The Official Thread of Chelsea FC

[EC Unique]

Ping pong has made some c**k of himself.. Hilarious

[cavan4ever]

Ping pong has made some c**k of himself.. Hilarious

[Norf Tyrone]

Good result yesterday, although I only seen bits and pieces of it with the 125 year celebrations etc. However that's us back into that cup for 09/10 again. It'll do the old confidence, moral, and team spirit no harm as Chelsea prepare to compete in the 'world's greatest cup competition' in 2 weeks time.

Anyhow... Barcelona.

Almighty Barcelona more than a club? Not when they claim moral authority

Apparently, Barcelona will be wearing a new shirt for this season's Champions League final. Across the chest will be emblazoned one word: 'puppies'. They tried to get 'cute ickle babies' or 'fuzzywuzzy snuggly bears' but it wouldn't fit.

What a pity for the world's most perfect football club. And it is not just Thierry Henry who faces a race to be ready for the match with Manchester United, either. It seems that so many Barcelona players, officials, former managers and journalists have ascended to the high moral ground since Wednesday's win at Stamford Bridge that they might not all be able to get down and board the charabanc to Rome in time.

So now we know. A single shot at goal in 94 minutes is total football, according to Daniel Alves, who did not speak so boastfully of his own record, that of the dirtiest player in the Champions League with 30 fouls (10 more than the nearest player in Chelsea's starting line-up on Wednesday, Michael Ballack). Playing on the counter-attack, meanwhile, is, in the words of one particularly overwrought Spanish commentator, evil.
Not so divine: Barca berate referee Ovrebo
Whatever happens in Rome, such adjectives will be reserved only for Barcelona's opposition and their style of play, for the divine Catalans can do no wrong. They have a saying at the Nou Camp, mes que un club (more than a club), and it would seem some observers have taken this clever piece of marketing rather literally.

Barcelona play fantastic football, but in the rancid fall-out from the match at Stamford Bridge, it has become rather too easy to review a simplistic confrontation between Josep Guardiola's saints and Guus Hiddink's sinners. Old ground has been revisited, such as the clashes between former managers Jose Mourinho and Frank Rijkaard that predated the resignation of referee Anders Frisk.

Even this is only half the story, because the common perception is that Mourinho slandered an innocent man, Frisk, by falsely stating that Rijkaard got to him at half-time. Mourinho's deception was to say he saw an incident. From his vantage point he could not; but that does not mean nothing happened because the UEFA report has evidence from the stadium supervisor that Frisk was forced to tell Rijkaard to go away three times.
Barcelona, for all their pious rhetoric, do not have the copyright on principle in football. Indeed, for a club so dedicated to fairness, the geography of the Nou Camp stadium has always intrigued visitors, as one of the two entrances to the home changing room leads to the secure area where the referee resides.
    More from Martin Samuel...  MARTIN SAMUEL on the Manchester derby: Carlos too good for sorry City 10/05/09   MARTIN SAMUEL: We are really going down the pan, gents! 07/05/09   MARTIN SAMUEL: Handballs, fouls and a late swing of the boot do the job for Barca 06/05/09   MARTIN SAMUEL: Messi will be hard pressed to top this Ronaldo supershow 05/05/09   MARTIN SAMUEL: What Hiddink can learn from the principles of Pokemon 05/05/09   MARTIN SAMUEL: Our league is healthy when youlook below Platini and his 'big four' 03/05/09   MARTIN SAMUEL: Pig flu? Send for that lucky swine Sven 30/04/09   Martin Samuel: Just come in No 32... the price is too high for United's Tevez 29/04/09   VIEW FULL ARCHIVE   This means that in the tunnel, one team turn left, the other right, and the home route can, if a manager is particularly absent-minded, end up with him on the wrong side of a glass partition rubbing shoulders with the man in charge. Not that any Barcelona coach would ever seek to turn such a design fault to his advantage. Rijkaard simply got lost in his own stadium that night.

