Chelsea 0 Fulham 0

[paulw66]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Doesn't help when the home crowd are silent, waiting to be entertained before groaning loudly at each miscontrolled ball or failed pass.

No wonder we look better away where the support is constant and positive. 

Pathetic from the home crowd tonight. 

 

1 hour ago, Michael Tucker said:

This too.

And the last away win was.... Come on. 

[ShedMiddle]

49 minutes ago, Ham said:

I know it's crass but at least Palace and, more recently, Arsenal, have tried to do something about it.

I'm not advocating drums and black t shirts but a section needs to be set aside for a hardcore of fans to create an atmosphere.

Wearetheshed are great at banners but that's it. Whatever happened to the plans for 500 fans in the shed to create noise?  

 

I'm in the shed and create noise and have done for the past decade + 

[east lower]

Having been there tonight, there was a good bit of optimism and an ok atmosphere. Lots of excitement at the new signings, but……………………when it was clear that what we were seeing was the same shapeless, pattern less play of the last dozen or so games, I think frustration kicked in.

I can’t recall seeing such a consistently poorly coached Chelsea side for a long, long time. Simple things like winning possession high up the pitch, isn’t happening, winning second ball’s isn’t happening and I can’t remember watching us zipping a few one touch passes around opposing players. 

It’s blindingly obvious, what’s probably going to have to happen, just a question of when.
 

 

[CarefreeMuratcan]

50 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

I'd like to hear Potter and some of the players start calling out the pathetic support.

Is it down to us no longer having much of a hardcore "working class" support these days and more recent supporters not having longstanding ties to the area and therefore not having the same kind of  passion a  Geordie or Scouser will have for their team?

 

I was at the game tonight, West Stand (not my usual haunt). Atmosphere was awful as expected, but there were a couple of chants here and there from MHL and Shed which were loud and spread around, but pretty drab overall even in those ends.

The demographics have changed. It's much more diverse and international now and a lot of young "Social Media" generation type of young men and women. And these new demographics are even starting to stand in the MHL and Shed, whereas for the initial decade or so of the Roman era the MHL and Shed were still at their core the traditional London/Home Counties English supporter base and the new fans were limited to the West Stand back then. But now the new fans are everywhere. I suppose a lot of the traditional base became older as well, not as interested in atmosphere or maybe even gave up going all together. 

I don't know how it will be solved. The MHL and Shed have become official standing areas which I thought would filter out people who didn't want to sing, but it's actually become even worse since then. 

The Club could just ensure people who want to sing are grouped together as much as possible via the ticketing platform. Because I bet there are plenty who do want to sing but we are all scattered around the ground instead of concentrated together. 

 

 

[kev61]

Just now, east lower said:

 

It’s blindingly obvious, what’s probably going to have to happen, just a question of when.
 

 

It is "blindingly obvious" as you say - Potter is a goner.

Not because I think he is a bad coach(I don't know)but because he is in charge of  a very expensive assembled team who wont give a toss what Potter says.

There is a 'circuit' of top managers that have done the rounds,we know who they are.It's only a matter of time before Potter is replaced with a manager that has managed top class players with a degree of success.

Not Potters fault,he is just a pipe dream that was never destined to work.

[chara]

@kev61....good to see you here late...you never sugar coat a point and I do agree here although being me I would be slightly less to the point!

Watching today I saw good players to my mind making it up on the fly..oversimplification but a good coach coaches a good team...a top coach coaches a top side .....I see no real sign that GP is a star coach...(or any real system)

Added.. a few seasons ago I watched a preseason game featuring Citeh..it was pretty much a young non EPL side BUT the side were easily recognisable as a Citeh side.

Do we see any identity so far this season?

Edited February 4, 2023 by chara

[Michael Tucker]

12 minutes ago, chara said:

I see no real sign that GP is a star coach...(or any real system)

No, and neither do I. 

Boehly needs to pull his finger out and hire somebody new. 

[kev61]

8 minutes ago, chara said:

@kev61....good I see no real sign that GP is a star coach...(or any real system)

This idea that you give a coach time "to build a team" is nonsense we've tried that.

It is a theory that hasn't worked for top teams around the world,and Boehly will see this sooner rather than later imo.

[Trini_Blue]

Thought Enzo was great as well as Badiashile. Mudryk really struggled and no surprise as he had the flu apparently. Madueke and Fofana were bright.

It wasn't a great watch, obviously, but don't think the club will fire Potter. I'd be indifferent if we did but I doubt we'll go down that road.

