Mentally weak.

This lot could be 3-0 up at halftime and playing the opposite team of the park and still come away with a point at best.

We know the players are good enough but without mental strength all the talent in the world is worth nothing

Agreed. Always looked like conceding a 2nd. Look so shaky when teams are attacking.

When we got the 2nd I thought the next team to score would win it and sadly I thought it was unlikely to be us.

Teams know that we don't like "it" anymore, they know they can go toe to toe with us and we cannot handle it.

To many players cannot pass a ball within spitting distance and that's not because they lack the skills to do so but the intelligence and attitude that's needed at the moment. The "style" or "happiness" or any of the other nonsense we have heard is utterly irrelevant if players cannot perform at even the most basic level

Bring on second DM......concede. Again.

Really wish we'd stop doing that. This team can't shut matches down regardless of who is playing.

Poor result, we really needed six points from the two home games against West Brom and Everton. Too many players are still playing well below the level we know they are capable of, and the others are just inconsistent.
I don't know what the answer is to be honest. A manager can only pick players on the form he sees in front of him, but it varies from game to game. It's like they take it in turns to disappoint. Having said all that, we weren't terrible tonight and overall it was a good game.

The way they play will start to take it's toll sooner or later. I hope i'm wrong but i still expect them to fall away and finish outside the top four and be a mid table team next season.

However, i'm more concerned about getting ''back to normal'' and with the current squad i can't see that happening, no matter who we get as manger.
There's no doubt we are playing better and looking fitter than we did earlier in the season when we an absolute shambles.
But, we are still looking a million miles away from being a top class side again. I'm starting to think Jose was right in that he over achieved with this lot last season. We are now into our second year of mediocre results and performances with no sign at all of us really picking up.
Imho, there are huge question marks about almost every player now.
Ivanovich has been a great servant for us, but his time has come and gone.
Terry is clearly nearing the end of the road for us and god knows who'ls going to fill his boots?
Cahill looks shaky whenever he doesn't have a fit and in form Terry next to him.
I am not at all convinced Zouma is good enough, though i do admit he has improved a tiny bit.
After an excellent first five months last season, Matic started to fall away and this season he's looked like the player we got rid of.
Mikel and Ramires are just not good enough.
Oscar stilll has the talent but this has been his third consecutive season of under performing.
Is Hazard's heart still in it?
Costa is a nutjob.


Whoever takes over has a massive job on his hands!
It's going to be fascinating to see where we go from here.

Alot will depend on who they buy this window (a decent outlay should ensure top 4 for them so it is worth it) and who they buy after the season is over. Champions League football still wont ensure they can attract the top players but it should ensure they have access to players that they would not have before. They wont be able to spend massive amounts and again the objective wont be top 4 again so will not be expected to spend the sort of money Chelsea,City,Utd will.

I don't think there was ever a question about Jose being right about our current players. You just need to look at the leagues before he returned to see that. They never came even close to a realistic title race. Very good in cups but league? Awful

If i had my way Guss would stay another season, I would not trust any other manager to spend the money needed

I'm not so sure it would be a good idea for Guss to stay on.
Once you've fallen this far down, it's hard to get back up there the next season so we might as well start rebuilding with a new manager asp. But the question is, will any manager be given time to rebuild? If we're say in 8th-10th place by Xmas will the new manager be given the boot?
Credible options for us are now pretty short on the ground.

Official Chelsea FC match report, Chelsea v West Brom, Wed' 13th January, 2-2

As verified and approved at the Dog and Duck, London. 'A' grade

Still improving, and let's not forget that West Brom are a very good side, and showed that on the night. The defence was shaky at times, and there's a lack of consistency there, especially when it comes to closing opponents down near the edge of the area. Zouma faded badly, and if Cahill comes back in, there'll be a dangerous lack of pace at the back because of Ivanovic. For their second goal, Mikel and Matic were both on, and McClean should have been closed down better.

Costa is back to his best, and Fabregas played very well. Pedro is clearly struggling at times, and is not real back up for Hazard. At Barca, he was never a regular, and to me just doesn't look comfortable with the intensity and the pace of the PL.

