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Chelsea F.C [2008-2009]
- Thread starter Mandieta6
- Start date
- Status
yeah, Franco really did us a favour there. Maybe things aren't as bad as I thought they initially were, in the past I found it quick to accept losing to Le Arse at the Bridge, but when it happened on Sunday, man, it was such a letdown.
Its funny what just one football match result could do to your spirits. hehe
Now all we need is to have everyone fit again. Joe's injury really concerns me, it seems he can't play week in week out like he used to. Lets hope he gets it sorted out quick. Joey if available should be played instead of Kalou and Malouda, with Ballack, Lamps, Deco and Mikel in midfield like in the Pompey game.
Its funny what just one football match result could do to your spirits. hehe
Now all we need is to have everyone fit again. Joe's injury really concerns me, it seems he can't play week in week out like he used to. Lets hope he gets it sorted out quick. Joey if available should be played instead of Kalou and Malouda, with Ballack, Lamps, Deco and Mikel in midfield like in the Pompey game.
Gunnersgoal22
Youth Team
Imo a team with great character does not lose twice at home to two big rivals. For example a team with great character was Chelsea under Mourinho in his first two seasons, they would have injuries, and they would have bad calls, and they would have off days, but they somehow always found a way to never lose at home in the Prem, in three years.
Maybe over time Scolari will prove me wrong, but so far when Chelsea have come across tough opponents and other forms of adversity they haven't looked up to it the way champions would. So yes I understand you have injuries and I understand that makes a great difference, but I just can't imagine the championship teams Mourinho built losing in the manner you have this year. Mourinho found a way to get Tiago and Damien Duff to look world class so I'm not sure saying Deco and Ballack are off form is much of an excuse, and if they are so off form that its costing you losses I Mourinho would either get in their heads and fix them or find a way tactically to fix it with other players if need be. I keep bringing up Mourinho so much because his team had character that Scolari's doesn't appear to have now, like I said things could change but at the moment you don't look to have the character of champions.
Maybe over time Scolari will prove me wrong, but so far when Chelsea have come across tough opponents and other forms of adversity they haven't looked up to it the way champions would. So yes I understand you have injuries and I understand that makes a great difference, but I just can't imagine the championship teams Mourinho built losing in the manner you have this year. Mourinho found a way to get Tiago and Damien Duff to look world class so I'm not sure saying Deco and Ballack are off form is much of an excuse, and if they are so off form that its costing you losses I Mourinho would either get in their heads and fix them or find a way tactically to fix it with other players if need be. I keep bringing up Mourinho so much because his team had character that Scolari's doesn't appear to have now, like I said things could change but at the moment you don't look to have the character of champions.
Gunnersgoal22;2596313 said:
At least we're still winning against the so-called smaller teams. Character of champions or not, as long as we win the games we should win I don't give a toss about whatever character we have, so far we've been lucky with other results going our way, so that tells us that the other teams of the big four aren't doing much better than us.
Remember, there's only the four teams considered as "big" and u make it sound as if getting points from the other 16 teams don't matter.
Also the fact that we've been missing our big game players recently, Drogba(who I'm sure would've enjoyed playing Gallas and Djourou), Essien and Ballack(who's really short of fitness), so to say Scolari doesn't appear to have proper team spirit instilled within the team because we've lost against our "bigger" rival teams is bollocks.
We were basically bossing Arsenal until half the hour mark, until we were unfortunate with the offside decision(where luck is part of the game), when Arsenal got the second goal, everything went wrong with us, where in the past we've had players like Essien and Drogba who took matters into their own hands even when others were playing badly.
Its too early to judge Big Phil when it comes to big games.
There's a big difference in the philosophy in regards to how Chelsea should play between Mourinho and Scolari, I'm sure you've got it figured out how Jose likes to play his team and how Scolari likes to play his team. Which one is more effective for a club like Chelsea? Only time will tell. What concerns us is not the past but the future.
