Rant Box: Birmingham City v. Chelsea

not a bad performance by the team... nothing special, but not bad... 
 
torres could hv had two assists and a goal... he also got the penalty which i believe he should hv taken...  mikel actually was brilliant... 

inshort , everyone seemed to care about winning... cant say if that would have been the case if the old guard had played...

Great result, Great performance. Robarto looked sharp and enjoyed himself on sideline. I am glad AVB chose him as assistant. Roberto has managed an EPL side so he knows what he is doing.
You could clearly see passion in players something that was lacking for many months. They were actually fighting for the club which I think is the result of shock and Roman's lecture ...
I personally do not care we win or lose as long as we play decent and players fight for the club..
Mikel was actually running forward; something that I had never seen. Mata tried to go to center more ...
Overall good stuff ... 

I do not think Roberto told them what to do. It is impossible to change tactic in one day and succeed. I think players were doing what they thought they are really good at.
Mata tried to move to center and distribute the ball, Mikel ran forward, Ramires ran into channels ...

Telegraph reported that Malouda is being punished, not even on the bench today. "He may never play again.". Cheers

Nope. I'm not gonna rant. Because we won. Yep. That'll keep me going. For a second. 

Well yeah, that just shows what some of the players said - screw the club and the fans, we don't like the guy in charge, so we won't perform. Ain't that a bitch. 

I'm not getting carried away though, but these players owe me (and all of us) a big one. A handful of games to save face, to save their reputation (if there is anything left apart from stupid backstabbing). The eleven on show today might just give us a hint, with a few omissions of course, with it being a cup game and all, that those were the good guys. 

Hope it lasts 'til the rest of the season. And congratulations are in order for one Mr. Di Matteo. Well done boss!

"A piece of medal just flew up and hit me in the eye...Probably not a big deal though."
Classic.

couldnt catch it, how did we look?

Renaissance as usual, you know. Looked fine, can't say we totally bossed it, but just about fine. A stunner from Raul, a classic from Mata, and a right flank burial from Ivanovic. Add a hint of passion and you can say you've seen it all, Mateo! 

Dear me Danny, that's 3... in the last 2 games...

4 if you count the England game...

still don't think we're clinical enough. danny's been missing these gifts 

We're playing some sexy flicks and the football is beautiful!

pretty poor penalty from mata

Did anyone notice Meireles not celebrating his goal?

Bench celebration = IMMENSE! 

teamwork short precise passing goal with a RM missile finish. need more of this against regular teams thanks

kalou's dribbling in the box is the precise type of thing we've lacked to break through teams that have rock hard defense

anyone watching the arsenal game??? they hv 3 now... and look at us...

arsenal have 3 goals now...epic. what are the chances we do the same??

Zilch.

Bertand and Luiz bright so far. Need to get more chances, and please god be clinical with them.

Mikel getting involved in the attack there. Go on then.

anyone have a working link? none of the sport lemon ones are working for me

Meh.

Nice ball by Torres, Juan should have squad that to Kalou.

WAIT UP!! Do the players actually seem MOTIVATED??

This is going to be fun!

I don't like this lineup one bit. Except for the Bertrand inclusion. Mikel? Meireles? Kalou? what? why? I don't get it...

so far, bertrand hasnt been a revelation...

Why the hate for Mikel and Kalou? They haven't even got a look this season. Both are solid, though I prefer Kalou as an impact sub.

Not so much hate, more of we have better players sitting on the bench...i.e Essien, Lampard, Sturridge. I was hoping we would put our best team forward today.

Which of those players you mention actually proved they deserved another start during the WBA loss? None of them.

Maybe Essien but he's still being worked back into the side.

 LET'S GET IT BOYS

Interesting side. That's all I'll say.

i like the back 5 is all i can say. any word on what happened to romeu? he basically disappeared off the face of the planet.

Lingering back problem that the media has conveniently ignored.