Kostas

6 goals in 9 starts from Daniel Sturridge. Good job Danny.

Kalou on for Kakuta 2nd half underway.

I've given up on us scoring from a corner without Terry.

Not the scoreline I was expecting to see coming home. Who was at fault for the goal?

Turnbull Ferreira Bruma Ivanovic Van Aanholt McEachran Ramires Kakuta Sturridge Drogba Malouda Subs: Hilario, Mikel, Kalou, Anelka, B.Clifford, Mellis, Sala

Then why the hell did he bother to write that load of BS?Guess his only purpose was to make Mancs and Scousers feel better about their owners.

You !@#$%^&* !Why let the truth get in the way of a good story? Especially one that involves slating our board and the man that saved us.

Not going to watch this if both Turnbull and Kalou start, they'll probably lead me to a nervous breakdown.

I told you this was the stupidest thing he could do!

Discussing a non-issue is a waste of time.

I think he means that the odds on Carlo leaving were reduced dramatically. That happened due to the false twitter rumour I wrote about in the General Media Bullshit topic.

^Interesting view,can't comment on it at the moment but I'll keep arguing that it was proven just a few months ago that Abramovich is willing to fund big transfers. In case anyone reads something about Ancelotti offering his resignation and Chelsea rejecting, it's just a Twitter rumor that started out of nothing.

A few post match thoughts: Our crossing and corners are just terrible, can't lay all the blame at the one who delivers them cause frankly even Frank isn't the best corner taker in the world. Under Ancelotti it seems that we have banned crosses but there has to be done something about corners.Playing a bunch of CFs doesn't open defenses, in the long run we have to get a proper winger. Poor Sturridge was playing closer to the corner flag than the penalty area, I'd love to see him get more minutes in his natural position.I was very pleased with our performance and our spirit but now want to see us dominate games against teams that actually test our defense and our midfield (like Sunderland did).Birmingham are just a terrible side,they should get relegated just for wasting time from the 1st half.

I'd love to congratulate CA for giving the kids a chance but anyone would start them in such a meaningless game. I'll be impressed if he gives them a start in the league.

Agreed. Essien can be used as a holding midfielder letting Josh play in Lampard's role. I'd love to see Kakuta used in a central offensive role but I'm afraid we'll shove him in the wing once more.

Is there any way you can make the "This post is hidden because ..." message less noticeable ?

I won't be overly concerned or disappointed if this ends up being another APOEL or Newcastle v2. Resting seniors and playing kids is all we have to do now at this stage of the CL, results don't matter.

The media and anyone spouting nonsense about Emenalo being Avraam Grant Mark II tend to overlook the fact that CA is a very different man to Mourinho and survived much worse at Milan. There won't be any reaction from CA's side, we'll just have to hope that the people at the club and Mr.Abramovich have learned something from sacking the previous world class coach we had. Keeping Ancelotti is as vital as breaking even for the long term future of the club.

I guess that proves that Borini is completely out of our plans.

That part has nothing to do with this November. I'm not one to knee-jerk over a bad patch and I think my posts since October (when our slump started) prove that. England's top 3 haven't looked like contenders for the Champions League for a while now. ManUnited fans may claim that last season they were a brialliant volley away from the semis and possibly their 3rd straight final. But if they are honest they know that they had the luckiest draw they've ever had and a road to the final that any ManUtd team from 2005 would simply walk. The same goes for Chelsea fans, sure we've annihilated many teams during Ancelotti's reign, scored lots of goals and dominated games like we never did but to me when we faced organized top sides we never looked as strong and convincing as we did during 2004-2007. I'm not ruling out any possibility of us winning the CL. Anyone watching football for a few years knows that in cup competitions luck,penalties draws and incompetent referees are more important than squad depth or the quality of your first XI. Flukes are possible (Livepool 2005) and great teams can get hard done by (Chelsea 2004-2008), you can even get away with having a squad as thin as we do (the league format is the only one that truly tests squad depth). What I think and was thinking even before October - November 2010 (bad performances - bad results) is that we're nowhere as powerful as we've been in the past and combined with our bad luck the CL is out of reach.

I agree that we're paying too much for these kind of players but it won't be an issue if if Ramires can improve as much as Mikel did.I mean, some Mancs laughed when we apparently payed around 12m for him but in the long run it was a great deal. And don't bother bringing up the Ozil and VdV transfers, those were exceptions. In today's market James Milner is worth 30 millions.

BBC's David Ornstein reports:

I wouldn't mind being within 10 points from the first place.

The top 4 is no more. Last season Livepool under Benitez were shocking, losing to relegation fighters and failing to reach the CL knockout stages only a year after their "historical" 86 points that only got them the 2nd place. It looked like either ManCity or Tottenham would take their place among England's finest teams.We won the league with 86 points, the lowest total since ManUnited in 2002/3. During the summer none of the top 3 clubs improved significantly. United got some young players with potential while we got rid of the dead wood. Arsenal replaced their vulnerable central backs but still can't deal with direct teams. Some claim the league is more balanced now and much more competitive. The way I see it the top clubs are just shit. We have the thinnest squad in the league and also the weakest since Roman took over,United haven't been this bad since 2004 and Arsenal remain serial bottlers and and overrated kids who can pass the ball. None of the clubs is strong enough to convincingly and consistently beat midtable opposition not to mention decent teams who can properly defend. Sure you have teams like ManCity and Tottenham who can actually step their game up on a special occasion but they were never going for the league. The team that will win it will in my opinion just be the best of a horrible bunch. 80 points will be enough to win the league, English clubs stand no chance in Champions League this year.

That's seems to be what most believe. On the other hand just a few months back we were ready to pay 30 millions for Neymar and around 7 for Begovic.