Butch

Hi mate. Sorry but I went with the time of goal in the Match Report on the Official Chelsea Site, which has Belletti's goal scored in the 27th min, which is why I gave you 10 points for getting within 5 minutes. Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the 1-1 home draw with Spurs in the EPL. CONGRATS this time go to Geezer; well done, mate! Please don't forget that your entries must be submitted by midnight Stamford Bridge time the day before the match. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2008-2009 The Shedend Forums -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe TG Sc Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Geezer 01 10 6 0 2 0 20 5 50 233 233 233 234 na 02 Goose 03 9 6 0 2 0 10 5 0 163 584 195 198 na 03 Butch 03 10 6 0 2 0 5 5 15 183 549 183 186 na 04 NickW 03 10 6 0 2 0 5 5 15 183 532 177 180 na 05 Waldron 02 9 4 30 0 0 5 15 30 210 356 178 180 na 06 Mod 03 10 6 0 4 0 5 5 0 166 515 172 175 na 07 TT 03 8 4 0 2 0 0 5 0 123 505 168 171 na 08 TeaBarBoy 03 10 5 0 4 0 10 5 0 161 496 165 168 na 09 Luiz Scolari 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 166 166 167 na 10 Tim W 03 10 6 0 4 0 5 5 0 166 490 163 166 na 11 Ossie13 03 7 4 0 2 0 5 5 0 118 482 161 164 na 12 Loz 03 10 6 0 2 0 5 5 15 183 477 159 162 na 13 EthicalStrategy 02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 317 159 161 na 14 Chippy 02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 309 155 157 na 15 Crystalballs 03 9 5 0 2 0 0 5 0 143 458 153 156 na 16 Kalpit Vora 02 10 5 0 4 0 5 10 0 161 307 154 156 na 17 Singablue 03 9 4 0 4 0 20 5 0 151 455 152 155 na 18 Dan Harkin 03 10 5 0 4 0 0 0 0 146 442 147 150 na 19 Coombsie 03 10 5 0 2 0 0 5 0 153 438 146 149 na 20 MadMac 03 8 5 0 2 0 0 5 0 133 432 144 147 na 21 OE Tosy 01 10 4 0 2 0 0 5 0 143 143 143 144 na 22 Derek Dove 03 8 5 0 4 0 10 15 0 151 408 136 139 na 23 Azeez 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 138 138 139 na 24 Ruh Buh Juh 01 8 5 0 4 0 5 5 0 136 136 136 137 na 25 Navien 01 8 4 0 4 0 10 5 0 131 131 131 132 na 26 Mike O 02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 256 128 130 na 27 Christopher 01 8 3 0 6 0 0 5 0 109 109 109 110 na 28 Patrick 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 98 98 99 na -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2008-9 ------------------------------ 01 Butch 1 Geezer 1 Goose 1 ------------------------------ *Record = 13 wins – Loz (07/08) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2008-2009 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 266 Goose – Portsmouth (h, epl) 02 225 Butch – Wigan (a, epl) 03 233 Geezer – Spurs (h, epl) 04 210 Waldron – Spurs (h, epl) 05 203 Ossie13 – Wigan (a, epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- *Record = 290 points – TrubishBob (05/06) & Coombsie/TT (06/07) Cheers, Butch

