Chelsea at Euro 2008: Mixed fortunes

Chelsea boys in Les Blues were less than convincing...time for all to go?

It will now be interesting to see if Holland deliberately lose to Romania in order to eliminate both Italy and France, whilst still topping the group of death! Who would have predicted Romania and Holland emerging from this group?

Wow HABS! That's some love affair you have with Robben!! LOL..I agree with you though, how FANTASTIC was he last night when he came on the pitch? He's like a bullet..so fast on his feet. Pity he's off them so much as he's always injured but i do find him a pleasure to watch. Did he mean to score that goal? It was an absolute beauty! He didn't even look where he was shooting! Think his and everyone else's reaction after he scored MAYBE says there was a bit of luck on his side! Still, a contender for "goal of the tournament" so far IMO..

Thought Maka played well again last night. Malouda? That's got to be some of the worst marking i've seen in ages! What was he doing marking dirty Kuyt anyways?!!
HOW GOOD is Boula playing as well?!! Is this a different Boularouz we see at the tournaments, or the same one that plays for us still?! Could of been MOTM last night i thought. He was all over the place!

Anelka played awful..AGAIN! Seriously, what's his problem at the moment. The look on his face when he walks onto a pitch says to me that his job is becoming a chore for him. Get a grip Nicky for God's sake!!
Thought Ribery played a blinder last night. France relied on him a little TOO much i thought, poor fella looked exhausted at the end of the game. Henry was OBVIOUSLY not match fit.

The game between France and Italy will be interesting..

bolarouz rajkjavic ivanovic and bosingwa/paulo ferriera could be a back up for almost any def position
would hate to be scolari right now :)

The Liverfools need to stop flattering themselves, WE DONT WANT TORRES!

Ballack looked out of sorts against the Croats

Although I wouldnt have brought him in if I was RA, I still think that Scolari is a good appointment. He may not play the football that our owner craves but would be able to if the right players were brought in, like Van Der Vaart and David Villa. Malouda was absolutley shite yesterday, He seems scared of chasing long balls and taking risks that you need to take if you want to score. He needs to offloaded as soon as possible. Robbens goal was great and he played really well against the french, I wish we kept him but he got injured alot and we got like $30m for him so I accept our mistake and wish him well at the Bernabeu.
Scolari will need to make some big signings in the summer if we are going to seriously challenge next season, We have only made 1 signing so far look at Barcelona they have signed 4 players already and Loserpool have spend £8m on a left back that nobody has heard of. Im hoping for next seasons team to pull together by next month. Hopefully this will be our team next year.

1. Petr Cech 1st team
2. Branislav Ivanovic !!!Bosingwa!!!!! JT!!!!!! Riccy!!! A.Cole!!!!
3. Ashley Cole
4. Claude Makelele Michael Essien
5. Michael Essien
6. Ricardo Carvalho Michael Ballack Frank Lampard
7. Andriy Shevchenko
8. Frank Lampard Joe Cole
9. David Villa
10. Joe Cole Sheva
11. David Silva/Van Der Vaart (Dont make me choose)
12. Jon Obi Mikel
13. Michael Ballack David Villa
17. Scott Sinclair
18. Wayne Bridge
20. Paulo Ferreira
21. Salomon Kalou
22. Michael Mancienne
23. Carlo Cudicini
24. Shaun Wright-Phillips
26. John Terry
33. Alex
40. Hilario

My post (#6) has messed up my 1st team
Cech
Bosingwa
JT
Riccy
A.Cole
Essien
Ballack
Lampard
Joe Cole
Sheva
David Villa

Breaking News!!!
This is being reported on most footie websites.


Didier Drogba insists that he has no intention of heading for the Stamford Bridge exit this summer.

The powerful Chelsea forward has been strongly linked with Milan and their city rivals Internazionale, but has reiterated his desire to remain in England

"I have a contract with Chelsea until 2010, so I am still a Chelsea player," the striker told skysports.com during a promotional campaign for his autobiography back in Ivory Coast.

"Mourinho is my friend and I am happy for him because he was missing coaching.

"He is a top coach but, like I said, my contract here runs until 2010."

Drogba, who was sent-off late on during the UEFA Champions League final with Manchester United for slapping Nemanja Vidic, also spoke of his disappointment at ending the 2007/08 season empty-handed.

"I am really disappointed with myself (for getting sent-off)," he added.

"I lost my head completely and I let the team down. I should not have reacted in that way.

"I let myself down, the Chelsea fans, my homeland - but that is life.

"I have now lost three finals. One Uefa Cup (with Marseille), an African Nations Cup and now the Champions League, but that is football.

"Hopefully I will win the next one."


Anything to do with our new manager perhaps?

well for all I care drogba can f$&k off!
he says he wants to leave when we don't have a manager, and then as soon as we get a good 1, he comes running back! Basterd

So long as he scores the winner in Rome next year, I think he can be forgiven!

>TG

In the last post you wondered aloud why Spain, Croatia and Holland are playing such good football at the moment and England are not...the answer is in the flair players in their midfield...players who with a dip of their shoulders (or shuffling of their feet) can displace their markers and create space...most english players (midfield and attack) are workmen and dont possess enough guile...the clear exception is JC, but he lacks pace big time!

Even Drogba can feel the euphoria of Big Phil. =) Me reckons that it could be a good thing that he stays afterall and form a deadly partnership with Anelka or DAVID VIYA!

Im going to sacrifice one of Ballack and Lampard for a traditional playmaker like VDV. So heres my team:

Cech

Bosingwa Terry Carvalho A.Cole

J.Cole Essien Van Der Vaart Quaresma

Villa Drogba

@ 10.

Whoever tells Drogba to fcuk off... Same to you!

I like Netherlands very much, but I am sorry that they trashed France THAT much :D
I mean, I have some emotions for Zidane,Makelele,Ribery,Coupet...even Henry.

Football can be very cruel, I tell you!

It is not a new thing that Drog behaves like a little girl that needs slaping.

What's that got to do with football?

simont
why do you hold drogba in such high regard? He scored 8goals last season, behaves like a little girl, and after all that , couldnt be bothered to score more than Anelka! For all I care, if he doesn't get his f***ing act together, he can go toAC

Chelsea Offer Drogba For Ronaldinho And Deco

goal.com:

Chelsea have offered Didier Drogba to Barcelona as a part of the deal to bring Ronaldinho and Deco to Stamford Bridge.

The two Barcelona stars are on Luiz Felipe Scolari's agenda, and Chelsea representatives travelled to Catalunya this morning in order to discuss the move.

Big Phil supposedly has a 120 million euro budget at his disposal, so paying for the duo should not be a problem. But with Didier Drogba set to leave, the Blues are trying to include him to keep some of their cash for other deals.

In particular, Chelsea are also interested in signing Samuel Eto'o or David Villa. Eto'o will be discussed today, but the purpose of this meeting is to reach an agreement over the two Brazil born players, who have been made available by Barcelona.

Chelsea have an offer of 30 million euros in addition to Didier Drogba, though Barcelona are expected to demand 50-55 million in a straight cash deal. They paid 40 for Ronaldinho in 2003, and 14 for Deco a year later (along with Ricardo Quaresma, rated at 7m).

Even if Barcelona are open to Didier Drogba, the African himself may pose a problem as he angles for a move to Milan or Inter.

"I have a contract with Chelsea until 2010, so I am still a Chelsea player," he told Sky Sports earlier today. "Mourinho is my friend and I am happy for him because he was missing coaching. He is a top coach but, like I said, my contract runs until 2010."

As such, the Blues have travelled well aware that they will need to put the money on the table if they want to wrap this up, particularly with Manchester City interested in Ronaldinho and Inter in Deco.

Absolutely genius Scolari!

I saw the Drogba story earlier today. I hope he stays, for all the people wringing their hands about him around here, he is truly a special player and I don't like out chances of finding someone to replace him. A strong center forward is hard to find and few guys lend themselves to playing alone up top as well as Didier. I'd love to see Villa come in and link up with im...I think that could be an absolutely lethal pair.

I think that selling Drogba for Ronaldinho (who is in totally bad form and will never return) and Deco (31 years old ...I personally hate him,but that is irrelevant...and we don't need midfielder we have them too much)would be the most stupid move ever. Even stupider than Shevchenko...
We don't need to sell Drogba...
Just to buy Villa...and winger.
Sneijder could help...yeah, I know he is a midfielder but he is younger and MUCH better than Deco.
p.s. David Villa just scored for Spain :)

David Villa scores winner,another £5,000,000 on his price tag.

Villa's price rising by the second.

It may have been a masterstroke to appoint Scolari, but having to wait until the end of the Euros (assuming Portugal reach the final) means all the prices of players we want: Villa, Van der Vaart, Deco, Quaresma, Torres... are rising by a few million every second. It may not matter if Scolari gets a blank cheque, but even Roman would want to tie up some deals before July, surely?

It's also nice to hear that Roman and his private helicopter have been seen at loads of games at the Euros. He must feel like a kid in a sweet shop. He's already picked out his favourite manager and hopefully now he'll be picking out some top performers like Villa. It also shuts up some people criticising him for knowing NOTHING about football. He's looking more and more like our chief scout, or interfering owner if you're a cynic, and hopefully with his greater grasp of quality football, he'll bring in more great players like Villa and fewer duds like Anelka, Sheva, Malouda, TBH, Pizarro, Boulahrouz... If he doesn't have to rely on the frankly shocking performance of Frank Arnesen to pick out players, Cobham should soon be awash with galacticos. Whether this will mean a handful of greats or a gang of over the hill star names, only time will tell.

KTBFFH (should soon get my Gene Hackman chelsea shirt)

Yup. That should drop Hicks and Gillett out of the race. Come on Roman, it's between you and the Sultan of Brunei now!

Hey guys Whatdo you think of villa in blue? Number 11!

Drogba all of a sudden wants to stay? I think its time for him to go, His sending off in the final just about summed up our season and the next season will be a new beggining, A new era hopefully with DAVID VILLA!

Ricardo Quaresma says hes signed for a "big club", Could it be us? I think its Inter but Im keeping my fingers crossed

I do think Drogba will go regardless of his comments

As much as I admire both Deco and Ronaldinho, I think that we should go for younger players. If we do play 4-4-2 next season then we will need to bring somebody in to replace the hopeless exit bound Malouda, "Dinho" and Deco could both play this role but they are 28 and 30. Why should we break bank to sign them when Rafael Van Der Vaart and David Silva are available? 2 young talented players than are only going to get better. I think that Drogba and Pizarro will both leave which leaves a spot up front with Sheva up for grabs (I dont think Kalou or Anelka are good enough for the 1st team on current form). David Villa is the player thay we all want and he wants to move to the premier league, Fat Rafa wont be given enough money by the yanks, Whinger wont break the bank especially since next season he will have : Adebayor, Bendtner, Eduardo and Carlos Vela at his disposal. The Mancs also have : Manucho, Tevez, Saha and Shrek, apparently we have put in the most work to get him so I would be devastated to see him join another Premier league club

hey guys, bit off topic but take a look at the suspected Chelsea lineup

________cech________
bosingwa--terry--carvalho--cole
------------essien/ ----lamps/------
V d vaart. Ze german
Quaresma-------deco------ronaldinho
--------------------villa/drogba---------------

I haven't seen the Drogba interview but SO hope it's true that he wants to stay! I adore Didier to bits. How some people on here want to wash their hands of him because he got sent off in the CL final is beyond me..What about everything he's done for us at Chelsea? People forget too easily and quickly it seems, just what an impact he's had on the Prem and what an integral part of CFC's results in the past 4 years he's been with us. OK, he screwed up big time in the Champs Final but he's been quick to realise his mistake and be big enough to apologise for it. It WON'T be the last time we get to the CL Final, guys..so please, please, please...lay off the big guy. Give him a break!!

In my opinion (call me stupid) Quaresma is overrated player who has speed and dribbling , which 90 % of Portugese have.
He would be bad transfer.There are much better players than him on the wings we could buy: ROBINHO,RIBERY...

