Now that Chelsea have all but sown up the Premiership - can we do the double??


What a great easter with two great wins - another 2-0 victory at Bolton (third year running)and a sound thrashing of ten man Everton 3-0 on Easter Monday. With the added sweetness of Sunderland taking two points away from Man U the results virtually seal back to back Premiership crowns. The icing on the cake will be the predicted 3-2 victory over Man Utd on April 29th in the Premiership game of the season.


However back to the FA Cup.
Chelsea v Liverpool in the FA Cup has seen some great victories for the boys in Blue over the years most notably 1978 when an injury ravaged and relegation threatened Chelsea team took on the European Champions. I remember thinking we didn't have a chance that day until Clive Walker jinked down the wing cut inside and blasted a shot which screamed into the back of the net - the Shed End was a sea of Blue and White and the atmosphere was the experience which breathes a life long love of Footy.

When Chelsea went 4-1 up we were all in dreamland. The final score was 4-2 that day. Four years on and another third round tie against the champions of Europe - this time I could not get in the ground as Stamford Bridge was packed to capacity. However, we saw some fans on the roof of a nearby skyscraper and decided to join them - In fact luckily as we got to the top floor we were offered a balcony view from one of the apartments and so got to watch the 2-0 victory from high above and behind the Shed End. Again in 1997 we beat the scousers in another 4-2 thrashing which was the beginning of the rise in Chelsea to its present status as the best team in England.


However the first two results reflect the true nature of the FA Cup - it can spring some very big upsets and sometimes the "rub of the green" and "luck of the Irish" can turn the game. Take last years Champions League semi final where Chelsea dominated the play but were made to pay for sloppy finishing in the home leg and the luck went Liverpools way in the second leg with a hotly disputed goal which did not cross the line.


It is very much the beauty of the FA Cup that it stirs the dreams of supporters around the country. My point being that even though I will predict a 2-0 victory to the Blues as Chelsea are hitting top form right now - it is going to be a great game with great football and has the possibility of being closer with Benitez a real rival to Mourhino as a tactician in the knock out competitions.


The other semi final has Middlesboro and West Ham, one of whom will be guaranteed Uefa cup football by getting to the final. Middlesboro have a tough European semi final on thursday night and this will give West Ham the edge with fresher legs - my prediction a 2-1 victory for the Hammers for an all London final in Cardiff on May 13th.


Its looking like a Barcelona v Arsenal final after this weeks round of Euro action. Ronaldinho was absolutely stunning in the second half with his nonchalent inch perfect lob into the area to create the first goal. AC Milan wre tormented by his skills and he looks to dazzle the world come the World Cup in Germany, which on current form he will be a world cup legend as big as Pele, Cruyff or Maradona after this summer. Arsenal will be favoured to score in Spain - and I can not see Villareal scoring three times against the miserly gooners.


Unfortunately for the North Londoners they will be decimated by Barcelona in the final 3-0. Fifth place in the Premiership will just not win the Champions league this year!!!

Champagne football - truly the stuff of 'soon-to-be-crowned' Premiership champions.

Master tactician Mourinho changed the formation to 4-4-2, playing without wingers and started with the double partnership of Drogba and Crespo up front, which must have completely upset the planning of West Ham and resulted in the complete destruction of our East End neighbours.


Chelsea started with real purpose just like the doctor ordered and even an early goal from a West Ham set piece did nothing to unsettle the fluid passing and goal mouth action from Chelsea.


Then poor Maniche gets sent off for a lunge with no contact and the Chelsea team responded magnificently putting in a battling display. Two goals in two minutes from Drogba and Crespo put Chelsea in charge and with full credit. The ten man army did not sit back in the second half with Terry and Gallas both scoring to give us a fabulous 4-1 victory.


As Mourinho said later:

Every single player was amazing. As a team the performance was incredible. It was a great performance under very difficult circumstances.

It is not normal to win 4-1 after you are losing 1-0 with 10 men? We played with 10 but it looks like we had 12.

In fact Mourinho went on to sarcastically add in his usual humour:

In tactical terms it was not a problem because we now have a lot of experience of playing with 10 men.

