All going off in the Premiership last weekend, wasn’t it? There we were thinking that Eduardo’s dive, Adeybeyor’s insanity and Kakutagate was more than enough to be going on with and along comes the Double Derby Day to end them all. Of course, the London one needed to be explained to their audience by the knowledgeable Sky team, therefore diminishing the event somewhat in the process, but there was no denying the greatness of the all Manchester affair and, if there was, Sky was going to blank the representations as only a Manchester-is-centre-of-the-Universe Sky can.

I’ve long since got past the irritating and annoying stage with these broadcasters and their pet Premiership team, but I’m sure bluemoon is in for as much [probably far more] than he bargained for now that City have been officially recognised by Ferguson as contenders for the title. The closing of ranks by SSN and Sky Sports behind their beloved Reds was a shuffling together of commentators, reporters and news presenters alike that could be heard loud and clear from midday onwards, but, having suffered the banality that followed Owen’s last gasp winner in Fergie time [exposed today by the Guardian as at best suspect and at worst something that should be looked into by the Premier League], we didn’t have to wait long to get the usual deflationary performance from Andy Gray when covering our game, that is once only one winner look possible at the Bridge.

Now I can put up with the rubbishing of a penalty claim along with the next supporter - name a Chelsea fan who couldn’t after Blind Tom - but it appears that the Laws According to Gray have a subtle amendment where our club is concerned in that, if you are leading at the time, blatant handball in the penalty area by an opposition player should be a) acknowledged on air when spotted and then b] if the referee doesn’t give it, referred to as a poor decision that doesn’t matter in the overall context of the game, prior to forgetting about as soon as possible and c) immediately issuing the replays department with an edict never to show the handball again.

However, contrast this with the standard hullabaloo Sky directive that is dished out should the opposition receive similar treatment, debatable or not, with the game still in a state of flux and it is enough to try the patience of a Saint, a Pensioner or a Gooner and, believe me, we’ve all had our fair share of the Andy Gray belittling tactics over the years. Suffice to say, it didn’t take long for the studio smiles post Old Trafford to be shrouded in grimaces followed by sympathetic pursed lips for poor Robbie Keane who in reality simply couldn’t make up his mind whether to stick or twist, thereby quite rightly getting the thumbs down from an unconvinced referee on both counts. And so it came to pass that this was put forward as a veritable game clinching disgrace, although for Andy it was also a godsend in terms of downgrading our performance when compared with what went on earlier in the day.

Still, suitably impressed myself with the new club record of wins [not referred to by Gray either then or later on the Last Word] and pretty much immune from his ManU myopia these days, I wandered over to SSN to see a Premiership Table and cash in on some reflected glory, only to be greeted by further incessant United eulogising from both news presenters and this eventual closing line that left me shaking my head in disbelief….

“ …and now elsewhere in the Premiership…â€

I may have had a long day and admit to always being a tad pedantic, but where was the “…and now at the top of the table…†or the equally correct and complimentary “…and now to the league leaders game against Tottenham†or the slightest acknowledgement that there is a leader - and Chelsea is it, for heaven sake?!?! Nope, no sign of it whatsoever, instead we get a paltry “….and now elsewhere in the Premiershipâ€, as if top doesn’t exist until Manchester United get there or top is where they go when they are good and ready, while the rest of us are ’elsewhere’, even when we are somewhere and that is ****ing TOP!!!

Later that very evening a young news presenter, who was well past his bedtime, actually made mention of the fact that, yes there we were at the top of that table just by his left ear, except that he added a â€so far†- I kid you not!! - before going on to cover United’s great performance “that sees them threaten top spot.“ It was around about here that I realised just why my grandchildren watch something called ’The Night Garden’ and at this rate I may soon be joining them for a little bit of alternative escapism.

Excellent as usual Dorset and a point some have mentioned on here already over us being cast almost as a supporting act to the great Manchester Utd. its quite pathetic the way Sky suck up to slur alex simply because they are terrified he will cut them off the same childish way he has BBC.

Your absolutley bang on about Andy Gray, I mentioned on the match thread that he all he went on about was the Keane-Carvalho incident, how it came at a time where the match was in the balance, on and on and on.

Then when Lampards free kick on goal was so blatantly handled by the spud player, nothing, silence, then the replay comes up, shock horror, he giggles about it and doesnt comment.

It is so f**king obvious that when it comes to any match Chelsea are playing in, he is not a nuetral in anyway shape or form, he has an imbalanced view on most games and always contradicts himself.

I met Andy Gray in my hometown when his ex-inlaws owned a pub up the road, I can tell you all, hand on heart, the guy is an horrible twat, when hes had a beer his guard drops along with his Sky persona.

Great post yet again Doset.

But to be honest, none of us should be surprised when this kind of thing happens. The vitriol against our club from almost all parts of the media is unbelievable.

When we come from behind and snatch a win we get the old "lucky Chelsea" from all concerned. If the mancs do the same they are praised for a great recovery. Same goes for the mousers and to an extent the arse.

When Jose took the two titles they were still very lapse in giving us any kind of acknowledgement, they are just a bunch of biased twats.

Edited September 22, 200915 yr by ColeMan

if I had a pound every time I have heard that chelsea are powerful and efficient, but not as entertaining etc than arse and man u, I could retire

Your absolutley bang on about Andy Gray, I mentioned on the match thread that he all he went on about was the Keane-Carvalho incident, how it came at a time where the match was in the balance, on and on and on.

Then when Lampards free kick on goal was so blatantly handled by the spud player, nothing, silence, then the replay comes up, shock horror, he giggles about it and doesnt comment.

It is so f**king obvious that when it comes to any match Chelsea are playing in, he is not a nuetral in anyway shape or form, he has an imbalanced view on most games and always contradicts himself.

I met Andy Gray in my hometown when his ex-inlaws owned a pub up the road, I can tell you all, hand on heart, the guy is an horrible twat, when hes had a beer his guard drops along with his Sky persona.

Not the same Andy Gray that commandeered an in flight announcement system, and offended some customers on a flight to southern Europe? Was he not drunk then as well?

The man is a pri*k, and I've always stated that if there was a line for licking Sir Alex's arse, he'd push his way to the front. The biased towards Man U from Sky is unreal, and one of the reasons I hate man utd

Andy Gray annoyed the life out of me again on Sunday, but I shouldn't be surprised. I just think at some stage that surely he'll will actually start doing the job he gets paid for and give a professional unbiased opinion.

Something else with got my hump up was this opinion that if it wasn't a pentaly then Keane should have been booked. Now I can't

blame Keane for the reaction because he was truely pissed off and in the heat of the moment. But someone please correct me if I'm

wrong but is a ref not only susposed to give a penalty if he's 100% sure. So if it was his opinion that Ricky committed the foul but was only 80%

sure then he couldn't give the spot kick. This being the case he would only be 20% sure that Keane dived and to book him on

that basis would be totally unjust.

This is my reading of the law on awarding a penalty. Now if I'm right why do we hear every week from commentators and

so called pundits, 'if he's not giving a penatly why has he not booked the player for diving.'