Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the final regular season BPL standings after the home win over Everton. I am sure you will all be as surprised as I that TT won it; really was tight and I must say I fancied my chances of catching him. If only I predicted all the fans in the stadium correctly, as well as the tea lady I know I could have made up all those points! So, anyway, a big congratulations to TT, and thank you all for partaking in the competition. I will have all the mini-competition standings up soon, as well as the final final standings. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2012-13 The ShedEnd Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 TT 67 9 4 15 0 5 0 5 30 185 12835 192 259 +1 02 Butch 62 6 3 15 0 5 0 5 0 115 11109 179 241 +0 03 Chippy 50 9 3 0 2 0 0 5 15 138 8867 177 227 +0 04 Alan’82 45 9 4 30 0 5 5 15 50 235 8009 178 223 +2 05 Ossie13 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3183 177 195 na 06 mbh 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1519 169 178 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2012-13 ------------------------------ 01 TT 28* 02 Butch 20 03 Alan’82 15 04 Chippy 7 05 Ossie13 4 06 mbh 2 ------------------------------ * New record; previous = 21 (TT, 2011-12) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2012-13 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 290 Chippy – Man City (n, fac) 02 275 Alan’82 – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Arsenal (a, epl) 03 271 TT – Spurs (a, epl) 04 270 TT – Monterrey (n, cwc) 05 261 Butch – Atletico Madrid (n, esc) 06 260 TT – Benfica (n, el) TT – Sunderland (h, epl) 07 255 TT – Norwich (h, epl) 08 254 Butch – Southampton (a, fac) 09 250 TT – Swansea (h, epl) 10 248 Alan’82 – Wigan (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- Record = 330 (Ossie13, 2010-11) Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the final ShedEnd Last-11 Competition standings after the home win over Everton on the final day of the season. CONGRATS go to Chelseablueboy; well done, mate! ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- SHEDEND LAST-11 COMPETITION 2013 ----------------------------------------------------------- Name PL W D L Gd Total ----------------------------------------------------------- 01. chelseablueboy 11 3 4 4 -8 13 02. Zola 11 2 6 3 -8 12 03. sals 11 2 5 4 -8 11 04. mad_mac 11 2 5 4 -9 11 05. ballack & blu 11 2 5 4 -10 11 06. CodyBound 11 2 5 4 -11 11 07. Amputechture 11 2 4 5 -9 10 08. JMaher94 11 1 7 3 -11 10 09. AdamCFC 11 2 4 5 -13 10 10. chelseabootboy 11 2 4 5 -16 10 11. CunningStunt 11 1 6 4 -9 9 mourad91 11 2 3 6 -9 9 12. coco 11 2 3 6 -14 9 13. Butch 11 1 4 6 -10 7 CFCCAN 11 1 4 6 -10 7 TT 11 1 4 6 -10 7 14. Fatty Foulke 11 1 4 6 -12 7 15. Lofty 1905 11 1 3 7 -9 6 ThunderDan 11 0 6 5 -9 6 16. Bucks Blue 11 1 3 7 -10 6 Tony Hately 11 1 3 7 -10 6 17. charierre 11 0 6 5 -11 6 JoeyN 11 0 6 5 -11 6 18. Erik 11 0 6 5 -12 6 19. mactheknife 11 1 2 8 -12 5 20. GaryWalsh 11 0 5 6 -14 5 ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Cheers, Butch

I still honestly feel Rafa Benitez, while not everyone's cup of tea, deserves some credit. He has gone about his job in a professional way, and I think what he deserves greatest credit for is keeping the squad fresh with his rotation policy, allowing us to put a strong run together at the end of the season (9 wins & 2 draws in our last 11 matches after the loss against City in the FA Cup), winning the Europa League and securing 3rd place in the league for automatic Champions League qualification. Whichever way you look at it, that run was amazing, especially under the pressure he and the squad were under. You can't criticize him for being aloof and defensive in his comments to the press. He was alienated from the start; of course he was to blame for that, but he had to come up with his own positives as no one was going to do it for him. I have to say, while I never really liked him, I began to feel sorry for the bloke. True, he was probably earning a handsome package and rebuilding his managerial credentials, but we all have to work as well and how many of us would enjoy being abused while trying to be professional? I don't want to re-open this can of worms. Suffice it to say, yes, I do thank Rafa for what he's done. I am never going to agree with anyone who is going to argue that the players cruised of their own accord, and won games themselves. I am also not going to agree with anyone who either belittles the Europa League or argues that as Champions League holders we had to win it. We were given nothing. We had to earn everything. And this with a squad that does not have as much strength in depth as you might think. So, thanks Rafa, and good luck wherever you go next. Cheers, Butch

