The Bi-Polar Express: FA Cup Souvenir Edition
Friday, 05 June 09, 06:49 AM · Comments (172)
This was a momentous week in the lives of all those who love Chelsea Football Club, which by any standards is an experience like few others in how to experience such extremes of despair and joy. After two years of a trophy room starting to smell a bit musty due to nobody having any reason to open it, two years of Champions League heartbreak, two years of missed Premier League opportunities, two years which saw us lose to the detestable Spurs in full public view at Wembley, the rot was finally stopped by a superb and well deserved win over fellow Blues Everton at Wembley.
Much has been said over the last few years about the tarnished image of the FA Cup, about its faded romance and its dimming light under the full on glare of allegedly greater competitions. When I say greater I actually mean richer and more financially lucrative. The All Conquering Sky Premier League and The Megabucks Behemoth that is The Champions League have certainly done their utmost to relegate the season’s showpiece finale to that of nothing more than an amusing folly. The influx of foreign coaches has further encouraged this view as well, steeped as they are in footballing cultures where the idea of a knockout competition is an anathema to a season’s toil of strategy and skill. For the likes of the triumvirate of evil, Tubby Benitez and Arsehole Wenger, and now surely to his eternal shame Sir Purplenose of Manchester Village, the other competitions were games of chess in comparison to the roulette table. Skill and planning for one, pure luck and guesswork for the other.
Mastermind versus Deal or No Deal.
These three fools all wax lyrical about the importance of the cup competitions before putting out second string sides but then purport to be aggrieved when lesser sides, desperate for success, capitalise on luck and reserves of inner spirit to overcome their own great leaps into the unknown that come from playing ‘reserve’ teams, full of pre-pubescent rosy cheeked cherubs barely able to comprehend the sudden necessity for copious amounts of Oxy-10. To our eternal credit we have not, as yet, succumbed to this selective attitude towards success. In fact from the top four we are honestly the only club that hasn’t gone down the ‘play our foetal range’ route, something for which barely no-one has given us credit for. Chelsea Football Club respects every competition it enters and tries to win it. Claims from Manchester Village, Liverscum and Airline FC along similar lines can be dismissed as empty, dishonest and meaningless platitudes.
To a degree it’s easy to understand this viewpoint, after all any success that comes down to hard work, planning, dedication, patience, belief and skill has to be more rewarding and satisfying personally. Doesn’t it? To most of us we’d agree that this is indeed worthy and virtuous, but of course what it does is remove the thrill of the unknown, the thrill of not knowing how the dice will fall, the thrill of the gambler. Work hard and earn your corn is an honourable way to live, but then why do so many of us do the lottery? Want to toil away for 40 odd years for a semi-decent pension and the proverbial gold watch, or would you rather scoop this Saturday’s lottery rollover of £8m? I know what would make me happier.
The FA Cup isn’t devoid of skill, it’s just harder to plan for unknown or unfamiliar opponents and every game is effectively a one-off. In that 90 minute period any great side having an off day can be unceremoniously dumped on its podgy Premier League posterior. Humiliation is a spectre that is never far away. Maybe the triumvirate of evil fear this spectre that hangs over knockout games, and maybe we, having faced down and been beaten by the ghost of humiliation many times before, know deep inside that it isn’t Freddie Kruger or Michael Myers. No, I think we realised some time ago that it’s the Slimer from Ghostbusters. It’s sticky, uncomfortable and tastes vile, but you can wash the slime of humiliation away and come back with some proton packs and beat it next time. We are the Ghostbusters! Ruud Gullitt was our Dr. Egon Spengler, Gianluca Vialli was the stressed Ray Stantz, and of course Jose Mourinho was our mischievous Peter Venkman. Guus Hiddink was merely a hybrid of all three rolled into one uber-Ghostbuster.
All true football fans of course aren’t wrapped up in the business of football, but are inextricably meshed into the romance of the game. That’s why local derbies count, that’s why relegation cuts so deep, that’s why a trophy is a trophy... it’s symbolic of achievement, of reward, of being valued and just for once, of being winners. The arrogance of the triumvirate of evil will never let them consider the feelings of their fans about a trip to Wembley for the Carling Cup, despite Manchester Village winning it this year. Does anyone really think Sir Purplenose really gave a stuff about winning that trophy? Deep inside does Wenger really care one jot what the Arsenal fans think about yet another trophy-less season when he displays such utter contempt for a competition that his first team stood a damn good chance of winning? Sadly, they appear to feel the same way about the FA Cup and that along with Manchester Village’s reviled decision to withdraw a few years back may have inflicted a serious wound on the old girl. But it didn’t, and their disregard for the world’s oldest competition hasn’t dimmed it in most people’s eyes, including their own fans.
My whole Chelsea life began with an FA Cup Final. The 1970 Final to be precise. Until that time I had merely been a football mad kid with a vacant footballing soul. I was a football club virgin. I’ve told the story many times, but in essence most of the school mates I had wanted Leeds to win. The reasons as far as I could make out were that Leeds had finished above us in the league in second place (Everton were first) and the name Leeds implied ‘leaders’... well we were only nine at the time. Even back in those days kids latched onto the more successful teams and my own area of West London had its unhealthy share of Leeds fans, Spurs fans and Manchester Village fans (sucked in by the Best/Charlton glory years). However, when I questioned my dad about who I should follow for the cup he was absolutely firm in his view that we would support Chelsea because they were the London team and the underdogs. At this point the explanation of the term underdogs was required to ensure that I wasn’t confused by seeing certain dogs underneath others in the park that I’d assumed were just playing an unsuccessful version of doggy leap frog. That sealed it. The romance of supporting the team no-one expected to win and that happened to be reasonably local as well excited me. Although London was a very big city to a small boy, and Stamford Bridge may well have been in... ahem... Yorkshire as far as I was concerned... imagine my shock when I found out many years later that the original was in bloody Yorkshire! The idea that I was gambling self esteem and credibility amongst my mates took its grip and Chelsea Football Club had taken moved all its baggage and belongings into the vacant echoing rooms of my footballing soul and put a sign outside saying ‘All Rooms Taken’. A blue flag was raised above the roof of that soul declaring permanent residency and will only come down on the day I shuffle my way off this mortal coil. And even then, in the afterlife, if one exists, I’ll be a true Blue. All because of the FA Cup.
Within days I knew everything there was to know, every player, every manager and the history of the club. Way prior to any posters from Look-In magazine of The Sweet, Slade and T-Rex adorned my room, pride of place belonged to Ron Harris, Ian Hutchinson, Peter Houseman, Peter Osgood, Bobby Tambling, Alan Hudson, Peter Bonnetti, Eddie Macreadie, Charlie Cooke, David Webb, John Hollins, John Dempsey, Tommy Baldwin and Marvin Hinton. They were the reason I am who I am now. They are why I love this club and they are the reason I fork out several hundred pounds each year for a season ticket and merchandising. I cried when we were losing the replay at Old Trafford. My heroes had let me down, the full brutal cruelty of football fandom was hitting home at the first hurdle. Within minutes of being despatched to the kitchen for the customary evening treat and comforter of two biscuits, as my small boyhood hand rummaged around the tin, and my brain feverishly tried to work out how to wolf down a few more before going back in I heard the howl of delight from my dear old dad as Osgood latched onto a dream ball from Cooke to equalise. The rest is history and the brutal cruelty had been transformed into the sheer joy of winning. There are fewer more addictive drugs and from that day I was as hooked as the person experiencing their first trip on acid.
That’s why it matters. It forms children’s (and adults) allegiances. It teaches them about the cruelty and majesty of life’s lows and highs. It is truly a character forming experience. It is the beginning of a love affair at the hands of the cruellest yet most beautiful of mistresses. That’s the romance of the cup.
There’s not much to add to Nick’s fine post match report. Not a single Chelsea player had a bad game, and exceptional performances were once again visible from Malouda (my Man of the Match again... who’d have thought?), the superb Anelka and the newly humble but persistent Drogba. Young Mikel Obi also had an outstanding game, proving to me it would be utter madness to even consider letting him go after such a consistent and progressive season for the lad. Everton were the stereotypical plucky challenger, stunning us with the early goal. Well, maybe not stunning us... it was more akin to being slapped on the wrist for dozing off at the start of the lesson. It’s a long time since I’ve been less worried about an opponent scoring against us first. After the early goal we simply took calm and cool control of the game and the equaliser was barely a surprise to anyone, including Everton. After that goal and despite the game petering out for a while at the start of the second half mainly due to 41 degrees of searing early summer heat, it was clear that only one team would go on to win. The more we held the ball, the more plucky Everton chased, and the more tired they became. Frank’s goal was utterly sublime, and of course had Stevie-Me scored it then as the Good Kaiser himself said to me, it would have surely been named The Gerrard Final. The newly revitalised Malouda had a superb strike ruled out as the referee and linesman couldn’t be sure it crossed the line. Hardly their fault when one watched the sheer speed and dip of the shot. But yet another example of how we seem to get less decisions rather than more. Just one minor downer was the utter bile spewed from Craig Burley on Setanta Sports (whose all day coverage was utterly superb... they do seem to get the romance of the cup), despite the rather excellent commentary from Jon Champion. I know as ex-Chelsea he won’t want to seem biased, but honestly he barely gave us credit for anything, and his dismissal of Frank’s goal as being more down to Howard’s poor goalkeeping than Frank’s thunderbolt was downright disrespectful.
What else can I say about the day?
As special as 1970? No, cynicism affects me as much as anyone these days and that win was experienced through the blue tinted eye glasses of childhood innocence and wonderment.
As special as 1997? No, because that ended 27 years of a success wilderness patch. That win was a glass of water to the dying man crawling through the desert of failure and underachievement.
As special as 2000? Yes, probably even though the old Wembley was weeks away from the wrecking ball.
As special as 2007? Even more so. As welcome as that win was it also came at a time when the acquisition of trophies seemed a regular occurrence and our expectation levels had been inflated to new and unreasonable levels.
The last two years have been as trauma filled as I can remember as we lurched from the success highway to the cobbled street of failure and heartbreak discarding managers like cabinet ministers discard their posts. The sun shone, Wembley looked great, we played in yellow, the Magners flowed, the champagne flowed, I went from coolness personified to gibbering wreck the minute Abide With Me, stunningly performed by the London Community Gospel Choir (surely a permanent fixture after that), started and the last 10 minutes saw me transformed into a Tourette’s afflicted lunatic, screaming into ChelseaBob’s plasma screen. The final whistle felt like someone had finally punctured me before I exploded. The rest of the evening is a blur due to the excitement, the heat and in no mean part the alcohol. I loved it. Every last nerve shredding minute of it. It's times like this that one remembers how great it is to be alive. I truly hope it’s the start of another period of success.
I’ll leave my thoughts on the season and the huge news that our new coach is Carlo Ancelotti until the next Bi-Polar Express. That may appear next week or the week after as I’m off to ‘le Sud de France’ for a long overdue bit of downtime. The season review will also follow with the full array of player ratings, fan ratings and lies, damned lies and statistics. Plus an early look into Madam Chelsea Tony’s crystal ball for some early predictions. Order your copy now!
