
This was a result which effectively put paid to both these sides' lingering hopes this term. The Chelsea squad returned to the turf for their "parade of appreciation" with enthusiasm in short supply, an uninspiring goalless stalemate having surely confirmed José Mourinho's oft-stated conviction that the title is beyond this team. They are a club already turning attention to a summer of significant tweaks to their personnel. For Norwich, despite a draw which would normally provoke some satisfaction and, indeed, earned a rapturous ovation from the travelling support, the immediate future is grim. The first reward of Neil Adams' interim stewardship has most likely come too late to save City. The visitors departed still two points below the cut-off and their relegation can effectively be confirmed on Wednesday night if Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion, the two teams immediately above them, play out a draw on Wearside. This may have been admirable and they can cling to the hope that Albion and Swansea prevail this week at the Stadium of Light but, as Michael Turner admitted in the aftermath, "We probably needed all three points. if I'm honest." A three-year stint among the elite appears to be drawing to a close. The visitors had competed well for long periods, almost uncharacteristically at times given the abject results which had dragged them into the mire, albeit against lacklustre hosts whose energy appeared to have fizzled out in the wake of midweek elimination in the semi-finals of the Champions League and with others boasting the advantage in the title race. André Schürrle and David Luiz each struck the woodwork, the latter having been introduced at the interval along with Eden Hazard in a desperate attempt to enliven proceedings. But there was too much stodginess to Chelsea's play, too little zest against opponents who, belatedly, had found some resolve on the road with this their first point in nine games away from Carrow Road. The hosts mustered 23 shots but only four were on target. Mourinho fidgeted frustratedly in his technical area, his mood darkened when Ryan Bennett swung his leg to challenge Hazard in the area with the Belgian leaping to avoid the limb and tumbling to the turf as a result. The referee, Neil Swarbrick, ignored the penalty appeals while Mourinho scuttled off to the manager's room to watch a rerun on television before returning pitchside to make his view clear to the fourth official. "I went back to the dugout laughing, laughing because I can't cry," the Portuguese said. Asked to elaborate he declined to speak more. "I'm sorry. My assistant is in jail [Rui Faria started a six-match stadium ban here] and I don't want to talk." There might have been another had Turner been penalised for a barge on Demba Ba though, in truth, the visitors had as much cause to feel aggrieved with a non-award of their own, 11 minutes in, when Bradley Johnson's pass reached Martin Olsson. If Ashley Cole had made faint contact with the ball as he slid in, John Terry at his back certainly did not with the referee's view perhaps obscured by Cole's initial challenge. "I've had a look and it's pretty clear," Adams said. "Martin gets a touch to take it away from Ashley Cole, and John Terry's momentum just takes him out. Probably [a red card] but definitely a penalty." Swarbrick opted against either, much to the visitors' disgust. Olsson's delivery was dangerous at times in that opening period, the Swede flinging over crosses which fizzed through the six-yard box, but one of this team's problems has been converting such opportunities. They have scored 28 goals this season and their lone forward here, Johan Elmander, has only one in the league. The veteran worked hard before fatigue took over, with Nathan Redmond's pace introduced in the hope Chelsea chased the game themselves and left space to exploit on the counter. That might have been a masterstroke when the England Under-21 international slipped Robert Snodgrass through on goal 19 minutes from time, only for a heavy touch and Gary Cahill's excellent challenge to suffocate the shot into the side-netting. With that probably went Norwich's best chance of mounting their great escape, though they appeared the more satisfied afterwards, even if they remained cautious in the dying moments when they might have pursued a winner. "But  if we'd lost, we were down," Adams said. "With Chelsea needing to win as well, we thought there may be opportunities to get at them with our pace. Those last five minutes, do we gamble? Do we go for it? That was our dilemma. As it is, we need results. We need a bit of luck. If it goes our way, we have to make sure that Sunday's game against Arsenal is a fantastic occasion." Chelsea go to relegated Cardiff for what is likely to be a low-key and subdued occasion. The emotion displayed by Cole, Frank Lampard and Terry after this game, whether some or all of that trio sign on for another year, was a reminder that this squad is still evolving. This year they came close. Next season they must secure tangible rewards. Man of the match John Ruddy  (Norwich City) 

	[ilikeike]
	Another defensive masterclass from Mourinho, what a privilege to witness! It's not many teams that manage to keep the mighty Norwich from scoring at their own grounds, the master tactician does it again.  Jose is such a genius manager, I just love what he's done since arriving at Chelsea.  Step 1: Identify club's 2 most talented and creative attacking players.  Step 2: Sell one, alienate other and consign to bench. Step 3: Draw magnificently against clubs with 1/10th of your own budget. Step 4: accept plaudits.

