The Festive Season always had a certain predictability; on Christmas Day the turkey would get a right stuffing, on Boxing Day Chelsea would follow suit. My 'favourite' stuffing was a 4-1 thumping, inflicted during a torrential downpour at Elland Road by Leeds United, many Boxing Days ago. It was also a noon kick-off, which necessitated leaving London so early Santa was still popping out of chimneys. Leeds is a grim abomination at the best of times -- far too many people up there bear an uncanny resemblance to the Yorkshire Ripper: beards, bubble perms, evil stares, and that's just the women -- but in early morning it's even more of a shock to the system. I digress.

This season Chelsea has festively pocketed two victories -- 1-0 and 2-0 -- and although neither game was a classic we won both without offering Aston Villa or Portsmouth a real sight at goal. The best they could muster between them were a couple of long range efforts -- Solano for Villa and a real screamer from Quashie for Pompey, both from 30 yards out. Over the season our defending has been outstanding and we've given up few chances inside the penalty area. It's not just the back line that deserves the credit either, Makelele has been exceptional. He's very much an unsung hero; he doesn't score goals, he doesn't have an array of party tricks, but he does play with consummate discipline.

I went off him a little after his antics in the Champions League semi-final leg in Monaco last season...

Chelsea's 26-year-old left-back Celestine Babayaro is set to officially sign for Graham Souness' Newcastle on January 1 The player, who would have been out of contract at the end of the season, moves for an undisclosed fee.

Babayaro won the FA Cup, League Cup, Charity Shield and European Super Cup during his seven-and-a-half years at Stamford Bridge, but has been out-of-favour since Roman Abramovich's takeover allowed Chelsea to buy Wayne Bridge. This season saw him as Chelsea's third-choice left-back behind Wayne Bridge and the right-footed William Gallas.

Babayaro is Chelsea's longest serving professional having joined in 1997 from Anderlecht for what was then our record fee for a teenager, £2.25m.

Farewell Baba -- and good luck.

*Related links:*

* Mourinho won't replace Babayaro

We made a good start to our busy Christmas schedule on Sunday, which we traditionally fail to do. Now we must build on that victory over Aston Villa by defeating Pompey at Fratton Park, something that won't prove easy.

Harry Redknapp built the south coast Blues into a formidable opponent at home, and their new management team has continued this progress by winning three of their last five home Premiership games. They should have beaten Airline FC too, but an exceptionally rare goal by Sol Campbell from open play denied them at least a point.

We have a 100% winning record against Pompey in the Premiership, having done the 'double' over them last season -- a 3-0 win at home and a 2-0 win at Fratton Park. In fact Portsmouth have only beaten us once in 11 home League matches since 1955. That was, unsurprisingly, a 3-0 win in the top flight on Boxing Day 1957, 47 years ago.

Jose has just one new injury concern with William Gallas picking up a knock against Aston Villa, although the Frenchman joined in training yesterday and is expected to be fit for selection today.

The 18 players that travelled to Portsmouth yesterday are the same as reported for duty against Aston Villa: Cech, Cudicini; Ferreira, Johnson, Gallas, Terry, Bridge; Tiago, Smertin, Makelele, Lampard; Duff, Cole, GàƒÂ©ràƒÂ©mi, Gudjohnsen, Drogba, Kezman and Robben.

Whether Jose will rotate the squad slightly remains to be seen, but with an away game against Liverpool...

It's been a reasonably quiet build-up to the Premiership Christmas Crackers. The will-he-won't-he Joaquin transfer looks to have finally died on its feet... though don't rule out a summer transfer. Scotty Parker succumbed to the dreaded Curse of the Metatarsal, may require an operation and could be out for three months -- which is a shame because he was just starting to get a foothold in the first team door. And Jose has bemoaned the number of injuries that have affected the team recently, so much so that he's refusing to give the players a day off over the Christmas period.

Those not fit for inclusion today are Scott Parker, Celestine Babayaro and Robert Huth, while Ricardo Carvalho is doubtful. But sixteen players are available for selection so expect Jose to start with a similar line-up to the one he put out against Norwich, with rotation of the squad occuring in the upcoming Christmas games.

Score prediction: Traditionally the Blues perform poorly over the Christmas period, losing more often than not. But with the steadying influence of Jose Mourinho -- and despite an increasing injury list -- I can see us proving the statistics wrong today. Aston Villa themselves are weakened by injuries -- and the ineligibility of loaned Chelsea striker Carlton Cole -- so will struggle to emulate the 0-0 draw performance they produced at Villa Park earlier in the season. I'm going to put my hungover neck on the line and predict a third 4-0 win in a row at Stamford...

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas, and to thank you all for your contributions and continued patronage. It gives us great pleasure knowing that you share our Chelsea FC obsession and find this site of some use. Since we started recording visitor stats in July we've had nearly 116,000 hits, which suggests there's a lot of you with a craving for digital Chelsea FC info.

I would particularly like to thank Blingo for his regular and insightful articles and thoughts on all things Chelsea, Kenn for his brilliant but more sporadic contributions, and anyone else who took the time to add to the wealth of Blues data we've logged here over the past 9 months.

Finally I would like to thank the team and all those connected with the mighty Blues for giving us so much pleasure over the last year. Let's hope 2005 continues in the same vein and brings us the Premiership title in our centenary year.

Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!

Nick (Webmaster)

Stamford Bridge is not the place where Norwich will record their first away win of the season; we're unbeaten at home, have conceded just three goals and are several classes above East Anglia's second team. (Let's face it, Ipswich and Norwich will swap Leagues next season.)

Although we should win this match with the utmost ease Jose Mourinho will not be underestimating Delia Smith's side. Strange things can and do happen in football.

Mourinho said: "Norwich don't win a lot of matches, they have only two victories, but they don't lose matches. They have a lot of draws.

"They play compact. At this moment they almost play with only one player in front. The two wingers close a lot in midfield so I would say they play 4-5-1. And it is always difficult to play against these teams."

Jose has a virtually fully fit side to choose from. The only absentees from the 18-man squad are Ricardo Carlvalho, who is still suffering from the effects of a broken toe that saw him withdrawn at half-time from last weekend's Highbury showdown, and Robert Huth who has yet to fully recover from an ankle strain picked up on international duty with Germany.

Despite promising to rotate the squad over the Christmas period Jose is likely to stick with the eleven that earned a 2-2 draw with The Gunners last Sunday. The two enforced changes are likely to be Gallas returning to his best position in central defence to replace the injured Carvalho, with Wayne Bridge...

Despite Jose Mourinho's protestations to the contrary -- "I do not want to sign any players in the January transfer window. I just want to keep my players and avoid injuries" -- Chelsea will sign Real Betis winger Joaquin 'in days' according to Spanish newspaper reports. Below is a translation of an article published today in Diario de Sevilla, Joaquin's local newspaper:

bq. SEVILLE. Joaquin will be player of the Chelsea in days. The president verdiblanco, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, and own the international portuense has not been able to resist to the power of the roubles, now turned pounds, of the Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, proprietor of the English club. This one will pay to the Betis, approximately, 41 million euros by the operation and the soccer player will receive 6, duty free ones, by each one of the six seasons by which she would sign in the London organization. The agreement between the three parts is detailed. Only lack to execute it and, presumably, it will happen shortly in Madrid or even in the internal of the very same Jabugo street.

Read the complete translated article: Joaquin goes away to the Chelsea

Thanks to Blingo for the heads up.

*Related links:*

*

Jose Mourinho called it correctly - Chelsea will play Barcelona in the first knock-out stage of this season's Champions League.

The matches will be played on the 22nd/23rd February and 8th/9th March next year.

Barcelona will play at home first.

It's a chance to avenge 1999/2000's defeat in the quarter-final of this competition.

*Champions League draw in full:*

Real Madrid v Juventus Porto v Inter Milan Barcelona v Chelsea Werder Bremen v Lyon Liverpool v Bayer Leverkusen PSV Eindhoven v Monaco Man Utd v AC Milan Bayern Munich v Arsenal

Reports circulating in the press suggest that Chelsea has bid £30m for Real Betis winger Joaquin

This morning's Daily Mirror quotes the Spain international as saying: "The Chelsea offer has given me something to think about.

"I've heard the offer is very big and I know Chelsea are a very big club but for me money was never the issue. Football is the only issue for me.

"My friend [Arsenal's Jose] Reyes tells me good things about English football."

Manchester United are also thought to be interested, although they are unlikely to be able to match Chelsea's financial clout. The player himself admitted his love for the Red Devils.

Joaquin said: "I have always loved Manchester United but personally the main club of the last two seasons has been Chelsea.

"All the players these days want to play for Chelsea and today with Mourinho they will get even better."

Peter Kenyon apparently made a new inquiry last week and Betis president Manuel Ruiz de Lopera admitted that the club would be willing to talk if the right bid was made.

"All things are negotiable in this world," he said.

*Related links:*

*

Another selection of transfer rumours that, as usual, proliferate at this time of year.

AC Milan's Andrei Shevchenko is still one of our top targets, according the Independent. His agent has since dismissed the story by claiming we cannot afford him. Odd considering we're owned by one of the world's richest men.

The Independent also has us chasing Rio Ferdinand, who they say is much admired at Stamford Bridge. However sources admit that Ferdinand remains a "long-term project" and they will see whether he signs a new deal with Man Utd before making any move.

Not content with linking us with two of the world's best players in their respective positions, the paper goes on to suggest that we'll make a £15m bid for Spurs' Jermain Defoe as soon as the transfer window opens. Apparently an approach for Defoe had been discussed previously -- and then ruled out -- but is back on the agenda again because Defoe's contract talks with Spurs aren't progressing smoothly.

Meanwhile the Daily Mirror reports that Spurs are said to be considering a bid for Joe Cole. Maybe there's some kind of swap plus cash deal on the cards? (I read recently that Cole believes he's being frozen out of Chelsea. After speaking with someone who knows himà¢Â€Â”they weren't very forthcoming on the issueà¢Â€Â”I believe there's definitely more to his absence than just not being picked. Anybody else heard anything?)

The Daily Mail has Southampton...

I see there is a very minor fuss going on in regards to a song sung by some Chelsea fans at Highbury on Sunday. Having condemned the racist chanting at Porto and Madrid it would be wrong to overlook this. I have to say that my suspicion is that this is being promoted by some Arsenal websites as an 'issue' because it provides a bit of ammunition to fire at Chelsea. This shouldn't be about 'Gosh, you've got worse racists than us' which sadly is what it seems to be for some people.

I'm guessing the song in question was probably not intended to be racist... it's a variation of an Arsenal song sung about Vieira, so I'd imagine it was designed as a wind up. That of course is me making excuses for my own fans, but I do believe the intention to racially abuse someone was not the motive. That said it is a song which is racist and if it's racist then it should not be sung, it's as simple as that. Personally I wouldn't sing it because I'm aware it has definite potential to offend racially, and whilst I'm always very keen to offend anyone at Arsenal, in any way possible, I don't include racial abuse in that.

A lot of Chelsea fans, football fans in general in fact, may not remember what going to a game in England was like not so long ago. Any black player would be abused and screamed at, bananas would be thrown on the pitch, and all kinds of really horrible stuff went on. One time I went with a black Chelsea fan to a game away in the North East -- I won't mention...

A few Monday morning reflections on the game.

I've no problem at all with a team taking a quick free-kick. Where I think Poll is guilty of misjudgement is in his handling of the situation, which appeared biased. The idea for a quick free-kick came from Poll in the first place, which is wrong. The referee should not be suggesting ways for one team to take advantage of another. If Henry asks then Poll can agree to the request, but the referee should not be putting ideas into the attackers mind. Would you complain if the referee pointed out to Henry there was an unmarked player he could pass to? What's the difference?

Poll also held up his whistle which every professional player takes as a sign to indicate 'you will play to my whistle', in other words the kick will be taken after I whistle -- but then Poll gave no signal at all. It's all very well for the attacking team to create some deception of their own but for the referee to be a willing and active participant in the deception is no longer impartial. Poll also waved Gudjohnsen back as if he was moving him ten yards and stood over the ball as Henry kicked it, all of which made Poll a willing participant in the deception. Whatever he says that is not impartial, there is no way you can act like that and not be accused of bias. (I can tell you now if England had lost a World Cup game as a result of a referee acting like that there would the Mother of all Fusses.) The only surprise was that Poll didn't...

Thank God Chelsea equalised and the game was not won because of a moment of pure grandstanding from the referee. I'm sure anyone with Arsenal connections will say it was fair enough, but I'm equally sure any fan of any team would feel aggrieved if their team had conceded a goal because of the referee's nudge, nudge, wink, wink free-kick routine. We won't even discuss the fact that Pires fell to earth without the assistance of contact from any other player... Pires is a great player but also a cheat. (Robben did something similar against Porto, which was equally as pathetic.) I loathe diving and I really hope that video evidence can be used retrospectively to punish those who do it, but I'm not holding my breath.

As for the game, I thought a draw was about right. Chelsea shaded the first half (despite going in 2-1 down) and Arsenal shaded the second half (despite losing the half 1-0). The main conclusion I took away was that Chelsea don't have an individual who is as good as Henry. To be fair very few teams do, but it's been said a lot this season that Chelsea lack a truly world class finisher and today just backed up that point of view. I also thought second half you could see the benefit Arsenal derived from having a consistent style of play, developed over many years by Wenger. This was only Mourinho's seventeenth Premier League game, something that I think is often overlooked in the stampede to point out how much his team cost to assemble.

Fabregas...

The hype is building to a crescendo. News sources are spewing semi-fictitious words of war at a rate not seen since Airline FC's last war with Manure.

It can only mean one thing: the Big Smoke's Big Two are readying themselves for some Highbury hijinks in this season's first Premiership Eliminator.

In the blue corner we have the genius Portuguese pedant, the one and only Jose Mourinho; in the red corner we have the wrinkly, whingeing Arsene 'I didn't see the incident' Wenger, Finsbury Park's finest Frenchman and lover of left-sided players.

The war of words between the two managers is simmering nicely. Whingeing Wenger has hinted at Chelsea's spending power -- "We have 30 times less investment capacity than [Chelsea] so I don't know why everybody wants to push us into a crisis." [Sounds like the excuses for losing are already being aired. -- Ed.] -- while Jose has been being Jose, making reporters chuckle with his usual sarcastic wit -- "They go season after season getting players like Henry, Vieira and Reyes. It's a big surprise to me if Seville gave Reyes for free as a Christmas gift. Reyes last Christmas was quite an expensive gift."

But the most significant numbers on the day won't be à‚£200m or 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 -- no, they'll be 1-9-9-0, for on a day in the foul year of Our Lord, 1990, the mighty Blues last beat the Gunners at Highbury in a League game. 14 years is a long time to wait for 3 away points off the Arse, but Wayne Bridge's...

In order for the Chelsea FC Blog to continue to expand we need to move to a new, more powerful server.

Sadly there's no way to avoid a period of downtime whilst we carry out this move. We'll do our best to keep it to an absolute minimum, but please bear with us for the next few hours.

It would be best if you don't attempt to leave comments during this time. Even if you can access the site in your part of the world there's no guaranteeing the backend is functioning correctly or that we can access the site here, due to the delays in DNS propagation.

See you on the other side.

Webmaster and Editor.

h3. Welcome to the new server · Update

If you're seeing this message then you're accessing the new server. Everything seems to have gone very smoothly, without any downtime.

Comments have been enabled.

Time for a few hours sleep.

*For Chelsea:* Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSV, Barcelona, Werder Bremen

*For Man Utd:* Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan

*For Arsenal:* Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Porto

*For Liverpool:* Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Lyon, AC Milan, Inter Milan

Doesn't seem to have been a huge advantage to finish top of your group. To give us the best chance of getting through you'd go for PSV, but I cannot help wanting us to get Real Madrid. The draw is on the 17th.

Nice goal from Gerrard tonight... an absolute screamer.

Can't say I'm that surprised, or that bothered, as I felt Chelsea's preparation for the game was wrong: training at Harlington and then flying out instead of training in the stadium, and Jose not attending the pre-match press conference -- both debatable decisions in my opinion, and both showed that we had allowed ourselves to be got at. I know there was a security issue, but we needed to rise above all that and treat it as any other game.

As for the match, we looked like we took a training session mentality out onto the pitch. Even a small hint of professionalism and ruthlessness would have seen Porto beaten. I have to laugh when I see reports praising Porto's 'hunger and desire'; to me they looked like they had accepted elimination with about twenty minutes still to go. The crowd went completely quiet and Cech was largely untroubled. At that stage we missed a series of chances that would have closed out the game. That was the turning point -- we let them off the hook.

I've heard criticism of Jose because he put out a strong side that lost; some people seem to feel we should have held back all our big players. Obviously the 'reserves' losing would not have been such a blow but in fairness to CSKA and PSG (and UEFA regulations) I think we were obliged to play our strongest team. Imagine the fuss if Terry, Lampard, Ferreira, Carvalho, Robben and Duff had not played, especially from CSKA who stood to lose most if we'd played our second string. I know...