If I were a Madrid supporter, I'd be pretty sick to my stomach with Robinho's behaviour though, so I can't say without reservation that I am enjoying the developments. On the one hand, I'd be disappointed if we didn't sign him (I mean if Madrid don't let us sign him), but then it is their right. We don't have a right to expect anybody to let us sign any of their best players. And what happened with the Megastore selling Robinho shirts was just unacceptable in my book - even if it were a mistake by a third part supplier! I can see that being the final nail in the coffin for this deal! Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the latest BPL standings after the 1-0 over Wigan courtesy of a Deco peach of a free kick and some good goal keeping by Petr Cech. CONGRATS this time go to yours truly - nothing like a quick start, eh Loz? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Regular Season Standings 2008-2009 The Shedend Forums -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe TG Sc Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Goose 02 10 4 15 4 0 0 5 0 156 421 211 213 na 02 TT 02 10 3 15 4 0 0 10 0 151 382 191 193 na 03 Butch 02 10 4 30 0 0 0 5 50 225 366 183 185 na 04 Ossie13 02 10 5 15 2 0 0 10 30 203 364 182 184 na 05 Mod 02 10 3 15 4 5 0 5 0 151 349 175 177 na 06 NickW 02 11 3 15 4 0 0 5 30 186 349 175 177 na 07 TeaBarBoy 02 10 3 15 6 5 5 5 0 154 335 168 170 na 08 Luiz Scolari 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 166 166 167 na 09 Tim W 02 10 3 15 4 0 0 10 0 151 324 162 164 na 10 EthicalStrategy 02 10 4 15 4 0 5 5 0 161 317 159 161 na 11 Crystalballs 02 10 4 15 6 0 0 5 0 154 315 158 160 na 12 Chippy 02 10 4 15 2 0 0 5 0 158 309 155 157 na 13 Singablue 02 9 3 15 2 0 0 10 0 143 304 152 154 na 14 MadMac 02 10 3 15 2 0 0 0 0 143 299 150 152 na 15 Dan Harkin 02 9 3 15 2 0 0 5 0 138 296 148 150 na 16 Loz 02 9 2 15 2 0 0 10 0 133 294 147 149 na 17 Kalpit Vora 01 10 3 15 4 0 0 5 0 146 146 146 147 na 18 Waldron 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 146 146 147 na 19 Coombsie 02 11 2 15 4 0 0 10 15 166 285 143 145 na 20 Azeez 01 9 3 15 2 5 0 0 0 138 138 138 139 na 21 Derek Dove 02 10 2 15 4 0 0 5 0 136 257 129 131 na 22 Mike O 02 10 4 15 6 0 0 5 0 154 256 128 130 na 23 Patrick 01 6 2 15 2 5 0 0 0 98 98 98 99 na -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ BPL Winners’ Circle 2008-9 ------------------------------ 01 Butch 1 Goose 1 ------------------------------ *Record = 13 wins – Loz (07/08) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2008-2009 -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 266 Goose (Portsmouth – h - epl) 02 225 Butch (Wigan – a – epl) 03 203 Ossie13 (Wigan – a – epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- *Record = 290 points – TrubishBob (05/06) & Coombsie/TT (06/07) Cheers, Butch

That first half was just unbelievable; I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Portsmouth are not a bad side, yet in that first half they didn't see any of the ball, such was our passing, movement and defending. Cheers, Butch

Dear Friends, Here are the inaugural BPL standings for the 2008/9 season. CONGRATS this time go to Goose; well done, mate and welcome back! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butch’s Prediction League Standings 2008-2009 The Shed End Forum -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Gp St Sb FS Pe TG Sc Pr Bo To Cu Av Rt Ch -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Goose 01 10 5 30 0 15 0 20 50 265 265 265 266 na 02 TT 01 10 5 15 4 10 20 10 30 231 231 231 232 na 03 Mod 01 9 4 15 2 10 20 10 15 198 198 198 199 na 04 TeaBarBoy 01 10 5 15 4 10 0 10 0 181 181 181 182 na 05 Tim W 01 10 4 15 2 10 0 10 0 173 173 173 174 na 06 Luiz Scolari 01 9 4 15 4 10 5 10 0 166 166 166 167 na 07 NickW 01 10 1 15 2 15 10 15 0 163 163 163 164 na 08 Crystalballs 01 9 4 15 4 10 0 10 0 161 161 161 162 na 09 Loz 01 9 4 15 4 10 0 10 0 161 161 161 162 na 10 Ossie13 01 9 4 15 4 10 0 10 0 161 161 161 162 na 11 Singablue 01 9 4 15 4 10 0 10 0 161 161 161 162 na 12 Dan Harkin 01 10 2 15 2 15 10 0 0 158 158 158 159 na 13 EthicalStrategy 01 9 3 15 4 10 5 10 0 156 156 156 157 na 14 MadMac 01 8 4 15 4 10 5 10 0 156 156 156 157 na 15 Chippy 01 9 3 15 4 10 0 10 0 151 151 151 152 na 16 Waldron 01 9 4 0 4 10 5 5 0 146 146 146 147 na 17 Butch 01 8 3 15 4 10 0 10 0 141 141 141 142 na 18 Derek Dove 01 8 2 15 4 5 0 5 0 121 121 121 122 na 19 Coombsie 01 8 2 15 6 5 0 5 0 119 119 119 120 na 20 Mike O 01 9 2 0 8 0 0 0 0 102 102 102 103 na -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- BPL Winners’ Circle 2008-2009 --------------------------------- Rank Name Wins --------------------------------- 01 Goose 1 --------------------------------- *Record = 13 wins – Loz (07/08) -------------------------------------------------------------- BPL Top-10 Scores 2008-2009 -------------------------------------------------------------- Rank Score Predictor(s) -------------------------------------------------------------- 01 266 Goose (Portsmouth – h - epl) -------------------------------------------------------------- *Record = 290 points – TrubishBob (05/06) & Coombsie/TT (06/07) Cheers, Butch

