Pride of Lions

They do accept VISA, you have to click "other cards" I applied for two just in case I can't get them through the club, you never know how many tickets UEFA decide to give us. If it is a poxy allocation like Amsterdam might be well glad of a ticket even amongst the suits.

That memory brought a smile to my face on a cold wet grey day, thank you.

I worry for Hazard, FSW played Torres when injured to improve his bloody CV and he never recovered. He would be quite willing to do the same to Hazard IMHO, what has he got to lose?

It is true that Hazard and Mata both missed gold plated chances, more than is comfortable for two professionals however to that I would say this: In the heat of battle when the pressure is on sometimes you make mistakes, there is a millisecond to decide and it is mostly easier to miss than it is to hit something. But sitting on the bench in relative relative security with all the time in the world it should be harder to make a mistake and that IMHO is why FSW gets more slagging than the players. He is treating John terry and Frank Lampard with a disdain that makes me physically sick. At Anfield they were both on the bench and not using them properly cost Chelsea two points. As if taking off Oscar and Hazard for Moses and Benyoun wasn't enough, he needed to make sure Liverpool got something from the game, bringing on Lampard at 90 + gave the ref the reason for the thirty seconds on top of the ridiculous 7 minutes extra time and enabled Suarez to equalise. Wednesday night they were on the bench again against Spurs, and leading 2-1 and needing to shore up the midfield and defence, the tactical genius once again substitutes the best two players on the night Oscar and Hazard for yet again Moses and Benyoun. I am not 100% certain but I think that Frank has scored more goals against spuds than any other Premiership player so I can only assume that Benitez is either an idiot or he is sabotaging Chelsea. Einstein once said that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result and yet he persists with the same bullsh*t. John Terry and Frank Lampard have sweated blood for Chelsea consistently over a number of years, and I know that it could be argued that they were compensated handsomely for it, but it can also be said that any number of clubs around the World would have paid them more. They deserve some f**king respect and to be sidelined while journeymen players are played ahead of them in an obvious slight, when tactics obvious to even the most obtuse observer would indicate their inclusion would enhance the chances of the team for me at least is a step too far. Whether he is doing it off his own back or on orders from above it shows what loyalty the club have to players, and I ask this: what loyalty to the club should the existing players show when the established players are being treated in this manner?

Blatantly stolen from a FB forum, but thought I would share it as a matter of interest. Just want to focus a little on the Europa League Final and something i heard a few years ago about our opponents Benfica. Back in 1961 they had a coach named Bela Guttmann who was a bit of a character. He previously got sacked from AC Milan despite being top of the league after a few arguments with the board and in his press conference he said "i have been sacked even though i am i am neither a criminal or homosexual". On arrival at Benfica he sacked 20 senior players, he's personality has been likened to the special one Jose Mourinho. Back to 1961 and in this season he led Benfica to their first ever European cup beating Barcelona. A year later and he guided Benfica to back to back European Cups this time beating Real Madrid he had proved he was something special. After that second consecutive European Cup win in 1962 he went to the board and asked for a pay rise, something which the board rejected. Guttmann ended up leaving Benfica because of this reason. When he left the club he allegedly cursed the club by saying "not in a hundred years time from now will Benfica ever win a European Cup". Since these words Benfica have reached European Finals in 1963, 1965, 1968, 1988 and 1990 losing all 5! Even before the final in 1990 which was staged in Vienna the resting place of Guttmann, Benfica president and legend Eusebio prayed at Guttmann's grave and asked for the curse to be lifted, this was unsuccessful! Lets hope the curse stays in tact for another year!

Don't forget lads if you are having a bet, Webb is penalties and Clattenburg is red cards. Easy to confuse them.

The long overdue clearout at the club should start with the suits and go from there. Starting with Emenalo, Gourlay and Buck.

I do like a sense of humour. FSW will probably rest Terry and Lampard again just in case either of them score and make him look silly.

You are right those tossers Lampard and Terry on the bench would have been no use at all. Wait a minute ..........

I read this on another forum, written by a woman who is not a football supporter, just making an observation from a neutral standpoint. The FA should effectively apply the retrospective red card from the point in the game when the offence actually happened. This would mean that Suarez would have gotten his marching orders and not scored the equaliser. Currently he pays a fine (we will never see proof that it was actually paid) to the Hillsborough fund, so it's not a fine it's a bribe to get the supporters onside. If it was a fine and donated to a charity they should ask Ivan to choose the charity. The bindippers would lose the point that they picked up on Sunday and would affect the club so the supporters and management would be reminded of how serious the offence was. Seems sensible to me but when did the FA do anything that made sense?

