Title Run In

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

We're not looking like a mighty force, but we should be able to keep this lead and win the title. Next season I'm expecting better competition and a much tougher challenge. Defending it is always going to be incredibly difficult.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

even in 10/11 people were saying that Man Utd were the worst champions in years.

They won with 80 points. And in 30+ fixture we went to old traford when a win meant we're going on top. And im pretty sure it was the weakest Chelsea we've ever been since Roman came, we playerd awful.

10/11 was an awful season for european football in general. 3 of the 4 best teams from 09/10 went down hard (Inter, Chelsea, Bayern). And a poor Man u team got to the final, to lose easily to Barcelona.

[didierforever 7,349]

They won with 80 points. And in 30+ fixture we went to old traford when a win meant we're going on top. And im pretty sure it was the weakest Chelsea we've ever been since Roman came, we playerd awful.

10/11 was an awful season for european football in general. 3 of the 4 best teams from 09/10 went down hard (Inter, Chelsea, Bayern). And a poor Man u team got to the final, to lose easily to Barcelona.

not even close. our 12/13 team was without a doubt the worst in roman era

[Jase 43,479]

not even close. our 12/13 team was without a doubt the worst in roman era

Really? The 2010/11 team was certainly the worst IMO. No inspiration. No excitement. No nothing. Just pure stagnation from start to finish, with a bunch of players who were already over the hill.

[didierforever 7,349]

Really? The 2010/11 team was certainly the worst IMO. No inspiration. No excitement. No nothing. Just pure stagnation from start to finish, with a bunch of players who were already over the hill.

i agree about no inspiration and excitement. but dont forget that when that same group of players were given the motivation, we won an fa cup and CL double. that team had character and balls.

[Jase 43,479]

i agree about no inspiration and excitement. but dont forget that when that same group of players were given the motivation, we won an fa cup and CL double. that team had character and balls.

That was before and what happened when that motivation sort of went out of the window? They went AWOL, to put it kindly.

[didierforever 7,349]

That was before and what happened when that motivation sort of went out of the window? They went AWOL, to put it kindly.

i think u misunderstood me.

it was not before. i am talking about the 11-12 season where we won the fa and CL double with almost the same group of 10-11 players. the only players to have a substantial amount of contribution who were not in our 10-11 squad was mata and even his was minimal.

the 12-13 period for me was the darkest era. firing our cl winning manager when we were 2nd in PL coupled with fsw's appointment, our absolute lack of identity, half hearted displays, asenine subs, that performance against QPR at home, idiotic transfers like marin and average ones like moses. all in all, it looked the bleakest moment for me,

[Jase 43,479]

i think u misunderstood me.

it was not before. i am talking about the 11-12 season where we won the fa and CL double with almost the same group of 10-11 players. the only players to have a substantial amount of contribution who were not in our 10-11 squad was mata and even his was minimal.

Apologies for mistaking the timeline of events but still doesn't exactly take away the point.

[Tomo 21,736]

i think u misunderstood me.

it was not before. i am talking about the 11-12 season where we won the fa and CL double with almost the same group of 10-11 players. the only players to have a substantial amount of contribution who were not in our 10-11 squad was mata and even his was minimal.

the 12-13 period for me was the darkest era. firing our cl winning manager when we were 2nd in PL coupled with fsw's appointment, our absolute lack of identity, half hearted displays, asenine subs, that performance against QPR at home, idiotic transfers like marin and average ones like moses. all in all, it looked the bleakest moment for me,

While replacing RDM with Rafa was wrong on every sentimental level, it was right for the evolution of the club.

RDM for me was the tale of two jobs, his interim spell he did amazing even before putting the two trophies into account, he managed to rally a squad of players that looked lost and devoid of motivation and won the double against all odds, I still to this day argue against the people who say he just sat there and let the player's take charge.

The full time job however was too much for him and Roman forsaw that which is why he hesitated giving him the gig in the first place, I can't prove it but my theory is he wanted to make the change in the summer but held back because he didn't want to ruin our "summer in the clouds" after Munich, all this talk when Robbie was sacked of Roman disrespecting the fans but i honestly think he only gave RDM the full time job in the first place because we wanted it so much.

In his full time spell we looked a better more talented version of his WBA team, started well, had some impressive results but quickly got found out and nosedived massively after that, 2 wins in 9 (one of them being in ET against Uniteds ressies) isn't just bad form, it's relegation form.

Rafa and Chelsea was the ultimate marriage of convenience for both parties.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

i think u misunderstood me.

it was not before. i am talking about the 11-12 season where we won the fa and CL double with almost the same group of 10-11 players. the only players to have a substantial amount of contribution who were not in our 10-11 squad was mata and even his was minimal.

the 12-13 period for me was the darkest era. firing our cl winning manager when we were 2nd in PL coupled with fsw's appointment, our absolute lack of identity, half hearted displays, asenine subs, that performance against QPR at home, idiotic transfers like marin and average ones like moses. all in all, it looked the bleakest moment for me,

At the same time won the Europa League which in theory makes it automatically a better season than 13-14 or any other trophyless season as well. Also we signed Hazard, Oscar, Dave, Cahill in Jan 2012, Mata and Ramires both had 2 of the best seasons of their career. Agreed it was far from perfect but also far from 'dark' time either. For me the dark time in modern day is from 2006-07 to 2009 where we were so close but ended up winning nothing sigificant. Then again in that 'dark time' we finished 2nd and runner up in CL...etc which is better than 98% of other clubs.

