dustbin00

ARGHHH How is this going to give our youngsters any confidence? Di Santo and Stoch practically won the game for us at Stoke and now against Ipswich, Stoch doesn't get any time and Di Santo doesn't even make the bench???? @#)**(%^)#@% :angry: :angry:

Following game on espn gamecase as I'm at work Did Carvalho get injured? Given his injuries this season, why we were even risking him in this game is beyond me. As for our set pieces, we can neither defend them, or score from them.....something needs to be worked out on the training pitch, this is embarrassing Nice to see Ballack getting two goals though, let's get another and hopefully see more of Stoch!!! COME ON CHELSEA!!

As Dorset suggested in his "Baiting Abramovich" post, Frank should just give it to Stevie G....That way, we'll get better publicity for it and journos may actually give Chelsea some credit for our heroic comeback!

YESSSS!!! GET INNNNN

If anyone is following this match on ESPN Gamecast, you'll see why we aren't scoring. All but 4 of the shots we've taken this half have been OUTSIDE THE PENALTY AREA. Says alot about our lack of penetration, and perfect recipe for making opposition keepers look world-class

COME ON CHELSEA COME ON CHELSEA ARGHHH this is so frustrating

Seems my stream is at least 5 minutes slow...F*CK

How on earth were we given that foul?? Ronaldo ran into Mikel and fell over himself

That is true. I think flair players in general take some time to get used to the premiership. Seems like the trend is that they come in, play brilliantly for the first few games, score some screamers from 35 yards out, and then hit a rough patch. Remember Mutu? Came in, played wonderfully for a few games then faded into mediocrity. I still remember his absolute beauty of a goal against Leicester (?). And what about Elano, took the premiership by storm and now...doesn't even start regularly. I'm rooting for Deco to get out of this rut as much as anybody, but complaining to the press and referencing past successes to justify current team selection is not going to win him very many supporters.

His quotes are a little worrying, it seems as if he feels he deserves his place in the team based on what he's done in the past as opposed to what he is doing now.

Complete crap. This just goes to show how ridiculously inflexible Scolari is. While it is the mark of a good manager to have a tried and true tactical philosophy, managers also need to adapt those tactics to circumstances and situations (ie. players, injuries, diabolically controlling board members etc.). Scolari has so far shown that he has absolutely no tactical flexibility or creativity and I strongly believe that this is a major reason why we have been unable to "finish-off" close games recently, and also why we struggle to come up with a "Plan B" when we find it harder to break down opponents of higher defensive quality and organization. Also, given that Anelka seems to drift out wide on the left alot, especially when employed in a two-man front, Scolari's quote about needing a true left-winger in order to play both Drogba and Anelka doesn't seem to make much sense. Could just be me though.

Quite a few highly questionable calls from the ref today How has Pantsil not been booked yet?

Deco = Absolutely Useless Can't even put a corner in

Looked suspiciously like a dive from Jo as well, Terry caught him but he went down quite a few steps after Have to see replays to be sure though Still, utter sh*te from the ref

That's good to hear, I was judging just based on the youtube video that was posted earlier.

Did anyone else notice that Steve Clarke looked severely disinterested on the bench? He kept on looking at his watch as if he couldn't wait to get out of there. Guess he knows that from a team preparation standpoint, these friendlies are a complete waste of time. Although on the flip-side, this friendly did raise money to aid the Sichuan Earthquake relief efforts and we can be proud of that! "But we are delighted to assist in raising awareness for the earthquake relief effort as well as having excellent opposition to help prepare for the new season :o ." - Peter Kenyon

YESSSSSSSS!!!!! What a game! What a massive, massive penalty by Frank, We're going to Moscow!!!!!!!