		[SomeRandomPerson]
		A few questions about that, wonder if anyone could answer them. If he had ready built squads how come other managers couldn't replicate his success with them?How come no other manager has won the Italian treble with the Inter squad Mancini had access to?How come when he was at Uniao Leiria he took them to their highest ever finish in the Portuguese league, a team that is regularly relegated?How come no other manager has won the Champions League with Porto?How come no other manager has won back to EPL with Chelsea 04/05 05/06?How come he broke the record on points and wins at Madrid the season he won La Liga?Is going 2 seasons without a trophy worse than 8? This Mourinho is a terrible manager init?

		[mugsey]
		He's a good manager, probably on a par with Ferguson, but maybe going back to Chelsea was a mistake. Going back often is. Bit like Kenny at Liverpool, or Busby at Man Utd, or Keegan at Newcastle. Thinking about it, I am no9t sure that there have been that many second spells that have worked. Robson at Newcastle?

		[bjarnebinee]
		Yes, Mourinho WAS a great manager!

		[bozboz]
		He still plays miserable football. No one else cares about points records or defensive accolades. They want to watch football.

		[TheeSwainiac]
		We do have the best manager ever, we do, we do.... Screens please nurse...

	[TopTopPlayer]
	Useless, Norwich. You can't beat Chelsea at the Bridge, you don't deserve to stay up.

		[firepower]
		That's Mourinho sussed then, every small team will be parking the bus at the bridge and hitting them on the counter (that was the chance Snodgrass!)

	[mosstin]
	You'd have to feel for Jose though. Said no-one ever etc

	[YNWAinEtobicoke]
	What a tactical masterclass! Two clean sheets in the same match. For his next trick,the Special One will get his players to score negative goals...

	[Atombowl28]
	Successful he may be but the Chelsea manager is a graceless and monumental bell-end. His post-match interviews are virtually performance art.  Well done Norwich, you may be going down but you've got right up Jose's nose' and please can we have our midfield back now?

		[Atombowl28]
		You've totally lifted that from a recent description of celebrity Chelsea fan and Grauniad hate-figure Jeremy Clarkson haven't you?   Oh shit, you're right. Spooky thing is my daughter told me this evening that I needed a haircut because I was starting to look like James May. I'm becoming an accidental tribute act.

		[ZuluTwenty]
		Successful he may be but the Chelsea manager is a graceless and monumental bell-end   Monumental bell-end? Sounds familiar... You've totally lifted that from a recent description of celebrity Chelsea fan and Grauniad hate-figure Jeremy Clarkson haven't you? No worries. It works. As you were...

		[BertaJan]
		His post-match interviews are virtually performance art' ha! Have a recommend. I liked that interview he gave this season when he said 'I want players who are made in Chelsea'.

	[ViktorBurakov]
	The biggest problem facing Chelsea in their bid for trophies in the next year or so is going to be Mourinho’s lack of self esteem.  I mean, think about it, this is a man who has twice in his career taken on the SW6 job after leaving, or being sacked by, a bigger club.  First time round was when he came from Porto. Back then he was young though, and who doesn’t make daft career decisions when they are young? This time it’s different, he’s taken a backward step through necessity – no one else wanted anything to do with him.  The farcical situation is that the team he wanted to go to so badly that he spent weeks kissing every OT arse he could think of (both before and after the CL meeting) decided instead to employ a man whose complete previous managerial experience had been gained at world football powerhouses Preston and Everton, a career that had seen a return of one trophy (his Preston team won the old third division), while the man Chelsea really wanted sensibly decided he wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole – forcing them to make do with a Real Madrid cast off instead.  Jose knows this, and it is feckin killing him.  All the true managerial greats, Stein, Busby, Shankly, Ferguson, Redknapp & Brendan Rogers only ever moved clubs when it represented a step up in class/stature/challenge. Mourinho has taken his career trajectory in exactly the opposite direction.  He’ll be gone from Chelsea, and club football, within 18 months.