For all Didier's done for the club, his hero status must have been dented by his constant questioning of his future. He seemed to playing the Ronaldo tactic by saying that he had wished to play in Milan all his life, every week last season. He may still be a great goal scorer but the choice between him and Villa is a close one:

Didier is the most powerful striker in the world, and a great goal scorer on his day. However he's 30 now and very moody (though not on a par with Anelka's sulks) and £25m for him would be a great deal. And he cost us the CL final.

David Villa is the most clinical striker at the Euros, is only 26 and is itching for a move from Valencia and would be our Fernando Torres. However for all his amazingness his ability to adapt to the premiership may be questioned and giving him the no.7 shirt may make him the next Sheva or Mutu.

So the choice between Villa and Didier is a tough one. Keeping them both may make a great combo but with rumours saying that we're going to buy Eto'o AND Villa, i don't think Didier will stay. I don't think the club will rely on an all African front line of Didier and Eto'o because for the next Afican Nations Cup, our frontline will be decimated again. That's why i think (or maybe it's just a desperate hope) that Villa's signing is a shoe in. If we also buy Eto'o then Didier may be a gonner. That's because Arnesen has already said that Di Santo won't be a reserve anymore and Sheva seems to be an untouchable.

KTBFFH

26. mike · 7:18 PM · 14th June
About Villa...if that happens ,every night I will light a candle for Roman.

32. Lollipop

Very well said, darling! I wanna marry you! :-)

We must learn the lesson of letting Robben go. Drogba must stay!

36. SimonT · 11:56 PM · 14th June
Simont...how old was Robben when he left?23 I think?
And how old is Drogba now?30.
There is HUGE difference between selling Drogba and selling Robben
Firstly ,their age.
Second, its much easier to find an excellent striker today and is much harder to find an excellent winger.

SIMONT

I accept!! :)
Seems you and I are in the minority in wanting Didier to stay. Villa is a great player, no doubts there (plus i don't want to feel the wrath of Mr FIFTY!) but if i HAD to choose, Drogs would be my man every time. Look at the "Sheva effect" for an example in how it could MAYBE all backfire on us if we bought Villa. People are saying Didier's 30..so what?! He's still fast on his feet and agile, plus is a PROVEN goalscorer and threat to rival teams home AND abroad!
We MUST keep Drogs if he wants to stay..
Better the Devil you know...

call me an idiot, I want Drogba to stay, he is not a God ,but I want him to stay.Still , you can't compare his sale with Robben's sale.

SARAH

He may not be a GOD..but a LEGEND? Hell, yeah!!!

Lollipop , I don't know ,I can't be objective about new legends at Chelsea, because I am still waiting for the new Zola...and he still isn't coming :(
Anyway, Drogba started training professionally when he was 19 .If he started earlier, he might be the best player ever...
What do you think of Kalou?Can he be good as Drogba ,better or worse?

37. Fan of mackerel called Sarah

You like younger men, do you? So you think we should sell every footballer who is older than 30? And "its much easier to find an excellent striker today"? What the hell are you talking about? Drogba is irreplaceable in my views! And don't get so excited about getting new strikers in, it will take time for them to settle in Chelsea, if they can settle at all.

Scolari's priority now is to keep hold of our top players like Drog and Lamps.

SARAH

Zola is one of my all time Chelsea faves along with Di Matteo and Kerry Dixon, now SuperFrank..
Zola scored something like 80(?) goals for us in the 7 years he was with us, Didier has been with us for 4 years and is already on 50plus goals, with a penchant for scoring anything between 15-20 goals per season, it's EASY to see why i consider him a legend already..IF he chooses to stay, he can only surpass himself and i for one seriously hope he is given that chance.

@ 38.

Hey Lolli, get me to the church on time!... :-)

42. Simont
If we buy for example,Sergio Aguero who could develop, that would be good investment.
If we buy ,Inzaghi that would be awful.
Drogba gave his maximum.
If he stayes thats good.
If he leaves , I will be sad...it all depends of his replacement how sad I'll be.
But I don't think he is the best striker in the world.Far from that.And he is not irreplaceble.
We should learn that not any of players are better than the team.Thats why Mourinho and Roman's relationship was rocky> Mourinho was getting bigger than the team.
That can't happen again.
Every of our players should wear Chelsea badge with honour.
And , its indicating that Drogba ,simply, doesn't give a shit anymore.
The age matters.
I liked Drogba very much, when he was at Marseille, because I like Marseille and enjoy to watch French League (yeah, I know its weird...to me, most interesting after Premier League).I loved him when he came to Chelsea.
I will always.
Same thing with Lampard: I don't think he wants to stay in Chelsea anymore.

The story about Drogba is making things very complicated, Its very hard to believe. If he was staying for sure then wouldnt he have signed a contract extension that Peter Kenyon was "confident he would sign"? Next seasons front line is very difficult to predict. Pizarro will be gone thats for sure and I cant blame him either, Kalou will stay. Sheva should make the breakthrough that we have been waiting for next term. For anybody who might disagree lets look at the facts, Hes scored 8 goals in 24 appearences (most as a substitute) and at the end of the campaign he was doing well (I remember he had a great game against Aston Villa). I also think we owe him another chance because he wasnt given a chance last season and showed he had adapted to the league at times and never complained even though he was mostly used at the end of games. Like him or not hes a great proffesional unlike Drogba whos stuck in the "should I stay or should I go?" mind every few days. Anelka has been sheit for most of the season and doesnt seem to care at all but we are unlikely to get rid of him after splashing out £15m on him less than a year ago. I do think that Drogba said what he did because 1. JM told him he has enough strikers at Inter or 2. He is happy about Scolari. I think if Mourinho came in with an offer for him then he would go. Hell I remember after the final SSN were saying we put him up for transfer.
I would buy Villa but if Drogba stays then we will have to re-consider.

Lollipop, How can you call our Ukranian "Sick note Sheva" when he has played well when picked (At least in the second half of the season, The game against Aston Villa at least and nearly scored twice when he lost 1-0 to Le Arse) and despite being 3rd or 4th choice he never complained or said he wanted to move, And yet you love Drogba who has been saying all year that he wants to leave and doesnt like playing for us? Please explain

Why should we keep Drogba if he isnt 100% committed?

I think that Shevchenko deserves a chance until December.
If he doesn't work until then...
bye bye
Because, he played good this season.I also remember his match against Aston Villa, but he has awful luck and got injured.
If Grant picked him instead of fucking Anelka things would seem much more happy today.

47. Blue True Blue Joe · 12:56 AM · 15th June
Thats the same thing I am asking myself.
He is not even 50 % commited.
Still, I would mind if he would stay, but we should bring another striker.

@ 45. Fan of mackerel called Sarah

"its indicating that Drogba doesn't give a shit anymore"? You read the anti-Chelsea press too much, Sarah! You're brainwashed by them. I only judge him by footballing reasons and nothing else. I agree Drogba maybe not the best, but he's certainly one of the best!

Grant was brought in to help Sheva but he never gave him a chance, He put egos at the front of the line. Even when he wasnt playing for us, Shevchenko was scoring for Ukraine in the Euro qualifiers and friendlies. Not playing him was a big mistake especially when you consider that none of our strikers were in form at the end of the season, In the CL final on comes Kalou on comes Anelka (Who scored like 3 times in 20 appearences) and Sheva who must have been dying to get on wasnt used despite being a far more proven striker than Anelka. I feel really bad for the guy

Simont
Maybe you are right...I read too much anti press...what can I say, people do hate Chelsea.
ANYWAY I think Drogba is not commited ENOUGH.He maybe gives a bit of shit, but he doesn't give enough
p.s. its not ''mackerel'' its Makelele man...DON'T tell me you don't know who that is :)

SARAH

Getting a "good replacement" wouldn't matter if whoever it turned out to be didn't perform when they got here!! Look at the examples;
Sheva-brill for AC Milan, arrived at Stamford Bridge and ever since prefers to spend his time playing anything BUT football..WHEN he does decide to play for us, he instantly gets injured and we don't see him again for months! Unless you visit the nearest golf course of course! Now, he's crying that he wants to go back to Milan. Well go then!! Shut the door behind you!

Anelka-can't work out for the life of me what's going on with him at the mo, wish he'd buck up though. Again, constantly scoring at Bolton, arrives at Stamford Bridge and puts in bad performances (when he's played to be fair to him, which isn't very often). Whether he's played regularly or not though, is NOT an excuse. Surely you don't forget how to score goals when that's your job week in, week out? Now he's saying he's "not at Chelsea to score goals", doesn't want to be classed as a "main striker" and prefers to play "in the position behind the striker"..baffling..

All i'm saying is be careful what you wish for..

SIMONT

I'm there already!! x

Blue True Blue Joe
So fucking true man...
Anelka was an AWFUL transfer. I think Sidwell and Ben Haim are better transfers than Anelka. Actually, Sidwell was a good signing...he can be useful and doesn't care if he is playing or not...so...good signing.

50 Simont, Can you give me some solid evidence that Drogba really does care?

Lollipop
Shevcenko was not a good signing, but I still hope he will work out.The guy picked a wrong time to change his style of football,but ...maybe he will work out.
Anelka is very complicated person.Firstly, he truly doesn't give a shit.He was abnormal talent back in Arsenal, but he destroyed it with his idiotic behavior and constantly changing clubs.However, he rarely started from the 1. minute and rarely played on his position ...When he played on his position and as a striker...he scored 2 goals in 4 games.
Anelka was simply never too good for us.
BUT ...Villa...I think he could adapt at any STYLE.
We should do something...the days are passing,everybody are more active in the transfer window than we are...our rivals Tottenham,lIVERPOOL and Barcelona signed some attractive (well not Liverpool) names, while we are not doing anything and there is high possibility that all of our interests will be bought by some of the rival clubs (take Giovanni for instance)

Lollipop, "WHEN he does decide to play for us, he instantly gets injured and we don’t see him again for months! Unless you visit the nearest golf course of course! Now, he’s crying that he wants to go back to Milan. Well go then!! Shut the door behind you!"

He cant choose to get injured, Im sure he was devastated and you could see that he wanted to prove himself against Aston Villa and thats the only game I can remember when he got a full 90 mins. Can you give me a link saying he wants to go back to Milan? No you cant because its not true. They want him back but hes said over and over that he wants to prove himself to people like you. He turned down the chance to go back at the begining of the season and couldve gone out on loan but he didnt even though he wasnt being given a chance.
What does that tell you? You can say that hes "Untouchable" or "RAs favorite player" and that may be true but im sure if he told Abramovich that he wanted to leave then he would be allowed to go. Please try and find something to back up what you are posting, When has he ever said he doesnt want to play or wants to move?

55. BTBJ

Come on, man! How many bloody important goals he has scored for Chlesea, if he did not care? Just don't believe in all these stories in anti-Chelsea press! They target our top players and try to drive them out of Chelsea!

All signing Anelka did was ruin Kalou and Shevas chances, Like I said before AG put egos first. I remember the Barnsley game, Anelka had scored once in 4 appearences and Salomon Kalou (Who had 4 goals in his last 4 games) was left on the bench and didnt come on until the 80 something minute. All im hoping is that Scolari gives everyone a chance and doesnt keep players who dont want to be here

58, No doubt he has scored alot of important goals for us but is his head here?
If he truly wants to stay then I would be happy for him to remain at Stamford Bridge

I dont see how people like Lollipop can make excuses for Didier then act as if Shevchenko got injured on purpose. Drogba has been a key player for us yes and he is at the top of the mountain. But if hes not committed then we shouldnt try and keep him, If he is then great but I wont be convinced until he signs a new deal

My last link may have been full of a few randomers, but this one is more accurate for the quality that Scolari could realistically attract:

LINK

BTBJ

It was written in almost every tabloid and on SSN months ago that he wanted to return to Milan..you obviously hold him in high regard and that's YOUR personal opinion of him, i respect that.. i'd expect a hell of a lot more for my money though, especially if it came to the tune of £30million.
As for being told he can leave but doesn't want to..what does that tell me you ask? It tells me that he enjoys sitting on his fat arse for £130,000 per week, that's what it tells me. He wouldn't get that anywhere else would he?! He IS Roman's blue eyed boy and there's obviously benefits for him being the favourite..
Sorry, JOE but i don't share your enthusiasm..
He's a waste of time. Get rid!!

