I'd let him go and then actually give the youth / reserves a chance or look to buy someone else. Although that will be highly unlikely.

Hope to God Sinclair doesn't leave at all, there must be a chance for him to play soon. I guess the concern is the likes of him and Mancienne are so close to the first team, being on the bench isn't enough and they leave, and then the cycle happens with the next breed of youngsters and we'll never end up seeing them as they never get a chance. What has happened to Fabio Paim? Isn't he only on loan from Sporting Lisbon?

If Real are in for Drogba, it might be pertinent to dick them around for a month and then flog him to Citeh for a vastly inflated price at 11.59 on deadline day.

Eye for an eye, and all that.

Interesting game last night; Capello does actually seem to be moulding England into some sort of team, which is no mean feat considering where they were a year ago. Far from a vintage German side (the locals in Munich were horrified at their back line), but another good result keeps the confidence up and gives an increasing sense of belief that they might at least be able to give the best in the world a game these days. Good captain's performance from JT too; decent of him to take the blame for the goal (he played a part but Carson definitely dithered too much).

Lack of keeper (or specifically back up to James who is pushing 40) is a worry though. Ben Foster wants to crack on and shift Van der Sar out of Old Trafford.

I thought Townsends 'six degrees of separation' type assessment of why England conceded (It's Capello's fault, shouldn't have brought Carson on in this type of game, in this arena, against this oppo.) was one of the most laughable things I've heard for a long time.

Which kind of sums up how utterly sh*t ITV's football coverage is. Tyldesley is bearable, Pleat is not.

Steve Rider presenting a football match? Do me a favour.

@71 ChelseaTony - if you include Scottish clubs surely Hearts are way out there on their own as "club as mad as a bag of bollocks" winners. 4 years of total chaos since Vladimir Romanov bought the club in late 2004 with revolving door managers and directors, non-English speaking coaches, allegations of faxed-in team selections by Romanov, etc, etc - read the "recent history" section on the link and count your blessings we got Abramovich:

LINK

Man flu and apathy caused me to miss the England game. Instead l lay sick on the sofa and listened to Morrissey albums all evening.

Agree: Andrew David Townsend is a cock, the worst of a bad bunch.

@ BBD - yeah but I was just really getting at English clubs and QPR seem to have zipped off to another planet in the way they are running the club. Nothing will get close to the madness of Hearts.

@ Fiftee - agree with every word, it was his summing up that drove me to comment in the first place especially the rubbish about what JT did for the equaliser. As if he would hve done better? Cock.

@ Clive - I'm not much into F1 so its interesting to get the view of Briatore from that angle. But its all a bit ...Ron Noades isn't it.

@ KJII - one assumes you are settled nicely into a a spot of 'Deutsche Arbeiten' then. Must be awful having to suffer all that beer brewed under the Rheinheitsgebot! Assuming most German brewers stick to it these days mind, after the EU interfered and forced them to allow other additives.

I note that the BBC website is highlighting the fact it's World Philosophy Day - probably an effort to convince us that despite the Ross/Brand debacle and the Strictly Come Prancing fiasco there is a shred of intellect left in the old dear.

They pose 4 difficult philosphical questions that only our resident sage Mr Tony could understand let alone formulate an answer for.

So for the rest of us and following the exchanges above I offer the following questions for the Chelsea Blog contribution to World Philosophy day.

1. Andy Townsend - can we prove he was the same person who played for Chelsea (lets hope not)?
2. Andy Townsend - is it ever right to let someone in his piteous state go on living?
3. Andy Townsend - how does his existence prove the existence of a God, sorry Dog?
4. Andy Townsend - if conscious thought and a reflective memory distinguish man from other lifeforms what is he?

Take your time, there are huge prizes to be won, just phone your answers through to the number below (calls are charged at £3 as minute) and remember that winning answers are expected to take at least half an hour a question.

Inspired by BB, I present instalment no. 1 of

ANDY TOWNSEND DOES PHILOSOPHY INNIT

Week 1 -- Plato

"If we look at it here now, you'll see that the lads are all in a big cave. And at the end of the day they're all looking the wrong way. There's a big fire, and I mean big Steve, really big, and the opposition's all there by the fire, but the lads are just not looking the right way at all, Steve. And at the end of the day they're just chasing shadows. Innit."

