BlueLion.

Because, despite him being a twat, he's often quite right.

Captain, leader, legend. But if he'd have gone to City, no-one would have gave a shit. Thankfully he didn't. So I repeat; Captain, leader, legend.

Definitely need Balley to play in this game. In fact I'll be disappointed if he doesn't start, he's been consistently brilliant and a real goal threat this term.

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I absolutely agree there. If it brings in a nice sum of money to splash out on players, what would be so bad about it?

How's that?

Yeah, I'm happy with the length, the aim is to make them more opinionated from now on. Thanks for reading.

Match report -

Tuesday 3 November 2009, the UEFA Champions League, Group Stage, Estadio Vicente Calderon, Madrid Chelsea qualified for the knockout rounds of the Champions League thanks to two Didier Drogba goals, as they drew with Atletico Madrid. The Spanish side, struggling for form both domestically and in Europe, took a deserved lead when Sergio Aguero hammered home a stunning volley to give Quique Sanchez Flores' side the advantage. The result means Chelsea qualify, alongside FC Porto who beat APOEL Nicosia 1-0 in Cyprus, as well as Manchester United and Bordeaux. Chelsea were laborious and failed to play with the same creativity and cohesion that has seen them win so many recent admirers, but were back on terms through Didier Drogba, and the Ivorian scored again just moments later to give Chelsea a lead - arguably against the run of play. But Atletico hit back through Aguero's excellent freekick to give the Spaniard a share of the spoils. Didier Drogba was back in the Chelsea team for the first time in the Champions League since his antics following Chelsea's loss to Barcelona in May - and though that was significant news, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti chose to field Salomon Kalou over Nicolas Anelka alongside the Ivorian in a relatively-unexpected move. But it was Atletico that enjoyed the better of the first half, with Flores' side showing more urgency than their English opponents. Diego Forlan flashed a left-footed effort wide whilst at the other end, Drogba's shot on the turn went wide of Asenjo's post. Chelsea had soaked up a lot of the early Atletico pressure, but were not showing the same fluidity that has seen them score 17 goals in their last four matches. A rare start for former Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes looked to be an inspired selection by the former Valencia manager, with the Spaniard forcing a decent save out of Cech with a curling shot from outside the box. Chelsea were rarely troubled, with Atletico resorting to shooting from range, but the Blues were lacklustre at times, frustrating their Italian coach. Despite their lethargy, Chelsea still went close through Kalou's header, and Asenjo had to react to push Drogba's freekick on the post. Lampard then struck just wide but it was Atletico who took a deserved second half lead through substitute Aguero. Not included in the starting eleven because of a groin strain, the Argentine smashed home a volley from 12 yards after Terry could only flick on a cross from the flank. It was sweetly-struck but Chelsea will have to look at themselves for giving the Atletico forward too much space in the area. Chelsea responded by bringing on Deco, Michael Ballack and Nicolas Anelka, and the former almost reduced the arrears but volleyed wide. But Chelsea rallied and Malouda sent in a superb cross that was met by a firm header from Drogba, sending the Vicente Calderon into silence, but for a pocket of travelling supporters from London. The Blues faithful were in ecstasy moments later when Drogba finished at the second time of asking to put Chelsea 2-1 up, but Aguero levelled matters to at least restore some Atletico pride. Chelsea could have won it with a last-minute freekick but Drogba's effort was charged down and a late Deco shot flew well wide, but Chelsea progressed, and will battle it out with Porto to top Group D. ___________________________________________________________________ Chelsea(4-3-2-1): Cech; Belletti, Alex, Terry ©, A Cole; Lampard, Essien (Ballack 59), Malouda; Kalou (Anelka 69), J Cole (Deco 69), Drogba Atlético Madrid (4-4-2): Sergio Asenjo; Perea, Pablo Ibanez, Juanito, Antonio Lopez ©; Reyes (Maxi Rodriguez 71), Paulo Assuncao, Cleber Santana, Simao (Jurado 83); Forlan, Sinama Pongolle (Aguero 53) The TalkChelsea.net Man of the Match was Chelsea's number 11 - Didier Drogba

Fair result in the end. Thought we were pretty laborious at the best of times, but we got the required result.

