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by Tony Glover
A Blue Tomorrow
With just a few weeks before the new football season starts, it's time to look in my crystal balls (I need more than one) and see what the future holds for our beloved boys in blue.
After the utter weirdness of last season, with the ejection of
Jose Mourinho, our very own enfant terrible and our most successful coach ever, the appointment of a nice, but bumbling and ineffective unqualified coach in uncle Avram Grant and the
subsequent highly polarised highs and lows of the actual football, we have now had a good couple of months to dust ourselves down, chop out some of the deadwood, banish our mental demons, wake
up and smell the coffee and get ready to grab the bull by the horns. Why use one hackneyed old cliché when five will do the job equally as well?
Of course last season was about ridiculous highs and lows in comparison to the previous three years which for the best part had all been highs. To some of our newer contingent of fans, this
sudden propensity to lose the odd game was nothing short of a disgrace and one for which, if you believed some of the more extreme supporters, Roman Abramovich should be despatched to a remote
archipelago for life. For us more battle weary fans it was a sharp reminder of the heartbreak and misery the game can bring. But the reality is that long-term success is desperately hard to
achieve. Every time you raise the bar, you merely provide a target for others to aim for. Complacency and arrogance will always be the downfall of the dominant power, be it in sport, politics,
media or entertainment. Last season was a case in point. We always expected the loss of the league in 2006/2007 to be a blip and that the coveted (by fans anyway) Premier League title would be restored to the recently bulging trophy cabinet no doubt adorning a plush office somewhere in the bowels of Stamford
Bridge.
The truth is a malaise was creeping through the club. The benefactor wanted style and results. The general only knew about achieving results. For Jose, the ends always justified the means.
After his abrupt but signalled departure our season lay not in the hands of a well intentioned, but inexperienced replacement, but with the foot-soldiers who have to fight week in and week out.
So obviously leaderless and rudderless that we achieved what we did will always be held up as remarkable by us true hardened fans. However, Roman sees the same things as us and the highs of
beating Liverpool over two
legs, beating Arsenal and Manchester United at home were tempered by defeats to Spurs in the Carling Cup final, the surrendering of leads in seven out of eight draws in the
last minute, being held by Spurs after leading four times at Three Point Lane, defeat to Manchester United in the Champions League final in
Roman’s back yard by the narrowest of margins and, for me, our most dismal moment, the loss to Barnsley in the FA Cup
quarter-final.
After this it was no real surprise to have seen the departure of Grant, and despite the howls of indignation from the more pompous hacks stuck in some sort of rose tinted 1950’s world of
footballing ethics and morality, the majority of fans knew the guy was not up to the job and was most definitely not the man to take us forward. The process of replacing Grant was as
clandestine and confusing as choosing a new Pope. After weeks of speculation with the apparent lead changing hands from Frank Rijkaard to Roberto Mancini to Mark Hughes in some sort of
bookmakers odds-chasing relay race a result was made as abruptly as Jeremy Paxman interrupting Michael Howard. Some puffs of white smoke could be seen above the towering minarets of Stamford
Bridge. We had a new ‘Papa’!
Luiz Felipe Scolari was unveiled as the anointed one. It was time to remove our heads from our arses and move forwards. At the time of writing we’ve seen some interesting insights into
Scolari’s manner and methodology. All of which have made me go from an ‘anti’ position to a ‘pro’ stance. His first press conference was simply marvellous, a real triumph and the best bit of PR
we’ve produced for... a very long time. He spoke in English, a feat not even Claudio Ranieri could match for some months, confounding the press and fans. He was assured, charming, gracious and
witty. He ticked every box that Grant had left blank. He made encouraging noises about Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, and categorically underlined his faith in John Terry. One sensed he knew every player before he’d
even met them.
On the playing side in came Jose Bosingwa (officially before Scolari started, but he must have had him on the wishlist) to hopefully resolve our
thorny right-back issues. In came Deco, a mystifying choice to some, but undoubtedly a classy player with the ability to influence games
with Zola-like skills and vision. Out went Steve Sidwell who never really got the chance to develop, as did Claude Makelele and on-loan Khalid Boulahrouz. The rumours are that there are more to follow, and if
that means Claudio Pizarro and Tal Ben Haim, then I will be smiling. Florent Malouda is a conundrum. Highly rated across the world of football, but generally falling into the abysmal category when playing for us. I would
normally agree that every player deserves another season after their first in the Premier League, but so poor was he at times I’m tempted to say he should just go now. Rumours still abound,
Kaka is coming for the price it would take to buy your own stint as the US President for two terms, but in the next breath he loves Milanese food too much.
The Robinho story is now looking more and more like the interminable Michael Essien saga. We have yet to
see if Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko will feature next season. Presumably Drogba is happy to stay provided there are no offers to play for
another club, such as the Los Lobos Cocktail Bar XI in Magaluf.
