The Hotel End

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcmwQ5Kwfx0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcmwQ5Kwfx0)

I made a last minute decision to watch this game, except the first two minutes (to avoid any knee bending bollocks), and I thought Chelsea were far and away the better side on the night.  I was looking around for a Man City striker and then I saw De Bruyne (who had a mare before he was injured) appearing to play centre forward, what the hell was that all about. The commentators (if you can call Hoddle a commentator) were talking about a false 9, I can't be doing with all these modern 'tactics', pockets is another word I hate, football is a simple game, just score more goals and you win, there is too much science involved for me. Anyway Chelsea had the best player on the pitch in Kante , he was just phenomenal and you have to love the joy on Havertz face, although he may get a fine for his swear word. Well done Chelsea, City need some new players, although to be fair that is the only time I have seen them play this season as I don't watch the PL.

BT showed a documentary of George Best after the game. What a player he was , just ran at defenders and caused havoc , he didn't bother with tactics, just did what he thought was Best. The greatest player ever for me.

Interesting that the knee bending bollocks was loudly booed but not mentioned by the commentary team, which followed Brentford continuing to not take the knee in the Play Off final.

I thought that the CL Final was a good game, Chelski winning the first half easily and could/should have been further ahead. Second half they successfully defended their advantage to ensure that a 23rd name didn't appear on the Trophy.

Well done Chelski, the best team on the night won it.

Second best team in Europe after the Cobblers you mean?  ;D

Absolutely CJ..  ;D

So you have won it twice, so did Forest.
Best team in the world my arse.

And it was more difficult in Florists day...  ;)

No comparison... End of

Real Madrid. European champions.
1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1966,1998,2000,2002,2014,2016,2017,2018.
As you said... End of.
I wouldnt normally do this, but you do need to change the title of this thread.

Tel, you really need to change the title of the thread, because Chelsea are going to get their árses handed to them in the Club World Cup in Tokyo.

“All rise” includes bile, trust me I know.

Oh dear oh dear.

With got a few misguided individuals trying to spoil the party.  ;D

When it gets as daft as someone comparing a side that’s midfield prowess was lead by Archie Gemmill, compared to midfield that N'golo Kante and Mason Mount Grace, you know they’re clutching at straws.  ;D

The champions league final, is without doubt the most prestigious, coveted, lucrative and recognised trophy in club football. Now.... We all know who just won it, so let’s stop this madness right here, and just accept the truth.

Chelsea by definition of winning the champions league, have rightfully been crowned the best team in the world... I’m sure that clears it up, once and for all. No f***ing chance 😂😂

Still lost to Villa six days beforehand. Just sayin'

Did you mean 5th?  :P

https://ibb.co/BKx2jTh

It’s about winning the war, not the battles..

Yes a war to be lost to better teams from the rest of the World later in the year. I do hope that crow tastes good.

Here’s another one. There’s hundreds of them.

https://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/club/seasons/

But only one team has the hardest trophy in club football in its cabinet.

Ask Man City supporters how much their ranking meant to them after the final whistle blew on Saturday. There won’t be many chants from the stands about rankings next season. But the real bragging rights can be found here...

That as maybe...... But, they won it. They have it. So for today, the stage is rightfully theirs. They are by the fact that they fought off all contenders, the champions of the hardest contest in world club football. I’m going to bask in the present and the facts of today. I’ll let you ponder what may come later.

So number 2?  :P
Was only pulling your leg.

Disappointingly I can’t find any tables with the Cobblers in the top 10.

They've never won the League 2 Play-Off Final once, let alone twice... 8)

Soon as Ambramovic departs, it’s on the cards...

Call me old fashioned but I’m forming the impression this fondness for Chel-on-sea is not totally unanimous.

I mean, I’d be surprised there’s a more universally disliked (apart by fans of Glasgow Rangers) club and fanbase in the country than Chelsea! I personally resisted the temptation of responding to this thread’s opening post with one of those green-faced spewing emojis  ;D

Not sure, but Leeds would come close.

Tripe...

But they didn't fight off all contenders. Bask in the sunshine akin to winning promotion from the championship and be ready to be stunned by the quality of the oppostion to come.

I admire your tenacity, but you'll gain no traction trying to take the shine of off this one mate.

Just out of interest. Give me a couple of names of these sides that are going to “stun” me. 

Then I can decide whether or not you are just trying to spoil the celebrations we are ALL enjoying thanks to a great English team bringing home the trophy.

😁 Watch it!

Is it though?

I didn't realise that we had so many fans who also supported a 'big club' as well as NTFC! Are Cobblers the main event or the side entertainment for you?  ;D

I agree with you here - what is the use of a competition if not to suggest the winner is the best of all who enter?

As a child/teenager I used to support Chelsea .... until, as an out-of-county Nene College student, I made the classic mistake of going to watch the Cobblers.

Wouldn't change it for the World  ;D

This is what we want... A proper thread, with genuine input, from a bunch of lovely constructive folks.

I have a warm fuzzy feeling inside about this... Could be acid reflux though....

Cobblers till I die mate, family loyalty dictates I have to express a preference north of the border. It’s the Law.

