Champions League draw, Wright-Phillips returns to Manchester City

It's difficult to say which is more nauseating - the Champions League Draw or the Eurovision Song Contest.

Good group for us. Only Roma should prove tricky, more so for the fans than the players with Roma's famous policing.

Great to have the best goalkeeper, defender and midfielder in Europe. It also proves that the one area we're weakest is in attack.

@Mark
I prefer the voting system in the CL draw, we appear have to have done quite well out of it, unlike our song entrants in the other bore fest.

We will have a taste of what the final will be like at the venue itself on matchday 1! Great preperation for Rome 2009. =)

Kenyon's not in Monaco talking about the draw. Could he possibly be doing some work in Madrid?

@HABS

Its possible. Now that SWP has free-ed up some space, Robinho is coming for sure? If not he would have haboured some hope of fighting for a first team spot rather then joining Citeh. Or will it backfire on Kenyon? Our actions in recent days suggest that the our aims are clear: Robinho. Cant see us buying anyone else. Now its just a matter of when we will get him. Its a race against team against those arrogent Whites.

Aaaahh...I see all those Mancs frothing with rage after our lads scooped the most of it. greedy fcuking muppets!

Firstly, congratulations to Petr, J.T and Frank for their awards..i'm so proud of all of them. It's about time our boys' qualities were realised for once..

I see old tw*t face had to get "overall player of the year award"..it's amazing how many awards one lucky season can get someone isn't it? What an absolute farce IMO!!

I think our group's an easy one, including Roma..if Man U can beat them with no problems (don't forget the 7-0 thrashing they gave them at Old Trafford a couple of seasons ago), then what's stopping us??
Out of all the English teams, Arsenal have the toughest group..not that i'm doing any complaining of course!!

chelsea's got it made, compared to the rest of the english clubs. man u could have trouble, but liverpool and arsenal definitely have tough draws. roma will be one of the most anticipated matches of the group play, but after that it should be no problme to advance. i hope liverpool loses in their group, did you see what it took for them to just qualify? inter and barca got free passes into the knockouts, really, and group F looks to be the most entertaining.

@ 10. CHOCOLATELEPRECHAUN

Liverscum may of had a struggle just to qualify but they ALWAYS do well in the Champs..

Watch the bug**rs go and win it this time!! :(

Joking...
WE are gonna do it!!

Roma will be a handfull and should not be under estimated either!

If they can avoid suspensions, red cards and injuries, can do some damage.

Looks quite good for us doesn't it? Although you don't really know what you are gonna get from a french side, do you? I have not kept up with the French league to be honest, but they seem to be world beaters one day and lay down flat on their backs on another.

Well done Petr, JT and Lampsie...... We are havin' a laugh!!

First and foremost let's hope we get a result on Sunday.

Lolli, unless Liverpoo up their game big time, I can see them struggling to get out of that group!! They were rubbish last night and were lucky to be in the draw today.

@ 14. AUSTIN

I know they were lucky...they were VERY lucky and they don't deserve a place...however, they have an annoying habit of performing well in Europe for some very strange reason.. :(

Good draw for us, should progress comfortably from that group.

Nice to see the lads all get recognition, but a bit bewildered to see Petr Cech win based on last year's form.

As for SWP.... Nice lad, tried hard, but ultimately wasn't quite good enough. Wish him all the best, and the reality is, everyone knew we were being mugged when they charged us $21 million for him in the first place, so it is no real surprise that we got less money back.

Good draw for us. Inter are in group b so we should face them in the quarters. Liverscum DONT deserve to be in the draw, Hope Inter get their revenge this year.
Roma are a very good team when Totti is playing. But as everyone saw last year without him they are a far weaker unit. Assuming Inter win group B and Werder come second then we will face the Germans in the round of 16 and JMs team in the QF? Am I right?

This Calderon guy is the biggest tit in football

LINK

Watch out for the "Robinho to join Chelsea in the next 48 hours" rumours keep coming even after the transfer window shuts!
And shame on Kitbag to have started advertising/selling Robinho shirts! For the love of God, he still hasnt even signed yet and Calderon now plans for a major poop in the party!
Oh and an insane 52 quid for a shirt? some 500,000 fans buy it - Robinho would have effectively come to Chelsea for free :)

Which is worse? Gareth Barry going from Villa or Robinho coming from Madrid?
Such constipation!