So much remains to be seen, but most encouragingly for me is the inclusion of some of the youngsters including the highly rated Franco Di Santo in
the pre-season tour squad. Chelsea FC... blooding youngsters... whatever next. It’s good to see Branislav Ivanovic out there as well. I’d
convinced myself that he was some sort of invented species, as I am convinced about badgers (well, have you ever seen a live one, apart from on TV?), but he looked pretty okay yesterday when he
came on. The game was a walk in the park - playing Chinese Chemists is a safer workout than battling some
League Two outfit with a point to prove.
A few words on Makelele before the predictions. I hated him on arrival. I thought his blatant bit of cheating against Monaco was what fired them
up to eventually beat us and prevent possibly our easiest chance of Champions League glory. But the truth is I wasn’t used to this
type of player. I couldn’t see what he added. It was new and unknown. Over the years we have seen what a superb individual Maka is. A man who defined his role so well it will be known as ‘the
Makelele role’ for a long time to come yet. And at the end of the day all he did was spoil things. He broke up moves from the opposition, not caring how ugly it was. He took risks by breaking
moves up with fouls. He tackled ferociously and occasionally showed sublime skills on the ball. He protected the defence like no other player has done; everyone else is a poor copy when
compared to him. He was the perfect bridge between the defence and an attacking midfield. In recent seasons the tackling has been less crisp, the passing less accurate, the clumsiness a bit
more apparent, but Maka always played the game in the right spirit, and his beaming grin after scything someone down, combined with the upturned hands pleading to the ref that it was an
accident saw him receive comparatively little in the way of punishment from the officials. During his time he has never complained, never sought the publicity and never strutted his ego
publicly. A dignified man. We will miss him, but hopefully his legacy remains in the players who can play his role, John Mikel Obi and Essien. I
would like to thank Claude for his sterling service and massive contribution to the pleasure of supporting Chelsea. He is a true legend and icon at the club and I wish him all the best in his
tenure at Paris Saint-Germain and whatever lies beyond.
And now... my crystal balls. Providing we remain relatively injury free, and also benefitting from the fact that there is no African Cup of Nations to reduce our squad at a critical time, then I believe we will, through our power rather than balletic style,
win the Premier League, but it will be tight. My prediction is that three or four points will separate first from second. Manchester
United remain the closest contenders, but Liverpool will be determined to improve on fourth place and a fully firing Fernando Torres is a major threat to every other team. Arsenal may struggle a bit more this season
after losing Mathieu Flamini, Aleksandr Hleb and maybe Emmanuel Adebayor, although Samir Nasri is a useful signing. But the fact remains that as well as the
unrest the transfer talk causes, the rigidity of the wage structure at Arsenal will mean players heads will turn more easily and Arsene Wenger must be worried that they are becoming an academy
club for the European predatory giants from across the water.
I think we’ll scale back our annual assault on the Carling Cup, but an FA
Cup is also possible. Any cup competition has the added element of mystery and intrigue thrown up by the draw. In the Champions League we will get a good seeding this year, but the truth is
there are very few minnows in the competition nowadays. To get to one final is hard enough (ask Arsenal), but to get to a second in consecutive years is nigh on impossible. If anyone can do it
then it’s us, but to that end United are equally equipped to do the same. A return match? Good grief, can you imagine such a thing? It would be reminiscent of the Ali/Frazier or Leonard/Duran
fights.
In summary.
Premier League: 1st Chelsea, 2nd Manchester United, 3rd Liverpool, 4th Arsenal, Spurs (dark horses) or Aston Villa (even darker horses).
Champions League: Winners - Real Madrid, Runners-up - Manchester United or Chelsea.
FA Cup: Winners - Chelsea, Runners-up - Spurs (revenge will be sweet).
Carling Cup: Winners - Aston Villa, Runners-up - Newcastle.
And one more thing. Portsmouth to beat us on the opening day to finally release us from the shackles of that poxy millstone unbeaten home
record, and to finally shut motor-mouth Neil Barnett up from mentioning it before each game.
I’m off to the hopefully sunny South of France for three and a bit weeks so will miss the first two home games of the season - my first will be when we play United in September, and I will be
proudly taking my new seat in the Matthew Harding Upper stand, not a million miles from the rabble rousing PeteW and KaiserJonny_II. I bet they can hardly wait!
Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!
167 Comments · Add yours
First post ! Yeehhh
It seems Cappello is of the opinion Frank moving to the Serie A would not be a good move ! Clearly doesn't rate the Serie A as highly as the EPL...
LINK
On the post... how could you tip RM ahead of Chelsea for CL... we will win it this year... NO DOUBT !
KTBFFH
In my haste to finally being the first post I didn't read the article !
