Drogba award talk

Drogba has been nominated again for the African footballer of the year award, which last year he said he wants nothing to do with.  So we shall see if he wants anything to do with it this year.

Bridge in

Looks like Wayne Bridge is certain to get the nod tomorrow night in Belarus which like I said before is great for us that he picks up a game before the weekend as it looks like we might be heading to Boro with a skeleton squad.

The internet on JT

There have been stories all over the net today about people sceptical of John Terry's future as the string of injuries start to have long term effects.  Obviously a human body can only take so much but I believe this is a knee jerk reaction to him missing two national team games.  There will come a time when he has to start slowing down but he is still just going to be 28 in December.

Ballack injury

Ballack picked up a calf injury in Germany's win on Saturday and is now a doubt for their match against Wales on Wednesday after missing training today. 

Drogba book signing

Drogba will be signing copies of his new book, that a features a forward by Mourinho, Thursday October 16, 2008 at the megastore at Stamford Bridge from 5 to 6pm.

WAYN: Claude Makelele

Claude Makelele born February 18, 1973 in Kinshasa, Zaire joined Chelsea on September 1, 2003 from Real Madrid for 16.6 million pounds.  He is a defensive midfielder that rarely got his name on the score sheet anywhere he played.  He had scored 1 goal in 172 appearances for Real and handed in a transfer request when his request for an improved contract was denied.  Upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge he was hailed to become the Battery of the team and did make a major impact.  His ability in this role saw the forwards allowed more time forward and he was pivotal in the two Premiership titles.  He left to Paris St Germain on a free transfer July 21, 2008 but will always be remember as one of the great Chelsea playmakers.  His final Chelsea stats 217 appearances and 2 goals.

Wembley Boo Boys

I have been thinking about this and we talked about it last night at the pub and I can't help but think maybe club allegiances are out weighing national unity.  We all know that we are one of the most disliked clubs in the Premiership, England and European competitions for what people say was buying success amongst other things.  Is it then no coincidence that it has been two of our players, Frank and Ashley, that have been the targets of the Wembley Boo Boys?

WAYN: Hernan Crespo

Hernan Crespo born July 5, 1975 in Buenos Aires, Argentina joined Chelsea on August 26, 2003 from Inter Milan for 16.8 million pounds.  He is a striker how had an amazing goal record in Argentina and three Italian clubs before joining Chelsea.  In his first season he did not have a sure starting place making just 31 starts in all competitions and was loaned out to AC Milan for the 2004/2005 season.  He returned to Chelsea for the 2005/2006 season but never really settled in London and requested to go back to Italy.  He was granted his wish and was sent out on a two year loan to Inter August 7, 2006 and when his Chelsea contract expired July 3, 2008 he joined Inter on a free transfer where he still plays.  His final Chelsea stats were 73 appearances and 25 goals.

Drogba and his wandering mind

In the November Chelsea magazine Drogba gives and interview where he admits that his mind wanders while on the pitch, in all fairness to him he also says it happens to everyone.  Of course I have always wondered about his level of focus on the pitch and I have no doubt that his level of focus on the game when he is not in it is completely lacking.  I remember seeing him on the bench last season against Wigin, ipod in his ears and taking SWP hat from his head.  It is one thing to have fun but game day is his job he gets paid very well for and should act professional in my opinion.

JT and Ashley OUT

JT has failed to train today so has been released from the squad still the same back problem.  The other bad news out of the England camp is Ashley has been ruled out with a hamstring injury which isn't great news for the team.

The only possible upside is now if Ashley is out for the weekend at least Wayne Bridge should now pick up a game before the weekend for some match fitness.

Lampard on Becks

Lampard has spoken of his admiration of Beckham achieving 106 caps for his country and has said he adds a lot mentally to the squad even if he is not starting games.

Decision on JT fitness to be made tomorrow

The FA will decide whether JT flys out with the squad on Tuesday after the final training session on Monday, lets hope he is fit.

Cech Injury

Petr Cech picked up a thigh injury in the defeat to Poland on Saturday and it now seems he will not feature in the Wednesday game.  Unsure of the seriousness and hopefully he is release back to the club for assessment.