Scolari is changing the entire football philosophy at Chelsea. No longer do we want Jose's dull and ugly football, even if it did get results SOMETIMES. Just remember the humiliating defeats under Jose too, and not simply all the things he did right.
To make the transition from one ethic to another takes hard work and time, and during that time there will be disspointments. That is to be expected. I shouldn't need to explain what transition entails to an Arsenal fan. Arsenal have apparantly been in transition for 5 years or more, so you should by now understand the price to be paid during that time.
We could quite easily continue to play and win Jose's way. We could get the early goal and "park the bus" for 85 minutes as we used to do. Sure it might win you a few things along the way, but winning things is simply not enough for fans who want to see real football played.
Anyone who knows anything about football can see the massive changes in the way Chelsea play under Scolari. They would also recognise the difficulties to be encountered when changing the entire mindset of a squad of players too. One would have to be very fortunate to see these changes being made, and see the team play every game of football without mistakes being made.
I think that would be impossible for anyone, because the new ethic has to be instilled in every game you play as the season is under way. It's not like you do all the hard work talking around a table, and then go out onto the pitch and faultlessly put it all into practice. It is simply stupid to expect that everything goes to plan instantly. It will take time.
In the meantime we are 1 point behind the league leaders, and we are playing very good football too. Sure we have had some negative results so far this season. That has been down to many factors.
At home, more teams "parks the bus" for 90 minutes as they play for a point. That has cost us points this season.
Secondly we have the missing players. The talent of the players in the squad to replace missing players is not in question, but no coach can put out a different side every game and expect a seamless performance. Even 2 changes every match can make a huge difference to the way a team performs on the day, especially when some of those players are not on form.
Then there is the issue of incompetent refs and linesmen. I know they shaft every team throughout the season, but they have definately been shafting us this season.
Arguably, if the linesman and the ref would have been any good when we played Arsenal at the Bridge, we would have murdered Arsenal 3-1. That's the difference a sh!t ref makes to a seasons points.
We were the dominant team on the day and played the better game, but gg22 has the front to accuse Chelsea of having a lack of character. It wasn't lack of character that lost us that game mate, and everyone knows that.
See the previous 2 paragraphs mate.
Be honest here. Would you want Mourinho at Arsenal? Would you be happy with ugly, dull football. Maybe with trophy's, maybe not, or would you prefer your team to play the football that you love to see, and maybe or maybe not win trophy's?
George Graham did as much for Arsenal as Jose did for Chelsea, and Graham had the same ethic and methods that Jose used, only sooner. Dull, ugly, defensive and negative football. Graham won many trophy's when Arsenal played that way, as did Jose at Chelsea. Not many Arsenal fans would want to go back to that I would think. The trophy's would be nice, but the football would be sh!t.
To make the transition from one ethic to another takes hard work and time, and during that time there will be disspointments. That is to be expected. I shouldn't need to explain what transition entails to an Arsenal fan. Arsenal have apparantly been in transition for 5 years or more, so you should by now understand the price to be paid during that time.
We could quite easily continue to play and win Jose's way. We could get the early goal and "park the bus" for 85 minutes as we used to do. Sure it might win you a few things along the way, but winning things is simply not enough for fans who want to see real football played.
Anyone who knows anything about football can see the massive changes in the way Chelsea play under Scolari. They would also recognise the difficulties to be encountered when changing the entire mindset of a squad of players too. One would have to be very fortunate to see these changes being made, and see the team play every game of football without mistakes being made.
I think that would be impossible for anyone, because the new ethic has to be instilled in every game you play as the season is under way. It's not like you do all the hard work talking around a table, and then go out onto the pitch and faultlessly put it all into practice. It is simply stupid to expect that everything goes to plan instantly. It will take time.
In the meantime we are 1 point behind the league leaders, and we are playing very good football too. Sure we have had some negative results so far this season. That has been down to many factors.