@ 60. BTBJ

To be honest, as long as Drogba scores goals for Chelsea, whatever in his head, that's his business. He's human just like anybody else, we fans must first give him 100% support.

The times = nuts, David Villa says he is made for the Premier League yet they say he would "rather stay in spain". Absolute nonsense

63, What could he do if AG has guys ahead in the pecking order? Seriously he couldnt force Grant to play him. If you think he "enjoys" getting injured and watching his team lose on penalties and not being given a chance to play in the biggest game in european football then you are crazy

SSN is full of crap at times, I remember them saying we offered £45m for Maicon

BTBJ

Yes, they are crap at times, as are the tabloids. We all know that. More often than not though, certain parts of the "exclusives" turn out to be true..There's no smoke without fire as such?
And ALL the tabloids were running stories of him wanting to return to Milan back in April. He was apparently upset on the phone to Burlusconi, saying he wasn't happy at Chelsea, hated London and was desperate to return to Milan. Whether or not that's true is anyone's guess. Only the people involved will know for definite.

You admire Sheva a lot, i can tell that. My Ma is the same as you and i had a disagreement with her about it earlier this evening to be truthful. I respect her opinion though as i do yours.

I don't rate him though but that's MY opinion and it won't change..

Please respect that and don't get shirty when people don't share your views..

ps..where did i say he enjoys getting injured???

"It tells me that he enjoys sitting on his fat arse for £130,000 per week, that’s what it tells me. He wouldn’t get that anywhere else would he?! He IS Roman’s blue eyed boy and there’s obviously benefits for him being the favourite.."

Im not "shirty" about it and I respect your opinion.Tabloids are never 100% true but you dont see Shevchenko talking exclusively to a magazine saying he wants to leave. Can we just leave it there? I just feel sorry for him and think that alot of the criticism is harsh thats why I felt I needed to give my opinion

BTBJ

I think we should just agree to disagree..
Yes, PLEASE let's leave it there!! I don't come on here to fall out with people. We're all supposed to be part of the same "family"..

Apologies if i upset you x

I quite like Scolari's straight talking style in saying money was part of the reasons for accepting the manager job. It's the reality for anyone on Roman's payroll, so what? The English media tried to embarrass him but Scolari handled it brilliantly. It's just like the good old days with Jose and the bloody English press.

Bring it on!

"That hypocrisy that someone who's born here is a saint and someone born on the other side of the Atlantic is a devil, that doesn't exist. It's time to stop that clown show. I'm just like anybody else, I've got two legs, two arms and a head." - Scolari has a rant after English journalists quiz him about the England job.

Would love to hear more of those from Big Phil. I guess that's why some paper ran a story titled "If you think Mourinho is mad...wait till you meet Big Phil"

If Drog wants to go he can go as simple as that. He is going around and giving these embarrassing club interviews, by the way to the very respectable French football magazine. Then, he is getting himself sent off in the CL final, only because of his stupidity and nothing else. There must be border for this behavior.

Let's play You Are The Sports Editor Of A Large-Circulation Paper!!

What do you do in the summer?

Okay, there's a pretty decent tournament going on, but unfortunately you know that only Guardian readers care about what a bunch of foreigners get up to.

Yes, there's county cricket... [fall out of chair laughing at the thought of the number of your readers who will be interested in the second day's play of Boghamptonshire vs. Crapshire at the Auld Mouldy Ground]

Let's face it: 90% of your readers go to the back pages because they want to read something about their team. But their team isn't playing!

Only one thing for it -- print any old crap, any old crap at all, about the "big four". Anything! AC Milan want Drogba? Then they must want Adebayor too, he's a big African centre-forward! New manager of Chelsea is Brazilian? He's going to bring Ronaldinho to Stamford Bridge! Barcelona had a poor year and have a new manager? Eto'o to Liverpool! No, Man U! No, Inter! Deco to Chelsea! Messi to Luton! Mourinho arrives at Inter? Lampard to Inter! Abramovich still has more money than everyone else? Eveyone to Chelsea! Maradona to Chelsea! Neeskens to Chelsea! Yashin to Chelsea! W.G. Grace to Chelsea! David Villa looks good, doesn't he? Villa to Villa [geddit???] No, Chelsea! No, Liverpool! No, Man U! No, Arsenal! Wait, Arsenal don't have any money do they? Fabregas to Real! Adebayor to Milan! Wait, we did that one yesterday? Then it's *confirmed*!! Exclusive Scoop!!! Is it late August yet???

It's all utter bollocks.

To be honest, I cannot recall ONE player at this moment who has signed for us and been a success straight away?? Riccy, Drogs, Essien, A.Cole, Ze German .......... all these took time to adjust and yet look at them now.
We seem unable to buy a player who slots straight in (as, unfortunately Torres did at Poo) and makes a go off it from the start.
As I had the audacity to have a weeks holiday last week and still catching up, I have seen no comments on the reports we are bidding for Torres??

Boulahrouz now is definately worth the amount we bought him for 2 years back. I guess he cant be counted as a flop in terms of money if we sell him for at least 7 million pounds.

Its rubbish. Pool will never sell Torres to us. Who is that stupid to increase the power of their main rivals? And i do fancy Drogba's chances of staying, depending on what kind of system Scolari wants to implement next season at Chelsea. Right now he's playing this 4-2-3-1 system with 2 defensive midfielders to shield the back 4. Put it into the context of Chelsea, we should see something like this:

Cech

Bosingwa Carvalho Terry A.Cole

Essien Ballack/Mikel

J.Cole Lampard Malouda or A NEW WINGER

Drogba/Anelka

As you can see, who else other than Dider is the best man to work the lone role? =)

75. MikeL
I agree with you. If he wants to go, he can go.
We are too slow in the transfer window.Everybody are buying players, only Chelsea are not doing anything.

@ Mike, MikeL and Sarah

If Drogba wants to leave Chelsea, I wish him all the best! For now, please show some appreciation for this great footballer, and leave him alone!

This article has a good insight in Scolari's career, I liked what I read...

LINK

On the vexed question of what's going on in Drogba's head - and does it matter - weren't most of the recent quotes in French magazine actually lifted from his long-since published here autobiography, where admittedly he said he wanted to leave from the day he first arrived but then changed his mind back and forth with dizzying regularity.

Looking at the new quote SSN were touting yesterday it doesn't seem like any ringing endorsement of his love of Chelsea and desire to stay [compare to Essien's recent unambiguous statement for a good example].

All Drogs says is he has a contract with Chelsea till 2010 and he's pleased that his friend Jose who he considers a top coach has got a new job.

Call me an old cynic but that doesn't sound like much more than he's keen to remind everyone he's never formally asked for a transfer to preserve his right to a juicy cut of any transfer fee and that Jose hasn't yet shown any interest.

I have huge admiration for what Drogba has done for us in recent years but have to admit he had a poor season by his standards when he seemed to struggle to recover from the disappointment of losing ACN and there were worrying signs that his battering-ram style might be starting to wear out his body.

If he needs to move on to reinvigorate his game and Big Phil wants to try someone new upfront then so be it.

-cech-

-bosingwa-carvalho-terry-cole-

-essien-ballack-

-quarsema-joe cole-

-drogba-villa

i think the fact that the left side and the right side are all each the same nationality playing in the same positions that they play for their countries could be pretty good (carvalho, boswingwa, quaresma // terry, cole, cole). They should begin to know each other inside out.

if drogba goes despite his latest interview, i don't want to have to use sheva or anelka (or kalou as first team!), i'd like to buy a fast striker in the vein of eto'o, to replicate villa's spain partnership with torres.

For what it's worth .... I think Drogba is a great player - but a rotten personality. I'm happy to put up with his bullshit if he plays well - but if he plays like he did last season and sounds off like a spoilt child then get rid of him. He did us more harm than good last season.Anelka is'nt much better - bloody dead loss - not AG's finest choice. Actually sheva given half a chance could still prove to be worthwhile.
Should be an interesting season - Scolari - we shall seen - has all the right brand signs - but..... dunno..... he makes me feel uncomfortable - but there again what do I know - I thought AG was quite cute ....... LOL!!!!!!

@ Tommyblue

Please refer to comment 81.

You sounded like a bored housewife treating football like a Big Brother show.

81. SimonT
I wish him all the best if he leaves and if he stays.
I will leave your hero alone
After I just say...that I agree with TOMMYBLUE ,except that I thing we should give another try on Drogba.

87. Sarah (Not fan of mackerel)

Thank you! :-)

I know that everyone is getting caught up in playing fantasy football on who we could or should sign.But does anyone really think we have a chance of signing Torres,Villa,Kaka etc.The European Championship isn't doing us any favours and I must admit the silence surrounding Scolari's appointment was to our advantage.I just get the strange feeling that our new signings will be unexpected and not to everyone's liking.
Hope I'm wrong.

does anyone really think we have a chance of signing Torres,Villa,Kaka etc

@ LYNN

One word..NO!!!

@LOLLIPOP

We'll probably end up with more players reaching the end of their careers like Deco and Ronaldinho.Really hope we buy with the future in mind and not just next season.

@ Lynn

There're always some unknown quality players that we don't know of. Maybe Chelsea would sign some Russian, Chinese or Korean players, just to market the 'Chelsea' brand in Asia.

@SIMON T

I may be wrong but I don't think that Roman will be wanting to experiment too much next season buy signing unknown players,he's brought Scolari in for immediate improvement and I can't see him being too happy to finish behind Manure again.You can be sure that they will strengthen again if Ronaldo goes or not and they will go for players able to step into the first team virtually straight away.
I agree that we should be looking out for undiscovered talent but Arnesesn has supposed to have been doing that for a few years now without too much success.
I just really hope we go for players on the way up and not on the way down.

LYNN

So hope Deco doesn't arrive at Stamford Bridge!!!

It'll be interesting to see who (if any) new players arrive. We haven't really heard anything concrete, just rumours..and as a couple of people here have said, Chelsea SEEM to be taking their time on the transfer market. Maybe the team will stay as it is? Who knows? Would be very suprised at that though..

Villa has been quoted in the press today saying that he wants to play for Liverpool. I'm not entirely suprised at that to be honest, seeing as Torres is there. They are obviously great friends and have a fantastic working partnership that's setting the Euro's alight at the moment. Could see him playing at Arsenal too, or another Spanish team. Just don't picture him at Chelsea at all. I've tried to visualise all these players in Blue shirts that people mention on their lists of "wants" and the only one i COULD imagine is Van der Vaart, no one else.

P.s don't know how reliable the site is but just read on "caught offside .com" that Quaresma has said; "I have already signed for a big club but can say no more at the moment"..Liverpool fans are hoping it's them but that's not likely considering the debt they're in! They can probably only afford to buy one player this season! Speculation on the site, however is that it's Real Madrid..

@LOLLIPOP

Deco is a very good player but time is against him and if I had to chose between him and Frank,there can be only one winner.
Frank may not be as "creative"as Deco but he has proved time and time again that without him,we would have struggled to score as many goals.
Scolari's first priority is to make sure Frank signs a new contract,for once let's look after our players first and then worry about what new players we sign.

@ LYNN

I'm totally with you on the subject of Frank. BY MILES, he's one of our best players. Don't try to fix something that ain't broken..

@ SimonT Lol LOl!!! I wish I was a bored housewife - chance would be a fine thing, and i have never watched Big Brother in my life.

Sorry simon just cos you say so I don't have to.........

for me a great player isn't just skill but guts, personality and honor - maybe old fashioned - but I am old!!! and Drogba doesn't have all of that mix. But credit where credit is due - he has had moments of pure genius, so not completly dissing him - just won't cry if he is let go.

Having said that i am off to watch desperate houswives........