The transfer rumours silly season is upon us once again. The January window is about to be flung wide open and the press cannot help but link every top player in Europe with Chelsea.

One such example is the ever-present 'Chelsea to sign Gerrard' headline. After turning down a move to Stamford Bridge at the last minute in the summer, Gerrard is still being linked with a multi-million pound move to West London six months later. The magic figure of £30m is bandied about the press regularly.

The main reason for the continuing Gerrard rumours is Liverpool's failure to transform themselves into realistic challengers for the Premiership title. On current form they may even fail to secure a place in next season's Champions' League. This is not good enough for the Anfield Dynamo.

"If we're moving forward and I'm successful at this club then I won't need to go anywhere else, but if things aren't looking good I'll have to see what happens in the summer," said Gerrard. "I'm 25 at the end of the season and I think I've got six or seven years left in me at the top level to win things, so hopefully the turnaround can happen quite sharpish.

"I'm in a difficult situation because I'm a fan myself, I want to win things at this football club, but I haven't got time on my side. I can't really wait three or four years for the club to be turned around and to be made into a title-winning side. I'm hoping that will happen from now until the end of the...

So, according to Porto chairman Nuno Pinta da Costa, we deliberately chucked the Champions' League semi-final against Monaco in order to avert scrutiny of our approach to Mourinho. I was going to ask if Mr da Costa realises just how difficult it is to throw a game, but as he is in court today on charges of match fixing I guess he might know. If Bates was still at the helm da Costa would be in court -- again -- faster than you can say 'Captain Birdseye', but with Roman preferring a lower profile I've a feeling the club just might laugh it off -- after the game tonight -- and leave it at that.

I must admit at the time I was so dumbfounded by our inept performance in Monaco that I did wonder if Claudio had, not exactly chucked the game, but made a point with his substitutions. However when I recovered my sanity, some weeks later, I realised this was just my inability to accept defeat and that Claudio had simply rolled the dice and lost. What Claudio said himself was that hearing about the club's approach for Mourinho put him off his stride -- it was the day before we played Monaco, the biggest game of his career. Either way it was all very tacky. I wouldn't contest the decision to replace Claudio but the way it was done was very shabby.

I'm also very uncomfortable with all this talk of 'the quadruple'. This is an old fashioned set up which we should avoid. It goes like this: The press say 'Chelsea will win the Quadruple!' then in May, when we haven't won...

This _should_ be some match given the amount of hostility coming out of Portugal.

It's safe to say that a few Porto fans no longer see Jose Mourinho as God. He's more the Devil Incarnate.

Porto's militant supporters group, the Super Dragons, are said to be preparing a 'special' welcome.

Porto president, Nuno Pinta da Costa, has been spitting bile in Mourinho's direction and making ludicrous unsubstantiated claims against Chelsea. Today he appears in court to give evidence in a corruption case.

You couldn't write a better film script.

Porto need to win tonight and hope that Paris Saint-Germain, who are level on points but have the superior head-to-head record, are held or beaten by CSKA Moscow if they are to progress to the knockout stage.

Mourinho _wants_ to win -- badly -- despite Chelsea already qualifiying for the knockout stages. There's no better response to the hostility than knocking Porto out of the Champions' League.

"I don't even want Porto to qualify because it is not that I don't care who comes second but whoever comes second should do so because they deserve it," Mourinho said yesterday.

This _should_ be some match.

The only player missing from the squad is Robert Huth. He has a slight ankle injury.

Nuno Morais, the Portuguese Under-21 international signed in August, has joined the first team squad for the first time.

Steve Clarke has promised no more than four...

The rumours suggesting that Chelsea are going to move for Real Betis winger Joaquin Sanchez have resurfaced in today's press.

Both the News of the World newspaper and the Sky Sports website are reporting a possible multi-million pound offer come the January transfer window. Real Betis are thought to want more than £20m for the Spain international.

Once again Real Madrid are mentioned as possible competitors for the 23-year-old's signature, who is seen as a natural successor to an ageing Luis Figo. The player himself is said to prefer a move to Madrid, but concedes it's more likely a foreign club will prise him away from Real Betis.

"If one day I end up at Real Madrid and (Luis) Figo was there it would be a huge honour to play along side him because he is my idol," he stated.

"But it's certain it seems a bit complicated because we both play in the same position on the pitch.

"Also, I imagine that the team who wants to buy me will have to spend a lot of money on me.

"I would reject a financially better offer from abroad to stay in Spain, as I have done in the past.

"But what has happened is that such an offer from Spain is not there at the moment, and those from abroad are very interesting.

"You can't always reject them because the life of a footballer is very short."

Only time will tell if the 'offers from abroad' are from Chelsea. But with players like Arjen Robben and Damien Duff already...

The newspapers are full of 'Chelsea could win quadruple honours this season' headlines -- and it's only the beginning of December! It's utter madness. Arsenal experience a minor blip in form and all of a sudden we're going to win _everything_. It's the media gone mad, I tell you.

Anyway, at lunchtime today we have the chance to go eight points clear of Airline FC -- temporarily. If we do manage to put another three points between us and the Gunners, the pressure will certainly be on Whingeing Wenger to lead his Thierry to victory over the Midlands Blues later this afternoon.

Statistically today's three points are already in the bag: We're unbeaten at home this season; the Magpies are notoriously poor when visiting the Big Smoke; they're without their talisman, Alan Shearer, who's missing with a thigh injury; their defence has more holes than the goal net Shay Given guards so admirably; and they've never beaten us in the Premiership at Stamford Bridge.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. As Stratford's most famous son once said, 'The path is smooth that leadeth on to danger'. Newcastle are a very dangerous attacking team, even without Alan 'Elbows' Shearer. The front pairing of Welsh -Wizard- Whiner Craig Bellamy and Dutch -Dynamite- Donkey Patrick Kluivert look to have hit it off nicely, forming a typical 'Little and Large' strike partnership. The Welsh One's pace is enough to trouble even our awesome defence. Occasionally the Dutch...

Siemens will be the new sponsor of Chelsea Football Club, according to Marketing Magazine (You need to be a subscriber to Marketing Magazine to read the online version of the article. We haven't read it. If anyone has any further news or has read the article, then please leave your comments below. Thanks. -- Ed.)

h3. Siemens Mobile to sponsor Chelsea FC · Update

Thanks to RXM we have a transcript of the article.

??Siemens mobile is primed to become the new sponsor of CFC, with a multi-million pound deal set to be signed in the next few weeks.??

??Marketing has learned that Chelsea business affairs director Paul Smith has held extensive negotiations with the mobile brand about replacing Emirates to become its shirt sponsor for three years from the end of the season with an option to extend.??

??The football club was seeking a minimum of £6m a year -- an increase of £2m on its deal with Emirates -- to reflect its new found celebrity status and the Chelsea brands global ambitions. It is understood that the deal with Siemens will be in excess of £6m a year but falls short of the £100m 15-year combined stadium rights and sponsorship deal that rival club Arsenal has negotiated with Emirates.??

??Chelsea has denied that a deal has been completed with a spokesman insisting final...

Recently there appears to have been a sharp increase in the amount of anti-Chelsea drivel being spewed forth. A recent diatribe from one of the more odious scribes suggests Chelsea fans should feel guilty about the money Abramovich has spent and that any victories achieved by the club will be hollow. What utter, and very pompous, tripe.

Firstly I doubt any of these 'experts' are privy to the details of how Abramovich made his cash. The truth is he exploited a business opportunity. That's a very sweeping generalisation, but that's what he did. He certainly isn't the only rich man who has done so. You think every Lire made by Silvio Berlusconi would pass some sort of ridiculous 'moral fibre' test? Yet I don't see anyone complaining about AC Milan. Real Madrid blossomed into the giants they are now because of the patronage of a fascist dictator. Should we be asking them to hand back their European Cups?

The idea that anything connected to football should have to pass some myopic hack's idea of a moral standard is absurd to begin with. We're talking about a sport that pays young men £75,000 a week to kick a piece of plastic, so we're not exactly in Nobel Peace Prize territory here. Should Sol Campbell feel guilty about earning £100k a week when there are penniless crack addicts running around Tottenham estates? Are we suggesting Wayne Rooney examine his conscience because what he takes home in a single month would keep every pensioner in...

Another short trip across the west of town for a clash with our poor cousins, this time a League Cup quarter-final. With their minds on a possible relegation scrap following a period of poor form Fulham shouldn't represent too much of a problem tonight. [Famous last words. -- Ed.]

The majority of players who thrashed Charlton on Saturday will find themselves either dropped to the bench or excluded from the squad altogether as Mourinho continues his rotation policy for cup games.

"We are now in a time of rotation. My decisions are always taken in relation to the next game. I will leave out a player who I am thinking of playing in the next game," he explained.

"The players must always think only of the game being played but I have to think further ahead. The whole team understands this mentality and knows it is for the best."

Therefore expect a recall for Joe Cole, Scott Parker, Wayne Bridge, Mateja Kezman, Alexei Smertin and Glen Johnson.

Petr Cech will most likely be rested for Carlo Cudicini, and Didier Drogba may be given his first start since returning from injury, with Eidur Gudjohnsen relegated to the bench.

Frank Lampard will probably miss only his second start of the season, although John Terry will be included in the starting line-up. Lampard is likely to come off the bench if the match isn't progessing as planned.

Score prediction: If we re-produce the form we showed at Craven Cottage in the Premiership...

Last year Charlton ruined my Christmas and that of many other Chelsea fans, so yesterday was payback time. I don't know if the Addicks (what does that mean anyway?) will be complaining about the pitch this year, but it did look as if their defenders were playing on quicksand. Ho ho ho.

Before anyone gets too carried away -- and having seen the press today I think it might be too late -- bear in mind that Charlton are bone-crushingly average. A lot has been said about how much they miss Parker, but I think they miss Jensen (a vastly under-rated player) and Di Canio just as much. Without the guile of these influential players Charlton have no inspiration, no creative spark. Their two main tactics yesterday were to play the ball long or give it to Jerome Thomas and hope he could beat our entire defence -- which he couldn't.

Curbishley has made much of the fact that Chelsea have massive financial clout (no prizes for original thinking there, Alan) and to be fair we did disrupt his team last season by removing Parker. However, it's not just about having money, it's also about how you spend it (e.g. Mutu, Veron, Crespo). Throwing the Parker windfall at journeymen like Murphy and Jeffers just has not paid off for Charlton. Last year they mullered us, this year we had the cigars out after less than an hour.

Match reports you can get elsewhere on the 'Net so detail is not necessary, but in the first-half this was a keenly fought contest. In the...

We head to the Valley looking to avenge the embarrassing defeat Charlton inflicted on us on Boxing Day last year. Jose Mourinho will also be looking for a positive response after last weekend's disappointing draw with Bolton.

John Terry, Claude Makelele and Paulo Ferreira are all set to be recalled after being rested for Wednesday's dour 0-0 draw with Paris Saint-Germain. Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge and Scott Parker are set to miss out.

Petr Cech is likely to replace Carlo Cudicini between the sticks, while Didier Drogba is fit but will start on the bench.

Score prediction: There's not been a draw between us and Charlton since the Premier League was inaugurated, and I don't expect one today. With Drogba returning from injury we can maintain our one-hundred percent winning record in London derbies this season. 0-2.

h3. Charlton Athletic 0 - 4 Chelsea · Match Reports

Another awesome, clinical performance by the mighty Blues. Suffice to say we well and truly avenged last year's embarrassing defeat in this corresponding fixture. (I have an awful hangover caused by some serious post-match celebrations so will leave it to the pros to write the full-time match reports. -- Ed.)

The Observer

This match represents an early opportunity for us to dispel the gloom caused by Saturday's disappointing 2-2 draw with Bolton.

We've already qualified for the next round of this competition so Jose Mourinho will rotate the squad.

"I don't play Peter Cech, I play Carlo Cudicini. I don't play Paulo Ferreira, I play Glen Johnson. I don't play Claude Makelele, I play Scott Parker," Mourinho said during his pre-match press conference. "These three players are out of the squad, not even selected.

"Makelele and Ferreira have a better chance to perform well next Saturday against Charlton than if they have to play Wednesday in 90 minutes of a high intensity game. It is simple like this. Wednesday they will have a specific training session instead of 90 minutes of football.

"If I can rest two or three players against Paris and two or three players against Porto, and against Fulham in the Carling Cup, I am giving a rest to everybody and I can control better their energy."

John Terry, who played in Saturday's 2-2 Premiership draw with Bolton with a neck injury, is in the squad but is unlikely to start while Didier Drogba, returning after missing 10 games because of a groin injury, will be among the substitutes and will play 30 minutes if required.

Score prediction: Mourinho promised CSKA Moscow coach Valeriy Gazzaev that Chelsea would still "fight for everything" after winning in Russia; PSG will be looking to win to improve their...

Chelsea have confirmed they are willing to pay £14m for Brazil's latest superstar striker, Santos' Robson de Souza (aka Robinho), according to The News of the World.

The player's agent, Wagner Rubiero, told the newspaper: "Chelsea are the only team who have confirmed they are prepared to pay £14m.

"Robinho is excited at the prospect of the move and we are trying to make sure everything is okay."

According to Rubiero, the Blues are keen to sign the player when the transfer window re-opens in January.

He added: "We are following Chelsea very closely in order to give Robinho all the information, so he is not scared of going to a country so different to Brazil.

"He is excited by the prospect and we are trying to make sure everything is okay.

"Chelsea have made an offer and that is encouraging."

20-year-old Robinho is one of the most sought after players in world football at present and had looked to be heading to Real Madrid in a £14 million deal.

But Chelsea look to have stolen a march on the Spanish club by reaching a financial agreement with the player's current employers, Brazilian club Santos.

Other top European clubs are also showing an interest, including AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

h3. Robinho favours Real to Chelsea • Update

Chelsea target Robinho has spoken of his

Actually don't. I've no great love for Bolton; they remind me of Martin O'Neill's Leicester City side of a few years ago -- big, raw-boned bruisers whose main ploy is to get in the face of the other team. They play high pressure, physical football and rely on very organised set plays to create chances. Credit where it's due though, at 2-0 down I thought Bolton were dead and buried, but they refused to lie down.

Cech made a rare mistake, failed to collect a cross and that was one goal back from Davies. Another header won by Davies three minutes from time gave Jaidi the chance to equalise and that was the second goal back. We just couldn't cope with Davies, who is an average player but built like the proverbial brick outhouse. Bolton play to his strengths and we didn't look competent against these very simple tactics.

Eidur had smashed a shot against the underside of the bar at 2-1 and that was the pivotal moment -- if that goes in it was three points, but it stayed out.

I thought the changes made by Mourinho were a little strange. The combative Parker should probably have come on for Lampard who tired badly in the second-half. Personally I'd have gone 4-4-2 as well, kept Eidur on as he can hold the ball up. Bringing Kezman on and leaving him on his own in attack effectively means the ball doesn't stay up front for very long. But it's always easier to make these calls after the game has finished mind you!

We looked very average in the...

Another tough game, this... and one in which we'll be looking for revenge after a 2-1 defeat in the corresponding fixture last season.

Some would say Bolton are overachieving this season -- they currently lie fifth in the Premiership -- but if you look at their progress under manager Sam Allardyce over recent years then it could be said they deserve to be witnessing the dizzy heights of the Premiership's European qualification places; on their day they can beat _any_ Premiership side.

Jose Mourinho is certainly not underestimating their chances.

"I know Bolton, I know their philosophy and I know their style of play. They press a lot, are very physical and dangerous in set plays. They have a lot of experienced players; people who can play under pressure in this kind of match," Mourinho told the official Chelsea website.

"They can choose the pace of the game that suits them and the team is an image of their manager who is a strong character. Their record this season against the top teams is good. They didnà¢Â€Â™t lose against Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal or Newcastle."

Team news: Joe Cole, Robert Huth and Alexei Smertin are all unavailable.

Joe Cole has been given compassionate leave by Jose Mourinho as his grandmother is seriously ill, while Huth has an ankle injury sustained during international duty with Germany

Alexei Smertin has shaken off a groin problem but is unlikely to figure because of the travelling...

Clearly Luis Aragones is responsible for most of the unpleasantness yesterday in Madrid. All he had to do was apologise for calling Thierry Henry a 'black b#####d' and the matter would have been closed. Instead the Spanish manager chose to publicly stoke up hostility against England. The result was that Spanish fans carried on what Aragones had started, firstly by booing God Save the Queen, then by making monkey noises at all of England's black players. Very nasty it was too.

I've no idea if Aragones is a racist or not. Certainly what he said was racist and I imagine he won't be getting quite so many cosy dinner invites from his 'many black friends' after last night. The trouble is that Aragones' way of dealing with racist accusations was to turn the debate into a childish 'us and them' between Spain and England; sadly 'us and them' thinking is what racism feeds on.