At home, more teams "parks the bus" for 90 minutes as they play for a point. That has cost us points this season.
Secondly we have the missing players. The talent of the players in the squad to replace missing players is not in question, but no coach can put out a different side every game and expect a seamless performance. Even 2 changes every match can make a huge difference to the way a team performs on the day, especially when some of those players are not on form.
Then there is the issue of incompetent refs and linesmen. I know they shaft every team throughout the season, but they have definately been shafting us this season.
Arguably, if the linesman and the ref would have been any good when we played Arsenal at the Bridge, we would have murdered Arsenal 3-1. That's the difference a sh!t ref makes to a seasons points.
We were the dominant team on the day and played the better game, but gg22 has the front to accuse Chelsea of having a lack of character. It wasn't lack of character that lost us that game mate, and everyone knows that.
See the previous 2 paragraphs mate.
Be honest here. Would you want Mourinho at Arsenal? Would you be happy with ugly, dull football. Maybe with trophy's, maybe not, or would you prefer your team to play the football that you love to see, and maybe or maybe not win trophy's?
George Graham did as much for Arsenal as Jose did for Chelsea, and Graham had the same ethic and methods that Jose used, only sooner. Dull, ugly, defensive and negative football. Graham won many trophy's when Arsenal played that way, as did Jose at Chelsea. Not many Arsenal fans would want to go back to that I would think. The trophy's would be nice, but the football would be sh!t.
Well, I don't think any of us Chelsea fans here have any resentment whatsoever with Mourinho's time here, we're thankful for what he did, even if the way he did it wasn't pleasing on the eye, it helped bring us to what we are today. But to say our club haven't seen any success whatsoever is clearly disrespecting us as a club and just shows how much you know about us.
We were always there,prior to Mourinho's and Abramovich's arrival, we were among the top six clubs in the premier league, the difference between us and the other top six(apart from Pool, Arse and Utd) is that we always did well in the Cup competitions, we won the FA Cup twice, League Cup, and Cup Winners Cup, and we also did well in the CL when we had the opportunity.
Yes, Mourinho did a lot for us, but that doesn't make him any bigger than the club, it was a collective effort that brought us those trophies back to back during his tenure here.
But saying that, now is Scolari's time, and the main argument here is that we're accused of lacking character, or as g22 implied, "Character of Champions".
Well, we lost to Arsenal because of various reasons but in saying that, we've already accepted that Arsenal won and we want to move on. Liverpool have been dropping points, Man Utd have dropped points, Arsenal have dropped more points than any of the big four.
So far, none of us have this so-called "character". In which by having this character, we would be able to grind out victories, and gain even the undeserving ones, especially against the big teams. If we did that, than one of us must be top of the league by a fine margin. Right?
Thats why I said its too early to make a conclusion right now. As far as I'm concerned this club still has a lot more football to offer. But until we find that balance of getting results and having entertaining style of play, as long as we can keep touching distance with the league leaders or become the league leaders ourselves, thats good enough for me.
We were always there,prior to Mourinho's and Abramovich's arrival, we were among the top six clubs in the premier league, the difference between us and the other top six(apart from Pool, Arse and Utd) is that we always did well in the Cup competitions, we won the FA Cup twice, League Cup, and Cup Winners Cup, and we also did well in the CL when we had the opportunity.
Yes, Mourinho did a lot for us, but that doesn't make him any bigger than the club, it was a collective effort that brought us those trophies back to back during his tenure here.
But saying that, now is Scolari's time, and the main argument here is that we're accused of lacking character, or as g22 implied, "Character of Champions".
Well, we lost to Arsenal because of various reasons but in saying that, we've already accepted that Arsenal won and we want to move on. Liverpool have been dropping points, Man Utd have dropped points, Arsenal have dropped more points than any of the big four.
So far, none of us have this so-called "character". In which by having this character, we would be able to grind out victories, and gain even the undeserving ones, especially against the big teams. If we did that, than one of us must be top of the league by a fine margin. Right?
