: Tue May 12, 2009 11:00 am  

I didn't realise until i got back, that there was a playoff game on last night.

Good to see Sheff Utd going through, i like them.

: Tue May 12, 2009 11:08 am  

OoOGazOoO wrote:

I didn't realise until i got back, that there was a playoff game on last night.

Good to see Sheff Utd going through, i like them.

It wasnt a bad game actually once Sheff utd scored Preston attacked like crazy had a shot cleared of the line and one deflected just wide, they have got some good young players by the looks of it

: Tue May 12, 2009 11:08 am  

Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:

You think Benitez's 2nd place finish is better than an FA Cup final, a CL final reaching performance (only stolen by a truly dreadful reffing performance) and a won 11, drawn 1, lost 1 league record. I don't. Second place alone is a poor record, especially when one of the main reasons for that finish is Scolari.

Yes I do. If you're claiming what might have been's with your reference to the ref in the CL semi final, what if Gerrard and Torres had started 36 PL games apiece this season? Would we have won the league? Where would Benitez rank then? Still out of the top 5? Cos Hiddink managed to win matches against......well other than the Liverpool away in the Champions league, no-one of note.

Warped.

: Tue May 12, 2009 11:09 am  

Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:

Well scoring goals had been hard for Newcastle but they've put that behind them.

Going down, going down, going down!

About as right as your assessment on the league's best manager this season.

: Tue May 12, 2009 11:18 am  

carl_spackler wrote:

Depends. Whilst they have not consistently been doing the business, they were left out of the side in favour of others who simply aren't even capable of doing so. It would be better to gamble on players who could something rather than those you know won't IMO.

Anyway, it's pretty much curtains now, and I think they'll need a lot of work to try and push for a return too.

If they do go down they will not come back up for a very, very long time!

: Tue May 12, 2009 11:31 am  

Sthelens RLFC wrote:

Yes I do. If you're claiming what might have been's with your reference to the ref in the CL semi final, what if Gerrard and Torres had started 36 PL games apiece this season? Would we have won the league? Where would Benitez rank then? Still out of the top 5? Cos Hiddink managed to win matches against......well other than the Liverpool away league, no-one of note.

Warped.

He acts as though they are all Hiddink's achievement's; they're not. Scolari was at Chelsea for half a year and he kept them in those competitions, so to say well Hiddink done this, and Hiddink done that was wrong because he took over the club in a fairly decent position.

: Tue May 12, 2009 11:43 am  

Robbie Rotten wrote:

He acts as though they are all Hiddink's achievement's; they're not. Scolari was at Chelsea for half a year and he kept them in those competitions, so to say well Hiddink done this, and Hiddink done that was wrong because he took over the club in a fairly decent position.

Which is another point. It's not as if Chelsea were already out of FA Cup and he miraculously got them re-instated. If he really thinks his beloved Chelsea squad couldn't get passed Coventry and a poor Arsenal side then he can't rate them that highly.

16:00 Arsenal 1 - 4 Chelsea

19:45 Chelsea 1 - 1 Barcelona

15:00 Chelsea 3 - 1 Fulham

19:45 Barcelona 0 - 0 Chelsea

15:00 West Ham United 0 - 1 Chelsea

20:00 Chelsea 0 - 0 Everton

17:15 Arsenal 1 - 2 Chelsea

19:45 Chelsea 4 - 4 Liverpool

15:00 Chelsea 4 - 3 Bolton Wanderers

19:45 Liverpool 1 - 3 Chelsea

15:00 Newcastle United 0 - 2 Chelsea

15:30 Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 0 Chelsea

13:30 Chelsea 1 - 0 Manchester City

19:45 Juventus 2 - 2 Chelsea

12:30 Coventry City 0 - 2 Chelsea

19:45 Portsmouth 0 - 1 Chelsea

15:00 Chelsea 2 - 1 Wigan Athletic

19:45 Chelsea 1 - 0 Juventus

12:45 Aston Villa 0 - 1 Chelsea

The games in bold are the ones were Chelsea have performed to their ability since Hiddink took over. The rest of the results would have been gained with Don Kiddick in charge, never mind Hiddink. There's nothing special there. Other than conceding more goals than they normally do, I'm struggling to see anything owrthy of being the 2nd best manager in the Premier League.

: Tue May 12, 2009 11:53 am  

airliebird9 wrote:

If they do go down they will not come back up for a very, very long time!

As much as I suspect it will be a few years, it's impossible to say with the certainty you seem to have. Nobody has any idea what next year's squad will look like yet.

: Tue May 12, 2009 11:56 am  

keithcun wrote:

And one of Europe's best teams.

No-one is denying that - it's just laughable that Benitez hints that 'success' has been achieved on a relatively limited budget. Although to be fair, it looks like he was told he wasn't allowed to 'invest' in both Keane AND Barry last summer.

: Tue May 12, 2009 11:56 am  

Sthelens RLFC wrote:

Yes I do. If you're claiming what might have been's with your reference to the ref in the CL semi final, what if Gerrard and Torres had started 36 PL games apiece this season? Would we have won the league? Where would Benitez rank then? Still out of the top 5? Cos Hiddink managed to win matches against......well other than the Liverpool away in the Champions league, no-one of note.

Warped.

You forget about the what if of the cup final. I always consider it strange that a final appearance is held in such high regard, even over those who went out to the winners in earlier rounds. When it comes down to it, should Everton do the unlikely, Chelsea's final appearance is better than both Liverpool and Manchester United's (amongst others) performances in the cup only by virtue of the luck of the draw.