Chippy

Not a great display but we got the points and came out of it unscathed and we could easily be excusing is as post CL fatigue had we drawn the game. Diego back to his scoring ways and Hazard looking good, not much to complain about in all seriousness and its nice to see an out of sorts Cahill left to play his way back into form with a clean sheet.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Ramires around 60 odd minutes, Luis and Cahill have been suspect for me, Mikel has been no worse than Matic and really we should have more authority in midfield against this lot.

Good game for Azpi to get a rest in, Luis is more likely to help open up teams like Hull and should be competent enough to deal with what they have in an attacking threat, I doubt he would have sat this out against any of the top six or seven teams and it's an ideal way of getting Luis up to date on playing in the Premiership. ruined my BPL prediction though Edit: Here's my bet for the game, any returns half gos to the site. 13 Dec 2014 - Chelsea v Hull - First Goal Scorecast Diego Costa / Chelsea 3-0 @ 12/1 Stake : £5.00 Estimated Returns : £65.00

I thought Shurrle done well under a bit of pressure to perform and showed enough to give Jose more to think about, Mikel had a very good game as did Matic and I thought Azpi apart from a bit of a silly tackle late on showed why if Jose is as happy with Ivan as we all should be it is going to be hard for Luis to break into the first team. Zouma looks assured and I never worry whichever CB he replaces as he just does the Job. I'll give my vote to Mikel as he scored the goal to steady any nerves and had a good game all round.

Anybody who missed the game and has come on here to get an impression of how it all went should read this post and save themselves scrolling through the match day posts as they won't find a better or more factual account than this one...in my opinion obviously.

I said before jokingly that Drogba would soon be our first choice striker and today he showed that isn't all that far fetched, obviously he can't play every game and Costa is allowed an off day here and there but he'll certainly play his part over the course of the season and I trust him to do just that. MOM for me today even in the short time he was on the field.

Funny how teams play their best games against us...Newcastle so well organised and still always a threat, looks like their whole season revolves around games against us. We've not been good by any means but again you have to credit the opposition sometimes.

Very harsh, I couldn't disagree more. Not a good game for Gary today but he's a great defender and deserves his place.

Putting the usual bet on early as I've ot some running about to do this morning, any returns half gos to the site. Joint effort with help from Amputecture who shared my gut feeling on the score...thanks mate, Single To Win Chelsea 2-0 @ 13/2 Correct Score Newcastle v Chelsea Stake: £5.00 Potential Returns: £37.50 As the odds are not great I thoughtr we'd have a go at firts scorer and score as well. 06 Dec 2014 - Newcastle v Chelsea - First Goal Scorecast Eden Hazard / Chelsea 2-0 @ 28/1 Stake : £3.00

Oscar for me, obviously replaceable as they all are but we lose something when he isn't in the team for sure, even when he was having what most saw as a bad run of form it always seemed to me we just didn't have the same cohesion without him in the team. Certainly nice to look through the squad and see so many quality important players, no longer one or two great players amongst a squad that can beat anybody on their day (not knocking those times as they were some of the most enjoyable for me).

Some very good performances from a few of the boys, got to give it to the man that rarely fails to step up when we need him and hope he has reassured the doubters that his return was not just a romantic nostalgia trip. Didier Drogba.

I wouldn't have needed much convincing, keep an eye out in the next game in case I need a second opinion :-)

Crap...I knew I was giving them too much credit :-)

I'm a bit concerned about the form of Tottenham compared to our own...we've drawn a quarter of our matches and won three quarters and they've well to be honest I couldn't give a toss what they've done. Here's my bet for the game any returns half gos to the site. 03 Dec 2014 - Chelsea v Tottenham - Correct Score Tip It Chelsea 3-1 @ 11/1 Stake : £5.00 Estimated Returns : £60.00

Funny you should say that, I've been struggling to watch the press conferences of late as well...for one thing there is nearly always nothing to learn or hear and for two Jose seems (and I can't blame him for it) pretty down on the press. I'd have expected someone with Joses undoubted intelligence to be able to work the press better than he does and can imagine if any of our opposition managers came across like he does how much most of us would dislike him. It's not a massive problem but it would be nice for the image of the club for him to come across a bit more friendly, Carlo could teach him a thing or two about dealing with the press but to be fair it wouldn't have us with any more points on the board so I won't complain too much. Just would be nice to see more of his cheeky grin than what we see at the moment, maybe when the trophies start rolling in he'll lighten up a bit.

Cahill for me, another mention for the Drogs, nearly won the game or us with a couple of chances and looks to be our second choice striker, rightly so from his improvement so far.

Well Gus certainly got his players up for that one, our passing was uncharacteristically sloppy second half but that might be partly down to the long trip back from Germany and then up to Sunderland. Can't take it away from them though, they defended well and were dangerous on the break, a nice wake up call for the boys and still unbeaten which after that feels ok.

The scoreline tips my vote from Matic to Willian, had we been under more pressure then Matics superb play would have been a vote winner for me but it's great to see Willian adding end product to his already good performances. Drogba still looks better and better and if he keeps improving will be our number one next season, not just good for the mood of the team but still has a fair bit to offer as a player.

Great performance by the whole team, sorry for Robbie but he can rest assured he won't have to play teams in that sort of mood too often, hope he gets his team up for their next game and they finish the season well. Lovely from Willian to unselfishly play the Drogs in for his goal...looked like a bit of deja vu. It must be a nightmare to defend against this Chelsea team.

Respect for the opposition manager has led me to restricting my bet on the game to a 0-1. any returns half gos to the site. 25 Nov 2014 - Schalke 04 v Chelsea - First Goal Scorecast Oscar / Chelsea 1-0 @ 30/1 Stake : £5.00 Estimated Returns : £155.00

Very Sad, RIP John.

Still got a one of Jimmys albums in my boot changer, Farewell is a lonely sound was a classic as are most of the songs on his greatest hits album. RIP to another motown great.

I saw a picture of Wenger shaking hands with a carbon cutout of Jose, I think it was on the Mirror or Sun sight...I wouldn't be surprised if that was when Arsene asked Jose if a deal was possible, as Jose didn't comment at the time, Wenger took it as a yes.

Oscar, great all round performance and superb finish.

Matic for me, with Fabregas not really doing a lot to help I think he done exceptionally well, big mention to the Drogs who has improved enough to show that he is useful to have around, he still has a big presence even now and although he obviously can't be the Drogs of old, I still think he can improve with more match sharpness.