You know...
We had so many awful transfers in last couple of years...
Pizzaro -No comment.
Malouda-Just look at his games in FRANCE shirt and in CHELSEA shirt.Two different worlds.
Ben Haim-Comedy.
Shevchenko-Blah...30 million pounds...is a lot.
Boulahrouz-Now I am getting nervous...
IF we buy Deco and Ronaldinho that would be the worst transfer ever.I don't know for Ronaldinho, but for Deco- I am 94 % sure.

95. lollipop
Real Madrid do not need a winger. They have Robinho and will probably buy Cristiano Ronaldo...AND they have Robben.tHEY certanly don't need a winger, so I think Quaresma is about to sign for Chelsea, what is , in my opinion awful.

@ FAN OF MAKELELE CALLED SARAH

I think a lot of the rumours are that Quaresma's going to join Jose at Inter.
If Scolari rated him that highly he probably would have played him by now,unless he didn't want to get him injured of course.

I think Quaresma's effectiveness is pretty inconsistant. Like J.Cole in the latter stages of last season. When he is on song, he is damn bloody brilliant. But when the going gets tough, he fades away eventually. Thats my main concern on signing Quaresma. He has all the tricks in the bag with something that Joe lacks - Pace. But his level of consistancy to beat players or put a proper cross into the box remains to be seen. And thats for Scolari to get the best out of Harry Potter(Porto fans gave him this nickname).

I am telling ya...Quaresma is overrated and average player.
He has speed and dribbling ,which 90 % of Portuguese player have.
C'mon guys...we could get someone better!
For example,RIBERY or ROBINHO
Quaresma is for clubs such as Tottenham (no offence...but I think they will be dangerous next season),Everton etc...not for The Big Four clubs.

Stick Beletti on the right wing. He'll put decent ball into box.

On Joe Cole's 'inconsistancy' - does anyone think it might have been fatigue near the end that took it's toll.

LINK - I thought that this was an interesting read from the times about RC and the reason he wanted to leave before.

What are this managers thinking?Is Chelsea now turning to a club for pensioners?Why do we like going for players that are near their retirement age?Why go for Deco and Ronaldiho,who are near their retirement age,when we have a solid mid-field formation in Mikel,Essien,Ballack,and Lampard?Where do we place Deco and Ronaldiho when they come?Are we going to sacrifice the raw talent of Mikel for Deco just as Grant foolishly sacrifice the raw talent of Kalou for Anelka?Roman has to say something cause Chelsea is slowly becoming real Madrid who has all the big names yet cannot win anything.

@andre - I am not surprised at the RC's comments. Sources at Chelsea ( God that sounds pompous - it's just that my husband is a exec driver who also works for chelsea and some of the back coaching team chat to him) say that most of the players were furious with AG's sacking and felt that it was not a good move for the team - but that same person also said back in March that AG was to go regardless of winning or not CL - he didn't fit into brand Chelsea. No doubt that Scolari has all the charisma, credentials and bloody mindedness that the press love and Chelsea need to be who they want to be. Only time will tell if the brand provides good football and silverware. Certainly won't be boring!!!!!

We have to face the fact that Petr Cech is no longer the Worlds No 1

I'm afraid these mistakes are happening more frequently,perhaps we need a new goalkeeping coach at the Bridge.

I'm afraid that howler just about sums up Cechs season for us. Error strewn in comparison to his first few seasons.....I wonder if the head injury has had a bigger effect that first thought? Or maybe it is Lollichon - it does seem that since Lollichon took the reigns that Pete has definitely been more susceptible and has reverted to a long ball hoof clearance mentality.

107. TommyBlur

"most of the players were furious with AG’s sacking"...LOL! You're a comedian!

I WAS furious with AG sacking!
hE WAS excellent the first year!
Players were furious because they will never adapt to a manager if we continue like this!

Christophe Lollichon fucked up Cech. It's not the head injury because after Reading, Cech came back to win us the FA Cup Final and the League Cup Final with some blinding saves against Baptista and Rooney. But after Silvino left and Avram brought in Lollichon, Cech is vulnerable at crosses. He used to be immense with the high ball, i remember seeing him save JT's back header in the last minute of the FA Cup semi-final against Blackburn at Old Trafford. Now he seems undecided with crosses. It's time for Scolari to bring in some new coaches. Keep Clarkey, promote Brendan Rodgers and bring in some new fitness coaches and a GK coach.

Cech cant be a Barthez or Dudek overnight. The only logical and possible explaination is the coach!

112. Fan of Toad called Sarah

TommyBlur will welcome you to her comedy club!

It wasn't all that surprising really, what with that Babel shot slipping through his gloves in the CL semis...

The thing is, if he was going through a really bad time personally for Rennes under the same coach, why did he recommend him?

Whatever the reason, I hope Scolari brings in someone of his own to deal with our keepers.

Its funny that Cech makes all the difficult saves look easy and yet make the easy ones look complicated at times. But i guess thats what seperates him from the rest of the keepers in the world. His reflexes and shot stopping ability is still 2nd to none. Form is temporary and class is PERMANENT. I hope it applies to Cech because he's making the fundamental errors while producing regular superb saves against the top marksman in football. Ironic...

Bad news, guys....

I read somewhere (can't remember where) that Lollichon is going to be retained as goalkeeping coach in the new Scolari regime. The connection is that Cech worked with him before he came to Chelsea, and apparently recommended him to Grant when Jose's boys left.

His current form is seriously bad. As a shot stopper he is wonderful, but his inability to claim a cross is really worrying, and he appears flustered under pressure. Let's not mention his ability in Penalty Shoot-outs either!

Don't want to be too hard on him, cos on his day he is superb, but a kick up the arse is most definately required.

Gianluigi Buffon and even Artur Boruc are better than Cech on the evidence I've seen. Cech's still considerably better than most keepers though.

I just had a little wager on Italy to win the tournament at 20/1. Blame it on fatigue (it's nearly 4 a.m. here).

Nice article Andrei

Morning/Afternoon depending on where you are in the world...

Cech is a worry but he has had some injuries to contend with this season and I believe that has taken the edge of his game. Every player goes through dodgy periods but he will benefit from a good rest like the rest of the squad. However my tip for GK coach role is Cudicini who can also play as his number 2. His football brain between the big sticks and knowledge of the game in all competitions plus the respect he should have in the club would make him the ideal choice and give a new motivation to stay. Cudicini certainly knows how to distribute the ball and despite his height is pretty good at commanding the goal square. Cech can still learn a lot from Carlo...

KTBFFH

Peter the Great....

Sorry Peter, much as I would like to see Cudacini stay in some capacity, I cannot see Petr Cech taking goalkeeping lessons from a bloke that was his understudy 5 minutes before. I can't see that working out well. Agree with you about the distribution though, he is far better.

It is interesting to note that JT has recently been accused of being made to look good by Riccy..... Equally interesting to see that the press are slagging off Willie Gallas, saying that France (and Arsenal) look suspect at the back with him at centre half.

Gallas looked much more sound at Chelsea when paired with either RC or JT, so perhaps Jose was right to play him at Right Back for most of his time at Chelsea.

Andrei....... Funny how most of the papers reported that Ricky article as suggesting he was upset with the club. The Times article left me with a totally different impression of his comments, and saying how pleased he is to be having Scolari arrive.

Watched the Argentina v Ecuador game last night - first time I've really seen Aguerro who seems to be linked to Chelsea a lot on this site. He was AWFUL. Looks a bit like Kaka but sure doesn't play like him! I think he would struggle in the Premiership on the basis of what he did in that game.

This is from todays newspapers.

"Chelsea target David Villa insists he wants to stay in Spain.

The Valencia forward, the four-goal star of Euro 2008, is locked in a three-way £25million battle between Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

But Villa, 26, has warned cash is not his motivation: "Money means nothing. Of course everybody works to earn money, but if you are not happy then material things mean nothing. My only target in life is to get better at my job."

The Spain striker's value has risen dramatically during a hugely impressive Euro 2008 campaign, and Chelsea are ready to make him the highest paid player in the Premier League.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been trailing Villa for months and the Londoners are still interested in him after the arrival of new boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, who quits Portugal to take charge at Stamford Bridge on July 1.

Villa - whose injury time winner against Sweden put Spain into the quarter finals - has made it clear to his advisers that he would rather join Real Madrid or Barcelona than move to the Premier League.

Valencia, who have put Villa up for sale along with their other Spanish star David Silva, have also told the striker that he can decide his destination as long as that club meets their asking price

Chelsea have the spending power to clinch the deal but Villa is waiting on Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona have to sell before they can buy but if they offload both Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o then they will want two strikers.

Real Madrid also want him even though they are pursuing Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.

It leaves Chelsea facing disappointment over Villa and they are already looking elsewhere as they fear the Spanish hitman will snub a move to England"

Not really much of a shock,it's a myth that Roman's money can buy anyone and I think a few more players will make the same choice as Villa.
I think Big Phil's going to have his work cut out when trying to strengthen our squad.Unless you're name is Deco or Ronaldinho that is.

This was Aguero's rating for last nights game.

Sergio Aguero: 4 - Wasted a couple of good opportunities to find the back of the net. Failed to make an impact and looked selfish at times.

Sounds like he would fit in at The Bridge.

I think even last summer and throughout the past (very poor) domestic campaign Valencia had, it was obvious Villa would prefer to stay in Spain. Fingers crossed we're still in with a chance, and it is just the papers talking, but I think we need to be looking elsewhere for strikers rather than just the one target.

Glad Cech's getting the howlers out of the way early, so he'll be more consistent next season.

Nick, on your point of rather crazy bets, I have stuck a few quid on the French. Not actually sure why though.

@ LYNN

That statement about Villa is exactly what i suspected. As i said yesterday, i just don't picture him at Chelsea, no matter how hard i try to. CAN picture him at Real Madrid or Barca though.

@ TOMMYBLUE

There may be some truth in the players being upset at AG's sacking but that's not to say he was popular..perhaps they're just sick to death of all the Manager's that are coming and going and not stopping along the way!!!
If, as you say, Avram was going to get the heave-ho whether he won the Champs or not, why did CFC give him a 4 year contract?? I believe he was in for the long haul but things backfired when we crashed out of the first 2 Cup competitions..To save face, PK quickly got rid of him and tried to convince everyone that it was never a permanent appointment. 4 years at £4million? Sounds pretty permanent to me!!

Felt really sorry for Petr last night. He blames himself for the team losing and rightly so but he's still a great Goalie..the best IMO..

@ Lollipop

I'd love to have Kaka (the World Player of the Year) at Chelsea, he's so bloody good looking! Chelsea will sell million shirts! ManU's ugly Rio (the Duck of the Year) should not be allowed to play in PL, he just scares the kids away! :-)

LINK

Next seasons fixtures.

The last 3 games aren't particularly great.....

Felt sorry for Petr - not a good way to end the season, but clangers made by goalkeepers are always more noticeable, especially when they're made by one of the best.

Manure have Hull at home last game of the season,what a shock!!!!!!!!

Hard to judge causes of Petr's lapses - poorer coaching or dips in concentration as a result of the multiple head injuries. He still has an impressive scar from Ben Haim's butchery.

If it's the former I see Kevin Hitchcock does not seem to have followed Sparky to Man City - nor indeed has Eddie Niedzwiecki, though he appears to be a general coach these days.

Seems to be a lot of uncertainly around Christophe Lollichon (?) as GK coach; not sure when he started with us but it might explain the 'dip' in form (but let's not forget Cech saved us on numerous occasions last season). Couple that with the hideous injuries and it isn't surprising he's suffering at present.

On another subject, it still beats me how anybody can criticise a man who clearly loves our club with a passion.

LINK

Inter have declared their interest in Lampard:

LINK

I have a horrible feeling he will decide to join Jose in Milan.

hey guys, time for a new post. This one just kinda died...

Hope not Nick - with these potential new FIFA regulations about home grown players, the last thing we need is to be losing top class English players and replacing them with overseas players (unless Kaka or Messi fancy joining us of course!).

Nick,

I agree. I can see him going. He knows it's now or never for the last change in scenery. It looks like Capello knows what he wants from the England side and Lamps doesn't fit in from the start.

