Lofty.

Oohhh... you mean the Kick It Out Campaign wasn't about getting the woofters back into the closet? Well I never. You learn something every day.

With Man City leading 3-0 at St Mary's. i think it's fair to say it's game over. Which with a third of the season gone, leaves us six points clear at the top of the table, and with the best goal difference in the entire division. We can't claim to be comfortably ahead, because it is after all, only a third of the way through the season. But we are in a very healthy position. Is there anyone who wouldn't have taken this before the season began? As it is, we can't rely on anyone to do the work for us, and so we can still only afford to slip up once, twice at the most. Given that we're currently still fighting on all four fronts (with the FA Cup yet to come, obviously). the hardest part of the season is yet to come, what with the possibility of crucial injuries and suspensions and the near certainty of fixture congestion. In short, nothing much has changed since I started this thread. It's still a matter of so far, so good.

Rangers 3-0 Kilmarnock RANGERS claimed their third top flight scalp of the season as they progressed to the Scottish Cup fifth round with a 3-0 win over Kilmarnock. A Nicky Law brace and a Kris Boyd strike secured their place in the draw tomorrow as Ally McCoist’s men powered to victory. Meaning Gers still remain in all four competitions this season. Law scored in either half, his second a peach of a strike inside the final ten minutes of the game. Kris Boyd had to be happy with a place on the bench, for the second week running, against his former team. But the striker made an immediate point to his manager, scoring after only a minute on the pitch. Gers had a peppering of half chances in the opening exchanges. A couple of minutes in Lewis Macleod skipped into the box from the left and flashed a shot just wide of Craig Samson’s right post. Then moments later Nicky Law galloped down the right channel and evaded his man to get to the by-line and cut a ball back. But his delivery into the six yard box was cleared by the Kilmarnock defence. Just after the 10 minute mark Fraser Aird, who had been restored to the starting line-up after five games out with a thigh tear, won a corner and took it himself. The winger’s curving delivery met the head of Lee McCulloch but the captain was just off target, heading over on the angle. Killie carved out their first real effort of the game with 14 minutes on the clock; Ross Barbour’s cut back from the by-line finding Alexi Eremenko arriving into the box. The Fin’s strike was hurtling between Steve Simonsen and his left post but Law lashed out at the ball to avert the danger and concede a corner. Rangers began a rewarding five minute period just before the 20 minute mark, with a Macleod free kick. His dangerous ball hung in the air and had to be cleared by Mark Connolly in an unsettled Kilmarnock defence. Still ruffled a minute later Killie could only clear a Gers throw in from the right as far as Law on the edge of the area. The middleman hooked his right foot around the ball to send a curling effort beyond the outstretched Samson and open the scoring with 19 minutes gone. Moments later Macleod picked up a clearance impeccably 25-yards out, controlling the ball on his left knee to bring it down and fire a volley at Samson. The Killie keeper just got his left palm to the effort, much to the frustration of the young Ger, who had started the game brightly. Kenny Miller believed he should have had a penalty when he was brought down by Barbour in the area on 22 minutes. The striker appealed for a spot kick loudly - but the right back had taken both man and ball with his last ditch tackle and referee Brain Colvin waved away his protests. Rangers were driving forward with confidence and Ian Black had an effort when he found himself in space on the edge of the box. The 2012 Scottish Cup winner turned quickly to lash an effort through the Kilmarnock back line and just beyond the right upright. On the half hour mark Killie pushed forward into the Light Blues box, desperate to break into a game they were struggling to make an impression in. Centre back Connolly’s strike from distance was weak though and was collected comfortably by Simonsen. Just before the break Jon Daly had his first chance of the half. Black laid the ball out wide to Miller who found his strike partner with his delivery, Daly took time to rearrange his feet but his shot was straight at stopper Samson. Kilmarnock had clearly regrouped during half time and Rangers found it hard to make a mark as the second half got underway. The Killie pushed Gers deep as they fought to take the game to the visitors. Journeyman of the English lower leagues, Tope Obadeyi caused problems with his pace, cutting in from his left birth. Rangers began to creep forward more and the Light Blues two wide men combined with 58 minutes gone. Aird beat his man down the right to float a ball back to Macleod. The 20-year old couldn’t settle the ball though and thrashed his effort high into the Copeland Road end. Macleod had a near identical effort eight minutes later. Black saw his shot from the edge of the box blocked and it fell only as far as Macleod. The midfielder turned away in frustration as he saw his strike climb into the stands once again. With twenty minutes left Ally McCoist replaced his strike partnership with two brand new bodies for an instant impact. Nicky Clark and Kris Boyd entered the field and within seconds Boyd had played a quick short ball into the onrushing Macleod. He released a powerful strike but a diving clearance saw it diverted away from goal. The resulting Gers corner floated onto the head of McCulloch whose header was punched away by the keeper, but only as far as Boyd. The former Killie man was quick to react and manoeuvred himself into a shooting position to slip the ball between Samson and his left post, to give his side a two goal lead. The frontman reeled away in celebration, after netting his 15th goal in 16 games against his old team, less than a minute after coming on. Seven minutes were left to play when Rangers came forward on the counter attack. Richard Foster played a little ball into Law, 25-yards out, who took a few touches before lifting the ball up and launching it into the top right hand corner of the goal. The midfielder with his second of the game, Rangers third and securing the Light Blues progression into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup. RANGERS: Simonsen, McGregor, McCulloch, Mohsni, Foster, Aird, Law, Black, Macleod (Shiels 86â€), Daly (Boyd 69â€), Miller (Clark 69â€) SUBS: Robinson, Faure, Hutton, Templeton GOALS: Law 19†& 83â€, Boyd 70†Yellow Cards: McKenzie 55†KILMARNOCK: Samson, Barbour, Connolly, McKenzie, Clingan, Miller, Obadeyi (Magennis 81â€), Slater (Hamill 60â€), Eremenko (Muirhead 60â€), Chantler, Pascali SUBS: Brennan, Johnston, Ashcroft, Westlake