Did Peter Kenyon play a joke on us all this while? He was unsually confident that the deal will go through. Look at what those Madrid jerks are saying now? No replacement, no Robinho. But we still have until Monday. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and wait for 3 more days. Afterall, transfers like that are 'going down the wire' isnt it? ;-)

We all knew that selling Robinho shirts early, was an idiotic decision and now Real seem to be playing hardball:

LINK

"If the Robinho deal falls through, it would be an embarrassment to Chelsea, particularly after they advertised shirts for sale yesterday with the Brazilian’s name printed on them and the number “to be confirmed”.

No Villa, no Cazorla = no Robinho = Kenyon has some explaining to do.

@HABS

Our last hope is Joaquin. If they still fancy him, Binho will come to us. Please dont let us down Mr Kenyon.

I dont think many Chelsea fans know this but Peter Kenyon has a history of f*ck-ups. *Legend has it that when he was with Manchester United and in the brink of the Ronaldinho deal to United, he learnt that rival bidders Barcelona had fallen short of United's bid by 2 Million Quid. Apparently, Pete came home with a big Grin that would put Rowan Atkinson to shame and faxed a new bid to the PSG Chairman, a sum that was short of 1 Mil from the initial. The PSG president fumed at this deception. Peter had apologized profusely when he learnt about its consequences but PSG had got clearly f*cked off..and gave Ronaldinho away to Barcelona. The rest is history.
Now - Pete was on a public dinner with Robinho and Wagner Ribiero at Restaurante De Maria nearby to the Bernebeu in full public view.
Very Smart!
Calderon is no less a tricky c*nt but our club's chief executive must lay low and be a man of action rather than being a muppet and put the club to shame.

#23

Im praying hard that the deal will go through.

LINK

Looks like he will get the "7" shirt if & when he gets here.

Hope it's time that the luck changed.

Everyone seems keen for Robinho to come on board but is he any good and will he make/finish more chances?

@Mark25,

An irrelevant question - we wont sign him.

But, he would certainly make more chances for us - think Malouda or SWP but with a final ball.

Nice to see Liverpools annual group stage love-in with PSV and Marseille continues - hardly worth drawing them 3 out, they're always in the same group.

I dont think we should underestimate Roma, but we should be too strong for Bordeaux and Cluj - despite them being unknown to me.

Shame I'm going to miss the Roma game (well, miss watching it on TV), it's the same night that Alan Partridge plays a gig in his home city. Excited doesn't begin to explain it.....

Robinho's £31m move to Chelsea blocked by Real Madrid

By Martin Lipton 29/08/2008

Chelsea's £31million capture of Robinho was in doubt last night after Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon blocked the deal.

The Blues were confident of landing the Brazil winger after weeks of negotiations and a flight to the Spanish capital by chief executive Peter Kenyon on Wednesday night.

Chelsea's website was offering shirts with Robinho's name and number to be confirmed, but that was pulled last night as the chance of the deal collapsing emerged.

Chelsea are understood to have completed an outline agreement to sign the 24-year-old in discussions with Real sporting director Predrag Mijatovic.

But Calderon has yet to give the final approval and appears to have had second thoughts about the sale.

He has been humiliated by failing to land any of his transfer targets, among them Cristiano Ronaldo, and is now insisting Robinho stays unless a suitable replacement is found before the transfer deadline - although Chelsea remain optimistic it is a TACTIC DESIGNED TO RAISE THE ASKING PRICE.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seriously Calderon is like a small kid throwing his toy out of the prem. His ego was dealt a huge blow after being rejected by the Diveronaldo, Villa and Carzola. For him, its a big embaressment to his pride and Madrid.

Now he's becoming the hypocrite he is and block Robinho's departure. Poor boy. Dint he say that Robinho could buy out his contract and will not be forced to stay against his wish? He's like PK. They talk without going through their arseholes.

I have had enough. We shall not be held to ransom. We can get him alot cheaper next season and make this son of a gun regret for not selling Robinho at 27 million pounds in the first place. All hail Malouda!

Happy to see our 3 lads keep the European Player of the Year Awards out of the hands of ManUre and Liverpoo nominees - but bit of a joke that they all won in a year when none of them had much support on here to even deserve Club Player of the Year.

I know UEFA constantly fiddle the rules to get the draw they want but I couldn't figure out which one they used when drawing the second seed teams to automatically put Roma in our group when Arsenal and Lyon were still available too?

