Slag him off now all you like

[Chippy]

Heres my thoughts on tonight

Team selection

Ok with it but when Frank was not able to play it made the midfield a bit slow, I thought Essien would be the driving force but Ballack having a lazy game and Mikel playing backwards or sideways at a snails pace made it noticeable.

Anelka playing Center forward still turned up on the wing and although he came back into midfield to find the ball he never got much in the way of service.

Belletti first half was very good going forward and made some decent passes but his defending would be found out by decent left wingers.

Bridge never got forward much but did'nt do much wrong either.

Terry was ok, Alex was good,

Kalou again looked ok but drifted out of the game,

Cech was not worked hard but still looked like he could cope with whatever came his way,

the team played as if it did'nt matter until the second half when Malouda (surely his last chance) was replaced by Joey,

Joe Cole looked like he was the only one who cared and he brought the urgency out in Essien both players deserved to be on the winning side.

We had plenty of chances and even in our poor first half we should have scored a couple,

Kirkland was on fire in their goal and has put a huge nail in Grants coffin with his performance,

Grant again looked un emotional on the bench which is not nice to see when you are kicking every ball with the team and I can understand how every one of you will be after his head because we are effectively out of the title race tonight,

It was horrible to see fourty seconds of Sheva when he could have had twenty minutes at the end and I would have had him on for Kalou as I did'nt think the Wigan threat was enough to worry if we played 4-4-2 or 4-1-5 and would have liked to have made it safe.

Mcmanaman on Setanta was moaning we never went for the second goal and in the same sentence he complained we never shut up shop, the sort of logic I have seen on here to be honest but tonight I would have taken either one.

I am keeping off the site until next season as I can't stand the childish sh*t that go's with the Grant bashing and calling the bloke a Corpse a Toad or whatever else makes you lot feel better does'nt work for me as I watched the chances we had, The way their Goalkeeper played and the way some of our players did'nt play so I still wont slag him off.

When I look at what went on tonight I saw Joe Cole and Essien playing for the team, playing for the Manager I saw Cech interviewed and he bravely played with an injury that a normal bloke would have been out for six weeks with, he I believe played for the manager but the rest of the team look to me like they dont give a sh*t about the manager (which is fine for the Grant haters) but in that they are letting the boys that do down and the fans and I cant blame Grant for that,

If they cant motivate themselves in a cup final or in a game like tonight when we could be putting the pressure on an exceptional UTD team with a season like we've had then I think they get too much money.

Anyway I have tried to stay away from here before and came back, this time though I will just say I am staying away till September 09 as by then either you will have had your wish and Grant will be gone or Chelsea will be European Champions and Grant will be bringing in some talent that actually might want to play for him.

dont bother about arguing with this post as I wont be answering you,

Loz, the bet pot ended even so we'll call it quits on it, you should get an account and do it anyway though as it got a few people guessing.

Oh yeah can you pick the winner of the Caption Comp for me? Ta

Chris

[callista]

Hey come on chippy, we'll miss you if you don't join in discussions.

Always enjoy your posts and I hope you don't mean that you will be staying away until the season end that would be a shame.

There is still much to discuss be it good, bad or indifferent.

Liked your summation of the game because I didn't get a chance to see it all.

I wish Grant would be a bit more emotional too on the sidelines - I think it would help the players I really do.

Did not understand why Sheva was put on for 40 seconds - seemed a waste to me.

Joe Cole and Essien appeared to be the best players out there.

Not sure what to make of Chelsea at the moment, don't know really how much is Grant's fault or the players or both or none or?

[Essien's Strike]

Not sure what to make of Chelsea at the moment, don't know really how much is Grant's fault or the players or both or none or?

well this is the problem pretty much everyone including chelsea itself has! losing JM after the season had started was like ripping the heart out of a warrior - the body can fight on but without the fire.. nobody knew who to listen to after that - Arnesen, Grant, Clarke, Roman or Ten Cate......

or all of them... so chelsea is a monster with 5 heads and no heart so to speak..

am i mental? does any of that even make sense? lol god knows

[JT26CFC]

how many times this season has joe cole looked like the only player who cared

I am guilty and say that i had bashed grant, but that was awhle ago now. There's no wrong with this side on paper, but they all (particulary a certain striker) slag off when playing games against "lesser" oposition. These last few games have all been the players fault and not Grant, if you put anelka or drogba out there anyone would expect them to score. It's becomming unbearable at the moment to watch or listen to any cfc games at the moment. Sorry your leaving.going on a break hope you come back soon.

By the way, Kirkland's a fantastic goalkeeper and am not suprised to hear that he played well tonight.

[Lofty]

Ok. I'll say it again. This is more or less what I wrote in another thread, but it's just as true here as it is there.