I have IE8 and Firefox and the site works perfectly fine for me on both. Screenshot?

Spot on.

We've had a brilliant start to the season, yes, but we did in 2004/05, but we missed out on the Champions League, and in 06/07 we had all the talk of the Quadruple, but we "only" completed the Cup double. What I'm trying to say is that optimism is great, but we have to be realistic; its very, very unlikely we'll win the League and Champions League - Barcelona and United have done it recently because they were absolutely sensational on a consistent basis. If we can match that consistency we have a chance, but we have to keep our feet on the ground, and as supporters simply hope for the best.

Possibly. In fact that's a good point, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe his ability to communicate better has meant he can relay exactly what he wants doing. It has improved a lot though, unlike Scolari, who seemed to grasp nothing more than the basics. Ancelotti learnt English at school for a while, though, so its no surprise he is improving at a faster rate. I think Ray Wilkins helps out as he speaks a bit of Italian, but Carlo seems to have got what he wants from the players since the Villa defeat.

Thanks for reading, and for the criticism

This game will pan out either of two ways in my opinion; we'll either beat them by capitalising on our brilliant form and their woeful record, or they'll come out looking to prove a point and we could end up on the wrong end of a bad result.

Cheers for the advice Greg, I'll give it a go. I agree with you there though mate.

We are the team with the better recent record and should win this game. However at this stage of the season, all we really need to be doing is staying top of the pile and I don't think a draw would be a bad result, but we should certainly be looking for three points. They'll be more worried about this game than us, that's for sure.

Chelsea vs Manchester United EPL, 08 November 2009, Stamford Bridge, 1600 KO Chelsea take on Manchester United in a top two encounter at the Bridge. United took a credibly point away from Stamford Bridge last term, and thrashed Chelsea 3-0 in the return fixture at Old Trafford. The Blues made amends for their poor showings last season by beating United to win the Community Shield, but can they turn their Premier League fortunes against the Red Devils around?