What's the point in selling SWP if we haven't got a replacement,surely it's not about saving money.Since when has that worried anyone at Chelsea?
Kenyon will look just as stupid as Calderon if he doesn't pull this off.We are short of attacking options as it is without losing anymore.If we get injuries to J.Cole,Malouda and Kalou we have virtually no wide players to call on.The whole affair has been handled badly by us and Madrid,we should have had other options,then we could have happily told Calderon to shove his player where the sun don't shine.Very pissed off and annoyed that Kenyon has allowed Chelsea to be put in this position.

Chelsea, rather embarrassingly, had to withdraw advertisements selling Robinho shirts on their website yesterday. His number had been stated as 'to be confirmed'.


'Our online partner, Kitbag, always prepares in advance of any potential signings, and unfortunately it accidentally made its way onto the site but has now been removed,' a club spokesman told The Daily Telegraph

Who's f#####g brainwave idea was that?
This just gets worse,how can a club like Chelsea be made to look so amatuerish?

Presumably we sold SWP because someone made an offer we accepted and he wanted to go - that's how it usually works.

Not a fan of Kenyon's personally but people need to calm themselves down and understand the situation rather than shouting all the usual cliched crap; we agreed a fee with Madrid and personal terms with the player.

Maybe a little previous to talk about it on Kenyon's part but Calderon is simply playing to the Madrid fans because he knows he's basically f**ked the next time they elect a president - it might win him a few more friends and some more dosh, but that's about it. He already looks like a complete c**t because he failed to get Ronaldo (or even the cash to do so) and all his other targets are gone. But on top of all that, do you genuinely think he will turn down £30m quid (plus) AND try to keep a player who has publicly stated his desire to leave? Simply a game of chicken now - who blinks first.

(All that said, whoever OK'd the shirt sales thing wants a size 9 stuck up their arse for doing so.)

@ Evillynn
amateurish? You mean like allowing the best manager in the world to go instead of soothing out the problems which were not insurmountable at all, then giving away 30 million quid on a burnt out has been?,or 21million on an overated man-city player? etc etc. This is the hallmark of Kenyon. He is slowly showing his idiocy and quite frankly ineptitude. If another chief executive of a large multimillion dollar company had made these type of public errors they would have gone long ago. it also begs the question of how useles Roman is and his personal advisors on anything to do with a football club which is why we are in this position and printing shirts for players who may not arrive. Why cant he shut up and do negotiations behind closed doors? what a complete shambles!!!Oh and another thing on Robihno which has been raised here quite a few times....why are we willing to pay anywhere near 30 million quid for someone that Real Madrid themselves thinks is not as good as Ronaldo, in fact not good enough even to fit in the same team? is this another bad deal in the making for this season or the next a la sevchenko no this time because of age but is the guy actually good enough to warrant such expensive and protracted negotiations? Drogba, he aint, neither a Robben who outclassed him last season and recently too in the last match! this is starting to smell a little desperate. if he does come, he better be worth the money otherwise we will never break even........

Do you all remember Kenyon saying we would break even by 2010? well, its 2009 in four months?? Has is that going to happen? Writing off such large sums and we are still millions in debt to the owner. And even though it is private money, I am sure you have all been watching the news about what has been going on between Russia and the west! Is it too far ahead to think if things carry on getting bad that maybe, just maybe, Roman may end up getting his assets frozen or even worse, having to go back to Russia anytime soon, after all he is a russian politician with a caucus to support not just a private individual? Not possible I hear some say but read the news espcially between the lines about what is going on... Roman joined six years ago and we are even further away from breaking even. It is the Chief executive's fault if he does'nt advise the owners about the realities.....It makes me realise how much the guys wanted to do well for us the fans last year that they came so close even with the ineptitude of the board on top of them. I think I owe a lot of respect to all the Chelsea players on here quite frankly, for giving us hope to the end......irrespective of Keyon's total mismanagement of the situation which continues even now......

Could it be a blessing in disguise of we dont sign Robinho? I mean his price tag is really over the hill. 25 million pounds would had been just right but those Madrid scums want 31 million quid for him! Surely we can do better than that.

Are we knee jerking here? Yes, the reports said this and said that. One day his shirt is for sale and looked dead certain to join Chelsea, the next day he stays in Madrid. But the window closes on Monday, not Friday. Theres still 2 more days though i dont harbour much hope with Kenyon. Its been a rollar coaster ride in this saga.

