I understand your issues with debts and our break-even goal. Let's see how things go.

I hear Cech and Lampard may not be fit for tomorrow's game due to Injuries ( or actually recovering from injuries).

What do you think about tomorrow's game?

Do you know we have failed to win matches when Lampard does not play, since he returned from his initial injury? I may be wrong, you may want to check up on that.

Now isn't that a stat to ponder about

umhhhhh nope!!!!

We'v not drawn so many matches this season. . and he missed about 10matches if I remember . . We'v drawn only Aston Villa, Portsmouth, Everton and Liverpool. .   

We beat Fulham, Everton, Newcastle, Tottenham, Everton(FA), Wigan, Birmingham, QPR, Reading, all without him. . . Infact the matches we'v lost this season apart from Barnsley. . . he played in them. 

Now that's some stat!!!


Tomorrow's match can turn out tricky . . We need two goals to settle and save some energy for midweek Champions League. . . We have to get a good result away. A good reslut is winning away if possible. 
Therefore we must try to win the borough game with as little energy as possible. .

Cech is not fit yet . . and I heard midweek . . Lampard picked up an Injury.

Nateevs


I asked for stats AFTER his initial injury not during his injury

somze:

Do you know we have failed to win matches when Lampard does not play, since he returned from his initial injury? I may be wrong, you may want to check up on that.

Rumours
1. Makalele is set to be handed a new contract that extends his current on to 2010
Nateevs what do you make of this and your wage structure speech?

2. Drogba linked to Internazionale . . . and what else is new

News.

1. Court rules Mikel's contract document to Man Utd as FORGED. What Ferguson would do to get players!
Link

@Soze

Well I do know you said after his injury. . . but he's played every match since he returned except Barnsley. . So there's no stat to that instance. . . except he's missed several games since he recovered . . . Plus he played against Spurs (FA), Spur (prem) and we didn't win. .

Maka can be offered a contract till 2015 as long as he does not reject £134,000 a week. . . I am certain that if you dig deep into the conditions of his contract he's probably agreed to a wage cut. . since he knows he's passed his prime. .and he will be way below £100,000 a week. .perhaps between £40,000 and  £80,000. He will most likely retire at 2010 and with what we see Maka do week in week out, that is very good value of experience and ability for money. . in short money well spent! The other guy is a joke.

Yes Drog is being linked with Inter . . . because JM is being linked to take over at inter. . after their dismal outing in the champions league. .


ManU . . . supposed saints of the premiership . .

Missed the first leg against Olympiakos.

That match was a rather dull stalemate.

Missed Barnsley, we had little or no chances

Arsenal concedes another by deflection

How una dey? Long time.

Just to jump in on some conversations you guys are having - we have to wait and see which manager we get this summer before we start talking about players for next season. As we all know, Roman is a scattergun and he can buy any and anyone unexpectedly - even players you never even expected.

You can expect Drogba to leave - the club have already agreed that Drogba will leave this summer and Drogba has agreed with the club that he will not mention his desire to leave to the press until the season is over. So, we can assume that Drogba is leaving.

His replacement may come from one of the following: Amauri, Balotelli, Mario Gomez or Jozy Altidore - these are the names being muted but only Roman knows his own mind - and maybe the new manager might have a say.

Lampard is more than likely to leave as the club are not interested in discussing a new contract with him on the terms he is proposing. Lamps acted like a typical footballer by asking for new contract after scoring 4 against Derby - he did not ask for new contract after any of the numerous games he did not play well in - Chelsea are not going to fall for it this time.

Maka already had a contract to 2009 anyway and a one year extension is well deserved. I believe he still has the intelligence to play 2 more years. Talk of Mikel elbowing him out of the side is premature because like 7-Up the difference is clear.

Jesus, I can't believe Arsenal won the game.

@Ibime

Welcome back . . where have you been? Yep The Roman factor is right. . . Do you remember Lampard saying he wanted to postpone his talks about a renewed contract for the sake of focus only to have a good game against Derby and he says he doesn't know why the club have not contacted him . . . ?

Mario Gomez, I do hear is one of the names favoured at the bridge. . . Another name has popped up . . it's 20 yrd old Croatian Nikola Kalinic. . have you heard about him?

nateevs:


Another name has popped up . . it's 20 yrd old Croatian Nikola Kalinic. . have you heard about him?

I checked him out on youtube when the story broke last week - he looks good - but one for the future, not right now. He seemed to be playing in front of like 500 fans in every clip I saw so I wasnt sure about the standard of players he was up against. Anyway, you know how youtube is - it makes players look like stars even if they are average.

