Premier League: Chelsea 1 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Good report JD pretty much summed it up, I do have doubts about Anelka's finishing the one in the first half should have been on target, and there was one in the second where he was offside and through, but again he should have hit it on target.

I hope Drogba finds the form he displayed the season before last and stays fit and on his feet, with the ammount of chances he'll get he may well be top scorer.

Cheers Clive. Think Anelka will be fine; very much a confidence thing with him - not really suited to being alone up front and wasn't supported well today. He was never likely to given Woodgate and King too much to worry about all that considered.

Love your report - and I'm a Spurs supporter!

Why oh why do Chelsea fans support Drogba, he lost you the Champions League with his petulant display against the red scum, forcing a centre half to take the "winning penalty". tosspot of the first order, argue against me!!!!

Shannon if your a Spurs supporter your an idiot. As for Jonathan Dyer your comment about Spurs fans singing about the point and our wembley victory, well at least we were singing. The faceless, mute, 40,000 chelsea drones that I saw at the Bridge today were quite pathetic.

P.S Dyer come back to me when you have a history that stretches more than 10 years.

Boo hoo, he pulled the history card and I can't answer because we were only founded in 2003 when Roman arrived...

RBS - come back to me when you've grown a brain and some hairs on your balls, moron.

This was one of the fears we had about coming over to Ole Ole that we get twatish remarks instead of sensible debate or even banter.

@Frank Spanner
I can't argue against you with regard Drogba, it was all his fault he lost us everything last season a huge tosspot. I wish he would have done what that consummate pro Berbatov did and refused to play for us because his head wasn't in the right place.

Please read the last line of post 6 it also applies to you.

Clive - Nothing to do with OleOle. They're coming from NewsNow. Think back to previous Spurs games - it's usually just Spurs fans that leave idiotic comments.

As for today's game - not a lot to add. Thought Belletti did really well, apart from one moment of weakness in the first half, ironically when covering for Bosingwa at right-back.

I consider Anelka one of the better finishers in the League. Agree with JD that he'll improve once he regains his confidence.

Typical of SWP to regain his best form within minutes of leaving the Bridge...

@Nick
Sorry my mistake, yes thinking back it's mainly them that leave the 606 type comments. Still not convinced with Anelka's finishing though... I hope it is a confidence thing, certainly don't want him to fail.

Kaiser Jonny/ Clive et al, were you part of the 8923 who bothered to turn up against Coventry on May 4 1994? Didn't think so.

At the end of the day, your club is full of gloryhunting, bandwagon supporters (probably like yourselves), who only turn up because a billionaire Russian benefactor decided to buy a football club, to stop himself from being extradicted back to his homeland. He buys multi million pound mercenaries to sit on bench, writes off £30 million pound players at the drop of a hat, sustains £200 million pound annual losses year on year. The day Abramovich gets bored is the day you return to your rightful place of challenging West Ham for the spot of being the 3rd London club and your regular stints in the lower leagues.

I'll leave you with the words of your "leader" John Terry which he made in March 2008, which are looking more an more stupid "on a bad day we should be beating teams like Tottenham", well John you have failed to beat us three times in a row now at three different venues...

Kaiser Jonny/ Clive et al, were you part of the 8923 who bothered to turn up against Coventry on May 4 1994? Didn't think so.

At the end of the day, your club is full of gloryhunting, bandwagon supporters (probably like yourselves), who only turn up because a billionaire Russian benefactor decided to buy a football club, to stop himself from being extradicted back to his homeland. He buys multi million pound mercenaries to sit on bench, writes off £30 million pound players at the drop of a hat, sustains £200 million pound annual losses year on year. The day Abramovich gets bored is the day you return to your rightful place of challenging West Ham for the spot of being the 3rd London club and your regular stints in the lower leagues.

I'll leave you with the words of your "leader" John Terry which he made in March 2008, which are looking more an more stupid "on a bad day we should be beating teams like Tottenham", well John you have failed to beat us three times in a row now at three different venues...

I think Scolari needs to work on Anelka fast. I consider him one of the top strikers in the EPL. He's trademark runs behind the defenders needs to be exploited more. Meaning we need to create more chances via through balls. Anelka had 2 half chances and a very good chance in the first half. Thats about it. He probably needs more chances to score which is due to his confidence as everyone here mentioned. And he needs to play with more agression and passion. He seems to to be dwelling too long when he is holding the ball. I really hope he comes good.

@RBS7878

Which tribe do you come from you idiotic troll?

Don't you just love all the clichéd crap that comes from some Rottenham fans, I just love being a gloryhutning fan!!! I suppose they'll turn their bitterness and bile towards Arsenal soon once they get done over by them again.

Good review J.D

What is it with us & Spurs? That's like, no wins in 3 for us now isn't it ffs?! It's not even like they played amazingly well either. They only got their goal because of a f**k up from Frank! (sorry Lampsie..STILL love you!!) Modric & Bentley in particular had a lousy game! Still settling in maybe?? They owe a lot to Woodgate & King today..they both played brilliantly.

I thought the game started really well, us having majority possession in the 1st half. Was pleasantly suprised/shocked to see Belletti score. The 2nd half was evenly matched, i'd say...but dull. How bloody frustrating as well to have so many bodies in front of the Spurs goal..think i counted 15 at one stage! Ever likely our boys couldn't get through!! It's pretty obvious Tottenham were gunning for a draw.

I'd agree with the player ratings as well. As J.D says, J.T probably deserves a higher score as his defending was spot on..

And why have we got Spurs fans coming on here picking on our JONATHAN? That's not nice now is it??? :(

i'm a spurs fan, and we're not all as bitter as rbs.

nice review, i enjoyed reading it

one point though if i may- yeah we sing about a point and a smaller trophy, because we're proud and eternally optimistic, and make the most of small victories. we make the most of small victories because we haven't had any big ones for a while, but should that stop us enjoying the small ones?

i hope not

@Bigyid
Nice to see a sensible Spurs fan on here, but be careful if you talk sense and admit to enjoying reading the review, you'll be called an idiot by RBS and probably be forced to support Arsenal ;-)

Pleased to see that last remark against J.D has been removed. There's no need for it whatsoever. For God's sake, it's a GAME of football!! What do any of us stand to gain if our teams win or lose?
Nothing..that's what!!

I've been on Spurs blogs and haven't seen ONE insult thrown from a Chelsea fan, never mind what's just been posted on here, so why the hell do we always have to put up with it?

Please people..get a bloody grip!! And chat on your own bloody blogs! Vent your anger on there because we don't wanna hear it on here!!

One important element missing in today's game is our train-like engine in midfield. One of our strengths is to overun teams or overpower them in midfield with players like Essien, Mikel, Makelele and Ballack.

Today, Essien wasnt 100% to start the game. He played through injury infact. And the situation in midfield wasnt helped by deploying Belletti as a makeshift holding player. Yes he scored the goal but we were unusually disorientated in the 2nd half and lacked that drive and thrust we normally have. So i think we should all be glad that we got a point because the team was not at their best.

Anelka and Malouda were bad enough. Aided by our half-arsed midfield which lacked solidity, a point was about right. Now, we need our midfield generals(Essien, Mikel and Ballack) to full recuperate and be ready in 2 weeks time.

Have I been abused in my absence? Splendid.

@ Bigyid (17)

'tis a fair point you make - optimism in terms of football is one thing that binds (nearly) all of us, I suppose.

Today was my first game of the season, due to the Portsmouth game being re-arranged to clash with my holiday, so I was excited to find out what’s changed since last season.

For starters giant packs of steak and onion Doritos were being handed out in Fulham Broadway.

Arriving at the ground there was a long queue at the turnstile. During the summer new fangled automated devices have been installed. Unfortunately they have a slot for inserting regular tickets and a swipe option for smart card season tickets but, since there are no instructions, season ticket holders were busy inserting their smart cards into the ordinary ticket slot and consequently jamming the machine. Fortunately each turnstile has a support operative on hand to sort out the mess, which begs the question of why bother with this new technology which has made redundant loads of nice old blokes with flat caps.

Once inside all the bars have been refitted, the ceilings painted black and the price of beer increased.

Why am I boring you with all this? Because the above are the only changes I noticed because on the pitch things are just the same as under Mourinho and Grant. So much for playing like Brazil!

It did appear to me that the crowd now has the patience of an X-Factor judge. One mistake and there were groans all over the place.

And to cap it all only in England could it happen that if the home supporters were caught making anti-Semitic remarks they’d be banned from the Bridge for life whereas the away supporters were allowed to sing “yido” all afternoon. Being Jewish myself I feel it’s a breach of my human rights. As a yido I should be allowed to call yido’s yido. I shall be raising the issue with my MP.

As for the football I thought Lampard was by man of the match. However in my youth I did manage to score direct from a corner and then spent the rest of the season trying to repeat the feat. Lampard, having scored a brilliant chip goal in a pre-season friendly, seems to be falling into the same trap.

As for those who think our squad is sufficient I beg to differ. Anelka is not up to the task and missed two gilt edged chances. I’ll forgive a forward who is lazy if he takes his chances. Jimmy Greaves is the greatest example and did bugger all for most of a game but always ended up scoring 2 or 3. But Anelka is lazy and can’t do what he’s paid for. The situation didn’t improve with the appearance of Kalou who managed to hit the corner flag with a shot from just outside the box.

@ mark25

you mention your lack of firepower up top- don't you find it a bit odd that only really drogba's found consistent form in the recent past?....some top top players have looked shadows of their former selves (epitomised i guess by shevchenko and crespo) at chelsea.

could it be something to do with the system, you're hardly lacking in service for the strikers after all?

This is interesting, has Mr Wenger lost the plot, or do we really have a hidden gem in our midst? LINK

'The day Abramovich gets bored is the day you return to your rightful place of challenging West Ham for the spot of being the 3rd London club '

So when we return to being the 3rd biggest club in London, will Spurs still be 4th best as they are this morning! Go away and write your pathetic shite elsewhere.

Poor performance and I am very surprised to see people still believing that Anelka will partner Drogba..... He is patently not a good enough finisher and does not take the chances he gets.

Belleti was good, but the midfield really missed Ballack orchestrating things.

Still, we remain top of the league after 3 games.

I thought we should have won the game in the first half but still we were nowhere near our best and with Essien fully fit and Snoop Drog back amongst the squad we should have no problem in dispatching teams like Spuds. They defended well and we couldnt break them down. In my opinion against a team thats going to play defensive we MUST have wingers getting balls in from wide areas and cutting inside otherwise our play will be easy to break down.

Nobody could deny that we were also missing BALLACK really badly. He is perhaps the only player that can make defence splitting passes and hes also a major threat from corners and crosses. Joe Cole must be played on the right and not in the middle. For sure dont have him on the touchline but we need his pace and crosses down the flanks.

@ Bigyid (24)

It is a bit odd, and Drogba's blown hot and cold too (if you asked any Chelsea fan after Drogs' first year with us whether we'd ever be looking forward to his return from injury, well...)

I think it's coincidence though, or perhaps just the mistakes that come from having too much money. Sheva clearly came because Roman wanted him; it now seems he never really wanted to be here, and was crocked for the start. Crespo too was a big-name signing who actually didn't want to be in London. I don't think Anelka was a good buy either. Much more sensible is the investment in younger and hungrier players. We're hoping the Argentinian kid Di Santo will turn out to be of interest -- by all accounts he's an excellent prospect.

Some day someone from another club will come on here and actually find an interesting way to criticise Chelsea. People: trust us. We've heard the "gloryhunting" bit, the "wait till Abramovich leaves ha ha ha" bit, the "small club" bit, the "no history" bit, the "plastic fans" bit, the "bought the title" bit, the oh-so-original "where were you when you were shit" bit (hmmm, does each set of away fans really think they are the only ones clever enough to come up with that?) ... We've heard them all a million times, ever since we started by and large beating every other team in the country more often than not. Those are the things the Arse fans say, and the 'Poo fans, and the Man U fans, and the fans of frickin' Nottingham Forest said them too after they lost to us in the Carling Cup. It's almost like none of you people are capable of having an independent thought at all.

To the Spurs fans with brains and civility: thanks for stopping by, nice to see you here.

Good report.

You missed a bit though.

You say chelsea did enough to win. Unfortunately the fans did nothing. Talk about shit support. This place was like that little icelandic Bjork sings, 'oh so QUIET'.

Really embarassing. It doesnt matter how much money a club has, its about the relationship between the fans and the players. Chelsea's prawn sandwich brigade are an embarassment.

The small time thing is a joke. Chelsea are awful considering how much money abramovich has pumped into them. Cant be that satisfying really, like playing monopoly but cheating as the banker. BORING CHELSEA

This is the time when you people miss Ballack when others could not really performed well.

You call us boring? At least we were TRYING to win the game. Your team are so negative that they only dared come out of their own half when we gave the ball to them. You want to talk about money? Gomes 8M, Woodgate 6M, Gilberto 7M, Modric 15M, Bent 20M, Bentley 15M, All in the last 6 months aswell.

You say chelsea did enough to win. Unfortunately the fans did nothing. Talk about shit support. This place was like that little icelandic Bjork sings, 'oh so QUIET'.

What part of this comment is relevant? The fans cant knock the ball in the net. How quiet was White Hart Lane last week when Sunderland (Thats right Sunderland) won?

Ricardo Quaresma has gone to Inter.

I hated to see that my fears of another Everton in 2005/6 came true. Riding high at the top playing some trash from the bottom, a banker 3 points and playing some great stuff. What happens in both games, we play very badly and drop 2 points.

GOOD:
1. Defence - Had nothing to do and still looked watertight when keeping out the opposition. Could do little about Lamps' through ball and Cech's kit nearly saved us as Bent did shoot at him, but it went through his legs!
2. Lamps - Still our best attacking midfielder and should have had a couple of goals had it not been for Gomes, who seems to be a real keeper after Robinson.
3. Home record - Still invincible at not losing although is it a burden preventing us from going for the win?
4. Robinho - Doing all he can to join us although Calderon's pride and Kenyon's tapping up/shirt selling disaster probably rules him out.

BAD:
1. Football - Very little good football and only a couple of moves to slip in Anelka, twice, and Ashley Cole come to mind as memorable moments. We seemed slow and had no options but to shoot from distance until in the second half we resorted to pointless long balls.
2. Midfield/Injuries - We looked unbalanced and lethargic in midfield. Again no Mikel made a huge difference as did a half fit Essien.
3. Joe Cole - Joe was again anonymous after another poor performance at Wigan. Didn't beat his man, shoot or even affect the game.
4. Malouda - Worst performance i've seen from him. His substitution only allowed Spurs to come into the game more as he kept giving it away and seems to put in even less effort than last season. Can't see why we kept him. Laughable/Useless.
5. Anelka - Not a world class striker. His 2 misses were poor and only good enough for the bench.
6. Spurs - Came to park the bus and their first half performance was fully deserving of a side who are bottom of the league.

Nothing to panic about but it is annoying losing 100% record and clean sheet to Spurs! Now it's England

It is amazing to me that so many of you praised the move to sign Anelka, yet you are so quick to condemn him to the bench after three games under a new manager. Lets not forget what he has done at Bolton, with certainly less quality supporting him. And frankly, apart from the first game, which and when has our first team played well?

Confidence plays an inestimably huge part in the performance of a player. Look at that little winger from manchester. Signed, slotting into the first team straight away, scores two goals. Did he score two goals for us all of last season?

Another BAD:
7. Spurs Fans - Complete idiots who have nothing original to say. When they've won the league, got a stadium fit for the Premiership (White Hart Lane must be the biggest shit hole in the league) and actually reached the top half of the table (last time they did that was in May 2007), then maybe we can acknowledge them. Until then they can rejoice at picking up a point against an under-par Chelsea who are able to realistically go for 4 competitions EVERY season, keep on singing about a Carling Cup Victory and return back to the relegation zone where they belong.

Utter trash.

@Radicalevan

Sometimes A minus players who are the star names at average clubs just don't make it when they play for a side at the top. The pressure demanded at Chelsea to win every game and every competition is something the likes of the Bolton's (Anelka and TBH), City's (SWP), Reading's (Sidwell) never face. They just don't cut it at Chelsea.

That doesn't excuse Malouda (Lyon), Pizarro (Bayern) and Sheva (Milan). They've all played CL football, but in the Premiership, they're all embarrassingly bad.

I don’t see the point why people are so kind in viewing Anelka! First when he came in, it was because he was played out of position. Then it was lack of confidence. And now having "banged" in all the goals in pre season (if u watch the videos the videos, he didn’t exactly bang them in, did he?), it’s because he can’t play the lone front man! What more should a team do to make a man do what he is paid to do?

Everyone’s mad at Kalou for missing one chance, yes he did. But why come down hard on a player who has not had too much training with the team (because of the Olympics) rather than the focal point of our attack, who lets say was rather blunt!

Anelka might well come good, in time. But for the moment, I don’t think that we need to cut him any slack. It would be great if people who trash talk Drogba realize what he brings to this team. And if there is someone who believes that Anelka is the man to replace Drogba (as was touted during the summer), then God save us!

Our team was no where near top condition for the match. We are like a train. But something went wrong with out engine(midfield) and we couldnt move. Its as simple as that. We had Essien playing through injury, Mikel and Ze German's presense was missing. We lost our 'over-powering' midfield potency. No need for knee jerk reactions. Im sure we will come good. But something is really wrong with Anelka. How must we play to suit him?

@ RadicalEvan......

Haberdashers is right..... There is no longer a place at Chelsea for players that take time to settle in..... Be it right or wrong, we are expected to win every week and fringe players like Anelka and Malouda need to know that they have to take their chances when they are given to them.

Anelka has had a great chance to cement a permanent spot in the side with DD missing the first few games and he hasn't taken it.

People say that we don't give fringe players a chance, but SWP, TBH, Sheva and Pizarro were all given chances.... They just didn't take them and that is why they are now gone.

Malouda has now had 14 months and Anelka 6-7 months..... It is now time to produce regularly, move on or stay happy as a bit part player.

I suppose yesterdays game seemed destined to be a draw, after all when small teams come to play us they tend to want to settle for that. The attacking stats are interesting....

Chelsea attempts 12 on target 2
Spurs attempts 1 on target 1

Says it all really

@ Clive

I agree entirely. I thought Spurs goal was a bit streaky, and if they hadn’t scored when they did, they would have had to be a bit more adventurous in the second half. As it was they were happy to play for the point instead of trying to cause a so called upset and going for the win. Whilst ever teams play with that sort of game plan I can’t see them breaking into the top four.

Live Transfer Deadline before Transfer window closing...

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Have to agree with Mark25 - just like watching Chelsea under Grant.

I'll admit to never being the biggest fan of Drogba (for all his theatrics) and Ballack (for, um, I dont know why) but boy did we miss them.

The game should have finished 0 - 0. Joe Cole was offside when Essien hit the bar and challenged for the rebound, the Spurs defenders were right to be incensed. But these things even themselves out, so when Lamps laid a through ball to Bent, he had time to mis-control it and still roll it under Cech. Fair's fair.

We lacked any real creativity. Deco's set-piece honeymoon of two games is over, his delivery was truly awful in the final third. Anelka, while full of running, offered little where it really mattered - in front of goal. Joe Cole was disappointing; Essien hugely anonymous other than his bar-rattler.

The back 4 were steady if little else. Someone needs to tell Bosingwa that there will be full backs in the league as quick or quicker than him and he can't expect to knock it past them and win it EVERY TIME HE HAS THE BALL.

I said last week it'd be far from an easy 3 points. Spurs - despite the absence of Berbatov and sale of Keane - are no-where near as bad as their league start suggests. Very organised in midfield, Bent was left to his own devices most of the time but was on hadn when they needed him.

We simply weren't good enough to get past their 5 then 4. And that's a concern. I said last week how sorry I was to see SWP go, and that was proven with the frankly insulting 'performance' that Malouda put it. Watching it on Sky, Jamie Redknapp said he thought he was 'awful'. Normally not so critical in the studio, why oh why have we kept him?

Still, 15 hours of the window to go. Please God can we get phoning every club in the World to see if they want him.

@Fiftee - according to this we don't even need to go searching for someone to buy Malouda:

LINK

- though I couldn't find the story in the online Telegraph as alleged.

