Chelsea sign Deco

We're turning into Portugal, you wait we'll signing pretty boy Ronaldo next. :)

Actually, Chelsea are more likely to become a little Brazil... Now I really hope Kaka would follow!

central midfield now is pretty packed although am delighted with the signing does this signal the end of lamps' time with us?

kaka seems pretty remote but robinho looks very likely!

i'd like to see us sign guiza too as he looks the part although not given much chance to shine with torres and villa doing well...

@ CLIVE

God!! I hope not! :(((((

I guess this means the end for Frankie though, so I definitely have mixed feelings. Does this mean we're sticking with the 4-3-3- then, with Ballack-Essien-Deco in the middle?

you'd be silly not to be excited about the coming of such a class player as deco, i wouldn't have bought him but it's still pretty cool and something to look forward to.

I do not know if we need him. Frankly speaking I think we do not need him at all.

After CSKA Moscow, they'll call us Sporting London now.

Sorry Lolli - but even if the plan is to play Essien in defensive midfield [a waste of his talent I think we'd all agree] I can't see us with an attacking midfield of Ballack/Lampard/Deco - all over 30 - and if the Robinho rumour is true, even more so.

At least on the bright side the reported fee isn't as ludicrous as was being suggested last week and it's only a 2-year deal.

There again given the slow recovery rate from injuries of over-30 players perhaps we are keeping them all on the basis one or more of them is often likely to be unavailable!

Nick - more housekeeping I'm afraid. Thanks for getting the numbers re-instated again so quickly - I notice the edit function has now disappeared. Have OleOle removed it till they sort out the formatting problem?

Lampsy must be on his way out, which I think is a huge mistake for him.

Deco will be a success at Chelsea if he doesn't get himself injured.

First two signings do point towards a more creative direction for the side. Both Deco and Bosingwa (strangely) love to attack and these signings are a MASSIVE step up on last summer's debacle!

Next in should be Robinho. Then all we'll need is a new world class striker (please let it be David Villa) and potentially another winger if SWP AND Malouda are shipped out.

As for the outs, i have to start preparing myself for Lamps exit, which will be a crushing blow. I don't think we'll be signing a Van der Vaart to replace Lamps. I think Mikel will be given the holding role permanently and then Essien will be made into the attacking midfielder his power and drive suits. Then the third role will be Deco/Ballack. Hopefully more deadwood will be shipped out with Malouda and SWP looking like definites for the chop due to the interest in Robinho. Belletti also looks to be a gonner due to Bosingwa and Paulo.

These first two signings do signify a statement of intent. We've nearly doubled what we spent last year already, and with a couple more world class players. Fergie will start planning his retirement early as we lift the quad! Then Lamps and Jose will be crying at what they left behind!

I know few of you agree with me but im delighted that weve signed Deco.
Hes world class and showed it at the euros. Just hope this doesnt push Lamps out the door.
--------------Cech----------------
-------------------Riccy------------JT-----------
Bosingwa---------------------------------A.Cole--
---------------------Essien----------------------
----------------------------Lampard--------------
--J.Cole---------------------------------Deco----
---------------------Ballack---------------------
-------------Sheva-------------------------------

What length of contract is he on? I heard 2 years if thats true then we were crazy to pay £8m

I don't want to think about Lamps leaving... Not until it's confirmed.

What a servant to us he's been. He should be staying here for the rest of his career and receiving a testimonial at the end. It'd be a massive mistake if we let him go, in my opinion. We can only hope that isn't the case.

Couldn't agee more Chris. Well said!

Im not worried about Lamps at all, Hes said he wants to end his career with us and im sure we will win the PL next season. This club has done so much for him and he should pay us back for making him the player he is today. Even if he did want to leave (and he doesnt) then he would have to wait another year.
Anyways, Welcome Deco. We now have 5 Portuguese : Hilario, Ferreira, Bosingwa, Carvalho and Deco. He is a good signing. He wont push Lamps out the door but he WILL surely get rid of Malouda (I dont expect many complaints there)

We may have "old" attackers but they are at the height of their careers and Lamps had a great season last year as did Ballack and Deco showed his class in the Euro. I dont see us getting Robinho although I would welcome the move.
I think our squad is now complete. Anyone who thinks Lamps, Deco and Ballack are old then just remember that Zola was 30 when he joined us and he was still world class even at 36. I hope we keep Lamps, Deco and Ballack until the end of their careers.

Everyone needs to stop pannicking about the future of Lamps, Riccy etc and share my optimism for next season. When has Chelsea ever been forced to sell a top player in the last 3-5 years? Riccy will stay because of Scolari and PK has said that no matter what Lampard wont be sold. What number will Deco wear? Id give him 14 after Pizarro (remember him) goes back to Germany

And no im not Peter Kenyon in disguise. LOL

Hmmm. Three years ago I'd have been excited by this, but not now. 2 year deal is about right though, but do Barca ever sell their best players?

Hopefully Scolari will revitalise him after a fairly average 18 months or so at the Nou Camp, but not exactly a signing to get the pulse racing. You never know though - same age as Zola when he arrived and he is (was) a great player on his day.

Not sure why folk believe that this means Lampard is off though - he may well be going, but I'm not sure this will make any difference to him either way; I recall similar predictions being made about Frank's future when Veron arrived...

In general I'd much rather see us adopting a longer-term policy, *but* I think this is a good signing. In those various fantastic Champions League battles we had with Barca under Mourinho, when Ronaldinho got all the attention, it always seemed to me that Deco was the real star. He should be gorgeous to watch if he plays anywhere near the level he did for Portugal in the Euros. And he's classy too -- not a preening show pony like C. Ronaldo, nor a celebrity moron a la Ronaldinho.

They said the same things about Frank when Ballack came. Remember? Everyone went on and on about how they couldn't possibly play together.

I think Frank will stay. After the AG disaster, he's got to be excited about where the team's going this year.

I'm very worried about Riccy though.

Barca are clueless when it comes to transfers

They sold Dos Santos for £4m when hes the future of their team

They have put up Ronaldinho and Eto up for sale, Both have beem Barcas key players in the last 3 years and Eto has a phenomenal goal record for them

Last year they paid over £10m for Gaby Milito and this year they have spent $16m on Martin Caceres to play in his position

1 season ago they bought Yaya Toure for something like £5m and now even though hes young and looks a great prospect they have bought Seydou Keita (27) for $12m to play in his position.

They are crazy.

I CANT WAIT FOR NEXT SEASON!!!

Barca may have thrown the odd ricket in the market 13Joe, but there is no way in a million years that they would have let Dos Santos go for that sort of money if they believed that to be the case.

Obviously a degree of renewal going on there; maybe they have just had enough of Ronaldinho falling out of nightclubs and being half the player he was 2 years ago and Eto'o generally being an egotistical arse? I don't see them touting the likes of Messi, Bojan or Xavi around - there is clearly good reason for that.

25, Agree with that. But Ronnie is still every bit as good as he was before.
Form is temporary, Class is permanent and with a coach that will keep a tight lid on him he would thrive again. As for Gio, They sold him after the La Liga season and in his last match for them he scored a hat trick. Eto can rot for all I care, He will proberbly go to Spuds. Messi and Bojan have had good seasons and convinced the club and Xavi is like their version of Lamps, Hes been there for 10 years. I agree that they dont sell players that they rank as their best.
They treated Deco like crap though. He was played in a defensive role alot last season and he would do much better on the left or behind the striker and Scolari will get the best out of him for sure. I agree with you 100% about Barca

Not impressed with that signing.....much better players are on the market

I say we buy rotund-aldinho ... and park him in front of goal. Be almost as good as parking the bus at the moment ...

I fear the possibility of losing Lamps, Drogba and Carvalho, but...

I would welcome the Samba boys such as Kaka, Ronaldinho and Robinho to Chelsea.

Credit crunch? What credit crunch? Just keep on spending, Roman!

I think this signals the end of Lamps which is hugely unfortunate.

Just to echo some others on here, playing Essien in a defensive role is a waste of his talent (we all saw his nose for goal the last month and a half of the season). He is, without a doubt, one of our most important assets and I don't see him being happy (and staying with the club for long) if he continues being deployed in positions which don't suit him. Yes, he can carry water (so to speak) but is that what he'd like to do? Ballack is 31, Essien is 26--while I'm sure the staff see him as a possible heir to Ballack's attacking position (or Deco's) will he hang around that long? At least we don't have to worry about deploying him at RB anymore.

Also, dropping him back leaves no real place for Mikel who is our most importat player to develop at this point. He is a phenomenal talent and I can get excited about a lineup that looks like this:

Cech
Bosingwa----JT---Riccy----Ash

------------Mikel----------
----Essien---------Ballack---

-----Deco---------Cole-----
----------Striker-----------

Striker yet to be determined.

I will reserve my judgement for now......

I don't really have a problem with signing Deco, however I will have a problem if the intention is to move Lampard on as a result. I think that would be self defeating.

News is that DD is buying a new house in Surrey, so perhaps his intention is to stay.

The good:

1) Reasonable price - Rumoured to be 8m pounds.
2) His playmaking skills and passing abilities.

The bad:

1) His age.
2) His attitude.
3) We miss out on the likes of Van der Vaart, Arshavin etc.
4) Lampard's inevitable departure.
5) WE NEED MORE WINGERS! GET SILVA FOR MALOUDA!

As you guys can see, the negatives outweigh the positives. Im gutted yet not feeling as bad as when we appointed Toady as manager.

After watching Portugal in Euro,it's obvious Deco is still the same player and if portugal were in semis or finals i am very much confident that deco would have made his way into atleast UEFA'S euro' XI.
D

After watching Portugal in Euro,it's obvious Deco is still the same player and if portugal were in semis or finals i am very much confident that deco would have made his way into atleast UEFA'S euro' XI.
Deco on his day is one of the best roving playmaker's and possibly the best playmaker atleast now in chelsea.

Interesting Stats
------------------
Official stats have been released,so it's interesting to note

Shevchenko's Stat
------------------

Shevchenko 12+13[appearances]
Shevchenko 8 (1 pen)
Shevchenko 1196[minutes on pitch]

this means that he scores
1 goal for every 132 minute on pitch.

Compare this to Drogba

1 goal in 189 minute.[15 goals in 2842 minutes on pitch]

Hope this is true,it's from Setanta Website.

Jose Mourinho has effectively conceded defeat in his bid to lure Frank Lampard away from Chelsea.

The new Inter chief had earmarked his former lieutenant at Chelsea as his number one transfer target, but it would appear the Portuguese is encountering difficulties in prising him away from Stamford Bridge.

Lampard has a little over a season to run on his Chelsea contract and Mourinho feels he may have to put to a bid for the England international on ice for 12 months.

”This season? I don’t think so,” Mourinho is quoted in The Sun about Lampard.

”Why won’t he? Well it’s not because we don’t want him, but I’m sure Chelsea and Chelsea officials don’t want to sell him.

”However, for next season it will be easier for him to join me at Inter.

I’m 100 percent sure in 2009/2010 he will be playing here"

FusionTBF..

I believe the quote is "Lies, Damned Lies and statistics".

As much as Sheva looked better than the previous year when he got the chance, anyone who thinks he would make an adequate replacement for Didier has been watching with their head up their arse for the last 2 years!

If Barca really are interested in taking him off our hands, he should be allowed to move on.

So if Lampard is staying, then why did we sign Deco? Its crazy. We have so many top class central midfielders already. I cant help but wonder what Scolari is thinking. It seems that he only buys Brazillians or Portugese. Does he have any transfer foresights?

Personally, I dont think it's a good signing. We'll either have too many players of a similar position and there will be discontent - quelle surprise - or we'll get rid of Lamps who's the best player in his position in the league and replace him with someone who'll take half his contract to adjust.

It's reportedly an £8.3million deal, two-year contract worth £92,000-a-week. The total package to bring him here will cost us about £17.8million, yet we're haggling with 'mere' tens of thousands for Lamps new deal. Hardly rocket science is it ???

I agree with JD, if Barca are letting players go, why do we think they're good enough for us ??

They've obviously got better replacements (Xavi and Iniesta for Deco; Messi and Bojan for Dos Santos).

With all these central midfielders, either Lamps or Ballack is off, or we'll be going back to the days of continual rotation when it's obvious a settled side is best. And bearing in mind how many goals were scored bt midfielders and defenders last year, surely we need to be focussing on getting a forward who can actually put the ball in the net.