I am happy as a lark at this news! Brilliant, bloomin' brilliant. Bring it on! Cheers, Butch

Good point; we'll need to get that corrected in the submission form. Cheers, Butch

Fear not, the BPL will be run as usual, thanks to PR and Loz, of course. This year's comp will be identical to last year's so send your predictions in for the Portsmouth game this weekend (24 hours before kick-off London time)! Cheers, Butch

It's Hamburg mate, not Hannover, and I believe he will be signing for Madrid. Although he may not exactly the same type of player as Robinho, I think he will be taking that slot up at Madrid and Robinho will be heading to Stamford Bridge. Just a hunch. Cheers, Butch

I guess I am a bit soft, come to think of it :lol: , but my point really is that I'd like for us to have options. My main argument is that I can't quite see a narrow attack winning the EPL. The fast pace of the football in this league tends to leave defenses a little stranded at times, when teams go for it, and when they do get stranded, width and pace is what tends to make things very difficult for them. Playing exclusively narrow, or even mostly narrow, allows the opposing side to concentrate their defense. I know I am simplifying things a little bit, but I think you get my point. Especially when an opposing side comes to defend, width and pace is usually what is needed to stretch and unlock them. I'm not going to say I am in no way not disappointed by these two, especially Malouda as you say, but as I made the point in my first post, unless we have able back ups, and by that I don't mean youth players (I thought you argued Sinclair wasn't ready, which I agree with?), we should keep them. I did not say we should keep them whatever the case. This has been a very cagey summer in terms of transfers so far. We all know which club covets which player, but nobody wants to blink first. I don't think we should be readily open to transfers away from the club. We need options. Arguing the transfer situation only, a team without the likes of Drogba, Lampard, Malouda, and/or SWP is going to be a weaker team than what we have at the moment, whichever way I look at it. Cheers, Butch

I mirror Loz's thinking. I'm all for being proactive, Gullit4, and I certainly think your "everyone is a great footballer when no football is being played" quote is very, very clever, BUT I do feel that there is merit in keeping our wide options there for when we need to change our game. Also, despite what we may think about their performances, they are some of the more "creative" footballers we have in our squad and I'd certainly like to see what inspiration Scolari can be to them. So, most definitely, unless we have someone (or two) lined up that could take their places in our squad as wide and/or creative men, I'd keep them both in a flash. SWP, I think, is a good player to have. I have never heard him complain (except through his dad, or is his dad just a #$%@^%#?) and he always works hard on the pitch. There was also a sequence of games last season when he was hands down our best player, so I think there is something there we can work with. Again, I have confidence that Scolari can bring out the best in him so we shouldn't be too quick to send him off. Same for Malouda - I think to a certain extent the situation with Jose and Grant must have been unsettling for Florent. I think sending him off this season would maybe be a season too soon. We have to give him at least half a season more. Again, if we already have someone lined up to take one or both of their places in the squad I'd re-think, with the assumption that the replacement is going to be of the highest quality and thus better than what we already have. I think Robinho and/or Kaka would fit that description. But if not, keep them! Cheers, Butch

