Chelsea Beat Villa

Wembley - The Same Hollow Feeling

First off, the trip down was fantastic - like old times on the Marchants bus, stopping for a couple of hours for drinks. Deep down I knew this would be the best part of the day and I wasn't wrong.

Aged 4 years and 11 months Daniel was a very lucky boy and got to see Wembley Stadium - as expected, parts of it passed him by but he did sing along at times and was really well behaved.



The game went as expected, we huffed and puffed but ultimately fell short in quality. The penalty we weren't given was a disgrace - Howard Webb should be strung up for that - but honestly, even possibly 1-0 up I don't think we would have won. Once they scored I knew the game was up - I don't think we seriously tested Cech at all.

Without wanting to single anyone out, Stuart Downing was abysmal for us, offering nothing and looking like the very average player I always thought he was at Boro.

"Bar.gif"

UFC 112

Anyway, Stuart Downing wasn't the only major disappointment. On returning to watch UFC 112 I had to suffer the misfortune of watching Anderson Silva defend his belt against Demian Maia. For two round he showed a total lack of class and respect as he fought hands down, chin up, taunting Maia at every opportunity.

Then he just stopped fighting. It was pathetic. No wonder the entire crowd booed him - it was a complete joke and made a mockery of the UFC and MMA. I hope Georges St Pierre gets his hands on Silva and makes him pay for that disgraceful display.

At least Dana White was honest....

Please Stay Martin!

Martin O'Neill - Tell Tale Signs....

It's pretty easy to see when a manager is under pressure by how he handles the media & press conferences. Yesterday Martin seemed very down, talking in a past tense.

He's really had the hump a couple of times with the support at Villa Park - once at the first game against Wigan and then against Wolves. I don't know if his reaction has been that clever in those situations but he seems to be really taking it to heart now.

Of course we have our grumbles. Why is Carlos Cuellar being turned into an awful right back rather than a decent centre half? Why is Luke Young so rarely used? Why even bother persisting with Emile Heskey? Why did we buy no one at all in January?

But hang on. These are the same grumbles any team (barring the top three) might have. M.O.N took over from the appalling David O'Leary, since when we've finished 11th, 6th and 6th again. This season we have a good chance of being top 6 again, got to the League Cup final and now the FA Cup Semi Final.



Of course we're going to moan about individual things at certain games, but overall we have to look at where we are now and be very happy in my opinion.

It would be a disaster if Martin O'Neill left us. Someone new comes in and starts all over again - and if you see what's available out there I'd advise we stick well and truly with what we have.

I hope we can get over what happened last week at Chelsea. Hey, we can always ask them how many European Cups they've won! Come on Martin - chin up!