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On a serious note, i hope these bad injuries dont have a psychological affect when Cech returns. Coming for corners or diving at a players feet etc. He was ok after last season when he returned as brave as ever but how many will it take to affect his confidence? Come on Petr chin up, or in this case down.

I heard AG took a to PC's face and blamed beach towel for it. 'this is baseball'.

Lets not forget the most important thing here.......'This is football' Thanks for letting us know, i was hoping for a good game of cricket tonight (the Turks cant beat us at that surely). I'm with Mod, 'This is football' does not answer a question. Once again get well Petr, poor sod. Come on you blues

I doubt Valim from the Balkans would have a problem with racism Loz, he may be suggesting we have blinkers on when it comes to English players and he'd of course be wrong again. I was suprised malouda started but first half he did quite well(like all of them), second half he went missing(like most of them). I was shocked JC came off instead of FM though, and this has nothing to do with nationality. Valim it was only a couple of seasons ago that everybody would agree our best 2 wingers were Robben+Duff and that Cole+SWP (both English) were 3rd and 4th choice. I think Valim you'll find that most on here base their opinions on performances on the pitch and nothing else, and Malouda's performances so far leave alot to be desired.

The best thing AG has done for us is make it easier for the next man. As somebody else wrote replacing JM was going to be tough and nobody was readily available at the time( with the exception of Cappelo, but then you cant get rid of JM stating style of football as one of the reasons and replace him with the Italian version). Whoever comes in in the summer wont have a very hard act to follow, will have the fans onside and the players respect(as long as he's a desent manager that is and not some bloke the owner likes a bit). I dont think whosale changes to the squad is needed, some players need to be moved on and some may want to go but if the new man is given some money to wheel and deal with and players are only leaving on the clubs terms( i.e, the players we want for the money we want when replacements are sorted) then we will be alright. These players hav'nt become bad overnight, they just need some leadership, organisation and motivation. Somebody experienced at the highest level of the game. To AG i say thanks but no thanks, and i'd only keep him at the club in whatever capacity(directer of football,bib hander outer, new Stamford the lion etc) if whoever came in was happy about it.

I dont think to many people wrote Ballack off, they may have questioned his first season form but just thought he needed time to settle into a new league. Form can be recaptured definetely, but pace cant. Its a shame, we all hoped he would come and be the player he was in Italy. I had questioned the amount of money we were paying for a 30yr old at the time and hoped we could get a few good years out of him before this happened, unfortunately for Sheva this has'nt been the case and the clock is against him at his age.

Taking the points was something that was'nt good enough for the last manager, now all we hear is how results are more important than performances as opposed to how we are going to start playing the 'beautiful game'. Where have i heard that before We are now happy to accept that we are'nt going to thrash teams everyweek, something that i and many other fans had accepted years ago.(can somebody please tell the owner) The difference at the moment is that where before we might not have run up cricket scores we still thrashed teams with our performances, teams went a goal down and new they were beaten it was just a case of how many. They could'nt even get the ball off of us at times let alone score, we had an air of invincibility about us which is just not there anymore. I am amazed we are second and still have a chance to win the league. There is an old saying that the league does'nt lie and whoever wins the title is the best team in the country, which to be fair when we won back to back titles we were. If we were to win the league this year i would have to question that saying because i could'nt hand on heart say we have been that. Could anyone? Dont get me wrong i would'nt be foolish enough to feel guilty about it or anything silly like that,and i'll certainly be praying Man U slip up and continue to cheer us all the way. This is'nt a pop at Grant either, just an observation about how opinions have changed over the course of the season both within the club and on the terraces with regards to what is considered acceptable in terms of performance vs results.

I'd like to keep the run going as long a possible, but i'd also hate us to not go for a win because we were conscious of the record like dkw says. It felt a little like that in the Liverfool game. Better to win 1 lose 1 than draw 2.

The reason Sheringham was able to play at an older age is because he never had pace to start with so he did'nt lose anything as he got older. In fact he became better with age and experience. Reinventing yourself as a player is easier said than done.

