Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

Crann na Beatha

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Crann na Beatha

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GavRedKing

Lukaku won WBA Young POTY award last night.

GavRedKing

Phoenix wrote: »

Dont forget hilario too

Essien will probably be gone too, he's got a year left but I'd be surprised if we didnt off load him.

GavRedKing

Had Suarez not scored that goal we'd be home and dry at this point in 3rd.

5 points clear of spurs, hope we dont look at the end of the season on wht could have been on games like Reading away, QPR x 2, Southampton home.

kev1.3s

If Torres had not have been sent off against utd and hernandez's off side goal not been allowed things would have been very different.

GavRedKing

Both ourselves and Arsenal are meant to be in for Kondogbia from Sevilla.

Meant to be.

GavRedKing

kev1.3s wrote: »

If Torres had not have been sent off against utd and hernandez's off side goal not been allowed things would have been very different.

That sending off was a joke really, the offside goal was very hard to call but then we had Sideshows O.G. in the same game that killed us.

We've got some good luck this season but we've got our fair share of bad luck also and our concentration has killed us at times throwing away leads in the last few minutes of games.

kev1.3s

I can't remember much good luck to be honest but yeah there were a lot of games where we had no steel or bottle near the end. really hope we don't rue those lost opportunity's come the 19 may.

GavRedKing

Membership for 2013/14 is up on the site for anyone looking to go over next year.


http://www.chelseafc.com/membership-article/article/2755048/title/membership

kev1.3s

Also Torres offers a lot more than Ba I'd play Nando any day over Ba!

GavRedKing

kev1.3s wrote: »

Also Torres offers a lot more than Ba I'd play Nando any day over Ba!

I'd agree, hes a more intelligent footballer and links better with the trio behind then Ba.

It'll be interesting to see how Lukaku can do with the holy trinity behind him next year, his movement and awareness is much better then his ago should allow him to be, hes got a good positional sense coupled with great physical ability.

GavRedKing

GavRedKing wrote: »

Membership for 2013/14 is up on the site for anyone looking to go over next year.


http://www.chelseafc.com/membership-article/article/2755048/title/membership

I'd recommend everyone thats planning to go to get one, only 25stg, I'm going getting mine after work anyway and hope to go over early in the season and hopefully see the Special One back where he belongs.

podge79

GavRedKing wrote: »

I'd recommend everyone thats planning to go to get one, only 25stg, I'm going getting mine after work anyway and hope to go over early in the season and hopefully see the Special One back where he belongs.

must dig out my old membership number and join again.....I'd nearly swear a few years back (earlier 2000s) I had to pay something like £60 for membership.. cant remember to be honest memories gone to sh*t last couple of years; but I do remember thinking it was too expensive to renew for the once/twice I'd get over might go for it now again (that and I became a student again)

GavRedKing

podge79 wrote: »

must dig out my old membership number and join again.....I'd nearly swear a few years back (earlier 2000s) I had to pay something like £60 for membership.. cant remember to be honest memories gone to sh*t last couple of years; but I do remember thinking it was too expensive to renew for the once/twice I'd get over might go for it now again (that and I became a student again)

yuo must have got the True Blue Magazine/DVD combo I'd say.

That's 60 quid because naturally of the postage of the DVD or magazine.

Its actually easy to make that mistake, 2 or 3 years ago when I was renewing it I nearly done the same, clicked on the wrong package and before I accepted I had a quick look down, was buying the 60 quid True Blue monthly magazine & membership package.

podge79

a fool and his money.......

and I was that fool

peteeeed

i'll be renewing my membership. easiest way to get a ticket

the_monkey

GavRedKing

We need a rant monkey.......preferablly one to do with Barca and that doesnt see ya getting another yellow card :pac:

the_monkey

GavRedKing wrote: »

We need a rant monkey.......preferablly one to do with Barca and that doesnt see ya getting another yellow card :pac:

Well ....

not a rant, but I will say one thing .


Barça will play the UCL final next month in Wembley...

DazMarz

the_monkey wrote: »

Well ....

not a rant, but I will say one thing .


Barça will play the UCL final next month in Wembley...

you must be joking. Not a chance. To progress, Barcelona will need to score 5 goals without reply against a Bayern Munich side that haven't been held scoreless since they played against Arsenal (and that was because they fell asleep, as any team would), and since then have scored squillions of goals. They inflicted the worst defeat on Barcelona in 381 games.

Also, if Bayern go 0-1 up on the night, Barcelona will then need to score 6 without reply.

Neither scenario is going to happen. Barcelona are gone, Bayern are through. The fat lady is warming up for her encore. For Barcelona, it's the last two words of every story ever written: The fúcking End.

