just

Absolutely. Beginning of the campaign he was playing very well Geez. Don't think there ever seems to be much grey area with Deco. IMO he either plays really well or has a mare.

First half looked like we were playing for a point. Then Drogba came on and we at last had some urgency and started to look like we could possibly get the ball in the back of their net. That fact that we did, and he had a big hand in it, speaks volumes. It's not rocket science Mr Big Phil. Leave your best players on the bench and you don't win matches you should. Oh, and Deco had exactly the type of game our old friend Jack predicted he would way back in August. With the way Deco is performing of late it's a real pity Jack and G4 aren't around to discuss his contribution to the cause. It would be lively reading I'm sure.

Couldn't help noticing you've changed your avatar dkw. I hope nothing I have written in my posts has prompted this. I do much prefer your new one though. A geniune Chelsea Legend.

Wouldn't say that's 100% true Barn. A lot of fans were on his back from very early in his Chelsea career. He got very little support IMO. Remember back to his first season. The flak he took on the old CSR2 forums for going over, moaning at the refs and mis-controlling the ball was unbelievable. He was absolutely crucified for the same things people had been turning a blind to for years when Jimmy did them every week. And all that abuse despite the fact that, (unlike our Jimmy), he was getting stuck in and working his nuts off every game. Another point on Drogba. I've never felt he gets the protection other players get from refs. Maybe because of his size and because he is such a beast in putting himself about, but he regularly gets hit with iffy challenges that go unpunished. Woodgate's "tackle" right through the back of him in last years CC final was an awful hit. And yet he didn't even get a yellow card for it.

Of course that's possible. But perhaps if he'd said he didn't sign him but still cocked up by normally playing him out of position whenever he used him, that would have been more honest. Heard on the radio today that all this is coming out because he wants the job putting out the cones at Sunderland.

Currently Bozzie would get my vote for POTY. Admittedly he had his worst game in a blue shirt against Cluj the other night, but overall he has been superb for us. If I were manager and Bosingwa was on crutches with a plaster cast on his right foot, there is every possibility that I would still select him ahead of Ferreria.

Not a problem Barn. Like my old man says, "if we all saw things the same way all the time it would be a dull old world".

Barn. You have to read the posts in full. Everything is clearly and consistently explained in my first two posts. And I'm sorry mate, but if you can't see the difference between Drogba's normal contribution on the pitch, (he rarely, if ever, goes missing in games and I also don't see him committing all these needless fouls you mention), from Jimmy's then I'm clearly wasting my time pointing out the differences.

Agree with everything BJD has said. I too think he is absolutely top quality. Very consistent performer IMO.

And that, in a nutshell, sums it all up. Spot on. I've said many, many times before I don't particularly care or take much notice of what players say or do off the pitch. Yeah, it would be nice if didn't happen but a number of players over recent years have mouthed off in the media when it suits their needs. Hasslebaink, Carvalho, Le Beouf, Robben are prime examples that spring to mind although I accept none of them have done it as often as Drogba. But then I think footballers in general are not the most articulate and intelligent of creatures. Does that really matter? After all I'm not expecting these people to raise my kids or run the country. I simply want them to try hard and perform to the best of their ability everytime they pull on a Chelsea shirt. And when they do that I'm happy to give them the respect and support they deserve.

I listened to Brian M once. And I still have the scars from that leather micro-thong. Worst wedgie of my life. Can never sit in a reclining chair again.