11-12 was a freak campaign, happens once every 10-20 years or something, I wouldn't go too much into it.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

Well to quote Back In The U.S.S.R. by The Beatles '' You Don't Know How Lucky You Are Boys'' you should have tried supporting Chelsea from 1972-1997.

[Tomo 21,736]

At the same time won the Europa League which in theory makes it automatically a better season than 13-14 or any other trophyless season as well. Also we signed Hazard, Oscar, Dave, Cahill in Jan 2012, Mata and Ramires both had 2 of the best seasons of their career. Agreed it was far from perfect but also far from 'dark' time either. For me the dark time in modern day is from 2006-07 to 2009 where we were so close but ended up winning nothing sigificant. Then again in that 'dark time' we finished 2nd and runner up in CL...etc which is better than 98% of other clubs.

11-12 was a freak campaign, happens once every 10-20 years or something, I wouldn't go too much into it.

Sometimes things need to be looked at in context, the season should be evalued in two ways for me, trophies and progression made by the club.

Like in 11/12 I was ecstastic with what we won but anything but happy with our overall performance in the season whereas last season I obviously wasn't happy going trophyless but happy with progress made.

[Jase 43,479]

Call me crazy but I kinda enjoyed the 'mess' that happened in the 2011/12 season. Plenty of ridiculous ups and downs, especially when we were playing a game every 3-4 days from start to finish.

[Tomo 21,736]

Call me crazy but I kinda enjoyed the 'mess' that happened in the 2011/12 season. Plenty of ridiculous ups and downs, especially when we were playing a game every 3-4 days from start to finish.

It was good at the start till about November because I believed AVB was going to do good with us, December till AVBs departure was a complete mess but the RDM spell was quite exciting culminating in a double win against all odds.

Obviously means to an end an all that but I after Naples especially thought we were heading down the same path Milan have found their way down.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Call me crazy but I kinda enjoyed the 'mess' that happened in the 2011/12 season. Plenty of ridiculous ups and downs, especially when we were playing a game every 3-4 days from start to finish.

11/12 is definitely one of my favourite seasons, the amount of turmoil and glory was incredible. Proper football season that.

[didierforever 7,349]

While replacing RDM with Rafa was wrong on every sentimental level, it was right for the evolution of the club.

RDM for me was the tale of two jobs, his interim spell he did amazing even before putting the two trophies into account, he managed to rally a squad of players that looked lost and devoid of motivation and won the double against all odds, I still to this day argue against the people who say he just sat there and let the player's take charge.

The full time job however was too much for him and Roman forsaw that which is why he hesitated giving him the gig in the first place, I can't prove it but my theory is he wanted to make the change in the summer but held back because he didn't want to ruin our "summer in the clouds" after Munich, all this talk when Robbie was sacked of Roman disrespecting the fans but i honestly think he only gave RDM the full time job in the first place because we wanted it so much.

In his full time spell we looked a better more talented version of his WBA team, started well, had some impressive results but quickly got found out and nosedived massively after that, 2 wins in 9 (one of them being in ET against Uniteds ressies) isn't just bad form, it's relegation form.

Rafa and Chelsea was the ultimate marriage of convenience for both parties.

i am sorry but i dont agree with anything. how was rdm wrong? what did fsw do that rdm did not? did we see fsw give us an identity? make us defensively solid? give us a platform to build our next season? we were 2nd in PL with 4 points behind united which included one of the most biased refreed games i have seen in football (against united at home).

in CL, we had a tough group and we got owned. but dont forget that we were almost knocked out of the group stages the year ago too. also, against the supposed united reserves did not we play the likes of bertrand, romeu, moses, sturridge, piazon, azpi (who was far from a starter at that point of time).

[didierforever 7,349]

At the same time won the Europa League which in theory makes it automatically a better season than 13-14 or any other trophyless season as well. Also we signed Hazard, Oscar, Dave, Cahill in Jan 2012, Mata and Ramires both had 2 of the best seasons of their career. Agreed it was far from perfect but also far from 'dark' time either. For me the dark time in modern day is from 2006-07 to 2009 where we were so close but ended up winning nothing sigificant. Then again in that 'dark time' we finished 2nd and runner up in CL...etc which is better than 98% of other clubs.

11-12 was a freak campaign, happens once every 10-20 years or something, I wouldn't go too much into it.

round of 16 in CL>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> winning europa. so no, it does not make the 12-13 season better than 13-14. it does not even come close for me.

again, you seem to be counting "dark" times in silverware and trophies, i am not. from 2006-09 we were one of the powerhouses in european football. the atmosphere, the directionlessness, the performances by the players, the club's insistence with torres, that is all that makes me think of 12-13 as the dark times.

a simple question, if jose had not been available at that point of time, who would we have got as our manager. FSW was tagged as "interim" and moreover he did not do anything to guarantee an extension. that was the state of the club then. we were desperate and should count our blessings that in our direst need, we got the best manager of the world.

[Jase 43,479]

It was good at the start till about November because I believed AVB was going to do good with us, December till AVBs departure was a complete mess but the RDM spell was quite exciting culminating in a double win against all odds.

Obviously means to an end an all that but I after Naples especially thought we were heading down the same path Milan have found their way down.

11/12 is definitely one of my favourite seasons, the amount of turmoil and glory was incredible. Proper football season that.

I actually meant to say the 2012/13 season but guess the 11/12 campaign can fall into the category too. The FA Cup and Champions League matches were certainly fun to watch. Plenty of 'roller coaster rides'.