A Chaos Theory and The Element of Surprise

September 4, 2013

I have to admit to a strange feeling before games these days. I only realised I’d had this feeling before the Manchester United game. But it had been there from the start of the season. It was a feeling I didn’t wholly understand. And then again, before the European Super Cup Final. Something was missing. There were the usual matchday feelings of course. Excitement, building up as the day wore…

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Champions League Final Travels with the Chels Part 2

June 1, 2012

The alarm clock on my mobile rang. I was surprised. Why was I using my mobile as an alarm? I reached out and looked at the time. It said 06.00. Why was I in an unfamiliar room? Suddenly I realised I was in Stuttgart and in less than two hours I was going to be on a train to Munich to watch my beloved Chelsea play in the Champions League…

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It Wasn’t Our Turn…

May 21, 2012

…to be European Champions. (It wasn’t even our turn to win the FA Cup.) At last I am starting to realise that Saturday night wasn’t just a dream. It really, really happened! And now, after the event and with a sore head easing and reality setting in, I would like to give a quick reply to those people who have been saying our name was on the cup from the…

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Another Fine Mess

March 4, 2012

Shortly before Christmas, off the back of a poor run but following qualification for the last 16 of the CL, this column wondered if the season could turn out to be something special (see Special Ones Too). And it certainly has, but not in a good way. A slew of defeats, players who don’t seem to be bothered about putting in a shift but are only too happy to collect…

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Power and Responsibility

February 22, 2012

An inevitable consequence of a spell of poor form or a season where expectations are not being met is the media’s take on the cause of the maladies. Typically, the woes will be attributed to dressing room discontent and the notion that the manager has ‘lost’ his players, no longer commanding their respect. True to form, this is currently the case with Andre Villas-Boas and Chelsea. The club’s worst season…

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From The Sublime To The…Somewhat Less Sublime

December 17, 2011

OK, so Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Wigan on Saturday evening wasn’t exactly ridiculous, but a collection of errors saw the Blues contrive to throw away what should have been a routine three points. After a fantastic performance against Manchester City on Monday night, a trip to a cold and snowy Wigan was always bound to be somewhat anticlimactic but from a position of relative strength after Daniel Sturridge’s second half…

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Sturridge Shines At St James Park

December 4, 2011

Andre Villas-Boas finally had something to cheer about as Chelsea gave a performance which showed they are making progress and moving in the right direction after the recent debacles, after they broke Newcastle United’s unbeaten start to the season at home and recorded a 3-0 victory at St. James’s Park. The pressure had been mounting on the young manager after a series of insipid performances which have resulted in us…

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Wolves Slaughtered At Stamford Bridge

November 27, 2011

A win, a clean sheet and three points in the bag, this sounds like the perfect recipe for a Saturday afternoon for this Chelsea team who have had a horrendous time off late, and this is what we got as Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 win over a below-par Wolves team. There was a first start for Oriol Romeu as Frank Lampard was rested, while the rest of the team…

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Familiar Face Decisive At Stamford Bridge

November 21, 2011

The curse of Liverpool just doesn’t seem to end for the Blues as we suffered our third loss in our last four home games against the men from Merseyside. Maxi Rodriguez had given Liverpool the lead in the first half, but Chelsea came roaring at them in the beginning of the second half before a late winner from the former Chelsea man, Glen Johnson, ruined the day and brought them…

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