Davey Baby

Arsenal have been after him for a while, two years or so. Kalou is available on a free this summer, and given Arsene's miserly ways, I think it's almost certain Kalou will end up there, especially as AVB quite clearly doesn't rate him. Even when our front 3 from Saturday were rested, Kalou didn't get a look in last night, except as sub. Will be nothing more than a squad player at Arsenal and my advice to him would be go somewhere you can play every week, in order to develop your game if nothing else. Kalou will always score goals and always provide assists. He just has a knack, and it's one not to be underestimated. However he's not good enough for a starting berth and never will be. He should go, but Arsenal will be a bad move in my book. Saying that he will probably score a winner against us ..

I saw it differently mate. It hit his arm before his chest. All happened in the blink of an eye but I'm pretty sure that was the case. Stopped a possible goal too. If the ref had seen it differently he could have brandished the red. SKY didn't make a deal of it, whereas I thought it deserved greater attention. Regarding Anelka, I admit I don't like him, but I can see his qualities, and I realise he is playing out of position. First half he barely touched the ball, and when he did he invariably did the usual, i.e. give it away, go backwards, take about twenty touches, slow things down. He is there to make things happen, he is an attacker, and he offered precious little penetration. I think he gets off lightly, truth be told. I think he picks up his wages for doing relatively nothing. He had one moment in the first half, where he overlapped on the right, with pace, collected the ball and shot wide. Admittedly it was just one chance, but, as with Malouda, Anelka is profligate, and many a good opportunity goes begging. Second half he seemed to get back some lost confidence, and played much better, putting in crosses and getting involved far more, but it's nothing more than we should expect, and against lowly opposition. Did nothing to stake a claim in my book, which is what he should be doing, giving the manager a problem. Sturridge all day long for me, even though he has far less experience in the position. Not saying he's a bad player, he's not, but something is missing, and it's in his head. Goes missing. Needs a goal badly in my opinion.

No Sturridge no Mata, yet Torres played well, despite playing alongside Lampard and Malouda, the very players who were supposed to be holding him back. The truth is, the blame never lied with anyone other than Torres. He was playing sh*t. Now he's looking good. And it's good to see. His belief has come back, and the manager deserves a lot of credit. I just hope he stays free from injury and suspension, because there's a lot more to come, much more than I ever thought was possible. With Drogba (seemingly) on the wane, Torres is a key player. He gets back to what he was, and we have a very special player. Suddenly a front 3 of Sturridge, Mata and Torres looks fearsome. And our midfield ain't bad either, as we're beginning to see. Mereiles and Romeu coming in yesterday and doing good. Add to that the fact we have the best back 5 in the world ..

Charlie Adam is a good player, in my humble opinion. Not sure about Henderson. Haven't seen enough of him. Probably because he can't get a game. Mereiles played well yesterday. He is evidently very popular. See his teammates' reaction when he scored. I was happy when we signed him because he was AVB's choice. I am very impressed with the manager.

The attendance may have been manufactured a bit. Seems strange that there were more people at this game than there were for Leverkuson, despite the boycott. The club have admitted to giving away 1,000 tickets but there are suspicions it was many more than that. I wasn't there last night but a friend of mine who was says it was the strangest atmosphere he's ever seen at the Bridge, and this was in the MHL. A lot of unfamiliar faces and a lot of tourists. Maybe someone can confirm this .. ? As with the Everton game, the club seem to have tried to avert any negative publicity. Against Everton, anyone found with a sticker supporting the SayNoCPO campaign had them removed by stewards. A banner which was unfurled was taken down. This despite Buck coming on ChelseaTV last week saying the fans were entitled to their say so long as they conformed by H&S rules. I wasn't aware stickers were a fire hazard ..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2051162/Oriel-Romeu-new-Claude-Makelele-Chelsea.html

Luiz was comical in the first half, defensively. Sublime passing. Boswinga had a very good game. A very good game. It was nice to see Ivanovic get on the scoresheet. I like him. Romeu is my kind of player. Mikel is not. Mereiles did well. Didn't he do well? Malouda? Profligate. I've always said it. Gets involved though. Anelka. Atrocious first half. Just woefully horribly bad. Improved second half. Torres looked good. I thought he looked good. Their keeper should have saved his first though. Their keeper was pretty sh*t. Oh and another thing, Cech was very lucky not to get sent off in the first minutes. He handled. Outside the box. Wilkins got it wrong.

Romeu is the real sausage. I gave it to him.

From tonight's match programme .. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2487532,00.html

Not sure there's any need for that.

Damn that M25.

If Chelsea were to stay in the top four in the future, prices would be dearer in a 40,000 than in a 60,000. That's just a fact. That's not to say prices will be cheaper in a bigger stadium than they are now. There's a subtle difference. Dearer prices leads to worse atmosphere. So there's one reason a bigger stadium would generate a better atmosphere right there. Design, of course, that's another factor, as well as acoustics. A single tier kop, as some have mooted, for instance, etc. We stay at the Bridge and the atmosphere's only going to get worse. It's been getting progressively worse for aeons.