And before you start 'Grande Fel' (or whatever you should be called), no not Nuno Gomes. Or Helder Postiga. Or Pauleta.

It doesn't feel positive. Deco is a brilliant player, but this is the kind of signing Portsmouth would make if they could, squeezing the last bit out of the toothpaste tube. We have a great midfield. Let's build for the future by blooding some young talent like evil Wenger does. Everyone knows we needed a right back, hopefully Bosingwa will be brilliant. But we need a world-class striker - even if DD stays, if he's injured, are you really confidant Sheva in his zimmer frame can replace him? Or the hapless Pizarro? Or the sulky waste of time Anelka? Let's hope CFC don't start the season with a lone J Cole up front again...

Something is really wrong with our buying policy. I just cannot understand why we must choose Deco where they are CLEARLY better options out there? Its baffling, confusing and irritating. I hope we dont screw up the next 2. It has to be a quality winger for our left flank. A certain David Silva best fits the bill. Robinho is 2nd behind him.

Can Ballack and Terry become team mates with Deco: LINK

"Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho says he does not expect to sign Frank Lampard this summer - but is "100% sure" he will rejoin him in Italy in a year.

Well now Jose plays his mind games with us. Sell him (Lampard) to me now or next year I am going to get him for free.

Why would some of you make such negative judgement on Deco before he even kicks a bloody ball at Chelsea? He's a proven winner and that matters.

And what's wrong with older footballers? We're not competing for a bloody Youth Cup, for heaven sake!

always the gentleman


LINK

I have to say Bluetone that I don't really blame him, if the guy is in the spotlight for 9 to 10 months of the year having microphones and cameras stuck in his face. I think a couple of weeks to relax with family, girlfriends etc without press intrusion is the least any sportsperson should have.

agree clive

only remark - hell it's CR7 and a remark HAS to be made :) - wrong choice of place. ordinary people go there for celeb spotting, so if relax and solitude is what you're after, well, the lad must have been at least ill advised.

and you're expected to give a TWO fingered salute after 5 years in england ;)

@SIMONT

Its not only about his age. Being 31 when the season starts means that he has lesser time to adapt with aload more of fitness concerns. We could have brought in younger playmakers and let them adpat/grow with Chelsea. He can last 2 proper seasons at most and we have to change again. So why not get the younger ones know? But i dont doubt his abilities as a playmaker.

@Greenlight 36

Why should we ignore stats?
I guess that's the best way of knowing anyone's performance.
The truth is that sheva has performed whenever called upon.
Ok,let's say the constant reply to"frank is not creative" is given in the following manner.........he scores 20 goals.
now let's say that his goals have come against huddersfield[2],leicster[3],derby[4] and penalties[5]...........i m just giving an example[just an example......i m not picking on lampard]..........why base anyone's performance on stats while other won't be judjed on stats.
Double standards anyone.

My 8 month old daughter can crawl faster than Sheva can run these days.

@ JANG

You don't go for a young player just for the sake of it. There're many other factors involved in purchasing footballers: ability, availability, price, personal terms, etc. Youth is not everything; just look at Makalele who has been a key player at Chelsea for so long.

JD,

Nearly, but I hear he's still got a fair bit of pace when his approach from the ninth at Royal Birkdale hit's the pin and he has to run over the hill to see if it went in.

But, in a game, he certainly makes Jan Molby look like Tyson Gay or Usain Bolt

So based on 30 year old Deco joining last seasons 30 year olds - Sheva and Ballack, I wonder who we're keeping our eye on for the rest of the window, and who we're already tapping up for 12 months time.

Maybe the club employs someone who's job is purely to scout for 30 year old players.

I'm not being ageist by the way. Hell, at 28 I'm practically embryonic.

@Everyone

why is everyone behaving in here like arsene wenger.................let's buy kids and watch them bloom till they suddenly decide that they are unlikely to win in here and move on.
Deco signing has three positives.
1.once he is ready to move on,we will probably have a ready made replacement in gael kakuta if everything goes fine.
2.we have done a bargain for deco where he have paid nuts for him,signed him for two years where he is disposable if he doesn't fire in first season.for f*ck sake darren bent cost scums 16 million pounds and gareth barry cost 20 million pounds and horror of horrors SWP still demands 8-10 million now and 21 million earlier.

@SIMONT

I dint go for younger players for the sake of it. Take Van der Vaart for example. He is one of the top playmakers in Europe who is going to leave Hamburg in search of a new challange and improve himself. Chelsea can provide him with the stage. Is Van der Vaart's technical quality inferior to Deco? I dont think so. Surely he's more expensive but he has time on his side and after Euro 08, his price has jerked up alittle. I dont want players to just come to Chelsea and play out the remaining days of their career. In 2 seasons time where Ballack is 33, Lampard is 32 and Deco is 33, who's gonna replace all of them?

@Everyone

if you ask me,we should be taking a risk on R10 right now.................yeah the lad is overweight[looks pregnant if you ask me] and has his wonderful nightlife but we allegedly have signed scolari who will kick him in the balls if he dares to shag some ladies in London pubs.
28,has not lost pace,vision,creativity and can be optained for as alse as 12-13 million pounds...15 million pounds definitely[considering the muppet barca board is.....i mean how can anyone sign gabriel milito,eric abidal,thuran aged 34].

@JANG

Van der vaart is the only competitor to robben where injuries are concerned otherwise he is one of the best playmaker around though his pace makes deco look like 100 meter sprinter

Its not about buying kids. Its about for the present and also for the future. There has to be a balance. Why take the trouble of rebuilding the midfield in 2 to 3 years time when most of our 'veterans' retire when we can do it now? Its never too early.

@ JUNG

Ballack, Lamps and Deco can carry on like Makalele in 2 years time. As FusionTBF pointed out, SWP is young and a waste of money; Chelsea have certainly learnt their lesson and don't want to get their fingers burnt again on expensive youngsters!

I agree with Jang. We have to think about today and tomorrow.

@FusionTBF
I hate Arse-Anal, but not everything about Wenger is bad.

FusionTBF......

Sorry mate disagree..... Stats are for numpties.... I will pick the power of Drogba over the current form of Sheva any day.

As forDeco.... He would be fine if we didn'talready have the best central midfield in the league. The problems are on the flanks, not the middle of the park.

@SIMONT

But not everyone does a SWP. What about the likes of Robben and Essien? At least we dint spend more than 10 million pounds for Deco so i presume we have learnt our lessons after buying Sheva.

@GREENLIGHT

Especially on the left. If Scolari fancies Van der Vaart's pace, he can do a job on the left wing. But i really want us to sign David Silva. Robinho should be considered but this time round, we need someone who can CROSS OR DELIVER THE FINAL DAMN BALL and not put it to Row Z. As long as either of the 3 can do it, im fine with any of them.

Big Phil's started today and yet we're only 5th in the table LINK

Shall we keep him?

@Everyone n Jang

van der vaart is not a winger.............he is left footed but doesn't have enough pace and secondaly he a pure playmaker.

@JANG @60

Just a little correction we need

CROSS OR DELIVER THE FINAL DAMN BALL

and can also beat his man...........that is the biggest problem with malouda otherwise malouda is a good crosser and get his crosses right majority of time.
and alas silva is not our man.....he prefers passing to beating his man.
i will rather pick robinho ahead caus he is a show boater but has pace and prefers beating his man to passing.

Lamps will go to Inter...Deco will defintely not be in the bench under Big Phil and also there's Ballack as the other AM...

@ JUNG

I'm not against buying young players at all, but I don't just blindly prefer youth to experience. As to Sheva, I think he will come good to justify his price.(I love Sheva!)

@Greenlight

yes,given a chance i will have drogba in my squad caus he doesn't require much service.
my point was sheva is the scapegoat for everything..........that's all escpecially he has performed whenever called upon.

Big Phil's started today and yet we're only 5th in the table LINK

Shall we keep him?

He's got to go, we're outside the Champions League places and haven't scored any goals, and Bolton and Paul Ince's mob are above us! Bring back the Average One I say

#63

Malouda gets his crosses right most of the time? We must be watching totally different channels. I think Silva or Robinho would be good on the left wing and i agree that Van der Vaart is purely a playmaker. But as he showed for Holland, technical quality can carry a player through. I still have not given up hope that we will sign a top class central attacking midfielder who has time on his side. Deco's contract is afterall, only for 2 seasons.

@SIMONT

I can see where you are coming from. But i just felt that there were clearly better options out there who can contribute more on the longer term than Deco. Thats all.

@JANG

The problem is malouda rarely crosses caus he rarely beats his man..........on other hand we we have SWP who can beat his man but then put a cross which makes my crosses look like robben's cross.

@ 65.SIMONT

You love Sheva?!

OOOO!!! You little liar!!! :)

ive heard sergeo Ramos was coming too,if he comes chelsea will rock

A short snippet from Health and Safety News

'The O2, which recently staged sell out performances by both Led Zepplin and Prince (as the artist was previously referred to as), has been refused a licence to host The Chelsea Midfielder's Annual Dinner and Dance for 2008.

"The venue was not designed to accomodate those sort of numbers," a spokesman for Greenwich Borough Council was quoted as saying.'

You're right BB
What is it with Chelsea?, who obviously have this fetish in buying midfielders, Clownio started the trend when he was given a large ammount of toyshop money.

I reckon if we flood the midfield other teams will become claustrophobic and will probably give up before they reach the halfway line.

I see Ben Sahar has joined Portsmouth on a 6 month loan deal - presumably to free up another place in the squad for a midfielder.

Maybe we're looking at some sort of 2 - 7 - 1 formation next year, just a line of midfielders strung out the width of the pitch, like kids at school playing British Bulldog *insert own regional name for playground game*

@73 BB - as ever you hit the proverbial bullseye with the dart of humour. Even by our own recently bloated standards we seem more than a bit overprovided with midfielders whose egos will not take kindly to bench-warming.

@ 75 Fifty - curiously I was about to suggest this very formation, partly inspired by just starting to read the Jonathan Wilson book on the history of football tactics which was mentioned on here recently. He talks about how up to the 1870s "dribbling" was the main ploy used by most teams and passing scarcely got a look in.

In the first Scotland v England international in 1872 England played a 1-2-7 formation - a player would charge with the ball towards goal supported by his colleagues in a line behind him ready to take over if he lost possession - is this not British Bulldog with a football added?

This sounds like an ideal role for Drogs or similar replacement battering ram supported by our surfeit of midfielders in a 1-7-2 variation.

Worryingly the 1872 game ended 0-0 - so perhaps not such a great idea after all....

@76 - BBD

Not a bad book, is it? Thought it could be a bit too anorak-ish, but it's actually a very interesting read about a subject that could be dull in the wrong hands. Interesting how the argument about the balance between defensive play and attacking football that still divides fans now was merrily raging away in almost exactly the same manner back in the late 19th century!

I'm all for 1-2-7 myself. Just need to get Big Phil on board now...

I really want Lamps to stay but If he doesnt then I can live with that

As for as signing Deco

Positives

The fee, He signed him for just £8m and hes definetly worth more than that

His playmaking skills are world class yes he is 30 but showed in the Euros that he is at his peak. Plus he can go forward well and holds the ball up excellently when he goes forward (This would be a bonus if we used 4-3-3

We finally have a world class attacker to replace the useless Malouda on the left side

IF Lampard leaves then we have a top class replacement

Negatives

Another midfield player and the unbearable speculation regarding Lamps future


JANG, "His attitude" is a negative? Explain

Big Phil's started today and yet we're only 5th in the table LINK

Shall we keep him?

He's got to go, we're outside the Champions League places and haven't scored any goals, and Bolton and Paul Ince's mob are above us! Bring back the Average One I say

This is too funny

Decos contract should definetly be among "The Negatives", 2 years? Surely he will play longer than that. Id expect him to get an extension if we do well next year.

@ 77 KaiserJonny_II - my copy only arrived in the post yesterday so I've literally only read Chapter 1 last night - but seems good so far.

I don't see Not-Big-Phil's name in the index - though even 2nd Choice Steve [and Ally McCoist] rate a name-check.......

#80

Whether he is going to become like Zola depends on his first season - How he adapts to Chelsea and the lifestyle in England. What is done cannot be undone. I trust Scolari because Deco is a class player and class is always permanent. He will provide the footballing brain that we lacked all these years. I got a bad feeling that he will suffer coming against the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd because they dont give space away easily and it will affect his passing game or rather he cannot influence those type of games much as he lacks abit physically at this age. But still, his playmaking skills are a welcomed addition to this team.

