Butch

Some photos from the match on Sunday: next up, the lads thank the fans. Cheers, Butch

Photos from the game on Sunday: next up, group photo. Cheers, Butch

Some photos from the match on Sunday: next up, pre-match handshakes. Cheers, Butch

Photos from match on Sunday: next up, the lads in pre-match warm-up. Cheers, Butch

Photos from the match on Sunday. Next up: Petr in pre-match warm-up with Chirstophe Lollichon. Cheers, Butch

Photos from the match on Sunday. First up, AVB and Gourlay after the pre-match pitch inspection. Cheers, Butch

I have to say that up close, and able to see what goes on outside of the camera field of vision, Torres' movement was not good. While we often criticize our team dynamics and lack of creativity in the final third, I have to say that the general lack of movement up front would make it difficult for any midfielder to find him with a pass. Having said that, this was only a friendly and the conditions were very sapping to say the least. In contrast, Drogba was very dynamic when he came on. As a side note, very impressed with van Aanholt, McEachran and Rajkovic, the latter particularly seemed a chimera of JT and Ivan. Strong, no nonsense in the tackle. Chalobah looked composed on the ball, but not quite as ready as the aforementioned three. Same with Clifford. Other notables: - Anelka seemed to be involved in all that was good in terms of our attacks in the first half - Studge - some nice footwork and very involved up front but never really created any chance for himself - JT was a man mountain - absolutely superb throughout although he was rarely challenged. - Bosingwa - rather hesitant to make attacking runs up the right - goal a complete fluke as it was intended as a cross - Ivanovic - no nonsense; also, well taken goal - Benayoun - full of running when he came on - Ash - same as Yossi, but also with some bite as he went haring into challenges. At one point, went in for a 50:50 and looked like he hurt himself, AVB pirouetting up and away from his customary crouching position with a wince on the sidelines - Hilario - three absolutely splendid saves; got down really well on all three occasions Was a stroll in the park for the lads, all truth be told, but should add to their fitness and confidence levels. Extremely enjoyable day out for the fans. Cheers, Butch

I think the 4M estimate is about 1M for the privilege of paying his annual 3M wages. Cheers, Butch

I bet Marca are drumming up interest in the player as a means of funding the Neymar transfer. I have no doubt Madrid want the Brazilian, as do we, but our hesitancy to meet the crazy asking price (40+ million) probably means no other club is able to (or want to) either. Cheers, Butch

