Chelsea 4-0 Portsmouth – A Few Tweets and Some Match Reports

1. Anonymous on 8 January, 2012 at 18:37

   Nothing to add as didn’t watch it, other than my disagreement at the first sub. Crying out for Josh, why the hell did we need to go so defensive.

   As someone tweeted above, parked the bus and hanging on against Portsmouth. I bet the CL opponents are bricking it….

   • Anonymous on 8 January, 2012 at 19:40

       
     Probably, because we tend to concede on the dying minutes of the game.

2. Ryan on 8 January, 2012 at 19:07

   I’m not 100% sure why Josh isn’t getting more chances but I do suspect there is an element of protecting him. AVB had no problem bringing Romeu into the fold but physically he is so different to Josh. I hear lots of people who want to see Josh play and that is perfectly understandable. He will become the best thing to come out of the academy since JT. But there is no hurry. From what I hear the players and coaches see him as being technically first-class so I can only assume they feel he isn’t physically ready for regular starts.

   It’s important not to underestimate the importance of the experience that a young player gains just by being on the bench and in and around the first team set-up. Josh will benefit immensely from the apprenticeship he is serving this season. I can’t wait to see him develop into a world class midfielder.

3. Benjami on 8 January, 2012 at 21:46

   Portsmouth were unlucky, they should have scored in the first mins and in that scramble when we were 1-0 up (that was caused by Luiz messing with the ball when he should just have smacked it clear :P).

   Was a terrible first half, we played so slow and everyone was jeering Malouda when he kept messing up crosses etc.

   In the 2nd half we came out fired up and really upped the tempo, however we still looked average vs a poor side.
   Meireles and Lamps played ok and Ramires really came into his own when Portsmouth tired (hence all the goals in last 5mins.Defence looked a bit scary and dodgy as usual 😛

   Our attack is so impotent still, for me a Torres of a few seasons ago would have been able to make something from nothing, but he just can’t any more. We all expect it to be handed to him by Mata et al but sometimes a forward should just stand up for himself, which he still hasn’t done.

   Mata distributes the play great but already it feels there is so much weight on his shoulders to create, all a team has to do is lock him out and overwhelm our midfield and it is game over.

   But we did win 4-0 so who can complain really 😀

   • Anonymous on 9 January, 2012 at 07:23

     I agree, our tempo was far too slow.  It seems that we can only play with a high tempo when we’re pegged back to 1-1 with 10 minutes to go.  I almost fell asleep first half.

     4-0 was flattering.  David Luiz performed some entertaining cameos second half down by my corner flag.

4. NorthernVA on 9 January, 2012 at 03:55

   Benjami thanks for your insight on the game. It wasn’t shown over here so I was thankfully able to catch up on sleep.

   I have seen some criticism regarding the team selection. I personally like the fact that we actually take the competition seriously. We have been rightfully rewarded for it in recent history. You can criticize the manager on the set-up of our defense, our attack, possibly man management however to have a go about selecting a strong team for an FA Cup tie is ridiculous.

   If Fergie is the gold standard in management look at the team he fielded today against City. Did he field their starlets in Morrison and Pogba. No he had Giggs (38) and also brought on Paul “I was just pulling your chain with that whole testimonial” Scholes (37). I hope this serves as somewhat of a lesson as to how tough it is to replace great players. 

   Sometimes having the original at half of their previous heights is better than the alternative in the short term. Don’t take that as an appeal to not make changes. Players will move on and at this point in some cases I think it is all for the best. I do however stand firm in my belief that it has been handled poorly. Can anyone honestly say that the senior players Mike Ashley moved on at Newcastle really are on par with our senior players in regards to quality and contributions. Well we do know that Joey rates himself above Lampard but I doubt most rational folk would. 

