Hi Guys,

It's Jamie again. I was on here a few weeks ago for the Everton game at the Bridge running a pre-match intervew. Well i'm doing a similar thing for the final and if any of you could answer a couple of these questions for me it would be greatly appreciated.

1- Chelsea have had a fairly easy route to the final this year. What has your assesment of your Cup campaign been this year?

2- Does the FA Cup still hold as much significance to you or has it been cheapend slightly wit you search for European success taking more importance?

3- Di Matteo's 43 second cracker in '97, the first Cup success against Dirty Leeds in '70, winning the first final at the new Wembley in '07. A few fond memories of the cup, but what is your favourite FA Cup memory?

4- What has been the best FA Cup final you have ever watched as a neutral been?

5- The FA's ticket allocation system has come under heavy criticism. How has your experience of purchasing tickets for the final been this year?

6- Everton will be going into the final with the spine of the team augmented (Jags, Arteta and Yak) How do you feel you would cope in a similar situation (Terry, Lampard and Drogba all injured)?

7- Predictions for the final?

Thanks again guys, any responses will be greatly appreciated.

1- Chelsea have had a fairly easy route to the final this year. What has your assesment of your Cup campaign been this year?

Other than Arsenal in the semis it has been a very favourable draw for us and I suppose my overall assessment is 'job done' - we are in the final and that is all that matters, if we go on to win it I will certainly never look back and think 'it was made easy for us'. To be honest I am bloody grateful for the favourable draws earlier on as there were periods under Scolari where I wasn't conifdent we would beat anyone.

2- Does the FA Cup still hold as much significance to you or has it been cheapend slightly wit you search for European success taking more importance?

The FA Cup is still right up there for me as a trophy I love to see us win. If anything the CL is the one that has been sullied, both because it is now the CL rather than the old European Cup and also because it is governed by an institution that is rotten to the core.

3- Di Matteo's 43 second cracker in '97, the first Cup success against Dirty Leeds in '70, winning the first final at the new Wembley in '07. A few fond memories of the cup, but what is your favourite FA Cup memory?

As an FA Cup final memory mine has to be Robbie's 43 second goal . As explained ni another thread I was somewhat worse for wears by the time I got to the stadium and was started the game standing on my chair. Just as I decided it was time to sit down Robbie let fly, I then abandoned the sitting down movement in favour of leaping in the air movement - my balance didn't approve and I promptly took 8 people out around me. ONly the fact we had scored saved me from a possible pounding!

Favourite memory outside of the FA Cup FInal was SParky coming off the bench at half time to tuen round the tie against your bin dipping neighbours (we do pity you).

4- What has been the best FA Cup final you have ever watched as a neutral been?

Coventry beating TOttenham in 1987 - the only thing that can partially compensate for a final without us in it is seeing Spurs lose.

5- The FA's ticket allocation system has come under heavy criticism. How has your experience of purchasing tickets for the final been this year?

I won't be at this year's final so can't comment on personal purchasing experience however the overall ticket allocation is a disgrace and always has been.

6- Everton will be going into the final with the spine of the team augmented (Jags, Arteta and Yak) How do you feel you would cope in a similar situation (Terry, Lampard and Drogba all injured)?

We would of course struggle, no doubt about it. Terry we can replace to some extent in terms of a straight player swap however his leadership would be badly missed. Drogba missing would mean we have to play a different game (or at least should do - take note Scolari) and Lampard is just about all things to all men!!

7- Predictions for the final?

2-0 to us.

Cheers - I doff my cap to Davie Moyes - one hell of a job he has done this season.

1. any route to the FA cup final is far from easy. everton have definately had the more difficult one, but sometimes the hardest games are the most unexpected. we know, considering the way we have gone out of domestic trophys the last few years.

2. honestly, the FA cup is now 3rd on the list of prioritys for all the so called "big 4". the hunt for european glory has definately diluted the FA cup for the bigger teams, but it has still been dominated by the big 4 clubs other than last year.

3. coming back from 2-0 down v liverpool in 97 with sparky coming on and destroying them to win 4-2. magnificent, and im sure you enjoyed it too...

4. for me it has to be wimbledon beating liverpool. everything was set up for the red scum to win easily, but wimbledon surprised them and it was brilliant.

5. as i have absolutely no chance whatsoever of getting a ticket i didnt even bother trying to get one through official channels. ive been desperately tapping up people ive bought things of at work and even they have no chance.