Taking Mata, Oscar and Hazard off meant we had nobody hold on to the ball, pass it around and run the clock down. I still refuse to believe that the interim one didn't do it on purpose.

Something that nobody has mentioned yet. As soon as FSW brought on Lampard it added 30 seconds to the already allocated six minutes of extra time, which means that if the f**king idiot had left him on the bench (or introduced him earlier), Hannibal Lecter would not have scored. So a loss of 2 points is directly attributable to him. His ridiculous team selections and substitutions previously one could only speculate whether or not a difference could be made, this is cast iron, stone ginger, guaranteed proof of incompetence. Surely even Emenalo, Gourlay and Buck must be able to see that taking Oscar, Mata and Hazard off is suicide when we are playing against a pumped up bindippers and the ref. The only conclusion I can come to is that he is looking for a job back there next season.

I am only worried that he has an eye on going back there and so will field a weakened team, he could get away with it because the way he cannot help meddling, nothing will seem out of order. I genuinely think he has some form of illness that prevents him from doing things the easy way, he is the sort of prick that shags his wife standing up in a hammock full of marbles. I would like to know who told him that he is a tactical genius?

^^This^^

He won't be on the pitch against Spurs, he will be wrapped in cotton wool for the final, the only chance Citeh have of saving Mancini's arse.

Smiles

Huddersfield was my first "proper" away game in 1967 the year we knocked Yorkshire (Huddersfield, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and dirty Leeds) out of the FA cup only to be beaten by the front wheel skids in the first "all London" final. I fell in love with the football specials on that day and that is probably what I miss most now.

There are times when he reminds me of Ruud Gullit and there are times when I could run on the pitch and slap him around the head. I think we should do what they did for Makelele and give him a penalty when a game is already won so that he has a Premiership goal to his name.

I had a ticket for the Final in 72 and warned my manager at the time that I was going. He totally ignored me despite being told several times and put me in the teamsheet for that day. I went, we lost and spent the last few games of the season in the second team as a punishment. So that's what the song reminds me of but I love hearing the crowd sing it at the Bridge. And as Graham says it is ours, unlike the bin dippers who share it with the taigs..

Anyone that is slating Ba for yerserday just think back at what Drogba was like in his first few months, we were joking about issuing the people sitting in row z a crash helmet.

In the last few outings where Howard Webb has refereed, we have been on the receiving end of some absolute sh*t decisions. Two penalties and an offside goal when we were winning 3-0 against Man U, Demba Ba getting kicked in the face at head height with not even a foul awarded against Newcastle and Torres getting physically assaulted by Ferdinand, again in a Man U game (I haven’t even thought about our “absolute†penalty claims dismissed). Are the main ones that spring to mind. Without this becoming a “poor us†post, I wonder how many times and how often does this have to happen before you can make an official complaint? Our cards are well and truly marked already because of the Clattenburg – Mikel incident, and to do it would possibly be suicide but just how long does it have to go on? It would be nice for a disinterested 3rd party to mention it and bring it into the light but I can’t see that happening any time soon.. Any thoughts?

My first proper away game (outside of London) was Huddersfield in the FA cup 1967, the year we beat Yorkshire to get to the final. The football special we travelled up on was the highlight of the weekend and I learned more songs on that train than have at any time before or since. We won 1-2 and then went on to beat Sheffields x 2 and Leeds in the semi at Villa Park (as mentioned above by ReggieBoy) only to lose in the final. That day at Wembley is the only time I have ever cried at a football match when Spuds won the first all London final, in my defence I was only 13 and it wasn't a full on blart more of a few tears and a runny nose, but the disappointment made me want to kill somebody. Probably in hindsight the traitor Jimmy Greaves.

I think it will be a huge loss if the management do not do everything in their power to give the kid a contract. At times I think that the suits are hell bent on preventing the team from succeeding.

Anelka is sh*t when Drogba is playing and Drogba has been sh*t for a while, therefore why don't we play Anelka without Drogba and give either Studge or Borini a shot alongside him?

Supported Chelsea since the mid sixties, I was at Wembley when the spuds beat us in the first all London FA Cup final. That was the only game I have cried at (well had tears in my eyes, not a full blown blart) but as I was only 13 at the time don't consider it too girly. My first "proper" away game was the Huddersfield game that season when we won 1-2 on the way to the final. I can still remember the train journey up, the songs, the banter and the expectation of the coming match. I can honestly say that was one of my most precious memories, I have been to plenty away games since here and in Europe but that one has a special place in my heart. I was at Molineux when we took their end by running the length of the pitch, I was at Anfield last year for the 1-3 CL first leg game and still laugh about it at times, but that day out to Huddersfield is the one.