A nice little video - 'I'm Blue': Click Here. Mostly Chelsea highlights


Later in the day Arsenal "Wanker" Wenger decided to rest his best player for the Portsmouth game and in doing so robbed Arsenal of a true chance of beating Man U.
Arsenal lacked the cutting edge up front and even if they did take part in a pulsating encounter they never looked like winning. Now you have to ask yourself who was Wenger trying to wind up?

Mourinho - because Chelsea will have to wait for the Man U game to win the Premiership or Ferguson - who will remain deluded to the bitter end, Redknapp (what did he do to upset Wenger?) or Spurs - because Wenger is taking the piss and believes Arsenal will still overtake them for fourth place or will take the back door to Champions league qualification by winning the Champions League like Liverpool did last year.


Chelsea need eight points for the Title from their last five games less any that Man U drop. My final prediction is that Chelsea will win the Premiership by beating Man U in the game of the season at Stamford Bridge on April 29th.


Weekend predictions: Bolton 1 Chelsea 2
Easter Monday: Chelsea 2 Everton 0

I woke up with a hangover and Chelsea played like I felt - with a sore head in the first half and paid the price by dropping two precious points.

Mourinho has every reason to be upset with his players - they just did not turn up for the first half and that coupled with our inability to execute and score goals at the moment has given The Manks the feeling that the might just have a chance.


Chelsea played well in the second half creating a hatful of chances that were squandered and I will take heart in the fact that this was one of those days where the luck ran against us. I just hope we break out of this spell a lot quicker than Liverpool earlier this year when they went through a prolonged period of playing well but not scoring.


I still think we will win the premiership back to back titles comfortably and for once I will be cheering on the Arsenal Gooners next weekend hoping they can take their great form to Old Trafford and take either two or three points from Man Utd which coupled with a Chelsea win against West Ham would leave us needing two wins for the title in our last five games.


As always there is controversy when Chelsea play. With the biased media in the UK who have a real bug up their posterior when it comes to Chelsea and because the controversy goes against Chelsea there is no big deal. The following is taken from the FIFA website:

FIFA has circulated soccer's national associations with new recommendations on how referees should handle offside decisions.The proposals have already been tested this season on an informal basis in Italy's Serie A. Assistant referee's will now have to wait until the end of a move before signaling a passive player off-side. The new guidlines mean that offside will not be signalled for uninvolved players who do not directly block the vision or restrict the movement of an opponent and who do not touch the ball. This is not a rule change but an attempt to define more precisely what is meant by 'interfering with play.'
The new guidline states "that offside for interfering with play means - playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team mate." And that offside for interfering with play means,"preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball, for example, by clearly obstructing the goalkeeper's line of vision or movements" or "making a gesture or movement while standing in the path of the ball to deceive or distract an opponent."
A player will be deemed to have gained an advantage from an offside position if he "plays a ball that rebounds off a post or the crossbar having been in an offside position" or "plays a ball that rebounds off an opponent having been in an offside position". FIFA hopes that these new guidelines will improve the game by allowing more attacking play.

Well based on that and per Mourihno:

In the second half we made it very hard for them and we scored a good goal. Carvalho is not offside; he doesn't interfere with the game; he doesn't try to get the ball and he is not impairing the vision of the goalkeeper. It was a clear goal.

Judge for yourselves. We was robbed.


West Ham next weekend. We need to come out of the blocks flying gain the three points and put the pressure back on the Northerners. There is an obvious edge to the West Ham games with Lampard & Cole coming through their academy.


My Prediction: 2-1 to Chelsea.


Elsewhere it was great to see my home town of Reading finally gaining promotion after 135 years and in real style yesterday beating Derby 5-0. Like everyone else from Reading in the same time warp as me - most people supported either Leeds, Liverpool, Man Utd or a London club as their first love and Reading were the quaint local cousins that we would visit from time to time because of convenience but with a real soft spot hoping they do well.
Congratulations to Madjeski, Coppell and the boys in the the blue and white hoops.




