Gutted. For a moment, I thought we might have been title contenders but the bubble has well and truly burst.

We've made good progress over the calendar year, but there's no denying we've finished 2024 off poorly.

52 minutes ago, MyWord said:

1 point for the last 9 (against dross) is certainly not top 4 form. I’ll be amazed if we get top 4 from here. Can’t score, can’t defend. This has “dropping off a cliff” written all over it. 

Given 5th will also qualify for UCL next season, top four is basically top five at the moment and we're pretty safe IMHO. I personally believe Forest will drop off these places at some point and in the end it is going to be Liverpool, Arsenal, City, Chelsea and Newcastle for the UCL spots.

If we were thinking at the league title then yes, this would have been a terrible set of results, but that is not the case and never was no matter how the media tried to milk out of the situation. But in the quest for one of the first five spots I believe we are fine and we have everything it take to finish ahead the likes of Forest, Brighton, Villa or Bournemouth.

6 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Given 5th will also qualify for UCL next season, top four is basically top five at the moment and we're pretty safe IMHO. I personally believe Forest will drop off these places at some point and in the end it is going to be Liverpool, Arsenal, City, Chelsea and Newcastle for the UCL spots.

If we were thinking at the league title then yes, this would have been a terrible set of results, but that is not the case and never was no matter how the media tried to milk out of the situation. But in the quest for one of the first five spots I believe we are fine and we have everything it take to finish ahead the likes of Forest, Brighton, Villa or Bournemouth.

I don't see Forest dropping off, not enough to not be in the mix at least. We've seen this a few times in recent seasons. Newcastle two seasons ago, Villa last season, now it's Forest's turn. These teams just don't drop off, and I think that is the nature of the league now.

I don't see City being a mess all season, they will find a way, they have too much experience. I see us getting dragged into a fight for 5th.

28 minutes ago, Jezz said:

Gutted. For a moment, I thought we might have been title contenders but the bubble has well and truly burst.

We've made good progress over the calendar year, but there's no denying we've finished 2024 off poorly.

Is all @Sexyfootballfault, he made you all believe!

https://www.sportbible.com/football/football-news/chelsea/var-ipswich-enzo-maresca-premier-league-404679-20241230

1 minute ago, axman2526 said:

Is all @Sexyfootballfault, he made you all believe!

Well you can't deny it wasn't there for the taking, or that we were playing at the right level to challenge !

Big opportunity missed, considering three of the traditional "big six" are having absolute stinkers of a season, plus Villa have fallen off too !

When asked if he thought it was a penalty, Delap admitted he wasn't sure if Jorgensen had made contact with him or not.

"I don't know what clipped me but something did," he added. "I just tried to get there before him [Filip Jorgensen] and he was coming out fast so I knew he'd touch me if I didn't get it round him.

"We've had three or four opportunities where we've not had the penalty we probably deserved so nice to get that one and put it in the back of the net. “
 

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, NOT A PENALTY, BUT BECAUSE THEY HAVENT HAD ANY BEFORE THEY DESERVED IT….

Our attack lacked focus. We were sending in crosses to Felix and Cucurella FFS. We really need a centre forward. It would make so much difference.

Caicedo looked knackered out there, really need Lavia back asap. Whole team was poor thought Palmer was especially quiet seems to get marked out of the game more in the number 10 role rather than drifting from the right.

We are now like one of the lower-league teams that go full pelt, and then the wheels fall off at Christmas!

28 minutes ago, dan_cfc said:

Caicedo looked knackered out there, really need Lavia back asap. Whole team was poor thought Palmer was especially quiet seems to get marked out of the game more in the number 10 role rather than drifting from the right.

Lavia cannot be  depended upon. He is a crock, like Fofana and James.

Recall Lesely from saints and Santos from Strasbourg. Santos stays in the team as long as he is fit. We need his energy.

Edited December 31, 20241 yr by axman2526

2 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Lavia cannot be  depended upon. He is a crock, like Fofana and James.

Recall Lesely from saints and Santos from Strasbourg. Santos stays in the team as long as he is fit. We need his energy.