AVB's press conference .. Ramires won't play tomorrow. 50/50 for Sunday.

3 points at home to this lot is a must because we want to win the group and we have to go to Leverkuson and Valencia are no mugs. Luiz will start, the rest of the back four is up for grabs. Mereiles will start. The rest of the midfield is up for grabs. As for attack? Anyone's guess. Would be good to see some youngsters at least off the bench. £40 at home to Genk midweek? Josh McEachran please.

Very good post and I've been saying much the same thing. However, I understand the other point of view, which is why it's such a hard decision. I was speaking to a Spurs fan today who has taken an interest in the matter (from a legal point of view) and was asking me about it. He said he hopes the fans vote no so we piss Roman off. He said it in jest but there is an underlying truth behind it. His question was, "Why would you distrust someone who spunked £50m of his own money on Torres?", and there's a certain logic to that. Roman would probably want the best stadium in the best part of town, knowing him, and this may be an opportunity to make that happen, which is what we all want, well most of us. We may build an iconic stadium on the bank of the Thames, visable from every part of town, dominating the skyline. As iconic and as immediately recognisable as London Eye. None of us believe Roman wants to build a second-rate stadium on Scrubs Lane, so why don't we just go ahead and give him our vote? This is an opportunity to be the envy of every club in England, give ourselves enormous opportunity for growth, and compete at the top level, forever. This is an opportunity to take over the joint. We're in the best city in the world, in the best league in the world. This is our chance to put every other club to shame. It's been a double-edged sword having Roman as our owner, as every Chelsea fan knows. On the one hand success, on the other, we have to take it in the neck from all sides. Why not have something we can truly stuff down all their throats? Whenever they give us grief we just point at our stadium and say, "Look at that. See that thing in the air. That's ours. And it ain't going nowhere." Lovely stuff. Chelsea has changed, we have to accept that. Football has changed. The world has changed. It's not what it once was and nor is the Bridge. Sure, it's wonderfully located but its day has gone. It may be high time we packed our bags and left. There isn't the same buzz on the Fulham Road for all sorts of reasons, and there isn't the same buzz inside the ground. It's gone and people have been complaining about it for ages. We all wish we could expand the Bridge but we can't, and that may just be a blessing, we don't know. A new stadium would allow kids in, would allow a better atmosphere, possibly, and would create a buzz, particularly if it really was a London landmark, as I'm convinced it would be. I'm bang in favour of a move, but as you say, location is everything. It may well be we have to strike while the iron is hot. The club are certainly right when they say prime sites are in short supply. If there is any chance of a move close by, to a desirable location, we have the owner who could make that happen, why not give him the right? It's a tough one. So much is wrong with that proposal. It strikes me the club want to have their cake and eat it, but they're only asking for what every other club enjoys in this country, i.e. the opportunity to make their own decisions. Trouble is, clubs will force through moves, even if they're unpopular, we are seeing this more and more, and we don't want to be in that boat, particularly as our identity has been compromised more than most. Our ground is entrenched in our identity far more than it is for most clubs, particularly clubs that reside in one or two club cities, and Roman may not get his dream location, then what? It's simply not an option to move further afield, is it? That's the risk we take if we give Roman his wish and that's why I've always veered on the side of caution. The club is hedging its bets way too much for my liking in that proposal, but if they were to win, a part of me would be enormously excited about our future, knowing the world could very much be our oyster. Tough one. I can see the argument on both sides.

This does happen, in the way of greatly reduced prices. It's happening at Wet Spam and various other places. Price is dictated by demand and capacity. Chelsea would not need to give away tickets to get 70,000 to a game, but they would need to offer greatly reduced prices. When and if Wet Spam move to the Olympic Stadium they have said they will let kids in for a fiver I believe. Good business, as you say. First, they attract a future generation of fan, second, they sell more hotdogs.

Deco played well when the sun shone, I'll give you that.

Where he is similar to Zola is in his attitude. Always looking for the ball, even if he's not playing great, and playing for the team, there is no ego with him even though he has qualities all his teammates lack. Needs to develop his strength in my opinion. Zola had immense strength in his thighs and Mata could benefit from that. Zola could whip those balls in with pace, which is something Mata lacks. He is far younger than Zola was when he joined us, and Zola had come from Italy, a competitive and disciplined league at the time, so he was adept at unlocking the tightest of defences. Mata has started well if not spectacularly. I'm very happy we signed him, especially as we were crying out for a bit of artistry. I've seen no real evidence of exceptional pace, but there you go. The closest thing I've seen to Zola since he left us is Arshavin, who started off great at Arse but has since gone off the boil, to the point where they seemed willing to let him go this summer. I can't see Mata going off the boil. Different mentality, which is where we're lucky. Regarding Neymar, don't want him. I'm sure he's good but it would never work out. Talent isn't the only thing you look for when you sign someone. More suited to Spain. Ronaldo, Romario, Ronaldino, Robinho .. He comes from a long line of immensely talented Brazilians whose name begins with R .. Rivaldo was another one .. Would they play on a wet and windy night in Stoke or would they throw a sicky ..?

