Pudge

Walked to Imperial wharf after the game on Sat as there were no tubes to Wimbledon - nightmare - they were only 4 coaches long and 15 mins apart and were full to bursting before they even got there- had to wait for the 3rd one . Might be a drive to Battersea ( around park area) and then walk .

Ramires and Rui I can understand. But JM - Is the FA now run by Esteemed Leader of North Korea !

looking forward to the trip up there - will be diff from the league game . Gotta just play our way and not be dictated to and snub out Silva & Toure again . same team as before with possibly Torres instead of Eto - hope Cahill is ok for it though

Decided for a change to sit in the West Upper as not many fellow ST holders around us go to Cup Games MHL Gate 8/9 and I must say it was quiet up there apart from a great bunch of kids with their dad's who were slightly the worse for wear ( Dad's not Kids) trying in very high pitches squeals to get some songs going - very amusing. I don't like constant standing or swearing constantly but you felt up there that if you stood up slightly you'd be tutted at by all and sundry and god forbid a few shouts the whole stand kept looking at this Giant Voice a few rows behind - maybe because he kept saying the same thing but at least he had some passion. I go to England & Surrey matches at the Oval & Lords including tests and it is much more fun there now that at the bridge and that is a sad indictment of the state we have let ourselves become for the sake of progress . The downside to this was the stupid cow sitting next to me who had what could only be described as a Professional Camera with extra long zoom add on lenses etc and clicked 6-700 shots off during the match with an annoying booming very bright flash. I spent most of the game with blurred vision and a severe irritation of the constant clicking from the numpty next to me. Considering we were 13 rows up in the West Upper I'm sure all she took what pictures of ants ! The more irritated I got the more she clicked away - so interested she was in the play that when we scored and that was the only time the stand moved throughout the entire game she stayed seated. Note to one gamers a season - sit closer to the pitch and take a few pictures with your I phone - leave the zoom add ons to the press in the press pit ! So whilst I'll still be surrounded by tourists and numpty's on a cup game I think I'll stay put with what I know

anyone actually received their tickets in the post yet ? Got mine on the second day and still nothing- still the post doesn't come until after 3pm and that started before it was privatised - may well come after I get back from work now !

we too were in the west upper front row by the half way line and apart from the bloke sat next to me with the loudest most artificial clapping I have ever had the misfortune to hear( my ear is still ringing today from it) it was largely made up of Foreign Tourists and girlfriends who look disinterested in being there. The atmosphere is poor up there but the view is great and having rushed back from Southampton on Monday Morning ( spent the weekend there for the Game) I was looking forward to a seat that I strangely could sit in for the match ( my seat is in MHL block 9 ). What got me was the two Russian gentlemen behind me. Just before the goal someone came back slightly late from half time and we all got up to let them past ( being the W Upper - no one stands up at any point) Ba scored just as half the front row stood up to let them past and everyone else behind including us missed the one and only goal. at which point very irate Russian who sounded like Count Dracula from Sesame Street shouted out to the poor girl " You Bitch , why can't you take your seats before game restarts" . Now this is not the opera or the opening night on Drury Lane - its a football match for god's sake . This is why despite the fantastic views and the padded seats and the heaters that I couldn't sit in that stand full time. There is no passion, no camaraderie and no bloody support.

done

well i've never been a big fan of Neil Barnett but today's half time announcement was the most bizarre ever - Why oh Why do the people who control the club think that Neil Barnett should announce to the crowd exactly why Mata and Ba did not start the first half- Mata because he had a virus and Ba becuase of his broken nose . Now you assume that this means they were unavailible to play - no they were on the bench and Mata came on after the obligatory 70 mins and Ba was warmed up as usual but not brought on - Eva must be a saint to make a virus cured in under two hours. Now they are helping Benitez make excuses !!! Chelsea never cease to amaze me these days

I have ST for 1 OAP and 1 Adult if you wanted to use today -

i'd happily contribute 10 or 15 to the cause.