Spurs have a brown picket fence round their stadium?! Cheers, Butch

The only two other midfielders we've been linked to are Pastore (44M) and Moutinho (35M). As you point out, Modric is proven in the EPL. The other two aren't. Having said that, I sincerely doubt Spurs will budge an ounce, they may not anyway, for anything below the 30-35 million mark. We're just wasting our time at the moment, or rather, we're being smart and allowing the situation in the Spurs camp to come to a boil, since every bid that gets knocked back is only going to make Modric increasingly unhappy. Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the FINAL STANDINGS for the BPL 2010-2011 competition. CONGRATS once again go to Ossie13 who basically won everything available to win for the year; well done, mate! Thanks all for participating and see you in the new season; I can already hear TT practising! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Standings 2009-10 FINAL STANDINGS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name GP RS Winner Bonus Points Cu Av Rt RS LT AV WC HS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Ossie13 49 10103 100 100 100 100 100 10603 216 265 02 James Elsum 1 249 0 0 0 0 0 249 249 250 03 TT 52 9985 0 100 0 0 0 10085 194 246 04 Butch 52 9741 0 0 0 0 0 9741 187 239 05 Footballoholic 15 3180 0 0 0 0 0 3180 212 227 06 Loz 39 7258 0 0 0 0 0 7258 186 225 07 Chippy 46 8020 0 0 0 0 0 8020 174 220 08 Rub Buh Juh 1 219 0 0 0 0 0 219 219 220 09 TeaBarBoy 48 8098 0 0 0 0 0 8098 169 217 10 Crystalballs 41 6707 0 0 0 0 0 6707 164 205 11 Scooby Blue 20 3649 0 0 0 0 0 3649 182 202 12 DurtyHurty 3 579 0 0 0 0 0 579 193 196 13 Coombsie 17 2794 0 0 0 0 0 2794 164 181 14 Usif 1 176 0 0 0 0 0 176 176 177 15 J. Droga 1 175 0 0 0 0 0 175 175 176 16 Aribo John 7 1179 0 0 0 0 0 1179 168 175 17 M. Gombe 1 172 0 0 0 0 0 172 172 173 18 Derek Dove 12 1801 0 0 0 0 0 1801 150 162 19 ChelseaBootBoy 4 631 0 0 0 0 0 631 158 162 20 Waldron 9 1371 0 0 0 0 0 1371 152 161 21 A. Adebayo 1 153 0 0 0 0 0 153 153 154 22 C. Mbanefo 1 146 0 0 0 0 0 146 146 147 Sixtus 1 146 0 0 0 0 0 146 146 147 23 Bashak 1 128 0 0 0 0 0 128 128 129 24 A. Akintomiwa 1 123 0 0 0 0 0 123 123 124 25 BlueSkies 1 120 0 0 0 0 0 120 120 121 26 Saheed 1 116 0 0 0 0 0 116 116 117 27 AU Effiong 1 109 0 0 0 0 0 109 109 110 28 A. Loya 1 106 0 0 0 0 0 106 106 107 Hyacinth 1 106 0 0 0 0 0 106 106 107 T. Ephraim 1 106 0 0 0 0 0 106 106 107 Tosin 1 106 0 0 0 0 0 106 106 107 29 O. Jerome 1 104 0 0 0 0 0 104 104 105 30 Desmond 1 103 0 0 0 0 0 103 103 104 31 Brighty 1 96 0 0 0 0 0 96 96 97 32 M. Sodiq 1 92 0 0 0 0 0 92 92 93 33 Johnson 1 88 0 0 0 0 0 88 88 89 34 Olabodeopeyemi 1 76 0 0 0 0 0 76 76 77 35 A. Yusuff 1 74 0 0 0 0 0 74 74 75 36 A. Peter 1 51 0 0 0 0 0 51 51 52 37 D. Aboagye 1 38 0 0 0 0 0 38 38 39 38 G. Ankrah 1 16 0 0 0 0 0 16 16 17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Sorry this has been a long time coming... Here are the summary statistics for the BPL 2010/2011 season: REGULAR SEASON FINAL STANDINGS (RANKED BY POINTS TOTAL): -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2010-2011 The Shedend Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp Cu Av Rt --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Ossie13 49 10103 206 255 02 TT 52 9985 192 244 03 Butch 52 9741 187 239 04 Footballoholic 15 3180 212 227 05 Loz 39 7258 186 225 06 Chippy 46 8020 174 220 07 TeaBarBoy 48 8098 169 217 08 Crystalballs 41 6707 164 205 09 Scooby Blue 20 3649 182 202 10 Coombsie 