Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

no, he didnt answer yours. but your subsequent reply was arse.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Well at least we agree that he didn't answer my question.

I however won't stoop so low as to insult another posters post in public.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I've supported Chelsea all my life. I suppose it's because my father did.

I do come from Wales and there is no loca team to support (Cardiff and Swansea are 20+ miles away and may as well be in Japan.

I really couldn't give a shit about hating the Enlgish or any of that nationalistic, artificially concieved bollocks which people call 'patriotism'.

Any other aspects of my life you would like to question? Maybe my desire to see the overthrow ofcapitalism? Or what about my new found like of Southern Comfort, perhaps you would like to insinuate that's because of the 'SoCo' effect, which would make me eligable for execution?

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I just wanted to know why you supported Chelsea that is all.

Only other questions I have in regard to that are:

Have you been supporting them all your life? Or has your love for Chelsea been reignited once a certain Russian bought the club.

Have you ever been to Stamford Bridge?

Do you go regurlarly if you have?

Do you feel genuine fans are being priced out from watching Chelsea?

I think that would be inaprorpriate in a football thread. Hence my football related questions thus far.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Once again, yes.

Well of course. Having been completely bland, without any players of note and without any sort of competition wins until 2004, why would I bother paying any attention? :rolleyes:

No. I have never been in a position to make such a trip, without having to sell one of my kidneys.

I was hoping to start going when I moved to London but that fell through so no. I do one day hope to acquire a season ticket though.

that depends on what you mean by 'genuine'. If you mean poor people, then they probably are but they'll keep paying as long as they can afford to.

Well if you wish to interrigate me on some other aspect of my life, feel free to make another thread for the occasion.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I'm not sure why being a lifelong fan of Chelsea is commendable when you take into account that before Abrahamovich the club pretty much stood for BNP-style nationalism.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

A section of their hard core fans used to be in an unpleasant organisation called combat 18.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Why is being a life-long fan of any sporting team commendable? It doesn't make a worthwhile contribution to society, nor does it have any deeper meaning.

'Supporting' teams when they win is shit but you don't really support them, so what does it mean to anyone?

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Didn't you even read what he said? He didn't say that there's any problem with supporting a football team, he said that it's better not to support clubs which have traditionally stood for "BNP-style nationalism". Perhaps that appeals to you and your father, who knows.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Did you read what I wrote? I rejected his premise that supporting any football team is commendable.

that some Chelsea supporters were rascists doesn't mean anything to me. If I wanted to suppot racism I'd support the BNP directly, rather than supporting a team who has some supporters who have racist tendancies.

In what way have Chelsea Football Club supported 'BNP-style nationalism'?

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

What?

From 41 starts and 10 sub appearances he's scored 14 goals. Only 4 in the premiership.

Statistics are here for you to see who he has actually scored against.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

14 goals is something you can build on. When a mis-firing striker scores 14 goals for Chelsea, then I'm hopeful.

Look at our recent recoard. Sutton, Kesman, Casaraghi, Mutu. He certainly isn't the worst striker we've ever had.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Spending £30m on a player who scores 4 goals in 22 games (and 8 sub appearances) 2 of which were against the mighty teams of Watford and Shef Utd, isn't a good investment.
3 goals in Europe, 3 goals in the FA Cup (1 each against Forest and Norwich), and 3 in the League cup (2 against Wycombe(!)) just shows that you haven't had a decent return.

There's no way you can claim he's had an "ok" season. He's been a flop. And at £30m he's been the biggest flop the world has ever seen.
Next season he may prove us wrong, but his first season in the premiership has left a lot to be desired.
I would suggest that buying a striker from a League 1 side for £500,000 would probably get you a similar goal return in a team like Chelsea anyway.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Sutton was at Chelsea for only a season (1999/2000). Pierluigi Casiraghi (1998) was luckless and had his career ended with a cruciate ligament injury after only ten games. Kezman had 112 goals in 136 games for PSV, so no-one really saw his failure coming (did you know that Chelsea made a profit on him?).

Mutu was a superb forward who was bailed on by Chelsea when many other clubs would have stuck by their man - just look at Arsenal's treatment of Merson and Adams. The simple truth was that they wanted rid of him, which was probably a mistake given his success with Fiorentina and Romania. Typical Ranieri signing though, didn't suit Mourinho at all.