   Some of the online batterings players like Lamps, JT, Cech, Drogs have received has been a bit of a revelation. We got some real, , cunts that supposedly support CFC. This is not in reference to anyone who post here although Mark please refrain from further comments about your Speedos. It was these very players that held the club together over some pretty rough waters not of their own making. If they did have the power most claimed Jose would still be the manager. Joni said it best, “You don’t know what you got ’till it’s gone.” 

5. Anonymous on 9 January, 2012 at 09:14

   Highlights of the game 
   http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnjc1r_y-yy-yy-y-yyyy-yyy-y-yy-yyy_videogames#from=embediframe

   Torres passes for the second and completely creates the third goal. Practically Torres and ramires involved almost in everything what happens on the pitch.

6. Ryan on 9 January, 2012 at 09:25

   I listened to the game on the radio (well CTV commentary actually) and apart from the fact that they don’t actually tell you what is happening (very little “Lampard to Malouda out wide, Malouda crosses for Torres, cleared by whoever etc.) it was quite insightful for the running analysis. Which basically amounted to “the midfield lacks any sort of ideas or creativity” “the midfield is unwilling or unable to move the ball on quickly enough to create problems for Portsmouth’s 8 man defence, preferring to take 3 or 4 touches before playing a pretty obvious short pass”. These two thing are fairly obvious to any Chelsea supporter (along with the fact that we need a proper RB who can attack but still considers themselves part of the back four when defending).

   I was pleased to see Rami and Lamps scoring at the end (naturally) and it’s great that they’re getting goals from midfield but their goal tallies worry me a little (bear with me here). It seems that rather than creating chances for their forwards they’re more inclined to get forward into scoring positions themselves. Frank has always done this. Yes his 20 goals a season have been absolutely invaluable but he has never been a creative midfielder. An attacking one yes but not creative. I personally think that this is why he hasn’t been starting, along with the fact that he and Rami appear to be playing a pretty similar role. Both lack the guile of a Xavi, Iniesta, Modric type player more suited to creating chances and orchestrating from midfield than bombing on and scoring themselves. Anyway what I’m trying to say, in a long winded roundabout sort of way is that the midfield looks unbalanced with Frank and Rami both in it (regardless of who is holding, although Mikel’s anti-creative, slow play exacerbates the problem most). It’s not a criticism of either player just an observation that they’ve become more similar than I previously realised and it has a real impact on our creativity.

   I would like, at some point, to see Mata brought into the centre of midfield or possibly just playing in behind Torres. He doesn’t look entirely suited to playing out wide to me, he lacks the lightening pace to be an out and out winger and the defensive element (helping out his full back essentially) of that role is unnatural and unhelpful to his game. I think this hasn’t helped our defence this season. Neither Studge or Mata are adept at tracking back and defending when we lose the ball, consequently our full-backs are often exposed in one against one situations or by the cross-field ball. Just another example of our side looking a little unbalanced. I still maintain Mata can become our David Silva. He has already done more this year than DS did in his first year at City. When he becomes fully accustomed to the PL he will be huge for us. Compare for example DS’s tracking back, tackling and strength this year with last year. He has moved on immensely and I’m sure JM will do similar. On top of that he’s a very intelligent and level-headed young man. These attributes are invaluable in a top-class footballer.

   • Anonymous on 9 January, 2012 at 10:23

     Ryan, you are raising very important points here. I actually said it more than couple of times on this blog that our lack of penetration was compensated by Drog’s physical abilities to out muscle defenders. It is Jose’s inheritance and over reliance on long ball we are still nursing. Take a look  on our goals; second and third created by Torres 🙂 and not vice verse. With Mata’s and Ramires arrival situation has changed a little, but yet again when we Lamps and malouda on the pitch our in ability to create whatsoever is simply magnified!!!! Our strikers feeding midfielders!     

7. Ryan on 9 January, 2012 at 11:02

   Did you notice Torres little rueful shake of the head after Rami’s second. I sort of interpreted that as “Christ if they were creating the chances for me that I’m creating for them I might actually be able to remember the last time I scored a goal!”