17 2794 164 181 11 Aribo A John 07 1179 168 175 12 Derek Dove 12 1801 150 162 13 Waldron 09 1371 152 161 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Record = TT (257) – 2008/9 REGULAR SEASON FINAL STANDINGS (RANKED BY POINTS AVG): -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2010-2011 The Shedend Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp Cu Av --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Footballoholic 15 3180 212* 02 Ossie13 49 10103 206 03 TT 52 9985 192 04 Butch 52 9741 187 05 Loz 39 7258 186 06 Scooby Blue 20 3649 182 07 Chippy 46 8020 174 08 TeaBarBoy 48 8098 169 09 Aribo A John 07 1179 168 10 Crystalballs 41 6707 164 11 Coombsie 17 2794 164 12 Waldron 09 1371 152 13 Derek Dove 12 1801 150 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * 20-game minimum for end-of-season bonus points WINNERS CIRCLE ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2010-11 ------------------------------ 01 Ossie13 13 02 TT 11 03 Butch 8 04 Loz 7 05 Chippy 3 Footballoholic 3 TeaBarBoy 3 06 Crystalballs 2 Scooby Blue 2 07 Coombsie 1 ------------------------------ Record = TT (19) – 2008/9 TOP SCORERS -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2010-2011 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 330* Ossie13 – Wolves (h, epl) 02 320 Footballoholic – Arsenal (h, epl) 03 300 Ossie13 – Blackburn (h, epl) 04 295 TT – Arsenal (h, epl) 05 293 Footballoholic – Fulham (h, epl) 06 285 Ossie13 – Blackburn (a, epl) 07 283 Loz – Newcastle (a, epl) 08 278 Ossie13 – Stoke (h, epl) TT – Copenhagen (a, cl) 09 276 Footballoholic – Wolves (h, epl) 10 275 Chippy – Man Utd (h, epl) Loz – Arsenal (h, epl) Ossie13 – Arsenal (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- *New Record (previous record = 320 by Footballoholic) LONG-TERM PREDICTION COMPETITION ------------------------------------------------------------ BUTCH’S PREDICTION LEAGUE 2010-2011 LONG-TERM PREDICTION STANDINGS ------------------------------------------------------------ Name LP CW CD CL GF GA LP TS GS FA CC CL Total ------------------------------------------------------------ 01. OSSIE13 20 10 20 10 10 20 10 0 5 0 - 0 105 TT 20 20 5 5 10 10 10 0 5 0 20 0 105 02. BUTCH 20 0 20 0 0 10 0 0 10 0 - 20 80 03. SCOOBYBLUE 10 0 20 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 35 04. CAMERON 10 0 10 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 05. FOOTBALLOHOLIC 10 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 ------------------------------------------------------------ Record = Loz (150) – 2009/10 LP= final league placement CW = Chelsea league wins CD = Chelsea league draws CL = Chelsea league losses GF = Chelsea league goals for GA = Chelsea league goals against LP = Chelsea total league points TS = Chelsea league top scorer GS = Chelsea top scorer goals scored FA = FA Cup progression CC = Carling Cup progression CL = Champions League progression END-OF-SEASON BONUS WINNERS ------------------------------------------------------------ BUTCH’S PREDICTION LEAGUE 2010-2011 END-OF-SEASON BONUS WINNERS ------------------------------------------------------------ 1. REGULAR SEASON (TOTAL): OSSIE13 - 255 > 100 POINTS 2. REGULAR SEASON (AVG): OSSIE13 – 206 > 100 POINTS 3. CIRCLE OF WINNERS: OSSIE13 - 13 > 100 POINTS 4. TOP SCORE: OSSIE13 – 330 > 100 POINTS 5. LONG-TERM PREDICTIONS: OSSIE13/TT – 105 > 100 POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------ The FINAL STANDINGS will be posted very soon! Cheers, Butch