A few straws in the wind prompted by the Deco signing.

Debate 1.
Are we building for the future or does BP have to win the lot this year?

Debate 2
Will BP alter the way Chelsea have been playing or talk about change but go with what's been working as did AG?

To me the Deco signing suggests:

BP is under big pressure to deliver immediately and therefore reaches out for those he knows best and believes can make an impact straight away.

I'm sure it was on here that I read something about Deco being an intelligent and articulate player and one who is always ready to put forward ideas and talk to his team mates.

If BP wants to change the way Chelsea play quickly then he needs people in his team who understand his methods, strategy and tactics and can communicate this to their colleagues.

If RC stays then he, Bosingwa and PF understand the defensive requirements (although watching the game v germany you might ask what defending?) and Deco (plus others?) provide the know how up front. This applies to training and to games.

The same goes for keeping Makalele. He wants to coach, has so much experience to pass on and would be invaluable in helping Mikel and others in the defensive midfield role.

I fear for the younger players coming through in the short term as this pressure to win and win now will always force coaches down the tried and tested path. However if BP gets some time and breathing space then who knows? Once he gets a look at the younger players he may see some that fit his plans.

Now watch carefully as these incisive, intelligent and informative observations are completely junked by tomorrow's signing.

I thank you

Abramovich makes £250M available to Chelsea boss Scolari

tribalfootball.com - July 01, 2008

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has put aside an incredible £250 MILLION for manager Luiz Felipe Scolari to reshape his squad.

The Daily Star says Abramovich is determined to rebuild Chelsea's squad for new manager Scolari and the Russian has been a constant visitor to Euro 2008 over the last weeks.

He has put aside more than £250m for Scolari and those close to Abramovich expect yesterday's capture of Deco to start a flurry of transfer activity over the next few weeks.

The Russian has certainly put Premier League managers to shame with his spying trips and has spent more time at the Euros than any other club. He has easily seen many more matches than England coach Fabio Capello.

Apart from Arshavin and David Villa being the obvious ones, who else did he scouted? Did the likes of Van der Vaart and David Silva escape his eyes?

Ferrer backs Deco for Chelsea success

tribalfooball.com - July 01, 2008

Former Chelsea and Barcelona fullback Albert Ferrer is backing Deco for success at Stamford Bridge.
"For sure he's going to succeed for his warrior and non-conformist style that totally corresponds to English football," Ferrer told El Mundo. "Besides, Deco's technical quality is better than the Premier League's average.

"To me, the reason why Barcelona and Deco parted ways is not a football one.

"As a footballer, he would find a place at whatever club."

And what might those reasons be Mr Ferrer?

Jang, Agree with you. I think he will do well though because its an open league and he will be able to attack more in our team. Especially if he plays on the wing. I trust he is here for the long term despite only a 2 year contract.
We now have 4 champions league winners with Porto

250 mil? Holy crap. RA must be crazy. We dont really need any more additions to our squad until somebody leaves. Deco was a good signing and Robinho will be BUT we shouldnt bring in all these players until we are sure of the role they will play in the team.

Im not sure there is any room left in the squad for more midfielders

------------------Essien/Mikel/Maka-------------------
------------Lampard/Deco/Ballack----------------------
-J.Cole/SWP-------------------------------Deco/Malouda
---------------------Ballack/Lampard/Deco-------------

#86

Since when can Deco play on the flanks. Anyway i dont think he will stay that long given the amount of time left in his playing career. He starts next season at the age of 31. At most he will last is 3 years for his position.

89, Did you miss the Euros? He played there against the Czechs.

Arshavin is a CAM like Deco and he plays on the left for Zenit. You want to sign him but not Deco? Yes hes 30 but unlike Arshavin hes proven his worth at every level and was voted best midfielder in the champions league twice. A signing like Deco is nothing other than positive in my eyes.

@BB (83)

Debate 1 -- short debate, this. Yes, he has to win this year. Either the league or the CL. If he comes very close, we may get another year without some massive breakup of the team. There's no chance at all that we're building for long-term dominance.

Debate 2 -- interesting, but I don't think AG "went with what's working"; I think he had no real ideas of his own, except for some feeble effort to play more "attacking" football, which probably involved him asking the players to pass the ball forwards a bit faster and a bit more often. Also, I don't think the players listened to him much. So I think he kept the basic style of the team by default: it was José's team and there wasn't much he could do to change it. Credit to him for stopping it falling apart completely. BP on the other hand is clearly a Phil of strong opinions and will impose a method quite quickly -- although it may, suprise suprise, look quite similar to the Mourinho method: when BP took over Brazil I seem to remember that he was regarded with distaste as a "pragmatist".

I expect two years of heavily-funded, high-pressure galactico excitement, before the wheels come off for one reason or another -- not enough trophies, everyone retires, clash of wills between BP and RA, who knows -- and then with any luck they'll work to establish a more settled environment.

Incidentally -- curious how quiet the Drogs story is, isn't it? I think we all to a (wo)man assumed he was the one player who was absolutely definitely certainly off in the summer. But as far as I know there hasn't even been a silly rumour about him yet. Not even "Drogs to Man Citeh".

I think drogs will go - the merry go round will start now that he has formally begun his task.

I wouldnt be surprised if robinho and eto'o join ronaldinho in coming to us. That would make us a sexier footballing team.

New Chelsea site tomorrow LINK#/page/Homepage/article_1337109, this new blog, new players, new manager - will the excitement ever end?

Back in my early days of supporting Chelsea we all got excited if the club bought a new portaloo.

@13JOE13

Deco's natural position is not on the left he i dont think he will play on the left if we do buy a new winger. Deco is not my preferred choice and personal opinion because i prefer players who have time on their side to develop even further. And younger players generally are fitter with more to contribute physically especially in a league like the Premier League. I suppose Deco started in the center for Portugal and drifted out left, causing some misconceptions. He played there well possibly against the Czechs but theres no guarentee it will be the same anymore against better teams.

To add on, Arshavin has a nice mix of PACE and technical qualities too. If Deco cost a 'mere' 8 million pounds, i reckon Arshavin is worth a punt too since he's relatively younger.

Im going to enjoy next season alot for these reasons

1. New controversial manager
2. Loserpoo truly think they will win the title, Its going to be fantastic seeing them pull out of the title race by october
3. Half of Arse-Anals squad will be gone and they will only bring in unproven youngsters
4. New signings, Lets see if BP can continue to get the best out of Deco and if Bosingwa was worth his £16.2m fee
5. Gay Ronaldo will come crashing down to earth after his one great season and then will cry him self all the way to Madrid

Everything is pointing to a great season for us. Chelsea fc Premier League Champions 2008/2009. It sounds good. :)

Also lets see if Scolari can revive the careers of Sheva, Petr (After all his mistakes last year and in the Euros) and make Malouda if he stays (Highly unlikely) play like we know he can.

Chelsea fc 2008/2009 (I hope)
1. Petr Cech
2. Branislav Ivanovic
3. Ashley Cole
4. Claude Makelele
5. Michael Essien
6. Ricardo Carvalho
7. Andriy Shevchenko
8. Frank Lampard
9. Franco Di Santo
10. Joe Cole
11. Robinho
12. Jon Obi Mikel
13. Michael Ballack
14. Deco
15. Michael Mancienne
16. Jose Bosingwa
17. Scott Sinclair
18. Wayne Bridge
20. Paulo Ferreira
21. Salomon Kalou
22. Jack Cork
23. Carlo Cudicini
24. Shaun Wright-Phillips
26. John Terry (c)
33. Alex
39. Nicolas Anelka

I forgot Hilario

@LTB #93

Yes it will be interesting to see what BP does tactically. What works at international level may not suit the EPL and I wonder if he will arrive with a fixed idea or adapt based on what he sees in the squad. If RA wants results and shexy phootball immediately he may be disappointed....again

Like you I don't see any sign of things calming down for the foreseeable

@ BB # 83

Debate 1.
Are we building for the future or does BP have to win the lot this year?

I reckon RA will be focussed on winning either the EPL or the CL and his expectation will be missing out on or or both will be unacceptable. One doesn't become a billionaire without being ruthless. I think whenever a winning team is broken up and transformed people will get upset but I see things in Le Grande Felipe that make me think he's a wily old bugger with definite plans afoot to confound us all

Debate 2
Will BP alter the way Chelsea have been playing or talk about change but go with what's been working as did AG?
I think LGF will forge his own way - for all I've seen and heard he is is very much his own man and with experience that AG will only ever gain from becoming a Time Lord and having several regenerations

The Deco signing worried me, but then I thought about my own managerial role in my real non-Gallifreyan life, whereby I have always sought out trusted lieutenants to bolster my new teams and generally show the incumbents a new way. It may be a very shrewd move for 2 years. He is no Zola, but as a playmaker he has made a decent reputation.

For me LGF is possibly in place to start a longer term change in the clubs mentality and style, with a hint of succession planning built in. Lest we also forget we'll be an attractive market proposition in South America now, specifically densely populated Brazil, where he is a national hero.

Today Deco, tomorrow pool any 1 or 2 from Villa, VDV, Silva, Ramos, Robinho, Ronaldinho, Capuccino, Frappucino, Skinny Latte and Earl Grey.

Cynical? Moi?

I understand the general feelings about Lampard and I for one would not want see someone as good as Frank leave, however this excert from a Soccernet review on Scolari's mission for next year makes interesting reading.... I quote...

"Resolve the Ballack-Lampard situation

Reluctant as many are to acknowledge it, Frank Lampard is a modern great at Chelsea, combining phenomenal fitness with a remarkable goal return. Yet, despite his achievements, he appears disconcerted by being paired with similar players.

Michael Ballack, meanwhile, has demonstrated in Euro 2008 that he is among the most authoritative midfielders in Europe and capable of being just as prolific.

It is notable that both appear to display their finest form when the other is absent and, when they do play, Ballack can unselfishly adopt the more defensive role, but it negates some of his strengths to keep the German so far from goal. Mourinho's desire for a reunion with Lampard could allow Ballack the freedom to run the midfield and free up a place for a creator alongside the German and Michael Essien."

Loosing Lampard who has become a Chelsea legend would not be the end of the world and to suggest Deco has been bought to replace Lampard is silly as they are very different players. The above suggestion has some merit and should Lampard go then I don't believe Chelsea will be any worse of in reality... as much as we like Frank, if he chooses a change to warmer climes and a chance to continue under Jose then all the best to you and thanks for the memories. Deco will play the playmaker role, Ballack and Essien the driving midfield roles and Mikel the holder role. This represents a new era for Chelsea so we shouldn't be too surprised if players like Frank do want to move on. The only question is who plays the understudy roles for the key midfield positions.

Of course all this talk of Frank leaving is superficial until we hear from the man when he returns from his holidays on Monday....

#102

That sounds like a 4-diamond-2 formation with 4 central midfielders. Who is going to partner Drogba? We definately need a Kaka-like player or at least near that standard to play in the 'hole'. J.Cole is some way off?

---Mikel---

Essien Deco

--Ballack--

???---Drogba

would have liked to see him at inter, but hey, just raising the quality of the EPL :)

@BLUEBAYOU

Can see your point that the signing of Deco is to facilitate Scolari imposing his own style on the current Chelsea team who are still very much Mourinho minded. Afterall, he cant be signed for the future of the club can he? Its only a 2 year contract. I fully expect to see a younger player(Whether we buy one or get one from the academy.) being slowly integrated into Deco's role in the next few seasons.

@ Jang... David Villa or even Robbie Keane !! since he wants away from Spurs and wants to play CL football...

@ 71. Lolli

No lie darling, I truly love Sheva from the bottom of my heart! I hope he can play more in the coming season and recover his true form.

@101 ChelseaTony - we are still using a variety of names for our new leader - you use several in that one entry - and perhaps it's time we had another try at reaching a consensus.

I quite like "Le Grande Felipe (LGF)" that you try out there - but worry that it sounds more French than Portugese to me. However since my knowledge of Portugese is less than zero can someone less linguistically-challenged confirm if this is correct?

Any more contenders [with good initial form] we should consider?

Still no concrete news on Lampard's future, this is...

The Silence of the Lamps!

I think Lamps will go - I would like to see him at inter - it would also be great for england. We dont have many exports and the best countries at the moment seem to be those with many players overseas.