		[TheHunchback]
		Queer......you would say that. I thought he made it obvious he was going back to Chelsea&quot; The club who love me&quot;directly after the OT game then again after the Dortmond game.

		[Dizzy1476]
		You obviously work or live with Jose then to know so much about him.

		[praetorian79]
		Redknap? Is that you Mr Townsend? HahHahahahahahahah. Oh god, thanks man.

		[Dizzy1476]
		This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.

		[JasonMarriner_1]
		Harry Redknapp and Brendan rodgers are true managerial greats now?

	[jonny1975]
	why were the chelsea fans booing? that was the sort of match that they usually profess to love. oh well, mourinho will just have to be given another £300 million to have any possible hope of the title next year.

		[dadric]
		What do you think we do with the money ? Keep it under the bed ! In fairness, it's not your money, and it probably shouldn't be your owner's either.

		[TheHunchback]
		What do you think we do with the money ? Keep it under the bed !

		[TheHunchback]
		Our winnings aren't ours ! Hmm ok.......

	[hugsandpuppies]
	Meanwhile Rafa Benitez just picked up yet another Trophy in yet another Country.

	[ZapataSD]
	For all the attacking midfielders we had at the beginning of the season it is incredible that it is in the creative department that we are lacking (alongside upfront).  Many fans will deny this but we have missed Mata in these games. Since Mata has gone we have certainly missed a variant in our attack, he played at a slower pace than the rest of the attack but thought quicker than anyone else on the pitch.

		[RRBA123]
		I think Oscar could become the creative player in this team. All I know is that it certainly isn't going to be Willian - is he the only player who gets shown up against the crap teams but plays well against the good teams?

		[OzMogwai]
		Oscar reminds me of the Arsenal midfielders, lot of talent, very creative, but no balls when it comes to the business-end of things

		[Kakerlake]
		He's more effective against the big team because he has been converted into a no frills, shuttle runs down the touchline and cover your fullback outside left, just like Joe Cole was. If Chelsea's flair players were allowed to express themselves instead of being used as deluxe Dirk Kuyts they might actually be able to break teams down.

		[FreyBentos]
		Willian thrives against teams that leave space for him to exploit with this extreme pace. I've been very impressed by him this season(I'm not a Chelsea fan) but he is not as effective against teams who pack the defence and sit deep.

		[Phlegethon92]
		He was tired, I think. Whenever the ball was lost, he or Matic won it back. Not for the first time this season, we've looked worse when bringing on a second striker. Ba did naff all that second half. The problem is our strikers aren't bad strikers BUT they aren't great ones either.  The lack of creativity has been very disappointing though. We've went from one extreme to the other this season. On paper I'm pleased (in title race til the end, did well against top clubs, got to the SF in CL) but performances and the like have left a lot to be desired. Except for Azi, Hazard (to an extent), Matic and Cahill, I don't think there has been enough progression in the squad. There has to be changes this summer. Primarily I reckon bringing in some of our loan talent, but I'm skeptical it'll happen. Piazon, Lukaku, Courtouis should be in the squad. Not sure who else.  *sigh* Can't say I was that saddened by this result...I had accepted it was a longshot. The Sunderland and Crystal Palace games irritated me a lot more. I think the only bad thing was a poor effort at home. After 60 minutes we just got sloppy.

