fans, flags, wembley

Over week ago the news was announced that the club would like the buy back the shares of the Chelsea Pitch Owners, in turn freeing up the only complication they would have in moving ground and giving Roman full control and the fans no say.  As we all know, for nearly two decades the name Chelsea FC and the freehold of the ground has been held in the hands of the Chelsea Pitch Owners, and that’s the only power or say us fans have.

Shares are still available to purchase, and if you buy them you can still vote (however you do not get the bribes offered for voting yes).   The lack of clarity from the CPO on this issue is appalling, and with nothing publicized it indicates that the CPO would rather not make us aware of this, and they are failing in their aim of raising the outstanding £8.5million.  Now is the best time for them to make money, whether fans vote NO or the other option is up to the shareholder, and not up to CPO to try and restrict.

By phoning 01932 847 952 you can still buy a share and vote on one of the most important decisions in the clubs history.  Forms should be sent out the same day or the following day (mine came the next day), and buying a share in the coming days gives more than enough time –  two weeks for the CPO to send the documents.  The guy on the phone informed me that they had had a higher uptake recently, but nothing suggests it’s anything near a volume they can’t handle.  I believe current shareholders can also update their address details by phoning this number.

Why I’ll be voting NO:

Atmosphere
We can almost predict that the close views will be sacrificed and any new ground will be further from the pitch, that each tier will wrap around, and look like any other modern English stadia.  These are the sorts of issues that need to be considered before casting a vote, do we want a real football stadium whereby we can sing and generate an atmosphere, where the many surrounding pubs are a short walk to the ground.  Without fans singing and getting behind the team you may as well watch the matches from home, with a new stadium will come a reduced atmosphere and at the prices paid it’s factors like this that may deter the fans.

Technology is coming along leaps and bounds too, what with 3D and who knows what else will happen in the future, will the time come when fans have to realistically look at spending £50 (We’ll be looking at £75+ by 2020) on attending a match live? Whilst the alternatives may be a watered down and tame option, they will also be much cheaper, with no travel required, this will appeal to the fans who can take or leave atmosphere (The very fans that a new stadium is being catered for) and there’s a strong possibility of the latter of those two choices happening.  Then our current fans who have been attending for years will be sitting in our new oversized stadium, with empty seats all around them, with only the 3k maximum who would’ve voted no being the only ones who can truly felt they did all they could.

Timing
The club should not rush this through at the legal statutory notice, but instead have given time to think about it, waiting until after the Annual CPO Lunch so people can discuss it.  It makes it look like they have something to hide, that there’s something they don’t want to get out. Despite claims from the club to suggest otherwise, the Everton League Cup match date was announced September 26th, the club made the CPO announcement October 3rd, they could’ve considered the fans making the long trip up norf.

Uncertainty
The uncertainty is the main thing, the likelihood is we’ll be shipped out more than three miles, to a lifeless oversized, corporately sponsored arena, which is everything that live football shouldn’t be about.  I would like guarantees, and have faith that the best intentions of the fans are explored first.  I know it’s a club decision and money comes into it, but due to the land in SW6 being worth a few bob I fear that will blinker the clubs decision.

The 2020 commitment means nothing, with identifying a site, planning permission, construction etc etc we won’t be far off 2020 before we’re ready to move in, it’s not 1^st January 2020 that the club will explore other avenues, it’s from now, they can put the wheels in motion from tomorrow.

Complacency
For those who read the papers last Tuesday it looked like lazy journalism, they all proclaimed that a 50% vote was needed, in fact as the letters sent to the Chelsea Pitch Owners state it is actually a 75% majority.  Where did the mistake emulate from?  One of the PR team?  Actually it was from the mouth of Chairman Bruce Buck straight to the media in a press conference.  It demonstrates a complacency that is not allowed on the pitch, how can such a significant part of the proposal be wrong?  Is it being taken seriously?

It demonstrates an arrogance that Jose Mourinho would be proud of, the club seemingly in their minds believe that they have the vote in the bag, that such attention to detail as a 25% margin isn’t going to cost them. The little communication that was initially published in the announcement has no doubt been in the pipeline for a while, so should any statement clarifying the clubs poisiton have been finetuned over the last months.  To now drip feed further information, they are giving less and less time to sway the no voters.  Unless of course they have got a load of yes men in the pipeline and know they are covered.