If we can bring in Ronnie (and motivate him back to his best), eto'o, villa with Deco and the current squad - would we miss him? We relied on his long range strikes as we did DD power but if we are now going to play football, a six yard poacher is more suited and with Eto'o he can do the lot.

Besides we all know ballack is the better player! hey lolli ;)

BBD - i like it. phil grande de homem (big man Phil although literally it is Phil big of man) ...... PGH

or moustache beer bellied monster - Monstro de Bellied de Cerveja de Bigode ...... MBCB

my portuguese is more than basic as you can tell!

In this world of uncertainty I guess we can assume that Essien, Terry and Ballack are staying LINK#/page/Homepage

@109 SimonT - no other linking thread but:

Suddenly Last Summer
A Man Named Jo(s)e said
Come Play With Me
Frank pondered on The Agony and The Ecstasy
should it be The Italian Job or
The Blue Lamps?

I'm going to call him Big Phil. I'm not scared of him, he's hardly going to come to Norwich to find me is he ??? Doubt he know's where it is. Which, to some, isn't a bad thing....

You'll be unsurprised to hear I've been keeping an eye on Valencia-related Villa and Silva stories.

Unsurprisingly, based on the players performances in the tournament, their stance has changed somewhat. From :

LINK - we'll listen to offers to :

LINK - could have sold them because of offers. I get the feeling neither will be leaving, which is bad news for us as we really could do with both a striker and skillful wide-man.

Just in case anyone had an eye on this bloke....Podolski is on sale for 15Mio.€. German newspapers reporting that Tottenham and ManCity will make a bid. I think he could be useful for us. :-)

@ Mark - I think Lamps' omission on that front page speaks volumes, IMO. One could argue that Drogba is also missing and the likelihood of his departure is a little lower but surely our vice-captain, seventh highest all-time scorer and all-round legend should be first up there with JT? Worrying indeed.

Too much of how I feel at the start of that (damn the inability to edit!) but I'm sure you get the gist! :)

Afternoon all,

We signed any more midfielders yet?

I read with interest that we're supposedly in for Robinho at a cool £25m. That's nowhere near enough - give Real £40m plus, I say - I'm sure they will find good use for the money somewhere...

Isn't today Big Phil's first official day in the job? And the official CFC website is shut down for maintenance - coincidence, or is BP a bit of a tech wizard on the quiet?

I said, my opinion about DECO 109587028976896 times...and I won't say it again (really xD).I will say...this is shit.
If we continue like this , I highly doubt Mikel or Essien will become what they could become and I highly doubt we will win Champions League OR Premier League.

BIG ,BIG , BIG SHIT.

@FIFTY

Its a real pity. Surely we have the cash. Its just that Scolari or Roman dont fancy them i reckon. Scolari look like his taking the safe route in terms of transfers - going only for Portugese or Brazillians. Thats what i worry about. Villa may be harder to price away but Silva is definately within our means and we desperately need a replacement for Malouda. Its agonising but we can only wait and see. Im an impatient guy.

LINK
this would be excellent.

Turning into a good news/bad news day on the crap rumour front:

1) Kid in a sweetshop time according to the Russian Sun via BBC webisite:

"Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has told new boss Luiz Felipe Scolari that at least one Russian should be at the club.

The Brazilian now faces a choice between signing one or more of the country's Euro 2008 heroes from a choice of Andrei Arshavin, Yuriy Zhirkov, Akinfeyev Akinfeyev and Roman Pavlyuchenko. (Tvoi Den [Russian tabloid], 1300)"

2) Say it ain't so time:

LINKfacets/sport-space/football/great-britain-locale/

113. BBD

How about Holly Johnson's hits:

Frankie Goes To Hollywood (...to Milan, actually!)

Power Of Love (...from Jose!)

Relax (...Frank says that to worried fans!)

LINK

Seen him a fair bit, never, ever thought he was worth the £20m+ we got quoted last season - thank God he's signed for someone else

The new CFC site is up and running. Thank goodness they've dropped the Flash approach. Hopefully we'll deploy smarter tactics on the pitch too!

Fifty it looks like Barca are sighning defenders like we sign midfielders, perhaps they're going for 11-0-0 formation, I suppose a bit like the formation most teams adopt against us at the Bridge.

Website looks great. Much better than the old one.
I agree with Clive...we are buying to many midfielders. I don't have a CLUE in what formation are we going to play next season.

p.s. will chelsea win the league ? I have to confess : I picked no.

p.p.s. I am still mad with Deco situation...I think we should adopt nickname The Pensioners, again.

Russian press reporting that Arshavin is on his way to Chelsea. They say that personal conditions have been agreed and right now the question is just a club fees.

#127

Im starting to wonder if Scolari knows what he's buying. As some of the posters here mentioned, Deco is a safe buy who is going to help Scolari facilitate a change in Chelsea's style of football from those route ones to some nice slick passing build-up from midfield. It means that we need midfielders who can not only pass, but pass well and create. He has a 100m transfer kitty. So why of all people did he bought Deco? He could have gone to Hamburg and throw the a piece of cheque at Martin Jol's face.

Clearly he is trying to take things one step at a time. I expect and hope to see someone younger being integrated into that 'Deco' role in the next few seasons. Besides, his contract is only for 2 years meaning that after next season, he will be able to leave on a free transfer. I can understand how you feel but do think in the shoes of Scolari. I have to admit i hate Deco for his past deeds against us but lets look things at different perspectives too. Its not the best choice for us fans but Scolari reckons he is the man to help the team. So be it.

Lets back him and see what he can do. Its not that we are buying Deco and wont be buying others anymore. We still have 92% of the reported 100m kitty left. Surely it cant be that bad with so much money left in the bank?

Jang, Do you seriously think we will sign another £90m worth of players? I dont think so. The squad is almost perfect and only 1 position needs to be strengthened and thats left midfield. Robinho is a possibility but BB claims that RA wants at least 1 russian in our squad next season. ARSHAVIN obviously

I mean BBC

We NEED a forward/Winger who can play on the left of a 4-3-3 which Scolari used most of the time coaching portugal. Arshavin fits the bill perfectly. Barca want him but their squad is big enough and Roman is the undisputed KING of russian football and if he wants a player from there then he shouldnt have any problems

LINK

If his dad is talking like this then we can assume SWP is not expecting to blossom under the tutelage of LGF.

Despite BBD's well founded reservations I am following ChelseaTony's proposed nomenclature (or TG as he was known in the old days) - following, but not in a stalking, standing under the lampost looking up at the window sort of a way you understand.

Still, we are always greatful for an insightful, well thought out and balanced viewpoint on this website.

I note the rising arc of Mr Wright Senior's journalistic career. Formerly a pundit at the BBC, now a columnist at the Sun.....mmmm thinking of a similar industry, its sort of like you used to just have to shmooze the punters and make sure they bought lots of overpriced drinks and smokes, now you have to take them out the back and let 'em shag your lights out for as much (or as little) as you can get.

We would get hell from the Man-U fans if we bought a player called Zhirkov (Sounds alot like Jerkoff doesnt it)

Surely the time has come for Ian Wright just to be referred to as 'Sean's Dad'; he seems to do bugger all else but talk about his misfiring offspring.

We also note with interest how Ronaldinho is making noises in LGF's direction - i.e. no other bugger is interested and I don't fancy the UEFA Cup with Citeh - come and get me...

I'm wondering whether I should change my name back. But it isn't a full-blown identity crisis as yet.

#130

OBVIOUSLY NOT. What im trying to say is that we have LOADS of resources. No matter what happens to Deco, it doesnt hurt that much. 8m pounds is like spare change to our dear owner? We have the cash to put things right in both markets every year. We still have enough money to land a Kaka or Villa. Deco is only a small part of the kitty. Since Roman has decided to fork out this amount of money on transfers, Scolari wont hesitate to spend it would he?

I am still fan of Maka of course, but the name just sounds too long XD

Jang, every penny matters.We didn't need Deco.AT ALL.
We just made a BIG mess by buying one more midfielder...
Anyway, I don't give a fuck anymore about him, we'll see what will happen with Deco...
The thing is > we are not trying hard to IMPROVE our squad at all.
We need a striker and a left winger.Not midfielders.PLEASE.

@129 Jang - Is there possibly a serious point about LGF's familiarity with our current squad. I remember in one of the early articles after Portugal's exit from Euro 2008 he was quoted as saying it would take him some time to remember all the names of his new squad - of course it might have been a joke which lost something in translation, or perhaps he will want to use some of the rest of that £100m for more familiar faces.

Speaking of translation - an interesting direct quotation from Arshavin in this:

LINK

Might he be referring to the overcoat he can expect from some of RA's more dubious associates if he doesn't pick the right club to join.......

@KaiserJonny_II [and others]- as one who struggles to remember names at the best of times it would help me out at least if people reverted to their previous names as far as the system allows - who are you again? ;-)

You cant buy what somebody doesnt want to sell. Villa has snubbed us so I dont care about him anymore and Kaka has said a million times he will never leave.

The Inter rumors are ridiculous, Even JT has been linked with them.

guys...
what about
branislav ivanovic-we wasted money on him, he didn't play a single match in the first team...
franco di santo-roman wasted ...pretty much and people say he is a wonderkid.

WHAT A ...HECK?!

If Chelsea continue wasting money like socks we are in huge trouble...
I want TO SEE Di Santo and Ivanovic playing for us.
Quickly.

Jang, My question to you is : What players do you want and what parts of the team need strengthening? As far as I can see we have 4 world class center backs (not including Ben-Haim), 2 great left backs, 3 top class right backs. So the defence isnt a problem, Its the wide left area where we need more fire power I think.

I hope Sheva gets a real chance next season, If you look at his stats per game then he averages more goals than Drogba. Kalou, Sheva, Di Santo and Anelka is enough

@ BB - LGF it should be. It was the French version and without wanting to offend our Portuguese friends I felt it was a little more 'Euro' to use the French as I have a feeling it might be more widely spoken than Portuguese globally. And the Euro's were played with such Fiesta like joy without the cold eyed misery of the English casting our grey mood on the place or getting lashed to the four winds and quoting all sorts of irrelevant past wartime glories that I felt...nay feel.. a little more European after the final.

*dons kevlar suit and tin hat*

@ JonnyKaiser_II - if you do change back JD then can you make it something with easier characters for us typing-challenged? Perhaps your new monicker could be QWERTY?

@CT

I see where you are coming from.

And while Smiley Tony and Dubya might not like me saying this (like they would be reading this blog)our recent experience as a Halliburton sub contractor suggests we might benefit from a little more of the European tendency to compromise.

LGF has stated his dislike of the handle Big Phil and we must respect his wishes as a signal that we are behind our new manager. Yet to completely acceed to his wishes would suggest a level of affection he has to earn.

So a French acronym provides a tidy compromise.

In time, as success piles on success and we clutch him ever closer to our collective bosom we can reconsider.

Great to see Robbie being given the MK Dons job. Future chelsea manager with Zola?

Also agree that the new chelsea site looks great. It's yet another improvement on last summer. Firstly we get Big Phil instead of Avram, we've got Deco and Bosingwa instead of Pizarro and Belletti and now we've got new blogs and new chelsea sites.

The rumour mill seems to have picked up a little now. I think having Phil officially starting work will lead to some more comings and goings. We all know the ones we want going but as for the arrivals... There have been loads of names mentioned and the number we buy can range from 3 more to 5 or 6 depending on who leaves. Next Monday should be the start of the transfer merry go round. That's when our pre-season starts and Lamps and Didier are back from their holidays. That's when we'll know if we need new strikers and more attacking players. Only then could we see the arrival of Robinho, Villa, Arshavin...

It's also interesting to note that neither Bosingwa or Deco have been given a number yet. Arsenal released their number list a week ago suggesting their spending is complete and will only change if Adebayor leaves. Our buying and selling seems to have only begun with numbers only being assigned, i think, when we've returned from Russia and China and our transfer ins/outs should be done.