Real Madrid have a slim, slim chance, thanks to their away goal. Barcelona have no chance. They have no answer to Bayern's defence or attacks. If Barcelona end up playing in Wembley next month, I will eat my wireless mouse.

Here Precious2

the_monkey wrote: »

Well ....

not a rant, but I will say one thing .


Barça will play the UCL final next month in Wembley...

I leave this thought with ya monkey...If Bayern get 1 away goal then barca need 6!!!....no chance and I'd be a big barca admirer.

Duck Soup

How Dave forced a French TV footie pundit to eat a rat live on air.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2316464/Eric-di-Meco-eats-rat-live-TV-Chelseas-Cesar-Azpilicueta.html

GavRedKing

Duck Soup wrote: »

How Dave forced a French TV footie pundit to eat a rat live on air.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2316464/Eric-di-Meco-eats-rat-live-TV-Chelseas-Cesar-Azpilicueta.html

I cant wait to see how he gets on next year with us, hes had a good year IMO and will only get better.

GavRedKing

Josh Mac is done with Middlesborough and is returning to Chelsea.

podge79

Dont know if anyone has said it yet:

Record of Rafa v Robbie (all competitions):

P W D L F A
42 23 9 10 87 43 Rafa
42 24 9 9 92 56 Robbie

GavRedKing

podge79 wrote: »

Dont know if anyone has said it yet:

Record of Rafa v Robbie (all competitions):

P W D L F A
42 23 9 10 87 43 Rafa
42 24 9 9 92 56 Robbie

I honestly thought Rafa would have had a better record. RDM, despite being a club legend is far from the best manager we've had, despite him winning the UCL and FA cup double.

Rafas lost 1 more, scored 5 less and let in 13 less, nearly a mirror image record really.

podge79

cant believe how similar they actually are at the moment; broken down for the league alone it looks like this

P W D L F A
22 12 5 5 44 22 Rafa
23 12 6 5 42 27 Robbie

GavRedKing

That's it, we might as well keep Rafa on.......and watch the internet go mental. :pac:

Duck Soup

GavRedKing wrote: »

I honestly thought Rafa would have had a better record. RDM, despite being a club legend is far from the best manager we've had, despite him winning the UCL and FA cup double.

Rafas lost 1 more, scored 5 less and let in 13 less, nearly a mirror image record really.

The insanity of it is to achieve pretty much exactly the same results, Roman has sacked a Chelsea legend, almost baited the fan base with his new appointment and created further instability.

The alternative scenario would have been to let Robbie see out the season - under him I think we still would have achieved CL qualification - and let him go to be succeeded by The Special One.

RA will have counted his decisions as justified if we win the Europa League, but with the squad that we have, we should at least be in the frame for the Premiership title every year.

All I hope for 2013-14 is that we get back from loans as many as the good youngsters as we can and start building that team for the future that we're always hearing about.

podge79

scolari's league form is along the same lines:

25 14 7 4 44 15

GavRedKing

I honestly dont think Robbie would have us any higher we'd be in the battle for 3rd/4th like we are right now but I do agree that he shoudlnt have got fired but then again he did manage a 6th place finish with a stronger squad last year and manage to get us k/o'd of the UCL in the group stage with a game to go.

The club is at a huge crossroad this summer, Lamps looks certain to go, Rafa is gone, so we need want Jose but could do worse then getting in someone like Klopp(wont happen) Pelligrini(possibily) Ancellotti(he'd be stupid to go back)

If we sort the manager and coaching staff we'll do well next year.

podge79

as long as they keep the physio!!!!

GavRedKing

podge79 wrote: »

as long as they keep the physio!!!!

If they dont, we riot!

Dozen Wicked Words

podge79 wrote: »

as long as they keep the physio!!!!

GavRedKing wrote: »

If they dont, we riot!

Whatever floats your boats lads.

Jon Fearn. Chelsea first team Physio.



Perhaps you are thinking of first team Doctor.

Duck Soup

First leg of the FA Youth Cup Final tonight, away to Norwich. Kick off 7.45.

pistolpetes11

Dr Love

:pac:

dfx-

Duck Soup wrote: »

The insanity of it is to achieve pretty much exactly the same results, Roman has sacked a Chelsea legend, almost baited the fan base with his new appointment and created further instability.

The alternative scenario would have been to let Robbie see out the season - under him I think we still would have achieved CL qualification - and let him go to be succeeded by The Special One.

RA will have counted his decisions as justified if we win the Europa League, but with the squad that we have, we should at least be in the frame for the Premiership title every year.

