Chippy

Limited edition Pink and Purple Pumas, at least both are the same colour though

Bets for today, any returns half gos to the site as usual... Chelsea 2-0 @ 11/2 Stake : £2.00 Estimated Returns : £13.00 First Goal Scorecast Diego Costa / Chelsea 2-0 @ 12/1 Stake : £1.50 Estimated Returns : £19.50 Last Goal Scorecast Cesc Fabregas / Chelsea 2-0 @ 22/1 Stake : £1.50 Estimated Returns : £34.50

Good to see good performances can earn starts, not going to slate Gary for a bad run of games but I think it's good for the players to know that players are breathing down their necks for the starts and first team appearances need to be earned in every game. Zouma deserved the chance and Shurrle and Salah need to both know they need to be much better to even be on the bench now. Nice to see Petr again as well, you can be sure if it was any other "back up keeper" we'd be seeing Courtois play with a bandage on his thumb. Come on now boys lets clear out the memory of the trip up there.

1 – Where do you think you’ll finish this season? What about Newcastle? Chelsea top 2 is a given but a lot depends on the visit of City, we could be playing catch up if they come here and we go out believing we are going to win every home game, I wouldn't write us off if we lose it and would expect to go on a huge unbeaten run if we did but watching their results and waiting for a slip up will be nerve wrecking. Newcastle... somewhere around 8th or 9th 2 – Is there anything in these Messi to Chelsea rumours or do you think he's just flexing his muscles because the Barca board are still yet to fulfill his request of sacking the manager? I don't think he'd get many starts here, one trick pony 3 – Are you confident of winning the league? How many trophies can you win this year? I'm confident we're good enough but City are good enough as well and they will spend again to strengthen. I expect at least one trophy though as some of our football has been superb and it would be a travesty not to capitalise on it. 4 – How good to you think Eden Hazard can be/is? He's a great player, he has adapted to Jose's style and defends/tracks back very well which is a big addition to his overall game, to improve on his end product as well as that over the short course of time Jose has been back would take a special player...I think that's what he is. 5 – If you could have one football player, past or present, live in your spare room who would it be and why? Frank Lampard, lying snakey bar steward, the missus would kill me if I chose anyone else...seriously, maybe Dennis Wise. 6 – Do you need to do any business in January? If so, who would you like to sign? I think it's so difficult to change our first eleven that we don't even know if our fringe players are good enough and bringing someone else in means that player has to be a top top player and not a bit more decent back up, decent back up can soon look like a waste of money if they don't instantly perform and we've got that already. 7 – If your club was a biscuit, what biscuit would it be? And why would it be that biscuit? Nice 8 – Should Loic Remy get a bigger role in your side considering his impact when he has played? I think he's getting a fair crack considering Drogba and Costa have both played well and are rightly first and second in the pecking order, Jose will use him right and likely more towards the end of the season if we stay in competitions. 9 – What are your thoughts on Newcastle United as an outsider? Not sure what you mean about outsider? for what? they are a top 6 team to me on fan base, squad and everything bar consistency, wouldn't bet on them to win anything bar their annual home game against us though . 10 – Scoreline prediction? 2-0 Chels Enjoy the game.

good sub Jose, three minutes late though mate , Drogba had a decent influence on the game again today.

I'd be resting Drogs about now and bringing on Nathan to give him some minutes...we don't need the three of them on at 3-0 up.

Feels a bit more comfortable now, I wonder how often we'll see our three strikers all on at once

Obviously it does but Willian has been the better option for the run of games as when he's not at the races he still has an impact defensively whereas Andre seems to be pretty invisible when he has a bad day. I'm not slating him at all, just hoping Joses management skills can bring more out of him than he's shown so far.

Mourinho manages the squad the way he feels it will improve it, Willian has seen Shurrle start ahead of him a couple of times and maybe after the Spurs display he has started to look at aspects of his game he needs to improve...we can only hope that Shurrle can react positively to a couple of starts where he has been hooked at half time by doing the same.

Thats the reaction I like to see when a player has a bad game and doesn't start the next...Shurrle must realise he has a lot more to do if he's going to start being a first team player.

