Bertrand looks good.

Well we arent even playing in the PL till after the Barca game now. 4th is out of our hands now, if spurs win all 5 of their games then they are 4th(or 3rd), even if we win all our 5 remaining. Cant see us even winning our last 5 when 3 of them are against Liverpool Arsenal and Newcastle.. will be lucky to get 6 points out of those.

Lol that's the Chelsea spirit is it? 2 points off the 4th spot and still have to play the team in 3rd and 5th place and the 4th place team faltering to pieces at the moment. Surely it's still all to play for?

Yeah that cross to Lampard which he couldn't get to the end of was quality!

There's still hope while Spurs are screwing up, but the fact that we have to play Arse, Pool, and Newcastle is.....disheartening.

To me, the players only turn up in CL games. We might as well channelise that energy somewhere useful!

Spurs play QPR, Blackburn, Bolton, Aston Villa, Fulham.... 4 of the bottom 6, very winnable games for them. Arsenal are on fire and look like they would beat anyone at the moment. Cant see us getting 4th when this is the situation.

I always try and live in hope but when you see performances like that it makes you feel so deflated!!! I should probably go make myself a cup of tea to calm down lol.

Mmm. Now that Ramires has joined the list of off-form players there's even less energy in the team....no goal threat from anyone....no protection for the defence......


I'd like to know if it's our actual game plan to sit back at 1-0?

Next two weeks are massive IMO, we could be out of CL and the FA cup, and also probably out of the race for fourth if we lose to Arsenal.

Lol I'm starting to wonder the same thing.... It worked like a charm under Mourinho but our squad can't do that any more.

Very sluggish performance. Didn't do enough in the second half but what a sloppy goal to concede.

I thought that. Didn't look fit to me.

It was a fair result in the end. I didn't think it was a penalty, Murphy definitely played the ball, and I don't know what the ref was talking about regarding Kelly, didn't see any contact there ? Still, we should have had a penalty for the blatant push on Lampard.
A scrappy game, neither side seemed able to put together more than a couple of passes. Their young winger Frei (?) looks a useful player, gave us problems every time he touched the ball.
I don't think you can read too much into the game, it was just one of those nights. After all, Fulham are capable of causing problems for the best teams on their own ground, so it was never going to be easy.
Our back four looked sound enough until we had that mad ten minutes or so in the 2nd half. Unfortunately, Ramires had the worst game I've seen him play, but he has been playing virtually non-stop all season. Bertrand had a good game, and Mikel continues to impress in the holding role..in my opinion.
There appeared to be a lot of tired players out there..on both sides. I think the run-in is going to be a scruffy affair, with more games like tonight. In the league we are going to have to scrap for it and hope Spurs/Newcastle drop points.
But I'm still confident that we can raise our game for the Barcelona tie.

Ivanovic to get a 3 game ban for punch V Wigan according to Daily Mirror.

Really annoyed with Bane, what a stupid thing to do anyway but it's such a crucial time for us.


Fulham, at the very least, deserved a point last night. It's always the same, try and defend a 1-0, the writing was on the wall in the second half that Fulham would equalise. Our passing was very sloppy.

It's not over yet, but I am not holding out a lot of hope for 4th. And the way Newcastle are playing, they thoroughly deserve it.

Never been in what i would call good form.
Should be running the 5,000 metres in the Olympics, rather than just running around a football field. He's the most overrated player i've ever seen in a Chelsea shirt!
I'll say it for the 100th time. We'll never play the free flowing, attractive football the owner wants if he's a part of our longterm plan. If it was up to me, then Ramires, along with Merelies, Malouda, Kalou and Mikel would be first out the door this summer. I'd also get rid of Dimatteo, irrispective of how we do for the rest of the season.

I'd like us to sign Hazard, but he's kind of a whore. If we do sign him he'll be looking to leave in 2-3 years, but at a profit, so he'll still be worth signing. Modric might be looking to leave again if Spuds finish outside of 4th, but he's not worth what they want for him. I agree about Sturridge. He'll never be a winger.

Kalou is a decent squad player, but he's had more than enough opportunities to show what he can do, he just isn't good enough for us. I think letting Kalou go and replacing him with Junior Hoilett would be a good move. He's out of contract and would be more than willing to come to us. He already offers much more than Kalou does and is also a few years younger, so is still likely to show more improvements.
Piazon will likely go on loan, probably to a Dutch team.
I hate Meireles. I know it sounds harsh but he is simply dreadful to watch. He either shoots from 30 yards or passes to the opposition, there's nothing redeemable about him. His goal against Benfica was great, but he always looks like he's playing for himself and not for the team. The fact that he does it with such a stupid hairstyle is even more infuriating. I want him gone.

I don't agree with you there, but I think we've had this discussion before ?
To me, Ramires has been one of our few success stories this season. He's not a playmaker, but he fulfills the role we bought him for, the same as he does for Brazil on occasion.
He is just a "water carrier", and the problem is, we don't have the clever individuals around him to compliment his efforts..apart from Mata.
I do have a problem with Meireles, because he appears to be neither one thing or another. He doesn't possess the genuine quality to be a playmaker, but his work rate is poor and he often pulls out of tackles. He has scored a couple of great goals, but that's a high price to pay for some mediocre performances.
I agree, Malouda is past his best. I'm not so sure about Kalou, still a decent squad player unless we know there's better available. Same with Mikel, he's certainly no Makelele..but we need to be sure we've got a couple of better replacements before we sell him on. Actually, I think Mikel has had a few better games recently.
That's the problem with any big clear-out, you have to be very careful that the players you bring in are going to be an improvement. There's even talk of getting rid of Sturridge ?.. I don't think there will be any shortage of takers, but we may regret it later.

Mikel has improved in the current formation. Still not sure he can do it against the top teams, as even now he tends to become rather clumsy when we're under pressure.
Sturridge has been poor in 2012, but not to the extent we should be looking to move him on. Just need to accept that he is a striker, not a winger. The only time we should look to sell him is if he demands a ridiculous increase when his contract negotiations begin. £60k was about £40k too much when he signed....he'll probably be expecting - on account of being English - £100k+ in the summer.

That's our problem. We have a lot of "nearly" players, some who had potential but didn't quite make it, and others who haven't yet had their chance. Put those together with our ageing super stars, and it makes things difficult for any manager contemplating changes.
Players like Kalou and Mikel are by no means useless, we have young (and expensive) signings who are practically unknown quantities, and some of the old guard who have shown they can still perform on big occasions.
It's going to be an interesting summer.

Mikel has been playing really well lately especially against Benfica at home. I was watching him throughout the game and he hardly put a foot wrong. Kept it simple and made some great forward passes. But yesterday he was all over the place. It was quite frustrating really - every time he received the ball he passed it back to the CB's, only for them to give to Cech for a long ball!! It was like the midfield were scared sh*tless to pass forward!! I was crying for Romeu to come on...he's never going to get a game is he? At this rate I should drive him back to Barcelona myself.

Have you heard anything more about Barcelona's buy-back "windows" in the contract we signed for Romeu ?
The rumours were that Barca could buy him back in the summer 2012 window for £9.5 million, rising to £13 million if they waited for summer 2013 window.
Other reports said that Barca just had a normal "first refusal" on buying him back if Chelsea decided to sell.

I read that they have first refusal on him, no buyback clause. Still looks like he could be a class player for us. I think we just have to trust the club that he is injured, he hasnt featured for the reserves either.