Agreed they are the best in Europe, but no The World, that is to be decided later in the year.

Boca Juniors
River Plate
São Paulo
América
Corinthians

Though I don't think my old team Tampines Rovers will give you much trouble.

Chelsea are Officially:-

                               4th best in the Premier League
                               2nd best in the FA Cup
                               ??th in the League Cup
                               and did they even qualify for the Pizza Cup? ;D ;D

And I thought you was serious... There’s not even an half decent South American playing in that lot. It must have been nearly ten years since anything outside of Europe won it, once it was taken seriously....

I’m pleased Chel-on-sea won it. When one of the inferior teams and underdogs wins it’s always a feel good story. Sort of the soccer version of Rocky.

I was just happy Bayern We are entitled to win fúcking everything Munich didn't win.

That’s true, if we are starting a list of teams we wouldn’t want to see win it there’s a fair few teams in front of Chel-on-sea. Not that we want to offer Tel any more encouragement.

A bit of light hearted fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WqOOPhxHmE

 ;D ;D ;D

Rise once more my comrades.

They’ve only gone and done it again. How proud must you all be, to have this beacon of success within our beautiful shores.

I always like to see English teams do well in Europe, it's just when people go on about how great they are on here it gets tedious.
Do you extol the virtues of average 4th division teams on Chelsea forums?

Your really sad

When you say rise once more Tel are you talking about bile perchance?

I’m offering you the opportunity to celebrate in something that brings success to this great country. Surely you don’t want to squander that opportunity afforded to you, with anything other than joy…

Are you on medication?

He possibly could be, but at the moment he's on a Chelsea forum telling them what a great start Northampton are having to the season.

We know what we are
We know what we are
Champions of Europe and the World
We know what we are


Absolute fcuking magic….


Debt free, wherever you may be,

We’re gonna buy everyone we see,

We don’t give a f**k about the transfer fee,

'Cos we are the wealthy CFC

Chelsea, Officially the current third best team in England ;)

I agree, a great achievement and great for English football. Shįt song though.

So how did they qualify for this Mickey Mouse cup?

By having a Russian oligarch.🤠

But first in the world old chap… The current first best team in England, have never won anything past domestic honours. Your appraisal of the situation is flawed… Ask Man City's owners how many premiere league titles they would change for just the champions league. Let alone the fcuking lot. Chelsea have done it all. They’ll win the premier league again. No doubt. But will City win what Chelsea have??

Yes, but as proper Cobblers fans from a local town, for local people, who really gives a s***, at the end of day.👻👽🤡

Your appraisal of my post is flawed, you ignored the ;)

I'm with you there mate.

Well…. Clearly you do. You’re totally obsessed with it  ;D ;D Some of our most dedicated supporters have a penchant for a premier side. In fact, we wouldn’t be here today without their input.

I remember clearly sitting with a couple of the most influential supporters in our history about discussing their liking for their respective premier sides.

I’d never ignore you sweetheart  :-* :-*

Steady now! This is all so sudden ;D ;D

Wait til you see what he got you for Valentines.

Presumably now we will all impose sanctions on Chelsea as they are basically one of Putins puppets.

Boycott Chelski now!

Solidarity with our Ukrainian brethren.

Hands off you proxy frog… Chelsea are as British as roast beef and you know it  8)

Hahaha hahaha!

PS I'll ignore the minor racism.

Now the UK's first nationalised football team...?

So everyone look out. If you are friendly with your neighbour and he gets caught doing something illegal you could well have your assets seized.
At best the seizure is illegal at worst it is a huge case of racism.

I’ve found a lot of the actions and rhetoric surrounding this situation by the west a bit distasteful. How Gordon Brown can come out and ask for Putin to face a war crimes tribunal, found any of those weapons of mass destruction yet from your invasion of Iraq Gordon?.

Him and Blair should be cell mates.

Unable to sell tickets for future games, no merch...a wage bill of £28m a month.

...is there such a thing as a 'clean' billionaire?

It will probably accelerate the sale, RA won't see a bean (but certainly save himself a few bob!) and some other corrupt billionaire can take the hot seat.

I think that demonstrates as we are playing a totally different game down in L2!

Are you sure? If small fry like the Cardozas can make money disappear big fish like Abramovich can make oodles more!

Sponsors three have suspended their 40 million a season deal. And they wont be the last..

I don’t think RA has made much of a profit from the Chelsea branch of his bank account.

His reported loan to the club is £1.5bn, they'd be in the cart if he was able to call that in?

I’m waiting for the clubs with Saudi interest to be put under similar constraints. Also Chinese owned concerns as well..

Although he said it was going to a charitable arm, it’s almost like he knew what was coming  :P
I don’t think it’d make much difference if he called it in, he isn’t going to get it.
Tel’s right, it’s opened a wider window to oust much of the questionable money at the top level. Hit the reset button.
Chelsea probably have the least incoming stream from the top 6, smaller ground etc, so some uncertain times at the Bridge.

No chance, the government has no problem with hypocrisy.

oligarch
[ˈɒlɪɡɑːk]
NOUN

    a ruler in an oligarchy.
    (especially in Russia) a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence.

