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The 2007/08 Chelsea Thread

Philip Rolfe

By Philip Rolfe,
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Poyplemonkeys

Poyplemonkeys

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Mikel's three-match ban is upheld

Chelsea's Mikel Jon Obi has failed in his appeal against his red card in their 2-0 defeat at Manchester United and must serve a three-match ban.

The midfielder was shown a straight red card by referee Mike Dean for a first-half challenge on Patrice Evra.

As Fifa does not allow cards to be downgraded Chelsea could only have won the appeal if they had proved that no action at all should have been taken.

Blues boss Avram Grant said the card was "wrong and changed the game".

The ban, which only affects domestic football, comes into force immediately, ruling him out of the Carling Cup trip to Hull and Premier League fixtures against Fulham and Bolton.

Mikel's suspension may not be the last repercussion for Chelsea following the Old Trafford fixture.

Chelsea skipper Terry appeared to grab referee Mike Dean's red card as he sent off Mikel.

Reports say Terry's actions have been mentioned in Dean's official report.

Twice now Mikel's been rejected an appeal for offences that are clearly not red cards. wp FA, done well with him so far. That bolded bit is quite possibly the worst rule I've ever heard of. What is the reasoning behind not being able to change a red card to a yellow? Didn't they do this for Darren Ambrose a while back though?

Mike Dean can gtf with the whole JT affair. Would've condoned any Chelsea or United player doing far worse than grabbing his hand for the greater good tbh, even Rooney.

On the brighter side of things, surely Scott Sinclair will be getting a game against Hull icon_cool.gif?

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Maple

Maple

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Chelsea skipper Terry appeared to grab referee Mike Dean's red card as he sent off Mikel.

Reports say Terry's actions have been mentioned in Dean's official report.

Can a player be punished for something mentioned in the official report by the referee and which the referee didn't think was worthy of even a yellow card?

Sidenote remark: If it wasn't mentioned in the official report and there was a penalty for the incident, surely the referee should be penalized as well for missing it?

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shanyi

shanyi

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On the brighter side of things, surely Scott Sinclair will be getting a game against Hull ?

Fingers crossed. I hope a couple of the youngsters are given a chance to impress (wasn't Lee Sawyer on the bench against Rosenborg?), maybe Sam Hutchinson can make an appearance too.

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shanyi

shanyi

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Oh and am I right in thinking the debut games for the last three Chelsea managers (Ranieri, Mourinho, Grant) have all been against Manchester United? The results of the last two manager's games have reflected their tenure as well: Ranieri drew 3-3, which was rather shambolic but scraped to a sort-of-acceptable end result. Mourinho won 1-0, an efficient but extremely dull victory. Grant... well, let's just hope that little trend didn't last very long.

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Razzler

Razzler

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I read that article about Terry yesterday, reports today that he is considering legal action. Not sure if that's the case. The guy that wrote it (Observer?) was on some football podcast i was listening too, maybe Guardian one and basically sticking by his story and his inside sources.

Right down to the Roman having Shevchenko translate instructions to Essiens about what he was doing wrong when Mourinho was doing post match press stuff, made me chuckle that did icon_biggrin.gif

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Razzler

Razzler

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Yeah, i read that one and another one which was similar but based on that also in Guardian, i think. Duncan Castle (?) who wrote that was the guy talking. They even joked with him "Where does John Terry sent the writ" and he said "Observer Legal Department" or something.

They asked how much he left out and he said not much really, they had to 'tone it down' a little. It's the Guardian podcast IIRC, can still download it. Interesting things going on

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Ratinho

Ratinho

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Originally posted by orion318:

Yeah aparently Ronaldinho has been seen clubbing and getting drunk on regular basis and it's affecting his performances. According to newspapers in Spain Barça have given him an ultimatum..either he changes or he's off.

Can't wait for him to arrive in London on probably double his current wage. icon_smile.gif

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Razzler

Razzler

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Yeah aparently Ronaldinho has been seen clubbing and getting drunk on regular basis and it's affecting his performances. According to newspapers in Spain Barça have given him an ultimatum..either he changes or he's off.

Of course now his partying is common knowledge i am sure their phone will be ringing off the hook icon_wink.gif

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Crazy_T

Crazy_T

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Originally posted by Razzler:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Yeah aparently Ronaldinho has been seen clubbing and getting drunk on regular basis and it's affecting his performances. According to newspapers in Spain Barça have given him an ultimatum..either he changes or he's off.

Of course now his partying is common knowledge i am sure their phone will be ringing off the hook icon_wink.gif </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

New Adriano IMO.

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Poyplemonkeys

Poyplemonkeys

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Avram Grant's first home game this weekend icon14.gif Still without Lampard, Drogba, Ballack, Carvalho and Mikel. Would be good to get a decent win, get rid of this negative goal difference icon_biggrin.gif

Pizarro should definitely start I reckon. Played well against Hull, got the mixture right of holding the ball up and random bits of flair like his attempt at a Zola goal. Looked good dropping deep too. Everytime I see him play I'm more impressed and he's definitely our best option without Drogba.

