fernb8's End of Season Analysis/Opinions/Thoughts

[fernb8]

Well ladies and gents its back after a hiatus last season. As many of you are well aware I do an end of season analysis, etc which I have done for several seasons now, with the exception of last season, which like that fat girl in college, is best left undiscussed.

So the 2008-09 Season for me in a nutshell...

a very big nutshell.

Biggest Disapointments/Negatives

1. Luis Felipe Scolari- yes I drank the kool aid and thought we had finally landed a good manager after the Grant debalce and the constant links to underserving managers over the summer. Tough, discplined, no nonsense we had a guy who instill the discipline sorely lacking under Grant and who would easily bring trophies to us. Well that all went pair shaped on September 26, 2009 when it suddenly became obvious that despite such a fantastic start, Scolari had no Plan B. Playing favourites, wasted substitutions, crazy zonal marking, lack of fitness, and a player revolt all soon followed and thankfully for all involved he was sacked after three months of horrendous play and poor results. What a shame for all involved but what a disapointment Scolari turned out to be. For me a huge part of several of the issues with the club this season and cause of a great deal of our failure.

2. Deco- 8 mil for one great game against Pompey, one well taken free kick in a largely unimpressive and underwhelming game against Wigan and wonder goal against Blackburn. Completely the wrong player for this League and the only positive I will leave him with is that I rarely saw him dive or play act. Terrible investment which could have been spent elsehwere and he continued to take time away from those more worthy.

3. The Transfer Policy- definately some credit for Boswgina which addressed our RB needs but that was followed by a 31 year old midfielder who could not find his feet in this League and two Portuguese wingers on loan who failed to make a significant impact, along with a Brazilian who did nothing but take a few mintues from a youngster. The Robinho debacle springs to mind as it shows our clear lack of planning and poor transfer policy and negotitiations. Our solution to address our despearate needs in January by selling players at positions where we dont have a lot of experienced depth? Really have to wonder who is driving our transfer short bus atm.

4. Injuries and medical staff- once again another season where several players missed time due to injuries, several of which could have been avoided with proper treatment or diagnosis-Essien, J. Cole and Carvs being some of the long term players in this group. How the feck does our medical staff ignore a diagnosis that Essien has a minor tear which will get worse and rupture... WTF!. Injuries to Malouda, Alex, Drogba, Ballack, Ferreira, Belletti, Deco, Kalou, Anelka and Boswinga plauged us throughout the season. Seriously one of the major continuing failing parts of this club over that past few seasons.

5. Losing the home record- itwas going to happen but happened in such a spineless way with little to no fight with that cheating little twat scoring- it just doesnt sit right with me.

6. Michael Ballack- after a season where he almost won POTY in a 5 month span, most of thought we would finally see that player we all wanted to and hope to see. We were yet again disapointed with another season of injury, mediocrity and subpar performances where many felt he was being played on prior reputation rather than performance. 1 goal in 24 League apps (in mid April), 3 in the FA Cup against Championship/League One opposition, and 0 in 7 apps in the CL really makes one wonder if he is worth the hassle.

7. Wing Play- as well as he played late on- Malouda was shyte for 3/4 of the season and Kalou was a massive disapointment. Mixed in with yet again another injury for Joe Cole and Sinclair failing to impress yet another manager and our wing play was very, very poor. That is until Guus came along and secretly placed Ribery in a Malouda costume.

8. Petr Cech- my oh my what happened to Petr. Always had such a safe pair of hands and he turned into such a liability in some games. Flapping at crosses mixed in with some howler it was not an impressive year for the big lad. However, he did make some huge saves and had a few games where he looked like himself. Hopefully he will sort himself out this summer.

9. Off field drama- the bollox this season with the Lampard contract saga, the Robinho incidnet, the Drogba coin throwing incident, the sacking of Scolari, the internal politics of club, Roman selling the club, the bust up after the CL Semi, etc. Sometimes I just wish we would let our football do the talking.

10. Another CL Disapointment- its a double edged sword for me as its quite an honour to be as close as we have in recent years, but I just wish we could get over the hump and win the bloody thing as we have been desperately unlucky or cheated out of it too many times in recent years.