To adopt your style I will say categorically it won't happen - LGF seems convinced he can wave his magic wand and turn him into a decent player. Didn't see any evidence of progress yesterday when he was as miserably ineffective as ever.

Very restrained of you not to point out you finally got a forecast score for a Chelsea game right - though 1 out of 3 isn't great I guess.

Were you saving it for a double header I Told You So tomorrow when/if the Unmentionable R isn't produce out of a hat by PK?

BBD,

I'm preparing to unleash the Mother of all I told you so's. Maybe.

Not sure I can be bothered really though. The Robinhood saga has dragged on so long, it's bored me to tears to just type about it. On yesterdays performance, we could definitely do with him, but if not I guess - as you say - TSSO is deluded into thinking that Malouda can make a difference. Somehow.

Think Kalou could do with a lot more time on the pitch, his snatched effort from Anelkas flick on was laughable. Di Santo, ditto, could do with more time on the pitch than a panicked last 5 minutes. Any ideas as to why Scott Sinclair hasn't even made the squad yet this season ???

After the Wigan game I thought, both on and off the pitch, things were looking very calculated and measured.

Now, I'm beginning to think we're one or two players short. It's all well and good stripping the deadwood out (Sidwell, Pizarro, Sheva) but when SWP is let go and consequently proves if he's on the pitch he's a threat, we're left watching Florent Malouda trundle round the Stamford Bridge pitch like some sort of lost toddler in a supermarket, unsure of what to do or where to go, looking like all he needs is his mummy and a blanket.

We didn't play bad, but we played boring football.

Deco delivery of the ball sucked.

Anelka is lazy player who doesn't want to fight for the ball he waits other people to create chances and then he ruins it by his shitty finish.
However, he is a good player , who , I hope will play better when he regains confidence.

I was never fan of Drogba, but we missed him yesterday. And we missed Ballack too.

About Robinho it is not Calderon's fault. It is Bernd Schuster's fault. I like Schuster, I respect his abilities as a player and as a manager but it is his fault. You can read an article about Robinho on his official site...Schuster didn't have a replacement so he kept him.

Anyway, conclusion is that we can't win all the time and that Robinho story is over. We need to get over it.

See ya.

So no-one has any fabricated "I've just seen Robinho and Peter Kenyon leaving a Madrid brothel together" type stories to keep us amused on deadline day then?

Poor show...

But did you see them JD? surely you couldn't make that up.... which if true begs the question what were you doing outside a brothel in Madrid?

Could it be true... West Ham are in talks with Paulo Ferreira accroding to SSN!

That means we're keeping Belletti instead! Is Scolari being tricked into thinking that Malouda and Belletti are quality players? Or is his judgement going? And where is Ivanovic?

On Robinho...no chance. Despite us plainly NEEDING him now, we've run out of time, messed up the deal and thanks to Kenyon putting all our eggs in one basket, we're fucked.

AND, MAN CITY HAVE BEEN TAKEN OVER BY A RICH DUBAI GROUP. Could we have a rival to Roman? They've got a lovely stadium and now they've got the cash. But they're saying that they won't spend it like Roman. The only bad news for us is that the buzz from this takeover and presentation of the new owners coincides with... Man City vs Chelsea. Expect City to be up for that game and SWP to score?

JD,

The BBC has a transfer deadline day text thing going, where you can send all your fabricated stories for publication.

Such as the gem this morning from someone who claimed to work in the clubshop and was asked to print Robinho shirts with his new number of 8. Which apparently SWP just vacated.

News to me.......

I thought Ricky made an unusually high numbers of blunders.

which if true begs the question what were you doing outside a brothel in Madrid?

B*stards wouldn't let me in Clive... :-)

Did have a quick gander at the BBC site Fiftee - loving the "cab driver knows a bloke who collects the glasses in the pub opposite Anfield says that so-and-so is signing today..." angles being pulled on there.

Just heard from a friend who knew someone that had a cousin that worked for a guy who's brother in law owned a printing company that used to print match day programs for AC Milan before they lost the contract 15 years ago.... that the Kaka deal is done and dusted for £70 million.

You heard here first!

Strange that Paulo is going after giving him a new 5 year contract?

Why are we keeping Belletti over him? It's baffling.

@53 Mark

Have to say I didn't notice really, but he was probably the most anonymous of the back four yesterday; there was so little threat to our back line overall it was difficult to tell to be honest.

Spurs seem to be slinging the money around today; have to say that bar Modric they didn't look that impressive - Bentley in particular will struggle to live up to his price tag on that form.

@ 57 KaiserJonny_II

Bentley looked overweight. Then again it could have been Spurs shorts which aren't very flattering.

Mark - very true, but I thought their socks were even worse.

Feel a little left out with the lack of activity at Chelsea. With City becoming the new Chelsea and possibly buying Berbatov, Spurs buying everyone across Europe and West Ham picking up Paulo Ferriera, we're sitting here waiting for Kenyon to present us with a new signing despite Robinho staying at Real.

"BBC Sport understands that a £30m bid has indeed been made for Dimitar Berbatov, while the club are in talks with Valencia's David Villa and Stuttgart's Mario Gomez."

Are Man City taking the pi55 or what??

Well no, because none of the above will actually materialize, but at least they're being linked with someone. Anyone.

Man City are trying to do what we did in the summer of 2003 - only in one day. Apparently the new Arab owners have more financial clout than Roman. Interesting times.

---

While Paulo doesn't fit the attacking full-back mould preferred by Scolari, he's a solid right-back and better than Belletti. I'd give West Ham Belletti rather than sell Paulo.

Citeh have indeed gone a wee bit bonkers, it seems.

Anyway, Belletti is the new Makelele so we can't let him go now... :-)

I'm quite happy for Citeh don't dislike them or their supporters, they've had to put up with enough crap over the years from the red scum. Perhaps this might well shake up the premier league a wee bit, and I bet Looserpoo supporters must be livid and looking on with envy as the blue side of Manchester appear to have got stability and cash to splash.

City top four this season anyone?

Not sure Citeh will be top four material this season, but if this mega-backing they seem to have has got some substance to it, certainly wouldn't rule them out in the future.

Mark Hughes apparently on SSN saying he's hoping to meet Berbatov to discuss terms; now that would be funny...

Clive,

I agree, dont dislike them at all. Although I guess the ill-feeling we have against their arch-rivals may count for something.

With SGE gone, and now Hughes in, some if not all of their recent signings seem to be coming from left-field though. Corluka gone, talk of Caicedo going as well - neither of which having what you'd call a lenghty stay.

Good luck to them. Nice to see a club with money actually spending it (PK, I'm nudging YOU).

And anyone who tries to sign Man U's main target from under their noses is o.k by me.

Yeah it's on SSN that Sparky is meeting Berba later today. Man Usa fans are texting in in their droves crying about it, saying Berba should join them, as "it's the only way he will win trophies this season"! Arrogant f***ers!! It would be hilarious if City get him..imagine how red McFergie's nose is turning at the thought of Dimitar going to his Manc rivals?!! I bet it's glowing/burning with rage!!lol :D

Come on Sparky...get it done!!

So Man City are trying to do a Chelsea and according to the new owner: 'become the no. 1 side in the world.' The sheer spending power of the new City mean that they are a rival to us. Roman's reign as the richest owner in Europe is well and truly over. If they get Berbatov, it would be hilarious but could they beat us?

Well the big reason why we've got so much success all comes down to our 2-1 against Liverpool in 2004. Without the CL we would have nothing. And that is the big stumbling block for City. If they can squeeze into the CL by buying good quality players outside the CL like Berbatov and Milito... then only then could they begin to find success. But talk of winning the PL next season and the CL in 2011 is a joke. It all takes time. It took us 5 years of Roman to become the no. 1 seed in Europe and we still haven't won it. It takes a long time to be able to attract the Kaka's and Robinho's to your club. They cycle is as follows:

1. Get in the CL
2. Buy a new team (Crespo, Mutu, Geremi...)
3. Attract a new manager (Jose) and some quality up and coming players (Cech, Robben, Drogba, Carvalho)
4. Once in the CL, earn some respect by reaching the semis.
5. Start to attract some bigger names (Essien)
6. Attract the biggest names (Sheva and Ballack)
7. Reach a final and start to attract the best players (Kaka and Robinho)

So, when all the Red Tops start printing stories of Kaka, Robinho, Villa all going to City, it's all ridiculous. City are on the right track by attracting the likes of Berbatov to enable them to get into the CL, but skipping to stage 7 won't happen in the next 3 years for CIty. And they will never reach our level because we will always have one trump card: London and the Kings Road. The cache attached to London will always top Manchester, meaning that at present they'll only attract mercenaries (Berba)

But without doubt, Arsenal, Liverpool and Utd should be worried. We'll always be at the top with Roman but City are new rivals

@ 68. HABS

Apparently, he's TEN times richer than R.A (!!!) according to what's just been said on SSN..and he's aiming for a top 4 position by the end of the season..

Player From To
Peter Gulacsi MTK Hungaria Liverpool (loan to permanent)
Rachid Bouaouzan Wigan NEC Nijmegen (loan)
Tyrone Mears Derby Marseille (loan)
Louis Saha Manchester United Everton
Blerim Dzemaili Bolton Torino (loan)
Sol Bamba Dunfermline Hibernian
Vitor Flora Botafogo Liverpool
Ignacio Gonzalez Valencia Newcastle (loan)
Nadir Belhadj Lens Portsmouth (loan)
Vedran Corluka Manchester City Tottenham
Steven Pressley Unattached Randers

*************** TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY - BREAKING NEWS *****************

One of my office colleagues has returned from her holiday in Cornwall with some very nice clotted cream fudge.

I'd offer some to Robinho, but he doesn't seem to be here yet, the little Brazilian scallywag.

God! They reckon the new owner has invested upto £500million, maybe more into Man city! There's an "unlimited amount of funds" for Sparky to buy new players..

What's this?? City buying the league anyone?! Ha! Ha!

Also, Man Usa fans texting into SSN asking for Ye Olde Purple Nose to get the sack if they don't get Berba!!

Good Lord!

Maybe Man U were in need of some help on the transfer front, and contracted PK back to Old Trafford for the day.

Would explain why there's been chuff all happening at the Bridge, and why, once more, Man U may be close to missing out on one of their targets.

Good old Peter, keeping up his exemplary record on the transfer front.

One of my office colleagues has returned from her holiday in Cornwall with some very nice clotted cream fudge.

I'd offer some to Robinho, but he doesn't seem to be here yet, the little Brazilian scallywag.



Ooohh Clotted cream fudge much better than any Brazilian, wouldn't you say Lolli ;-)

@ CLIVE

Certainly would my lovely! x

As the day goes by, im getting more and more optimistic that we will see eggs being smashed on PK's face.

Fiftee - you leave my mate Peter alone :-)

I genuinely don't think he has done much wrong on the Robinho thing; Calderon is playing to the gallery and desperately trying to persuade the punters that voted him in that Real are still top dog and don't have to sell anyone - he's under the cosh having failed to get Ronaldo and needs to make a stand and this is an ideal opportunity in his eyes. But if he's prepared to turn down £30m odd and keep a player who is unhappy and has publicly stated he wants to leave, then more fool him. Their statement about the shirts etc. was laughable - pot / kettle leaps to mind.

One thing that hasn't been considered in all this is Roman. I suspect that he has the final say on transfers, as 'tis he that holds the purse strings and as we know is clearly not a man to be messed around; he may well have put a stop to it if he thinks we're being pissed about (think this was the case with Alves last season).

Not a huge fan of PK but he deserves some credit; key players have signed new deals, he got Scolari, Deco and Bosingwa have come in with relatively little fuss - given where we were at the end of last season when Grant left, that isn't a bad summer's work really.

The Berbatov saga just turned even sillier it seems according to the Grauniad:

4.50pm: BREAKING NEWS!!! Reports are emerging from Spain that Real Madrid have made a £36.5m bid for - cue drum roll - Dimitar Berbatov

This is more enjoyable than any soap opera, wait a minute it is a soap opera, you couldn't script this stuff any better.

I think I might make a bid for Berbatov - everyone else seems to be doing so and I'm starting to feel left out.

Some holiday fudge should do it JD

There is plenty here Clive - I reckon there are a few players that could be lured to SW6 by its creamy fattening charms.

Dean Windass, Tomas Brolin...

Maybe Roman can join in the fun and make a 37m pounds bid for Berbatov.

LOL JD
SSN reporting that Citeh have made an offer for David Villa, I hope you're laying down Fiftee.

And the cheeky bastards have just made an offer for Robinho according to reports in Spain, this is probably the most entertaining last day of transfer dealings ever.

It would certainly be funny in more than one way if Berbatov to Madrid cleared up the Robinho exit.

Citeh have come over all Viv Nicholson today, haven't they? I wonder how much Sparky knows about all these players he wants to sign?

Probably not much I would say JD and considering the lofty ambitions of the new owners of a top four finish this season, the premier league title next season and winning the CL that season after that. Looks like Sparky may well be out of a job should he fail.

City have just had bids for Villa and Robinho rejected and laughed off as ridiculous.

As i said earlier they can't jump from Mid table nobodies to world beaters as no world class players would want to go there. AS SSN reports, Villa won't leave Valencia after signing a new contract and Robinho only wants to come to London. City's dealings are becoming a joke as they've asked around as to who are the famous names in the world and put in bids for them, forgetting one thing, they don't have CL football and they're still nobodies on the world scene. Kenyon may be the worst negotiator in the world but he has built up our brand and clubs around the world know who we are. You can imagine Valencia receiving an e-mail about a bid for David Villa and rolling around laughing as it came from CIty. The same reaction from the Bernabeu about their bid for Robinho!

They should concentrate on getting the likes of Michael Owen, Berbatov, Milito, Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry... and not wasting their time on bids for Villa and Robinho. Don't they realise that only we can attract players of that calibre?

I think PK should definitely get into this Berba saga with a bid - he could at least have sulking competitions with Anelka on the bench once Drogs is fit - playing for the reserves tonight I gather on his recovery route .....

Well, well, well!!!! I have just been around the forums and the almighty battle between Man-U and City fans is huge!!! I really dont think Berbatov is that good. A very good player but not in the A list of the very best to warrant such money and fighting amongst the prem clubs!! Also, the "buying the league with money" argument has just left Stamford Bridge!!!! Hoooooray!!!!!

For me, the ideal situation would be Berbatov going to RM and free up Robinho to come to us. We strengthen ourselves and our rivals dont strengthen. But time is running out and the air travel takes alot of time.

But time is running out and the air travel takes alot of time.

We can offer to strap him to the underside of an RAF Eurofighter they fly quite quickly.

Spurs have NOT give Man Usa permission to talk to Berba but apparently, he's currently at Carrington with McFergie anyways!!

SSN reckoned earlier on that Tottenham have agreed a fee from City for the Incredible Sulk in the region of £30million plus.

How does SAF keep getting away with it???!!!

@Jang/Clive - or RA can let them use his Star Trek teleporter ... come on we're not taking any of this seriously, surely??

I would love it if Spurs called United's bluff - don't think they can afford to, though. Offer Berbatov the option of City or Spurs Reserves until January.

BBC Sport is reporting that Real haven't made a bid for Berbatov.

Man City say they will pour loads of money into the club until they win the CL. Everyone say well "Chelsea did it". What they dont realise is that it took a world class manager Mourinho to make JT and Lamps 2 of the best players in the world. Citeh are a joke. Top 4 this season? What world are they living in? Richard Dunne is no John Terry. Elano is no Frank Lampard. These owners need to get real.

Beam me up, Scotty...

I guess we will have to wait until Robinhos attitude causes problems in the Real Madrid dressing room and they decide that letting him go would be ideal. But they wont get £30m for him. Thats for damn sure. I would be suprised if they got out of the Champions League group stages. Zenit and Juve for me.

@BBD
No of course not..... I'm just enjoying the circus show to fill in the gap before our next game.

Fergie and co. will agree everything with Berbatov and tell him not to worry. Spurs will get a call at 11.53 saying we've agreed the deal with the player and you can have £28 million or f*ck off and keep a player who will go on strike and join us in January - you've got 5 minutes. Spurs will cave and Sulky will be pictured smiling with Fergie and a no. 9 shirt in the papers tomorrow.

Then again, maybe not :-)

Manchester City have put in bids for : Mario Gomez, David Villa and Robinho. LOL whos next? Ronaldo? Haahahahahahahahahaha. They are living in DREAMLAND.

@ 102. JOE

Exactly the same bunch that Spurs have put bids in for!!

Oh the panic!!! lol..

Yeah lolli. They are so stupid. Villa just signed a new deal. If he wont sign for Real Madrid or Chelsea then why on earth would he even consider City? I dont think Berbatov is that great but you cant argue with his record. I think he will go to United. Hes got more chance of winning something there. I dont know why players like Arshavin have wanted to go to Spurs. He said he wants the Champions League. Zenit are in the CL and they are his hometown club and they just beat the European Champions. Why would you leave to join a cup team that are buying players for fun?

Its all too coincidental. Its the last day of the window and all these ridiculous news appear. Why would Madrid sell Robinho to City when they dont even wanna sell it to us?

In the future all transfer windows should be a maximum of 24 hours long.

Lots of rumours that Arshavin will join Spurs before midnight. What a waste.

From the BBC's transfer deadline day page:

"1800: My favourite rumour of the day so far is that Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon is on his way to Manchester City. Let's be honest - City are capable of anything now. Six hours to go, time to step it up a notch."

@ 104. JOE

Very, very true..

As for the Berba situation, surely McFergie could get in trouble for not having permission to speak to a player but having a limo turn up for him anyways??..
Berbatov hasn't even been to speak to Man City yet has he?! and yet City have already agreed terms with Spurs for his services..

Sparky's gonna look a proper t**t if this deal falls through!

By the way WE MUST NOT SELL FERREIRA. If Bosingwa gets injured then we only have Belletti who cant defend. I would rather have a right back who cant defend and not attack then one who is only attack minded. We blew loads of money to keep him on a five year deal last year. Hes is one of our most consistent (yet unspectacular) players in the last few seasons. DONT SELL HIM.

It looks like City, Spurs and Liverpool are trying to buy the league.. err now where have we heard that old chestnut before?

I think we can safely say that Robinho is not coming. There are no signs of PK at all today, as if he has gone MIA. Its suprisingly defeaning on the last day of the transfer window for us. I was expecting some news on Robinho but right now theres none. And theres not enough hype to it compared to the Berbatov deal.

LOLLI, I agree about Berba. But I think Spurs made the deal to City and really Berba is in control of his own destiny. No way would you leave Spurs for City (Who are a million miles away from the top 4). It was funny how Spurs fans came on here and said we have a buy team.

-------------Gomes----------------
Corluka----Woodgate--King----Bale-
-----Modric----Jenas----Bentley---
----------Dos Santos--Lennon------
--------------Bent----------------

Only 3 players in their squad have been there for more than a year. Says it all doesnt it? Gomes 8m, Corluka 8m, Woodgate 8m, Hutton 7m, Gilberto 8m, Dos Santos 4m, Pavlyuchenko 14m. All these guys have came in the last 6 months. WOW

@ 112. Joe

We shall see...money HAS been known to talk once or twice!!

More shitty news arriving

I read in MARCA , Spanish newspaper very close to REal Madrid that Manchester City want to buy Robinho and have sent an offer.
Real would rather sell him to Manchester City than to us....

shit...

LINK

SSN reporting that Berbatov is having a medical at Utd. and apparently Spurs haven't given permission for them to even talk to him. I wonder if the Premier League will see it as a flagrant breach of the tapping up rules and punish them accordingly, I think not somehow.

@Sarah
There is as much chance of Robinho going to Man City as me coaching Brazil, it just isn't going to happen.

Mancs (the red ones) playing this very well; part of the deal will probably be hush money to keep Spurs from moaning about their conduct. And would it be daft to complain about an 'illegal' approach when you've already agreed to sell the player in question to another club anyway?!

Wonder what Peter Kenyon is up to...?

Wonder what Peter Kenyon is up to...?

Probably having dinner in a posh restaurant somewhere.