I have to wonder it would make any sense for either Torres or Chelsea to part ways. For Torres, he now looks like he belongs here; he looks comfortable, and he looks like he is enjoying playing again. It took a while, and why would he want to start that process all over again anywhere else? Also, how likely is it he would be going to a club with better chances of success than Chelsea? For Chelsea, we forked out such a lot of money for Torres, and selling him now would be admitting we made a huge mistake, and would mean trying to get back as much (no matter how little) for him as possible. However, why would we do this when he is showing signs of turning a corner? From a form and confidence perspective, I say we keep Torres. But ultimately, it will come down to whether Jose (or whoever else) sees a place for him in our squad. Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the win over Benfica in the Europa League final. CONGRATS this time go to TT; well done, mate! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2012-13 The ShedEnd Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 TT 66 11 6 15 0 5 0 5 65 260 12650 192 258 +2 02 Butch 61 10 5 30 0 5 0 10 30 225 10994 180 241 +2 03 Chippy 49 10 5 30 0 0 0 15 30 225 8729 178 227 +2 04 Alan’82 44 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7774 177 221 na 05 Ossie13 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3183 177 195 na 06 mbh 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1519 169 178 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2012-13 ------------------------------ 01 TT 28* 02 Butch 20 03 Alan’82 14 04 Chippy 7 05 Ossie13 4 06 mbh 2 ------------------------------ * New record; previous = 21 (TT, 2011-12) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2012-13 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 290 Chippy – Man City (n, fac) 02 275 Alan’82 – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Arsenal (a, epl) 03 271 TT – Spurs (a, epl) 04 270 TT – Monterrey (n, cwc) 05 261 Butch – Atletico Madrid (n, esc) 06 260 TT – Benfica (n, el) TT – Sunderland (h, epl) 07 255 TT – Norwich (h, epl) 08 254 Butch – Southampton (a, fac) 09 250 TT – Swansea (h, epl) 10 248 Alan’82 – Wigan (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- Record = 330 (Ossie13, 2010-11) Cheers, Butch

I whole-heartedly thank Rafa Benitez for winning us the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League. Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the away win at Villa Park. CONGRATS this time go to Alan'82; well done, mate! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2012-13 The ShedEnd Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 TT 65 7 3 0 0 5 0 0 0 105 12390 191 256 +0 02 Butch 60 9 3 30 0 5 0 0 15 170 10769 179 239 +0 03 Chippy 48 8 5 0 0 0 10 20 30 190 8504 177 225 +1 04 Alan’82 44 9 5 30 0 5 10 5 50 240 7774 177 221 +3 05 Ossie13 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3183 177 195 na 06 mbh 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1519 169 178 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2012-13 ------------------------------ 01 TT 27* 02 Butch 20 03 Alan’82 14 04 Chippy 7 05 Ossie13 4 06 mbh 2 ------------------------------ * New record; previous = 21 (TT, 2011-12) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2012-13 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 290 Chippy – Man City (n, fac) 02 275 Alan’82 – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Arsenal (a, epl) 03 271 TT – Spurs (a, epl) 04 270 TT – Monterrey (n, cwc) 05 261 Butch – Atletico Madrid (n, esc) 06 260 TT – Sunderland (h, epl) 07 255 TT – Norwich (h, epl) 08 254 Butch – Southampton (a, fac) 09 250 TT – Swansea (h, epl) 10 248 Alan’82 – Wigan (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- Record = 330 (Ossie13, 2010-11) Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the home draw against Spurs at the Bridge. CONGRATS this time go to yours truly; thank you very much! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2012-13 The ShedEnd Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 TT 64 8 4 0 0 0 0 5 15 140 12285 192 256 +0 02 Butch 59 8 3 30 0 0 0 20 50 210 10599 180 239 +2 03 Chippy 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8314 177 224 na 04 Alan’82 43 9 4 0 0 0 0 10 30 170 7534 175 218 +1 05 Ossie13 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3183 177 195 na 06 mbh 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1519 169 178 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2012-13 ------------------------------ 01 TT 27* 02 Butch 20 03 Alan’82 13 04 Chippy 7 05 Ossie13 4 06 mbh 2 ------------------------------ * New record; previous = 21 (TT, 2011-12) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2012-13 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 290 Chippy – Man City (n, fac) 02 275 Alan’82 – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Arsenal (a, epl) 03 271 TT – Spurs (a, epl) 04 270 TT – Monterrey (n, cwc) 05 261 Butch – Atletico Madrid (n, esc) 06 260 TT – Sunderland (h, epl) 07 255 TT – Norwich (h, epl) 08 254 Butch – Southampton (a, fac) 09 250 TT – Swansea (h, epl) 10 248 Alan’82 – Wigan (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- Record = 330 (Ossie13, 2010-11) Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest ShedEnd Last-11 competition standings after the away win at Villa Park. Just one match remaining at home against Everton to go! ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- SHEDEND LAST-11 COMPETITION 2013 ----------------------------------------------------------- Name PL W D L Gd Total ----------------------------------------------------------- 01. sals 10 2 5 3 -7 11 02. Zola 10 2 5 3 -8 11 03. chelseablueboy 10 2 4 4 -8 10 04. chelseabootboy 10 2 4 4 -14 10 05. Amputechture 10 2 3 5 -8 9 CunningStunt 10 1 6 3 -8 9 mourad91 10 2 3 5 -8 9 06. AdamCFC 10 2 3 5 -12 9 07. coco 10 2 3 5 -13 9 08. mad_mac 10 1 5 4 -9 8 09. ballack & blu 10 1 5 4 -10 8 10. CodyBound 10 1 5 4 -11 8 11. Fatty Foulke 10 1 4 5 -11 7 JMaher94 10 0 7 3 -11 7 12. Lofty 1905 10 1 3 6 -8 6 ThunderDan 10 0 6 4 -8 6 13. Bucks Blue 10 1 3 6 -9 6 charierre 10 0 6 4 -9 6 14. Erik 10 0 6 4 -11 6 JoeyN 10 0 6 4 -11 6 15. Tony Hately 10 1 2 7 -8 5 16. mactheknife 10 1 2 7 -12 5 17. GaryWalsh 10 0 5 5 -13 5 18. Butch 10 0 4 6 -10 4 CFCCAN 10 0 4 6 -10 4 TT 10 0 4 6 -10 4 ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Cheers, Butch

Absolutely not; not even as good as Kalou, who was only ever a squad player. Having said that, (a) he made a huge step up from Wigan, (b) he does not start every game, and © if I'm not mistaken, he was signed as much for his meeting the quota on young players growing up in the UK as anything else. Cheers, Butch

Those players you mention are young, on the up rather than already established, and not egotistical (at least not to the level of the Madrid galacticos). I believe it is totally different. Besides, Jose (if he even needed it) has so many key supporters in the established and respected Chelsea playing squad that I don't believe there will be the disconnect that you imply. Cheers, Butch

There was absolutely no way Jose Mourinho was going to Man Utd. I had to do a lot of explaining to a few fellow fans as well as to why it would not happen. The two main reasons are (a) Jose's advanced discussions with Chelsea - and I believe a gentleman's agreement to be in place, and (b) it has been just about a well-known secret that Fergie had identified Moyes as his replacement. I don't see Jose as fitting the United "style" - and I don't mean tactics. No, Jose is ours. Still, I am not going to sit here and say his return to Chelsea is a done deal, but I do believe that it is very, very close. It is just a matter of crossing the t's and dotting the i's as it were, which, as a gesture of respect to Madrid, can not happen until the end of the season when they sit down and make the break official. But you just know it is going to happen. Too many burned bridges, and things looking too much like imploding. A lot of being made about Jose's "ugly" side recently rearing its head Madrid. I really don't care. And any way, why would a club sign Jose and then allow the playing squad to give him hell? That strikes me as the club not doing its homework. At Chelsea all the players adore him. He would not have any problems on that front. Just read between the lines, or not even between the lines, from recent quotes attributed to JT, Lamps, Ivan, Petr and Ba, and you can see the players simply cannot wait for his return. I can already sense the players are ready to united in a strong way behind Jose, which is when he will be able to get the best out of them for the club. This is the "us against the world" attitude I missed when he left. I didn't sense the players were ever solidly behind any manager since, and I believe that has been part of our "fading star" persona. I really can not wait for Jose to be officially unveiled. It will be a dream come true. I was distraught when we parted ways, even more than when we parted ways with Luca Vialli (when I was pretty much shocked). I can't tell you how excited I would be about our future if or when it is confirmed. And I really believe Sir Alex's retirement will have a significant effect on United, leaving City as the team to beat. With Jose at the helm, I'd have to say our star will be shining brightly. Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest ShedEnd Last-11 Competition standings after the disappointing home draw with Spurs. A lot of people predicted correctly this time so there was quite a bit of movement in the table. Just two matches to go now! ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- SHEDEND LAST-11 COMPETITION 2013 ----------------------------------------------------------- Name PL W D L Gd Total ----------------------------------------------------------- 01. sals 09 2 4 3 -6 10 02. Zola 09 2 4 3 -7 10 03. Amputechture 09 2 3 4 -8 9 chelseablueboy 09 2 3 4 -8 9 04. AdamCFC 09 2 3 4 -11 9 05. chelseabootboy 09 2 3 4 -13 9 06. mad_mac 09 1 5 3 -8 8 mourad91 09 2 2 5 -8 8 07. ballack & blu 09 1 4 4 -8 7 CodyBound 09 1 4 4 -8 7 08. Lofty 1905 09 1 3 5 -7 6 09. CunningStunt 09 0 6 3 -8 6 10. Fatty Foulke 09 1 3 5 -10 6 JMaher94 09 0 6 3 -10 6 11. coco 09 1 3 5 -13 6 12. Tony Hately 09 1 2 6 -7 5 13. Bucks Blue 09 1 2 6 -8 5 charierre 09 0 5 4 -8 5 ThunderDan 09 0 5 4 -8 5 14. Erik 09 0 5 4 -10 5 JoeyN 09 0 5 4 -10 5 15. mactheknife 09 1 2 6 -11 5 16. Butch 09 0 4 5 -9 4 CFCCAN 09 0 4 5 -9 4 17. GaryWalsh 09 0 4 5 -11 4 18. TT 09 0 3 6 -8 3 ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the away win at Old Trafford. CONGRATS this time go to Alan'82 and TT; well done, mates! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2012-13 The ShedEnd Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 TT 63 8 3 15 2 5 0 5 50 183 12145 193 256 +1 02 Butch 58 8 4 0 2 5 0 0 30 153 10389 179 237 +0 03 Chippy 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8314 177 224 na 04 Alan’82 42 10 3 0 2 5 0 0 50 183 7364 175 217 +1 05 Ossie13 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3183 177 195 na 06 mbh 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1519 169 178 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2012-13 ------------------------------ 01 TT 27* 02 Butch 19 03 Alan’82 13 04 Chippy 7 05 Ossie13 4 06 mbh 2 ------------------------------ * New record; previous = 21 (TT, 2011-12) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2012-13 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 290 Chippy – Man City (n, fac) 02 275 Alan’82 – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Arsenal (a, epl) 03 271 TT – Spurs (a, epl) 04 270 TT – Monterrey (n, cwc) 05 261 Butch – Atletico Madrid (n, esc) 06 260 TT – Sunderland (h, epl) 07 255 TT – Norwich (h, epl) 08 254 Butch – Southampton (a, fac) 09 250 TT – Swansea (h, epl) 10 248 Alan’82 – Wigan (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- Record = 330 (Ossie13, 2010-11) Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the ShedEnd Last-11 competition standings after the important win at Old Trafford. Just three league matches left now! ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- SHEDEND LAST-11 COMPETITION 2013 ----------------------------------------------------------- Name PL W D L Gd Total ----------------------------------------------------------- 01. mourad91 08 2 2 4 -7 8 02. sals 08 1 4 3 -6 7 03. Zola 08 1 4 3 -7 7 04. ballack & blu 08 1 4 3 -8 7 CodyBound 08 1 4 3 -8 7 05. Lofty 1905 08 1 3 4 -7 6 06. Amputechture 08 1 3 4 -8 6 chelseablueboy 08 1 3 4 -8 6 Fatty Foulke 08 1 3 4 -8 6 07. JMaher94 08 0 6 2 -9 6 08. AdamCFC 08 1 3 4 -11 6 09. chelseabootboy 08 1 3 4 -13 6 10. Tony Hately 08 1 2 5 -6 5 11. CunningStunt 08 0 5 3 -7 5 ThunderDan 08 0 5 3 -7 5 12. Bucks Blue 08 1 2 5 -8 5 mad_mac 08 0 5 3 -8 5 13. JoeyN 08 0 5 3 -9 5 14. mactheknife 08 1 2 5 -10 5 15. charierre 08 0 4 4 -7 4 16. CFCCAN 08 0 4 4 -8 4 17. Butch 08 0 4 4 -9 4 Erik 08 0 4 4 -9 4 18. GaryWalsh 08 0 4 4 -10 4 19. coco 08 0 3 5 -13 3 20. TT 08 0 2 6 -7 2 ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Cheers, Butch

From the start, while Rafa was never the popular choice, and certainly not my choice, I didn't really harbor much ill-feeling towards him. What he said while he was at Liverpool was embarrassing, for him as the man who would have to step into the job here, doing a job for the club whose players and fans he had offended. But in actual fact, I didn't care much about what he said. Sticks and stones and all that. At the time I heard what he said, I knew why he said it: basically to gain "stock" with his own fans. So when he came in to the Chelsea interim job, he would have to have been naive if he thought he wouldn't get any stick for what he said. At the same time, I certainly do not believe you can jeer the manager and not affect the players. There was quite a sequence of games when I felt the fans were making it unnecessarily tough on the team. I didn't feel sorry for Rafa, but I felt we were cutting our noses to spite our face, in all honesty. If anyone really deserved the "abuse" for this decision, it was Roman and the "powers-that-be". Surely, they can't ALL be out of touch with the fans. Would I say "thank you" to Rafa? Yes, but only in a "polite" sort of way, as again I don't harbor any ill will towards him. Having said that, he is here to do a job, on good pay, at a club where he has good potential for success, and therefore a good chance to raise his "stock" for future employment. From that perspective, there isn't really a "need" for a thank you, i.e. as if we were begging him to do something against his will or at an inconvenience for himself. I think top four and Champions League qualification is the minimum requirement, and is still as of now up in the air, so we are nowhere near the "thank you" stage yet. The Europa League was always going to be a bonus, as the Champions League was already out of our hands by then. I'm not going to say success in this competition is expected, and thus I am grateful for the good run. I am quite pleased we're in the final. A showpiece end to the season is always nice. At the end of the day, if we qualify for the Champions League and win the Europa League, I think I, personally, would have to consider that our season was a good one. Of course, I am disappointed with how things unfolded despite the promising start, and as a club with the sort of financial backing we have, we simply cannot be satisfied with a fourth place finish. But I will be "thankful" that it did not turn out to be worse than it did. However, if we don't qualify for the Champions League, I think I would be much, much, much less thankful. Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the home win over Basel that sees us through to the final against Benfica in Amsterdam. CONGRATS this time go to Alan'82; well done, mate! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2012-13 The ShedEnd Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 TT 62 10 4 15 4 5 10 0 30 196 11962 193 255 +1 02 Butch 57 6 2 15 2 5 0 5 0 103 10236 180 237 +0 03 Chippy 47 9 4 15 2 0 0 0 15 158 8314 177 224 +1 04 Alan’82 41 9 4 30 0 5 0 5 50 220 7181 175 216 +2 05 Ossie13 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3183 177 195 na 06 mbh 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1519 169 178 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2012-13 ------------------------------ 01 TT 26* 02 Butch 19 03 Alan’82 12 04 Chippy 7 05 Ossie13 4 06 mbh 2 ------------------------------ * New record; previous = 21 (TT, 2011-12) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2012-13 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 290 Chippy – Man City (n, fac) 02 275 Alan’82 – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Arsenal (a, epl) 03 271 TT – Spurs (a, epl) 04 270 TT – Monterrey (n, cwc) 05 261 Butch – Atletico Madrid (n, esc) 06 260 TT – Sunderland (h, epl) 07 255 TT – Norwich (h, epl) 08 254 Butch – Southampton (a, fac) 09 250 TT – Swansea (h, epl) 10 248 Alan’82 – Wigan (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- Record = 330 (Ossie13, 2010-11) Cheers, Butch

I admit that I want Jose back based on nostalgia, but not in the way that you might think. While I was happy that we were ultimately successful in terms of silverware and titles, I really did like the "identity" he gave us. Nobody wanted to play the Chelsea managed by Jose, and you could see we got underneath the skin of most clubs in Europe; they were rattled. When he left and we became, well, "nice", that is something I missed terribly. I really didn't care if people didn't like us (not sure they like us that much now anyway), or that they branded us the "enemy of football". Who pays the remaining 3 years left on his contract? Who paid for Carlo? Who paid for AVB? If Roman wants Jose back, he'll have to pay to get him (in more ways than one). What happens if things don't work out a second time around? We will be lumbered with his expensive signings? What guarantee do we have of ANY managerial appointment being successful? Absolutely none. IF he doesn't succeed, and I really hope he is given a fair crack at it (if he comes), then he will be let go just like any other manager. As for signings? First, any manager who comes in will want to make some of his own signings and, if they are any good, they will be expensive. Second, just as there are no guarantees for a manager to be successful, so too for players. I doubt there would be much difference between what Jose might do, compared to what any other manager might do. But history has shown us that Jose's team stayed with the club for a long time and won us much success, even after he left. Is he still the Special One? If you go by his original definition, then yes, because he was only trying to say he was unique, i.e. not "of the bottle". He lived up to that name with the league titles he helped us to win while he was here the first time. As to whether or not he can do that again, well, who knows! I think he can, but it will depend on many different factors, just like for any other manager. But the fact he's been here before and done it before in the environment of the EPL must stand him in good stead. I cannot argue the point about there not being any guarantees, but what I will say is that there are no guarantees for anyone who might come in. I will argue the point that his relationship with Chelsea ended the first time not really due to a failure on the pitch in the traditional sense. While I do not know for sure, I believe it was a collection of things, including (in no particular order): (i) lack of beauty/spectacle in our style of play - we ground and strangled teams to death rather than pass them off the pitch, and when we played the big teams like Barcelona, we always looked inferior to them in terms of what was perceived to be our overly negative tactics. I believe that the relative ease and speed at which Jose garnered us success, i.e. league titles, made it seem easy to Roman and thus Roman probably felt that not only should we be successful, we should also look good at it. I think to some extent Roman has learnt that it