Newspaper reports
The Guardian, Kevin McCarra: “The persistence of Chelsea was outdone only by the patience of the crowd. This was one of those occasions when expensive sides seem intent on producing shoddy football. The victors can be faulted only slightly. Even when they were caught up in the dreariness, Chelsea still had a desire to attack and deserved the late goals. Manchester City did not change their conservative stance until it was too late. The injured Carlos Tevez was badly missed but a club with City’s funds is supposed to have redoubtable alternatives.”
Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter: “All good teams boast a back-up strategy and Plan B for Brazilians certainly worked brilliantly for Chelsea at the Bridge on Sunday. Late goals from David Luiz and Ramires kept Chelsea’s title flame flickering after their initial tactical set-up failed to bring the best out of Fernando Torres, the birthday boy denied the gift of a goal he craved.”
The Independent, Sam Wallace: “It has been a while since we have seen Roman Abramovich throwing himself about anxiously in his seat at Stamford Bridge or exchanging exuberant high-fives with his son in the manner of slightly embarrassing fathers the world over, but yesterday he looked as animated as he has done in a while.”
Official Chelsea FC Website: “David Luiz headed Chelsea into the lead against Manchester City before Ramires finished off the visitors in stoppage time. The Brazilian duo found the net late in the game following a tense encounter at the Bridge. The win takes the Blues back up to third in the table, four points behind second-place Arsenal.”
The goals
’78 David Luiz 1-0
’90 Ramires 2-0
“We wanted to win but it was not easy to find a solution in the final third in the first-half.
“The second-half was better because Manchester City were softer; they played Thursday night and were a little bit tired and we had more opportunity at the end of the game.
“We needed to be patient. It was a difficult game because we didn’t want to concede on the counter-attack like we did in the last game against them.
“Tactically it was a good as well. We played for 90 minutes with good fighting spirit, so I am happy for this, and our moment is good, we showed this on the pitch.
“David Luiz and Ramires had a fantastic performance and fantastic goals and Ramires showed he is improving very well. Defensively David Luiz worked with a fantastic tempo and one-against-one was good, his performance was really good.”
no match report,yet? anyways we had a good match. As it turned out,carlo was spot on with starting line up bar malouda of course, i thought it was a gamble starting with kalou but he was the best player in first half. torres looked lively, citeh as expected packed midfield with 3 defensive midfielders,……… no width to their play and trying to block our passing game. infact apart from the toure shot from outside the box they didnt have any shot at all! so much returns for the millions spent over last 3 yrs!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even bolton are way much better than that…..
terry branners cole had a good game.,cech had coupl of crosses to catch and one shot to be blocked in first half,otherwise not troubled at all. what can i say about david “springhair”luiz? he was everywhere.. he was the one to win the free kick that lead to goal and he was the one to head it too…. and not to mention his blocks, one on one tackles, last man clearances from the box ………… he was awesome! he gets 9.5/10 half point deduction b’coz of yellow card. just curb tha mad streak and you will be truly a great.
lampard was ok, essein nearing the roaring bison we want to see, malouda was hopeless carlo play yuri every time now plz.ramieres was great too. he ran and ran and ran, covered for branners, doubled up on wings,sat back when lamps and essein went ahead ,provided (much needed) width on right,defended on set pieces, and SCORED A BEAUTY!! my apologies for criticizing you unnecessarily before.
b’day boy torres looked lively and looked near his best in first half. had a great touch to free ramieres on the right. that famous burst of speed is also back. faded a bit in second. just needs to be left alone really. he is coming back in some form and goals are just around the corner for sure.
and the gamble of the game, starting kalou ahead of drogs and nic, actually paid of. he was our best player till 70 th minute. was unbelievably good in that second strikers role.had some great touches to create some space around their congested box and midfield area.yuri again proved by his cameo that he deserves a nod ahead of malouda who was poor and never tried to deliver good crosses or passes in the box, choosing to shoot or just giving the ball away.. he needs to be dropped and sold in summer. i dont think he will play as well as last couple of seasons anymore,so why not cash him in?