Just 24 hours ago, i thought it was a done deal. Now is all in shambles again. So what do we do now? Go to Plan B or keep the faith and wait for good news?

Whilst we have overpaid for players in the past, without doubt, in terms of breaking even and "writing off" these amounts, the facts are somewhat different from the speculation; looking up the definition of 'amortisation' might be a good starting point in understanding how a set of company accounts work and the valuation of players as assets over the course of their contracts. Aside of anything else - it's Roman's money and if he wants to sling it around like a man with no arms, that's his call.

It really makes me die - a few months ago, Kenyon and the club were being criticised at deafening volume for "not telling us anything" about the search for a new manager. Now, having made one perfectly reasonable statement in an interview that we were "confident" the Robinho deal would go through (in reality, not exactly something that is likely to make Calderon and Real suddenly decide that they don't want £30 million, is it?), apparently the club should keep its mouth shut and Kenyon is every arsehole under the sun for daring to to utter a word. Make your bloody minds up, why don't you?!

JD is right some people need to settle down and not scream like spoilt kids because they can't have their sweets. As far as Madrid goes people have known for years how political their football club is, and how presidents are elected. Calderon doesn't like the fact that Chelsea are giving them a taste of their own medicine, it's how they've treated other clubs for a long time with regard players.

The fact that some of their targets have turned them down instead of jumping at the chance to join them, shows that perhaps they don't have the pulling power they used to have. Great news if that's the case for us, and other clubs, it's about time someone stood up to them.

Thank you Clive... got to keep a voice of reason or two on here...

Aside of anything else, the transfer window is open until Monday (lunchtime, I think) - given the way this deal has been up and down like a tart's knickers in the last week or so, it's safe to say that the fat lady hasn't even started her warm-up exercises just yet.

Let's also remember that Spurs will be here on Sunday; something that always used to be far more important to Chelsea than almost anything else, least of all a couple of blokes in suits indulging themselves in a load of willy-waving brinkmanship.

We hate Tottenham, we hate Tottenham...

Also, isn't everyone getting just a little bit carried away because the 'set in stone gospel' that is the t'internet advertised a Chelsea shirt with 'Robinho' on the back.

Last time I checked, you could buy a shirt and get whatever you wanted printed on it.

Go on, get down the megastore, pick up a shirt and ask them to print 'Kaka' on it. Or 'Pele'. See the reaction then. 'Chelsea sign World's greatest player' just because it's on the shirt. It's all £££'s going in the coffers to help us break even.

You could even ask for the number one to be printed with 'Peter Kenyon is the number' above it, and 'dickhead / prize idiot / chump (delete as applicable)' below it. If you really wanted to......

I think most of us here are more concerned about the holes left behind by Sheva and SWP rather than Robinho himself. We will be short of numbers in the wide areas especially if injuries and suspensions kick in touch wood.

I admit defeat. Let Scolari work wonders and miracles on Malouda. I would rather not take the chance on Robinho with 30 million pounds at stake. If Robinho arrives, good for Scolari. If not, our squad is still strong. We can go for other talents next summer. Maybe Kakuta should be promoted to the first team already.

Can we operate without wingers? I think so. Provided Bosingwa and A.Cole doesnt get injured. But how many times can we play this wingless system? A lack of width is going to cost us goals and games. Thats a warning because right now i dont think we have Plan B. Even Scolari said so in one of his earlier interviews that Robinho is his Plan B. I will leave it to Scolari to figure out.

You could even ask for the number one to be printed with 'Peter Kenyon is the number' above it, and 'dickhead / prize idiot / chump (delete as applicable)' below it. If you really wanted to......

They'll be going like hotcakes on Monday when Robinho announces that he's happy with his new 8 year, 200k a week deal with Real Madrid :-)

LOL @ 41

I agree with Jonathan,

Calm down, Calm down...

We HATE Tottenham, We HATE Tottenham...

@34 Dio - I said on here several months ago when a newspaper pointed out when we were about to sign Deco our spending since the January transfer window was already over £50m that we might as well abandon all pretence of ever trying to break even anytime soon.

I think you are worrying unnecessarily about Roman's assets being frozen in Russia. I recall seeing a Panorama programme a couple of years ago that tried to disentangle the labyrinth of his finances and failed miserably having come up against anonymous shell companies in various parts of the world where he allegedly has money salted away.