Tonight, Grant and the team he manages were again well and truly found wanting. And please before anyone defends Grant by claiming that the players bear the brunt of the responsibility, rememember what a manager's job actually entails - motivation, tactical acumen, decision making skills, planning, foresight - all areas in which Grant has again and again been found lacking. Which, truth be told, was predictable from the very moment he stepped into the job, considering his lack of experience and qualifications.

Truth be told, Grant never was the man for the job, and what continually puzzles me is how many otherwise intelligent people ever seriously considered that he really was.

[just]

By the way, Kirkland's a fantastic goalkeeper and am not suprised to hear that he played well tonight.

Kirkland played well, (not fantastically brilliant IMO, but well), but the quality of our delivery into the box tonight was probably the best I've seen all season. There were some stunning crosses put in. Especially first half from Belletti, Ballack and Bridge. Kirkland was beaten all ends up on most of them. Unfortunately, we had practically no players in the Wigan area to take advantage. Formation? Or the players not being bothered? You decide.

[loz]

I think the main reason was that Anelka was all over the place except where he was supposed to be. That is why we had nobody attacking the crosses.

[ethicalstrategy]

I'm not sure it would have been different if Drogba had played. He wouldn't have played right half like Anelka but when the opposition have 3 or 4 defenders up against 1 striker the odds are always against. It's why I desperately wanted us to play two up. It didn't help that Frank had to miss the match because at least he does give us that extra goal threat.

[just]

I think the main reason was that Anelka was all over the place except where he was supposed to be. That is why we had nobody attacking the crosses.

True Loz, but we didn't have anyone from midfield breaking forward into that area either.

[The Brit]

so does this prove that when the chips are down chippy goes running

I wasn't going to bash grant tonight, the players had the chances to win the game and blew it...but not starting with joe, no drogba on the bench seems a case of someone writing their own orbituary...have to say i'm not gutted because i never believed we'd win the league, i hoped...we have scraped wins so many times and not got the killer second that it would always come back to haunt us one day...today grant, your luck ran out...and so did your one remaining supporter in chippy.

[callista]

Not sure what to make of Chelsea at the moment, don't know really how much is Grant's fault or the players or both or none or?

well this is the problem pretty much everyone including chelsea itself has! losing JM after the season had started was like ripping the heart out of a warrior - the body can fight on but without the fire.. nobody knew who to listen to after that - Arnesen, Grant, Clarke, Roman or Ten Cate......

or all of them... so chelsea is a monster with 5 heads and no heart so to speak..

am i mental? does any of that even make sense? lol god knows

Agree we look lost out there now, the players, the coaching staff, Grant.

They say you don't know what you've lost until it's gone, I wonder if Kenyon, Buck and Roman realise quite what a great manager (albeit with flaws) Mourinho was now?

Lofty's quote summed it up best, it seems strange to think that anyone of any real intelligence after that first press conference he gave ever really thought he could be up to the job when ever single scrap of evidence has pointed in the opposite direction.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and acts like a duck - it is a DAMN DUCK!

Same goes for Grant, he talks like he doesn't know what he's doing, he acts like he doesn't really have a grasp of what is going on his body language screams "I don't know what to do" and you know what? I think that's because he really is out of his depth and doesn't know what he's doing! So why do some of us continue to imbue in him qualities he simply has shown not a single sign of possessing?

The team has done well this year despite him and it's now starting to huff and puff but there is no one inspirational on the touchline to actually manage the team and pull them all together again.

The team is being managed by toothless committee right now with the left hand not having a clue what the right hand is doing and if they do they don't know how to stop the right hand doing that..

Sad.

[callista]

I feel the time is right to have this back.

Just try to imagine Jose on the touchline and his demeanour and now look at this picture.

If that doesn't tell you all you need to know about how far down we've come even if results have appeared relatively stable then nothing will.

Funny as hell but scary as f**k too.

Quite what the players make of him I dread to think.

[Makelele]

havn't been posting much as of late, but I feel this is thread worthy...The last minute substitution with Shevchenko coming on for Mikel pretty much summed up Avram Grant for me, and that is too little too late . The way he finally sprang into action and wisked Sheva onto the pitch for the last 90 seconds with actual belief that it would produce something was laughable, i surely am not the only one who gave a sarcastic chuckle when i saw the change being made. How can you be the manager of a big club and show absolutly no urgency...sure you can blame the players, but at the end of the day if the manager is showing no emotion, how in the hell do you expect the players to????