There aren't many games and we've got a really bloated squad.

I'm not seeing a lot from the team. Some decent shape, yes, and Enzo and Badiashile certainly look like major upgrades, but there's no penetration to our play at the moment. Fofana added a bit more threat when he came on with his runs off the ball... so maybe that's the best move going forward?

Think it's clear that Havertz, Ziyech and Gallagher aren't good enough to start either.

Who knows at the moment really.. there is a gaping hole right now in midfield where Kante or Kova used to be and the same goes for the CF position. 

It's a unique position we're in at the moment. I wasn't sold on Potter but this is a massive clearout and reinvention in progress. I can't say with any certainty that Potter's the real issue here.

Also, Kai Havertz missed 2 huge chances. He scores those and we go in 2 nil up and there's a different vibe around everything right about now.

[chara]

2 minutes ago, Trini_Blue said:

Also, Kai Havertz missed 2 huge chances. He scores those and we go in 2 nil up and there's a different vibe around everything right about now.

Good post..but the quoted part above?...rinse and repeat,,,game after game a similar post (s) appears..with justification.

[Original 21]

We couldn’t have swapped out Badashiele for Koulibaly in the Champions League squad? Been impressed with him so far. Three games he’s started and we haven’t conceded a goal. 

[kev61]

2 hours ago, Ham said:

Doesn't help when the home crowd are silent, waiting to be entertained before groaning loudly at each miscontrolled ball or failed pass.

No wonder we look better away where the support is constant and positive. 

Pathetic from the home crowd tonight. 

They pay a lot of money to watch multi millionaires play football - it's a simple game that is made to look complicated by a lack of talent in the game - but fans are expected to cheer on players in most cases that couldn't care less what fans think?.

I pay good money for a show in the west end and am richly rewarded.

[Trini_Blue]

23 minutes ago, chara said:

Good post..but the quoted part above?...rinse and repeat,,,game after game a similar post (s) appears..with justification.

Potter said in his post match the plan today was to get Fofana some minutes. It's going to take time to get this squad in a position to compete in terms of fitness, availability, familiarity with one another etc. and I do feel as though Potter's been given reassurances that they understand that. 

Kai is a decent player but he's been poor a while now and its simply a situation where Auba looks on his way out, Broja's injured, Lukaku's gone and Fofana looks lacking in match fitness. Really tough position for the manager to be in.

[Trini_Blue]

11 minutes ago, Original 21 said:

We couldn’t have swapped out Badashiele for Koulibaly in the Champions League squad? Been impressed with him so far. Three games he’s started and we haven’t conceded a goal. 

Looks like a top talent. Whoever signed him needs to be given more freedom to sign players. The guy looks like a real player. 

[kev61]

28 minutes ago, Trini_Blue said:

Potter said in his post match the plan today was to get Fofana some minutes. It's going to take time to get this squad in a position to compete in terms of fitness, availability, familiarity with one another etc. and I do feel as though Potter's been given reassurances that they understand that. 

Kai is a decent player but he's been poor a while now and its simply a situation where Auba looks on his way out, Broja's injured, Lukaku's gone and Fofana looks lacking in match fitness. Really tough position for the manager to be in.

Potter can make statements that make absolute sense to the lay people - but he has no charisma that will make top paid professionals play for him.

[chara]

5 minutes ago, kev61 said:

Potter can make statements that make absolute sense to the lay people - but he has no charisma that will make top paid professionals play for him.

Crux of the matter?

There are couple of things I have a modest ability at....I listen to views on them but unless I think the :experts" have anything to offer I do not listen to them....it takes little to work out if someone knows what they are talking about! 

[Original 21]

52 minutes ago, Trini_Blue said:

Kai is a decent player but he's been poor a while now and its simply a situation where Auba looks on his way out, Broja's injured, Lukaku's gone and Fofana looks lacking in match fitness. Really tough position for the manager to be in.

Am surprised that Potter seems to have frozen out Aubameyang who’s our only real proven goalscorer. He started fairly well and scored from a couple of James’ assists till the latter got injured. Since then he’s had mediocre service and now that we’ve brought in some wingers and James is fit, Potter is going to go with Havertz who’s no centre forward and Fofana who’s very raw. Seems a bit odd to me. Auba is clearly not a long-term solution but that’s not why we signed him. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Original 21

[kev61]

16 minutes ago, chara said:

Crux of the matter?

There are couple of things I have a modest ability at....I listen to views on them but unless I think the :experts" have anything to offer I do not listen to them....it takes little to work out if someone knows what they are talking about! 