Just read it and would like to add my thanks to Maka and wish him well. You have hit the nail on the head with his professionalism as a player and a man and his ability to 'control' the play and be able to get away with some god awful tackles with barely a yellow card !
I am sure the players will miss his lampooning in the dressing room and the referees will miss seeing that beaming smile as an opposing player lays spread eagled on the ground followng a "makattack". Most of all the team WILL miss his presence on the field but as say we do have 2 very able and much younger replacements so hopefully they have also perfected the 'makattack'.
I did notice Essien was polishing up his innocent "who me" smiling technique last year. To be perfectly honest the thought of being tackled by Essien or Mikel (given the size of them) would fill any opposing midfielder with trepidation.
I hope TSSO won't forget that part of the game in his desire for flamboyant attacking football.
My Tips for 2008-9:
Premier League: 1st Chelsea, 2nd Manchester United, 3rd Liverpool, 4th Spurs, Portsmouth (Dark Horses)
Champions League: Winners - Inter Milan (Jose to prove just how 'Special' he is), Runners-up - Manchester United or Chelsea.
FA Cup: Winners - Chelsea, Runners-up - Liverpool.
Carling Cup: Winners - Spurs, Runners-up - Arsenal.
Nice season preview Tony, it's certainly going to be yet another roller coaster season, but hopefully without all the downs of last year.
I sort of agree with you about our home record, I hope it's one of the lesser teams that beat us and not one of the other three, this blog would be taking crap for days from whoever. But I don't want us to lose it at the start of the season, or any game I attend during the course of the season (selfish yes it's a long journey home for me) So perhaps the ideal scenario would be a game near the end of the season after we're crowned champions and losing would be just a minor inconvenience. Anyway my ticket is ordered and I'm getting excited about the first game which of course this season will be in the league as opposed to our annual jolly to the Community Shield.
My predictions for 08/09
Premier League: 1st Hull City 2nd Chelsea (on goal difference)3rd WBA 4th Stoke City
Champions League: Some obscure team that will come through qualifying rounds (Liverpool perhaps) Runners up: Man Utd just to prove that they can't rely on the woodwork again to save them.
FA Cup: Winners QPR as they're richest club in London, and just to prove that money can buy you success. Runners up: Looserpoo
Carling Cup: Winners Anyone that plays in the competition really same goes for the runners up.
Relegated Man: Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool for match fixing and financial irregularities.
You know it makes sense so start to queue up outside William Hill first thing and get your hard earned money on the above.
Most of the part I agree especially on Claude Makalele...he is pure genius in that role. Real Madrid is not as good defensively when they sold Maka to Chelsea.
Anyway, I hope this season will be more entertaining than last season. Our games against the other "Big Three" teams will be on our ground first with ManU is the first to come. I hope we can pounding ManU early on the season so that they won't be able to rise again.. :)
More info on Chelsea Asia tour? Visit my blog... thekakibangku.blogspot.com
On the Maka front, I think we just need to take a minute to reflect on 'that' penalty against Charlton. Not difficult to see why he never scores, my Nan would have struck it better. But what made it so sweet was how he mis-hit the follow up, sending into the turf and bouncing over the keeper. Sheer beauty. In an ugly sort of way.
I agree with Tony, I have a feeling we'll lose the first game. Then Fergie can wet himself about us being too old, Max and Arsene can get lulled into believing they have a chance. Then we'll kick on and win the thing in April.
And, shock horror, I'm going to try my damndest to get to the Bridge this season. It'll be a midweek game, so maybe a Champs League group game against one of the lesser sides (Liverpool, for example) or maybe the Fizzy Pop Cup.
LINK
Come on, lets not miss out on him for such a trivial amount.
With continued uncertainty over Lamps staying or going, and Ballack and Deco in their thirties, VDV is my number one choice in that position.
If it's left till the final year, I'm guessing he'd favour a move to Real, so lets get in there now and sign him up.
@ Tony
Nice review, but goodness me mate, how much holiday time do you get per year? ;-)
Maka legend, end of!
Have to agree with Greenlight (as usual) Inter ahead of Madrid to win CL if not us!
Clive, also agree with your second paragraph and as for the rest, LMFAO!
nice article Tony. and i sort of agree with the home record thing but i don't want to lose i just think we as a team should put less emphasis on it rather than hoping to be beaten to change it. lets go for the win at home mentality rather than Not Lose at home mentality.
Thanks alot Makka You ARE BRILLIANT!!! deffensive midfield role will ALWAYS be known as the "MAKKA ROLE"
poor Arsenal that damn stadium move transformed them into an Academy team LOL
*defensive
I also agree that Pompey could be the biggest threat to our home record. We alwyas do well against the crap teams like Stoke, and we seem to raise our game against the other "Big 4" teams. But Pompey, who were once fighting relegation every year, i would put as a team able to get into the top 4:
James
Johnson Campbell Distin Hreidarsson
SWP Diarra Kranjcar Utaka
Crouch Defoe
That is a pretty good team and will be a huge test in Phil's 1st game in charge.
