CHOULO19

I know the guy. Most condescending idiot you'll meet in your life! He was a member on here and got banned before moving on to the Shed End. Wait, "former"? Has he gotten himself banned from there now as well?

Psycho Pearce?

Interesting. Might just have a look into and see if it can help. Thanks Be careful what you wish for!

But it's really fun! You should try it

Sorry, never heard of them and too lazy to google Would be kind as to explain what they are?

He lets players pass by, he's a defensive liability. He makes tackles, and suddenly he's the bad guy. The man just can't win with you people! I'd actually read that it was Fabregas who made the tackle, but they didn't say it was on Musonda.

Wait! We're doing Emenalo avatars? AND NO ONE TOLD ME?!!! :o

I think he's a great manager to rebuild a squad and install a certain system. But he's incredibly stubborn and will likely create tensions inside the club. You're either on his good side or you're screwed. Tactically he's good but very rigid and will rarely accommodate the opponents. To be completely honest, I think managing internationally suites him better than managing at club level.

Well, that's stupid. Should have just had 4 groups like the last Euros which were great and almost every single match was between top quality teams. This is incredibly more confusing and less entertaining.

Thanks, I hadn't seen that. Pat is not any journo, though. He's affiliated with the club and with CTV so coming from him it is not 'rumors' but inside information. But he's cleared it up now and obviously Cesc should and probably will withdraw the case.

Thanks. I think I'm actually going to use one of those!

Think he has every right to try to clear his name. It was a pretty stupid thing from Nevin to say and I actually adore Pat.

Tbf, I think it would be great for the forum to have someone with well expressed opinions as TOPTB was.....as long as it's without the passive aggressive attitude, the personal vendettas against certain members and the insane threats to people through PMs! As for Lionsden, I think he should be un-banned and formally apologized to.

What's worse is that I was planing on writing weekly articles playing the same role. Now I can't decide if this was a complete fiasco or a huge success!

I have no friends Seriously though, aren't you that Pacquiao guy who got banned? But isn't buying players the job of Maria I-can't-spell-her-last-name? That's actually what I meant in my point (which was more of a joke than anything) not that Emenalo doesn't deserve the criticism but that no one actually knows his actual role in any of this. The board definitely deserves a lot of stick, but it's a bit funny to me that a lot of fans always throw everything on Emenalo and not the rest of the board

Nah, I jest. But it's genuinely good to have you back.

Minor note, but I've made no distinction between match-going and non match-going fans regarding the irrational response. In fact I even stated that it all even started on social media before the match. Also, this article is meant to be a bit controversial/thought provocative so try to take it with a pinch of salt. Finally, it's a bit funny that the main criticism for the content has been that I'm suppressing the fans' right of expression....mostly from people telling me that my opinion is not wanted/needed! To be fair mate, that was more of 'joke' aimed at me from FB as we usually discuss politics togther. I doubt he meant to offend anyone You know, with the disdain you have for this place and its top posters, I do wonder why you've decided to come back

Agree with all of that, really. Might add to the point about player power that that is necessarily the case in modern football especially at top clubs where short term success is always a must, so I think it's less of setting a precedent and more the players realizing that they have always had that power. Of course they do. I'm not saying ban booing! Just pointing out that in this case it is rather irrational. The first direct consequence of anyone's right to express his opinion is the right of others to criticize that opinion. Criticizing the opinion they are expressing is not taking their right to express it.

Was actually hoping you'd weigh in about how psychologically that irrationality and hysteria come to be when it concerns something as emotional as that

Thanks. My point was more about singling out of those three players based on reports and not on whether he had lost the team. I don't think there's anything wrong with booing the entire team if you think they've let the manager down. That would probably motivate them more as a squad. But picking on two-three players based on reports that have already been disputed by the papers that published them is irrational to me. Btw, the quote about being betrayed was, as is the case with like 90% of Jose quotes, taken well out of context. The original sentence iirc was something like "We identified in training four movements that Leicester make and the two goals came from one of them: Vardy making a diagonal run when Maherez is on the ball. So I feel that my work is-I don't know if this the right word-betrayed." You can find the original interview on YouTube if you like. Links like this? Come on mate, it's the media selling papers/clicks: https://www.google.com.lb/search?q=Chelsea+news%3A+Jose+Mourinho+and+Cesc+Fabregas+were+allies+not+enemies&oq=Chelsea+news%3A+Jose+Mourinho+and+Cesc+Fabregas+were+allies+not+enemies&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8 Let me put it this way: I think that Emenalo's post is about as deserved as the criticism he is getting for the sacking of Jose. I agree about the performance against Sunderland, though. Thought we showed a bit more determination in the first half but the second half was a typical performance from this season. The two early goals and the fact that Sunderland's defense was schoolboy level made the performance look A LOT better than it actually was. As I said in the OP, we are in NO WAY out of the ditch that we've dug ourselves into.

