Chelsea 1 Newcastle 1

[JaneB]

Please use this thread for all posts relating to our Premier League match against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge before, during and after the game.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 16:30 hours on Sunday, 28th May 2023 (Local UK time/date)

[chrisb]

Hopefully after beating Leicester and qualifying for the CL they’ll go easy on us!

[Sciatika]

Last game of the season, thank God.

[My Blood Is Blue]

The final game of what has felt a very long season. So glad it’s almost over.

[chara]

52 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

The final game of what has felt a very long season. So glad it’s almost over.

Words from the heart Sam.

A reflection...as an OG I can recall when the end of the season led to the closing celebration of the Cup Final and the Traditional Saturday Extravaganza following a week of build up...then the long break..or so it seemed...with a renewal of hope !!!

As a Chelsea follower the absolute misery of relegation featured at times and satisfaction other times of success or just plain enjoyment of a season of football...taking simple football pleasure from the Chelsea season.

Now ,of course, a season like this one is such a drop off for long term solid veteran fans of over twenty years...a shock to the system.... but whilst not the absolute norm for the OG Brigade certainly not unknown.

For all the downs.... the absolute triumph of The Revived Forum and the interaction between a fantastic group of Chelsea faithful...

THANK YOU ALL.

[My Blood Is Blue]

13 minutes ago, chara said:

For all the downs.... the absolute triumph of The Revived Forum and the interaction between a fantastic group of Chelsea faithful...

THANK YOU ALL.

You’re so right, imagine suffering through this season without having this forum to turn to for a rant and a laugh!

[Blue Moon]

Quite right, I’ve been in pretty poor state of mind even with CFCNET, but without it? My tomcat says thanks to the stalwarts of CFCNET. He was getting concerned at his ability to … dare I say it? … “zoom” out of the range of my left boot.

[chara]

3 minutes ago, Blue Moon said:

Quite right, I’ve been in pretty poor state of mind even with CFCNET, but without it? My tomcat says thanks to the stalwarts of CFCNET. He was getting concerned at his ability to … dare I say it? … “zoom” out of the range of my left boot.

Brave man BM.... I have always seen the look in the eyes of all the cats that have deigned to let me share a home with them..

The "You have to sleep sometime" smugness!!!

[Blue Moon]

True, true, Chara, but Pickle and I have an agreement. I feed him and support a decent enough football club that stands a good chance of winning matches most seasons, such that I remain benevolent to him and his mother, and he supplies Mrs BM with an endless supply of freshly filleted rodents and enough feathers to stuff a duvet. 

[chara]

4 minutes ago, Blue Moon said:

True, true, Chara, but Pickle and I have an agreement. I feed him and support a decent enough football club that stands a good chance of winning matches most seasons, such that I remain benevolent to him and his mother, and he supplies Mrs BM with an endless supply of freshly filleted rodents and enough feathers to stuff a duvet. 

Ah..that Feline lulling you into a false sense of security ploy...plus endearing himself to Mrs BM...a schism for exploitation when needed .. be afraid BM..be very afraid.....warning from a friend and one "WHO KNOWS!)

[Blue Moon]

Worry not, Chara - while I have a ready supply of hi-life chicken treats, I am safe. However, he has taken to sleeping in the drawer under our bed, so I sleep with one eye open .

[chara]

5 minutes ago, Blue Moon said:

Worry not, Chara - while I have a ready supply of hi-life chicken treats, I am safe. However, he has taken to sleeping in the drawer under our bed, so I sleep with one eye open .

Wise man BM....my life long admiration The Cat in part was a protective gesture hoping to achieve some security and sleep!

[asvaberg]

1 hour ago, Blue Moon said:

Quite right, I’ve been in pretty poor state of mind even with CFCNET, but without it? My tomcat says thanks to the stalwarts of CFCNET. He was getting concerned at his ability to … dare I say it? … “zoom” out of the range of my left boot.

I was totally lost when the forum went down. Actually, I felt a kind of depression and my wife was a bit anxious. To her and my relief the "good shepherd' found the lost sheep and brought it to this "new" forum. 😁🐑

Edited May 20, 2023 by asvaberg

[JaneB]

1 hour ago, Blue Moon said:

True, true, Chara, but Pickle and I have an agreement. I feed him and support a decent enough football club that stands a good chance of winning matches most seasons, such that I remain benevolent to him and his mother, and he supplies Mrs BM with an endless supply of freshly filleted rodents and enough feathers to stuff a duvet. 

Oh YUK 🤑

[chara]

43 minutes ago, asvaberg said:

I was totally lost when the forum went down. Actually, I felt a kind of depression and my wife was a bit anxious. To her and my relief the "good shepherd' found the lost sheep and brought it to this "new" forum. 😁🐑

The Forum went down just as Colorado settled into the harshest part of the year and this year has been really a trial....May, whilst usually skittish has been damp and with, I am told, at least a third of the yearly average of rain...the Colorado mantra  of "We need the moisture" has an ironic ring this year.

Added to the Chelsea headlong leap into the lower reaches of the EPL and the underwhelming GP era ,thankfully short my world seem to shrink into a depression (football wise) of miserable proportions... BUT...the heartwarming rebirth of the Forum and the excitement and good feeling of seeing the return of familiar names and viewpoints helped me keep my sanity and this part of Colorado safe from the ravings of a Chelsea lost soul!