KTBFFH

On a side issue it was funny watching Andy Murray's humiliating defeat to Rafa Nadal. As a Federer fan it would have been nice to see Nadal sent packing but it was right that all the hype which surrounds any Brit reaching a quarter final, should be stopped immediately. England have dropped to 15 in the Fifa rankings, now Murray has been crushed and Lewis Hamilton is looking like a one season wonder (that reminds me, remember when Rooney was lauded as the next Pele by commentators after his hat-trick against Fenerbahce on his Utd debut. Well now he's a striker who doesn't score goals and is so good that he's now played on the wing!) Despite this the press seem to think that every Brit should be heralded as the next great. Well we should finally accept that the Brits are champions at very few things nowadays. I can think of snooker (Ronnie O'Sullivan), diving (that 14 yr old kid whose name i can't think of) and cycling (yes, we are going to win gold at Beijing at cycling!). This is why i believe Big Phil will not a buy a single Brit even if he signs 6 players this summer. This could mean good or bad news. On the + side we won't end up paying hige fees for another SWP. On the bad side it could mean the likes of Scott Sinclair are overlooked and we'll decide to buy some reject like Sheva or Eto'o if some young English talent is available like Bentley or Ashley Young. This is why i expect ALL of our signings to be foreign and that's no bad thing if we end up winning the Quad and shoving Platini's 6+5 rule up his arse!

Ooooh Roberto

Roberto Di Matteo unveiled as new MK Dons coach. I predict a few chants when we play Blackburn then:D

The guy is a living legend.

Rooney had a potential to be better than Pele , but he was always supporting someone and being in someone's shadow (Van Nistelrooij, Ronaldo).
I think Ferguson doesn't appreciate him enough.

@ 144 BB - thats a deal then. LGF as an interim acronym works for me. Halliburton huh? One of Private Eyes faves no less!

I find the Arshavin rumours quite interesting - superb against Holland and rubbish against Spain. Should fit in with our culture of ying-yang brilliance/dullsville style perfectly then.

Rooney used to have pace, Its dissappearing with every Marlboro

Russian journalist Stefan Chaushyan says that Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Andrei Arshavin has agreed personal terms with Chelsea and will sign for the club this week. (BBC Radio 5 Live 2100 BST)

where would arshavin fit in our squad now we have 3/4 high profile midfielders wanting to play down the centre? if we needed to have a russian in our team i would have gone for pavlyuchenko, zhirkov would never get first team (or at least one of them would be unhappy) because of ashley. Drogba and then pizarro, kalou and pavly fighting for second striker would be more viable. Although drogba and pavly are similar players and might clash i guess.

One problem I always have with Brazilians (and let's face it, Deco's a Brazilian) is that one never really knows the proper relation between their actual names and what it says on the back of their shirt.

If I'm remembering right, Pele was chistened something like Edson Arantes do Nascimento. How do you get from there to Pele?

And Socrates?? ... what's up with that?

Ronaldinho's called Ronaldinho because of a totally different player, isn't he? (the slow fat ugly one.) It would be like Paul Scholes's sh1rt reading "Vaguely Reminiscent of Nobby Stiles."

And so to Deco. Who knows what his actual name is? But since he's coming to England, land of plain-speaking blunt call-a-spade-a-bloody-shovel bulldog spirit etc. (copyright The Daily Mail), I think we should give him a proper name. Let's say Deco's his surname, just like everyone else who has their surname on their shirt. So all we need is a good given name for him. None of your confusing Brazilian nonsense: something properly English, as English as the royal family! (German-Greek, but don't tell the Daily Mail that.) A name like Arthur! Yes, Arthur!

So there you have it. Our new signing.

Art Deco.

My coat's at the dry cleaners for the summer, I'll get it when the footy season starts.

i think deco comes from a cartoon his family used to watch as a boy, some chinese cartoon where the main characters name was deco. I saw it on TV and have found proof of it on the internet before but can't found it now!

his real name is Anderson Luis de Sousa. just call him andy.

CAP123, Regarding Arshavin many members of the blog have said hes agreed to join us but I am yet to see a link with evidence to suggest this is true.
Can you link me?

Deco, Ballack and Drogba will now argue over next seasons fre kicks. Im looking forward to seeing BPs reaction.

it's on the bbc rumour mill, joe, and apparently it was on the 5 live on bbc radio, so no primary source link :)

I have googled the rumor mill thing and had no success

LINK :D

Ive seen it on Wikipedia but Im not sure. I think if we want him bad enough then the signing is all but finalised. Nobody wants him to come here and theres still talk of Barcelona but it was the same with Deco. Everyone thought he was definetly going to Inter. I hope that hes quietly packing his bags for a trip to west london.

Cheers :)

@ LTB #152

Utter genius sir! I'll get your coat for you.

@13JOE13

I think we have an over-beefed midfield and steady defense. Whats left is on the flanks and upfront. If we can keep both Drogba and Anelka, fine. The most important priority now is the left flank. I have been harping on David Silva's name for a long time but it seems that Scolari doesnt fancy him and keeps buying Portugese or Brazillians which explains why Deco arrived instead of Van der Vaart. We only need 1 or 2 players to make the difference.

@SARA

Obviously we needed a playmaker. I can understand that we have more than enough midfielders but non of them run about and create things. That being said, Deco wasnt my preferred choice either. But lets trust Scolari and like i said, he wasnt bought to be the future of this club. Look at his contract, its only 2 years and he could be gone before you even know. Lets get behind him for now. His experience in opening up defenses in big games could be key.

Admittedly, it is only the Sun, but this sounds interesting :

LINK

Malouda and cash for Eto'o ???

I guess he's a completely different striker, he doesn't come across to me as someone who plays the lone role any where near as well as DD, but would excel if he had someone playing off him - maybe Villa ??

So with Bosingwa and Deco in, I reckon our attention still needs to be on a top-class striker, and maybe another winger who has both pace AND final delivery. Unlike our existing ones who have one or the other but most definitely not both.

And good news on signing Arse-shaving. I was worried our midfield was looking a bit threadbare. Well, with Russians called Andrei anyway. I think maybe we have a vacancy for an American named Chad, or an Iranian named Mohammed, but that's about it.

Another source, I hope its true LINK

Eto for Drogba? If Scolari wants to play a lone striker, then i think he is making a big mistake here. We dont have a Messi or Ronaldinho to feed him consistantly all the time.

@Fifty - did you notice the first outbreak of badge-kissing this transfer window arrived yesterday, Daniel Alves spotted living the cliche on SSN on joining Barca?

Deco is 1 of the best players in the world and i think he will play excellent at the bridge c mon chelsea.

I also see Deco being a star at the bridge. Yup he is older but you have to have a transition. By playing better football we can then appeal to the younger stars who will want to join. If you were young and had the choice between chels and arse/real/barca where would you go (provided you were very skillful)!!

Scolari will unearth some great young players from Brazil and Portugal but at the moment we have no real brand. I cant wait for this change, even if it throws in some odd results along the way.

If we can bring in Eto'o i think this would be a great signing. I would rather have eto'o than ronnie (as they dont get along). With j cole, ballack, deco, lamps (if he stays) plus Arshavin/Villa/Huntelaar/robinho (whichever we sign) he will have more than enough quality to supply him. If DD has to go to accommodate this and stop the long ball punts then good ridence.

@BBD,

I did !!! Also saw a photo of him 'chomping' on the badge. Which was weird.

Nice to see that recent singings are complimenting the caveat the two of us outlined in the previous post.

Great minds and all that....

Post #170 was me. Still haven't set up an account, so I spelt my own name wrong. Reminds me of being at school.

I dont know if Eto is still the same player but i will throw in a name: Dimitar Berbatov. He's full adapted to the English game and ready for a new challange. If Eto's gonna cost more then 20m pounds, why not invest it on an even more ready-made replacement? His silky skills will surely add more flair to this team. Just read the article on The Sun that Eto is demanding 160k per week. Please Scolari, look around before you buy. Just because he's Eto, it doesnt mean his the undisputed choice for Chelsea.

Arshavin can play as striker and second striker.
If we buy him that would be excellent.
p.s.what about franco di santo? 15 million we spent on him and he is playing for reserves???i hope he doesn't stay there (in the reserves)

@SARAH

We dint spend 15 million pounds on Di Santo. Its divided by 5. Agree that Arshavin can play in that 'hole' behind the main center forward.

Ok 5 million thats cool , but he is not playing and HE IS A WONDERKID xD

Arshavin will be a great addition if it's true, him and deco will def beef up the flair department. Be great to see some of the reserves like di santo and branislav whateverhisnameis get blooded this season too.

@143 ChelseaTony/@171 Fifty - a bit of copy and paste of names from previous entries could ease your typing-challenged problems - unless you're mouse-challenged as well....

@176 blueinbangkok - "branislav whateverhisnameis" doesn't seem to be high in the thoughts of the official website johnnies. I know the current squad/numbers on the site are still last year's but you'd think when they did the revamp they might at least have added him in after he started appearing in the teamlist at No. 2 in last season's programmes from the Wigan game onward.

goal.com:

3/7/08

Jol: Van Der Vaart Wants To Stay At HSV

Rafael van der Vaart is keen to stay with Hamburg, says manager Martin Jol - though the former Spurs boss feels a transfer to Spain is still a possibility.

Van der Vaart enjoyed an impressive Euro 2008, and has attracted interest from Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, among others.

In an interview with the club's official website, Jol revealed that Van der Vaart is not at all unhappy about continuing to play for Hamburg.

"Van der Vaart is a special case," Jol said. "Zeljko Petrovic [Jol's assistant] has spoken to him on the phone and he said once again that he would like to stay at Hamburg.

"He loves Hamburg."

However, Jol did suhggest that HSV might be forced to sell the player if one of the two Spanish giants make a tempting big-money offer for the 25-year-old.

He added: "It could be that he would think about moving if a club like Real Madrid or Barcelona makes an offer - that is what we have learned from past experience."

Jol also spoke about his plans for the new season, and how he envisages the team playing. And he hinted at a more open,attacking style.

"We have to start scoring goals from all sorts of positions," he said. "We only scored 40 goals last season and you don't usually finish fourth with that sort of haul."

Well, looks like what Deco goes in 2 to 3 seasons time, we have a possible replacement. But he will be 28 by then...

Absolutely loads of chelsea transfer news today:

Maka could still leave, which would be logical as we need to free up some midfield space - LINK

Big Phil wants to flog Didier and Malouda, then bring in Eto'o according to that reliable and wholly accurate newspaper, the SUN.

Ian Wright is also saying how SWP should flee the Bridge in search of first team football. Seems ready for a move to Pompey.

So it does seem that Big Phil has begun revolutionising the side. From today's news, it looks like we're shipping out Maka, SWP, Malouda, Sheva, Didier as well as the crap like TBH, Sidwell (to replace Barry) and Pizarro. To replace themwe should have Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Deco, Arshavin and Eto'o. That would be a great turn around of the squad with some quality arrivals, after last year's debacle, although it does seem that we'll be left a striker short. It looks like David Villa will be the final piece in our jigsaw so that we can finally taste CL success.

KTBFFH

Speaking of Ivanovic, what the bloody hell is his story?
We paid good money for him in January to play in the reserves, FFS?
Why not wait till Summer to get him then? Is he gonna be another Khalid Belharouz (sp?)?

Anyone know?

AG's only two transfers were disasters, but there agian wo'd be surprised at that?

Juventus,Manchester United and Chelsea were interested to buy Ivanovic.

Roman opened Serbian newspapers and read that all European teams are trying to buy him.He deicided to compete and heard the guy is playing in Locomotive. The Russian championship was over, the guy was totally out of form, they threw him into the reserves and then forgot him.

I think this is the way it happened.

AG transfers were distasters not because of him, but because he was listening everything stupid Abramovich says.

1) Andrei Arshavin was born in St Petersburg on May 30, 1981. He started playing football at the age of 7, and graduated from the Smena football school.

2) In 1999 Arshavin joined Russian Second Division side Zenit-2, the de facto reserve side of his local side Zenit St. Petersburg.

3) A year later he made his full debut for the seniors in an Intertoto Cup tie in the none-more-salubrious surroundings of Bradford’s Valley Parade ground. Zenit St Petersburg beat the home side 3-0.
Advertisement
Click Here for more Information

4) Arshavin quickly made a name for himself, claiming the runner-up’s spot in the Russian Player Of The Year list in 2001, 2002 and 2004, before bagging the main prize in 2005 and 2006.

5) This YouTube compilation shows just why the Russians value him so highly. Not sure why they chose to soundtrack it with Radiohead, mind.

6) He made his debut for the Russian senior side on May 17, 2002 against Belarus. Arshavin scored his first goal a year later, in a friendly against Romania on February 13, 2003. He’s since scored 12 more in 36 appearances.