If he goes, it'll be with nothing but my best wishes.

But, for the love of God, not Deco to replace him. Please.

Fifty,

Bad news - Deco's confirmed that we're looking to sign him:

LINK

Deco: 45 goals in nine years for Porto and Barca.
Lampard: 110 goals for Chelsea since 2001.

Good news - apparently Scolari is a big fan of Lampard.

fifty

What of van der vaart?if lamps did leave(please god no!) would you( attempt) to replace him with vdvaart?or someone else perhaps?

Ze German can take Lampards spot with essien picking up the slack

---------------cech-----------------

-bosingwa--carvalho-terry--cole

----------essien--Ze German------

Quaresma------villa/sheva---j.cole

-----------------drogs-------------------

Problem is that we have to wean ourselves off Frank some day and the chances are it will be painful when it happens. Would love him to stay, but not sure we should be offering long term big money deals to players over the age of 30. I'd imagine Scolari would hope to keep him for at least one season as it would be a big blow to him to lose a player like Frank.

Incredibly difficult player to replace - you'd pay fairly serious money for a striker with his record, let alone a midfielder (if you could find one comparable).

Not hugely keen on the Deco idea but at his best he is a remarkable player - for all the gushing over Ronaldinho, Messi et al when we were meeting them regularly in the CL a season or two ago, he really made that Barca side buzz - so much went through him. He's been impressive for Portugal at the Euros too. Whether he can adapt to the Premier League is another matter entirely; couple of years ago I wouldn't have questioned it too much, but now... hmmm.

Mike,

I've mentioned several times Van Der Vaart would be my preferred choice. Lamps and Ballack are of a similar age, and Deco is the same. I really want us to go for VDV. At 25 / 26 he's got (possibly) his best years ahead of him.

Nick,

In addition to that stat, Deco has scored a whole 4 goals in 55-odd Internationals.
Lamps has 15 in 61.

Clearly the decision on his future is his and his alone. But Sheva and Ballack proved there's no guarantee of coming in and performing straight away (or at all I guess ;-) ). Can we afford to lose someone as good as Lamps in such an important position to be replaced by someone with what, 2 years left in the tank, particularly if it takes him 6 months to adjust ??

After the furore of the new manager being announced, the news related to the club is turning negative. Lamps is off; Villa not interested; Deco will sign. When will the doom and gloom end....

On a separate note, I find it a tad cheeky to say I pity other teams but, well, I pity Rovers if this materialises :

"Former England manager Steve McClaren is to be interviewed for the Blackburn job on Monday, Sky Sports News understands"

Still, with those stereotypical, rainy, mid-week February away games, I'm sure he'll be able to provide adequate waterproof-based cover for fellow managers...

I thought we might be clearing up the junk but it looks as though we're trying to pile up some more.

While the Mancs'll be improving on their week points, we'll be bringing in past-their-best mercenaries.
They're going for Santa Cruz, Huntelaar, Berbatov to give them the one thing they lacked this season - an aerial threat up front. If Horseface stays and they sign one of the three mentioned, there'll be no catching them.

No had feelings if Lampard leaves. Delivered season after season.
If he does go, I Hope he takes Serie A by storm.

Mourinho is GOD and we should never have got rid of him, He loves our club alot which excites me because in the future he could come back. (Who wouldnt welcome him?, Even RA is back on good terms with JM). As for Deco, I dont see why he could be a bad signing. Hes a playmaker (We dont have a playmaker) and hes world class. Alot depends on the formation we use next season but If he comes then I would welcome him with open arms. A 4-4-2 would look something like this.....
I know many of you wont want Deco on the left but he has played there for Portugal and Barca as well as Porto so he would still do a great job

Cech/Cudicini
Bosingwa/Ferreira
Carvalho/Ivanovic
Terry/Alex
A.Cole/Wayne Bridge
Joe Cole/SWP
Michael Ballack/Michael Essien
Frank Lampard/Jon Obi Mikel/Deco
Deco/Scott Sinclair (Malouda will be gone, Scolari doesnt like pussies)
Sheva/Anelka
Drogba (If he stays)/David Villa (If Drogba leaves and we get him if not then Kalou takes his place)

I mean if Drogba leaves and we dont sign Villa then Kalou should play alongside Sheva

When Cech first arived he had the habit of making saves but not clearing the ball to safety. He'd make saves and the ball would drop right back into dangerous areas.

I think we'll be seeing a lot of more of that unless something drastic is done.

Fifty

But what if he ends up a sidwell? Young, (possibly) got the best years ahead of him and then flops as soon as he gets to a big side. We don't want VDV to be a sidwell and it is unlikely, but it COULD happen...

And that would suck... : '-(

I think Mr. V der V looks like he has a little more in his locker than the ginger genius that is Steve Sidwell.

I like Deco as a footballer, but he's too old: pointless swapping him for Frank. The goal thing - we're never going to find a midfielder who scores as many as Frank because they don't exist, so as JD suggests that's a bit of a red herring. We're going to have to change our style, get more goals from all over the pitch rather than from FL and DD.

We MUST keep Frank. No question BUT Deco would still be a great signing

Mike,

How likely is that though ??

Succeeded at Ajax (Big side. Bigger than Reading). Sure the move to Hamburg was a bit of a strange one as he was linked elsewhere, but credit to him for taking on the challenge. Played in Europe for them after helping them to a top 3 domestic finish. And now he's starring in midfield for the best, or second best, International teams in the Euro's.

Granted, other than the above, and the lack of ginger locks, he's every bit the new Sidwell ;-)

although I beleive Drogs is a good player, he didn't score all that many goals last season. Ze German scored just 1goal less than DD in half his season. That says that either our strikers arnt doing their job or we are relying too much on our mf, either way, if lamps leaves , things need to change.

Fifty

LOL but it could happen and I don't want that to happen, so we need to be very sure of what we are doing with him. Scolari needs to watch VDV in the euros to make sure we dont get the next , failed not-so-Ginger ninja

@155 Mike - come on surely we all know better than to make decisions on buying players based on a handful of games during Euro/WC finals?

151 Peter

Ballack was knocking in a few for us once he'd got back to full fitness.
Essien, too was getting into advanced areas and scoring goals in the absence of Lampard.

VDV had a great goalscoring record for HSV last season, as did Diego for Werder Bremen.

blue boy dave

I see where you're coming from but if a player performed badly in the euros , would that not indicate his performance at club level would be bad too?
anelka and malouda are great examples of this.

@158 Mike - it's just that International finals don't necessarily show us how a player will perform in a club context over a season - with apparently good performers turning into huge disappointments, while those who don't shine might actually fit our system better.

I'll give you Anelka/Malouda seemed to carry on their club form seamlessly though ;-)

Regarding the speculation about Frank, here is an interview with the Inter Milan chairman today. It seems, Frank is the only one JM will seriously go for and no-one else depending on price of course. Also interesting to note how the Inter Chairman and the Italians think about JM and transfers from Chelsea. Coupled with the silence from Frank or the board at the Bridge, it makes me feel that he is almost certainly on his way and they are just dotting the t's as they say. Shame, why could'nt the board have given lamps the contract he deserved (at least in my eyes anyway)! Now, he almost certainly will not be here next season.
LINK

Again I see your logic bbd but if you take a look at the holland players who perform at club level most of then do well at euros

@161 Mike - but do they play in similar systems to how we have/ now will under Big Phil and how will they adapt to EPL?

@160 Dio - did you notice further down your link Moratti confirmed Jose is not looking for a striker - so Drogs will have to stay with us or settle for Euro Vase with AC Milan unless he can drum up some interest elsewhere....

Who knows how Frank feels now - but if Scolari does indicate he wants him to stay he could still get a good enough offer to keep him surely?

Bbd

With any luck we play as well as the Dutch ;-)

Frank isn't back from his holidays yet is he?! I heard on TV yesterday that he's set to star talks with Chelsea at the end of this week, as soon as he returns from his summer break in Ibiza.
There's NO WAY he'll leave Chelsea..he has too much of an emotional connection with us..Blue blood runs through his veins, i tell you!! So don't panic..all will be fine!!

@ SIMONT

I'm starting to get worried about you! Kaka, good looking?! Nah!! There's only ONE hottie in the football world and we know who that is don't we?! If you doubt me at all, check him out in his...phew...shorts and nowt else, on the beach in Ibiza sucking on a *ahem!* Lolly!!! in the Daily Mail..Phwooarrrr!!!! VERY pleasing on the eye it is too!! :)))))

Mario Gomez has just missed the "sitter" of the Championship so far,he managed to miss when he was virtually standing on the goal line.
Even Kalou would have scored from there,then again perhaps not.

115. SimonT
Please stop insulting people around you!
YOU HAVE TO AGREE TO DISAGREE!!!
AND TO ACCEPT OTHER PEOPLE OPINIONS!
Avram Grant didn't deserve to get fired.
And I highly doubt that you are true Chelsea fan since you are blabbering abound Drogba all the time and Lampard but you don't know who MAkelele is!
We left your ''hero'' Drogba alone, but you are obviously in mood for arguing!

Sarah

Exactly what I wanted to say! Thanx!

Ze German 1-0 brilliant freekick

yay! Ze german(our german ) scores off a brilliant free kick! 1-0 to Deutschland!

second half ends Austria-0 Germany -1
nuff said....

Deutschland über alles!

If Ze Germans win the tournament then it will largely be because of Ballack, Im really hoping they step it up and beat Portugal even though we have 5 players/manager in their camp but I STILL cant support them with Horse Face in their team

Congrats to Ballack, First Chelsea player to score in Euro 2008

Blue True Blue Joe
Yeah, I mean, I like Carvalho, Scolari is ok, Ferreira I don't like...but even if I love all of them...Horseface is still around

@ 166. FOMCS

Dear Sarah, I only referred you to a comedy club, why did you find it "insulting"? :-)

Mr Grant has gone now so I don't wanna dig out the old wound on here again.

As to Drogba, he is a hero for real Chelsea fans. I will always defend Drogba if anyone does not appreciate his value for Chelsea!

@ 164. LolliPop

We may have to fly over to Italy to watch our Super Frank in action soon! ;-)

Whats with us wanting to sell our goalscoring duo? Lampard and Drogba are essential for at least 2 more seasons before we release them. We dont have to sell them both and buy Villa or Van Der Vaart to play attractive football. Its the formation and style of the team that dictates how we play our football. We can have Villa and still hoof all the long balls up to Anelka while he feeds on the flick ons. All we need is just another CREATIVE attacking player WITH PACE who can MAKE THE DIFFERENCE. Someone who is capable of unlocking defenses with his own skills or talent. Some might think that the both of them make us one dimensional but thats because we dont have enough creative outlets in the attack. Can you imagine what kind of output we will get from Lampard and Drogba if we have a Diego linking them up with his crisp passing and dazzing dribbles? Thats the final element that we are lacking in this team. Replace all the dead branches in this team e.g. Pizarro and Sidwell etc. Make space for 2 more top class quality players and everything will be just fine. No Deco please. He's too old and cannot last long. Simple as that. Then purchase a couple of attacking players be it a pure playmaker or high flying fearsome winger. Personally, i hope to see a Chelsea team like this next season:

Cech
Bosingwa Carvalho Terry A.Cole
J.Cole/Quaresma Essien Lampard Silva/Quaresma
Villa/Anelka Drogba

4-4-2 with 2 out and out wingers to provide that creative outlet or playmaking element that we are lacking. Lamps and Essien's workrate contribute to being the heart beat or engine of the team. Both midfielders have goalscoring potentials so one can hold while the other takes turn or swap roles as they like.

Jang ,I agree with you.I would like to see Chelsea FC like this next season:

CECH
BOSINGWA CARVALHO TERRY A.COLE
J.COLE ESSIEN LAMPARD ROBINHO/RIBERY
VILLA DROGBA

Finally Grant's appointment begins to make some sense.....

LINK

Apparently Scolari agreed to take the position 9 months ago, but wanted to wait until after the Euros. Installing Grant as caretaker makes a lot more sense, especially if he really felt he could no longer work with Mourinho.