The club should give as many details as they can as to why we cannot expand Stamford Bridge, a bit about each stand is not enough and I for one am not convinced that they have explored every possibility, they really need to justify why our home might no longer be suitable.

Out of Touch
A Roll of Honour and first dibs on a Season Ticket (Not really an incentive for many of our older fans who are CPO’s, especially the ones who have been priced out) is the clubs proposal, also the club want to put in added sweeteners like the 16-21 year old’s, a demographic who Gourlay has so far failed to recognise even exist.  It was said by him at a previous Fans Forum that to offer concessions to that age group, he’d need to raise Season Ticket prices for the rest of us, and stop the heavily subsidised trains, both of which has had done yet only those up to the age of seventeen now get a discount.

Ticket Pricing
With the hike in prices the atmosphere clearly isn’t of consideration, and to think that the club will offer the fans a genuine say in the design of the Samsung Arena is so far non evidential, and who do we expect to pay for the new stadium?  It will have increased ticket prices, Roman will not give us a new ground as a gift, whatever we get for selling Stamford Bridge and corporate sponsorship is unlikely to be pumped into cheaper tickets, Roman at some point would probably like a bit of Return on Investment.

It should also be pointed out that the Gourlay Gravy Train has also seen a 33% increase in Champions League ticket prices, 25% for League Cup and 20% for the F.A Cup, none of this money has been put into any cause (i.e 16-21s) other then managerial changes and new players.  Obviously the football itself is the main and that’s understandable, but it doesn’t bode well for some of the clubs new claims when they failed to honour their old ones or help the fans.

Return on Investment
When Roman bought the club he must have had some thinking as to how to make some money back, whether it was a super league where Europe’s elite could write their own TV deals, whether it was global expansion, or perhaps it was that he knew the value of the property he may soon own.  Chelsea Barracks is less than an acre bigger then Stamford Bridge, and sold for £959million, by the time we would sell the land at Stamford Bridge, Britain will be out of a recession and ready for property developers to make a killing, it’s right by the tube, has bus links, the location is fantastic.

What I Want
We all want the best for Chelsea, those who purchased shares originally can demonstrate this more than others, and maybe at some point a new stadium will need to be explored, if the club would just be honest, lay their cards on the table, and build some trust, then people could vote yes without the fear of the club screwing us over. They also need to show all avenues of expanding Stamford Bridge exist.

There is too much uncertainly for fans to vote anything other than no, but if you would like to vote yes, I suggest you email the CPO and wait for a response.

Twitter: @darrenmantle

Back in the forties when it was called The Britannia, our first ever supporters club was founded there, the Chelsea Supporters Away Club – now just The Chelsea Supporters Club. The pub changed hands a few times in the late nineties and has since gone under a few different names, The Black Rose, Rosies, and finally The Sofa So Bar. Over the past decade it’s followed the same fate as many other pubs in the area, and began a transition from being a proper pub to being a slightly poncey bar.

But matchdays were different, all the sofa’s were removed and stored away, tables and chairs too, to make enough room for as many Chelsea fans as they could fit in. The place was always packed, and from a couple of hours before the match until a couple of hours after it, it was always lively with fans singing songs about the club we love.

You’d walk in on a match day there was the Stage End just next to you on the left, where all the songs and atmosphere were generated from. Song after song, there was never a gap. TV companies trying to film in their, and similarly tourists with their camera’s would often be instructed, in not so polite terms, as to where they could stick them.

The ‘Bog End’ of the So used to have their flag stored by the old manager, who would stick it up on matchdays for them in their corner of the pub, the vinyl banners still hung at Stamford Bridge used to be stored in the So Bar too. When the owners changed the pub manager, they retained the old manager on matchdays as he knew how to operate the pub when we were at home, it was essential to the owners that they kept it a Chelsea pub if we were playing.

There was a time when chanting was never monitored or restricted, but slowly the police started getting involved, and the bouncy got banned supposedly because of the structural support of the place. Reasons like this, coupled with tourists and JCL’s, meant a lot of the old regulars started going to different places, but it was always rammed and always loud.

Some say it became too touristy, but if you walked past pre or post match you’d always be able to hear the So Bar in full voice, it was always rocking with songs. As a home fan it used to get me up for matches, away fans would have to walk past there on their way back to the tube station, the location was perfect.

