9 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

subsequently ultimately failing with the Italian national team

He was praised for taking the Italian team that far in the Euros only losing on penalties then once he left they didn't even qualify for the next tournament.

The rest of your post I disagree with. Too extreme. Just this one point I wanted to mention.

8 minutes ago, Nibs said:

I almost get the impression that if Conte is still in charge for FA Cup Final, some of our fans will hope we don't win so they won't lose any face.

Sad state of affairs.

 

Well I don’t think like that so hope you’re not including me in that. I just think with him in charge we have no chance. 

Who is buying the players at chelsea? If it isnt conte then how can he work with players he doesnt want. He should leave if he gets no input as all next season he will be moaning again.

 

Even if we win the FA cup I still want him gone.

What sort of manager drops Hazard and Giroud for such a critical game, specially for 2 players so out of form. Its such a wierd thing to do, the 3 at the back only works if you have a Luiz in the middle who can drive forward, pass, create and hit a shot. Atm Chelsea just have 3 defenders passing between each other while marking 1 forward, that's too defensive. Conte has to be one of the easiest managers to set your team up against, won't change formation and all the play comes down the right. Hazard plays inside, Alonso plays inside or an extra forward, everything works it's way to the right then a cross, it's jusg way to predictable. Conte work make a sub before the 80th min unless he is losing.

30 minutes ago, Nibs said:

I almost get the impression that if Conte is still in charge for FA Cup Final, some of our fans will hope we don't win so they won't lose any face.

Sad state of affairs.

 

I hope not, I’ve not been happy with Conte this year, the negativity, the moaning, the bemusing selections.

 

However, I still want the best for the club which is for us to win a trophy and we can part ways with Conte amicably. He is still a title winning manager for us and for that he’ll always have my gratitude.

3 central defenders against a team we knew were just going to sit back. Embarrassing tactics but it has become what we are used to. 

I'm sure people will on this thread will still manage to blame last night on the board and the 'sick club'. 

 

39 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Well I don’t think like that so hope you’re not including me in that. I just think with him in charge we have no chance. 

 

17 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

I hope not, I’ve not been happy with Conte this year, the negativity, the moaning, the bemusing selections.

 

However, I still want the best for the club which is for us to win a trophy and we can part ways with Conte amicably. He is still a title winning manager for us and for that he’ll always have my gratitude.

Not singling anyone out but lets face it, there are plenty of Conte haters here right now. Him going out on a bit of a high and winning a trophy would not fit their agenda.

To be honest, I can understand. I've been in the pro-Conte camp and still am, but decisions like leaving our best and most inform players out and changing a winning team, they are baffling to say the least. If we needed to rest players for more important games fair enough but just can't fathom why he did what he did with just two games left. 

Just now, Nibs said:

 

Not singling anyone out but lets face it, there are plenty of Conte haters here right now. Him going out on a bit of a high and winning a trophy would not fit their agenda.

To be honest, I can understand. I've been in the pro-Conte camp and still am, but decisions like leaving our best and most inform players out and changing a winning team, they are baffling to say the least. If we needed to rest players for more important games fair enough but just can't fathom why he did what he did with just two games left. 

I'd like to think everyone is a Chelsea fan first and foremost. We hated Rafa but still wanted to win trophies under him. I doubt anyone wants to see us lose a cup final.

it will be interesting to see what happens if we do win the FA Cup. A league and cup in two seasons would be a great achievement. I think missing out on top four overrides the FA cup though. Just the money we would make from it and the more desirable it makes us being in CL. I don't think the club would keep him. I am thinking it's either Jardim or Sarri. The other names being touted would cost too much money for contracts. 

55 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

I'd like to think everyone is a Chelsea fan first and foremost. We hated Rafa but still wanted to win trophies under him. I doubt anyone wants to see us lose a cup final.

I'd like to think that too, but wouldn't be 100% certain.