Had one eye on the first half of the reserve game against Arsenal. Good game. Drogba's doing okay, Scott Sinclair deserves to be in the first team ahead of Malouda, and Miroslav Stoch reminds me of John Spencer - let's just say that both have a 'low centre of gravity'.

I'm feeling a bit left out. Everyone else is flashing the cash whilst we're stuck at home sitting on our wallets.

Come on Chelsea, just buy anyone and spend £33 million in the process to make me feel good.

It's not my money!

There appears to be an annoying comment bug - occasionally a comment doesn't display until a new comment is added...

Arsenal Reserves 2 - 3 Chelsea Reserves. Good game. Drogba lasted an hour. From a distance Fabio Paim looks like a skinny Ronaldinho.

Chelsea Youth and Reserves: LINK

Morning All

Woke and found the world had gone mad with all these rumours being thrown around. It looks like there's going to be an interesting two hours over that side world. Just hope Red Nose doesn't get his man. I just love it when he sulks.

SSN reporting that Robinho is on the verge of joining Cit-Eh for £32m. How can this be happening? Madrid said they is no way they would sell him and they have supposedly agreed a deal with City? Surely if theres one place hes coming its Stamford Bridge. Come on Kenyon, earn you money! If United can hijack deals then theres no reason why we cant.

LOL! I'm staying up just to see what happens - this is all getting more surreal by the minute.

I'm going to check the deeds to my house; I'm slightly concerned that Citeh have bought it without me knowing.

Me too watching SSN right up to the witching hour!

I'm surprised City haven't tried to sign Kaka... or maybe they have?

Looks like I could be coaching Brazil sooner than I thought LOL

2232: Sky Sports News are reporting that a major Spanish radio station says that Robinho has joined Manchester City.

GET KENYON OUT NOW!!!!!! HE DESERVES TO BE FIRED!!!!!!

It was never about finding a replacement for Real, it was only that Kenyon fucked up the negotiating. He offered £26m when Real wanted £32m. Kenyon lost us 50% of the players Scolari asked for and seeing Robinho line up against us for City in our next away game will be too painful. How can City outbid us and what the fuck is Kenyon doing in Madrid. He's on fucking holiday with that smug smile saying "i'm confident the deal is done, let's sell some shirts." Well he's fucked it up Big Time and Kenyon should be shown the door like Avram.

Guarenteed that Robinho will score against us in 2 weeks. Can see the headlines already!

@121 : I suggest you blogroll Chelsea Youth and Reserves to the Chelsea Blog.

I hope that the squad stays as it is. Big fuckoff to Real Madrid once the transfer window shuts. I hope we meet them at some stage in this year's CL, knock them out and Peter Kenyon running on to the green and doing a tummy-down-slide towards the fans, alone.

On the otherhand...it could help give Joey Cole a big lift up. Boy must've been a little low on morale thinking that he would have to fight for places with a Brazilian superstar.

@habs : Dont pull the trigger just yet. I guess every one here must be having itchy fingers but there is still a good hour to go and extra-time.

@Habs - Calm down. Kenyon didn't know that an Arab consortium with more money than Roman would takeover City on the last day of the transfer window and then go on what can only be described as an insane spending spree - or an attempted spending spree. Real didn't want us to have Robinho - and if Robinho has chosen to go to City then it was all about the money and not a desire to play for Scolari and Chelsea. Good luck to him. Does he know that the Hacienda closed over 10 years ago?

Arshavin's still available!

@Ravenous1 130. - "I suggest you blogroll Chelsea Youth and Reserves..." It's already included in the links. LINK

Poor Lolli! Must've hit the sack already!

I reckon Real have told Robinho that a Manchester team wants to sign him they probably smudged the ink on City so he probably thinks he's going to Utd.

Habs I agree with Nick if he chooses to go to City then it's purely for the money, because he won't be seeing any quick success there with them, regardless of how much money they have.

Please can anyone tell me how Manure can sign Berbatov without Spuds agreeing the transfer?

If Kenyon had a Plan B we wouldn't have been put in this position.Surely we could have had other options like Arahvin for instance.

Habs,

Calm down you gibbering fool. So you don't think that it might just be a Madrid friendly media outlet in Spain (and believe me, there are plenty) spreading a few stories to help their favourite club a) let Chelsea know the market for Robinho is still open without losing face and b) helping to push the price up?

Aside of anything else, you'll also note that a deal was agreed by City with Spurs for Berbatov. They can't force him to go there, just as they can't force Robinho to move. It comes down to whether the player wants to go, and if Robinho decides that he prefers Eastlands and a club / manager he probably hadn't heard of until to Chelsea and a manager he knows and respects, then good luck to him.

(Whilst we're about it, take a look at what a memorandum of understanding is - Citeh have precisely this with the Arabic chaps and are not yet legally 'owned' by their prospective buyers, so any club receiving sudden huge offers from them will tread cautiously and want to know that the money is definitely there first.)

Bellowing "Kenyon out" continually because a Spaniard has had a hissy fit and you've not got bragging rights about a tricky Brazilian winger is neither big nor clever.

I don't understand all this faith in robinho to save us. Malouda was well touted, not doing much. SWP was great in a lesser shade of blue, but barely touched the pitch with us. And Sheva, the Milan legend, found ample time on our bench to improve his golf game. Drogba even took two years to become decent, and he has only had one really good year to his premiership record. Let's calm down about signing new players.

SWP will be well and truly pissed off if Robinho pitches up at Citeh and puts him on the bench...

Come to think of it, Kenyon was rumoured to be joining City earlier. Maybe he's done his job after all and signed Robinho for them? :-)

@138: Haha! yes. from the old Chelsea to the new Chelsea. Will hurt more given that Citeh are quickly becoming the royal whore of world football. Rumour has it Sultan of Brunei plans for use next season.

Btw, the pic in the homepage still has SWP in it :-|.

This just in: the bloke manning the fax machine at FA headquarters, Soho, has just been nicked trying to score some speed.

They're just round the corner from me Nick - I'll take him a nice strong coffee in the morning...!

2314: Real Madrid have now quickly confirmed that they have reached an agreement to sell Robinho to Manchester City

An unidentifiable bald english man in suit was just seen jumping off the tallest buliding in Madrid.

Now if only man city get berbatov, then the summer wouldnt seem so bad

@Jimmy - Even if City fail in their bid to sign Berbatov, they've succeeded in driving his fee through the roof. Rumours are that United had to match City's bid by upping their offer and including Frazer Campbell in the deal. Is Berbatov worth £37m?! Credit crunch my arse.

Scolari asked for 2 players, Deco and Robinho, and Kenyon failed to get Robinho. Why didn't we have a backup? We now have Malouda and an off form Cole to supply Kalou, Anelka and Didier up front. Did anyone see us on Sunday? No ideas, no invention and no flair. Scolari wanted Robinho and Kenyon said we would get him. So why did he not respond to City's bid? We sold SWP on the presumption of a replacement and i'd like to see Kenyon explain why we've let 3 attacking players go (Sheva, Pizarro and SWP - all crap) and brought no-one in?

Official announcement on Real Madrid's website:

"Real Madrid have agreed to transfer Robson da Souza Robinho to Manchester City. Based on prior events, such as statements made by the player, a decision taken by the coach, and a new offer on behalf of Manchester City, the club decided to transfer Robinho to the English side.

The decision was made after taking into consideration all the human and sporting factors related to the case and while also considering the criteria set forth by the sporting director, coach, and secretary general of the club.

The Board of Directors would like to reiterate the faith it has in the current squad and its ability to reach new heights in the sport. Finally, Real Madrid would like to wish Robinho the best of luck in future endeavors."

LINK

That's fine, KaiseJonny but what will Scolari say to Kenyon when they meet. He wanted a new attacker, sold SWP on that assumption and we've ended up with no-one.

Embarrassing.

"In my mind I am already a Chelsea player..."

Robinho was obviously dead set on coming here then!

I can't quite stand the inevitable whining, spoilt "I didn't get my sweeties" reaction from some of the ingrates on here, so I'm off to my pit.

That's fine KaiserJonny, but Scolari wanted a new attacker, sold SWP on that assumption and now Kenyon has delivered no-one. What will Scolari say to him now?

I am sure Scolari is mature enough to understand that you can't always get what you want.

What will Scolari say to him now?

"Kenyon, you buffon! How dare you not be able to foresee that Manchester City would be bought by a billionaire Arab on deadline day and smash the British transfer record for the player I wanted!"

Quite clear now that Robinho just wanted out of Madrid; he's joined a club that hasn't even watched him play with a view to buying him. Best of luck...

0002: BREAKING NEWS Confirmation is coming through that Robinho has signed for Manchester City for £32million. They have gazumped Chelsea!

It's official according to the BBC:

"0005: TRANSFER CONFIRMED AND MY GOD IT'S A CRACKER
Robinho, the 24-year-old Brazilian, has left Real Madrid and signed for Manchester City. That is officially the biggest deadline day deal in history. Probably."

Kenyon does not look foolish. See comment #s 131 and 153.

Whatever anyone thinks about signing Robinho,Kenyon hasn't done himself any favours and has ended up looking pretty foolish.
I don't suppose RA will be too pleased with Kenyon's performance either.

I don't think Robinho is worth the money that City are paying and as other people have mentioned,it looks like he only wanted to leave for the money.
Of course his first game has to be against us,so look out for goals from him and SWP.

Comments are borked.

0008: We have official confirmation now. Manchester City have confirmed on their official website that they have signed Robinho. City boss Mark Hughes is, of course, delighted

Absolutley FURIOUS about Robinho going to City. We bidded all summer and they said they wouldnt sell. Its a JOKE. Abramovic is proberbly as angry as I am. Kenyon made severeal mistakes including trying to sign only one player. We could have signed Arshavin whos the kind if player we are really lacking. Now we are stuck with Malouda all year. PK should be sacked on the spot. We have become a laughing stock. Robinho wanted to come to us and we got outbidded by quite possibly the luckiest bunch of scumbags in football. Now we have nobody to bring in. All the good wingers are either unavailable or have already moved. Arent we going to play with Wingers all season? Are we going to use the formation we used against Spurs all year? Its a disgrace.

*** Apologies if your comment doesn't show up - something's gone wrong. They are being recorded, just not displaying on the blog. Keep leaving them until they show up! I can't do anything about it. :-( ***

sooooooo angry right now. i'm not going to be able to sleep haha.

we just need to start winning well and we'll forget all about him. You know what could be incredibly nice or incredibly horrible? that our next fixture is man city. We need to forget all about how robinho (at least in my head) is exactly what we needed, by thrashing them.

poor SWP! finally got rid of us so he could get 1st team football, quickly got out before robinho made him even more of a bench warmer... then he follows him over to man city!

Hopefully Kenyon will at least respond fans like me who are wondering why we havent signed any good wingers this year and other questions like

1. Why didnt he respond to Citys bid?
2. Why didnt he have a back-up plan?
3. Why did we start selling shirts with Robinhos name on them before we had came close to signing him?
4. Why we got pipped to a player we had chased all summer by a team that finished 8th last season
5. Why he thinks we have the squad to match Manchester United who managed to get their man

This comment is on behalf of Fiftee, who quite wisely is probably tucked up in bed somewhere in East Anglia:

TOLD YOU SO! TOLD YOU SO! TOLD YOU SO! TOLD YOU SO! TOLD YOU SO!

What a weird day.

There's another big fish in the pond.

I'm retiring to bed soon. I've got BT coming round in the morning to look at my Net connection, so I might not be online until lunchtime. I hope the comments sort themselves out.

Nighty-night.

A few random thoughts:

1) despite JD's sterling efforts to defend Kenyon it's hard not to see this as another example of his crap negotiating skills and confirmation HE is the worst signing of the RA era

2) echo sentiments above re poor old SWP as bench-warming beckons again even if it "feels like home"

3) whatever happened to the need for medical clearance in such last minute deals?

0034: ENORMOUS BREAKING TRANSFER NEWS
The Spurs website says they have agreed to sell Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United for £30.75m, with Fraizer Campbell going to Spurs on a season-long loan.

0036: As part of the deal, Spurs have agreed not to pursue their complaint to the Premier League over Manchester United's pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov. Great day for Fergie then, unsurprisingly.


Well Fergie's got a big grin on his face and Kenyon's got egg on his.

Obiviously the other clubs fear the chelsea team but they can have no worries where the management is concerned. They can either sell a player to them for a lot more than they're worth and then buy them back for half the price later or use Chelse to bolster his price to another team.

....is it too soon to start the "Robinho is just another step-over show pony we're better off without" movement?

- and how are ManUre going to keep Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez all playing alongside Berbatov regularly?

I've begun to start to think more rationally:
1. Scolari wanted a new attacker and he hasn't got one. He's bound to be unhappy and will now need to pick up the players for the game with City where a certain Brazilian will be marking his debut. Chelsea are the big losers of this window. As the statement to SSN read: "Chelsea were not willing to pay £32m for Robinho" which should worry us all.
2. City are the new Kings. Any player we want, they can now outbid us. In January they'll be looking to buy every quality, non cup tied player to guarentee them a top 4 spot instead of Arsenal or Liverpool. And as for the summer of 2009, it's going to be crazy. Our dream of Aguero, Villa or Kaka playing for us looks over if City get a CL spot. They are undoubtedly the new Chelsea and can buy their way to the top. I hope Roman's pride hasn't been too dented, as we still need him to compete to bring top quality players to the BRidge. But as tonight PROVED, money talks and they've simply got more of it than us. We couldn't pay £32m and they could. When we try to buy Kaka next summer for £70m, they'll offer £80m... The only thing that can now attract players to us is if we are the best side in Europe, which means winning the CL. That's still UTd's pull. If in January or in 2009 all we have to offer players is London, another CL semi-final and money, we'll lose out. But winning the CL has been made a lot harder with our shoddy attack. I feel disapoointed and now slightly jealous that we have a real competitor who can actually beat us. What does this hold for the future? Who can really rule out City extending their stadium, bringing in Jose Mourinho in a few years and buying the world's best with their new money? When Roman came in, we bought randomly under Claudio, yet today City bid for THE BEST. They released offers for Robinho, Villa and Berbatov.
3. I still don't understand why we didn't have a Plan B? Arshavin/Quaresma/Ashley Young. Someone to provide a spark and some flair.

Speechless, absolutley speechless! Whether Robinho is that good or not, this is just embarrasing! As my previous posts have pointed out for over a year now, the CFC board are just stupid bungling idiots believeing their own hype that throw enough money about and we can win all without a decent manager that also attracts talent!. HOW COME SCOLARI KNEW ROBIHO SO WELL THAT HE WENT TO ANOTHER CLUB? somebody is not telling the truth to the fans about what is going on at CFC and who is taking the decisions. How will other top players look at us in the future? This whoe saga since Morurinho went has got worse for sure and let's not try to delude ourselves otherwise, jsut when we were starting to look like dominating the Prem and possibly Europe for the forseeable future, we have not improved, facts! A laughing stock!

HABS, For once I COMPLETELY agree with you. But one player doesnt change a team. You look at their defence its not nearly as good as ours. I still dont think that they will crack the top 4 and if not then Sparky may get the sack. I think the only way that we can go forward is to bring our youngsters through that dream of playing for us. Stoch is a great prospect, Paim obviously has alot of potential. Scott Sinclair is far better than Malouda. I think that everybody is getting a little over excited about City. It took Jose Mourinho to make us one of the best clubs in the world and he is in my opinion the best manager in the world. If Hughes doesnt match the expectations then he will either get sacked or the owners will just give up.

Onto some positives:

1: Money doesn't ALWAYS talk, just quite often. The likes of Messi will never be bought and Kaka feels a sentimental attachment towards Scolari. So we have an advantage there. To attract world class players who aren't mercenaries, you need sustained showings in the CL. We're now the no.1 seeds in Europe, yet we still can't attract Kaka, Aguero and Villa. City don't have that...yet. If they are able to build a side to get into the CL and compete for the PL next year, then only then will we start to feel the heat of City's cash.
2. We kept Paulo... i think.
3. We have the chance to show City that a player was only swayed by £92000 per week AFTER TAX, will never love their club by beating them.

Ok then, more negatives:

4. How will Roman feel? This is the first time EVER that he's been outbid, yet it won't be the last. Where does he go from here? On a spending spree in January to make up for it? Impossible due to Abu Dabhi's cash. A spending spree next summer? Impossible due to Abu Dabhi. We're turning into Utd where we'll have to blood young talent, or buy just 1 every summer (Carrick, Berbatov...) I hope Roman retaliates by building us a new stadium. Showing everyone that Russian cash can build the best stadium in the world!
5. Robinho is definitely a quality player, despite his hypocitical nature. While we have Malouda and Cole on the wings in 2 weeks, they'll have Robinho and SWP. I know SWP was useless for them but at City he looks more comfortable. And as for Malouda! You can bet that the Arabs won't be rushing to put in a bid for him next summer. He's utterly useless.
6. City are now contenders for everything. This annoys me most of all as their fans don't deserve it. (Jealousy creeping in here). Their fans have no class and Manchester doesn't deserve to be able to attract world stars. The style of the King's Road will always top Eastlands and yet money will persuade many to play at City.

I can't wait to tune into Chelsea TV. How will they spin this story? Will they forget that Kenyon thought this deal was secure for the past month or that we sold shirts with his name on? The fact that we were outbid is the most worrying thing. We may be wanting to break even, but as many commentators voiced tonight, the bar has been raised. Many have defended Kenyon by saying that he couldn't have seen the Arab's gazumping him. We all know that but he had 6 hours to respond to their bid and he didn't. IF it was because of the price then it's confirmation that City are now top dog. But Kenyon should know with all jis experience that we should have a Plan B. When Claudio or Jose asked for a player, a back up suggestion was always made. Claudio said when he left that he wanted Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres but was given Veron, Crespo and Mutu. Jose wanted Eto'o but was given Sheva. He wanted Gerrard but was given Essien. Kenyon should have suggested a back up to Scolari and for placing all his eggs in the Robinho basket was idiotic.

The Arab's oil money trumps Roman's gas money and we need to find an advantage over them.

As UTd showed tonight with Berba, the pull of being CL and PL champions is still strong. That is why this season is HUGE for us now. We MUST win either of them to be able to buy the best ahead of City. But i'm very worried about our attack. Can you really see us winning the CL with Malouda, Joe, Kalou, Anelka and Didier. Because i can see Utd winning it with Ronaldo, Tevez, Nani, Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov. On Sunday when Anelka and Joe were again misfiring we looked to the bench and brought on Malouda and Di Santo. That is my real disappointment with today. Not on Robinho specifically but more so that we didn't sign ANYONE. We have nobody who can offer us something different off the bench. And as Spurs showed, when Deco and Lamps are off form, our side shuts down.

Damn, where's my comment gone?

I can't wait for the end of the season when Robinho will be pleading for a move to Chelsea. Think we should get him cheap. This should ensure we do not deal with Real again.

About Robinho SAGA, its not worth to talk about it already. It is CHELSEA WHO DOES NOT WANT to push the bid like what ManCity can offer to Real Madrid. So it is our clubs fault.

It's that Berbatov news that's really got me.
Robinho - in all honesty - I personally wasn't too bothered if we got or not.

Now that they have Berbatov, we will have a HUGE battle to beat them in any of the competitions.

Without an aerial presence they won the double. Now they can just lump it up there if they need to...

Easy Easy - I actually think NOT getting Robinho is a GOOD thing. Here is why: -

1) Although talented - not the right build for the League - another Robben I fear

2) Not worth 32mill - Let City buy him for that amount and ManU can buy berba for 30mill. We spent 8mill this season on Deco - no they can't claim we just buy the league.

3) City - the new power player in town - bring it on. Again - less flak for us about our wealth and the more competitive the league the better for everyone. I mean that - if we start having 5-6 teams challenging for the title each season it will be the most exiciting league in the world not just the biggest.

4) Our current players - peeps like J.Cole and Scott Sinclair and Di Santo are gonna get there chance to shine this season as well Sahar I hope. Thank God we are finally gonna promote from our youth team rather then spend 30mill on a new Mercenary player.