Same with Belleti too, I think he's been great so far. Obviously wasn't too happy with his signing after we'd been linked and reported to be pretty much certain to get Dani Alves but Belleti hasn't put a foot wrong so far imo, and shows a lot of attacking potential. Him going down the wing works really well when SWP cuts inside as he takes the player with him leaving Belleti a lot of space.

Tal Ben Haim started of shakey but he had a good game against Hull (not the hardest of opponents I know) and also against Man Utd. Slightly worried that he's being picked ahead of Alex under Avram because I know which one I'd rather have in the team.

Malouda's looked awesome and dangerous everytime he plays. Except against Man Utd where he looked lethargic, lazy, disinterested and bottled every 50-50 challenge I saw him near. Already stated that the main reason he joined the club was Mourinho so I'm hoping that sudden downturn in form isn't solely for that reason or we won't have much to look forward to from him unless he bucks his ideas up.

Random signings reviews ftw.

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shanyi

shanyi

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Belletti has been a real surprise, I thought he'd be a disaster but he's been really terrific every time I've seen him play. Ben-Haim simply isn't good enough, but it's disappointingly no surprise he's getting picked as soon as a fellow Israeli steals the top job. Let's hope he gets put under some pressure to start playing the vastly superior Alex. Pizarro is quite cool, hopefully he'll be fully fit soon so we can see what he's really capable of but he's looking a terrific signing so far.

Does anyone know when Lamps, Drogba and Carvalho are supposed to be coming back? I know Ballack isn't going to be around for at least another month, but if we could at least get Drogba back in the near future it would be a bit boost.

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kingcav

kingcav

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Striker Didier Drogba has given Chelsea a boost by returning to the squad after a knee injury but midfielder Frank Lampard (thigh) is still not quite fit.

Mikel John Obi is suspended, the injured Ricardo Carvalho is also likely to miss out and Michael Ballack remains sidelined with an ankle problem.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Ferreira, Terry, Ben-Haim, Alex, Essien, Belletti, A Cole, J Cole, Bridge, Shevchenko, Wright-Phillips, Kalou, Pizarro, Malouda, Sidwell, Drogba, Sinclair.

BIG-MATCH FACTS

Avram Grant sends out a Chelsea side for the third time and first at Stamford Bridge, on the back of Wednesday's 0-4 Carling Cup victory over Hull.

The Blues go into this game in their lowest league position for five years. The 66-match unbeaten home Premier League record is therefore under serious threat in this 66th competitive meeting and 57th west London league derby against Fulham, who although fourth bottom and without an away win, are the second highest scorers in the Premier League.

Chelsea have not lost a Premier League London derby in nine; Fulham have not won one in nine.

While the Cottagers have opened the scoring in five Premier League matches, the Blues have conceded the opener in five; no other clubs exceed either of those totals.

Consequently Chelsea have gained an unequalled seven Premier League points when losing; Fulham have squandered an unrivalled 13 points when winning.

Fulham's last top-flight victory over Chelsea at the Bridge was 1-2 on 7 March 1964.

icon_cool.gif

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Poyplemonkeys

Poyplemonkeys

Posted
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Drogba in line for shock return

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba

Drogba has recovered from a knee injury

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is poised to make a surprise return from injury against Fulham at Stamford Bridge.

Drogba, top scorer in the Premier League last season, was not expected to be ready for several weeks.

But he has boosted new Chelsea boss Avram Grant by being declared fit after recovering from a knee injury.

Grant said: "Didier will be back. You want all the players to be available but I am very happy he is the first to return out of our injured players."

Drogba is likely to partner Andriy Shevchenko in attack as Chelsea attempt to secure their first league win since the shock departure of Jose Mourinho.

Yes! Yes, yes yes! So awesome.

Cech, Belleti, Alex, Terry, Cole, Sweep, Essien, Cole, Malouda, Sheva, Drogba

bitte.

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shanyi

shanyi

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---------------------Cech--------------------------

Belletti-------Terry-----Alex-------------A Cole

---------------------Essien------------------------

--Sweep------------------------------Malouda--

---------------------J Cole-------------------------

-------------Pizarro-------Shevchenko---------

SUBS: Cudicini, Ben-Haim, Sidwell, Sinclair, Drogba

...would be what I'd like to see. Though the chances of Scott making the bench ahead of Kalou are approximately nil. I think Didi will be thrown in, although it may be more sensible in the long term to ease him back into the team and not push him too much early on. Same with Bridge, I'd rather have him in the team than Cashley when he's fully fit.

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shanyi

shanyi

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(Ashley) Cole has had some good games, but he hasn't been consistently good since we bought him and has been found out defensively a couple of times. If it were a choice between the pre-Chelsea Cole and Bridge, Cole would win it easily but Bridge has upped his game since he's had competition and deserves the place IMO.

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Walrus

Walrus

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I think Cole has been much more consistently good this season since he got over his injury and is getting back to his Arsenal form.

Don't think we can say lets not pick Cole coz he was poor last season. He's been good this season so we HAVE to pick him.

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