Fulham Broadway

Try and stick to the argument you two, rather than personal abuse...

Agree M. We had a run of bad luck in that game like no other as well. Early goal was just what wasnt needed -it should have been given offside, second was a cracker -but unbeleivable the room our defence gave him to move forward. The third was sheer luck for them. Counter that with Rooneys penalty fuck up, and theres still a two goal difference. El Torres should have had his first hatrick and theres the spoils shared. The amount of chances for either side speaks for itself in our favour, coupled with the pressure, and without their early goal -it would have been 3 points back to SW 6. But as you say the future looks bright, and it was definitley not an Arsenalesque performance...they would have capitulated at 3-0 down.

Hope youre right there Tomo. It certainly takes a big man to restore confidence after that ridiculing by the Stretford End

I was more excited about Meireles arriving than Torres, not because I thought Torres was pony but I thought he was uneeded. Chelsea have a habit of signing players that score against them, and Meireles gives 100%. And yes I reckon the team will gather momentum, hopefully at the theatre of shit on sunday

The difference being that the media started after two games with Torres, yet hardly questioned the fact that Rooney was absolute shit for 10 months....

Good points about the wage bill there and a good point before about the Financial Fair play shenanigans. I reckonthe squad is developing depth, and there are a few for the future as well. Gave you one of those rep points things whatever they are

Wise words from yourself as well there ! It livened up proceedings a bit when the old fogies Anelka and Lampard came on, and it seems AVB has sidelined Kalou for the moment. Back to Fernando, yes his assists were good, and I beleive he will score a few this season ,but wont fulfil expectations -and you could be right, eventually bullied abroad -prob back to Spain. @Badboy -you have to admit though most of the bile is directed at him because of teh price tag -which although over inflated is like a tenner in Romans back pocket

Good read and nice little dig at the yids at the end After the barren landscape of an international break there is so much for columnist Giles Smith to get his teeth into this week - the Champions League, the Carling Cup, the new look and even the Europa League… So, once again that sound was heard in the land. As John Terry wrote in his programme notes for Tuesday night, 'No matter how many times you hear that Champions League anthem at the start of the game, you never get bored of it.' Entirely true. It's very like 'The Liquidator' in that respect - although slightly less catchy, and without a big clap-along opportunity. Nevertheless, as we always find ourselves wondering at this time of year, why does nobody ever sing along with the Champo anthem? Neither players nor fans ever join in. After nine consecutive seasons in the competition, it can't be that we don't know the tune, can it? We may not know the words. (Although, if you just repeat 'These are the champions!' over and over again, you won't go far wrong.) But we definitely know the tune, surely. It seems to me we're all looking for leadership here. Maybe from the captain? He certainly sounds keen. If John Terry starts up, I feel confident the rest of us will follow. Any chance? Much was written after the victory over Bayer Levekusen about what the excellent Raul Meireles has brought to the team in terms of bite, strength and intelligence in midfield. But less was said about how he has also shifted the club into a totally new dimension, hair-wise. Florent Malouda has toyed with that hard-to-pull-off Mohawk look from time to time, with relative degrees of success. Salomon Kalou has worn a low-rise one periodically and John Terry, too, has been there or thereabouts, if memory serves, in previous seasons. But until Meireles arrived from Liverpool in deadline day's most significant piece of transfer business, we have never (correct me if I'm wrong) had a player with the wherewithal and the personal certainty to tackle the Travis Bickle look head-on and nail it. After a few quiet years, with close-cropped or neat, shaven looks, leading the way, these are suddenly burgeoning times for hair at Chelsea. There's Malouda and Kalou, as mentioned - both restlessly creative and prepared to get up and down the barbershop if necessary. Romelu Lukaku certainly looks like someone with much to offer. Fernando Torres can be quietly inventive, and, even now, you never quite know what you're going to get from Didier Drogba, in terms of ambitious pony tails and complicated cornrows. It was David Luiz, of course, who lifted the entire place in this area. But in Meireles we have clearly found another player with, not just stand-out hair, but potentially fan-galvanising, wig-worthy hair. And now, when we have barely had the chance to get our breath back, up looms what is, everyone agrees, an utterly massive match - a critical encounter, potentially tough, calling for sharp focus and concentration, with so much at stake, and far more than pride - and creeping ever closer by the minute. Tremblingly close, indeed. Fulham at home in the Carling next Wednesday night, I mean. Of course, there's Manchester United, away, in the league in the meantime, but there's less riding on that. After all, you can't go out of the league this early in the season. Even Arsenal - though they are clearly in all sorts of difficulty and recently suffered horrible psychological scarring at Old Trafford of a kind that one wouldn't wish on anyone - aren't, technically speaking, out of the league at this stage. You can, however, go out of the Carling - and that's for ever. Done, dusted - no second chances. So, should the manager rest a couple on Sunday, and keep them fresh for the bigger battle? He'll know, better than us, the condition of the squad's bodies and minds. But if he chose to leave a few out to increase our chances of a place in the coveted fourth round, you would have to respect his priorities. On this of all Thursdays, it seems only polite to extend a hand across to north London and wish Tottenham well as they embark on their Europa League campaign. People mock the Europa, but it's a valuable opportunity for a club to transcend the usual domestic boundaries and measure itself on a proper European scale. So, tonight Shakter Karagandy, tomorrow the world. Or is it Narva Trans they're up against? Or Flamurtari Vlore? Or Siroki Brijeg? Or is that next week?

