Only the Hair Matters...

Well Arsene Wenger must have been hoping that the departure of Mourinho would lead to a rare victory over Chelsea but it wasn't to be.. Chelsea too savvy again. The blues just sat on their lead in typical fashion and said "c'mon then.." and although Arsenal did have a reasonable ten minute spell and the odd half chance, they really weren't up to it.

When watching sports, it's easy to get carried away with home crowd noise and commentary. The crowd over-compensates when their team is down and will applaud anything. Add that to the commentators job, which is to make the game seem more exciting and you soon get a distorted picture of a match. It happens in sports like football and in racing too. In the latter, you can often see that the race will only have one winner, yet the commentator makes out that something is coming off the pace to take the race or come close. If you are a sports / football or a race trader and you cannot filter out the hype, then turn off the volume!

Back to the Premier League, they say that 'if you win it, then it's deserved'. It may still hold true but whoever wins it this season will be a 'weak' champion. The big teams that won it in the past - Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and going back a bit Liverpool - were teams that dominated domestically and mostly went on to compete, with some successes, in Europe. You get the feeling that whoever wins this season will be a poor team.

I feel sorry for Wenger, he's is a good, intelligent manager. He has probably made some mistakes in terms of buying the right players and stuck too long with some of his footballing theories but the players have yet to reward the man for his hard work and that won't happen until they focus.

What is wrong with this picture?



That's right, for Arsenal players, it's all about personal grooming and how they look on social media. I can tell you, categorically, that all these photos were taken either in the 90th minute of matches or after four hour training sessions. How can your hair still be perfect? None of them have even headed the ball..

And it's catching. Flamini, who doesn't even have any hair, won't head the ball either. He should have gone with his head on Sunday at the end of the first half against Chelsea, instead of practicing his Kung Fu.


Flamini misses..and in the background yet another Arsenal player doing his hair..

Success is within Wenger's reach. He just needs to adopt a 'shave it off' policy. Then maybe his team will get somewhere.


The 'ox' applauding his team mates' latest barnets.

Arsenal to win the league? Surely not...

The Golden Guus...

Well the 'fixer' is back and he's started to work his magic already. The last time he took over in 2009 his record was exemplary and many Chelsea fans wanted him to stay. I think he'll move on again after this season - mainly because he is probably thinking more about retirement than a career change and CFC will be looking to the future...again.

Top four? Maybe, but only if inconsistency continues to plague the 'top' teams. Europa League..? Let's hope not!

One...Two...Three...Bang...

Well when things aren't going well for your football team, it's always nice to look back at one of their greatest ever goals. This is one of the best ever in the Premiership, it was goal of the season, it would certainly be shown more if Wayne Rooney had scored it...he might actually be the only person in the league today who could score it..

'Super' Mario Stanic banged this in on his debut. I am sure at the time we must have been thinking that the new messiah had arrived to walk the Stamford Bridge turf..

Pops it up (puts the kettle on) another keepy uppy (makes a cup of tea) and another (has a biscuit) and finally launches it. He also had the most symmetrical face in football...that probably sounds weird.

Stanic Goal

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.

Double Whammy...

Well it was a disastrous sporting weekend! First off I took my boy to the Bridge for Chelsea v Southampton - which we thoroughly deserved to lose. Prime seats, lovely day - it's just that we conspired to give the ball way at every opportunity. Clearly things are badly wrong - only Willian and Falcao appeared to have their heads in the right place - even if the latter was largely ineffective.

Sadio Mane, as his name suggests, really was a lion in this game. He was brilliant.. unfortunately for us.


Sadio Mane...pushing away 'pillars' at Stamford Bridge...like Samson at the Temple of Dagon!

Then we watched the England v Australia rugby match - which was less of a shock really. It was truly laughable that England would ever be favourites for this game. The weight of expectation sucked the price in on England (8/11) leaving Australia as outsiders (11/8). Pocock and Hooper just destroyed us and the England scrum were overwhelmed towards the end.


The whole England team might as well have played with hands on hips for the entire game...

England were never going to win this game on paper - especially after Wales. This was never going to be the Australia of old. This Australian team has just won the Rugby Championship (new Tri-Nations format) which makes them, almost by default, the best team in the world! Why anyone thought it would be anything less than a thrashing I don't know...and it was a thrashing; play the same match again down-under and you could have given the Aussies at least another ten points.

One of the big disappointments though is how England, Australia and Wales ended up in the same group! It needs looking at..some better type of seeding..group stage re-structuring. England and maybe even Fiji should still be 'in' the competition! It's never good for any tournament when the hosts don't make it through the group stage...not least because going out has cost the economy about £500,000,000!

Blue's Blues...

Firstly I am well aware that I have not posted for a while. Unfortunately I am not one of those prolific - 'blog from anywhere' - type of bloggers. I am in the middle of a six week holiday which I intend to enjoy, although I have to say that it is quite shameful taking it in the middle of summer with all the horse racing that is on!

I felt I had to post though after Chelsea's terrible start to the season... I say 'start to the season' but perhaps that should be 'end of preseason' - they just don't look as if their season has even begun!

More worrying is the fact that my beloved Jose doesn't see, or pretends not to see, that we were woefully under-prepared for the first two matches; slow to the ball, losing the ball too easily, poor passing and just generally not the cohesive unit that we were last season.


Away grounds can be lonely places...

