The Prophet

But Malaga are much, much better than Hull.

Aye sign me up for the next match.

Championship football is good, I'd just prefer it wasn't us down there. I'd like to say on our own patch we're capable of beating anyone in that league but who knows what the starting eleven will look like if we go down. Anyone the league is full of teams capable of beating bottom half Premier League sides on their own patch. Normally you see relatively large crowds and half decent atmospheres. Providing we buy right in the summer they'd be no one I'd fear in that league. For me Boro aren't well equipped enough to come straight back up. The yo-yo teams such as West Brom, Sheffield United, and Reading will be the biggest threat while some of the less well know sides who have been building over the years could push from promotion ala Cardiff and Preston. There's usually a couple of suprise packages too such as Swansea this year and Bristol City the year before. I'd be looking at Derby with the newly appointed Clough or a real outide shout is Forest with Billy Davies in charge. It will also be interesting to see how Peterborough fair after two consecutive promotions. Edit: Forgot about Ipswich too, Keane had an instant impact as Sunderland manager but he'll have limited resources and a much, much tighter budget, curious times.

Shame, I'd really like to go.

What a fantastic thread because petty point scoring will make all our troubles go away. You can't defend Ashley, but there again you can't defend Llambias, Wise, Shepherd, Keegan, Kinnear, Hughton, the players and in part the fans. This season has led us from one nightmare to the next and everyone has to take a share of the blame. Ashley's problem? His inexperience of the game. If we believe what we read he was advised to create a "system" for scouting and raising young players multiplying their sell on value. He allegedly modelled this on Arsenal, this is mealy allegation but if of course true he foolishly didn't take into account the Arsenal system is flawed. First and foremost Arsenal already had a strong title winning side from the George Graham era when they put their system into place. The other point to note is Arsenal are beginning to struggle in the current climate. For a large part of this season they looked like dropping out of the top four with Wenger finally admitting he'll have to splash the cash in the summer. So OK he puts this scouting network in place I can live with that. But for the board, including himself, to appoint Keegan was an utter disaster. Keegan was never, ever going to work with the system in place. From the off no one was sure who was buying the players and it all came to a head on deadline day. From that moment on the club has lurched from one bad appointment to the next. So Ashley's inexperience in the game has cost us but there again so has his stupidity. Shepherd bled the club dry financially, but for Ashley to not even bother with due diligence before taking over is just utter foolishness. Surely such a successful bloke in his field would see such a process as common sense? So yeah Ashley has made many a mistake since he took over, but there again so have those listed in the opening paragraph. Of course being at the top of the tree Ashley will understandably take most of the flak but I'm unsure what finger pointing and playing the blame game is going to achieve. What's done is done, we've already taken the damage. Ashley will leave on his own terms, not because of the want of the fans. So no I'm not an Ashley apologist but at the same time I don't pin all of the blame on him alone.

Just gets me aggravated every time I see it. That decision alone isn't the reason we'll be relegated by a long shot but the fact is our fate would still be in our own hands if he'd allowed it. Awful, awful decision, should be fucking strung up from the Tyne Bridge.

1-1 Us to start well and nick an early goal. The rest of the game to be dominated by Villa wasting chances before taking one. It will be left to us to hope and pray that Hull don't find a goal after going 1-0 down to a make shift Man United team.

Monday was all about relief. The final whistle brought feelings of joy and hope, a feeling not felt since that draw at Manchester United on the opening day, but today summed up the rest of the season for me. We were let down by bad luck a lack of relief and most importantly a lack of back bone. The win on Monday should of been a stepping stone to safety. Fulham are a superior team to us but given the right performance we are more than capable of turning them over, we just needed to believe. From kick off there was a strangely negative atmosphere around the ground. It might of been anxiety, nervousness or apprehension but it wasn't good. It never really got any better either and that's no surprise given the lacklustre performance of the players. The atmosphere and the performance tend to go hand in hand but today the players gave the fans nothing and the spectators returned the favour with only rare glimpses of the atmosphere on Monday night. Of course it could of been oh so different if that decision had gone our way. Some ref's would have given it some wouldn't, but any home fan in such a high stakes game would expect that decision to be given in favour of their team whatever the occasion. Put it this way if that had of been in front of the Kop, or the Stretford end I'd of expected an entirely different result. You win some, you lose some and it was decision typically given against a team in our position. As for the Bassong decision I can have no complaints, the lad made a poorly calculated mistake that put our backs even further to the wall, it was really poor from a one of the more consistent performers this season. But what disappointed me more than anything was our absolute lack of any kind of back bone. We approached the game with a pedestrian pace and were an absolute shadow of the side we saw on Monday. Just like so many times this season we were let down by a lack of conviction, the want of trying. That pretty sums up far too much of our season for and that if anything will send us down. Now we need a miracle, it’s going to the wire and the players have no one to blame but themselves.

I honestly think the game next week has draw written all over it, it's all on Man United for me.

Aye I'm sure you'd be saying the same thing if that goal was chalked off for Everton, the goal should have stood simple as that. Although a team with seven wins over an entire season doesn't really deserve to stay up, bettering Hull's result is still do-able but I'm not hopeful.

Im normally positive, but the scores and league table don't lie. We are dejected for a reason, carry on with your delusion if you want. Aye positive result on monday, crap atmosphere and general negativity from the fans, spot on, just what we needed. We'd be winning if people would clap more. That's been the problem all season. Let's not blame the players. Oh fuck off man I clearly didn't mean it like that, the players obviously have to take the stick but a decent atmosphere could of helped, the lack of positivity was mind boggling considering the result on Monday.

Im normally positive, but the scores and league table don't lie. We are dejected for a reason, carry on with your delusion if you want. Aye positive result on monday, crap atmosphere and general negativity from the fans, spot on, just what we needed.

