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Boro - West Ham - C.Palace
- Man Utd.
Boro Cup Final ..... 'Can we play you every year?'
...as I predicted in my posting to in reply to those 'Bore fans
spamming of our list, that song was heard as Robbo's men collected
their losers medals. His team does not like playing at
Wembley, as they have the unique distinction of being the (first
team in history to lose 3 consecutive Wembley finals.
What a day which left me knackered, more so than last year at
Wembley. Also thanks to those who turned up at the Shed party on
Saturday as well as those whose name was on Estie's list and still
did not turn up.
I set off from Liverpool St as the Central line was not running
between Bethnal green and Leytonstone. Whilst there, other Chelsea
fans got on as well as a few 'Boro. As the circle line made its way
West bound Chelsea fans got on at each station building up to a
crescendo at Baker Street.
There was one hell of a sing song on the tube wide to Wembley Park
with 'Let's go f***ing mental!', almost rocking the train of the
tracks, as everybody on board doing precisely what was being sung.
At wembley Park the atmosphere was buzzing with a non stop chant of
'F**K em all!' as we left the tube and out of the station. there was
good camerderie and banter between the two sets of fans. Some boro
fans took my photo as they liked the haircut of the chelsea badge on
my head. I even saw some of their fans wearing Chelsea scarves. I
heard later reports afterwards about crowd trouble but I did not see
any animosity at Wembley.
When the game got going, Boro had most of the play, mainly coming
down our left through Merson. Well this got me concerned at first as
one error could let them through with a chance. It looked like they
sussed us out but we could not do like wise to cut out the
penetration on the left. However, what became evident the longer the
game went on, was despite all their possesion they did nothing in the
last third of the park. In fact Lan had virtually nothing to do all
game and not being forced to make a proper save. This was down to our
defence being in mega form. Doobs, beefy and of course Reggae Boy
Sinclair did the biz. The latter played his heart out with timely
tackles and interceptions through out the game. Steve Clarke came on to block out the
threat from the left.
I beleive the stats showed that Boro did not have a shot till the
100th minute!. In a word men against boys.
Their keeper played a blinder keeping out Hughes' effort. That had me
jumping out of my seat screaming as it had goal written all over it.
Zola's strike which hit the bar (we all had a clear view of that
one,) brought on the same reaction.
A goal was going to come no
doubt. I could not see Boro scoring or even carving out an half
decent chance. The crowd kept cheering and chanting Tore Ander Flo
when he warmed up. we knew that we needed him on to run at players to
open up their defence, by replacing Hughes. In extra time, I could
not see where a goal was going to come from, due to our luck with
the woodwork and their keeper on form. Then Sinclair scored 'out of
the blue'. Once again for the second cup game running he did the biz
and scored from a fine header following a perfect precision cross
from Wise. Game over, adios Boro. They tried to fight back but it was
too late, as our defence contained them like they did all game.
Robbie scored a simple goal from Zola's unorthodox long corner. A
rarity for Chelsea these days. I thought the keeper dropped it or
there was defensive slip up. The tv replay showed how the boro
defender ducked or slipped allowing Robbie for the second cup final
to score within the first minute of a kick off. He scored just after
the start of the second interval of extra time.
I can remember singing 'One man went to mow' and the Chelsea chant at
the end going on in full voice for an eternity. It is normally
repeated three times.
Much was said about Gazza's apperance. He was greeted with chants of
'Your fat and you beat your wife!' as he warmed up and when he got on
the pitch. He did not do much really as Boro did not threaten our
defence even when he was on the pitch. Too much was expected off him
and in his first game he would probably unsettle the team.He got
booked early on for a foul on Zola, should have been sent off for a
second challenge on Wise, and gave the ball away which led to
Sinclair scoring. Merson played well and Townsend at times but they
did not do much to threaten us at the back.
Chelsea have proven that despite poor league form we can do the biz
in the cups. I am confident we will do it when we play Vicenza and
our Italian trio will come up trumps. Vialli will certainly play in
that game.