   Obviously it’s a team game and it doesn’t matter who scores but it is indicative of our lack of creativity that it’s Lamps and Rami feeding off of Torres’ assists rather than vice-versa. This is ok but really you want chances being created by your midfielders who should dominate, orchestrate and pull the strings for your best finishers (hopefully) to score. Maybe against weaker teams it’s not such a problem. Against Spurs however Rami had two gilt-edged chances. If they’d fallen to a good striker we’d have won that game. In big matches taking one or two chances is often the difference unless someone produces something extraordinary.

   It’s important to note that, if we forget what the gutter press like to invent, Lamps is being kept on the bench essentially because Ramires is having a good season emulating what Frank has done previously. Dropping Rami for Frank is a less attractive option because Rami has the legs to get up and down for 90 minutes and Frank probably can’t maintain those energy levels now (it was never really his game anyway to be fair).

   What AVB is learning this season will be invaluable in the coming years. He either made a mistake in judging the current squad as good enough for what Roman wants to achieve or realized he couldn’t make all the necessary changes in one short summer and felt that it would be best not to undermine the squad by criticizing too much early on. Interesting to note that recently he has said the squad isn’t good enough. So he has either gradually formed that opinion or thought that all along and is saying so now he is in a position to recruit. Essentially we are a work in progress with a couple of square pegs in round holes and a couple that will become squad players (Mikel, Malouda, Lamps, Bosingwa) or move on if they want more regular starts.

   • Anonymous on 9 January, 2012 at 11:45

     Just one notice. I don’t think that AVB made a mistake I think he (as you pointed out) can’t change 5-6 players in one summer. This is probably why it is 3 years project. First year to change the squad and then start to show results. 

8. David Drabble on 9 January, 2012 at 11:21

   Good result, and some nice performances up front. Surprising quite how selfless Torres has become – a very good team player considering the price tag and constant media pressure to score goals. 4 goals and 7 assists for the season now, he’s no RVP but considering he’s not started in around half our goals that is a decent return and he’s performed much better this year than under Carlo. Also it’s great that he’s been uninjured for over 12 months – kudos to the Chelsea medical department!

   Just to say on Josh – not playing him meant he wouldn’t be cup tied if he went on loan. I imagine Brenden Rogers would appreciate the gesture even if we don’t.

9. Anonymous on 9 January, 2012 at 13:46

   Have to say I didn’t feel much of that proverbial Magic of the Cup at The Bridge yesterday.

   The crowd around me was the usual mixture of young kids and non-regulars now standard for these occasions, but there was a pretty jaded and subdued atmosphere. They couldn’t even be bothered to indulge in lots of the mobile phone picture taking that usually absorbs them so much.

   The game was 85 minutes of our all too familiar toilsome stuff, followed by 5 minutes of demolishing tiring opponents at the end.

   All a bit sad given that we had out arguably our strongest team available given ACN and injuries. Does bringing on Bertrand and Lukaku in the last 10 minutes count as giving the youngsters an opportunity to gain experience in the domestic cups?

   • Cunningplan on 9 January, 2012 at 14:25

     As much as I like the FA cup, I don’t think it carries the same kudos, or excitement as it did when I was growing up.
     Lets be honest since the advent of Sky TV, and the internet, we’ve had a huge overdose of football over the years. I remember the days of Ceefax updating the scores every ten mins or so to know what your team was doing.

     I read a comment yesterday about how the FA cup meant sooo much to City, and Utd, by the way they were playing.
     I think they probably overlooked the even more intense rivalry, and dislike the two teams have for each other now, that game would have been played exactly the same if it had been the LDV VAN trophy (or whatever it’s called today) third round.

   • Anonymous on 9 January, 2012 at 14:42

     You should have come and sat next to me.  The bloke in front was taking endless photos including the underside of the West stand roof.

