Chelsea beat Barcelona

What a top night. That Chelsea game was magnificent, and I must say I enjoyed Gary Neville's impression of Brian Potter when Torres scored.

La Liga is all about Barca and Real Madrid. They are probably the only two that would have an impact in the Premiership. To be the best you have to beat the best and that's what Chelsea did tonight.

Attracts players to them which improves the quality of chelsea

I'm not sure i've ever heard a Bolton fan prefix Chelsea with we before thats certainly a first.

Lofty is referring to the fact that Chelsea are an English team. He means we as in ' we English'.

FWIW Barca had 82% of possession tonight so by rights they should have won at a canter but that's what makes football so unpredictable.Barca are a great team and of that there is no doubt but if Barca were playing in the Prem week in and week out I am not so sure that they would steamroll teams every week. Their away form in Spain this season has been nothing to write home about.

But Chelsea aren't England.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be a dick, this is a topic that has always interested me.

peoples attitudes toward teams at 3pm on a saturday - hatred and bile.

when they rock up in the champions league, they become bandwagon jumping glory supporters.

I only support Bolton but if it's a European Championship game and we aren't in it then I want the English team to win. It's as simple as that. I wanted Utd to beat Bayern and I wanted Liverpool to beat AC Milan. I have no affinity with Utd or Liverpool but the fact that they play in the English Premier League means I would rather they win than any other European opposition.

Fair enough, I'm not criticising it by the way, i've just never understood it.

I hate these teams at the weekend, and during the week.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:But Chelsea aren't England.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be a dick, this is a topic that has always interested me.

peoples attitudes toward teams at 3pm on a saturday - hatred and bile.

when they rock up in the champions league, they become bandwagon jumping glory supporters.

Just to play Devil's Advocate - we 'Bolton' comprises of people from Bulgaria, Iceland, USA, France, Hungary and Japan - we still think of them as 'us' though.

Is it not similar to just widen it to think of 'we' as English clubs playing in a European arena?

The majority of the Arsenal team are snail scoffers but because they play in the Premier League I would rather see them win the CL than Inter Milan ( who were on the other side during the war.)

But it's we because i support bolton, it's nothing to do with the nationality of the players.

I would never call another English club, "us" or "we" that would be like pulling on another clubs shirt - blasphemous.

I suppose there is a tenuous connection to Chelsea, we all want Cahill to prosper i suppose, but otherwise it's still the same 11 wankers i want to lose every Saturday afternoon.

There is possibly a generation gap because fans today tend to hate their rivals with a passion whereas there wasn't the same bitterness years ago. Football fans from all over the UK fought together in the second world war and built up a camaraderie that is probably lacking today outside of the military. Football is a release from everyday life but modern fans just don't have that affinity with rival teams and their fans.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:Attracts players to them which improves the quality of chelsea

I'm not sure i've ever heard a Bolton fan prefix Chelsea with we before thats certainly a first.

No.. just no, you don't understand.

Television rights are shared equally throughout the league.

The better the teams in the league = the more money the league gets from TV rights because people want to watch the good teams.

Therefore we do get more money,

Its the whole reason the Premier League was invented..

Its pretty simple tbh.

And ok you go off and support the Spanish or Germans then, ill stick with Chelsea..

I thought it was just Utd fans who hated any other english team doing well

I don't support the Spanish and the Germans, not in an active way, i just don't "support" a rival club.

It's an odd phenomenon, it's wildly prevalent here in Scotland. People always support either Rangers or Celtic and then they "support" an English team as well.

How they do it i have no idea.

Aren't television rights just given to the teams who are featured. Wasn't Gartside moaning about it the other year because we were on TV so few times. Maybe it's changed.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:I don't support the Spanish and the Germans, not in an active way, i just don't "support" a rival club.

It's an odd phenomenon, it's wildly prevalent here in Scotland. People always support either Rangers or Celtic and then they "support" an English team as well.

How they do it i have no idea.

Aren't television rights just given to the teams who are featured. Wasn't Gartside moaning about it the other year because we were on TV so few times. Maybe it's changed.

No its the rights to the premier league and then you get £500,00 for every game shown (Thats the thing Gartside was referring to). But for example sky have to show every team equally in the first half of the season, but for the second they can chose what games they want.

Its different to other leagues, i.e. Spanish ones because the good teams there basically get all the money from tv rights, thats why Real Madrid and Barca are so much better.

Fair enough if you don't want to support them though

BTW I'm not having a go at anyone, i see the logic, i just don't understand how anyone does it.

I feel proud of Chelsea, it was a wonderful display of determination.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:People keep saying they'll lose and they keep winning.

If don't bite the dust, maybe it will be Wig.

Blackburn Wigan has just taken on a new significance.

The significance is that they can't both get 3 points and a draw would be the best result for us.
Unless Chelsea play like jessies to avoid personal injury now that the entire squad has a shot of playing in the CE final they should beat QPR at home. And City certainly should be up for stuffing QPR - but as always, you never know.

How many Chelsea players are ineligible for the final? I make it 6 but I may be wrong.
If they beat Real or Bayern in the final with half the first team missing that would probably be an even greater achievement than beating Barca.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:But Chelsea aren't England.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be a dick, this is a topic that has always interested me.

peoples attitudes toward teams at 3pm on a saturday - hatred and bile.

when they rock up in the champions league, they become bandwagon jumping glory supporters.

You're not a soldier, you have no connection to the army, so when they go to war do you cheer on the enemy?

Hipster_Nebula wrote:BTW I'm not having a go at anyone, i see the logic, i just don't understand how anyone does it.

"Reflected Glory" might have something to do with it. It goes along the lines of "we may not be successful in our league, but that's because we are playing in the most difficult league in the world, so that makes us better than foreign clubs doing well in easier leagues." By this logic we want Chelsea to do well so that we get reflected glory from their success. They may be bastards but they're our bastards kind of thing - the root of nationalism.
Personally I'm all for British clubs doing well in Europe.