Thats why I said its too early to make a conclusion right now. As far as I'm concerned this club still has a lot more football to offer. But until we find that balance of getting results and having entertaining style of play, as long as we can keep touching distance with the league leaders or become the league leaders ourselves, thats good enough for me.
Man, nobody can or ever would dispute the great things Jose did at Chelsea. The man will always but always, be a legend here for the trophy's Chelsea won with him at the helm.
I'm no fan boy Fili as you know, so I don't need to kiss his arse all the time. I remember the dissapointments under Jose as well as the highs man, and I also remember that I personally didn't like much the style of our play as the seasons went by.
When we won the second League Championship, we were all on cloud nine and so proud of everyone involved, but the fact remains that we did play some very dreary football on the way to that title. We played some great games too, and all in all we were loving every minute.
Then suddenly other teams found a way to play us. We had become predictable in our play, and we found ourselves struggling against our opponants. We needed a plan B, but there was no plan B. There was only plan A, and every other team knew that.
We struggled a lot through Jose's 3rd season, which saw Man U win the title that season.
He would not accept that after 2 wonderful seasons of success, when his methods took everyone by surprise, Chelsea had become predictable and were beatable.
Jose wanted to spend even more money to buy himself out of trouble, but the club rightly said "no way Jose". That upset him a lot. Thats when I think that Jose told himself to get out while he was still ahead. Suddenly he was blaming his players for everything that went wrong, which was unfair and very unlike him to do that.
That's when I realised that he had changed. He was still his usual outspoken self, but he was rattled. That invincible air of confidence had dissapeared. He began to sow the seeds of his departure by falling out with just about everyone at the club.
I will always love Jose for the great things he did with Chelsea, and the way he helped to raise the profile of the club. He was the right man for us without a doubt, and we will always revere the guy, but I remember how it was. Not just the good, but also the not so good.
Jose is part of our history, and as Zakov said, it's the future that's important now.
I'm no fan boy Fili as you know, so I don't need to kiss his arse all the time. I remember the dissapointments under Jose as well as the highs man, and I also remember that I personally didn't like much the style of our play as the seasons went by.
When we won the second League Championship, we were all on cloud nine and so proud of everyone involved, but the fact remains that we did play some very dreary football on the way to that title. We played some great games too, and all in all we were loving every minute.
Then suddenly other teams found a way to play us. We had become predictable in our play, and we found ourselves struggling against our opponants. We needed a plan B, but there was no plan B. There was only plan A, and every other team knew that.
We struggled a lot through Jose's 3rd season, which saw Man U win the title that season.
He would not accept that after 2 wonderful seasons of success, when his methods took everyone by surprise, Chelsea had become predictable and were beatable.
Jose wanted to spend even more money to buy himself out of trouble, but the club rightly said "no way Jose". That upset him a lot. Thats when I think that Jose told himself to get out while he was still ahead. Suddenly he was blaming his players for everything that went wrong, which was unfair and very unlike him to do that.
That's when I realised that he had changed. He was still his usual outspoken self, but he was rattled. That invincible air of confidence had dissapeared. He began to sow the seeds of his departure by falling out with just about everyone at the club.
I will always love Jose for the great things he did with Chelsea, and the way he helped to raise the profile of the club. He was the right man for us without a doubt, and we will always revere the guy, but I remember how it was. Not just the good, but also the not so good.
Jose is part of our history, and as Zakov said, it's the future that's important now.
Filipower;2596536 said:
Filipower;2596536 said:
Tbh dude, anyone would've misinterpreted that. You shouldn't have added that "......never"part at the end of the sentence.
And I'm not taking this personally, if I was I would've gave you a bollocking
, but I think I clearly stated in response to what I felt of your post, in which you felt some of us seem to resent Jose's tenure here, which is clearly not the case.The "never" was intended, because it's a fact. Just look at your sig man 
Anyway I know what you guys mean... And I actually think he's going down the same road with Inter..