Well Done to PK and RA for not being bullied into spending silly money for a player. We are going back to being a normal club that won't pay inflated prices. Hopefully in our pursuits in the future clubs will no longer be able to charge over the odds as they know we will let a player go if the price is too much.

Come on Chels!!

United getting Berba is another reason why we MUST be in top form. A few weeks ago I wanted to get rid of Drogba but now im adamant we MUST keep him and play someone (preferebly Anelka) alongside him. I guess the next few months are going to show us what Scolari is really made of.

I wouldnt be suprised if they forced him to go to City. Obviously they werent going to sell him to us. I thought it wasnt a deal until it is signed? He will want to come to us I agree with that. I am oppurtunistic about the fact that their owners are VERY optimistic and want them to break into the top 4 this year and win the CL a year later. Can anyone see that happening? Most owners get fed up with situations like this and leave the club like Shinawatra. Wouldnt be suprised if Hughes got the boot next season if he doesnt deliver what those crazy owners want.

If it was me then I really would have pulled out all the stops to sign Arshavin whos club would let him go and still will for £20m. Maybe we will go for him in January? Unlikely but lets hope so. The only real option for the club at the moment is to bring in some of our best youngsters and hope they fullfill their potential. Stoch, Cork, Tejera and Sinclair all deserve a chance in the first team.

@John 177: I agree that the board should be congratulated for not paying over the odds for a player who is unproven in the Premier League. Its pretty clear that Real Madrid didn't want him at Chelsea as they perceive us to be a real threat (unlike Man City), so we should take that as a compliment.

When we reflect on the summer transfers, we should be pretty satisfied with what we've done. We have added the two key players (i.e. a playmaker and a right back) that we've been advocating for, we've retained all of our important existing players, and we've offloaded the marginal and underperforming players.

Having invested significantly in the transfer market in the past few seasons, we now need to consolidate our successes. This means being smart about our transfer targets by identifying key players that will fit into the team and not paying too much for them. And it means continuing to identify and develop young players that will challenge for places in the future.

We should also be somewhat circumspect about the situation that Man City finds itself in – it wasn’t so long ago, after Roman's arrival at the Bridge, that our rivals were reacting in much the same way that we seem to be now. We know as well as anyone that it takes more than just a lot of money to bring success. It took a very special one to deliver that. And now we have a very sound base on which to build.

WOW!!! I slept through ALL of that and have just woke to the news on Berba & Robinho (didn't see that one materialising in a month of Sundays!!) on SSN..The City fans are gloating that they have him and are now the richest team in the Prem and are going to finish top of the table apparently! Oh dear..dream on!!

I see it that at least Robinho wanted to get out of Madrid, which he has now achieved..and we all know of his desire to play for US. He's publicly stated it often enough! He'll probably be putting in a transfer request next season!! lol..

And how's about Berbatosser going to Man Usa?? I think it's the first time i've seen a smile on his rat-like mug!! Glory hunting shite! £30.75million..he ain't worth that..i'd LOVE to see him fall flat..

So..Sparky's happy..
Robinho MIGHT be happy (at least with his pay cheque if nothing else!)
Ye Olde Purple Nose is happy..
Berbatosser's happy...

Has anyone seen JANG???!!!

P.S Man Usa face a loss of points over the Berba transfer according to one tabloid this morning..hope so, i'm sick to death of McFergie being untouchable..that bloke gets away with murder!! >:(

For me, Berba joining those Manures spoiled my day more than Robinho going to Citeh. As talented as the kid is, surely he's no world beater yet to command 32.4 million pounds. We made an expensive mistake on Sheva and im glad Roman has learnt his lessons.

This amount is a huge risk for us take considering that he's form was inconsistent through out his Madrid years and his adaptability to the English game remains in doubt due to his physique. I personally feel that Robinho wont solve our problems in attack 100%. Theres still a few dodgy elements to his game.

For once, we were not held to ransom and no one, I MEAN NO ONE, can now claim that we bought trophies. They will be HYPOCRITES calling the kettle black if they say it one more time i swear. If we manage to win something by spending 8 million pounds on Deco, wouldnt it be more satisfying?

Yes, Kenyon did screw up the deal. But he also has to buy players at the right price. We did not succumb to the demands of those Madrid scums and i was pretty pleased with that. We are starting to have our own buying principles now. Robinho was way over-priced and its as simple as that. The deal doent represent quality for money from the board's perspective.

I would rather pay 32.4 million pounds on someone like Benzema and Aguero than Robinho. Not sour grapes here but that's how i really feel. If we manage to win a major trophy this season, well done Scolari. A shrewd signing like Deco made the difference and there was no need to buy big. If we dont, theres always next summer. Robinho is only a tree in the forrest. There's always new talents for us to snap up. Surely Citeh cant buy them all? We are title and CL contenders every season. Thats a weapon Citeh dont have in their armoury yet.

My only worry now: How are we going to counter the Manures this season after they landed Berbatov. Its really depressing.

I see people are getting their knickers in a twist again over Robinho, if City are foolish enough to pay over the odds for someone they probably never even looked at up until yesterday then more fool them. I think Mark Hughes should be worried, because it's become quite obvious with City's lavish bids on all sorts of big names yesterday appear to be going on without any real thought to what City need.

The owners lofty goals for the club seem a little unrealistic to say the least in the time frame they've set out, Sparky is going to be put under extreme pressure to deliver.

I just wonder, if they're going after high profile players, how soon will it be before they go after a high profile manager with a proven track record.

I think Chelsea were spot on not being held to ransom by that slimy shit Calderon, hypocrisy and double standards seem to be the norm for him and Madrid, perhaps Utd might give them some pay back next year by selling Ronaldo to Barca.

A final note on Robinho, a potentially good player he may be, and he may have been pissed off with his treatment at Madrid and wanted out. But it looks like he may have been badly advised in his rush to get away. I wonder how he could be persuaded to leave Madrid for a team that hasn't challenged or won anything for years? I'm sure his agent saw the euro signs flash up before his eyes and nudged him up to the North West, which is going to be a huge culture shock for the lad.

Anyway good luck to City, but be careful not to piss too many people off by just attempting to hijack deals other clubs are negotiating, otherwise you might be despised more than Utd for the wrong reasons.

@177 and 181

Well said guys. Finally theres some sense to our transfer dealings though i regret that we couldnt replace the void left by SWP. But we are still strong enough to win things. No Robinho, so be it. Bring on the title.

@182

Good morning though its lunch time here in my country. Im here. How can i help you? =)

Jang, for once in my life, I agree with nearly everything you say.

We don't know exactly what went on, so it's unfair to speculate that Kenyon screwed it up. I imagine he was trying to do exactly what Fergie did with Berbatov, wait it out and count on an disgruntled player to push things through. Of course, he might not have known that the arabs were planning on buying City and planning on purchasing the All-Europe team in one day.

So it backfired. Maybe they weren't going to spend over 30mil for him, which I understand. We don't have terribly good luck with transfers, for whatever reason. As I have said many times before, lots of costly mistakes. All points made by Jang, good for you on using your noggin.

As for the ManC rulers of the world theory, we haven't become irrelevant. The mere fact that Madrid didn't want him to come here validates us as a real threat to them, which in turn means that we have something to offer the Kaka's and the Messi's. Sure, ManC has the money, but they are also in Manchester. And they are also the second team in Manchester, and it will take a long spell of glory to change that. And it's not like we are suddenly destitute.

Chelsea is as Chelsea does. At the very least, this episode brings us more in line with our history of underachieving. I sort of like the continuity.

I think it's outrageous that a club can just steamroller its way through the transfer market because it has unlimited funds; surely UEFA has got to step in?

@JD 153 not entirely sure why Scholari will accuse Kenyon of being a French naturalist? LINK

Well, when I read the article this morning I was somewhat taken aback. Not only had our prime summer target been snatched from under our noses at the 12th hour but it was a club who a week before were having to apply for a loan of 30M against their TV revenue. Bizarre to say the least.

Personally I am glad Robinho has gone to Citeh (and not one of our current rivals). I have doubted his attitude and his ability to play in the toughest league in Europe. Clearly the player and/or his agent was swayed by the lure of the pound and not the opportunity to play in a top team and in the CL. After all he has left the current champions of Spain and CL action to join the second team in Manchester and the Eufa cup. Bizarre choice from a playing career perspective and maybe sums up the way Robinho really sees himself in terms of playing ability.

I also agree the board were right to hold out against paying anymore than they wanted. 30M for this player is 15M too much in my opinion given career highlights so far. Robinho is not Kaka or Ronaldino he has achieved nothing yet other that big pay deals and playing for Citeh he will still achieve nothing. As I said bizarre move indeed.

We already have a fantastic team although I understand peoples desire to have another top winger/striker it is not essential to us winning competitions. Besides, this is an opportunity for Big Phil to be true to his word and give a younger player the opportunity to fight for the place Robinho would have taken. It will cost the club a lot less and should pay dividends in the long run.

I am also glad the transfer window is over at last. Now we can all get on with the seasson proper.

Of course when we play Citeh on 13th there will be a few Chelsea defenders keen to leave their stud marks on the little Brazilian to welcome him to the toughest league in Europe....

KTBFFH

Where does all these transfer deadline drama leaves us? The Manures have made a significant purchase which could prove pivitol in the title race. In 2 weeks time, we are facing the kid we have chased all summer long. They next 2 games are more crucial then anyone would have thought. Ironically, its the 2 Manchester clubs. Red or Blue, we need to beat them both to stake a serious claim in the title race. I hope Scolari knows the importances of the next 2 games.

Again all this fuss over Berbatov, grossly overpriced and overrated, he's a selfish lazy player who goes missing quite a bit in games. Only time will tell if he's pivotal to United winning the premiership or CL again, but I certainly don't think we have to worry too much about him.

@ Jang

As good has Berbatov has been (at times) for the spuds he is not that good and certainly not worth 30M quid. On his day Drogba is more damaging and cost us less. It will be intersting to see how Berbatov settles in under purple noses managerial approach. If he takes a sulk then times will be hard for him !

The season won't be won if we win these 2 games, it will be our ability to avoid so many draws like the Spurs game on Sunday. With Drogba back and hopefully firing the like of Kalou and Di Santo to shine it will be Chelsea who will be feared the most not a Berbatov led Man USA.

As for Robinho, he is a virtual novice in the game and has done nothing to suggest he will do much better at Citeh. IN fact I wouldn't be surprised if SWP is the better buy for them.

I think Berbatov had disappeared during games because he was not happy with Rottenham. Now that he's happy at where he is, im sure he will start performing. Im not deluding myself here because our main rival has just got stronger while we got slightly weaker. I hope im wrong though.

Btw, when will we hear from PK again? Would be interesting to hear what he has to say. I want to be entertained. ;-)

This is the last straw. Kenyon's arrogance and shoddy dealing killed off the Robinho deal when it could have been sealed weeks ago. Real Madrid think they are the greatest club in the world (and perhaps they are historically) - so they obviously don't like to be dictated to - it's a staggeringly idiotic thing to print Robinho shirts. Kenyon was employed for his political know-how. He's failed in this area on countless times. Let's have a few banners letting Kenyon know he's not welcome at Chelsea. Sack the f**ker!

It may be the case Man U are stronger with a big front man IF he performs. Don't agree that we are weaker for not getting Robinho and losing SWP. SWP was not up to the task in a team like Chelsea and I had my doubts Robinho would be either given his attitude and career highlights todate.

As Clive says Berbatov has a selfish side which will soon be found out at Man U.

All academic of course until the season plays itself out. We shall know more by Xmas time. The one player I want to see more of is Di Santo. First time I have seen him play on Sunday and he looks big and sharp and hungry for success. If he can get the pace of 1st team football (and gets game time to do so) then he could be our snake in the grass as the campaign progresses.

Are there any up and coming wingers in the reserves who can step up - I am not that offay with the reserves/juniors.

KTBFFH

@PETERTHEGREAT

Yes the 2 games dont loose us the title. But it sets the tone for the season ahead. And it gives us momentum to do even better and go forward. Agree with you about Di Santo. I want to see him play.

Fuck I despair sometimes at the reactions of some of the, as JD put it ingrates on this site. Yes everyone is entitled to their view and slant on things I accept, but get a grip, read what Chelsea said about their approach and the mistake from an outside supplier in trying to sell Robinhos shirt, which was quickly rectified.

As someone mentioned before you can have any name you want on any shirt, wouldn't it be fun if we all wore Ronaldos name, it could be construed as tapping up by Chelsea ;-)

O.k, so I’ll get it out of the way :

I TOLD YOU SO.

Thanks Nick for posting it on my behalf. I was in the land of nod counting Robinho’s jumping over the advertising hoardings at the Bridge.

Well, I said it wouldn’t happen, but never in as long as Florent Malouda will continue to be an utterly ineffective left winger, did I think he’d go to Man Citeh.

I don’t really know how to feel. I think I want to be angry. I want to blame someone. Not because we lost out on Robinho. Just because – shock horror – I don’t think I trust TSSO’s judgment.

So far we’ve seen Shevchenko and Pizarro depart from our pool of 4 strikers, replaced by a 19 year old with no first team experience. Give the youth a chance yeah, but with Drogba having surgery everyone knew about, was there never a thought that an additional and / or experienced striker might help as we’ve been left with just Anelka?

We’ve seen our third most effective wide man sold, thus promoting International fuck-wit and all round arse-clown Florent Malouda up the rankings. Scott Sinclair hasn’t even made a first team squad this season, yet I’d play him instead of Malouda even if Sinclair were wrapped in a straight-jacket. Locked in a coffin. And it was on the bottom of the Thames.

I get the feeling there has been a shift. Maybe Roman’s had his fingers burned with bad purchases one too many times. I can see the sense in not entering a bidding war for Robinho if we deem it not worth it, but to lose out on your managers one remaining transfer target over a few million quid is pretty trivial, when millions to Roman are like pence to us mere mortals.

Man U have been after Berbatov for God knows how long. Legally and illegally they’ve approached him, tapped him up, whatever. Point is, they’ve got their man. Maybe paying more than they need to, but he’s been identified as the missing piece of their jigsaw.

Continued.....

....here

As I said, I want to blame someone. My heart is saying Kenyon’s at fault, I just don’t know what for. My head is saying we’ve done the right thing in sticking to our guns. The problem is I actually think the ‘calculated’ decisions we’ve made so far in letting people go and not replacing them will actually cost us. I think we’re worse off than we were a month ago. We’ve got a smaller squad, if DD struggles to get fit, or gets injured again can anyone really say that Anelka is going to make a difference. He hasn’t so far. January is a long way off, and even then we’re restricted by cup-tied players.

ManUSA have made a step forward. I fear we’ve taken one back.

Now we know what Manyoo and Arse fans felt like when we got all the money. Our fans are mouthing exactly the same arguments as them too. Money can't buy success. These players won't make it in the Prem. Well, some of them will - Robinho is quick enough of brain and body and skillful enough to avoid the clumsy lunges of most Prem fullbacks be in no doubt of that. It's an amazing acquisition for Citeh and quite a shock to the system this morning to read about it. We can hardly complain, having enjoyed Roman's out-of-the-blue benevolence for so long. Now we are something of an old-guard team ourselves. So firmly established at the top that no one really complains much anymore about our wealth. Citeh will be challenging. Big finance, used well, and buying decent advice as well as players, investing in coaching and infrastructure, will bring the titles (the big splash yesterday was as much of an announcement of arrival as serious team building). Watch for QPR over the coming seasons too. The clubs who will fear this the most are Arsenal and Liverpool. They just don't quite have enough investment to match this kind of spending. As for Manyoo? They have the money and infrastructure to maintain their position for a few years yet, though the romantic sentiment that keeps the money pouring in through the gates and over the sales counters won't be enough in the long term - not now the income can be matched by investment from Arab oil billionaires. And as for us? Roman has drawn back from his initial Citeh-like spending as he has learned more what is required to build a top club. The investment in infrastructure and the first team coach along with judicious signings is the approach we adopt now. It places us firmly in the mix but does not suggest are automatic winners of titles. It means we have to rely on our fabled team spirit and good tactical coaching as well as individual skill. It will make us less cocky as fans. It returns us to a sense of reality. No bad thing.

I think we are entitled to feel angry at the Robinho outcome. And it doesnt mean we are ungrateful.

We need to ask why Real didnt want to do business with us and it's hardly the first time is it. Cant blame Kenyon for everything, though I must say, I cannot abide the man.

I know different rules apply to us, the money, the perceived arrogance etc etc. We are used to getting a bad press for all kinds of things but with transfers it is Chief Exec to Chief Exec and our Man U supporting 'friend' has a habit of mucking these deals up.

This whole mess has made Real as a club look like a spoilt child who has had its favourite toy taken away, Robinho seemingly doesnt know what he wants and will have to explain his 'heart being at Stamford Bridge' to City fans and worse if all, made us, or rather Kenyon, look like amateurs. We dont know the whole story but on the face of it, this is a fuck up.

Amazing too that Mark Hughes hasnt spoken to the player and he hasnt had a medical, i doubt Robinho knows anything about the club or City.

Just seen a City fan say on SSN that he has been winding up his Utd mates with 'what's it like to be a fan of the smallest club in Manchester'. Every cliche has a silver lining.

@ Fitfee... I have to disagree a little...

Yes we are lighter squad and injuries to key players like Drogba, Cole or even Anelka will make life interesting in the sriking department. My hope is the club will start to blood younger players with potential when the need arises rather than have this second tier of also ran players and players past their prime.

I believe the club is better off without Sheva, Pizzaro, SWP around to fill in and it is much better to have hungry younger players looking to prove themselves by stepping up. Not sure whats happened to Sinclair - is he on loan ? But players like him, Di Santo and others in the reserves need the places to be available to step into in order to get 1st team game time.

As for PK's performance we shall never know the full story. On balance I beleive the board did the right thing holding out on their bid and not being held to ransom any more than they already had been. I don't believe anyone saw Citeh suddenly coming in with a last minute bid over 30mil and the player and/or agent stupidly agreeing to this big money deal. There is no guarantee the arabs will go ahead with their buyout and where will Citeh and Robinho be then !!

This transfer window has got completely out of hand. Nice idea when it first came in but now clubs and players agents are taking advantage of the situation. I guess that is the subject of a different debate...

KTBFFH

What City did yesterday was headless chicken stuff, they had all this money and wanted to spend it like a kid in a toy shop and this on the first day.
They had no idea the type of players Sparky wanted, so they said here's an idea lets go for the names that Chelsea and Utd are after and offer more, well it worked on one of them and pushed up the price on Berbatov which Utd didn't really want to pay.
But it was obvious Utd's need for a striker was greater than our need for another midfielder/forward, so that's why they bought him, bloody hell for all we know they might have even inquired about Kaka!

Would be good to know what's on SWP's mind this morning.

The more I think about Citeh's position the more bizarre it gets. If the arab was serious about buying the club and doing something useful for this season why did he wait until the last day of the transfer window to annouce the deal and then make all these ridiculous bids ? There is something fishy about this buy out and the Robinho deal.

Don't be surprised if the due diligence process suddenly doesn't work out and the arab goes back to buying property and Robinho is sold in the Jan transfer window for 15mil...

May be imagining it but in hindsight there was something about Scolari's demeanour after the game on Sunday, when he answered the repeated questions about Robinho with 'ask Peter'. His mood could have just have been about the result and his unwillingness to comment on an 'ongoing' deal but there was a hint of another factor in his responses and attitude.

Would be good to know what's on SWP's mind this morning.

Certainly would be, poor guy not quite good enough to be a regular amongst our superstars, and now he's gone back to a club who could well end up with similar superstars.

@ Clive.. SWP has until Jan to be the star when presumably (if the Arab deal is finalised) they will be "strengthening the squad with "top four" players" (to quote Goal.com). Quite where they plan to find "top 4 players" who are prepared to leave in January will be interesting, but I guess money will talk.

Maybe he will come back to Chelsea on a loan deal...;-)

@203 PeterTheGreat,

I agree with your point. I too would welcome the addition of eager youngsters into the squad.

Unfortunately we're still being subjected to Malouda doing whatever the hell it was on Sunday when the likes of Sinclair aren't getting a look (he's still at CFC, played in the ressies match against Arsenal yesterday). I really hope Di Santo comes good, he's highly rated in Argentina according to the bloke who writes the South American football blog on the BBC (whos name escapes me).