Singing Ten Men Went To Mow in their was always a great way to get you up for a match, everyone crouching down till the end of Nine Men, and then rising up for the start of Ten Men. Singing ‘You Are My Chelsea’ with beers going everywhere and everyone jumping into each other was always another highlight. If you ever walked in during the week you’d notice the beer stains on the ceiling too. The Stage End was perfect for Chelsea Alouette and Chelsea Ranger too, although now it’ll be more suited to a toff singing about how one wishes to become a Sloane Ranger.

As I say it was a bit poncey, when it started to die down on a Saturday, they’d chuck everyone out, get the sofa’s back in, and re-open for the evening ready for the usual clientele, but they’d always let us all in for a couple of hours first, it was about that sort of time after the Newcastle match had finished that there was still a good crowd of us in there, singing non stop, unaware that it was the last time we would be able to. Little over one week after the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, the famous So Bar suffered the same fate as the ex blues manager, it got the axe. Less then four weeks after acquiring the keys, the place has re-opened as Kona Kai, an upmarket cocktail bar for the rah rah’s and the Sloane Rangers.

The So Bar had been on the market for a year when it was purchased by a group who also run The Sugar Cane in Clapham. The whole inside of The So Bar was stripped out, toilets included, and renovated. All the walls, ceilings, the bar, the lights, the interior has changed beyond recognition, only the location of the bar, toilets and a few booths remain the same.

Currently, Kona Kai does not have any draught beer, it has a selection of bottled beers and a large cocktail menu, it could not be more different from The So Bar. If there is draught beer to be re-introduced, it will be a more upmarket selection.

The owners plans are to slowly filter in a different sort of fan. They have said that there’s a good chance they won’t open for West Brom and Norwich, as they don’t want any confusion with people assuming they can pack in and have a sing song.

Singing is now a definite no, football shirts may also not be allowed (it seems that’ll be the case after matches at least), the capacity will be about 100-150, about half of what it used to be. Due to the expense of decorations there will no doubt be a close eye on controlling the crowd, sit or stand, but do it quietly seems like it’ll be their view. They are targeting a very different crowd to those previously welcomed.

CFCnet remembers years ago when this was posted on our forums It holds some good suggestions for Kona Kai:

Geoffrey, wherever you may be,
We really ought to get home for tea,
P’raps we’ll watch the highlights on TV
I’ll meet you by the Rolls at three.

Stage End Stage End give us a sonnet.

So after over 70 years as a place for Chelsea fans to frequent for a matchday beer, one of our most famous pubs has re-aligned itself with Ron Gourlay’s ideologies, and eliminated the usual matchgoing fans.

The pitch we’re playing on is artificial and as usual in the Champs League, yesterday we trained on the pitch to get a feel for not just the surface but also for the cold weather that will ensue. The pitch will take some getting used to so it may be a slow start from us. The sun has been out today and yesterday so hopefully the weather won’t be too bad later.

With both teams beating the other two in the group so far it demonstrates the toughness that this game will bring, a win today and against them again at the start of November will guarantee qualification to the knockout stages.

The weekends draw with Aston Villa wasn’t shambolic and gave us a chance to get used to Lampard and Drogba being absent together. Alex and Bosingwa also haven’t made the trip to Russia for the match.

Spartak Moscow’s warm up was ideal for them, a 3-0 win at home on Friday means they have had extra rest. They are a point ahead of third placed Zenit St Petersburg and eight points off the lead (According to Russia Today, TOCFCWS claims they are 17 points off the top), after 30 games played. Spartak’s Welliton is the Russian League’s top scorer with 21 goals. Their captain, Alex, is out of the match, one of their fans said Sergei Parshivlyuk will be their captain tonight.

Spartak won the inaugural Russian League in 1992 and from then up until 2001 they won the Russian title every year except one. Since then they have failed to regain the Russian League. The Russian League replaced the Soviet Championships.

Of the 3,000 allocation we were given, around 2,000 of them have been sold, it seems a lot of which are to the Moscow Chelsea Supporters Club. Walking about there last couple of days there doesn’t seem to be many Chelsea around, but with Spartak being one of five Moscow based teams in the League the chances of hostility around Moscow actually aren’t that high. Last night there were fans of other Russian teams telling me they wanted Chelsea to win 5-0 and would love to be in our end.