11. Letting Clarke go- the less said the better imo.


Biggest Suprises/Positives

1. Winning the FA Cup. Always great to win a trophy and the FA Cup is a great one to win. Good way to end a challenging season.

2. Guus Hiddink. 21 games- 15 wins, 5 draws, 1 loss and 1 FA Cup. The man completely turned a dismal season around. What a great guy and what an impact he made on the team and on us.

3. Frank Lampard. Another 20 goal season and in watching Frank over the years, this was the best I have seen him play. Fantastic box to box performances on a weekly basis. What a great player and how grateful we are that he signed on this summer.

4. Ashley Cole. Never, and still, not the most popular player this summer but he really showed his class this year and I think there is little doubt that a correct decision was made to stick with Ashley. Hands down our best defender this season.

5. Mikel. Really, really showed his class and maturity this season in a largely unappreciated role. One of most consistent players throughout the season.

6. The CL fixture with Liverpool. Yes we hate them and its always good to beat them, but what a two legged affair after the media intitally dubbed it another bore fest. Two cracking games.

7. Malouda for 1/4 of the season. Who the feck is this guy and what a turn around from him. From being the first name on the exit list to an almost guarantee on the team sheet. Must say it caught me off guard and was a very pleasant suprise indeed.

8. Jose Boswinga. Yes he was frustrating at times, but how many times did he give away a goal? For several seasons now we have bemoaned the lack of a quality RB and Bos immediatley solved the situation in a role which was easily overlooked. Well done to him and the club for sorting that out.

9. Getting Essien back. Little doubt was this did for our season having the Bison back. It lit a new fire in a team looking for a spark.

10. New/younger players. Yes some will roll their eyes, but at least we finally saw Mancienne in action and got to see he could more than hold his own. Ivanovic was also an immense bright spot. DiSanto and Stoch showed promise so at least it appears that with some patience the future looks good as well.

POTY


1. Lampard- duh
2. Ashley Cole- did very well
3. Mikel- deserves a nod

WPTOY

1. Deco- obvious
2. Ballack- another disapointing season
3. Kalou- just not making the grade

Goal of the Season

1. Essien vs Barca- CL (H)
2. Lamps vs Hull- Lge (A)
3. Deco vs Blackburn- Lge (A)
4. Alex vs Liverpool- CL (H)
5. Belletti vs Boro- Lge (A)

More to follow

[fernb8]

Worst games of the Season

1. Man Utd (0-3 Lge)- worst peformance I have seen in a while with such pathetic effort. LPS should have been sacked immediately after.
2. Arsenal (1-2 Lge)- another home loss where our only goal was an own goal in a sad effort.
3. Liverpool (0-1 Lge)- lost the streak without a real fight
4. Roma (1-3 CL)- shocking defending on set pieces was a sign of things to come.
5. Liverpool (0-2 Lge)- another uninspired performance where Riena didnt really make a save.
6. Bordeaux (1-1 CL)- how we got a point out of this game amazed me as we were terrible throughout
7. Burnley (1-1 CC, lost on pens)- mismanagement of the highest order combined with a lacklustre display.
8. Spurs (0-1 Lge)- the only blot on an impressive run from Hiddink and it just seemed we may crawl back into the Title race and I also hate losing that fecking lot.
9. Southend (1-1 FA Cup)- more shoddy marking on a set piece after horrendous finishing in front of goal
10. Hull (0-0 Lge)- the game summarised how poor Scolari was.

Best Games of the Season

1. Everton (2-1 FA Cup)- hey we won the bloody thing alright.
2. Liverpool (3-1 CL)- completely and utterly outplayed them at their gaff and beat them at their game. Bloody love it.
3. Liverpool (4-4 CL)- my cardiologist still lives off this game. What a cracker for all involved.
4. Villa (2-0 Lge)- a very impressive performance with some non regular players.
5. Arsenal (4-1 Lge)- always great to beat Arsenal, even better to do so at their place
6. Bordeaux (4-0 CL)- really made them look second rate, which they were not.
7. Man City (3-1 Lge)- the Clash of the Cash became one sided very quickly
8. Pompey (4-0 Lge)- the start of something special under Scolari was not to be.
9. Juventus (1-0 CL)- such an important fixture for us with all that was going on and I thought we passed with flying colours.
10. The 5-0s. Sunderland and Boro (both Lge)- could have had 10 in both.