Transfer deadline approach is cranking up the imagination level of sports journalists to 11 already I see:

LINK

"They'll be going like hotcakes on Monday when Robinho announces that he's happy with his new 8 year, 200k a week deal with Real Madrid :-) "

No doubt along with him confirming he's never actually stated his desire to leave, how Madrid is his life and he couldn't imagine playing for anyone else.

Scolari has no idea what's happening with Robinho either.

Scolari admitted he has no idea whether chief executive Peter Kenyon will be able to conclude the £28million deal before the transfer window closes on Monday night

He said: "I don't know about Robinho because it is not my job to enter into talks about players. I said something to Peter a month ago and they tried to bring Robinho here but my job is on the pitch.

"I don't know anything because I have not spoken to Peter for the last two days."

So if Scolari hasn't a clue,what hope do we have?

@ Evillynn

To be fair that has been his stance all along in any interview!
He seems to suggest he handles the football end and PK does the business side of things. I think you're reading too much into this.

Calderon is being a total a-hole about the situation. He says no player will be forced to leave and then he blocks the deal going through right at the finish line. Not to mention wasted his time trying to sign Ronaldo all summer when it was bloody obvious that McFergie wasnt going to let him leave. Now they claim they need a replacement for Robinho on the left wing? Hmmmm what happened to Robben and Drenthe?

Lynn - for the love of god, read the quote that YOU have just posted! Scolari doesn't know because, as he states a) it isn't his job to enter into talks about players and b) he says he hasn't spoken to Kenyon (entirely possible - he's been in Monaco (as have the Real heirachy, you'd imagine?) and Scolari is getting on with preparations for a game on Sunday with the players he has. Which is his job).

I dread to think how much hand-wringing and teeth gnashing there will be on here if this deal doesn't happen.

If what ive been reading is true then Calderon wants Didier as part of the deal. Its getting ridiculous, If I was Kenyon I would say £28m take it or leave it right now. Its dragging on and on and if we did let Drogba go then we would need another top class striker and Anelka and Kalou are not first choice material.

@Lynn - I think you'll find that this is normal in 'bigger' football clubs. Managers identify players they would like to bring in and then let the suits get on with trying to sign them.

Transfers of this magnitude are always difficult and protracted. Think back to the Drogba, Essien and A. Cole deals. What we're seeing now certainly isn't unusual. Cut the club and Kenyon some slack.

JD,

"I dread to think how much hand-wringing and teeth gnashing there will be on here if this deal doesn't happen."

Other than me.

I've already cut the sentence 'I told you so'*, enlarged it*, put it in bold*, underlined it*, multiplied it thousands of times* and am preparing to stay up until 00.01 on Tuesday morning ready to hit 'Submit Comment*.

* - Please note. Some or all of this statement, whilst made by Fiftee, may be factually incorrect.

You get the picture. No-one likes to be told 'I told you so', so all I'll say is, don't visit the blog until the post-match review of the game after the Spurs one, or you'll be bearing witness to me 'telling you so'.

Simple.

Bloody hell if we get him we get him, if not we move on, I think our squad has more strength in depth that the other so called big three. I wish this transfer window date would stop as soon as the season starts, so then we can all concentrate on the upcoming football, speaking of which those lovable rogues of Rottenham are coming to pay us a visit.

It's plainly obvious that our squad is fully catered for, APART from our attack. Our attack consists of Joe, Malouda (useless), Kalou (still inconsistent), Drogba (injury prone, moody and has only had one great season), Anelka (moody and still not a regualr goalscorer), Di Santo (kid). We need another attacking player and the least we should of done is have a Plan B so that Madrid don't get the impression that we're desperate to secure Robinho as we've put all our eggs in one basket! It's looking more and more likely we won't get him which will be a huge let down after Kenyon declared that we would definitely get one more signing for Scolari.

This Sunday is starting to look a little bit more tricky than i first imagined. After being told that Robinho would make his debut and Berbatov would be off to Utd, it seems that the exact opposite will happen. I wouldn't be surprised if Berbatov signed off his Spurs' career with a goal. I hope not, but i don't think this game will be as easy as the odds say. A tight 1-0 for me.

@ 53. CLIVE

Spot on...it's all getting very, very dull and boring now isn't it? I'm sick & tired of hearing/reading about the same subject over and over..i just want the whole "saga" to be over and done with. I personally couldn't care less if he arrives or he doesn't! Anyone would think we had this awful team that was capable of winning nothing! We've done ok without Robinho so far over the years haven't we for God's sake?!