I'm quite excited by the prospect of Di Santo, to be perfectly honest; and I have not given up on Anelka. I think, used the right way, he could be an asset. We'll see. Cheers, Butch

I'm all for it though I don't quite see it happening...maybe I'm just pessimistic by nature. It would be an awesome signing though. Cheers, Butch

That should be a fun few days Cheers, Butch

Arrivaderci? In a time when we should be celebrating the arrival of a new, charismatic and very respected manager in Scolari, the events of the past week or so has really put a dampener on things. The topic currently on the minds of all Chelsea fans is simply this - will Frank Lampard stay or go to Internazionale. If you asked me about a year ago, despite a pretty good idea that Jose Mourinho was headed there, I would not have given Internationale a chance of signing Frank. He is a Chelsea idol, a model professional, and has time and again professed his love for Chelsea and his intention to finish his career here. There is no denying that Frank was very close to Jose, and that he was amongst a handful of Chelsea players who you could see were affected by the way in which the much loved, and maligned, Portugese manager was sent packing by Roman Abramovich. But you always felt that the close bond he had with the club, and with fellow Chelsea players, most notably John Terry, would be much stronger. Now? I couldn't tell you what was going to happen. What I can tell you is that I am deeply saddened by the way things have deteriorated between the player and club, and by the way many fans have turned on the player and his reported greed. Numbers being bandied about in the various channels of the press are taken as gospel: Lampard wants 150,000 pounds a week for 5 years and won't budge on the request. Chelsea will only give hims 140,000 pounds a week for 4 years. I don't know who comes up with these numbers, but they are now the basis of fans saying that Frank is a greedy so and so for refusing to sign on the account of 10,000 pounds a week or an additional 12 months on his contract. For a player who already has one foot in the grave, at 30 years of age, and who is already a multi-millionaire, he should be ashamed of himself. This is the sort of tripe one has to put up with. "Fickle" is a word that comes to mind. Closely following "gullible". It is a shame that it has come to this. Not only has Frank been a faithful servant, he is one of the model professionals in football today. He trains hard and he works harder in every match he plays. He has been top scorer for Chelsea in most of the last few seasons and hardly ever misses a game for us. On the few occasions he hasn't played, the team stutter along. I haven't even mentioned that, along with John Terry, Frank is the face of Chelsea. These attributes should mean that the club do EVERYTHING in their power to keep him. Even if he can't play, just having him around will be good for the atmosphere at Chelsea. Having him around in practice must also be good for the other players. Now, having said all this, I have to give a balanced view and also talk about the alternative view. Maybe, just maybe, Frank has decided that this is a good time to move on. Maybe it has nothing to do with the contract on offer at all - this is all just a convenient excuse, for both club and player, for the break up. Maybe Frank just really wants to [a] try his hand in a new league, and rejoin his previous manager who he greatly respects. Or it could be a combination of several factors. Maybe the contract, though a good one, is not good enough to signal to Frank his importance to the club. You have to remember that there are some really high earners on this roster, some (and I won't name names) who don't play as much, and who don't do nearly enough when they do get game time. Put yourself in Frank's shoes - you know you are the face of the club and adored by the fans. You know you work harder than anyone else both in training and on the pitch. You know you are instrumental to any success the club has garnered over the past few years. Yet, you are being paid less than some other players. How would you feel? Greed? I'm not so sure it's about greed. It is more about the need to feel appreciated. In this case, Roman has brought this upon himself, and I feel it is a tad absurd to expect to make an example out of a model professional, one of the hearts of the current Chelsea playing set-up. The bottom line is this - whatever the reasons, we're about to lose one of our best players ever, certainly our best midfielder ever, and it is gut wrenching for me as a supporter, not only to have to deal with this reality, but to also have to read all the mud-slinging in the press and on fan's forums. Respect and appreciation is the order of the day as far as I am concerned. Quite apart from losing an extremely important playing asset, we're about to see the back of a Chelsea legend. He has my respect and unrelenting adoration wherever he goes. Arrivaderci, Frank! Cheers, Butch