     And I couldn’t be arsed to tap him on the shoulder and advise him to turn off his flash, which has a range of about 10ft, and will hinder taking photos of Boswinga on the opposite side of the pitch 75 yards away.  In fact I was close to whipping out my 10inch zoom and beating him round the head with it.

10. bluebayou on 9 January, 2012 at 14:48

    Junior Bayou (aged nearly 8 in man years) was with me at the Villa game. As the third Villa goal went in he had assumed that as everyone else was leaving so should we, until the wise counsel of his father convinced him that a proper Chelsea bloke stays to the end because we take the good with the bad and stick with the lads when they’re struggling just as we celebrate with them when they’re winning.

    I little appreciated the depth of the Villa trauma for the poor chap until the 89th minute yesterday, when at 3-0 they announced 3 minutes of added time. He turned to me and enquired as to whether I thought the game was in the bag. He obviously understands the kind of genetic material that runs through Chelsea, despite his football consciousness having only grown in years of relative success.

    To his young mind, his beloved team were quite capable of chucking away a three goal lead in about 5 minutes. I explained that while we’re far from top form, even David Luiz on a bad day might struggle to give it away that quickly.

    Then the fourth one went in and he relaxed.

    We were in the East Stand yesterday and he kept watching the screen rather than the pitch (our location at the Villa game meant he couldn’t see the Shed End screen and the new one at the Matthew Harding was not yet up). I pointed out that we could have have stayed at home and watched it on a screen and then realised that maybe we couldn’t but he got my drift. He responded that he was too worried to watch the pitch (it was only 1-0 at this point).

    I assume that somehow he understands that most of what he sees on TV is unreal (he has yet to be exposed to the joys of “reality” TV) and that if Portsmouth scored on the screen in some way that might not count as much as if he saw them do it in real life on the pitch.

    As to the game itself. We struggle on. I still don’t like the defensive shape.

    I was pleased for Malouda. Shades of the sort of goals he set up in the Double Year. I tend to agree with those who’d like to see Mata more central. When teams come and sit it really does come down to high tempo and good close short range passing on the edge of the box, or very quck transition when the opposition do venture out and lose the ball. Yesterday so little of either particulalry in the first half. Late in the second half they did start moving the nball quickly into space as Portsmouth tired.

    It is of course stating the obvious that sometimes against a disciplined defence it is all about working them constantly so that they fade in the last 10 to 15 minutes. It’s all about creating fatigue early enough to get time to win the game, while not doing anything daft yourselves.

    In the end they created the fatigue. The daft? Well………….if you weren’t there it’s pointless upsetting you.

    And finally………….

    Note to hapless radio interviewer (I think I heard this on Radio London)

    When interviewing a man (dear Robbie) who’s career was brutally shortened by a bad leg break, is it really wise to cherrfully enquire as to whether he’s thinking about coming out of retirement like Paul Scholes.

    A little sensitivity perhaps? Or maybe you didn’t really have a clue who the f**k you were talking to.

    • Der_Kaiser on 9 January, 2012 at 15:14

      Good grief.  Right up there with the art critic who said “I see you’ve given up wearing spectacles, sir…” to Van Gogh… 

      • bluebayou on 9 January, 2012 at 15:29

        I may be wrong but I believe that whenever Van Gogh and his wife stayed in a hotel they were always offered the bridal.

        It’s because his wife couldn’t hang onto his ears……………

        I’ll get my smock. 

11. Anonymous on 9 January, 2012 at 21:17

    We’re going to sell Kalou to Arsenal for £3m? Really, Daily Mail? REALLY?

    I know it’s not a real newspaper but, even as far as made up stories go, that takes some beating. Bravo.

    • Anonymous on 10 January, 2012 at 10:15

      I don’t know about price, but Arsene asked for Sal’s availability since Scolari’s days. 

12. Anonymous on 10 January, 2012 at 10:23

    I’m now convinced the sports pages hacks are running a competition for the most outlandish transfer window story published.