On the other hand, Scolari hasn't changed much since managing our NT, he still fails in the big games...
Anyway I know what you guys mean... And I actually think he's going down the same road with Inter..On the other hand, Scolari hasn't changed much since managing our NT, he still fails in the big games...
But he's still done pretty decent as coach. Won the World Cup, got Portugal to the Euro2004 finals, and WC06 4th place, and if I'm not mistaken he did well in the Brazilian championship, but in saying that, even Avram Grant managed to win the games against the big teams last year. No offense to Avram, but its more down to the players rather than the coach when it comes to performing in the crucial games.
I'm more than content with Scolari, IMO he's probably the best choice for us this season. I don't see any other coach doing better than him in terms of result and playing great football at the same time.
I'm more than content with Scolari, IMO he's probably the best choice for us this season. I don't see any other coach doing better than him in terms of result and playing great football at the same time.
What also needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that, this is Scolari's first season in England,managing a new club in a new league, with the man himself actually admitting to being a little rusty when it comes to coaching club football, which as we all should know, is a vastly different proposition to International football.
Mind you, if this coach would have been in charge of my team, for lets say, 12 years, (that's 12 years of coaching the same team in the same league), and we were not only consistantly trailing behind the top 3 or 4 teams season after season, but also not looking like contenders either for maybe the last 5 seasons, and perhaps not won a damn thing in 5 seasons then yeah, I think I would be very concerned if this coach was permitted to continue being in charge of my team. He would be considered by me to be inadequate for the job.
So lets see where we are under Scolari in a few seasons time before we consider him to be a failure shall we?
12 weeks in charge is not enough time to evaluate anything, although 12 years is I would think.
Mind you, if this coach would have been in charge of my team, for lets say, 12 years, (that's 12 years of coaching the same team in the same league), and we were not only consistantly trailing behind the top 3 or 4 teams season after season, but also not looking like contenders either for maybe the last 5 seasons, and perhaps not won a damn thing in 5 seasons then yeah, I think I would be very concerned if this coach was permitted to continue being in charge of my team. He would be considered by me to be inadequate for the job.
So lets see where we are under Scolari in a few seasons time before we consider him to be a failure shall we?
12 weeks in charge is not enough time to evaluate anything, although 12 years is I would think.
Gunnersgoal22
Youth Team
Well I've already stated why I think Chelsea seem to lack some character this year so I don't feel like writing it all again. In brief I don't think a team with great character, for example Mourinho's old Chelsea, would lose in the manner Scolari's Chelsea has, especially considering Mourinho never lost a home Prem match in over 3 seasons (he had plenty of injuries and bad ref decisions). As I said in my original post though, Scolari over time may turn this team around with time and make them a team with great character that never loses no matter what the circumstances.
So Pede if you were implying that I shouldn't consider Scolari a failure in twelve weeks when you said "we" you should have read my first post more carefully as I said things could change.
And would I want Mourinho as manager of Arsenal now? No because of what would come with Mourinho, meaning his stupid comments to the media and his arrogance, but I do believe winning is the bottom line, not playing beautiful football. And I don't feel like writing a detailed defense of Wenger again I've done that already many times as well. Btw Pede I recall when Mourinho was manager and people accused Chelsea of parking the bus you refuted that claim and said that Chelsea did play attacking football often and that it was Liverpool who were the ones that parked the bus. Try not to have too short of a memory.
So Pede if you were implying that I shouldn't consider Scolari a failure in twelve weeks when you said "we" you should have read my first post more carefully as I said things could change.
And would I want Mourinho as manager of Arsenal now? No because of what would come with Mourinho, meaning his stupid comments to the media and his arrogance, but I do believe winning is the bottom line, not playing beautiful football. And I don't feel like writing a detailed defense of Wenger again I've done that already many times as well. Btw Pede I recall when Mourinho was manager and people accused Chelsea of parking the bus you refuted that claim and said that Chelsea did play attacking football often and that it was Liverpool who were the ones that parked the bus. Try not to have too short of a memory.