Prem Team of the Season

Starters listed first, reserves second.

GK- Schwarzer, Van der Sar
RB- Boswinga, Glen Johnson
CD- Phil Jagielka, Rio Ferdinand
CD- Nemanja Vidic, Brede Hangeland
LB- Patrice Evra, Ashley Cole
RM- Stephen Ireland, Aaron Lennon
CM- Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard
CM- Xabi Alonso, Wilson Palacios
LM- Ashley Young, Andrei Arshavin
F- Fernando Torres, Wayne Rooney
F- Ronaldo, Nicolas Anelka

Manager- Roy Hogson

Prem Worst Team of the Season

GK- Scott Carson, Ross Turnbull
RB- Andre Oojier, Pacal Chimbonda
CD- Anton Ferdinand, Chris Riggott
CD- Fabricio Colocinni, Jonas Olsson
LB- Jose Enrique, Andrea Dossena
RM- David Bentley,
CM- Deco, Kevin Nolan
CM- Joey Barton
LM- Stuart Downing, Giovanni Dos Santos
F- Michael Owen, Dave Kitson
F- Alfonso Alves, Xisco

[fernb8]

as always lads feel free to chime in

thanks

[blackjack]

great posts fern, wish i had some rep for you.

[Portugeezer!]

Biggest Disapointments/Negatives

1. Luis Felipe Scolari- yes I drank the kool aid and thought we had finally landed a good manager after the Grant debalce and the constant links to underserving managers over the summer. Tough, discplined, no nonsense we had a guy who instill the discipline sorely lacking under Grant and who would easily bring trophies to us. Well that all went pair shaped on September 26, 2009 when it suddenly became obvious that despite such a fantastic start, Scolari had no Plan B. Playing favourites, wasted substitutions, crazy zonal marking, lack of fitness, and a player revolt all soon followed and thankfully for all involved he was sacked after three months of horrendous play and poor results. What a shame for all involved but what a disapointment Scolari turned out to be. For me a huge part of several of the issues with the club this season and cause of a great deal of our failure.

Agreed. Being Portuguese, knowing his faults coming in, I still didn't think he would fail like he did. I liked him as Portuguese manager, wasn't perfect, but he brought a Portuguese side further than they probably deserved to go. He got the results, brought discipline, was able to motivate and bring confidence and gave call ups to some youngsters(Ronaldo, Nani). But yet, he brought none of those qualities to Chelsea. It was just a bad experience.



3. The Transfer Policy- definately some credit for Boswgina which addressed our RB needs but that was followed by a 31 year old midfielder who could not find his feet in this League and two Portuguese wingers on loan who failed to make a significant impact, along with a Brazilian who did nothing but take a few mintues from a youngster. The Robinho debacle springs to mind as it shows our clear lack of planning and poor transfer policy and negotitiations. Our solution to address our despearate needs in January by selling players at positions where we dont have a lot of experienced depth? Really have to wonder who is driving our transfer short bus atm.

IMO Mineiro was a non-issue. He was brought in on a free as back up in case of an injury to Mikel after the loss of Essien. He made one appearance, so I don't see how he was taking minutes away from anybody.

4. Injuries and medical staff- once again another season where several players missed time due to injuries, several of which could have been avoided with proper treatment or diagnosis-Essien, J. Cole and Carvs being some of the long term players in this group. How the feck does our medical staff ignore a diagnosis that Essien has a minor tear which will get worse and rupture... WTF!. Injuries to Malouda, Alex, Drogba, Ballack, Ferreira, Belletti, Deco, Kalou, Anelka and Boswinga plauged us throughout the season. Seriously one of the major continuing failing parts of this club over that past few seasons.

Yup, this has become a huge problem the last few seasons and to me not the sole, but one of the main reasons why we keep losing the title to United. We need major improvements in this department.