There was the game between Chelsea and Barcelona in which claims were made about doctoring the Stamford Bridge pitch; the defeat that ended with Rijkaard publicly haranguing referee Stefano Farina in the centre circle. And while this year we are to be given the dream final, last season when Manchester United and Barcelona met, and Barcelona failed to score over two legs, Rijkaard whined that United lacked adventure and originality, and accused them of negative tactics. Barcelona never really lose a football match because, even when they do, they assume a default position of moral superiority.
Indeed, to complete this vision of holiness, Barcelona have the name of a charity, Unicef, on their shirts, where Champions League finalists United will have AIG, a bankrupt American insurance company and symbol of all that is wrong in the world. It is a noble gesture, even if marketing experts predict that the Unicef logo, the first to be placed on the hallowed red and blue, is the thin end of a wedge that will end with Barcelona embracing capitalism with the biggest shirt sponsorship in history.

The current deal runs out in 2011 and by then supporters will be used to the concept. Certainly, Barcelona are not so naive in other commercial areas and currently have arrangements with Nike, Coca-Cola, Audi, TV3, Estrella Damm, La Caixa, bwin, Acer, MediaPro, NH Hoteles, Vueling and Babybel.

The reality is that Barcelona are a great club and this current group of players are a great team, perhaps the best ticket in town; but that is all they are. They are not on a mission from high to save football, they are not above the odd foul, or the odd game that is not so beautiful. Barcelona players have been shown 21 yellow cards in the Champions League this season, compared to 11 for Manchester United. They have conceded 13 goals, as opposed to six by United. United have had more shots on target, too.

The latest twist in the build-up to the final is Barcelona's pledge to endorse United's attempt to have Darren Fletcher's red card rescinded, on the understanding that United are similarly supportive of the reinstatement of Alves (30 fouls, remember) or Eric Abidal. A carve-up? Surely not.

There is a huge amount to admire in Barcelona's play and their ethos under Guardiola. Yet this is best left for others to judge. Self-praise is no recommendation and every time Barcelona smugly remind us of their wonderfulness, they become less than a club, more a puffed-up pain in the neck.

[Minder]

Let it go Norf............

[Norf Tyrone]

Let it go Norf............

NO. NO I WILL NOT.

Kennedy died because he knew the truth. N-U-R-S-E.

[A Quinn Martin Production]

Let it go Norf............

NO. NO I WILL NOT.

Kennedy died because he knew the truth. N-U-R-S-E.

I note on MOTD2 last evening following a 4-1 tanking of Arsenal on their patch, Chelsea were barely mentioned by the panel   Best laugh was this morning hearing that Wenger had accused Drogba of diving.  He obviously missed Adebayor.

[anportmorforjfc]

Angry Chelsea supporters want to get their own back on Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo, who made a number of controversial decisions in the Blues' Champions League semi-final, second leg against Barcelona. They have set up an internet campaign to stop Norway winning the Eurovision song contest.

[Norf Tyrone]

Let it go Norf............

NO. NO I WILL NOT.

Kennedy died because he knew the truth. N-U-R-S-E.

I note on MOTD2 last evening following a 4-1 tanking of Arsenal on their patch, Chelsea were barely mentioned by the panel   Best laugh was this morning hearing that Wenger had accused Drogba of diving.  He obviously missed Adebayor.

As soon as Adebayor went down, I thought 'oh f**k. If the ref buys this Pete could miss the cup final'!

[Doogie Browser]

Norf Tyrone has been offline most of today...

Three die in shooting in Norway
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8044826.stm

[Norf Tyrone]

Norf Tyrone has been offline most of today...

Three die in shooting in Norway
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8044826.stm

Apparently yer man Tom was there when it happened. When police arrived, he had his arms outstretched waving play on.

[wherefromreferee?]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8043277.stm

Drogba and Bosingwa in trouble

[Norf Tyrone]

Well done to Frank Lampard who lifted the Chelsea player of the year for the 3rd time last night, the first person to do so.

I'd go as far as saying, Lampard is now Chelsea's greatest ever player.

[Minder]

Well done to Frank Lampard who lifted the Chelsea player of the year for the 3rd time last night, the first person to do so.

I'd go as far as saying, Lampard is now Chelsea's greatest ever player.

Better than Robert Fleck?

[Norf Tyrone]

Well done to Frank Lampard who lifted the Chelsea player of the year for the 3rd time last night, the first person to do so.

I'd go as far as saying, Lampard is now Chelsea's greatest ever player.

Better than Robert Fleck?

The legend. Now if you had've said John Spencer.... he WAS a legend.

[Norf Tyrone]

Nice of the MOTD pundits to mention that Anelka had collected the golden boot.