Big elephant in the room that is being ignored here is Man City. Surely they will trump one of the big name clubs for one (or more) of the big name stars. Cheers, Butch

I have always been of the opinion that if we indeed signed Hiddink on as manager, our strategy would be to have one more go of it with basically the same squad (maybe a few additional young and promising players), i.e. the likes of Cech, JT, Lampard, Essien and Drogba as the mainstays. Roman would always have in the back of his mind the feeling that this squad has under-achieved in Europe, and with the main likely to have always been his first choice as manager, he probably has some hope remaining that it could be done. Afterall, when Guus came in the last time, Drogba was a player transformed (compared to under Scolari). On the other hand, if we signed someone like Mark Hughes, I think there may be more significant changes to the first team playing staff. Cheers, Butch

Re Guardiola, I did not mention him because I don't believe he is "available". The thing about "he's won everything there is to win with this squad" would normally ring true except for the fact that he's Catalan at heart. As such, there is also the issue of "feeling good where he is". I think maybe in one or two seasons he may make himself available. I don't for a minute doubt that Roman would be interested in Guardiola, if he were available. He may even rise to the top choice, ahead of the likes of Hiddink, due to his age, and thus the potential for a longer-term appointment (hah-hah). His having won the CL will also work in his favor. I absolutely despise Barca, but I certainly do not underestimate his role in their success. The calibre of players they have there could easily make them play as individuals, but they don't and I think that has to come down to the manager. If he does come, whenever that is, he will have to start from scratch though (just about), so he is going to find it much tougher than he has at Barcelona. I, for one, hope that we never sign any of their players. Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the loss at Everton on the final day of the season. CONGRATS this time go to Chippy; well done, mate! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2010-2011 The Shedend Forums --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe Sc TG Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Ossie13 49 9 5 0 2 0 0 10 15 163 10103 206 255 +0 02 TT 52 8 4 0 2 0 0 5 0 123 9985 192 244 +0 03 Butch 52 10 6 0 2 0 0 5 30 193 9741 187 239 +1 04 Footballoholic 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3180 212 227 na 05 Loz 39 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7258 186 225 na 06 Chippy 46 11 6 0 4 0 0 0 65 231 8020 174 220 +2 07 TeaBarBoy 48 8 4 15 2 0 0 5 0 138 8098 169 217 +1 08 Crystalballs 41 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6707 164 205 na 09 Scooby Blue 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3649 182 202 na 10 Coombsie 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2794 164 181 na 11 Aribo A John 07 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1179 168 175 na 12 Derek Dove 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1801 150 162 na 13 Waldron 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1371 152 161 na --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2010-11 ------------------------------ 01 Ossie13 13 02 TT 11 03 Butch 8 04 Loz 7 05 Chippy 3 Footballoholic 3 TeaBarBoy 3 06 Crystalballs 2 Scooby Blue 2 07 Coombsie 1 ------------------------------ Record = TT (19) – 2008/9 -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2010-2011 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 330* Ossie13 – Wolves (h, epl) 02 320 Footballoholic – Arsenal (h, epl) 03 300 Ossie13 – Blackburn (h, epl) 04 295 TT – Arsenal (h, epl) 05 293 Footballoholic – Fulham (h, epl) 06 285 Ossie13 – Blackburn (a, epl) 07 283 Loz – Newcastle (a, epl) 08 278 Ossie13 – Stoke (h, epl) TT – Copenhagen (a, cl) 09 276 Footballoholic – Wolves (h, epl) 10 275 Chippy – Man Utd (h, epl) Loz – Arsenal (h, epl) Ossie13 – Arsenal (h, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- *New Record (previous record = 320 by Footballoholic) Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the FINAL SHEDEND LAST-11 STANDINGS after the loss at Everton on the last day of the season. CONGRATS go to ARQ for winning the competition this year, pipping TeaBarBoy on goal difference (i.e. match score accuracy over the 11 games)! -------------------------------------------------------- THE SHED END LAST-11 COMPETITION 2010-2011 -------------------------------------------------------- Name PL W D L GD Total -------------------------------------------------------- 01. ARQ 11 4 5 2 -6 17 02. TEABARBOY 11 4 5 2 -12 17 03. FOOTBALLOHOLIC 11 3 4 4 -9 13 04. BOVIS MESSROOM 11 3 4 4 -11 13 05. MAD_MAC 11 2 6 3 -9 12 RANDY36 11 2 6 3 -9 12 06. YORKLEYBLUE 11 3 3 5 -11 12 07. THUNDERDAN 11 2 5 4 -9 11 08. MIDLANDBLUE 11 2 5 4 -12 11 09. OSSIE13 10 2 4 4 -5 10 10. SALS 11 1 6 4 -7 9 11. HISDOGSPOT 11 1 6 4 -10 9 LOZ 11 1 6 4 -10 9 12. ALAN’82 11 1 6 4 -11 9 DORSET 11 1 6 4 -11 9 13. DEG0EY 11 1 6 4 -12 9 14. LAMPS’8’ 11 1 6 4 -14 9 15. BUTCH 10 1 5 4 -11 8 16. ADI 11 1 5 5 -13 8 17. BARRY BRIDGES 11 0 7 4 -8 7 18. ADREN022 11 0 7 4 -11 7 19. TIM W 11 0 7 4 -12 7 TT 11 0 7 4 -12 7 20. YOULOTS 11 1 4 6 -13 7 21. BIGIZZ 11 1 4 6 -14 7 COCO 11 0 7 4 -14 7 22. CHELSEABOOTBOY 11 0 6 5 -10 6 CHIPPY 11 0 6 5 -10 6 23. CHARRIERE 11 0 5 6 -9 5 24. ZOLA 11 0 5 6 -11 5 25. SPILLER86 11 0 5 6 -14 5 -------------------------------------------------------- Cheers, Butch

