mhlower47

Like the poster who quoted the above, I was at the game and witnessed some of what went on. You get a few scouse teenagers who hunt in packs, they identify non-threatening type opposition fans as they exit the stadium and go for them. Usually people who are wearing kits or scarves. Or you get one who has dropped his mates behind him and will go for a single fan, if things go off his mates jump in. Listening to their fans as we were walking in and hanging about prior to the game, they clearly believed that it was a question of how many they'd win by. They also threw two bottles at the team coach as it approached the ground (that I saw hit the team coach), didn't see this reported anywhere! They were crestfallen afterwards, haven't been more content after a game for a good while as watching them traipse away with their chins on the deck.

I've looked as well, for a fair while, looking for deals - just in case like. Hotels are outrageous right now. You can get 4+ Bedroom villas 15 odd Kilometers out of the city centre for £600 to £800 for 5 days. If we get there, if might be worth trying to get a few together to share the cost, go for a few days and enjoy the sun. The flights are more reasonable too, plus it's a bank holiday on the Monday. I'm going up on the club coaches, if we get there in good time, might pop into Arkles for a swift one or two.

He got 4 games as it's his second sending off offence this season for 'violent conduct'.

I'm not for all the knee-jerking, but also think that if you show me a good loser, then the chances are that they're losers generally. There's a time for grace, dignity and all that nice stuff. Yesterday wasn't that time, if you say nothing, then nothing will change and there are things going on in areas outside of the football club that need change. The fellas who sit near me, all called how the refs performance would be. Unfortunately we gave him the chance, with a poorish performance for his and his assistants decisions to have an effect. Good on Jose for saying all he needed to without a direct being directly critical, he'll possibly get called up in front of the FA to "explain his comments". Rui might be in big trouble though.

'Can' is the word to be mindful of. With what UEFA have said we can't enact the clause saying they have to pay us 'x' amount. It's 'will' he play and whether there will be any bargaining done. There's a deal to be done in this scenario Imagine the long and furious debates should Courtois play and let in a soft one through his legs or throw one in some other way. Best case scenario there's a conflict of interest here and I'm not sure how well UEFA will have considered this. If he did make a ricket, both he and we would get destroyed, maybe affecting him for a very long time.

It's great that he's got pace to burn over distance, we've seen and felt that, initially to our detriment and now to our benefit. Where I can also now see some benefit is the little darts of pace over 3-5 yards/metres, such as the run he made when fouled for the penalty on Saturday. We've been crying out for this for a good while, stretches and panics defenders into silly actions as well as getting them turned around.

Absolutely, maybe it's forgotten that he's still only 22 years old and will still be prone to the odd run of poor form and inconsistency. Hazard is another example of this, he started the season slowly and has run into great form, Oscar the polar opposite - he started the season well and has lost form. Oscar is a quality footballer having a poor run, he'll be back, hope it's soon.

Winston Bogarde, he just took the Micky, as well as a lot of money out of the club and gave back nothing.

The thought and excitement of reuniting with David Moyes, plus the wage rise and the 'glory' of representing Man Utd was clearly too much for Leighton Baines, he's staying put at Everton! (can't get the 'quote' or 'link' functions to work, SSN have it reported) We should've gotten Juan to have a chat with Baines a couple of weeks ago.

If it's that he won't have to track back as much and free to do whatever he wants, then I'm with Jose on this one. Team first, every time. If he were Messi then maybe I'd feel a bit different, he's not, he's a good player but not absolutely essential. None of us really know, however for too many years the buying and selling of players has appeared to be the decision of others other than the manager/coach. This one, on the face of it, may well have been done with the managers blessing or prompted by him. For me that's a positive.

And maybe, unknowingly, you've hit on the reason why he might be deemed sellable.

On a human level Mata going and getting games is the right thing, especially leading up to the World Cup. Will be very sad to see him go, especially next season. This season though he might just give Man Utd the edge they need to take points off our rivals. We don't play them in the league no, whereas our rivals have a game left against them. He's non-eligible for them in the Champions League, so couldn't play against us even if we did draw them. Good luck to him, on a personal level, if he does go. Trust in Jose!!