7) In 2007, Arshavin helped Zenit St. Petersburg to the Russian Premier League title, the club’s first since winning the old Soviet Top League in 1984. As Rangers fans know to their cost, he was also instrumental in the Russians’ 2008 UEFA Cup winning side.

8) Arshavin lists his hobby as ‘creating goals for the team’, which must make those long Russian winter nights fly by.

9) When not setting up team mates, he also likes to dabble in fashion. He once wrote a thesis on the development of the sports wear production process, and graduated with a diploma in fashion design. Surely a transfer to Milan would appeal?

10) It would appear not. Arshavin was recently quoted as saying he would like to play in La Liga.

LINK

Arshavin will be a good signing i think. but that leaves Serious concerns about the midfield and who will start there. and casts serious doubt on the future of Lampard at chelsea. it seems we are overstacking the midfield with the same type of players. when we have Essien (TOP CLASS PLAYER) who has done EVERYTHING we have asked of him and should be rewarded with a position of his liking and quality (attacking midfielder,suprised he didn't end up in goal last season). we need strikers, although Drogba has done us pretty good. there are others who i believe can do just as good if not better. Anelka NEEDS to pick it up and maybe a player like Pavlyuchenko can help. What position will Ronaldinho play if purchased?

@181

Scoalri apparently dint listern to Roman and bought Deco i suppose. LOL But thats a good sign in a sense that BPS is his own man.

sorry yes i think Deco is a very good signing. Very talented and will produce for the mighty blues

i think mutu will be a good signing and he owes us money so he can work for free

@LTB #152

I had to laugh. Didn't want to but had to. In a similar vein I will be keeping watch on the player ratings pages of our beloved media for the first and inevitable mention of the Deco Rater when the season gets under way.

With reference to SWP's reported move to Portsmouth I believe negotiations have foundered around his wish to live on the Isle of Wight.

Harry Redknap is very much against it as he can see SWP always having trouble with the (wait for it wait for it....) CROSSING.

Anyone seen the cloakroom attendant?

Roman Abramovich last night launched a £12million bid to sign Euro 2008 star Andrei Arshavin - and fulfil his dream of having a fellow Russian as a first-team regular at Chelsea.

Chelsea's owner personally intervened to snatch Arshavin away from Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, who are also tracking him.

It is understood Arshavin will now fly into London for talks with Chelsea, who have had a bid accepted by the playmaker's Zenit St Petersburg club.

A source at Zenit said: "Chelsea have been in contact, a deal has been agreed and Arshavin will fly to London to discuss terms.

"He was very attracted by playing in Spain but feels English football would suit his style better - and with Roman Abramovich involved there is another link and reason."

Billionaire Abramovich is championing the deal himself after Arshavin, 27, guided Russia to the Euro 2008 semi-finals.

But despite saying he always dreamt of playing for Barca, Chelsea have the financial clout to meet his demands as he is already on £60,000-aweek at Zenit and has a £12m buy-out clause.

With all the puns and names aimed at our new Barca reject, if we have decided to call him Art, and if we assess his performances on the Deco Rater ladder scale (from 1 to 10 rungs). Lets just hope he doesn't turn out to be a piece of beach furniture Deco Chair.

Bloody hell that cloakroom attendant is being kept busy!

Ah comedy will never die while this blog is alive....

But it may spend a considerable time on life support and need constant turning to avoid bedsores

@ BB 187 - I seem to be on permanent cloakroom duty these days. I have kept it safe for you, provided my kevlar suit and hard hat are in good condition.

I quite like (Art) Deco.

all we need is Kakuta to take over in 2 years...

He will be 18 so thats fine.... Right?

@ CT #191

So you think you are kept busy with Deco related nonsense?

If we sign Arshavin I think you will need to employ extra staff or retire on grounds of ill health...

So can anyone name a few players that we HAVEN'T been linked with? We can't sign everyone...

Boys, perhaps your next article could discuss our potential outgoing players? Break it down into pros/cons of losing players like Lamps, Drogba, Carvalho, etc.

what is the deal with di santo and ivanovic. can di santo break into first team this year?

Now I'm trying to get something going along the lines of our new signing copying Sheva by having his own personal fitness trainer, Daley Thompson. You know, Deco Thlete.

But the dry cleaners told me they'll impound my coat if I push on with that one.

BB has the right idea instead -- let's make fun of how rubbish SWP is!

I have written some software for the Blog specifically to help the player ratings for the post match reviews. I'll start using it on our latest signing, hence the software's name

Deco-Rater

Still if he ever decides to join MI5 then he can always work towards a

Deco-mission

Sorry if this is a repeat.

Also can anyone else see the Benny Hill-esque well of comedy potential of having a Brazilian in charge of someone called Arshavin?

Blimey these Ole Ole people fix one thing and break another. It's just like work. No edit capability anymore then?

Is Mikel really the replacement for Makalele?

goal.com:

4/7/08

Chelsea Killed Mikel's Creativity - Odemwingie

Nigerian International Osaze Odemwingie is of the opinion that English Premiership side Chelsea FC have caused damage to the career of his Super Eagles team mate John Mikel Obi...

The view expressed by the Lokomotiv Moscow striker is one shared by several Nigeria sports journalists, who believe thats , John's creativity that so impressed the footballing world at the 2005 World Youth Championships, has been destroyed by the holding midfield position he has been given at Chelsea.

"I think Chelsea has changed his game. He is not the same player he was and it’s difficult for him because he can’t play against what the coach tells him to," Odemwingie was quoted as saying by kickoffnigeria.com.

Nonetheless the ex-Lille man thinks that his countryman can recover that creative spark if given the opportunity to do so.

"Mikel is a very talented young man and he can adapt his game when he needs to. I believe that when he has more freedom, he will express himself more," concluded Odemwingie.

I think Mikel can learn alot from Deco but, discuss.

jANG, nobody will ever be like Maka.
I am subjective about Makelele, but if I had to choose his successor that would be Essien or Mikel.

183. komatose
i agree with you.

So if our new signing leaves after his two contract is up, will he be a Deco Gone!


Tony my coat is next to yours!

Deco will sign a new deal if he does well.

Evening,

Been off-radar for a couple of days. Have we signed any more midfielders?

Word on Cornish streets is we're being linked with Arshavin - he's under 30, you know - but I see you already know this. :-) A Cornish Gooner in the pub last night told me that Arsenal are after him too. :-(

I've just emailed OleOle about the missing 'edit' functionality. I'm sure it'll return asap.

Hope you're enjoying your holiday Nick when you're travelling back up the M5 on your way home, one of the jucntions you're passing you will be about 10 mins away from my humble abode. I woulld invite you around for a drink but I'm rather anti-social ;)

@CT #197

In a Scott v Amundsun race to the Pole sort of scenario I planted the flag in #187 for Decorater.

So while you freeze in your windswept tent and wonder when Capt.Oates is coming back, take comfort from the singular if somewhat disturbing image you have conjured should we sign that Russian. The term Brazilian is no longer safe for everyday use.

I've just got back from the CFC Superstore and have picked up a couple of nice new items:

A new diary for 2009 with Anderson Luis de Sousa on the cover - My Decolog

Some new de Sousa branded deoderant - Decodour

@Jang #199

Thats interesting because we do hear from time to time about his attacking capabilities. I wonder if his role will change under new management.

Deco will do good on Chelsea

RE: Ivanovic: He's to make his debut in the friendly against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical on the 23rd, along with Deco and Bosingwa [LINK]. Supposedly he was kept out by injuries last season. There's also a rumour [Goal.com... don't have the link] that Juventus are thinking of taking him on loan next season.

I kind of agree that Mikel's skills have been mostly wasted so far. I think Phil and Deco will be good for him, and he's and less likely to expect a starting place all the time so he probably won't get the boot this summer. If Didier wants to stay I don't think it's a good idea to let him go. I like Samuel Eto'o but he's been quite injury prone these past few years and isn't as fast as he used to be. I'd rather see him with Didier up front than with Anelka, but mostly because I never want to see Anelka again.

The news just gets better and better regarding summer transfers. Firstly we sign Deco and Bosingwa who both OFFICIALLY outperformed Ronaldo at the Euros by making the All-star Euros squad.
Now we're on the verge of signing Arshavin: LINK

AND... Fat Ronny is on his way to Milan: LINK

This huge amount of common sense from the board to go for Arshavin instead of Fatty is unnerving me. What next? Will we replace Sheva with Di Santo and Pizarro with David Villa for our striking options next year? Will we finally get a proper winger to replace Malouda, and someone who can perform like Robben did? Will we actually ship out the likes of TBH, Malouda, SWP, Sidwell, Belletti, Boulahrouz (YES, the list of the crap players we own really is that long!)? Will the board even go to the lengths of giving Lamps a new deal?

The board including Kenyon seem to be doing a good job this year, for a change. They've made quiet, logical decisions like Big Phil coming in for Avram, Bosingwa for Belletti, Deco for Sidwell (when he replaces Barry), Arshavin for SWP (i know Andrei's not a winger but SWP seems to be on his way out at the same time Arshavin's coming in). So, we may hate to say it but... keep up the good work Kenyon! All the fans want now is a couple more things as mentioned:
1. New contract for Lamps
2. Sell the LONG list of shit players (see above)
3. Bring in Robinho and David Villa.

Then, with everything in place we can all sit back and marvel at the Chelsea side next season. I predict that with a few more additions, we'll win the treble (PL, FA Cup, Carling Cup). I know there's no CL, but at the moment, Chelsea are cursed in that trophy so in order to win it we'll need to buy it. By that i mean, we need to throw silly money at it and buy Kaka, Torres... Next season we may have a very good squad but to overcome our bad luck we need the greatest EVER team.

Arshavin, Arshavin, Arshavin!!! Roman will love having this little russian at Chelsea

HABERDASHERS, Arshavin plays on the left for Zenit and Russia. I assume he will do the same for us.

1. They should just ask what contract Lamps wants and give it to him
2. Sell the players we dont need (Alcides, TBH, Sidwell, Boulahrouz, Belletti, SWP, Malouda)

After we sign Arshavin our squad is complete

---------------Cech----------------
--------JT----------Carvalho-------
Bosingwa--------------------Ash----
----------------Essien-------------
-------Lampard---------Ballack-----
Joey--------------------Arshavin---
-----------Sheva-------------------

Subs : Kalou, Alex, Ferreira, Mikel, Sinclair

lol joe, deco doesn't even make your subs bench! :P

LINK

omg my dream is ever closer to becoming reality, schweinsteiger wants epl, rumours of talks to chelsea, and now more reason to believe scolari likes him alot too :)

get arshavin and sell deco to inter for 12 million and make profit ;)

LINK

Amongst high quality opposition, pun of the week has to go to the Daily Express, for today's effort....

"Abramovich nicks himself Arshavin!"

Looking forward to Arshavin's signature move ... the Steppe-over

We should sign his teammate as well ... Crackwaxin

So far we have been strongly linked with Arshavin and Robinho. How will they fit into our team? Lets see:

Cech

Bosingwa Carvalho Terry A.Cole

J.Cole Ballack Essien Deco Arshavin

Drogba/Eto

Erm, i think im out of space for Robinho. So who do we drop? That being said, its always good to have quality on the bench.

Jang, you forgot Mikel! Surely he needs more chance to fulfil his potential! He could be a superstar.

Maybe we could play the new Portugese bloke out wide, get him to run a lot to confuse the oppo but always pass to someone else. You know, a Deco-y

It's too warm my way for a coat, else I'd join the lengthy blog queue.

wake me up when the first "LAMPARD AT CHELSEA FOR LIFE" headline appears.

I'm not even speaking to my 7-year-old, Inter-supporting son. Well... he's off 3 days at the seaside, actually :)

Oh and it looks like Deco will have his own column page on the official website as part of the package. Guess the name now.....? you're getting there, yes, very close very close......

Met a bloke in the coffee shop this morning, small, Brazilian I think, looked familiar. We were talking about the book he was reading and discussing South American literature and magic realism in particular. When pressed I said that when it came to literary theory I tended to side with the Russian Formalists but he was firmly in the Structuralist camp, finally admitting that by sentiment he was very much a Deconstructionist....

I didn't bring a coat

Apparently, according to a source at Cobham our new signing is allegedly overweight. Consequently LGF had ordered him to go on a strict diet with smaller portions of healthy food. In other words a

Deco-ration

I've quit my job at the cloakroom to join the queue.