West Ham (a) .....East End knees up
I made my way to watch us play against the locals from East End, in
what is my local derby, a twenty five minute walk or less than ten by
car. I met John in a pub in Manor Park to watch the Arseal Man utd
game. Yes the others were cheering on Arsenal but being the only one
wanting to United to win, I did look like a typical ManUtd glory
hunting fan, so I kept quiet. We later left and met the other listees
along Jag & Jax, Paul at Barking.
Typical Chelsea perfomance not withstanding that blip against the
bottom club Palace on Wednesday. We played in a similar fashion as we
did in the Villa, Leicester, ManU & Arse games in the league. We did
little to get anything from the game. West Ham dominated but were not
all that better than us. They either did their homework on us by
following Andy Gray's instructions to the hilt, or we had our hearts
and minds on the midweek cup tie in Europe or the fizzy cup final.
We went ahead by Charvet heading in direct from a Di Matteo free kick,
early in the second half. It was against the run of play and coming
from a set piece was perhaps reflective of our lack of creativity in
the game. Now we played briefly with more purpose after the goal went
in and the chelsea fans sensed we may sneak something out of the game.
Well if we kept our eyes open and not nod off as I was doing during
the course of the game, as John will testify, we might have killed the
game and sat on our lead to get all three points, which we did not
really deserve. This would not have been too difficult as we spent
most of the game trying to contain the Hamsters who were all over us.
Alas no, not us, that would be too much to ask now wouldn't ? Sinclair
probably made QPR fans smile by scoring a breathtaking goal following
a good build up made up with one touch passing, before chipping
Kharine when put through. It was not long after before West Ham went
ahead after Unsworth blasted through a crowded penalty area. That's it
game over despite Zola's late arrival.
For the second time I saw us play at Upton Park, West Ham deserved
their victory and were the better team. Where were us after the high
we were supposed to be on following that Palace game? I now have to
eat my words after believing it was a turning point, and that we have
regained the form we had early in the season. Well typical Chelsea
again. Ifg we keep playing like that it will be another 25 years
before we win anything and we will have to put up with the no
siverware song again.
Doobs and Abou had a continual running battle through out the game
with the West Ham player constantly pushing shoving the defender at
set peices. He appears to be a fiery player that is why he is some
kind of cult figure to the home fans.
Regarding the atmosphere it was buzzing and electric with the home
fans going to sleep at times especially after we stole the lead. "Your
supposed to be at home!" was heard in both halves. The song the home
fans kept singing was not their one and only "Blowing Bubbles" , but a
new one, believe it or not: "Stick your blue flag up your arse!" We
responded with "Silveware no silverware, you aint got no silverware,
from Upton to Park to anyway, you aint got no silverware!" Well they
applauded our efforts. In fact there was good humoured banter by both
sets. When they sang "stick your blue flag", and "your gonna win F**k
all" we appaluded and gave them the "no silverware" song. It was
quite a ding dong as one end waited for the other to have a dig and
then applaud.
Well the said ding dong banter, makes a change from the usual vile
hartred and punch ups that tends to be associated with this fixture.
Maybe this was due to the game not being an evening kick off. Its
always better to come to the East End for a knees up instead of a
punch up.
However the reason for the good nature was probably down to
the bigots doing their bit before the game. What made it worse was
when they are with the Chelsea fans or more specifically the Chelsea
list contingent. I do not believe in naming and shaming so the person
concerned knows who she is. When we were at Barking Station, the young
lady in Chelsea colours, went up to the West Ham fans and started
singing Chelsea songs and "One team in Europe". There was no point
pretending she was not with us and hiding because our cover was
already blown thanks to her. I tried to break the ice a bit my saying
both teams have something in common: we both knocked arsenal out of
the cup!, as if it made any difference. On the tube she continued
tormenting the ICF, with " we hate the boys in claret and blue". When
I reminded her that some of us lived around here and hoped to get off
the train it made no difference. She let the Hammers fans know in no
uncertain terms that she would take em all on.! Anyone brave enough
or mad enough to take on the ICF alone deserves some respect. They
were clearly intimadated by her and responded with banterous good
humoured songs. I suppose word got around at Upton Park that there
was a chelsea nutter present which is why there was some banter going
on at the game. Having said that i heard the other Chelsea nutters
stayed in West London to welcome Millwall who visited Fulham that
afternoon.
