By BlueBlood
September 9 2005

There is a positive and upbeat forecast being fed out from the Sunderland camp, prior to the meeting with the DEFENDING CHAMPIONS (so good I have to write it twice, DEFENDING CHAMPIONS) and there is a least another seven months to come as well. DEFENDING CHAMPIONS.

Sunderland's manager Mick McCarthy is positive to the extent that he must be thinking that the luck of the Irish will be on his side, as the same was on the Irish side on Wednesday night when Leeds David Healy scored N.Ireland's stunning winning goal against the 'Sack The Swede' £137m England side.

McCarthy said "Somebody will score against Chelsea, somebody will beat them and somebody will get something at Stamford Bridge. They won't win every game this season. People will say, 'Why not us?' If you have the belief and desire you never know. No-one gave Northern Ireland an earthly against England. 0Jose Mourinho has some of the best players in the world at Chelsea but we are not going to roll over on our bellies, get tickled, and say, 'Isn't it great to be in the Premiership?"

Perhaps not Mick. But the odds for a Sunderland victory don't look that favourable. Bookmakers are offering Sunderland anything from 12/1 to 20/1 for a shock win. The Black Cats last visit to Stamford Bridge ended in a 3-0 defeat and prior to that Sunderland was mullered 4-0 under the chargeship of Peter Reid and I suspect that Chelsea will comply with the bookmaker odds that they are more likely to win 3-0 or 4-0 then they are to win 1-0.

Whatever. A win is a win and that has got to be the priority for any team. Another priority is called 'Home Atmosphere.' 'Kin hell you Plastics, You JCLs. You may have more money than the most of us generational Chelsea fans, but for 'kin hell sake, help to create an atmosphere that us the REAL supporters can be proud off and put the 'knockers' of our great club to shame. Although the 'knockers' of our great club are knocking us for one thing and one thing only. The fact that we have got more money than anybody else and probably the greatest manager potentially that the Premiership will ever see.

Its always the loyal fans in the Matthew Harding Stand that work hard to create an atmosphere before and during the match and it is about time 'fans' from other parts of the ground start to work just as hard. And I don't mean the fans of the visiting club.

I sometimes wonder why people bother turning up. Must have too much money to waste.

Chelsea do have a few injury problems of their own after an indifferent International break. JT seems likely to miss tomorrow's game after being sent home immediately after he arrived at England's training camp after the Tottenham game, when he was clattered by Spuds Michael Dawson. Glenn Johnson was sent home for an attitude problem before the game in midweek against Germany, although officially he had a thigh injury. Lamps came back injured after the knock he took against the Irish in midweek but it seems that the 'Sack the Swede' man is deflecting his own inadequacies by saying that Super Frank 'always has a slow start to the season.' Perhaps it has nothing to do with the fact that Super Frank is a new father AND that the system employed by the 'Sack The Swede' man was complete and utter sh*t.

Petr Cech also missed the Czech Republic's midweek game with a shoulder injury, but with the 2nd Best Goalkeeper in the Premiership waiting for a game, there is no need to panic. Expect Carlo to be between the posts. Del Horno, Makelele, Cole and Duff were the others players to return from International duty to cause the 'Special One' some concern.

With JMs healing powers, we are going with the following line-up:

Cudicini, Ferreira, Gallas, Carvalho, Del Horno, Makelele, Lampard, Essien, Duff, Drogba, Robben.

With Utd involved in a derby with City and The 'Arse' not playing till the late afternoon, Chelsea has an opportunity to increase the early pressure on their rivals.

COME ON CHELSEA

CHAMPIONS

CHAMPIONS

CHAMPIONS