And here we have the usual collection of facts, gossip and lies with my very own BS rating alongside where 0 is fact, 1 is possibly true and 5 is a heaving smelly dung pile of utterly rotten putrefying bullshit.
Carvalho ready to leave Chelsea – TG BS Rating 2 – Quite possibly true. As much as I love Riccy he hasn’t featured this season and it’s arguable whether we’ve even missed him. Both Alex and Ivanovic have proven to be worthy understudies and at nearly 32 and seemingly injury prone perhaps it’s time to cash in.
AC Milan midfielder Andrea Pirlo has ruled out a summer move to Chelsea to link up with his old manager Carlo Ancelotti – TG BS Rating 2 – Who needs Pirlo... what on earth can he add to our current squad? Good, stay where you are.
Chelsea placed a record bid for Kaka in order to gazump Real Madrid – TG BS Rating 4 – Highly unlikely – even we’re not daft - £75m was being spoken of in total – if Roman is releasing £100m then there are three or four others we could and should get. Ribery, Villa and Aguero spring immediately to mind as a collection to excite and rejuvenate the current squad.
Frank Ribery, David Villa, Ashley Young, Ross Turnbull, Sergio Aguero, Glen Johnson, Alexander Pato and even Samuel Eto’o are on their way, probably amongst many others – TG BS Rating 3 – Who knows, the silly season is well under way and maybe one or two will arrive with the exception of Eto’o as we don’t need another ageing Barcelona dud after the last one.
Jose Bosingwa is being courted for a possible move to Bayern Munich – TG BS Rating 2 – As part of a swap deal for Ribery perhaps? I like Bosingwa, but Johnson was ruined by Mourinho and looks a decent player at Pompey. With Ivanovic able to play anywhere across the back four then maybe this is not such a bad move.
Chelsea misfit Deco is on the verge of a move to Inter Milan - TG BS Rating 1 – Dear lord please let this be true. Anyone of the loyal readers of this blog would drive him to the airport just to make sure he’s gone. A waste of money, possibly our biggest, even bigger than Shevchenko who at least tried his best.
And finally, culture corner, lyrics dressed as poems; with a tangential relationship to Chelsea at best... these words are not far off how I felt on Sunday morning.
I'm a phallus in pigtails
And there's blood on my nose
And my tissue is rotting
Where the rats chew my bones
And my eye sockets empty
See nothing but pain
I keep having this brainstorm
About twelve times a day
So now, you could spend the morning walking with me, quite amazed
As I'm Unwashed
and Somewhat Slightly Dazed
Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!
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172 Comments · Add yours
1970, yes, that's when the FA Cup was...
My abiding memory was Putney High St. festooned in blue and white for what seemed like weeks beforehand, which must've really pissed off the Fulham supporters who had to pass under them to get to Craven Cottage from that direction.
At least your love affair started with an FA Cup Final victory against dirty Leeds Tony. But we were opposite ends of the Bi Polar spectrum, as my love affair started with our defeat to Rottenham in '67 no biscuits could console me that day, well perhaps a few "Wagon Wheels" might have. ;-)
But still, as those scousers say that's "history"
The FA Cup IS football to me.
Probably even before I remember 'being' a Chelsea fan, I can remember the '87 final as we lived in Coventry at the time; and the Liverpool vs Everton final a year or two later.
That's when football really grabbed me by the wotsits and sucked me in. In those days, to me at least, it was THE cup to win and was respected by all teams. It was the only time there was a little bit of 'off field' TV coverage - watching the teams stroll around the grounds of their team hotel; recording the cup final song (where was ours this year?).
They ruined it by leaving Wembley. Those stairs were so famous, they encapsulated the FA Cup.
It's still my favourite trophy, even if the caning in the rain in '94 was one of the worst moments of my Chelsea supporting life.
My first game was an FA Cup match against Notts County in '64 (or was it Northampton Town...honestly can't remember - it'll be in the history books anyway) and watching us win 4-1 with Bobby Tambling scoring 2. Then the loss to Spurs in the '67 final, then the great win against Leeds in the replay in 70. Interesting that we were cast as Southern softies that would get outplayed and out muscled by a proper Northern team in the media narrative of the day. Some hope. We dug in and showed amazing spirit against admittedly better players. A great Cup history that fixed that trophy forever as a favourite for me. It'll never be just another cup.
Incidentally, I just can't get excited about transfer speculation. That'll change when we actually stick our new players in front of the camera at the press conference.
This made me laugh though:LINK
The first game I attended was a 4-0 victory over Liverpool on Easter Saturday 1965. It seems unbelievable now. I can still remember the team: Bonetti; Hinton, McCreadie; Hollins, Mortimer, Harris; Murray, Graham, Bridges, Venables, Tambling. I even managed to impress Peter Bonetti by reciting that team when I met him a couple of years ago. Tommy Docherty managed to break that team up but an even better one was in place for the 1970 season, which included the glorious triumvirate of Cooke, Hudson and Osgood. Alan Hudson just about shades it as my favourite Chelsea player of all time (I'm still upset that he didn't play in the 1970 final). Franco Zola was surely a better all round player but that was a different era and Hudson gets my vote for the same reason that Tony invokes in his excellent article: "the blue tinted eye glasses of childhood innocence"
Tim, I remember that 4-0 win well. Liverpool were league champions at the time, their first title of what was to become their total dominance of domestic football for years to come. There were 66,000+ crammed onto the terraces and we murdered them. But I have clearer memories of the Osgood/Cooke/Hudson era as I was in my late teens and early twenties by then, and more aware of players and team formations and whatever. Charlie Cooke was my fav player.
Lovely stuff Tony.
I always feel a bit of envy for the teams that make the FA Cup no matter what success we have had. That's why the Double still matters.
You are right about the sense of the Carling Cup not seeming important to Manure and yet it was part of the much vaunted quintuple or whatever. Mind you so ws the World Cubs Championship where they has to beat a scout pack from Japan and some girl guides from Ecuador.
Riccy has to be one of teh best centre backs I've ever seen. I was really hoping he would get back from injury for another season or two. What a goal he scored against Manure at the Bridge. Overlooked 'cause the title was won, but it was class.
It will go into my collection of Great Overlooked Goals (GOGs trademark applied for)along with Anelka's Golden Boot winner against Sunderland.
I'm in the same boat as Clive. The '67 generation. I wonder how many brave souls started in '94 when Chelsea were so much the underdog and lost so disappointingly. Starting in tears but enjoying it now.
I haven't got quite the same long memories as some of you guys but 1997 was special. Saturday wasn't quite the same but was getting there - such a feeling of loss after cruel Champions League heartbreak (more than once) kind of made eventual success a bit sweeter, and helped me fall in love with the FA Cup all over again.
How strange is it to use the word 'eventual' there by the way? I've become so spoilt over the past few years...
Anyway. Top article - really well written. I think we deserve some credit: while the likes of Man Utd and Arsenal (and Liverpool to a lesser extent) have been side-lining the FA Cup to concentrate on other cups over recent years Chelsea have always tried to win everything. Yes, bleeding youngsters every now and then is a good thing and we could get a better balance. But our appraoch deserves some admiration.
Oh - and Frank got 20 goals again. Deserves more credit, we'd be nowhere without him.
As you say in the post, it's been an exciting week and who knows what'll happen next. If anyone's intereted in reading another set of views on the last week or so you can check out my blog at www.bridgeviews.co.uk
When my Mum and Dad got married, he promised her a fur coat when Chelsea won the Cup, she waited 44 years for that coat but got it in the end, I think the cup has always been special for Chelsea and always will.
Wasn't born for the 1970 Cup Final, and whilst I started heading to the Bridge at the end of the 70's with my old man, the Cup Final will always be special to me ironically for our 4-0 humbling by Man United in 1994, by which time we were on the other side of the world.
Having gone into the game with so much optimism, to see us blown away left me heartbroken and in tears..... But it gave me a great taste of what was to come in 1997 against Boro.
Whilst the game itself was average, the win was the first(FM Cup aside)trophy I had seen Chelsea collect in almost 20 years as a fan.....The game was also memorable for having to hide my 14 year old brother (under tables, inside adult jackets, in the loo)for the full 2 hours in an Australian pub.....Funny night, with some fantastic memories!
And on the eve of another glorious England game, here's a great article on the genius of our very own Super Frank:
LINK
This Liverpool stuff just keep getting funnier:
LINK
Really ''touchy'' (by this I mean emotional) stories guys...
Anyway
Rafa is going to have transfer budget of 20 million pounds I read... He will spend it ''wisely'' like every year...
I am not very optimistic about Ancelotti, but Guus is staying as an adviser ...that calms me down. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be Scolarish ...
I was sceptical about Scolari too... when the first matches were played I said ''ok he is fine'' and then it all started to go...bad.
LINK
Its about Sneijder and Asheley Young... I think it would be great if we ...at least try to get them...
It's the first non-football Saturday and the weekend already seems to be missing something.
Three months is a longish time but I guess that the WCQuals and the overseas tour coupled with a bit of transfer titillation will just have to suffice.
What makes it more striking for me this year is that we were just on the verge of what looks like a really positive period, with the team and also a new manager and possibly a new signing or two, then it's, 'Hold everything' and 'Come back in August'!
Reminds me of those Saturday Morning Pictures (probably still going in 1970) when the hero went over a cliff at the end and as his vehicle plummeted earthwards the screen displayed 'To be continued...'
From the Religious Affairs Desk:
Kaka - sincere believer in God and the Holy Saviour - cost £75m
Newcastle - a religion c/w with own Saviour - cost £100m
Spot the bargain
Lovely piece and great comments. Yes, the FA Cup is a very Chelsea trophy - the 1970 Cup final and replay are still two of the football matches with the highest ever TV audience (I think they are second and third behind the 1966 World Cup final), which says so much about how iconic those matches were and how ingrained they became in English footballing history (that stuff we don't have any of).
It's funny how some finals have that impact - 1970, 1973, 1981, 1987, 1988 - while others, even if they are great games or big giant-killings, simply don't - 1976, say, or 1986.
For those of the non-1970 generation, the 1997 final will probably be the greatest Chelsea moment we will ever experience. One of my worst Chelsea memories also came in the FA Cup, the quarter-final defeat at Sunderland in 1992 when I resigned myself to the fact Chelsea would never reach a final let along win a trophy in my lifetime.
The Moore-Lampard comparison is very interesting and will doubtless have 'appy ammers spitting blood, but there's some truth to it. Opposition fans slate Terry for not being like Moore, and then when they have a player who is actually a bit like Moore (who was no angel, it has to be remembered), they slate him as well!
From the Book of Nordic Myths and Legends by Professer Blu Bayousugnesson
West Ham have been bought by an Icelandic Bank!
I thought finding rocking horse shit was easier than finding a solvent Icelandic Bank with a bit of cash.
You live,as they say, and learn.
Our inactivity in the transfer market thus far is simply unacceptable.
What the hell is going on? I dont for one minute believe it takes days and days to get transfers sorted, it must be possible in a few hours.