All I hope for 2013-14 is that we get back from loans as many as the good youngsters as we can and start building that team for the future that we're always hearing about.

The results were going backwards under Di Matteo though, from what I remember.

To me Di Matteo's sacking was pretty clear. He failed in the league last season, finishing sixth, but 'succeeded' in Europe and the strnegth of that kept him on. New season starts, Europe falls away and then the league results start to spiral. No reason to keep him on so.

Crann na Beatha

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Dozen Wicked Words

Duck Soup wrote: »

First leg of the FA Youth Cup Final tonight, away to Norwich. Kick off 7.45.

On ITV 4 from 7.30 in case people weren't aware.

duploelabs

I know i'm gonna get horsed out of it for saying this but, although he's a legend as a player, RDM isn't a great manager and the two are not mutual.Yeah so he did good things with west brom and he did manage to get us the UCL (remember that Avram came within a slip of this too) but he's not of the pedigree that we should attract as managers. For me, the only one who fits this bill, is Jose. Klopp and pelligrini have only exceeded expectations in mid-ranking teams, and we've made that mistake before by hiring AVB, we need a seasoned professional, a master at managing big egos, which, lets call a spade a spade, we have in abundance, as well as fitting all the other requirements

Lukker-

Player power is dead at Chelsea now though. All that remain are Lampard, Cole and Terry which are all being slowly phased out. Interestingly I think if AVB came in next season he'd have achieved very different results. We now have players far more suitable to his style of play.

DazMarz

Lukker- wrote: »

Player power is dead at Chelsea now though. All that remain are Lampard, Cole and Terry which are all being slowly phased out

Agree with this. Though I would think that Cole is a lot more malleable than Terry or Lampard.

A lot was made of Petr Cech's contribution to the demise of certain managers, but I would wonder how true that was. He doesn't seem like a rabble-rouser and I don't think that he's in any danger of being replaced or phased out of the team any time soon. I can't imagine what gripes he would have.

Back in the day, yes. There were big egos and personalities in that dressing room (Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Ballack, etc.). But now, as mentioned, that is being phased out. I think players are realising that they are only as good as their last game and that they cannot be guaranteed a starting spot (Torres and Ba not withstanding; that'll change by next season).

I think that, thankfully, player-power is disappearing rapidly from Chelsea. Much as he's a legend at the club and much as it would pain me to see him go to another club, Lampard needs to realise he will be a bit-part player from now on and that there are younger and hungrier players waiting in the wings. Ditto with Terry (who has been very unusually suspect in recent times). If they are not happy with being there more for their positive influence and for being heroes for the club and not so much for being an integral part of the team anymore, it is time to bid adieu. Unfortunately.

Proper end of an era stuff, and it is with a pang of regret, but nothing lasts forever and even the Mona Lisa is falling apart.

peteeeed

Sloppy end to the youth cup game ,poor goal to give away , 1-0 ft

GavRedKing

Heard there was over 20k in Carrow Road for the 1st leg of the YC Final, great support.

DazMarz

The result from Villa Park tonight was a good result for Chelsea. Gives Aston Villa breathing room now and gives them real hope of survival. Fingers crossed they get a result against Norwich, meaning that when Chelsea travel to Villa Park they are more or less safe and won't be as desperate scrambling for points. Villa's morale will be through the roof tonight on the back of the thrashing they meted out to Sunderland. Norwich will really be looking over their shoulder with apprehension now.

There are 3 teams, from 15th to 17th in the League, who are on 37 points (Newcastle, Sunderland and Villa), with Norwich in 14th on 38 and Southampton in 13th on 39.

Wigan have a game in hand and sit in 18th with 32 points.

Hate to say it, but I think it is now too much of a mountain for Wigan. Even with the game in hand, they truly blew it against Spurs. They could (and should) have won that game 3-1. Instead they dropped 2 very precious points and the game ended 2-2. I think that was their best opportunity to get points on the board (when they were 2-1 up) and they blew it in a big way.

Spurs also have to play Sunderland in their final game of the season. Sunderland may not be safe come the 19th of May and may need something to stay up. Tonight's result puts them back on edge and will see their morale take a beating. Hopefully, they will struggle in their next few games (Stoke and Southampton) and need a result against Spurs to ensure survival.

More results swinging ever in Chelsea's favour, however indirectly it may be.

A huge game on Sunday for the Blues. Hopefully, United will take the foot off the accelerator a little, seeing as they're home and hosed and can now no longer break the points record or anything. They won't lie down, not a bloody chance, but they might not just be as determined or hungry.

