Arsenal played better but didn't finish their chances... how many times have we seen that this season

I wanted Arsenal to win, obviously. But there's no way this one can be put on the referee. He did a fair game, if anything it was in favour for Arsenal since their goal shouldn't have counted.

Geez Cristiano... ffs! No rap*s in the pitch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE9eFxUxIrY

(P.S. Anybody know much about Giourkas Seitaridis? Villa are being linked with him, but I can't say I know anything about the guy. dst, or anyone else?)

FT Chelsea 1-1 Wigan
Essien '55
Heskey '93

And with that, the title remains at Old Trafford and Avram Grant will most certainly lose his job.

(P.S. Anybody know much about Giourkas Seitaridis? Villa are being linked with him, but I can't say I know anything about the guy. dst, or anyone else?)

mishie !!!    
I'm disappointed in you ! How can you let this happen !

The EPL thread reaching 218 pages while the Serie A only 125 
Someone is gonna walk the plank, you just wait till the captain comes along.

is there any truth Kurt in the Barry to 'pool rumours you reckon?

Up to 10 first-team players could be getting the chop at Stamford Bridge come the end of the season as Russian owner Roman Abramovich preparing to embark on a mass restructuring of the squad, the likes of which we have not seen since he first took control of the club in 2003.

Grant is siding with Abramovich, both manager and owner agreeing that Chelsea’s squad needs refreshening if they wish to win trophies next season. But Grant’s position at the club is less than secure, and although Abramovich is keen to give him a full season to prove he is a worthy successor to Jose Mourinho, any significant dip in results would likely see the Israeli axed as well.

However, with only Liverpool standing between Chelsea and a Champions League final berth, Grant is confident of retaining his post and has already begun mapping out his summer transfer targets, which Abramovich has supposedly approved by unlocking the required funds.

Outs

Andriy Shevchenko, Claudio Pizarro, Steve Sidwell and Tal Ben-Haim are near-certainties to be sold, while the likes of Florent Malouda, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Carlo Cudicini and Juliano Belletti are on thin ice.

And with Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Wayne Bridge all less than satisfied with their current situation, it is possible that 10 senior players could be leaving West London this summer.

Obstacles

The Blues face a significant barrier in offloading such a quantity of players, in that few clubs will be likely to match their wages and many of those players – such as Malouda, Belletti and Pizarro – are less than a year into lucrative four-year deals.

They will also incur significant financial losses in selling certain players. Shevchenko, for example, would not bring in anything like the ₤30 million Chelsea paid for him; ditto Shaun Wright-Phillips, who cost ₤22 million. And with Lampard continuing to stall on contract negotiations, his value will continually plummet.

Such factors will put a mighty dent in Chelsea’s hopes of wiping away their considerable debts by 2010.

Mike Maguire

The article is from goal.com

Any of the people look interesting? How is this Ben Haim fellow? Never seen him play. And I thought Sidwell was better than Mikel.

Avram Grant has not been in the most cheerful of moods these days, but few would have expected what happened after Chelsea's 1-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park.

The Chelsea manager saw his team close to within two points of Manchester United, but followed that up with the most amazing of press conferences.


A deserved win Avram?


Yes

What in particular pleased you about this performance?

I am pleased.

What in particular pleased you?

[A long pause] I don't know.

Is it a relief to win here?

Yes.

You seem lost for words by the performance. Are you more satisfied with the performance or the victory?

Both.

You seem distracted. Do you have a problem?

No problem.

Is there an issue?

No. I am ok. I have nothing to say.

Do you have a message for the Chelsea fans?

Do you represent the Chelsea fans?

They [the fans] must believe you are still in the title race, do you have a message for them?

No message.

Does this result mean you are back in it now?

I don't know.

How many steps have you climbed to undertake this press conference?

I don't know.

You seem less voluble than usual. Is it because of Sky TV moving the game to a Thursday?

Maybe it's because of you. I don't know. I am ok.

You are saying that you don't know if you are still in the title race?

No.

Is it easier to say nothing Avram?

I don't know what to answer. It is a good question. I don't know what to answer.

Is this because of Sky?

No. Sky is ok. I enjoy watching them.

Is it a protest against newspapers?

No. Why?