Man City signed Garteh Barry and had him pass a medical in what was effectively 7 minutes and 14 seconds, so don't anyone try and tell me it takes days and days of negotiation.
The most exciting Chelsea related story today is the potential sale of Ben Sahar for £800k. That's just Z-list in comparison to what should be going on. We've got this new manager and we should be showering him with multi-million pound signings - some he wantes, some he doesn't and most of whom will be shit, but that's not the point.
Come on Roman, Peter, Frank et al, get with the now and start buying.
From The "I wish I knew then what I know now" Desk
If I thought Martin O'Neill had that sort of money available I would have offered him all the old rope I chucked in a skip on Saturday, 'cause looking at this makes me think there was every chance he would have bought it.
"Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is ready to offer Newcastle striker Michael Owen a two-year deal worth £55,000 a week."
(Source BBC website Football Gossip - so it must be true eh?)
Reply to Fiftee:
From the Desk of Doctor Bayou
Dear Mr Fiftee,
We note with some concern that you are overdue your monthly brainscan and re-assessment of your medication.
Until we can arrange your next appointment please lie in a darkened room and while fondling large amounts of £50 pound notes and repeating the words Shevchenko, Shevchenko, Shevchenko, until you feel calm again.
(You have not been charged for this advice)
19. Fiftee
Pirlo, David Silva ,Sneijder are our possible targets...together with Ribery... but everything is just a rumour...
I wouldn't like Pirlo in our team...too old.
David Silva is great, but he is prone to injuries...This guy is tougher, thats what I heard LINK ...he is cheaper and only 20 years old.
Ribery stated he doesn't want to go to England...
So...its getting on my nerves too. I am just hoping that two things DON'T HAPPEN
1. Deco-like situation ( if we buy Pirlo, thats most likely whats going to happen)
2.Robinho like situation (trying to sign a player in last moments, doing it and at the end,failing)
I just hope we don't sell Gordon Durie to Spurs.
Reply to PeteW:
We won't miss him. I've managed to get us Robert Fleck. A snip at £54k a week, £1k a week less than Owen wanted.
Ha, I remember the furore when it was reported that Andy Townsend was asking for £10k a week!
Reading the Liverpool stuff makes me glad, once again, that despite his, er, idiosyncracies, we got Roman for an owner rather than some dodgy property shark trying to make a fast buck.
So Kaka's officially joined Real for £56m. Yay, we've made a logical decision in the transfer market by saving £56m to hopefully spend on Pato and Villa we should cry. Kaka was swayed by the glamour of Real Madrid, the fact that they are the biggest club in the world (yep bigger than Utd and certainly more famous than our global brand which will upset Kenyon)and by taking Zidane's number 5 shirt.
However, i do feel slightly disappointed. Firstly, after Roman showed the fans that he's willing to sign the best players in the world, we've missed out yet again. We missed out on Kaka the first time when he went to Milan, as well as Pato when he left Brazil, then on Cristiano Ronaldo, Gerrard twice, then Torres and then Robinho (luckily). I don't know if it's Kenyon's negotiations or an apathy towards joining the bully boys of the King's Road but we haven't signed a superstar, galactico, or however you'd categorise the world's best players since Sheva and that ended in disaster because we could only attract him after Milan had got the best out of him. I'm just a little disappointed that after going for one of the best players we've failed, again. Secondly, not spending £56m on Kaka will only prove logical if we do invest that money in the likes of Pato, Villa and Aguero. What I fear and seems likely is a repeat of last summer. We were linked with all the big names when Phil arrived including the likes of Kaka, Robinho and even Torres and in the end we only brought in Deco! This summer Ancelotti's list is supposed to include the best young talent in Europe but do any of us hold much hope of actually seeing them in a blue shirt? I think we'll clear out 5 or 6 of the old and rather average players in our squad and knowing us we'll bring in Eto'o (despite the African Nation's Cup) and Zhirkov which won't exactly inspire the fans, thus making a profit this summer.
In the end i'm just hoping for a more successful and realistic summer which won't disappoint.
@ Habs......
Mate we need to be realistic..... As much as we like to think we are the biggest and best team in the world, the reality is somewhat different.
We will never get the world's best players, as their heads will be turned by the likes of Madrid, Barca and Utd.
But we do need to be picking up, the next level players and hopefully with an additional $50mill in our pockets, we should be able to secure 1 or 2 of those. It won't be Pato....but Aguerro, Zhirkov, are both exactly the sort of players we should focus on.
Habs,
It's a culture and climate thing. Bar Robinho who *cough* wasn't at all swayed by the £120k a week, honest *cough*, it's rare to see the top stars from either La Liga or Serie A move over here (yeah, I know Sheva did, but it was kind of for his mate. Oh, and copious amounts of money).
For those players who genuinely aren't in it for the money, they wont move to England. I guess in much the same way the English players rarely leave. Yes, arguably the Premiership is the strongest league in the World and they'd point out they had no reason to move away as they've proved themselves here, but there's also a comfort involved in playing in you home country, or one that's similar culturaly. Hence why, despite my crazed fascination with him, David Villa will never leave Spain - he'll sign for either Madrid or Barca this summer.
It's the same with the other names that have been mentioned - Silva from Valencia will stay in Spain or move to the Spanish region of Merseyside. Aguero will stay in Spain or go to Italy. Ditto Pato. Of all the players we've been linked with, I bet Zhirkov is the most likely to sign, and even then I think it's unlikely.
I have a feeling we're in for a bit of a nasty surprise in our transfers. I dont think we'll be able to sign those players we really want - most will move to other clubs in the same league. I guess outside of the club, there isn't a huge clamour to move to Chelsea, yet it's hard to understand why. Maybe the perception that we play methodical, machine-like football is a factor. There's no denying our success, but perhaps the style of play in the league isn't that appealling in other countries. Much as I'd love to believe any of the top stars in World football would have to come here to prove themselves, it's not going to happen. Kaka moved to help Milan financially because, let's face it, Madrid are shit.
Our only purchases will be from the Premiership.
Tightarse Shambles from Wigan anyone?
Reply to Fiftee:
Spot on Fiftee
We can't ignore factors outside of the money, particularly for top players who can take their pick of where to play.
The lack of English players going abroad is also a good observation. Even when the big money and opportunitis were abraod very few tried it.
I wonder what would happen if the EPL bubble burst tomorrow and the most you could earn was say £10k a week. How many would go abraod and succeed?
I suppose I'm old fashioned and still cling to the idea of putting a top class team together without breaking transfer records all the time, while still recognising that money needs to be spent.It's been done before and will be done again.
Real are off down the Galactico route but I dont believe we should be trying to follow them.
I know it sounds ridiculous to say "by all means spend £60m on 4 players but not £56m on one" but I do feel uneasy sometimes with the way player costs and wages can be so completely divorced from the clubs' real financial situation.
I'm not hankering for the days when we paid a player 3 bob a week and a farthing win bonus. Stupid amounts of money get paid to people in film, fashion and other areas of life, which are "non-vital" as it were.
I suppose I still like to watch us unearth a jewel, buy the unsung talent (Riccy for instance)or produce them from the youth system (we did do that once upon a time).
Greenlight is right, we're never going to be able to attract the superstars for all sorts of reasons and I imagine Kenyon knows that even if Roman doesn't. But we can attract the next level - which is what Drogba, Lampard and Essien were before we signed them. Canniness is key this summer, but that's not something we've seen a lot of since Ranieri.
Also, the weak pound, 50 per cent tax bracket and increasing strength and glamour of La Liga are going to hit the Premier League hard this summer I fancy.
'Even when the big money and opportunities were abroad very few tried it.'
Do Glasgow Rangers count as abroad?
When you think about it, a reasonable amount of British players tried it in the 80s/early 90s - Hately, Hoddle, Wilkins, Sounness, Archibald, Lineker, Hughes, Walker, Platt er, Blissett - arguably the best of the generation.
But that was when English football was crap and we couldn't play in Europe; in the last decade, the best English players have had little to gain - beyond expanding cultural horizons, and you can buy a second home in Dubai for that - from leaving the UK, and nobody abroad wants to sign anybody but the best. The experiences of Owen and Woodgate will not have tempted anybody, either.
Players from strong domestic leagues do tend to stay at home generally - compare with top Italian footballers, who rarely leave Serie A and get dropped by Italy when they do - but will make exceptions for certain managers. Perhaps if more English managers were abroad they could bring their players with them, a la Benitez.
Talking of unearthing gems, young Stoch scored a nice goal for Slovakia at the weekend. Hope he doesn't go the same way as Scott Sinclair.
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PeteW,
Thanks for that - I remember seeing in the papaers Sunday he'd scored but forgot to look for it.
Tidy strike, albeit against the 'mighty' San Marino.
Tough to know what will happen to the likes of him, Sinclair (I feel he'll be sold) and Mancienne (who scored last night for the U21's) - I hope the youngsters get a chance next season, but I suppose Di Santo notched a few in pre-season 12 months ago and went on to do chuff all the rest of the time so time will tell.
Roman may well be willing to fling his cash about, but I really don't want us throwing £50-60m at an established world star; a risky strategy at best. Be nice to see us make a couple of smart purchases this summer, but the Ribery / Villa type stuff is madness we just shouldn't get involved with.
Remains a fact that it is also a huge cultural shift between going to a Mediterranean country and coming here; clubs in Italy and Spain will have almost always have the jump on the UK for their own nationals and South American imports.
The other key factor is stability; for any player looking to move here, having managers that last a season or on average ain't exactly going to help us attract the best. Same can happen elsewhere, of course, but a season or two of stability and a coherent direction for the club would probably help a great deal.
Pato gossip on the BBC:
LINK
@ Fiftee
Be very careful if you look at the link in #35 or read today's Sun.
Remember it's not the knowing but the hope the kills you.
Reply to BlueBayou:
Perfectly said.
I think it's the fact that Roman went for Kaka in the first place and missed out on him which disappoints me. Going for Ashley Young instead and getting him would have been far better as it would have been realistic much like the way Claudio (who's a great scout) went for Duff instead of Zidane, Makelele instead of Ronaldinho, Cech instead of Buffon and Robben instead of Beckham. But having got over the fact that Kaka rejected our grey skies, 50% tax rate and physical football for the glorious galactico project, today brings news of a straight fight between Roman and Mr Perez for David Villa. I know that Villa has said he doesn't want to leave Spain but so did Torres and he ended up in Liverpool, which i'm sure is lovely. As you said, the hope of signing Villa will probably kill me as we end up with Heskey or Crouch or some other reject come August. And finally we have Pato. We actually have some quotes of him saying he's honoured to be linked with us and that he loves Ancelotti, so perhaps £45m for a 19 year old wonder kid could actually happen?
There goes that hope again.
Listen... Kaka is a great player, but in last two seasons he played pretty bad...I mean, not bad for an avarage player, but he certainly didn't play like Kaka...
I think it was highly impossible for Kaka to move to us... It was certain that if he goes somewhere else than Milan, it will be Real Madrid. And Kaka is very injury prone... I think if he came to us, it would be Shevchenko situation again.
45 pounds for a 19 year old is not really...good. But Pato is great. I still think, Dzeko would be accessible for less money.