What would have been ideal is if both sets of players had walked off, not just the English as some have suggested. So instead of the English pointing out that the Spanish were in the wrong, it would have been football making a united stand against racism. I'd love to have seen that, Spanish and English players leaving the pitch together in disgust. That would really have made the point.

As for the game, well all Chelsea's players were cack, as was everyone playing for England. The only bright note was that Joaquin -- with whom Chelsea are constantly linked -- looked the dog's...

In a week featuring yet another pointless England international 'friendly', rumours linking us with every 'star' young player in Europe have been rife.

Firstly, Roman Abramovich was spotted on a 'scouting mission' in Holland on Sunday with Feyenoord's 19-year-old Ivory Coast forward Salomon Kalou believed to be the object of his affections.

The Daily Mail also has us linked with Feyenoord's 21-year-old winger Romeo Castelen. An £8m move to Stamford Bridge in January is apparantly on the cards.

We're also the latest team linked with Bulgaria's Wayne Rooney, 18-year-old Valeri Bojinov Our scouts are believed to have watched the Lecce striker in action on several occasions in recent weeks.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona, Internazionale and Milan have also shown an interest in Bojinov, but the Bulgarian international is keen on a switch to England.

"I am extremely pleased to learn that great European clubs are interested in me," Bojinov told The Sun newspaper.

"I am happy in Italy, but it will be interesting to play in the Premier League where...

I for one will be genuinely astonished if Chelsea can bring home the title, partly because it's very tough to do it for the first time (1955? -- be serious) and partly because the main opposition is exceptional. The combination of these two factors makes for a formidable barrier. There are three 'big clubs' in England: Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. That's it, no one else. Okay, teams who are not part of this elite have occasionally won the title, but not often and especially not recently.

That Blackburn succeeded was ultimately down to Manchester United faltering at the final hurdle: they couldn't beat West Ham on the last day of the season. I'm not sure Arsenal would show such frailty and much as I respect United's ability to come back from the dead I see the current champions as the bigger threat. If Chelsea do win the title they will deserve great credit; finishing above the current Arsenal side will take some doing -- roubles or no roubles.

Whatever is said about 'buying success' I don't believe that spending money is in any way a substitute for the tradition of winning titles that the 'big three' have. Imagine you pitch up as a young player at Chelsea, until very recently your tour of the trophy room spent an uncomfortably long time in front of the Zenith Data Systems Cup, which we magnificently tore from the grasp of Manchester City some years ago. (What were the criteria for entry into the ZDS cup anyway? Exactly.)

Nor do I...

Peter Kenyon, Chelsea Football Club's chief executive, has prepared a five-year business plan to generate profits and turn Chelsea into a proper business, thus cutting the dependence on Roman Abramovich's billions.

"It is not prudent to run a football club on the basis of a benefactor building up a big debt-stream," Kenyon told the Sunday Telegraph. "It is in the best interests of Chelsea to be self-sufficient."

The result of the plan will be a football club that could cope financially if Abramovich lost interest and sold it. [Phew... -- Ed.]

"Roman has invested about £250 million in this club and there is no issue about him not being here for the long term," Kenyon said. "We are confident about the way the club is run, but the best protection we could have is to become self-sufficient. Our finances are structured in a proper manner so we don'€™t have to keep going back for major donations. Weà¢Â€Â™re in a good position but, if need be, there is money there for future investment."

Kenyon also added that he sees Jose Mourinho playing a long term part in his Stamford Bridge vision.

"He's got a fantastic CV in terms of what he has already achieved but at 41 we have got a manager who could be with us for a long time. We are talking very much in terms of a...

Jose Mourinho says that recruiting and keeping English-born players is vital to Chelsea's chances of long-term success and is a priority for the club.

He believes it is crucial for the development of the team to keep the core of his side as English as possible, and only 'crazy' fees will stop him from scouring the country for new talent in the future.

"John [Terry] signing a new deal for us was crucial. Frank Lampard has been here for many years, and now John will be doing the same. It was very important to keep the core of the team English, with players of a strong mentality," he said.

"We must only go abroad to buy what we don't have here. If you don't have a special player for a special position in the English market you have to look abroad.

"But the most important thing is to try and look for English players first. But sometimes the fees are crazy amounts, so we have to look elsewhere."

*Related links:*

* Blatter supports foreigner limits

It's Derby Day, a two mile or so trip across the west of town to a re-vamped Craven Cottage to visit our poor cousins, who haven't beaten us for forty years.

Having won our last seven matches in all competitions today's clash with our near neighbours shouldn't represent too much of a problem, especially if you rely on past form as a guide: Fulham have not beaten us in 14 League and Cup meetings, home and away, and their most recent top flight triumph was 1-2 at Stamford Bridge on 7 March 1964.

But Fulham themselves have recently hit form, winning their last three outings... although their 4-1 drubbing of Newcastle last weekend was a freak result (their goalkeeper, Mark Crossley, had the game of his life). With that in mind, today's game will be tough to win and Jose Mourinho says we'll have to be at our best to beat them.

"Fulham have good players and play a good style of football," said Mourinho.

"Their manager looks intelligent, they are a very organised team, with fast people up front, a strong midfield and tall people at the back."

Team news: Joe Cole and Carlo Cudicini are doubtful; both are suffering with a minor illness and high temperatures.

Alexei Smertin is fit again after recovering from a groin problem, but Didier Drogba has still not fully recovered from his groin injury.

Arjen Robben and Frank Lampard are likely to be restored to the starting line-up having been on the bench against Newcastle, while...

Damien Duff insists he has no intention of leaving the Blues during January's transfer window.

The Republic of Ireland international is a big favourite at Stamford Bridge and subject of constant speculation about a possible move to Manchester United or Newcastle United, but he has told Sky Sports News that he's getting used to life at Chelsea.

When asked if he would consider a transfer in the New Year, Duff said: "I think that would be the easy way out really.

"I love it at Chelsea. They're a great set of lads and we've got a great manager.

"I've kept my head down, kept working hard and never wanted to leave because it's the best club around for me."

Our friends at Goalhanger.com have designed this brilliant Chelsea FC 'Celery and Sickle' t-shirt. Click here or on the t-shirt above to order yours!

Let us know what you think of them in the comments below.

Very professional job up at St James' I thought. What was obvious watching the game was that Chelsea killed the attacking tempo of the home side. The game was played at a pace that suited us far more than it suited Newcastle. I'm sure Souness had fired up his players for an all-out attacking blitz but in truth that never materialised.

Newcastle got behind us once in 120 minutes -- an exquisite move from Robert that set up Bernard for a shot, which Carlo did brilliantly to save. Considering how top heavy Newcastle are with attacking players, it says a lot for how we defended that Bernard's effort and two long range free-kicks from Robert were their best chances.

The most effective players for their respective teams were probably Parker and Jenas, which tells you what kind of game it was. Their most dangerous player was Robert; he got well on top of Glen Johnson in the first half but to his credit Glen stuck at it and the second half was much more even. Terry had Shearer in his pocket, which I think probably hurt Newcastle as much as anything on the night. Unless their talisman is on top of his game they don't carry the same threat.

Robben took his goal with breathtaking ease; it's the mark of a great player when he can make the game look simple. Admittedly the Newcastle defenders may have been a bit leggy after 110 minutes but Robben left them all for dead, ran fully fifty yards, scored past a very good goalkeeper and all with about four...

Jose Mourinho is likely to continue his squad rotation policy and could recall William Gallas, Scott Parker, Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole and Robert Huth.

Mourinho's assistant manager Steve Clarke said: "We'll make one or two changes, but it won't necessarily weaken the team as we've lots of top international players.

"It's the time of year when we need to rest one or two because we've got a difficult schedule and a lot of games.

"It's the Carling Cup tonight so we'll have a totally different psyche. There's pressure every time these boys go out on to the pitch, every time they pull on a Chelsea shirt, because they're expected to perform. I'm sure they can all handle it."

Our only injury concerns are Didier Drogba, who's still recovering from a groin strain, and Alexei Smertin, who's suffering from a similar but less serious groin injury.

Claude Makelele and Ricardo Carvalho are likely to be the players rested, while the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Eidur Gudjohnsen and the The Premiership's Best Player, Arjen Robben will all feature.

Score predicition: We must go into tonight's St James' Park clash expecting a Newcastle backlash following their humiliating 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Fulham at the weekend (to be honest, the scoreline wasn't an accurate reflection of the game). But, given our defence is awesome and theirs is awful, we have the ability to nullify any backlash and score a couple to win what's likely to...

This is the design for Chelsea Football Club's new centenary badge, according to the Sun newspaper.

The club have lodged the badge with the Government Patent Office and expect it to become their registered trademark from next year.

The emblem, owned by Chelsea Football Club, marks the 2005 centenary.

What do you think?

h3. New Chelsea Football Club badge · Update

Turns out the Sun newspaper's representation of the new Chelsea FC badge design was accurate.

Thanks to Scott we have a link to the UK Patent Office's Trade Mark 2373227 and the officially registered image.

h3. New Chelsea Football Club badge ·...

Chelsea captain John Terry has signed a new five-year contract which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2009.

The 23-year-old had over three years to run on his current deal at Stamford Bridge but the club have moved to tie him down to an even longer deal.

Terry explained : "It was a mutual decision. I only signed last year but I had a chat with Peter Kenyon at the end of last season and with the people who came in since. It has been ongoing but finally it's all done and all sorted and I'm very happy.

"I have been here since I was 14 and I would love to stay at Chelsea for the rest of my career and hopefully I'll do that because I love playing for the club. I am just very, very pleased that it's another five years that I'm going to be here."

The January transfer window is fast approaching and the newspapers are full of the obligatory 'Chelsea to Buy...' headlines and rumours. Here we take a look at a few strikers whose names have been bandied about the press as possible replacements for the disgraced Adrian Mutu.

Fernando Torres :

Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres has emerged as one of Europe's hottest striking sensations and is said to be one of Roman Abramovich's favourite strikers, so much so that he attempted to sign him in 2003, just after he acquired Chelsea.

Atletico have so far stood firm -- also rejecting offers from Milan and Manchester United over two seasons, all of which were around the £27m mark.

But press reports in early October had Chelsea offering £24m plus Adrian Mutu. Obviously those rumours proved incorrect, but don't be surprised if Abramovich okays another multi-million pound bid to tempt Atletico into selling their 19-year-old club captain.

Antonio Cassano :

Roma's Italian international striker Antonio Cassano has recently been linked with a move away from the Italian capital after falling out with Giallorossi boss Luigi Delneri (he left him out of a...

You heard it on the Chelsea FC Blog first -- Adrian Mutu _will_ sign for Juventus. They wanted him in the summer and Capello will now take advantage of the Romanian's free status and snap him up. Whether Chelsea try to get Juve to part with a 'fee' remains to be seen.

Tough luck Sam Allardyce, eh? Just as we all thought Mutu would be tempted by the fleshpots of Bolton.

by Blingo Starr

h3. Mutu set to meet Juventus officials · Update

Romania striker Adrian Mutu is to hold talks with Serie A leaders Juventus an Italian club official said on Wednesday (November 10).

Mutu has signed a deal with an Italian management company led by Alessandro Moggi. Alessandro is the son of Juve manager Luciano Moggi.

"Mutu will be in our club's main stand to watch the match between Juventus and Fiorentina this evening," a Juventus official, who declined to be named, told Reuters. "Then he will meet some important people of the club."

Remember -- you heard it here...

Who would've thought it -- a second versus third Premiership match involving Everton FC! The Toffees are most definitely overachieving.

Everton have an impressive seven victories so far this season; only we and Airline FC have recorded more, eight a piece.

Jose Mourinho will be targeting a return to the top of the Premiership, if only for a couple of hours, and a sixth successive win since the disappointing loss to Man City.

We've won five of our last nine meetings with Everton at The Bridge, drawing the other four. A win today will see us keep pace with last season's performance in the Premiership.

Team news: Didier Drogba is still out with a groin injury and is two weeks from full fitness.

Alexei Smertin is struggling with a similar injury and that could mean a fourth start in the last five games for the impressive Scotty Parker.

William Gallas is available after recovering from a neck strain picked up in the victory over CSKA Moscow.

Drogba's absence means Mourinho is more than likely to continue with a 4-3-3 attacking formation. The brilliant partnership of Robben and Duff -- who will be making his 50th appearance for The Blues -- will probably start up front with either Gudjohnson or Kezman as the target man.

Score prediction: We're a superb attacking force with Robben in the team and should be more than capable of scoring two or three at home without response, thus improving our inferior -- to...

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has told Sky Sports News that he doesn't want to sign Adrian Mutu once the Romanian's ban expires next summer.

"In seven months someone will sign him but we don't need that kind of player," he said.

Wenger also stated that reports suggesting otherwise were false. Whether I believe him is another matter.

*Related links:*

* Is there life in football after drugs?

Adrian Mutu has been banned from football for seven months and fined £20,000 following a Football Association disciplinary hearing into his failed drugs test.

A "statement on the FA's official website":http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/Disciplinary/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2004/11/DisciplinaryNews_AdrianMutu.htm read: "Following a Disciplinary Commission at Soho Square today, Adrian Mutu has been suspended for seven months, subject to the player successfully completing a programme of education and rehabilitation.

"He was also fined £20,000 and will be subject to target testing throughout the period of the suspension.

"This follows Mutu's failing a doping control test after using a prohibited substance.

"However, the commission did take into account the mitigation put forward by the player.

"His suspension includes the period already served under an interim suspension order, beginning on October 25, and will run until May 18, 2005."

h3. Official statement by Chelsea Football Club · Update

In response to the Football Association's decision earlier today to suspend Adrian Mutu for seven months, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon made the following comment

"Chelsea is extremely disappointed with...

The Evening Standard is reporting that Mutu has confessed to using cocaine repeatedly They write that in his initial hearing with the Football Association two weeks ago and in private meetings with the Professional Footballers' Association and his former club, the Romanian international admitted using the drug "several times".

Mutu is currently attending his drug test hearing at Soho Square the Football Association's headquarters, and will learn his fate shortly. It is expected he'll receive a ban of between six and eight months.

Whatever the length of Mutu's ban, it has been reported that Chelsea are planning to launch a multi-million pound damages claim against him, and will also attempt to bar him from moving to another club until their legal action is resolved.

The club are preparing to sue the player for the loss of his transfer value following his positive drugs test and subsequent sacking.

But this proposed legal action has upset Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor,...

Robert Huth has tonight quashed Graham Souness's hopes of signing him in the January transfer window.

Souness earlier admitted that Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd had phoned Chelsea to enquire about Huth's availability But tonight Huth's agent Manfred Schult said his player has no intention of quitting Stamford Bridge.

"Robert is happy at Chelsea and isn't prepared to go anywhere," explained Schult.

"He signed a new contract recently which ties him to the club until 2008 and he wants to honour it.

"He's a young boy and is not playing at the moment, but he is waiting for his chance.

"He is not frustrated at all because he knows he is playing for a world class team. He's totally committed to the club."

Jose Mourinho has a virtually full strength, 22-man squad to choose from for this evening's Champions' League game (kick-off 17:30 GMT). And he's promising to rotate the squad in order to alleviate any future player fatigue. The likes of Frank Lampard and John Terry could therefore find themselves sitting out.

Didier Drogba is the only absentee; he will be out for two more weeks with a groin injury.

Alexei Smertin will be desperate to play in his homeland, but is struggling with an injury and has been training separately from his team-mates.

The full squad is: Cech, Cudicini and Pidgeley; Ferreira, Johnson, Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, Huth, Bridge and Babayaro; Smertin, Tiago, Makelele, Parker, Lampard and Geremi; Cole, Robben, Gudjohnsen, Kezman, Duff and Cole.

CSKA have proved to be the strongest opposition we've faced so far in this competition, and played extremely well at the Bridge -- only a couple of lapses in their defence at setpieces allowed us to score. However, we only need a point to ensure qualification for the knock-out stages and will (hopefully) be going for a win, thus silencing the conspiracy theorists. "We have nine points and maybe some people think we are already in the second stage and maybe we are," Mourinho said. "But we want to be first in the group and win every match."

Score prediction: We're sure to have significant support in Moscow, both from Blue Russians and the hard-core travelling fans, and,...

A metaphorical line obviously. Whatever the rights and wrongs the decision is made and there is no going back; Mutu is gone, he will never play for us again. Predictably the press still found reason to criticise the club. But whatever decision Chelsea took it could not have satisfied everyone.

I don't know if Mutu genuinely has an addiction problem or not; if he does then he has an illness and he needs treatment. However, to say, as Gordon Taylor has done, that Chelsea have callously cast Mutu aside is sentimental twaddle. Taylor makes it sound like Mutu has been abandoned to live rough with a crack habit and that his only chance of salvation has gone because Chelsea sacked him. Sorry Gordon but that's complete bolleaux. Mutu is a multi-millionaire with a veritable army of advisors and agents, if he needs treatment he certainly doesn't need Chelsea's support to get it.