Look back to when we had Rafa. Okay, we all knew he was the interim and Jose was heading back but just say that wasn't the case and that if he won the Europa League he would get an extended contract. How many of us Chelsea fans would have thought - "f**k that - I'd rather we didn't win it so we can get rid".And same with Wenger at Arsenal - a lot of fans feared that all the time he was winning the odd trophy, it would mean he stayed on - think many would happily sacrifice a trophy so they could move on.

Anyway, let's just hope Conte and the team lift the cup, whether it's his last game or not.

35 minutes ago, enigma said:

it will be interesting to see what happens if we do win the FA Cup. A league and cup in two seasons would be a great achievement. I think missing out on top four overrides the FA cup though. Just the money we would make from it and the more desirable it makes us being in CL. I don't think the club would keep him. I am thinking it's either Jardim or Sarri. The other names being touted would cost too much money for contracts. 

The clear example is Arsenal using a FA Cup win or getting top 4 as a way to gloss over Wengers inept management. This went on for years and Wenger stayed way longer than be should have, for so long he kept making the same managerial errors and held the club back in the end. He deserved the right at rhe beggining to try and make the right changes but he was just stubborn to do it.

This is how I see this season for Chelsea and Conte does deserve the right for another season but only if he was able to recognise his mistakes/faults and make changes, well he hasn't been able to recognise it or his too stubborn too so that's why I think it's best he goes. If he hasn't changed this season then I just can't see why he would next season. There have just been way too many mistakes it's ridiculous.

3 hours ago, Nibs said:

I almost get the impression that if Conte is still in charge for FA Cup Final, some of our fans will hope we don't win so they won't lose any face.

Sad state of affairs.

 

I hope not, desperate for us to beat utd, me personally though am very pessimistic about our chances. I'm getting into the mind set for Wembley, to enjoy the build up, have a few beers in the torch and not expect anything else when setting foot into stadium

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

Not singling anyone out but lets face it, there are plenty of Conte haters here right now.

Whats the over/under on how many times he is called a c**t in the match day thread of the fa cup final ? Musta been a new record last night. Even saw someone call Christensen a c**t.

Not optimistic about FA cup at all, Jose maybe an a$$, but he knows how to play the final, Conte on the other hand, lose the one we shouldn't have lost last year. If we can't breach with 80% possession against Huddsfield, what chances do we have against a well drilled United defence. Jose wont be playing like Klopp, he will play for result, and grind it out against us.

 

 

26 minutes ago, Stim said:

Whats the over/under on how many times he is called a c**t in the match day thread of the fa cup final ? Musta been a new record last night. Even saw someone call Christensen a c**t.

So glad I rarely visit the match-day threads nowadays. We all get worked up in the heat of the moment but you do have to wonder about some folks stability.

 

23 minutes ago, Nibs said:

So glad I rarely visit the match-day threads nowadays. We all get worked up in the heat of the moment but you do have to wonder about some folks stability.

 

I haven't touched a match thread during the game since the Swansea home game in November because that one was full of excruaiting conspiracy theories about how everyone from the refs to the cast of Glee were plotting against us. 

12 minutes ago, Argo said:

I haven't touched a match thread during the game since the Swansea home game in November because that one was full of excruaiting conspiracy theories about how everyone from the refs to the cast of Glee were plotting against us. 

There are a few members who can't comment in any thread without rambling on about the FA being corrupt, bent referees and football being sick. Makes me wonder why they even bother with football and Chelsea any more, if it's all so horrible 

Edited May 10, 20188 yr by Valerie

Can you imagine Real Madrid or Barcelona dropping Ronaldo or Messi for a must-win game. The manager would pay with his job.

 

Conte was guilty of underestimating Huddersfield and he was guilty of concentrating too much on the weekend's game against Newcastle, hence he rested a few players.

 

Bakayoko I understand. We only needed two in midfield against a team that were never going to attack, and he picked the right two. Despite what people say about Bakayoko against Liverpool, he was sh*t by any reasonable standards, although he was exceptional by his own standards admittedly. Yes he hit a cross-field pass. Whoopeedoo.