Believe me, Pato doesn't worth 45 million pounds...
Zhirkov is possible.And it would be a good buy. Ashley Young too.
We need to invest more in youngsters - Stoch, Di Santo and Mancienne especially.
I agree with Habs... Duff instead of Zidane, Makelele instead of Ronaldinho, Cech instead of Buffon and Robben instead of Beckham.
Lets do the similar trick again...
"45 pounds for a 19 year old is not really...good. But Pato is great. I still think, Dzeko would be accessible for less money. "
I dunno Sarah, 45 quid for Pato sounds reasonable. I reckon we could fund his transfer from this blog alone ;-)
Reply to Fiftee:
Speak for yourself...
Yeah , seriously ...speak for yourself ;)
I don't Know, Fifty, Pato is great player ,but he is too young to cost 45 million pounds... What if his leg breaks , he never develops his true potential, stays like he is now?
On the other hand, he is young and great...so I dunno.
I still think we should try Ranieri way.
Scolari coaching in Uzbekistan.
Wow, Chelsea really broke that sucker!
LINK
Reply to PeteW:
Somehow I feel like a guy whose girlfriend become lesbian. However, I believe that this is his right place.
O.k, so it's probably a load of made up nonsense, but I'm shocked :
LINK
Much as I'd like to see both Aguero and Sturridge signed, no way would I be happy if it transpires we're paying them the £200k and £75k a week that's been reported this morning. In Aguero's case - not until you've performed better than Messi for 3 consecutive seasons; and in Sturridges case not until, umm, you grow up. Seriously, £75k a week for an unproven 19 year-old? Jog on.
As I said yesterday (and the day before, and the day before...) I dont see us signing anyone. Roman is (hopefully) sensbile enough to appreciate that while the money COULD be there to spend on the right player, getting taken for a ride by largely unproven players is just not going to happen.
Reply to Fiftee:
It's difficult to see how they could or would want to pay Sturridge that sort of money. We'd be fast heading towards a point where no-one at Chelsea velcros on a shinpad for less than £100K a week.
I think Pete touched on the point yesterday and that is with fluctuating currencies etc. last years £150K to someone on the continent could now be £175K. So while journo's are traditionally very good at inflating their expenses you have to question where they get the figures from.
And the other interesting thing is this idea of net payment. The "They talk in gross but I want net" sort of thing. Wasn't that part of the falling out between Bates and Gullit.
And how much of these salaries are inflated to allow for the player's management to take a regular cut plus of course all the other fees and backhanders sloshing around in these deals.
Add to that sorting out who gets what from image rights, endorsements etc. and the whole things a nightmare. Wasn't it said that we got Vialli 'cause Chelsea were willing to set up some sort of offshore account for his non-salary earnings and Rangers weren't (that's Glasgow not the other shower)?
What about the trigger clauses that Terry and Lampard have with respect to being the highest paid? What would happen to them?
Now add in to the mix the Setanta problems, the news that the EPL has not done as well overseas as they like us to think (The Germans, I believe allowed an amount of free to air in some markets and stole a march), the question of just how much money can football really make as opposed to what they think they can make and I think you'll agree that we need a week long seminar on Football and Money.
Any volunteers?
My head hurts.
It's good to see football behaving responsibly while the rest of the world goes down the plughole.
As a man with a reputation for trainspotting you can take it from me the best train in the world is the one with GRAVY on the front.
The lakes of cash are going to dry up, certainly in terms of TV money anyway; with Setanta heading down the waste disposal, Sky are probably canny enough to realise that for all the EU's protestations, they are likely to be the only serious bidder unless ESPN pitch in at some point.
Ultimately means one (or both) of two things will happen; a) that sugar daddies a la Roman and his oppo at Citeh are likely to become almost essential and b) that revenue will just need to be boosted elsewhere. Ticket prices, merchandise and so on. And not just in the UK - to my mind this brings the ugly sceptre of Game 39 back into sharp focus.
@Blue Bayou - following on, I think that's right about the Germans; TV revenue domestically is important to them, but they don't let the TV folk dictate terms as much. Ticket prices far cheaper too - means people are far more likely to go to a game than sit at home and watch it on TV. As with so much in life, they've got football sussed and do it so well.
If only the average football fan here would ask why we don't follow their lead - they used hosting a World Cup to regenerate the game in various different ways; the game's lords and masters here would probably just use one to bung up ticket prices another 20%.
We need to refresh our midfield...
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
I found the article. It was China where the Bundesliga is free to air, with them taking the long view that they need to build the profile before cashing in where as our boys have gone for big PayTV contracts which then don't hold up because the locals can watch another league of good quality for free.
LINK
And it's taking the long view that is key here. Home and abroad the EPL always look short.
In this country the pricing of football means that a generation gap is coming. Unlike we greyheads on here, younger fans don't go regularly to the game because it just costs to much. How many people of our generation follow their team through thick and thin because a habit and attachment became embedded in their everyday cultural experience.
Yes sons and daughters go with theri folks but you don't see crowds of youngsters going together. When they are older they will go in the same way as they go to the cinema, shows etc.
That will change the way football is positioned within the mass culture of this country.
That will have an effect of the game. I don't know exactly what it will be but I suspect it wont lead to a maintaining of the best traditions of the game as we know it.
Andy Burnham who has now been moved over to Health was trying to get the game to address these issues, particularly this business of bridging the generation gap. Interesting to read how isolated the FA now seems to be.
LINK
So as not to be all doom and gloom my final link is there to help you all feel less depressed about everything.
Apparently "There's something special about wearing a summer dress, making you feel removed from the pressures of life."
I leave you all to approach that how you will.
LINK
LINK
How Hiddink disciplined Chelaea :-)
Reply to Blue_MikeL:
loved it.
another great news:
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few words from a regular visitor and less regular contributor at the end of the season.
first: hats off to the crowd here, for the discussion on the blog, always interesting to read. i have learnt a lot from you people about the english.
second: excellent reports. there have been so many poetic gems in the match reports and other posts, it would be shame to just leave them on the net. i'd love to have a book with blog entries to read on long flights...how many a chelsea fan would fork over a few pounds at the airport for it? a few i suppose.
third: good season. not the best, but very interesting, with a trophy at the end. bi-polar is a perfect word for it. a bunch of poets, didn't i tell you? :)
fourth: buy-sell issues are trivial to me. i think we have a great squad and with the right person at the wheel, as guus showed we can beat anyone. thanks god kaka went to real. we don't need him. let's hope drogba grows up and stops being bi-polar (if you excuse the pun), anelka is top scorer, lamps and terry good as always, ashley had a great season, ivanovic and alex look like a great pair, mikel and essien as well...and some promising youngsters.
chech is the only one i have reservations about - but only slightly - goalkeepers tend to age like wine. look at van der saar.
at the end - i hope roman stays alert as usual and will not splurge cash on overated players - the rainieri tactic, mentioned above is the right way to go.
to all of you i wish a great summer and if you plan on visiting croatia and have questions - just ask.
/did anyone ever thought of spending a few days together with the fellow bloggers and families in a cool place liek croatia?/
my grammar and spelling is usually better - we DO need edit function ;)
Reply to haberdashers:
Claudio did get a few stuffers though. Mutu was a mistake, Crespo was okay but I think a waste of time really, Veron was just retarded.
But, all in all He did make the most out of his brief period with all the cash. I think Jose owes him a lot on that front with Duff, Maka, Lamps, Robben, Cech, Gallas, Brdige and a few others.
Hey, why don't we just Sack Arsenan and bring in Claudio as the new head scout?;)
Claudio did have couple of mistakes...especially Mutu . However, he bought couple of players who were essential to our team.
Claudio would be great head scout :))) . I don't think Ancelotti would be thrilled with that :D
Anyway... I gave myself I little thought ...if we buy Pato for 45 million pounds, that would be great.
If we buy Dzeko for 20 mill. and Ribery that would be great.
If we buy Pato and Ribery for ...that would cost like hell, put I think its worth it.
So...I would rather have Ribery and Dzeko or Ribery Pato, than Dzeko alone, or Pato alone...because we need a player like Franck Ribery in our team...very,very much.We need a player like Pato, of course, but we need Ribery more. So...we will se. JUST DO SOMETHING ROMAN,KENYON,ARNESEN...ANYTHING.
I see The Drog's ON-OFF love affair with us has turned up another quote to add to the dozen contradictory statements from him in the last 3 years which The Observer gathered together back in February:
LINK
Can't see Marseilles [or anyone else] being willing to match our current generous contribution to his pension and dodgy-knee rehabilitation fund - but you've got to just love him, don't you?
Reply to blueboydave:
The 4 questions Drogba needs to consider.
D1 - Lots of moula from CFC circa £125K v not so much loverly moula from those Occitanes
D2 - warm dry mediterranean air on worn out joints v damp chilly london air on worn out joints
D3 - love and affection of Chelsea fans v love and affection of Marseille fans (who he left to pursue money and glory so what will they really think?)
D4 - Marseille cuisine v London chips,curry and kebabs.
D1, D3 and D4 certainly score heavily in London's favour. It's all down to another chilly London winter on his aching joints.
Speaking as someone who has one or two dodgy limbs that really give me gip in winter I know what I'd do..
(now where's me Air France timetable?)
[Tin hat on]
I actually rated Mutu. Yeah, off the field he was a prize cock, but I thought he gave a decent account of himself up front before he got lost in clouds of the Colombian stuff.
BBD - As you mention, it's becoming a collection of 'go / no go' quotes from him, but I'd take £10m for him. If the latest rumours about Valenica setting a price for Villa are true (which they clearly wont be) and Real are 'priced out' then we have a chance. Aguero's a decent option, maybe Dzeko as well - all with age on their side and 'sans' the knee creaking that DD has.
Bayou - flying Air France at a time like this? Brave. Or stupid.
Well, he must be assuming that lightning doesn't strike tw--
Oh all right, that's too tasteless even for us. Sorry.
In other news, according to my "fan profile" here on OleOle I have been promoted from "Trainee" to "Reserve Team". I shall look forward to my kickabout with Sturridge down at Griffin Park on a Wednesday evening. Perhaps I'll even get a look at the inside of his Bentley.
Reply to limetreebower:
...promoted from "Trainee" to "Reserve Team".
I presume that means your agent has been on the 'phone to Nick demanding an extra £40k a week...?
Reply to Fiftee:
Sorry I wasn't thinking. Apologies to all. I was not trying to make light of recent events.
According to the Mail, Mario Arnautovic has failed his medical with a foot fracture.... So that puts us back to square one as far as the search for a winger is concerned.
And they also suggest that we have competition from the Spammers for Sturridge's signature. I have to say, if I was Sturridge I would go for West Ham, simply becasue he is unlikely to get a look at the first team at Chelsea.
Nice to see Frank pick up another goal for England (albeit against Andorra).
Bayou,
No apology needed, no-one would have thought you were.
LTB,
I'm reserve team as well. I'd suggest lift-sharing, but I doubt the A11 / A47 in deepest, darkest Naarfark is on your way.....
ManU have accepted an £80m bid for Ronaldo!