Perhaps Roman hasn't lost his marbles after all, and maybe we won't end up as the next Hearts!

Doesn't really explain why they gave Avram a 4 -year contract extension, but just like the Express, lets gloss over that fact!

Chelsea lineup:

Cudicini
Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Bridge
Kaka, Lamps, Ballack, Makelele
J.Cole, Drogba

- by a real fan of Makelele called Simon

@ GREENLIGHT

Agree. It doesn't make sense at all why AG was given a 4 year contract at £4million plus a year, when Scolari was APPARENTLY given the job 9 months ago..9 months ago? That was when T.S.O was sacked and AG was brought in..Hmmmmm, something doesn't ring true there..all in the past now though. Time for a new era at CFC under Uncle Phil..

@ 176. JANG

Well said..spot on..

@ SIMONT

Trust your Auntie Lolli. My boy ain't goin' nowhere!!! :)

@ 179. SIMONT

Your team looks pretty damn gorgeous!!!!

@ Lolli

Yes, but I think Mrs Makelele is far more gorgeous...

Warning: contains nudity - Noemie Lenoir

Oh nifty, they got a picture of her watching the CL penalty shootout.

Scolari having this sewn up nine months ago does not surprise me in the slightest. If it's true, it's very reassuring.

They gave Avram a 4 year contract so that Avram had the legal security of a big pay off. He could have relied on a promise from Roman but there's nothing quite like a signed contract in your pocket.

Having said above there’s nothing quite like a signed contract in your pocket as BIGMark I guess I've got one thing in my pocket that is better.

@178 Greenlight - great theory! Doesn't Kenyon claim Avram had to be given a long-term contract to attempt to give him some authority with the team and any new players we tried to buy in January.

It could also explain why Paulo got his new 4-year contract months ago when he was beginning to look increasingly a fringe player.......

2 super buys to make the difference. Come on you blues!

I want to see:

Cech

Bosingwa / Riccy / JT / A Cole
Essien
Kaka / lamps / Ronaldinho
Eto'o / Drogba

Subs - Deco, Mikel, Kalou, Ivanovich, Alex, Cudicini, j Cole

It's nice to see that Chelsea are continuing their policy of buying over the hill rejects:

LINK

While Barca will be planning for a front 3 of Messi, Bojan and Villa if they can get him, ours will be Ronaldinho, Drogba and Anelka! Why do we seem to prioritise big names over signings with potential. It looks more and more likely that we won't be going for the signings of Villa and Van der Vaart and instead looking to Ronaldinho and Deco.

Still if the club see sense and the stories about Scolari having been lined up for months suggest that Kenyon and Co have ditched the idiot's guide to running a football club, then my hopefull team for next season:

Cech
Bosingwa Ricky JT Cole
Essien
J Cole Lamps Van der Vaart Robinho
Villa

5 Subs: Carlo, Ivanovic, Mikel, Kalou, Di Santo

ok I think this is the most likely team for next season

-----------------------cech-----------------------

Bosingwa--riccy-----------JT----------cole

----------------Essien-----ze german-------

------------------deco/lampard----------------

Ronaldinho------ drogs-------Joe cole---

this Is the team I want to see next season

--------------------cech---------------------

Bosingwa---riccy---JT------------cole

---------------Essien---ze german-----

--------------------VDV--------------------

Ronaldinho----villa/etoo-------quaresma

And to all those who say Ronaldinho is past his prime, you are wrong, he is 28 and that is still good for 3 years. He is still good and just in bad form. Scolari will sort him out.

It's like reading a daily paper in early August with all the fantasy football teams being banded about on here.

I like how the completely unproven Bosingwa is a shoe in for everyone. I hope he's as successful as our last two RB's who have both been.....shit. Has done nothing for me in the games I've seen to prove a) he's worth the money and, more importantly b) he's better than Lahm. Which he isn't. I'm sure Ze German could have put a bit of German-captain-therefore-your-leader type pressure on him to come to the Bridge.

The news about Guardiola allowing Eto'o to join Deco and Ronnie leaving the Nou Camp isn't much of a surprise. No doubt we'll be linked with all 3. And probably sign all 3. Which fills me with, well, nothing really. Can't say I find it a particularly exciting prospect, mainly based on how were becoming a feeder club for retirement planning Financial Advisers all over London.

I'd rather have Villa over Eto'o; VDV over Deco and Silva/Quaresma/Bentley? over Ronaldinho.

Anyway, the real reason I've returned to post is to report a somewhat random spotting of an ex-player. Anyone else see Albert 'Chappi' Ferrer in the front row of the mens final at Queens on Sunday ??? I'm sure I've read somewhere he and Rafa Nadal are mates. Which is ever so slightly bizarre.

Didn't see Ferrer (great right-back; there's something of Chapi in Philip Lahm, who's been Germany's best player at Euro 2008) in the crowd at Queen's - but how good is Nadal? It was an awesome final. Will Nadal win Wimbledon? He's 11/4 at the moment, a bit short for me.

Stuff Deco.
If Lampard goes then Joe Cole has to be given a central role.

The obvious back four, and then a midfield of Mikel behind Essien, Joe Cole.

A couple of wide players with real quality as replacements for SWP and Malouda. And a forward/s to replace whoever leaves.

We have a bloody great team. Cant we just improve on the weak areas instead of messing everything up with crazy £40 million signings?


----------------Cech----------------

Bosingwa-----Ricki----JT-------Ashley

----------------Mikel----------------

------Joe Cole----------Essien-------

-----------(???)----------------Kalou

----------------Drogba---------------



(???) - A quality forward who can play off Drogba and be willing to doa lot of the running. We can't have Drogs going for another whole campeign up on his own.

Whenever we have people posting their teams we get Essien as the holding midfielder, just to fit him in along with all the 'fantastic big names' we'd like to see. Of coures he'll do a steady job, but using the Bison as a Makelele would be wasting his pace, power and energy.

Habs

Paulo Ferriria wasn't shit, he used to be great. Used to be......

Belletti was totally crap though......

He Is (Bosingwa) good from what I've seen. Very pacey.

Cashif

Why are you forgetting Ze German: Ballck? He could be the answer to our Lampard troubles.

193 - Fifty

If we're to believe it was a 'Scolari signing', it seems reasonable to assume he'll be the first choice.
I'm just praying my worst fear doesn't turn out to be true and we find he's a portugese Chimbonda we've paid 16 million for.

192 - Nick Benfield

Losing that first set after playing some incredible stuff had Djokovic deflated.
If he was a little tougher mentally, and had a little more stamina, Djokovic would be as great, if not better.

He was being out-classed in the first set. I switched it off, came back 15 minutes late and the bastard had broken back again.

You have to hand it to him, though, he's unstoppable at the moment.

(Marcos Baghdatis - the most overweight tennis player you're likely to see, but I'll be backing him as usual...)

197 - Mike.

Yeah, I thought of that of course, but that midfield in the long term...

On the right back thing, in my humble opinion, Belletti might be a better right WINGER than anyone we have at the moment. The guy was never really a right back - not in the European sense anyway. He was a midfielder for Sao Paulo before he moved to Europe.

Nick,

I dont think he will.

Federer still has the monopoly when it comes to grass. Nadal is closing the gap between the two, and is destroying everyone on clay, but I still think it's Federer's to lose this year.

I guess as we're slap bang in the middle of transfer-rumour silly season, it's almost time for us to start being told a Brit will win at Wimbledon. Again.

Cashif

Belletti might perform well as a winger but he is old. Older than bosingwa anyway. And next season ballack will be our top midfielder if Lamps leaves. Exept of course for Essien.

About Ronaldinho. You might be right, he might well be sorted out by Scolari, but are we going back to the days where we had the reputation for handed out huge pay packets to players on the decline?

One of the three for a cut price might not be too bad, but 16 million for Deco?

Pay Ronaldinho 250,000 a week?

Samuel Eto'o?

Have we forgotten already about all the previous with these moneygrabbing hypocrites who're suddenly dying to come now they've been kicked out of Barca?

@Cashif,
I agree mate this tendency to buy old players is not good at all. I hope all this talk about Deco and other pensioners is not true and, if our pensioners want to go somewhere else they can start to pack their things.

179. SimonT
I didn't put Maka in the squad because he is most probably RETIRING this season!!!

Cashif
no deco I agree, but ronaldinho and etoo are both under 29

All I'm saying is, it just doesn't seem likey they'll reproduce the original form that has given them their huge reputations. Aside from the money factor, I just don't like idea of bringing in players who were once amongst the world's best and playing for a major european rival, but have been shown the door by that club - especially as these individuals weren't exactly shy about spouting off all that garbage about us in the not so distant past.

I'm pissed off with the idea that they think they can come into the Chelsea team as if they are as good as they once were.

We weren't trying to bring Ronaldinho in before, or Eto'o or Deco.
Just a week or two ago, all the talk was about Ronaldinho to Man City for F***'s sake!

Re the debate on experience versus youth I can see a front 3 looking like this:

LINK

blue bayou

Lol, sheva, maka and deco right?

Back to the debate, what about Ibrahimovic? He's doing well for the swedes...

No to Ronaldinho and Deco. Yes to Silva, Villa, Van Der Vaart etc. Its simple. We are building a team now and looking for some continuity. We have the likes of Ballack, Lampard and Drogba who are 30 already. And the 3 of them take up important roles in the team. How can we replace those 3 with another 3 of the same age? Its not logical in the footballing sense. Just hoping we get the talented, potential and younger top quality players.

We have the likes of Ballack, Lampard and Drogba who are 30 already. And the 3 of them take up important roles in the team. How can we replace those 3 with another 3 of the same age?

@ 209.JANG

Why would we want to?

I hope all this talk about Deco and other pensioners is not true and, if our pensioners want to go somewhere else they can start to pack their things.

@203. MIKEL

PENSIONERS?!! Christ Almighty!! How OLD are you if you're calling 29/30 year olds pensioners?! That would make me Prehistoric by your reckoning!! LOL

Doesn't look like Ribery will be going anywhere,he got carried off with what looks like a bad injury,According to BBC commentator,it could be his achilles tendon,if so,he'll need an operation and could be out for a while.


Italy winning 1-0 Pirlo penalty.

France are crap again!! Even before they were down to 10 men they were playing rubbish!! Italy are all over them like a cheap suit! How on earth does Toni keep missing chances? He was the same in their last game..
he's a cutie though..:)

And Gattuso is just ace..

Before we even start to think of buying the likes of Quaresma, Silva, Villa and Van Der Vaart etc, WE MUST NOT BUY the likes of Ronnie and Deco first and foremost. Thats the first step Scolari must take and i hope he knows that. Its his team and he has the balls to tell the board who he wants.

Jang

Why dont you like Ronnie? Ok maybe not deco but ronnie for sure! Just take a look at youtube and you shall see! Scolari can sort Ronnie out..... Easily!

@MIKE

Ronnie can be under consideration. But Deco is a big NO. After all the things he did in the past, now he's beggin us to take him in like a begger and oust Lampard out? What a joke Deco!

@ Lolli - I don't think the Italians do cheap suits - I mean surely Donadoni is the most sartorially elegant man thus far in the Euro's?

@ TONY

I dunno..bet if you looked hard enough you'd find a rip-off Armani somewhere in Italy!

Deco or Ronnie coming doesnt signal the end for Frank, We will get rid of Malouda and play 4-4-2 next season so this is our midfield

Right Wing : Joe Cole, SW
Center Midfield : Ballack, Essien, Mikel
Center Attacking Midfield : Lampard, Maka, Deco could play here if Lamps gets injured as he often does
Left Midfield : Ronaldinho, Deco. Whats the problem?

Deco : "I want Ronnie to join me at Chelsea", Does that mean its official?

How can people try and act as if Eto is past it, Hes scored 91 in 135 apps for Barca

BTBJ

Lamps gets injured often?
Does he REALLY???

Know he was out for a couple of months early this season with 2 thigh injuries, apart from that, i think he's made the most appearances than any other player in the team!!