We should have a certain decorum on this blog, besides it could be a great new name for an alcoholic drink.

I've lost my coat in the huge pile

@TONY

So i wasnt seeing things. He looks alittle chubby. Looks like Deco still had some control whereas Ronnie's went out of control.

With all this nice weather, hayfever will play a big part of people feeling bunged up.

I'd recommend a decongestant.

My coat? Somewhere in that pile that resembles the Himalayas

The nice weather does have other benefits; there seem to be many young ladies wandering around with a great deal of decolletage on display.

I shall get my dirty mac.

@215 Greenlight - reading beyond the punning headline in this link - and please could we have a designated pun-free zone maybe one hour each day? - the second half of this article reads like bad news:

1) Carlos Pracidelli is apparently only a "goalkeeping coach" in name but in fact a much broader general assistant to LGF - this means Lollichon may be left in peace to keep wrecking Petr's form next season after all; and

2) If LGF is therefore effectively bringing 3 assistants with him what exactly does that leave for Steve Clarke to do?

2) If LGF is therefore effectively bringing 3 assistants with him what exactly does that leave for Steve Clarke to do?

Decompose with our new signing?

I'll get my smelly coat, next to JD's dirty one

229. blueboydave Wrote: | 10.59BST | Jul 4, 2008

what exactly does that leave for Steve Clarke to do?

remember players of the times when the ECWC was our realistic goal?

If he kicks a high ball and accidently severs a player's head, he will have decollated him. Presumably his wag will have a spectacular decolletage, and after a hard day's training decoct him a refreshing beverage. Off the field, he will, of course, behave with the greatest decorum ...

It seems Lamps and Drogba are likely to leave Chelsea now...

When I visited Chelsea's MegaStore at Stamford Bridge yesterday, I could see the Store was trying to offload the products associated with Lampard and Drogba; many gifts featuring these two players were heavily discounted (as little as just £1)... Unbelievable!

I'm sry for being Little bit of the topic but I hoped I could find help here with a question: Does anyone of you has renewed the club membership in May but hasn't received a card yet? I'm just wondering cause I got a letter and an email containing an application form. Money has been deducted already. I'm well confused, anyone with the same prob?

Rene (234) - don't know anyone who has received membership / season ticket cards as yet - imagine that they will be sent later this month (they usually arrive some time in July, from memory) so I shouldn't worry at this stage.

Enough of this decodence!

The large pile of coats that is accummulating in the foyer is becoming an embarrasment...

Now, where did I put mine?

[weeping with laughter]

Dear oh dear. Who could have guessed one new signing could cause such a crisis in the cloakroom.

Now if only we'd managed to prise a certain young Spanish striker away from Liverpoo. Then things could have gotten really intorresting.

Now if only we'd managed to prise a certain young Spanish striker away from Liverpoo. Then things could have gotten really intorresting.

I feel a song coming on, Can you hear the bells Fernando? I think Tony can fill in the rest of the lyrics. ;)

And back on subject with our new signing, if does become very versatile and play in most positions will he become our new Black & Deco utility?

OK no more I promise.

Brilliant, brilliant! But.....leave your coats...

Taxis for you all on Mr. Limetreebower's account....

@ Rene #234

Make sure you sent a current photo with your application. I had a season ticket for years. Had to give it up so went on line and took out membership. Months later, after they had taken my money and sent me a ton of junk, they hadn't sent me a card and wouldn't let me buy tickets on line becuase they didn't have a current photo on file.

Dear All

Its been a very good morning for cloakroom humour. Is that the term posh English people use instead of toilet humour?

This is the message I got when I enquired:

Thanks very much for your email. Your membership has been renewed but no membership card are being sent out until towards the end of this month.

I just feel sorry for the cloakroom attendant; listening to several hours of piss-poor humour and having all those outergarments to sort out.

A bit off subject but could be discussed in the LockerRoom...

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If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40.

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Daily Thought:

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES.

NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING.

BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS

@ SIMONT

I am really sad to hear about this! The writing is on the wall then I suppose :-(

Bloody hell, where exactly is this cloakroom? I'd like to drop in and in preparation for winter, perhaps nick a coat or two.

I'll get my...wait a minute I dun have one yet!

Latest Shock Horror twist in the Will He, Won't He Saga [Lampard version]:

LINK

Fifty - note apt choice of accompanying photo by Goal!

It appears we've nicked a coupple of Gooners!!!!!!!!

LINK

This tickled me - aussie advice column!! happy friday all

25 WAYS TO IMPRESS YOUR GIRL
1. When she asks how she looks, shrug and say "could be better" this will keep her on her toes, and girls love that.
2. Never hold her hand. This can be interpreted as a sign of weakness (or if she grabs your hand squeeze hers really, really hard until she cries. This will impress her by showing her what a strong man you are.)
3. Once a month sneak up on her from behind and knock her over. Girls are like dogs. They love to be roughed up.
4. Call her in the middle of the night to ask if she's sleeping. If she is say "you better be" , repeat this 4 or 5 times until morning. This will show her you care.
5. When she is upset about something, suggest to her that it might be her fault. This will pave the way for her own personal improvement, and every girl needs some improvement.
6. Recognize the small things, they usually mean the most. Then when she's sleeping, steal all her small things and break them. Because jewellery is for pussy's and Asian ladies.
7. If you're talking to another girl, make sure she's looking. When she is, stare into her eyes mouth the words fcuk you and grab the other girls arse. Girls love competition.
8. Tell her you're taking her out to dinner. Drive for miles so she thinks it's going to be really special. Then take her to a burning tire yard. When she starts to get upset tell her you were just kidding and now you're really going to take her to dinner. Then drive her home. When she starts crying and asks why you would do something like that lean over and whisper very quietly into her ear "...because I can."
9. Introduce her to your friends as "some chick". Women love those special nicknames.
10. Play with her hair. Play with it HARD.

11. Warm her up when she's cold...and not by giving her your jacket... then you might get cold. Rather, look her in the eye and say "if you don't stop b*tching about the cold right now you're going to be b*tching about a black eye." The best way to get warm is with fear.
12. Take her to a party. When you get there she'll have to go to the bathroom (they always do). Leave immediately. Come back right when the party's dying and yell at her the whole way home for ditching you at the party.
13. Make her laugh. A good way to do this is if she has a small pet. Kick the pet. I always find stuff like that funny. Why shouldn't girls?
14. Let her fall asleep in your arms. When she's fast asleep, wait 10 minutes then JUMP UP AND SCREAM IN HER EAR! Repeat until she goes home and you can use your arms for more important things. Like basketball.
15. Spit often. I hear girls like guys that spit.
16. If you care about her never ever tell her. This will only give her self confidence. Then you can never turn her into the object she deep down desires to be.
17. Every time you're in her house steal one of the following: shoes, earrings, or anything else that comes in pairs. Only take one of the pair. This way she'll go crazy.
18. Take her out to dinner. Right when she's about to order interrupt and say "No she's not hungry". Make her watch you eat. Girls love a guy that speaks for her.
19. Look her in the eyes and smile. Then clock her one. Girls love a spontaneous guy.
20. Give her one of your t-shirts... and make sure it has your smell on it. But not a sexy cologne smell. A bad smell. You know what I'm talking about.
22. If you're listening to music, and she asks to hear it, tell her no. This way she'll think you're mysterious.
23. Remember her birthday but don't get her something. Teach her material objects aren't important. The only thing that's important is that she keeps you happy. And your happiness is the greatest present she can ever get.

24. When she gives you a present on your birthday, Christmas, or just whenever, take it and tell her you love it. Then next time you know she's coming over on a trash day leave the trash can open and have the present visibly sticking out of the can. Girls actually don't like this one that much but I think it's funny.
25. If she's mad at you for not calling her when you say you will, promise her that you will call her at a certain time of the day. This will make sure that she waits by the phone. Tell her when you call you're going to tell her a special surprise. Now she'll be really excited. Now don't call. That's also quite funny.

@ Rene - My mate ChelseaBob got his season tickets this morning in the post so they are obviously starting to ship them. My membership which I kept going separately was also deducted automatically so I'm waiting to see if the card and pack turn up as well. As you'd expect with our great club, the one area we do show ruthless unswerving efficiency is in the 'remove money from fans' stakes.

Oh and finally, I know the Spanish striker from Liverpool is good, but listening to some people you'd think he was from a different planet.

Some sort of Extra-Torrestrial even..........

And on that note I now claim sole ownership of the cloakroom and said contents.

Damn you Celery, I was then about to come on here, all guns blazing with some great big wind up title to my post.

But you beat me to it.

BBD - not sure how it fit's into the mechanics we laid out. As he's an existing player it's not as newsworthy as say Do-Deco-hedron (sorry, that's gotta be the worst one yet) kissing the badge at his unveiling.

Plus, I'm finding it increasingly apparent that Goal.com is quiet possibly the biggest spouter of sewage out there. Making even The Sun look reputable.

And dun forget to tickle her bum...........

hehee FIFTY........all guns blazing, huh?......I like that already.
Sorry mate.

Oh and you are spot on about Goal.com. I never bother to click on them, pure trash.

Thanks for the answers ro the membership question. I phoned them and they said that by the end of July the cards will be delivered. Don't think a new photo is required as I can remember that when I renewed it there was something saying that 07/08 member details would be used again(including the pic). Need to hope now that the new tenant does not bin my letters. ^^ Finger x-ed!

@252 Fifty - I thought the Lamps photo was further evidence of this strange predilection of footballers to chew symbolically on their apparel.

Goal seems to gather in one place the assorted nonsense of The World of Great Football Crap Rumours - most of their "stories" have an alleged newspaper/magazine cited as source - it just saves donning wellies and trudging through lots of different sites to find the best rubbish, unless you're into that sort of thing of course....

Fantastic signing of Deco. At las an artist not robots.
BTW I still believe the best buy Chelsea made so far was the buy out of "the toad".

Arshavin will be in London tommorow to agree his move to Stamford Bridge. Roman has to be given credit for this. I heard he went to the Russsia squads hotel to covince AA to join.

I know im acting like its finalised already but im almost certain that it will happen.

Hope this isn't true.From This is London Website.

Frank Lampard has stunned Chelsea by telling them he wants £150,000 a week.


The club have offered the England midfielder a four-year contract worth £140,000, a deal which would make him the highest-paid player in Premier League history, but Lampard has told them he wants an extra £10,000 and a fifth year.


Lampard, 30 last month, has warned Chelsea he may otherwise join Inter Milan, where former Jose Mourinho is now manager.


Chelsea believe a four-year offer is generous to a player of his age but Lampard cites 35-year-old Claude Makelele, who was recently given a one-year extension.


Lampard has a year left on his current £120,000-a-week deal and Mourinho said this week he did not expect him to leave Chelsea until next summer.


Chelsea have been frustrated in their attempts to complete the capture of Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Andrei Arshavin after the Russian club blocked contract talks in London on Friday.


Arshavin was due to discuss a move with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and club officials. Instead, he was called in for training by Zenit, even though manager Dick Advocaat confirmed he will not play on Sunday against Tomsk.

@ 260 Evillynn

I know many here will not like what I say, but, if this is true he (Frank) can go wherever he wants to. Chelsea should not try to stop him.

If Lampard is leaving which he probably is, is simply because since JM's third year the board believed all the hype from the media and did not back the manager and we lost the title and stopped the resurgence of the boring Man-u redominating the Prem. Lampard is probably one of the more intelligent players along with Drogba and realises what is happening at the club. Dont forget his familly inclduing Frank Lampard snr, jamie and harry Rednapp are all in the business so to say and he knows what is going on probably more than most of the other players at CFC. He wants to win things and the 150K a week scenario is basically because he wants to leave and play with a winner. Simple as that. Scholari is great but on dark december nights up at bolton, man city and the rest? mmmmm i'm not so sure, but I like him because at least he will hopefully upset the FA cosy little man-u cartel in this country as Jose did. But let's be honest, if we do meet JM with Inter, how many of us would bet anything more than a fiver against us winning? and if that is the case, what is the board up to. If winning the prem is the main thing why did we not back JM properly and keep on winning the Prem regardless of the CL? after all, Fergie has won it twice now in 21 years only, hardly a great record with the stature of a football club such as Man-u. I dont know, things just dont seem right still, I would have preferd to have given hughes, bilic or the like a chance but lets see what happens. here's the best to us for the coming season and let the battles commence.!

goal.com:

Valencia To Offer Villa New Deal

Valencia are reportedly ready to break the club's wage record to reward striker David Villa with a new contract.