5. Losing the home record- itwas going to happen but happened in such a spineless way with little to no fight with that cheating little twat scoring- it just doesnt sit right with me.

Where it all went wrong part I

6. Michael Ballack- after a season where he almost won POTY in a 5 month span, most of thought we would finally see that player we all wanted to and hope to see. We were yet again disapointed with another season of injury, mediocrity and subpar performances where many felt he was being played on prior reputation rather than performance. 1 goal in 24 League apps (in mid April), 3 in the FA Cup against Championship/League One opposition, and 0 in 7 apps in the CL really makes one wonder if he is worth the hassle.


Awful awful awful. Nice tackle today though against Anelka.:rolleyes: He needs to go...now!

8. Petr Cech- my oh my what happened to Petr. Always had such a safe pair of hands and he turned into such a liability in some games. Flapping at crosses mixed in with some howler it was not an impressive year for the big lad. However, he did make some huge saves and had a few games where he looked like himself. Hopefully he will sort himself out this summer.


Yes he's made his mistakes, but overall he's been great. Not the form of his 1st two year, but we still gave up the least goals in the league.

11. Letting Clarke go- the less said the better imo.


Where it all went wrong part II. Scolari should have done more to make him feel more involved. That said, he said he wanted to leave so he could get a shot at being a head manager, but then goes and signs with West Ham and later extends contract to be Zola's assistant. :rolleyes:

Biggest Suprises/Positives
2. Guus Hiddink. 21 games- 15 wins, 5 draws, 1 loss and 1 FA Cup. The man completely turned a dismal season around. What a great guy and what an impact he made on the team and on us.

I have wanted him at Chelsea since Mourinho left. Glad he came, but feel cheated that its been for such a short time. Hope to god he comes back.

[lobomojo]

as always lads feel free to chime in

thanks

impressive little effer you are sometimes:D

well done!

Lennon finished strong but inconsistent over the year and missed a bit, I think Kuyt belongs there or somewhere, been an impresive workhorse plus found some goals, and Evra was shockingly awful at times and for about a month solid, no way he beats Cole; personlly I'd put Mikel in there, he and Frank were awsome the first haf playing two roles each...

Cech...too harrsh had some shockers, but had some bliinders still as well, his demise is greatly exagerated, even with not so big after all Phil, zonal marking, no Carv, an imconsistent Alex, we still had the fewest goals allowed

[yasik19]

Good write-up fern. Agree with team of the season and I agree with the list of disappointments.

[Macksam]

1) Where it all went wrong part I



2) Awful awful awful. Nice tackle today though against Anelka.:rolleyes: He needs to go...now!

1) Indeed. I thought we were going to keep our home undefeated record forever.

2) I laughed when he ran into Anelka. That was funny stuff.

[Lamps>Gerrard]

Great posts!

I still feel we can take something positive away from the CL. We had such an impressive run against so many good teams, and in the end it took a crap referee to spoil it.

We went through the likes of Roma (albeit losing away 3-1), Juventus, Liverpool, and then we go away to Barca, and prevent them from scoring for the first game in something like 40.

[juanca]

You won a Trophy!!!

[Kazuma]

My thoughts:

Pros:

1. Lampard was amazing as usual. Best player in the world and has been keeping up this form for the last few years and not being a one season wonder like most people tend to judge players on nowadays.

2. While I admit that I insisted staying with Scolari, sacking him and getting Hiddink was brilliant.

3. Mancienne and Ivanovic look great. How crazy was it that two youngsters in Stoch and Di Santo saved our skins?

4. Fa Cup.

Cons:

1. Losing to Man Utd in that way.

2. Drawing and losing to Spurs.

3. The home record.

4. Retarded refs all around.

5. Drawing and losing to Spurs.

6. Finishing behind Liverpool.

7. Drawing and losing to Spurs.

Bittersweet:

1. We kept the almighty Barcelona attack quiet that everyone likes to orgasm over. Were it not for a ref who has the intelligence of a heroin addict snail or Barca players fouling us like mad, we would've gone through.