210. lollipop
In football...that is old.

anyway
No to Deco
No to Ronaldinho
No to Quaresma

Yes to Silva
Yes to Villa
Yes to Van Der Vaart

Lolli, Just knew you would get angry at that one ;), He is very consistent and I adore him as a player. But he has been plagued by injuries recently but so has Ballack, JT (No argument here, He is so unfortunate).

@ 220 - BTBJ - Eto'o is a dirty cheating bastard and was a bloody disgrace against us. We can and should do better - if he's the type we're after then I despair. Drogba is a far better player than Eto'o. Its still fantasy football though because as yet, the club and Big Phil haven't said a fucking word about anything and as yet barely any major transfers have gone through. Its the press and the agents stirring the hornets nests.

What never ceases to amaze me is people's gullibility in believing everything they read or hear. Hey...someone told me we're signing David Tennant to counter act the Peter Crouch threat and that its a swap deal for Pizzaro who takes up the reigns of Doctor Who from the next Xmas Special.

As for Ronnie - well at 28 or 29 he's hardly over the hill, so those on here who want us to parade a team of 16 year olds I think you need to get a sense of perspective. People have bad seasons - I think 12 of the Barca squad got divorced last year, hardly a recipe for happiness and as a manager myself I know that external factors affect all workers attitude and consequently their ability to perform. if Big Phil signs Roni and gets his mojo back then we could get 4-5 years from him and if he gets close to his former glories then he'll still piss over everyone else in the EPL - its hardly preventing the future is it?

224. Tony Glover
Drogba is...WHAT?!

If I really had to pick between Ronaldinho and Eto'o ...I would always pick Eto'o.
ANything except Ronaldinho and Deco...anything.

p.s. Eto'o is a great player but he has big problem with injuries.

@ Everyone who thinks 29 is old

Zola was 30 when he joined us. I rest my case.

@ Sarah - your opinion - but a wrong one in my view. I would find it very hard to cheer for Eto'o because in my view he is a conman and a cheat. We'll have to agree to disagree.

I know im in the minority here but

Yes to Deco (Hes shown for Portugal hes still world class and is available)
Yes to Dinho (Scolari would sort him out and he wants to come)
Yes to Eto (His record speaks for itself and he would suit the EPL)

Not sure about............

Villa (Hes said he doesnt want to come to Chelsea and prefers Arse-Anal, I dont want a player who rates the Arses higher than us)
Van Der Vaart (Im not totally convinced, Hes played well for Hamburg but I havent seen him play great for Holland yet)

Zola is special.
he is one of thousand
I doubt we will ever get a player like him
Great dribbling,shot and most of all GOOD HUMAN BEING.

226. Tony Glover
Tony , I understand you...But as you would find it hard to cheer for Eto'o I would find it hard to cheer for Ronaldinho :)

226 TG, Great point. Aside from the "Hes older than 29" comments nobody seems to be able to explain why Deco wouldnt be a good signing.

Cech
Bosingwa
JT
Riccy
Ash
Joey
Ballack/Essien
Lamps/Mikel
Deco
Drogba
Sheva

@ Sarah - I think that is called 'Deuce' in tennis then :-).

My point just illustrates how daft the notion of a player at 29 being 'old' is...or a pensioner...its just bizarre to describe them as such. Logically if the age keeps reducing then in about 30 years I might as well be watching the local school teams then. Does anyone really think Ballack is too old for example?

Once again - Zola - 30 years old starts his career at Chelsea and continues until he's 36 - an exception? Yes, but it just shows that for some players they can just go longer. Maybe, just maybe Roni can do the same, but as yet we don't know who's coming or going......

Deco is kinda rough player...AND most of all: WE DON'T NEED HIM!
We have Ballack ,who proved great this season and we still have Lamps!
Why on earth would be need Deco?
p.s. Essien and young Mikel...and Makelele if he doesn't retires but he plays as defensive midfielder so...we don't need Deco

You know who could be good striker if Drogba leaves?
Podolski.
Young
Doesn't play in Bayern
Good finisher
Good dribbling
Handsome (ok that doesn't matter but...you now...it can't harm XD)

@ TONY

Couldn't of said it better..29 is old? F**k off is it!!!
I suppose at 46 you'd be considered..well..Stone-age wouldn't you?!! LOL

@BTBJ

Frank's had a bad season, not altogether through injuries as we all know and he doesn't make a habit of it!! I think he can be forgiven though for taking 6 weeks off with a couple of thigh injuries when you take into consideration how many appearances he's made for the club. When he joined us in 2001, He missed one match and didn't miss a SINGLE game during the 2002/03 and 2004/05 seasons..not many, if ANY other player can boast that!! As i said, he's made the most appearances and scored the most goals in our current team..

@ 233. SARAH

Agree, he is a cutie pie but i much prefer his club and country team-mate Miroslav Klose..he's VERY sexy!!! I think we should have him instead! Ha! Ha! Ain't we shallow?? :))

235. lollipop

Miroslav Klose ...well...I think he looks a bit like Lampard.And I find Klose sexy...Podolski is boy-toy type...and Klose is sexy but not pretty type
Villa is...hot .
p.s. ballack is the hottest of all of them
...lol...

Ladies, ladies.

Calm it down. They're not pieces of meat you know ;-). You can't just objectify men like that.

Imagine if the blokes on here started going on about females like that. Again.

On the Deco front, there's no denying he's having a great tournament, but my argument isn't necessarily that he's too old (I'm 28 today - I have accepted my chances of being signed Professionally now have all but disappeared - however Big Phil, if you need another right back I'd sign for half of what Bosingwa's getting) but that if he takes time to adjust to the different style of play in the league, we'll miss maybe a quarter of his time here. Is that a risk we can take ??

After a trophy-less season just gone, it's almost imperative we win something next season. We weren't far away with the squad we have - get Lampard signed up and forget about Deco.

Big Phil was a "galactico" choice and it's a sign that the suits feel the same way Fifty (above) does -- we have to win something big, now. He's a proper manager and I think he'll do an excellent job, but I'll be very surprised if he's still manager of Chelsea in August 2010. He's famous for what he did with international teams, i.e. bringing a group of players together very quickly, imposing his authority on them, getting them organised, and then winning a lot. That's presumably what's expected of him. If we don't win the Champions League in the next two years I suspect there'll be another big change-around -- and as we all know, no matter how good you are, the best team doesn't always win the CL, you need bagfuls of luck. And if we do win it, I can see him saying "Job done, thanks for the cash, cheers", before it gets around to rebuilding time.

It suggests to me that the club's signings will be dictated by the same Success Now principle. They went for a manager of proven ability with a great track record, and I have a feeling they'll do the same with players -- Deco-type signings.

Happy birthday Fifty!

My problem with signing old players is that a) they are expensive; b) they can only get worse; c) they're not long-term solutions. I don't want to take an Arsenal route of lots of kiddies, but United have an excellent blend of the two. If we keep signing 30 year olds we're never going to have a core that we can keep together for three or four seasons. Also, young players are exciting, and that gets people talking and through the turnstiles. Fans feel they have more invested in them.

However... People often talk about the Championship Manager aspect of fans these days, as if they think a club can go out and sign eight superstars just like that, but I think the computer game influence can also be seen in the way fans reckon you can 'spot' half-a-dozen world class teenagers who will always be available, sign for you, fulfill their potential and never leave. But life isn't like that. Look at Arsenal: everytime they get close to completing their 'team of the future' one of them leaves. And United aren't going to hang on to Tevez, Ronaldo and Anderson for as long as they did Scholes and Giggs. The 'young team will dominate for decades' scenario is no more likely to work out than any of the other failed schemes for world football domination, such as the Galacticos. However, it is a great deal more romantic.

well take a look at ze German. He is 30+ and still going strong and getting better after every match. Look at Lampard almost 30 and still our best player. Again, Zola, joins at 30, leaves at 36 or whatever and in that time is hailed as one of the best Chelsea players of all time, up there with Ossie-RIP- and now you are all saying. Eto'o is too old or is unsuccessful, both of which are crap. Ronnie with Scolari was the best in the world and now, you're saying he's over the hill(at 28) witch is also crap!


Ok rant over but come on guys!

Weve agreed a £5.5m fee for Steve Skidwell with Aston Vanilla, Look on Sky Sports.com

Wow! We sold a player for more than he's worth for once! Well done Roman!

LINK

Mike,

In fairness he's probably worth £4.5m. It's impressive we've made a profit on him though.

But £45,000 a week ?? Cah-razy money.

Is he replacing BArry then? hmmmm, good luck Villa.

'To have been allowed to wear France's colours, that's my trophy,' the midfielder is quoted as saying last night.


1 Marcel Desailly (France) 74
2 Frank Lampard (England) 59
3 William Gallas (France) 48
4 Claude Makelele (France) 47
5 Dan Petrescu (Romania) 44
6 John Terry (England) 44
7 Joe Cole (England) 40
8 Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) 40
9 Petr Cech (Czech Republic) 39
10 Tore André Flo (Norway) 38

We won't be seeing Maka on the next WC thats for sure.
Jeez, I gonna miss him.

Anyway...As I said WE do not need Deco because we have enough of players like him (Lamps,Ballack,Mikel,Essien,Makelele)
What do you think about Wright Phillips on the left wing?
And it is good that we are selling Sidwell...I mean he is useful, but FINALLY we are selling someone unnecessary.

Former Chelsea captain Marcel Desailly told Sky Sports News that no player - including Didier Drogba - is bigger than the Stamford Bridge club.

Thats what I was saying for...months and months ...
NO player is bigger than Chelsea FC.Or manager.
And finally-someone said it publicly...Marcel Desailly!

I think maka is gonna retire from club footy soon=[ who's gonna take over? Mikel or essien? Or maybe we gonna buy a new dude to take his spot?

Marcell is wasted on BBC, He needs to get into coaching like Zola has

Is he?

Comic relief for the boys in the studio and the thousands watching.

Seriously cringeworthy for us CFC fans, though.

As for Drogba, 30+ goals in the one season he had another forward alongside him.
Stick someone up with him, and he's a happy bunny.
Leave him loping after long punts and trying to occupy three or four defenders on his own and he'll resort to his giant-victimised-little-girl act.

Everyone has a go at Sheva but look at Drogs on his own

I will also miss Maka when he leaves..when he goes in for a sliding tackle and almost breaks someone's legs, he ALWAYS looks at the Ref, shrugs his shoulders in the innocent "i didn't mean to do it, honest!!" way, accompanied with that cute little smile of his that allows him to get out of jail time and time and time again! Always makes me laugh! He's a star!!

@ 237. FIFTY

Can't help it, sorry!!!
Happy Birthday by the way!! Hope it's a good one! x

Drogs on his own does as good a job as anyone. Sheva on his own is the same as playing with 10 men.

Worse, cos at least with 10 men you won't bother pass to the man who'll lose it as soon as it reaches his feet, or watch as he struggles to run and the opposition player reaches it before him.

Now that Maka is nearing the very end, how bad does the Diarra sale look now?

Why couldn't we placate him with a loan move somewhere instead of letting him go to the Arse?

If those Albelda rumours are true, Maka could be hanging up his boots before the start of the new season.

Surely, no to Albelda. I wonder whats with us going for over-aged players and i really dont like this trend. I did like to throw a name in who is avaliable and hope someone from the Chelsea board reads it: Miguel Veloso

Give the number 4 shirt to Mikel or Veloso. Mikel has good passing abilities and its really a waste for him to play completely like Makalele or even replace him. I see Mikel as more of a deep-lying playmaker like Pirlo. Mikel has more to offer than just being a red card magnet. Remeber he started out as an offensive playmaker for the Nigeria youth team. Unless we can make Mikel ready to inherit Makalele's shirt, Veloso is another option. On the other hand, we should let Mikel shoulder more responsibility in the team's overall passing(forward, not backwards or sideways...) and ball distribution. He has to move on and further evolve into a better player. Those nice short passes can turn into long through passes in the forseeable future. Mikel has that capability and ability.

It seems we decided very early on to shape a rather simple peice of jewellery instead of something spectacular and dazzling with our 'pot of gold'.