Without having all the facts it's impossible to know what really went on, but it does look like Mutu has already been given a second chance by the club. From Mourinho's account of events the potential move to Juve came after Mutu had been confronted about rumours he was using coke. Had Chelsea been inclined to do a Pontius Pilate, Mutu would now be in Turin. As it is we cancelled the move and said we'd give him another shot at establishing himself back in the team. You can decide for yourself how committed Mutu was to taking that chance.

It also doesn't take a genius to work out...

An impressive Lampard-inspired second-half display saw us sweep aside West Brom with the minimal amount of fuss.

Our first-half performance was probably the worst of the year, though. After the break we were different class. Jose Mourinho must have uttered the right words in the dressing room at half-time. His substitutions -- Ricardo Carvalho for Wayne Bridge and Arjen Robben for Joe Cole -- were also inspired; they seemed to spark life into the game.

Gallas scored his first goal of the season in first-half injury time. Terry headed the ball goalward from a Lampard corner and the Frenchman volleyed home from close range. It was probably an undeserved lead.

Soon after the break Gudjohnson made it 2-0. Damien Duff put in a fine cross from the left wing for the Iceman to head home impressively. The West Brom defending was, quite frankly, non-existent.

West Brom's Zoltan Gera then put the cat among the pigeons with a fine strike from just outside our penalty area. The Hungarian international was by far West Brom's most impressive player, and at times seemed to be playing us by himself.

But it didn't take us long to restore a much-deserved two-goal lead. A sweeping move started in the Baggies penalty box and ended with Lampard's perfect final pass to Duff on the right, who neatly clipped the ball over Russell Hoult.

We then looked to play out the remaining time. But with full-time approaching the brilliant Arjen...

Gianfranco Zola, Chelsea's all-time greatest player, will be made an honorary member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to football.

The British Ambassador will present the striker with the award on behalf of the Queen at a ceremony in Rome on Monday.

In a statement, the British embassy called Zola "the most enduring and popular foreign player in the history of Chelsea Football Club" and praised his support for charities.

Zola joined Chelsea from Parma for £4.5m in 1996 and went on to score 80 goals and help the club win six trophies during his seven seasons.

"The 2002-2003 season was his last with Chelsea, and he left the club with style, scoring 16 goals," the embassy said.

"Despite the pleas of fans to remain with the team, he decided to return to his native Sardinia in 2003, having made a remarkable contribution to English football."

*Related links:*

* Zola 'over the moon' with OBE * Zola rises to greater heights while his...

The BBC is reporting that Chelsea have sacked Adrian Mutu

A statement from Chelsea explaining the decision read: "We want to make clear that Chelsea has a zero tolerance policy towards drugs.

"This applies to both performance-enhancing drugs or so-called 'recreational' drugs. They have no place at our club or in sport.

"In coming to a decision on this case, Chelsea believed the club's social responsibility to its fans, players, employees and other stakeholders in football regarding drugs was more important than the major financial considerations to the company.

"Any player who takes drugs breaches his contract with the club as well as Football Association rules.

"The club totally supports the FA in strong action on all drugs cases."

h3. Chelsea terminates Mutu contract · Update

Chelsea has terminated the contract of Adrian Mutu for gross misconduct according to the club's official website. The decision comes after the player's positive drugs test for cocaine and his admission that he took the drug.

h3. Chelsea targeted Mutu over drugs · Update

...in case you're wondering what exactly West Ham fans are confessing to when they sing 'I'm forever blowing bubbles'.

Just as Spurs celebrated wildly when they thrashed us 0-0 earlier this season, West Ham were ecstatic at 'winning' 0-1. I don't remember celebrating too many defeats myself. (How does that work? 'I feel good, we just lost 2-0 but deep down I wish it had been 3-0?') I can only assume supporting West Ham and masochism go well together.

That it wasn't a cricket score is down to two people. The first is Kezman who missed an endless stream of sitters; the other is Jimmy Walker who played like Gordon Banks on steroids. Game though the underdogs undoubtedly were, any sort of composure in front of goal from Chelsea would have seen West Ham buried. You just knew Thin Frank would miss that penalty as well. Shame the linesman was too busy dodging a hail of lucky heather to notice that Walker was about ten yards off his line... Frank was practically tackled!

About the only thing West Ham got on target all night was the coin that hit Kezman. It was a coward's thing to do but Kezman -- to his great credit -- shrugged off the incident afterwards. I don't want to drone on about this, but sooner or later a player is going to get seriously injured (we've already seen it happen to a referee).

In some continental stadiums there are Perspex screens between the fans and the pitch, which is what will happen here unless we stop chucking...

The Football Association have charged Adrian Mutu with taking a banned substance and suspended him pending the decision of a full FA hearing, according to the Sun newspaper.

A Chelsea FC spokesman said last night that they expected the hearing to be "within days".

h3. FA keeps quiet on charge for Mutu · Update

The Football Association has refused to comment on reports it has charged and suspended Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu after he failed a drugs test.

*Related links:*

* Six-month ban likely for Mutu

Steve Clarke, Chelsea's assistant manager, has said that Jose Mourinho expects Chelsea to win this season's Carling Cup

"Jose has a a different attitude to the Carling Cup. He expects us to beat West Ham on Wednesday," he said.

"He expects us to go all the way in the competition. That is a shift from previous management. I've told him it is a great day out and a big occasion."

Clarke said Chelsea would not follow the lead of some of their Premiership rivals, who use the Carling Cup to blood less experienced squad members.

"It is difficult for us to put out a weak team. If you look at our squad, they are all top internationals, so whatever team we put out should be a strong one," he said.

"There will be some squad rotation but don't expect too much. We don't want to be changing the side around a lot."

Three West Ham old boys will be hoping to line up against their former club tonight. Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Glen Johnson are all available for inclusion, but Lampard may well be rested by Mourinho. All three are likely to receive a hostile reception from the seven thousand or so travelling fans.

Makelele is available again after recovering from a fever which kept him out of Saturday's thrashing of Blackburn, although Scott Parker will be hoping...

We'll win. They won't.

by Blingo Starr

I am of course referring to the most momentous football event of the weekend. Something that most of us had only dared to dream about and for which we had been waiting what seemed an eternity. However when the moment finally arrived how sweet it was, sheer joy cascaded down upon us. The long wait is ended -- one of Chelsea's strikers actually managed to score on the pitch! Not once either, but a miraculous three times. In Eidur we trust. Amen.

I'm sure there was something else taking place this weekend of footballing significance. Oh yes, the small matter of a crucial league game between two of Europe's most successful and high profile clubs: Milan and Inter. Two Chelsea players featured, giving us something of interest in what was otherwise a fairly barren Sunday for sports fans.

Veron (Remember him? Emperor Ming with the bad back) appeared on the right side of Inter's midfield. I must admit I found this a little confusing as I'd been told all of last season that Veron had to play in the centre. Even more astonishing was the sight of Veron tackling and fouling people. Surely this could not be the same Stroller Seba that had malingered expensively for an entire season at Chelsea? Mancini is clearly a manager to be reckoned with.

Crespo ran around a lot, almost scored a few times and certainly didn't look out of place in a game which also featured Adriano, Shevchenko and Vieri. Of the two Absent Argies I feel Crespo is the one we miss most; on...

Scott Parker has insisted that he has never thought about quitting Chelsea despite failing to earn a regular place in the starting line-up.

Parker admits that while it's been tough to sit and watch the side from the stands, he has never thought about leaving.

"It was difficult but leaving never came into my mind," Parker said. "I am sure if you asked me the same question a couple of months down the line I would be in the same position.

"My main thing is I moved here in December. I have a family, I've just bought a new house and we're settling. The last thing I want to do is upset everything.

"I've surprised myself how professional I've been over the last few weeks. Any footballer is the same. When you're not involved you feel distanced from it all and at times I was.

"There were times when I wasn't even getting changed or in the squad. I was sitting at home on a Saturday at 3 o'clock."

But Parker holds no grudges against Mourinho and has vowed to compete for a regular first-team place.

"I think the manager has been fair. At the beginning of the season I spoke a lot with the boss and he told me what he wanted from me and what he expected of me.

"He told me to keep working hard, believe in him and I will get my chance. In the last...

FIFA, football's world governing body, is seeking a lengthy ban for Adrian Mutu following his failed drug test. Their disciplinary code advises a minimum of six-months.

And they've promised to step in if they deem any punishment handed out by the Football Association to be too lenient.

"Our disciplinary code is quite clear -- it calls for a minimum ban plus a fine," a FIFA spokesman told The Mail on Sunday newspaper.

"We will intervene if the minimum sanctions are not given."

Both the FA and Chelsea Football Club have so far refused to comment on the case.

*Related links:*

* Roman's standing by Mutu * Mutu's Babes * Sports Minister wants hardline on Mutu

After producing the right response in midweek to last weekend's shock loss to Man City, we entertain our bogey team -- Blackburn haven't lost at our place since 1988 -- at The Bridge later today.

Adrian Mutu's off-field antics have threatened to overshadow our football this week, but Mourinho is confident the players have their eye on the ball.

With Mutu unavailable, our striking problems -- Drogba's out for at least another five weeks -- look likely to continue... although the return to full fitness of Arjen Robben is a much-needed boost.

Babayaro is close to returning from a hamstring injury but is unlikely to figure today. Wayne Bridge will probably continue at left-back.

There's also the possibility that Scott Parker and Glen Johnson will start their first games of the season in place of Tiago and Ferriera respectively.

Score prediction: Straight to the point -- Blackburn's unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge will end abruptly: 3-0. Kezman will find the scoring touch to great cheers from the Blues fans.

h3. Chelsea 4 - 0 Blackburn Rovers • Match Reports

Slightly off in my prediction: Kezman (who only came on as a substitute in the 71st minute) didn't manage to get on the scoresheet... although he should've done (he hit the crossbar from all of six yards out in the 80th minute). ...

Adrian Mutu will remain with Chelsea during any ban, according to Romanian newspapers.

An agreement was apparently reached between Adrian Mutu, Chelsea and the Football Association after a meeting with the FA earlier today.

Mutu, who faces a ban after failing a drugs test in training earlier this month, spoke after leaving the meeting by a back door, Romainia's Pro Sport reported.

Pro Sport said: "It seems both sides have reached an agreement that the striker will remain with Chelsea and the club will not pay his salary during the ban."

His agent Gica Popescu said he could not comment on the hearing.

"Mutu will organise a press conference next week," he said.

Chelsea have refused to comment on Mutu's case and the FA have not officially commented.

h3. Mutu 'didn't take cocaine' • Update

Adrian Mutu has admitted taking something 'to make me feel good' but denied it was cocaine

'I didn't take cocaine. I took something to make me feel good, I'll tell you later what it was,' he told Romanian television on Thursday.

*Related links:*

*

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And if you're wondering who won the previous Chelsea Blog Goalhanger.com t-shirt competition -- it was William, who came up with an idea for a t-shirt featuring 'Liquidator' by Harry J Allstars. His idea is being transformed into another brilliant Chelsea t-shirt by

Jose Mourinho has confirmed he wants Scott Parker to stay at Chelsea, despite playing him for only fifteen minutes this season.

However, the midfielder, who was signed for £10m by Mourinho's predecessor, Claudio Ranieri, is concerned his England ambitions are being hampered by the lack of football and could seek a loan move away from the Bridge, possibly to his former club, Charlton Athletic.

But Mourinho said: "For Scott to go somewhere, anywhere, I need to let him go and the club as well.

"I'm not interested and neither are the club. He will be here."

Parker, who got a rousing reception from the fans when he was introduced as an eighty-fourth minute substitute for Alexi Smertin against CSKA Moscow last night, may be given his first start of the season against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

*Related links:*

* Parker desperate for chance

We'll be looking to continue our unbeaten opening to this season's Champions League -- and unbeaten run at home since losing 2-0 to Besiktas last season, a run of six Champions League matches -- when Roman Abramovich's 'other' club visit tonight.

We have no fresh injury worries; Didier Drogba -- who's becoming this season's most missed player (last year it was Duff) -- is still out with a groin injury, as are long-term absentees Babayaro and Robben, although both are back in full training.

Mutu is obviously unavailable given his recent run-in with FC Snow's Charlie. It is thought he'll be unavailable for inclusion for sometime, although it is hoped he'll play for the Blues again (by me, anyway).

This match is the ideal opportunity to bounce back from Saturday's disappointing defeat at Man City. But we'll need to discover some much-needed finishing prowess in front of goal if we are to almost guarantee our progress into the second stage of the competition.

Score prediction: Although CSKA will be doing everything in their power to earn a point at a goal-starved Stamford Bridge, I can see us proving our critics wrong and scoring a couple without reply. 2-0.

Provisional squad: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Terry, Carvalho, Geremi, Gallas, Bridge, Tiago, Cole, Lampard, Makelele, Duff, Kezman, Gudjohnsen, Parker, Cudicini.

*Related links:*

*

Adrian Mutu could avoid a ban from football despite admitting he took cocaine.

Current Football Association rules allow for players who test positive for recreational drugs to avoid a ban if they agree to take part in rehabilitation and admit the offence.

Had Mutu contested the positive A test -- he initially feigned 'shock' at the test's findings and wanted the B sample tested abroad -- he would almost certainly have faced six months out of the game.

Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, revealed Mutu's intention to accept the A test's findings early yesterday.

"He will not be going ahead with the second test, he has tested positive for cocaine," Taylor said. "There will be a hearing at the FA which we hope can be held as quickly as possible. It's very difficult to pre-determine what will happen but we do have a distinction between social drugs and performance-enhancing drugs.

"We have to accept that this is a problem in wider society but we don't want it near football."

Should Mutu escape a lengthy ban Chelsea will face a tough decision. It is widely assumed that Mutu will have his contract terminated.

However, the general consensus amongst football pundits is that Chelsea will stand by Mutu, even if he receives a six or nine month ban. Though they can afford to sack him immediately, it is thought they'll attempt to recoup some of his £15.8m transfer...

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This is the type of inane story we have to put up with in the UK press:

bq. What an extraordinary coincidence that the two most high-profile footballers who have been involved in drugs controversies this century should be in dispute with their club.

bq. In the first case it was Mark Bosnich, then the Chelsea goalkeeper, who was convicted of cocaine use in 2002 and served a nine-month ban after which he never returned to football. Given the seriousness of his unprofessional behaviour his £42,000-a-week contract was cancelled.

bq. Now it is Adrian Mutu, the Romanian who has fallen out with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, with a reported positive A sample. Although both Mutu's club and UK Sports, the drug-testing agency, are bound to secrecy about his identity, the news somehow has leaked out.

bq. Obviously, nothing can happen until after the testing of the B sample, but if confirmed the cancellation of Mutu's £44,000-a-week contract is something Chelsea will have to consider.

bq. If so, we can draw great comfort from the thought that alleged recreational drug use in the Premiership seems to occur only among those players who are disaffected by their working conditions and, further, whose clubs are disaffected with them.

And...

Adrian Mutu has admitted to testing positive for cocaine and will not request that a "B" sample be analysed, according to the players' union chief, Gordon Taylor.

The Chelsea striker met with representatives of the Professional Footballers' Association yesterday and will not insist on counter-analysis of the original test which proved positive for cocaine.

"He will not be going ahead with the second test. He has tested positive for cocaine," Taylor told the Press Association.

"There will be a hearing at the Football Association, which we hope can be held as quickly as possible to get the matter dealt with.

"It's very difficult to predetermine what will happen at the hearing but we do have a distinction between social drugs and performance-enhancing drugs.

"If the player accepts that he is guilty and if he is prepared to undertake rehabilitation, be checked regularly and to be clean then there is greater sympathy towards the player."

The PFA chief believes it would not be in Chelsea's interest to sack Mutu, as they did goalkeeper Mark Bosnich who also tested positive for cocaine, because of the amount of money spent on the player.

"Mark Bosnich wasn't in the first team and they took the opportunity to cancel his contract. Adrian Mutu cost over £15m, it's a...

The Sun newspaper has upped the ante in the Mutu drugs scandal by claiming Jose Mourinho ordered the drug test that caught Mutu :

bq. Jose Mourinho ordered the drug test that snared shamed Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu.

bq. The new Blues boss was furious that his Romanian hitman had missed a training session.

bq. Now Mutu's reputation lies in tatters after he was last night exposed by his friend as being a shameless liar and drug-taker who has been sucked into a playboy lifestyle.

bq. One of Mutu's three agents Ioan Becali claims the striker's nightmare started after a poor display when he came on as a second-half sub at Aston Villa last month.

bq. Becali explained: "Mutu didn't play well against Villa -- so he didn't merit inclusion against Paris St Germain in the Champions League a few days later.

bq. "Three players missed a training session after that game. Mutu was one.

bq. "Mourinho called me and asked me "where did he get injured, at home or on the bench?" Mourinho was upset and ordered a drug test."

bq. Mutu's A sample was positive, as exclusively revealed in yesterday's Sun.

bq. And Becali said: "He has now admitted to me that he took the drug.

bq. "We will NOT be requesting the B test."

bq. It is becoming clear that Mutu, 25, is ashamed of his...