Man, at one time or another, every team has parked the bus. Including your lot.
and I never refuted that we parked the bus under Jose. I used to moan about it all the time mate. We played counter attacking football mostly, so in that respect we were an attacking side under Jose. Once we scored of course, we then withdrew en masse and defended for the rest of the game. Effective, but not my preferred type of football.
So a team with character is a team that never loses? Who might that be then, because I don't think I know a of a team that never loses mate. Everyone loses at one time or another don't they?
I think that probably negates your "lack of character" theory right there.
Ideally I would want my team to play good football and to win of course. We are trying to do that, and actually we are making a better job of it than Arsenal are mate.
So I see no need to worry about my club in the least. We are doing fine , and I am enjoying the season so far. That's probably partly because I can see where we are going, and I see us making steady progress.
We are second in the table and just 1 point behind the leaders. We are still favourites to win the league, and all this while we are breaking in a new coach, and waiting for the return of 7 of our most influential players. Not a bad start to the season in my opinion.
We haven't been able to field our preferred first eleven players so far this season, so when they all return and we can field our strongest 11, we can then really assess the situation, and then perhaps there might be cause for debate, but at this moment in time nah. It's much too soon, and if you knew anything, then you would know that already.
and I never refuted that we parked the bus under Jose. I used to moan about it all the time mate. We played counter attacking football mostly, so in that respect we were an attacking side under Jose. Once we scored of course, we then withdrew en masse and defended for the rest of the game. Effective, but not my preferred type of football.
So a team with character is a team that never loses? Who might that be then, because I don't think I know a of a team that never loses mate. Everyone loses at one time or another don't they?
I think that probably negates your "lack of character" theory right there.
Ideally I would want my team to play good football and to win of course. We are trying to do that, and actually we are making a better job of it than Arsenal are mate.
So I see no need to worry about my club in the least. We are doing fine , and I am enjoying the season so far. That's probably partly because I can see where we are going, and I see us making steady progress.
We are second in the table and just 1 point behind the leaders. We are still favourites to win the league, and all this while we are breaking in a new coach, and waiting for the return of 7 of our most influential players. Not a bad start to the season in my opinion.
We haven't been able to field our preferred first eleven players so far this season, so when they all return and we can field our strongest 11, we can then really assess the situation, and then perhaps there might be cause for debate, but at this moment in time nah. It's much too soon, and if you knew anything, then you would know that already.
Yeah, thats a fact and it is wriiten in our history, but although Jose has a place in all our hearts, I am not going to be lamenting the fact that he is no longer with us for the rest of my life. He has gone and we have moved on, and so has he.
He now coaches in Italy, and he has nothing to do with Chelsea any more, so why people feel the need to be debating Jose Mourinho in this thread is beyond me.
As far as achievment is concerned, Jose was very good for us. How many times do you want me to say that before you are able to consign him to the Chelsea history book.
He was then. Scolari is now. That is all that matters. The past is relevant of course, but its not important to me. The future is important to me.
End of discussion.
So we have Bolton this weekend. A trip back to the Reebok for Anelka where he served Bolton well. We have a great record against the trotters, although they themselves are having a good run at the moment, having won 4 of their last 5 games.
We have won 10 of the 15 games played so far this season, and if we beat Bolton we will set a record (11) for consecutive away wins by any club since Bill Nicholson's Spurs (10) in 1960. We are the only Premier league side still unbeaten on the road this season. We have not lost away from home in the last 17 games we have played. That is also an EPL record. We are also the EPL's highest scoring team. If you still doubt that Chelsea have character, then look no further than that.
Bolton have not scored against us in the last seven games we have played together, and Chelsea are bidding for a sixth successive away Premier League victory over Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. We have kept clean sheets in all five previous wins.
