Probably one of the only positive things about playing at Stamford Bridge in recent years for West Brom is when they play "The Liquidator" before the start of the match. While Blues fans do their clap-clap-clap-clap.... "CHELSEA!!", our fans sing along to the music... then have a dig at our Black Country rivals. "F- OFF WANDERERS! WEST BROM!" Chelsea were probably the first English club to use Liquidator but it's clear when you compare our version to the crap version W**ves sing which of the two Black Country clubs used it first. Apart from a bit of pre-match fun, playing Chelsea has been a miserable affair for the Albion. 6-0 at the beginning of last season was just the most glaring example. but we simply have withered against the Blues relentless pressure seemingly every time, home and away. We might have been able to beat Arsenal and Liverpool each once last season and played Man United fairly close, but we'd been overmatched by Chelsea. Is this the year we re-write the script? Stoke held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw last week, but I expect Chelsea will have a few more chances on net given their fluid passing combined with our defence that remains a bit porous. (I fully expect Drogba to be on the pitch from the beginning in this one...) Roy Hodgson did beat Chelsea once or twice as Fulham manager in recent years but now OUR old boss, Roberto di Matteo, has returned to his old club as an assistant for new Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas.
Chelsea 2 West Brom 1 I've no doubt we are an improved team over last season. The first half yesterday, when we got our goal and played Chelsea fairly evenly, we proof of that for me. Shane Long has two goals now in two matches against quality opponents. If he and Peter Odemwingie can work together up front, what a scary strike partnership that could be... But once more we've come up short against one of the top sides in the league. Our defence held firm in the first half, but Chelsea's passing game found its rhythm as our legs were getting heavy. And when Anelka scored the equaliser, the momentum was firmly with the home side for the rest of the match. We were creating very few chances in the second half, but perhaps we should have done better with what we created in the first. By the way, I've lost a bit of respect for John Terry and Ashley Cole after their late-match antics which got Odemwingie booked for virtually nothing.