Closed Birmingham 0-2 Chelsea

[termninja 5,290]

Good match. Lads did well and I'm happy we finally scored a goal that looked routine rather then clumsy and lucky. Nice shot by Meireles. Good game for everyone, especially Ivanovic (MOTM for me) and Mata.

Gotta say RdM looked classy on the touchline. Wish him all the best.

[chrismada9 1,948]

Cahill - 7/10 - very much the same as above. In fact, he and DL4 are developing a beautiful defensive partnership. They compliment each other extremely well.

I couldn't have agreed more with that! I hope it can develop, because then we wouldn't have to bite our fingernails over the idea that, if Terry was to leave, we'd have a gaping hole in our defence!

[GodZola 630]

Torres - 7/10 - cracking performance. What the fuck? I hear you scream. He was superb; his movement, his work-rate and his overall play. He should have had two assists, only for Mata to miss the penalty and Sturridge to somehow miss an open goal. He played very well, battled hard and had some fantastic support from the away fans. I wish he'd have taken the penalty, we were all crying for it. Still, he can hold his head high after that display.

I'm glad someone else noticed, it seems I'm watching a totally different game to most on here most of the time. He could of had 3 assists with the chance Mata had in the opening few minutes. His confidence is still shot though but this performance will go a long way in restoring it.

[BlueSunshine 672]

Roy Keane rants at Chelsea players for ear flicking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B637AL6tuJg&list=UUOn5Br1ZPr0GAQGg9KoBoeQ&index=1&feature=plcp

I despise Keane from the bottom of my soul but i have to agree with him on this one.

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

I voted for Meireles for that inspirational strike (+ he was in a slump), but pretty much everyone played well. I'm especially happy with what I saw from Mikel, Bertrand and Kalou, though. Mikel was pretty composed and looked like his old self instead of that lazy, unmotivated and depressing player he was for AVB (it was understandable, though, give how harshly AVB treated him). Kalou was another player I thought AVB treated quite unfairly, and he wasn't great today, but he was decent, and his linkup with Mata gave me hope that perhaps Mata could finally play in the middle without leaving the left flank pretty much empty. It's surprising how AVB never bothered giving Kalou a chance when the only other option he had was Malouda. Bertrand wasn't that great either, but he already seems like a better player than Bosingwa, and apparently Bosingwa is a first team material at Chelsea, so...

Nonetheless, Di Matteo deserves some credit for today's victory as well. I never rated him too highly as a manager, but he managed to lift up the squad a little bit, although it may be a temporary thing with the manager gone and all that. Anyway, his team selection and tactic were effective and really different from AVB's lineup if he was still our manager. It surprised me a little that AVB's assistant should have such a radically different plan from his, but anyway it worked and I hope Cole and Lampard will quit whining about the manager's decision.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Roy Keane rants at Chelsea players for ear flicking

I despise Keane from the bottom of my soul but i have to agree with him on this one.

I'm glad someone put this on YouTube, because he's dead on. The smiles and everything made me sick kind of. I don't expect them to act all depressed but they should show a bit of respect that they've just had their 8th manager sacked in 9 years..

[Term-X 7,891]

Roy Keane rants at Chelsea players for ear flicking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B637AL6tuJg&list=UUOn5Br1ZPr0GAQGg9KoBoeQ&index=1&feature=plcp

I despise Keane from the bottom of my soul but i have to agree with him on this one.

Spot the difference..

[Tomo 21,751]

While Keane was right he should be the last person to preech on anything.

Remember this is the bloke who ended a fellow pro's career on purpose.

[Shane 2,275]

While Keane was right he should be the last person to preech on anything.

Remember this is the bloke who ended a fellow pro's career on purpose.

Don't think he purposley ended his career, he just wanted to hurt him.

[Kez 2,727]

First half performance was poor, whatever RDM said at half time it worked, much better second half & can already see the difference, this result is a massive step in the right direction, it may only be Birmingham but we were poor against them at home. We must take every game as it comes now to turn our season around. Players attitude was a lot better tonight & the fans were bloody brilliant as away support always is.