Bought my first Chelsea shirt eleven years ago when I was 10, frankly only because I loved the color. Back then in Hong Kong, everyone supported either Man Utd. or Liverpool and I got a lot of stick from my friends about my blue shirt. However, this just made me love the shirt even more. I learned about the players by playing the FIFA series. Match times in HK start earliest at around 11pm which was way past my bedtime when I was a kid. However, that first year I did remember watching a re-run of the FA Cup Final against Boro where Di Matteo scored that wonder goal, and that was what got me hooked. I was sent to America for high school and that's when I really started supporting Chelsea. This was still before Fox Soccer Channel so every Saturday or Sunday morning, I would wake up at around 10AM and log on to the internet radio station on the chelseafc website. This was back in the good old days when it was free My most memorable moment was Guddy scoring the bicycle kick against Leeds. I had to find the video on the internet later, but I remember going crazy in my room when it happened. Another crazy moment was beating Liverpool on the last day of the 02/03 season to win 4th place and CL qualification. Unfortunately, I've since forgotten the names of the matchday commentators on the ChelseaTV radio station. I don't know if they've changed, but if someone knows, could you tell me? I stopped listening through the radio after I had to start paying / Live internet Streaming came out.

I haven't heard anything about these two but it seems like they're getting regular playing time at PSV. Has anyone heard/know anything about them? Here's the Soccernet article I saw http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=528655&cc=5901

If he does leave, we'll also be missing a regular customer at the Chelsea Store http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... 1770&Moran

Hardly ever post but my two cents on the Grant situation This was written recently by an American columnist/blogger for ESPN Bill Simmons, it's about basketball but I think it applies "We saw this happen to Rick Pitino in Boston. It's VERY easy to figure out when an NBA team has quit on its coach. You know right away. The players have no energy and no connection to each other. The coach sits there listlessly on the bench and looking like he's undergoing a chemo treatment every game. Guys are arguing in huddles and on the court. The team gets blown out at home a disproportionate amount of time. Everyone sitting in the stands is asking questions about their best guys like, "Wait, is he stoned?" and "You don't think he's shaving points(Throwing the game), right?" The coach starts clinging to that "We didn't compete tonight" rhetoric, which sounds like a great excuse until you remember he's the guy who's supposed to get everyone competing. I mean, you know when the wheels come off with an NBA coach." Are we at the stage where Grant has lost the team? No, absolutely not. A month ago we were putting up a winning streak rivaling that of Jose's with a bare bones squad, Ballack was arguably playing his best football in a Chelsea shirt and our home unbeaten run never looked to be under threat. However, February has shown exactly why Grant should have no long term future with the club, as there have been way too many warning signs showing that Grant will almost certainly "lose the dressing room", even if we do go on another run of victorious games. This is because, Grant simply cannot motivate his players, not just as individuals, but as a team. As a coach, motivation goes far beyond war crys, yelling and tear-inducing speeches before and in the middle of games. Proper motivation comes from a proper pre-match buildup. The training ground sessions , the pre-match review of scouting reports, the match selection process all play integral parts in making sure that each player knows the exact role they are playing on the pitch and how that role will contribute to the victory of the team. Whether a player is in the starting 11, or on the subs bench, good match preparation will allow them to set themselves up mentally for the game. This is the system that enables players to "motivate themselves". With Grant, he does not seem to do any of this. From leaving the team selection till the last minute for the Cup Final (which allegedly lead to a training ground bust up), to benching his two most in-form players (ballack and cole), especially when it was on their stellar play that got the team to the final, Grant not only failed to motivate the team, but lost the trust of two of his best players. How can a player motivate himself if he doesn't even know if he will start? How can Chelsea play like a team, when they don't even have time to prepare as a team? The result of a poor pre-match buildup is not just a 2-1 loss, but a gutless, passionless almost dysfunctional 2-1 loss. Even if we overlook Grant's useless in-game management, even if we make the excuse that he doesn't give team talks due to his poor English, we cannot overlook the fact that he has failed at the most basic aspect of his job, and that is getting his team to compete. If he can't run a proper pre-match buildup before a cup final against one of our most hated rivals, then I can't imagine him doing anymore for a regular season game. And if we want ANY long, or short term success at Chelsea, Grant should not be in charge of our team past the end of the season.