My Predictions for the season:
Premier League:
1st - Chelsea (With one more signing our squad is ready to reclaim the biggst trophy)
2nd - Utd (Fergie to retire this season and usher in O'neill as his successor)
3rd - Liverpool (Only 4/5 points away from us, they'll be a big threat with gerrard, Torres, Keane and Babel)
4th - Pompey (Harry is building a great side and with a few more deals they could get 4th)
Champions League:
Winners - Barcelona (Guardiola has made some great signings: Alves, Caceras, Pique, Keita, Hleb and with Messi, Bojan, Iniesta and Xavi they look awesome)
Runners up - Chelsea (We're cursed in this competition and as i said last year, the only way for us to win it is to build the best team in europe, and that means Kaka and Villa)
Utd won't come close as no team has EVER retained the Champions League.
FA Cup:
Winners - Chelsea (We'll make up for Barnsley this season)
Runners up - Arsenal (Wenger to finally be criticised for not winning anything in years and could he get the chop this season?)
Carling Cup:
Winners - Chelsea (We always do well in this competition and i see Phil doing a Wenger and playing some youngsters all the way to the final)
Runners up - Liverpool (a repeat of 2005 and Gerrard to score again...for us)
Golden Boot:
Winner - Defoe
Runner up - Super Frank
Dark Horse - Kalou
Habs,
Not bad predictions until the last paragraph.
If that's your guess for the Golden Boot in the league, then the first 2 are not the worst shouts ever, but Kalou as a Dark Horse ? Seriously ? (Here I go with all the questions again).
The bloke makes Andrei Voronin look clinical. No chance. He'll be lucky to hit 10 in all competitions.
Isn't it too early for predictions? It looks like Chelsea could still add Robinho, United could grab Berbatov and Liverpool might have all or none of Keane, Barry and Riera.
For what its worth, as a United fan, you're obvious our biggest threat (if not the favourites) and its annoying Mourinho hasn't lured Carvalho. Bosingwa will improve you a lot against the middle to lower teams but I wasn't wholly convinced by his Euro 2008 despite the plaudits that went his way. Deco could go either way. But your squad looks powerful although if Cole and Bosingwa have poor days, your wide options are poor.
For United, I fear our tough start (particularly the three consecutive games away to Pool, somewhere in the CL and away to you) could be our undoing. But Berbatov would elevate an already strong attack even further.
But right now, with so much in the air, its surely way too early to make predictions?
So you say we'll lose again in the UCL final? If John Terry ever comes across your comment, make sure you wear shin guards.
If we're going to lose the home record -- and I agree it's become a distraction -- then the Pompey game would be a great time for it to happen, because I won't be there (have to miss the first game of the season as usual, and for some reason we're *always* at home on opening day).
My only prediction is that this year we won't have all those games where the team doesn't look like it knows what it's doing. I bet we'll be harder to score against than we were last year. If Wednesday's game is anything to go by, we'll be setting up a kind of 4-2-2-2, which should get rid of the yawning gaps between midfield and defence that were so prominent under Average. And somehow I can't see the players looking at the sidelines in resigned confusion when TSSO is out off his seat yelling at them, like they used to do when Average sent in his messages ("Play more attacking football! Save my job!").
Donkey's Ears - what about United's lack of cover in defence - are there any plans to rectify this cos at the moment all I see is Johnny Evans if Rio or Vidic get injured.
@ Donkey's -- The predictions thing is semi-serious at most (except for Clive's, he's putting his money where his mouth is).
I agree with you about the wide players. It looks to me as if TSSO isn't planning to rely on them (a major change from the Chelsea of the last four years). Instead of lobbing the ball onto Drogba's angry noggin, I think we'll be pinging it through Deco and Lampard to a pair of strikers (Drogba may well be one, but he'll get to use his feet more).
Nice to see an interested Man U fan here. I'm afraid I also agree that Berbatov would make the Mancs a lot stronger. He's a proper penalty-box goalscorer. The question is whether he'd feel like paying attention for the whole season.
@ Donkeys Ears - I agree it is a bit early, but as I'm off on hols soon I had to put something together. I'm not convinced many signings would change my view anyway. I seriously don't see Man Utd winning a 3rd consecutive title and something in TSSO's manner is instilling confidence in me. Far more than anytime under Uncle Avram for sure. I also didn't predict or comment on the Superfrank situation because quite honestly I'm bored shitless by the whole thing. Wake me up when something happens.