Which biased refence did you get you definition from?

Oligarchy from Greek olígos 'few' which basically means any state leader in the minority who rules by any method nefarious or not, including royal families e.g. Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. It does not refer directly to Russians, or are you using the current situation to illustrate your racist feelings?

And how do you know he is not trying to influence a ceasefire? You don't, as I said guilt by association.

 ;D ;D The state of your reply ::)

From the Oxford English Dictionary: an “oligarch” means “a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence. Especially in Russia”.

I'm not paying $100 for a subscription to it so you'll have to trust that.

And after all this, you still seemed to have missed the point of why these people have had their assets frozen. It's not to "punish them". It's to use their political influence on Putin.

I somehow think the greek definition came first but hey ho.
Of course they are being punished. They have no influence on Putin. Putin has been taking a tithe from them for years and does exactly as he pleases.

The English word may derive from the Greek word but as we don't speak Greek here, the English word takes precedent in this country. It's why when you think of the word Concorde you think of the plane rather than the French word for agreement.

My point is just when was the codicil "Especially Russian" added? Certainly not when the word first entered the dictionary, because back then it would have said "Especially British Royalty".

https://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/13500-roman-abramovich-thread/page/96/#comments

Enjoy!  ;D

Im loving the fact that their dirty money is now catching up with them. Finally. They could now potentially slither their way back to where they came from...very decent 2nd division team, average 1st division (or prem) team. A bit like Southampton or maybe at a push Aston Villa.

The last 25 years or so, they have paid for their place at the top table. Either via RA, or before him Ken Bates who nearly bankrupted them by overspending.

If it wasn't for RA, they would have probably 'done a Portsmouth'....

Check their attendances between mid 70's and mid 90's - https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-chelsea/besucherzahlenentwicklung/verein/631

I was growing up during that time, and recall them being similar to say Nottingham Forest now. A yo yo club. Then they emerged thanks to money they didn't have but still spent, or money the Russian chucked at them.

What comes round goes round!

It does read like the guy who got caught speeding saying "What about everyone else who was speeding officer?!"

Just crazy amounts of money at the top of the game and we are discussing the £1m price difference on a piece of overgrown land  ;D

If they have seized his mansion in London surely they can use it for refugees. I mean The Fat Bástard and his mates want you to have one in your homes, while they do fúck all as usual. All those apartments in London that they claim as second homes that you pay for and their palacial country homes that could be used.

I reckon the Russian was dropped because although it has Greek origins it sounds vaguely Russian and contains an anagram of oil - and gas if there's more than one.

Check anybody’s attendances during that time, possible with the exception of a couple of teams.

I’m appalled to hear any football supporter revel in the demise of any club. Possible with the exception of MK Dons

Chelsea is an historic club, with reasonable success pre RA. Albeit on a much lesser scale.

I think your forgetting the obvious corruption that has taken part at NTFC on several occasions. You might want to chat with the fraud squad, or indeed any Kidderminster Harriers supporter you get within a few yards of.

The truth is, football is full of corruption.

I don't know, you'll have to ask the Oxford English Dictionary

They were doing ok under Mathew Harding

Irrespective of our allegiences, it's never good to see any club go out of busines for issues outside of what happens on the field of play.
Yes, we can all be jealous of the 'sugar daddy' or the 'dodgy' financing of others but we wouldn't turn it down if we were offered the same.
Yes, I enjoy the fact that one of the 'big teams' are in difficulty but I wouldn't like any club to cease operating completely, except perhaps the MK Donkeys, but then again I'd only want them to re-start from where they should have started from originally. ;)

Absolutely spot on mate. There’s something wrong with another supporter wanting to see someone else’s club die.

Not sure if you are quoting me here mate; Im not revelling in any demise. I just said that I hope they go back down to the level they were at (their natural level) prior to all of the £ being pumped in. I don't like Chelsea...probably my Leicester allegiances, Im sure you will know about (back in the 80's)! Sure Chelsea will be alright either way, 'posh brand' and all that.

As for the support. Come on; https://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/eng-premier-league-1985-1986/1/ - just a random season I picked, you are 8th on that list. Before Sheffield Wednesday who are in 7th.

https://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/eng-premier-league-1990-1991/1/ - here's another one, 1990. 12th that season, behind the other Sheffield, the might blades.

Mid table top flight team, with the occasional flirtation with the 2nd tier is about your level...without all the money that you don't earn!  ;D

We agree about MK Dons though. The only club Id want to see go pop!

I'd pay to see that.

I remember it well.. Climbing through a fence in the middle of the Leicester home end with about 500 other Chelsea supporters. To the back drop of Geno by Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Chelsea have enjoyed huge success under Abramovic. But the Journey was well under way under Matthew Harding, prior to his unfortunate death.

Just have a look at some of Leicester's deals and where in fact a lot of the money in the premiership comes from.

As I said on the redevelopment thread the other day we are all hypocrits about our morals when it comes to money and football.

To think it took the brink of World War 3 before people finally questioned the morality of the money in football and even now we are still doing it VERY selectively.