WAYN: Alexei Smertin

Alexei Smertin born May 1, 1975 in Barnaul, USSR signed for Chelsea on August 25, 2003 for 3.5 million pounds from Bordeaux.  He is a central/defensive midfielder and was immediately loaned out to Portsmouth his first season at Chelsea.  In 2004/2005 he played a small part in the team on the way to the championship due to the high level of competition for a place in the midfield.  He was then loaned out to Charlton for the start of the 2005 season, in January 2006 a 1 million pound transfer to Dynamo Moscow was agreed and he completed the switch March 13, 2006.  He has singe been released from Dynamo in January 2007 and was signed by Fulham where he played until he was released in September 2008.  His final Chelsea stats 25 appearances 5 goals.

WAYN: Adrian Mutu

Adrian Mutu born January 8th, 1979 in Calinesti, Romania joined Chelsea on August 14th, 2003 from Parma for 15.8 million pounds.  He is a Striker who can also play attacking midfielder and as noted before on this blog he started out at Chelsea with 4 goals in 3 matches.  Then as we discussed earlier his contract was terminated for testing positive for cocaine use, as a result of that he had his contract terminated and has been ruled to pay Chelsea 17 million euro compensation.  He was sacked on October 29th, 2004 and on January 12th, 2005 he signed a 5 year contract with Juventus even though he was banned until May 2005.  Fiorentina then paid 8 million euro for his services on July 8th, 2006 and he still plays there.  His final Chelsea stats 38 appearances and 10 goals.

Lampard backs Ashley to bounce back

Lampard has condemed the booing of Ashley Cole and has backed him to not suffer any effects of it

“For me he's the best left back in the world at the moment and all he did was make one mistake.  But he's a strong character and he won't let it affect him"

Mancienne Loan

Michael Mancienne has spoken of his ambition to go out on loan to gain some experience if he can not break into the first team and feels there are a few Championship sides interested in his services.

International Round Up

As mentioned earlier both Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole played the 90 minutes for England, Frank creating England's second goal and Ashley creating Kazakstans first, Wayne Bridge was an unused sub in this game.

Florent Malouda started for France against Romania but was tactically substituted in the first half, Anelka was not fit for the match.

Paulo Ferreira and Jose Bosingwa both played the 90 minutes in Portugal's 0-0 draw with Sweden.

Branislav Ivanovic played the full 90 minutes for Serbia while getting his name on the score sheet in the process.

Salomon Kalou got on the score sheet for the Ivory Coast with a converted penalty in their 3-0 win over Madagascar.

Michael Ballack scored the second goal in Germany's 2-1 win over Russia.

Petr Cech was the only blue to see his team not gain any points from yesterdays action as the Czechs lost 2-1 in Poland.

England Reaction

Well we had two players feature in this match, Frank Lampard and Ashely Cole.  I am sure most have seen the 5-1 result and truthfully that doesn't tell the story of the match as it was a very touch and go first half.  Lampard and Gerrard still did not gel but both had an OK game.  Ashley on the other hand was the subject of the English Boo Boys after he made a terrible clearance across the face of goal which gifted Kazakstan their goal.  At that point England were 2-0 up so it was not really disastrous but he still found himself on the receiving end of the home fans hate which even though it was a terrible mistake there was still no need.

WAYN: Juan Veron

Juan Veron born March 9th, 1975 in La Plata, Argentina singed for Chelsea on August 6th, 2003 for 15 million pounds from Manchester United.  Manchester United had two years earlier payed 28 million pounds for his services from Lazio but he failed to make any great impact there.  He also failed to make any great impact at Chelsea, this was mainly because of his lack of pace in the high paced Premiership.  He only played one season at the bridge before being shipped out to Inter on loan for the next two seasons where he enjoyed success and for the final year of his contract he was loaned to Argentinian team Estudiantes who he would sign for on a free when his Chelsea contract expired.  He continues to play for them in the 2008/2009 season.  His final Chelsea stats 14 appearances and 1 goal.