The three managers currently leading the poll are the only interesting ones as far as I am concerned. If we signed anyone else outside of those three, I'd be pretty disappointed we sacked Carlo. 1. Andre Villas-Boas - this one is interesting from being a relative unknown entity. I still think his potential signing could be one season too soon. We should wait to see how he does in the Champions League before we make a decision. The reasons why Roman might bite the bullet are (1) we're worried other clubs are looking hard at him and may bite the bullet sooner than us, (2) Jose was such a success, although he also did well in the CL before we signed him, and (3) our other options are not available. Again, I think he is "on the up", but I wouldn't expect immediate success with him. Also, I think he would require a different strategy to the other two: I expect that with Villas-Boas, the strategy would be to do a major operation of the playing personnel. 2. Guus Hiddink - he is the only one I would want just as much as I do Jose. He showed us he can get this group of players playing together successfully. He commands respect and he is a good tactician. He would not be a long-term option, but if Roman feels he would like one more shot at the CL with the current crop of players as the main backbone of the squad, then Guus would be his man. I personally think Guus may be the leading horse in this race at the moment, and things could become much clearer by the weekend. The strategy under Guus, I believe, would be to keep most of the current first team squad, including Drogba, and replace the subs bench with promising youngsters like Lukaku. I would not expect a major squad operation, at least not in the first summer. 3. Jose Mourinho - the dream continues to live, it would seem, but with Valdano parting ways with Real, you get the feeling Jose may be flexing his muscles with the support of the Real board. As such, I think it is that much less likely he will be leaving this summer. I also find it hard to believe, despite the rumors in the press, that Jose and Roman have patched up their differences to the point that they'd be willing to overlook the split those few years ago to renew their partnership. I just find it hard to believe, although I wish it would happen. I think Real are going to back Jose very hard in the transfer market this summer for another full on push to displace Barca at the top of Spain and indeed Europe. If that doesn't happen, maybe next summer he may be available. As I mentioned, I would be very disappointed with any other appointment. Van Basten, as much as I admired his performances on the pitch, has left much to be desired as a manager, even if he were to come in under Hiddink as Director of Football. I just cannot imagine this working out well. The same goes for Franco Zola. Of the two, Zola would be given time by the fans because he is so loved, but Roman just won't be giving him that same leeway. And don't get me started on Harry Redknapp! I'd expect we'd have an interesting, potentially exciting start, with some gung-ho football, but when the going gets tough, e.g. when we begin to play our main rivals, I have a feeling we'd struggle. With him at the helm, I'd really expect a roller-coaster ride. We'll see how things go. I don't suppose we should be expecting a long-term appointment though. Cheers, Butch

First off, let me say I wish Carlo the best wherever he goes. He is a classy, dignified man. I would also like to thank him for the wonderful double last year; that will never be forgotten. As to the why's, it is my opinion that above all else, it was due to the manner of our exit from the Champions League in both his seasons with us. Last year, we had no answer to Inter Milan. This year, we had no answer to Man Utd. I believe he was brought in to win us this competition, and while I admit it is never going to be given to win a tournament like the CL, I think Roman expected a little more. The mid-season blip was just that little bit extra of a reason in the back of Roman's mind. I have to say I am a little surprised, to be honest. Carlo struck me as being one of Roman's top choices for the managerial position, and we seemed to have courted him a long while. I really thought he'd give him a good go at winning us the CL. All truth be told, there could be only one alternative that would make Roman move so swiftly: Hiddink. I don't know in what capacity Guus may be coming, but probably any capacity would be good enough for Roman. It sounds likely he may be coming with van Basten. On the face of it, van Basten is not in Carlo's league, but if Hiddink sees something in him, I am sure that is enough for Roman. The question is, if things don't work out, what are our choices? Cheers, Butch

Did you know that if City beat Bolton by 6 and we lose to Everton by 6, City could still catch us? They are 3 points behind us and a goal difference of 12 worse off. Cheers, Butch

Not saying he'd be worth the huge amount of money that would be needed to get Spurs to agree to a deal, but he does possess qualities which Chelsea are lacking. Yes, Malouda is a good player, probably the most skill-full player on the ball at Chelsea IMHO, but he cannot cross a ball to save his life, is rather selfish for a winger, and runs into blind alleys. He usually also chooses to keep the ball, rather than pass it, and thus slows down our game when we could do with a bit more speed of thought on the counter. Finally, he simply does not look like he relishes taking on defenders. Bale takes more risks, and with his raw pace and power usually can beat a defender one-on-one to put in a cross. He is a much less controlled player, so he will be hit and miss. But when he "hits", they make the highlight reel. Still, it is his willingness to take on and try to beat defenders that attracts me. Just the fact he can cross a ball is already a huge improvement over anything we have. My goodness, I can't get my head around the fact we are so bad at this. We seem to be linked to an awful lot of 50 million quid players though, what with Bale and Kaka (and the signing of Torres). Don't know how we're going to meet the Fairplay requirements. Cheers, Butch

I'd love to see Franco back at the Bridge, but it won't be for anything other than as manager. He has already said that once you are a manager, you cannot go back to being coach. Anyway, I think he recently agreed to captain a Chelsea legends side didn't he? Could this be the root of all these rumors linking him with us? Cheers, Butch

I second this. Also, N'Zogbia, while temperamental, has something about him. Cheers, Butch

I guess maybe a little, but certainly not deserving of the name calling. Mainly, I think it came from the fact West Ham fans felt he was being picked in the team because his uncle was manager and dad was coach, so it was a bit of ribbing. It became full out ugly when Frank became alienated when his dad was sacked, and he seemed to actively be seeking for a move. Until this day, he gets extra satisfaction scoring against that lot. Cheers, Butch