Very positive factfile from our point of view, but once the game kicks off anything can and probably will happen. Whch goes to show that although a little bit of history is nice, it means sh!t on the day of the match of course.
Jose BOSINGWA, Frank LAMPARD and John TERRY are the only remaining players to have started all of Chelsea's Premier League matches this season, which highlights just how well we are actually doing so far with an ever changing line-up.
Joe Cole is still missing, as is Drog, Ricci, Franco di Santo and Juliano Belletti.
Transcipt of the statement released by the FA today, regarding the so called "Battle of the Bridge".
A Regulatory Commission hearing today reached its verdict on charges issued as a result of an incident during a warm-down session following Chelsea's match against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on 26 April.
The Commission issued the following statement:
The Regulatory Commission found a charge of improper conduct against Mr Evra proved on all four elements of the charge.
The Commission found that his conduct during a warm down session following the Chelsea v Manchester United, Premier League fixture on 26 April 2008, was improper in that:
a) Mr Evra pushed the Chelsea FC Head Groundsman with his chest (as was admitted by Mr Evra)
b) He struck Mr Sam Bethell, a Groundsman at Chelsea FC, on the side of his head
c) He subsequently, i.e. after the previous incident had begun to calm down, ran back to confront Mr Bethell again (as was also admitted by Mr Evra)
d) Then became involved in a further physical altercation with Mr Bethell.
The Commission considered this was an incident of violent behaviour by Mr Evra which was therefore punished by a suspension for four first team matches as from Monday 22 December 2008 and imposed a fine of £15,000 on Mr Evra.
The Regulatory Commission found two charges against Chelsea FC both proved. On the first charge the Commission found that during the course of the same incidents connected with the warm down by Manchester United FC players, Chelsea FC’s employee, Mr Sam Bethell, had conducted himself in a disorderly fashion and that his conduct and language had been abusive and provocative.
Charges against Mr Bethell had previously been dismissed on the ground that The FA had no jurisdiction over him personally. Chelsea FC were charged that it had failed in its responsibility to ensure that its employee Mr Bethell conducted himself in an orderly fashion and refrained from abusive and provocative conduct and language. The Commission fined Chelsea FC £25,000 on this charge.
An allegation that Mr Bethell had engaged in racist conduct or language was not proved. Accordingly, so far as the charge against Chelsea FC was based on its alleged responsibility for such racist conduct and language by Mr Bethell, the charge against the club was not proved.
A second charge against Chelsea FC of failure to specify in Mr Bethell’s contract of employment by the club that Mr Bethell was directly under the disciplinary control of The FA was upheld but the Commission did not find it appropriate to impose any penalty on that charge.
Mr Evra and Chelsea FC were each ordered to pay half the costs of the Regulatory Commission proceedings.
So we get a £25,000 fine, and conformation that the commission did not regard the issue as a racist one, as Evra admitted himself that he heard no racial comment at all.
On the other hand, Evra is banned for 4 games. Nice one
He now coaches in Italy, and he has nothing to do with Chelsea any more, so why people feel the need to be debating Jose Mourinho in this thread is beyond me.
As far as achievment is concerned, Jose was very good for us. How many times do you want me to say that before you are able to consign him to the Chelsea history book.
He was then. Scolari is now. That is all that matters. The past is relevant of course, but its not important to me. The future is important to me.
End of discussion.
So we have Bolton this weekend. A trip back to the Reebok for Anelka where he served Bolton well. We have a great record against the trotters, although they themselves are having a good run at the moment, having won 4 of their last 5 games.
We have won 10 of the 15 games played so far this season, and if we beat Bolton we will set a record (11) for consecutive away wins by any club since Bill Nicholson's Spurs (10) in 1960. We are the only Premier league side still unbeaten on the road this season. We have not lost away from home in the last 17 games we have played. That is also an EPL record. We are also the EPL's highest scoring team. If you still doubt that Chelsea have character, then look no further than that.