Official Chelsea site has Herr B & The Bison as doubts for the weekend and Drogs as a maybe for the bench btw..

i think spurs midfield is still all over the place, we mullered pompey because their midfield was playing too individually and running after the ball like lemons rather than covering areas where we were running into. Wigan didn't do this and we were far less effective. Spurs on the other hand have a load of new players who can't play with each other yet, they are just a bunch of individuals so unless they can work together this will be another romp i think.

3-0 to chelsea i think.

Let's forget Robinho.

How about we sign Michael Owen? I know it sounds a little crazy but ... in previous seasons our problem has been lack of creating chances, this season I think we'll make chances but lack a clinical finisher.

Shall I ring Dennis?

@ 57.MARK

I did wonder..
now i know for definite...
You are officially BARKING!!!! lol..

Reality check for those who don't remember:

Our squad is great and has been playing well for several years. We already signed a great coach and 2 fantastic players. Those of you who say we have a "weak" attack, I'm afraid you've lost your minds in a whirlwind of sports gossip and soccer tabloids. Sure we lost SWP (who most of you were begging to be released) and Sheva, but they weren't much more than warm bodies to fill positions and I'd be happy with our youth filling these positions, even though they don't have to thanks to our already deep squad (compare to any other team). Not every problem needs a 31 million pound solution.

@59. A voice of reason in a sea of irrationality.

---

I'm officially adopting Zenit St. Petersburg as my second team.

Actually I think the plan is not to have an "attack" as such at all. Instead, Drogs and Anelka will be used as decoys, dashing around the box looking moody, while all our goals will be scored from midfield. It's the only explanation for having Art, Herr B and SuperFrankie all in the same team.

For corners and other set-piece deliveries into the box, the goals will be scored by JT, assisted by Riccy who will gently and surreptitiously elbow the goalie out of the way.

I still can't stand the sight of Kenyon, but in retrospect I think all of us have to concede that the firing of Useless Grant and the hiring of Large Phil were both good decisions made at the right time with the minimum of fuss. Ditto the signing of Deco: any of us who watched him play against us for Barca would have been willing to give him a chance, and it's now looking like our most successful galactico signing since He Whose Name We Are Not Fit To Blog (no. 25). Ditto the relatively graceful exits of Sheva and SWP, both back to their old clubs after they'd failed to take decent chances to prove themselves good enough for Chelsea. We've apparently kept Drogs, whom we all thought was gone for sure, and we've definitely kept Frank, Riccy, and others whose departure would have been interpreted as a crisis. And to be honest I think the Robinho stuff is also being handled sensibly. We've made a big offer and are now prepared to wait while everyone else performs the histrionics. Compare it to either the Barry saga or the appalling C.Ronaldo nonsense and I think you have to admit that everyone at Chelsea has done a pretty good job of *not* getting involved in ridiculous media histrionics.

The British press loves nothing better than a story about Chelsea being crass, vulgar, embarrassing, arrogant, etc etc etc. Has anyone seen such stories? We haven't given them the opportunity. The club has conducted itself pretty well this summer, I'd say.

Man-Ure were so poor it was incredible. McFergie said they created as many chances as Zenit did, What game was he watching? Anyway this is why our squad must continue their great form (well some of them anyway). Clive Tyldsley is offically the most annoying commentator ever. He twists his voice (as if its not annoying enough already) not to mention his arse kissing remarks about Ronaldo. Hate the overrated twat with a passion

Anyone that feels our squad is thin is a lunatic....... Try telling that to any club in any other division in the world and they will tell you to 'go forth and multiply'.

Sure I would rather have Torres, Villa and Robinho to Malouda, Kalou and Di Santo, but it isn't reality! A forward line with Drogba, Anelka, Malouda, Di Santo and Kalou will be fine..... Especially when you consider we have to fit at least 8 midfielders into the team!

Thought for the day..... According to the Guardian podcast the last time Spurs beat one of the top 4 in the league was in 1993! It won't happen tomorrow either....

Shame about Utd , eh?

Does anyone know if Scholes is banned for league games as a result of his send off?

@ 64. GREENLIGHT

Scholes is banned for Man U's first CL game..

McFergie didn't look happy doing his after game interview in front of the press..even his lips are turning purple now!!

Portsmouth away in the third round of the League Cup. LINK

The Carling Cup is a bit of a distraction, I wouldn't mind if we get knocked out early, we can then go onto fry bigger fish.