drogs came on and to my surprise played well with correct attitude. no sulking or tantrums from him even after being benched was good to see.carlo must be doing something correct in there. anelka barely got a touch.
finally kudos to carlo for getting everything spot on . he reverted back to old 4-3-3 /4-5-1. to handle much packed citeh midfield. started kalou and it worked well, got drogs and nic in just when citeh were tiring, it was a 10/10 for him yesterday. just start yuri on left carlo and we will score in first halves of games…. and watching roman sharing high fives with his son, i think carlo is here to stay….he should for me at least.
torres will come good, and let’s not forget that he worked very well with benayoun in liverpool. remember nando scoring against us at the bridge, from benayoun’s flick? that is bound to happen again.
i just loved whoever compared luiz to socrates. so true. dr. luiz it is, then.
First of all I would just like to register my complete and utter disgust at Gourlay’s interview yesterday,his lack of class is put in perspective by Carlo’s abundance of it.If anyone has to lose their job I vote for Ron. Well done to the team, really great to beat City.
All very enjoyable. Loving how the South American contingent are settling in so well now; both excellent footballers and hopefully the shape of things to come at the ‘new’ Chelsea.
Tevez not playing a part helped us in a big way, though. But hey, I’ll take all the luck that comes our way at the moment. The other Mancs are just getting those results you know will eventually seal the title; injuries are starting to rack up, though, which may make a difference.
Lots of focus on Torres as is to be expected, but very little on Dzeko. At least our expensive January purchase looks like a footballer. Still, we shall give him the ‘new club, new league’ benefit of the doubt.
Did read that Anelka had stuck 12 away for Bolton before he joined us in Jan. 2008; he scored 2 for us in the remainder of that season; those spouting the line that Torres is ‘Premiership proven’ and should have adjusted by now might want to consider that. Carlo is shuffling the front / supply line to an extent in order to get the best out of him, which may not be helping – a settled line up and time to get used to how those around him work might be a better bet in the long run.
An excellent point on the similarity between the Torres and Anelka situations. Nic was a slight disappointment in 2008 but he still had the odd good game and telling moment that season and has since shown he was an excellent buy. Also agree City missed Tevez badly but fuck it we’ve had various key people out at most important points this season so let’s take it.
Agree that the Gods smiled on us with Tevez’s groin twang, as devoid of him they looked a largely non-existent attacking force. Mind you some of their passing on their few counter-attacks was so wayward even he’d have struggled to make a difference.
Interested to hear Mancini comment in his post-match interview that his players tired after Thursday’s exertions and he was about to make substitutions when we scored.
Hmm, well even my amateur eye noticed from about 60 minutes that Citeh were flagging and we were beginning to find time and space on the ball at last. Carlo, not renowned for bold substitutions, saw enough to risk a double striker change on 70 minutes and we scored on 78 minutes. And Mancini gets paid how much?
And so that faint optimistic hope for the title survives for another couple of weeks. Are we now into “losing the CL Quarter Final wouldn’t be a disaster” territory as it would clear out our midweek games and give the Mancs horrendous fixture congestion?
The gnomic comments of Ron Gourlay suggest we’re into “Win the CL and the League, Carlo or see that wooden thing with the handle, it’s the door and close it on your way out. Oh and thanks.”
More seriously, If Carlo has a contract to 2012 one assumes there would have to be a mutual termination of the contract or we’d be stiffed for the usual millions in in pay-off wonga, which until January was more than we spent on players.
I seem to remember a titbit of gossip back in the autumn about a Prem manager being found asleep in his office on more than one occasion to the annoyance of the powers that be.
Now I read Carlo saying this in an interview. “But I know very well that this team slept for two months and, in that moment, I had fantastic support from the team. A lot of coaches that sleep for two months, at this moment, are at home watching the game on television. I am here. Fortunately.”
