OhForAGreavsie

Clearly written by a football fan who forms his opinions by watching the game rather than just clicking to the stats site. I regularly read about how brilliant Kevin was a Werder. Nonsense. I doubt any non Bremen fan saw as many of Kevin's games there as I did. His rave reviews were not merited in my opinion. There were some good games of course but there were more poor ones. I saw him only four times at Wolfsburg. His only good performance in those was against Bayern. In fact it was a brilliant performance because Bayern played right into his hands. They left huge spaces for him to run or pass into and Kevin duly tore them apart in a big VfL win. I often dismiss stats, and I've done so again in this post, but that attitude isn't entirely justified. Statistics do have something to tell us, so the shear weight of goals and assists Kevin contributes can't be ignored. He is clearly a valuable player but people have to keep perspective about what he is and what he isn't.

Unfortunately I think that you are right. Antonio has his work cut out for him.

Ah OK, sorry.

Spurs will be charged automatically. There is no decision for the FA to make. Five or more bookings and you're up before the beak.

It's depressing. Of course the usual tactic was just to ask you the time. I got asked the time by Chelsea fans, at a home game once. I was in the west stand because the non-Chelsea mate I was with that day didn't fancy The Shed. It was first game of the season vs Sunderland. Paul Cannoville scored the winner so the long arm, hairy knuckle, brigade were already wound up. I had the right accent so here I am to tell the tale. Another day I was on my own in the East stand because I'd won a ticket and wanted to give it a try. A group of Chelsea low lifes gathered around me with one in particular egging the others on to have a go. I got up, left the east stand then walked round to The Shed and The White Wall where my mates were. Morons are everywhere.

If it had gone in. If it had not gone in but, instead, had led to a counter from which they scored, then that would have been too horrible to contemplate. I'm just saying that the chance of getting a win, when a win wasn't really necessary, was not worth the risk of defeat, no matter how small that risk was. The things you've gone through are disappointing, upsetting and sad but will sound all too familiar to those of us who lived through those times. No matter who we support. Indeed, I bet there are Tottenham followers who could recount similarly bad experiences suffered at the hands of Chelsea fans. People who behave like that understand tribal behaviour, but they don't understand the fun of rivalry and banter. I'd just like to reiterate that my enjoyment of the Chelsea - Spurs games is nothing to do with ugly attitudes like those you have been unfortunate enough to encounter.

If that is accurate then problems is the wrong word. The word problems implies impact or stress injuries but such wouldn't be heritable and therefore would not apply to Nigerians in general but only to those who walk so much that they damage themselves. If there is truth in this, it must be because, over time, the feet of people who survive by walking would inevitably become adapted to that function. Whether adaptations in favour of long distance walking also tend to restrict flexibility I don't know.

On the contrary FB, I think it showed a burning desire to give us fans what we wanted. Namely, a mathematical end to Tottenham's title challenge. In the upcoming games against Sunderland, Liverpool or Leicester it would not be acceptable, but last night the ball into the corner was exactly the right decision to achieve that objective. Stopping Spurs was not one of our aims at the beginning of the season, but since they all went up in smoke this was all that was left. The secret to success in life is to get on with doing what you can do and not waste time crying over spilt milk. We couldn't win the league last night, we couldn't qualify for Europe or achieve anything meaningful for ourselves, but we could deny Spurs. I'm glad the players understood the importance of that and glad that they refused to swap the certainty of taking a point, for an outside chance of grabbing a meaningless win. In a different circumstance, a different decision would be called for, but not yesterday. Yesterday, putting the ball into the corner and taking the point was the right choice. Well played lads. Mission accomplished. Another positive was achieved last night too; the continuation of this most enjoyable of all rivalries. Spurs fans are going to be frustrated about the result, and angry about the way we reacted to it. They will seethe away and long to redress the balance. Good. I love the way these fixtures matter to both clubs. We've faced each other in cup finals, semi finals, a relegation four-pointer (as it was then), title deciders and mid-table mediocrities. Regardless of whether everything, or nothing, is at stake however these fixtures always matter in their own right. Love it. Long may it continue. Spurs will have their days too and when they do, they will, quite rightly, crow about them. It's all part of the fun, part of what makes these fixtures such magnificent occasions. The more it hurts when you loose, the more pleasure it brings when you win. Last night can only enhance the rivalry and I'm grateful.

This oft repeated impression should to be contradicted every time it appears. Nemanja was not good last season. With the odd exception, he was good for the first half of last season but, with the same odd exception, he was poor for the second half. Basically Nemanja had a good, maybe even a great, 2014 for us, but since then he has oscillated from ordinary to liability via passenger. With the odd exception of course.

It's Tottenham day!! This day which is always the very best of reasons for being a football fan but today is such a day. Today we can make Foxes history. Can't wait.

Thank you @Essien19, @Stats and @CHOULO19.