I'll try not to. Cheers, Frank

I'm really, really saddened by the animosity shown to this (once) great servant of the club. Really. Cheers, Butch

Like you, I don't know. It is safe to say it has something to do with money and/or length of contract, but we could say that of any negotiation. It is the details we don't know, but that seems to be the gist of most comments against him. What gets to me is the club are choosing to "make an example" of Lampard when they've allowed situations like Boulabrouz, Sidwell, Veron, Crespo, etc... Cheers, Butch

I will reiterate that we don't know the figures, or any other details in his contract. The opinions that are being formed are based on Ian McGarry amongst others. C'mon people! Who has scored the most goals for Chelsea from midfield? Who has top scored for the club for most of the last few years? Who works tirelessly, not only scoring goals, but also defending in the middle? So, he isn't worth the wages he's supposed to be asking for. So, he's not worth taking a risk on for at 30 he's got one foot in the grave. Fine. But don't be so quick to paint him to be something when you don't know the facts. There are so many assumptions being made it isn't even funny. Cheers, Butch

I understand that sentiment to a certain extent, as I certainly don't make anywhere near that much myself. However, we have to put it in perspective. Frank knows he is worth a lot to this club, in terms of the effort he puts in and hat he means from an "icon" perspective. You compare him to a Shevchenko or Ballack and there is no comparison. Again, I haven't a clue what people are making and so don't want to jump to any conclusions but I think Frank is being painted as this money grabbing beast and I don't think it is entirely fair. You know what, the club are going to be pretty happy if they are able to turn the fans against him. They won't have to deal with as many unhappy fans when he does finally decide to leave. I reiterate - we really have to be careful we don't believe blindly the numbers we're seeing in the papers or on the Internet. I can't believe how quickly people are turning against him. Cheers, Butch

Well, the fact of the matter is that we don't know what the details are exactly. Certainly, there is no way any of us or the press are going to know what Frank wants and what the club is prepared to give, so there is nothing on which to base argument of the details. My argument is with the principle. On the one hand, we say we are a rich club and our owner can afford anything so let's buy every Tom, Dick and Harry, and we have - just look at the players who hardly ever feature; they're not making peas either - and on the other the club are on the verge (supposedly) of pushing one of our key men away. I just think that's stupid. How many people in this current Chelsea side can be considered as the heart of Chelsea. Apart from JT, there is just Frank. I mean, look at it this way, if you rip JT and Frank out of the side, it just doesn't look the same. These types of players don't grow on trees. I may be partial to Frank, but I just cannot comprehend this. He has been our top scorer for all bar one season in the last 3-4 seasons. You talk about a player who does that for any other club and they would be "untouchable". This "we won't negotiate with Inter" nonsense isn't the same thing. We're alienating him and pushing him away, if not in person then in mind. It amounts to the same deal. Why? Cheers, Butch

It is sheer idiocy by the club to be wasting money on nonsense players when they should be doing everything to keep loyal (and excellent, influential) players like Lampard. I simply cannot comprehend this. If I were Lamps, I'd feel slighted and if I were JT, I'd be a bit bummed about how the club were treating my best mate, not to mention take this as a sign of things to come (when he reaches 30). Over the past 10 years at Chelsea, there is no one who has shown his worth to Chelsea more than Lampard; I mean no one. And with regards his age, he is one of the fittest players at the club. Cheers, Butch

Mentioning Lampard in a thread like this is utter lunacy. If he really wanted to go, I'd be sad but I'd wish him the best. But I definitely don't think he's past it, and I definitely don't want him to leave. Cheers, Butch

CONGRATS Gem, what a blast that must have been - for them! Cheers, Butch