Jose...

Jose in a brighter moment...

Well I suppose it's only fair to stick my head above the parapet, after all I am fairly quick to praise Chelsea and Mourinho when things are going well...It is now Chelsea's worse start since 1978/79, 'the good old days' and I think I watched them get relegated that year...

So what to do? If Jose had lost the dressing room, then I think he would already be gone...but not all the players look happy...so watch this space. As a fan, we need to keep him. Who else is there? Who else knows the league backwards? Who else can we trust to deliver a dynasty? I don't think a new manager would necessarily be a good thing in the longer term..

Personally I'd just like to see a couple of extra players brought in during the transfer window - just to add a bit of competition for places if nothing else...but will they want to come!

We looked a hell of a lot better at Stoke - should have had a result - but when it's not going for you...I fear the international break has come at the wrong time for once.

On Jose's behaviour..well he hasn't been a shining example. Part of it is to deflect attention from his team but not all of it...he is running on emotion just a bit. The man, however, remains a genius, so you have to expect the eccentricities. 'Winners hate to lose'. The managers who go on a losing run and take it gracefully in typical 'nice guy' British fashion, almost never turn it around and end up getting fired.

As far as the Premiership goes, CFC were the 'representatives'. Now there is no one. Lets face it the standard in the league is on the decline - we are about to lose a Champions League spot. Chelsea were really the only team able to compete on the global stage...it's a bit of a disaster all around. City might come good this year in Europe - maybe I've finally been wrong about them :) It would be good to see an English team in the CL semis at least.

Galacticos...

Louis Van Gaal with his giant Filofax..

Manchester Utd. fans must be lamenting the departure of Sir Alex Fergusson and David Gill more than ever.. the 'model' that brought them so much success in years gone by, seems to have been replaced with a 'buy first, work it out later' approach. It's almost as if they have adopted the Galacticos handbook to buying players, yet worryingly without the guarantee that the players are even world class...

Close to £250m has been spent since Van Gaal took over at the start of 2014 and with that sort of spend, many owners would be expecting success this season. Amazingly Van Gaal, presumably with the board's backing, has stated that the team are still very much a 'work in progress' and that he would like to win the title before his contract is up in 2017; that gives him another two seasons including this one. It's just as well because it looks as if the team have a long way to go...

Some of LVG's thinking might be questionable. He has been quoted as saying:

"I have not bought Martial for me, I have bought him for the next manager of Manchester United"

Er, well that's very good of you Louis, but why? You could always have spent the £36m (possibly rising to £58m) on a brilliant proven talent, to help you during your tenure. Maybe it was the Glazer's idea.

I like Van Gaal as a manager, he's a great character, another one of those 'mad genius' types like Mourinho. They are friends. He is one of those managers that you don't fire easily, but I wonder if United will have to do just that if they want to win anything meaningful before 2017.

Small Team...

Well I knew this day would come. I could never forgive Pellegrini for his 'Small Team' jibe against Chelsea last year and, as if that wasn't enough, insulting other teams in the league like Stoke along the way. Some of Mourinho's comments might seem 'other worldly' at times but you could never accuse him of insulting other teams or players. On the contrary, he generally heaps praise on other teams and players if they do well against him - take Bradford for instance.

'MANUEL Pellegrini described title rivals Chelsea as a "small team", comparing their playing style with Stoke City during a bad-tempered end to their 1-1 draw that had Jose Mourinho accusing Pellegrini of double standards'.


Pellegrini: "You are playing like a small team Jose"
Mourinho: "Do I look bothered? Let's see who's 'small' at the end of the season."

Pellegrini was obviously frustrated by the Etihad result not to mention the mauling they got the previous season when Chelsea won there. Then of course there is the fact that Mourinho took Pellegrini's job at Real Madrid...but you have to be 'bigger' than that as a manager.

The point is not every team has a squad like Man City. A squad that in my view is more powerful, has more depth of quality players and has more experience than any team in the league. They can afford to attack every team they come across - or so you would think.

Yet tactically and mentally they appear to have gone to pieces. They are a shadow of their former selves. They really have a become a 'small team' in the true sense of the word. Players should stand up but Pellegrini must shoulder most of the blame.

Maybe next time he'll choose his words more carefully and not be blinded by personal rivalry.

Moving on, it will be an interesting few weeks in the Premiership. I can see Manchester Utd. , Arsenal and maybe even Liverpool getting a result against Chelsea - who are far from their best. The thing is with Chelsea is that Mourinho probably isn't even thinking about beating those teams. He'll just want a draw against each of them to stop them closing the gap. That will probably be enough to win him the title.

Chelsea v Burnley...

What a disaster! Took my son to Stamford Bridge on his birthday to witness what should have been an easy enough win - but it all went South in the end :(

Firstly let me say I am not one to moan about decisions - having been going to Chelsea since 1970, I have seen it all. Most Chelsea fans don't really believe in Mourinho's 'anti CFC campaign' by referees - even if the poor decisions have cost us about eight points (some think it is more like eleven) this season. I do, however, believe that we have had more 'bad breaks' this season than any of the big teams certainly - and more importantly they've been costly.

Basically what Mourinho is telling the refs with his ranting is:

"Next time one of my players goes down in the box, give him the benefit of the doubt...even things up a bit"

I'll tell you what, it isn't working!


Burnley going in with studs up again...1963...was this the last time that Chelsea won a penalty?

If there is any 'conspiracy' - it could simply be a 'general desire' from the FA not to have one dominant team. There is a lot of money in the Premiership, it is worth billions of pounds to the FA / UK Football and to have one team running away with the title would diminish the league substantially. The health of the Premier League comes first - before or even at the expense of any club. Surely this could not translate to an FA directive for Premiership referees..? You never know when money, jobs and livelihoods are at stake! Stephen Greaves, the Premiership's match delegate, stated that Atkinson got all four key decisions right - meanwhile Atkinson is on an 'enforced break' for his poor performance.

We were up in the 'nose-bleed' seats in the East Stand and I saw a couple of appalling decisions and my eyesight is atrocious - I'd even forgotten to bring my new specs so had to use my old prescription!


Just bad timing? No. Even in my casual game twice a week I could do this to other players if I chose too (and make it look accidental) - a touch late here, hang a boot out there, you know what is coming even if you don't see it, and the majority of the time you are aware of who is around you.

I cannot understand what Atkinson was thinking - do refs get tired? I mean could he have been suffering from the mid-week game that he refereed?

If that performance had taken place in Belarus (see my last post) or maybe Italy or South America - Atkinson's performance would have come under real scrutiny - perhaps to the point of him even being the subject of an investigation. That's how poor a day he had.

As it stands he is a good and, no doubt, honest ref who had a terrible day.

I for one, would love to see technology extended from 'goal-line' to review: suspected offsides that lead to goals, red card / tackles and penalties. I don't buy into the fears of the game being delayed or broken up by reviewing decisions - because the game is already broken up in a melee of players and officials when a bad decision is made. We could get rid of most post-match punditry too with far fewer talking points!

We will lose Matic for three games - for his reaction - albeit brought about by Atkinson's in-action throughout the game. No retrospective action will be taken against Barnes.

Ultimately, however, Chelsea didn't play well. They deserved to win, but scoring more goals wouldn't leave the team open to the effects of poor decisions. The 'defence first' philosophy is fine - until you get a day like Saturday.

There was at least one highlight on the day. We were sitting next to the commentary positions and I spotted Pat Nevin (Chelsea 1980's) covering the game. We had a quick chat after the match and he too was incensed by the foul on Matic. Surely as a professional, impartial commentator, he can't possibly wear blue-tinted specs like me.. ;-)