    In the last few days since the “Lamps to Man U” story we’ve had:

    Citeh to Bid £60m for Rooney

    Lamps Free to Move Abroad; and

    Lamps to return to West Ham.

    I rest my case, m’lud.

    • Der_Kaiser on 10 January, 2012 at 11:22

      Lamps to West Ham has to be the funniest.  Have they not seen any of our recent meetings with them? 

    • Ryan on 10 January, 2012 at 18:28

      Chelsea have bid £35million for Angel di Maria if Marca are to be believed. Don’t know if this is an outrageous rumour, it’s been redressed by the Mirror. Apparently a top PL club have made a bid and supposedly it’s Chelsea. I can’t see it happening really. He’s one of their best players in my opinion. He is currently unhappy about a pay rise that hasn’t been forthcoming but I expect he’ll get his pay rise and stay at Madrid. I’d love to see him at Chelsea though.

      Is the Cahill deal actually going to happen now? It seems to be dragging a bit. Any ideas?

13. bluebayou on 10 January, 2012 at 13:00

    Talking of ridiculous rumours, the quip I saw yesterday on someone’s twitter (can’t remember who), which referred to Rooney’s hair transplant being on the move to either Barnet or Wigan made me laugh.

    The reference to the City v United game being a great advert for the Europa League was also very good.

14. Ryan on 10 January, 2012 at 18:57

    Ok I did a quick google search and… Di Maria is earning £1.5million a year while Higuain is on double that and Ronaldo and Kaka are on £9million a year. So he would be one of their lowest earning stars I guess. Could be that we’re being used as a pawn to get him his pay-rise. Could be that he is genuinely fucked off with RM if he feels he is being under-valued and they aren’t prepared to improve his contract. Still I doubt they’d sell to us regardless, especially in January.

15. Anonymous on 11 January, 2012 at 09:42

    Di Maria to Chelsea, very nice prospect!  

16. Der_Kaiser on 11 January, 2012 at 09:50

    Can’t recall where I read it (may have even been a comment on here) and don’t know whether it is true or not, but isn’t the Spanish government planning to crank up the tax rate for high-earning foreign nationals?  Think it makes our 50% rate look attractive from what I can recall.  Might be the reason that the rumour mill is starting to twitch in Madrid.

    • bluebayou on 11 January, 2012 at 14:23

      Heard someone from what I would assume was a right of centre publication whittering on the Today programme about how Britain’s high taxes have resulted in Billionaires being driven to Monaco.

      You’d think the buggers would pay for their own transport wouldn’t you………

      I’ll get my cloth cap and whippet

      • Cunningplan on 11 January, 2012 at 15:59

        That’s the second poor joke in as many days, I feel the need for yellow and red cars on this blog for posters. And by my count that’s two yellows for you BB, with an automatic suspension for 3 days.

        Of course you could appeal to our blog kangaroo court, but I think you’d have a far better chance overturning the ban, by pleading directly to the FA.

        • Anonymous on 11 January, 2012 at 17:00

          sounds like a plan but who’s going to fork out for the yellow and red cars?

          • Cunningplan on 11 January, 2012 at 17:18

            What do you mean cars? the d was always there. 😉

            Do minor errors constitute a ban as well? I might fall on my sword here.

        • bluebayou on 11 January, 2012 at 17:50

          “That’s the second poor joke in as many days”

          And who made you the arbiter of what qualifies as good and poor jokes then?

          Using some arbitary and ill thought through personal opinion and parading it as a consensual, impirical measure is a bit rich.

          I bet thousands of visitors to this blog have had their day lightened and their all round health improved by a good, rib-tickling laugh, delivered by my razor wit, sharp observation and all round bonhomie.

          Even now I’m sure they are just queing up to leap to my defence. Or they will do once they get home from work, have some tea/dinner/supper (select as per appropriate cultural/social grouping) and watched some telly or done homework, housework, been out on the piss, whatever it is people do.

