Rhino's Skin

Trevor Francis is always the same when its Chelsea

did you miss the last few minutes...stream cut off??

wellthere we go....before the match it seemed as if we would need to beat Porto to be top of the group....now we only need a draw

Tell you what, lets change the way we 'support' Chelsea. Lets not give any player or manager the benefit of the doubt even though we are not privy to all the facts. Infact, lets all start pretending we are red top journo's or talksport presenters looking for that sensational headline. Of course Mourinho gets it wrong ....but it doesnt mean he gets it wrong every time and most 'normal' fans of any club would support their player, manager etc first before all the facts are known and any criticism can be said or not say anything at all. There are a few on here who just use any snippet of information or indeed..misinformation to beat Mourinho with a stick to justify their OTT, reactionary led views. Mourinho ain't my favourite person either but I will always give him the benefit of the doubt until facts prove otherwise on certain issues whilst he is manager of this club and I am pretty sure that is the 'norm' for most supporters in general

Its only over reactionarys like your goodself that make it an issue though. His comment ( name drop ) pales into the background when compared to Le Sauxs comments when he didnt know the ful facts. Expected better of a recent club ambassador who knew his ill advised comments would be plastered all over the media. Le Saux jumping on the bad nouthing of Mourinho and the club to self promote his new role....yup...stinks of it

lets hope Mourinho gets it right.....I think you are right about formation and players above.Wouldnt want to wish an injury or 2 on anyone...perhaps a bit of tiredness leading to a strain on Sunday early on though wouldnt go amiss....(clutching at straws) for us to gain an advantage.

you reckon Spurs will play a "2nd team" on Thursday or include players you mention?As I said, it could be interesting if a number were involved

not really......and summer spending after June would go on the next set of figures and signings are amortised anyway. Might have had something to do with getting Torres off the books though.....again, accountant advice anyone

yup....good to see a bit of variation in tactics with the possibilty to change without making subs and not lose balance. Mourinho getting his mojo back....but more importantly, the players buying into it. Will be interesting v Spurs as they for once are hot favourites. But its a Sunday midday match after they have played 2.5k miles away from home on Thursday night. Makes a change for scheduling to suit us .......but could be hard for Mourinho to 2nd guess Spurs tactics and line up

Need to put this into context as in an ex footballer paid very well and treated well by the club, then given an ambassadorial role by the club decides to leave and join this FA committee and the first thing he does is do a big article criticizing the club, players, dressing room and Mourinho just doesnt sit right. Of course we all know Mourinho could have picked any of the few that didnt go to Israel many years ago or indeed all of them....but the others havent been in a privaliged role like Le Saux recently and then gone onto mug the club off

Urm...Mourinho said in public he and the medical staff had their meeting.Why should the details of that be public? Just to satisfy do gooders like le saux in his new role ? Remember he was also mouthing off about how the incident affected team form and the dressing room........yet again....how does he know? So whilst its alright for GLS to have a big dig at our club and manager, its not ok for Mourinho to have a little one (just a name drop) back?

he actually said a lot more than that and how does he know that Mourinho hasnt apologised? Following that incident Mourinho did say that there had been a meeting with him and the medical department to sort any issues and differences out behind closed doors. The fact that Eva chose not to come into work and be part of that is her problem as she wasnt sacked or suspended.

le saux doesnt know the full facts and was running his mouth off about Mourinho and Chelsea with the issue of discrimination. How can he be spot on if he doesnt know the facts? Setting it back 30 years!!!!!..where did he pull that precise figure from?

Understand that but Le Saux was on about discrimination towards Eva and putting the game back 30 years which is a different issue

what Le Saux said was plastered all over the media and well documented. Basically in his new role as a member for FA Inclusion Advisory Board blaming Mourinho for putting the game back 30 years over the discrimination with Eva. So mugged off Mourinho and Chelsea before the full facts have been revealed and this after being a club ambassador and leaving the role to join the FA Inclusion Advisory Board.

all seems very reasonable especially with extra income for this season onwards coming in.Can an accountant type chappie who has knowledge in these things explain why we cannot do a 'Man City' and effectively hide wages by having a 3rd party holding company?

A little dig back at GLC for comments made recently.Admittedly he could have picked any name from 5 or 6 that didnt make the trip but GLC fresh in mind perhaps

I know what you mean and it can be very frustrating however I am sure they do practice set pieces a lot and the odd lofted ball into the area rather than the lower fast ones would make a difference otherwise the set pieces become too predictable.Am sure the likes of JT and Cahill etc would have something to say after getting in position for each one then having to sprint back for nothing

Do mods run around then whilst on here rather than be in their armchairs?I thought Costa was ok from Jan to end of season in the matches he played in and the real loss of form happened over the summer. He was still scoring ( not as much I know )and his contribution in games was still decent

bring back Lewis Baker....can take decent set pieces with both feet.

perhaps its the way we always try to 'fizz' it in at lower faster trajectory rather than the odd lofted dolly drop to the far post or pen spot which are easier to defend.

far too much logic in there for some of these to comprehend but as someone just a couple years behind you, I agree totally.Must be the change of ball every few months ;-)

ahhh...we long for the days back when we could say "on Sunday, its only Spurs" ;-)

he has done it before at Atletico and Chelsea....So why not.But then again, I am a half full glass type of supporter and forever optimistic trying to see the good in every player first

When Costa is good.....he is very good and a joy to watch. Seeing a few 'Torres and Drogba" ( at their worst ) moments in his general overall game at the moment, and I believe most of it is down to confidence, a bit of self pitying and frustration. By 'Torres'..I mean being on the outside of the box sometimes hiding instead of leading from the front and charging to the near post therefore opening up space for a midfielder (a la lampard) to follow up. By 'Drogba' ..I mean at his worst in the first 2 years with all the play acting, rolling around instead of manning up and getting on with it. It was a terrific well taken goal yesterday and loved the way he saluted and acknowledged the support who could have quite easily got on his back. Hopefully, thats a bit more confidence and him getting back to the form we know he is capable of. Whether you like him or not....we need him scoring and leading this team from the front