 

Anyway I digress. As soon as I saw the team I feared the worst. Pedro? Christensen? Zappacosta? Morata? I knew we would concede because we always concede when Christensen plays. Cahill has been playing well and we look far more solid with him and we've been keeping clean sheets. He doesn't even need resting, he plays in the centre of a back three, hence he runs less than everyone else (except Bakayoko, obviously). Crazy, crazy decision. Our defence was settled, they had developed an understanding, they were looking solid. Why would you tamper with that?

 

Caballero was in goal, at least put our best defence in front of him. Anyway I'll move on ..

 

As for Morata, well, big players win big games. He's a small player. We saw that clearly last night. A top striker would have produced something in 90 minutes, they would at least have unsettled the defence, given them something to think about. Morata was anonymous. He was weak, weak physically weak mentally. Just weak. He was abysmal.

 

Giroud's in form he's playing well he's shown he can get you a goal when you need one, he's brought a better atmosphere to the team. Dropped. Inexplicable. 

 

Hazard? I'm not even going to go there. He was magical against Liverpool. No, let's not go there, one of the most inexplicable decisions I've ever witnessed from a manager. It was bordering on Ranieri-type tinkering. Madness.

 

I said weeks ago Hudson-Odoi should be playing ahead of Pedro, Ampadu should be playing ahead of Christensen, and Barkley should be playing ahead of Bakayoko. I'm right about all three. Pedro has to leave in the summer. He had 60 minutes. He did nothing. He couldn't affect the game at all. 

 

That's another thing. 60 minutes. We had to wait 60 minutes to see Hazard come on, when it was obvious we needed to make the change at HT. It was obvious Conte needed to rectify his mistake early. We were huffing and puffing in the first-half, against a resolute and organised team that had everyone behind the ball. We needed Hazard, everyone could see it, except the manager.

 

Moses had a good game against Liverpool, one of his best. Jesus the litany of mistakes is endless. The manager royally f**ked up.

 

It's easy to blame the referee. I didn't think he did too much wrong. Yes they time wasted but we had 2 minutes injury time in the first-half and six in the second. I'm not interested in little incidents he may have got wrong. The real culprit of last night was the manager, a manager who has never shown he can rotate successfully. Last season we played the same team week-in week-out and we won. That was the lesson. Tinker as little as possible for our remaining games and let them all rest on holiday.

 

Awful awful night and sadly it was all self-inflicted. We could have applied pressure to Liverpool and Tottenham on the last day. I quite fancied Leicester to do us a favour. Sadly now it's all gone, barring a miracle, and I'm afraid Conte only has himself to blame.

 

He's the real culprit this season. Nobody else. Let's not kid ourselves.

Has he been sacked yet? 

16 minutes ago, Davey Baby said:

Can you imagine Real Madrid or Barcelona dropping Ronaldo or Messi for a must-win game. The manager would pay with his job.

 

Conte was guilty of underestimating Huddersfield and he was guilty of concentrating too much on the weekend's game against Newcastle, hence he rested a few players.

 

Bakayoko I understand. We only needed two in midfield against a team that were never going to attack, and he picked the right two. Despite what people say about Bakayoko against Liverpool, he was sh*t by any reasonable standards, although he was exceptional by his own standards admittedly. Yes he hit a cross-field pass. Whoopeedoo.

 

Anyway I digress. As soon as I saw the team I feared the worst. Pedro? Christensen? Zappacosta? Morata? I knew we would concede because we always concede when Christensen plays. Cahill has been playing well and we look far more solid with him and we've been keeping clean sheets. He doesn't even need resting, he plays in the centre of a back three, hence he runs less than everyone else (except Bakayoko, obviously). Crazy, crazy decision. Our defence was settled, they had developed an understanding, they were looking solid. Why would you tamper with that?

 

Caballero was in goal, at least put our best defence in front of him. Anyway I'll move on ..