There’s supposedly going to be two police checks on the way to the ground and security is always very tight for football matches over here, hopefully there is a lively atmosphere in the stadium. Tickets are only £11.50, over here if you get all three group matches it costs just £15!

There’s limited taxi drivers here so normally you just flag down a random persons car and they will use it to earn a bit of money on the side. They aren’t the most reasonable of people though, we got charged an extra 100 roubles before because our driver didn’t actually know where it was we wanted to go and got us slightly lost.

Having seen Moscow two years ago I was pleased my mate who lives here has local knowledge, the highlight of the trip so far was far and away the circus. He swung it to me when he told me last time he went there was a woman with 20 dancing cats and they got some monkeys to re-inact a Jewish wedding. This time around they’d changed the schedule and sadly neither were in attendance, there was however a bear that pedalled a pushbike around in circles unassisted. Easily one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

JT, back for the first half in midweek, completed the full ninety minutes up in the north-west. Alex partnered him in the middle of defence, with Cole and Ivanovic as full backs. Carletto’s hopes that Lamps would return did not transpire so Ramires got the nod along with Mikel and Essien, with Malouda, Anelka and Drogba in the attacking line.

The game started with our fans in decent voice, which compensated for the tame half that both sets of fans had to endure. Our best chance came from a Malouda cross that Alex met and headed back to Ivanovic, with the Serbians effort coming back off the woodwork.

The formation we played seemed to suit Man City, with us having no right midfielder James Milner didn’t need to track back and defend, allowing him to get the wrong side of Ivanovic on numerous occasions, and being faster then the Serb it was always going to give him the space to operate.

Nigel De Jong and Michael Essien had a good tussle in the middle, but it seemed that we were too reliant on attacking down the middle of the field and resisted using the wings, keeping the Dutchman and Yaya Toure busy all game, a challenge they were ready for.

The first half led not much of incident, it was noted by some of our fans that City also had no right sided winger, and bringing on Adam Johnson would have stopped this. Silva was ineffective and showed that he has much to learn about the English game, having constantly got bullied off the ball only to complain to the ref.

There second half wasn’t much better, until a Man City break on the hour mark saw Tevez raced towards the goal with Silva running alongside him, both Terry and Cole were back, but had Cole have committed and been beaten, it’d have left Terry on two of them. Nevertheless, you’re always told to go to the man on the ball, and Tevez should have been closed quicker and earlier, the Argentines shot from the edge of the box went through Coles legs and in off the post, giving Petr Cech no chance.

Drogba had an effort minutes later to equalise, but the tame shot was easily dealt with by Hart. Mikel got subbed soon after his booking, with Yury Zhirkov replacing him.

With fifteen minutes left Drogba made way for Daniel Sturridge, Carlo says this was due to wanting more pace up front, radio speculation is that Drogba was failing to follow Carlo’s instructions. Drogba hadn’t been at his most effective up front, moreso when taking corners, and although he’s pretty decent at them, we needed him in there ready to get on the end of them. Sturridge’s introduction did little to change the game, although amusingly it lead to Man City singing that there’s only one greedy bastard, I think the other 21 players got off a bit lightly, special mention to Yaya Toure’s reported wages.

Minutes later Silva came off for Adam Johnson. Ramires misplaced a fair few passes and didn’t seem to have the best of matches, he got booked and then came off ten minutes from time, for 17 year old Josh McEachran. Josh came on away to Zilina and at home to Newcastle, but now made his first team debut, he was faultless but there’s not much of an impact he could have made on the match.

Adebayor came on for the last five minutes for Tevez, and Boateng came on for Boyata in the 88th minute.
Personally I felt that in a game of few chances we should have got a draw, we were poor in front of goal but City weren’t any better, except for when Tevez finished after a great run. As we know in football though, you need to take the chances, and we failed to do so.

Last season we dropped two points to West Ham, three to Wigan and three to Man City, so this season we’re already five points better then last season. News of Roberto Di Matteo steering West Brom to a 3-0 lead at the Fly Emirates, eventually winning 3-2 and having missed a penalty, reminded us that we can always laugh at Arsenal. Man United drew on Sunday, letting us off the hook.

After two matches we were the only team to have won them both, and ensuring that run was stretched to five has given us a great start, we may have faultered at our first real test, but all the clubs around us are faultering against weaker sides.