The problem is, beyond those two we're then left in the hands of the enigma that is Frank Arnesen. And he had nothing to do with us getting Sinclair anyway.

I guess what would be better from my point of view would be for the club to come out and say 'we're getting rid of the unwanted players, buying no-one and blooding the youngsters. We might not win anything in the short-term but we're building for the future'. I could (almost) accept that.

Instead of which, we're in for Robinhood until the last few hours of the transfer window, then gazumped by Man City who were happy to bid for anyone that was going. Fair enough we didn't see it coming, but we look a bit stupid now because everyone knows he was our one target. The fact he's been swayed by umpteen thousands of pounds a week proves it could be a shrewd decision on our part, and that he's only in it for the money, but that still doesn't detract from the fact that we just dont have the personnel to challenge on four fronts any more.

Good Morning All

Well, I had a great holiday, cheers for asking.

A month of madness seems to have been the order whilst I vacated these shores for somewhere the mercury never fell much below 30 during the day and stayed above 20 during the night. I appear to have come back to more economic doom and gloom that our Gallic cousins seem to be ignoring in their own 'joie de vivre' manner, a murder at work of someone I knew well, huge success in the Olympics at sports not involving huge black men (or the posh sports), transfer lunacy, sublime/ridiculous performances, on/off deals, unforeseen takeovers, silly money bids, sulking and crying players, hypocrisy,lies and most of it doesn't involve us!

I'm with JD, the noise over Robinho is a prime case of fans over-egging the pudding. £32m? Please, get a grip, if we'd paid that I'd be scratching my head over how a player yet to do anything of any note anywhere is valued that highly. Having said that I hope we cut RM out of any future dealings with us after the blatant lying and hypocrisy of their own Peter Kenyon, Senor Calderon.

I do think most of the players I wanted out have now gone, although why the hell Florent Fuckwit Malouda has stayed is beyond me. I think TSSO may regret that decision. The good thing is that we do seem to be taking a different stance and maybe the youngsters will get their chances in the same way that they do at Arsenal, rather than chucking wheelbarrow loads of money at alleged world superstars who can't cut the rough and tumble of the EPL brand of the beautiful game.

Oh, and Berbatov? As my mate ChelseaBob used to say about DD 'If he's worth £24m then I'm worth £26m'. Seriously, the man who makes our 'Le Sulk' look like a doped up version of Timmy Mallett is going to fail big time there. Mark my words.

So how does it all feel the morning after the night before?

We might congratulate ourselves on refusing to pay silly money for a talent yet to prove he can cut it in EPL- though one paper suggests RA tried to intervene when Madrid accepted City's bid, but Calderon refused to do business with us.

However can I point out again we have still spent over £50m on players in the last 8 months -not exactly a major step to relying on growing our own talent.

Not sure why so many here are complaining about the clear out of the dross who were not performing for us - if LGF really does want to encourage our youngsters he needs to leave space for them to come through surely.

Don't think we should be churlish about City throwing cash around to celebrate their new wealth - but I'm sure they will have to go through the same process we did before they start to attract really top talent: i.e. qualify for CL - and I don't see their current squad being good enough to do more than struggle to make top 6 along with Villa, Pompey, Everton etc.

And isn't it nice to have someone else now setting themselves up for all the hate/envy of the rest of the league.

@194 Jang - "when will we hear from PK again?" - if he is now a "Buffon" according to Mark 25's wikipedia entry no time soon:

"Buffon was very skilled with words, earning him the nickname from mathematician Jean le Rond d' Alembert of "the great phrasemonger." Speaking of his many detractors, he said, "I shall keep absolute silence . . . and let their attacks fall upon themselves."

@FIFTEE

I can see where you are coming from. Take the Spuds game on Sunday as an example, we dint had a holding player which upset the balance, fair enough. We were passing the ball pretty nicely but in the final 3rd, we lacked a Kaka, or a Henry to BEAT THE F*CKING DEFENDER! How is Deco going to make opportunites when no one can find the space to recieve his pass or at least dribble down the flanks to meet his lob?

When the going gets tough, its players with this kind of qualities that make the difference. Look at United's attack, how many type of those players i have mentioned are in their lineup? Thats where we lost out last season and will continue this campaign.

Im not saying Robinho would be the instant solution. I have my doubts and he's way over-priced. But, that weakness in attack is still very glaring IMO. We havent done anything to cover it up. I have no problems with trying out Sinclair and Di Santo but will the fans seating at the Shed accept that everyweek? Will Roman accept more runner-up medals after last season's heart break? Scolari would fear for his job! Blooding in youngsters from the academies is part of our goals and vision but that has to be done at the right time. Right now, we are in a situation where we need to keep winning and build our trophy port folio which unfortunately, still lacks the ever elusive European Cup.

Thats why im having mixed feelings like you. My head says that we were right not to succumb to Madrid's demands but my heart tells me that we are short of a dazzler on the pitch who will make the difference at the buisness end of the season. We have already been burned all these years. So what difference does a few million quid more make?

That being said, we dint have a Plan B. Is Robinho the only tree in the forrest Mr.Scolari and Mr.Kenyon? Thats what im baffled about. Mixed feelings for me. Happy that we finally dint pay over the odds but rueing our lack of quality in attack in comparision to our rivals.

Would we really care about Robihno or anyone else if the best pound for pound manager was with us today? No, not really! unfortunatley he is not and this was Roman's biggest mistake ever. "In ten years time the Chelsea fans will Love me" Now we know why JM said these prophetic words, probably beacuse how ever close we come, we will find it hard to win things. he knew it because football is about politics as much as the talent on the field, such as pressure on Refs, UEFA for decisions and the FA not allowing Man-u, Arsenal and Liverpool to get away with domintating the English league by any means necessary. If the board cannot grasp this concept of reality and think just talented players can win it for you, then they were obviously asleep last season when we finished empty handed and Man-u effectively stole the Prem title be cause of refeering decisions on the last day. This is the true face of competitive football, win by any means necesary as Man-U have done in illegally taking Berbatov, good player or not, where is the FA now? See my point? if that had been Chelsea, we would have had points deducted this morning. this is the real fight my Chelsea bloggers, not just the players on the pitch.

Welcome back from your hols Tony, nice to have another voice of reason on here.
I would have been more concerned if Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim had bought Arse or Looserpoo with their pulling power and money to back them, we could have seen a power shift.

Besides perhaps Robinhos agent has been crafty and put in all sorts of clauses... like if they don't get into the CL next season, he can bought by anyone who makes a £20 million offer. That way at least we can see how he performs in the premiership for a season ;-)

Hello all, hope you are well and not too overwhelmed by recent events.

I've been down in the region of the Girondins of Bordeaux. However as I was cut off from the real world I didn't know we had drawn them in the CL so didn't have a chance to canvass local opinion.

Taking a cursory glance through the Spanish press this morning, my Spanish isn't good, but if I understand it correctly a Senor Calderon was arrested last night by the Madrid authorities. The charge is that he was committing a lewd sexual act with an oversized piece of soft fruit.

His response was along the lines of 'Well what would you do if someone gave you £32 million to blow a big raspberry'

@214 Clive - given the haste in agreeing the deal I'd expect more there to be clauses with "chelsea" typed in, scored out with "City" handwritten above in crayon.

Welcome back BB - raising the tone already ;-)

Nice to see a few voices of reason on here this morning.

@DannyBrod 201. - "It will make us less cocky as fans. It returns us to a sense of reality. No bad thing." Let's hope so.

Good article on Robinho from the BBC blogs: LINK

Welcome back, Tony and BlueBayou.

@218

I kind of took some consolation from the article. It made alot of sense to me. Pat Nevin said the same thing: Why should we enter a bidding war for someone who we feel is not worth to break the bank?

But the general concern here is not that we missed out on Robinho, its our quality in attack thats furstrating all of us. We dont have that kind of player who beats defenders and dribbles at pace. Its missing from our team, a weapon we once had to terrorise defenses all over Europe. Now its missing from the team. Robinho wasnt the solution to it. So who is?

Kinda funny that when I was checking the BBC transfer updates it said something like: Transfer confirmed, Robinho signs for The Blues. I was like....alrighty! But 5 seconds later I found out he went to some blue team up north. Absolutely disappointing, not only that we missed out on our only transfer target, we didn't even have a second option. All summer I was hoping Chelsea would make a bid for Nasri...he went to Arsenal, now we lost out on Robinho who signed for ManCity. However, 32.Mio quid for him is pretty much over the top and signals nothing else than the arrival of another massive wallet, this time in the form of a Shisha consortium.

I think as a fail safe to Citeh kidnapping Robhino from us, and any future signings of major significance they may get. We need to sharpen our tongues and pencils so we can be quick in our excuses, just in case they go onto dominate global football.

Over to you BB I'm sure you can come something clever and scathing against our new nemisis. ;-)

Somebody better get some Sudocrem for Kenyon cos he's just been well and truly shafted in full view of the fee-paying public. Best entertainment in London since they pulled down the Tyburn tree.

We always seem to get stitched up one or another on transfer deadline day. Got to laugh, very Chelsea.

Thing is City will screw it all up cos they are just like us - failure's in the blood.

Dennis is about to be given the Newcastle job after Keegan quit over the Magpies' failure to sign major transfer targets. LINK

The only problem we have is Lampard. We'll never win the CL league with him in the team(...that's another five yrs).

I saw on Sunday he had about 10 shots, a certain Fab. would've tried 10 assists. wasn't even surprised Anelka had his first real assist in a Chelsea shirt and it had to be Belleti. The shock of getting a pass was too much for him to score.

ESSIEN....
I notice he's unlike not to score...
Again?
I don't remember watching a game where he wasn't UNLUCKY not to score.
...besides letting Ronaldo have the freeeeest HEADER in a European final

I am quite sure if Belleti gets those shooting chances that fall to Ess & Lamps, we'd end up with +10 in the GD.

Cech
Bos JT Car Cole
Ballack Mikel Bellet(assists,shots)
Cole Anelka Deco

20 goals/season: 95% from late runs, 0% from shots, + penalties
(So why is everyone so dull to ignore such stat.)

If you can think swp is a headless chicken, why can't i...?

I cannot believe some of the crap I have read on here!

Get used to it, Roman is now only 2nd richest in the Premier League!

ESSIEN...
unlucky not to score...
Again...?

@225
Sam I take it your a City fan, congratulations on your new sugar daddy, a lot of us on here are genuinely pleased for City and their fans. But don't spoil it with stupid childish remarks, you haven't won anything yet, and we all know as Chelsea fans money doesn't guarantee it either.

Not a Citeh fan.

The whole thing is ludicrous and another nail in the coffin of English football.

I hope Chelski go under.

Oh god, Henry's back. (For those not in the know, think Jose Musumba, only 1000000 times worse.)

Seems like we always have to have one, don't we?

If only Chelski would do the same Clive.

@Pete
Yes looks like his detention order under the mental health act has finally expired, and we've been ordered to look after him in the Chelseblog care in the community.

PS Sam go crawl back under the rock from where you came.

Sam, here's one for you.

LINK

Welcome back Tony and BB - you've missed all the fun, you know...!

Shan't bother continuing the Kenyon defence; what's done is done - if 'sources' as quoted are correct, we simply wouldn't pay what Madrid wanted which is fine by me if that's true. One eye on that 'breaking even' target that PK is so often castigated for mentioning, maybe?

One thing is for sure, the closest Mark Hughes was to signing Robinho yesterday morning was for his fantasy team and now he's got a British record signing he's neither watched with a view to signing or even met; one of the strangest days in football history, without doubt. And after the passionate "I am already at Chelsea" guff he spouted at his dramatic press conference, the little Brazilian chap showed exactly where his loyalties lie last night.

@DannyBrod 201. - "It will make us less cocky as fans. It returns us to a sense of reality. No bad thing."

Amen to that - whatever the ins and outs of the Robinho deal, I suspect that much of the ire directed at the club is that we've been outbid by someone which hasn't really happened before and it seems to have hit a nerve. But what I can't quite believe is some of the stuff I've read over the last 12 hours - moaning because City might outbid us for Kaka and so on. Get a grip - you might well have to get used to this - maybe Roman wants the club to start standing on its own two feet rather than be constantly reliant on his largesse. Quite what some of you will do without a £30m signing every summer to boast about, I've no idea.

Who knows - maybe the side that went so close last season with the addition of a couple of decent players this summer (Deco for less than £3m more than we paid for Zola over a decade ago - a truly dreadful deal; who did that I wonder?) and maybe more in January might not be quite as dreadful and goal shy as some of you are predicting?

'I suspect that much of the ire directed at the club is that we've been outbid by someone which hasn't really happened before and it seems to have hit a nerve.'

Who knows? Personally it's more to do with the embarrassment of seeing City do in 12 hours what we've very conspicuously failed to do all summer - spend a lot of money on an exciting footballer. We've talked big, but completely failed to deliver. Maybe that's not such a bad thing, but it makes us look like losers.

It's also irritation at seeing United get their man while we fail to get ours and add to a wealth of riches up front which we can't match. Sure, we've a lot of strength in midfield and undeniably one of the two strongest squads in the league, but we really do need unpredictability and pace and a smidgeon of youth.

It's seeing Calderon have his cake and eat it after pissing us around all summer and generally making Kenyon look like a complete and utter amateur.

Also the thing with the shirt was so crass and Kenyon-Chelsea that we all know it is going to come to be seen as a metaphor for our inevitable hubris (is hubris by definition inevitable? BB will surely know).

@233. KaiserJonny_II - for me it was the feeling that Kenyon's actions and attitude had increased the likelihood of Madrid refusing to accept a compromise price with us.

I'm more than ready to believe virtually all modern footballers are mercenary gits but having talked himself out of any realistic future with Madrid what was Robinho supposed to do if Man City was the only option he was being given?

Personally I don't think there's much wrong with our current squad and a fit Drogba, Ballack and fully-fit Essien will see significant improvement in our performances - and if Robinho not coming means Joe Cole isn't sidelined and Di Santo and Scott Sinclair get more of a chance to prove themselves all to the good.

On our youngsters is there much point in leaving Sahar parked at Pompey - he hasn't got off the bench yet?

Well, I've had all day to think about it now, and I've calmed down considerably from this morning when I got up to the news. I've also had time to read all the posts and a lot of good points have been made, too many to refer back to now but what I couldn't understand was quite why I felt so ANGRY.

It was Calderon. I hope his hubris results in something unpleasant. We will never know the real course of recent events, but I believe he is the reason Robinho never came. After the Ronaldo saga it's particularly hard to take, and if it was a case of another 3 or 4 million then I'm sure that would have been paid, the club has stated they were pursuing the players Scolari shortlisted. Scolari said if Robinho comes good but if not we can challenge without him. Maybe there just wasn't a plan B.

Citeh. Good luck to them. I thought at first I was outraged that a club could swagger in with a bigger bid and take a player who was 'ours'. It did make me realise how other club's supporters must have felt on occasion in the last five years, money no object, but I know that just throwing money at it doesn't create a 'team' or win everything in sight, it just stirs up envy. It will make the big four a big five though, just not this year.

Robinho. He wanted to come here and I believe he would have if the spaniards had allowed it. He may not adapt to the premier league, but I'd like to have had the chance to find out whether he could have done it as part of our team. He may have been badly advised, he may need to mature, but I think Scolari had as good a chance as anyone of turning him into a better player. Good luck to him, he'd burnt his bridges trying to come here so I don't blame h im for taking the option to triple his wages and see how it goes somwehere else for a year.

The current squad. In pre-season I felt more optimistic having a new 'real' manager at the helm, and the signs were encouraging, admittedly not all teams were going to be bamboozled the way Pompey were, and so it was with Wigan. Against spurs I was really hoping that Robinho was on his way, because they worked out a way to stifle a fluid midfield, and it looked like we needed somebody like him, to do something different in the second half, when we were running out of ideas (and energy). It remains to be seen what other formations and approaches are tried but I'd love it if some of the younger players were given a run, and did well. Di Santo looks a great understudy for Drogba in the classic centre forward mould, but it's effective wingers that have pace and can dribble that seem to be required. I see these names like Stoch and Kakuta and read the match reports but have never seen them play. As long as Ballack and Mikel are fit midfield is covered with Lamps, Deco and Essien. It's in the final third that the creativity needs bolstering. The deadwood has gone (mostly), bring in the new blood. Maybe that genuinely is the plan B, we shall see.

Such irony that SWP left to avoid being benched for a player that is now his team-mate and Robinho's first match in England will be *against* Chelsea. As for Burberrytop going to manu pfft that was always going to happen. Yes, they are stronger, but so were liverpoo with Torres. It will make it all the more sweeter when we win the league. Naive and well-intentioned maybe, but no longer angry =)

KTBFFH

Complete fantasy, I know, but a move that would bring a smile to my face :

"From today's Manchester Evening News :-
2/ 9/2008


PROSPECTIVE Manchester City owner Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim has said he is prepared to bid a staggering £134million for United star Cristiano Ronaldo in the January transfer window, according to a report.

Al Fahim, who is on the verge of taking over the Blues through his United Group for Development and Investment, is determined to make City the biggest club on the planet.

“Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world, so we will see in January if he is serious," Al Fahim told Arabian Business, the newspaper that broke the original takeover story,

"Real Madrid were estimating his value at $160 million but for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more, I would think $240 million.

"But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United."

I still love JM :

LINK

But can't help thinking he didn't mention Lamps' name on purpose as a sly dig.

Ho-hum, who cares, we've still got him.

I'm fairly bored without the transfer window. With no domestic football for a fortnight, it's going to be a long time until we see the Blues again.

@ 237. FIFTEE

The only part of that that brought a smile to my face..in fact, had me in fits of laughter, was that the muppet thinks Horse Face is worth $240 million!! I mean, he's way overpriced at $160million imo.

Seems money and common sense don't go hand in hand after all!!

@ kaiserjonny_11

It's good to be back (I lied). I can confirm the existence of a large yellow skybound radiation ball somewhere off the south coast of France. Maybe Citeh should bid for that and spread some Oil rich warmth across the country.

I think PK probably has this right and was acting under RA's specific instructions. I get the distinct impression that RA has learnt the lessons of profligacy without wisdom too often now. My own view is that this is the start of a new youth development policy under LGF with the odd big name coming in to play alongside the fruits of Arnesens labours. At least I hope that's the truth, in which case it's well done PK. The other view, of course, is that or PK is about to get sacked for screwing up. It is highly possible that RA feels the brand is now firmly laid down and needs someone to build on what's there, plus he might be miffed about the sale of players and the gazumping of the one target LGF specifically wanted after Deco.

One things for sure, the January sales rarely offer much in terms of quality, although Anelka was an exception (yes, he is quality, he was misused by AG and after 3 games of the season people are already slagging him off...madness) and I can't see a Kaka type being made available then. It's possible Arshavin may become a target I suppose, but he seems to have burnt bridges everywhere during the summer to the point where no-one wants him.

I forecast the closest run PL since.......2007/2008!

I think it would be a good idea for everyone to take a deep breath and calm down. We all know Kenyon's a tit and the Kitbag fiasco was embarrassing, but it's obvious Real Madrid weren't going to sell to us, period. I've never thought Robinho was worth the kind of crazy money they wanted, and apparently when he said his heart was already at Chelsea he just meant already at the then-richest club in the Premier League. He didn't exactly cover himself in glory with this saga, either.

We're all worried about our attacking options, and with good cause after Sunday, but it's worth remembering that if it weren't for a wacky deflection we'd have been sitting pretty on top of the league with two more points. Drogba's coming back (looked good in the ressies last night), Ballack and Essien are yet to be fully fit, and Mikel will return soon as well. Scolari just needs to find a way to get Anelka more confident and bring out the best in Joey and Flo.

As for blooding the youngsters, I think a fair few of them could have what it takes if given the chance, which I believe Scolari will do. From what I've seen, DiSanto, Sinclair, and Stoch deserve a try in and around the first team, and with the new 7 subs option this year that's more likely than ever. Even Kakuta and Woods might get a look-in.