Welcome Back Yogic. You've missed the rise and fall of the Mighty Blue's and all their managers and lots in between . If you need any help with gaining facetime with the big 4 Supermarkets PM me - I work for a shopper marketing agency specialising in that exact thing and we'd be happy to help.

Can anyone find the footage from Sky sport tonight just after the Incident? John Soloako is in the studio - they replay the incident three times and he makes it quite clear that Hazard might have only pinched the skin of the kid and he clearly gets the ball- in fact he is quite astounded over the red card. he even states to the anchorman " what else was he supposed to do" - seems like not all the media are against us on this one. Though I'm sure this morning they will run the same dross as everyone else and forget what was said by their own personnel on the night.

I like the idea of turning up and then leaving at 16 mins. if most of us ST holders( I know I would ) - prob not gonna get many corporates but they may leave which is roughly 18k and then real hardcore members leaving possibly 5k plus the away fans in the whole of the bridge it would get the message across. No drinks no programmes sit in silence- under massive flags covering the whole stands ( choose what you want to put on it) so no one is watching the game. when Neil tries to whip up the crowd sit in silence until 16 mins - have a pre-prepared chant and then leave to go to the pub the only games though that we can realistically do that is one of the big 4 as others may be filled with more tourists so will need to be one where members need high points and it will need to be a big Sky game to get the right message across.

Cup Games are mostly now for those who can only make a few games a year and hence whey they are priced so competively. Around Gate 8 HML where I sit there were only 4 regulars the rest were made up of tourists a couple of swansea fans who came with their mates from work and a menageree of blokes with their girlfriends who kept telling them they were bored. Now being a woman I wouldn't take my mates to a match if they didn't like football especially the way we are playing at the moment so bored girlfriends and tourists aren't gonna sing songs . The football is dire the manager is disliked if the players can't get up for a match and they are being paid in a week what most of us owe in a mortgage over 25 years what chance/motivation have the fans. We fork out money week after week year after year and getting home at 12 oclock at night to watch a pile of disjointed slightly disinterested bunch goinmg through the motions. We all knew at HT that it needed changing but the bloke being paid to make those decisions couldn't. The two players who could change the game ran 5k each along the touchline only to be brought on a la soleskar in a lame attempt to try and change the game with 10 mins to go. I only went as it was a 5 pointer and I missed out on Munich last year so am choosing the higher point games to buck the points on my ST up. I suggest that if its atmosphere you want go to away games or to Prague - they are much more like the old days and there is always plenty of singing on teh way up there in the pub before and on the way home. Personally I go to watch the match rather than stand up to hate a team we are not playing at the time but each to their own.

So youv'e been a member for a year woopie well done you . You obviously believe that gives you a god given right to dictate to everyone that their opinions about a club they have supported since birth are wrong. You keep telling everyone to support someone else if they don't tow the party line .You don't see to understand the first thing about supporting a team so unless you have something constructive to say in an adult manner go back to your homework or to your colleagues in the KGB and stop posting such utter drivel.

Those of us who have spent tens of thousands of pounds following the team we have been supporting for 20+ years owe nothing to anyone especially Abramovich. We are grateful for him being a custodian of the club but when he gets bored with his toy bearing in mind he spends as much on his yachts and houses in a year as he does with Cheslea its just a toy to him and can be discarded with no consequences or real tangible losses to him I couldn't care less if we were in the third division playing Grimsby or Acrington Stanley every Saturday it would still be our Club it would still be the same old faces travelling up and down the country in the cold and the rain paying their hard earned pounds in fact it would get rid of half the so called fans who 10 years ago wouldn't have bothered about a club who had won a couple of FA Cups and had by Dec every year given up on finishing anything more than mid table Its the club the name the history we show loyalty to - the friends we have made in the stands that sit around us every game the faces we meet on away days the memories of the buckets the electric fences and of Matthew Harding We also wouldn't have the Stasi fans that would have the cheek to tell us how we should react when something happens at the club.we feel is detreental to the nae and history of the club. This is not lawless Russia, we do not buy shares off the starving workers starving because we have held up food supplies to make more money that we could ever spend and kertail to a President who is more Corrupt than Robert Mugabe, we are not scared of the Russian Mafia and nowhere in our T&C's on our season ticket does it say that if we protest against the Owner we will be banned for Life. Our Grandfathers fought for our freedom of speech and if that day comes where we cannot protest against things we don't like at our club then I will gladly hand back my ST and hold on to some wonder memories and watch Chelsea United play on Clapham Common on a Sunday instead.