WAYN: Joe Cole

Joseph John Cole born November 8, 1980 in Islington, London, England joined Chelsea from West Ham on August 6, 2003 for 6.6 million pounds.  He is a right footed midfielder than can play anywhere in the midfield including out on the left very well.  Also one of the players to leave West Ham after they were relegated the previous May.  Joe's Chelsea career got off to a shaky start under Ranieri and under Mourinho as well,Mourinho famously publicly criticising him.  I have to admit there were a few times I thought he would see the exit door but he has managed to over come all and become a great player.  This was proven last year as he was voted the fans player of the year for 2008.  The only downside for Joe is that he has been plagued with quite a few injuries over the last few seasons.  His current Chelsea stats are 230 appearances and 38 goals.

Ballack...

It seems Ballack tops a poll of German ladies over the age of 60 of who is the countries best look star.  So he has that going for him.

We might be in a financial crisis

The Evening Standard last night ran a story that Abramovich lost a staggering 12 Billion pounds, yes billion with a b.  Normally something like this you would not immediately believe but the Evening Standard is a fairly reputable paper.  They have also interpreted Buck's earlier comments as talking about selling off players to make some cash and save money on salaries.

Kalou injured?

Kalou may or may not be injured or he may just have a slight knock or virus or something as theIvory Coast's coach just said that he was possibly a doubt for tomorrow but he was hopeful to still be able to use him.

Mikel Obi Court Action

The club have issued a claim at the high court in relation to his transfer in 2006.  They have filed against FC Lyn Oslo and Morgen Andersen, and comes after the criminal conviction in Norway of Lyn's former chief executive officer Morgan Andersen.  It has become clear the player had no contract with Lyn so the club are claiming for the whole of his 16 million pound transfer fee.

JT out

JT missed training with England again today resulting in Capello confirming he will not play any part in tomorrow afternoons game against Kazakhstan.  He still remains with the squad so may feature on Wednesday.

Lampard on the other hand look certain to start as will either Wayne Bridge or Ashley Cole at right back.

Ballack Surprised?

Ballack has come out and said he was seemingly a bit shocked to see the way the mood of the countries fans and our lad from the National team after the Croatia game.  Well he has been here in London long enough he should understand how we ride an emotional roller coaster on the back of the results of our National Team, so to me I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

WAYN: Wayne Bridge

Wayne Bridge born August 5th, 1980 in Southampton, England joined Chelsea July 21st, 2003 from Southampton for 7 million pounds plus Graeme Le Saux, a 35yr old left back.  He started off with a very memorable first season which saw him pick up the goal of the season award for his 88th minute effort against Arsenal it the Champions League.  A broken ankle cut his second season short and he arrival of Del Horno in the 2005/2006 season saw Wayne make a January loan move to Fulham.  After returning from 2006 World Cup he would see WC teammate Ashley Cole join the club and the two would through injuries mainly rotate the position over that season.  Many pundits said that their performances were indistinguishable or possibly Wayne filled the role a bit better than Ashley.  Last season however Grant favored Ashley in most games but he did still feature in the Carling Cup Final.  In the preseason 2008/2009 Wayne signed a 4 year deal keeping him at the Bridge until 2012 and making him the first signing I have looked at that is still here.  His current Chelsea stats 133 appearances and 4 goals.

Scolari moves in

Scolari was appointed to the Chelsea board of directors filling the seat left empty by Avram Grant who was first appointed to the board as a director of football.  So what does this mean in practical terms?  Well it means that he should not have to worry about the club installing a director of football and will now likely enjoy more control in regards to transfers.  It would appears the Bruce Buck is going to follow his own advice he tried to dish out to other clubs this week.

WAYN: Damien Duff

Damien Duff born March 2nd, 1979 in Dublin, Ireland and is a left sided midfielder who joined Chelsea July 21, 2003 for 17 million pounds.  He arrived from Blackburn who had rejected a few bids from Chelsea before the raised their bid to trigger a minimum release fee clause in his contract.  He started off his first season fantastically with a few great goals from individual efforts but his season would be cut short by injury.  In his second season after getting off to a slow start he was moved out to the right with Robben playing on the left and the two combined for a great midfield partnership.  His performances fell off in the 2005/2006 season with only a 3 goal return compared to the previous years 10 despite featuring in 40 games.  On July 23, 2006 he went to Newcastle United for 5 million pounds where he still plays.  His final Chelsea stats 125 appearances and 19 goals.

