OhForAGreavsie

Also 94%. Djemba-Djemba & Bellion.

I didn't remember that. (If I ever knew it in the first place.) I thought Ovrebo had retired after that night at Stamford Bridge. I agree with you though that it was incompetence mixed with over excitement, rather than conspiracy.

Exactly. The City link is the give away. No room for him there. This story reads like a plant by an agent working for Juve.

No, it would be a huge error. Huge. We want to win this fantastic competition. Our club's outlook is to go for it on all fronts. Just four seasons ago we played 69 matches, almost all of them using a full strength XI. Loved it. Love my club for it. When I put my money into my club - that is how I want it spent; on players who will compete for everything, not on pathetic wimps who cry, "It's all too much for us we need a rest." If they need a rest from two games a week (which they are not actually playing), then they can sod off to Arsenal. If they need a rest from just one game a week (which is what they are playing) then they're not even worthy of a place in the Arsenal squad.

Completely agree that an ambitious summer needs to be attempted, and attempted in exactly the positions @The Skipper suggests. Four top signings in one extremely competitive, and extremely expensive, window will take some doing however.

What he said about Barca's comeback is spot on.

To be fair a number of people expressed that opinion about his abilities before he rejoined ManU.

Yep definitely out.

That man should not have been on the pitch when Nicolas slipped. He should already have conceded a penalty, and been dismissed, for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity.

But for one little word it would be three or four: - Despite the first leg debacle, we should have beaten Monaco in '04, and would have done had their momentum changing goal just before halftime at Stamford Bridge been disallowed as it should. United started well in Moscow but over the whole piece we were the better side and deserved to win. Penalties should not have been needed. Lets not talk about Ovrebo but we were better than we had been the year before and United were worse. The final held no terrors. That little word is "if" of course. If Claudio had not lost it in Monaco. If the officials had spotted the foul by Morrientes, instead of waiting for him to admit it after the game. If JT hadn't slipped. If Didier hadn't been baited into getting himself sent off, JT wouldn't have been taking that pen anyway. If Ovrebo had actually passed his refereeing exam. If.

Nothing can be told from that comment. It's what he says in almost every press conference. The exceptions have been when he intends to put out a squad team. On those occasions he has trailed that fact at the presser. No trail this time and I'm betting no rotation either. From the moment the draw was made there has been no doubt in my mind that he would go strong for this game.

That's not quite what the quotes say. He never says he turned Barca down. He never even says there was an offer from them. Only "conversations". This doesn't mean he didn't turn them down. It just means he hasn't said it. If he did say no to the Spanish giants, I reckon playing time probably had something to do with it. What do you think?

I see we're not counting Samuel but let's mention the most maligned player in Chelsea history, Winston Bogarde. I hated the way that Bates and Hutchinson vilified him for something that was their fault, and the way so many people fell for it. Bullshit and spin isn't confined to the media. As a club, a set of fans, and a footballing nation, we owe Winston an apology.

Interesting idea. I had never even thought about it. Another reason why he could be a good addition. So hard to imagine Arsenal risking the fan backlash that would follow if he was sold to us however.

It's the fault of our clubs. Our clubs and our league. We've taught continental teams that they can flog us their cast offs for huge money. Consider how we all feel about the fee Chelsea received for Oscar. That's how fans of European clubs have felt for a long time about transfer dealings with our teams. What has been the impact of this poor approach to the transfer market? With the exception of Spurs, the squads of our top six clubs each cost more than Bayern's yet none of them could confidently expect to beat the Bavarians over two legs. Our squad builders have got to learn to walk away from overpriced deals. Sadly this is wishful thinking on my part. They won't learn any such thing. In financial terms our clubs make way more for competing in our league, than the champions of Europe do for winning the cup with the big ears. When our squad builders go shopping in Europe they would like to buy the best, but they will always settle for second best if they think that will allow them to outcompete other Premier League clubs. Our top clubs definitely want to beat Barcelona and Bayern but, financially speaking, that's a bonus. What's vital is to beat Burnley and Bournemouth.