@ Habs -interesting point on Pompey - that team does look quite attractive, but it's the strength in depth that will go against them when they get a few of the inevitable injuries. I think Villa and Newcastle will suffer the same way and hence why I think Spurs, on the quiet, are building a formidable squad and may not be that far from honours and possibly a fourth place next year. If they can keep Berbatov and add Arshavin then with Modric in tow as well they have potentially a very good team.
@ PeteW - that's a good point about Manure's defensive cover, but I reckon there must be a signing or two to come. Johnny Evans might be getting the chance but I reckon Rednose will want an established 'safety valve' player there as well.
My crystal ball is very positive for 2008-09 season...
PL: Chelsea (unbeaten home & away)
CL: Inter Milan
FA Cup: Chelsea
League Cup: Chelsea
PL top scorer: Drogba
Real Madrid? You were drinking lol. My predictions are
Premier League : 1. Chelsea (1 more signing makes us pretty much unstoppable) 2. Manchester United (Yes Ronaldo wants to go and he definetly wont be in theformof last season but still they have proved that they can beat Arse-Anal and Loserpoo with ease) 3. Loserpoo (I think they will finish just above Arsenal, Despite who theyve brought in I dont see the challenging, Gerrard and Torres are their only flair players and Gareth Barry is a good yet average player to pay £20m for)
4. Arsenal (They dont strengthen, They use the same old strategy and with the loss of several key players such as Hleb, Flamini and Gilberto and with more eying the exit door such as Adebayor. I predict Whinger to struggle with the players he has.
Premier League top scorer : I think this is the year that Sheva is really going to show what hes capable of. I may get alot of hate for this but because we now have a manager who will give him a good chance and let him play more often I think he will thrive.
I think we can win the CL, JM has a strong team at Inter but hes only just getting to know the style of play and the players hes got there. I think he may meet a tough team in the QF like Madrid or Liverpool (Yes they are crap in the Premier League but almost invincible in this competition, GOD KNOWS WHY). Anyway I predict the team we have to win the double at least. I would love to see the lads play Spuds again and prove that he CC final was a FLUKE!
@ 21 - 13Joe13
"Premier League top scorer : I think this is the year that Sheva is really going to show what hes capable of. I may get alot of hate for this but because we now have a manager who will give him a good chance and let him play more often I think he will thrive"
Hate? Sympathy more like.
@21 13Joe13/ 23 ChelseaTony - maybe sympathy mixed with derision - though it's good to see someone sticking up for our pensioner most in decline.....
I think we'll win champions league meeting inter in the final, scolari will be a bit more comfortable in this area of our season.
I think we'll come second in the league, man united to sadly win it. However if we get of to a good start we still have a great chance of being 1st all season, and i think we have a very good chance.
then we'll win the fa cup and go out early in the carling cup.
top scorer: drogba if he stays, if not maybe torres (god i hope its not c.ron again)
our top scorer if drogba goes will be lampard, or a new striker depending on if we get one or not! I also think kalou will get a good amount and di santo to get a decent 5 or 6 if he gets a fair few games.
Can't wait omg
also i'd like to say how much im liking pompey at the moment too, was organising my guardian.co.uk fantasy football team a few days ago and i reached my limit of players from one team! i think crouch and defoe could make a great partnership when they're playing week in week out together (not like one game in ages for england), i admire SWP and think he'll do alot better at a 'lesser' club where the pressure and compeition isn't quite as bad, James is a rock and Johnson had a great 07/08 season.
They're my fav team behind chelsea at the moment, sad we'll have to crush them first day of the season :(
"Premier League top scorer : I think this is the year that Sheva is really going to show what hes capable of. I may get alot of hate for this but because we now have a manager who will give him a good chance and let him play more often I think he will thrive."
I hope this is satire.
Please put in a bid for this man:
LINK
and don't let him escape to the Three Point Lane.
Not a good move by the club, just when we seemed to have left the in-fighting behind:
LINK
Upsetting key players like JT is not what's needed at the moment. What's needed is a star attacking player but it's Spurs who are now being linked with players of Chelsea standard like Villa and Arshavin. I wouldn't be surprised, like everyone else if we started the new season with no more new faces. And that would leave us pretty bare up front with no Didier or Kalou for the first few games.
Ballack looking to stay with the Blues even after his recent comments about not signing a new contract.... LINK
As you say Maka, what a legend, defining a position for years to come, lets hope Jon Obi has learnt well. As for dark horses, well Ramos' teams seem well geared up for cup competitions only, so I doubt them pushing for the higher echelons of the league, but the Carling Cup would seem probable. I don't see Man U getting beyond the QF of the CL where they will get knocked out by Inter LOL. Real Madrid for winners? Sounds good, they have the squad for it, but their defense STILL hasn't recovered since Maka left! What chance then of an Inter Chelsea final!