Sinclair Loan?

The papers have been full of stories the last two days about Scott Sinclair going out on loan in January to Crystal Palace.  The Sun today has a quote from Palace boss Warnock saying that he has spoken with Sinclairs agent and that they would be his first choice in January.  Sinclair spent the end of last season on loan at Palace.  I for one am a big supporter of younger players going on a loan spell to a lesser club so they can get the competitive starting experience they need rather than just playing in the reserves.

WAYN: Geremi

Geremi born December 20th, 1978 in Bafoussam, Cameroon sign for Chelsea on July 16th, 2003 from Real Madrid for 7 million pounds.  He is a versatile player who can play central and right midfield and right back.  He was however no stranger to the Premiership or Chelsea having played the 2002/2003 season on loan with Middlesbrough and scoring against Chelsea in a 1-1 away draw.  He made 39 appearances his first season, which included him having time off for the African Nations Cup, picking up one goal and one red card on the way.  His first team appearances then fell off over the next two season as the squad started gain numbers and competition for places increased.  He did see more opportunity in the first team in 2006/2007 making 28 appearances and scoring a great goal from a free kick against West Ham.  However at the end of the season on July 3rd, 2007 he signed on a free transfer to Newcastle where he still plays.  His final Chelsea stats 108 appearances 4 goals.

WAYN: Glen Johnson

Glen Johnson born August 23rd 1984 in Dartford, London, England was the very first signing of the new era and I suppose he will always have a place in the history of the club for that.  He came from West Ham for 6 million on July 15, 2003 after they were relegated from the Premiership in May of that year.  Johnson plays at right back and in his first two seasons he enjoyed plenty of first team action with 63 appearances for the club.  The 2005/2006 season started to mark his downfall at the club with him only featuring in 9 games.  He also made the press that season for arriving at the airport without his passport as the team were set to fly to Barcelona for a Champions League match.  He then went to Portsmouth on a season long loan in 2006/2007 with them eventually purchasing him for 4 million pounds on August 31, 2007 and he is still with them.  His final Chelsea stats were 72 appearances and 3 goals.

Where are you now

After reading Sean Wright Philips comments about how his Chelsea experience was good for him and all of this credit crunch spending talk, I have decided to look back and see what has happened to all of our signings in the Roman Era.

Mutu

As you likely know Mutu owes us about 13 million pounds after his cocaine fuelled romp through West London ended with him being sacked by the club.  He was the 7th signing after Abramovich took the reins of the club for 15.8 million pounds.  He did start off well but his performances started to fall off and of course we found a possible reason for that.  It is a lot of money for an individual to come up with but he made the decisions that set all of this into motion and we should not have to just throw away just short of 20 million pounds, when you add transfer and wadges, for 10 goals should we.

Deco no go

Deco has been released from the Portugal squad.  This is still his lingering thigh problem that kept him out of the Villa game, no word on when we might see him again.

JT Fitness

Back pain forced JT out of training early yesterday which is likely to mean he will not play any part in Saturdays fixture.  The good news however is he is still with the squad so hopefully he will be OK for the Belarus fixture.

Buck off

Our club unfortunately extends  off of what we see on match days to a corporate backroom, after all football has become about making money rather than just the beautiful sport that we long to see.  Bruce Buck came out today condemning "Directors of Football" and taking any transfer dealing out of the managers hands.  Well how does he explain Peter Kenyon, now before I continue I want to make it 300% clear I have no use for him, this is the man who was at the center of the cashley transfer, so need I say more.  

I know it is hard to believe I would say such things about the club I support but I am about the football, about what happens on the pitch, the 110 by 75 yard grassy area we have not lost a league game on since Feb 2004.  I see this as some pathetic response to all of these articles about how much in debt Chelsea are.  

I wish the POINTLESS boardroom staff would KEEP THEIR OPINIONS in the boardroom and not drag our clubs name through newspaper headlines, but these spot light grabbing idiots wont do that.

Credit Crunch

Well here it is, all I have to write about is the credit crunch, I am really like a real news person now. 