Dressing room bust up? Eva? Chelsea have had 'player power' incidents in the past with Andre Villas-Boas and Mourinho has also made 'statements' in the past by making odd decisions and substitutions.

The rest of the league will be loving it. That's ok. Let's just batten down the hatches put a win on the board and start grinding out those results. Maybe by the end of the season we can wipe a few smiles off a few faces...Come on Chels!

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.

English Clubs. Champions League...

A bit late on the Chelsea 'de-brief' but Cheltenham got in the way. The only thing more mysterious than Dark Matter was Chelsea's inexplicable performance against PSG. I understand the point about 0-0, 1-0, and 2-1 score-lines (all of which we had at some stage during the match) being enough to get us through, but if you are going to have a defensive strategy, then you need to be more confident in its execution! If you are not, then you need to put the game to bed with goals - especially if the opposition are down to ten men. PSG were brilliant, granted, but there were periods of the match where we should have dealt better with the situation.


Luiz scored a fantastic headed goal. Well...it just had to be...

The 'defence mentality' is logical of course, as long as you have a good defence, which Chelsea do. 'Defence' always wins out against 'Attack' over the long term, be it in football, NFL and I assume most other relevant sports like rugby and hockey.

The pundits have been banging on about English clubs failing in the Champions League after Chelsea's exit, but I am not sure that there is an inherent problem. Man City have been 'mis-managed' in their campaign (they could still beat Barcelona!). Liverpool are building, Man Utd, not in Europe, but in transition. Arsenal are clinging on but you never know! English clubs will be back. I don't think Chelsea had anyone to fear in the competition and have proved themselves against the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Ultimately, they had one poor match, which is usually costly at this level.

Chelsea's Champions League/European Record - Last 10 Years

2004 - Champions League Semi-Final
2005 - Champions League Semi-Final
2006 - Champions League 2nd Round
2007 - Champions League Semi-Final
2008 - Champions League Final
2009 - Champions League Semi-Final
2010 - Champions League 2nd Round
2011 - Champions League Quarter-Final
2012 - Champions League Winners
2013 - Champions League 1st Round/Europa League Winners
2014 - Champions League Semi-Final

The one issue for English clubs, especially towards the latter stages of the Champions League and towards the end of the Premier League season - is fatigue. In the Premier League, virtually every game is a 'battle', your toughest game could come against Liverpool or Sunderland, you never know and it does take its toll.

Contrast this to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga for instance, who in the current season to date have won around ten of their domestic matches by scoring four or more goals. The top teams in the European Leagues often have a much easier time of it.

Personally, I always wanted Chelsea to concentrate on the Premier League this season. It's about time we won it. Europe can wait...

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.. ;-)

FIFA Team of the Year...

So the FIFA Team of the Year 2014 is out. Of course big tournaments and matches come into play like the World Cup and the Champions League but I would like to see more day in day out league play count for something.

I mean the fact that Messi picked up the Golden Ball in the World Cup was a complete joke and he knew it too! Can we trust anything to do with FIFA?


Lionel Messi overjoyed at winning the Golden Ball

Neuer, for example, is a fine keeper and a current World Cup winner but he had a fantastic team in front of him and he is part of the dominant team in the Bundesliga - I mean there simply is no other threat. Bayern Munich being eleven points clear at this stage of the season says it all.

Di Maria had a couple of great games in the World Cup and also did a bit of work for Real Madrid too. In fact he was so good that they sold him to Man Utd. After a couple of good games in the Premiership he has been fairly mediocre...certainly against proper teams.

David Luiz deserves to be there for his hair alone and of course he is ex-Chelsea.

Arjen 'run in a straight line then cut in-field and shoot with my left foot' Robben - well I guess that works for all but the best defenses. But he's ex-Chelsea so we'll let it go.

Messi and Ronaldo can play a bit so they can stay in.

Iniesta - that's funny!

Lahm - Why?

Kroos - Ok.

Silva - Haven't watched him enough.

Ramos - Could have been him or one of fifty others.

So lets just keep it simple. In future, the team that wins the toughest league in the world is the team of the year. So for 2015 the team of the year will be:



Thank you.

Stamford Bridge...

Chelsea v West Brom, 1905, Division 2.

No trading this Saturday because I went to see Chelsea with my son. Brilliant first half, pretty poor second half but that was mainly due to the West Brom red card - the game just shut down - with the visitors doing a damage limitation exercise and Chelsea not needing to score.

I've been going to the Bridge since I was six years old - used to sit on my dad's shoulders in the South West corner of the ground. Different crowd today. We were surrounded by tourists mainly - a few of whom were just fiddling on their phones throughout the game. Bit of a shame really. Price of success and being a top club in a fashionable area I suppose!

It's a bit of a journey to London so my son and I killed time by associating an animal with our favourite Blues players.

So from the back:

Courtois = Giraffe

Ivanovic = Rhino

Cahill: Kangaroo

Terry: Horse

Azpilicueta: Squirrel

Matic: Manta Ray

Fabregas: Owl

Oscar: Iguana

Willian: Hedgehog

Hazard: Scorpion

Costa: Gorilla

Drogba: Lion

Next time we'll do power tools or vehicles!

Chelsea really are a machine at the moment and I for one love watching Matic destroy the opposition's game as much as I enjoy Hazard's skills. CFC are not quite the finished article and I think they will be better next season - we'll see.

I'll post again this week - maybe try to get some videos up.