ethicalstrategy

Ignoring the hilarious joke above.... Goals for Didier and for Mikel in tonights matches! Presumably Chelsea are the top scorers in the tournament so far?

Carvalho will miss the match against Portsmouth on Saturday.

I really can't believe that you of all people Gem are struggling on the abuse front

That's a huge assumption there Brian. Do you really think that Liverpool can win at home to Barnsley?

Looking rather narrow in midfield there!!!!

In the light of Joe Cole's (alleged) renaissance under Grant, should we be asking why Essien's form for Chelsea has dipped so alarmingly under Grant's leadership when he was our player of the year last season and clearly in fine form for his country?

So, back to business in the Premier League on wednesday evening. Reading have proved to be awkward opponents for us one way or another in the last couple of seasons but we ought to pick up three points. Man U are home to Portsmouth whilst Arsenal are home to Newcastle tonight. It's likely that 3 points will only maintain the gap rather than close it unless Newcastle can perform a hell of lot better than they did on saturday. There were reports that Ballack and Sheva were back training with the first team squad although I don't know if either will be available for selection. Belletti is suspended. The team more or less picks itself: ---------------Cech Ferreira-----Alex----Carvalho------Bridge ---------------Makalele -----SWP------------------Sidwell Cole------------------------------Malouda --------------Anelka Subs: Cudicini, Cole, Ben Haim, Sinclair, Pizarro

An amusing take on Cole's behaviour. http://www.chelseablog.com/2008/01/28/the-...g-stephen-hunt/

I might be wrong but I think they meant the bid had failed rather than Star had failed.

I went for Belletti. He was again very good going forward amd pretty solid defensively, although he should have tried to stop Sibierski from shooting. If it was a man of the first half then I'd have given it to Joe, but he disappeared after half time. Good solid win. More of the same on wednesday will do me!

Definitive guide to who is better at what - take 2: Cech is better than Carlo all round. Better on crosses, better at commanding his area, better at shot stopping, better at being taller...... The penalties thing is a myth. I can recall three penalty shoot outs in recent times - Charlton in the CC, Liverpool in the CL and Man U in the Community Shield. Carlo was in goal for the first and Cech the other two. We lost all three. We lost them because our players couldn't score not because our keepers are useless on penalties. Outside of shootouts would anyone like to give me the numbers on how many penalties each has faced and saved? I recall Cech saving a vital one at Blackburn to break the record for longest time without conceding a goal. How many has Carlo saved?

Interesting minute by minute report Loz. I noticed Joey tackling back. I remember applauding him at the time. I notice you didn't include any of the times Joe just lost the ball in your stats either No lesser expert than Peter Reid felt that overall Joe didn't have a great game overall. What a great goal though!

Nice to hear both Wilkins and Reid give Chelsea a lot of credit in the post match analysis.

Particularly enjoyed hearing a rousing rendition of: Calm down calm down followed by an equally audible chorus of : Neville is a c*nt - surprisingly not commented on by Ian Darke

I went for Carvalho, but it could just as easily been Maka or Cech. Great goal from Joe.

Well, I said it was a test for the team and for Grant and they both passed with flying colours. Well done all round.

"I cannot say that it [the Carling Cup] is not important but if you want a true answer, I cannot say that this is the main thing for me," he said. "I cannot tell you that [winning] it will mean a lot to me. I want to win any game but for me, the main target is other targets. "I understand Everton, I understand clubs that do not take a trophy for a long time. Even if it's not a major trophy, for them it's very, very important. I understand them, it's very reasonable but they need to understand us. We want to win anyway." I can't say I like these comments. We should be looking to win this match and the trophy very much. For it not to mean very much is poor. The second para will only make things more difficult for us - giving Moyes' team talk for him. Naive and disrespectful to the fans. Showing his inexperience.

To be fair to Wenger, he is focusing his attention on not winning the league and champions league. Not winning the CC is a much lower priority.

A big test tonight I think. Everton are going to be really up for it. We need to ensure that we are strong and get control of the midfield early on. If we can pass this test and go on to win the final then I may have to revise my opinion of Mr Grant It seems SWP is almost certainly out and the BBC are reporting that Frank has broken down in training again (don't know if that is again, again or that they are just a few days behind with their news!) I would go with Cech Belletti Alex Carvalho Bridge Makalele Ballack Sidwell Cole Anelka Malouda If we need to be more attacking then bring on Pizarro for Sidwell. I reckon we should do this. We have outplayed them in both games this season without getting the results our performances deserved. Let's change that tonight!

It was reported this morning as a bust up between Bendtner and Adebeyor, which left Bendtner with blood on his nose. Gallas was intervening as captain at which point Bendtner started to have a go at him too. All very very funny

Just, that's a very fair and accurate assessment of the situation.

Apology accepted, and I in turn apologise for my reaction - you'd think that at my age I'd have learnt to curb my temper, but I seem to be getting worse If you think I'm completely wrong, that's fair enough - I think you're completely wrong too No problems. You're not the first and won't be the last to call me a f*ucking arrogant tw*t. I'm sure it's well deserved I think it's a pretty good situation to be arguing about which of our 5 world class midfield players should be playing and which should be left out!

Stats? Don't give me stats. They don't prove anything!! You won't be influenced by these then! 02/03 - 38 games, 6 goals, 2 assists (total goals 8 from 48 appearances) 03/04 - 38 games, 10 goals, 6 assists (15 from 58 ) 04/05 - 38 games, 13 goals, 16 assists (19 from 58) 05/06 - 35 games 16 goals, 8 assists (20 from 50) 06/07 - 37 games 11 goals, 10 assists (21 from 62) 07/08 - 15 games, 5 goals, 6 assists (9 from 22) Whatever perceptions anyone may have, and I am inclined to agree that his all round play has not been as good over this season and last season, the facts remain that if you took those goals and assists out of the team it would have a serious impact on how well we did. Of course whoever played in his place might have scored some goals and made some assists but it would be hard to argue that we would have made all of the contribution up. I just wish we could find another two or three players to come in and play so badly and try so little for us!

I know. I wish he wouldn't keep doing that. It's really very irritating. I mean how is one supposed to construct a rational argument to demonstrate that he isn't very good when he does that every season? P.S. Don't forget the assists Brian!!! Those pesky stats raise their ugly head again

Nice come back, Nibs. I see why Joe has been playing better than Kalou. It's crystal clear now. How many miles did the player run during the game? How many tackles did they make? What is their pass completion ratio? What is their goal assist rate? How many goals have they scored? Well gee...slap my buttocks and call me Nancy, but I'm guessing those stats and many more like them, are derived by the performance of the player DURING THE GAME...