Loz, as always, a very fair reflection from you. But I'm afraid when it comes to the Jimmy/Drogba comparision so many people have short memories and big blue, Jimmy-tinted specs. Never disrespected our club or put himself first!! Christ, look back to what was, at the time, the biggest game in our history. The semi-final 2nd leg of the Champion's League. At home against Monaco. A game we had to win. After the first leg the whole of the build-up to that second game was about Jimmy. All of it totally manufactured by him. Jimmy in the press saying "I've got to play", "I can't be left out" etc. etc. You couldn't pick up a paper without reading some comment from either him or his agent. And lo and behold Ranieri crumbled under the pressure and dropped an in-form, goal-scoring Hernan Crespo, (who had also got our goal in the first leg), for Jimbo the Ledge who, after missing a sitter in the first three minutes or so, proceeded to do did his best impression of a concrete bollard for the rest of the game! Now I couldn't have cared less that off the pitch, (by all accounts), he was a bloody nice bloke with a big wide smile. Couldn't give a toss. I measured him on what he did on the pitch in a blue shirt and, goal ratio apart, that was normally next to nothing. I also measured him against the overall contribution of his peers at that time. Owen, Shearer, Henry, Van Nistlerooy. And Jimmy came up short every single time. Is it simply coincidence that after Jimmy was shown the door we went on to have the most succesful spell in our histroy? Is it simply coincidence that in Drogba's first season, (a season when, if you listen to many misguided fan's opinions, Drogba was allegedly a hinderance rather than a help), we scored a then record number of goals from midfielders and defenders? If I may, I'll answer that. NO!!!! It wasn't. Because we suddenly had a centre-forward who despite the falling over, mis-controlling of the ball and moaning at the officials, (the officials mind. Not his own team-mates!), was a right bloody handful. A real physical presence. A centre-forward who more than made up for what he in lacked in subtlety with determination and a frightening work ethic. A centre-forward with guts who wasn't scared to go in where it hurt. A centre-forward who was our first line of defence. A centre-forward who gave us an aerial threat. A centre-forward who at long last could hold the ball up long enough to allow others to get forward and feed off him. For anyone who was really watching, Drogba did all those things. And in the process he helped us win our first top division title for 50 years. Despite having a ticket and having paid for and booked the flights and hotel a good while back, I couldn't make the Bordeaux away game the other week. I'm rather glad I didn't. Five of my mates went. Speaking to a couple of them on their return they both told me Drogba got absolute dog's abuse from his own fans when he was warming up. "F8*k Off Drogba". Piss off to Inter you c8*t". All the usual witty repartee. They reckoned he looked visably shaken by it. I can well believe it. I sit in my seat in the Shed Upper and regularly hear Drogba slagged off by his own fans. It makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Some Chelsea fans really do deserve to go another 26 years without winning a bean and having a fat, lazy no:9 strolling about in a Blue shirt doing bugger all. Maybe if Drogba comes back with another club and scores against us but doesn't celebrate, some people will finally give him the bit of kudos and recognition that he righly deserves. After all, isn't that all you have to do to become a Chelsea Legend nowadays?

In the words of the commentator last night................. "Drogba. He is an OX". Good comment but I'd also add on his day he is the all-round best centre-forward in the world. No-one that I've seen over the last couple of years, with the arguable exception of Torres, comes even close. Now I can understand why people don't like Drogba as a person but wanting him out because of that, or hating him as a player? Well there I'm really left scratching my head. Especially when it's Chelsea fans. But then Chelsea fans can be a bit contradictory. The same people who detest Drogba are invariably the very same who worshipped, (and indeed still revere), our previous centre-forward. A man like Drogba who scored goals. But a man who also fell over far too much, generally strolled around the pitch like he was on holiday, never won a tackle in his life, gobbed off to the press when it suited his needs, moaned at his team-mates more than any player I have ever seen, helped us win bugger all during his time at Chelsea and practically swam to Barcelona when there was a rumour they were interested. And yet despite all that, that man, for some peculiar reason, is often referred to by many Blues fans as a "Chelsea Legend"!!!!!!! Indeed look not two posts above this one and you'll see one regular contributor to these forums who even has the bloke as his avatar. It's interesting at this point to contrast many Chelsea fan's views on Drogba with the majority of Man U fan's opinions on Ronaldo. Now, as we all know, during the summer Ronnie did everything in his power, (bar chaining himself to Sir Matt Busby's statue and burning a mancs shirt), to engineer a move away from the Theatre of Muppets. At the end of it all he was, to all intents and purposes, practically forced to stay at the club by Old Red Nose and the United board. For how long we don't know. But made to stay he was. God if you were a Red wouldn't that stick in your throat? And yet watch any United game since his return and look at the support and hero-worship he gets from those Manc fans. The vast, over-whelming majority still love him. Why? Well probably because they realise that he is one of the best players in the world and a huge reason why United are currently so successful. And perhaps they also realise that if they want that success to continue, then having Ronnie in their team is far more preferable to having him in one of their rival's teams. Never thought I'd ever have to say this, but maybe some of us could learn a bit from those Manc fans.

No he wasn't. Alex had got in front, (as any defender has to in those situations if he wants to reach the ball first), and Kone peeled off a yard or two as any good striker should in hope of the cross being accurate enough. Unfortunately, in this case the cross was absolutely inch perfect, just evading Alex, and it was a quality header by the lad.

Drogba. That finish was superb. A truly wonderful goal by the most hated centre-forward in Chelsea's history.

Do you know what dkw? In truth I have no idea weather he is any better, or could be any better, than the four players ahead of him. Have you? Probably not. Because neither of us have ever seen him in first team action ! Therein lies my point!! Look. He doesn't have to be better than the other players ahead of him, especially at 19 or 20 years old. And as I said previously, it's not about playing him every week. It's about giving him, (and the other top kids), an opportunity in certain games against lower opposition. And if they do well there looking to give them further opportunities. It should be a gradual progression. And it has nothing to do with Scolari and giving him time. It's about the club's attitude to youth progression and our current set-up. Things were exactly the same under Grant and Jose, and for that reason Roman has to take some of the blame IMO. Also I feel the comment you make about Sinclair is really unfair on the kid. How much have you seen of him in the first team? I think I know the answer to that. Very little. Because he has hardly been used. 5 minutes here, 3 minutes there. All as a late sub. Is that really enough for him to make a telling contribution? Is that really enough for you to form an opinion? And please don't trot out the old standby of "if they're good enough they will get through" That is just rubbish under the current set-up. If JT and Mancienne's ages and circumstances were reversed, do you really, geniunely believe JT would be getting first-team games ahead of the older more experienced players? No chance.