@ 82 BB - some deep questions there that touch on such areas as substance dualism, physicalism, metaphysical possibilities and impossibilities, high order representationalism, phenomenal consciousness, access consciousness, productive versus reproductive imagination as defined by Immanuel Kant and whether emotions are concerned construals or affect-programs.

I've thought about all of the aspects of the questions, much like Douglas Adams creation Deep Thought. Here are the answers.........

1. Andy Townsend - can we prove he was the same person who played for Chelsea (lets hope not)? He's a cock. Theoretically he could be a Dennett Zombie.

2. Andy Townsend - is it ever right to let someone in his piteous state go on living? He's a cock.

3. Andy Townsend - how does his existence prove the existence of a God, sorry Dog?

If God did create him, then he's a cock as well."I prefer the atheist view. The practical upshot of all this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language. The speech patterns you actually hear decode the brainwave matrix which has been fed into your mind by your Babel fish. "Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mindboggingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as the final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. "The argument goes something like this: 'I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, 'for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.' "'But,' says Man, 'The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.' "'Oh dear,' says God, 'I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly vanished in a puff of logic."

4. Andy Townsend - if conscious thought and a reflective memory distinguish man from other lifeforms what is he? He's a cock. That was the most definitive answer.

Number 3 is attributable to the late, great and dearly missed Douglas Adams.

Seriously, what other footie blog gives you this sort of stuff?

Oh, and a Zombie in Philosophy of the mind is NOT someone who has come alive again. it is an exact copy of a person in every detail, a clone for example. The argument being whether the zombie has the same 'experiences' as the original person.

Its very deep.

Now I remember why I never pursued academic study of philosophy very far - at the end of the day it's all cock .... but Douglas Adams was something else. Didn't I hear recently that someone else is going to write another Hitch Hiker's Guide book - is nothing sacred?

@Blue Bayou 82. I'm lying on the sofa listening to Philosophy for Beginners, downloaded from the University of Oxford's podcast section on iTunes U. I'll let you know in about three years whether or not Tony's answers in comment no. 84 are correct. I suspect they are given all that studying he's done recently, and Townsend is indeed a cock.

---

Townsend's three years at the Bridge gets just the one line on his Wikipedia page:

"After making a total of 138 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 12 goals but winning no trophies, he transferred to Aston Villa in July 1993 for the sum of £2,100,000." LINK

Methinks Townsend wrote his own Wikipedia page.

When I was a boy I went swimming at the local baths. It had two swimming pools connected by a door at either end. I was not yet a proficient swimmer and in the excitement of chasing around with my friends and thinking I was at the shallow end I jumped in. Imagine my panic as I could not feel the bottom of the pool.

On visiting the blog and reading the last few entries the sensation returns. My brain hurts.

I always have to remind myself that Townsend was a Chelsea player. I see him as a Villa player really. Which is what he wants I think.

Talking of ex-players, I am beginning to think that Billy Gallas may well still be on the Chelsea payroll!

His form has not been a patch on his efforts in a blue shirt, his man-management is appalling (see today's Press ramblings about how the Arse team fight amongstthemselves).

Frankly, he couldn't have done more to shoot Arsenal in the foot if he tried!

Tony,

Great stuff (#84).

Even better in #85 and #86 for idiots like me who are sitting at their desk at work thinking 'You what?'.

Although you probably dont want to hear that. But I'm glad you included the explanations anyway.

Andy Townsend played at the great Naaridge City before we signed him. I can only apologise.....

The one thing I recall about Andy Townsend at CFC (other than a couple of blinding performances against Spurs) is that he had surgery to have a mole on his chin removed.

On a philosophical bent, they're discussing Derrida in my office. I may have to seek sanctuary in LOLCATS.

@Tony G

Thankfully most of the breweries ignore the EU (think they got various local brews categorised as 'traditional food' so it couldn't be messed with) and carry on as they have done for aeons. Augustiner is a personal favourite - oldest brewery in the Munich area (that's what they say, anyway...) and the beer is about the best I've ever tasted. Use it to wash down a spot of Schweinshaxe - heaven on earth, usually served by dirndl clad young ladies - aaah... Was difficult to get back on the plane to Blighty last night, let's put it that way!