It wouldn't surprise me if Tuchel was being lined up to take over again.

[xceleryx]

3 hours ago, Original 21 said:

We couldn’t have swapped out Badashiele for Koulibaly in the Champions League squad? Been impressed with him so far. Three games he’s started and we haven’t conceded a goal. 

Doesn't work like that unfortunately, teams are limited to making 3 changes to the initial squad registered. So it's basically 3 in, 3 out. Unless a team didn't register a full allotment of players initially, allowing them to fill those spots without unregistering anyone first. 

[My Blood Is Blue]

Interesting, he was there after the final whistle still, apparently. Could have been there to watch Havertz, but be surprised if would have stayed beyond the final whistle if that was the case.

 

[CarefreeMuratcan]

 

Can't blame Fofana for going for goal but just one more pass and it makes it a better angle. 

[My Blood Is Blue]

9 minutes ago, CarefreeMuratcan said:

 

Can't blame Fofana for going for goal but just one more pass and it makes it a better angle. 

That’s not an easy pass when unbalanced and moving at speed. Looks much easier on a freeze frame.

I know you’re not suggesting it is straightforward.

[thevelourfog]

8 hours ago, Ham said:

I don't want to get into an argument about it but the broadcast made it very clear that Chelsea fans sat on their hands for most of that. 

Nobody was asking you to scream for 90 minutes but what you could hear clearly was groaning. Definitely doesn't help Havertz's confidence. 

I've only every been a member which allows me to try each and every stand out and whenever I've sat in amongst season ticket holders I've found them to be mute apart from chatting amongst themselves, unlike the members who don't take it all for granted. 

Go back 10 years and our home support was better.  Just awful now. 

The number of people who give you a funny look for trying to get something going......

 

I don't disagree our support is quiet, and it isn't what it was (as you say) even 10 years ago. Certainly what it was when I first started going. 

What I disagree with is that it's particular to us. Because it isn't. This is football now. Maybe 10 years ago I'd have said Spurs were different, out of the bigger clubs, for vocally backing their team even when not playing well. Not even true for them. This is a top level football thing now. So it does grate to have people repeat the idea that it's particular to us. I'm sure you can understand that. It may have looked worse yesterday because we're playing a team whose fans were especially vocal, because they imagine a rivalry that just isn't there.

I also disagree that it really makes much difference to footballers. Perhaps at a point where they weren't too different, socially and economically, to the fans. But these lot are highly trained, highly paid professionals, often with no connection to us but their contract. I just don't believe that what we do as supporters really makes much difference to them. And I get why people don't like that idea, but I think it is the reality.

The support is such a minor, insignificant contributory factor to performances like yesterday's. 

8 hours ago, RDCW said:

Get a grip, mate. Your anger is disproportionate and intellectually weak. We are all disappointed with our inability to break down a stubborn Fulham defence, just as we all know the support at the Bridge is getting worse all the time. I think we all know too that one of the functions of support is to get behind the team through thick and thin: we are partisans at a sporting event, not spectators at the theatre. I have a season ticket and though I wasn't there tonight I can tell you that our support is generally pretty s**t. The reason for that is largely the sense of entitlement you are displaying on the forum tonight.

Eh? Anger and entitlement? Because I disagreed with someone? Without using the insults you regularly throw around freely? You're not very pleasant on here, weird that you get away with it. Please don't bother responding to me any more and I'll do you the same courtesy.

[thevelourfog]

8 hours ago, paulw66 said:

And the last away win was.... Come on. 

Funny that point of mine wasn't responded to. Zagreb, in November. The home support really obviously is not a contributory factor to rubbish performances and results, no matter what you think of it.

7 hours ago, ShedMiddle said:

I'm in the shed and create noise and have done for the past decade + 

This, and ...

7 hours ago, east lower said:

Having been there tonight, there was a good bit of optimism and an ok atmosphere. Lots of excitement at the new signings, but……………………when it was clear that what we were seeing was the same shapeless, pattern less play of the last dozen or so games, I think frustration kicked in.

Quite. It was a fairly average atmosphere for a game not against Spurs, Liverpool etc. for a good long while and died long after it became clear nothing was going to happen. Not ideal, but obviously understandable.

[boratsbrother]

I heard the commentators say that isome of the Chelsea fans are starting to turn against  Cucu.

Don't like turning on our own players during games, but  I do think he's been a truly disastrous signing and should be sold for whatever we can get.