TacticalBlues

Seriously hope Demba Ba gets better, classless twats those Newcastle fans in the stand. Booing off a former injured player, who without, they'd be in an even more shite' position than they are already this season.

Luiz is just a great person.

Agree completely, made this point in the Rafa thread: Our board is more to blame than Rafa IMO. They took a precarious situation and tipped it over the edge. I'm not defending the guy for sure; his subs and game plans are just unfathomable. Sacking the legendary Di Matteo was always going to be exacerbated by employing Rafa,a man who had such a fierce history with us and has left his last two clubs at the abyss of mediocrity. The only logical motive behind it was getting the best out of Torres, a feat which any sane footballing man would deem highly improbable and today, practically impossible. Again this illusory feat was driven by a desperate attempt to mitigate the rigor of a flop-destined Torres with no logical thought behind the best move for the club, both present and future. All the positives that were dug out is just farcical. The boos were inevitable, and although equally unhelpful, the board must have foreseen retaliation on the back of sacking of a legend and employing, like his Spanish compatriot Torres, a deteriorating professional subsisting on the tatters of his "reputation". We need a serious reshuffle and the "yes men" at the hierarchy of our club must be dug out and moved out.

Exactly, even if it is, charity is charity the people benefiting won't lose anything. If only more footballers did that. IMO charity is what made our Drogba even more of a legend.

Yeh big props to him, when the journos asked more questions the sum was not his full salary, but what he called a big sum. They just thought of the idea this morning so the intricacies are yet to be completed.

Beckham on why he has chosen to donate his salary to charity: "One of the reasons I wanted to come to Paris was we decided on something quite unique. I won't receive any salary. My salary will go to a local children's charity. That's one of the things we're excited and proud to do. It's something exciting and I'm not sure it's been done before." It's not his full salary, but what he called a big sum.

On top of Hazard news, Mata seems positive about the knock he picked up.

Thank god for that... More here: http://www.thefa.com/News/governance/2013/jan/eden-hazard-sanction-swansea-chelsea.aspx

Our board is more to blame than Rafa IMO. They took a precarious situation and tipped it over the edge. I'm not defending the guy for sure; his subs and game plans are just unfathomable. Sacking the legendary Di Matteo was always going to be exacerbated by employing Rafa,a man who had such a fierce history with us and has left his last two clubs at the abyss of mediocrity. The only logical motive behind it was getting the best out of Torres, a feat which any sane footballing man would deem highly improbable and today, practically impossible. Again this illusory feat was driven by a desperate attempt to mitigate the rigor of a flop-destined Torres with no logical thought behind the best move for the club, both present and future. All the positives that were dug out is just farcical. The boos were inevitable, and although equally unhelpful, the board must have foreseen retaliation on the back of sacking of a legend and employing, like his Spanish compatriot Torres, a deteriorating professional subsisting on the tatters of his "reputation". We need a serious reshuffle and the "yes men" at the hierarchy of our club must be dug out and moved out.

Game is shyte so far. Real Barca is deadly, Essien is looking very dangerous, so great to see.

"No matter how good I am, there's no chance I'm gonna get a look-in when one of the best players of all-time is playing in my position." Of course we don't have Messi playing as striker but why would he risk less game time when he's finding first team action in the Serie A. 19 years old, moving to England would be another big culture change. Then again we are Chelsea and not Sampdoria, so if we want him who knows. Nonetheless, moving him now from a neutral's point of view doesn't seem a wise choice, a loan back deal or something along those lines would be the best deal for us. (probably)

The Messi comparisons are as you say are mainly down to the fact he's Argentinian, and comes from the same city as Messi. From what I've seen he's not your typical La Maisa product (passing and moving etc). I think this was one of the reasons they let him go. In terms of playing style the most accurate comparison I've seen is with Batistuta, a complete striker, good pace and physical enough, and can score range of goals. His stat's are further evidence to his talent, this year he's scored 7 goals in 16 games in Serie A, which is no easy feat. Prandelli's seemingly begging him (promising him a spot in 2014 wc squad) to choose Italy over Argentina, having already turned down Spain. Ultimately though I'm not sure whether its the right time to move. Perhaps staying in Serie A would be best for him. maybe buying him and loaning him back? One things for sure, if he continues at this rate, his price is going to rocket.

