OhForAGreavsie

Yes, Yo-Yo's shot deflected off her into the net.

Second correctly given to Nusken. She tapped in right in front of me from Ezza's effort. 🙂 Sjoke has since added a third when a shot from JRK deflected off her and past Zinsberger. The keeper probably had Yo-Yo's shot covered. 3-0 Half time.

... Speaking of the 4th round FA Cup game with West Ham next weekend (Sunday 1:00pm). There are more tickets on sale because The Hammers didn't take up their full allocation. Buy Women's Tickets | Tickets | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

A blow without doubt and one which might impact Sam's plans for next season. Her current deal expires this summer but, with her fiancee moving to England for the next 18-months, it looked like Sam would have been seeking at least a one-year extension. Will Chelsea be prepared to give her a new 12-month deal while knowing she'll play half of it at the very most? Perhaps Sam will have to commit until summer '26, or beyond, to get a new contract out of the club now. As for the cover we have within our squad, we'll miss Sam in some ways but not in others. Sam is nothing special in general play and is outright hopeless in one-on-one situations. For instinctive finishes, movement in the box, and aura on the pitch, she has no equal in the WSL. All of which adds to saying that we have backup for some aspects of her play but not for others. My choice would be to promote Aggie Beaver-Jones but Emma's selection and substitution policy suggests that she is more likely to rely on Mia Fishel. We'll get a clue from her line up against West Ham next weekend.

I hope that the people who criticised me when I said that I would sign Gvardiol to play LB for us are a little less opposed to the idea now. 🙂

Were there that many people wanting Felix signed? I admit that I've spent less time on Chelsea fan sites this year than any year in the last quarter century, but my recollection is that the majority of people had agreed that Felix was not the right player to target. I wonder if there are any Blues' fans who would write a cheque to Atleti for Felix now.

Some friends treated me to hospitality at this game. I thought the mince pies were a part of the package. Little did I know. 🙂

Enjoyable afternoon. Thought we played way better than last two outings. Felt Sjoke was good, ditto Ashley Lawrence, Ezza also. Really liked Hannah Hampton today too. Lived up to the billing as being the best around with her feet. Apart from the error which almost gifted them a goal thought she looked pretty competent. Hope to see her given more chances. Hats off to Bristol City. They are really getting right with building support. I was at Guro's first game for us at Bristol a few years back. It was played at Stoke Gifford in what was basically a university athletics track. There were maybe 150 Chelsea fans there and even fewer Robins' followers. Today they attracted well over 9000. Nice stadium, good fans lots of positive steps being taken. And they competed better than any Bristol team I've seen.

I won't be going to Stamford Bridge today so my ticket for the the Chelsea women vs Liverpool women game is available. I am essentially offering the ticket for free but only on condition that it is actually used. I will ask anyone requesting the ticket to send me £10 via PayPal but, if you later send me a photo of the game taken from my seat, I will refund the tenner. I paid £21.25 for it but, as a one-off general sale ticket, it would cost £25. It is an e-ticket for the Matthew Harding lower. If anyone is interested just let me know. I will give priority to anyone who has never attended a CFCW game previously.

I was not saying that he was overrated before he joined because I didn't watch him enough to have an opinion. Since he got here the doubts have been creeping in however. I'm looking forward to Poch having Lavia as an option then we'll see what the competition can do to keep both players at their best level. It would be nice if those two can keep that slot in the team under control while we sharpen the squad in other areas, before we have to come back and think if we need to look at DM again.

No, no, no, no, no.

Really interesting press conference from Emma today. Not said directly of course but it seems clear that the stories of difficulties in her contract negotiations with Chelsea are true, and that this played some part in her decision to go. There was also a slight slip in one reply which suggests that at least one of her staff will be leaving with her. Since there is already a claim circulating that defensive coach Denise Reddy, a Yank, will be going with Emma, that rumour only get stronger now.

You prefer Badi over Levi? (Not commenting on your opinion, just hoping to hear more.)

Ellis was really unpopular with the players when she managed the USA team. I wonder if her time as a top level manager is done.

When Conor was an under 18s player, he was the favourite of then manager Jody Morris. I was never convinced however, and was very clear that I did not see a Chelsea future for the young man. I have been challenged on that from time to time over the years and have always promised that, if I proved to be wrong, I would remind people what I said, and acknowledge my error. So, is it time for me to fess up?

You must be an only child, else your sibling(s) must be the sweetest, loveliest, person/people imaginable. Nothing else could explain how you survived after putting them through that god knows how many times a day. 🤣

Battersea is not, I think, a royal park so it is not necessarily a special protected area. Nevertheless, it's a great open air space enjoyed by millions of Londoners every year. I would hate to see it lost to development. When I was little, I used to be taken the the permanent funfair there. When my daughters were small we enjoyed so many days there picnicking, in the adventure playground, around and on the lake, in the zoo, or riding their bikes by the riverside. The football stadium has to go somewhere else.

Ah ok, thank you. I got my info from This article in The Telegraph which said that the club was hiring the driving force behind So-Fi Stadium to work on CFC's new home.

So-Fi Park is stunning and technologically outstanding. Anything even close to that would be fantastic new home for CFC. Obviously we won't be looking at all of the additional things around the stadium itself, there just isn't that kind of room available in London: -

Roman did go for Battersea, but lost out to a Chinese bidder. In fact he could never have won. The Chinese had deeper pockets and, more importantly, a mixed retail/housing development is always going to generate enormously more revenue than a football stadium. Not only could the Chinese bidders afford to pay more, they could also justify paying more because of the greater returns.

I always describe this as my favourite CFCW away fixture, and sometimes fixtures, of the season, but I'm beginning to wonder why. I've been up there more than half-a-dozen times, but have never seen us win once. This was a really disappointing performance by Chelsea but, as our girls can do, they found a way to get a result despite not playing well.

It is claimed to be inside info but not mine. I have no inside sources. 🙂 Simon Jordon has said he knows what went on, and that Tuchel had to go. Danny Murphey has said the same, as has Jason Cundy. All claiming that the information they have left CFC with no option but to dismiss TT. Chelsea journalist Nizaar Kinsella has echoed this as has, for what it's worth, Chelsea fan YouTuber Yan on his Football Therapy channel. He has claimed to have learned information from inside the club which means there was no alternative but to sack the former manager. This is not an exclusive list.

Without knowing details of the Tuchel sacking, I can't really judge it. I do though give weight to people who say they know details. Every such person I'm aware of says TT had to go. I would have liked him to stay but there does not seem to be anyone in the know who is on his side on this. The players who left needed to go. Whether they wanted to go because they lost faith in the club's leadership, or because they lost faith in the quality of the squad, doesn't matter. With the one possible exception of Lewis Hall, they all had to go as a matter of urgency.

I agree that Lyon would have been a better destination for Andrey than Forrest, but that he would have earned, and retained, a place in L'OM's first team is not a given.

Football wise I think we all agree with this but multiple sources are saying that they have information about non football issues which forced the club to sack him. Other than the rumours of an affair with a CFC staff member, I have no idea what these issues might have been but it does seem the club had no option.