Adrian Mutu's agent said on Monday that Chelsea had told him the striker had tested positive

Gheorge Popescu told Reuters: "Chelsea confirmed to me that Mutu had tested positive but did not reveal the substance. I realised that it concerned a drug, not a doping substance.

"Chelsea said that the (drug) would not be disclosed under a confidentiality clause."

Popescu, who flew into London on Monday for a meeting with Chelsea, was not able to confirm the drug involved was cocaine and said Mutu would be seeking the results of the B sample.

But he added: "I told him not to ask for the second sample so as not to prolong his agony. I told him that almost always the second sample confirms the first sample. He seemed not to understand what I told him."

Popescu said: "Mutu is destroyed. I told him to assume full responsibility for his actions but he seemed not to understand what it really means.

"We'll discuss his future after we see what Chelsea decide."

h3. Agent no. 2 certain his client hasn't taken cocaine • Update

Another 'agent' of Mutu's has played down suggestions his client tested positive for cocaine in a recent random drug test, and hinted that he did not have faith with the procedures in...

Okay, you did not need the foresight of Nostradamus to predict that Chelsea's first defeat would be greeted with unmitigated glee from all quarters. The press have had a field day -- Mourinho is on the verge of a psychological and tactical meltdown according to the Telegraph. The title is now a one horse procession if another rag is to be believed -- and these are two of the more restrained comments.

Of course we all knew it was coming, Mourinho has wound everyone up a treat by refusing point blank to be modest, respectful or self deprecating in any way -- all traits beloved by the English media who traditionally embrace polite losers e.g. Henman, Ranieri, King Harold, etc. If you live by this particular sword you have to accept that the nation will rejoice heartily if you come a cropper.

And come a cropper we most certainly did. You can blither on about penalty this and how many chances that, fact is we lost a game to an average Premier League team. Despite rumours that the sun had fallen from the sky and that biblical type plagues were upon us, all that really happened was that we lost one game, by one goal.

It would be churlish of me to try and deflect attention away from our massive failings by pointing out that Mighty United have dropped more points and have scored a vast nine goals (to our pathetic eight)... so I won't do that. However I am assuming that Ferguson has actually melted down completely, as opposed to Mourinho who is still...

Chelsea's Romanian misfit striker Adrian Mutu has tested positive for cocaine according to the Sun and Times newspapers.

The UK Sport random drug test was carried out at Harlington -- Chelsea's training ground -- last month.

He faces a two-year ban from football if the positive result is confirmed by a follow-up ('B' sample) test.

Mutu's Bucharest-based sponsership deal with Pepsi -- worth a reported £700,000 -- has already been suspended until the matter is resolved.

h3. Mutu 'shocked' over drug test claims • Update

Adrian Mutu has said 'he's shocked' over claims he failed a random drug test.

Mutu's agent, Victor Becali, said last night: "We did not receive anything official until now, but tomorrow morning my partner, Giga Popescu, will go to London. I have heard a lot of people in Romania saying that this [the disclosure of Mutu's name] is Chelsea's revenge against Mutu, but I do not agree because it is not in the interests of the club to make public such a story."

Becali added: "[Chelsea] have their own interests in selling Mutu. I only heard that this is not a recent test. I think it was done in September. I spoke with Mutu on Saturday and he did not say anything to me about this story. I called him yesterday and he was completely shocked."

*Related...

Fox Sports is reporting that Adrian Mutu has tested positive for a banned drug :

bq. LONDON (AP) - Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu has tested positive for a banned drug, a British newspaper said on Sunday.

bq. According to the Mail on Sunday, the 25-year-old Romanian striker, who has lost his place on the team after falling out with club coach Jose Mourinho, tested positive at Chelsea's training ground. The report did not identify the banned substance involved or say when the test was carried out.

bq. The Football Association declined to confirm the report or whether any Premier League player had tested positive. Calls to Chelsea weren't answered.

bq. The paper said Mutu's sample was taken by a team from UK Sport, which carries out most random tests in Britain, and it was now up to the player to decide whether to have the 'B' sample tested.

bq. If Mutu is the player involved, he is likely to receive a ban of two years from the Football Association. It suspended Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand for eight months for failing to show up for a test even though he tested negative a day later.

As "Blingo pointed out":http://www.chelseablog.com/article/188/#c000914, if this report is accurate it may well explain a lot about Mutu and what has been going on.

NB For legal reasons UK press cannot name the...

Scott Parker has admitted that he'll consider his future at Chelsea Football Club if he continues to be omitted from the squad.

Although happy to continue to work hard, keep his head down and wait patiently for a chance under Mourinho [wait for the Transfer Window? - ed], Parker is unwilling to let his current situation continue indefinitely and is considering his options.

"This is the first time I've been in this situation since my early days at Charlton," explained Parker to the News of the World.

"I was only 17 or 18 then and was fired up to get my career started. But this is very different. When I joined Chelsea in January, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

"It's very frustrating, especially as I have worked so hard to establish myself here. I am determined to do well here.

"A new manager has come in and I have to accept he might see things a little differently to his predecessor.

"I have spoken to Jose Mourinho about my situation and he has told me not to worry, that I'm a good player and I will get my chance.

"I have to admit though, that if things carry on the way they are, I will have to review my situation and consider whether it might be in my best interests to carry on.

"Another factor I have to consider is my future with England. It's a big blow not to be involved. I...

First, well done to Citeh and Keegan; this was an excellent result for them. As for Chelsea, I think a few chickens came home to roost today. Our lack of firepower in front of goal was there for all to see. I'm not overly confident that between them Kezman, Gudjohnson and Mutu (if he ever plays for us again) will score enough goals.

Today's game was a perfect example of why the English Premier League is so hard to win. Citeh took full advantage of a mistake, scored and then defended like their lives depended on it. No disrespect, but they are a mid-table team, not an Arsenal or a Man United, yet they kept us to very few good opportunities. Perhaps we did create enough chances to have scored, but how many is irrelevant because the fact is we missed them all.

We had a lot of the ball, we got in a few very good positions, yet we rarely troubled the keeper. Okay, you can say Man United with far greater firepower at their disposal also failed to score today. But if we are serious about the League then we should not be looking to the failure of other teams to help justify our own shortcomings. Bottom line is that we were very poor in front of goal today.

When you play like we do -- methodical, organised, controlled football -- you're never going to generate the relentless, high tempo pressure that Arsenal, or even at times United, can produce to win games. A perfect example came when Arsenal went 3-1 down at home to Boro this season; they went into...

We've never lost to Man City at their place in the Premiership -- and I cannot see that statistic changing today.

Sadly Didier Drogba's out with a groin injury picked up in the match against Liverpool, although Mateja Kezman and Eidur Gudjohnsen are available.

Full-backs Wayne Bridge and Celestine Babayaro return from calf and hamstring injuries respectively, with Bridge looking likely to replace the out-of-position Gallas in the left-back role.

Adrian Mutu is injured/sulking on a beach somewhere [delete as appropriate] and is unavailable, and unlikely to play for Chelsea again.

Score prediction: We remain unbeaten under Jose Mourinho, have won our last three in all competitions, hold the tightest defence in the Premiership, and can boast an aggregate score of 10-0 from the last four League meetings with City... so 2-0 to the London Blues seems a fair prediction.

h3. Man City 1 - 0 Chelsea • Match Reports

Sunday Telegraph The Observer

Romanian misfit Adrian Mutu may have made his last appearance for Chelsea Football Club

Mourinho said on Friday the 25-year-old was still on the club's injury list and unfit to play or train.

"He's under the medical department. When a player can't train I'm not thinking about him," Mourinho said tersely.

Asked when the Romanian might play again, the Portuguese coach added: "At this moment I see that day as far off."

Mourinho went on to praise some of his other players, such as Scott Parker, Glen Johnson and Robert Huth, who are having trouble getting a starting spot in the squad.

He said they work hard and show a professional attitude and in a long season were bound to get games.

h3. Mutu walks out • Update

Adrian Mutu is reported to have walked out on Chelsea as a result of his dispute with manager Jose Mourinho.

A newspaper report on Saturday said Mutu had gone to Italy for a holiday without the club's permission.

*Related links:*

*

I'll be amazed if Mourinho can scrape together a team to play Citeh this weekend. Such is the reported rate of departure from Stamford Bridge we'll be lucky if we have sixteen players to field a team.

Parker is on his way to Everton, Duff and Huth are joining Souness, Cudicini is going to solve United's keeper crisis, Gallas is set to become a Paella Boy at Liverpool, Johnson is desperate to play for West Ham again, and Geremi is practically already in a Boro shirt. Meanwhile Mutu is busy auditioning for the next series of Footballers' Wives.

Drogba, Kezman, Robben, Babayaro and Bridge are more or less on permanent disability benefit. Christ! Do we actually have a team left? Such is the depth of the current crisis we're begging Villa and Milan to let us have Cole and Crespo back. What price Veron? (About £16m to you mate.)

No-one can doubt that black clouds are massing ominously on the horizon for Chelsea FC. Shall we throw the towel in now or wait till Citeh have laid waste to the crumbling edifice that was once our defence? Mourinho has already asked the Premier League if we can postpone our game on Saturday because so many of our players are having medicals at other clubs.

Personally I think I'll miss Duff the most; I always thought he had potential. However I do understand that once Souness -- who is manager of one of the eight biggest clubs in the world -- comes calling then we've no chance of keeping our man... so farewell...

Adrian Mutu looks to have finally blown any chance of resurrecting his career at Chelsea by not showing up for training yesterday

Despite promising to apologise for his personal attack on Jose Mourinho the striker has instead snubbed the Chelsea manager by going AWOL. He did not contact Chelsea to provide a reason for his absence and the club are at a loss to explain his behaviour.

This latest breach of discipline could be the final straw. Mourinho is known for not suffering fools gladly and will have no time for a player Claudio Ranieri recently described as "[having] all the skills and flair, but ... things have to be right between the ears."

Mutu repeatedly proves that things aren't "right between [his] ears" and, quite frankly, should never play for Chelsea Football Club again.

h3. Mutu contacts Chelsea • Update

Adrian Mutu has contacted Chelsea Football Club. A spokeswoman of his said: "Adrian Mutu provided a perfectly valid reasion for his absence and the club is entirely comfortable with the situation."

*Related links:*

*

Adrian Mutu is making every effort to salvage his career at Chelsea by apologising to Jose Mourinho for his outspoken attack on him recently.

According to the Evening Standard, the Romanian striker had a furious bust-up with Mourinho on is return to the club from international duty yesterday and a further meeting is planned for later today.

Their disagreement is alleged to have spilled over after training, with both parties refusing to back down.

But Mutu is now prepared to accept he was wrong and offer a full apology for his comments, in the hope that he can rebuild his career at Chelsea.

Mutu said: "It was never my intention to insult the manager and I deeply regret the situation.

"I apologise for the inconvenience caused to the club and the management but all I want to do is play. I want to play for Chelsea, given the chance.

"I feel that I am fit, at the top of my profession and want to contribute to the amazing story that is Chelsea Football Club.

"I am perhaps guilty of wanting to play too much sometimes, but the manager's decision is final and I accept that. The gaffer is the gaffer and that's it.

"I have a burning passion to play football but would never attack the manager.

"He has my full support and I just want to show what I can do on the...

Scott Parker has turned down a loan move to Championship-leading side Wigan according to the Daily Mirror.

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan was prepared to pay £25,000 a week for Parker to join his promotion bid, but the player turned down the move because he doesn't want to leave London.

What truth there is to this story is unknown. But the Daily Mirror's interpretation is that Chelsea's willingness to loan Parker highlights his bleak long-term future at The Bridge, despite Mourinho's assurances otherwise.

In other news, former Stamford Bridge favourite Claudio Ranieri has launched a scathing attack on both Adrian Mutu and Hernan Crespo

In his book Proud Man Walking he's highly critical of the two forwards he signed last season.

Ranieri said Mutu "had all the skills and flair, but to win championships things have to be right between the ears."

Of Crespo Ranieri wrote: "There can be no place for nancy boys in my group... a player cannot...

Thanks to our new friends at Goalhanger.com we have two retro Chelsea FC t-shirts sporting the '50s club crest (see left) up for grabs.

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E-mail your ideas to competition@chelseablog.com" linktext="competition [AT] chelseablog.com" title="E-mail your ideas to this address" /> by midnight website.

The two people whose design ideas

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Lumbering centre-back Robert Huth has threatened to quit Stamford Bridge in January if he doesn't get first-team football, according to the Sun Newspaper.

Huth said: "I've been in London for four years and already feel half-English, but I insist on playing regularly.

"After all, I am an international now, too. I have set myself a deadline until Christmas -- after that I am gone."

The 'dissent' is spreading.

_*If*_ Huth's quoted correctly (and I have a feeling he is; the words 'arrogance' and 'German' spring to mind)... then who does he think he is? What right has he to 'insist' on regular football?

For all I care he can leave in January (I hear Airline FC is after another defender); I've never been a fan of his anyway (a minority view amongst Blues supporters). The only aspect of his game that excites me is his ability to hit free-kicks at ferocious velocities.

So it's goodbye to Mutu, Huth... and possibly Parker come January. The first two have my blessing, the latter not. I'd be genuinely upset if Parker ends up playing for the Evertons of this world.

*Related links:*

* Mourinho backs fringe stars *

Didier Drogba is to undergo an operation on the groin injury he picked up in the match against Liverpool on Sunday.

Announcing the decision to place his striker under the knife, Jose Mourinho said: "He has an injury that the medical department found the best way to solve will be with a little surgery, but we think in four or five weeks he can be back."

The official club website reports that the procedure is intended to keep Drogba's time out down to a minimum. It does not suggest the problem is a serious one.

This is a well known story about Orson Welles from when he first started directing feature films. Very young at the time, he wasn't sure if the cast and crew would be prepared to take orders from him. On the first day of filming one of the actors challenged a suggestion from Welles; the great man went absolutely ballistic, screamed at the actor for fifteen minutes, humiliated him, insulted him, fired him on the spot, told him he'd never work in movies again and then had security throw the man out into the street. Future suggestions from Welles were met with universal approval.

The reason this became a famous story is that the actor in question was actually a close friend of Welles who had agreed to act as a patsy, and the whole thing was a set-up. Welles knew he had to publicly assert himself when first challenged, otherwise everyone would start questioning his decisions.

My feeling is that Mutu may well find himself being made a similar example of by Mourinho, except in this case it won't be a set-up. Mutu is the first player who has publicly challenged the manager and I'm guessing he will get the full treatment -- in the reserves until January and then unceremoniously shipped out of the club, with even the mention of his name punishable by a large fine. Probably Mutu's firstborn will be barred from Stamford Bridge as well. And rightly so.

I'm also wondering what the lads who run our great club feel about us promoting Arsenal's new sponsor for...

Adrian Mutu is up to his 'old tricks' again, according to the Currant Bun :

bq. Adrian Mutu has declared war on Jose Mourinho after going AWOL from Chelsea.

bq. Boss Mourinho claims the striker is injured and cannot play for Romania this week.

bq. But Mutu, 25, insists he is fit and has flown out to face the Czech Republic on Saturday.

bq. Mutu stormed: "I am in an open conflict with Mourinho who forbade me to go to my national team and said I was injured. It is not true -- I have been in good condition for five days and he knew that."

bq. A knee injury was officially blamed for the Romanian hitman's absence from Chelsea's squad in their 1-0 Premiership win over Liverpool last Sunday.

bq. Mutu rapped: "I told Mourinho I was fit. He disagreed and showed me a piece of paper from the medical staff claiming I wasn't. But I know I am fit.

bq. "Mourinho has promised me that I would play in the first team for some games. Then I wasn't even in the squad and I don't understand why.

bq. "Probably the only solution, even if I don't want it, is to find another team."

I think Mutu's days at The Bridge are finally numbered. Personally I'd be upset if he's loaned or sold; nevertheless, his attitude warrants it. We have ready-made and talented replacements in

I've been wondering if our strikers, collectively, have a lack of goals in them. Drogba is the exception but he is now injured, so do Mutu, Kezman and Eidur provide enough genuine goal threat between them? If we were to replace Mutu with say Owen, or Defoe, or a similar goal-poaching striker, would we be better for it? My heart dropped yesterday when Drogba went off and if I'm honest that would still have been the case even if Mutu and Kezman had both been on the bench. Compare our four strikers to those of our rivals: do ours carry the same threat?