He knows how to say, "Sorry boss, not interested".

Apologies to Roman if I got my facts wrong in the above post .. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2055740,00.html

This.

What's the matter with Mata? Nothing, as a matter of fact. He was very good. Man of the match. Sturridge has 12 goals in his last 18 PL games, more than Torres, Drogba and Anelka have managed between them in the last 18 months. Ramires was just his usual self .. absolutely f**king brilliant.

Any idea what he said about his old mate Giggs breaking the wall for the scousers' goal? Regarding our game, very funny to hear Waddle keep banging on about how Everton were dictating the pace of the game. Very funny because they had 10 men behind the ball and never had the ball. The best bit for me was when he was moaning about our system, saying MIkel had to come off, how we had to switch to 4-4-2 because Everton were well-versed and comfortable against us, and we scored about 0.00007 seconds later. He didn't even have the humility to laugh at himself. Of course our goal was all about Leighton Baines switching off, nothing to do with Mata, Ashley Cole and Sturridge switching "on". It never occurred to Waddle throughout the game that he was watching a damn good side who beat Everton without breaking sweat.

If you drop prices, more people will come, you are right, and atmosphere will improve too, which is always a bonus. That's not to say prices will drop however. We can't guarantee that. Indeed, we may not move, which, if the club win the vote, means the CPO have lost any voice they have for nothing in return, except the price they bought it for all those years ago. The club could easily say, "If we don't move, as we may not, the shares will revert back to the CPO if and when Roman goes". After all, we don't know whose hands the club may be in in future, and it would be nice to have the safeguard that currently exists now. I don't believe Roman will go (barring a tragedy), however, he is currently being sued for circa £4bn in the High Court, and if he ever wanted to he could call in his loan to Chelsea, meaning we would have 18 months to pay back £750m (could be wrong on the figure). Everything he's spent on Chelsea (to the best of my knowledge) has been loaned to our holding company (Fordstam) and is still owed to him. Don't know if he'll call it in, but he could do. It's his right. He could have just said it's a gift. He has not. The sale of SB would go a long way towards paying off that debt, should the club ever be at liberty to sell it. I'm not exactly sure what went on in Russia and how Abramovich acquired his wealth, but it involved shares, getting them on the cheap etc. This may be a flight of fancy, but there's a duty of care here towards our football club. We protect it at all costs, don't we? The proposal is not watertight. It's no reflection of our feelings towards Abramovich that we have reservations, not at all. It's a reflection of our feelings towards our football club, and Roman should see that. Indeed, he should respect that. "I trust you, sure, not to run off with my baby, but if you don't mind, I'll look after it best I can. She's my baby and I don't know what I'd do without her. Thanks all the same." The club are keen for the CPO to hand all power over to Roman, even though he offers no guarantees in return, or negligible ones. They won't move beyond 3 miles before 2020? That's no guarantee that they won't move beyond 3 miles in 2021. They could start building tomorrow, or the day after the vote. The proposal allows them to. That's the key point here. The club can do anything they want. They are asking fans to take a leap of faith. With their football club. A football club that nearly faced ruin twice, hence the reason CPO was set up. There are some very pertinent questions to answer here, regarding the vote, questions which strangely avoided Buck on Friday, probably because there was no-one in the studio to ask them .. 1. Why did you purchase 100 shares 6 months ago, thereby entitling you to the maximum 100 votes? Was it to save the club from eviction? Me thinks not. 2. Why are 2 of the 3 directors of CPO employed by the club, when the CPO is an entirely separate entity from CFC? 3. Why was the CPO's registered office moved for the first time since its inception away from SB to the address of the 3rd director last year? 4. Why have CPO’s accounts not been drawn up and lodged with Companies House for the past year, as they have every June since inception? 5. Why did CPO choose not to halt share sales during the offer period, as is compulsory for all stock exchange listed companies? In other words, how come shares are still on sale, and how come they still give you a vote? What the f**k? 6. Given all of the above, was Ron Gourlay being completely honest when he told the Official Fans' Forum 10 days before the club announced the proposal that the club had no future plans on the stadium? And people wonder why there's cynicism .. The club are quite clearly, in my view, driving this vote through, rather than allowing for a full and frank consultation period over a length of time, and they're doing so without any objection from the 3 directors of the CPO, which is supposed to be entirely independent, so independent that every shareholder has the option of deferring their vote to them. It may be possible that the club's motives are pure, and it's a means to an end, one we hope is a good end. I'm very optimistic this is the case, but I veer on the side of caution. After all, if the proposal stood up on its own, no-one would have to be standing up for it. Promises are all well and good. "We won't move here, we won't move there". We were told Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. I'll believe the piece of paper the club have written, paying close attention to the things they've omitted. Everyone gets so excited over what the club say, they forget to read what they've actually written ..

Mata, Sturridge, Ramires all excellent today. Bit worried about Drogba.