We have some injury worries ahead of the Spuds game. Mikel Essien and Ballack are injured with Essien and Mikel possibly being doubtful. That leaves us with no anchor midfielders! How are we going to line up tommorow? Perhaps we can finally see Ivanovic play? =)

Anyone fancies Paven Pogrebyak for a striking berth in our team. Or Danny as a winger? Or Igor Denisov? Why are we going for Robinho where there are cheaper yet quality options outside. Soolari gives me the impression that he doesnt cast his net wide enough. He's been going for what he knows bess(Brazillians and Portugese), far enough.

But players like Pogrebnyak has been making all the right noises since last season. And they carried that form to the new season. Just look how Danny made Vidic and Ferdinand look like a clown. Now thats what i call world class wing play. Just assesing some options here in the market...

Sorry for my typo errors =(

lol, Danny just joined Zenit for £25m. Pobrebnyak is top class but he hasnt been at Zenit for that long and is just hitting his stride. Its a shame but I think we have all our eggs in the Robinho basket

Nick can we have censorship on the R word on this blog, if I see that name again on here I'll pull whats left of my hair out!!!

Why not have Sinclair taking SWP's position?

And publically having an option B would help with negotiations you'd think...

We should keep an eye on players like Pogrebnyak whos only 24 and Hernanes whos 23.

@ 72. CLIVE

What word is that?? ROBINHO? or ROBINHO?

Ha! Ha! Just teasing!! ;)

@Lolli
You're not too old to receive a spanking, young lady ;-)

I'm really excited about the end of the transfer window. Hopefully we get a little peace and can focus on the football until january...

@77 Rad
Amen to that!

@ 77& 78. RAD & CLIVE

I'll 3rd that!..i'm bored of all the rumours. I got bored of them ages ago in fact.
I don't see why people are getting over anxious about our lack of signings compared to other clubs. We've currently got a team MORE than capable of winning the Prem and CL. Let's just sit back and enjoy OUR season guys!! Look at Spurs and how many signings they've made! It hasn't done them much good..

Speaking of which i predict a Chels 2 Spurs 1 scoreline tomorrow..

Blue is the ONLY colour!!! x

The way there playing they will not need new signings. Give some of the the world class reserves a game if injuries come into it !

Looking forward to beating Tottenham. Then they'll still have no points and will stay at the bottenham.

Belletti in today's side!
Hopefully he is on the right wing and not right back.

interesting scenario at Inter...TSO wants Quer., Morrati doesn't think they need him.

can i appeal to all those anelka haters to count the no. of chances he's gonna get all game, espe. from the Lard..he's probably missing k. nolan

cech;usual 4;mikel,ess,lard(ballacks' down);cole,anelka,deco

I can't believe i'm saying it, but it's the return of BELLETTI! He's the guy we've been trying to flog for 3 months yet is so bad that no-one wants him, not even if we pay them on a loan. I know we've got our annual injury crisis but playing him ahead of Paulo and Ivanovic in defence or Malouda in midfield? I'm feeling worse about today's game with Belletti.

Nice to see Robinho putting up a last fight for his move. Still no chance that he'll be allowed to leave without Real getting a replacement though.

I say again... BELLTTI. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are going to thrash them. Chris Gunter will get an absolute runaround.

God!! How frustrating was that?!!!!

Could I have been more wrong? We NEED to play with wingers. Essien or Mikel should play in front of the back 4. NOT Belletti. He should be sold. Malouda and Joe Cole are our only recognised wingers. Kenyon should pull out all the stops to try and sign Robinho. SURELY they wont make him stay there after what he has said.

All we did was pass in front of them and lose the ball.
We won't win anything like this.
Bloody easy for Tottenham it was. No pressure at all for King and Woodgate. Anelka up on his own doing f**k all. Joe Cole bloody anonymous.
AARRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I wasn't able to see the game but it looks like our squad isn't as strong as people were saying,like it or not,we need more firepower.

We don't need anything apart from a striker who is more clinical in his finishing, that Anelka miss in the first half was woeful, he did the hard bit with good control, the rest well....

Wasn't able to see the game but from hearing and reading about it,I think our squad isn't as strong as most people think.One shot on target against any Spurs team isn't good enough.Like it or not we need more firepower upfront,not sure if Robinho is the answer but we are kidding ourselves if we think we can play like we did against Portsmouth every week.
We must have more attacking options because we all know we will lose players through injury and suspension.Do we really want to rely on Di Santo,Anelka and Kalou to get the goals if Drogba and Lampard are missing?