Could this have been the seeds of those rumours that all was not well even though we’d started the season so well and the “slumpus horribilis” as the Romans would have said, was yet to come.
Perhaps I’m imagining it.
Completely missed the game, but sounds like we played well. Universal plaudits from other fans on various blogs I’ve seen. City look spent, as does Arsenal and Spurs. Very odd season for everybody.
Don’t care what Torres does as long we are winning. Let the Scousers obsess about him, they’ve nothing else to worry about now.
Carlo’s subs have been match winners in three of our last four games ( United, Blackpool and City). Time to give the chap more credit now he has a stronger bench to work with (and with Alex and Benayoun still to come)?
Will Alex be back for the CL ties?
Really surprised by the lack of comments for such a must-win game. I thought we played excellently and players deserve their dues. The least we can do is blog about it … so where is the support?
The Torres duck should be left to the Scouse Scum to whine about. I am not expecting anything from him till next season. I was never one who wanted him especially for 50 mill, but clearly he is an excellent footballer. I just think 50 mill for a 27 year old is a bit much, when you consider whom else you could buy for that money in the summer. Anyway – the lad played well and he will come good for us.
Not sure about the french contingent not passing to him, surely if CA or RA noticed this then they would all be dropped/ killed. I for one would not piss all over RA’s 50 mill buy and try to make the big boss look stupid. I just think the players need time to adapt to Nando’s movement etc.
Still don’t think we will take the title but have a feeling we will make it to the CL final. I think ManU will be more focused on the Prem and that will let us slip past them in the CL. With their injury problems however, anything can happen.
God Bless Roman’s Blue Army
Were my eyes deceiving me or do the City players have extremely fat arses and thin calves? Must be black short and black socks that creates the effect so I’ll steer clear of that combo.
Malouda is struggling with confidence; still I’m sure all the love and support emanating from the Matthew Harding will help him back on track similar to Ramires earlier this season.
You’re eyes weren’t deceiving you. Toure in particular, his spindley legs made him look like Mr Strong (the new one from the Mr Men Show that is, not the square one that liked eggs from the old Mr Men which Arthur Lowe used to narrate that i guess most of us on here would be more familiar with!)
Everyone played well, but it was looking like one of those that got away until the goal went in.
And did we do a ‘buy one get one free’ deal when we bought Luiz?
Saw him tidying up as the last defender for most of the game, then he’s on the left wing, and then he’s scoring one and almost a second.
Now I know that one person can’t be in the same place at the same time, so…
The incomprehemsion directed at Seedorf on MOTD2 spoke volumes for British punditry. Yes perhaps Seedorf doesn’t want to sit there dissing currrent players while he still earns a crust out there, but all he did was try to make the point that Torres running off the ball was good and that he was clearly putting in the effort and this added up to a decent performance.
But that didn’t fit with “the story”.
Neither Hansen or Dixon are fools, but when someone with as much experience and knowledge of the modern game who is still playing in it, having done so across Europe for a decade and a half and has a fair few medals to show for it, starts talking about football I’d personally shut the fark up and listen to him.
Each to his own, though, I suppose.
Don’t think we’ve “solved” Citeh yet, despite the win. Glad we don’t have to play themm again this season.
Only just seen the highlights: Hansen was so clearly reading from the script prepared by his best friend King Kenny it was embarrassing. Seedorf made him look a bit daft by simply stating the obvious. I wish somebody would point out that Hansen is far from an unbiased bystander in these conversations.
I think people are right when they say Torres is going to be more of a team player for us then he was at Liverpool. Maybe not as spectacular, but more effective in the long run. How did he play yesterday? He was genuinely poor at Blackpool and I didn’t like the body language, but thought he was very good for the games prior to that.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/21/councillor-blackpool-supporters-donkey-botherers
Following on from last week’s discussion on PVA and his ill-fated Twitter account, further proof that there are too many people desperate to find offence where none is intended….
