Chelsea thread

Yeam its a bit of a strange one. Huge game this. Terry out with his knee issues. Could see him sidelined for some time.

You're about as good as us at the back.

yea sadly thats about what i expected. got a lot to do in the return leg and judging how we are playing at the moment i cant see us doing it.

Well finally, a nice comfortable win. Was a nice change of pace, certainly made getting up for it a lot easier.

WBA this weekend. Could we manage 2 wins in a row? That would be something.

Ouch.

The update was instant. Brilliant.

LOL I honestly thought he would have waited until after Chelsea are bundled out of the Champions League before sacking him.

Wow though he may at least last until the end of the season. 

sad

Your boss is as nutty as Briatore. how many managers in the last 5 years now? He still cannot see that is where consistancey comes from. A manager with and being given a long term plan, not an instant one. Is Abramovich the Russian "Clive Palmer"??

Fat Frank and co should have been sacked first.

Though AVB was silly to take the job in the first place, never stood a chance really poor fulla

Are Chelsea really any better than the 4th place battle? I'd love for us to take on Villas-Boas now, move Wenger to a directing role or something.

Who can they really bring in who can do a better job than AVB?

Apparantley the Special One has been looking at real estate in London.
http://www.givemefootball.com/premier-league/mourinho-must-fight-chelsea-temptation

Huge game against Birmingham this morning. Hopefully we can bounce back from a turbulent week with a win here

What has happened to all the Chelsea fans on this forum? It seems like you are the only one left Downey.

Yea gotta get a win against Birmingham, it'll be interestng to see how DiMatteo structures the team.
Napoli next week, dropping AVB will either prove to be a very good decision or a very poor one in the next few weeks.

end of the first half 0-0 2 mins added time. Mata, Torres and Cahill have had shots on goal. A couple corners our way, and a yellow card to Zigic for a late tackle on Cahill

     
View from the Press Box:



Ashley Cole has not recovered from an ankle injury so is not involved but two weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery, John Terry is on the bench.

Frank Lampard is also among the subs with Raul Meireles returning to the side. John Mikel Obi also rejoins the midfield and there are two changes up front with Fernando Torres and Salomon Kalou starting.

Ryan Bertrand will play left-back with the rest of the defence unchanged.

For Birmingham, Nikola Zigic, missing for the first games, starts at centre-forward.

Chelsea will line-up in the following 4-3-3 formation:

1 Petr Cech (c)
2 Branislav Ivanovic
24 Gary Cahill
4 David Luiz
34 Ryan Bertrand
7 Ramires
12 John Mikel Obi
16 Raul Meireles
21 Salomon Kalou
9 Fernando Torres
10 Juan Mata

Subs: 40 Hilario, 26 John Terry, 5 Michael Essien, 8 Frank Lampard, 23 Daniel Sturridge, 11 Didier Drogba, 18 Romelu Lukaku.

Birmingham are expected to line up in the following 4-3-3 formation:

Doyle; Spector, Davies (c), Ibanez, N'Daw; Elliott, Mutch, Gomis; Rooney, Zigic, Redmond.

Subs: Myhill, Burke, Valles, Packwood, Jervis, Reilly, King.

The referee is Anthony Taylor.

come on boys, huge second half effort needed here. we NEED to stay alive in the cup

YESSSS!!!! MATAAAAA!!!!! 1-0, C'mon you Blues!

MATA!!!!

Come on lets put this game away.

Sounds as though we have been a lot better in the 2nd half

It just got better!

     
View from the Press Box:
Pick that out! Ivanovic crossed, cahill set up Ramires who teed up Meireles and BANG! Into the top corner from the edge of the box, that's a goal of the season contender!

BIRMINGHAM 0-2 CHELSEA 60 mins.


chelseafc:
Meireles whacks Ramires�s lay-off into the top right corner. Fine strike. Birmingham 0 Chelsea 2. We have lift-off. #FACup #cfc (SL) [via Twitter]

Torres cautioned for a tackle from behind, he's getting fired up - let's hope he can aim it at the box!

Spirits picking up in the stands:

chelseafc:
Chelsea fans resurrecting chants from the 90s: �One Di Matteo� and �Ed-die�, in praise of the new coaching team

Torres taken down, Mata to take penalty ....

chelseafc:
Saved! Relatively easy save for Doyle, who guessed right. The score remains 0-2. #cfc (SL)

Lampard on for Ramires (who coincidently has just signed a 5 year deal)

C'mon you Blues! one more and a clean sheet would be beautiful

chelseafc:
Fantastic low cross from Torres across goal to the unmarked Sturridge, but he mis-kicks in front of goal. Good chance

Mata off for Essien

3mins of additional time, c'mon Chelsea - one more!

chelseafc:
Birmingham 0 Chelsea 2. Not extravagant, but solid and more efficient. Through to face Leicester in the quarter-finals

Brilliant :) let's see more of that

Absolutely stoked with that win.

A quarter final tie at home vs Leicester is certainly a winnable tie.