Too many fans like James inside the ground, constant negativity since kick off.

Come on you spineless pricks have a go.

Surely Harper has to take a bit of the blame for the sending off?

Got the lot with 12 seconds remaining.

Got 42, was stuck on Southampton for about two minutes.

Everyone has their key players. Man United struggled when their defence was plagued with injuey ans suspension not too long ago.

It's a difficult question. For me a salary cap should be imposed on the game anyway, the amount footballers get paid to in comparison to other more significant professions is ridiculous. However it's difficult to gauge if this would have any effect on players decision to join the bigger more powerful clubs. Not only will the big clubs already have a base of quality players but they will still have the attraction, they are still the richest and they will still be more likely than not competing in the European competitions on a regular basis. If you were a player looking to make a name for yourself would you join Manchester United or Arsenal or would you look twice at a club like Stoke City? It's difficult because of course a salary cap puts everyone on a level playing field in terms of wages which for me would help the cause of the chasing pack even if only marginally. Overall though I do think there would be more benefit than harm, although it would be daft to think the limitation would be the absolute solution. Again imposing a minimum amount of English players has similar pitfalls. The better teams generally have the better academies and attract the better young prospects. In this area what really needs to be improved is the protection of smaller clubs from having their youngsters poached. This became evident in the whole John Bostock row. U-18 contracts need to have better enforceability for protection purposes. What I do like the idea of is the system in place in the Dutch league. The top two qualify for Europe while third, forth, fifth and sixth enter a play off. The winner qualifies for the Champions League while the rest settle for UEFA cup spots. Something like that over here maybe involving forth, fifth, sixth and seventh would be excellent. Not only would it give those mid-table teams some extra incentive but any qualification could lead to the riches of the Champions League. A gap has opened up between the wealthy and the poor and no matter what controlling system is imposed it is still going to take time for any potential chasers to catch up. The big teams will still have the money, the quality and the European football. The so called big four have got two far away while the FA have done nothing but back them due to the income they receive from around the globe. This has let them get so much of a head start that anything they attempt to do now to bridge the gap may not take effect for many, many years.

Move out teh zone if we win, come on.

You've put it much better than I've tried to for the past hour. Thanks I appreciate that football should be played to be won, as opposed to not being beaten. However, Football is a sport, not an entertainment business - fans want to win, not to be entertained. Your spot on it goes back to that ridiculous quote we got tagged with: "we'd rather lose 4-3 than win 1-0" of course we'd rather win, but Chelseas weren't even playing to win they were playing not to get beat, particulalrly in the first leg. Chelsea are good enought to play a bit of football and still win, if I was a season ticket holder at Stamford Bridge I'd be completely underwhelmed by what I saw tonight. They literally had two banks of five in front of the keeper for large parts of the game, is that really playing to win? Spot on tactics in the first game, gave them a great chance to win it today. Early goal scored, they're winning at this point. They reckoned the best chance of them to get the win was by parking the bus, and they really couldn't have been closer to being successful, against the team that is arguably the best on the planet. But that's the point I'm trying to make. Did the fans, who are supposed to support one of the best teams in the world, travel all the way to the Nou Camp to watch the football they got? There's a difference between shiteing and riving your arse. Teams worse than Chelsea have nicked results from Barca by effectively combining defensive football with an effective counter attacking game, Chelsea didn't even show that, they rarely bothered to cross the half way line. I rarely agree with the Sky Commentary team but they were spot on when they said realistically Chelsea needed two goals tonight to secure a safe passage through to the final. They turned up to sit back and continued to sit back when they scored the first. Does an ambitious team trying to reach the Champions League final really try to hold on a one goal lead against a side capable of scoring at any given moment? It was dull and it was dull because the football they tried to play was too negative. Thankfully it back fired on them

You've put it much better than I've tried to for the past hour. Thanks I appreciate that football should be played to be won, as opposed to not being beaten. However, Football is a sport, not an entertainment business - fans want to win, not to be entertained. Your spot on it goes back to that ridiculous quote we got tagged with: "we'd rather lose 4-3 than win 1-0" of course we'd rather win, but Chelsea weren't even playing to win they were playing not to get beat, particulalrly in the first leg. Chelsea are good enough to play a bit of football and still win, if I was a season ticket holder at Stamford Bridge I'd be completely underwhelmed by what I saw tonight. They literally had two banks of five in front of the keeper for large parts of the game, is that really playing to win?

This wasn't justice for football it was justice for the paying fan. Did those thousands of Chelsea fans want to be bored silly by their own team? Do millions of homes across the country pay sky subscriptions to watch ten men line up behind the ball? No because the paying fan is the most neglected person in football. I agree Hiddink had every right to set up the way he did. Going toe to toe with Barca would of been footballing suicide but you've got to have a balance. Chelsea are supposed to be one of the best teams in Europe, they are capable of playing some good stuff but instead they hid because getting the final was more important to them than providing a bit of entertainment to their fans. No they weren't being asked to go and take Barca apart but they could of at least tried to play a bit of football. Yes I know they created the odd chance but each and every one of those chances came from a long ball pumped out from the back four. This was a justice for the fan because at the end of the day its the fans game. I'd weep the day I see two teams playing such negative, defensive football week in-week out. I understand why Chelsea did it, the need for a result, the pressure to get the final and the riches that go along with it but at the end of the day football is still a fans game. It may be an ever expanding business but I along with supporters all over the country do not put money into these greedy wankers pockets to see that kind of football. That is why, for me, justice was done.

It was brought about to stop the kind of football Chelsea played at the Nou Camp, it's as dull as dish water for the neutral spectators.