teignman

Oh you know, the usual finger-pointing and gloom. I'm sure Kalou, Malouda, or Hazard's name will make an appearance in the conversation. I must admit I wasn't thrilled with the Napoli draw. They've got quality, that's for sure. They also have some flaws, and their league form hasn't exactly been setting the world alight. I know this is a different competition from the league, but I do think that league form carries over to an extent.

That's right. Here it is: http://www.thefa.com/England/News/2012/080212.aspx

The "evidence" against JT is flimsy. Lip-reading should not be admissable in an FA kangaroo court, let alone a court of law. This whole situation seems to be a case of political correctness run amok. Witch hunts and the like were outlawed some time ago, so contemporary zealots have to get their jollies in this manner.

I rewatched the match, and was rather shocked at the lengthy delays making calls by him. He allowed himself to be bullied and coerced into decisions.

I understand that referees are human. They make mistakes, etc. However, I have absolutely no tolerance for sheer and utter incompetence (see Foy, Overbo) and favoritism (Webb). Howard Webb has awarded 54 penalties in the PL. 9 of them (a little under 17%) have been to Manure. At first glance that might not seem like favoritism, but consider the amount of games that this tosser has referreed, unfortunately, in the PL.

Atholy- I really would like to thank you for your posts of game videos for KDB. Well done sir!

A comment from Sky's match report: S Parsons (Manchester United fan) says... "Chelsea thought they deserved to win? One goal of class only. The defence is non exsisent and man u should have had another penalty. The manager is disallusional to think they should have won the game. " Erm, I think you mean "delusional" hoss. I'm not an expert on the English language, but that's not a word. This is rather fitting though: Their players contrive penalties, and their supporters contrive words.

Agree. The Romeu choice was to solidify our midfield, which was getting overrun. How was anyone to know that Romeu would have probably his worst game in our shirt.

First off, Bloody Hell! Ok now that I've got that out, it's the circumstances of the draw that I think has got most people upset. Dropped a 3 goal lead due to some poor play in the latter stages and some shoddy decisions by Manure's No. 1 supporter in black: Howard F. Webb (the F stands for fuckface). First, the Evra penalty was as soft as they come, but I could live with it. The supposed Welbeck pen is never a pen. Leaving your leg out to probe, search for, and eventually find contact is not a penalty. Not now, not ever. The third goal was some poor defending, granted it resulted from a throw that should have been awarded to us. However, Brana should've at least made an attempt to close down Giggs. Similarly, Luiz and Cahill left bitcharito unmarked and we saw the terrible result of these lapses. There was some good play from us, and especially with our starting 11 being decimated. 6 hours ago if you'd have offered me a draw, I would've taken it, but not in these circumstances.

For anyone that wants to check the status of the pitch and stadium, heres the link: http://origin-www.chelseafc.com/page/forcelogin/Webcam/0,,10268,00.html

24/31 The only ones I kicked myself for missing were Super Dan Petrescu and Lebouef

Rot you Tomo for spouting common sense and facts! I was perfectly happy with throwing my toys out of the pram and then you had to come along with this wise perspective.

Hell, after some of the performances this season, I'm probably more excited about the summer window than I am the next 15 matches.

Almost the entire first half was a shambolic display. Absolutely one of the more shocking displays from us in some time. However, we somehow seemed to get ourselves together toward the end. The second half was loads better. We dominated. We are still bogging down in the final third. One of things I've been noticing is our forwards seem to wait in the area for rebounds, spills, etc. Take a fucking gamble for heaven's sake and run to toward the goal for a tap in. Overall, I think we deserved the point, even with a jammy deflection drawing us level. They dominated us in the 1st half. Us them in the 2nd.

If they had scored from some of their quality play, I wouldn't begrudge them the goal. But that goal was a bit lucky. I think Petr probably should've done better. Rather weak clearance on the corner too.

Rather calamitous beginning for us. Feel a bit lucky to still be at 0-0.

Not too worried about Le Arse beating us to Eden's signature. The main reason is that they will have to fork out in excess of £30m to get him. Plus they'll have to give him wages that exceed their wage structure. The teams that do worry me are Real Madrid, Citeh, and Barca. I could rattle off some reasons why they don't make sense, but these teams have knack for making the big signings even when their teams are already loaded.