2. Hiddink. Shame he has to go.

So, overall, an FA Cup is good, and I have one final thing to say:

******** UEFA and ******** the haters, because we are the famous CFC.

[Dear_Claudio]

You won a Trophy!!!
And Arsenal didn't... again! Lalalalalalalala!


Excellent write up, very few minor details I could even begin to argue about. Sadly, I must spread some rep. I'm tired as hell after getting up early for the Cup then working all night so I'll add tomorrow:)

[fernb8]

thanks for the feedback so far, this next section may promote a little more debate but so be it

Player Grades 2008-09

Listed by number.

Petr Cech (C-). 54 apps, 40 goals conceeded. May seem a little harsh as I agree with lobo and others that several of the goals we conceeded were down to poor defending or organisation under the Scolari era (not having a man on either post... FFS). But Petr had a few howlers and flapped at entirely too many crosses for my liking. I suppose it says a lot about the high standards he has set throughout his career that he could receive poor marks due to some subpar displays. Taking nothing away from some of his better games and stronger performances but this was the worst season he has had with the club to date.

Branislav Ivanovic (A-). 26 apps, 2 goals. Finally got to see what we paid close to 10 mil for and he really looked worth every penny. Some very, very good performances in both CD and at RB and what a way to really show his prescence that night at Anfield. Really showed a nice mixture of technical ability and brawn throughout the season and looks to have a very bright future with the club.

Ashley Cole (A+). 49 apps, 1 goal. Little doubt that this was his best season with the club as he found a new role by bombing foward and chipping in on the attacking end instead of being leashed into his own half. Gave very little away at the back in a very good defensive season and contributed a great deal going foward by providing some valuable link up play with the midfield.

Michael Essien (A-). 19 apps, 3 goals. Little doubt on what his return did to spark our season and it showed just how much we missed his presence. Really came back with a vengance but seemed to slow down just a bit towards the end of the season and the return to full competitive matches seemed to take its toll on him. Nevertheless another impressive, albiet short season for the Bison.

Ricardo Carvalho (C-). 18 games. 1 goal. An injury plauged season in which he formed really dipped. Had just a handfull of solid games and looked quite vunerable in others. Much like Cech in that he has set a high standard which many of us are used to seeing and he failed to maintain that mark this season. Hope he returns to full health and form next season.

Frank Lampard (A+). 57 apps, 20 goals. Any doubts as to what a great player he is were completely erased this season. A truely fantastic season where he turned in several MOTM perfomances and proved to be the defintion of box to box midfielder. I can not give the man enough plaudits and one has to wonder when the media and other pundits will catch on.

Franco DiSanto (B+). 16 apps, 0 goals. The lad never looked out of his depth and was a little unlucky not to have a goal by his name this season. Unfortunately most of his appearances were insiginficant 2-3 minute cameos but he has shown in the longer run outs that he can compete at this level.

Joe Cole (B-). 20 apps, 3 goals. Shame for the lad as I really think he would have shown so much more quality under Hiddink, but had his season cut short due to injury on Feb. 14. Showed some flashes, but also some bad traits of running down alleys. Some of the issues I do believe were related to adjusting to Boswinga playing in an advanced role and if given time I believe we may have seen a great combination develop on the right side as we did on the left. Thought we saw mostly good stuff from Joe until he was ruled out by injury.

Didier Drogba (B+). 42 apps, 14 goals. I just dont think you can grade him without taking the Scolari/Hiddink factor into account. He played 21 games for Scolari had 2 goals and played 21 for Hiddink and had 12! No doubt that he looked a new player and back to his old menacing self, chipping in on both ends, adding assists and being almost unplayable at times under Hiddink. Would have to include his poor form under Scolari and the coin throwing incidnet as to why he was not graded higher but as always with Drogs when he is up for it he is a fantastic player and when he is not he is insanely frustrating.

John Obi Mikel (A). 49 apps, 0 goals. Another very consistent performer this season and I have to say that one of the most interesting stats is zero red cards which says a lot about his maturity as several teams clearly targeted him to wind him up. His calming influence and possession oriented play was crucial to the team this season and I think his positioning and defensive play got better as well. I would like to see him improve his tackling, which has gotten a lot better, and definately work on his play in the final third but this lad looks worth every penny and then some and should be a key component to the future of this club.

