2007/08 Champions League Final

[Rockefella]

Now that I look at this thread... you have to figure that it's obselete considering the 1st team in the poll doesn't even exist.

[Suka]

My father and I have been Manchester United supporters for our entire lives. That's actually funny because we are both Irish and we were born in the Republic of Ireland (and no, I don't like Celtic). However, if you think about it, most of the best Irish players from Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have played for Manchester United. Also, a lot of Irish people support English teams.

I believe we can beat Chelsea by 2 goals if we play our best.

Robbie Keane hasn't...

[Gt1Street]

Now that I look at this thread... you have to figure that it's obselete considering the 1st team in the poll doesn't even exist.

potato po-tah-to

[Jack_Bauer]

However, if you think about it, most of the best Irish players from Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have played for Manchester United. Also, a lot of Irish people support English teams.

Roy Keane, Denis Irwin, George Best, maybe Paul McGrath.........

....erm, that's all I can think of.

[ZeTurbo]

Now that I look at this thread... you have to figure that it's obselete considering the 1st team in the poll doesn't even exist.

Oh Please...


I don't get all the "i Hate Chelsea" business.

[kingofthering]

Oh Please...


I don't get all the "i Hate Chelsea" business.

No, it's mispelled.

[ZeTurbo]

No, it's mispelled.

No, I get roke's reply. the i hate Chelsea business is a separate statement. hence the double space.

EDIT: I wasnt expecting the poll to be so one sided. Chelsea have a pretty good chance of winning this you know... a lot of Man U fans here i guess.

[Jack_Bauer]

No, I get roke's reply. the i hate Chelsea business is a separate statement. hence the double space.

EDIT: I wasnt expecting the poll to be so one sided. Chelsea have a pretty good chance of winning this you know... a lot of Man U fans here i guess.

I think everyone knows that the game is very evenly matched. The voting reflects the fact that most people hate Chelsea and everything the club represents.

A brief history lesson...

In the past they have always been one of the least liked clubs in England, mostly due to their largely cretinous fanbase. In the old days the Chelsea crowd was a mixture of arrogant, well monied, yuppie types and people like the 'Chelsea Headhunters', who were Britain's biggest and most notorious hooligan group, with close ties to the neo-Nazi groups the National Front and Combat 18.

In footballing terms they were just an average, middle of the road club. Nothing special. They have little tradition in winning major cups or titles. Then rich businessman Ken Bates came along as chairman and decided to try and buy his way to success. Ken Bates was and is a particularly ruthless and detestable sort of character, and quickly earned himself the reputation as one of the most hated men in British football. He didn't really achieve what he set out to with Chelsea, much to the satisfaction of most English football fans.

Then in stepped Russian billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovic to take over from Bates. He came in and took this club which nobody really liked in the first place, to success by spending absolutely ludicrous amounts from his personal fortune on the best players around. Abramovic had no real connection to Chelsea, and he is not really a football man. He just wanted a new toy to play with, and something to blow his billions on.

They became successful, but the perception is that they didn't really earn or deserve it. Abramovic simply bought them success by virtue of having deeper pockets than anyone else, meaning the usual laws of running a football club as a business didn't really apply. Not even traditional big clubs like Liverpool or Arsenal could even come close to competing with them in terms of spending power. (As an aside, it was recently revealed that Chelsea currently are operating with debts of well in excess of £700 million, ie way over a billion dollars. If Abramovic were to get bored of his play thing and leave Chelsea, they would be up shit creek so fast it would make your head spin.)

To make matters worse Chelsea now tend to be the club that "glory supporters" tend to follow now, ie the sort of "fans" that will support whoever they think has the best chance of winning. This is exactly the sort of thing that made real fans turn against Man Utd in the mid-nineties; their masses of fake fans. Chelsea have usurped Man Utd as the club that every real football fan loves to hate. The fact that they tend to play painfully dull football doesn't help their cause either.

[Matra et Alpine]

Most of Chelsea's debt is TO Abramovich !!
Legally he isn't investingin the club, he is lending them money at zero interest.
Whilst that might soudn the same, it's not.
When the club go under then he will have first and largest claim on all assets.

[faksta]

Most of Chelsea's debt is TO Abramovich !!
Legally he isn't investingin the club, he is lending them money at zero interest.
Whilst that might soudn the same, it's not.
When the club go under then he will have first and largest claim on all assets.

I thought he bought a whole Chelsea business including the FC.

[Cotterik]

I'm gutted liverpool didnt end up in this final. A good old north-west war between the 2 reds would be a great final. Just a shame they lost out because of an own-goal..

I cant say I'm routing for either team to win. Being a liverpool supporter I cant really ever get behind man united. Yet I probably admire chelsea less because of their money spending ways of late that got them up here in the first place. For me, atleast an english team will win the cup this year. But I'm not really too bothered who wins. If I had to choose I'd say Man united but its a very close one. It'll probably be something like 1-1 and go into extra time. Its usually the way english football finals go.

[Suka]

What a brilliant final!!

Time for bed i spose now...what a brilliant beer fueled night!

[kingofthering]

To make matters worse Chelsea now tend to be the club that "glory supporters" tend to follow now, ie the sort of "fans" that will support whoever they think has the best chance of winning. This is exactly the sort of thing that made real fans turn against Man Utd in the mid-nineties; their masses of fake fans. Chelsea have usurped Man Utd as the club that every real football fan loves to hate. The fact that they tend to play painfully dull football doesn't help their cause either.

Bingo. Why I don't really like Man. U too much. Or Chelsea for that matter, I just think Michael Ballack is a great player.

[Jack_Bauer]

Great game, great final, and a great result. The person I'm most happy for is Ryan Giggs. One of the greatest players of the modern era, but probably entering the twilight of his career, gets to score the winning penalty in the Champion's League Final and lift the trophy.

What summed up the contrast between the two clubs for me was that Man Utd were led up to collect the trophy by Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the all time greats who survived the Munich air disaster, and went on to lift the trophy for Man Utd in the 60s, as well as the World Cup for England. Chelsea were led up by Chief Executive businessman Peter Kenyon...

[Cotterik]

yeah that pretty much sums the teams up to be honest. Teams like Man Utd, Liverpool etc are all about passion and it means more than weekly bonuses to them when they win. With chelsea, theres less passion and more business. It just shows that it doesnt get them to the top. Close, but not close enough. It meant alot to terry and lampard when they lost but it wouldve meant alot more to the man utd players if they lost and probably the fans too.