Well, apparently it's not fine in his eyes if he's asking for a review system. On his second point, the game would be slowed down much more by even 1 challenge. The challenge system has been embraced in American sports and kills the excitement and exhiliration of decisive plays. Also, the officials are still known to get calls wrong even with the benefit of video review. Good to know the brass at QPR is as cunty and hypocritical as the rank and file supporter. BTW, here's a little article I read on the antics of the QPR supporters before and during Saturday's match: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2093269/Even-children-joined-mayhem-Loftus-Road.html Like zolayes says, I hope these bastards keep going down and down. Love the little signs they have, "We are QPR. This is Loftus Road." Good that they identify themselves and the venue because someone might think it was some other pub team playing in a shoebox being cheered on by 15,000 assholes.

My take on the potential suitors for Jose's services: Arsenal- The cost of buying out his contract and salary will put them off. Spuds- see Arsenal ManUre- Sir Phallux will be in charge for the next 3 years. If Jose wants to cool his boots on moving, I could see this move happening in 3 years' time. Bin Dippers- I think the price tag could be off-putting, but not prohibitive. However, the issues of putting Queen Kenny out to pasture are a bit more difficult. The NESV brass are working hard to cultivate a solid relationship with the supporters, and sending the 'ol queen packing unceremoniously could be quite detrimental to this pursuit. I wouldn't say Jose going to the land of the hubcap thieves is impossible, but it's not likely, at least in the next year or maybe 2. That leaves us with the parvenu Manchester club. Heaven knows they've got the dosh to spend on buyouts, salary, etc. Mancini would seem to have some job security with their current position in the league and progress this season. However, if Citeh severely falter down the stretch (something I don't see happening), Mancini will be out faster than you can say Jack Robinson. Thus leaving Mourinho to come in. Now matter how much the simple-minded supporters of Citeh sing "Mancini, whooooa", they probably know that Mancini is a decent enough manager, but not a great one. Mourinho would be a definite improvement. Us- Been there, done that. Nuff said. Bottom line is, I don't see him leaving Real after this season. It would take something extraordinary for that to happen. Frankly, I don't want him back in the PL. He would strenghten one of our rivals, and I prefer our rivals to have whinging Frenchmen that fancy frail youth, ruddy complected costermongers that run afoul of the revenuers, or aging former star players that don bin liners in cold weather and enjoy paying far over the odds for mediocre talent at the helm of these teams.

Lille just sold Moussa Sow to Fenerbache. This could mean that they are effectively giving up on making the CL, and wanting to cash in on players now. Or it could mean that they got their price for Sow and will go into the market for a replacement. I still don't think this Hazard transfer will go through.

Alright, I'll just come out and say it: I'm not a big fan of this signing, or potential signing as it were. We're likely to pay too much for a player that quite possibly is not PL ready. I've watched Willian in the CL for a couple years now, a small sample size I'll admit, and I've seen him play a couple blinders. Overall though, he seems to have great flair, but not the substance to match. Like I said, this is only a small sample size and probably doesn't tell the whole story. I don't think this is the worst possible signing, but just not a fan of it. There is one area where I have not questioned AVB once, and that is his ability to evaluate talent in the transfer market.

They (Shakhtar) aren't going to loan an integral part of their team just to let us take him for a test drive.

A lack of service and confidence are probably the main culprits. Our form as a team has struggled since his arrival, and part of this has been trying to fit our team to Nando when we don't really have the personnel to service a player of his specific talents. I recently watched a compilation of all of Nando's goals with the dippers, and he just seemed to ooze self assurance and played with reckless abandon. But we've covered this ad nauseum on the forum so I won't say more to that end. I'm generally not a believer in curses, bad luck, etc., but I just have a feeling the Torres transfer put the malocchio on us. Even when he plays well or decent, he seems to hit the post or the keeper pulls an amazing save out of his arse (yeah John Ruddy I'm talking to you). Hell, even the media, who seemed to take a good deal of pleasure from his struggles, are coming to this conclusion. I think the media circus and his continuing drought drag the club down. I know it does to the supporters. I haven't been holding my breath for a return to the Nando of old. I think the pressure's has got to him from day one, and it will be an extremely impressive feat if he can regain a semblance of his former self finishing. However, I'll cheering him on and hoping for the best, cos he's not just any £50m striker that can't score for toffee. He's our £50m striker that can't score for toffee.

Definitely a match where a draw feels like a loss.

English football should take a long, hard look at itself. I understand that the "B team" system would have a very negative, if not devastating effect on the smaller clubs in England. The FA must ask themselves: Do they want to improve their showpiece (the PL) and its national side, or do they want to maintain an antiquated system that, whilst helping smaller clubs, impedes the progress of their two most popular and important jewels in their football crown?