Bloody hell
Reply to Mark25:
Thank God one of the most boring transfer sagas of recent times could soon be over.
Man U must be laughing all the way to the bank.
Reply to Fiftee:
I do not really know what to make out of it. From one side I am happy that this twat-Ronaldo has gone! However, for that money Man USA can buy couple of extremely good players and might probably interfere with our transfer plans.
Good business by Fergie, wonder how much he'll get to spend?
From the Laboratory of Professor Bayou:
Rest assured my operatives have deployed the most sophisticated detection equipment (normally used to detect alien noises from deep space) in order to pick up any comment at all emanating from the Blatter, Platini or others with regards to spending money you don't have, large debts, the distortion of competition blah de blah de blah.
I may not be able to maintain this watch for very long as several operatives have already been signed off by their doctors with hearing problems - because the silence is indeed deafening.
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A great player. Will be like Messi,or better than him.
I prefer him over Pato. I wouldn't mind Pato coming... but I am afraid of Shevchenko syndrome.
No noise from the FIFA boys... Just think, Real could have had the whole of Newcastle United for another £20 million. Perez and his crew clearly took the Barca treble like rational adults, didn't they?
All very silly; United will miss him, no question, but there has to be some degree of value to Fergie in not having an entire summer of headlines, will-he-won't-he cocking about and Real tapping him up every day in their usual discreet way (i.e. on the back pages of every newspaper on earth).
Anyhow, surely this deal was done a year ago, wasn't it?
You're right of course. Fergie will have calculated that he has the resources (or will have) to be competitive in the Prem and perhaps having witnessed one more big game where CR didn't make the difference, decided to give himself a bit of peace and quiet.
You just wonder though, with Scholes and Giggs only subs now (therefore obviously very much in contention for Player of the Year next year), CR gone, perhaps Tevez going, where the goals will come from?
But Uncle Fegus will have that sorted I'm sure.
Or is it a case of with 3 back to back titles and the Glazers shovelling millions a day in interest payments out the door, he is prepared for a season of rebuilding with the kids.
I am praying that the Glazers see the £80m as a chance to repay some of the reported debt, but unfortunately can't see it happening.
I reckon they'll have a good £60m to spend. Tevez for £25m and still £35m left over. I'd say Benzema will be on Fergusons radar, or Ribery.
Us? Well, some bloke I've never heard of and wasn't aware we were after failed a medical with a broken foot. I'm slightly concerned we managed to get as far as having to give him a medical - did the surgical boot and crutches not give it away? Or are we relying on the NHS to do medicals for potential new signings.....
Can maybe see United going for Valencia, but they need central midfield reinforcements as Hargreaves is looking like a terminal crock. Not sure Ribery is keen on the idea of England, but money talks and all that.
Expect to see Real cementing their position as the world's 'richest' club by far over the next year or two; nailing two of the three most bankable names in football the year before the World Cup is very smart business - serious money, yes, but the Bernebau tills will be ringing in the merchandise sales in a very big way.
For all Roman's cash, it does provide a timely reminder of where we are in terms of football's pecking order - distinctly second tier, whether we like it or not (and I suspect the boss doesn't - at all).
The world has gone mad....Ronaldo....80 mill quid ! Bizarre!
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
I was wondering re the merchandising etc in these deals, what role do the kit sponsors play?
Am I right in thinking that top players have deals with particular manufacturers and yet play for teams whose kit comes from a competitor.
Do these companies have a say in these transfer dealings? Do they in fact fund them to some extent because of potential sales further down the line?
I await enlightenment from the knowledgable blogazzi / blogazze
'tis a good series of questions on a very murky area, BB.
The origins of adidas's relationship with FIFA and their 'development' of sports sponsorship are very well documented in 'How They Stole the Game' by David Yallop; (great book, but you feel like you need a shower after reading it, so grubby are the main protagonists), then there are the many conspiracy theories about why a clearly unfit and possibly distressed Ronaldo (Mk. I) played in the 1998 WC final - no question that there may well be a degree of 'influence' held by outside entities.
Maybe the case that a favourable loan from a sponsor will help fund a Ronaldo / Kaka type deal as an advance payment; don't know the full story I think that players can be used as 'assets' to borrow against in certain countries (think this is how you end up with a Tevez type scenario where a third party has an interest). Obviously the FA don't allow it, but not sure what the picture is elsewhere in Europe.
mmmmm thinking about kits and who wears what one hesitates to rake over old misery but who else apart from Platini and all those lovers of football we heard about would also think it was the "Dream Final"
Compare as they say and contrast
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(can't seem to find one of you know who in his new trainers!)
ooops try again shall we
exhibit 1
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I am going back to the drawing board
Goodbye
A time for cool heads, indeed.
This is when management need to keep some perspective and not compete crazily for signatures.
This LINK has Aguero at £45m + £200k pw!
There are only so many clubs who can sign these players, so we'll get someone sure enough and until they join the squad, it's impossible to know if they'll fit in anyway.
This would suggest that the best option would be a player that we know from in the PL (Adebayor) or one that Carlo has worked with (Pato).
This LINK shows the young duckling at 16 and there's an interesting bit (about 3mins in) where he juggles the ball on his shoulder, right in front of the linesman who's happy to let it go - real fantasy football stuff!
Last try
Exhibit 1
LINK
Exhibit 2
LINK
I'd say the Ronaldo thing is good and bad for us. The good concerns the fact he's a great player, who despite being a twat, scores goals from anywhere, is used to playing in the Premier League and is Utd's most famous name who sells the most shirts. Losing him will definitely hurt Utd and Fergie. Secondly we can perhaps see the end of Richard Keys' arrogant crowing about how the Premier League is so far ahead of the rest of Europe. Barca seem pretty handy and a Madrid side with Casillas, Diarra, Alonso, Kaka, Ronaldo, Robben and Ribery if all goes to plan also looks to be a slight improvemnt on last season. Thirldy, Fergie will have to take a risk on a replacement such as Valencia (who's just an overpriced Kalou) or Ribery (who i'd love to go to Real just to piss off Fergie) and his team will be weakened. A summer which was supposed to phase out Scholes and Giggs and find a new striker has now been ruined. Andy Gray on SSN talking about Benzema and Valencia is hilarious. That's just what you need to replace Ronaldo, another centre forward to somehow force into a side with Berbatov and Rooney. Finally, this is the perfect time for us to swoop for Villa. Real don't cosider him to be a galactico and are unwilling to pay the asking price unlike for Kaka and Ronaldo. They'll instead want to get Ribery next so we should give them a free run and look to create our own dream team by signing 2 or perhaps all out of our 3 main targets of Villa, Pato and Aguero.
Downsides? Well Real are looking quite good (any team with Kaka and Ronaldo should score goals) and Fergie's got £80m to spend. But Fergie and the transfer market shouldn't inspire confidence for Utd fans. It was Quieroz who found Ronaldo, Vidic and Evra and Fergie who thought paying £30m for Berbatov was a good idea. Utd can't get Kaka, Messi, Iniesta or even Pato (he's ours) to replace him so Fergie's fucked.
Still can't stop laughing at the deal and it certainly takes the headlines away from our efforts.
What makes me laugh about Madrid (well o.k, one of the many things) is how they weren't at all bad going forward last season anyway.
There seems to be a bit of blindness towards just how ordinary they are at the back. And Cannavaro has left. Much as I'm sure Perez would love to field 10 attacking superstars, one feels they neve really addressed the holding role issue of selling us Makelele until they bought Diarra last season. Unless they sign some big name defenders (and Perez hasn't mentioned any and they aren't being linked with any) it'll be like watching Keegans Newcastle of old - as long as we score more than we concede, we'll be fine.
Except they wont.
And they must have some severely hacked off players who'll be looking to leave - Van der Vaart, Sneijder etc. I'd take a punt on either / both of them.
After we sign Villa, obviously...
Much as I like Villa, he'll be 28 before the end of this year, which is hardly what we need right now.
Reply to haberdashers:
Habs - it may be the benefit of numerous years in the school of hard knocks speaking, but key player departures, various Djemba-Djemba-esque crap purchases and other such upheavals during Fergie's reign at Old Trafford have led many of us of us to proclaim him 'fucked' in the past...
And we can still taste the bitterness of those words now... ;-)
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
Yep, i probably go a little too excited but replacing Ronaldo is no easy task and with Tevez announcing that he's off, Giggs and Scholes proving useless and Hargreaves failing to make an appearance anytime soon, Fergie's got as big a rebuilding session as us.
A little transfer update from our Spanish scout is that we've had a €48m offer for David Villa rejected despite it being €10m more than Madrid's. Our scout says he's off to Madrid and it now seems that our summer spending will revolve around Pato and Aguero and if they reject us then it'll feel like last summer all over again. Putting our eggs in two baskets is a little improvement on last summer's Robinho debacle but it seems ever more likely that Ancelotti's marquee signing will not arrive.
I wonder how Roman feels about Madrid's galactico spending spree? Kaka then Ronaldo, Villa, Ribery and Alonso whilst we get rejected at every turning must frustrate him.
Habs,
And when the marquee signings as you call them dont arrive, what will he do?
Take a trip to the San Siro and acquire Pirlo and Seedorf. Gee, I can't wait.
Still, on the good news front :
LINK
"Chelsea midfielder Deco has declared he plans to leave Stamford Bridge...."
Reply to Fiftee:
I hope not.
Fiftee, I understand how you love Villa- I just don't understand why we'd pay the same money for him and Aguero. I rate Villa higher, but transfer fees are more of an ROI on the field unless you are Madrid and your ROI calculations involve better media and endorsement money.
I think Aguero asks for too much money. I can't say that I've watched enough of him, but we already have enough ego problems- we don't need a player with Maradona in his ear.
I'd love to get Pato. If we sign him plus a speculative youngster and maybe some Real cast offs like Sneijder or VDV I think it will be a successful summer. We have a team that is playing very well, and just needs to start to get a bit younger. We just don't have a huge player need in the short term. If anything, transfers and new blood will be psychological.
The Ronaldo thing is at best a bit boring for me. The fact that Tevez and Ronaldo will be gone from Utd makes me extremely happy. Anderson and Nani will need to step up I suppose...
I think it will expose Utd's midfield as being good but not great. Giggs can't play a full season, Scholes the Butcher is on his last legs, so the future is Fletcher/Carrick? I don't see that being markedly better than us, a full season of Torres/Gerrard, or an Arsenal that acquires a defensive midfielder and makes "the leap" so to speak.
If Man City end up with Tevez and Eto'o, I could see them ending up fifth. This may be a topsy-turvy Prem season (as if this one wasn't!)
As for Real... well, they need some serious defenders. Diarra isn't top class quite yet. But, with Ronaldo and Kaka in the side, I'm sure a few defenders will very much want to join their team. I would not be surprised if Real win the CL.
A random thought-
If this season at United doesn't go well, is this a rebuilding too far for Fergie? Does he decide to finally bow out, as he won't get to reap the benefits of his overhaul?
Can't say I'd be opposed to a few years of turmoil in Manchester.