Are we gonna have the mini Pele, Robinho, at Chelsea?
The Independent's story seems quite credible...
LINK
I think youse have took a risk wie Big Phil. Only managed a club side in Brazil so it may be a shock to his system the day in day out running of a big club.
But.....money and the players you have mean you could put Nick in charge and still win the majority of yer games!!!!!
From The Independent
"Chelsea are close to agreeing a deal to sell Tal Ben Haim to Manchester City for £5m, while a bid of between £8m and £10m is expected from Portsmouth for winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. Both players, along with Claudio Pizarro and Juliano Belletti, have been told they can leave as Scolari carries through his plan to trim his squad, while midfielder Florent Malouda can also go if Chelsea recoup the fee – £13.5m – they paid for him last year."
It's like my wishlist of players to go! Fingers crossed for Malouda. If I didn't know better I'd reckon TSSO reads what we write.
#34
Looks like we made quite a fortune from last summer's free signings. Thats 10m quid profit from 2 'unwanteds'. Now all we need is to fetch a decent price for Pizarro and Belletti. As long as Pompey offer 10m pounds and above, we should accept the deal. And wheres our long anticipated new attacking player? Kaka clearly is not an issue about money, but he seems loyal to Milan. The frustrating part is we are not trying for Silva and Villa. All Valencia want is money. We have enough ambitions to make them Chelsea players. Would be devestated if Silva and Villa waste their time at Merseyside and North London.
Watching the match against Sheffield United China right now. Very poor opposition but looks like a good workout for the lads. Anelka FINALLY gets onto the score sheet. Someone just reminded that the no.16 of ours is a cursed number just as the number 9. Just look at the injuries of Di Mattei and Robben. I hope that Dutch was the last. Hope Bosingwa changes the no.16 to 4 or 14. Cant see him for 3 weeks and we only saw him for 20 minutes. Irritating...
So, who'd be stupid enough to pay 13 and a half mil for Malouda? (well, apart from the club that paid the GDP of a medium-sized African nation for SWP and a Ukrainian geriatric).
Step forward please, Trashcan Sinatra up at Citeh!
Or perhaps Hearts, they seem to have plenty more money than sense up there.
@LotW (33): yes, we actually already tried putting a nobody in as manager, and still won a lot of games. But it wasn't much fun to watch.
... P.S. oh and remember, we're not a "big club"! Terribly important to remember that, it keeps the "big clubs" happy while they're losing to us.
Looks like our curse with injuries to defenders continues.
LINK
#38
Players that wore the no.16 past and present have injury jinx. I dont want Bosingwa to follow down that path. Im not being superstitious.
7 - 0 seems a reasonable stroll in the sun
Hello everyone, like the new site, hope all are OK
Videos of the goals scored in today's pre-season friendly, which I missed.
14' Anelka LINK
30' Kalou LINK
37' Lampard LINK
54' J. Cole LINK
65' Di Santo LINK
81' J. Cole LINK
83' Wright-Phillips LINK
J.Cole's goal was really cool. But Zola's backheel goal still the best. Classic.
Limetreeblower
Hearts are as skint as a 4 year olds knees after learning to ride a bike. Mair debt than a 3rd world country.
Nick @41 ............. I have clicked on those links and all I am getting, after clicking on 'play video' is poxy pop ups about Poker
@32 Simont
Is this bloke any relation to the herbert we are paying £80 to £240 million for depending which report you read earlier this week?
I suppose we manage with 2 coles in the same team so 2 robinho's won't be a problem.
We can call them dear robinho and cheap robinho.
Mind you we could get robbie keane for 3 million less and save the confusion
A lot of transfer activity could be sparked this week:
1 - Keane to Liverpool (£18m). That seems a lot for someone like Robbie Keane and hopefully it'll turn out to be another Bellamy signing by Rafa. A plyer doing great at a second rate club and as soonas he joins the Big 4 he fails.
2 - Tevez to Utd (£35m). Again that seems excessive but he is a very good player.
3 - Robinho to Chelsea (£28-35m). Our final signing of the summer looks close to being finalised according to the Telegraph but again that annoying tit, Ronaldo seems to have delayed it. Until Ronaldo decides his future we can't have Robinho and Utd won't know if they should sign a replacement.
4 - Kaka to Chelsea (£80-100m). This story just won't go away:
LINK
It seems cruel by the media to encourage these stories as they raise the faint hope of Chelsea being able to lure the world's best player to the Bridge, but in reality 99.9% of us know that he won't come. BUT... if somehow we could pull off another Sheva or Essien where the selling club keeps denying the stories, yet the saga rumbles on and on, we could have a chance at bringing in Kaka. Damn, the media seem to have got my hopes up.