The starting line up was almost the same as the ones who beat Wigan 6-0 last week, with the only exception being Ivanovic not recovering from last weeks injury, so Paulo Ferrara – The man who replaced him – got the nod in the right back slot. The rest of the back line wrote itself, Terry and Alex were centre backs and Ashley Cole left back. Mikel, Essien, Lamps and Malouda made up the midfield, with Drogba and Anelka up front.

Robert Huth was playing for Stoke, and the visitors enjoyed some early possession but were unable to produce any clear cut chances. Chelsea’s best early chance fell to Ashley Cole, who latched onto Mikel’s through ball, but his shot towards the far post unfortunately went wide and couldn’t cap off a great team move. Stoke weren’t without their chances, Dean Whitehead tested Cech from the edge of the box, before Jonathon Walters lob hit the top of the net.

The Blues kept up the pressure and a few minutes later were awarded a penalty when Ryan Shawcross fouled Florent Malouda in the box. Lamps stepped up for the penalty but Sorenson guessed the right way and ensured the scores remained goalless.

Drogba thundered a powerful free kick on target but Sorenson managed to palm the shot away, the day looked like it may have become frustrating, until just after the half hour mark JT powered through the middle of the pitch before feeding a brilliantly timed ball between the Stoke defence, Malouda was first to reach the ball, his first time right footed effort was lifted around the outrushing keeper to make it one nil.

Not prepared to stop there, the Blues immediately continued pressing for a second before half time. Within minutes of going one up Ashley Cole unexpectedly hit a spectacular acrobatic volley which unluckily hit the bar, had it gone in, the goal would have been an early contender for goal of the season.

Without many other chances in the half, the only other significant news was both Whitehead and Etherington getting their names in the ref’s book.

After the interview Drogba’s header from about the penalty spot was right at the keeper. The second half seemed a little lacklustre until Whelen – who had replaced Whitehead – saw a cracking longer ranger come back off the bar, the shot had Cech well beaten. Lamp’s came off for Kalou in the 71st minute, it was later revealed that he had a groin injury that will keep him out of England’s Euro qualifiers.

With a quarter of an hour left on a clock, Drogba looked to have overhit a ball to Anelka, but the Frenchman pursued it and beat Sorenson to the ball just inside the box, Sorenson had already committed and brought Nico down, giving us our second penalty of the match. Sorenson dived the same way as the first penalty, Drogba hit it the other side, making it two nil.

Stoke’s only real chance of note had us in a bit of a mess at the back, but a sliding Alex challenge ensured Stoke didn’t get a shot away, preventing any chance of us conceding for the first time in the league. Sturridge came on for Anelka in the 80th minute, and four minutes later Ramires made his debut, replacing Michael Essien.

The match ended two nil, it was a deserved victory for us. We ended having six shots on target, Stoke had three. Florent Malouda now has now had four shots on goal this season, four on target, and four goals. Drogba also has four goals, making them the leagues joint top goalscorers alongside Walcott and Andy Carroll.

Alex and JT were soild at the back, Ashley Cole made some great runs and Essien helped keep things ticking in the middle, Anelka sat deep a lot but put a good shift in, Drogba tested the keeper on a number of occasions, having half our shots on target. It’s hard to pick a Man Of The Match from that.

It was revealed after the match that JT will be joining Lampard on the sidelines for England’s two qualifiers.

The last Fans Forum of the season was held before the Wigan match. Attending from the club were Chris Alexander – Club Finance and Operations Director, Steve Atkins – Club Head of Communications and Public Affairs, David Newby – Club Marketing Manager, Graham Smith – Club Head of Ticketing/ Head of Supporters’ Liaison (“HSL”)