Michael Ballack (D). 46 apps, 4 goas. A real dissapointment imo. His lone goal in the Prem came in April and his remaining three came against Championship/League One clubs in the Cup. After such a promising display towards the end of last season he once again produced continual subpar and poor performances, with only a handfull of games being considered good. Missed several crucial goals which could have affected the outcome of the game and continually slowed down the pace of the game in the midfield while gifting possession to the opposition. He did show that he is once again a useful player at times in the Cups and in Europe but for the most part this was a very below average season from Ballack.

Florent Malouda (C+). 47 apps, 9 goals. Some may think that this grade is a little harsh as he ended the season in fantastic form and looked a new man under Hiddink, but remember prior to that he was arguably our worst player and was subbed off at half time on a few occasions. For me I think the real turn around came away to Newcastle which was on April 4 and things kept going upwards from their so based on that run in 14 games with 4 goals and mostly several good to very good performances his grade raises but there were several howlers before that. He still is maddening with the ball at times and misses far too many easy opportunities but has really developed a good understanding with Ashley Cole which has helped both of them improve overall. The key question is which Malouda will we see next season?

Jose Boswigna (A-). 48 apps, 2 goals. Really an unsung hero this season as he finally appears to have solved our problems at RB. His attacking game does drive me made at times and although he was immense in the early stages of the season- teams soon adjusted and unfortunately Jose did not leaving him to run into trouble on several occasions. However I was most impressed with his defensive play this season where he gave very little away and was a nice mirror to Ashley Cole on the other side. A very good first season in the Premierhship which is not said very often.

Ricardo Quaresma (Incomplete). 5 apps, 0 goals. An impressive half against Coventry and a solid debut vs Hull combined with a two good crosses against Spurs. I think an incomplete is probably the best grade as he failed to feature for us for whatever reason and thus we never got to see what all the hype was about.

Paulo Ferreira (B-). 18 apps, 0 goals. Mostly used in a sub role but his key contribution this season was at Villa where he did a very nice and professional job of filling a vital hole at the back when A. Cole was suspended. A good professional and team player who suffered an unfortunate knee injury soon after his impressive display vs Villa.

Deco (D-). 30 apps, 3 goals. The obvious great debut against Pompey, the goals against Wigan and Blackburn aside and he was a flop this season. Never adapted to the pace of the Prem and showed a lack of effort on the other side of the ball as well. Too many fancy tricks and flicks and gave possession on an almost constant basis. Was largely frustrating and disapointing and showed nothing near his 8 mil price.

Salomon Kalou (C-). 43 apps, 10 goals. Surprising when you look at his number to see what looked like an impressive season with 10 goals, but for the most part Kalou went backwards this season and continued to show poor decision making and finishing. Really needs to step his game up to another level and although he has value as a versitile sub, he really failed to make a significant impact this season when many of us expected him to. Funny thing about him is that he always seems to score significant goals, despite missing a hatfull of chances and it was the same this season.

John Terry (B+). 51 apps, 3 goals. A quiet but solid season for John who really started to play back to form, especially under Hiddink. Had several different CD partners this season and I thought he coped quite well. A few off performances but of the most part he offered his solid performances at the back.

Miniero (C). 1 app, 0 goals. Didnt look out of sorts in his one performance.

Alex (B-). 39 apps, 4 goals. He had some howlers, but also had some very impressive games as well. I dont think he played near as well this season as he did last season and it was concerning that he was muscled off the ball far to easily at times and was completely clueless on the zonal marking (although I think we are where) which led to his man getting a few goals on set pieces. Easy way to describe his season would be that he when he was good he was great but when he was bad... it was ugly.

Juliano Belletti (B+). 28 apps, 3 goals. Played his way into being a fan favourite as a versitile and handy player who rarely disapointed when called upon, with Spurs being the exception to the rule. Has an eye for goal and scored some cracker and is another good squad member. Suffered a few injuries later in the season.

