the title race

[Nigels Tackle]

next couple of fixtures are huge and could go a long way to determining the destiny of the 14/15 title

wednesday
sunderland v city
chelsea v spuds

saturday
newcastle v chelsea
city v everton

[Douglas Higginbottom]

next couple of fixtures are huge and could go a long way to determining the destiny of the 14/15 title

wednesday
sunderland v city
chelsea v spuds

saturday
newcastle v chelsea
city v everton

I reckon you will be able to say the same om every Monday morning.That's what being at or around the top is all about.

[Goaters 103]

Agreed Doug.

I think what we want is to enter January within 5 points or less of Chelsea at the top. If that's the case, then we are in business.

The old adage still counts, you cant win the title before Christmas but you can lose it. We need to be within range.

[Ted Hughes]

Agreed Doug.

I think what we want is to enter January within 5 points or less of Chelsea at the top. If that's the case, then we are in business.

The old adage still counts, you cant win the title before Christmas but you can lose it. We need to be within range.

Absolutely. Keeping it to 6 points would not be a bad thing at all imo.

But if we win at Sunderland, with Dedryk in the team, I recon we should all be there 2 hours early outside the ground on Saturday, with our flags waving, to sing 'Blue Moon' to the lads as they arrive & try to get more & more of us to do it as the season goes on, so in the end we line the streets near the ground .

What could go wrong ?

[iwasthere2012]

That's what I've been saying. Stick close enough for them to feel the pressure every week and I think we could click into gear after Christmas.
Keeping everyone fit is a problem, but every team has to deal with that.
I trust that if this squad are within touching distance of Chelsea, they will smell blood in the run in.
That's when we will see what Chelsea are really made of.

[sheblue]

6 league games in December. They are all winnable games, we probably need to be getting at least 15-16 points from the 18 to stay in the hunt, important month starting off with a very difficult assignment Wednesday night.

[carl_feedthegoat]

We have to remember , we have played tougher teams so far compared to last season and we are better off points wise.
I panicked a few weeks ago and thought we had fucked it up and Chelsea would walk it but the reality is far far different.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

I felt if we got twenty points from the first ten games we would be well set.
Chelsea will have a tough and busy January, with probably a League cup two legged semi final, plus two FA cup games and some important Prem games. Throw in a possible replay in the FA Cup and an injury or two and it is so easy to leak a few points. Have a bad fortnight and a good season can fall apart.
Onto March when the CL is in the knockout stages, maybe a League Cup final, later rounds of the FA cup and Chelsea's squad will be fully extended. Costa out and they are no better off up front than last season. Lose Hazard or Fabregas and it becomes a struggle.
They looked pretty ordinary at ours and the relentless grind of needing three points every game has barely started.
Add in that we have looked really good away from home, just needing to find our extra spark at the Etihad, and it is clear we are a long way from being out of contention.

[Sister of fu]

What title race? Weren't Chelsea handed the trophy a couple of weeks back?

[Original Dub]

What title race? Weren't Chelsea handed the trophy a couple of weeks back?

Yes, but apparently there has been some confusion, as they arrived at Anfield to collect it and it wasn't there.

[Wonderwall]

What title race? Weren't Chelsea handed the trophy a couple of weeks back?

they were by Paddy Power!!!

Paddy Power is sticking its money where its mouth is and betting on a Premier League whitewash by Jose Mourinho this season, paying out a whopping £400,000 today to all the punters who have backed the ‘Special One’ to claim the coveted silverware.

Only once before has the bookie called the title so early, correctly crowning Mourinho’s Chelsea the champs in the September of the 2005/2006 season. Almost 10 years on, and with more than half the season to go, the footy gods seem to be once again on Chelsea’s side, leading the powers that be at Paddy HQ to expect only one result come May next year.

What’s the punter pay out:

A huge six figure sum paid out to savvy Chelsea punters
£16k is largest bet placed at 2/5 returning £22.4k to one lucky punter
44 punters have placed £1,000 or more on Chelsea to win and are set to reap the rewards
Over a third of the Premier League outright betting stakes have gone on Chelsea to win – almost twice as much vs. any other team

Paddy has a strong record in calling the Premier League title, however there will be a few nervy bean-counters over at Power Tower for the next few months, as the bookmaker hasn’t always got it right. In 2003 Paddy coughed up twice on the title after paying out early on an Arsenal side who had a 12 point lead but then handed the silverware to Manchester United days before the season was out. Gulp.

The boss himself is quoted as saying, ‘This is one early seasonal treat the punters should love. We now just have to hope that all Jose’s Christmases really do come at once next May!’

Chelsea have racked up nine wins and two draws in their 11 games this season, giving them a four point lead over Southampton in second, and an eight point lead over last year’s Champions Man City. At this rate they’re set to rack up 100 points this season, and Paddy is offering odds of just 7/1 that Chelsea go unbeaten this season.

