Aston Villa v Chelsea Pre match

[Drummond]

The manager who got fewer points than Gerrard over the same period last year?

So you keep saying, and yet one is struggling to keep his job and has one of the worst loss percentages in our history, the other is now employed by a club whose aim is to win trophies. I know which i'd rather have in our dugout.

Yes, me too.

I strongly suspect neither of you would have been saying that around the start of April last season, when he'd just:


Taken 7 points from 11 games
Lost 6 games in a row, scoring one goal in the process.

Especially after an earlier period from September to December with no wins in 12 games.

And surely the ultimate sin, getting dicked home and away by Gerrard's Villa.

Are you saying you'd rather have Gerrard?

[rob_bridge]

3 weeks ago I would have maybe picked a bore draw

They are going to make mincemeat out of us

[Ads]

What's the point? Ellis Out...Dr Jo's gotta go...Gregory's gone stale...O'Neill toys and pram...Dean too nice....when are our fun-times?

BELGIANS IN THE CONGO!

[Mortimer's Bear]

4-0 home win

[Allan C]

The manager who got fewer points than Gerrard over the same period last year?

So you keep saying, and yet one is struggling to keep his job and has one of the worst loss percentages in our history, the other is now employed by a club whose aim is to win trophies. I know which i'd rather have in our dugout.

Let’s just see what happens when one starts getting a run of poor results shall we

[boozey182]

I get why people are saying that they can't be bothered with this one, but I think this could be one of those "I was there when..." matches. (Some of) the away fans turned on Gerrard on Monday, and that is a huge sign that the fan base, as a whole, are fed up with him. What's more, he doesn't have any goodwill in the bank really. We didn't like him as a player and he's done very little to ingratiate himself to the fans while he's been here. He's arrogant and not very good - that's not a combination that will endear yourself to many. If the gloves are off it could get quite hostile towards him, should the game go the way most of us expect.

I think we have a reputation as being quite an impatient fan base, but I really don't think that is the case. In the 30+ years I've been going, I can only think of a handful of times where there has been a proper outcry for a manager to go - when you consider how shit we've been for a lot of that time, I would say we are often far too patient! The fact that it was very late in the season before we turned on McLeish says a lot - we could see that he was clearly the wrong choice, but we gave him a chance. So what we may see on Sunday could be quite rare.

Obviously, I hope we get a result. We need to keep in touch as much as possible with the top half for when the next guy comes in, and every point makes a huge difference this season. But if they get an early goal, I have no idea how the crowd will react. My gut tells me that there is quite a lot of frustration at the moment - the summer was supposed to be the turning point where we challenge for Europe, and a lot of people feel like they've been lied to. That could all come spilling out this weekend, and it won't be pretty.

[Clampy]

The manager who got fewer points than Gerrard over the same period last year?

So you keep saying, and yet one is struggling to keep his job and has one of the worst loss percentages in our history, the other is now employed by a club whose aim is to win trophies. I know which i'd rather have in our dugout.

Let’s just see what happens when one starts getting a run of poor results shall we

Yep. Potter will be out the door if they have a few iffy
results or go out of Europe. Its what they do.

[Risso]

If I was Gerrard, I'd be setting up something like this:

            Martinez

Cash   Konsa       Mings     Young

Luiz        Chambers/Dedoncker

Buendia/Bailey       Ramsey/McGinn       Coutinho/Buendia

                   Ings/Watkins

Basically a 4-2-3-1 with the three behind the striker given more licence to attack without as much responsibility for defending as well. I think I'd start Ings over Watkins. Watkins has been in dire form, and Ings is a completely useless sub so reverse the roles for a few games. Any combination of Buendia/McGinn/Ramsey/Bailey/Coutinho you like.

[eamonn]

Chambers is definitely worth a go either as a stopper or in defence. He's rarely let us down.

[Sexual Ealing]

The manager who got fewer points than Gerrard over the same period last year?

So you keep saying, and yet one is struggling to keep his job and has one of the worst loss percentages in our history, the other is now employed by a club whose aim is to win trophies. I know which i'd rather have in our dugout.

Yes, me too.

I strongly suspect neither of you would have been saying that around the start of April last season, when he'd just:


Taken 7 points from 11 games
Lost 6 games in a row, scoring one goal in the process.

Especially after an earlier period from September to December with no wins in 12 games.

And surely the ultimate sin, getting dicked home and away by Gerrard's Villa.

I would've preferred him last April, and I absolutely would prefer him now.

[PhilVill]

A stroll for Chelsea, fans turn against the management big style and Mr Gerrard terrorising DJ's in Southport again by student night next Wednesday.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't think it will be a stroll, I think it will be a hard fought scrappy 1-0 or 2-1, allowing Gerrard to point to a particular miss or dodgy decision and blame that. He keeps getting the bare minimum results to stay on and I expect that to continue. Wouldn't be totally amazed if we sneak a draw.

[Drummond]

I don't think it will be a stroll, I think it will be a hard fought scrappy 1-0 or 2-1, allowing Gerrard to point to a particular miss or dodgy decision and blame that. He keeps getting the bare minimum results to stay on and I expect that to continue. Wouldn't be totally amazed if we sneak a draw.

Yep, I think you're right. Though would love to get a resounding win with lots of magic moments after all the senior players step-up.

[Legion]

0-2.

Watkins to start. Ings to be brought on to replace him. Archer to have treatment for arse splinters.

[Dr Butler]

sadly a loss and booing around the ground at the end.

UTV
The Doc