Then there is the quality of our football. Whatever way you dress it up we are ruthlessly efficient more than anything. Personally I'm happy with that, so are most other Chelsea fans I know. We are not a club that has a winning mentality running through it; there is no great tradition of success at Chelsea, certainly not in the League. My belief, just as a punter obviously, is that you need to establish the right kind of mentality and confidence before you can do anything significant in the League.

The foundation of Arsenal's current success was laid in part by George Graham's '1-0' side. If Wenger had come into a club that had no tradition of winning anything I wonder if he'd have achieved what he has? Initially Wenger relied on the back five that he inherited from Graham's era; that was the constant, the link between the old and new Arsenal. However easy on the eye Arsenal's style is now you don't have to...

Jose Mourinho recently revealed that he intends to sell a midfielder during the forthcoming transfer window The press immediately assumed that player would be Scott Parker because of his lack of match play this season, despite Mourinho's insistence to the contrary

The press _may_ well be right. Personally I believe it would be foolish to let a player of Parker's age, calibre and skill (don't forget he was last year's Young Player of the Year) go considering the age and ability of other midfielders in the current squad. Makelele is no spring chicken and, even though his form this season has been more reminiscent of that he showed at Real Madrid, he hasn't got many seasons left in him or any improving to do (Parker is his natural successor in my eyes). Geremi hasn't demonstrated the form he showed for Real Madrid and Middlesbrough either.

Okay, so I'm a big fan of Parker's and could make a case against a few of our midfielders, but surely other Blues fans can see how stupid it would be to let Parker leave?

Obviously a player like Parker deserves to be playing regularly for Chelsea and England, but...

It could be said that our 2-1 victory over the Merseysiders on the last day of the 2002-03 season -- a fixture we had to win to ensure a place in the following season's Champions League -- resulted in the Abramovich takeover. It's perfectly feasible that we might have done 'a Leeds' if it weren't for that result.

But enough of that; it's history. We have a great record against Liverpool at The Bridge in the Premiership, only spoiled last January when we lost to them for the first time. And on current form it's a pretty safe bet we'll improve that record later today.

Wayne Bridge is expected to return from injury to displace Gallas from the left-back position, while Arjen Robben, Adrian Mutu, Celestine Babayaro and Carlo Cudicini all still missing because of injury.

Jose Mourinho may decide to alter a few things after a busy recent period with the likes of Joe Cole and Mateja Kezman yearning for a start.

Without Gerrard to command the midfield, Liverpool look likely to suffer their fourth successive away defeat. Score prediction: an easy 2-0.

h3. Chelsea 1 - 0 Liverpool • Match Reports

Yet another great one-nil win, marred only by an injury to Drogba that could keep him out for a month.

An intriguing contest this. Jose Mourinho will be taking on the club he led to Champions League glory last year and will be hoping that the attention to detail and tactical acumen he instilled on Porto's European campaign has rubbed off on Chelsea.

This game could prove to be a strange experience for our summer signings Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira, with the pair having left Porto for Chelsea.

Wayne Bridge is in contention after missing the weekend win at Middlesbrough due to a knock suffered in the draw against Tottenham. He is likely to replace William Gallas who played out of position at left-back in that game.

Carlo Cudicini is back in training but he is likely to be on the bench as Petr Cech starts again in goal, while Adrian Mutu, Celestine Babayaro and Arjen Robben are all out with injuries.

I expect a tight, tactical battle, but can see us winning 2-0.

h3. Chelsea 3 - 1 Porto · Match reports

Daily Telegraph The Times

Spurs' Argentine defender Mauricio Taricco, who I feel is one of the dirtiest and most spiteful players in the Premier League has finally been handed a three-match ban by the ever-efficient Football Association for a clash with Damien Duff nearly six months ago

Taricco had been charged with violent conduct after hitting Duff with his hand and Scott Parker with his forearm during Spurs' 1-0 Premiership defeat on 3rd April

Following a personal hearing on Tuesday, Taricco was found guilty of the incident involving Duff, while a charge of improper conduct towards Parker was not proved, the Football Association said.

I have to admit I was not impressed with Eidur Gudjohnson in the Middlesbrough game. In fact, he's been missing-in-action in a couple of games recently.

Compare that to the impact Mateja Kezman made when only a substitute on Saturday. A beautiful pull-back completely fooled the Boro defence, then he cracked a left foot shot, which was on target, but unfortunately Mark Schwartzer had it covered. He also had a great break down the right-hand side which almost led to a goal.

I now believe Kezman should be the second choice striker out of our current four options. He should start alongside Didier Drogba in a central role with Gudjohnson dropping to the bench. It won't be long before his prolific scoring ability returns.

Having said that, I was also impressed with the brief run Adrian Mutu had in an earlier match (I can't remember which game it was, I think it was Villa?). He looked sharp and was involved in everything and maybe deserves a few more chances.

As for Drogba, well, I think the ice has been broken and he will start banging them in from all areas of the pitch. Look for Porto and Liverpool to struggle against him.

by Dave McD

We have a good recent record at the Riverside. Steve McClaren has never beaten us in seven attempts since he took charge of Middlesbrough. We have won two of our last three visits, so I expect us to continue our unbeaten start to the season.

It's possible we'll see Jose Mourinho make a couple of changes due to our two recent goalless draws. Both Damien Duff and Mateja Kezman could be brought into the line-up, with Eidur Gudjohnsen, Joe Cole and Tiago all sweating on their places.

We have no fresh injury worries. Arjen Robben, Adrian Mutu and Celestine Babayaro are absent, while Carlo Cudicini has only this week returned to training.

Chelsea old boys Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Boudewijn Zenden look likely to line-up against us (hopefully Hasselbaink will have an off day). Both are threatening players at their best so our back four will have to be sharp.

It's likely to be a tight affair, but I predict a 2-0 victory.

h3. Middlesbrough 0 - 1 Chelsea • Match reports

Sunday Telegraph Official Chelsea FC Website

Our esteemed manager is rapidly becoming the most hated man in football, but should we be surprised?

For a start there's the immense number of roubles at Jose Mourinho's disposal, this in itself is enough to incur considerable loathing. As most clubs are belt-tightening and looking through lists labelled 'Bosman', we are debating if we can be bothered to negotiate Didier Drogba's fee down from £30 million to £24 million. Okay, Manchester United still managed to rustle up a few quid for Wayne Rooney by looking down the back of the Old Trafford sofa but most clubs are scrabbling around for cast-offs and bargains.

Then there's his predecessor. Claudio Ranieri managed not to incur the wrath of the nation's punditry, but that was because he was portrayed as a victim of the 'Chel$ki revolution' and not as part of it. His was the slowest and most drawn out execution in history: the bullet left Roman Abramovich's gun the day he had tea with a certain Swede and did not hit the amiable Italian (amiable being the key word) for another eleven months.

Ranieri was self-deprecating in the extreme, his way of handling the press was to impersonate Manuel from Fawlty Towers. He was a caricature of a foreign manager, he took pressure off everyone by turning everything into a joke. Some of his press conferences were absolute classics, whatever you thought of him his sense of the absurd was magnificent. It was hard to dislike Ranieri, he was funny and...

After waking up at 1 a.m. here in Australia to watch the game, fretting while the Aussie commentators talked over the match as the clock ticked past the scheduled kick-off time, the TV coverage finally came on while the lads were walking out.

The minute's silence for the victims of Beslan that preceded the match was a disgrace, but having read the comments left on this site earlier by Spurs fans I can understand why.

After our superb performance against Paris Saint-Germain I was expecting us to steam roller the hapless Spurs and after the first few minutes I was right. It was only a matter of time. Then we started to run out of it and time did matter. There wasn't enough of it!

We played well and were unlucky not to score.

Now, the players, and my feelings about them.

Petr Cech: Up until now he had not really shown me that he should be keeping Carlo Cudicini out of the side. He has been steady, but not breathtakingly brilliant. Now he is. I feel that all those people who doubted Jose Mourinho preferring Cech now have no grounds to complain. Maybe they should also trust Mourinho's opinion on other players?

Paulo Ferreira: Every game he gets more confident going forward. He was solid at the back and considering how much damage Timothy Atouba has done to other teams, I think he did really well. What happened to him at Euro 2004 killed his confidence and he is only now starting to get it back.

John Terry: Absolutely...

I may be in a small minority, but I've seen Chelsea lose a league game to Spurs. More than once, sadly. Sinead O'Connor's Princely single 'Nothing Compares to You' was number one on that bleak, ignominious Saturday in February 1990 when it last happened. A solitary goal from John Bumstead was not enough to prevent a hideous defeat. It may have only been 2-1, but any defeat to Spurs is hideous.

Any real Chelsea fan will tell you that Spurs are, historically, our traditional and most hated rivals. Forget near neighbours Fulham, or even QPR - the local grudge match is always against the team from N17 (and long may it continue). In the past, avoiding relegation and doing the double over Spurs represented a great season for Chelsea (this was carved in stone for all Blues fans). Now, some nouveau Chelsea may feel Arsenal are our main rivals, but they are not and never have been. The whippersnappers and rouble-inflated guttersnipes who claim rivalry with Arsenal or Manchester United know nothing. There are only two teams with whom we are sworn enemies, one is Spurs, the other is dirty Leeds. Fact. Indisputable.

So, having established that this is one of only two games each season that we have to win (sadly, Leeds are languishing out of reach in the small, festering pond that is the Championship), what are our chances? Draws do not count, we're not interested in parity, in avoiding defeat, in being all square. What we want and what we expect is to crush them,...

We have never played Paris Saint-Germain in European competition. They are unbeaten in eight European home matches and, despite not winning in five matches in Ligue 1, will be tough opponents.

On the two previous occasions we played French teams in the Champions League we lost - 1-0 to Olympique Marseille in the 1999/2000 Champions League and 3-1 in last season's Champions League semi-final at AS Monaco. Let's hope it's third time lucky.

Jose Mourinho has a squad of twenty-one to choose from, the only absentees are Carlo Cudicini (elbow injury) and Arjen Robben, who still has a foot injury picked up pre-season.

Celestine Babayaro has not travelled to France. He's being rested.

Damien Duff could make his first start of the season and Wayne Bridge should return to the starting line-up after he was rested for the trip to Aston Villa over the weekend.

Mourinho is confident that Chelsea is growing into the kind of team which can compete with the best in Europe.

"Soon I hope we will be a very solid team, very difficult to beat. I imagine very few teams will beat us because we will be very solid."

But, he promises, that doesn't mean defensive. "We know we must get nine points at the end of the group stage. I think our team has enough quality, and the way we work and...

Arjen Robben we know is injured and will be return soon, but what of our other 'forgotten men' (not including the man whose job it is to polish the silverware)?

Scott Parker

Alexy Smertin has been picked ahead of him this season, and I can only guess at how Parker feels about that. I'd say he was the most likely to be unsettled out of all our forgotten players. I rate Parker, to me he is the natural successor to Claude Makelele, although he has a way to go to get to that level. He must also be kicking himself - as opposed to other players - given that England lack a quality, defensive midfield player of his type. Parker may not be Patrick Vieira or Roy Keane but he's certainly up there with Nicky Butt.

Glen Johnson

Had to be disappointed when Paulo Ferreira signed as he was on the verge of a regular first team spot. Ironic since Johnson is exactly the type of full back that Jose Mourinho's narrow midfield requires, great at going forward and playing an attacking role. He also chipped in with some spectacular goals last season - Blackburn away, Newcastle home - and I'd like to see him get a fair chance this season. Massively talented player who will be an England regular.

Geremi

Always going to be a squad player, I was surprised at how much Claudio Ranieri used him last season. Behind Makelele, Smertin, Parker and now Tiago as well. Not sure we'll be seeing that much of...

I had a feeling this match would be decided by a referee's decision, and so it proved. Didier Drogba was clearly fouled in the area after eighty minutes, in fact he was hacked down. We're not even talking debatable, it was simply a penalty. Referee Rob Styles compounded his unbelievable decision not award a spot kick by booking Drogba for diving. Ridiculous. Television replays showed conclusively that it was a foul; there was no hint of doubt. You get bad decisions during a season and you have to accept them, but this was a shocker.

The game itself was highly competitive but overall a little lacking in quality. Aston Villa did exactly what we expected, competed for every ball, played it wide then crossed into the box as fast as they could. In truth this tactic didn't really work for them, Darius Vassell is not the type of striker to thrive on high balls and Juan Pablo Angel is not a bustling centre forward. Clearly they needed Carlton Cole. David O'Leary's lone tactical decision was to play Vassell pushed out wide, almost as a left winger. I think O'Leary felt Paulo Ferreira might prove vulnerable but this wasn't the case, although Tiago was often called on to help out his Portuguese colleague.

The first half was mostly a sparring match. Drogba did hit the bar with a beautiful curling shot but otherwise it was a typical English game - pass, tackle, pass, tackle, no rhythm, no flow. One thing I felt was that Gavin McCann, who had a very good game for...

Not quite what Birmingham City fans chant, but close enough. In fact I'm referring to the swelling tide of opinion - well, amongst Internet tipsters - that Chelsea will come a big, fat cropper tomorrow at Villa Park.

First let me freely admit I'm not a big admirer of Villa, especially their managers. David O'Leary and John Gregory are two football 'personalities' who have not made my Christmas card list.

O'Leary is an ex-Gooner, which is pretty much unforgivable. He would also regularly induce fits of vomiting from the nation's football fans by talking about his 'inexperienced young boys' at Leeds. I'm not fooled by that soft, Irish brogue - O'Leary is a very nasty piece of work indeed.

Ex-Villa manager Gregory is a self-confessed Chelsea hater, who is also a Spurs fan. Need I say more? His enforced absence from management is a cause for celebration about which I'm saying nothing other than he apparently likes a 'tip' when he conducts a transfer deal.

As for the game, I'd prefer it if most of our players had not been involved in lung-bursting World Cup qualifiers, but nearly all of them were. However that's why we have a twenty-four man squad and, as O'Dreary will be pointing out - probably ad nauseam - we've spent all the cash whilst Villa are potless.

Last year we put in our second worst defensive display of the domestic season at Villa Park (the worst, as if you couldn't guess, was at Charlton) and we'll need to be a whole lot...

It is fantastic to see Wayne Bridge finally get to do what we all know he can. The fact that he is doing it while playing out of position highlights his talents all the more.

How many of us remember when he first arrived, how uncomfortable he looked in his first few games? The dissent was growing, much the way it is now for our other new full-back, Paulo Ferriera.

Then, however, he endeared himself to us by his goal celebrations in front of the Portsmouth fans, and then by scoring _that_ goal. Need I say more?

One person who I do feel sorry for is Joe Cole. Surely he was the perfect replacement for Paul Scholes? I fear that while England play a 4-4-2 Joe will never get a game. He seems to have pigeon-holed himself in the position behind the strikers. If England ever play a diamond again, however, I believe he will walk straight into the team.

I am nervous for John Terry though. He is putting in some colossal performances for his country, including two goal-line clearances in two games. But what will happen when Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand return? Will he get relegated to the bench? I see England's best two centre-backs as Campbell and Terry and I think Rio will struggle to make it back on form.

But who says Sven-Goran Eriksson picks players on form?

by

Speeding Mutu advised to seek help :

bq. Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu has been advised to seek psychiatric help after picking up a three-month driving ban following a high-speed police chase through the streets of Bucharest.

bq. The 25-year-old, in the city to prepare for Romania's World Cup qualifier against Macedonia, had his licence taken away after Wednesday's 4am pursuit. He refused to pull over when officers flagged him down for speeding and only stopped after police cars formed a barrier. He then refused to show his ID.

bq. Dr Florin Tudose of the Bucharest University Hospital said: "He is not mentally sick but he has extremely serious personality and maturity issues. He needs a specialist to help him bring the real and ideal image of himself together."

Mutu scored the winner for Romania tonight, from a 25 yard free-kick which he had won himself, so it's obviously not affecting his football.

Fiorentina have made a late bid to sign Adrian Mutu before the transfer window closes at midnight tonight.

Mutu was recently told by Roman Abramovich that he had a key part to play at Stamford Bridge, but has since struggled to get into the squad.

"The news about Fiorentina's interest in Mutu is true," his agent Andrea Pretti told Sky Sports.

"We are waiting for indication from London about their possible acceptance to allow him to leave and about the conditions regarding negotiations with the Italian side.

"Coach Jose Mourinho and Peter Kenyon are having a meeting at the moment and we are awaiting news about this.

"I hope, in the next few minutes, the situation could be unblocked.

"Chelsea's officials are talking. They probably have to look for a new solution to replace Mutu.

"Anyway, we are confident the situation can be unblocked soon."

Will Mutu's sale result in Forssell returning to the Bridge? Or a dramatic late bid for Rooney? You never know.

h3. Mutu staying at Chelsea • Update

Adrian Mutu will not be leaving Stamford Bridge to join Italian side Fiorentina.