          And yet you would deprive them of what little light relief, what crumbs of solace they can garner from efforts such as mine as we struggle through the slough of despond (that’s the stop before Maidenhead)?

          You are a bounder and a cad sir and I will have satisfaction!

          (Swipes Mr C Plan across the chops with a cyber glove. Storms off stage left.)

          (Comes back)

          And yes falling on your sword will save you from the cold steel of my blade….or were we using pistols or will we settle on conkers, but no cheesers or baking them in vinager.?

          • Cunningplan on 11 January, 2012 at 18:02

            I don’t think conkers are allowed in the playground anymore due to “elf and safety”, but you can have the sword if you want, I’ll take the PISStol.

17. Anonymous on 11 January, 2012 at 14:49

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2084756/Thibaut-Courtois-eyes-year-Atletico-Madrid.html
    Our keeper makes a good progress, so when time comes he should serve us well. 

18. Anonymous on 11 January, 2012 at 17:53

    Following the recent run of iffy jokes and typos, in the spirit of some of our bloggers, I’d just like to say — there’s no room for sentiment, we’re all lazy useless old bloggers whose time is up, sack the lot of us (and Nick of course who has to be held responsible no matter what the standards of the blog may have been in previous seasons) and spend whatever it takes to get in some hungry new bloggers who are funny and can type.

19. Anonymous on 11 January, 2012 at 18:13

    Personally I think it’s a great joke, and the play on words is in the same vein as my two favourite comedians, Tim Vine and Milton Jones.

20. Anonymous on 11 January, 2012 at 21:47

    Fucking Spurs above us… 

    • Anonymous on 11 January, 2012 at 22:01

      Well they were anyway. But it is unacceptable behaviour and something needs to be done about it.

      But by someone else, yeah?

      • Cunningplan on 11 January, 2012 at 22:09

        You’ll probably find, if we wait long enough, their own fans will burn WHL down! 😉

      • Anonymous on 12 January, 2012 at 11:47

        Well, they still have to visit us at Bridge, so we have a remote chance to inflict some pain on them.

21. Anonymous on 12 January, 2012 at 13:30

    So Alex off to QPR (club confirm offer been made) and no sign of Cahill.

    I’m assuming JT or Luiz will get injure in training tomorrow leaving us massively short of CBs for the weekend.

    WTF is going on with Cahill?

    • bluebayou on 12 January, 2012 at 14:04

      Once a fee had been agreed it was down to personal terms and that didn’t get wrapped up straightaway. Then you had ‘Arry and his scout turning up to Bolton away at Everton on Jan 4th. Ostensibly to watch Everton? Maybe. Then Man U are suddenly interested as Phil Jones has 2 bad games in a row.

      So was that just media nonsense or was there a bit of desperate agent led hawking around to either get him a deal with another club ‘cuase Chelsea weren’t offering enough or to pressure Chelsea into paying a bigger weekly wedge?

      If £50K is what he’s signing for then perhaps he’s been convinced he was worth a lot more. or his agent feels he should be getting more.

      Who knows.

      And I’m starting a campaign for footballer’s remuneration to be quoted in annual figures. To pretend that there is some real life comparison between footballers and working persons is now a myth. It reflects negatively on both sides. And a greater proportion of people are now paid monthly. And the very low paid have to think in terms of hourly rate and the minimum wage.

      No, footballers should have their earnings quoted in annual figures, the better to understand just how much lots of other people are creaming out of the economy for very little effort. You may not agree with the money being paid but they don’t sit on committees awarding themselves ever bigger chunks of money do they?

      Cahill may sign for £2.6 million a year, but luck, the ability to bullshit, being bordeline sociopathic and being able to walk straight into a better position after performing poorly week in week out is not a luxury that comes to many footballers (Winston being an exception). It is however fairly commonplace in too many other walks of life.