Reply to Fiftee:
What a good day - The Winker takes his pouty flouncing off to Spain and now our most useless purchase since who knows when wants to leave - note the subtle re-writing of history in the article, claiming he was only sidelined after Big Phil's sacking, when in fact he spent most of January warming his expensive bum on the bench too after his prolonged injury spells.
LINK
Highlights of Pirlo
What would Chelsea look like with Pirlo in our side? Would we become Milan 2.0? I'm trying to get my head around why Ancelotti wants Pirlo, even at his advanced age. Part of me thinks he isnt too interested in rebuilding and wants to win right now.
With Pirlo, we'd be getting Drogba the ball more often in a quick way up the pitch. We'd also improve our corners- his delivery there is better than Frank's, and much better than J. Cole.
Would we adopt a 4321? Could we go to a 4231, with a back 4, Essien/Mikel and Pirlo deep lying, Malouda, Frank and Cole through the middle and Drogba up front?
I'm trying to get my head around why we need Frank, Ballack, Pirlo, Essien, Mikel, as central midfielders, unless we are really moving away from having wingers. Perhaps it has to do with African Nations Cup, where Drogba, Essien, Mikel and Kalou will be gone for a critical period.
My other hope- that Ancelotti turns Kalou from a winger into a second striker. I think that he, like SWP, is wasted on the wing.
Reply to Be_Champions:
It looks like you don't have to mull over the Pirlo problem and while Pato isn't coming it looks like whoever caddies for Sheva when he's in England could be back in work.
LINK
Then again you can't believe a word anyone says can you.
Just to put that Ronaldo transfer into perspective, he cost 80 million Pounds yes?
That's 1,2 billion (yes, a b in front of that illion) Rands. The Rand is the currency of my home country South Africa and It's the strongest currency south of the equator in Africa and the strongest over the last ten years in the whole of Africa. Seriously, R120 000 000,00?
Reply to BlueBayou:
I don't buy any of that. Teams always say "he's not for sale." Players always have a price- especially when they want to go for reasons beyond money.
If a player doesn't want to play for you and he is valuable, you have to ship him.
Reply to Be_Champions:
Totally agree. Every player has his price as Fergie is now finding out. "I wouldn't sell that mob a virus" and all that rubbish was Fergie's bullish stance but £80m persuaded the Glazers and if Roman and Carlo want Pato and Aguero then money will talk. Kaka was supposed to be an impossible transfer target but £56m got him, Ronaldo went for £80m and now Villa is going to go for £35m depsite our £45m bid. Money talks in football and Roman must be wondering why no-one wants to take his cash this summer. He's been rejected twice now with Kaka and Villa choosing Perez over him so i fear that he'll either get desperate and sign some reject (Pirlo) or just put his chequebook away and our old and tired squad, which i see as a nearly side who just aren't good enough to win the biggest prizes at present, will have to struggle on. Kenyon needs to get to work because July 1 is Carlo's first offical day and a week later our "finished" squad is meant to be in LA.
Also, looking at a Real side with Casillas, Ramos, Diarra, Alonso, Kaka, Ronaldo and Villa next season is starting to worry me a little. With Perez saying he'll target a CB and a LB after getting Alonso and Villa, their side looks pretty strong compared to ours. The Lampard and Didier show can only carry on for so long and despite me thinking of Lamps as a world beater, his 20 goals will not win us the Champions League or Premier league on its own. Malouda and Joe Cole should be great for us next season but a front 3 of Malouda, Didier and Joe is nothing compared to Kaka, Villa and Ronaldo. Real's front line must surely rival Barca's as being the best in the world right now.
Roll on tomorrow and the next galactico unveiling.
Reply to haberdashers:
But the thing about Real is will they gel and will their defense cope?
Our defense is one of the better in Europe at the moment and we also have a quality back up in every position, except LB Of course which Kenyon needs to sort out sharpish.
Our holding midfield positions are undeniably the best there is with Herr B Essien and Obiwan. All we need to do is sort out those wing positions and we'll be contending.
Well this is a quote from our favourite little Frenchman, wonders never cease....
"These excessive transfers are happening almost every day. It is very puzzling at a time when football faces some of its worst ever financial challenges.
"These transfers are a serious challenge to the idea of fairplay and the concept of financial balance in our competitions."
Interesting little nugget:
LINK
Maldini is likely to be an assistant coach or backroom staff for Ancelotti.
I find that rather exciting- just a titanic player, and likely to be an excellent coach- you can't play at such a high level for that long as your legs slow down without a superb understanding of the game. He will for sure be great at training and tactics, so a good assistant, and perhaps one day he will take the reigns somewhere.
Reply to haberdashers:
Habs-
We just don't have the "romance" of a big club. Moreover, the press does nothing to help our image long term with the next generation. Think of all of the 20-something year old Man U supporters around the world now. They aren't supporters because they are from Manchester.
I'm very worried because I was optimistic about Scolari, and I'm again optimistic about Ancelotti. If he has a cracking year, then perhaps the feelings amongst potential signings will slowly turn to the idea that Chelsea will be a fun place to play.
It will help if we have a new Wunderkind that the press can fall in love with- someone like Pato. I'm hoping Slovakia make it to the World Cup, so Stoch can be an "unknown" that arrives on the world stage. We won't win hearts and minds with Frank. I love him, but he has firmly divided opinion in England.
I'm bouyied by the thought that we had a team last year that excelled at two different styles- our initial foray into Samba-on-Thames, and our Guus Hiddink inspired Neo-Mourinho movement. I have heard many people tell me "player X won't work for Chelsea because of the style you play", but I've seen us play in contrasting styles with the same set of players and win both ways.
Drogba and Kalou have different roles in the Ivory Coast than they do for Chelsea. Same with Lamps and Ballack. Moreover, I think Ancelotti is the kind of guy who has a "Plan B" beyond "Plan Kaka". He is a coach who is unafraid to use Super Pippo or pacy Brazilians.
I don't think we should spend money on Pirlo- I think we all are smelling another Deco situation, but I'll give Ancelotti the benefit of the doubt. He knows Pirlo far better than Scolari knew Deco, and he probably knows something about him that we don't.
Well, I'm hoping he knows something we don't.
One of the papers has indicated that Utd's transfer budget will not increaseas a result of the Ronaldo transfer as payments are to be spread over 4-5 years by Madrid.
Finally a great article on the impact Ronaldo's move will have on Fergie and Utd:
LINK
"Selling the best never makes you stronger" and that sums it up perfectly. Utd fans are bullishly proclaiming that Fergie will have £80m to bring in Ribery, Valencia and perhaps keep Tevez but alongside Messi, Ronaldo is the best in the world (well Lamps is up there as well) and no matter how hard they argue, Utd are seriously weakened and Madrid and Barca will now offer a huge test to Ancelotti's Chelsea revolution in Europe as well as Fergie's patched up Utd.
Sell:-
Ferrera, Kalou, Cavalho, Deco, Sheva, Belleti
Buy:-
Riberry, Pato
RA please act quickly before Real snatch these players.
Habs,
I find your 'Lamps-is-the-best-MF-in-the-world' assertions very misguided and annoying. You don't know anything about football and its chaotic that this blog is giving a voice to numpties of you ilk.
Why isn't Sinor Perez bidding for him if he's the best MF in the world?
And the very reason Goose got us to play effective football was because he put the ball behind Frank and put two indiscriminate passers(Obi and Ballack) behind the ball. I've said it before as long as frank continues being the keyplayer we'll continue being a laughing stock.
I'm on a day off, thought I'd have a quick check of what the bloggers were saying about yesterday, and then I collapsed with laughter at reading this :
"You don't know anything about football and its chaotic that this blog is giving a voice to numpties of you ilk."
Oh the irony. Habs is undeniably one of the more calculated and informed of the regulars on here, and Moffat's off on one about him knowing nothing about football.
The words 'pot', 'kettle' and 'black' spring to mind.
Anyhoo, no David Villa for us. No Pato either. Aguero is too expensive. Benzema will go to Man U. Ribery wont go anywhere.
We'll sign Sturridge and that'll be it. Alex / Branko and Mancienne will fight it out for Riccy C's place. I'll happily replace Deco in being paid £80k a week to sit on the bench or clog up the treatment room if it's o.k. with the rest of you.
Am beginning to wonder if Carlo will give serious consideration to more of the younger players. As mentioned before Stoch's now a regular at International level and has scored more goals in World Cup qualifying that for us. Hopefully that will change next season. Maybe Kakuta and some of the others will get a look in during pre-season - it seems we have little choice as we can't buy anyone!
Still gutted that Frank won us the cup eh Henry? What does it feel like, to hate the most important player at the club you claim to support?
Aside of anything else, describing two players as 'indiscriminate passers' and accusing someone else of knowing nothing about football in the same breath is, well, a bit daft really.
Carlo isn't officially here until July 1; the transfer market is all about Real Madrid at the moment - anything else is small beer / irrelevant to the media at present which might actually serve us quite well. A couple of relatively low-key additions (and departures) will do. I really believe that until we get a couple of seasons of stability under our belts with consistent management, we are going to find it very difficult (but not impossible) to attract the world's best players.
Reply to PeteW:
You're misquoting me. I am a Lampard 'critic' not a 'hater'. From what I've seen he's a nice bloke and therefore I have no reason to hate him. I don't rate him much outside the box, he's a good finisher and good at stealing his way into the box. Nothing else!
'indiscrimate passers'
Why would a player that's behind every third pass we make, only play the ball to Ballack on average 3 times a match? You not fond of statistics i see. His passes are fairly all predictable and aren't always made to the best players. Why?--Discuss! I dont want to invoke Chalkboards at this stage.
Reply to Moffat:
If you actually knew what 'indiscriminate' meant, it would be a start. Actually watching Chelsea play and not rambling nonsense based on your own ridiculous preconceptions and biases about individual players might also help.
Statistics? This is the player who created more goal-scoring opportunities than any other in the Premier League last season by a considerable margin.
Passes are predictable: in what sense? Not always made the best player: in whose opinion? There's no substance to this criticisms other than your usual 'Why isn't Frank Lampard really Kaka' bullshit.
Hiddink readjusted the focus of the midfield to play to the strengths of our most effective player. End of.
Bosingwa + money = Ribery
Bosingwa played very well this season, but if selling him + money will get us Ribery, than we need to sacrifice him.
...and buy Glen Johnson. He is great.
Just had a quick look at the Newsnow feed service for Chelsea (only those to whom the state has entrusted the care of my mental health could tell you why.
Looking at the complete and utter drivel that passes for news about OBC (our beloved club, it occurred to me that there are an enormous number of people typing and collating utter sh*te to no good purpose. Add to that those who are doing the same about Chelsea in other languages. Then factor in the same for all other football clubs. Then add in other sports. Then pile up the news on that lot. Next you've got gossip and features and so it goes on.
Now thinking of the explanation of infinity that states if you have an infinite number of monkeys, each randomly hitting their own keyboard for an infinite amount of time, you will get the complete works of Shakespeare.
Well I've got to say we must be well into the second act of Measure for Measure by now.
(and I've contributed by share as well)
And this is only the start of the silly season..