A lot of papers assume that our final attacking signing will be either Robinho or Kaka. But i fear that we'll end up with back up Plan B. That's SWP. I fear that we'll miss out on everyone and be left with the guy who is only able to score against a bunch of Chinese amateurs by getting in the way of a shot by Malouda. Anyone else see his blazed efforts wide of goal in the match? He's just not a good enough player for Chelsea. He never has been in in the past 4 years and he never will be.
Some worrying stories coming out of Spurs. Selling Berba and Keane for £45m will enable them to pick up Villa and Arshavin. Both players are way to good to ruin their careers and 3-Point-Lane but it still baffles me why we haven't bid for them or Silva?
That was supposed to be "at 3 Point Lane."
@ 45. BlueBayou
There's one and only Robinho! LINK
I think we'll probably have him... When Roman wants it, he will get it!
It's all becoming very tedious now.
"This next week will be key in terms of my future," Drogba said in the Sunday Mirror.
"And I am currently injured. People who say I am not don't know me at all because I always want to play.
"As for my future at Chelsea, well I have a contract with the club that is clear.
"But my agents will have a meeting in London and then it will be known once and for all."
LINK lampard officially staying?
So, the start of another yawn-fest of a week full of transfer speculation.
As I've mentioned before, I dont think we'll be signing anyone else. According to 'sources' Robinho wants to join TSSO, but I reckon those sources are his agent haggling for better terms. In fairness, how is the 24 year old Brazilian expected to cope on £30k a week. Barely minimum wage is it?
No, he'll stay at Real, with a new deal, and be joined by David Villa from Valencia, and probably Rafael Van Der Vaart in a years time. Both players we should be ripping clubs arms off to sign. We're still desparately short of a finisher. TSSO has said Di Santo's not ready yet, and scoring 11 in 2 games against teams who showed the same sort of footballing talent as your Nans friends from bingo is hardly proving otherwise.
It's a worry that the attentions seemed to be focussed purely on Robinho. He's a creator, noy finisher. If we sign him, but DD finally leaves, we have no-one to profit from the wide men.
I hope to God there's a lot more going on 'under the radar'. But I fear not.
@PETEW - I think we're not planning to make any signings at the back. Silvestre and Neville are back plus Evans from Sunderland. Only Pique has gone. Which gives us Brown (CB and RB), Neville (CB and RB), Vidic, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, O'Shea and Silvestre. Evans is very highly rated although obviously unproven at the highest level. We don't have Chelsea's strength in depth in this area but overall there is enough cover I think. Early on we were linked with Richards/Lahm/Bosingwa etc but its gone quiet on that front now and I think Berbatov (if it happens) will be it.
@LIMETREEBLOWER - Hopefully actually playing for something will keep Berbatov more interested but his attitude is dividing United fans I know at the moment. Personally, I think he could bring the best out of Rooney which will make up for any inevitable downturn in Ronaldo's goal tally. I think you're right about "TSSO" probable team but can Drogba play effectively with a partner? Also if you're playing a four-man midfield with Deco and Lampard, to which presumably you can add Ballack and Essien, then surely you're asking a lot of your full-backs? I was wondering if he would stick with Drogba by himself and use Cole and Deco behind a midfield of L/B/E. I don't rate Scolari's judgement on wide players tbh - his continual preference for Simao amazed me. I think Robinho could be a very good signing by you - he would fit the wide/central role so much better than Malouda or Kalou. He actually has a real eye for goal.
@CHELSEATONY - I think signings could make a big difference. Right now - I fail to see how Arsenal can match let alone improve their performance from last season. But add a midfielder and perhaps a defender and the picture changes. No signing for United and I think we might fall into the 1999 trap again. But add Berbatov and I think Rooney and Tevez move up a big notch. While Robinho could be a very good signing for you I think.
One last signing to go. We have 3 weeks to seal a deal. No, its 2 weeks infact. We need the new signing to sing us a song and get onto the pitch to familiarise with his new surroundings. Who might that be? Looks like its 75% Robinho. Somehow im hoping its Silva or Kaka.
Donkey's Ears - hmmmm, not sure about this. United looked half the team every time Vidic or Ferdinand (or Rooney for that matter) was injured and I think you've been so lucky with injuries recently you're going to have a sticky time this time out. Lack of decent cover at CB really could be crucial. You know your team better, but for me it seems this is the area you should be looking at, as well as a proper poacher rather than another fancy dan like Berbetov (potentally a Cantona, or Ginola).
Regarding formation, it does look like we're going to be playing a strong four in midfield and overlapping full backs (like Brazil in 82!). Hence the key signing of Boswinga, who could strike up a barnstorming partnership with Essien. Also, Drogba, like any striker really, is twice as effective when he has a partner so I'm hoping he'll have Anelka or Kalou next to him next season. Robinho would be the icing on the cake.