Lets not forget the Granny Shagger Man Utd Pele was absolute pony for a year. End of theday, like most things, a players 'worth' is not the same as his 'value' and the price is dependant on what someone will pay...

Average player, bordering on rubbish at the moment because hes not doing what he was brought in to do. This could change, but realistically he will not be as prolific as before. Getting most of the flak though because of the price tag, and the media love sticking the knife in whenever they can.

Ferguson added: "Also, I love that bit in Escape to Victory where Michael Caine is showing the tactics on a blackboard and Pele takes the chalk and says 'I do this, this, this, this - goal'. It makes me think of Wayne, wandering into the bar of a Ramada Inn, eyeing-up the orange-skinned trollops and saying 'I do that one, that one, that one, that one - three hundred quid'. "And just as Pele is a man of grace and intelligence and a wonderful ambassador for both football and his country, Wayne spent ninety grand on a Range Rover and likes to blow his muck up tarts."

Definition - ''A legend is something that people tell as a true story. Sometimes the details are difficult to confirm, but usually mentions vague deeds and events.. The legend is usually heard from someone who knows someone who heard it from someone who was really there... Legends often contain a moral or a lesson and are told to uphold the values of the community. They often involve supernatural or religious elements.''

Mmmm. Being absolute toilet for a year -throwing his toys out the pram and saying his team mates werent good enough to play with, betraying his wife at least three times, and having a 'threesome' with two prostitutes whilst his wife was 5 months pregnant Shagging granny prostitutes paying them £5 and leaving an autograph ''as payment'', or shouting FUCK OFF!! down a live TV camera Sorry Sir Alex I dont remember Pele doing that but I could be wrong,....

33 800 last night Wonder how many there will be for Genk........ :!:

Same. Kakutas development could be important as the elderly players (torres not me) reach for their pension books

Brilliantly placed, lets have another like that on Sunday ! As for the man himself 3 times as many goals in half the appearances of another signing

Thats true A. I admit I doubted him, but it looks like the Bolton experience has put a wise head on his shoulders

Looks proper Prem material now, and close to the finished article. What would he be worth now ??

''Fav Player Patrick Viera.'' Is that you Beast ?

I think most Chelsea fans would still welcome back Mourinho or Hiddink to be honest If Gourlay brings back Balti pies, Avram could have a little stall and sell them

Theres only Juan Mata

top posting there -and agree away games are sooo much better :eyebrows:

Sunday 18th Sept 2011 16:00 Worried to be honest. Will be lucky to come away from there with anything seeing the rampant form they're in. But will keep the faith, -possession and attacking mentality -anything else will result in crumbling away like every other team that goes there.

First European Cup night I remember was Cup Winners Cup 1971 Final 1971 in Athens, Chelsea won 2-1 Went to qualifying 1999 v Skonto Riga 0-0 over there 3-0 here with Sutton scoring, (rarer than rocking horse shit but not a Torres goal) Beat Barca in the quarters again in 1999 3-1 but they taught a lesson over there in front 0f 97 000 ... 5-1 Had to wait another 4 years before CL again in 2003 beating Zilina Topped the group then there was the famous 1-2 win at the goons -That Wayne Bridge goal, resulting in many fans getting a range of injuries from exhuberant celebrations. Lots of other roller coaster CL seasons since -the Barca 4-2 being an obvious highlight. Get the feeling destined not to win the CL, but at least we've that European Cup from 1971

Well it looks like the main bloke was Gary o Connor. - theyve mentioned Italian backroom staff under Ranieri who put the players on Iron Drips. One Chelsea nutitionist at the Bridge ( Fred Wadsworth) wanted nothing to do wiith it , said it was dangerous.. I know for a fact that cocaine is fucking rampant in football, and Mutu was just an example. Its not surprising with players tested on avearge once every 3 years, some only once in eight years