I really don't see your point DKW. Of course I'm pleased for the kid. But recognition like this only highlights the absurditiy of the club's current attitude to giving kids a chance in our first-team. Are you just happy that we invest time and money to produce home-grown kids of this quality only for them, (none of them!), to never get any game-time whatsoever? Jesus, the boy himself has already acknowledged that he probably has to leave to get any realistic chance of first-team action. And he's not an isolated case. I have seen quite a bit of Scott Sinclair and I am more than willing to bet that, given a run in the side, he would produce more for us than Malouda. But is he ever going to get the chance to prove that? Of course not. Now I know we are not alone with this sort of policy, I'm not for a moment saying we should be throwing a load of youngsters in against the likes of Liverpool and United in the EPL. But we should, most definately, be grounding a few of the very best ones in the Carling Cup and against weaker opposition in the FA Cup and EPL. For start it gives those kids hope and something realistic to aim for. And secondly, it would help attract other promising youngsters to us knowing that they would, if they were good enough, get a chance to show it in the first team. I've said this before but it's probably worth repeating here. If I had a 12/13 year old lad who was a talented footballer with a geniune love the game, and he was being courted by Le Arse and Chelsea. Who would I recommend he join? Although it hurts to say it, it would be Le Arse.

Geezer it's all down to the competition and the level of opposition we played. Shouldn't be that way I know, but that's how it's been for a very long time now. Burnley at home in the CC does not get the juices flowing for many regular fans. I didn't bother going on Wednesday, not because of the opposition or a lack of passion. I chose not to go as a protest because I am absolutely disgusted that none of our top youngsters are being given a chance to show what that can do in this competition. IMO Wenger has it 100% right in the way he uses this competiton as a grounding for his youngsters. As far as I'm concerned we have a youth-policy in name only. If the kids were being given a run-out I would definately, 100% have gone to the game. And do you know what? If those youngsters were in the team I reckon the level of support would automatically have been raised. Of course all this is opposite to a Burnley fans perspective. By all reports they brought down 6,000+. And who's suprised at that? Of course they're gonna bring down the whole town and partay. How often do they get to play a side like Chelsea? It's their cup-final. We all know that the atmosphere is never gonna be like it was in the old days. That's gone. Finished. Football is no longer the in-expensive reserve of the working-class male. It's an entertainment business where casual "fans" view going to a game the same as going to a theatre or a cinema. And because of where Chelsea is situated, our recent success and the amenities and relative comfort of the ground, we have a far higher percentage of those casual "supporters" than most other clubs. Does this bother me personally? Yes, to a point. Sometimes, especially when away fans are larging it outside the ground, it actually angers me. They would never have dared even think it about doing that the old days. But I am slowly becoming immune ot it. It's just how it is now and I don't see it changing anytime soon unless Roman pulled the plug and we slid out of the EPL. And besides, on rare occaisions, the hardcore do take over and we can still produce a white-hot atmosphere at home. Liverpool in the CL semi was a prime example.

Ha, ha, ha. Classic. One of our talented youngsters gets called into the full England squad despite never being given a chance to kick a ball in our first team. Brilliant. We should put this sign up outside the ground. Stamford Bridge - Home Of Chelsea - A Youth Free Zone I reckon Roman and Kenyon will probably let him end up at Man U or Le Arse and then buy him back for £25 mill.

Thanks Undertow.

Unfortunately it's not me that has to give them a chance. Since the arrival of Roman none of our managers has been inclined to give young, home-grown players a chance. Even against weaker opposition in relatively minor competitions such as the Carling Cup. I don't forsee that changing any time soon. More's the pity IMO. Hypothetical I know, but I think I can safely bet that if JT were coming through our youth ranks now he wouldn't get the chance to become the player he has and build the career he has had. By all means call me a pessimist, but I don't think any of our current youth team prospects will fulfill their potential under the current setup.

Good to see, but they've no chance of getting a game.

Several times on the old CSR, (generally when arguing with rival fans!), there was a link posted up giving the all-time average football attendance figures. From memory I think they stretched back to 1900 and we were listed as fifth overall. Anyway does anyone know where to find that link again? I think it was compiled and updated by a Newcastle United supporters group.

Totally agree. For me Drogba was the one bright spot last night. Won practically every header and ball played up to him. The fact that no-one was good enough to feed off him and get on the end of those flicks and touches says alot more about their ability and desire than Drogba's. And by God he took that goal superbly.

Liverpool CL semi-final. And to be fair he hasn't played much since then.