Oh, and totally agree about the bizarre love of Simoa (who worryingly reminds me of Malouda).
@ Fifty/Fiftee
Regarding our striker situation I have to say for the first time I feel rather confident that Anelka is up to the job now (for the first time since he arrived).
I know it's only been a couple of preseason friendlies (anecdotal), but he had a spring in his step in both games and looked very comfortable in the team/system.
He did not look the lethargic disinterested he was self under the toad!
Amazing what happens when you're played in the right position!!!
I hope Drogs stays, but even if he goes I think Anelka will prove a different player than the one last term. Having said that we need more depth should Drogs leave.
@ Donkey's Ears
It's good to see a rival's supporter with proper contribution to the blog.
Celery,
You're right, and despite me mentioning it in a post earlier this week, I completely forgot about him. Again.
Clearly that's a reflection on how memorable he has been to me thus far in his Chelsea career. I hope things changes.
Anyone else thinking £18m for Robbie 'More clubs that Tiger Wodds' caddy' Keane is a bit steep ???
For comedy effect, my previous post should have contained reference to Tiger Woods' caddy.
And not Tiger Wodds. Whoever he is.
@ Fiftee,
A friend of Woddy Allen, maybe?
@ CELERY/ Fiftee - would agree if we have a fit and mentally focussed Drogba we can certainly give Anelka and Kalou the chance to show if they can operate as double striker with him[and each other]against real defences. If Drogs is off or going to be up his own orifice half the season again then we ought to be looking to strengthen to give us more alternatives.
Nick - have OleOle given up on trying to sort the edit function? It's lack is stifling the comic flow of our resident wits now......
Yeah, Robinho would be the winger we badly need. Someone who can go past a fullback. It gives us options. I always reckoned this was going to be the position the club hierarchy would go for broke to fill, no matter who de boss.
By the way, no one knows the Prem better than Sir Red Nose. He's already identified the threat to his bunch of scammers. He knows only our own foot-shooting has gifted them the last two titles AND the Champs Lge which we contested without a manager to all intents and purposes. Those he praises he doesn't fear (Arse and Scum). Those he attacks he secetly fears...it's simple psychology. What fun we shall have with Le Grande Fillipe staring him down.
Curretnly abroad on extended holidays (as per most academics), and unable to access friendlies. This blog is invaluable to an old Blue addict like me. Nice article Tony. But I think, if we have the sense to leave the reserves in the League Cup and properly contest the rest, we could have the squad to do the treble.
@PETEW: I agree we look much weaker when either is injured but that is partly a reflection of their quality. Who would step into Rio's (or Vidic's for that matter) shoes properly apart from maybe Carvalho or Terry? Apart from Chelsea, I feel we have as good a defensive cover as anybody. But that said, we are all acutely aware that a big injury to either (particularly Rio) will leave us much more vulnerable. Personally, I feel Chelsea are similarly vulnerable to an injury to Carvalho who I rate very highly indeed. Ivanovic (sp) might step up I guess but Alex for me is good but not in the same level as Terry or Carvalho.
And if Euro 2008 taught us anything its that good defenders are tough to find at the moment.
@62 dannybrod - I know LGF has been making noises about the quad even being possible but I don't think any English side will ever do the EPL/CL/FA Cup treble again.
Even in an international tournament-free summer season like the one coming up any side still involved in all 3 competitions will have at least a re-arranged league game from FA Cup semi weekend to fit in to the run-in and face an FA Cup final 3 days after the CL final. That's going to stretch any squad beyond breaking point surely?
BBD
Anything is possible with Chelsea and A few good signings. And Everyone is Complaining about our Midfield being so crowded but we need a strong bench if we are gonna win anything.
Look at 2004/05 squad, we had good players and good back ups 4 every position.
Liverpool have signed Robbie Keane. Thats arguably the biggest transfer in the top 4 so far. Im having some waiting problems already. Wheres our new attacking player signing? It better be a proper winger this time. I know this sounds crazy but Robinho is better suited to a Zola role than he is on the wing. David Silva is waiting for us to get him but i dont know what Kenyon is waiting for.
@ 66. JANG
I'd give up waiting if i were you babes!
As FIFTY has said on numerous occasions, it's looking increasingly unlikely that there will be any more new signings between now and the start of the new season..and i'm inclined to agree with him.
Perhaps RA and Uncle Phil don't think we need an attacking Midfielder?.. I personally think the squad we have now is good enough to take on anyone.
Uncle Phil has been quoted as saying we're gonna win the quad this season and you know what? I believe him!!
I can't believe how negative i was when i heard of him being our new Manager because i've grown really, really fond of him. And i'm starting to take his word as Gospel!! LOL :D
Saw him in a press conference this morning as well on SSN saying that he wants SWP to stay..