Two Changes For Killie ALLY McCoist has made two changes for today’s Scottish Cup clash with Kilmarnock. The absence of Lee Wallace, through injury and Stevie Smith due to suspension means Richard Foster and Fraser Aird come into the side. Aird had been out injured for five games, before taking a place on the Rangers bench at Tynecastle last weekend. The winger didn’t get on against Hearts but sees himself starting on the right wing today. Wallace had been struggling with an ankle injury since Wednesday, limping out of training and failing to return for the rest of the week. He is replaced in the back line by Richard Foster who will switch across to left back – leaving the right birth open to Darren McGregor. Jon Daly retains his place alongside Kenny Miller with Kris Boyd starting on the bench, as he did against Hearts last weekend. RANGERS: Simonsen, McGregor, McCulloch, Mohsni, Foster, Aird, Law, Black, Macloed, Daly, Miller SUBS: Robinson, Faure, Boyd, Shiels, Clark, Hutton, Templeton

The phrase "a mouth-watering prospect" applied to a football match, redolent of slavering raving nutters, frothing at the mouth. That and the P.C. bollocks as mentioned above. Next thing you you know, I'll have someone accusing me of being slavering raving nutter-ist.

The previous shot of David Speedie in action kept disappearing, hence the thumbnail - by the time I'd found the full sized image it was too late to edit the post. Same thing happened with the one of Mickey Thomas against Huddersfield on the previous page, so while they were available, I re-uploaded both images to PhotoBucket, which should hopefully be a little more stable than the original host: Mickey Thomas in action during the Second Diviision match between Chelsea vs Huddersfield February 4th 1984 12th April 1986: Forest away, David Speedie in action at the City Ground, Nottingham

12th April 1986: Forest away, David Speedie in action at the City Ground, Nottingham. I went to Forest a few times, but managed to miss this one having broken my leg the previous month on the way home from the Full Members Cup Final. The match ended in a goal-less draw.

