Bolton (H) Prem

Stoke (H) Prem

WBA (A) Prem

Brum (A) FAC

Napoli (H) CL

I enjoyed Giles Smith's take on the next few weeks:

By the time our second leg against Naples (which is, unfashionably, three weeks away, rather than the usual fortnight) comes round, we will have played two home games in the league (against Bolton, this coming Saturday, and Stoke) and one away game (against West Brom). And we will have re-met Birmingham in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Of the sides we face at home, Bolton are presently one off the bottom of the table and Stoke, in 13th place, have a reputation for toughness based mostly on their resolve at home but have lost seven away games so far this season. West Brom, whom we face away, are 14th and (pretty much the opposite of Stoke) have won only twice at home.

Surely, even in these present, peculiarly reduced and mildly troubling circumstances, when AVB must feel that he can't sit still for two minutes without a vulture landing on him, it should not be above the confidence and coherence of our club to be thinking in terms of nine points from those three games.

Nor should it appear to be mere arrogance, based on an outmoded, historically-based perspective, to assume that an FA Cup replay at the ground of a Championship side - even a good, league-leading one - is a match which a squad as carefully and expensively assembled as ours should be thinking about in terms of anything other than winning. And in the regulation 90 minutes, frankly.

Meanwhile, by the time our second leg against Naples comes round, Arsenal, who are already out of the FA Cup, will have played Tottenham and Newcastle at home and Liverpool away in the Premier League, and will have gone out of the Champions League to AC Milan. And Tottenham, as well as playing Arsenal away, will have played Manchester United at home and Everton away, as well as going out of the FA Cup to Stevenage (perhaps).

Reason alone insists that there is a whole teetering stack of Premier League points in among that little lot, just waiting to be dropped, along with any amount of momentum. Which in turn means that, by the time our second leg against Naples comes around, we could plausibly find ourselves in the quarter finals of the FA Cup and bearing down hard on third place in the league. Which would be a suitably firm platform from which to launch an attempt on the mere 2-0 victory at home that would take us into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2620560,00.html

Not much to hope for is it?

Bolton (H) Prem

Stoke (H) Prem

WBA (A) Prem

Brum (A) FAC

Napoli (H) CL

I enjoyed Giles Smith's take on the next few weeks:

Not much to hope for is it?

Love the optimism and I'm not gonna hold myself back from sharing in it,

Lets get as much enjoyment from the season as we can .

Chippy, I love your positive attitude in the sea of hate around here. Well done flying the flag!

Bolton (H) Prem 3-0 win

Stoke (H) Prem 2-1 win

WBA (A) Prem 1-1 draw

Brum (A) FAC 0-2 win

Napoli (H) CL 4-1 win (optimistic)

Bolton (H) Prem 1-0 win

Stoke (H) Prem 0-0 draw

WBA (A) Prem 1-0 win

Brum (A) FAC 1-2

Napoli (H) CL 1-1

Four games we should win, and one game we absolutely must win.