Looked world class warming up yesterday. The way he managed to put 1 foot in front of the other without falling over was sublime. At one stage he went round a programme seller like they was'nt there. At this rate i'd consider a contract extension or a pay rise(i mean what with property and cost of living in the capital i'm surprised he's managing on 130k a week). For christ sake dont tell the rest of the team what he's earning..... Ooops to late. Whats that saying about form being temperary and class being permanant? Oh and pace being...... well just gone really. And to think Jose thought signing him was a bad idea, what did he know . Still at he's age at least theres some sell on value Taxi to Milan. On a serious note its a shame to see a once great players high profile fall from grace, i hope the club has learnt its very expensive mistake, i suppose thats all we can hope for. Wait a minute Avram given £100m summer war chest

I saw fuzzy bear before the game, what a tool he looked.

Philip do the math, 39K+ attendence, just under 42k capacity and about 1500 empty Boro seats . Yes the CFC end was empty Why was you watching on TV if your that bothered about it

Things you hear on TV all depend on where they put the microphones in the ground. I have been to matches where you cant even hear the away fans yet watch the highlights on tv and it sounds like nothing but them singing. It was more than a murmer Coco and there was plenty of passion in the MH stand about their feelings for AG, rightly or wrongly. I think the players know they have as good a chance as any to win the CL and will be very much up for it though.

I t could add a whole new meaning to the term brown nose

Ok lets hear some suggestions where Callista should have her AG tattoo. Obviously i've never met her so i dont want to insult the state of her jacksie but i'd suggest this is a good match

Noticed AG trying to waft that fart away during the game too . Once again the crowd was about to turn on AG. This was unfair because although i thought Maka was MOTM, and Ballack offers creativity in attack we were chasing the game so he needed to change things and both subs worked well. Whats that saying about even a blind squirrel eventually finding a nut? I think the crowds vocal frustration spurred on the team a bit so it worked in that sense too. It just does'nt feel very united around the club at the moment which is why although over the moon about the result yesterday I still think the only way to take the club forward next season is to replace AG in the summer.

Dont insult Claudio, Grant is'nt worth the Steam of his old womans morning cup of piss.

The manager is a cu*t, an abselute cu*t.

I'd consider lethal injection, maybe the electric chair or at the very least chuck him in the north stand and let us beat our frustration out on him.

Chippy stop defending that Stupid P*ss drinking toss pot, he is ruining our club and the sooner he fu*ks right off the better. You must be related or at the very least working for the club or AG because nobody, NOBODY can, in their right mind think AG is worthy of the managers job at Chelsea.

Good post Dorset. Interesting to see that AG himself is no longer spinning the stylish football line either. Quoted in the paper as saying he'd win ugly if need be and there is no point playing stylish football and lossing. I think i've heard that somewhere before

To me saying AG has only lost 3/4 games or whatever means nothing really because it depends on what games you lose. You can lose a few league games and still be champions but if you lose a cup final thats it. e.g: We have a possible/maximum of 5 games in the Champions league left to play, yet we could still afford to lose 2 out of 5 and still win it. In fact we could win the CL by winning only 1 game out of 5. The point is its not only how many you lose but when, where and who against thats important. And what trophies those defeats cost you along the way.

Tom P, i agree. Like i said earlier i dont think any player should be on that kind of money. But its the clubs pay structure and once you pay 1 player you then cant complain when somebody who contributes a hell of alot more to the cause comes asking for the same. That is where the real problem lies. He is only asking for parity, not more and IMO compared to Sheve he deserves at least that.

New signings or new manager??

As long as Jose does'nt go to another Prem team, that would be a nightmare. I cant see him going to AC with them sniffing around Sheva. Dont think the fans would want him at Barca and if he did'nt want boardroom interference he'd better stear clear of Madrid so maybe Inter's the best option. Imagine him taking over Liverfool and building them another dynasty like he would have done here if allowed . Where exactly does Peter Kenyon live?