heckel

At this rate we'll be up with Arsenal on goal difference. Don't let up boys!!

didier coming on - should be utter annihilation.

hatrick! (we're just scraping this one, lady luck is with us!)

When I go to a cocktail bar and order a round for 4 friends and it costs £55, I say 'sh*t, that cost a small fortune!' If they charged me £90 million I would be tempted to remove the qualifier

I thought Kalou did excellently to get across immediately and calmly volley on his wrong foot, not giving Carrol even a moment to recover. Not as easy as it looks that goal.

hahaha maybe this will help you snap out of it:

I agree entirely with you Dorset. I have no doubt that Jose would have made the right moves vs Barnsley - he never slipped up against lesser opponents. I'm no Grant supporter on the evidence we've had these past few months. Thankfully, however, Grant will not haunt these forums as Ranieri did. Either he summons the required man-management and big-game resources to take the PL or CL or he leaves. I like the mafioso simplicity of the situation.

Remember each of Arsenal, ManU and Liverplod flopped out of the two domestic cups as well - one us has to win the league and an English team has to be favoured to push on to CL final. Pressure can do amazing things. For Ranieri it meant Jimmy on the right vs Monaco and the sack. For Grant it might just do the trick. We've got the players to win both competitions, now the manager has the impetus - I'm not feeling confident, but I'm certainly not throwing in the towel.

Roman has spoken: http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Sto ... 68,00.html

I see where you are coming from and applaud your post Brit, but the failure of the big four is at best a double-edged sword. Surely if the CL were not Fergie/Wenger/Grant/ 's only true cup priority then at least one would be in the last four. I'm all for romantic upsets but the failure of us and the other silverware monopolists so early in the competition stinks of disrepect. Last year's FA cup triumph was one of my all-time Chelsea highs and I was hoping, given a little extra £ in my back pocket this year that I might have my first shot at going to a Wembley final. Still I agree, can't grudge Barnsley their joy.

Lots of excellent posts on this thread. As with the loss in the Carling Cup, this horror has the single advantage of crystallising Grant's position in relation to the club. If Grant had won the Carling Cup, or if he had won the FA cup against a weak field, but then had not produced anything in the league or champions league, the situation at the end of the season would remain ambiguous. Jack & co would say 'sure we had a good cup run, but this guy is no winner in the big competitions'; Qaz & co would say 'we need time, he won a cup and put in a decent run in the league/CL - let's wait'. Nothing short of a major prize can keep Grant on - I'm sure that Roman will be communicating something of this to Grant as I write. I don't buy the 'Grant is Roman's Goon' theory unless we are in fact merely a money laundering operation (a theory I'm willing to believe given his position in Forbes). My understanding (which is just commonsense) is that Roman wants BOTH power over the team and manager AND a steady stream of silverware (the playing stylishly thing is probably a red herring). Mourinho gave him trophies but frequent mutinies threatened his sovereignty. Grant obviously is no threat to Roman but his position is untenable if he does not win anything, and quickly. Also, unless Grant can pull a big piece of silverware this season the players will simply never have the requisite faith in his abilities. If Grant *does* win something he will acquire mystique and strength through that win and I for one would give him my full support for the future. The pressure is on, what is this man made of?

My perspective: if avram had won the carling cup but not brought in any other silverware this season he might have had grounds for staying beyond the summer. Now unless we win something I'm confident he will go in the summer, we can get a new manager and set off next season with a cohesive outfit. Ranieri had the screws put on him he didn't provide, he was sacked. Same applies. If he wins, the doubters will have to shut up.

Losing today was a bitter experience. Very bitter. However, looking at the season and the longterm it may be a blessing. I think Mourinho used this cup in his first year as a very effective lever for going on to better things - silverware in the bag, create that winning feeling etc. As we've won it twice now with most of the same personnel this aspect of 'being winners' is no longer really useful - it is after all a minor competition. If Grant had won this cup it might be insurance against poor results later in the season. He will not now be able to hang back with the safe knowledge that he's a proven 'winner' and let the other three competitions get away from us. For if he does not win anything this season, his stint with us will surely be short. If he does, then ... roll it on!

looking at the tackle in realtime on the other thread I agree that it would be hard to say there were seconds of premeditation (a la Roy Keane). However 2 things are obvious to me about Taylor's challenge 1) just like Stephen Hunt on Cech, once beaten he doesn't try to pull out of the challenge 2) why the f*ck were his studs up and halfway up Eduardo's shin?

surely you're taking the piss!! Studs up into his ankles with his full body weight leaning into his ankle! Here's the _Guardian_ match report's take: "Apologies for not watching the football for a couple of minutes - it's basically a training session anyway - but I've just seen a picture of Taylor's challenge, and it is completely and utterly disgraceful. Flying through the air studs up, he lunges in halfway up the shin of Eduardo's standing leg. The striker's leg clean snaps at a right angle; no wonder Fabregas was holding his head in his hands the minute he saw it. It's going to be an ethical dilemma for sports editors across the country, is this picture." Not sure I agree. I haven't seen the tackle yet but I've heard that the tackle wasn't that bad. It was just an accident that Eduardo broke his ankle. If so then I don't think it's fair to suspend him. Not even sure a red card was warranted.

that's utterly sickening, not sure it's such a wise idea to post those pics (perhaps edit your post so those that want to look at the link can?). Taylor should be suspended until Eduardo can take the field again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB-m_8GPkAw

I have always found that the films that most overtly produce symbols, metaphors and 'meaning' are big-budget hollywood (things like Titanic, Lord of the Rings always have symbols spread liberally through them that act like bludgeons - this thing = that metaphysical meaning). Just out of interest what would be an example of a movie that has a logical conclusion?

Foreign players and manager yet the only club in the top four who have not been bought-out by foreigners and which has generated its own revenues from excellent buys and moving to a new stadium - in this sense the most 'local' club in the top four. Meanwhile: Chelsea, ManU and Liverpool hold pretty much the entire England squad. First question: would we prefer Chelsea to have a British structure and self-generating profits but no English players (as was almost the case in the late 90s)? Second question: bring back vialli?

the arse will be well happy

t*ttenham og, c*nts

at least rottenham are doing their bit.

lampard fit enough to come on?

i dont know if its just me but your links arent working I think cech is looking at the guy next in line.