How did he do? I lost enthusiasm for the game when Charly didn't start.

Comment Deleted. Thought you were talking about Ali.

His form has not been great in recent weeks. (I missed one of the games but I'm told he was not effective.) It's perhaps tempting to think therefore that Charly has been dropped but maybe it's just tactical. Everybody shapes up for Barca and anticipates having no more that 30% of the ball. If that's so then it's understandable if Charly is the man sacrificed to the needs of the system they are going to use.

It's over now. The draw earned against Liverpool by our much changed line up last night, coupled with a win for City, leaves us 4 points behind them with only one game to play. City, who have two games remaining, technically need another point to secure the title ahead of Everton. At best however, The Toffees can only match City's points total and their goal difference is 10 goals worse.

Yes, Butch wound me up too with his constant repetition of that theme. All the more so because he clearly knows that judgements and selections have to be made. The huge majority of players who join a professional academy never get a sniff of the first team. Somebody is clearly judging them and selecting them out. Butch knows this better than we do so why he droned on so boringly about the chuck 'em in idea I just don't know. Further, based on his contributions in the commentary booth, Ray's ideas on the game seem entirely outdated. Perhaps others see it differently, but I can't say I was surprised to hear him say that he feels he won't go back into football management.

Who was, or was not, selected to play for Tottenham is a complete non argument. Neither you nor I know whether the players in our youth team would have been selected by Pochitino if they were at Spurs and neither do we know if the Spurs lads would have been selected if they were here. I have my thoughts and of course you do too but since we can't actually know, the Tottenham situation is proof of nothing either way. Contrary to what you appear to be saying, every single manager in the world, bar none, makes a judgement about young players before giving them games. For every Spurs youngster selected by Pochitino, there must be half a dozen he has not selected. By your argument, the only way to know if development level players can cut it is to pick them. Are you therefore going to lambaste the Spurs boss because there are so many youngsters to whom he has not given a chance? The notion that the only way to judge a young player is to give him games is a recurrent, but stupid, one. Youngsters have to earn a chance and when they get it they have to do enough to earn another. It is entirely evident that the club wants to promote from the academy but few have earned minutes, and none has made the most of them. Yet. My patience is not exhausted. If there are youngsters who, like you, have lost patience then by all means allow them to leave.

We won the southern section but the play-off section is ongoing. Looks like City are going to win that. If we'd hang on to our 3-1 half time lead in the fixture up there, we'd have been in better shape but having lost that game, we trail them by two points and they have a game in hand.

I was concerned about how this might go but the lads reminded me that I am one of the most pessimistic Chelsea fans going. I sometimes forget that when I read the doom laden, and aggressively hate filled thoughts of some TC members. I needn't have worried however. They fully and comfortably deserved their win. Well played boys. Congratulations too to Joe Edwards. When Dermot Drummy was moved out of the dug out and into a liaison role, I had the strong feeling that he was being moved sideways. With Joe however I genuinely think his impending change is all about his personal development. Sounds a good plan to me. Good luck to Jody when he takes over. I was never his biggest fan as a player, never a fan of any size if I'm honest, but I really like his demeanour around the place since his return. I'm very impressed by his thinking on the game as evidenced in his CTV appearances. He has a clarity and an honesty in the way he appraises performances and situations. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does when he takes charge of the 18s. While I'm at it, good luck too to Dermot at Crawley Town.

Kyle isn't going to make it at Chelsea anyway so a move is a good idea for him.

There was, ultimately, no ban although the suspicion persists that we bought our way out of it. My behaviour is fine and yes I did, correctly, write Kakuta off after 20 minutes. Anyone who had watched Gael dispassionately, rather than with this determined to be pleased attitude many display toward young/new players, would have done so too. Many are still displaying the same attitude toward our current crop of development players. Gael is not the only one I picked out then either: - There was a lad playing his last match, a lad who was deciding between offers from both Old Firm clubs. I have forgotten his name as I type but if I search out the post in question I'll be reminded of it. I predicted that he would not make it at either of those clubs. He went to Rangers and flopped. Players I picked out that I liked from that youth team were Hutchison, Bertrand, Cork and the one I liked most of all, Bridcutt. Of those we know what happened to Hutch, Liam seems to have settled at Championship level, while the other two have latched on at Premier league clubs. If you'd like a more comprehensive list of I told you so's, including Torres, you need only ask. Edit: The lad who moved to Rangers is Dean Furman.

Which set of stats belong to which player? (Not that stats sell me on much I have to say.) When I say I don't know which of Nangolan or Kante I'd prefer, I mean I have no opinion because I don't watch Nangolan.

I'll go as far as to say that I like Kante better than I liked Makelele when in possession. Kante vs Nangolan? Don't know.

No they wouldn't. One of MK Dons or Charlton would be.

Any more?