Bolton have not scored against us in the last seven games we have played together, and Chelsea are bidding for a sixth successive away Premier League victory over Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. We have kept clean sheets in all five previous wins.
Very positive factfile from our point of view, but once the game kicks off anything can and probably will happen. Whch goes to show that although a little bit of history is nice, it means sh!t on the day of the match of course.
Jose BOSINGWA, Frank LAMPARD and John TERRY are the only remaining players to have started all of Chelsea's Premier League matches this season, which highlights just how well we are actually doing so far with an ever changing line-up.
Joe Cole is still missing, as is Drog, Ricci, Franco di Santo and Juliano Belletti.
Transcipt of the statement released by the FA today, regarding the so called "Battle of the Bridge".
A Regulatory Commission hearing today reached its verdict on charges issued as a result of an incident during a warm-down session following Chelsea's match against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on 26 April.
The Commission issued the following statement:
The Regulatory Commission found a charge of improper conduct against Mr Evra proved on all four elements of the charge.
The Commission found that his conduct during a warm down session following the Chelsea v Manchester United, Premier League fixture on 26 April 2008, was improper in that:
a) Mr Evra pushed the Chelsea FC Head Groundsman with his chest (as was admitted by Mr Evra)
b) He struck Mr Sam Bethell, a Groundsman at Chelsea FC, on the side of his head
c) He subsequently, i.e. after the previous incident had begun to calm down, ran back to confront Mr Bethell again (as was also admitted by Mr Evra)
d) Then became involved in a further physical altercation with Mr Bethell.
The Commission considered this was an incident of violent behaviour by Mr Evra which was therefore punished by a suspension for four first team matches as from Monday 22 December 2008 and imposed a fine of £15,000 on Mr Evra.
The Regulatory Commission found two charges against Chelsea FC both proved. On the first charge the Commission found that during the course of the same incidents connected with the warm down by Manchester United FC players, Chelsea FC’s employee, Mr Sam Bethell, had conducted himself in a disorderly fashion and that his conduct and language had been abusive and provocative.
Charges against Mr Bethell had previously been dismissed on the ground that The FA had no jurisdiction over him personally. Chelsea FC were charged that it had failed in its responsibility to ensure that its employee Mr Bethell conducted himself in an orderly fashion and refrained from abusive and provocative conduct and language. The Commission fined Chelsea FC £25,000 on this charge.
An allegation that Mr Bethell had engaged in racist conduct or language was not proved. Accordingly, so far as the charge against Chelsea FC was based on its alleged responsibility for such racist conduct and language by Mr Bethell, the charge against the club was not proved.
A second charge against Chelsea FC of failure to specify in Mr Bethell’s contract of employment by the club that Mr Bethell was directly under the disciplinary control of The FA was upheld but the Commission did not find it appropriate to impose any penalty on that charge.
Mr Evra and Chelsea FC were each ordered to pay half the costs of the Regulatory Commission proceedings.
So we get a £25,000 fine, and conformation that the commission did not regard the issue as a racist one, as Evra admitted himself that he heard no racial comment at all.
On the other hand, Evra is banned for 4 games. Nice one
Really good 2-0 win over Bolton. Another goal from Nic, and a wonderful goal from Deco. The overall performance was dominant and fluid, although Bolton played well as gave us a hard game. We had a couple of wobbles, but nothing that cost us.
It was so damn cold at Bolton yesyerday. The coldest game so far this year. I'll dig out my thermal underwear in future I think
3 points for us leaves the table pretty much as it was before the week-end with all the top 4 teams winning.
C'MON U BLUES
It was so damn cold at Bolton yesyerday. The coldest game so far this year. I'll dig out my thermal underwear in future I think
3 points for us leaves the table pretty much as it was before the week-end with all the top 4 teams winning.
C'MON U BLUES
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