First up UEFA is talking of punishing clubs that a running up huge debts, which for us is a problem.  Just over 700 million pounds in the red if UEFA sticks to the proposed actions of possible UEFA competition exclusions than we could have a real problem.

Now according to The Sun it seems the credit crunch has also hit Roman leaving him in such a foul mood he has postponed his wedding.

Slow Start to the News Day

The best I have to offer you at this point is Lavezzi, who was linked to Chelsea earlier this week, has said himself he would not join Chelsea.  If it had any truth behind it anyway he would have been a panic buy and I don't think he could play at our level to start with.

The second note is Cristiano Ronaldo, sick of hearing of him, he has made some comments about his friendship with Scolari, so prepare for the reports linking him.  He also said he hopes united win the league so there will be reports on something to do with him and Chelsea forth coming

The Lampard Interview

Well I want to start by saying that after the less than encouraging start for Lampard in the Capello era it is great to see him giving the press conference today.  One of the things he addressed was fan support, and quite frankly he is the best person for it because he has been the object of quite a lot of abuse from England fans, sometimes I wondered who these idiots thought he was playing for.  Anyway all I have to say on the "boo boys" is 64 caps, 14 goals.

Alright so now the main thing everyone is writing about, the can Lampard and Gerrard play together in the same midfield question.  Well I can remember this question in the June 2006 issue of FourFourTwo before the world cup, I know it has been around longer than that but that is the longest time frame I can pull up in my mind.  Now this is a question that has never been answered and has found a similar question at the club level as well, can Lampard and Ballack play in the same midfield.  

I have taken a few levels of coaching and as you progress to more advanced things you start to realize you have to let players figure out each other first and then once they have an understanding on how to play together you build that into your tactics.  With the limited time spent together in the England squad unless the manager aims to solve the question it will never be worked out between these two.  Of course there is also the possibility that no they cant find a way to mesh and than what?  Honestly, all club allegiances aside, over the course of a season when you consider all of the games played the only way to pick one would be to flip a coin.  So then what at a national level?  Name both in a squad and just go with the more in form of the two? 

Of course I have my own idea, which is if they can't play together give them each a half.  Crazy you say, well that may be but I think I am on to something.  If they both knew they were only playing 45 minutes they could go out there and play like their hair is on fire because they wouldn't have to save anything for a second half.  I think it would be an amazing sight to see 45 minutes of Lampard giving everything he has followed by 45 minutes of Gerrard doing the same.  The other benefit is the metal aspect of this plan, imagine how the opposition would feel going into a game knowing they had to face one of the worlds best midfielders giving everything(300% in Rooney math) for 45minutes and then even if they deal with that they then have to face one of the worlds best midfielders who is going to give everything he has for 45minutes.  I certainly would not look forward to the prospects of that.

Anelka fit

Having picked up a slight knock Sunday the French national team has said that there was a slight concern but a doctor feels he is fine now so let hope he stays that way.

Terry sits out England Training

Looks like his stiff back is back...However reports are saying it is not worrying enough that he will be released from the squad and he should be OK for this weekend.

Ashley Cole(see below) also missed out.  Of other injury note Nigeria have granted Mikel leave at the teams request in hopes he will be fit for boro.

The one they called Cashley

Well first things first, Napoli have already said Lavezzi is going nowhere, so that rumour was very short lived.

Secondly I would like to mention this article from the guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/oct/07/chelsea.premierleague

Now maybe it is because I have never really been impressed with Ashley, every time I see him play now I always think back to the 2006 World Cup when his boots kept falling off.  I find it hard to agree with tone of the article that Ashley was some major attacking force at Arsenal and was reined in by Mourinho, who I guess they didn't notice wasn't the manager for 85% of last season.  When he came to Chelsea it was in a dramatic deadline day deal surrounded by the press rightfully claiming he was only moving for the money.  When he was at Arsenal he would score one or two goals per season and sure it can be said well the author is talking about creating chances.  Well as a person who has seen him get forward for Chelsea only to hit poorly weighted cross after poorly weighted cross I just don't see it.