The version of it we heard was that he'd been/is in rehab for the booze. That's why Allerdyce hasn't been able to be more precise with a return date for him.

District Line is running eastbound from West Ham, we'll be OK, just very busy. DLR TO West Ham then District Line to Upton Pk.

£10 for the return trip, simply can't go wrong. I've booked the train. I'm hanging around in Newcastle after the game for a few beers with a colleague and getting the last plane back to Heathrow (£42 single). If anyone wants to use my train trip back after the game (freebie) just let me know via here.

I've a colleague who does home & away games with the MK Dons and he raves about Bamford, so promising signs perhaps. However as the great man said recently "it's one thing scoring for Everton and another scoring for Chelsea". So to keep things in perspective and in line with that, it'll be a whole different matter scoring in League 1 (I really do hate that phrase, it's the 3rd Division) and scoring in the top tier. Personally I think he has more about him than Feruz for example, and looks a better all-round prospect.

Doesn't seem like 7 years ago, I can remember the day well. One of modern footballs great injustices occurred there, namely that slimey little f****r Hunt wasn't banned for what he did. He meant to make contact, there's not one doubt in my mind about that. Cudicini was knocked sparko too. If I remember correctly it was Jose complaining about the amount of time that the ambulance took to arrive to take Cech to hospital that made the PL/FA change their rules to having an ambulance and medical staff on duty at every match. One of the contributing things that helped keep Fabrice Muamba alive.

'I'm proud of what I did at Chelsea, the footprint I left with people, the club and some players.' "Some Players".........mmmm, I'd like to truly understand that comment.

Well one of mine has gone missing, so if the number ends in '85 give me a shout. I've spoken with the box office and it sounds as if there may be a number that have been sent out incorrectly. You'd think that they'd send them out recorded, they do for cup finals so why not the ST's.

If true and relatively speaking - absolutely worth every penny!

28. He is "one of us"

By 'resign' maybe read 'pay me off' and he'll possibly have a new job lined up already. What I'd read is that Chelsea might know this already and will call his bluff. Having said the above he might be one of the only people in football with principles, morals and the interests of the club first, before any personal interests.......................................................................nah, I think not.

Got my two - Cat 3's, behind the goal and to one side, block 115, collected them earlier today. All Cat 3's are at the end of the pitch, upper or lower tier. Most people collecting their tickets were asking for lower tier seats. Travel & accommodation was booked at the weekend, as I was reasonably assured that with 152 points on both ST's that we'd get tickets. Hotel is about 10mins walk from Rembrandt Square so not too far to go to find bars etc.

I would like to try to reserve the right to a full refund prior to the season starting should he stay on, after all we have his word "not to worry" as he won't be at the club after May - Breach of verbal contract? Might need someone with some legal training to look at the club's conditions of sale and then advise/draft a letter to send in with the renewal forms - I'd go for it.

Cards on the table first, I don't rate Mikel. I think he lacks the positional awareness needed for the role he plays, he's not quick enough across the ground to compensate for this lack of knowledge. He also struggles to concentrate fully for 90 minutes and combined with the former this has begin to make him a weakness and not a strength for the team. He does have large shoes to fill in that he's had to follow the best ever in that role - Makalele, that's not his fault. There are some notable and exceptional performances, Munich being one of them, where I thought that he was fantastic. That game was set up for his game, sat deep with plenty of support covering the gaps. What concerns me the most is that opposition teams have spotted this weakness and are targeting him. As soon as the ball looks like it's going to him near the halfway line they either have someone released out of midfield hunting the ball off him or just get at him really quickly. Even Gareth Barry who's far from quick, in fact he's almost as slow as Mikel rushed the ball as soon as Mikel got it, Southampton did the same and not controlled the ball for large portions of the game as did Man City. I think that his time with us is coming to an end, Oscar is a better option, a better passer and quicker of movement, he also gets about the opposition better than Mikel when they are in possession. He's impressed me whenever he's played centrally, it's just that the FSW hasn't been able to see this, or is too stubborn to do it more. Oscar is one who has suffered under the useless one, you can see the confidence drained from him game by game.