I’ve been a bit poorly and not posted/read anything for a while, I’m sure I haven’t been missed, but have I missed anything on the blog? 🙂
Sorry to hear that Clive. Are you better?
Welcome back!
Well you didn’t miss much, apart from the discussion where we finally cracked The Meaning of Life, The Universe and Everything. But don’t worry it wasn’t anything very special as far as I remember….
I like Torres a lot and I think he’s played pretty well, but I was one of the ones hoping for Suarez back in January, and unfortunately I was probably right about that. Nevertheless, when you look at it as 75 mill for both Luiz and Torres I’m pretty well satisfied.
Yesterday was thrilling and I’m very excited about the remaining prospects for the season — as long as Alex will be back and fit for the CL games! The whole back line gets a 9/10 for me, if not higher, Ramires also, and Bison 8. Drogs gets an 8 for that penalty kick and his fine work elsewhere.
@Mark
After having both suffered from depression for a while, me and the wife decided we were going to commit suicide last week. But strangely enough, once she killed herself, I started to feel a hell of a lot better, so I thought ‘fuck it – soldier on’. 😉
Thanks guys yes I’m better, it wasn’t anything too serious, it’s good to be back amongst the friendly few, and it looks like the boys in blue are on the up!
*Sigh* I see the ManU fans are supremely confident about CL given that the game officials won’t be English. wtfever. No mention by them of whether they’re happy to play us since we can’t use Luiz. At least they tend to think of us as the third toughest draw for them.
All right, since a few people have rashly demanded more posts, here’s what I saw on Sunday:
Firstly, a strange atmosphere. In previous seasons I remember the Citeh fans being good value as well as plentiful (like … err … mackerel?) But this time there didn’t seem to be very many of them and they were subdued and distracted — like their team. For a third-versus-fourth game there was a strangely relaxed and meandering feeling in the stands. Perhaps it was just the fact that the sun was out and for the first time since October coats seemed optional.
The on-field activity had the same slightly blunted quality. Two Italian managers produced a very Italianate game. City were the better team for 10 or 15 minutes while we did nothing at all but pass around the back, but in this case “better” is a highly relative term. Apart from Silva they didn’t seem to have any danger about them at all. Milner was a particular disappointment, while Barry and De Jong never looked like threatening Essien and Ramires. Meanwhile we passed around tidily enough, but sluggishly and always taking a few too many seconds to decide where the next pass was: by the time the ball had gone in towards Torres or Kalou there were always plenty of defenders around them.
The odd thing was that nobody seemed to mind that much. After twenty minutes it looked like a guaranteed nil-nil game, but the crowd seemed much less agitated about it than you might expect. My guess is that a critical mass of fans have more or less relaxed regarding this season: it seems obvious to enough of us that we’re not going to be champions but we are going to finish in the top four, so there doesn’t seem as much to get worked up about as there might be.
And then, over the course of the second half, Citeh just … flagged. They looked knackered, mentally as much as anything else. Silva ran around and controlled the ball wonderfully but never had anything to do with it. A couple of times we made mistakes and gave them counterattacking possession, but whenever that happened JT or Branners or the increasingly magnificent Luiz tidied up with no fuss (one wonderful moment in the first half where JT nicked the ball off Milner’s toes without appearing to try). But though we were making a few semi-chances Hart had still had nothing of note to do and it looked like a definite 0-0 — until, more or less out of nowhere, it wasn’t.
The last 15 minutes were Mourinho-like. Total comfort and control in defence of a 1-0 lead. It’s nice to see us scoring late goals and defending impregnably again.
Overall everyone looked ok, with the possible exception of Frank, who didn’t seem to get into the game. Kalou was quick-moving in a way that contrasts helpfully with the very deliberate way Nic always plays. Torres did fine. People are so obsessed with the question of when he’s going to score that they’re not able to see anything else: if he doesn’t score he’s hopeless and when he finally does he’ll be brilliant. He looks like he’s finding his way into the team, week by week.