BTW, Did you know Avram Grant never played pro-football. He has been a coach from the age of 18.

Did you know we have 52 scouts, including 8 in South America scouring the world for top talent - that is why we have been linked with some obscure names recently - because we are on a mission to unearth hidden talent. All the boys mentioned look good on youtube and are recommended by people I talk to. For me, this is a welcome change from the Mourinho years of always going for the obvious top stars and paying a King's ransom to get them. Frank Arnesen is now coming into his own. When Mourinho was around, he only scouted youth players cos he knew Mourinho would never accept any of his recommendations for the first-team squad. Things are starting to change at Chelsea - and I like the direction we are moving in. No longer will we be anybody's come-chop.

Forget the title and Champions League for now, Arsène Wenger's short-term target is simply to win again.

With the notable exception of that historic victory in Milan, Arsenal have not tasted victory since February 11 when Blackburn were beaten 2-0 at Emirates Stadium. In that period they have exited the FA Cup and, more importantly, seen a five-point advantage at the top of the table diminish to a six-point deficit.

Incredibly, Sunday's defeat at Chelsea was only their second of the Premier League campaign, half the tally of leaders Manchester United. However Sir Alex Ferguson's side have amassed four more wins.

Given their recent problems, Wenger would settle for a victory - plain and simple - before they kick-off a mammoth 10 days that will see them play Liverpool three times and then Manchester United at Old Trafford.

"We want to come back to winning games that is what we need to show on Saturday," said the Arsenal manager at his pre-match press conference.

"People talk about the Champions League, but it is better you go into the Champions League if you have won the game before than to have had a disappointing result.

"On Saturday, the team just wants to focus on a top-level performance, and then we will win. Not the opposite when how you play does not matter as long as you win. It is important how we perform, then we win the game.

"We have played many times this season. Recently things have gone against us, little decisions which used to go for us and we could not deal with that mentally.

"But overall I believe we are tough enough mentally. However it's true that when you are so close to the end and things go against you one week after the next, at some stage you have to win again, or that mental strength will go.

"We had a massive disappointment after the Chelsea game, but the fact that they all went away and thought about something different [with their international games] will have refreshed them. They can come back focused again and think it is a new start again."

The game at Stamford Bridge cost Arsenal the services of Bacary Sagna (ankle) for three weeks at least. He joins an injured list consisting of two long-serving names - Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) and Eduardo (broken leg).

"It is a big blow," admitted Wenger. "Sagna has been a revelation for us, a fantastic player."

The manager also hinted that Emmanuel Adebayor may be rested, which presumably means Robin van Persie and Niklas Bendtner will be paired up front.

Traditionally, Bolton away has been a bogey fixture for Arsenal. On Saturday the Trotters will be going for the fourth consecutive Premier League win over Wenger's men. However that record was built-up under Sam Allardyce. Despite creditable Uefa Cup success with Gary Megson, they have slipped into the bottom three in recent weeks and are staring relegation square in the face. That, however, is not Wenger's concern. His primary aim is two-fold. Firstly to lift his side's belief and then achieve the win that might lift them up the table.

Remember Manchester United still have to play Chelsea and Arsenal. So if no one is making assumptions at Old Trafford there seems no reason to do it in North or West London. Wenger's attitude was summed up when he was asked whether his players now lacked belief in their own title challenge.

"Well," he replied drawing breath. "That would be a shame because we have worked so hard and fought so hard. Not to believe it now would be crazy.
Yes the belief is maybe less strong than when we were five points ahead but we know for us Bolton is a massive game.

"We don't necessarily have to win every game [to win the title] but certainly we cannot drop any points in the direct game with Manchester United. We are in a situation where we have to win that.

"However," Wenger concluded. "before dreaming of the title, we have to show we can be consistent again and win games."

I saw this same post on every thread. . . Which side you dey sef?

Ibime:

BTW, Did you know Avram Grant never played pro-football. He has been a coach from the age of 18.

He started really late. . . He should have started at 5 so he'd have had more tactical know-how . . 

Ibime:

Did you know we have 52 scouts, including 8 in South America scouring the world for top talent - that is why we have been linked with some obscure names recently - because we are on a mission to unearth hidden talent. All the boys mentioned look good on youtube and are recommended by people I talk to. For me, this is a welcome change from the Mourinho years of always going for the obvious top stars and paying a King's ransom to get them. Frank Arnesen is now coming into his own. When Mourinho was around, he only scouted youth players because he knew Mourinho would never accept any of his recommendations for the first-team squad. Things are starting to change at Chelsea - and I like the direction we are moving in. No longer will we be anybody's come-chop.

yeah i wondered wher all the names were coming out from. . and who was fishing them out. . thanks for the info . . the way to go. . i mean with all the success he's already achieved at his age, Ronaldo is only 23. . We need our own.