• The first mention on the forum was that there would be a parade on May 16th if we won the league that day…we did win the league, there was a parade, and we got to be serenaded by Carlo.
• Graham Smith in his Head Of Supporters Liaison role will continue to visit the various supporters clubs should he be invited to their meetings.
• The Peter Osgood statue we’ve been promised was due to be completed and unveiled in July, this hasn’t happened and we’re yet to know why, but hopefully it’s not too far behind schedule. It will be outside the West Stand, sadly there isn’t enough room to have it outside the Shed.
• The Catering sub-contractor we used had a representative there, who told us that due to the amount of beer poured at half time it would slow the process further by offering a choice of brands. The lack of healthy food and vegetarian options was also raised and will be looked into ahead of the new season.
• Inevitably the Supporters Survey showed dissatisfaction in Season Ticket Prices – And this was done before the rise was announced.
• The club have said that they won’t move the turnstyles this season, something which in the past has seemed to happen every year in the Matthew Harding end, slowing down entry.
• When asked about the clubs view on the way the media portrays us, we were told that the club will only sue when they are confident we will win, that they can’t sue for every inaccuracy as it will sour relations too much.
• It is always said that Chelsea TV should be more accessible, it was brought up under Greenberg and was brought up again, the club said they would look into it.
• The supporters tournament went ahead as planned, with 11 teams entering and CFCUK winning it. Thanks to Graham Smith and David Newby at the club for their help, and Cliff and Pete from CSG for organizing it.
• Again, CFCUK, CSG and CFCnet were all vocal in their objections to the club not implementing a 16-21 year old Season Ticket, this is something that will be contested throughout the new season. It’s appalling that the club have not considered those who are still studying or earning minimal wages. Season Ticket and other ticket prices have gone up, student concessions have gone, heavily subsidised trains are now just subsidised, we’ve got to pay £6.50 to see the reserves. Every area the club can sting us in they have done, yet they haven’t given anything in return.

Atmosphere Sub-Forum
Present from the club were Ed Ashwell (Former Head of Security), Keith Overstall (New Head Of Security), Graham Smith – Club Head of Ticketing/ Head of Supporters’ Liaison (“HSL”).
• It was asked whether we would like vuvuzelas at Stamford Bridge next season and the answer was a resounding no.
• The club asked which games we would like the five subsidised trains to be for. We said initially Wigan (5.30pm), Sunderland (midweek) and Newcastle (1.30pm) would be the hardest to get to and from, so we would like them for those three. Wolves is midweek so the club asked if we wanted one for that but we said probably not. Everton and Liverpool were potentials but it depends on F.A Cup and League Cup fixtures, if we get a midweek northern away or a late/early weekend kick off then it would be preferable to use it for that. – The Wigan train has since been cancelled due to lack of interest, the price of £35 was pushing it and hopefully they will learn for next time.
• Stewards try to warn fans first, they don’t have a set procedure as to how many times but they try not to be over zealous.
• The Shed 100 idea was re-raised, with it suggested that the club should have ten pockets of ten fans scattered in different rows and gates, the trouble being that the Shed Upper is always the first place to sell out to members, so it is hard to arrange. And if people want to go with their mates to make noise they can do it without booking.

Peter Sampson will be CFCnet’s representative for the next two years on the Fans Forum, if you have any queries, suggestions, points to raise etc, please email me at darrenmantle@cfcnet.co.uk or to Peter at admin@cfcnet.co.uk

The friendly with Palace saw Essien’s goal scoring return to football, as well as Mikel, Sturridge, Sinclair and Di Santo all featuring for us.  It was announced that Alex is to join Petr Cech on the sidelines, with both out for about a month; this could pave the way for Bruma to start again.

How many of the first team will start is anyone’s guess, with two matches before the Community Shield and Carletto already aware of the strengths and weaknesses of his players, there might not be an urgency to take it fully seriously.

The Dutch outfit face financial difficulties, with more outgoings then incomings this summer, they must put their off field problems to one side, and with a Champions League qualifier on Wednesday with Greek side PAOK they will possibly be experimenting different formations and tactics or could play a full strength side in preparation.

The Netherlands reached the World Cup final but it was Uruguay striker Luiz Suarez who made the biggest name for himself in the World Cup, ending it with three goals, but this was overshadowed by his handball on the line against Ghana, resulting in his dismissal.

Former personnel that have moved over from Holland include winger Jesper Gronkjaer and our former assistant Henk Ten Cate was in the Ajax hotseat when lured to Stamford Bridge.

Hopefully we get off to a better start then three weeks ago, in which Milito fired the Nerazurri into a third minute lead, the stats were on our side but the score told a different story, as for all the pressure we exerted couldn’t find a second away goal. Kalou was denied a stonewall penalty near the end of the first half but in the second half his curling long ranger found it’s way into the corner of the net thus giving us a vital away goal. The scores stayed level for just four minutes, before Ivanovic’s clearance fell to Cambiasso who found the back of the net with his own long shot. For all our efforts, the truth is a lot were from outside the box and most never looked to trouble the keeper, the best of the lot being Drogba’s free kick that came back off the bar, and Ballacks long ranger that Cesar could only parry.