	[Quicknstraight]
	Part 1 First of all, I will comment on Mourinho's post match comments on TV, because they shed some light on what transpired on the pitch. Mourinho, basically, said that we set out to get a point to guarantee 3rd place. He said that they had zero chance of winning the PL, so just set out to make sure they got a point. At home. To Norwich. Who had shipped 60 goals in 36 games. That, frankly, is a disgraceful attitude to take into the last home game of the season when 3rd is all but assured anyway, with only a point being required from the final two games. In the last few weeks we have, two games apart, played crap football. We have lacked ambition. Mourinho has played safety-first football since December and it has cost us dear. To admit you set out with no greater ambition than to get a single point, at home to Norwich, is, in my book, unacceptable. For weeks, Mourinho has been talking down our chances of winning the PL. You know what they say: if you anticipate failure, you're half way to achieving it. So who the hell was Mourinho to decide they had zero chance of winning the league before kick-off today? Eh? A win today and it would still be all to play for on the final weekend. I've never been Mourinho's biggest fan, but today he has lost pretty much all of the respect I had for him. His attitude has gone a long way to ensuring we failed to win a winnable PL this season. Now, onto the game. WTF did we start two holding players for against a team that have been PL whipping boys in recent weeks? WTF did it take until the 70th minute to introduce a second striker to replace one of the holding players?  Then, WTF was Willian doing spending most of his time dropping back so deep he was able to shake hands with Terry and Cahill? The passing was poor, with so many poorly directed pass it was more like a competition to see who could give it away most. Then there was, yet again, the dreadful slow play. How many times have we said that this season? It was turgid. Switching the play from one flank to the other is a sound idea, but not when it takes 4-5 crab-like sideways passes. Ivanovic, again, AGAIN, destroyed countless Chelsea attacks with crap passes and crosses that either hit the first defender or go sail way too long. One of these days I am going to end up destroying the TV if I have to keep seeing him butcher Chelsea attacks. It really is getting too much. Mourinho must be either blind or stupid if he hasn't twigged that we need a RB who can create chances. We have that player. His name is Cesar Azpilicueta. Except we play him at LB, even though he is a RB. And we fail to select a LB who has 100 caps for England and who has shown, in the last few games, that he is perfectly good enough to do a very good job at LB. Only Mourinho hasn't selected him there for most of the season. Because it's better, clearly, to have a RB who butchers attacks and a RB playing LB on his wrong foot. Genius. Our AMs have been reduced to robotic footballers, for the most part. They drop so deep that they are unable to get forward quick enough to play a meaningful role in attacks, like Willian did today and Oscar had been doing in the last 2-3 months. Even Hazard has been forced to subvert his some of his attacking flair to defend (badly). This emphasis on defence has wrecked the attacking balance.

		[ClaudeIvan]
		Mourinho, basically, said that we set out to get a point to guarantee 3rd place.    To judge from what I heard on the BBC, you're misrepresenting your own manager's (Mourinho's) comments. He said his team needed one point for third.  He said it was ironic that the team that needed a point for third tried to win the game, and team that needed to win to stay up did not. Sorry to spoil your rant, but it seems to be based on a false premise. I criticize Mourinho, by the way, for being thin skinned and peevish publicly criticising and dropping Hazard, his best attacking player

		[Monctonian]
		I've not seen or heard post game comments yet but did Mourinho really say it like that? No chance?Astonishing if he did. But I really didn't get that impression from the attitude on the pitch though. A win would still have meant both of Liverpool and Man City needing to lose one each or draw both remaining games. Not that likely but with results seen lately, not to mention City's final game against QPR a couple of years ago, you wouldn't want to fall short and then see the others do it themselves. Mourinho does a few things that puzzle me but with his record it's kind of hard to argue against him. It's possible he's thinking long term. I mean, Chelsea really shouldn't have lost some of the points they have and not trying to score away to Atletico (or at least being more positive) was their downfall. But imagine had they won a league and CL double. Difficult to argue the squad needs improving and maybe without improvements they lose ground on others and then have catching up to do. I'm not suggesting deliberately throwing it away but in making it close (too close as it turned out) he could better argue for strengthening whether winning something or not. His unconfined joy at Anfield last week just makes the whole thing a puzzle.

		[godlikeboy]
		A few managers have been trying the whole &quot;we have no chance&quot; nonsense since it seemed to work for Mancini two years ago, I think with Mourinho he's started to believe his own bullshit

		[PHA7VTOM]
		Great Comments. At least there are some Chelsea fans beginning to understand that 'The Special One' ain't so special at all.

		[Quicknstraight]
		Sorry, but I have reported accurately what I heard. I watched the game here in BKK on Astro Sport and I guess it was the comments to the Sky Sports reporter about 5 minutes after the final whistle. Mourinho said that Norwich needed 3 points, but Chelsea only needed 1 point. He then went on to say that Chelsea had no chance of winning the league and that all that mattered today was getting the 1 point needed to secure arc place, because that was important for the pre-season plans.  I know exactly what I heard and my 17-year-old son was equally gobsmacked, as he was watching it with me and is also a Chelsea fan. I have got thoroughly sick and tired of listening to Mourinho talking down our chances when the league has been there for the taking. It is a self-fulfilling prophesy, isn't it? Such negativity creeps into the minds of the players, without a doubt.