For Thursday's game against Basel, I'd hope the team named is not as strong. It would take a monumental collapse to not win out the tie at home. Basel did not look anything special last Thursday at all, so hopefully a few key players (read: Hazard, Mata, Oscar, et al) will be rested in preparation for Sunday's clash. Every player in that squad will hopefully know where the priority should lie. Sunday's game is of much greater importance in the overall scheme of things than Thursday's game is.

If Chelsea manage to get a result, even a draw, out of the game in Old Trafford it will be huge. And the strongest XI will be needed for that to happen: Cech, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Lamps, Ramires (if he's fit), Oscar, Hazard, Mata, Torres. That is the line-up for Sunday's game. Or it should be anyway.

Duck Soup

The Telegraph describe Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini as "the favourite to succeed interim manager Rafael Benitez".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/real-madrid/10025626/Real-Madrid-v-Borussia-Dortmund-Jose-Mourinhos-future-hangs-in-balance-as-Spaniards-face-European-exit.html

Lukker-

DazMarz wrote: »

The result from Villa Park tonight was a good result for Chelsea. Gives Aston Villa breathing room now and gives them real hope of survival. Fingers crossed they get a result against Norwich, meaning that when Chelsea travel to Villa Park they are more or less safe and won't be as desperate scrambling for points. Villa's morale will be through the roof tonight on the back of the thrashing they meted out to Sunderland. Norwich will really be looking over their shoulder with apprehension now.

There are 3 teams, from 15th to 17th in the League, who are on 37 points (Newcastle, Sunderland and Villa), with Norwich in 14th on 38 and Southampton in 13th on 39.

Wigan have a game in hand and sit in 18th with 32 points.

Hate to say it, but I think it is now too much of a mountain for Wigan. Even with the game in hand, they truly blew it against Spurs. They could (and should) have won that game 3-1. Instead they dropped 2 very precious points and the game ended 2-2. I think that was their best opportunity to get points on the board (when they were 2-1 up) and they blew it in a big way.

Spurs also have to play Sunderland in their final game of the season. Sunderland may not be safe come the 19th of May and may need something to stay up. Tonight's result puts them back on edge and will see their morale take a beating. Hopefully, they will struggle in their next few games (Stoke and Southampton) and need a result against Spurs to ensure survival.

More results swinging ever in Chelsea's favour, however indirectly it may be.

A huge game on Sunday for the Blues. Hopefully, United will take the foot off the accelerator a little, seeing as they're home and hosed and can now no longer break the points record or anything. They won't lie down, not a bloody chance, but they might not just be as determined or hungry.

For Thursday's game against Basel, I'd hope the team named is not as strong. It would take a monumental collapse to not win out the tie at home. Basel did not look anything special last Thursday at all, so hopefully a few key players (read: Hazard, Mata, Oscar, et al) will be rested in preparation for Sunday's clash. Every player in that squad will hopefully know where the priority should lie. Sunday's game is of much greater importance in the overall scheme of things than Thursday's game is.

If Chelsea manage to get a result, even a draw, out of the game in Old Trafford it will be huge. And the strongest XI will be needed for that to happen: Cech, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Lamps, Ramires (if he's fit), Oscar, Hazard, Mata, Torres. That is the line-up for Sunday's game. Or it should be anyway.

I'd have Luiz in midfield he breaks the play much better then Lamps or Ramires and can play a forward pass unlike Mikel.

DazMarz

Lukker- wrote: »

I'd have Luiz in midfield he breaks the play much better then Lamps or Ramires and can play a forward pass unlike Mikel.

Jaysus, forgot about Luiz!!!! How'd I manage that?!?!

Yep. 100%. I'd have Luiz in there alongside Lamps. I think Ramires might be out, but if not I'd have Ramires and Luiz in there.

For the United game, Luiz CANNOT be played in the back 4. He must be played in midfield.

GavRedKing

Ya I'm hoping we score early Thursday night that will negate their home goal that they should never have got and after that I cant see us losing 1-2 or 1-3.

I'd agree with Daz, hoping to play the strongest possible side at Old Trafford and hope for a win, we should have beat them in the FA cup their so a team of

Cech
Azp Cahill Jt Cole
Luiz Lamps
Oscar Mata Hazard
Torres


I wouldnt be surprised if Ba started, his FA Cup winner was out of the top drawer and Torres will probably play the full 90 on Thursday.
Looking at Utd's appearances this year, Lindengaard needs 2 more games to get a medal so dont know if SAF will play him in the last 3 games, he'll probably have De Gea against us and throw Lindengaard in for the last 2 games, hes the only one thats close to a medal, next nearest is buttner with 3 EPL games so he wont get to 10 games.