Unbelievable that Andre can't impose himself on games like today's, he has shown that he has talent and I'd have expected working under Jose that his decision making and general awareness would have improved rather than appearing to desert him altogether. Seems strange that he and Willian competing for that same spot have both flattered to deceive rather than build any consistency. Remy could have done more today as well, it seems like a player for the right hand side could be something we need to think about especially if Salah was to go out onloan or be sold.

Hazard, miles ahead of the rest today, love that he had the desire even when all around him looked to be still hungover from last nights celebrations.

I can't really fault our squad and feel happy with the back up we have to be honest, how can Ramires, Shurrle, Remy, Drogba, Luis, Zouma and Mikel be a weak bench? Our squad looks fine to me, albeit a bit too reliant on Joses favourite eleven, we need to see more of the players on the edge of the first team but they just for one reason or another have failed to shine in the opportunities they've had, I can't believe the players I listed when in form are anything but great squad members, it's just they need game time to find that form and there is so much riding on every game that Jose is suffering like all the managers between his last spell here and this one by having to pick his strongest side most games. Obviously tiredness sets in but worse than that I think is they don't feel competition for their places. Shurrle had his chance and blew it last week, Willian has let him back in this week...hopefully he'll get minutes and play more how we know he can whch will mean Willian has to buck up his form as well, Matic/Fabregas today has left the possibility that Mikel can get back in with Cesc moving forward, Ramires although not great today must be getting back to some semblance of fitness. It's not all bad and panic buying really isn't on the cards, Zouma deserves chances and again if he gets them that should be a kick up the arse for Cahill, I still wouldn't drop or move Ivan as he's been good over there but there is plenty of options. I think training will be hard for the boys after todays result and the wrath of Jose should be enough to get us back on track, he couldn't do it in the middle of the game today but that for me makes it more likely he will before the next one.

A bit more respectable, I'm putting it down to an off day and remembering the years we languished mid table but pulled out one or two big victories against the better teams most seasons.

Surprised Rami missed that, be nice to get another before the end

If there is a positive to come out of this for me it's Hazards all round game, he still believes and taking this sort of form into games where the others are playing up to a normal level will stand us in good stead.

The boys look shell shocked, need someone out there with a calm head to calm things down, step up Didier who I'd like to see up front with Costa, the points are gone lets just try something else.

I'd expect Ramires to come on for Oscar sooner rather than later, really surprised no Shurrle on the bench, hope his performance last time out hasn't sent his chances backwards. Going to be a difficult game to get anything out of, They are well up for it and with Harry Kane they have someone who seems to drag the others performance levels up a notch, big Job for Jose but if anyone can get the boys to turn it round, he's likely the man.

Really could see what we're made of second half, this isn't over.

I don't think the Spurs defence saw him either

I really liked the look of De bruyne, He never got too many opportunities and sadly I think he might have felt he somehow deserved chances more than our other gifted players and might not have been prepared to wait and fight it out. I thought he was a really bright prospect in preseason and I think the game against Hull he played really well, I seem to remember him getting an elbow in the face from Van Persie against UTD and drifting out of the game a bit, maybe it was a bit too physical in the epl but I think he could certainly have done a good job for us. That said we have good players who can't break into the team now and players that have had a few chances without showing too much who are being written off so it would have been a battle.

Again there are a few who could easily get my vote which is a good sign, Hazard edges it for the excitement value so I'll just mention JT, Matic, Costa and Ivan who all had performances I'd rate around the 7 or 8 mark.

It's probably safe to use Windowlene on that Crystal ball mate, must be years since its been cleaned as I've heard you can usually see things pretty clearly in them.

JT for me, the early goal was a big factor in the win and he was superb the whole game, Matic again superb and Mikel done well against a physical side. Good to have options and hopefully the rest will do Oscar good.

Agree with the majority, Hazard showed glimpses of what we all want to see a lot more of. Oscar, JT and Ivan also played well but a bit of an under par performance maybe we are a bit reliant on someone who can see the right pass at the right time, nice to see Costa get back to scoring ways even without Cesc on the field.