We need a reliable midfielder who can stay fit and is willing to put the work in for the team. That Connor Gallagher lad at Atletico would fit the bill - maybe if we’d signed him at the start of the season…

1 minute ago, Munkunku said:

We need a reliable midfielder who can stay fit and is willing to put the work in for the team. That Connor Gallagher lad at Atletico would fit the bill - maybe if we’d signed him at the start of the season…

Nah, our amazing SD did not rate him.

What happened to all the flowers those two morons were getting just cause Duran is looking good under a competent manager?

14 minutes ago, Munkunku said:

We need a reliable midfielder who can stay fit and is willing to put the work in for the team. That Connor Gallagher lad at Atletico would fit the bill - maybe if we’d signed him at the start of the season…

Lewis Hall looking good too. Should recall him as well 

How to lose a football game for Dummies by Chelsea:

1. Ponce about at the back

2. Wait for opposition to get organized with 10 men behind the ball

3. Slowly move the ball forward and look around for ways to attack - roll eyes towards sky...

Wonder why our attackers cannot score... get frustrated and give up.

WTF he brought on Jackson for Felix I'll never know - he was the one bright light, if there was one for us, on the pitch.

 

Our attacking players, and we've got some good ones, are just being handicapped by the dross we've got at the back ... and as someone else said if ever a game showed we should have kept Connor Gallagher - this was it.

 

And what is the Manager doing? What's going on at half time - can't he see we're not drawing them in or playing the ball out quick enough to stretch the play a bit?

Edited December 31, 20241 yr by Bebe1980

My word that Nkunku miss...

How much clearer does he need to make it he does not want to be here anymore? 

He is too good a finisher to miss that.

34 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

My word that Nkunku miss...

How much clearer does he need to make it he does not want to be here anymore? 

He is too good a finisher to miss that.

I'm yet to see what the fuss is over Nkunku. He has scored most of his goals in Conference League and domestic cups against lower league opposition. Probably didn't help that he was crocked for most of his first season with us, and fell down the pecking order. At this point I will be surprised if we don't move him on.

If Sanchez had gone for that challange on the pen, regardless of how soft it is, or made that Disasi pass, he would be getting 4 times the abuse Disasi has been getting.

8 minutes ago, forbzy said:

I'm yet to see what the fuss is over Nkunku. He has scored most of his goals in Conference League and domestic cups against lower league opposition. Probably didn't help that he was crocked for most of his first season with us, and fell down the pecking order. At this point I will be surprised if we don't move him on.

He does not want to be here, that much is clear, and might well be Felix, Veiga and Noni feel that way too after having run in with Big Enz.

Was anyone at the game on here? I have heard the was fighting between Chelsea fans in the away end.

Really, as much as this result has pi$$Ed us off, it is results like this we love to see in the PL.

Probably dont deserve the last couple of poor results, but sometime you win and sometime you lose. When we were on the good run, couple of results were  fortunate, fair to say these things event themselves out by the end of the season. We are very much on track to finish in the top 4, which was the objective, title talk was premature and optimistic to say the very least.

4 hours ago, POCH OUT said:

When asked if he thought it was a penalty, Delap admitted he wasn't sure if Jorgensen had made contact with him or not.

"I don't know what clipped me but something did," he added. "I just tried to get there before him [Filip Jorgensen] and he was coming out fast so I knew he'd touch me if I didn't get it round him.

"We've had three or four opportunities where we've not had the penalty we probably deserved so nice to get that one and put it in the back of the net. “
 

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, NOT A PENALTY, BUT BECAUSE THEY HAVENT HAD ANY BEFORE THEY DESERVED IT….

Jorgensen dived in and gave him the opportunity to go down with slight contact.

Is on Jorgensen for making that dum challange.

28 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Probably dont deserve the last couple of poor results,

Yes we do. Fulham deserved to beat us, as did Ipswich. Arguably Everton did as well.

The goal this season for me was 70pts and top 4(top 5 probably)

Sucks to lose against an Ipswich side whose had a terrible run of form. This was always the part of the season that tests the mettle of players and 1pts out of 9 is terrible

Also, this was the game to introduce Acheampong