[Ted Hughes]

We just came off one of our best away performances for some time, & have now suddenly found ourselves in a possible Dedryk situation.

Realistically, that makes the next few games potentially much more difficult than they were previously. But it highlights how quickly a situation can land on you.

So far almost nothing has landed on Chelsea. It will, if we stay close enough, without any shadow of a doubt it will at some point. If they then battle their way through, beat everyone they need to, & win the league, then fair play to them. But I'm not sure, at all, that they have got it in them. I think it would go pear shaped.

But I don't think the rags would have done it 2 seasons ago either, if we had challenged them. We didn't.

Make Chelsea earn it.

Don't throw thi wicket away, make em git you owt , as Geoff Boycott would say.

[Wonderwall]

We just came off one of our best away performances for some time, & have now suddenly found ourselves in a possible Dedryk situation.

Realistically, that makes the next few games potentially much more difficult than they were previously. But it highlights how quickly a situation can land on you.

So far almost nothing has landed on Chelsea. It will, if we stay close enough, without any shadow of a doubt it will at some point. If they then battle their way through, beat everyone they need to, & win the league, then fair play to them. But I'm not sure, at all, that they have got it in them. I think it would go pear shaped.

But I don't think the rags would have done it 2 seasons ago either, if we had challenged them. We didn't. Make Chelsea earn it.

Don't throw thi wicket away, make em git you owt , as Geoff Boycott would say.

I think Maureen will crack and start his usual childish arrogant rants (or as the media have you believe, intelligent mind games). I see he has already started preaching that he never speaks about injuries etc

[Lev Bronstein]

We play Chelsea away on Jan 31st, that would leave 15 games to play. We win, or a even draw would leave us on their shoulders for the run in and, whilst we'd still be second favourites, but they could crack under the pressure.

Even if we lost and they were 9 points in front, well, we've seen the same or even bigger leads overturned. Last year Chelsea had great results against the rest of the top four, but ballsed it up against so called "lesser teams. You could see the same sort of thing happening.

Let's face it, Sky and the rest of the media would love a close title race (not that I'm suggesting that results get fixed Mr Lawyer). On the other hand, the media love the narrative of Jose "the Special One". I suspect that despite his public arrogance, privately, he's too canny to believe in his own propaganda - unlike Brenda last year.

As usual, get to the last few games with your best players in form with few injuries and/or suspensions you've every chance as long as you are within spitting distance of the top. For example, can you really see Costa avoiding another red card, or series of yellows or John Terry lasting the whole season.

Despite Paddy Power paying out early (and I bet they did their sums to make sure they didn't lose out), anyone who thinks the league is already won is a moron

[Socrates]

Remember them paying out on Stoke to be relegated after the first game of the 2008/09 season which I actually thought was rather rude. Given that Stoke have now survived six campaigns at the top level they have made PP look more than a little stupid...

[Spurge]

Remember them paying out on Stoke to be relegated after the first game of the 2008/09 season which I actually thought was rather rude. Given that Stoke have now survived six campaigns at the top level they have made PP look more than a little stupid...

Its a great piece of marketing in reality - they dont care if they look stupid or not as they will be seen as the punters friend, which may well attract new customers from their competitors.

[sheblue]

Remember them paying out on Stoke to be relegated after the first game of the 2008/09 season which I actually thought was rather rude. Given that Stoke have now survived six campaigns at the top level they have made PP look more than a little stupid...

Its a great piece of marketing in reality - they dont care if they look stupid or not as they will be seen as the punters friend, which may well attract new customers from their competitors.

Exactly. Got nothing to do whether they are right or wrong, they won't care, it's down to publicity and marketing. Anyway gambling world aside let just get three points Wednesday and take it from there.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

What title race? Weren't Chelsea handed the trophy a couple of weeks back?

Yes, but apparently there has been some confusion, as they arrived at Anfield to collect it and it wasn't there.

Nice one Dub; absolutely terrific.

Can't seem to stop chuckling at it.

[City64]

One game at a time ! Chelski rely on 3 or 4 players , one or two of those get injured they are fucked . We are back in the groove but we now have to go our number one bogey ground on Wednesday night with a real problem having two center halves sidelined . Let's see where we are in January with hopefully everyone fit , lastly Yaya has recently come close to his best form , we will miss him in the new year but we did just fine in the same situation 2 years ago ;-)

[nottsblue]

We are still in it until we mathematically cant catch the champions. If we get to 30 games with a six point disadvantage we are still right back in it and depending on fixture congestion and who is left to play, possibly even favourites.

Just make sure we are there or thereabouts at the end of March. We'll then see who has the balls to win it. I know we have