Back to my point: Shevchenko cost £30m and came to the club as a proven striker. None of the others did. Shevchenko scored more than a goal every two games against notoriously tough Italian defences - more than 25 goals a season for his last 3 seasons. He had to produce, and he failed.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I didn't say it was a good investment, but Chelsea have seen far worse in recent years. the four strikers I named didn't get that many between them, so this could have been far worse.

He has been a flop when you think what was expected of him. But as the season has gone on he has been getting better and we'll se how it goes next year, if he he remains. If you look at Drogba, everyone was slagging him off until this season when he finaled adapted to the game and has been invaluable. true Sheva doesn't have time on his side but then again he is a world-class striker.

[quote]And at £30m he's been the biggest flop the world has ever seen.[quote]

I think Veron might have something to say about that.

Except that that striker is probably at the top of his game and it can only go downhill. I still believe Shva has the potential to set the Premiership alight.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

My opinion of Chelsea has improved dramatically over the course of this season, particularly the latter half, which seems to have drawn out all the pathetic hatred and criticism mostly from followers of other successful clubs. I am surprised to find the posters on this forum have jumped on the Chelsea hate brigade bandwagon and would say the following on the matter;

Since the arrival of Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have raised the bar for English football. Even if they should finish this season with only the League Cup to their name, they deserve credit for genuinely competing in all four competitions; something that I cannot recall any team earnestly attempting in my lifetime. All this was of course enabled by Abramovich's cash injection, but then the Premiership has never been won by a team without a robust budget.

While it is true that Abramovich has stumped up a number of absolutely ridiculous fees to build their squad, I have little sympathy for those clubs whom this transfer policy has chiefly disadvantaged; namely those who in the past have relied on their status as "big clubs" to bully others and tempt their talent into moving. What a shame.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

So has Sheva.

Pierluigi Casiraghi (1998) was luckless and had his career ended with a cruciate ligament injury after only ten games.[quote]

I believe it was 11 and he only scored one goal.

No-one saw this with Sheva, but he still did a lot better than Kesman.

Well that's not really a footballing issue and I can't really remember the ins and outs of the situavion to argue about it.

Kesman didn't? Sutton didn't? Mutu didn't?

Shevchenko has been playing Italian football for seven years, it's a very different league. He has not come close to what people expected but that might all change next season. Perhaps it won't, perhaps he leaved in the summer and is declared a flop. But as long as he is a Chelsea player he still has the potential to do wonderful things.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I'll be more explicit: Sutton is a deep-lying striker who relies on his other teammates to put him in situations to create or score goals. It's why he was so good alongside Shearer as part of the Premiership-winning Blackburn side. At Chelsea he was expected to fit into a completely different style of play - his position just didn't exist. The difference with Shevchenko is that the position of central striker will always exist - take ball on shoulder of defender, put in net, rinse and repeat.

No, you'll find that it was ten games. As for the slow start, I have no problem at all with that - a certain Thierry Henry failed to score for his first eight games, but ended the season with 31 goals.

Both were flops, Shevchenko a worse flop because of his price-tag.

That's a bit disappointing - I remember it pretty clearly. But here's an except from Wikipedia to jog your memory.

You claim that it wasn't a footballing issue. I disagree. He was an important football player for the club who as a member of the first team, affected how the team played its football. The decision to sack him meant that Chelsea automatically lost about £8m on a potential re-sale, as well as not having him around for the 2005/06 season. He didn't have to go - just look at how Paul Merson was treated when he confessed his problems. The FA would have sent him into rehabilitation as opposed to banning him as a result of the Chelsea sacking.

It's a different league but even harder to score. As I referred to with Henry earlier, I have no problem with a striker taking some time to bed in. It's when they never start producing that I criticise them.

Oh and any player has the potential to do wonderful things - just ask the Romford Pele.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

More of the great Romford Pele:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9BuiO9x69Y

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

The thing with Chelsea if you are an attacking player you are either a wide player, or a hard working target man.

Shevchenko is neither. Play him in a proper 4-4-2 with wide men he'll run riot.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

But that might mean Chelsea will play attacking, free flowing football. That isn't going to happen is it?

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

No. At no point since Mourinho came in have Chelsea played flowing, attacking football. They were playing with a turgid 4-4-2 diamond and wasting their wingers when they won two titles.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I always like arguments about how people are glory-hunters or they're just in it for the trophies or they're not real fans because they weren't born near the club. Like watching some dire club play dire football in a dire league in a dire ground just because you happened to be born near them is an accomplishment you should put on your CV or something.


Support your local team!!!