      And just to make MR C Plan’s day…….

      When will scousers stop getting excited over just one leg? Did they learn nothing from their own Paul McCartney?

      • Cunningplan on 12 January, 2012 at 14:10

        I’m not rising to the bait. 😉

      • Anonymous on 12 January, 2012 at 14:13

        If a football clubs is a private business then salaries have got nothing to do with us.  If Roman wants to pay someone £60gzillion squid that’s between him and the player.

        • bluebayou on 12 January, 2012 at 14:39

          Of course he can, until the FFP rules make that more dificult.

          But that’s not my point. It was a half serious stab at this business of talking about footballers “wages” in weekly terms as though they were still engaged in some sort of working man’s toil.

          On the one hand it fails to take into account that at the top level of football their earnings and lifestyle mean they are far removed from the everyday working person and on the other it means that there is a remaining snobbery about these men, not just in comparison to top earning people in other walks of life who may be more educated or have a backgound from a higher social class, but to other persons in film, music or other branches of entertainment who might share similar background.

          To my mind it is a way of demeaning them and reflects an uneasiness about how we treat those who have a set of skills that are not easily reproducible by most in society and that many of us value highly.

          But at the same time we ourselves are not confident about prizing something that is not perhaps seen to have the same value as art, film or music, but brings such great rewards.

          We can happily trash the beneficiaries of talentless celebrity but footballers? Not quite the same.

          I will now be unavailable for a short period as a team of highly paid surgeons conduct a search for me in the area of my own rectal region with a view to at least removing my head from there.

          • Anonymous on 12 January, 2012 at 15:28

            In which case I’d recommend your surgeon reads this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-16533134 before inserting the scalpel.

          • Der_Kaiser on 12 January, 2012 at 17:11

            It is all a bit patronising towards the players.  The obsession with their wages (and how they are expressed) is definitely rooted in outdated class prejudice – and more specifically, jealousy, in my ‘umble opinion.  Folk seem to get very uppity when they see someone they perceive as ‘thick’ carrying home piles of money for something supposedly so trivial.

          • WorkingClassPost on 12 January, 2012 at 17:38

            “Folk seem to get very uppity when they see someone they perceive as ‘thick’ carrying home piles of money “ 

            That’s why I quit Corporate Banking…

          • Anonymous on 12 January, 2012 at 18:33

            I thought in Corporate Banknig you had someone to carry your money home for you in the spare 4×4?

          • WorkingClassPost on 13 January, 2012 at 16:46

            “I thought in Corporate Banknig you had someone to carry your money home for you in the spare 4×4?”

            Correct, but it was always to somebody else’s home and in someone else’s 4×4.

          • Anonymous on 12 January, 2012 at 22:41

            I’ve always been of the opinion that it is stated in weekly terms because it sounds more. Fifty grand a week (in my mind at least) sounds more than £2.6 million a year. There are some CEO’s who earn similar amounts yet you never hear of their salary being calculated on a weekly basis.

22. Anonymous on 12 January, 2012 at 13:47

    Chelsea winger Gael Kakuta completes Dijon loan deal

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16528824.stm

    Considering the bother caused by signing Kakuta it’s a shame he’s not going to make the grade.  At 21, if he was as good as we thought at 16, he should be in the first team.

    • Austin Solari on 12 January, 2012 at 14:02

      He was impressive enough when he first appeared but then he seemed to fall foul of the in place manager at the time’s fear of playing youngsters. I don’t think he has ever been given a chance really.

23. bluebayou on 12 January, 2012 at 14:09

    And well done to the yoof for getting through in the Cup against Norwich, even if it took penalties (’cause we an never have enough practice at those)

24. Ryan on 12 January, 2012 at 22:01

    We are “in talks” with Lille to sign Eden Hazard for £30million. Definition of “in talks”… we say “any chance of buying the lad for £30million next week?” they say “Non”.