is not in anyway easy and we cannot take success for granted. There is "method to the madness"; and (ii) Chelsea were making headlines for negative reasons - we were quickly gaining a bad reputation in the Champions League, of always questioning calls and "battering" referees. I would argue that we were ruffling feathers, and not taking things lying down, and believe we were well within our rights for a lot of the time. Anyway, for the owner of a club, reputation is important, and I can understand if Roman was not entirely happy with this. The other side of this is that once you have a bad reputation, especially for the powers that be, the bias against you actually worsens and probably comes back to kick you in the behind. So, for these two reasons more than any other, Roman wanted a change of direction. I said at the time, and I still maintain, that I believe there was a cheeky bet made somewhere during this time between the two about the relative successes of Chelsea vs Jose (wherever else he went), and that maybe some day he could return after a point was proven. I do believe there is a big ego clash between the two, and I believe both individuals would have to make concessions for a renewed partnership to be successful. In closing, I agree that this "return" is far from settled. Maybe, as you say, there are things that need to happen before Jose will commit, e.g. Chelsea qualifying for the Champions League, although if you think about it, and I mentioned this in my earlier post, I have to wonder if he can make us into serious challengers immediately. I still think he will want to change us, potentially significantly, and that may take us some time. I doubt he and Roman can be looking at this and planning a short-term relationship that would require immediate success, and thus I am not sure if the Champions League qualification would be the be all end all in terms of Jose returning. I would argue that qualification would have more importance for Chelsea as a club. But we cannot discount this. I really do hope he returns though. And I am banking on his ego doing the trick. He has already said many times he has an important connection with the club, that the club have an important place in his heart. I have no reason not to believe this. He has also said he has "unfinished business". I trust that will be playing on his mind. But also the thought of a "hero's return" to "save" his club; I think that, more than anything, may be irresistibly enticing. At least, I hope it is. And then finally, Roman. He must be agreeable to this, and you would think there was no smoke without fire, and things would not have progressed anywhere had he said no from the start. I do believe he is open to this. I just hope he makes this happen.

Sorry, but I don't agree. Fans were already divisive over Jose Mourinho, regardless of when solid rumors would surface about the possibility of a return. I am a big supporter of the Special One, but I know many others who disliked (a) the attention he sought/brought on himself, (b) the openly combative stance against "the rest of the world", and © he overly negative tactics against the big teams. I actually love him for that, but not everybody does. So my feeling is fans like myself would have welcomed him back with open arms regardless of when, while fans who disliked him wouldn't have needed an additional reason (i.e. replacing RobbieD) to. Having said that, while overall as a Chelsea fan I, personally, have to be eternally grateful to Roman for the intense experiences his money has allowed us to experience (in a short period of time), he has made a lot of bad decisions (or given in to people who have made very bad proposals) for the club. Decisions such as the sacking of Jose and Carlo, and the employments of Scolari, Grant and Benitez readily come to mind. While our global "stock" has quickly risen, our reputation of being very money-oriented and short-term focused certainly does not win us much acclaim. From these perspectives, as a Chelsea fan I, personally, am not very happy. Finally, I don't believe Roman signed Benitez to get the fans exasperated. I think this was a decision of someone who simply is not on the same wavelength as the fans. It is a rather heartless, matter-of-fact signing of someone who was readily available and had the credentials that gave Roman the belief we would have a good chance of success in the remainder of the season. I definitely will not argue for the removal of Robbie, that is not my point, but just explaining my belief of what Roman was trying to do. I really don't think Robbie was his first choice as manager for this season, and thus at the slightest hint of a wobble he simply did not have the faith to stick it out (just look at how much faith he has in managers who he has spent so much time and effort to get them to sign for Chelsea, e.g. Scolari, Ancelotti and AVB!). By the way, Jose doesn't have the easiest job in the world. Chelsea are still in transition. We are still in the process of "changing of the guard". It is not a given he will come in and help us garner instant success, especially if he is deadset, as I believe he would be, in moulding the team back towards his own ideals. I expect some signings of players in the big/tall/strong mould, as well as one or two of the rather drab but tactically sound and positionally dependable type as well. He is going to have to find a balance between attackingly fluid and defensively solid. So I wouldn't expect instant success even if he did come back, but I would be prepared to wait safe in the knowledge that if he did, and he was given the freedom/time to implement his ideas, we will take that next step and become true challengers for the key trophies. Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the home win over Swansea in the league. CONGRATS this time go to TT; well done, mate! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2012-13 The ShedEnd Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 TT 61 10 5 30 0 0 10 10 50 250 11766 193 254 +2 02 Butch 56 9 4 15 2 5 0 10 15 173 10133 181 237 +1 03 Chippy 46 10 5 15 0 0 5 10 30 210 8156 177 223 +1 04 Alan’82 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6961 174 214 na 05 Ossie13 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3183 177 195 na 06 mbh 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1519 169 178 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2012-13 ------------------------------ 01 TT 26* 02 Butch 19 03 Alan’82 11 04 Chippy 7 05 Ossie13 4 06 mbh 2 ------------------------------ * New record; previous = 21 (TT, 2011-12) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2012-13 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 290 Chippy – Man City (n, fac) 02 275 Alan’82 – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Arsenal (a, epl) 03 271 TT – Spurs (a, epl) 04 270 TT – Monterrey (n, cwc) 05 261 Butch – Atletico Madrid (n, esc) 06 260 TT – Sunderland (h, epl) 07 255 TT – Norwich (h, epl) 08 254 Butch – Southampton (a, fac) 09 250 TT – Swansea (h, epl) 10 248 Alan’82 – Wigan (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- Record = 330 (Ossie13, 2010-11) Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the away win at Basel. CONGRATS this time went to TT; well done, mate! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2012-13 The ShedEnd Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 TT 60 9 5 0 2 0 0 5 50 193 11516 192 252 +1 02 Butch 55 8 3 0 4 0 0 0 15 121 9960 181 236 +0 03 Chippy 45 8 4 0 2 0 0 5 30 153 7946 177 222 +1 04 Alan’82 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6961 174 214 na 05 Ossie13 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3183 177 195 na 06 mbh 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1519 169 178 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2012-13 ------------------------------ 01 TT 25* 02 Butch 19 03 Alan’82 11 04 Chippy 7 05 Ossie13 4 06 mbh 2 ------------------------------ * New record; previous = 21 (TT, 2011-12) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2012-13 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 290 Chippy – Man City (n, fac) 02 275 Alan’82 – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Arsenal (a, epl) 03 271 TT – Spurs (a, epl) 04 270 TT – Monterrey (n, cwc) 05 261 Butch – Atletico Madrid (n, esc) 06 260 TT – Sunderland (h, epl) 07 255 TT – Norwich (h, epl) 08 254 Butch – Southampton (a, fac) 09 248 Alan’82 – Wigan (h, epl) 10 245 TT – Stoke (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- Record = 330 (Ossie13, 2010-11) Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest ShedEnd Last-11 competition standings after the home win over Swansea. Seven matches down and only four remaining! ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- SHEDEND LAST-11 COMPETITION 2013 ----------------------------------------------------------- Name PL W D L Gd Total ----------------------------------------------------------- 01. mourad91 07 2 2 3 -6 8 02. sals 07 1 4 2 -5 7 03. CodyBound 07 1 4 2 -7 7 Zola 07 1 4 2 -7 7 04. ballack & blu 07 1 4 2 -8 7 05. chelseablueboy 07 1 3 3 -7 6 Lofty 1905 07 1 3 3 -7 6 06. Amputechture 07 1 3 3 -8 6 07. JMaher94 07 0 6 1 -9 6 08. AdamCFC 07 1 3 3 -10 6 09. chelseabootboy 07 1 3 3 -12 6 10. Tony Hately 07 1 2 4 -6 5 11. CunningStunt 07 0 5 2 -7 5 Fatty Foulke 07 1 2 4 -7 5 ThunderDan 07 0 5 2 -7 5 12. Bucks Blue 07 1 2 4 -8 5 mad_mac 07 0 5 2 -8 5 13. JoeyN 07 0 5 2 -9 5 14. mactheknife 07 1 2 4 -10 5 15. CFCCAN 07 0 4 3 -7 4 charierre 07 0 4 3 -7 4 16. Butch 07 0 4 3 -8 4 Erik 07 0 4 3 -8 4 17. GaryWalsh 07 0 4 3 -9 4 18. coco 07 0 3 4 -13 3 19. TT 07 0 2 5 -6 2 ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the 2-2 draw at the "dog pound". CONGRATS this time go to TT; well done, mate! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2012-13 The ShedEnd Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 TT 59 10 5 0 2 0 0 5 50 203 11323 192 251 +1 02 Butch 54 9 4 15 2 0 0 5 30 178 9839 182 236 +1 03 Chippy 44 9 5 0 2 5 0 5 30 178 7793 177 221 +1 04 Alan’82 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6961 174 214 na 05 Ossie13 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3183 177 195 na 06 mbh 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1519 169 178 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2012-13 ------------------------------ 01 TT 24* 02 Butch 19 03 Alan’82 11 04 Chippy 7 05 Ossie13 4 06 mbh 2 ------------------------------ * New record; previous = 21 (TT, 2011-12) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2012-13 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 290 Chippy – Man City (n, fac) 02 275 Alan’82 – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Man Utd (h, epl) TT – Arsenal (a, epl) 03 271 TT – Spurs (a, epl) 04 270 TT – Monterrey (n, cwc) 05 261 Butch – Atletico Madrid (n, esc) 06 260 TT – Sunderland (h, epl) 07 255 TT – Norwich (h, epl) 08 254 Butch – Southampton (a, fac) 09 248 Alan’82 – Wigan (h, epl) 10 245 TT – Stoke (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- Record = 330 (Ossie13, 2010-11) Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest ShedEnd Last-11 competition standings after the Liverpool result. Six down and only five remaining matches left now! ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- SHEDEND LAST-11 COMPETITION 2013 ----------------------------------------------------------- Name PL W D L Gd Total ----------------------------------------------------------- 01. mourad91 06 2 2 2 -6 8 02. sals 06 1 3 2 -5 6 03. CodyBound 06 1 3 2 -6 6 Zola 06 1 3 2 -6 6 04. ballack & blu 06 1 3 2 -7 6 05. chelseablueboy 06 1 2 3 -6 5 Fatty Foulke 06 1 2 3 -6 5 06. Amputechture 06 1 2 3 -7 5 Bucks Blue 06 1 2 3 -7 5 07. JMaher94 06 0 5 1 -8 5 08. chelseabootboy 06 1 2 3 -9 5 09. ThunderDan 06 0 4 2 -6 4 Tony Hately 06 1 1 4 -6 4 10. CunningStunt 06 0 4 2 -7 4 mad_mac 06 0 4 2 -7 4 11. JoeyN 06 0 4 2 -8 4 12. charierre 06 0 3 3 -6 3 13. Butch 06 0 3 3 -7 3 CFCCAN 06 0 3 3 -7 3 Erik 06 0 3 3 -7 3 Lofty 1905 06 0 3 3 -7 3 14. GaryWalsh 06 0 3 3 -8 3 15. AdamCFC 06 0 3 3 -10 3 16. TT 06 0 2 4 -5 2 17. mactheknife 06 0 2 4 -10 2 18. coco 06 0 2 4 -12 2 ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Cheers, Butch

Can't help feeling like I've been pick-pocketed by the Scousers, including Rafa. Don't want to get into depth about my feelings on the biting incident, but I am very angry and frustrated at the number of clear sendings off (certainly bookable) offenses against Chelsea that have gone unpunished (as well as have come back to bite us in the arse). Just think about this biting incident (by something that scored the winner in the 7th minute of injury time), the Aguero two-footed stamp on Luiz, the Coloccini high boot into Ba's face that stopped a clear scoring opportunity, etc... On the flip side, we've had players (sometimes two) sent off for rather questionable offenses, etc... On the 97 minutes of injury time, I've seen so many instances when it is our turn to be chasing an equalizer or winner and the referee is happy to blow exactly on the time allotted even while we're just about to take a corner or send in a cross or something. It just all adds to a very bitter taste in my mouth. I'm not worried we won't finish in a Champions League placing at the end of the season, though I don't appreciate anyone making it any harder than it should have to be. But I simply cannot stand this perceived unfairness. But back to Rafa; I've not been one of the more vocal Chelsea fans against him, but all day long at Anfield, I was rather disappointed in him. Starting from the overly positive and happy "I love you, man" cuddles all around with the Liverpool staff, to the very negative substitutions that took the initiative away from us and placed it squarely on a plate for Liverpool. While Ramires was putting in another excellent performance, Hazard was our main threat all day long in attack. Every time he had the ball, he was able to threaten and stretch Liverpool's defense. With Liverpool chasing the second equalizer, having him on as a counter-attacking threat would have made it possible that we could have snatched a third. So what does Rafa do? He takes out all three of our key counter attackers and leaves on the pitch a very ineffectual Fernando Torres. I do feel hard done by by the almost 7 minutes of injury time (more than the 6 that were indicated, although I accept that that number on the board is the "minimum" amount of time; it still doesn't make sense from where those 7 minutes came from). Yet, Chelsea had to keep playing while the referee hadn't blown. We had to take care of business, and cannot resort to just pointing fingers. But once those three key players came off the pitch and we had no one else who came on who could hold up the ball away from the risk zones to take pressure off and run the clock down, we invited Liverpool to come forth without much risk to themselves. Felt a bit like suicide. So frustrated by this result. Cheers, Butch