On a related note, we are in the usual place tomorrow if you fancy some learned and reasoned discourse on the matters mentioned here recently (and some beer, of course); we'll be there from midday, as usual...

@ ChelseaTony RE:46

Tony, are you saying your family come from the Kingdom and you have never been there??? Shame on you.
I am English but I know that wonderful little town of Sneem very well!! Tis a beautiful drive round the Ring on a summers day and you arrive in Sneem which has its own little claim to fame in Eire.
Every single house in the Main Street is painted a blindingly pastel colour!!!! Arrive there with a hangover (which I usually did after spending the night in Waterville) and it hurts your eyes to see lol
I have always said if I won the lottery, I would retire to the Kingdom. Beautiful beautiful place!!

By the way, where is Lolli just lately??

@PeteW #93

Are you sure thy're not talking about who they should get should get ridda on Strictly or X Factor? :-)

You certainly work in rarefied circles.

Judging by the recent exchanges on here it looks like philosophy is the new rock 'n roll

Re Andy Townsend's mole - I assume he people were commenting on it and that made him a bit ratty......

I think some of his toadies were badgering him about it.

just saw the possible lineups from LINK
==============================================================================
Possible starting XIs:
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, Bridge, Ballack, Alex, Mikel, Deco, Anelka, J Cole.
==============================================================================
Newcastle: Given, Beye, Enrique, Bassong, Coloccini, Butt, Guthrie, Duff, Gutierrez, Ameobi, Owen.
=====================================================================
Its posted by some 'Claire Hughes', could there be a male 'Claire' somewhere?
what with all this 'change' talk doing the rounds.

Interesting thing is that we seem to agree on the need for only one of (Lamps,Ballack,Deco) in CM. I hope dough enjoyed all his time in london.

@HNREY
Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, Bridge, Alex ????
What kind of line up is that? Are you sure, mate ?

@Mikel
Alex in Makelele role

its not my idea, perhaps you should ask Claire LINK

@ The bear - Lolli is easing herself back into life after a traumatic event. That's all I'll say, but she's still reading avidly as the bounce returns slowly.

@HNREY
I am not blaming you in anything. I am just surprised with this really weird line up. May be we should wait till tomorrow.... to see what is going on.

On a lighter note (?)

Joe Cole and Cech back in squad as well as Ashley Cole and possibly Alex, although I'm happy with Ivanovic from what I've seen thus far. Frank looks to have had a Lazarus-like recovery and is available as is Ze German. Popeye has made some very promising noises about Ze German which seem to indicate a one year contract extension will pretty much be down to Ballack himself. We'd be mad to let him go. All in all some good news on the injury front at last. Belleti, Carvalho and Essien still out.

I hope we give Duff a good reception. It'll be interesting tomorrow to see how we cope with the emerging strike force of Owen/Martins. Perhaps Popeye will use tomorrow as a chance to ....ahem.....have a chat with them ;-)

I won't get to give Duffa the welcome he's earned because yet again I have to miss a game, gnargghhhhh. I have informed those who care about such things here at Limetreebower Towers that I'm not missing any more games this season, not one, be it FA Cup 3rd round tie against Bumblefook FC, and they can put their dead grandmothers/christenings/uncancellable holdays booked three years ago/theatre tickets/etc in their bottoms (henceforth the "Gallashole").

I have to go to a conference. Think I'll deliver a paper called "Andy Townsend: Cock and Bull."

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Dowd is utter wank!!!!!!!!!!!

Geordies defending well, but yet again we can not penetrate resilient defence!!! Anelka and Joe Cole are anonymous, both are shut down by Newcastle defence. Well I just hope second half is going to be different and we finally break through the Tunes lines.

Watching the game, we didn't look like the same side as when we play away from home. We know sides will come for a point and we seem unable to come up with anything to break them down. That's 9 points dropped at home - seems like a repeat of last season where our home form cost us the title. Luckily we've got the crazy gang from the Emirates turning up next week.

Great goal by Joe and I think Malouda played really well today.