Since the last encounter we’ve let slip at home to Man City, beaten Stoke in the F.A Cup and most recently destroyed West Ham 4-1, after a lacklustre first half. Florent Malouda was the man all the plaudits warmed to on Saturday, putting in a series of decent crosses and taking his goal well too, hopefully he will turn in a similar display later.

Ancelotti has announced that Petr Cech and Hilario are still out, whether he is being as truthful as Mourinho in Barca ’05 remains to be seen, although such deceit is unlikely. This leaves Ross Turnbull in goal, and should are keeper crisis deepen during the match, Rhys Taylor may find himself between the sticks.

Carvalho is back, giving Ancelotti a centre back selection headache, having the Portugeezer, Terry, Alex and Ivanovic to choose from. At a guess Ivanovic will fill in the right back slot and Zhirkov will replace the ineligible Ferriera at left back, with Malouda being allowed to play his preferred midfield role he was partly deprived of in the first leg.

In midfield Mikel has often been preferred to start in the holding midfield role, with Lampard sure to start in the middle of the diamond, whether it’s alongside Malouda or Ballack is the bigger question, perhaps Carlo start them both, with Ballack at the top of the diamond. Or perhaps Ballack will play at the bottom and Mikel will be rested, but with Joey Cole seemingly out of favour this option doesn’t seem likely.

The attack writes itself, Drogba and Anelka. Drogba grabbed another two goals on the weekend and the Ivorian will be fired up for a clash against one of his biggest admirers. Sturridge and Kalou are sure to be waiting in the wings.

Inter’s league form has also been patchy, they have recently let slip in the league, with their lead at the top reduced to just one point. A 3-1 loss away to Catania was their latest slip up, drawing 0-0 with Genoa at the start of March and ending February with a 3-2 away win against Udinese. Inter are reportedly without Balotteli, Motta and Arnautovic.

Mourinho decided to decline the offer of being able to train on the Stamford Bridge turf, reportedly to stop anyone spying on him, something he used to allegedly do whilst in the Stamford Bridge hotseat.

There’ll be mixed feelings at Stamford Bridge this evening, Jose was the man who delivered us our first league titles in half a century and was loved by the Chelsea faithful, he has been surprisingly quiet in the build up to the match, possibly out of respect for his former club, a more likely reason then out of any respect for the man in the opposite dugout. His only real words ahead of it were pointing out that he doesn’t lose at Stamford Bridge, his only defeat being at home to Barcelona in the Champions League in the 05/06 season. Hopefully, his next defeat at Stamford Bridge will also come in the Champions League.

Predicted team: Turnbull, Zhirkov, Terry, Carvalho, Ivanovic, Mikel, Malouda, Lampard, Ballack, Drogba, Anelka.

Predicted score: A Jose special, 1-0 to Chelsea – Carvalho with the goal.

With news that Bosingwa will miss the rest of the season, and rumours that Essien might be joining him and Ashley Cole in doing so, let’s hope that the team come through unscathed tomorrow. Petr Cech is still out, Riccy Carvalho is a doubt and Ballack and Belletti are both serving suspensions for their sending offs in last weeks hiccup against Man City.

Unlike in previous rounds, Ancelotti is yet to name his side for tomorrows clash. Hilario will be expected to start in goal, whilst Zhirkov is back from injury and hoping to replace Malouda at left back. Alex wa an unused sub last week and and can provide back up should Riccy be out, alternatively Ferreira could slot in at right back and Ivanovic could partner JT at centre back. Deco also returns, and with the aforementioned suspension of Ballack, has a strong chance of starting the match, as do Kalou and Joey Cole.

Daniel Sturridge has four goals in the competition so far and has scored in all three rounds. No other player has scored more then one for us in the competition this season. Sturridge has started the last three rounds, but now we’re playing Premier League opposition may be overlooked in favour of the more experienced partnership of Drogba and Anelka.

If John Terry does play, then he equals Dennis Wise on 445 appearances for Chelsea, making him our joint fifth highest appearance maker.