It’s hard not to find oneself thinking more about the future than the rest of this season, though. Luiz and Ramires both look like lynchpins of the team for the next three or four years, and Luiz has a natural rapport with the crowd of the sort that actually makes you think of Zola.
The real question is who’s going to score our goals over the next few years. Who knows whether Torres will get back to hid form of a year or two ago? Drogs and Nic are, I suspect, nearing the end: it’s a long time since neither of them has started a league game, surely? Kalou’s a much better player than he gets credit for here but he’s never going to be the striker Abramovich dreams of. Studge, Borini, Lalkovic, Prosenik … I suspect if another big-name Eurostriker becomes available, Roman won’t be able to resist getting the chequebook out again.
Good man LTB.
That’s a decent summary. You should throw in a match report or two. I only heard the game on the radio and what you say puts the bones on my general impressions. I remember thinking that I didn’t hear Lampards name an awful lot, Essien perhaps a bit more and Malouda and Ramires quite noticeably.
The commentators kept refering to the slow tempo of the game, hence my comment earlier that I don’t think we’ve solved City. They always seem to be able to impose a slow tempo or we fall into a slow tempo playing them I’m not sure which.
You hear people discussing that the title is an outside chance and it is a long shot. But you hear very little mention of how this team has the mental toughness to handle a run-in. While the older legs might be tying up, there is the knowledge of what it takes. We’ll probably bomb out just when we think it’s swinging our way but the signs are there of that old resilience, which seemed to have deserted it us.
worried about chelsea goal scorers? here is our new signing from brasil – lucas piazon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFJ8LP6go_U
he actually rips the net with his strike.
Thanks for that link Biggs.
Frankly I’d be asking questions of the net. (Though I’m aware I’d look like a bit of a wally. “So … um … How long have you been a net?”)
But — is that really our new signing or is that just recycled footage of Kaka from a few years back? It’s not just that he looks quite a lot like Kaka. he appears to have exactly the same face. Isn’t Brazil supposed to be famous for diversity??
Welcome back Clive – glad to hear nothing has gone mouldy / dropped off etc.
All very nice landing these Brazilians – let’s hope the Copa Americas or whatever it’s called never clashes with the African Nations, or we’ll all be in line for a game…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/22/aston-villa-director-charles-krulak
Yeah, go Villans!
And while we’re riding that MOTD horse over the cliff, what about their little compilation of great Dutch players who’d graced the English game.
I’m prepare to concede on the omission of such talents as Khalid Boulahrouz and yes even Winston Bogarde but hang on a mo.
No Jimmy Floyd, no Ed de Goey, no Mario Melchiot and no Ken Monkou!!!!!!!
You muppets.
Welcome back Clive.
Heard on Radio 5 Live last night during a discussion of the Evans studs up sending off, “He’s not that kind of player……”
Well……………….I may beg to differ………….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAz_wTv5bWI&feature=related
He seems to have got off lightly in the meeja.
I have just spotted the first [rather early] April Fool’s joke in the media this year and I claim my £5:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/22/football-transfer-rumours-john-terry
Well it’s not meant to be serious surely, even from those whacky JT-haters at The Grauniad?
I guess that’s one way of looking at it, bluebayou, but I also heard comments from one Bobby McMahon on Fox Soccer Report that he felt Man City were simply not fast enough to compete against Chelsea without Tevez. He felt the rest of the team was kind of plodding (though the p***k deJong looked pretty speedy when he got that tackle on Torres), which explains their need to slow the game down. We’ve “fallen into a slow tempo” with ManCity in the past, I think, because the Chelsea passing at a fast tempo has been pretty weak. Most of this problem seems to have been solved in the defense and in the midfield, and will only get better with Alex and Yossi coming back. Next up: the forwards.