The highlight of the night for me...

FUCK OFF BENITEZ YOU'RE NOT WANTED HERE.

The message was loud & clear.

[manpe 10,861]

JT, Lamps and Essien initiating a demonic rite on Lukaku, for him to become a proper successor to their devilish cult.

[Superblue 6,372]

A lot of positives tonight. Ok it was only Birmingham but given how a couple of weeks ago we limped to a home draw with them, this certainly shows progression.

Cahill and David Luiz at the back looked at their most solid yet, and with Terry coming back in we have the competition at the back to the season's end. David Luiz in particular looked very solid, swept well and just got rid when needing to.

At times I felt our passing and movement looked very good and much more confident then in recent weeks.

Despite not being their biggest fans, I'm glad Robbie played Mikel and Kalou today because there was no doubt they were out of favour under AVB and the club needs every player pulling in the right direction and hungry to the end of the season if we are going to rescue this. Rotating the squad a bit will keep everybody feeling involved.

I was also very impressed with Robbie himself. He made brave decisions tonight, both tactically and personnel, and also conducted himself to the media after the game very well. He looks so calm and I think that rubs off on the players.

Very good start and hopefully more to come. The acid test will be Napoli, if we can turn around the tie I think the end of this season could prove very successful.

[tmessy 139]

pen shouldve gone to torres, the man deserved it, couldve been the one spark...

but none the less, great game RDM is fitting perfect for the lads...

[manpe 10,861]

pen shouldve gone to torres, the man deserved it, couldve been the one spark...

It did go, Mata offered it, but he refused... he weaseled his way out of responsibility, like he constantly does during a game also.

Reason he doesn't like taking penalties? It takes great mental strength, something he lacks.

[Kez 2,727]

pen shouldve gone to torres, the man deserved it, couldve been the one spark...

but none the less, great game RDM is fitting perfect for the lads...

Fans were calling for him to take it. It's obvious he doesn't want them I don't see the harm in him taking it though... What's the worst he can do... Miss? Not score? He's been doing that for months now. He might as well give himself a decent chance of getting the monkey off his back. If he's not confident then practice them in training. Clearly he's in the frame of mind where he thinks he's never going to score, if he can't get out of that then he's not a goalscorer anymore

[Thistle 77]

People are over-analysing the reason Torres never took the penalty. He is simply not a penalty taker, he never took one for Liverpool or Spain when he was one of the best in the world so why should he take them in the worst form of his career.

[English Freak 456]

People are over-analysing the reason Torres never took the penalty. He is simply not a penalty taker, he never took one for Liverpool or Spain when he was one of the best in the world so why should he take them in the worst form of his career.

He should of taken it because sometimes scoring a goal, seeing the ball go into the back of the net, instead of hitting the post/crossbar or missing the goal frame completely gives you that little bit of confidence for the next match. Who knows what the problem is with Torres, guess we can't sell him cause no club would be willing to sign him unless we offer him for 10 million.

If only we put more faith in youths, we could of had a forward line of: Sturridge, Lukaku, Borini with Sinclair, Stoch on the wings.

But as it stands, our forward line is: Torres (will he score again?), Drogba (leaving or staying?), Kalou (Average player, could of sold him for 10 million pre-2009), Sturridge (as he matures, he'll get better), Lukaku (from Anderlecht starter to CFC reserve)...and then there is the useless Malouda on the wings.

[Aussiedan 154]

People are over-analysing the reason Torres never took the penalty. He is simply not a penalty taker, he never took one for Liverpool or Spain when he was one of the best in the world so why should he take them in the worst form of his career.

I recall him taking one at the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Tunisia.

Besides any quality striker should be able to take a penalty, and should want too. That's the main job of a striker is to score goals.

[ack17 205]

[Blue Armour 4,466]

Nice to see the votes distributed amongst all the players...haven't seen that for a while....