Ibime
Whattup man

Nice to hear we are gunning for younger talent, they come cheaper. Though it's scary to still see that RA is the new player acquisition chief. Can he let Grant or whoever would be a manager do the job? Anyway na him money.

Now I don't understand your refernce to JM. Is it his fault we don't have youngsters? Do you remember what he said in his first season about RA being hungry for trophies? How do you expect him to build a team of youngsters with that in mind. Again did you guys not say he inherited Ranieri's players? With that in mind consider that players like shevy and Ballack, and the ones that came in on a free transfer are as a result of RA. Do the maths and tell me how many players Jose bought that were over the age of 26. Compare that to Ranieri and Grant.

I don't want a new Jose argument but what confuses me is how your greatest success can be seen as your greatest failure. Is it possible to please fans. You want a job done in minimal time and you also want to tell the manager how to do the job. If you knew so much why did you not do it yourself . . . Refering to RA here.

Anyway I totallly welcome youngsters but like I told nateevs, we must be patient enough to see them grow into star players. This may not happen in a season. We need a good manager for this quest too. Grant is yet to convince me that he is in fact one.

Ok It's on . . Wasn't able to catch the team list but we will have it soon . . .

Kick off. .

Ok So we have


---------------------------Carlo----------------------------

Belletti-------Carvalho---------Terry----------Bridge

--------------------------Mikel---------------------------

------------Ballack----------------------Essien---------

Cole--------------------Drogba----------------Kalou




Good Line up. .

Goalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll carvalhoooooooooooooooooo inside 5mins


Good signs. .

We need 2nd goal ooo

Gawd,nice goal mouth scramble . Middlesbrough is really holding up that midfield,and their defense is quite good.Good thing AV decided to put Mikel in for the midfield.That's where the battle is.Boro is doing very well,just finishing poorly.
Carvalho's goal was beautiful.

VICTORY IS SURE AND CERTIAN FOR CHELSEA, nothing dey happen, dem just dey try

Nateevs,

Keep me up to date please, I'm not watching the match.

Moment to moment action kinda thingy

What formation is middlesbrough on?

@Cassiel

Are we watching the same match?

Firstly,
The goal was not a goal-mouth scramble, a clear header in by Carvalho.

Secondly,
Middlesborough is not controlling the midfield

Thirdly,
We did not score from a free kick. .

and borough is not doing well. . . on the contrary we are the ones that should be about 4 up and not taking the chances. .

@Somze

I did not know you were not watching it. . . ok I'ld give some good commentary. .

@nateevs
Firstly,I didn't say the goal resulted from a goal-mouth scramble
Secondly,I didn't say Boro's controlling the midfield.I said they're holding it up,meaning they're holding their own there.A balanced battle.
Thirdly,yeah,i didn't see the goal live.But i watched the re-play,and it waz a perfect header.My bad
And,i think Boro's trying. Sure you guys are playing better,but they are holding up.They just can't finish properly.

The match been pretty much a Chelsea thing except that we have not been taking chances. . Borough have not been bad either as they have had their own chances. .

Joe cole and Essien are the most obvious on the pitch. . Drogba is not doing too badly as well. . Kalou missed another goal mouth chance. . .

and Anelka is beginning to warm up for second half. .

@Cassiel

I didn't mean anything more than just a correction . . that's ok

2nd half peeps

Nateevs and Cassiel . . . hmmm

Anyway thanks Nateevs, will be following thread.

Cassiel . . . a simple modify would do
Luckily for you we are not as violent as those on your thread.

Joe and Essien good combo . . no goals

Godd chance Kalou on the left. . Free kick

Gosh,y'all are really missing chances.Essien should have buried that.
Boro's messing up now.No longer confident.

Downing almost tore our defence apart. . . SWP is warming up and Anelka as well

55mins joe Cole free kick . .
Belletti takes it . . Essieeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnn over the bar. . Goal kick

Still playing for Goals. .

58mins. . Celsea looking sluggish. .

Borough free kick . . Downing to take it . . . Carlo collect . . no problem

Mikel sloppy play. . Lucky .

On the attack . . Kalou takes it right back. . yeye!!

Cross by Essien into the goal keeper. . half hour remaining. .
Drogba on the right . . a Crosssssssss . . no way kalou