I just feel that Mikel hasnt reached his full potential yet. He has the physique to play in England. He has the technique and vision but was restricted alot due to his role as the defensive midfielder. We need to untie his legs and release the animal in him.

Mikel could even take Lamps spot. He's quick, got a good shot and we can mould him to Scolari's liking. He could be the answer:

-------------cech-------------
bosingwa-riccy-JT- cole
----------mikel-essien-----
-------------ballack----------
---------j. Cole--(???)-----
---------------Drogs---------

We need someone with pace for the (???). Maybe Kalou.

I gather that neither Kaka or Villa want to come to Chelsea but i guessed that anyways!!
Kaka has said he's very happy at AC Milan and doesn't wish to leave and Villa has commented that stories in the press linking him with us and Liverscum are untrue..he doesn't want to leave Spain. Valencia have also stated that he's not for sale, in all honesty though, you wouldn't sell him would you? Especially how well he's playing in the Euro's at the moment.

*Inter Milan are willing to pay Lampsie's airfare so that he's able to commute between London and Italy in a bid to get him to sign for them...Wow!! He's torn between a move to Italy and staying near his family but T.S.O will do ANYTHING to get him...*

*according to the Sun.Read into it what you will..

I think it's a load of cobblers!!

258, Ronnie fits that spot PERFECTLY

Lolli, You told ANDREI to avoid the sun because its like the plague but yet you cant stop reading it yourself lol. Lamps will stay. He IS Chelsea

How many times does Lamps have to say that he wants to end his career with us? He needs a new contract ASAP because the speculation is torturing Chelsea fans

BTBJ

I read ALL the tabloids matey..can't help myself, seeing what stories and "exclusives" they come up with!!
TRUST ME, I believe NOTHING that the Sun says, hence my comment at the bottom of my post (no.259)

Best team based on rumours:

Cech
Bosingwa Ricky JT Cole
Cole Lamps Essien Robinho
Van der Vaart
Villa

Worst team:

Hilario
Belletti TBH Alex Bridge
SWP Maka Albelda Malouda
Anelka Pizarro

In the end next team we'll probably end up with a mix between the two. It doesn't look like we'll clear all the deadwood with preseason looming. So far we've only dumped Sidwell but with France losing hopelessly last night maybe the futures of Maka, Malouda and Anelka will be sorted. Maka can retire gracefully because to rely on him AGAIN for ANOTHER season would be a joke. Last season his lack of pace was a liability and to use him again next season whilst stunting the growth of Mikel would be a mistake. As for Malouda and Anelka... Well Malouda has finally been dropped by Domenech and Anelka's performances are getting even more pathetic.
Boulahrouz will be heading to Marseille or Hamburg (how about Van der Vaart in return? Martin Jol may really be that stupid) and Pizarro MUST be dumped. As for the rest, their futures seem more clouded. Belletti in my opinion was a definite gonner, but some reporters say Scolari likes Paulo at LB and will dump Bridge instead. Still, Belletti should go. TBH seems safe as no-one wants to take him off us but with too many defenders...

RB: Belletti, Paulo, Bosingwa
CB: Mancienne, Ivanovic, Alex, TBH, JT, Ricky
LB: Cole, Bridge

...at least 3 will go on loan or be shipped out. Drogba and Sheva seem likely to stay meaning we only need 1 new striker whereas SWP seems likely to leave, meaning there's one sopt available on the wing.

But this summer Chelsea do seem to be doing things logically and on the quiet. Scolari suddenly appointed, a PROFIT on Sidwell... Perhaps this summer will make up for the cock-ups of last summer.

KTBFFH

BTBJ

I agree but that isn't really a winger position, its more of a deep lying forward, or a side forward to compliment drogba's scoring ability. Dunno if Ronnie can take that spot.... Still, Kalou is young and skilled, so you never know what'll happen :)

Find a way to get two forwards playing alongside each other and I won't give a damn who we buy.

Too many teams are playing the one man up front and packing the midfield.

Supposedly, Scolari has always preferred a 3-5-2 / 5-3-2 wherever he's been.

Could that be a solution? 2 forwards AND a midfield 3 at the expense of the winger/strikers

Can't think of any teams who use wing-backs these days... might be an inteesting experiment.

--------------------------Cech------------------------


------Carvalho------------Alex------------JT---------

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

Bosingwa/Belletti-----------------------Ashley/Bridge

-------------------------(DM)-------------------------

--------------Joe Cole------------(CM)----------------


----------------(Drogba)-------(Striker?)-------------


I wouldn't mind seeing how it goes - though it might not be too different from the 4-4-2 diamond we had under JM when Drogba was banging in the goals a couple of seasons back. I know it's very simplistic to be thinking about systems in this way, because we know we there are teams who create plenty of chances and play great football with what we'd call a 4-5-1.

By the same token there are teams who don't create as much (Like our own perhaps?) who on paper use a '4-3-3'.

I think what I'm really hoping to see are more bodies in the box when we go forward, and with another 'proper' striker on the field I'm assuming we'll see a little more than just Drogba floundering about alone in the box for us when we get those crosses in.

Cashif

I think this would suit our current squad better:

---------------------cech---------------------
Bosingwa----Riccy--JT--------cole
------------------mikel------------------
-----------Essien----Ze German----
-------------------Joe Cole-------------
--------------Drogs-----(???)----------

But with transfers:

------------------Cech-----------------
Bosingwa--Riccy-JT-----cole----
-------------Essien--Ze german---
---------Ronnie----------------Joe Cole
-----------------Drogs----(???)---------

Personally, I think Eto'o is a good option for(???) but again, Kalou is an Option.

With Mikel playing there, he'll count almost as a centre back, so it is pretty much the same thing.

The only problem is it'll take a little longer to for the width to arrive if the full backs start of as part of a back four.
With a natural cenre back in there instead of Mikel, maybe we could afford to have them starting off a little higher up the pitch.

I'll wake up from my dream land now though... :)

I see but if we dont have a dmf, like in formation 2, we can utailize our cmf to distribute the ball forward, and we can use mikel to take over from Ze German when Ballack retires in a few years

Essien instead of Makelele
Or if Ballack leaves/Lampard Essien can play on that position...then Mikel can play instead of Maka.

On the first 15 mins Arshavin looks like a Russian version of Villa,quite lively early and looks a threat.

Arshavin is good player...Pavlychenko is too.

Sarah

And if lampard leaves for inter? And the whole point of the coversation is how essien and
Mikel can adapt to attacking positions. We dont need anyone in makas position because we are using one without a proper DMF. Good suggestion though. Essien or mikel can be used in that position.

Arshavin scores Russia's second goal,are you watching Roman?

Arshavin is a good player. But I'd love to see Villa at Chelsea, though he said he won't leave. Dammit.

Congratulations to Roman! He deserved some happiness!

I like the way Arshavin played tonight. He is excactly what we need in this team. Craft, guile and pace to open up defences! Add him to the list of wanted 'attacking' players. And he's definately cheaper.

Jang

Definately a good choice for deep lying forward. Cheaper and more likely to come than Villa.

Was very impressed by the Russian team tonight. They finally played as they did on occasion against England, and could easily have won by four or more goals. I fully agree that Arshavin would look good in blue (his goal must be the goal of the tournament), and what about Zhirkov who is a marauding midfielder in the Lamps mould? Both young, and if RA is not yet paying their salaries, he ought to be.

The good thing about Arshavin is that he has pace. Would be the perfect foy for Drogba or Anelka. He also has vision to slip a through pass for the center forward. Im beginning to like this fellow...

Morning/Afternoon fellow blues fans....

I woke up to find this incredible story... apparantly Man Citeh have offered Ronny 9.5M pounds per year that is an incredible 182K per week ! I can't believe even Roman would be so stupid to pay that much for a player who has not played well for 2 seasons and is unlikely to reach the heights again.

I sure hope he goes to Man Citeh and finds out how tough the EPL is to play in. However for that kind of dosh he won't care how tough ait is nd will be probably be injured for the half the season anyway.

Also this report on the new russian superstar Arshavin from Zenit should make Roman stand up and take note...We wanted a playmaker and Hiddink seems to like this guy...Question is would he be tempted to swap the comfort of his homeland for the 'comfort' of Roman's team ? Money wont be an such an issue given Zenit have plenty of Roman's rubles anyway.

LINK

Wonder what he eats during the game to get a blue tongue ! Or maybe he is related to the blue tongue lizard here in OZ....

KTBFFH

Arshavin looked really good this morning, and they also had wingers that were able to cross the ball, which makes a huge difference.

I reckon if we hang onto Drogba, Arshavin would make a good partner for him. Good to see the Russians doing ok in the tournament. Perhaps if Roman keeps spending his money on the National team, he will stay out of trouble with the Russian authorities.

Arshavin is on 50,000 a week already.
The last time I mentioned him on this blog was after the Uefa Cup final.
I was slapped down pretty quick by someone though.

'Roman couldn't be seen to be tempting Russia's best players away' was the reason.

Russians were fantastic today. Those full backs are terrific.

I wish we'd secretly negotiated a deal for Guus instead... winning football that's easy to watch.

283 Cashif.....

I read recently that it is quite hard to prize players away from teams in the Russian League, because all of the clubs are owned by the 'Oligarchs' and they all have very deep pockets with which to offer huge salaries.

It also said that Hiddinck has pursued a policy of only picking players that are playing in the league for the National side, which means that anyone with International ambitions has remained in Russia.

@ Greenlight, sounds like a great idea to develop your national team and I agree on the money side.. will be hard to convince any russian to play outside his country at the moment...unless the owner of the club was also russian... you never know...

Arshavin and Zhirkov are good players, especially Arshavin..SSN have just reported that Arsene Whinger has put in a bid for him, possibly to replace Hleb?

Lampsie's contract talks have stalled AGAIN over the length of his contract..:((

The Russians were fantastic to watch. Proper football. It helps of course that they were up against a bunch of big slow creaky oldies. But still, given how rank they were when they came to Wembley last October or whenever it was, it shows the value of getting a good manager, sticking with a group of young players, not panicking after bad results. Of course, it doesn't necessarily work the same way in club football, as the Arse are finding out.

That pass of Arshavin's in the first few minutes, the massive left-to-right diagonal one, when the player who was running onto it was so far away from the spot the ball went to that he wasn't even on the TV screen when Arshavin struck it ... Genius.

Anyone heard of this guy? Does this bode well for the English spine of the team?

LINK

Tony,

Never, ever heard of him.

That same story earlier this morning didn't even include the comment that someone on behalf of Scolari had been in contact, so at the time it was hard to see how there was a link with us.

And if he speaks Portugese and English (well, Scottish) what does that mean for Clarkie ??

Big game tonight - and that means at least one Chelsea member of staff will be out of the tournament.

Can't believe we havent been linked with any players for, what, 2 days now. Awful reporting by the journos I reckon. They need to be making more rumours up to satisfy the impatience of some on this blog.

Never heard of him but its good that he can speak Portuguese.
If Russia makes some success at EURO what is almost impossible since they are meeting tremendous Holland, Roman COULD buy some good Russian players.

273. mike
If we play 4-1-2-1-2 that 1 that is DMF could be Essien and that 1 that is AMF could be Mikel.I know that Mikel is more of central midfielder but he could adapt.
THE PROBLEM lays ...here...Lampard is almost irreplaceble and there is BALLACK who really had great seson who could be that AMF instead of Mikel...whats putting Mikel,a great potential on the bench.And if Lamps stays...we have to play...or its desirable to play 4-5-1 , the formation which I dislike...in that formation, if Maka retires Essien and Ballack COULD play together as midfielders ...but thats putting Mikel on the bench...arrrghhhh.
Mikel was good whenever he played for us...except for idiotic red cards...
p.s. Why the FUCK did we buy Ballack ?!
p.p.s. This is one of the reasons not to buy Deco.Too many great players on the middle.

#291

Excactly. But thats also our strength. Where would Van Der Vaart fit in? On the left where his efficiency is not so great? I hope not.