Closed Chelsea v Swansea

[DavidEU 2,023]

I'm expecting Cech on GK.

LOL, why?

From the BBC:

Swansea striker Wilfried Bony will be assessed by manager Garry Monk after playing for the Ivory Coast against Cameroon on Wednesday.

Marvin Emnes could be involved for the first time this season following his hamstring injury, but Leon Britton is out for a further month.

[Stats 7,075]

LOL, why?

From the BBC:

I think Bony will be fine. Even if Bony is out injured which I doubt, Gomis will come in instead of Emnes. They have 2 very good strikers in Bony and Gomis. Gomis has been a sub for every league game so far. He will be desperate for a start and I don't think he will be content with being a sub for too long. While Bony is the better striker, Gomis is a real handful on his day and a goalscorer.

[BaneCFC 6]

LOL, why?

I think that Mourinho put Thibaut on GK because he refused to sign a new contract.

[Special Juan 27,602]

I'm expecting Cech on GK.

Not a chance.

[bethos1 802]

I think that Mourinho put

Thibaut on GK because he

refused to sign a new contract.

That's ridiculous, Mourinho wouldn't play Courtois if he didn't think he was better than Cech.

[Jase 43,479]

Now that Garry Monk has won the Manager of the Month award, let's hope Swansea suffer the curse of the award tomorrow.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

That's ridiculous, Mourinho wouldn't play Courtois if he didn't think he was better than Cech.

It's probably not the sole reason but Jose did pretty much admit in his Leicester post match interview that the fact is he has to play Courtois otherwise he will leave Chelsea. Even so, Jose would have let him leave if he didn't think he deserved to start.

[Stats 7,075]

That's ridiculous, Mourinho wouldn't play Courtois if he didn't think he was better than Cech.

I don't think Mourinho necessarily thinks Courtois is better than him. I think he rates them very similar. But as Mourinho said the logical decision was to have Courtois as no.1:

" I had in my hands a 22 year-old goalkeeper I thought could be in Chelsea's goal for years and years and years and this situation is quite similar. But Petr is an amazing goalkeeper and the difference between them is 10 years, and we have to think about the future of the club and I made the decision to give the goal to Courtois."

[bethos1 802]

It's probably not the sole reason but Jose did pretty much admit in his Leicester post match interview that the fact is he has to play Courtois otherwise he will leave Chelsea. Even so, Jose would have let him leave if he didn't think he deserved to start.

Fair enough, you just made it sound like the only reason Courtois is playing is to get him sign a contract extension.

[Special Juan 27,602]

PC just about to start

[Special Juan 27,602]

Costa has a chance to play, training now and final decision soon.

All the rest are ready.

[DavidEU 2,023]

Diego Costa came back injured last Saturday, had one week to work hard with the medical department and has a chance to play tomorrow. We have a training session now to confirm his condition. He was the only one to come back with any problem.

[Jase 43,479]

Blues aim to clip wings of high-flying Swansea

[bethos1 802]

Can't wait till tomorrow! Stupid international breaks.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

This cracked me up. Not bad for a team that attempted fewer through balls last season than relegated Norwich. Now it's Chelsea's strength apparently.

Finishing scoring chances is also nice. Very nice.

Mourinho knows exactly what our problems were last season. We're in safe hands with him

[HarryCFC 23]

Looking forward to the game tomorrow! I've written a preview for my blog - check it out!

Link in my bio

[DavidEU 2,023]

In tomorrows match day programme, a piece from Lord Attenboroughs son, Michael. They'll also be a minutes appreciation before KO, black armbands worn, and collection buckets for Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, a charity Lord Attenborough was involved in.

Chelsea for him began in the early Forties when he started to go out with my mother. Their first dates were standing on the Shed, getting there early to grab a place by a support, so my mum wouldn’t get knocked over.

When in ‘47 he needed to get fit quickly for the movie Brighton Rock, he naturally grabbed the chance to train with the players! By ‘52, he and my mother were starring in the first production of The Mousetrap and had it in their contracts that the Saturday matinee started at a time that enabled them to go to the Bridge beforehand!

Having become a season-ticket holder he first took me, aged nine, in ‘59. The days of the Sillett brothers and Frank Blunstone, closely followed by debuts for Peter Bonetti and Jimmy Greaves. Then Dave Sexton and the legendary days of Ossie, Hudson and Cooke, by which time dad was a Club Director. That thrilling night in Manchester in 1970 was one of the happiest of his life (and mine!). And those three softies Harris, Hollins and Webb are all friends of ours to this day.

Fortunes start to fade. Division Two beckons. Dad and I don’t flinch. Then Ken Bates – and his crusade to save the ground from property developers, fighting over every share for a majority shareholding over Marler Estates. Unlike other CFC directors, Dad did not sell his shares (at great profit) to Marler, but donated them (amounting to just under £1m) to Chelsea. An enclosure for disabled fans was built in his name and he became the club’s Life Vice-President.

Now the Roman era. He becomes Life President. José and Chelsea’s first top-flight triumphs since ‘54/55 (which he remembered as if it was yesterday). He and I are in ecstasy! Carlo and the Double! Roberto and the Big One! And finally, of course, the return of the Special One. I’m so thrilled he lived to see it all.

Six years ago he suffered a stroke and fell down a flight of stairs. As my mother and I waited for news in the hospital, we (and the doctors) were convinced he would not survive. But survive he did, hauling himself out of hospital, no longer able to read, write, walk or talk properly.

His main ambition? To return to Chelsea. The day we brought him back (in a wheelchair) was one of the most emotional of my life. He was back home.

For nearly 70 years he lived for Chelsea; for 60 of them, if he was away, he called me at 4.45pm sharp, from wherever he was around the globe, for the result.

I adored our time together at the football.

He was quite simply my hero, my counsellor, my friend. A life force, never putting himself first, as loving as he was loved.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Looking forward to the game tomorrow! I've written a preview for my blog - check it out!

Link in my bio

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