Let us hope that we reach the final of the ECWC and win both finals,
so we can at least look good at the end of the season. If we win F**k
all, as other teams sing at us, we will have no one to blame but
ourselves following inept displays of late. Furthermore, the fans who
go to the games(and those who dont) are getting a bit fed up with
these performances and deserve better.
Come on Chelsea we can not walk it to the silverware.
Viva Vialli, let's do the biz against Betis in the meantime.
Crystal Palace .....Zola is back!
Yes the little Sardinian is certainly back to form at last, hence the
above mentioined chants. His display as well as the overall team
performance sent poor Palace a step closer to 'going down with the
totnum!' which is sung at any team we play who are in the drop zone.
Well we did not have it all our way. In the opening few minutes, Palace
took the game to us and played like they wanted to get a result. When
they took the lead after seven minutes my heart sunk. Not another loss
like against Villa on Sunday. Kharine in front of us in the MH stand
looked gutted. Well the danger should have been cleared before
Hriedarsson drove home. That goal gave Palace heart determination and
confidence. Unfortunately for them it did the same to us with
devastating consequences. Within a matter of ten minutes we re took the
lead courtesy of goals from Vialli and lalala Zola. The former had a
great inspired game leading from the front and by example. Zola finished
of a fine move and Vialli pass by rounding Palace keeper Miller to slot
home.
Once we took the lead the game died down and got a bit scrappy. The
atmosphere went quiet as well. A certain section in the Matthew Harding
Lower kept themselves busy by singing anti Spurs and West Ham songs. The
latter we face at the weekend. No doubt like Coventry will think that
since they can hold United we will be easy meat. Remember look what
happened to the Sky Blues.
Near the end of the half Palace got their act together and started to
put the pressure on. The atmosphere came back as a result. Maybe our
strength is that we are a counter attacking side. As Palace tried to get
into the game Vialli netted again just before the break.
In the second half we ran them rampant and the blues were steaming in
for sure. Wise must have been watching HTBUW and he nearly scored from
an acrobatic bicycle kick, forcing a fine save from Miller, who endured
'fatboy' taunts. After Vialli came off for Flo receiving a standing
ovation, Wise got his goal. At 4-1 down Palace managed to pull one back
a few minutes later through Bent. They eagerly ran back with the ball as
if they were planning a dramatic match saver. Their goal was clearly
against the run of play and Flo netted a couple just before the whistle
just for good measure. The crowd sang out "To-re, Tore, Ander Flo!". A
great way to pay tribute for the Real Betis game.
Other notable songs. The usual rout rendition of "Your not very good!".
Quite a few times I have heard that this season. However others have had
good reason to sing it at us as well. Also in view of the take over and
transfer speculation at Selhurst Park: "Gazza must be mad!" and: "Are
you watching Paul Gascoigne!"
This was a fine display by Chelsea lets hope we keep it up for the
remainder of the season. No doubt cynics will say Palace are the bottom
club so it does not prove anything. I beleive we did show the form we
had at the start of the season.
Another point during half time the Arsenal Wimbledon game was showed and
when they took the lead it was greeted with boos and a chorus of "We
hate Arsenal!" I will be watching their game against United before going
to the West Ham game with fellow listees, in a pub near Upton Park. We
will be rooting for United. I no longer join in to sing "Stand up" or
"Who the F**k". To be honest I do not feel any hatred or hostility
towards them. I did not feel that way when watching our games against
them, despite taunts by their fans (or the gloryhunters). But with the
Arse it is a different story. I can remember the days when I was an
armchair fan, and watching thier famous 2 nil win against Liverpool to
snatch the title. I was happy they won. I thought I would never see a
London team win the title and was overjoyed. I even went with some mates
to see their victory parade with the trophy, because everyone else
went. It was the first time I had ever seen that trophy in the flesh and
I remember seeing Rocastle waving it to the crowd. little did i know how
things would change in a few years. Now after actually going to games
especially when we play them and how their fans behave and think of us,
(I have sat amongst them at Highbury to know first hand) I would not be
seen dead wishing them well under any circumstances. I have nothing but
contempt for them. They feel that they are the big team in London and
others should know their place. In fact they are slightly envious of us.