You don't think? 1. We're still seven points clear at the top 2. Another clean sheet. 3. Sunderland pulled out their best performance of the season by far and were lucky to come away with a point 4. You can't win 'em all. We're still undefeated in all competitions. 5. Southampton play Man City tomorrow, at least one of those teams will drop points. 6. No injuries 7. We tired towards the end, not unexpectedly after a midweek European trip - hence the misplaced passes, but all in all it was a good performance.

Right then. If we DO happen to screw things up, we'll know who to blame, won't we... and where to go!

I think you're missing the point here. Massively. So far so good, not getting carried away, take nothing for granted, there's a long way to go and a lot more work to be done, we haven't won anything yet. That's what I'm saying, the exact opposite of this "we've already won the title" bollocks. You could even call it an anti-jinx.

By conitnually spouting the same brand of sh*te, he's trying to accomplish two things at once. The first is an attempt to justify and safeguard his position as manager; the second is to keep the likes of this twat at bay:

NOT getting carried away here. Almost a third of the season gone and we're comfortably into the Chapmpions League knockout stages as group winners and we're sitting pretty at the top of the table. And we're still in the League Cup. At this stage, our six point lead only means that we can afford to slip up once,that's all.. While it may be true that Southampton have a difficult run of games ahead of them, we can't rely on anyone else slipping up, or doing the business for us. So as it stand, if we lose twice and Southampton keep on winning, they go top. In third place we have Man CIty, with an eight point gap that gives us a little more breathing space. You only have to look to last season to dismiss any thoughts of complacency. I forget where we were at that stage, but City were well off the pace, having slipped down to eighth place. We're almost through the "dreaded" November, but as far as the league goes, the Christmas and New Year period could be pivotal. Go into the New Year with an even wider gap at the top, and even I may concede that we may just be favourites for the title. A poor run on the other hand, a couple of unforeseen setbacks could paint a very different picture to the current rosy outlook. So all tht can be said about the season so far is... so far so good. From the Star, a brief exposition of just how dominant we've been over the first twelve games of the season (ileague table courtesy of the BBC):

You mean this one? Yes I think you're right, and that's Bobby Tambling on the end. My fault, I really should check more thoroughly before copy/pasting. So the lineup should be as follows: Standing: Marvin Hinton, Ian Hutchinson, Dave Webb, Tommy Hughes, Peter Bonetti, John Dempsey, Eddie McCreadie, John Hollins. Seated: Alan Birchinall, Charlie Cooke, Alan Hudson, Johnny Boyle, Chopper Harris, Peter Houseman, Ossie, Tommy Baldwin, Bobby Tambling

Mickey Thomas in action during the Second Diviision match between Chelsea vs Huddersfield February 4th 1984 Final Score: Chelsea 3-1 Huddersfield. with goals from Kerry Dixon (2) and David Speedie. Chelsea team: Eddie Niedzwiecki, Colin Pates, Joey Jones, Tony McAndrew, Colin Lee, Nigel Spackman, Mickey Thomas, Joe McLaughlin, Pat Nevin, David Speedie, Kerry Dixon Manager:John Neal