	[Same_Sex_Farage]
	Pathetic season for Chelsea. A great manager would have motivated some of the weaker aspects of the squad, and bought a striker in the summer/January window when it was obvious one or two were needed. Seeing the Gazprom FC fans on Twitter gloating that it's been a successful as they've 'stopped the dippers winning the league'. Says it all really: Roman's oil billions, the &quot;Special One&quot; back at the helm, and your only success --in your mind, as Liverpool's probable close failure has many factors to it -- was &quot;stopping&quot; an inexperienced manager and mostly a bunch of kids who came 7th last time around, from winning the league. Then again, I suppose a club with no history have to engineer new rivalries if they are going to be taken seriously, right?

		[Yankonthis]
		Not sure how it ended promisingly. It is ending the way it started - with the coach alienating his best player.

		[PassionSux]
		Pathetic season for Chelsea.   Not true. Glorious it was not but promising it is.

		[jonbrom]
		Well said my man. This season, for Chelsea the only memory enshrined in the minds of the public will be the capitalizing of a slip up from Steven Gerrard and Mourinho celebrating as if he had just won the league himself by charging down the touchline. Let them feel as though they've actually accomplished something under Mourinho. The rest know that they've actually stagnated..

	[TabloidScum]
	What a cretin, drops his best player while still in with a chance of winning the league, he puts himself ahead of the club. Booed off deservedly

		[Yankonthis]
		I agree 100% At the beginning of the season it was the same with Mata.

		[gvimalku]
		Exceot when fergie punishes somebody, it usually has the desired effect and the plater punished helps the team win the next match

		[fcporto2004]
		So you don't think he deserved to be benched after being responsible for two goals because of his defensive mistakes midweek, and following the match he has the nerve to call out how the team plays?... No coach in his right mind would have started him.

		[TabloidScum]
		It was Norwich Mourinho came out and chastised them for being cautious, and he tucking drops his star creator. What error could he possibly have made in that game? He made an error, not even that poor an error, look at Bayerns errors, Lahm ball watching in the Cl, was he dropped? Hazard has worked very hard on the tedious shite, to punish him for a lapse, against fucking Norwich? Utter Narcisism

	[zeczeci]
	If Rafa Benitez set Chelsea up to play the football that they've played this season and won nothing there would be riots in west London. Specialist in failure.

	[VincenzoScifoDieci]
	The driver of a very expensive bus will always have trouble with a 3 point turn.

		[MentatYP]
		Ooh, good one--a new take on the bus theme. I like it.

	[Quicknstraight]
	Part 2Oscar and Hazard both started to run out of steam in the last couple of months because they were used week-in, week-out during the fist 4-5 months of the season, when they should have been spelled. Oscar, particularly, should have been used more sparingly in the first half of the season. He played 70+ games for club and country last season, spent almost the entire summer on duty in the Confederations Cup with Brazil, and hardly had a summer break. Again, you don;t have to be a genius to figure that out, do you? Ramires, this season, has been turned into a walking disaster area. Where, last season, he was great contributor, with goals and intelligent running, he has been a headless chicken this season. I suspect he was told to be a bit of an attack dog in defensive duty and it has resulted in him losing the plot. much like Pepe did under Mourinho's management. Look at the difference in Pepe's play this season and the last season under Mourinho in Madrid. His game has improved out of all recognition because he is playing sensible football, not as Mourinho's hatchet man. Sad to say, but I don't think our young attacking players, and i include Oscar, Hazard, Salah, Schurrle in that group, are ever going to reach their creative potential under Mourinho. Then there was the moronic decision to put Lukaku in a position where he was told, basically, that he wouldn't get any playing time, so he asked for a loan move. Boy, we could have done with him this season. Sending Courtois out on loan again this season was also a poor decision. He should have been starting for us this season. Cech has been a great, but it was time to bring in Courtois this season if it was to be treated as the transition season. We have a lot of really good youngsters who are banging their heads on the ceiling in the U.21 team. They have been given virtually zero playing time this season. That will, I'm afraid, continue to be the case under Mourinho. Guys like Baker, Loftus-Cheek, Boga, Kiwomiya, Christianson, Kalas, van Anholt, etc., are all good enough to have played some part for the senior team this season. We cannot keep stockpiling all this young talent and never giving it a chance, whilst also spending tens of millions on bringing players in. WTF is the point of the academy? Now, no doubt I will be bombarded with flak from other Chelsea fans, but today's performance and Mourinho's comments have really pee'd me off.