    This one could be like the di Maria story. Great if it’s true but I’m not sold on it. Sure they’ll sell him eventually but not this month and no guarantee he would come to us if RM came calling in the summer.

    I’m glad we’re targeting this sort of player but whether we are likely to sign them in the next 19 days is questionable in the extreme. It’s been 14 days since Bolton accepted our bid for Cahill and we still haven’t got him.

25. NorthernVA on 13 January, 2012 at 03:32

    CP are you Chris Foy in disguise 🙂 How dare you red card a man who comes up with a comment like this:

    “When will scousers stop getting excited over just one leg? Did they learn nothing from their own Paul McCartney?”

    I nominate BB for the blogger Balllon D’Or! Lock it up and take away the key. Der Kaiser and Mark with much due respect I must say that the bar has officially been elevated.

    • Cunningplan on 13 January, 2012 at 07:21

      Comedy is so subjective, just like the the match report scoring of our players. 😉

      On saying that, that was a funny comment from BB, one of his best, but I didn’t want to encourage him.

26. bluebayou on 13 January, 2012 at 09:41

    While I haven’t got a woolly coat, live in a field or eat grass, I am feeling a bit sheepish.

    I can’t claim credit for the scouser joke. It was texted to me by my sister, who actually supports Liverpool. I did rework it to make it a little snappier but no more than that.

    • Cunningplan on 13 January, 2012 at 10:22

      So you were cheating? it’s a bit like a footballer diving, worthy of a yellow card.
      So I make that three yellows for you BB, but still no sending off.
      Perhaps that makes me the Graham Poll of referees and not Chris Foy. 😉

      • bluebayou on 13 January, 2012 at 17:00

        Given that I undertook a little re-editing I would call it embellishment rather than diving. And yes I consider myself lucky to still be on the pitch.

27. Anonymous on 13 January, 2012 at 10:13

    Again Lampard stories, now BBC 
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16542192.stm 
    WTF!!! 

28. John on 13 January, 2012 at 13:23

    Sorry late comment following on BB’s point about how salaries are expressed (but loved the scouser joke) – I would also remind us that the admirable Martin Samuel is the only journalist I’ve seen make the point that, though Terry gets c£150k a week he’s at least resident here and paying a hefty chunk in UK tax, unlike the people in other sports who earn more and go into tax exile yet remain the darlings of the media – eg Lewis Hamilton. I’m sure the players have accountants and schemes which minimise their tax liability, but it’s still a good point that gets lost in all this hypocritical bollocks.

29. bluebayou on 13 January, 2012 at 17:09

    Going forward, as your management types like to say, it is best if I am percieved as an individual singularly unencumbered by original thought and this will avoid further embarrassment and concerns over plagiarism.

    On a more serious note, just as Lucielle picked a fine time to leave her man with 400 children and a crop in the field (cf Kenny Rodgers), this is a far from fine time to be taking on Sunderland who have recovered a bit of form under Mr O’Neil. Despite the fact that we did smash his Villa side eleventy – nil or something a couple of years back, I always feel uneasy playing his teams.

    I’m never sure if we’ve fully paid him for Erland’s “stumble” in the semi against Leicester back in the day, or is there more to come?

    • WorkingClassPost on 13 January, 2012 at 17:36

      Strange how dismissive the  CFC pre-match briefing is, given Slumberland’s return to form and our own stumblings of late.

      Any clues here as to why we can’t seem to get it up for the lower order?

30. Anonymous on 14 January, 2012 at 09:47

    Gary Cahill set to have a medical at Chelsea http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16438701.stm

    He’s taken the piss for two weeks so I guess now it’s our turn.

    • Der_Kaiser on 14 January, 2012 at 10:31

      For what it is worth, I hope the doctor has particularly fat fingers and an appalling bedside manner.

      • Cunningplan on 14 January, 2012 at 11:01

        You’ve met my wife then? 🙂

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