6. weve had our spine of our team missing plenty of times over the last few season. JT, carvalho, Cech, Drogba, etc have all missed plenty of matches, yet weve still competed. replacement wise i feel we have more than everton and pretty much every other team other than man utd in the squad.

7. im hoping for an early goal (chelsea obviously) as if the game carrys on for too long at 0-0 it could end up being a very poor match. but ill go for an early chelsea goal and a 3-1 win.

good luck in the final though. but not too much, obviously.

1- Chelsea have had a fairly easy route to the final this year. What has your assesment of your Cup campaign been this year?

Got to agree with loz here. The Arsenal victory aside, we've done enough without being spectacular. I'm pretty worried about Everton though. There seems to be an aura of fate about it having beaten the rest of the top three to get this far.

2- Does the FA Cup still hold as much significance to you or has it been cheapend slightly wit you search for European success taking more importance?

I'd rather win the Champions League, so yes in that respect, but winning the FA Cup is still important enough to make for a good season. (assuming we don't do catastrophically in the league)

3- Di Matteo's 43 second cracker in '97, the first Cup success against Dirty Leeds in '70, winning the first final at the new Wembley in '07. A few fond memories of the cup, but what is your favourite FA Cup memory?

Beating Villa in 2000, I guess. It was my first -real- memory of being with us all the way to the victory in a cup, considering I was 6 in 1997 and didn't really know what was going on. Although putting one over Man Ure in '07 was great too. I'm only counting memories I've been conscious for. ;)

4- What has been the best FA Cup final you have ever watched as a neutral been?

I don't remember particularly enjoying any of them... Dippers - Pikeys was good to watch, but if the best case scenario in a match is West Ham winning a cup, then...

5- The FA's ticket allocation system has come under heavy criticism. How has your experience of purchasing tikcets for the final been this year?

I didn't have anywhere near enough money, nor a chance of getting a ticket if I had had enough.

6- Everton will be going into the final with the spine of the team augmented (Jags, Arteta and Yak) How do you feel you would cope in a similar situation (Terry, Lampard and Drogba all injured)?

We could probably survive without Terry, seeing as we have a lot of quality backup at CB, but I doubt we'd stand a chance in hell without Lamps AND Drogba...

7- Predictions for the final?

2-1 to us, but I'm not as confident as most of the Chelsea fans I've spoken to...

1- Chelsea have had a fairly easy route to the final this year. What has your assesment of your Cup campaign been this year?

You can only beat what's been put in front of you. There have been a number of potential banana skins in our run this year but overall we've come through pretty well considering we had a sh*te manager for 2/3rds of the season

2- Does the FA Cup still hold as much significance to you or has it been cheapend slightly wit you search for European success taking more importance?

The FA cup will always be important to me personally. It epitomises all that is great in English football

3- Di Matteo's 43 second cracker in '97, the first Cup success against Dirty Leeds in '70, winning the first final at the new Wembley in '07. A few fond memories of the cup, but what is your favourite FA Cup memory?

David Webb scoring the winner in '70. My first ever taste of real success for my team

4- What has been the best FA Cup final you have ever watched as a neutral been?

Amazingly enough it was probably Everton v Sheff Wed in '66. Incredible comeback by your boys to win 3-2

5- The FA's ticket allocation system has come under heavy criticism. How has your experience of purchasing tickets for the final been this year?

The allocation has always been sh*te and until such time as they sort out the ludicrous freebies to the 'footbal family' it always will be. The League Cup has a much better allocation

6- Everton will be going into the final with the spine of the team augmented (Jags, Arteta and Yak) How do you feel you would cope in a similar situation (Terry, Lampard and Drogba all injured)? We coped with much of our spine missing last year and any team will always struggle with the spine missing howebver it is now a squad game and we are fortunate enough to have a squad deeper in strength than most

7- Predictions for the final? Had we made the CL final I feel you would have had a much better chance of winning. I think you'll see our boys taking out their wrath on not being in Rome on you guys.

1- Chelsea have had a fairly easy route to the final this year. What has your assesment of your Cup campaign been this year?

fairly easy other than the semi, but sometimes you get lucky like that. we've done enough to get to the final, playing well in some but not all of the games.