Nice little article from Sky, also including some good stuff from Glenn Hoddle: Chelsea can win Champions League after Schalke show,, says Michael Ballack Former midfielder backs Jose Mourinho's side for European glory Michael Ballack says Chelsea are capable of winning this season’s Champions League after their 5-0 thrashing of Schalke in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday night. The Blues destroyed the Bundesliga outfit at the Veltins-Arena to not only confirm their safe passage through to the last 16 of Europe’s premier club competition, but they also won Group G with a game still to be played in the section. And after such an eye-catching display by Chelsea, the one-time Germany international stated that Jose Mourinho’s men are more than capable to winning their second Champions League title in Berlin in June. “I cannot yet see any weak links, they are really solid and if you judge them after the game today, they can win it,†said Ballack. “And if you judge them after the whole season, then they can win it too! But it was not the right opponent today, and they know it too, and Mourinho is too experienced to get too euphoric.†However, Ballack was also quick to emphasise that there are far tougher tests awaiting Chelsea in the knockout rounds. “They will come stronger teams to beat like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid,†added Ballack. “But they are one of these teams that can win it for sure.†Meanwhile, Chelsea back-up goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer said that Mourinho would not even be discussing with his players the possibility of winning this season's Champions League for the very first time as manager of the club. “It is not something that we actually talk about, if anything the manager is actually on the other side by saying: ‘We just need to keep going and take each game as it comes. Do not think about winning every single game, take each game as it comes,’†said Schwarzer. “Now this was a massive game for the club, it was a game that we desperately wanted to win to top the group, so it is mission accomplished as far as the Champions League is concerned. “And now all the sights and preparations are focused on Saturday’s game away at Sunderland, which is going to be a very tough game. You know, you really cannot look beyond the next game,†added the Australian shot-stopper. And one-time Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle was also quick to praise the west Londoners’ five-star performance, saying: “It could have been eight, nine, or 10 tonight as they kept getting in between Schalke all the time. “They have every facet of the game, they are very solid, they can score from set plays, they have power, they defend well and they have the three little technicians as well, with Oscar getting back to somewhere near his best, and Willian and Eden Hazard. “And if those three are coming at you time and time again, then in the end you break a team down. And it is all about team as well, you can tell that the team spirit is really good. “If you play square against them, then they go over the top. And if you drop off deep, they have people who can take you on one on one and who can create. “A fabulous performance from Chelsea tonight, it really was,†concluded Hoddle.

Yesterday somebody stated that you were the first member of this forum that they'd ever put on ignore, after more than four years on this forum. My advice, for what it's worth, would be to follow suit, and to leave this useless waste-of-space known as Peter Sage to his own devices.

Foul mouthed? I called you an idiot on a windup, and with very good reason, given the crap you were coming out with. And all the while you were chucking around stuff about "Lolita" and "Limeys", then as you usually do, you went on to insul the intelligence and the character of anyone and everyone who happened to disagree with the utter bollocks you were again inflicting on this forum. Do me ONE favour, ok, by allowingone little pearl of wisdom to penetrate that dense skull of yours. Just because you say something doesn't make it true, no matter how many times you say it. If you can't do that, then frankly you deserve all the "foul-mouthing" that comes your way.

Awww... pity.

Truth hurts, eh. Abusive you say, what was that "Lolita" crack about? And the other day, English fans were "Limeys" or was it "speaking stupid Limey English". Something like that anyway. And arrogant? Oh I'd say so. You come out with a blanket statement about Roberto Di Matteo parking the bus, one that is clearly disprovable and massively inaccurate, so much so that our problems were the exact opposite of a parking the bus, ultradefensive style. But you ignore this, you stick to your guns, because once you've said something and you sure as hell ain't going to change your mind on the basis of something as straightforward as facts. And repeating the same mistakes in the hope that something will change, that people will say "yeah you were right all along", when everyone knows just how inaccurate your portrayal of Di Matteo's time at Stamford Bridge actually is, surely that is the very definitiion of stupidity.

I'm not actually reacting at all. I initially disproved his assertion that Robbie Di Matteo employs an ultra defensive style of play, adding an independent assessment to back up my viewpoint, His inability to (a) imagine a scenario in which we might have played a below strength Bayern in the Champions League final at Stamford Bridge, coupled with (b) either an inability or a refusal to acknowledge the facts as stated, even proven, takes me to the inevitable conclusion that he is either on a windup and/or an idiot. Nothing abrupt about it either, if you don't like the way I post then I suggest you use the "Report" button, because little cracks about needing to chill out, calm down, yoiu might have a hernia etc aren't going to change anything. They're merely mildly irritating, and not only for myself.

I'd say so yes. The range of your posts on the current subject is extremely limited, falling somewhere between Utter Bollocks and Complete and Utter Bollocks.

Apologies. I must have missed the bit where you weren't talking out of your arse. Hold on, I'll have another look.... Nope, sorry. Still can't find it.

I'm quite calm thanks. But your problems is?

You're on a windup, surely? You won't take other Chelsea fans word for the way we played under Robbie, or even an independent assessment that our problem was an overwhelming urge to attack. If you don't know how to respond to a question about an alternative scenario, then you're an idiot. An idiot on a windup.