His agent Andrea Pretti told BBC Sport: "Adrian is not leaving Chelsea, he will be staying for the next season. He is still happy there."

Mutu should sack his agent.

I'd just sat down in my seat in the Matthew Harding Lower and looked up to see Beattie hit a shot from thirty yards that dipped over Cech and into the goal. Watching the replay on the big screen showed that Cech maybe got caught a little cold and slightly off his line. But the general feeling around us was 'Come on Chelsea, show us what you are made of!', which they proceeded to do. For the next forty-four minutes Chelsea laid siege to the Southampton goal. Chance after chance was created and missed and I was beginning to think it was going to be one of those days.

The team was playing some great football with Cole, Lampard and Tiago pulling the strings in midfield, ably supported by Bridge on the left. Drogba was causing Saints' defence all sorts of problems with his pace. Gudjohnsen worked hard but things were not working for him, highlighted by his missed header from ten yards when he really should have hit the target. The chances continued to come with Tiago's header from a corner cleared off the line. Then from another corner we equalised. Lampard sent it low and hard towards the near post where Gudjohnsen deflected it onto Beattie and into the net. The whole of the Matthew Harding stand erupted into 'There's only one James Beattie!'.

Chelsea continued to press and find space in the Saints' half. Joe Cole in particular was beginning to show his true class and with one twisting run on the right turned three Saints defenders inside out before crossing...

Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Damien Duff will make his first club appearance of the season against Southampton this afternoon.

Duff has been omitted from all three squads this season, leading to press speculation that he wasn't part of Mourinho's future plans at Stamford Bridge.

"Damien will be selected in the squad for the Southampton match," Mourinho said.

"I am not sure yet whether he will play from the start or come from the bench but I want to give him his first chance before he goes away with Ireland."

Didier Drogba has been passed fit despite an ankle injury picked up in the midweek win over Crystal Palace.

Alexei Smertin and Wayne Bridge are back in the squad, but Carlo Cudicini will not train for at least two weeks after damaging an elbow. Lenny Pidgeley will take Cudicini's place on the substitutes bench.

Arjen Robben is still sidelined with a foot injury while Tiago and Joe Cole are aiming to retain their places following impressive displays against Palace in midweek.

Ricardo Carvalho will also be looking for a recall to the starting eleven.

Former Chelsea stalwart Graeme Le Saux is fit to face us and is likely to start in his favoured left-back position for Southampton.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Ferreira, Gallas, Terry, Bridge, Geremi, Makelele, Cole, Lampard, Smertin, Parker, Carvalho, Duff, Tiago, Drogba, Gudjohnsen, Kezman, Mutu, Babayaro, Pidgeley.

Score prediction:...

What do the brightest young talents in the Premier League - Reyes at Arsenal, Robben at Chelsea, Ronaldo at United, soon to be joined by Rooney - have in common? Aside from the fact they are all teenagers who commanded massive transfer fees, they all have the 'aghh' factor. Well the 'R' factor to be literal about it.

Chelsea were linked with all four players, although in the case of Ronaldo and Reyes it seemed to be because every player was linked with us. But should we still be in for Rooney? Mourinho, quite funnily dubbed 'Maureen O' by a Scouse website, has been very cool when asked about the Mersey Messiah. Mourinho feels Rooney is a second striker and we already have two of those in Gudjohnsen and Mutu, the clear implication being that we don't need him.

The press would have you believe that Rooney's soul is northern and so he will not venture down to the Smoke, preferring instead to remain with the delights of flat caps, whippets and hookers with spammy legs. Actually I think there is probably some truth in this. I wouldn't be surprised if Chelsea had asked the question of Rooney's agent in the summer and been told that his client preferred it ooop north.

Of the 'R' players we missed Reyes is probably the one that rankles most. He may not generate the same media frenzy as Rooney but he's a better player, right now at least. Nor does he seem likely to be generating negative publicity by paying women to sleep with him. (Imagine Rooney and...

Chelsea have been drawn in Group H of this season's Champions League. And yes, you guessed it, we will play Jose Mourinho's previous employers, Porto, as well as Roman Abramovich's second club, CSKA Moscow.

The complete list of teams in our group is: Porto, Paris Saint-Germain and CSKA Moskva.

To be honest the draw is not as bad as it could have been. But still, there's a few mouth-watering nights in Europe to look forward to. Can't wait.

The fixture dates for our Group H games are:

Tuesday 14th September: Paris Saint-Germain (away) Wednesday 29th September: Porto (home) Wednesday 20th October: CSKA Moskva (home) Tuesday 2nd November: CSKA Moskva (away) Wednesday 24th November: Paris Saint-Germain (home) Tuesday 7th December: Porto (away)

h3. Abramovich faces UEFA probe • Update

bq. UEFA are to investigate possible links between Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Russian side CSKA Moscow after both clubs were drawn in the same group of the Champions League.

bq. European football's governing body will look into a à‚£30million three-year sponsorship deal with CSKA announced earlier this year by Sibneft, the Russian oil giant in which Abramovich holds the majority shareholding.

bq. UEFA communications director William Gaillard told the Press Association: "We are going to look into it and see whether there is a controlling interest by Mr Abramovich with two teams in the same group." à‚© Copyright Press...

The Chelsea Blog gets a mention in today's Guardian newspaper Check out their Online section's Web Watch column here: Blog Watch

Here's to many more years of the "Chelsea Blog":http://www.chelseablog.com/ and Jose Mourinho's management.

Hello from Portugal,

I've been following this rather nice blog since the start of the season and enjoying it throughout. Being a huge Jose Mourinho fan (since his managerial debut at Benfica), I eagerly awaited the start of the current season to see how he would get on a bigger stage despite all the success he has already achieved both domestically and elsewhere, namely the Champions League and UEFA Cup titles. Having followed his work from early on rather closely (and taking myself quite an interest in real managerial issues as well), being Portuguese and all, I've decided to take this chance to comment a little on what Mourinho has done so far in England but also to try and foresee the future a little bit, based upon what he has shown before and the way he works with his teams. Ultimately, perhaps the true Chelsea fans around here might be interested in a somewhat 'inside' opinion on your new manager. If not, just completely disregard this post.

First and foremost, Mourinho is a decidedly psychological manager. What I mean by this is that if you roughly divide nowadays football into tactics and psychology, Mourinho probably puts something like sixty percent of his effort into psychology. It's easy to understand that an average player, if highly motivated, is much more likely to deliver the goods than an ill-motivated star may ever do. The idea I've got from countless short interviews with Mourinho's players throughout the years (especially those that...

Much better from Chelsea, though the poor quality of the opposition has to be taken into account. I admire what the likeable Iain Dowie has achieved at Crystal Palace. And I was delighted when his team booted the over confident West Ham, with their ridiculous Alan Pardew inspired t-shirts, out of Cardiff. However, on last night's evidence Palace will do well not to finish bottom. Wayne Routledge has potential, Aki Rihilati has work rate and that's about your lot.

As for Chelsea, we played with far more cohesion and looked much brighter than we did against Manchester United or Birmingham. The system effectively meant Joe Cole was given a free role in front of Tiago, Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele. This clearly suited him and he put in an eye catching performance, running with the ball, time and again beating defenders with skill, trickery and pace. For me he doesn't release the ball early enough and he still plays too much with his head down but his potential is there for all to see. If Mourinho can get him to look up then this should be Cole's breakthrough season.

Celestine Babayaro played well going forward (not often you can say that!), he was far more attack-minded than Paulo Ferreira and it was the Nigerian who handed Didier Drogba his first Premiership goal on a plate with a peach of a cross. Ferreira still looks uncertain to me, he hasn't settled yet, but he will. Tiago was impressive, very hard to believe this was his debut in the Premiership....

Jose Mourinho has stated that he will not be afraid to rotate his side, so tonight's team to face Crystal Palace will contain two or three changes from Saturday.

"I believe in fresh blood and the recovery time is short after Birmingham. I will make changes but not many, maybe two or three. There are some players who did not play on Saturday that were already working with the match against Crystal Palace in mind," Mourinho said.

Damien Duff and Adrain Mutu return to the squad, as does Celestine Babayaro.

Wayne Bridge is out because of a recurrence of a calf strain, as is Arjen Robben whose ankle injury is worse than initially thought.

Didier Drogba could be rested, with Mateja Kezman pressing for his first start.

Scott Parker could also figure after being left out of the squad on Saturday, and Joe Cole is likely to start after impressing during his stint as a second-half substitute against Birmingham.

And, according to various press reports, there's even a chance Frank Lampard won't be in the starting eleven.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Ferreira, Gallas, Terry, Geremi, Makelele, Lampard, Smertin, Drogba, Kezman, Gudjohnsen, Parker, Carvalho, Tiago, Duff, Mutu, Cole, Johnson, Cudicini.

Score prediction: The last time we met Palace in this corresponding fixture during the 1997/98 season we won 3-0, so I'll go for 3-0 again.

h3. Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Chelsea · Match reports

I was thoroughly...

First, and through gritted teeth, congratulations to Arsenal. Forty-two games unbeaten is unbelievable and it has to be said they play some half decent footy. I give thanks to all the gods I know, mostly Pagan, that we knocked them out of the Champions League though. Try to imagine the level of smugness that would be oozing from N5 if they had... ugh, shudder, it doesn't bear thinking about.

Secondly, congratulations to Newcastle for providing high-quality entertainment off the pitch. Please tell me this isn't the pilot for a football soap opera. They sign the least enthusiastic striker in Europe, who no other club would go near with a bargepole, then they sell the only decent defender they have. One of their own players treats the captain's armband like it's a used condom, and they try to get Roon to the Toon in a move so transparently designed to appease their own fans that it adds new meaning to the phrase 'Transfer Window'. Now they are talking about signing our very own William Gallas. Laugh? I nearly remembered they beat us last season.

*Related links:*

* Mourinho: Gallas going nowhere :+Gallas+going+nowhere * Dyer: Beaten with the stupid...

It is unfortunate that some Chelsea fans are joining the spoilers to harangue Jose Mourinho. Any fan who's been following the media war against him and the team and the clear animosity directed against him by some of his colleagues would know that there is a well-orchestrated campaign to cut him and Chelsea down to the opposition's preferred size. We have played only two games, gained the maximum points, conceded no goals and yet some Chelsea fans are joining the grumblers to demand entertainment. Now, need we explain that the opposition determines the kind of tactics to adopt? Or would these carpers have preferred a cavalier coach who goes out there, scores dozens of goals in one game, loses the game, and comes up with the explanation that he's only trying to satisfy our cravings for sexy football? Chelsea have perennially been full of promise and now comes a pragmatic coach to turn the promise into reality and some of us are baying and mourning the loss of entertainment, only two games into the season! Why can't some of us see the reality of the challenge Mourinho is facing and appreciate the wisdom and hands-on technical dexterity he's brought to tackle it?

Mourinho is a newcomer into a bigger and more competitive league. He inherits a team that is only so in name, because in truth the changes in the playing staff (backroom and on-field) are actually unprecedented anywhere in modern football. Look at the opposition - for eight years Arsenal have had Arsene...

Birmingham City's Robbie Savage has received a three match ban for deliberately elbowing Mateja Kezman during Saturday's match. Savage has until 6pm tomorrow (Tuesday) to appeal.

If Birmingham decide to appeal, then under the new regulations they would risk any suspension being increased if the FA still find Savage guilty.

Jose Mourinho was incensed at Savage's challenge on Saturday and urged the FA's disciplinary committee to review the incident.

"Kezman is lucky because he was not injured. The disciplinary committee has to take a look at what happened," he said.

First let me admit to gross hypocrisy: I got fed up with Claudio Ranieri for playing chicken as soon as we went 1-0 up. Now I'm about to (try) and defend Jose Mourinho for doing the same thing. The only discernible difference - aside from length of tenure - is that Ranieri's team would go 1-0 up and then shut up shop; Mourinho's variation is that we play like we're 1-0 up when the score is still 0-0. Although to be fair when we needed to come out and win the points Mourinho put Jole Cole, Mateja Kezman and Tiago on and the changes had a positive effect. We scored within minutes and then went back to defending the Alamo.

The other thing to note is that for the majority of away games last season - unless we had romped home 4 or 5 nil - the opposition always claimed we had been 'lucky' and that they had been 'robbed'. From Middlesbrough to Southampton we left a cliche (collective noun for managers, especially those who are as sick as parrots) complaining bitterly about their gross misfortune. The truth is that unless you absolutely murder the other team then you will get chances against you and there will be periods when the opposition gets on top. Yesterday for example Birmingham were on top from minutes 1 to 67, we utterly dominated in minute 68 and then they took back control for minutes 69 to 90. A fairly even spread I'd say.

The other thing to note is that Birmingham slung five across the midfield and had Robbie Savage man marking Frank Lampard....

The Independent newspaper today carries a story linking Chelsea with Spanish midfielder Miguel Angel Angulo

According to reports in Spain, Valencia have received a big money offer from a Premiership club for the highly-rated player. The offer is said to have come from Chelsea.

Angulo is 27, has played 271 games for Valencia and has scored 45 goals.

Surely we don't need _another_ midfielder?

The Battle of the Blues.

Although Mourinho's made it clear he won't tinker with the line-ups from week to week (not to the degree Ranieri did, anyway), it would be nice to see a slightly different team than the one that started against Utd last weekend.

It is likely Mateja Kezman will come in for either Didier Drogba or Eidur Gudjohnsen, but Adrian Mutu won't feature due to an injury sustained whilst on international duty for Romania in the week.

Tiago features in the squad for the first time while Wayne Bridge is also included after recovering from the calf strain that kept him out of midweek England action.

Damien Duff played ninety minutes for the Republic of Ireland in midweek and will be pushing for a starting place, but is more likely to start on the bench.

Ricardo Carvalho came on late in last weekend's Utd game and impressed, so will be angling for a start, whilst Scott Parker was also utilised from the bench and will have hopes of a starting place.

Arjen Robben continues to be absent as he recovers from his ankle problem.

Birmingham are likely to field their two ex-Chelsea players, Mario Melchiot and Jesper Gronkjaer; both players will be looking to prove Mourinho wrong for releasing/selling them.

Thankfully, Chelsea's on loan striker at Birmingham, Mikael Forssell, will not be allowed to face us because of conditions set out in his loan deal.

This game will be tough to win. Birmingham...

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Portugal Under-20 defender Nuno Morais from Penafiel.

The player, who has been on trial at Stamford Bridge, has flown to England for a medical and should complete the formalities of his move before the end of the week.

Morais told Maisfutebol: "It will be great working with Mourinho.

"I was not expecting this and he is the best manager in the world.

"Chelsea is a great club. There are great facilities here and real quality."

The 20-year-old also hopes to make an impact on the first team.

"I am going to be part of the reserve team but to train with the first-team squad," he said.

"I am going to try and play as many games as I can in the first team."

Yet another interesting signing that highlights Mourinho's intention to build for the future.

There was a time when Stamford Bridge was the spiritual home of sexy football and Ruud Gullit its high priest. We were so sexy, Gianluca Vialli, our aging forward, used to score with his bum on icy nights! Today we have a new coach whose relative youth, confident steps and dour handsomeness somewhat reminds one of Gullit; and with Abramovich's golden hand heavier than Croesus's at his disposal, it wasn't an outrageous expectation for fans to begin to entertain thoughts in the build up to the season of another sexy reign, but this time with the crown -- the title -- in tow at the end of it all. Well, with his first league game Jose Mourinho the highly successful 'gatecrasher' of a football manager is telling us with action that he isn't going to indulge us on the sexy bit. And that is a good sign!

I watched the first Chelsea league match of the season against Manchester United and, paradoxically, for reasons outside the field of play, I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it far more than the 5-0 drubbing of the same opponents at Stamford Bridge a few seasons ago. Why? Well, not because Richard Keys, the Sky Sports presenter was announcing rather ruefully that this is the first opening day loss for Manchester United in nine seasons, nor is it because by this win we have officially become the most successful team against them in the Premiership. No! I was smiling from ear to ear because this particular victory revealingly stinks up the air for the old...

We kept the points, United (mostly) kept the ball. The notion that this was to be a feast of attacking football was dispelled before a ball had been kicked. Ferguson put his most influential midfield player into defence and we played the 'fantasist' Smertin instead of Duff. The fact we had seven defensive players (not including Cech!) in our line-up clearly showed what Mourinho's approach to the game was.

Today's line-up also answered the question "Why haven't we signed a right winger?" Because we don't play with wingers! We opted for a diamond, Geremi on the right, Smertin on the left, Makelele holding and Lampard at the point. What seemed to happen was that everyone got pulled back one position. So Frank played in the centre, Eidur played at the top of the diamond and Drogba was left entirely on his own up front. I'm not saying he was isolated but at half-time as everyone trooped off Drogba asked the ref if he'd seen the guys in blue shirts anywhere.