Great great talent.

They're already practicing commentating Drogba goals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQpHwvmH2nQ

The same association that had the balls to refer this: 3 games is "clearly insufficient" here though:

Is this guy something or is he something?

It's notoriety rather than fame. He'll lose his followers sooner rather than later. Nonetheless the fact that he is 17 verging on 18, (right when I started Uni for goodness sake) and is a ballboy diving around the floor waving and imaginary card from a dubious toe poke has rightly made him the center of ridicule worldwide. He may of laughed at the time but sine then there has been a huge backlash. The kid's spoilt to the bone and I'm sure if he has any conscience, little though it seems, he would feel somewhat embarrassed.

Lol even Lilly Allen is ripping the kid. I'd be so embarrassed if I was the kid, the whole world are finally opening there eyes and seeing who the real twat was.

Blame the ball boy, don't give Hazard a kicking - this 'kid' is everything that's wrong with modern Britain... By Adrian Durham So, a Chelsea player was sent off for kicking a ball. Yes, a ball boy was lying on top of that ball to waste time. But Chelsea are the easy target, aren't they? The small club - the underdog - gets all the sympathy. If it’s a Chelsea player he’ll get the blame because nobody likes Chelsea. The ball boy lets the ball roll past him for no reason, then blocks Eden Hazard off when he should just let the Chelsea man have the ball. He then, for no reason, flops on to the ball. Hazard has no choice, and actually no damage was done, nobody got badly hurt. The ball popped out of the other side of the ball boy’s belly, Hazard kicked the ball, not the ball boy.Let’s face facts: this kid wasn’t content with his special night being ball boy at a League Cup semi-final – that should be enough in itself. No, he wanted to go a bit further and be an overnight Twitter sensation. It was either drawing a Premier League player into a conflict by rolling around on the floor, or apply to go on The Jeremy Kyle Show. And as soon as he found out that at 17 (the oldest ball boy in the world?) he’s just too young for the Jezza Show, one of those Chelsea players was going to be in trouble. Within minutes of the incident his Twitter account gained thousands of followers. That account shows him holding a can of cider, and describing himself as a 'lad.' It also explains his ball boy shift was a one-off comeback to help out, and claimed he was 'needed for timewasting.' The stories that he is the son of a Swansea director, who owns the hotel where Chelsea were staying make him a perfect candidate for the next Celebrity Big Brother. Don’t get me wrong, Swansea deserved to go through because they were easily the better side over two legs. But they didn’t need any help from the ball boy. Players waste enough time without some kid deliberately stopping the ball going back into play. I’ll go even further: this kid is an example of what is wrong with Britain. A generation of kids with no respect whatsoever for adults. No respect for professionals trying to do their job. He’s being treated like a hero by some and labelled a victim by others. What a weird world we live in. There were suggestions that the FA should provide neutral ball boys after this disgraceful incident. That’s how crazy the game has become. I can see why Hazard was sent off by the ref who missed a blatant penalty at Spurs on Sunday. But football is ridiculous sometimes. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2267459/Adrian-Durham-column-Hazard-ballboy-Leon-Britton-Arsenal-Villa-Newcastle.html The daily fail have posted three new articles on this not against Chelsea I hope this is a sign that people are finally realising how blown of out of proportion this really was.

Miss our Africans, Drogba's the boss. Great teamspirit, hope they win it this year!