Speaking of this TV program, I always enjoy it because I think they favor Chelsea in their coverage. For instance, last night’s program (when they analyze the weekend games) only mentioned that Drogba had substituted in for Torres. No Fernando goal-watch, no fuss about Drogba not playing, no drama whatsoever. They talked about which famous defenders in the past Luiz most resembles, and Ramires goal was “fabulous.” And then they go on and smirkingly talk about Sir Alex’s white bat-phone and Almunia. To be sure they got on the Ashley Cole story a few weeks ago but who wouldn’t? One of the anchors (Michelle Lissel) actually follows Chelsea. And while they’re critical of Chelsea when it’s warranted, it’s usually with an anxious tone. When they’re critical of ManU, ManC or the Gooners it’s usually more light-hearted. I think they like Spurs too, though.
The US media’s coverage of football probably increased after the strangle hold of the northern professional clubs, , had been broken,wth the exception of United, and therefore is a little less prone to that bias, for which you should be truly thankful and spare some pity for us here in Blighty who have to live with it on a daily basis;-)
Discussion last night on Radio 5 Live about captaincy in sport, the role of the captain in football etc etc.
On the subject of JT, Henry Winter starts pontificating about how the England Captian is a role model for kids blah de bla de blah. He suggested that Ryan Giggs won SPOTY for his off field persona as much as his achievement on it.
The R5 bloke asks what about Bryan Robson and Tony Adams who were his heroes, with their well documented problems? Lee Dixon starts to talk about Adams but Winter is on a roll and we never get to explore that. He is after JT.
Brain Moore, like myself an ex-member of the front row union but slightly more pugnacious and a tad more successful, speaking as a parent and not a sportsman says something along the lines of:
“The day my children are left dependent on the captain of any sports team for moral guidance is the day I go out and shoot myself”
Superb.
Moore, and the R5 bloke and Dixon were trying to draw the distinction between on field behaviour and off field behaviour. I was waiting for Winter to start in on JT’ on filed persona but I guess he knew that the on field behaviour of most footballers is of a piece, ie. not very good.
They broke for the news, I’d finished preparing a delicious risotto so left the kitchen and heard no more.
One matter of interest was that the Terry/Peroncel/Bridge matter was referred to as though the affair was accepted fact. As I understand it, Peroncel pursued the matter and the News of the Screws and the Wail on Sunday had had to print apologies about the “story” and state that it was untrue. Demonstrating once again that once they’ve gone for you no matter how untrue or inaccurate, the apology is worthless.
It would have been good if someone had cut to the chase and asked Winter who his choice would be; the answer would inevitably be Gerrard, whose own off-pitch reputation (and let’s face it, on pitch too) is hardly spotless. Good writer, but a hypocrite (as we all are, when it suits us).
Yes most people are hypocrites. Fortunately any discrepancy between thought and action on my part is purely down to poor short term memory.
Absolutely. Now, what did I come in here for again?
I have been ignoring the papers, but get the feeling they will be going after Terry tenfold after this decision, which amounts to a slap in the face for their shit-stirring and disingenous moralising.
I also await Barry Glendennings HILARIOUS dissection of Terry’s press conference.
‘What did you do for a living grandad Barry?’
‘I wrote snide articles and John Terry’s press conferences for five years.’
‘Oh.’
I see the all seater versus safe standing debate has come to the fore again.
But this did catch my eye from David Conn’s article in the Guardian
“In March 1993, considering its response to hooliganism, the German Football Federation decided against introducing all-seat stadiums, opting instead to make terracing safer.
“Abolishing standing areas would make it considerably more difficult for socially disadvantaged football supporters to attend their team’s matches,” the federation said then. “Football, being a people’s sport, should not banish the socially disadvantaged from its stadia, and it should not place its social function in doubt.”
I cannot, no matter how hard I try, imagine anyone in football administartion or government circles making that kind of statement in Britain in the last 30 years.