Bloody hell we draw one game and it's all doom and gloom and now our squad isn't strong enough FFS get a grip some of you. Listen we will draw games this season and we will lose games the season thats football!!!

We didn't touble them at all for the entire second half. I don't know about more firepower, but it didn't look good at all.

If we made a few chances and looked like getting the winner, it wouldn't have been that bad, but we had a lot of the ball in their half but still didn't manage to open them up at all. We looked tired, out of ideas and desperate even.

Anelka was easily dealt with by the Spurs defence...

SWP two goals on his return.
How frustrating would it be if he starts slamming them in from 30 yards and tearing apart defenders the way he did before we paid 24 mil for him?

SWP has scored 2 for Man City,shame he couldn't do it often enough for us,otherwise he would still be here.
I know every team draw and lose games but it's the way these things happen that causes supporters to voice their concerns and opinions,that's why fans continue to keep this Blog alive.

Pot kettle black anyone?

Madrid Slam Chelsea Over Robinho
In an angry statement on their official website, Real Madrid have hit out at Chelsea for what they deem as unacceptable conduct regarding Robinho. The Brazilian winger re-iterated today that he wished to leave Spain to join the Blues...

Real deplore the way Chelsea's directors have acted despite knowing perfectly well the decision not to sell the player, making statements and even going so far as to sell shirts with the player's name on through their official website,” the club website statement continued.

The selling of the Robinho shirt was a major cock-up even by Chelsea's pr standards.

Last season against Spurs, our defense let us down. This time around, its our attack that let us down. For me, here's why we did not win:

1) Anelka - Now that we deployed him in the middle, he still take his chance.

2) J.Cole - What has happened to Joe King Cole? His form in the last 2 games where shocking. He should go back to the wide areas like last season and not play off Anelka.

3) Lampard was too selfish today. He was trying hard to justify his 151k per week salary but on some occasions could have released the ball to his team mates rather then attempting lobs or long range screamers.

4) I said we need to give Malouda a chance. But as a winger, he still cannot beat his marker. Bringing him in at the hour mark was as good as closing shop. Nuff said. Bring on the Brazillian boy.

5) No proper holding midfielder(Mikel and Ballack). Midfield had no balance.

6) I have to admit, Spurs were the better team in the 2nd half. Very organised and sniffed out every single move we throw at them.

Frustrating game, but I don't see any need to panic.

I'd agree with all Jang's points above except no. 3, and possibly no. 4 as well (Malouda never found himself in positions to try and beat his man, and the whole team seemed to have orders not to try running down the wings and then crossing, presumably because of the absence of a target man). I particularly agree with no. 6. Spuds were far better in the second half than they were in the first, and deserved their draw despite getting a very fortunate goal and having no other decent shots that I can remember.

Essien was clearly not fit. He looked heavy, and he ran out of steam badly in the second half. Belletti's not careful enough with the ball to anchor midfield in the holding position, and Essien seemed to be playing further up, so we were totally reliant on Frank and Deco to move the ball through midfield. They did well first half, poorly in the second.

I'm afraid Anelka is not going to be the answer as a striker. He was the only player who seriously disappointed me today.

One thing definitely noticed is that the general sense of tactical aimlessness that was so evident last season is gone. The team was definitely playing to a system, and everyone clearly understood what to do. It just didn't work very well in the second half: an unfit Essien lost control of midfield, and the speed of passing around the box went flat.

Modric played well. Zokora was better than I ever remember seeing him.

Chin up. It was funny listening to the Spuds chanting and singing as they came out of the stadium. Bless them, a 1-1 draw! And now they have one whole point! One can't begrudge them their happiness.

@98

Missing Mikel and Ballack for me were the main factors. The midfield just doesnt seem to tick in the 2nd half. It worked reasonably well in the first half but Spurs countered our tactics in the 2nd. Even without Drogba, the lads still cannot resist playing it long upfront. Scolari was right. The moment we played it long, we lost the plot because out of 8 aerial battles by Anelka, we will only win once and therefore loose possesion, giving the ball away cheaply.

I thought most of the first eleven played well. But the difference in getting all 3 points and the draw was our forward line/attackers. Not enough penetration. Lets hope we will have everyone fit for the next game especially Ze German and Obi Wan. The both of them have been sorely missed today. That authoritative presense at the middle of the park was missing.