At times, a bit too much passing near the opponents penalty area, but the goals were the result of very good crosses into the danger areas at pace, with players getting on the end of it. Much better.

Thought that Kenedy did very well when he came on, and it was a brave decision to bring him on. Totally disagree with 'fans' who say the younger players aren't ready. They'll never be ready if they don't get match time, and both RLC and Kenedy have shown recently that they can make important contributions. The ultra conservative views of 'they're not good enough' are utter nonsense imo.

We need more shots on goal, and good ones. West Brom had clearly been practising their shooting, and on the night they were clinical. They deserved their goals, and they were nothing to do with luck. You make your own luck by pressing, and practising on the training ground, etc.

Consistency is key now. The team need to put in quality defensive displays in very game, not every now and then. We still need a few acquisitions, and I'd go for a world class centre back if available, a creative midfielder and a world class striker. In the mould of: Stones, Mata and Levazzi for example.

And that's why I think we should keep Guss around for the moment.

Of course no manager will be given time that has been proven time and time again. So if we going to rebuild we need someone Roman can trust, He trust's Guss that is clear.

Both City and Utd could be looking for a new manager at the end of the season so like when it comes to players there will be too many clubs looking for managers of the same standard and at the moment there are just not enough out managers at the required level around. So it might be better to continue as we are give Guss money to spend, I think he would he can be trusted to bring in players who will be of the standard we need.

This way we have a entire season to fully look at all the managers around and take time to see who fits the profile. Otherwise at the moment we just rushing into making an appointment incase someone else comes in for him

It is indeed utter nonsense!!!
The only way they'll ever improve IS NOT by keeping them in the reserves until they're 25, but by giving them playing time in the first team.
They'll either sink or swim but they should be given the chance to do either one.
If not, we might as well close down our very expensive youth set-up. Jose said as much at the end of least season. Shame he didn't have the nerve to go with his statement at a time when we desperately needed to shake things up.

Pep will be at City next season! That will be title chances over for everyone while he's there.

That's if you buy into the hype.

Hype is fine but its something to sell a brand.

Yes a very good manager but will still have the same issues as previous City managers have had, Very good team but never quite sure who is going to turn up the team that can beat anyone or the team that struggle.

It will take him more then pre-season to change that.

Plus again its not just about winning the title. Its about finishing within a couple of points of the title and not 11,18 etc

I don't think you can dismiss our current squad as easily as that. Last season we totally dominated the PL, we were in top position from beginning to end. We lost only three games all season, one of those was when the title was already won.
An entire team doesn't go bad overnight, or even over the summer break. There must have been other issues involved, and we still appear to be suffering the hangover from those.
Go through the team and how they played. The back four was great last year, three of them were in the PFA team of the year. Azpil missed out but God knows why. Fabregas was outstanding for half a season, and was there a better DM than Matic in the PL ? I don't think so. Hazard was fantastic as we know, and Willian always puts in a good shift. Oscar was probably the biggest disappointment, but even he started last season well. Costa was great until his hamstring began causing him more problems, and then Remy started picking up irritating injuries. I haven't mentioned Ramires, Mikel etc, but they are decent squad players.
Yes, we needed additions in the summer to supplement that squad. We were linked with several players who could have made a difference, but nothing came of it. But I think we've still got the basis of a squad capable of challenging for the title. We need a few replacements/additions but not a complete rebuild. We should surely be getting some return from our acadamy soon as well, not to mention the small army of players we have on loan ?

Everyone is saying he wants to manage in England, so it has to be either City or UTD and with City's Barca connections they are hot favs!
I see no way he'd come to us.

Oh I don't expect him to. He not silly

I fully expect him to go to either City or Utd and more then likely City but never discount Utd, They are still the biggest dog in the yard. But no matter where he goes the other one could be looking for a new manager, If he goes Utd and its been clear City was talking to him would you stay around if you was City manager? And if goes City its still very possible Utd will be looking for a manager while Jose would be a possible its still far from certain. Either way both clubs would be more attractive to a manger then us so trying to get a manager when either of those is looking could be a waste of time as we make our move there is nothing stopping them from coming in for the same person. Plus we don't know what will happen at Real, Will they be looking as well?