[mad_mac]

To little to late is all Grant has ever done He is an ar*e licking slime back that knows f*ck all about football, and I can't believe we have done as well as we have this season with him at the helm. We will need to rebuild a totally shattered team next season, and we will need to build a totally new back room staff as I feel Clarke will leave! Sad times

Scott

[Paul Seery]

The only thing that I have to say about Avram Grant is that he is not good enough to be a manager of a top 4 club. He has shown in a majority of games that tatically he is not good enough and if the board of the clu really care about the fans then I am sorry Grant has to go.

[Arcaeon]

Agreed not only that but it is insulting to the player in question, I feel sorry for Sheva being brought on with about 4 seconds to go, there's absolutely no point and it's humiliating, I hate Grant more than words can describe

[Paul Seery]

Agreed not only that but it is insulting to the player in question, I feel sorry for Sheva being brought on with about 4 seconds to go, there's absolutely no point and it's humiliating, I hate Grant more than words can describe

If Svenchenko's at Chelsea next season I would be stunned. Let AC Milan take him back in the summer transfer market.

[rahul]

The only thing that I have to say about Avram Grant is that he is not good enough to be a manager of a top 4 club. He has shown in a majority of games that tatically he is not good enough and if the board of the clu really care about the fans then I am sorry Grant has to go.

I don't think he's good enough manager for any club out of top four either. He knows nothing. Whatever we've achieved this season is thanks to the system and will to win put in place by Mourinho and our very own Stevie has taken care all that is intact after him.

[Enrico]

There go half the readable posts. Come back soon Chippy.

[munichblue]

Here are some statements from Grant after the final whistle:

"We're still in it"

"We need to win the games against Everton and Manchester United," said Grant. "If not, it will be more difficult."

"We are still in it and we will keep on fighting, but we need one more bad result off Manchester United."

"The result did not help us today, but I thought the second half was one of our best performances"

"It is very disappointing. The fans need to respect the football we played even though we didn't win the game."

[bjd]

Im sure im not alone in thinking that maybe, Chippy needs to slightly get over himself

[doctorblue]

Guys,

I'm one of the children who refers to Grant as 'The Corpse' and it works on 2 planes...his physically appearance and its association with a 'dead-man walking'.

Can't wait for him to be kicked upstairs.

On a brighter note...Franco Di Santo scored a fantastic hat-trick for our reserves against the Spuds last night at Brisbane Road (Chelsea won 3 nil).

If manure beat black-eye-burn this weekend the title race is over, so how about letting the lad get a few PL games under his belt...?

[doctorblue]

Here are some statements from Grant after the final whistle:

"We're still in it"

"We need to win the games against Everton and Manchester United," said Grant. "If not, it will be more difficult."

"We are still in it and we will keep on fighting, but we need one more bad result off Manchester United."

"The result did not help us today, but I thought the second half was one of our best performances"

"It is very disappointing. The fans need to respect the football we played even though we didn't win the game."

The only quote I want to hear off The Corpse is..."I'm off...Clarkey look after the team for the rest of the season till Jose comes back in the summer..."

[glory55]

dont bother about arguing with this post as I wont be answering you

Yes sir,no sir,three bags of wool sir.

Clueless in the first half,its unfortunatly more of the same sh*t!

Some of the games we have scraped through this season,you would probably have to say we were lucky to be in the title race as long as we were.

Gutted.

Nothing personal against Avram Grant,but please step down.

[Nibs]

Anyway I have tried to stay away from here before and came back, this time though I will just say I am staying away till September 09 as by then either you will have had your wish and Grant will be gone or Chelsea will be European Champions and Grant will be bringing in some talent that actually might want to play for him.

dont bother about arguing with this post as I wont be answering you,

Loz, the bet pot ended even so we'll call it quits on it, you should get an account and do it anyway though as it got a few people guessing.

Oh yeah can you pick the winner of the Caption Comp for me? Ta

Chris

I hope in the cold light of day, Chippy has a rethink and comes back. Although if (when) Grant does go, what will he have to post about? Come back Chippy.

I was willing to give Grant some sort of backing and was one of the few who was not totally gutted to see the back of Jose. I still think, that if Jose had stayed on this season, we would have ended up without a trophy anyway. But of course I would bite your arm off if given the option of having him still here over Grant. That old cliche of you don't know what you've got till it's gone.......................

As time has gone on, Grant has just come across as totally clueless. We need a clear out. We need a new coach / manager and on that basis all the current lot should go, Grant, Ten Cait and sorry but even Clarke.

Of course the players are far from blameless in all of this. Way too many of them have under performed way too often. A clear out there too. Keep the players who would gladly play for Chelsea, even if it meant a drop in wages - can probably count them on a couple of fingers

Loved the way the radio were trying to sensationalise it all this morning though. About the players "rested". They realed off a load of names about all the players "rested" and included SWP!!! Yeah - like he's been rested for so long now he must be in a f**king coma!!!