With or without Robinho, we have the players and the mentality to win trophies. But for some blatantly disgraceful officiating last season we would have done the double with a 1/3 fit squad and a fairly clueless manager. Let's not lose sight of the fact we're in a good position so far without ever fielding our best lineup. In fact, can anyone remember the last time we had our first choice starting 11 available? I can't, but we've not been lower than second place despite all these problems. So let's stop acting like ignorant, spoiled glory hunters (leave that to the Manc scum), and start showing some faith and support for the boys who want to pull on the Chelsea shirt.

Well as Citeh, former fellow inmates of the Asylum for the Perpetually Unable, gambol in the green fields, breathing in the fresh air of monetary backing and feeling the warm sun of potential success just as we did on our release, there remains one sad inmate, alone, dishevelled, gnawing at his bitten down nails as he shuffles the long empty darkening corridors and muttering in that unmistakeable Geordie accent.

For one at least it seems, freedom will never beckon......

Our thoughts once again are with the Geordie nation..

This blog will now broadcast funereal music for the rest of the day as a sign of respect to the dear departed Keggy Keegle

@ 242. BLUEBAYOU

Who helped you to escape?!!

Saying that in some ways it hasn't changed for Citeh. There they are with at least 3 to 4 days of hogging the headlines you would think, and now they'll be elbowed out of the way as the "Newcastle Situation" fills the airwaves.

@Lolli #243

Thank god for care in the community

Tony - good stuff - let's hook up before United and have a beer or three...

Good to see you back too, BlueBayou... head duly bowed for the Geordies; whatever predicament we might find ourselves in, there is always someone worse off. And up there, they are probably quite badly dressed too which is never a good thing.

Got to love the front of the Arab chappy on the whole Ronaldo thing; this is not so much gatecrashing the party, more arriving in a tank and giving all the male guests ten grand each to go home and leave their women folk behind.

Be fine until they decide they like the look of Essien and Mikel too...

How do i some up this momentous day:
Disappointment - I really did think Robinho was ours. Scolari needed him, the side needed him and yet we didn't get him. When City came in at 18:00 i thought we'd spring a surprise with a replacement buy as our side is crying out for a new attacker. Alas, all that resulted was disappointment like i felt last summer.

Sadness/Jealousy - City are richer than us. That's what makes me a little jealous. I loved Chelsea being the rich kids. I loved Chelsea being the no.1 buying side in the world and i loved that we grabbed all the headlines. I hate other clubs having an 'Abramovich moment' and i hate that Abramovich has to settle for second place as a football club owner. I loved the hatred and jealousy other fans felt towards us because of our spending. We could stick two fingers up to the rest of the world as we marched towards supposed global domination. But now, it's city who get to play fantasy football and be the headline makers for the next few years. It's City who everyone'll be looking to every transfer window and not us and it's city who now get to be public enemy no.1.

Determination - After i got over the sense of disappointment at being usurped by City i began to think of the future. How do Chelsea react?

SHORT TERM: We MUST beat City in 2 weeks. Roman will be there as will the new owners. We must show that for all their money, we are still no.1...for now. We are recognised in Europe as a CL powerhouse and Roman will not want his pride to be dented by a defeat to some new upstarts. It will be a statement of intent for the victors, and we must be the ones to strike first.

MEDIUM TERM: We must show in the January and 2009 summer window that we are still a superpower of a club. We must show Europe that our CL 'history' and Roman can still attract the Kaka's, Aguero's and Villa's.

LONG TERM: We must remain at the top and show who's boss by building for the future with the best new stadium the world has ever seen!

Just seen SSN. I think the new owners are a perfect match for City. Absolutely no class to be seen.

The sheer arrogance of saying " i will sign Cristiano Ronaldo, Villa, Fabregas, Henry and Torres and bring in 18 players in January" is disresepctful to everyone elses clubs. I hope they all stick two fingers up to City and say that money can't persuade us to play for you lot.

When Roman arrived, he kept his counsel and never paraded his wealth around the league. I like to think we've kept some respect unlike City.

@246 HABS: you've been posting list after list like the one above. Fuck it mate. your points on Roman having to redeem his buying power, stadium, Aguero in January look extremely stupid.
Roman need not prove nowt to nobody. I think the management and the fans will be happy as it as long as he is incharge and take care of the finances. We are a winning club, we know how to win, we are more or less stabilized in the top 4 and is going to be a catastrophe of major proportions to move our arses from there- Unlike for citeh who have a crazy amount of pressure to live up with. All it takes is for them to lose the Manchester Derby and all their pride and morale will crumble.

The difference between us or the manures winning the title and CL? One word: ATTACK!

Defensively and in midfield, we are right up there with them man for man. But when it comes to our forward line, the difference is glaring. We are impotent infront of goal as evident in the Wigan and Spurs game. Even with the aquisation of Deco for his playmaking skills, nothing has changed in terms of penatrating defenses, a devestating weapon which our main rival possess. Why is that so?

Its because we dont have wideman who can dribble and beat defenders for speed and pace! Its a simple yet vital component in a team's attacking play. We can play like Bolton and keep hoofing the balls up to Drogba but in the long run, this style of play is physically demanding and you loose more possesion than you keep it. In our previous title winning campaigns, we had this weapon and boy did we use it to devastating effect.

But ever since we lost Robben to injury and eventually to those Madrid scums, a big sting has been taken out of our team. All those darting runs and goal scoring positions that our wingers used to make struck fear in every defense. Now we need Lampard to pounce on a loose ball, Deco to thread balls where no one is good enough to latch onto and Ballack to score 1 bullet header every 3 games?

Scolari could have identified this weakness and that was why he told Kenyon to get Robinho after Deco. We dint get Robinho. Fine. But surely he's not the only tree in the Amazon forest? We could have bought another lad to give us this cutting edge infront of goal. Surely Steve Clarke must had been sick of Malouda.

So why arent we rectifying this problem? Thats what i couldnt understand because the squad is not complete without this missing piece. A genuine match winner. I may sound like a kid demanding this and that. But isnt that all we just need right now? As soon as we sign a player like that, we would become world beaters and it would complement our beautiful style.

@ 246. HABS

I have to say that i agree with RAV i'm afraid..I personally hate all the aggro i get about Chelsea "buying the league"..let City take some stick for a while i say!! What have you got to be jealous of? Yeah, ok, they got Robinho..so what? He alone will NOT win them the Prem or anything else..all said and done, they still have a crap team!!

Chin up sweetie! x x

If any Citeh fans poke their nose in here to see what Cnelsea fans think of the Robinho sale then all their going to see is a fair bit of school girl hysteria from some. Lets not even worry about it, it is becoming rather tiresome, bloody hell QPR are richer than us are we bothered by that.

Perhaps we should send out an SOS to Mr William Gates and get him to make an offer to RA to save us all.

I saw Sparky with Robinho earlier on SSN, doing the "shirt unveiling" and found it amusing how confused Robinho looked..Hasn't he admitted apparently, that he didn't have a clue who he'd signed for??!!! Which obviously proves he's gone there for the money..

If that's the case, good on Roman for refusing to pay more than was asked of him!!!

Besides, Didier's on the way back!! And i'd have in my team before Robinho any day of the week!!

"i'd have HIM in my team before Robinho any day of the week!!" that was supposed to say..

Lolli @ Habs

....Chin up Sweetie! xx .......
Bloody hell, that's what I was about to say. ;-)

Dio, LeftFooter, Jonathan, BBD, Tony, Nick, Lolli, Clive; all great posts.
The rest of you f**kin' calm down. PLEASE!!!!!

Sorry, a bit short on time :-(

Still pissed off about Robinho. Him being confused just proves my point that Calderon sold him to the highest bidder and not where he wanted to go. If he wanted to join City all summer then I wouldnt be bothered. But the facts are Madrid gave him to the highest bidder because they dont want us to get him. No doubt he doesnt want to be there. But he cant do anything about it now. Robinho was a "manchester city player" before he had even signed a contract or agreed terms or passed a medical.

Citys owners are complete fools. They have proberbly just asked fans of their favorite players and bidded for them all. It takes more than money sometimes. David Villas agent said he received 50 bids including one of 55 million euros from Real Madrid but he hasnt moved.

It's being reported on Talksport that Robinho is on £160,000 a week,perhaps that made his mind up to go to City.
Glad we didn't pay stupid money but it would have been nice to have a Plan B.

Hey, I was going through on youtube, and well I felt like finding this: LINK exactly what were missing and well I hope this makes you guys bring back some great memories.

Peace Out

Money and other Brazilians are other reasons that Robinho is at Cit-Eh. He says hes targeting the Premier League. Expect Hughes to finish 5th at best and get sacked and then Robinho to get fed up and ask to join us lol.

Mr.Scolari doesn't seem too pleased.
From The Times Online.

Luiz Felipe Scolari has demanded significant funds to strengthen his squad during the January transfer window after missing out on Robinho. The Chelsea manager was shocked to learn of his fellow Brazilian's move to Manchester City late on Monday because, despite his public caution, he had been led to believe that the 24-year-old's signature was virtually in the bag, with Peter Kenyon proudly discussing the club's ability to sign the world's leading players from rivals such as Real Madrid at a charity launch last week.

Scolari does not blame Kenyon for the failure to sign Robinho, with the chief executive acting on instructions from Roman Abramovich not to meet Real's £32 million valuation, but he made it clear that he expects to be compensated with an increased transfer kitty next year. The Brazilian's dismay has been heightened by the fact that Robinho was one of only two players that he asked for when he was appointed manager in June.

Scolari is also concerned that, with 23 first-team players, his squad lacks the depth to cope with injuries because of the mass exodus since he took charge. Claude Makelele, Tal Ben-Haim, Andriy Shevchenko, Claudio Pizarro, Steve Sidwell and Shaun Wright-Phillips have left Stamford Bridge this summer, with Deco and José Bosingwa the only players bought by the club.

Chelsea are particularly short up front. Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou are the only alternatives to Didier Drogba, who is some way from a first-team comeback, despite playing 60 minutes for the reserve team on his return from a knee injury on Monday. “I wanted up to 25, not 23, because we have new rules from Uefa and I need to put some players from the academy and from England, so I need a balance,” Scolari said. “I am still getting to know all the squad"

Chelsea are working on a long-term deal to sign Kaká from AC Milan that they hope will reach fruition next season, although the absence of Robinho may lead them to pursue his Brazil team-mate more vigorously in January. Kaká's appeal is enhanced by the fact that he would be eligible to play in the latter stages of this season's Champions League for Chelsea because Milan are in the Uefa Cup, but securing such a big signing midway through a campaign would be unprecedented.

That article sums up our problem and Scolari's: our attack.

He asked for was Deco and Robinho as he knew that the weakpoints of the squad involved our attacking play. As seen against Spurs, we don't seem to have a Plan B when our pretty paterns involving Deco don't work. We ended up hoofing it long for the last 20 mins.

In January there may be quite a few players to look at who aren't cup tied:

Milan: Kaka
Valencia: Silva, Villa
Sevilla: Luis Fabiano
Ajax: Huntelaar
Newcastle: Owen

I hope that the current squad can successfully get us to January still in 4 competitions because as the article states, Scolari will be looking for 2 new attackers.

And did we really want BERBATOV?

LINK

I hope not. Imagine a front line of Berba, Anelka and Didier. Too much silking for one side.

SULKING i was meant to say!

A little more news of Scolari's reaction to Chelsea not buying Robinho:

LINK

Morning fellow bloggers... I see we have been invaded by 'other fans' making comments designed to get our goat up... To be expected in the circumstances all we need to do is totally ignore any comment that is not civil or a genuine attempt to enter into lively debate.

I now found this whole Citeh/Robinho saga very funny indeed. What this means folks is the "glory hunter" comments will now be directed at Citeh and hopefully we shall be left alone as an established top 4 club while Citeh try their best to break in and get all the press. This should also mean that money grabbing agents/players/clubs will now be hawking to Citeh for the deal of the century.

I can't beleive the crassness of the arab from Dubai by making all these claims of the players he is going to buy.

The one person I feel sorry for is Mark Hughes. He is a top english (well welsh actualy) manager who is going to be steamrolled either at xmas time or at the end of the season. He is now in a no win situation as even if they do buy a shed load of "top" players in january (don't see how) he is not going to be able to meld a team in time to qualify for the CL next season. So he will be sacked and a "big" name manager will be brought in.. Guus Hiddink anyone ! That would really piss RA off !

Personally, I would love to see the top 4 become the top 8 and more teams like everton, tottenham, newcastle, villa, pompey etc raise their standard. The problem is there are only so many "top" players around so the reality is this will never happen. The real top players will gravitate to genuine top clubs who have the structure and resources to maintain a sustained challenge for honours. However much we hate Man U, Arsenal and Liverpool these clubs do have and so will be in the mix for winning competitions. We are now lucky enough to be in that category through the injection of RAs money but more importantly we now have a club structure that will help us maintain our position at the elite level.

Cont...

Here...

Citeh have a long, long, long way to go before they will ever be in the top4/5 of the EPL and even longer before they can seriously consider winning the CL. Not impossible but it will take a lot more than Mr Arab from Dubai's money..

One this saga has done is given us all something to debate while we wait for the EPL to resume the weekend after next...

KTBFFH

We should also spare a thought for the current crop of Citeh players.. with the exception of Robinho of course. They will all know that by January they could all be playing in the 2nd team behind the host of top players to be bought with the arab's cash. This includes poor SWP who thought he was escaping from that ugly scenario by returning to the blue half of manchester.

Still can't get my head around the prospect of Horse Face being sold for 130mil plus. I thought 30mil for Sheva was ridiculous at the time but I am struggling to find a suitable word to describe this figure as a transfer fee !

@ Peter 267......

I actually disgree and think City will go very close to the top 4 this year. I think that the Arabs offer has been in the wings for quite a while.... Why else would Sparky sign on for City without talking to Chelsea? Why would they proceed with purchasing Jo and SWP if they didn't know that the cash wasn't far away?

@ Chelseatony....

Welcome back mate.... Sorry, can't agree with you on Anelka... He will be another one that will be picking splinters from his arse and end up moving on at a much lower fee.

@HABS

I wont consider Huntelaar or Owen. What we need now is a wideman who beats defenders and puts in good crosses. Not a center forward as we have plenty. Silva is my no.1 choice. Glad that he's still at Valencia.

LINK Interesting article in the Telegraph, and I smiled at the quote:

"To hear Mancs and Scousers call Chelsea fans chavs is quite hysterical, given that Burberry sell more merchandise in Cheshire and Lancashire than any other county."

For a rugby man Moore has made some valid and interesting points, time will tell in how the press and fans perceive City in the coming weeks and months. But I agree with PTG the crassness of the arabs claims on what he will offer for certain players is possibly going to make them more unpopular than us.

The team spirit that Sparky has to foster from now until the next transfer window is going to be interesting to watch, how many of the youngsters and seasoned pros will give there all knowing that regardless in how they perform the new owners want big names with big wages. And that will also be the same for Mark Hughes, how long will it be before he's looking over his shoulder?, lofty ambitions for the club will require a manager with a proven track record if he fails to deliver. No doubting he's a good manager, and has lots of potential, but will Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim wait for that to produce results.
From what we've seen so far from him, and some of the quotes he's come out with, I doubt it very much.

Every agent on the planet must be rubbing his grubby hands in glee at the thought of a huge pay day. Exciting times if you're a City fan, but money on this scale just like Chelsea will bring a complete new set of problems.

Ok, so read the article from the Times about Scolari being unhappy.

Then read my masterpiece from yesterday.

Identical wouldn't you say. I'd like to think that TSSO was above merely relaying the thoughts of a Norwich based fan to the national press but he clearly is using my infinite wisdom as guidance.

I will duly compile a list of signings for January, upping the squad numbers to the 25 he desires.

2 players short, I wonder who to name first..............

Lets do a start of the season stock take on what we have for the next 3 to 4 months til January.

Defenders - Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, Alex, Bosingwa, Ferreira, Belletti, A.Cole and Bridgey

Verdict: 2 defenders in each position. Very strong in depth.

Midfielders - Essien, Lampard, Mikel, Ballack and Deco.

Verdict: 5 central midfielders fighting for 3 spots in midfield. Healthy competition. 2 holding players, 2 box to box players, and 1 authentic playmaker. Strong in depth.

Wingers - J.Cole, Malouda and Sinclair

Verdict: One of our problem areas. The 3 of them are not consistent, cant put in good crosses into the box on a regular basis or beat defenders. Robinho was supposed to beef up this area.

Now we just have to wait and see how it goes(At least til January before we access it again). Good thing is that our fullbacks can provide the width needed. Belletti anyone? Not enough cutting edge. Needs to be rectified

Strikers - Di Santo, Drogba, Kalou and Anelka

Verdict: A good pool of strikers consisting of 2 genuine target man 2 support strikers. But Anelka is still unsually low on confidence and Kalou lacks the nessecary composure to make in impact in big games. Di Santo is young and raw while the Drogba of late seems very injury-prone. If both Drogba and Anelka gets injured, we are in trouble.

That being said, we havent seen Drogba and Anelka play together in a partnership regularly. That for me, is a secret weapon we have yet to unleash on our opponents. Slight lack of depth. Needs to be rectified but not yet red alert.

Overall strength of the squad: 8/10 Could had been 9 with a quality and consistent dazzler who takes on the entire defense.

Conclusion: We need a new no.7 or no.11 as a priority. We need our own kind of Ronaldo or Kaka etc. If possible, add in a new no.9 as a backup. Its important to have 2 strikers who shares 30-40 goals in between them and not one who scores 20 while the other scores 1 in 5 games.

Im not demanding for big names but at least a proper winger who does his job with minimal fuss. Like Damien Duff or Robben. Right now there isnt any player like them in the market avaliable for transfer. Only one i can think of is Silva who plays in the UEFA Cup. Arshavin is still a Zenit player who will be cup-tied in the CL. Maybe Diego Capel? If it means that Paim will do a good job there for us, throw him in. Now get your arses off to work Arse-nasen!

Former Brazil striker Pele has told Chelsea they have had a lucky escape after failing to sign Robinho from Real Madrid.

Back in Brazil, many supporters have frowned upon Robinho's antics and choice of club.

Even the player's mother, Marina, has said she does not know why he chose to go to City and reject the chance to play under Scolari.

Despite the fact Real were reluctant to sell to one of their Champions League rivals, the Chelsea deal was still expected to go through.

However, when City announced that they had agreed a fee with Real, and coach Bernd Schuster said the striker had not moved for "footballing reasons", it left those in Robinho's native Brazil believing he had let down his country in favour of a quick buck.

Pele said: "Chelsea are lucky. This boy needs some serious counselling. In my view he has been badly advised."

And the criticism was even more stinging from his former club Santos, whose president, Marcelo Teixeira, said: "This is one of the most disgraceful episodes in Brazilian football.

"He is a player who is an idol to children, an example. But he has not acted like one."

@275

Wow, the Brazillians are more disappointed then the Chelsea fans that he chose City then Chelsea. I dont know to laugh or not. Well said Pele. ;-)

It's not important to be the richest club in England. Most of us have cfc blood in our veins, and nothing could change that, even if Chelsea went bankrupt and plummeted like Leeds. But if we do have some money, why not have some decent options?

"Chelsea are particularly short up front. Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou are the only alternatives to Didier Drogba, who is some way from a first-team comeback" (The Times)

I don't care we didn't get Robinho - but if any of these forwards are injured, can you really put hand on heart and say we can compete on four fronts? Surely we could have bought another proven back-up! Why take the risk? My feeling is that we'll be 4th in January.

Just been studying the fixture list - I'd say there's a very good chance both Robinhood and Berbatov's first goals for their new clubs will be against us.

I know the window has literally just been slammed shut, but with his number one target out of the reckoning, and him saying he's after at least one new player in January, you have to wonder who ???

I'd imagine TSSO knew that winger / forward was an area he wanted to stregthen. Quaresma has signed for JM at Inter, Silva signed a new contract at Valencia. Will be interesting to see what people think...

See the Unmentionable R backlash is building up - with Sid Lowe having a go in the Grauniad as well as Pele, as Evillynn posts above.

Sad to see our policy of loaning out our youngsters to other clubs continues to bite us on the bum when it comes to CL squad formation because of UEFA rules.