The Spanish international has been on the radar of several Premier League and La Liga outfits following a good Euro 2008 campaign in which he scored four goals, including a hat-trick in his side's opener.

The 26-year-old has made no secret of his wish to stay at the club, but Valencia's financial crisis alerted the attention of his main suitors, Liverpool and Chelsea.

However, Los Che are desperate to retain the services of one of their most in-demand stars and for that they are ready to reward him with an extension and a considerable wage boost.

The club had set four years ago that they would not offer any player more than a €1.8m-a-year deal but the increasing interest in Villa's services has made Valencia change their mind.

If a bid worth over €40 million for David Villa is not made during the summer then Valencia are going to offer their striker a new contract with an annual salary believed to be in the region of €3 million.

And Villa, who has five years left in his contract with Valencia, has reiterated his wish to continue at the club.

Can Scolari and Roman stop this merry go round and get David Villa? He'as the obvious man to give us goals plus flair. 2 in 1 package. He will do well latching onto Deco's true balls. A formidable foy for Anelka or Drogba. Forget about Arshavin. Zenit are trying to play hard ball with us. So why not just pay 15m pounds more instead and get our man?

I dont see any point in buying David Villa anymore, We have been trying to sign him since January and he kept snubbing us. Why PK is still trying to get him is a mystery to me. We have Drogs and Sheva (Who is due a decent run in the team).
As for Arshavin dont believe the crap that you read on goal.com because the fact is that Zenit have accepted our bid for him and hes due in london for a medical.

The club shouldnt try and sign anyone who doesnt want to join. Villa can rot at Valencia, I hope he enjoys playing in the UEFA Cup next season.

I notice that the goal.com site says Lamps is on holiday in Italy??? Funny, I thought they all had to report back on July 1st??

Goal.com are also reporting that Manchester City have agreed a fee for Ronaldinho

Looks like we are not going to get to see Ivanovic play after all.

LINK

He may be sold..... And for a profit too! Seriously, our board have started to act in an almost sensible way lately, and it is rather un-nerving! I actually agree with them too, that if Lamps really is suggesting that $140K a week for 4 years isn't enough, then perhaps we can do without him after all.

Dio (262) we've had these debates over and over. The conflict between Roman and JM that led to the separation appears to have arisen over two things: the playing style and JM's personality. Essentially Roman is a romantic and wants Chelsea to be the biggest, best supported, best regarded team in the world. He wants us to be loved for our football style, our winning mentality and our general demeanor. Meaning, how we project ourselves as a club and brand. He wants us to "make a difference" as he himself put it when he first assembled a team to run the project.

JM couldn't really care less about being loved by everyone. He figures if a team win all the time they will be loved by their fans and the fan base can grow from being winners. For JM being loved by the players and the fans is all the love he needs. The key difference is that Roman sees it globally, JM saw it locally. And local breeds the them and us perspective that leads to the one-eyed paranoia. The two don't fit.

So JM was good to get us from a standing start to winning trophies (ahead of schedule too, if you remember the early targets). But he doesn't bring the global love. That's why he is still fondly regarded by Roman and why he may come back one day under Roman - after proving himself with the style thing elsewhere and maturing into a more statesmanlike character, who won't go to war against his own board through the press like JM did during the winter of '07 when our bandwagon finally lost its wheels.

Obviously Avram Grant had bamboozled Roman with his word-in-the-ear solutions to the playing style conundrum and the failure to get the best out of Shevchenko. A mistake compounded by a contract extension a couple of months before he was also sacked. Let's remember, Roman is learning what it takes to build a football empire. Unlike during his capture of a large slice of the suddenly freed-up Russian economy, he doesn't have a patron like Vladimir Putin to guide him.

We are not a selling club. Why should we sell a potential Nesta or Cannavaro and earn a mere 3 million profit when we can buy Deco for 8m? Money is not the issue here. Its a bad excuse to sell the lad. I cant wait for him to play for us and such crappy news comes out.

Here we go again.From Sky Sports Website.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani says the club have received an offer for Kaka from Chelsea

"For Kaka, a really big offer has arrived from Chelsea," Galliani told La Stampa.

I'll be really glad when all this speculation stops and hopefully when Scolari takes over tomorrow things will start to become clearer.

Its gonna be a mountain of a task to buy Kaka but having him will definately solve alot of problems, at least on paper first. We can just put some midfielders around him and all thats left is a top class center forward should Drogba stays or leaves. Essien, Deco, Ballack, Kaka and J.Cole in a 5 men midfield running in circles around the main center forward.

well i hadn't thought of such a low emphasis on wing men, that could work i guess. I was opposed to buying more central midfielders like kaka but i guess what jang said would be quite interesting. I know i'd love to see joe cole in a freer role!

British source Sky Sports News claims that Chelsea have not submitted any bid for AC Milan star Kaká...
Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani claimed that the London club had weighed in with a "massive" offer for the Brazilian superstar in an attempt to rejuvenate their midfield.

However Sky Sports News now claims that the word from Chelsea is a resounding negative on this score, and that Kaká has not been the subject of any bid, let alone a mammoth one.

Apparently the Blues have little interest at all in signing the attacking midfielder despite the fact that he was a mainstay of the Brazilian squad under current Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Scolari, meanwhile, is relishing his new role at the Bridge. Speaking to the club's official website he said, "It is fantastic to finally be here. The training ground is world class and I am very impressed by everything I have seen and heard from the staff.

"I am looking forward to welcoming the players back from their summer holidays tomorrow so we can start working together."

could still give mikel a go there, he's meant to be quite creative! if we go with jang's idea that is

Hey cap123, Deco will get on my subs bench when he loses his belly :)

Hey guys, would you like to tell everyone your favourite and worst moments in football, just comment on my new blog LINK would appreciate it, Thanks.

It would appear that Ronaldo is staying at Man U for now but the news that Queiroz may leave to coach Portugal is interesting. I reckon losing Queiroz would be a much bigger blow to Man U than losing Ronaldo. He plays a key role in Ferguson's coaching plans. When Queiroz left to coach Real Madrid, Man U did not do so well and they were desparate to get him back and are now desparate to keep him. I think that speaks for how much influence this guy has on their success.

Queiroz moving could really help Chelsea to reclaim the title next season assuming we have a settled team with no major injuries as we had last season.

KTBFFH

Wow. I never expected to enjoy a weekend of sport so much when football wasn't involved.

Mr Hamilton somehow contrived to surprise everyone watching by keeping the car out of the back-end of his competitors, and on the rain-sodden track for the duration of the race. And won by the proverbial country mile.

Some great tennis from Wimbledon; an Aussie we're claiming is British won the girls titles; the Williams brothers slogged it out between themselves for what seems the 89th time on Centre Court; and Rafa Nadal almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory but, having a heart, Roger Federer just couldn't do it to him so dumped the ball into the net at advantage down in deuce. Amazing.

(Although it would be good if something was done about all the time that is wasted when players have to get the ball boy/girl to bring them their towel. After. Every. Single. Point.)

So, all quiet on the football front. I see that, depsite thinking silly season was over and the sensible news would start to appear, the ridiculous just got ludicrous. Kaka and Pirlo for us now ??? I doubt it.

The usually reputable Observer claims we're still well in for Eto'o to replace DD, but I'm disappointed we dont seem to be getting linked to Huntelaar.

Anyway, aren't we back for training today and, if so, I guess there needs to be a revolving door fitted on Big Phil's office - there'll be lots of players wanting chats about their future.

@279 Fifty - yes, I see "Rent-A-Quote" Galliani has been at it again.

I'd already been rapidly concluding that AC Milan's combination of an ageing squad plus severe financial problems were responsible for the torrent of direct quotes coming from him this summer with a bullshit content so high it would make Peter Kenyon or a Sun journalist blush with embarrassment - and today dear old Harry Harris jumped on the bandwagon in The Express plucking a £75m figure for Kaka out of his fevered imagination.

Not quite sure why SSN should be the only conduit for our supposed denial so far - what's wrong with our snassy, new improved official website - which still doesn't seem to know quite when LGF is going to give that first, exclusive interview to Chelsea TV and has only in the last 10 minutes stopped showing the schedule listings for Wednesday July 2nd........

Umm, sorry Lolli but :

LINK

I'd say the Beeb are semi-reliable, so things are pointing towards talks between us and Inter over Lamps.

WOnder if DD is being mooted as part of any deal.....

@Fifty - isn't "BBC Sport understands.." just a euphemism for "we read in some of today's newspapers..." - though it might still be true?

Drogs cage-rattling rumours seem to be around a lot again even before he gets to meet LGF.. and it seems Leonardo, AC Milan's technical director forgot to check out Planet Galliani's "astronomical" claims before talking to the press - note the 2nd last sentence on this:

LINK

BBD,

Is today National 'Please Dont Blog Day', but no-one told us ???

It's been just me and thee for most of the day, unless *shock horror* the rest of them are too busy 'working'.

@ Fifty - yep, thats about right! Actually I've been a bit busy on some Dr Who boards where the conspiracy theorists are really out of hand!

I think the Lamps deal is done as LGF looks to stamp his own mark on the team. Unfortunately his 'mark' doesn't look very English and I fear we may become pseudo-Arsenal. As for AC Milan, so they want our striker and Arsenals but refuse to sell anyone unless they are qualified to ride kids up and down Blackpool beach and eat carrots on sticks huh? I think even our powers that be might be a bit smarter than that, although, horror of horrors we may yet see the headline....

" Lampard in shock swap deal for Ronaldo" (the crocked fat one, not the MUFC showpony)

Afternoon,

I'm back from my brief sojourn in the West Country and easing myself into the rat race once again. As soon as I have caught up with everything/work etc. (ignoring email and the Net for 10 days was a mistake) I'll get to posting news updates etc., if nothing else they'll give us a place to discuss the increasingly silly transfer rumours that will get increasingly sillier before the end of August. Trying to keep up with said rumours will probably have me banging my head against my computer desk in frustration.

Lamps will join Inter, I'm convinced of it, although I agree with blueboydave about the 'BBC Sport understands' phrase.

I thought holidays were meant to give you new vigour etc. but I'm just depressed that I'm no longer on holiday! :-)

I see our snassy, new improved official website is now proudly trailing Chelsea TV's exclusive interview with LGF for tomorrow at noon, "with hourly repeats till 6pm apart from at 5pm", Does that mean the public press conference is at 5pm - not being rich and stupid enough to subscribe to Pravda-on-TV I'm assuming the latter will be on SSN?

Wonderful pic on the website too of Joe C and LGF just asking for a speech bubble......

This is a pretty interesting piece of news if it is true: LINK=shot-shy-sheva-given-shock-second-chance-by-scolari%26method=full%26objectid=20634078%26siteid=93463-name_page.html

Is today National 'Please Dont Blog Day', but no-one told us ???

I think so Fifty it said so in "The Sun"
But yes I do agree a good weekend, especially yesterday for sport, particularly LH showing that he has the making of a F1 great.

As far as CFC goes it's all strangely silent, I think someone is beavering away quitely behind the scenes to probably produce some more quality signings.

@BBD and Clive

The SS Britannia is holed below the water line, heeling badly to starboard, the sea of credit crunch, rising food and commodity prices etc.etc. is flowing through the damaged bulkheads.

Some of us have been down in the bilges waist deep in water, manning the pumps trying to keep the water level from rising, shovelling coal to keep the engines going...

And then, when we come on deck to catch a breath of air, bathed in sweat, our glistening muscles shining with grease, our handsome honest faces smudged with coal dust, our once white vests grey with grime, standing hands on hips in a manly yet strangely homoerotic fashion..(thats enough of that now this is a family show)

And there you are cocktails in one hand, cigarette holders in your slack jaws playing deck quoites and wondering what all the fuss is about....

I don't know......lets start re-arranging these deck chairs

BPS has his first interview tommorow, I cant wait.

sold john obi mikel.. he have more yellow card than score..

Deco was an amazing buy but will Lampard stay. He is going to play second fiddle. Frankie boy is trying to wangle a 5 year contract Check the article on 4sportsake.com. They would be NUTS to give it to him

thats crazy Lampard deserves the contract, he has done a lot for chelsea.
He is a great player and they would be stupid to let him go

deco is a good buy, but Frankie deserves to stay!!!!!!