Match report -

Saturday 31 October 2009, the FA Premier League, the Reebok Stadium, Bolton Chelsea beat Bolton 4-0 to cement their place at the top of the Premier League. With Arsenal beating high-flying Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby in the day's early kick-off, there was pressure on Chelsea to respond to having their lead cut to just two points by Arsene Wenger's side. The Blues answered with a comprehensive victory against Bolton, and their second 4-0 trouncing of the Trotters in four days. Didier Drogba continued his fine scoring form by slamming home the Blues' fourth goal in stoppage time, after Deco and a Zat Knight own goal had added to Frank Lampard's first half penalty. The Blues were rarely troubled by Bolton, who also had Jlloyd Samuel red carded when he fouled Drogba inside the area, allowing Lampard to open the scoring. Nicolas Anelka then set up Deco, who coolly fired home, before Knight could only divert the ball into his own net under pressure from Branislav Ivanovic to win Chelsea the points. Drogba's tenth goal of the season was simply the icing on the cake - it was a magnificent performance from Carlo Ancelotti's side, who have now scored 17 goals in their last five matches, whilst keeping clean sheets in six of the last seven. Though the teams were heavily changed from the demolition Chelsea delivered to their northern opponents, the plot followed a similar tale, with Chelsea dominating for large parts of the match and creating plenty of decent scoring opportunities. Petr Cech returned in goal, alongside John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Lampard and Anelka, who partnered the red-hot Drogba. Joe Cole and Florent Malouda were dropped to the bench alongside Juliano Belletti, whilst Michael Essien played at the base of the diamond midfield employed by the Chelsea boss. Only Paulo Ferreira, Michael Ballack and Branislav Ivanovic of the starting eleven that faced Gary Megson's side in midweek started again at the Reebok. The Reebok Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for Chelsea of late; the Blues sealed their first league title in 50 years with a 2-0 victory in April 2005, and the following year, effectively had the Premier League in the bag following a triumph by a similar scoreline. 1-0 victories thanks to Michael Ballack and Salomon Kalou in 2006 and then 2007 followed, before another 2-0 win for the Blues under Luiz Felipe Scolari in December 2008 kept the Blues in the hunt for the title. Under Carlo Ancelotti, however, the Blues beat Bolton into submission, and right from the kick off, Chelsea had the hosts pinned in their own half. Thought Johann Elmander headed over from close range in the opening exchanges, the first fifteen minutes were relatively comfortable for Chelsea, who were confidently stroking the ball about the field. Frank Lampard and Michael Essien in particular were heavily influential from start to finish, and the two midfielders combined to send Nicolas Anelka away down the wing. The Frenchman crossed into the area for Drogba, but the Ivorian striker could not readjust his body and headed wide. That was to be the first of many excellent chances for the Chelsea talisman. Chelsea turned up the heat as the game reached the 20 minute mark, with Drogba feeding Anelka, who unleashed a shot that was parried behind brilliantly by Jaaskelainen, who had missed the midweek venture to West London. The Finland international made an equally exceptional save from the resulting corner by pushing Drogba's effort over the bar. Jaaskalainen again came to Bolton's rescue a few moments later by coming out to block another Drogba shot after the Ivorian had robbed Gary Cahill of the ball on the edge of the Bolton area. Chelsea were in the ascendancy but the brilliant Bolton goalkeeper was not going to give up his clean sheet without a fight. Branislav Ivanovic was then denied a first Premier League goal by an offside flag as he volleyed home at the second attempt, before Bolton replied with a curling effort straight at Petr Cech from Tamir Cohen. Kevin Davies and Cahill then missed presentable chances for the hosts, before Michael Ballack punished the Trotters for lackadaisical defending, by threading a perfect through-ball into Drogba's path. The Ivorian was hauled down by Samuel, who was shown a straight red card, and Lampard duly dispatched the penalty - his 22nd consecutive successful spot kick for the Blues. Bolton made a double change at half time with Chris Basham and Ricardo Gardner both coming on, but it was Cohen who was denied by some fine defending from Michael Essien when Bolton finally threatened to score. Jaaskelainen stopped Drogba from extending the Blues' lead with two superb saves, the best of which an instinctive block as the Ivorian held off two defenders before having his shot smothered by the Finn's frame. Lampard then rattled the crossbar, and it was still shaking by the time Deco secured the three points with a brilliant finish from ten yards out. Anelka picked the ball up on the half way line and motioned forward at full throttle, before feeding into Deco, who skipped around one defender before curling home. The Portuguese had now scored in three consecutive games against the Trotters, and Chelsea were coasting. Bolton continued to press forward, though Chelsea's man advantage was showing as their brick wall defence held firm. Only once was it breached in the following quarter of an hour, but the brilliant Ivanovic was on hand to clear to prevent Gardner from reducing Chelsea's lead. The same player then skewed an effort wide on 74 minutes, as Chelsea looked to play the game out safely. Paulo Ferreira was a little late in his challenge on Sam Ricketts, and the Portuguese found himself in the referee's notebook with ten minutes left on the clock. Moments later, however, the Blues were 3-0 up thanks to the forehead of Zat Knight, who beat his own goalkeeper inadvertently. Lampard volleyed out wide to Carvalho who skipped past one Bolton player before crossing into the path of Ivanovic, who was beaten to the ball by the former Fulham man, but the defender could only head home under immense pressure. It was no more than Chelsea deserved for a thoroughly brilliant performance. With Atletico Madrid away and a Stamford Bridge clash with Manchester United beckoning ever closer, a fourth Chelsea goal was the perfect message to send to the Blues' next opponents - Deco, Anelka and Lampard all combined to brilliant tee up Drogba, who could not miss from seven yards out in what was one of the goals of the season. The Blues were 4-0 victors for the third time in four matches, and who is to bet against them not increasing that tally on Wednesday night? ___________________________________________________________________ Bolton (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen; Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Samuel; Muamba (M Davies 46), Basham (Robinson h-t), Cohen, Lee (Gardner 46); K Davies ©, Elmander Chelsea (4-1-2-1-2): Cech; Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry ©, Ferreira; Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Deco; Anelka, Drogba. The TalkChelsea.net Star Man was Chelsea's number 20; Deco

Full-time, 4-0

Portsmouth 4-0 Wigan Delighted for them.

4-0 DROGBA

FULHAM 3-1 LIVERPOOL