Nicolas Anelka (B+). 54 apps, 25 goals. Hard to moan at a lad who is scoring almost a goal every other game. Some may moan that he is a flat track bully but we have struggled to put away those teams in the past and after some difficulty adjusting to a new role under Hiddink, Nic was eventually able to step up and put in some great performances to wrap up the season. Had some indifferent games and some games where he was frustrating but for the most part when deployed in a role where he is most effective while receiving minimal service, he rarely failed to produce. A much better season from him who looked his worth towards the end of the season.

Hilario (B+). 1 app, 0 goals conceeded. Did little wrong in his one game vs Hull at home and provided cover throughout the second half of the season.

Michael Mancienne (A-). 6 apps, 0 goals. The lad never looked out of his depth and put in some very impressive displays for a relative youngster. Another talented lad who is very comfortable on the ball and another one for the future.

Miroslov Stoch (B+). 5 apps, 0 goals. Showed some promise, although he was incorrectly thrown in at the deep end vs Arsenal for his debut but looked a bright spark especially with his peformance against Stoke. Hope to see more of this lad next season.

Scott Sinclair (C-). 4 apps, 0 goals. Yes he did play 4 times for us this season and really failed to catch the eye. Sent out on loan where he did not appear to make an impact either. Down in the pecking order compared to some of the other youngsters imo.

Players Transfered but that played for us

Wayne Bridge (C-). 10 apps, 0 goals. Hated to see him go, but he never really looked commanding in his performances for us this season and appeared to have lost that edge which put him on par with A. Cole for many of us. It was clear that Ashley had past him and to the chagrin and ire of many of us, Wayne was moved on to benefit his career. Great guy and squad member.

Carlo Cudicini (C-). 4 apps, 2 goals conceeded. A lot like Wayne in that he failed to really impress when called upon. Also similar to Bridge in that he was a great guy and teammate and I hated to see him go as he was our last link to the older Chelsea of the pre Roman days (yes I know JT was around) but Cudi was playing back then as well. Sad to see him go.

[Randy36]

Fern,

Your posts are a labour of love and an excellent presentation. There is nothing on God's earth I could add to them except to say we are lucky to have Abramovich as the owner and hope he continues his committment to our club!:)

[Macksam]

I agree with most except Terry. B+ for his worst season imo? B- would be a better grade.

[fernb8]

Fern,

Your posts are a labour of love and an excellent presentation. There is nothing on God's earth I could add to them except to say we are lucky to have Abramovich as the owner and hope he continues his committment to our club!:)

Thanks Randy.

I agree with most except Terry. B+ for his worst season imo? B- would be a better grade.

Fair enough Mack, although I think he really came on under Hiddink like several of the other players.

[Andy Fox]

Can only pick out Anelka and Drogba. Bar a good 8 weeks, Didier was pretty shit all season whilst Anelka produced consistently and grabbed the golden boot. Would go Anelka A- and Drogba B- myself.

Agreed with all the rest, good post.

[Dear_Claudio]

Last season was Terry's worst IMO. He has been a rock since Hiddink came back and hasn't had anything close to bad game since the debacle at Old Trafford. It also doesn't help he never played next to a fit Carvalho, but somehow he managed the defense next to the paceless Alex. I would have given him a B even.

[Ben7021]

Can only pick out Anelka and Drogba. Bar a good 8 weeks, Didier was pretty shit all season whilst Anelka produced consistently and grabbed the golden boot. Would go Anelka A- and Drogba B- myself.

Agreed with all the rest, good post.

Yeah, I think Malouda and Drogba are kind of in the same boat. Both were very poor before Hiddink and amazing afterwards, but Malouda tends to get it worse since we know what Drogba has done in the past, whereas Malouda has not really shown anything.

Good ratings all around though. Probably would have bumped Cech up a little. He had a poor season by his standards but still a pretty good one by most goalies standards.

[Blue Celery]

Scott Sinclair (C-). 4 apps, 0 goals. Yes he did play 4 times for us this season and really failed to catch the eye. Sent out on loan where he did not appear to make an impact either. Down in the pecking order compared to some of the other youngsters imo.



Any chance he could turn in some extra credit? :)

Nice work on the write ups Fern. I'll chime in later after work.