We going to struggle to bring in a big name as it is. Trying to do so when other big names are as well might not be the best move.

But we really weren't that great last season.
Yes, we played some lovely football during the first half of the season, but that was nearly always against the average or poor teams. We laboured against the good teams and were very ordinary in the CL.
And lets not forget that we were 2 goals up at home against Bradford and were then taken apart. That would never, ever have happened when we really did have a great side.
We got by and deservedly won the title but it was an extremely poor quality Premiership last season. Certainly the poorest i can ever remember!
Pat Nevin thought we were average but well organised and that was good enough, so i'm not the only one saying this.

What gives us hope for next season is UTD and Liverpool continue to be as average or up and down as they are and Arsenal continuing to be Arsenal.
There's not a lot of real quality outside of an in form City, so it's that lack of top quality rather than our own players that gives us some hope of getting back up there.

But you are talking from a style POV and style is not important.

Well organised will win you matches, You win matches you win titles.

But just winning matches does not mean your team is actually playing that well, just like losing does not mean your playing badly.
Leicester were playing OK last season but found themselves at the bottom of the table. Those very same players took them on a great run that hasn't stopped.
Sometimes results can mask a lot of problems that are building, as it did with us last season when were had to resort to grinding out results.

No, we weren't great. I wasn't so convinced about all the hype surrounding our performances in the first half of the season to be honest. But we were good enough to win the title fairly comfortably in the end. All I'm saying is that we shouldn't have gone backwards to the extent we have in such a short space of time.
Man City have strengthened in depth and should be walking away with it this season. That's why I don't rate Pellegrini very highly as a manager. Man Utd are stronger in midfield and their defence seems more solid, but their squad doesn't impress me for all the money they've spent. Arsenal have finally got Ozil living up to his reputation, and Giroud is looking like a real striker. If Leicester win it will be the biggest surprise in Premiership history, it's doubtful but I'd love to see it happen.
We should have been up there competing without any major signings, that's my point. I wouldn't have expected to win the title again ( Man City and Arsenal look stronger) but a top four place should have been easily within our reach.

I never really expected us to win the title this season. City was always going to spend big as they needed to ensure this season they got out of the group stages of the Champions League and that would have ensured they was better in league as well and Utd was going to spend big and have a top manager who would have ensured they improved as well. While yes Cech was always going to improve Arsenal it was not going to really be enough as no matter how good Cech is (and he is) Arsenals style was always going to ensure it was not as big an improvement as it should have been. It was going to help them compete for the title but not win it. I expected us (and the other teams in top 4) to be about 3 or 4 points behind the winners and that was more then achievable with last season's team even if they went backwards.

But, and what you and Tit Top like to forget, we won the league. Yes we were Champions. Every fan apart from you two celebrated.
So with you saying what a poor squad we have then surely now you must think Jose was actually a genius in getting us to the top.

Of course i celebrated us winning the title and we fully deserved to win it as well!
All i am saying is that we were not that great and even Richmond and Pat Nevin agree with me on that. It was certainly the poorest team and squad that we've won the title in during the this era.

I agree about Pellegrini. They have by far the best team and strongest squad and should indeed be walking away with the title this season.
I don't think any of us can nail it down to exactly why we have been so poor this season. Though i don't rate some of the players all that highly, they are better than what they've been for almost all of 2015 and into 2016.
It is extremely rare for so many players to lose form for so long at the same time. i can't think of this happening to any other top team before let alone the reigning champs.
I did genuinely think we could fall outside the top four this season, but no way did i think we'd be this poor.

What is the criteria for measuring how good the league is? How do we get to the statement that last season was the poorest league etc?

Does it really matter anyway? (if true of course).

You enter a competition to win it. The Premiership is the league we enter so is really the main way of measuring the standard of the team.

Trying to compare teams of today to teams of the past years is a waste of time.