Why else would you come in and refuse to answer our questions?

I answer every question.

You are two points behind Manchester United and you don't know if you are still in the title race?

No.

Have you told the players that you don't know if you are back in the title race?

What I tell the players is something else. You want me to tell you what I say to the players?

We just want you to answer the question really. Are you in the title race?

I don't know.

Would you not like to gain some positive publicity for the result rather than this bizarre silence?

I'm sorry. You can write whatever you want and I can answer what I want.

Do you feel under pressure to deliver a trophy. Is that the reason for the monosyllabic answers?

No.

Are you upset? Do you feel you have been misrepresented?

Maybe I am upset because it is a bad season.

Did Michael Essien faint?

He had some problems, but he is ok.

Michael Ballack?

Injured.

What's his problem?

Ask the doctor.

He's not here Avram.

We'll call him then.

Have you ever played the yes/no game Avram?

[Grant gets up and leaves.]

What the reasons behind this bizarre sequence of questions and answers may be, we leave for you to speculate.

This imply has to be a fake....

Yup..it's true. It's on soccernet as well. Something's up. I'm not sure what though. Technically...Chelsea if they win all their remaining games win the title right?

I can't believe though that Brown is going to get 60,000 pounds a week.

How come Chelsea were playing yesterday??

Brown is getting what!?!??! Unbelievable, he is nothing but an average defender!! It must feel good to play for United these days...

Now you understand what I was talking about in the Blatter thread?

Not that I rate Brown at all, but he's played an awful lot of games for United the last 2 seasons, and they've been the best team in Europe over that span. So he's certainly earned this contract, and even more so since many people don't think Ronaldo stays out on the wing, this will make Browns job doubly hard as he'll have no protection in front of him.

But Brown is English.

Wenger has set a deadline for Flamini (end of April).  I hope he leaves Arsenal... just not to Juventus.

Exactly, take any other non english player who has the same level and you'll pay him no more than 30,000€ not pounds

Then why aren't United doing this, they can't be stupid...

But Brown is English.
What's with this weird logic again? Like I said before, real football is nothing like table football... you know, players move around and stuff!

Of course there's cover but most wingers don't defend anyway. Also, compared to Ronaldo, Rooney helps the defense much more... and that's cause he's not thrust on an iron stick!

Damn it Flamini, after moaning for entire last season that you didn't get enough appearences, then bottle off to the highest bidder after ONE good season...you'll join Cole and Anelka as one of the biggest @ssholes to ever wear the Arsenal shirt...

Of course players move around, but however you put it, if Ronaldo is out of place, it makes Browns job much harder.

Why do you thik some goals are conceeded because players are 'caught out of position'?

It amazes me how much criticism Adebayour gets, he's only scored 3 less than Torres. While he's considered useless, Torres is considered one of the best strikers in the league. Then again, of course that's how it is, Liverpool and United always have the best players.

Apparently alot of Arsenals younger players do not want Gallas to continue as captain. It's said that he puts too much pressure on them in the pre-match huddle and they don't like the way he points his points accross - shouting and screaming. So he will likely br removed of his captaincy next season.

It amazes me how much criticism Adebayour gets, he's only scored 3 less than Torres. While he's considered useless, Torres is considered one of the best strikers in the league. Then again, of course that's how it is, Liverpool and United always have the best players.

Hmm. It's funny more than anything, if it had Villa players on it I'd still use it. I'm not sure how it's degrading at all.

While I agree that he wastes too many chances, he's nearly got 30 goals this season - something that only 3 people have ever done in the Premier League - so he can't be all that bad. But he needs someone to partner him in my opinion. They never play Theo up front, Eduardo is out and Bendtner is not good enough for a top 10 team, forget top 4.

My mistake, I thought you made it to point fun at Arsenal's "immatureness", and that would surprise me because you never seemed like an Arsenal hater.

Anyway, nice to win again but I am a bit dissapointed we didn't score more goals.

I did not say he's bad but I think it's obvious that he's not at the same level as Henry was for Arsenal or CR and Torres are now for United and Liverpool.

You must have missed my post in the funny stuff thread. I said that they were celebrating a succesful season - not being sarcastic - because you weren't even expected to be top 4 this season, yet you'll finish top 3.