Also congratulations to Gretna on reaching the Scottish FA Cup Final - real fairytale stuff - playing in England in the Carlisle & District league until 1982 and the Northern League until 2001 - only reaching the first round of the FA Cup on two occasions. They applied a number of times and eventually in 2002 were admitted to the Scottish League.
Lets hope they can complete the fairytale by beating Hearts in the Final and a passage to Europe for next year.

This was a much better performance - it really was men against boys - Chelsea started the game with real purpose and really should have buried Manchester City under an avalanche of goals.


While the media continue to criticize and reflect on the controversy with the "Hand of Drog" rearing his Maradona-like silky skills - the fact is Chelsea could have and should have been 4-0 up by the time Drogba scored his second goal.


Chelsea are playing well and if they can start the next couple of games with the same purpose as they did today, then the back to back Premiership title will be ours on Easter weekend. Man Utd's next two games are at home against Birmingham and West Ham which will probably give them six points - but then they have Bolton away and Arsenal at home and they will drop points.

Which, with Chelsea victories at Birmingham and home against West Ham, would mean that we can clinch the championship with a win at Bolton on April 15th. If not, then Easter Monday at home against Everton.


Back to today's game - I thought Chelsea looked much better at the back with Carvalho back in place of Huth. Not that you would want to criticise Huth if he was anywhere near you - he is a man mountain in the mold of Mickey "Mickey's going to get you" Droy, but at 21 he is still learning and does not have the speed or skills of Carvalho or Gallas.


Gudjohnsen had a good game as both playmaker and could have netted a few as well. Drogba should have had a hat-trick. Great first goal and like he said in the post match interview -

"Yes, it was handball but sometimes this is the game"

- at least he is honest about it - shit happens - sometimes it goes against you (like Liverpool's goal-that-was-not in last years Champions league semi final) and sometimes it goes for you. The point is Chelsea dominated this game so much that if Drogba's second goal had been disallowed, Chelsea still would have won.

Revenge is sweet after our fifth round KO by the Geordies in last years encounter up on Tyneside.


Great early goal by inspirational captain John Terry, but Chelsea lacked the killer edge to get the second goal and close out the game early even if the Geordies never looked like scoring - one shot in the entire second half and even that from 30 yards out.


Kieron Dyer showed his total lack of intelligence by claiming that the dismissal of Elliot in the 91st minute had robbed Newcastle of winning the tie - what the hell is he smoking?? If Newcastle could not score in the previous 91 minutes - what chance did they have in the last minute of add on time?


I really would like to see diving cut out of the game - I have reviewed the incident a number of times and while Shaun Wright Phillips fell over - he is not the diving kind - it also was not a foul - the fact is the ref was still incensed with Elliot's previous incidents - the kicking of Joe Cole on the ground and a number of late challenges that went without further punishment - and the Ref had just had enough. It happened to Del Horno against Barcelona.


Again going back to video evidence - I think that the FA or FIFA should start a pilot programme to punish repeat divers - if the evidence shows that there was no contact and there is a 9.9 for the dive's artistic content - then lets start handing out suspensions to these players - give them the benefit of the doubt the first time - one match for the second offence three matches for the third offence. It would soon stop players like Van Nistelroy and Ronaldo of Man Utd from gaining unfair advantage.


Anyway next up is the Scousers again - the 10th encounter in two seasons. The previous nine have resulted in 5 wins for Chelsea 1 win for Liverpool and 3 Draws. It should be noted that Liveropool have lost every time in domestic competitions without the protection of European referees.


Old Trafford is also a good hunting ground for Chelsea - we have the best track record of any team against Man U at Old Trafford and it is the scene of the memorable 2-1 FA Cup final replay back in 1970.


The FA Cup is very important to us older fans and the glory of the 1970 FA Cup was all we had domestically to hold onto for so many years. If Chelsea win the FA Cup this year it will be our biggest ever - winners of the double in our centenery celebration year.


As for the other cups - Arsenal are on the right side of the draw avoiding Barcelona, Lyon and AC Milan - and if they progress through Juventus (and there is plenty of incentive with Viera leaving last summer) they could well make it to the final - Middlesboro too have the easy side of the draw in the UEFA cup - and they will probably never have a better chance of getting to a European final - but then you never know which Boro side will turn up any given day.