just got back and lets just say it is one of the worst performances we have had in a long time. No one was really up for it and the fans just gave up - we mirrored the team - the worst they got the quieter the fans became. The fans spent an awful lot of money to get there and it was ridiculously expensive for a drink - €10 a beer and €5 for a coke - the least the squad could have done was put their hearts into at least trying- Athletico were by far the better side and fully deserved to win but am bitterly dissapointed that we really didn't want to be there. In fact by the time the 4th goal went in they were even turning on themselves and one poor bloke ended up being lumped two rows down and then half concussed had to try and explain what had happened to the old bill. That was it for us and we left to go back to the hotel - which luckily enough was right next to the ground. We spent the next hr or so talking to the ITV team and they were all great and had time to talk to Franco and do photos - Lee Dixon gave him some defending tips for his Sunday League team and they were really the highlight of an other uneventful evening- Lee Dixon even said he was very worried for Arsenal so its not just us that needs a bit of a kick up the backside. Flew back with Frank Snr and he was also very funny- just though it very sad that he was on his own when his future daughter in law also travelled on her own as she was on our outward flight but not the inward one. Glad we took Franco to his first euro away trip and its a lesson for him that we do play badly sometimes and if you want to follow the Chels - its something many of us are already very used to - he'll ahve to get used to it What was highlighted last night is that it will be a transition year and we cannot survive with just Torres upfront it isn't going to produce results . Also we can't win them all but if

Am looking forward to this one - my son Franco's first european away trip- he's 11- thought we'd break him in gently. I'll let you know what the trip was like when we get back.

used to walk 10 mins from my parents now stoneleigh to wimbledon, wimbledon to fulham broadway 35 mins - much quicker than driving to chelsea

have applied through uefa ballot but you are only allowed 2 tickets. fingers crossed but hoping to get 3 via our ST's from chelsea but club only get 5k so not a lot of chance as we had minimum points last year-hence missing Munich . Hotel & flights all booked so if any other ST Holders are not going but have points please let me know if we can use yours - Franco is 11 next week and it will be his first european away game so thought Monaco would be a good introduction to it.

yep there are plenty of cheaper hotels within a 5 mile radius but nothing much left in Monaco itself the train from Nice to Monaco is €5 single and its a nice trip - when we played in Marseille in 2000 we stayed in Nice and got the train down it was a nice trip along the coast

have booked flights and a hotel using my ba miles so only cost the taxes and have taken a chance. Being a ST who didn't get to Munich am hoping that as its smack bang in the middle of school holidays loads will still be away and we will get the tickets either through the club or through UEFA. Also although the flights are cheap the hotels are not and nor is eating and drinking in Monaco( think double London prices) hoping that puts a few more off . Our hotel room in a standard MarriottHotel rack rate was £550 for the night ! Luckily it was free and is right next to the ground Hopefully meet a few of you there

does anyone does the definite date for the Super Cup as Uefa's website is a bit behind and doesn't have the details up- know its the last year in Monaco before moving to Prague - will def be going to that one as missed Munich due to both points and work comittments

I asked a tout I know that I normally sell my neutral allocation to from the uefa ballot ( out of the last 6 years I've only not got them twice for moscow and for Munich - so won't be going) a client of mine who like me is a st holder and like us didn't get any tickets and asked how much a pair would be ( as he's already sorted out travel )- the same tout who gives me £2k for the pair when a uk team is in the final and slightly lower for an all overseas final wanted £3k for a pair of cat 4 neutral tickets so if the guy does has better ones - ie cat 1 of which the face value was €500 they are a bit if a bargain

If its anything like last year it started with 80 odd points then when there were no takers it went down to no points its worth just to keep ringing the box office a couple of days after the cut off point