Chelsea v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Malandro]

John Terry handball, paid for exclusively by Sky Sports.

[Jimbo]

There is no big conspiracy here but referees certainly think twice when giving anything marginal against a "Sky-profile" team and it's hard not to have sympathy.

Give the decision against Villa or Norwich and it will be shrugged off, but as has been mentioned before, a referee runs the risk of being hung out to dry via the media and his career can be negatively affected. This is probably what occurred to Friend last night, hard to swallow for us maybe but a fact of life in a game that has sold it's soul to the highest bidder.

Sky are happy, the PL are happy, Chelsea are happy.

We are fuming, but in the grand scheme of things, no-one else gives a fuck.

Perhaps the way forward is anonymous referees? Stick a wrestling mask on their heads. Then they can't be pilloried in the media because nobody knows who they are.

Alternatively, how about an international system, where refs are flown in from all over the world on a match-by-match basis? An individual might only ref one premiership game per season, so no time to get pally with Stevie and JT.

Nothing will happen because nobody cares when the 'smaller' club comes off the worse. They'll talk about it in the media for a day or so, but no real pressure will be brought to bear on the refs themselves. So it goes...

[eastie]

Woke up feeling good about last night, we went to the  bridge and gave Chelsea a really tough game and even mourinho admitted we deserved a draw - i really enjoyed watching the match last night and there were no weak links - everybody gave their all and contributed.

Delph was m man of the match but i was very impressed with okore when he came on , our midfield 3 looked very good and while i was critical of kea last season i have been hugely impressed with him so far - exciting times ahead , lets beat Liverpool and give ourselves a great starting base to progress from .

[Meanwood Villa]

I haven't seen the decisions so I'm not sure how blatant they are but what I will say is any big call, like sending one of their players off or giving a last minute penalty, and the ref knows the back pages will be full of Mourinho giving him shit. That's bound to play a part in his thinking.
Did I hear it right that the ref from the Arsenal game has been rested this weekend? If so that's absolutely outrageous. Being completely fair the second pen and the sending off were marginal calls but it's not like they were bad mistakes. What message does that send to anyone reffing away at the "big" teams' grounds?

[Brian Taylor]

So we let the get away with it. Tsk tsk!  Onwards to the Liverpool game' and no mistakes this time. They are going to be thinking about the transformation in our prospects soon, and by thinking I mean those shocked by our newfound undoubted ability. Those we leave confused by their inadequacy, lying by the wayside!

[jeowje]

Yep, usually my first thought when i wake up after a defeat is 'oh shit!' when the reslisation hits, but this morning im still happy and positive.

Can't wait for Saturday now, just gutted im not going to be there!

[l_mckay]

Really am gutted about the decisions we didn't get but I'm really happy with the way we played,this team really does work hard for eachother and we are going to give most teams a really good test,bring on them lot on Saturday!

[Ron Manager]

That performance augers very well for the future. Forgetting the injustices Lambert has to look at the contribution of Weimann in particular.He missed an easy chance (at this level) to put us in the lead and a scoreable chance when Benteke headed it on to him.

Im starting to have doubts about how good he will be. The effort,belief and aggression are there but he needs to move up a level or two.

[SamTheMouse]

Not too bothered about the result, strangely. Just very pleased with the organisation, energy and flair and the fact that we have played two of the 'big teams' now and looked relatively comfortable.

[Deano's Mullet]

I'm more pissed off with Mourinho's comments this morning than I was last night. Just wait until decisions go against his team. Twat!

[DB]

I'm more pissed off with Mourinho's comments this morning than I was last night. Just wait until decisions go against his team. Twat!

That's the thing though, they won't. If that was any other manager (apart from Fergie) we were playing against last night, the key decisions would be different. The ref bottled it because it was Jose and it was at Stamford Bridge. I'm sick of the JM media love-in.

Didn't he say he the 2 players involved in the elbow a big players so that's why he didn't get sent off??? So if it was Delph and Mata then it would be different? What a bellend.

[Deano's Mullet]

I'm more pissed off with Mourinho's comments this morning than I was last night. Just wait until decisions go against his team. Twat!

That's the thing though, they won't. If that was any other manager (apart from Fergie) we were playing against last night, the key decisions would be different. The ref bottled it because it was Jose and it was at Stamford Bridge. I'm sick of the JM media love-in.

Didn't he say he the 2 players involved in the elbow a big players so that's why he didn't get sent off??? So if it was Delph and Mata then it would be different? What a bellend.

I dunno, if Mank U get a dodgy penalty on Monday night he might sing a different story.

[Percy McCarthy]

That performance augers very well for the future. Forgetting the injustices Lambert has to look at the contribution of Weimann in particular.He missed an easy chance (at this level) to put us in the lead and a scoreable chance when Benteke headed it on to him.

Im starting to have doubts about how good he will be. The effort,belief and aggression are there but he needs to move up a level or two.

I know what you're saying Ron and agree with you to a certain extent. I think we will persevere with him though as he understands the position so damn well. Once a couple of those chances go in he'll be flying again I reckon.

Everything else is tickety-boo, and the big bonus for me is how well KEA  has played so far. Looked off the pace last year but seems to be getting to grips now. I also think we'll see the best of the full-backs when we're playing the weaker (than Chelsea) teams, which let's face it is nearly everybody, as their strength is going forward.

Great to see Vlaar looking better too.

It all adds up to us getting  two of our hardest fixtures out the way, having three points and a positive goal difference, and being the better team (away remember) on both occasions. It's all good.

[phantom limb]

The thing is with Mourinho coming out with all of this tripe means that you can tell that we gave him a scare. If they'd have steamrollered over us again he'd be very complimentary. I like to hear that Lambert was allegedly contesting every decision, it shows he wants to win regardless of who we are playing.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Three points with an all in one thread.
Defeat when we revert to the old system.