Mourinho most definitely did not want to lose this game, so much so that we brought on Parker and Carvalho to stiffen up our seven man defence toward the end. We gave United a huge amount of possession but to be fair they rarely looked like hurting us. Scholes zipped a long range effort just wide in the first half but the only real 'heart in mouth' moment was a header from Giggs. Smith put over a very tempting cross that Van Nistelrooy or Saha (or Akinbiyi to be honest) would have buried....

Jose Mourinho has a virtually fully-fit squad to choose from -- only Arjen Robben (foot) and Tiago Mendes (groin) are doubtful, while Robert Huth is suspended.

Mourinho's team selection may contain one or two surprises, but it's almost certain Didier Drogba will spearhead the attack. It'll be interesting to see who partners him up front.

A significant number of Man Utd's 'top' players are on the injury list, but I don't expect that to make our job any easier. They are still dangerous, even without the likes of Van Nistelrooy et al.

We took four points off them last season and will hopefully take another three tomorrow. Score prediction: 2 - 1.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini; Johnson, Babayaro, Carvalho, Gallas, Bridge, Ferreira, Terry; Makelele, Smertin, Lampard, Cole, Duff, Geremi, Robben, Parker; Mutu, Kezman, Drogba, Gudjohnsen.

Predicted line-up:

p=. *Cech* *Ferreira, Terry, Gallas, Bridge* *Geremi, Makelele, Lampard, Duff* *Gudjohnson, Drogba*

Come on you Blues!

Your thoughts and match reports will be gratefully received.

*Related links:*

* BBC Sport's Chelsea v Man Utd Facts and Stats

So, Owen goes, Vieira stays, Perez fiddles. Vieira staying comes as no surprise, I was never convinced that he'd leave -- too good to be true I'm afraid. Real don't need another striker with a glass hamstring either; but Vieira they most certainly did need. Perez is a fool.

Despite Vieira pledging his undying love for all things Gooner, I think we all know that he bailed because Perez wasn't putting as many pesetas on the table as Beckham and co are trousering each week. Bad decision by Madrid and very poor negotiating tactics given that Vieira was 'leaving' because he wasn't valued highly enough.

Owen I am more surprised by. I thought Gerrard blowing us out would have convinced Owen to stay. It's just as well for Liverpool Gerrard didn't take our roubles otherwise they'd be right in the brown stuff now, destined for a dogfight with Boro for the last UEFA cup place. As it stands Gerrard, in my opinion, almost single-handedly guarantees them at least fourth, maybe better.

So we will have to do battle with the very same Arsenal Galacticos who went unbeaten in the Premiership last year. Good. At least we'll get a true measure of how good the current Chelsea team is.

I'm expecting a _very_ tough game against United on Sunday, because on paper it looks far too rosy. No Van Nistelrooy, Saha, Ronaldo, Ferdinand, Brown; and Roy Keane playing in defence? Come on, it's pretty much a racing certainty. Therefore expect Forlan to score at least one...

It all finally gets underway on Sunday. Three months of waiting is almost over. A hectic summer of rumours, counter-rumours and actual transfers is coming to an end. The team is finalised and Man Utd await.

The most intriguing aspect of Sunday's match is the starting line-up: who will Jose Mourinho pick? Well, here's your chance to name the starting eleven you'd play if you were manager, and the line-up you believe will actually start.

I'd pick:

p=. *Cudicini* *Johnson, Terry, Gallas, Bridge* *Cole, Smertin, Lampard, Robben* *Gudjohnson, Drogba*

Mourinho's likely to pick:

p=. *Cech* *Ferreira, Terry, Gallas, Bridge* *Geremi, Makelele, Lampard, Robben* *Gudjohnson, Drogba*

*Related links:*

* Now it's Jose's time to tinker

Mateja Kezman has won his appeal against wrongful dismissal according to the Sky Sports News channel.

Kezman was sent off for confronting Olivier Dacourt during the Champions World Series match against AS Roma. He served a one-match ban for the final game of the series, but the FA banned him for a further three Premiership games upon receiving the referee's match report. Chelsea felt this was unfair and appealed.

At a disciplinary commission hearing today, the ban was overturned and Kezman will not serve any additional punishment.

Great news.

*Related links:*

* Kezman in the clear

Apart from the tribute to the Blues' greatest player on Sunday (anybody go?), the only Chelsea related news worth reading in the last few days has been the ongoing 'Mutu to leave Chelsea' story.

After the collapse of the loan deal to Juventus on Friday, Juventus' director general Luciano Moggi claimed they never put in a transfer request for Mutu instead saying they were offered him on a free loan spell with the option to buy at the end of the season. This suggests that someone at Chelsea doesn't want Mutu at the Bridge.

Today we have Sky Sports reporting that Mutu's agent believes a move to Juventus is still possible and that Monaco have also shown an interest in him. He also makes it clear it was Peter Kenyon who was responsible for the collapse of the original deal, which confuses me because who would have offered Mutu to Juventus in the first place? Perhaps Mutu and his agent instigated the deal?

Apparantly not. Today Mutu openly pledged his future to the Blues in the Evening Standard after Roman Abramovich and Peter Kenyon...

Yesterday the media was full of stories linking Adrian Mutu with a loan move to Juventus after his agent declared it was 'ninety-nine percent for sure that Mutu will sign a contract with Juventus in a matter of days'.

Today the Times says Roman Abramovich has expressed concern at the prospect of Chelsea loaning out yet another expensive failure instead favouring a permanent deal; and the Guardian reckons Mutu is to leave Stamford Bridge in a unique deal which will see him playing on loan at Juventus, with the Italian club having an option to buy fifty percent of the player next summer for £6.6m.

But none of the above is true according to the club, who published a statement denying any deal had been done

Meanwhile the bastion of English football, the much respected and honourable

Something that could affect Chelsea's season in a big way is the outcome of the 'Vieira to Madrid' saga. Like many others I've always believed that a big part of why United and Arsenal have dominated the Premiership is the driving force in midfield that players like Keane and Vieira provide. For example, signing Gerrard would have increased my belief in Chelsea winning a title from hopeful to virtual certainty. I never thought that transfer would happen incidentally, not because I had any inside information but simply because it would have been too good to be true. In a way it would have also been wrong. Listen to Gerrard talk, he belongs at Liverpool. I don't mean that in a condescending way, I mean it in the same way that Terry belongs at Chelsea.

As others have also pointed out Chelsea will have inadvertently played a big part in the transfer if Vieira does leave. We left the gap in Madrid's midfield that Vieira might fill by seducing Makelele in the first place. We have also prevented Madrid from reinstating the very able Helguera into midfield by signing Carvalho, thus increasing their need for Vieira even further. Personally I remain unconvinced that Vieira will leave, partly because I know how much Arsenal means to him (sadly one of my closest 'friends' has his finger firmly on the Highbury pulse) and partly because it is too good to be true. i.e. if we can't sign one of the very rare players who can dominate midfield then the next best thing would be for...

Adrian Mutu has requested talks with Jose Mourinho to discuss his future at Stamford Bridge.

It is understood Mutu is upset at being left out of the friendly games in the United States against Roma and Milan. Officially he was said to be suffering from a groin strain which required resting.

Mourinho praised Mutu's attitude in training on taking over as manager, but as yet hasn't shown faith in the striker during pre-season.

Mutu's agent, Andrea Pretti, says his client is unwilling to start the season as fourth option in attack and wants the same opportunity as Chelsea's other three attackers.

"Obviously he wants the same chances of playing as the other attackers in the team, that's why we will ask to meet the manager as soon as possible to know which are his plans for him," he said. "I believe Mourinho considers the four attackers at the same level. If this is not the case, however, things will change."

If assurances aren't forthcoming, both Juventus and Fiorentina are said to be looking to sign Mutu on a loan deal.

Personally, I'm hoping Mourinho gives Mutu the assurances he's looking for. However if Mourinho has already done so (I'm of the impression he has) then Mutu is treading on thin ice. To question Mourinho's word after only three pre-season games is silly, and may well result in the door to Serie A being flung wide open.

h3. Mutu nears Juve switch • Update

Sky Sports has revealed that

Our third and final match of the Champions World Series sees us going for a hat-trick of victories against AC Milan, who beat Manchester United on penalties on Saturday. The game is being played at the Lincoln Financial Field, home of Philadelphia Eagles

Arjen Robben and Adrian Mutu are being rested because of injury. Robben has a stiff foot following Olivier Dacourt's vicious challenge against Roma last Thursday, and Mutu has a groin strain.

Alexei Smertin is also doubtful with a thigh strain, as is Tiago Mendes who has returned from the Portuguese Olympic squad because of a recurrence of a pelvic problem. He is returning to London for treatment.

Carlo Cudicini is expected to return in goal for the whole ninety minutes.

The starting eleven will be announced closer to kick-off.

Team training was watched yesterday by Hernan Crespo. Crespo will no doubt be looking to prove Mourinho wrong when he lines up against us for his new team. Unlike the Champions' League, where he and Veron have been banned from playing against us, Crespo will be allowed to compete tonight because it's only a friendly.

Kick-off is 8pm local time, 1am BST, and the whole match is live on

Although Jose Mourinho has his squad of twenty-four players sorted, rumours of impending departures from Stamford Bridge continue. Today the hacks say Duff's off to Liverpool and Mutu to either Fiorentina or Juventus

Happily Duff's agent, Pat Devlin, has quashed the absurd Duff rumours : "Damien is very happy at Chelsea and cannot wait to start the season.

"It's nonsense to suggest he wants to go back to the north-west, there's no way he wants to leave.

"Damien has just recovered from a bad shoulder injury and isn't thinking about anything but playing for Chelsea."

However there might be more to the Mutu rumours. The suggestion is that Mutu's attitude during training has left a lot to be desired, and an altercation with the managerial team may have occurred as a result. Supposedly this is the reason why Mutu didn't make the substitutes bench for the Roma game, and isn't in the team for tonight's clash with AC Milan. The official line is that Mutu has...

Chelsea TV insisted we were playing a diamond in midfield but I wasn't convinced. At times it looked almost like a standard four - Scott Parker and Claude Makelele in the middle, Geremi right and Joe Cole (only nominally because he continually drifted across the pitch) left. I suppose Makelele could have been the holding player, Parker and Geremi left and right with Cole at the point. In which case Parker definitely didn't hold his position! If anything I'd say our formation was more like 4-1-3-2.

Paulo Ferreira is very quick and loves to go forward - he and Geremi gave Roma a real roasting (not in the hotel sense) down the right. Celestine Babayaro crossed the halfway line only once, but to be fair he had no cover on that side; Parker was always in the middle.

Eidur Gudjohnsen was not as influential as against Celtic. He got tightly marked when he came forward and so dropped very deep to look for the ball. It was Cole's movement which gave Roma the problems in the first half, without Philip Mexes it would have been 4-0 at half time.

Arjen Robben is some player. I can see why Alex Ferguson wanted him and Manchester United will be kicking themselves (Roy Keane probably doing most of it) for letting him slip. Like all really good players he makes the game look easy, he drifts past people as if they aren't there. He did exactly that to Oliver Dacourt who brutally hacked him down in frustration, but Robben had better get used to it. If I was an...

The USA tour continues tonight with a potentially tough encounter against Italy's AS Roma at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Didier Drogba and Damien Duff will both play a part in the match, and Petr Cech will play all 90 minutes.

Mourinho said of Duff: "He'll play tomorrow for 20 minutes. He's not really ready, he's still a little bit afraid, but this fear will disappear with competition.

"When he's working with us he's done everything, but his colleague knows his problem and doesn't hit him really hard. So he needs to go to a football stadium where the opponent doesn't know anything about him and just hit him with a 100% challenge."

Tonight's match will be the first opportunity we've had to see Drogba in action for Chelsea. Sadly, I haven't got access to live coverage so will have to make do with the highlights.

Kick-off is 8pm local time, 1am BST. Live coverage of the match starts at 12:30am BST on Chelsea TV

Any match reports will be gratefully received.

h3. Chelsea 3 - 0 AS Roma • Update

Scorers: Cole 11'; Kezman 63' (sent off 66'); Drogba 68'. More details available in the comments. Thanks go out to Blingo and Boston Blue for the updates and reports.

*Match reports/related links:*

*

The signing of Ricardo Alberto Silveira Carvalho may prove to be a key point in Chelsea's season. For two years now, this aerially astute, pacy and multi-dimensional defender has quietly built a reputation as one of the best central defenders in the European game. Because he played for Porto, a club which seems to have a reputation for producing good central defenders, his achievements have remained largely ignored, yet anyone who watched him in the Champions League final at Gelsenkirchen effectively shackling the permanently lively Fernando Morientes and in Euro 2004 coming off the bench to solidify the crumbling Portuguese team wouldn't doubt his class. It is no accident he made the UEFA team of the tournament. I believe he was the best player in the Portuguese team throughout the competition, for his consistency, distribution dexterity, grafting and ability to turn defence into attack at the slightest opportunity.

Watching him against England in that competition, I wondered why Phil Scolari thought of playing Fernando Couto ahead of him in the first place; but for a player that has always been underrated until he proves himself over and over again, that was possibly no problem. I was not surprised that he was the first defender (before Jorge Andrade) to 'introduce' himself to Wayne Rooney in the 11th minute; that he was the one to clear out most of David Beckham's, Owen Hargreaves' and Gary Neville's crosses and that he actually whipped in a few dangerous...

Chelsea will complete the £13m signing of Porto defender Ricardo Carvalho today, according to the Sun newspaper and Portuguese television.

Real Madrid were expected to sign the centre-back who shone for Portugal at Euro 2004, but couldn't agree a deal with Porto president Nuno Pinto da Costa.

Carvalho flew to London last night to discuss personal terms and have a medical.

Another great signing by Jose Mourinho.

h3. Chelsea agree fee for Carvalho • Update

It is reported that Chelsea have agreed a fee of around €25m for Porto's Ricardo Carvalho. The fee could rise to €30m depending on appearances over the next three seasons.

"There is an agreement between the clubs for Ricardo Carvalho," his agent, Jorge Mendes said.

"This evening we will begin to negotiate the contract of the player. I can't say any more because we still haven't signed."

Carvalho is in London undergoing a medical. He's expected to sign a five-year contract and join his team-mates on the US tour tomorrow.

h3. Chelsea agree terms with FC Porto - official • Update

Chelsea Football Club have agreed terms with Porto for the...

Not a lot happening today, so I thought I'd rekindle the Sven-Goran Eriksson to Chelsea conspiracy.

The facts: Eriksson was again seen in the presence of Roman Abramovich when recently a guest on his yacht in a Norwegian fjord (I wonder what Jose Mourinho thinks about this?). He has also been 'playing away from home' with a secretary at the Football Association together with the FA's chief executive, Mark Palios. And his coaching of the England squad is, to be brutally honest, dreadful and a waste of £4m a year.

Is it fair to assume from his continued friendship with Abramovich et al that it's inevitable the insipid and sneaky Swede will one day manage Chelsea Football Club Answers via the comments.

(I know, scraping the bottom of the barrel for content and bordering on the absurd after Mourinho's high profile appointment. But in my mind there's definitely something going on between Abramovich, Kenyon and...

A crowd of between 30,000 and 35,000 is expected for the opener of the 11-match Champions World Series at Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks.

The team is expected to chop and change from one half to the other due to the high temperatures, expected to be in the 90s.

"It's warm, especially for players who are not ready to play at the high tempo for more than 45, 50 minutes," Jose Mourinho said. "With just seven subs, four will have to play for 90 minutes. From 1pm to 3pm, it will be really hard."

The four players who are likely to complete ninety minutes are Robert Huth, Glen Johnson, Geremi and Eidur Gudjohnsen.

Players who returned late to pre-season training because of Euro 2004 will be using today's match as part of their regime to return to full-match fitness.

"We train very specific, we don't separate the fitness part from the technical and tactical part, we work always at a high intensity, so I spoke with the players and we feel that players like Frank Lampard or John Terry and William Gallas and all the others who arrived just on Monday can play tomorrow as a part of the training process," Mourinho continued.

It is reported that no-one is injured so the whole squad is available to play a part in the game, although Damien Duff is unlikely to because of his continued...

There are rumours circulating that Porto's Ricardo Carvalho is about to become Jose Mourinho's latest and last signing of the summer

Mourinho has made no secret of his desire to purchase a fourth top quality central defender to complete his squad of twenty-four players, and looks likely to raid his old employers again, although it is reported he is refusing to meet Porto's £16m price tag.

"Carvalho is the player Mourinho wants most. At the moment, though, Porto are asking for too much money," a Stamford Bridge insider told the Sun newspaper.

Carvalho is an imposing defender with great aerial ability and his unflustered style and careful distribution appeals to many coaches, not least Mourinho, who coached him to last season's Champions League triumph. He would be a brilliant addition to the squad.

*Related articles:*

* Defenders in the frame - take your pick * Blues eye Carvalho swoop