This season we are unable to fill 6 places in the maximum squad allowed and poor Scott Sinclair wins the Michael Ballack memorial award for not making our limited places available:

LINK

As we currently have 7 players out on loan according to the Youth and Reserves website presumably they are all likely to suffer the same fate in the future if they don't get quite high enough up the pecking order:

LINK

That's just utter bobbins.

I remember Sinclair wasn't in our European squad last season. So our better reserve and youth team players are the ones who get sent out on loan for valuable first-team experience, but consequently aren't able to use that experience in Europe, when the players who just play for our reserves (no disrespect) and dont have that much-needed experience are then included.

And by reading those indeterminable rules, I can't actually see how we can name Di Santo. He hasn't been at the club long at all - in fact probably less than everyone.

Madness. Sheer madness.

I'm surprised the lists dont include Robinho though. Nothing like jumping the gun is there ;-)

Giles Smith take on Mondays proceedings on the official site is quite funny and worth a read.

@ Fiftee - I think Di Santo gets in there as one of the unrestricted 17 places in the A List - hence Ivanovic and Belletti are apparently more needed than one of our few wide players until CL Phase 2 at least?

On Robinho - how many times this season will opposition fans turn out with yellow "Robinho TBC" shirts to taunt us do you suppose?

@FIFTEE

I think we can still buy Silva. If money is not an issue, he would be ideal because he is not cup-tied. Buying Kaka midway through the season is utter bollocks. That being said, i cannot think of anyone else besides the 2 of them who ironically are in the UEFA Cup.

Arse-shavin will probably be shaving his own hair in the CL for Zenit. So at the moment, its either these 2 or Luis Fabiano. If he attempts to bring in some relative unknown and throw him into the fray, the good luck to him and his job.

I'm actually jealous that we wont have the excitement of any new players to watch for us next weekend.

SWP and Robinho terrorising Bosingwa and Ashley - can't see our flying full-backs getting forward much.

David Villa is only playing in the UEFA Cup this season - we could still buy him in January and he'd be o.k for the Champs League ;-)

Not sure who else (irrespective of being cup-tied). Benzema I havent seen much of. Huntelaar perhaps.

Who knows. Lets just keep Robinhood quiet in his debut and it'll be job done. Although I have a feeling we'll get shown just what we've missed out on....

I also have this sneaky feeling that our midfield and forward line look alittle lightweight lacking in firepower. Fingers crossed that we get 3 points in Eastlands next week and teach them whos boss. =)

I think what's more of an issue here and of concern, is the fact that it appears the money is moving out of London and accumulating in the North West, and it's possibly going to have an effect on the Olympics, and what London can afford.

I can see the following happening and announcements forthcoming....

The opening ceremony.....The flames will be ignited by a petrol bomb thrown by a native of the city (probably a West Ham fan). The flame will be contained in a large, overturned police van situated on the roof of the stadium.

And also to now accommodate our North Western friends and make them feel they can compete on an equal basis with the southern softees, some changes to the following events.

100 meters sprint - Competitors will have to hold a DVD player and microwave oven (one under each arm) and on the sound of the starting pistol a police dog will be released from the cage 10 meters behind the athletes.

110 Meter Hurdles - As above, but with added obstacles (car bonnets, hedges, garden fences, walls, etc)

Hammer - Competitors may choose the type of hammer they wish to use (claw,sledge, etc) The winner will be the one who can cause the most physical damage within 3 attempts. (Again West Ham Fans look like obtaining a clean sweep here)

Fencing - Entrants will be asked to dispose of as many stolen goods as possible in 5 minutes. (Could be those rascally Scousers that are favourites in this)

Shooting - A strong challenge is expected from the Manchester gangs in this event. The first target will be a moving police van. In the second round competitors will aim at a post office clerk, bank teller or securicor style wages delivery man. The traditional .22 rifle has been replaced in this event by a choice of either a browning automatic pistol or a sawn-off 12 bore shotgun.

Modern Pentathlon - Amended to include mugging, breaking and entering, flashing, joyriding and arson.

So you heard it here first.

Its been a funny few days. Now Curbs is reported to have quit his job as manager of West Ham.

LINK

Do Chelsea fans think football will end up ruined by all these billionaires buying into the Premier League?

while not signing robinho hurts a little, there are some positives to take from the situation
1) robinho's a good player, but he is a winger. with everyone claiming that anelka can't play alone up front, we should have been looking at a different type of striker. LGP wanted robinho, sure, but in the end it was obvious Real Madrid didn't want this transfer to screw them over in the CL...this year. reports on monday were that in order for robinho to leave, chelsea would have to pay the buyout clause. for once, i feel PK and RA stood firm on what they thought the value of the player actually was.
2)this is a sign of intent from the new owners of citeh, but it is a stupid one. on the last day of the transfer window, they threw out bids for just about every player on the market. i dont think robinho is an impact player; sure he'll have some fancy stepovers, but as with ronaldo on portugal, centering your team around a winger doesn't always work. citeh would have been much better off pushing for an arshavin deal IMO.
3)chelsea is still strong enough to be at the top of the table without robinho. however, it is apparent that a deal will need to occur in january, and hopefully, some big names will be upset with their clubs by then, and we can make a better signing.

in all honesty, the berbatov move hurts more, because our direct competition has added another tool to the shed. what on earth did fergie do to convince spurs to sell to them?

My sister's mate's brother's uncle's babysitters niece is a lab assistant at Imperial College. She says Curbs has been undergoing tests in a special chamber normally used for stressing metals at below freezing. He has been trying to endure temperatures of -60 degrees C dressed only in a thin vest.

I would hesitate to link this with the upcoming vacancy at Newcastle as he may well be swimming to the North Pole for charity or something. But you never know.......

that should read minus 60 degrees (the -60 is not as obvious as it should be)

Do any of you guys attend chelsea home games and park at chelsea and kensington hospital car park?

I'm doing some BBC research into hospital car park charges and wanted to know what fans pay on match days at this car park and how long they stay for?

If any of you do park here on match days, please do respond by answering those two questions above. If you could include your name and contact number also to back-up my research I would be really grateful. I won't be calling you, but you need the name and contact number of someone who contributed to your research.

Thanks! My email is rsowood@hotmail.com or simply reply to this blog.

@BB - my mind was just mulling over King Kev/Curbs "who was the first sacked EPL manager this season" betting scams possibilities but I like your suggestion more of nefarious deeds Oop North [and East London]........

@BBD #293

Interesting point. If you had money on Keegan would the bookies pay out? What if you knew Curbs was going and nipped down the bookies on Monday? You'd have been sweating yesterday when the news of KK came out.

@BB 294 - the more cynical version is you knew on Monday Curbs was going to resign at Board meeting on Wednesday despite a good result at the weekend, you help spread the KK rumours to those "reliable sources" when he doesn't take training on Tuesday morning and pile into Curbs Tuesday pm when presumably his odds would have lengthened significantly but bets were still being taken.

Not that I would condone such sharp practice against such a fine upstanding and ever-fair profession of course......

So much for my 16/1 bet on Benitez to go first this season. Those bookies know their stuff (and I should know too having been involved in the industry for so long).

In my opinion Curbishley is the wrong type of manager for Newcastle. Get your money on now.

...which begs the question of what might be the right type of manager for Newcastle. I'm trying to think of a witty answer, but it's too confusing for me. Seems like what they did was put Dennis the Menace in charge, while naming some Geordie hero as the figurehead to keep the fans happy.

Gazza?

Steve Harmison?

Mrs. Ashley Cole?

Or -- and you know this is going to happen somewhere in England, quite soon -- Avram Grant??

Personally I'm totally enthused about the Citeh thing, and agree absolutely with PetertheGreat that it would be loads more fun for everyone if there are eight or nine teams regularly capable of taking points off each other. I think we have a good foundation now and will be up around the top even without any headline signings. And isn't it odd to see Chelsea now looking like one of the saner and better-run Premier League teams?

Personally I'm totally enthused about the Citeh thing, and agree absolutely with PetertheGreat that it would be loads more fun for everyone if there are eight or nine teams regularly capable of taking points off each other. I think we have a good foundation now and will be up around the top even without any headline signings. And isn't it odd to see Chelsea now looking like one of the saner and better-run Premier League teams?

Totally agree, how easy is it being a fan of a team that wins things most of the time. It makes our recent successes all the memorable and enjoyable, you need the lows to really appreciate the euphoria of winning.

Ha ha ha ha!

Just come back from holiday and heard the transfer news. Unbelievable, although what everyone needs to remember is that City may now have Robinho, but they also have Ben Haim at the back. No amount of money thrown at strikers will make up for his inability to play football.

My only real concern coming into the season is that a couple of injuries up front and we might really struggle to score goals.... Didier needs to get fit and stay fit!

@ Fiftee 284.......

Can't really see SWP terrorising Ashley at the weekend.

They will have played against each other time and again over the past 2 years, and he will be ready for the tricks.

I agree though that the full backs won't get forward much, which will probably leave Anelka out on his own up-front again.

I can't say I am full of optimism for this one!

Man Citys new owner says he is going to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, Leo Messi, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas all in January. What is he smoking?

A very good article, by a Chelsea fan, on being outbid for Robinho and our attacking problems:

LINK

"there’s our consistent failure to find a winger, or wide attacking player, who comes as advertised. Since 2003 the club has signed Joe Cole for £6-odd million, Arjen Robben for £12m, Duff for £17m, SWP for £21m and Malouda for £13m. All, for various reasons, have moved on, or vastly underperformed, or both, with the exception of the club’s player of the season for 07-08: Joe Cole. In Robinho, I half-expected an easy-on-the-eye lightweight who’d manage 20 league games and the European ties, who’d get thumped a lot by mid-table clogging full-backs, and eventually retreat into a rather sullen shell. I’m probably doing Felipao a disservice here. Or perhaps I’m just jaded at the paucity of attacking threat that we seem to possess without Drogba. Why should the latest one be any different?"

At least Mark Hughes appears to have some sense and it's only the Arabs who appear to be in dreamland:

LINK

The likes of Kaka, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo will never go to City and tarnish their reputations, no matter the price. As the article said the likes of Utd, Liverpool, arsenal and Barcelona will flatly refuse any offer for their BEST players just to prove a point to the new owners that their money can't buy everything. I remember when Roman first arrvied we had bids for Henry and Raul rejected because they simply didn't want to sell to the 'new rich kids'. Soon City will have to 'settle' for the big names who they can realistically get (Van Nistelrooy, Fat Ronaldo, Michael Owen, Ronaldinho) and mercenaries, in it for the cash, who will never know who Man City are (Robinho, hopefully Malouda) and forget the best players in the world (kaka, messi, Cristiano, Torres, Gerrard, Fabregas, Villa...).

If City are able to get some famous names into the side in January then MAYBE they can squeeze into the top 4. But a team of old galacticos may never gel. That's what Ranieri found to his cost when trying to gel together the Crespos and Verons. And as many of you say, if Mark doesn't take them into the top 4 then he looks doomed. He may not want to have a team of galacticos but as seen at Newcastle, West Ham and Chelsea (2006 - Sheva and Ballack), the owners soon start getting bored and will want a say in team affairs. That's why Mark's admirable calls for the Irelands, HArts and Richards to be saved may fall on deaf ears. As the new owner (can't remember his name, not exactly as memorable as Abramovich) said, his 2 favourite players in the world are Fat Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, and if Mark refuses to play ball then he'll be moved on.

What price a return for Avram? He's a big name, right?

@ Habs.... your last comment is hilarious and I note you mentioned Gerrard over Lampard in your list of best players in the world... Lolli won't be pleased with you...

Poor Sparky will be on borrowed time even in january when Citeh will be struggling to even make 6th let alone 4th and the likes of Ireland, Richards et al will be wondering where they stand as the flood of new players arrives in January. I can certainly see the original horse face licking his lips in anticipation of one final pay day and making the move. Can't see any other big names following suit though. I noticed there is no mention of Henry but again wouldn't be surprised to see him come back in January.

I also liked the fact C Ronaldo only got 2% of the vote from Citeh fans when asked which player they most wanted. It would be a surprise if any Man U players are ever going to be enticed to discard the red short for a blue one. It was bad enough when Alan Smith crossed the divide from Leeds to Man U can you imagine the vitriol that would be sent the way of any player switching clubs in Manchester...

One other thought... The take over of City won't be the last in the EPL this season. I hear a rumour that Loserpoo will also be sold to the Dubai ruler.. Everton are now hawking for a billionare... Mike Ashley will be next to sell out to a bigger fish...Arsenal won't want to be left behind so they will look for a sugar daddy as well.

If more clubs do get taken over by billionares, there will be more and more buyers for the top players.. so expect more ridiculous transfers fees as these mega rich owners start competing for the limited pool of good players.

The only ones who will really gain out of this situation will be the agents. Sure the footballers will be well paid but they are expected to perform for their wages. Agents just collect bigger and bigger fees and them move on to the next deal.

As for managers they will have less control over transfers and will be stuck with trying to meld teams from a bunch of mecenaries and existing players and do this quickly to win at least one of the 4 trophies on offer each season.

Poor fans will end up paying even higher tickets prices to watch players who are paid more but don't delivery anything better than is currently offered.

Lolli knows that i love SuperFrank, it's just my blue-tinted glasses which are telling me that none of our good players will fall under the spell of the arabs' billions. I sincerely hope that none of our players are tempted to join City, although saying that, they can happily have Malouda.

On our lack of pace in attack, are we forgetting that we have still yet to see Drogba and Anelka partner each other as a striking pair? If it doens work, we will be running riot all over the place. Now that we have Deco to thread the balls, Drogba to hold it up with his strength and Anelka who can run behind defenders with his pace, itsnt it an ideal situation to try it out?

Ballack-----Essien-----Lampard

-------------Deco-------------

-------Drogba-----Anelka------

302 Haberdashers........

Are you sure that 'very good article' wasn't written by Jang! He has been bleating on about a winger for weeks now!

And frankly I can't wait for City to knock either Arsenal or Liverpool out of the Top 4.... I just hope it isn't us!

I think that as much as all the money around football has changed the game, once it starts there is no going back. The Top 4 has become a bit of a closed shop, and if City, Spurs, Newcastle or Everton can all attract some money men, at least there will be more of a fight for the coveted positions.

It will be interesting to see what happens though, when only 3 of the 5 big spending clubs can make the Champions League.... The two that miss out could quickly fade away without the Champions League cashflow for a couple of years in a row.

@ Greenlight... your last point is a good one with the likes of the new Man City owner perhaps hasn't thought about yet. There are only 4 trophies for EPL clubs to win and as you say only 4 CL spots. The chances are some clubs will miss out on one or both 'measures of success'. What happens then to the those who miss out on one or both remains to be seen.

May be the FA will invent a new competition to make it 5 trophies...

@GREENLIGHT

Whats wrong in harping for a new wideman when we clearly need one?

I understand people's desire to see another duff, robben or even zola in the team. But it aint going to happen until Jan earliest and more likely until next summer (if at all). Personally I am glad Robinho went to Citeh as I have never rated him as a real top player and certainly not worth 30mil. Given his unprofessional attitude both with his move from Santos and now from RM, I cannot see him having the bottle to tough it out in the EPL once fallbacks get a piece of him (cue A Cole and the way he has dealt with horse face).

For me the time is ripe for Chelsea to start genuinely blooding our top reserves and youth players into the first team. Our team formation with Drogba and Anelka both fit and playing together will be better suited to attacking midfielders like Deco, Lampard, Ballack and Essien who play the good through balls and then support the front men. Both fallbacks enjoy a run up the touch line and if our midfield can get on top then we shall push back the opposition to allow the fallbacks to overlap and put in the crosses we need.

I just don't see the EPL or our style of play suited to dribblers. Horse face had his best year last year when he stopped his silly dribbling and played more direct football.

Another option is Belleti. He impressed me with his passing skills in the last game and in the past has played his best football when bombing forward on the wing. Maybe he can fill in sometimes when we want to do something different.

I remain very optimistic that this term we shall be top come xmas and top come May if we can stay relatively injury free compared with the last 2 seasons. When we do get injuries then lets see some young promising players get a run when the opportunity arises in lesser games and cup games.

KTBFFH

@PeterTheGreat,

"I understand people's desire to see another duff, robben or even zola in the team. But it aint going to happen until Jan earliest and more likely until next summer (if at all). "

I'm one of those that had that desire. I guess, mainly, because we were selling his shirts, and our players were being interviewed about him being one of the squad; asked what he'll bring to the team etc.

All because someone got a little bit too cocky and arrogant and thought a deal was done. I made a point yesterday (and repetitively before that) that I think we're very short on quality up front and out wide, which I stand by.

DD's coverring his back already by going public about his return to fitness. However you look at it, in numbers at least, we're one striker and one wide-man down on last season. At the start of this one, we were all saying how close we were to some shinys last season with the injuries and upheaval we had, yet we've let more players go this time, so IMO we're further away.

The fact of the matter is that we wont be able to address any shortcomings for a whole season now. 'Decent' signings in the January window are a figment of imagination, clubs get settled and the 'best' players invariably dont move until the summer.

I'm sure PK is still bending over and taking it from Galliani in his pursuit of Kaka, but he's different to Robinho, so you have to wonder which names are in the frame for that sort of role.

Scolari's angry / disappointed etc. to have missed out on Robinho. The fact of the matter is he knew the type of player we needed and we didn't get him.

The season ahead of relying more on Malouda can be summed up in one word - disaster.

We weren't creative and savvy enough to break down Spurs AT HOME on Sunday. I;m afraid the honeymoon of the first week is over, and the performances at the JJB and against Spurs are a true reflection of what's ahead. And it's not pretty.

The inherent problem with wingers is that the vast majority of them are so frustratingly inconsistent, it is little wonder that many managers sometimes have little faith in them; 1 game mercurial, 1 indifferent and 2 completely awful, and I doubt Robinho would have been any different.

That's what makes Ronaldo (pushing the definition of winger here a little bit) so valuable - by and large, he's very consistent (and also physically very strong, another trait that players in that position often lack) - the number of players we've been linked with that fall into the inconsistent category (Simao etc.) have been rather uninspiring choices at best. How many truly great players in that position are there around these days?

Citeh will be interesting to watch; one thing they lack that we had was the structure in place before Roman pitched up (part of what he brought into, really) - regular top 6 side, European football for pretty the best part of a decade or so before and so on. City have absolutely none of that and, as has been previously noted by PeteW on here, the added obstacle of consistent failure running through their DNA which takes a lot to shift; Mourinho did it here - Sparky (and whoever follows him, as is surely inevitable) has got a very difficult task on his hands.

One has to wonder what effect this will have on their season; talk of 15 new players can't be music to the ears of the current squad and City's youth set-up, one of the best in the country, will surely suffer if the big money quick fix option is taken. If the oil money is restricted a few years down the line, any neglect of their youth academy could take some time to rectify (as we have found to our cost).

I understand that signing a top class wideman or a 'Kaka' like player will be difficult this winter. But how are going to cover up all the loopholes in our attack? Buy a stop gap winger in the winter and continue to get frustrated with his inconsistency? Or try to formulate new attacking strategies with what we have like say try to make Drogba and Anelka tick? The person who is the root source of all this mess and frustration to us fans is Peter Kenyon. Where is he now? MIA?

Been harping on a Anelka and Drogba strike partnership since last season. Grant was too chicken to try it. Will Scolari try to incoperate both of them into his system?

Interesting isn't it. Citeh's much lauded (and rightly so) youth team of English and Irish players beat our put-together-with-cash-by-Arnesen youth team of young English and international players in the FA Youth Cup at the end of last season, striking a blow for the local and real. But how many of those young players now see any future at their club? And what value will be placed on the system that found and developed them?

Citeh fans who have always prided themselves on supporting the real Manchester club, must now be torn. To be honest, I have always felt misgivings about our sudden rise through cash - even though I would never let another team's supporters know that and always defend Chelsea and point up their sad envy when confronted by opposing fans (as my contributions to this blog demonstrate). But I've grown to accept it as the new way of football at the top of the major leagues. You cannot turn back the rise of Global Capital and its inevitable intrusion into a domestic football competition as popular and high profile as ours. It's always been there of course, but not so blatant and critical to success. Liverpool's old power rested on the support of capital, just like Man Utd (the team that introduced serious Capital into the game).