R.I.P Rationale, Common Sense & Faith in Humanity First of all let me say that Hazard was in the wrong, regardless of whether he kicked the ball or ballboy, he overreacted. However he isn't the only one. South Wales police, the press, public, Swansea players and ballboy himself can join the long queue. Hearing that police will "not take the matter further" actually makes me sick to my stomach. The incident has been blown way out of proportion but sadly, draws uncanny comparisons with the John Terry witch-hunt last year. To break it down simply, Chelsea were chasing a game and in the latter stages, Swansea ballboys were time-wasting to ensure the retrieval of the ball took as long as possible, a clear act of gamesmanship. Judging by his Twitter comments it was pre-meditated, he clearly wanted the limelight and let it known he would be on TV. This is the problem we have in society, the PC brigade that thrust moral outrage at the most minimal of events upon us. All that needs to simply happen is for both Hazard and the ballboy to shake hands and exchange autographs (the ballboy is probably the bigger celeb of the two now), that is as far as the incident should go. It was a simple misunderstanding to an incident that happened in the heat of the moment. For those that believe Hazard went in with the intent or in fact kicked the ballboy I ask you this: If time was being wasted anyway, why would Hazard want to intentionally cause injury to a ballboy thus prolonging things even further and wasting more time? Sky's product "The Premier League" is becoming increasingly more about politics and brand image rather than actual football and common sense/rationale scarcely prevails, this incident being indicative of this, as have others. Since Sky got involved the agenda has long since been to destroy football as a sport and make the transition into being a business. In business there are no morals, few ethics (which are actually adhered to), it's a cold and ruthless game whereby you cannot have or be seen to display any emotion. This doesn't necessarily transcend onto the football pitch though, to players, football is first and foremost a sport, they dedicate their lives to it from grass roots level upwards. The FA have tried vehemently to stamp out any kind of emotion from the game. Footballers, managers and even fans are now being told to be submissive and emotionless. The lack of empathy with Chelsea fans regarding Di Matteo and Benitez is further testament to this. - Wayne Rooney - banned for swearing after scoring a goal - Ashley Williams - publicly vilified for kicking a ball at Robin Van Persie's head (whilst the ball was in a dangerous area in his own 12 yard box), which he later apologised for and claimed was unintentional. - John Brooks - dropped for a tongue in cheek conversation with the Man City players, telling them to thank their own fans. Most journalists have never played football or any sport at any level so their public condemnation of Hazard and sensationalism shouldn't surprise anyone, it doesn't surprise me at all fellow professionals like Michael Owen and Gareth Bale have leapt to the defence of Hazard, they understand football and understand the concept of emotions running high in football stadia, football is more than just a mundane sport to them. I'll finish with some food for thought, who is the real victim? Is it the tactless 17 year old ballboy who boasted of time-wasting before the game and milked as much attention as he could from a minor incident and drives around in an Audi OR is it 22 year old Eden Hazard, who in the heat of the moment whilst provoked may or may not have kicked the ballboy whilst trying to retrieve the ball and is no undergoing a character assassination from the press? One can seemingly do as he pleases and is under no pressure, the other has been in the country not much longer than 6 months and left all he knows and is expected to deliver for one of the biggest football clubs in the country. Wayne Rooney and the Manchester United Football Club were real victims of the PC witch-hunt, not armchair Sky viewers, Ashley Williams was the real victim of the ball incident in Swansea, not Robin Van Persie and John Brooks was the real victim at the Emirates, not Sky or the FA's brand image. The victim culture that exists amongst human beings and is transmitted via football succinctly epitomises everything that is wrong with not just football, but modern society, the need to try and condemn people of being guilty for something when they aren't. The need to create a (moral) crime that doesn't actually exist http://mylesmunro.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/rip-rationale-common-sense-faith-in.html Hit's the nail on the head with a lot of the points.

Wow I'm glad the majority of fans, comments I've read, people I've talked too don't hold such a cynical view. You're acting as if Hazard didn't go for the ball.

@CHOULO19 With respect, you make it sound so simple and straightforward. Hazard's not exactly a vastly experienced footballer. He turned 22 literally last week. This "kids" 17, soon to be 18 according to his twitter. Sure Hazard should've known better but in the heat of the moment, with a few minutes left - and with footage showing us that our players complained to the ref about the ballboys time wasting throughout the game - I really empathize with him. Hazard certainly didn't go out there to kick the boy, he just wanted the ball. He didn't let the team down, he just wanted to play football and needed the ball for that... I am 100% sure the players won't feel let down, all professional footballers ala Owen have symphathised with Hazard and I'd like to think our players will feel the same. (they certainly will)