bluish

I just want them to change the law of their country so I can get drunk.

Mine is not the most romatic of stories. Becoming die-hard Chelsea was gradual, I grew up a fan of the Chicago White Sox. The only football I would see growing up was the world cup. As I got older I started seeing some Champions League coverage also. I started to get interested in football, and chose Chelsea partly to annoy my mate who supported Liverpool, partly because I wanted to follow Essien after seeing him play against USA in '06, and partly because of FIFA games. I vaguely remember watching the FA Cup Final of 2007 as a Chelsea fan (albeit one who could barely name the squad) in the wee hours of the morning probably still drunk as I was in college then. It wasn't until the next season that I began watching games regularly and became football obsessed. There are 2 games in particular I remember quite well that season that proved to me that America had it wrong for not embracing football. Barca 2 - Chelsea 2 in the group stage. Lampard scored that beautiful chip from an impossible angle and Drogba evened things just before the end. Chelsea 4 - Villa 4. I had never seen a match like this before up until this point. Down 2-0 going into HT, Red Card to Villa, 3 goals to Chelsea (2x Sheva, Alex), Red to Chelsea (Riccy), Villa Level, Ballack puts us ahead in the '87th. It ended with a sour note with Ashley Cole getting sent off and Barry scoring from the spot in stoppage but it was the most exciting 2 hours I've ever spent in front of a TV. By March that same season I had an oppurtunity to stay with a classmate in central London. I watched Drogba score two against Arsenal in a pub full of Gooners and 3 Chelsea fans. I saw Milwall vs Luton (big mistake), Charlton vs Wolves, and finally Chelsea v Boro while I was there. I was beyond exicted. I went to the So Bar, witnessed Chelsea alouette, saw Carvalho score, Boro hit the post 3 times and we won by the skin of our teeth. I know the songs at this point and rarely miss a game on TV. I look back and smile thinking about my attempt to sing with the Shed: "Carefree! Wherever you may be, We all follow the CFC!" HAHA. Fortunately no one could here me butchering the words. I was able to see them in NYC this summer, but seeing them again at the Bridge is something I obsess over.

Thank you. One last question...is it a one-off or available on-demand for awhile? I'm impressed, I would think the Premier League and UEFA wouldn't allow such broadcasts to be so easily available.

Apologies for making a topic about this here but would any of you be able to fill me in on these "Full Match Replays" offered with the Chelsea TV subscription? Does this mean that they actually play the game in full shortly after it occured or is it just random match replays and I'd have to rely on the extended highlights to watch Chelsea games I haven't been able to see live? Thanks!

What is our reason to say Leicester? I thought it was kind of random and didn't really mean much. I don't think Celtic really think they started YNWA either.

Spurs: Should win: H Swans, A QPR, H Blackburn, H Norwich Could lose: A Chels, A Sunderland, Could draw: A Villa, A Bolton, H Fulham, H Stoke. This scenario leaves them at 69 points Arsenal: Should win: H Villa, A QPR, A Wolves, H Wigan, H Norwich Could lose: A Everton, H City, Could draw: H Chelsea, A West Brom, A Stoke Leaves them at: 70 points Chelsea: Should win: H Spurs, A Villa, H Wigan, H QPR, H Blackburn Could lose: A City, Could draw: A Liverpool, A Arsenal, A Fulham, H NUFC Leaves us at: 68 Turn one draw into a win: 71 So if we beat Spurs and draw against Arsenal. We would need a further 17 points in the remaining 8 games (3W, 2D, 1L)

Absolutely. Why not put Kalou, Malouda, and Sturridge up front and tell them to run around like headless chickens. This will confuse Napoli's defense allowing Lampard, Mata, and Ramires scoring oppurtunities. It's pretty basic X's and O's. You lot run around a bit and you lot score the goals. 3-0 chels. Fact: The last time we won by 2 or more goals with Torres in the starting XI was September 24th against Swansea. Fact: The last time Sturridge and Drogba played together at the Bridge we won 3-0 Opinion: Torres should be given a gameboy not a place on the squad.

Unbelievable that people are still selecting Torres for this match...I'd rather see a steward out there.

Damn...no Chicago. Better get the Visa out.

From BBC: "without a shadow of a doubt, vociferously and graphically, they do not want Rafael Benitez" Haha! Anyone watching wanna let me know what are the fans up to?

I've always wanted to travel to Bulgaria

I hear Ballack is available

Any sign of Torres?

As a newer Chelsea fan (~2007) I sometimes wonder what trophy meant the most to older Chelsea fans. I would think it would be 1970 for the codgers and a toss up between 1997 and the first Premiership for people not as old. Is it 1997 because it's the first major trophy you got to see Chelsea win? Please share your stories. I've obviously been lucky as a new fan with how sucessful we've been. The Double Season is the easy choice for myself...particulary the final day against Wigan! Hopefully we have many more trophies in the future to make this debate even harder. Cheers!

I didn't even know there was a law in the UK that made calling someone black an issue which the police needed to be involved. Surely, that doesn't exist here in the USA....

He should take it upon himself to get a decent haircut then. What he had in the MLS playoffs was horrendous. Too bad we don't have Donovan for France.

It's early here. I should at least wait til after lunch to talk football. Forget about the Ramires thing. The only point I was trying to make is I think Sturridge should get a chance to play CF like he did on loan. Blackburn seems like a good time. I think he didn't have a great game on the right against Arsenal either.

Everyone looks like a star against Bolton. I've seen recent performances of him having trouble playing a ball in. He should be at the end of the ball not creating the chance.

How long is it going to take before everyone realises that Sturridge can only play effectively at center forward? I'd rather see Ramires up their, Meireles in the center and Torres dropped. --------------------------Cech Ivanovic---------Luiz----------Terry---------Cole -----------Meireles----Romeu-----Lampard ------Ramires-------Sturridge---------Mata

It's concerning to me when I'm begging for Malouda, who hasn't been in form for a long time, to be brought on. I guess he proved why he's fallen out of the starting XI. Torres and Sturridge are not linking up very well together. I don't understand why our recent managers refuse to back down from the 4-3-3. It's not working. It hasn't been working. It's been a very difficult couple of weeks for us but did we deserve to lose the last 2 games? I don't think so, but this group of players are prooving to be wreckless and lose their compusure way to easily. What happened to the days when we could relax after going up a goal? We've lost the ability to defend. That Walcott goal leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. So unprofessional from our defenders to be waiting for a whistle. At least we will have some time to regroup with some decently easy games before Liverpool.

Davey Baby you're the man!!!!

From BBC LOL! "Newcastle goal: Newcastle hit back. Tim Krul saves from a Demba Ba header but the linesman flags and the referee gives a penalty for a pull on Yohane Cabaye"

No one can score PK's this season.

I like the new Balotelli chant haha.

Haha ya. Foy being a completely weak ref took some shred of pity on us or showed regret by not sending off Luiz for those shoves in the middle of the park late too.