heckel

Time to admit we got it wrong all those years ago, just? Claudio laughing at the top of the league with no resources, makes me ponder on the great chelsea dynasty that could have been, and which Jose robbed from the great CR. Come home Clownio!

Good Sun-style thread heading. It hurts to see him in red; if he had unfavourably compared chelsea fans to liverpool fans I could see the problem, but he's hardly a Poyet.

my bet is on iniesta.

Essien, only because I'm so f'ing happy he's back

difference between Chelsea in 2003 and Man City in 2009 can be summed up in two words: Lampard, Terry. We already had the two outstanding England players and all it took was to get the quality of the squad up to their level and we could challenge (which we did before Mourinho came in. ManCity are still nowhere near Chelsea under Ranieri 03-04). Man City proves that we did not 'buy' the league from scratch, but boosted an outstanding core.

"Ancelotti's side have now scored 21 goals in their past three home league games."

What a start! Speechless...

Totally. Although I'd certainly think it would be in the FA's interest to schedule a winter break in world cup years because overall I would say that Italian/Spanish based players have better fitness in the summer, not to mention the Bundersliga, which I believe has the longest break of all of them.

The ball was a f**king shocker. Other than that, I would say that the major problem is that more or less all the game-changing players were completely knackered by the time the tournament started. Kudos to all the Barca and Inter players in the final who maintained their fitness whilst going all the way in three cup competitions on top of their league commitments. True athletes (ahem England). Other than Spain's historic breakthrough win, I will forget this tournament as soon as I go to sleep (in 5 minutes).

The De Jong decision was wrong. I think a case can be made either way for the other decisions. Overall I think Webb did well, given the Dutch in particular were playing chicken with him the entire game. I think those targeting the refereeing are missing the big picture. Which is... Spain DO play magnificent football. Sorry to partake in the 'w**kfest', but they are clearly the world's best footballing team. They didn't play at the level of 2008, but in a tournament in which every fancied team bar Germany and Holland played well below their potential they are more than worthy winners. They controlled matches, they took their chances and they will be national heroes for a long time to come. Many many congratulations to Del Bosques men. I salute Spain!!

1) needs to play the best team for the job and not the most renowned star players. 2) practice a f**k load of set pieces. 3) good fitness coach 4) devil-may-care attitude in relation to players/media/nation's FA 5) fluency in the mother-tongue 6) read the writing on the wall in games, and CHANGE the formation if it's not going well. No second chances.

I hear you Westway. The pro-Jose argument is probably stronger than the anti-Jose one. I think just's post earlier in this thread says it all. I have my own reasons for not necessarily giving him the kind of adoration that a lot did/do, but I'm really ready to let this one go.

Well the results are well and truly in. Jose has shown that he's on a different level as a modern football manager. He won us our first title for fifty years, and now Inter their first European Cup in 45 years. I wonder if Inter fans are having the same debates as the ones we've been having. Do they care if their team is a medium for Jose's record career (ruthlessly displayed by his immediate transfer)? Are they grateful that he is the man who could do the job and restore them to European glory? Probably the second. Either way, I've done my dash with criticising Mourinho. He is what he is. I hate Real Madrid, so I won't be wishing him luck, but I won't begrudge him his inevitable success.

It was a great pleasure reading Star's and Geezer's posts, which showed just how important this club is to people's lives over time. The Bates and Abramovich's come and go, and same goes for players (even our beloved Zola, who I can't help feel has somewhat broken with the spirit of the club after his West Ham adventure). But the supporter's are the club. For me this season has been a new departure. Moving to the UK near the start of the Abramovich era I felt a bit let down because the kind of club and atmosphere I'd hoped to join was transformed into this bling outfit which was attracting all manner of superficial fans (and players). I'd intended to be a regular attendee at SB (a reason for choosing to come over), but I've been a bit reluctant for fear of being just another international band-wagon fan (and also lack of cash). As just pointed out to me, I probably missed the true significance of those Jose titles because I hadn't really lived through the bad times so didn't properly appreciate the satisfaction of breaking through and WINNING. But the bling years are now over. This was a title won by a mature squad who have longterm relations with the supporters and the club, with only one new squad member. Looking at the photos on Gem's thread I think there's a difference this season. It's not Jose punching the air because he's shown again he's the 'special one'. It's not some mercenary footballer who's glad he's come to a club that 'wins things' and 'can play champions league football'. It's not supporters vicariously joining in the celebrations of the sugar-daddy's plaything. This title was won by the players for the supporters. And I salute Carlo Ancellotti for being an understated manager who, in my mind, has let the clubness of the team come forward. 8 goals to win the season was a tribute not just to a more fluid football, but a team that wanted to give pleasure to the fans beyond getting a result. The squad needs to go through another transformation, but I'm so happy that the group of '04-'06 has won another title and shown their real dedication and quality. For me this title is really the beginning of my time as a Chelsea supporter (and not fan), and I will be heading to SB whenever I can afford it from here on. I'd be interested to hear from other people, and not just those who have 30+ years of support behind them.

We've done the double on liverpool, arsenal and ManU. Has this been done before? Strangely letargic performance, but I'm grinning from ear to ear. If we do it, this will be the most satisfying league win of my time as a supporter.