PS Excellent use of the word "turgid" by phang there.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

there's only a handful of people on this forums who understand that supporting a footballteam isn't about seeing them win as often as possible.

and even fewer actually visit their club.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I agree with what KoeN has said.

Was that a snide remark towards me JBG?

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Supporting a football club is an objectively meaningless personal aesthetic desire. It isn't about anything except the value you choose to assign it. You could choose to assign the same value to a myriad of other things. Claiming you have to understand something deeper than this about how supporting football teams works is just being delusional.

And no pig, it wasn't aimed at you personally.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I think me and Nod might be included here.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I'd rather have a single day out at the football with people I've been going with for years than win 20 Premiership titles watching at home on Sky. I detest all that "real fan" crap but people who just watch on TV and go to Old Trafford once a season really do miss so much of the "experience".

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Play up Pompey. :up:

I don't really care if there are United fans from Cornwall or whatever. Everyone chooses their club for their own reasons. Sometimes supporting teams just runs in the family. I think there are a lot of fans who start off supporting big clubs then watch their local side, enjoy it more and actually choose to support them instead.

I don't think supporting your local team is a badge of honour as such apart from the fact that you are proud from where you come from (much like supporting your national team), but what I DO think is that we get more out of going to football matches and we care about the way football is run because there are 92 plus clubs with fans who are in the same boat as us who want a fair shot at being the best.

What i think fans of local clubs hate the most are wankers who are first in the queue to wind you up when you've never been to a game, then whenever you do their team say they don't really care because it's only football. Even so, those who support their local side and stick to them whatever are those I respect the most in the football - they really do love their team and understand the position of other clubs very well because one day they could be there too or at least want to. We're no better than those not from our town, but really it all boils down to how committed you are and United have committed fans just like S****horpe, for example.

I'll never forget Rotherham fans when we won the div 1 title. They supported their team and wound us up (in a friendly way, although one complete prick from our side started throwing coins at them) 100% for 90 minutes but once we lifted the title they were congratulating us straight away, stayed behind and applauded us as we lifted the trophy and wished us luck for the prem. You can't ever have a better time watching football when that happens, shaking hands across the divide, that is what I call real support. I had a ****ing great time.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

that particular Chelsea squad had Zola, Poyet, Di Metteo, Deschamps, and Petrescu. It wasn't exactly bereft of quality players to give him chances. I believe if he had scored the two sitters he missed in the first game, he would have been a hero except an expensive flop who fell on his arse.

Shevchenko has been playing for the same team for seven years. that is a long time to move to another country and immediatly settle in. Chelsea now play a very defensive game. If they were more flowing it's possible Shevchano would play far better. But maybe he just can't adapt like Veron.

Well wiki says 10 games and 26 goals, so I don't know where those figures have come from. Different players take different amounts of time to adapt. Maybe he never will, but I'm not willing to write him off just yet.

Pound for pound, Shevchenko scored more goals.

It really depends on what you mean by footballing issue. Having Nicholas Anelka in your squad might get you some goals, but if he's messing up the rest of the squad is it worth keeping him?

He was a brand-new player who didn't get on with the new manager. to keep him may have been detrimental the the rest of the squad and could have potentially have cost them the title.

Paul Merson had been with Arsenal for nearly 10 years so it's an entirely different set of circumstances. If it had been some new player who just flew over then the situation would have been completely different. to get rid of him would have had a worse impact than keeping him, I'm not sure if the same could be said about Mutu.

Drogba wasn't too impressive in his first two seasons, but you wouldn't now say it would have been better for Chelsea to cut their losses. I say give him another chance, although it does depend on who they bring in in the summer.

I also wanted Kesman to stay as I liked him, though not Sutton. Not one bit.

If he finds his form again he can do that in every game.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I'd like to congratulate myself on coming mid-table despite not having made any changes since the end of January.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

Did you use your 3 substitutes up at the beginning of the season too? :(
(are we talking about the metro one? apart from a couple of bad choices at defence I did pretty well :up:)

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I used my wildcard at the start of the season if that's what you mean - we're talking about the FA Premier League one which triumphs through not being shit. The Metro one....I don't even know how to login anymore.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

I won \o/

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

It kept sending me e-mails telling me how my team was.
I did ok, and only 3-4 of my team let me down.

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

After last seasons good finish (I was 3rd?), I think this season wasnt that good. Last time I checked I was 2nd to the bottom. That was in january.. okey, I havent been very active :)

Re: [Football]Well it's all over
 

pretty sure that i didn't make a single change whatsoever all season and am reasonably impressed by my score :)