That cup victory put them in their place and got right up Wenger's Arse.
Both the team and manager, arses by name and nature.
West Ham better do the biz and knock those scum bags out of the cup.
Hopefully they will need someone to take revenge on after we play them
on Saturday.
Man Utd (home).....We're going to Wembley...
you're not!
That was one of the better songs heard before and during the game,
which had the United faithful (I wont insult them by calling them glory
hunters), eating sour grapes. By failing to beat Barnsley after beating
us, must show how much their visit to the Bridge took out of them
Another morning kick off live on sky, Vialli's first league game at
home, in a game Man Uted had to win to tighten their grip on the title.
It would also show whether we had learned any lessons from that cup tie,
and if we were up for it. At the toss up, Schmeichel decided to change
ends like he had done in the cup game. I suppose he was looking forward
to the warm and freindly banter from the Matthew Harding stand and could
not wait till the second half.
Man utd fans as usual sing their one and only song, the only one I have
ever heard them sing, which has the same word, begining with 'U'
repeated three times. They still did the airplane and helicopter
impressions. This brought a response with Munich songs. I noted how
they did not boo or barrack Hughes, when he was by the touchline, unlike
the rest of our players. He is still held in high regard by them. They
enjoyed calling Dennis Wise a 'rentboy'. The brat Beckam got the
expected taunts: 'Does she take it up the arse!'.(Apparently the line I
chanted 'does she know that you're an arse?' did not catch on) As it was
getting a bit worn a new chant was heard: 'Your're shit and your bird's
a tart!' reverberated around the ground. It was directed later at
neville after he scored the goal: 'You're shit and your brother's gay!'
Of course there was the usual but less frequent chorus of 'Stand up' and
'Who the f**k' but as stated in my earlier postings on this matter, I
did not join in.
The game got of with us looking promising enough. We had a lot of the
possesion and Zola's running and presence looked good. He was up for it.
Having said that, for all the possesion we did little with it and rarely
put much pressure on their skipper. The same could be said of United,
Kharine was not really tested, like Lan was during the cup game. What
this showed is that we put right the main problem that day, the
midfield. It did it's job cutting out supply to their strikers, which
the United counterparts did as well. They both cancelled each other out
meaning a goal would come from a set peice, or a mistake, which is what
happened when they scored. There were not many clear cut chances
afterwards for them to increase the lead.
Another lesson learned was how to defend freekicks, and 'do to them
what they did to us'. It was quite amusing, in the second half as Beefy
went to take the free kick, the amount of pushing, pulling and outright
barging going on around the wall. We were all laughing in the Matthew
Harding lower, as United did not want to concede a goal like the way we
did in the cup tie.
As the game wore on I could not see us scoring despite the possesion.
We did not now how to break down their defence or get around it. This
impasse reminded me of the games with Leeds and Wimbledon, lack of
ideas. With the said midfeild cancelling each other out we needed
someone to run at them. Flo came on too late to make much difference. I
suppose we can not rely too heavily on someone going on runs. A couple
of lessons we need to learn: (1) how to breakdown a strong well
organised defence. (2) how to get out of a midfeild stalemate.
I suppose the answers lie in the ability to read what is going on and
change tactics accordingly, by putting the work done in training to
stamp out the said weaknesses, into practice on the park.
This defeat shows that we have failed to beat any of the other top 5
teams. We have gotten only one draw against Man Utd at OT. So us being
currently fifth is perhaps a true reflection of our potential at the
moment. Having said that we are not out of the running for the second
place. A lot has been said of Chelsea being a top 5 side even
acknowledged by Ferguson himself, and is the first time in my time
supporting Chelsea that we are one of the 'big boys'. We are in the
league cup final which is good, but this season will after all go down
as a learning experience. We have made tremendous gains in recent years
and have not maximised our potential, judging by some poor results of
late. Maybe once we get into the 'habit' of being and playing like a top
five side then consistency may creep in. Who knows we may suddenly and
inexplicably regain form in the games that matter like we did in the
semi final against the Arse, and go on to win two trophies. That will
be good enough for me though.
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