I believe what truthfully happened to his game was trying to live like a superstar, lets not forget the unnecessary bad press he brought on the team last year with his scattered personal life.  Not to mention his behavior on the field had been just as erratic, after all he is the player that caused the FA to bring in this whole respect the referee campaign.  

Yes I think he is starting to play better but I think it is that there have been so many mistakes in his life he has realized he was out of control and now has his feet back on the ground and the ball.

Internationals

Lets take a look at the first team members who will be on international duty this week

England - Kazakhstan home, Belarus away

John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Wayne Bridge

Portugal - Sweden away, Albania home

Jose Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Deco

France - Romania away, Tunisia home

Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda

Brazil - Venezuela away, Columbia home

Alex

Nigeria - Sierra Leone home

John Mikel Obi

Ivory Coast - Madagascar home

Salomon Kalou

Germany - Russia home, Wales home

Michael Ballack

Monday

Congrats to both Joe Cole and John Terry for their appearance milestones yesterday.

The Daily Mirror is running a story that Chelsea are planing a swoop for Argentinian Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli for 10 million.  He is a 23 year old striker who is comparable to Craig Bellamy, maybe with a bit more pace, however in the footage I have seen he has similar temperament as well.  I am sure this is just one of many we will look at in the coming months though.

Hey Joe

Despite winning it now looks like we are now Joeless again, hopefully it is nothing major and he is right back in the squad after the international break.  Both Joe and Anelka had the two goals in a game that truly could have 5 or 6 nil.  For me it was some of the best I have seen them play in the last two seasons, back to looking like champions.

A quick look at who will be representing us for England: John Terry, Ashley Cole, Wayne Bridge, and Frank Lampard.  Joe Cole is of course unnamed after suffering the injury in todays game.

Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa MATCH REPORT

Everton 2-2 Newcastle MATCH REPORT
Man City 2-3 Liverpool MATCH REPORT
Portsmouth 2-1 Stoke MATCH REPORT
Tottenham 0-1 Hull City MATCH REPORT
West Ham 1-3 Bolton MATCH REPORT

Match Day

The day is upon us and lets first deal with a few player milestones.  John Terry is set to make his 250th career league appearance today and if Joe Cole is back he will be making his 100th premier league start for Chelsea.

Now for the history lesson, last year we were absolute rubbish against Villa taking 1 point from both meetings.  The point came from the unforgettable and eventful 4-4 draw at the Bridge last year on boxing day while we suffered a 2-0 defeat away.  The 4 conceded goals was the most conceded last season in a single game, however it did happen twice.  

Chris Foy will officiate over the match and so far this season he has shown an affinity to showing yellow cards with 19 in 4 matches.  

So there we have it, lets hope it lives up to the hype.

Saturday Wrap Up

The day finishes with some good fortune to us, Arsenal held to a 1 a piece draw at the Stadium of Light means we still occupy top spot heading into Sunday.  Bring on Villa.

Blackburn 0-2 Manchester United MATCH REPORT
Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal MATCH REPORT
West Brom 1-0 Fulham MATCH REPORT
Wigan 0-1 Middlesbrough MATCH REPORT

Chelsealess Saturday

So here we are at the top of the table, not a bad way for the blog to start, but we stand a good chance of Arsenal  taking an over night lead.  It is the sort of thing that has no real effect as we have a game in hand but the papers will all say Arsenal move to the top of the league, anything to sell a story really.

The big news today is an "injury crisis" at the bridge, which is nothing new, there has been injury crisis at this stage of the year for the last two seasons much worse than this.  The problem could arise is the weather has hit a cold snap here in London the last two days and a lot of the worries seem to be muscle related which the cold won't help.  However it is supposed to be a bit warmer tomorrow so we shall see.  There is also news that Joe Cole may make his return from being out since the Man United game and we could use a brace from him to keep the home streak alive against a Villa team that papers are filling with confidence.

Transfer rumours in October are generally slim, and this is more opinion, but there are a few sites around the net suggesting we should sign Ronaldo, yes the Brazilian clubless one, as cover for injured Drogba.  Well what can you even say about that.

Kick Off

Well here it is, my new Chelsea blog, with the ambition to become the best source for everything Chelsea on the web.