In terms of quality, it is unarguably true that The Premier League is not the best in the world. I think however that Premier League fans get a bad wrap in this regard due to imprecise use of language. Many describe the English league as the "best" but few, if any, mean that in terms of its quality. Sometimes people are referring to the league's undoubted popularity, and sometimes, rightly or wrongly, they are expressing the opinion that the league is the most interesting. If you tell me that it would sound less arrogant, and more grounded in reality, if we all gave up the shorthand and used language more accurately, I could not argue with you. That said, I neither know, nor know of, anyone who thinks the Premier League contains the best players, in the best teams, playing the best football. In that sense, I think it would be wrong to imagine that there are people who genuinely believe those things. If there are any, then they are a tiny, tiny minority. Clearly England's entitlement to four Champions League places is based more on our clubs' exploits in the not so distant past, than it is on their current efforts. Equally clearly therefore the fourth place will be lost unless we buck up our ideas. For those who, like me, have an emotional commitment to this league, it matters a great deal that we should.

Understood. Sorry if my post suggested that I thought any different, I don't.

Understand and share your feeling but the squad is what it is, at least until July. These players are what we've got until then and they've done their best for us. We can't ask any more than that. Come summer, you and I will have plenty to say but, for now let's hold our peace and try to help the lads finish what they started.

Agreed and I don't think for one minute that Antonio will consider doing anything else. I don't think a squad team, or even a little rotation, would occur to him for this game. So am I but only because we're at home. If we were away I'd be as furious as I was the day The FA announced this revision to the competition's rules.

Yep, it wasn't Butch. Yep, right again. It was Bumstead. See the post directly above yours.

I just dug out the Bristol City programme from 23/12/78. The team for the loss at 'Boro is listed there. The listing does not give numbers but it confirms that you are correct about Butch not playing. He was in the side for the previous match vs. Villa, home 9/12/78, L0-1, but not for the 'Boro game. No mention in the Bristol City programme about why the skipper was absent. Hardly any write up about the 'Boro game at all in fact. The main focus in that issue was the resignation of Ken Shellitto, and the appointment of Danny Blanchflower. By watching a longer video of the game, I can confirm that:- The 4 was indeed John Bumstead (Ian Britton wore No.7 that day) It was Ossie himself who floated the ball out to Gary Stanley. Usual number 9 of course although he did wear number four briefly didn't he? Correct answers therefore are:- Who is the 4 that put the ball across for The King to score? - John Bumstead Who is the 11 that played the 4 in? - Gary Stanley Identify the man who floated the ball out to the 11.- Peter Osgood What was the regular shirt number of the man who floated the ball out to the 11? (You can't see it in the build up to the goal.) - 9 Who is the commentator? - Kenneth Wolstenholme (He left the beeb late in his career and moved to Tyne-Tees TV, which is why he's doing a 'Boro game. So that's 3/5 for FB, 2/5 for Iggy and 2/5 for me. The tabs must be working FB. Longer video of the game.

Yep, fair point. If you swapped Stanley for Swain I think that would change your score from one to none! I think the answers are:- Who is the 4 that put the ball across for The King to score? - Ian Britton Who is the 11 that played the 4 in? - Gary Stanley Identify the man who floated the ball out to the 11.- Butch Wilkins What was the regular shirt number of the man who floated the ball out to the 11? (You can't see it in the build up to the goal.) - 8 Who is the commentator? - Kenneth Wolstenholme (He left the beeb late in his career and moved to Tyne-Tees TV, which is why he's doing a 'Boro game.) I'll check tonight and confirm, but I'm 99.1% sure.

P.S. I hated that red, white and green kit. I only ever remember us being crap in it, including the first time I saw it; an Anglo Scottish Cup (remember that) game at Craven Cottage. We also wore it the day we were hammered 3-0 at The Den. Not a nice afternoon. Speaking of that game, I was there, in the Milwall end I might add, with some mates including a lad called Tommy Bartlett. I don't know if any users of this forum knew Tom, but he passed away last month. His funeral was held on Friday before last and his coffin was draped in a Chelsea flag as he had requested. Rest in peace Tommy boy.

Hello Iggy, I haven't checked yet but I'm pretty confident about the identifications. If I'm not wrong, then you've only got one correct ID so far.

Hello FB I reckon you've got two right, but I won't confirm who I think they are yet in case anyone else wants to have a go. If we can't agree who we think is who, I'll dig out the program for the next home game, which I will certainly have been at, and check.