2- Does the FA Cup still hold as much significance to you or has it been cheapend slightly wit you search for European success taking more importance?

still massive for me. to win any trophy is great and the fa cup final is the best domestic cup in the world.

3- Di Matteo's 43 second cracker in '97, the first Cup success against Dirty Leeds in '70, winning the first final at the new Wembley in '07. A few fond memories of the cup, but what is your favourite FA Cup memory?

the 4-2 against liverpool and di matteo's goal in the final that season are the best, but being there beating man united beats the villa win and the semi over fulham- there was an incredible amount of cocky mancs (with southern accents obviously) doing the chin up before the game. beating them and then watching them all go home, silently, heads down on local buses was pretty special.

4- What has been the best FA Cup final you have ever watched as a neutral been?

west ham liverpool- but how can you enjoy a game where you hope both sides will lose?

5- The FA's ticket allocation system has come under heavy criticism. How has your experience of purchasing tickets for the final been this year?

didn't get one. am a seasons ticket holder for about 10 years or so now, have been to loads of cup games home and away (admittedly fewer this season). think that says it all. tens of thousands of people will go to the game as neutrals, and some will barely be bothered about football at all. went to the semi and I guarantee the atmosphere will be much worse.

6- Everton will be going into the final with the spine of the team augmented (Jags, Arteta and Yak) How do you feel you would cope in a similar situation (Terry, Lampard and Drogba all injured)?

depends- if we lost them the day before I'd think we'd probably lose, if we had some games to adjust, while they'd all be losses we'd cope better... even so, losing all three at once would hurt immensely.

7- Predictions for the final?

2-1 to us. think we have a decent chance to win, but in a nervy game by a single goal.

5- The FA's ticket allocation system has come under heavy criticism. How has your experience of purchasing tickets for the final been this year?

didn't get one. am a seasons ticket holder for about 10 years or so now, have been to loads of cup games home and away (admittedly fewer this season). think that says it all. tens of thousands of people will go to the game as neutrals, and some will barely be bothered about football at all. went to the semi and I guarantee the atmosphere will be much worse.

I completly agree with you there. I went to our semi, atmosphere was amazing. Having the 50/50 split was fantastic. The final however is just going to have a bunch of suited bar stewards complaining about trvial bullsh*t. God a hate the FA... and Uefa... most footballing governing bodies to be honest. The way real fans get treated in this country is beyond a joke.

1- Chelsea have had a fairly easy route to the final this year. What has your assesment of your Cup campaign been this year?

Well, we beat what was put in front of us which is all you can do. If Scolari was still in charge we most likely would not have recovered from going a goal down at Watford and certainly wouldnt have beaten Arsenal.

2- Does the FA Cup still hold as much significance to you or has it been cheapend slightly wit you search for European success taking more importance?

Of course it does and it should for any fan at least aged 6 and above!

3- Di Matteo's 43 second cracker in '97, the first Cup success against Dirty Leeds in '70, winning the first final at the new Wembley in '07. A few fond memories of the cup, but what is your favourite FA Cup memory?

As you say - 43 seconds. I wasnt born in 1970 so i cant compare. Beating Luton in the semi in 94 was special because it ended a very long wait for a major cup final. Another great memory was Zolas goal versus Wimbledon in the semi in 97.

4- What has been the best FA Cup final you have ever watched as a neutral been?

Coventry beating Spuds. Great game and great to see Spuds lose.

5- The FA's ticket allocation system has come under heavy criticism. How has your experience of purchasing tickets for the final been this year?

Nothing more needs to be added than has already been said. The f**kers need to pay that Wembley bill dont they ?!

6- Everton will be going into the final with the spine of the team augmented (Jags, Arteta and Yak) How do you feel you would cope in a similar situation (Terry, Lampard and Drogba all injured)?

Well we would proably cope better than you will because we have a bigger squad, and that all comes down to resources (ie Roman!), but any team shorn of a spine like that will struggle. JT and Drogba is one thing but going into any major game without Lampard is a scary thought and one we really start need planning for i think.

7- Predictions for the final?

3-1 Chelsea (sorry!) but i couldnt think of another team to win who deserve it more than Everton. or maybe i am just thinking about how your red rivals might feel about you winning something in season they thought was theirs!

Edited May 25, 200915 yr by bjd

1- Chelsea have had a fairly easy route to the final this year. What has your assesment of your Cup campaign been this year?