It has to be said that a monkey could type with less mistakes than me as well.
Reply to BlueBayou:
I confess I dip a toe into the Newsnow Chelsea site occasionally too just to see the sheer torrent of made-up nonsense and how different "news" sources feed on each other's crap.
Most of the time now I just look at the "Rumour Mill" section on the official website, which seems to pick off a less mindboggling number of the same items - and doesn't take as long to load on my less than cutting edge PC either.
Reply to Moffat:
Some people invite ridicule don't they!
Confederations Cup starts this weekend and i fully expect our scouts to be in attendance to look at all the great players we'll fail to get. Villa will be there along with the rest of the allstar Spain side, Kaka and my personal favourite wonderkid Pato will be there for Brazil and our most likely signing will also be there captaining Italy i.e. a certain Mr Pirlo. Despite another pitiful opening to the transfer window from Chelsea, this mini tournament should alert Mr Arnesen and perhaps Roman to the talent which we can get if Real continue to target Alonso, Ribery, Clichy and now Vidic. Pato will star but others to look out for include Giuseppe Rossi, Hernanes and Nilmar.
Looks like Real have snapped up David Villa too, 40m euro fee.
Better news: BBC is reporting that Maldini is close to agreeing to join Ancelotti's coaching staff. We could always put him on the subs bench.
I haven't really been following the transfer gossip this past couple of weeks; I'm tired of it. That said, I nearly took a couple of hours out of last night to knock up a round-up post of the latest gossip about CFC. Looking at BB and BBD's comments above, I'm glad I didn't bother. :)
If anyone fancies contributing a post or two over the silly season, drop me an email at chelseablog@gmail.com.
Reply to chelseablog:
Nick, the Maldini story is a good example of what BB and I were talking about:
A Guardian story late Thursday night has it in a sub headline with no mention in the actual article [see link on No. 98 above] apparently picking up on a Gazzetta Dello Sport rumour of a meeting earlier in the week;
The Times prints denial story on Friday:
LINK
Daily Star and Independent pick up on original rumour in their Saturday editions:
LINK
LINK
which leads to Channel4 Football Italia regurgitating the Daily Star "story":
LINK
and Goal re-running the original Gazzetta Dello Sport story on Saturday too:
LINK
and then there's the TribalFootball/VitalFootball etc churning effect too - but my brain hurts and I need to go lie down for a bit....
Reply to haberdashers:
I can't wait. I'm going to watch the Italy vs Brazil game myself and that Hernanes guy isn't looking too shabby from what I've seen.
Apparently United wanted that Nilmao bloke. He's a beast, but apparently a tad frail.
LINK
THE YACHT TO ECLIPSE ALL OTHERS - While Real Madrid are throwing money around to try and turn themselves into the best team in the world, Chelsea fans will be pleased to see Roman Abramovich forking out £300m on some speed, power, class and a great defence. Unfortunately, he's spent it all on a new boat. Even though he's already got four massive yachts, the Eclipse is his newest, biggest and most ridiculous. Two heli-pads, a spa, a swimming pool, a mini-submarine and a missle-defense system... does YOUR boat have them?
A fan of David Bowie I see,"Unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed" from the Space Oddity album.A great song,and a great article, My first time at SB was 1968 and then a regular from 1969,
LINK
Inter confirm they want Deco and Riccy C.
£10m or more and I'd say we'd be stupid not to accept the deal.
It looks like Glan Johnson will be our only signing, despite rumours Man U and Barca are in the hunt for David Villa. If Deco does leave, I'd like to see us try and get Van der Vaart or Sniejder from Real to provide that creativity he was supposed to bring. But didn't.
But I am already bored by the transfer window. Real have ruined it for everyone else, havent they?
Reply to Fiftee:
So I didnt miss much then?
A new Bi=Polar Express will appear this week with full end of season review and any other transfer related madness....
From the desk of Professor Bayou, Chair of Economics, School of Hard Knocks, University of Life
Module 1 How to Buy and Sell
Case 1 Mad Home Economics
Man buys House for £250,000
Man sells House for £200,000
Man buys House back for £1,000,000
Result – some quizzical looks from the Mrs and a visit to the divorce court
Case 2 Economics of the Mad House
Club buys player for £6m
Club sells player for £4m
Club buys player back for £18m
Result – more right backs than you can shake a stick at
This story can't possibly be true, surely?
Are we really convinced that Glen Johnson is worth that kind of cash after one decent season amongst the drek of Portsmouth?
What we need urgently is a left back - who is Ashley's cover? Slobidan or Bertrand? Are they up to it?
Hope we buy Sneijder - ideal replacment for Lamps.
Yes - we need another striker - but if we are playing 4-3-3 - then nic, dider and Di Santo are good - with eiher Sahar or a new buy coming in as well.
LINK
Finally, someone appreciates Frank.
LINK
This is UNBELIEVABLE and OUTRAGEOUS!!! Tom Ovrebo preselected by UEFA to referee in 2010 World Cup!!!!
Reward for a job well done (for M.Platini)!
Note: Also on the list is Howard Webb.... Who last night screwed up and gifted Brazil a win against Egypt!
Pathetic, that the best refs in the world are mostly incompetent.
A little Confed. Cup update on our transfer targets (of which we'll get perhaps 1 if Roman's in a good mood):
Pato - Only a few minutes for Brazil against mighty Egypt but i still think he's class and if there's any chance we can get him out of Milan then we shouldn't give up on trying to bring him to London.
Villa - A slight chance we could enter the bidding with Barca because as i suspected, Perez doesn't consider Spanish stars to be galacticos and is therefore unwilling to pay the asking price for him. Got a goal against the Kiwis but was upstaged by Torres. Any chance we could raid Anfield due to their laughable finances?
Pirlo - In my opinion put in the best performance of all 3 targets. He may be 30 but Maka came as an OAP so we shouldn't rule out Pirlo because of his age. A brilliant passer and set-piece taker and he also showed some surprising skills. His assist for their 3rd goal tonight reminded me of Redondo's genius play against Utd on that famous night in the CL for Madrid. Wouldn't be surprised to see him arrive and slot in to Carlo's 4-3-2-1.
But an outside transfer tip for our scouts in South Africa would be Giuseppe Rossi. Two great goals, a lovely left foot, quick and would be perfect to play in the No. 10 position. It would also upset Fergie to see a player have a successful career after leaving Old Trafford so why not have a Plan B when Pato and Aguero reject us? After last summer and the Robinho debacle, Kenyon having a Plan B for Ancelotti's targets may not be that bad an idea.
Reply to haberdashers:
Habs,
Perez has outlined that he wants not only the worlds best, but the best from Spain too.
Hence the Xabi Alonso and Arbelloa bids.
Reply to haberdashers:
Ugh. No Rossi. He's a traitor. I couldn't possibly feel OK supporting him in the future.
The US played terribly tonight, and deserved to lose. I hate my team, I hate our coach, and I'm annoyed that most of the players aren't good enough, except for Altidore and Dempsey.
But we will never get better if our domestic players from foreign parents (Hangeland, Rossi) leave the US to play for other teams.
It isn't that I don't like Rossi or think he's a wanker- he's much worse. He's a traitor.
[Tin hat strapped into place]
How about little Mickey Owen on a pay-as-you-play deal?
I know, I know, miles down the list when compared to the 'dream' signings we want (Villa, Aguero, Pato, Silva, *cough* Johnson *cough* etc. - none of which will happen) but he was never going to prosper at a club that give their strikers zero service. I'd say he might - just might - be worth one final hurrah but strictly on our terms.
It's probably the only signing we're likely to make anyway. What with Roman being selfish and spending £300m on ANOTHER yacht. I mean, you can only use one at a time. That's just thoughtless behaviour ;-)
There's definitely mileage in Owen yet IF he can stay fit. And it's a big if, which is why I put it in capitals.
The Johnson rumour isn't going away. That surely means we'll be flogging Boswinga. Utterly bizarre behaviour if true. Boswinga is the better player by far; Johnson is still crap at defending and as questionable attitude.
Habs is right about Pirlo, he's a magnificent footballer so it wouldn't be a disaster if we signed him. But it really shouldn't be our priority.
Also, I just read that the fixture list is printed tomorrow. Excitement!
Owen's record at Newcastle is a goal every other game which is by no means shabby; I think they are regarded as something of an injury graveyard too so you never know - big gamble and any deal on offer would have to reflect that.
Buying Pirlo would surely indicate that Roman is trying to keep his yacht / central midfielder quota on an even keel (see what I did there...?)
Whilst we shouldn't be dismissive of the thirty plus age band and those hovering thereabouts, the odd sprightly teenager or young buck in their early 20's wouldn't go amiss. Mesut Ozil looked decent for Germany's U'21's last night., but he is seriously ugly, a factor which should always be considered when signing players. Those image rights are worth money...
I always like Johnson when he was with us and felt it was Mourinho who ruined him. I'm also pretty Ok about Little Micky as well.....if Guus could turn Malouda round then why couldn't Ancelotti with his rejuvenative powers for crocks and oldies not be able to revitalise Owen, who prior to his Newcastle nightmare was a bloody good striker.
And yes, when one looks at Newcastles record over many years from Keggy Keegles first reign until now they have always ha da disastrous injury record.
Have reached the conclusion that Real Madrid have turned this close season into utter chaos, but when you look at who they might be prepared to let go....Huntelaar, Robben, Sneider, Van de Vaart, Drenthe and Heize amongst others......well, if I was a decent coach I think I'd be sniffing about for sure.
I'd also be happy with Sturridge and Ashley Young coming in aS well to keep the English contingent reasonable.
Blimey, what a few months this is going to be!
Morning TG
Welcome back... good holiday?
Think that Johnson's problem whilst he was with us was ultimately immaturity; if he's grown up a bit and plays under a decent coach for a couple of season, he's got the ability to be a decent player (still not convinced he's the complete package though).
No more nicking bog seats and hanging out with wankers, basically.
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
What! you've never nicked a bog seat? Never hung about with wankers? You haven't lived mate :-)
Lovely holiday thanks, 35 degrees and all that - makes playing golf with a hangover quite tough when the heat is that extreme. Word of advice - Snickers do not take kindly to being carried ina golf bag in 35 degrees. It was more like a hot tube of snickers component parts than an actual bar.
Agree that Johnson was immature, but my guess is so was Rooney, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard et al....a good coach can shape those into decent players and people though. It does appear that he's made the England right back place his own though.....
Anyone else slightly alarmed by our lack of activity thus far.....or am I being swept up in the hyperbole and madness?
How did Mourinho ruin Johnson? He tried him out, saw he was immature, sent him on loan to sort his head/game out, brought him back, gave him the right-back spot for the first match against Birmingham, watched him balls it up magnificently with exactly the same errors he'd been sent on loan to sort out, thought 'fuck this for a lark' and sold him to Pompey where he's done exactly as well as you'd expect, ie okay if you're easily impressed.
Over-rated, overpriced, will be laughing my arse off if Liverpool go and spend all their summer cash on him.
VDV and Sneider would be cannier signings.