The sacking (again) of the most successful manager in the history of Chelsea FC was always going to be an emotional affair, but the reaction to it among the Chelsea fan-base has been nothing short of mass hysteria. A hysteria that has manifested itself during our much needed win against Sunderland with the targeting of specific Chelsea players with nonconstructive boos from the crowd as well as down right disgraceful signs calling them rats and snakes. Jose was always going to get the sack after the last four months. Any sane evaluation of the situation would conclude that, for some time now, it has been a question of when Jose will be fired, and not if; with the most optimistic predictions giving him until the end of the season. What did those who were shocked by the sacking expect? Chelsea Football Club, the current champion of England is involved in a relegation battle in the middle of December! Whether or not Jose was the main culprit of this fiasco of a season is completely irrelevant. As the man in charge of the team he was always going to be the one to suffer the consequences. That is the actual definition of a position of power and responsibility. Whatever you believe was the main cause of this disaster, the board's decision to sack the Portuguese was not unreasonable. Another irrational symptom of the sacking seems to be the abuse aimed at Michael Emenalo by people who admittedly have no idea what his actual role at the club is. It seems the Nigerian has become the John Obi Mikel of board directors, destined to be scapegoated for every unfortunate event regardless of his role in it. But by far the most irrational response to the sacking has been the singling out of certain players, namely Fabregas, Costa and Hazard, as the guilty parties in the sacking of Jose Mourinho. The accusations are not based on performances, as it excludes some of the worst performers this season such as Matic who Jose famously singled out as "unable to make a pass", vice captain not-so-marvelous Ivanovic, and Oscar who was actually cheered when subbed off on Saturday. Instead, the accusations are based on journalistic reports from "inside information" about a role of 'player power' in Jose getting fired. The inside information is so obviously reliable that the same papers are now contradicting their own claims and saying that Fabregas was actually Jose's biggest ally in the team (again based on inside information!). Again the uncritical acceptance by a majority of Chelsea fans of these baseless accusations by some journalists can only be explained by the irrationality resulting from the hysteria, not least because those players are very unlikely to hold any significant power inside the squad. But even assuming, for the sake of arguing, that these stories are indeed true (besides the obvious conclusion that Jose was either completely oblivious to his own squad or a complete idiot for continuing to field players who want him fired), three players staging a 'revolt' may excuse sitting just outside the top four, but it cannot justify the champion of England being in a relegation battle zone on Christmas. So that alone cannot relieve the manager of responsibility nor make the sacking unfair or unjustified. I am in no way saying that those three players, or any other player, bar maybe Willian, are innocent from this 'crime' that is this season. Everyone at the club shares responsibility, from the players, to the manager to the board. But ultimately, Jose is gone, so the booing is not actually supporting anyone. On the contrary the singling out of players is completely counter productive and will only destroy their confidence and create a more tension in the team. Calling them snakes and rats is downright disgraceful for a fan base that has always prided itself on backing any player who puts on a blue shirt, even Torres! Ultimately, those upset by the team playing well after Jose was sacked are no better than those who were upset when we beat Porto because they wanted the Portuguese gone. Finally, I fully understand the level of emotions surrounding the Chelsea faithfuls, after all we are all going through them together, but I think that at this critical time we, as fans, need to play our part in getting the team back on track, because we are in no way out of the ditch that we've put our selves in. We really ought to create the best possible atmosphere for the boys and the new manager to try to salvage whatever possible from this wretched season. I urge you to keep calm in the knowledge that Chelsea Football Club will survive this and continue to strive because at the end of the day, no one person is bigger than the club, not even Jose Mourinho.

How am I taking away their right to express their opinions?! I'm saying that singling our players is counter productive and hurts the team. If you still want to boo specific players after that I'm not going to put gag on your face, am I? Of course it does. I'm not saying I know more than you where to park or get a beer around Stamford Bridge, but the football and performances of the players we both experience the same. Why in the world would your opinion on any of the things being discussed here count more than mine? Ridiculous.

No there isn't. The love, passion and dedication to the club has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you go to games and it certainly doesn't mean that the opinions of those who do are more important than those who don't. Debate me with logic, don't dismiss my opinion because you think your opinion matters more.

Alright, that was OTT from me, I apologize. But your "we're real fans, you're second class" is incredibly annoying and not really a valid point.

Get off your high horse you condescending twat I am not stopping anyone from expressing their opinion or debating and I will not stop expressing mine. If you don't like it either debate it or ignore it.