Got to agree, the semi against Arsenal is the obvious exception. However, if we hadn't got rid of Scolari when we did I doubt very much whether we'd have got that far.

2- Does the FA Cup still hold as much significance to you or has it been cheapend slightly wit you search for European success taking more importance?

I think the FA Cup has always been important to most Chelsea fans, even more this season after being so blatanly robbed of a place in this year's Champions League Final.

3- Di Matteo's 43 second cracker in '97, the first Cup success against Dirty Leeds in '70, winning the first final at the new Wembley in '07. A few fond memories of the cup, but what is your favourite FA Cup memory?

David Webb's winner at Old Trafford. Well you know what they say about the first time.

4- What has been the best FA Cup final you have ever watched as a neutral been?

Sunderland v Leeds - always a pleasure to see Leeds lose, and I was there with the Mackams that day.

5- The FA's ticket allocation system has come under heavy criticism. How has your experience of purchasing tickets for the final been this year?

The only actual FA Cup Final ticket I ever managed to get my hands on was for the Sunderland v Leeds final. But that's another story.

6- Everton will be going into the final with the spine of the team augmented (Jags, Arteta and Yak) How do you feel you would cope in a similar situation (Terry, Lampard and Drogba all injured)?

We might be pleasantly surprised. Think back to the ANC a couple of years ago, when Drogba, Kalou, Essien, Mikel were all away on international duty. We thought our season would collapse but actually coped very well with their absence.

7- Predictions for the final?

Perhaps my oldest superstition is that I never, ever predict the score of a Chelsea match.

1- Chelsea have had a fairly easy route to the final this year. What has your assesment of your Cup campaign been this year?

on paper yes we have had the rub of the green this year but you can only beat what is put before you...last year Barnsley did us it just shows anything can happen in the cup

2- Does the FA Cup still hold as much significance to you or has it been cheapend slightly wit you search for European success taking more importance?

The FA cup always has been a special occasion and hopefully will stay that way

3- Di Matteo's 43 second cracker in '97, the first Cup success against Dirty Leeds in '70, winning the first final at the new Wembley in '07. A few fond memories of the cup, but what is your favourite FA Cup memory?

Dave Webb winner in 1970 will always have special memories for me followed by Ossies diving header to equalise and I quite liked Eddie Macs tackle on Bremner with no foul given!

4- What has been the best FA Cup final you have ever watched as a neutral been?

Wimbledon beating Liverpool or Sunderland doing Leeds ,finals are rarely 'good' matches just dramatic for certain events

5- The FA's ticket allocation system has come under heavy criticism. How has your experience of purchasing tickets for the final been this year?

Not tried to get one as I had no chance ..the allocations have always been poor and always will be as long as the FA puts corporates above the everyday fan

6- Everton will be going into the final with the spine of the team augmented (Jags, Arteta and Yak) How do you feel you would cope in a similar situation (Terry, Lampard and Drogba all injured)?

Losing part of your spine of the team has poss galvanised the side into giving the extra 10% , we would have to adapt likewise I'm sure we would.

7- Predictions for the final?

2-0 chelsea though I wouldnt discount a boring 0-0 draw and if it went to pens then I'd be worried

Edited May 25, 200915 yr by charierre

God a hate the FA... and Uefa... most footballing governing bodies to be honest. The way real fans get treated in this country is beyond a joke.

As well as being a blue there is something else you have in common with us :)

Thanks for the responses guys. I'd say good luck for the final but I have a feeling we'll luck more than you. I'm just hoping for a good game, and more than that, a good referee!! If such a thing graces the good game. As much as i'd love to win the cup I wouldn't want it unfairly and in a manner in which the CL Final place was so cruelly snatched from you.

All the best, lets hope football wins out.

Come on the blue boys!!!

Cheers Jamie,

You are welcome back anytime.

Hi Guys,

Just writing a quick message to say congrats. The better team won on the day. I'm just glad that we where not embarresed, and we are now in the history books so I guess thats something.

So congrats, i've always had a real soft spot for Chelsea after the days of Zola and Vialli. Top class. All the best for the summer, it will be good to see you mounting a real challenge next year for the title and shut those red sh*te bar stewards across the park up once and for all.

Also, would anyone be willing to chip in for a fund for Hibbert? He needs surgery after the final because Maluoda ripped him a new arsehole.

Finally, i'll be on again in a couple of days for a final few questions if thats ok.

Cheers,