Good ol' Willian and his "flukey" free-kicks!!

Still a long way from the level of performance we need to reach, but I suppose we did show some determination to go on and win the game after the setback of conceding that equaliser. The main thing was getting the result tonight.

This. This. This

A few more similar results- regardless of the circumstances- and things can turn around very quickly

In terms of the league I still think Chelsea will get top 4 with a bit to spare, it is so early in the season

Rahman had a very good game. Still say he and Azpilicueta should be starting together from now on, but I doubt they will.

Still no sign of the anti-willian supporters on the forum this morning. Are they mia?

I've been as anti as (almost) anyone. I'm still here.

Player ratings: Thought Rahman looked very good. Not the finished article, but can't understand why he wasn't played earlier in the season when Ivanovic was repeatedly failing. Excessive caution when a few calculated risks are in order?

Terry was better, and Azpi got forward well. At the 55 minute mark, the team clearly needed to attack more, and (the excessively cautious) manager left it until 12 minutes to go before introducing Hazard and Pedro.

The team were lucky, very lucky, although Willian's goal was great. Why the ridiculous level of caution? Why is Costa not getting into the 6 yard box? Why are there so few Chelsea players in the opponents box when attacking?

Man City are getting players forward and scoring, Everton are, Bayern always do, so why not Chelsea with the world class players in the squad?

Imo, the manager is the cause of the problems, not the players. Those are his instructions and his tactics. Taking bullets for the players? No.

Chelsea were not lucky last night, at all. A win was needed and it's all about qualifying.
I think the true fans can see the players put in a lot of effort and there is a glimmer of some getting their form back.
Great reception for Jose, long may he stay and get this team going again.

What the hell has Everton got to do with anything? What a pointless comparison. Are they in some secret champions league group we don't know about? Have they won trophies we are unaware of?

Again how you qualify (or win anything) is as unimportant as you can get. As long as you qualify that is all that matters and even with a draw last night we still had a very good chance of doing so. A win makes it that little bit more easy, Yes it would be nice to win the group but as our past in the Champions League has shown its not vital.

No such thing as luck in football. More so when it comes to winning games. It's normally used by fans of clubs who are more use to losing to justify losing.

Former manager Bobby Campbell has died.
On a lighter note hope the Ref gives us a bit of protection form the Stoke Thugs today (Adam I do mean you)

Begovic; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Terry (c), Baba; Ramires, Matic; Willian, Hazard, Pedro; Diego Costa

Amelia, Cahill, Mikel, Fabregas, Oscar, Kenedy, Remy

Much better. Hazard, Willian and Pedro working well together. Costa a bit unlucky with the effort that was saved by the keeper's legs. Shaqiri looks a handful though, and Rahman is on a yellow.

Playing better in midfield, but still no goal threat. And still losing.

Yep, a bit of sloppy defending and it's the same old story again. It's a pity, I thought our first half performance was quite promising, even without a goal to show for it.

Well unbelievable, were now in a relegation battle like it or not.

Somebody make it stop

Stoke 1 v Chelsea 0

Imo, that has to be the end of an era. The problems were obvious, and in attack just not enough precision, not quick enough and not getting players into the box enough. Cutbacks to Stoke players, and Willian taking far too long to get poor balls into the box. I'd have Mata back any day, without the running up and down the field.

Stoke's players are paid around a third of Chelsea's and yet moved the ball quickly, crossed the ball quickly with more precision and managed to cut the ball back to their own player on the one occasion they needed to.

Very, very poor from Chelsea, despite the possession, and it has to be time for a new manager. Relegation looms otherwise, and the loss of income from no European football next season will be massive.

Not a chelsea fan by my own admission but the collapse you have had this season............staggered. Absolutely staggered. Can't make it up. What's gone wrong?

Excellent performance compared to the season so far. Real signs of improvement.

Did everything right apart from score a goal.

Stoke is always a tough game (even if they are paid more then dustman because wages clearly matter).

Can't argue with the effort at all, just not going for us. Pity we have to put up with a WUM on this thread all the tine but if you challenge him he runs off to the mods like a baby.
Jose to stay and carry on the fight.

I don't think even the biggest Chelsea hater could honestly say we deserved to lose tonight. We actually played quite well for most of the game, so I guess that's progress of a sort, even if the table doesn't show it.
At least some of our players who have been missing ( Matic, Hazard, Costa etc) appear to be returning to something like their old form. But when you're down, everything just seems to work against you. We badly need some good old fashioned luck as much as anything else.

Think the comment about the biggest Chelsea hater not thinking we deserved to lose has already been proven incorrect by posts

No, you're not. Look at the next 4 home games - I'd be amazed if even a dysfunctional Chelsea can't get at least 10 points from those games.

That's what I thought tonight, played well but things weren't quite coming off.
Some team are going to get a battering soon.

End of an era...relegation looms... time for a new manager.
Absolute bollox.

It won't be easy but on the strength of performances and from previous posts it seems performance matters more then results I think it will start to turn sooner rather then later.

We just need to keep doing what we are doing

Even by your standards, this must go down as one of the most ridiculous post I've read for a long time. I really don't understand you, do you honestly believe it's a true reflection of the game we watched tonight ?
I get that you want Mourinho out, and there's nothing wrong with that, you're entitled to your opinion. But if your assessment of a game is so wide of the mark, it makes your argument look stupid.
It's never been easy playing away to Stoke, and we did create chances tonight. Not many were clear-cut, I'll give you that. But with better finishing and a little luck it could easily have been 1-3 and the conversation tonight would have been completely different. It was a vast improvement on what we've been seeing earlier this season, at least give the team some credit where it's due. I'm actually surprised that you didn't say that we played better because Jose was missing.