Topic saver!!!.... the margins are very thin  between us all being able to relax and wander somewhat off topic and arriving at this game discussion as basically a pride only game and a terrifying peek at relegation ,

The Football Gods give and take away as ever!

Edited May 20, 2023 by chara

[chrisb]

13 hours ago, Blue Moon said:

Quite right, I’ve been in pretty poor state of mind even with CFCNET, but without it? My tomcat says thanks to the stalwarts of CFCNET. He was getting concerned at his ability to … dare I say it? … “zoom” out of the range of my left boot.

One of my cats is called Villanelle (after the female assassin in Killing Eve) and she is a psychopath, if I even thought of kicking her she’d rip my face off. She bit me on the eyebrow the other day because I had the audacity to bend down and pick up the treat she’d dropped.

Onto the football, I hope we can give a decent account of ourselves and keep the score line semi-respectable.

[Blue Moon]

Rest assured that I was speaking figuratively, and would not dream of actually ‘doing a Zooma’ on either of my cats. The looks of reproach can be fatal at close range.

[My Blood Is Blue]

On the topic of Cats, I have one and she is absolutely the boss in our house, fortunately for me I am her favourite human, so I feel as though she has my back, much to the annoyance of the others… but I’d never be foolish enough to think for one moment that if she chooses, she will turn on me as a mere human and put me in my place. Respect is earned, unless you are a cat and then you just demand it.

[asvaberg]

The guy behind Year of the Cat album, Al Stewart, also has a song titled Football Hero. The lyric fits well for our season= wasted chances:

FOOTBALL HERO
In the center of the field stands the favorite player 
The ball comes floating in, they say a silent prayer for him. 
Fifty yards away, a minute left to go 
The ref looks at his watch;  Oh, oh
He cuts it to the right, gets past a defender 
A blur of blue and white, the moment hangs suspended in time. 
One man left to beat 
He can see the goal-keeper’s eyes 
There’s magic in his feet;  Oh, oh 
And a single ray of sunlight reaches down to touch the golden boy 
Seems to light his way towards the net 
In his mind he sees the headlines in the morning newspaper 
This’ll be a day they won’t forget 
Now he’s on his own, completely in control of it all 
The shot comes flying in, headed for the corner of the goal 
Bounces off the post, he watches as it falls 
Everyone will say, he should have passed the ball 
Now the crowd has gone, the stadium is empty 
Several hundred times he will watch the replay on TV 
Many years from now when his name’s recalled 
Everyone will say, he should have passed the ball

[thevelourfog]

Hoping for nice enough weather to have a few outside beers at the stall by the West Stand. That's been my one hope for the season since about January, just one game where it's nice enough for a £7 outside pint. And all the better, we can't get relegated!

[Mark Kelly]

Remember the days where on the last game of the season we'd give someone a footballing lesson? 

This year we're hoping they've already qualified for the Champions league. 

[Blue Moon]

5 hours ago, asvaberg said:

The guy behind Year of the Cat album, Al Stewart, also has a song titled Football Hero. The lyric fits well for our season= wasted chances

Won’t ever forgive Al Stewart for his exaggeration in Love Chronicles:  “I missed the bus and walked 12 miles home”. It’s nine miles at most from Bournemouth to Wimborne - I’ve walked it. He sang that at the Bournemouth Winter Gardens in the early 70s and was greeted by a roar of “bollocks” from the assembled masses. Might be trivial, but where else did he exaggerate? Blaming impotence on marijuana?  Poetic licence is one thing, but don’t display it when you’re playing to locals …

[xceleryx]

Despite having quite a bit going on behind the scenes in life and football generally being one of the rare little escapes, I've never wanted a season to finish more than I have this one - it's been a long uphill battle from the very beginning with little enjoyment factor attached.

 

[Blue Moon]

I treat it like a sesh in the gym. A necessary evil. On occasion, the trainer says "well done, I'd added 5kg while you weren't looking" and it all seems worthwhile.

[Holymoly]

Looking back to the beginning of the season I suppose we should be grateful that we've still got a club to support. Back then, after a summer of dubious acquisitions most of us expected a season of transition, a period of consolidation and rebuilding. The rational among us fully expected finishing outside the top four however few honestly believed we would end up quite so close to the bottom four. The warning signs for me were signalled during pre-season when we capitulated completely against Arsenal 4-0. Things began going down hill resulting in Tuchel's departure, the true reasons yet to come to light, accelerated during Potter and by the time Frank took the helm the squad was a complete mess with no leadership, no application, no goals and no motivation. This is where we are today. To have collapsed as a club so completely in such a short period of time is humbling. If we continue the slide from this position then we will be facing relegation this time next season.

What we need is some sign of better times ahead. Is it overly optimistic that we could see it on the last day of the season? It would certainly give the new manager something to build on. Even in the the bad old days of Division One I have never wanted to see the end of a season so badly than I do this one. This is what happens when you strip away the foundations of a club entirely and try to build a skyscraper with mountains of money but no blueprint. Pre-season will be interesting times at Chelsea FC.