 

As for Morata, well, big players win big games. He's a small player. We saw that clearly last night. A top striker would have produced something in 90 minutes, they would at least have unsettled the defence, given them something to think about. Morata was anonymous. He was weak, weak physically weak mentally. Just weak. He was abysmal.

 

Giroud's in form he's playing well he's shown he can get you a goal when you need one, he's brought a better atmosphere to the team. Dropped. Inexplicable. 

 

Hazard? I'm not even going to go there. He was magical against Liverpool. No, let's not go there, one of the most inexplicable decisions I've ever witnessed from a manager. It was bordering on Ranieri-type tinkering. Madness.

 

I said weeks ago Hudson-Odoi should be playing ahead of Pedro, Ampadu should be playing ahead of Christensen, and Barkley should be playing ahead of Bakayoko. I'm right about all three. Pedro has to leave in the summer. He had 60 minutes. He did nothing. He couldn't affect the game at all. 

 

That's another thing. 60 minutes. We had to wait 60 minutes to see Hazard come on, when it was obvious we needed to make the change at HT. It was obvious Conte needed to rectify his mistake early. We were huffing and puffing in the first-half, against a resolute and organised team that had everyone behind the ball. We needed Hazard, everyone could see it, except the manager.

 

Moses had a good game against Liverpool, one of his best. Jesus the litany of mistakes is endless. The manager royally f**ked up.

 

It's easy to blame the referee. I didn't think he did too much wrong. Yes they time wasted but we had 2 minutes injury time in the first-half and six in the second. I'm not interested in little incidents he may have got wrong. The real culprit of last night was the manager, a manager who has never shown he can rotate successfully. Last season we played the same team week-in week-out and we won. That was the lesson. Tinker as little as possible for our remaining games and let them all rest on holiday.

 

Awful awful night and sadly it was all self-inflicted. We could have applied pressure to Liverpool and Tottenham on the last day. I quite fancied Leicester to do us a favour. Sadly now it's all gone, barring a miracle, and I'm afraid Conte only has himself to blame.

 

He's the real culprit this season. Nobody else. Let's not kid ourselves.

Hard to argue with too much of that DB but I'm sure Ampadu's injury ruled him out for remainder of season.

Davey Baby, i thought I had calmed down, but after reading your post, I am fighting mad again.  Though i thInk Morata was not horrible, he had some good half chances that I thought he took fairly well. Willian, on the other hand, was atrocious.

Edited May 10, 20188 yr by Phillip

I think Giroud was rotated because he played 90 mins on Sunday and looked knackered by the end so Conte went with the fresher player.

7 minutes ago, Stim said:

I think Giroud was rotated because he played 90 mins on Sunday and looked knackered by the end so Conte went with the fresher player.

STOP IT with that rational thinking!

I agree Conte made some bad decisions with the team last night, but we still should have had enough quality to beat Huddersfield with that starting 11. The fact that we were so poor also reflects badly on the quality of some of the players that we have signed in recent times, and that is not all down to Conte. If we don't improve our performance in the transfer market it won't matter who we have in charge next season. 

Some of the comments on chat also show how quickly people turn on certain players. A good example being Christensen and Cahill. Earlier in the season many wanted Cahill gone from the club after some sub-par performances. Meanwhile Christensen could do no wrong and was regarded as on of the first names on the team sheet by many. I remember a major turning point being the injury Christensen received against Bournemouth at home. It was 0-0 at the time, Cahill came on and what followed were 2 of our worst defensive displays in a while. Fast forward to now and you would find that hard to believe. Suddenly it is unfathomable that Christensen would get picked over Cahill. It is easy to suggest that we conceded last night because Christensen started, but we have conceded goals with Cahill too and I have no doubt he would have been blamed had he being playing instead.

Personally I think our biggest issue as a team at the moment is lack of goals. We don't score enough goals to win games reliably. Even in our recent run of wins we have eked out too many narrow margins and that has mainly been down to poor finishing. Last night that cost us but it could easily have done in most of the previous games. That needs to change if we are to improve on our showing next season.