Indeed the opposite has been the mantra. “Pay or go away”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2011/mar/23/football-supporters-standing-zones-hillsborough
Brian Moore, though possibly a hypocrite like everyone else, seems to be that relatively rare thing – a sensible ex-sportsman-turned-commentator who’s prepared to eschew the bland comment and speak his mind. And I think he’s a Chelsea supporter (I’ve seen him in the pub I use before games). I am no rugby fan but his book is on my to read list because it’s been so well reviewed, particularly on the way he deals with his experience of abuse as a child and the effects this has had on him.
Pretty sure that the Taylor Report included a completely ignored instruction that all-seater stadia should not lead to an increase in prices and provision should still be made for more traditional football fans who might not afford high prices.
Course, supply and demand changed that and it’s worth remembering how much attendences have grown since the early 90s, when it was very rare for any club to sell out consistently.
I do feel sorry for younger fans who never got a chance to stand on terraces. It really was the best of times in many ways. Shit grounds and shitter football, but an atmosphere that has never been recaptured in any ground in the UK.
Did read chunks of both Taylor reports when I was studying law – there was definitely an ‘objections’ section which raised the issues likely to arise from his recommendations, and price was one of them. Can’t remember what the counter to it was, though.
Two bits that always stood out (even more so now) was the reference to a possible levy on TV money (about £5-6m, not all of which went to the clubs) and transfer fees. I think the latter was kicked out as the concern was money leaving the game – this was obviously in the days before agents took control when Jeff Powell and his mates received the occasional brown envelope for letting another club know that X player fancied a move.
I remember that rather touching interview with Perroncel herself that appeared in the Observer a fewf months after the whole JT-Bridge thing had come and gone. She denied flat out that there had ever been an affair. When the interviewer expressed her astonishment that such a crucial piece of information had not been entered into the public discussion before, Perroncel said, more or less, that she knew there was no point saying anything about it herself because the story would run its course regardless of the truth.
Even the underwear models are more sophisticated in France.
Henry Winter is the epitome of “Telegraph Man” — pompously convinced of his quintessentially British fairness and rectitude, and brought up to believe that the only way to write good prose is to make it sound like you’re delivering a speech in Parliament. Never known him write anything anyone with half a brain couldn’t have thought of themself.
And, of course, as the Observer Media section also pointed out, when Perroncel did finally take action and forced the News of the Screws and Wail on Sunday to print apologies these were buried on page 18 of the rags where virtually nobody would ever see them, in contrast to being splashed all over the front pages like the original articles.
Which also begs the question why did Wayne Bridge react, and behave the way he did?
He must know how the written media behaves in stories like this, or did he just enjoy being the victim?
Who would be bold enough to claim to understand the dynamics of any particular male-female relationship, especially one where the people concerned had taken decisions that meant they were spending long periods living several hundred miles apart?
I even heard recently about someone who claimed to have tried to con his partner into a phoney suicide pact 😉
When I travel away everyone stands throughout the game. I think proper standing sections would be safer than standing in seating areas where there are no barriers. At Citeh earlier this season one fat bloke, who’d been drinking, did fall about three rows injuring himself and those he fell on. To be fair I felt like throwing myself from the upper tier by the end of that game.
I think a Cardiff supporter fell off the upper tier of the stand on Saturday at the Millwall game? Unless of course he was pushed by Tony’s quiz team captain, who was there undercover as a Cardiff fan. 😉
If Roman cannot see that Jose is not angling for his job back at Chelsea in the Mail today, he must be blind as a bat.
‘Unfinished business’……….. ‘Lots of friends at Chelsea’…… ‘Hated playing against them last year’
We were mad to sack him the first time, and would be more mad to let him go elsewhere if he really wants to come home.
This may be rubbish, but there are rumours that Guus is set to quit the Turkish team a week after reports about Ancelotti’s role being reviewed at seasons end…
I think it’s rubbish but with all this talk of Mourinho ‘coming home’ i would like to ask ‘who people would like to have manage the team next year’. Ancelotti, Mourinho or Guus?
For reasons that I have yet to fathom, but which must in some way be linked to the international break, I spent all day yesterday and most of this morning in a state of involuntary humming (not out loud though, ’cause that would be mad).