Oh, and welcome back! :)
Reply to ChelseaTony:
True, but for every Ryan Giggs that sorts their head out, there is a Lee Sharpe...
Think Johnson was just a bit too young; he'd only played about a dozen games for the Hammers when he arrived - probably would have been shrewder to leave him there for a season or so. If he does go on to better things with Liverpool, fair play to him - it's pretty rare that we sell a player who does.
Has to be said that but for Real Madrid, the transfer market thus far this summer would fall firmly into the 'truly pathetic' category.
Liquid Snickers - almost sounds like an Alan Partridge-ism...
Reply to PeteW:
Cheers Pete, its (sort of) good to be back.
I just think young talent sometimes needs indulging, Rooney paid to screw women even beyond the MILF category, puffed away on some fags last year, has a temper worse than Gordon Ramseys etc etc. Joe Cole was a showboating selfish shit with the on field organisation capability of Dill the Dog and so it goes on.
I agree that Johnson can be sleepy but I reckon he had the raw talent, if not the intelligence. The RM rejects would be cannier though and I still think Bosingwa offers more at RB.
"Anyone else slightly alarmed by our lack of activity thus far.....or am I being swept up in the hyperbole and madness?"
My initial reaction is yeah, I'm a little alarmed. But then we never stood a hope in hells chance with Kaka, and Ronaldo was never ever going anywhere else so we've not really lost out on anyone we are interested in. Yet.
I guess the flip side is we dont need a great deal in the way of players. More fine-tuning than over-haul you might say.
But a raid on two or three of Reals 'unwanteds' would be most welcome.
And I see the press are doing their best to piss me off personally by revealing that Reals deal to sign Villa may have fallen through. Seriously, I'm being put through the wringer here. No doubt he'll join up with Fat Rafa at Liverpool completely out of the blue.
LINK
Not sure how genuine this is, but we may be having a trip to the Emirates as early as 29th August next season.....
One is transported (apologies to any Aussie readers for using such an emotive term) back to those halcyon days where Colin Hutchinson, his pale frame gently burning, would lie by the pool in some secluded sun spot, fax machine whirring on one side, Mrs Hutchinson pouring an iced tipple on the other as he conjured yet another unlikely transfer, which would strike the footballing world like an unseen bolt of lightening.
Perhaps those days may be returning......
And don't worry about the cost of RA'a yacht, I believe he got at least 2 grand off it under the new scrapping scheme...
Reply to BlueBayou:
Nothing like a bit of convict humour to begin the build up to the Ashes series...
Just out of interest, how many series do we have to win before we're allowed to bring the little Urn home to warmer waters?
I know this isn't a cricket blog but it's only polite to respond, particularly as it was my poor manners in the first place.....
Being essentially a son of Erin, I am not best qualified to comment on this. But if I understand it correctly the Urn was presented to the English by Australians.
Therefore having voluntarily offered it up, expecting it to be returned even as a loan, would put you towards the back of the queue headed by the likes of the Greeks who want their marbles back.
And they've had to wait a bit while whole countries and parts of continents were returned.
However on the other hand, with the Queen curiously remaining as your Head of State, they haven't entirely let go of your corner of the world have they?
So I suppose from that point of view there would be no harm in letting you have it should you be victorious ;-)
btw, I notice the strapline on the advertising for the new game being carried by this website is TRIBAL WARS - A NEW ERA IS COMING. How apt methinks in view of the upcoming series.
I've been hibernating for a short while attempting to avoid all the transfer specualtion. The last time I looked on the blog there was only 120 posts, and this place was fairly quiet.
Imagine my alarm to see 148 posts, and me thinking straight away we'd bought someone. But it's somewhat settling to see that the status quo remains, I get all anxious with too much change, lets keep who we got eh?
Right back to my dark hidey hole.
Whilst everyone is going on about that player signing for them and this player signing for them, can I remind peeps the transfer window hasn't actually opened yet!!!
No one can sign for anyone til July 1st!!
This is what playing for Liverpool does for you:
LINK
"Cesc Fabregas limped out of training with the Spanish national team today after a strong tackle by Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.
It is the second time that Fabregas has been injured by Alonso this year following on from a tackle in the Premier League game between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates in December.
AS reports that a hard tackle from Alonso damaged the left knee of Fabregas and that, with some annoyance, he left training."
Yup, that's right, Xabi Alonso hurts his teammates in training. Not a surprise that fouls against him created the most red cards in the league last year.
Xabi, like Paul Scholes, is an absolute butcher on the field. It is very surprising that they don't have worse reputations amongst the referees.
Reply to TheBear:
Steady now.
Talking sense does no-one any good at all.
It's particularly bad for bloggery.
LINK
Liverscum has got Glen Johnson.
Not too unhappy at missing out on Glen as i prefer a RB who can defend (which is also why i haven't taken to our £18m right winger who has been shoehorned in at RB).
But tomorrow's headlines don't make happy reading for us David Villa fans. "It's the hope that kills you" and all that and with headlines saying Utd's and Fergie's summer policy will be to not sign anyone over 26 years of age meaning he'll target Benzema and Valencia and not Villa, whilst we're supposedly in the hunt for "£45m Villa" after Real backed out to sign the surprisingly awesome Forlan for £30m. It all adds up to the tantalising prospect of perhaps, maybe, in our dreams, possibly... signing Villa.
(Expect an update in 24 hours saying he's signed for Madrid)
Reply to haberdashers:
Except the Sun think he is probably off to Barcelona!
Sorry to put the bonfire out!
I am a bit ambivolent to Johnson....Wouldn't have minded him back, but equally 18 mill is too much. I can also see Malouda (or our as yet unpurchased new winger) tearing him a new one when we front up at Anfield later in the year.
Jesus, please no. Sky Sports News speculating that we're we're interested in Ibrahimovic for £30m. Overpriced at 3!
Like others on here, I don't think Johnson has shown himself to be the best defender in the world, but I do think he's a terrific footballer when he's not trying to stop someone else. Not saying much but on last season's showing I'd prefer him to Boswinga.
I think there's every chance we have Johnson mkII in Mancienne anyway. I'm happy with him as back up next season (don't forget Ferreira is still at the club as well). Hopefully that £17m rips a tidy hole in Fat Rafas transfer kitty and ends up being his only signing of note - in a position they really didn't need to sort out.
Anyone watch the Sweden v Belarus U21's last night? That Marcus Berg who scored a hat-trick for Sweden looked a bit tasty. Yes, it was only against Belarus, but his finishing was so natural.
When we miss out on Villa (and we pray to God we're not at all interested in Ibrahimovich) maybe we'll be looking at younger players like Sturridge - Berg would be worth a thought, if nothing else.
Ibrahimovich? Re-arrange these words into a well known phrase.
Bottom the scraping of barrel the.
Gattuso as well I read........yep, another aging defender ....just what we need.
I can only keep my fingers crossed that 99% of what I am reading is mid-summer bollocks madness.
Hey now, Ibrahimovic isn't exactly the worst deal in the world. Top scorer of Serie 'A' and all that. Besides, We do need a player who can change a game all by his lonesome, without having to get physical. And can you imagine a DD And Ibrahimovic Strike partnership? I don't think thats the worst we could do.
I'm surprised no one's spoken about the fixtures yet!
Hull at home, Sunderland away, Fulham away is our start. We have Liverpool at home in October with Villa away after, and United home and Arsenal away in November, but the rest of our fixtures are all against midtable/relegation sides until December.
December's a hard month, but January couldn't be better for us with Drogs, Essien and Mikel missing: Hull, Sunderland, Birmingham and Burnley, with Arsenal away six days after the ACN final.
The end of the season looks awful, with our last three away games United (on my 21st as well!), Tottenham and Liverpool with CL quarters/semis in between.
United are at home to Stoke on the opening day, but Liverpool are away at Tottenham and Arsenal away to Everton. Hopefully we can blast out of the blocks like 05/06 and last year but not have Liverpool clinging on like an unwanted stain.
That means I miss the first 2 home games again :-(
And I think it's a bloody awful run in really. Maybe we'll have it wrapped up by the time we meet United.........that would be nice.
I would be concentrating on the fixtures if I wasn't trying to stitch up my sides that split through the laughter associated with Liverpool signing Johnson.
I'm loving how some 'Pool fans are defending the £17m by claiming they've 'written off' £7m owed to them for Crouch. But failing to realise that would mean they gave him away for nothing.
Some saying about polishing a turd springs to mind.
Good news about the dates of the ACN and our fixtures, but would still like to see us sign players as cover.
Van der Vaart for Essien, Gattuso for Mikel and Aguero for Drogba please.
Ibrahimovic would be a fantastic signing. Surely it's only useless gossip but I can picture him playing up front with Drogba.
And why some ppl go for Van der Vaart here is beyond my understanding. His time at Madrid started off with 2-3 good games, a nice freekick and that was it. The same he did before here in Germany at Hamburg...after a good start he declined drastically. To me he's a Deco, just younger.
Ibravic could be a great buy at the right price, he's 28 in a couple of months so that must be under £20m.
The papers are still insisting that we've already made a bid for Ribery LINK but the cost doesn't make much sense if all that earlier talk of breaking even are to be believed.
Strange that the big bucks are going on scoring play-makers and not out and out strikers this year.
Big fan of Ibrahimovic but his infuriating inconsistency and somewhat laid back approach would drive the regulars at the Bridge to the edge of insanity (that's not very far, obviously). More Berbatov-esque than, well, Berbatov.
Hull at home. Thrilling. Looks like Guus's first game back will be Arsenal at the Bridge, which is nice... :-)
In the absence of a real league for the next couple of months, maybe this transfer rumour table will help with the withdrawals: LINK
"To me he's a Deco, just younger."
Consider him signed then !!!! ;-)
Seriously though, he's always looked to me pretty creative. One could argue that's why we signed Deco, but never mind. It's just that our options in that 'attacking midfielder' bracket seem limited to Frank and Ballack. I thought VDV, or indeed Sneijder, would be ideal competition for them.
Deco's a bit of a one off.
He looked great at the start of the season before just being rubbish. I also remember a 20 minute spell under Guus when he came on to good effect. What happened to him is a real mystery but it serves as a lesson why spending gazillions on players is always risky, especially as they get older, just ask Sheva.
See Drogba's going to miss 4 games + 2 suspended so that's him out o the group stage.
I reckon we get a smaller player. You know, like the Anelkas and Van Persies of this world. Ie: Someone who would do the job just as well, if not as spectacularly as Villa, Ibrahimovic et al.
Didier got off pretty lightly with only a 4 game ban but we should have a new striker by then if Ancelotti gets his way so Anelka should have some support for the first 4 games. Despite me thinking his reaction was passionate and hilarious, Uefa thought it was pretty bad (i.e. the four game ban) but by suspending the last two, it is effectively the same punishment as getting a second red card in the tournament and therefore not worthy of a season long suspension as some idiots were calling for.
One player that has caught my eye from the Conf. cup is Brazil's Filipe Melo. If we can have him alongside Obi(as a playmaker) in MF, i can't see anyone, even Barca, dominating us. His record in serie A is quite impressive; 20 yellow cards and 3 reds in one season. Who can can beat that?