Any sense of pride in our club must come from the old connective elements. Things like, connecting to players who put their heart into playing for the shirt. Especially local boys like Joe Cole who supported us as a kid from the stands, and Frank who has bled Chelsea since leaving the hate-pit that was his experience at West Ham. And those imports who give their all - Ballack, Ricky, etc. That and the fact that we are beginning to see the club run well, with diligence and some sort of conscience. However Roman made his money, and however he appears to other people, to us he appears to be a decent man who commits to long-term building, learns quickly and has a true passion for the game, albeit only recently found.

I don't really think our attack has that many holes, Jang - could do with another striker pending how Di Santo fares, but also pretty confident overall that our midfield has more goals in it than pretty much anyone else in the league right now.

I'd imagine that Kenyon is probably in his office in SW6, if that counts as MIA. Scolari (signed up by that terrible fool Kenyon) has one of the two best squads in the league to work with and has a fair bit of footballing nous in his locker - I'm sure a man of his experience will figure something out. At least we can be sure that he won't be throwing up his arms and panicking like some of the tarts on here.

Jang.....

When in full flight the winger is the most potent weapon in any side, as was shown time and again in the Robben /Duff era. Unfortunately Robben, in my opinion the best winger anywhere in the world, was made of glass and he moved on as a result. It remains to be seen if Robinho is good enough to cut the Premiership week in, week out, but if you are going to try and fit 5 top class midfielders into the side, you cannot play with wingers as well.

Personally, I don't like Anelka and don't think he will ever become a Chelsea legend, but perhaps the best chance for him is to give him a go in attack with Drogba.

What irritates me though is those fans that feel the answer is to constantly go out and buy the best players in the world..... For christ sake, if we cannot win something after the amount we have already spent (and now we have a real manager) there is a real problem.

I have to say, I can imagine it will only take one bone-cruncher per game from the likes of JT / Vidic / Essien / Carragher etc. to get Robinho taking shelter at the by-line.

Wouldn't surprise me if Robinho had very little impact in games away from the City of Manchester.

As Greenlight points out, Robben appeared to be constructed with a mixture of glass and balsa wood. And Robinho looks to be of slimmer build. Feasibly, a strong gust of wind will knock him off the ball. Maybe if enough people in the same section of a stand took extension leads and hairdryers to a game he'd be blown off the ball.......

> he'd be blown off the ball

Fiftee - you paint a powerful picture, sir...

'Robinho makes Man City move gaffe' LINK

Yeah I just read that Nick, I mentioned previously that he's probably been badly advised and possibly railroaded into it by some rather unscrupulous people. Is he a mercenary or perhaps just not that bright?


Just to change the subject, has anyone realised that our first 3pm Saturday game of the season is at Stoke on September 27th. Our actual first home game at 3pm on a Saturday is against Sunderland on the 1st Nov.

Call me old fashioned but these dates and times take away from the enjoyment of a Saturday afternoon for me when it comes to football.

LINK

I think he is much better player than Robinho . He can play on the left wing too.

BUY HIM ROMAN,KENYON ...whoever.

@ Clive

Tell me about it. I am off to France for another week in October to revise for an exam. So, looking at the fixtures I decided that the best date would be the 4th October. Go to SB, watch game, leave game, drive to Dover, do the ferry, drive through the night, sleep for morning, hey presto a week to revise. The game that day is Aston Villa and was the very first 3pm Saturday home kick off this season. Within one day of booking the ferry I got a text saying that the game had been moved to the bloody Sunday. That'll be the 3rd game I miss this season. originally I had planned to leave on the Sunday morning, but even that would have been no good.

It's so frustrating and I bet I'm not the only person affected by the change. I appreciate AV have the UEFA cup, but perhaps a postponement until later in the season might have been more acceptable in terms of changing plans.

I for one would welcome a standard 3pm Saturday kick off.

And yes, I guess this does make me a sour faced grumpy old git.

@322 Clive - with you on that one, Clive but now the Great God TV rules -and with UEFA cup games on Thursday pushing even more EPL games away from Saturday afternoons I now accept it as an unexpected bonus when I occasionally get to go to the Bridge for a Saturday 3pm kick-off.

I just got around to reading the BBC website's article on who are City's new owners from a couple of days ago and noticed this bit in particular:

The senior City source said: "Sheikh Mansour wants to use City to help develop Abu Dhabi into the sporting capital of the Middle East."

- going back to a previous discussion on here about introducing a play-off tournament to decide the EPL champions, what are the odds we are faced with "The Abu Dhabi EPL Playoff Finals" by 2018, if not earlier - Man City involvement compulsory, of course?

Come on Scolari, Drogba and Anelka for a strike partnership! Deco left, Joey right with Essien and Lampard/Ballack in the middle. That should make up for the lack of speed in attack.

I was credited as SARAH above, 'cause something was wrong with the blog...didn't want to post . Sooo...
Clive, how is it going with your new job?Brazil huh :) ?
That is one evidence more that Manchester City will now try to buy everyone.
Maybe Roman was like that in the beginning but we spend less and less every year...
135 million pounds for one player is crazy...I HOPE that sheiks don't ruin the beauty of football ...the good thing is that league will be more competitive.

As I said...I hope we will try to sign Ribery in the winter (LINK IDEAL CHELSEA TEAM with the available squad:

cech (gk)a.cole (LB) , terry (cb), carvalho (cb), bosingwa (RB), Essien(DMF), Deco (ML),Ballack (MC),jOE cole (MR),lAMPARD (AMF), DROGBA/ANELKA (ST)

Formation 4-5-1 (4-1-3-1-2)

I'm past caring about the fortunes of the round Europe tour of over-paid millionaires - commonly known as the England teams World Cup qualifying campaign - but I see the FA have well and truly shot themselves in the foot over coverage.

Sultana have purchased the rights to show all the away qualifiers, but are able to determine how much they sell the highlights for. As the Beeb have made what appears to be a paltry over and (thank God) ITV havent even bothered - there wont be any highlights (quite literally) to watch on either Saturday or next Wednesday.

I'm a bit disappointed I wont be able to rip Capello's team and their almost-guaranteed awful performance to shreads based on watching them play.

And, whilst I agree that the move away from traditional Saturday kick-offs is a travesty, the flip side is it presents me with more opportunities to get down and watch them.

I WILL GET TO THE BRIDGE THIS SEASON!

@327

Ribery would cost like A BOMB? I dont know how do you value him if Robinho already cost 32m quid. My small pick: Lukas Podolski. He's getting disillusioned with life there, not too expensive and the type of attacker we need due to his pace and mobility.

Otherwise, im convinced that Anelka + Drogba = will get the job done.

Arabs paid for Robinho more than he objectively costs.
And about Ribery...huh...you are right.But I think he is better than Roibnho and worts EVERY PENNY.

lukasz podolski-I agree with you.

Podolski coming to Chelsea is quite impossible I guess. He came from Köln for 10Mio.€ and they were already trying to get him back in the summer. He's an absolute icon in this city and I think he's not going to take the risk of sitting on the bench again at Chelsea or any other big club.
Ribery would surely cost more than Robinho and believe me...Bayern would never let him go. Uli Hoeneß hates Chelsea to the fullest.

I actually see Podolski as a German Looney who has lesser agression and more technical. Would be a good aquisition IMO and i reckon he wont be over-priced aided by his bad relationships now with the club.

Clive, how is it going with your new job?Brazil huh :) ?

@327 Sarah
My application to coach Brazil was turned down as I was over qualified. ;-)

@Tony
Yes it is a bloody nuisance when dates change for games that you organise real life around. I will still be going hopefully, as that Sunday nothing was planned for me anyway. Enjoy your your trip anyway, you may well get the added bonus of some extra sun. :-)

@BBD I just wonder will Saturday games be such a rarity in the future, that the new Saturday will actually be a Sunday, after all the last day of the PL season has always been on a Sunday.

schweinsteiger and podolski would be decent buys in my opinion, and plus as bossy said, you fit in a whole lot better when you've got friends/internationals already in the team. We'd have such strong german, english and portugeuse speaking elements to our team, and it can only help that 3 of the attackers could communicate in their 1st language when they arrived, and when it came to tactics (schweiny, podolski and ballack).

maybe it's not that important really, but i rate them highly in individual merit anyway. Podolski is a sure bet for the right price, he's unsettled, and schweinsteiger was looking for a move to england at the start of the summer but was persuaded otherwise - however, with ballack and podolski hanging over at stamford bridge, two of his mates, he might be persuaded.

also, how fast is ribery? is he just skillful like joe cole or does he have a bit of pace as well? if that's the case, then maybe he'd be a better fit than schweinsteiger (as much as it hurts me to say) as we need a bit of that, albeit him being a whole lot more expensive. But after missing out on robinho, i'm sure that won't come into Scolari's pro's and con's.

The only 'pace' we have had in the opening few games were from our full backs.
Deco, Balack, Lampard and Joe Cole have been playing and all four of em are snails.

I hope we start Kalou next game, so at least you know one of our opposition fullbacks will be woried.

Do you think secret agent Wise's next job should be at Arsenal, Liverpool or United?
Answers on a postcard to Nick for a prize of a season ticket donated by Mr T.Glover who spends most of his time in Provence. :-)

@Clive - I think the Yanks at Liverpool are doing a fine job of destroying the club from within, so Secret Agent Wise isn't required there.

United have hundreds of billions of pounds of debt and owners interested in nothing but financial gain, all the while the economy is weakening - again there's probably no need for Wisey to be sent in to fuck it all up.

So Arsenal it is then.

Not that Agent Wise can be held wholly responsible for Newcastle's on-going problems - they weren't exactly stable before his arrival.

Chuckle. Perhaps we can get 00Wisey to infiltrate Arsenal, destabilise Wenger -- an early exit from the CL and a couple more Premiership losses should do it -- and then he can install the ultimate weapon of football destruction in the Emirates: the "Avram 2000".

Sun are reporting that Zola is in the frame for the Spammers job... And he would be keen to take Steve Clarke with him.

That would be a kick in the proverbials!

Great to see Wisey stirring the pot.... Frankly I don't see what the problem is... They tried to sell Owen and Barton without Keegan's backing. Surely he should get a medal for services to football if he got shot of the 'Thug' and the over-rated, injury prone Owen at the same time.

Also seen a story regarding Zola being on the Hammers' list:

LINK

Would be happy to seem him get some experience at West Ham, as i've always regarded them as our feeder club. So when Zola and Chelsea are ready, we can simply ask him to take the short trip to the Bridge to be our manager in a few years time. I do see him as our version of Roy Keane. An icon of the club who is destined to take over once they've both got the experience and Fergie and Scolari have retired. Although, i wouldn't be happy if he took Clarkey. I think it's more likely that Casiraghi AND Zola could take over as Clarkey said on Chelsea TV that he's staying at the club to win us the Champions LEague. He said he was 90% sure of walking out with Jose and nearly left in the summer, but that he wanted to stay until we'd won that trophy. So i don't expect him to leave any time soon.

I asked yesterday, what price a return for Avram at City once Mark Hughes is shipped out for failing to get in the top 4 and win the PL within a few months? But what price a return to West Ham or Newcsatle? They both seem ripe for a useless Director of Football to take advantage of the chaos by selling himself to the owner despite his obvious lack of experience, charisma, ability, talent or even basic communicating skills.

Zola at West Ham would give us a chance to see how he performs in the EPL before considering him to take over from Scolari. He is not going to get an assistants gig at Chelsea while Scolari is in charge.

Agree with Habs can't see Clarkey leaving this year.

Also good to see Sparkey inject some realism into the transfer feeding frenzy started by his new owners and the Citeh chairman. Of course he needs to do that to settle his current group of players down and keep them performing to have any hope of being in the mix for a top 4 finish this year. Still think he is on a hiding to nothing now so he might as well enjoy himself this year and get paid while he can. Of course strangers have happened but it looks like the Ranieri situation all over again.

I asked yesterday, what price a return for Avram at City ....

I think it is unlikely that the Arab royal family will install a Jewish coach as top man in their new project, Habs!

Rajkovic got banned for a year for spitting at the refree's face! Well done kid.

Anyone know any Chliean or Bolivian internationals ???

I'm thinking maybe we could lean on one or two of them to nobble Robinho ahead of next weekend.

Not sure I'd want Zola to go to Newcastle as his first domestic managerial post - it would turn into his last I fear. I'd be more than happy for him to slug out a few years at the Hammers and then replace TSSO.

Then we'd have to create a moniker for him. I'll start with TVSO - The Very Short One.

@Jang

Essien has been tried a lot in that position and each time he plays there the whole team plays like trap.

And there is always a bunch of political correct explanations:
1)'he's wastin there'
2)he is not fit
3)he is not fully fit
4)fatigue
5)etc

i will reserve my political incorrectness for later.

@ Fiftee... perhaps the The Very Slick One so we don't offend the little maestro...

With rumours that Loserpoo will be bought out by DIC (UAE Shaihk) and Newcastle apparantly in talks with an Arabian consortium and Everton openly touting for a billionare to rescue them... then the prospect of 6 teams with sugar daddy owners will mean all decent players will be playing in the EPL in a few years time. After all these new owners are all going to want the best players for their teams and there are only so many 'best' players going around at any one time.

Whose to say the EPL wont become the billionares super league where all clubs are owned and all the worlds top players see our league as the place to be. Sound like the NBL in the US anyone...

Possibly good for the fans (although ticket prices are bound to rise) but not good for the 'world' game and certainly even worse for England's national team...

@HENRY

But Essien was indeed playing through pain for the past few weeks. At least LFS said so. And i give him the benefit on the doubt. The season's still early...

The thing about the Bison is that he is like a train. A train cannot reach its destination if it doesnt move. Same with Essien. He's strength lies with his speed and stamina. He players a physically imposing game. Thats why people say he's wasted in that position. You get the analogy?

@PTG
The rumours that DIC are trying to buy out Loserpoo have been going on for months, and appear to be no closer to bearing fruit, I think a lot of the rumours come from Loserpoo fans themselves. It's difficult to buy into a club when one owner wants to sell and the other one doesn't, and of course they both have to agree to any sale of each others share. If Obamha wins the Presidential race come November, then perhaps they may sell up, because the Democrats won't be giving tax breaks to the wealthy, which will probably put them I should imagine in a fair bit of difficulty.

@345 Fiftee - even if Robinho doesn't get nobbled in either of Brazil's internationals he's going to be arriving back in Britain sometime late Thursday/Friday jetlagged and presumably still barely recognising half his team mates, let alone having trained with them.

Will be an interesting gauge of whether Sparky gets to impose his voice of reason approach starting to appear in his statements in last few days and sensibly put Robinho on subs bench only for his first game or is pressured into starting with him to appease his new demanding owners?

BBD,

By all accounts, Sparky's ability to recognise the new owners are similar to Robinho being able to recognise his new team-mates.

You just know that if Robinho has only one amazing performance all season, it's destined to be next Saturday.

Unlike Malouda, who is destined to only have amazing performances in the land of nod.

Is it just me or does anyone else think Obafemi Martins would be a good signing? Newcastle are in turmoil at the moment and he wouldn't be cup tied in Europe if we signed him in January. He has pace, good skill and a hell of a shot, and can play in a front 3, or as a strike partner to say Drogba, or he can work up front by himself. Hardworking and seems to be pretty loyal, unlike all the other spolit brats around right now. Surprised he hasn't been mentioned.

Is it just me or does anyone think Obafemi Martins would be a good signing? Newcastle are in turmoil at the moment and so he could be picked up for a reasonable amount in January especially with the help of Wise. He wouldn't be cup tied in Europe either. He has blistering pace, good technical skills and a great shot.

He can also play in a front 3 as demonstrated last season with Viduka and Owen. He can also play with a strike partner such as Drogba, who likes to hold up the ball more. He can also play up front by himself as we have seen in parts last season and the beginning of this season and he did a good job. Anyone else think he'd be a decent signing?

sorry about the double post, i thought it didn't post the first one. 2nd post is a better description anyway!

Yeah, it must be just you !

Nah, but seriously - Martins is umpredictable and inconsistant. In the SWP backet when it comes to shooting IMO. He IS quick and tricky, but how effective is he?

Thats why i hate international weeks. Look at Essien! He's been injured and unfit. He played the Wigan and Spurs game through pain. With his body condition being half-arsed, he went to play for Ghana. Now he's at his breaking point and could miss the game against the manures. How frustrating is that? I would sacrifice Robinho/Kaka for a 100% fit Essien for 50-60 matches per season anytime.

Again, Chelsea's international injury curse strikes again. Essien out for 4 weeks according to Ghana's physios means he misses City, Utd and a CL game. I don't understand why we didn't do a Fergie and just say that he isn't fit enough to be called up. Fergie didn't care that he pissed off Capello by withdrawing Carrick and Hargreaves, so why couldn't we do the same with Essien?

The City game is one of the most important of the season in terms of Roman laying down a marker to the Arab owners and at present our midfield is looking thin on the ground. Essien is definitely out, Ballack is hobbling around and Mikel is still half fit and Malouda was dropped by France (they've finally realised how shit he is). So could we abandon the 5 man midfield and gor for 2 up front with Didier returning and a diamond:

Cech
Bosingwa Ricky JT Cole
Mikel
Lamps Ballack
Cole
Anelka Didier

At least Joe's found some form against the mighty Andorra. England were frankly awful, seeing as we were playing semi-professionals who have to return to their day jobs on Monday as lawyers, dentists... And don't forget that the home of Borat, Kazahkstan, put 3 past them. It wasn't exactly an improvement on the McClaren era. If we get beaten by Croatia, then it's damning proof that England really aren't that good. All the hype that we should be running away with this group and winning the World Cup is ridiculous.

Another fan of Lucas Podolski for the January transfer window:

LINK

He could fill both our problem positions of providing quality cover up front and possibly as a left sided attacker when we play a 4-3-3.

Another interesting article in today's Observer [not by JD] on "just another week in planet football":

LINK

For those of you with MTV-generation attention spans who struggle to get past para 2 of 2,000 word pieces, below is the most relevant bit to us:

"Everyone seems to be getting a teeny bit over-excited here because it was Chelsea who were gazumped, forgetting that Robinho was a player Real Madrid were trying to move on and that City scattergunned a few more attacking targets as deadline day approached.

Since being dropped by Fabio Capello, Robinho was rarely central to Real's plans. The idea that Chelsea were trying to prise away one of the Bernabeu's most prized assets is a little wide of the mark; it is much more the case that Real were trying to get as much money out of Chelsea as possible, as everyone does. It is also unlikely that Roman Abramovich could have rescued the deal by bidding a little higher. Luiz Felipe Scolari seems to feel a good player was lost for want of a few more million, whereas Abramovich probably had a shrewd idea Adug would not back off.

The point is that even had Robinho ended up at Stamford Bridge he would have been viewed as an overpriced and slightly risky capture, and there is no guarantee he will flourish at City, where Hughes can hardly be expected to be quite as simpatico to a young Brazilian as Scolari".

- or as calmer heads have been saying on here this week - it's not the end of the world just yet......

@BBD

The article is so true. We dont really need Robinho but we need someone else. I dont know who will come in January but that kid refered by Pele for counselling is definately way over-priced. A 32m quid punt on him is too risky.

Robinho is not worth 32m. But Arshavin is surely worth 20m.

If it werent for Joe Cole England would have lost to the Czechs and drawed with Andorra. Habs surely cant continue to blast him. Capello played Walcott on the right wing? Is he nuts? He must play this formation

----------------James-------------
Richards----JT----Rio------Ash----
-------------------Barry----------
---------Gerrard------------------
Joe------------------Young--------
-------Owen-----------------------
-----------------Rooney-----------

@Joe

Why do you keep bringing up my supposed 'blasting' of Cole. It's plainly obvious that against Wigan and Spurs he was anonymous and was rightfully taken off. After his MOTM performance i rightly praised him (see above commetn: "At least Joe's found some form") so i won't continue to 'blast' him if he continues to play well. But more performances like against Spurs will see him dropped when Drogba returns to fitness.