[Football] Chelsea v Chelsea Tonight

According to sky sports there is only one team playing tonight. A whole run down on the Chelsea signings including a mock set up of THE team for tonight's game. Apparently being played at somewhere called the AMEX. Droning on about Chelsea.........yawn. So pro top six it's embarrassing.

Under the radar, where we like it

We should be thankful that we're allowed to appear alongside such illustrious opponents really.

This has always been the way - the smaller or lower table clubs rarely get any in depth coverage. Sadly the big 6 sell and that's all they're interested in. Always has been, always will be.

Looking forward to the post match analysis, where the discussion is focused on Chelsea not playing well, and need time to bed in the new signings.

#TeamsLikeBrighton

Who cares quite honestly, why do people get so irked about this? Never really understood it, Chelsea are a much bigger team than us and have made massive big money signings this summer so the press are obviously going to be all over them.

The Wizard said:

Who cares quite honestly, why do people get so irked about this? Never really understood it, Chelsea are a much bigger team than us and have made massive big money signings this summer so the press are obviously going to be all over them.

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I'm not necessarily irked by it, but I think it's pretty poor form to talk about one team (or player) in a contest where two teams (or players) are competing. Yes, we've seen it all before and yes, we know WHY the focus is on Chelsea, but it doesn't need to be, nor should it be.

Its just a small Typo

It should read : Chelsea v Frank Lampard's Chelsea

I had to turn TalkSport off before the Liverpool Leeds game, as they kept on and on and on about it being 'the big one', all hail Leeds Utd, back where they belong, blah blah.

We will always be a forgotten side in the media, and they will always wet themselves over certain teams.

If we win it will be because Chelsea underperformed and are not yet up to speed. Injury excuses, keeper or player error, ref’s decisions. ANYTHING other than praise for the dull minnows.

It happens nearly every game against the top six. We get a brief mention and that's that. Same for any other teams in this division, apart from Leeds.

It's been the norm since we've been up, so don't know why people are so surprised by this. Well all know it's top six bias.

At the end of the day, we don't get anymore points for the length of time we get mentioned or not, it's what we do on the pitch that counts.

Icy Gull said:

If we win it will be because Chelsea underperformed and are not yet up to speed. Injury excuses, keeper or player error, ref’s decisions. ANYTHING other than praise for the dull minnows.

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This is what irks me. Its never how good we are but how shit one of the media darlings are.

Like everything, it all boils down to economics. They know they’d soon lose viewers, advertisers if they spent any significant airtime on BHA, a team who wont trouble the PL title race and who are unknown in Accra, Manila, Tegucigalpa and Stavanger. Sex sells and always will.

Maybe Sky have noticed we haven't signed a striker so are likely to be making up the numbers, so get on with focusing on Chelsea?

southstandandy said:

This has always been the way - the smaller or lower table clubs rarely get any in depth coverage. Sadly the big 6 sell and that's all they're interested in. Always has been, always will be.

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The Wizard said:

Who cares quite honestly, why do people get so irked about this? Never really understood it, Chelsea are a much bigger team than us and have made massive big money signings this summer so the press are obviously going to be all over them.

Click to expand...

It's always been the way and it's understandable the press will focus on the 'higher - ratings' team.

What is frustrating is that it just entrenches the status quo. People, particularly overseas, are more likely to support a team which gets all the media coverage, thus continuing the club's high profile and increasing merchandising and media revenues. Meanwhile players prefer to sign for these same big clubs, because the clubs name is bigger, it increases the players profile, it makes them more famous, maybe more critical than the higher wages paid from these increased revenues.

That's the frustration. At the start of the season we are all equals in the league. If the media was to give us an equal focus then who knows what becomes possible. Back before this widespread media circus, every club did have an equal chance, and some of them used it to create a history that they still feed of today. Like or it not, Newcastle, Leeds, Villa have that pull for players and column inches that we still don't have. We have needed to be exceptionally well managed to get as far as we've come, we're constantly improving but we'll hit a ceiling that only mega bucks can break a la Man City.

In many ways I don't mind us being the little club under the radar because it's a fair enough description of where we are right now. I probably get more annoyed at how Leicester, for example, are treated, a top 6 side, recent champions, golden boot winner and excellent team, but they're still an also-ran in the medias eyes. They only talk about them because they begrudgingly have to. Imagine the coverage they'd get if they stumbled to tenth this year compared to Arsenal last year - it would be a fraction. Again, without the international profile driven by constant media attention, it will be very very hard to maintain that top 6 level over the longer term.

Media is ruled by narrative - heck all humans are, Terry Pratchett called human beings 'the story-telling ape'. Mid-range teams like Leicester get stereotyped. They're the result of a match made in heaven between their Thai owners and the fans. Southampton are the club with a great academy and sensible strategy to develop and sell. Burnley are Dyche through and through. Palace are an old school club famed for making loud noise and getting results through the banging of a drum. Watford are an Italian - Hertfordshire love child who get through a manager a season. Wolves are a Nuno-inspired-super-Portugal (sans Ronaldo). They all have a narrative that makes them succeed in the here and now, which defines them when they do well, but also explains why they fail if they ever do. It's hard to shake off a narrative. Meanwhile Newcastle, Villa, Leeds, West Ham, Everton - these are all singularly defined as sleeping giants, just waiting for the right investment or manager to take them back where they belong. If they ever manage it, they will get exactly the column inches that Chelsea and Spurs get today. But it's the big 6 alone that have nuance. The actions those big 6 take is the only context needed to explain why they win, or why they lose. If they are top, they are great, and pored over. If they are 10th they are shite, and pored over.

Actually, when writing this, I couldn't think of exactly how we are defined. I guess we were a Hughton redemption story, overachieving but constrained by our obvious limitations. But then we changed overnight to a progressive football side, overachieving but constrained by our obvious limitations. Maybe that's it, we're just the latest in a long line of 'clubs with no history who shouldn't be here but are nice to look at for a while but don't stay too long or you'll bore us all to tears'. We're the latest Reading, Swansea, Norwich, Bournemouth (who definitely overstayed their welcome).

But I think we all believe that there is a lot more to us than those other 'little' sides, and an ambition running through the club to grow organically into something special - although no one knows how far. It's perhaps most similar to what Leicester have done, except they lucked into their top striker back in the championship, whereas we're still looking for ours.

Right, way to go off topic and write far too much

I can't get too bothered about this kind of stuff to be honest.

We will get the attention and plaudits which we deserve. As well as we have done since coming up, Chlesea are the "big" side, and they will naturally be more of a focus for the media.

I actually don't think we are being treated "unfairly". These days we are not spoken about as that little team who don't belong in the Premier League, we have earned the right to be viewed differently, but as yet the reality is we haven't earned more than that. We probably get about the amount of respect, in footballing terms, which we deserve. We want more? Then we have to do better. It's as simple as that.

If it was Newcastle or Villa vs Chelsea today, I expect the coverage would be about the same for them too. Likewise, it it was Sheffield United or Wolves it might be a little different.

There is a bias, and it is towards to most successful teams. Why would it be any other way than that?

Almost a full page spread about The Albion in today's edition of the inewspaper. Not much about the opposition

Being Sky Sports they're only focusing on Chelsea because they haven't been able to find a pro-Liverpool angle yet

The Wizard said:

Who cares quite honestly, why do people get so irked about this? Never really understood it, Chelsea are a much bigger team than us and have made massive big money signings this summer so the press are obviously going to be all over them.

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If only this were so mate. We get the same treatment from West Ham after the customary spanking we hand them.