Stoke have overcome some stern challenges in the F.A Cup so far and their passage to this round has arguably been much harder then ours. Last round they took Man City to a replay and beat them 3-1 in extra time, the round previous they beat Arsenal by the same scoreline, and the round before, they also won the third round by that score, this time against York City. Ryan Shawcross is suspended for his challenge on Ramsey, and Higginbotham and Etherington are both doubts. Robert Huth will be welcomed back to Stamford Bridge.

Their team last week saw Sorenson in goal, Huth at left back and Wilkinson right back, Faye and Shawcross in the middle of defence, Delap, Whelan, Whitbread and Pugh in midfield and Fuller and Sidbe up front.
Our last encounter was settled deep into stoppage time when Florent Malouda popped up with the winner at the Brittania Stadium, we again face The Potters at home on a Sunday at 4pm at the end of next month. The last time we met at the Bridge was the memorable match where we trailed 1-0 to Rory Delap’s goal, in the 88th minute Belletti headed an equaliser and Lampard scored a stoppage time winner. Our last F.A Cup meeting was in 2003, when we won 2-0 away with goals from Hasselbaink and Gronkjaer. Stoke beat us 2-1 in the 1972 League Cup Final.

The man in the middle is Mark Atkinson, our only other two matches he has officiated this season were the home wins over Liverpool (2y) and Man United (6y).

Predicted Team: Hilario, Zhirkov, Terry, Alex, Ivanovic, Mikel, Malouda, Lampard, Deco, Anelka, Sturridge

Ancelotti – who reportedly doesn’t get on with The Special One – will be in familiar territory as he returns to the stadium he managed rivals AC in for eight years, departing nine months ago.

Inter’s manager is obviously familiar amongst the Chelsea faithful, being the man who guided us to back to back Premier Leagues, our first top flight titles in half a century. After his abrupt departure, Mourinho took the rest of the season off, before joining the reigning Serie ‘A’ champions.

The weekend saw just our second away league win since November, a 2-0 win over Wolves courtesy of a Didier Drogba brace. Petr Cech was on fine form, and knows he needs to be again in the hostile atmosphere of the Giuseppe Meazza.

Frank Lampard missed the weekends clash due to a virus, but has travelled to Milan and is expected to start. There is a mini full back crisis though, with Ashley Cole joined on the sidelines by Zhirkov, Bosingwa is still out and his countryman Ferreira is not registered for European action. Deco and Essien are out in the midfield. But Belletti and Alex have both travelled with the team.

Cech will be expected to start in goal, the full backs are anyones guess, will Malouda be risked there? A position where he will potentially be exposed. Ivanovic is a likely candidate for the spot, with Belletti as the right back. John Terry and Riccy Carvalho will have Sammy Eto’o and Diego Milito to contain.

With a lack of alternatives, Mikel could well start as the holding midfielder, with Lampard, Ballack and Malouda the candidates for the centre of the diamond, Joey Cole could find himself at the apex of the jewel. Ballack’s Champions League experience should see him start, whether it will be alongside Lamps, at the tip, or even holding at the bottom is likely to only be known by Ancelotti. Drogba is in fine form and will be hard not to start, with Anelka partnering him as usual.

Inter’s preparation wasn’t ideal for them, having their second goalless draw in a row, and having both centre backs sent off in the first half, as well as Eto’o booked for diving. Mourinho’s handcuff action in response to this has put him in more bother with the Italian F.A.

We’ve never played Inter competitively, but did beat them 2-0 in Los Angeles in a pre-season friendly. Three times we’ve played AC Milan in the San Siro, twice in the 1966 Fairs Cup, and again in October 1999 when Dennise Wise scored a rather good goal. Whilst Carlo Ancelotti used to manage their neighbours AC, the Nerazurri were twice managed by our neighbour Fulhams manager, Roy Hodgson.

Inter have won the last four Serie ‘A’ titles, partly due to the max fixing scandal in Italy prior to the 2006 World Cup, which relegated their main competition and saw AC docked points. They call he stadium the Giuseppe Meazza, in tribute to a man considered to be one of the greatest Italian footballers of all time, who played for both Milan clubs, but mainly Inter.

Predicted Team: Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Carvalho, Belletti, Mikel, Lampard, Ballack, J. Cole, Drogba, Anelka.

Predicted Score: 1-1 (Drogba and Eto’o)