The humming consists of only two tunes
“Het Wilhelmus” (The Dutch National Anthem) sung by assorted Dutch persons
“Still The Same” by Bob Seger
Though not at the same time of course.
The strange thing is
1. I’m not Dutch and have no allegiance to the House of Orange
2. While I’ve nothing against him and lived through his “famous years” I’m not a Bob Seger fan and don’t own any of his music, although one of my sisters did have an album of his.
The Dutch business may be down to the MOTD focus on Dutch players and a certain admiration for Clarence Seedorf and his defence of Torres.
For Bob Seger I have no rational explanation.
I may have to seek professional help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIg9VaMBi9o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8ofRHqhpts
Further on this, did once know a couple who had a Bob Seger track as the first dance at their wedding. They are, to the best of my knowledge, divorced now. Make of that what you will.
In the “You couldn’t make it up” segment of today’s blog, the Quataris have come up with what they claim is a novel way to deal with the heat during the World Cup.
Artificial clouds. Yep Artificial clouds.
And I quote: “the “clouds” are made from a lightweight carbon structure carrying a giant envelope of material containing helium gas. Four solar powered engines move the structure via remote control.”
Sorry lads, but the the Germans thought of that a long time ago. They called ’em Zepplins.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/24/qatar-world-cup-clouds
I wonder if they’ll be used to supply the artificial rain for ‘Mad’ Bernie Ecclestone’s tedious travelling F1 circus? There’s a
thoughtful comment about ‘playing God’ to be made somewhere along the line, I think…
Or are they just getting their April Fool gags in ahead of time?
I believe that Bernie is proposing a change to the footwear rules in football. All boots must be shaped like a thrupenny bit so as to make the passing and shooting a bit more unpredictable. This will help his team when they get promoted and add to the “entertainment” value.
Considering our last four signings — Benayoun, Ramires, Luiz and Torres — I think I’m pretty happy with what we’ve got in management. General TSO would no doubt be a great manager again, but I LIKE Carlo. And the conditions under which Mourinho would return would be complete control of football operations, so as long as the checkbook were open, he’d get exactly whom he wants.
So for me it’s a bit difficult to say. I’m pretty certain we wouldn’t like Mourinho at any of the major competitors though.
Tricky one. He’d be ideal for City in their current guise; you know he’d turn them into genuine challengers rather than a pack of wild cards that might do it if the wind is blowing the right way.
Whilst he sounds like he’s dropping heavy hints in our direction, I can’t help wondering if he’s not sending crafty messages to Old Trafford, along the lines of “You really don’t want me going back there, do you… not now they’ve got money again – just imagine what I might do to you?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rif64F9nDTM
Another goal tonight topped a hugely impressive performance. Studge really is banging them in at the moment.
Nice to see McEachran get a run at tge end of the U21 match as well.
Looks like we could be well playing in yellow permanently, yet another Brazilian in the bag…. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/9427151.stm
I like Brazilians – I’m thinking of getting one
That is expensive come back
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/237027/Jose-Mourinho-s-price-for-Premier-return-170m
If we are to sign this Neymar chap, I do hope he gets himself a decent haircut.
I think he’s just a 50’s doo-wop fan…..
Err, didn’t Nick say recently that he hates reading crap about footballers’ hairstyles?
So, moving swiftly on, I see with some relief that our boys have been spared risking injury in the meaningless midweek friendly international and have been released back to train with the club. No doubt those friendly chaps at Stoke will be even more eager to make up for that escape next weekend 😉
Well, at least he’s not wearing this one anymore
Oh wait, that’s NEWmar.
So Roman blocked the sale of Drogba for Adriano under Scolari’s reign.
Seems like he does know what he’s doing. It’s also clear that Roman is a very involved owner who will never leave the running of the club to Managers (like ManU or Arsenal).
Whether you agree with that or not, it’s a fact so might as well get behind him. He’s only made one mistake and that was getting rid of JM.