Chelsea Sacks Andre Villas Boas

To be a successful manager in any field or industry takes a lot. Everything has to be right to get the best results. Whatever it is to be a successful manager in the Premiership, Andres Villas Boas hasnt got it. Affable, urbane, young, good understanding of the language but a good manager? No. Not on his performance. Awful. Im a devoted Chelsea fan, have been for 20 years but almost lost interest in the club thanks to Andres Villas Boas.

 The club was being mismanaged. In fact there didnt seem to be any management. A rudderless ship without a captain. Bereft of  ideas or game plan, with the players just making  it up as they went. So it seemed to me anyway. I knew something was going to give sooner or later. And yesterday was the final straw that did it. That 1-0 defeat to West Brom was one slap too much for Abramovich to take. 

Its a decision that will cost the Chelsea owner a few millions.Taking into cognisance the fact that he paid £13 million compensation  to Porto to secure AVB`s services. He would now have to pay the Portuguese compensation for terminating his contract. £5 million is my ballpark figure how much getting rid of Andres Villas Boas will cost the club. How much has Villas Boas already collected in wages? Add all up and the whole saga has set back Mr Abramovich close to £20 million. 


The moral of which is clubs should be weary of sacking managers and even more careful in appointing managers. Ancelotti should never have been sacked. Villas Boas should never have been appointed. Even the assistant coach, Ray Wilkins should never have been sacked. Chelsea never found its footing since Wilkins was shown the door. So the club needs to take its time in appointing a new manager and not be forced into a hasty knee jerk appointment. Good that Roberto Di Matteo, a veteran ex Chelsea player will hold the fort until the end of the season. Enough time to find the right man for the job. 


As for me Im already resigned to Chelsea winning no trophies this season and worse missing out on a place for Champions League football next season.

Chelsea In Champions League Final

I was in one of my old jaunts on the King`s Road to see last night`s semi-final of the European Champions League between Chelsea and Liverpool. What a game. I havent been that much excited by a match in a long while. Even partook in some Chelsea chants , most of which i`d rather not repeat here. We won. Deservedly so. Chelsea showed more hunger and desire. Drogba was relentless as Essien was industrious, Lampard was resolute and composed dispatching the penalty kick that gave us the lead with utmost precision. If the dead do see us living im sure his recently deceased mum,Pat would have been proud of him. Matter of fact each and every Chelsea player stood up when it mattered.
Everytime the camera beamed Sir Alex Ferguson`s face the whole place erupted with chants of `who are you`? I think the psychological advantage lies with Chelsea in the final against Manchester United in Moscow. Why? Simply because we beat them in our last encounter with them. A game we totally dominated and was unlucky to gift them a goal due to lack of concentration. Having said that you know what they say about footballl being unlike mathematics. I am, however, optimistic that we stand a good, nay, a very good chance of bringing the Champions League Cup to Stamford Bridge from Russia. Blue is the colour!

Chelsea Wins The FA Cup

Honours were restored and respect shared when Chelsea won the FA cup yesterday by beating Manchester United 1 goal to nil.

It is of my strong opinion that had we not been plagued by the Petr Cech/John Terry drama we would have done the double. No question about that. That`s water under the bridge now.

The final analysis is that we ended the season with two major trophies and that can't be too bad.I wonder why Drogba made the front cover of the day`s official Chelsea Match Programme.Any guesses ?

PS: How come the old Wembley had a decent pitch and the new one can't.Telephone number sum spent on a playing field and the grass goes up in clumps like we witnessed yesterday? What is going on ?

Manchester United Wins The League

Yes United won the Premiership title today as far as im concerned. Chelsea gifted United the title by failing to beat Bolton . We started well enough and so confident was i in the balance of play that i wasn`t the least bothered when Bolton went ahead. Was taking a call from Morag then and i said `Hold on Bolton just scored but go on it doesnt matter we will beat them`. True we pulled one back then went ahead. Only heavens know what Mourinho said to them at the interval. Chelsea were just flat in the second half. Why did he pull Shevchenko off so early like that? It was a different team that came out in the second half. I was even getting embarassed when it seemed all we were doing was sending long balls to Drogba. Completely bereft of ideas.

With three games left in the Premiership season there is no way we can catch United now. A glance at the rest of Chelsea`s fixtures and United`s is enough to quell any fantasy or illusion of turning the tables against The Red Devils. We have Arsenal,United then Everton to contend with while United have ourselves and two of English Football`s finest, Manchester City and West Ham to deal with! See why i said United got the League today?

Personally i think we showed some spirit to be where we are now in the Premiership. The League was lost way back in January. I said so in my post then. Lets hope we play better against Liverpool in the Champions League return leg.

Chelsea Chelsea

What a joy to behold when Kalou netted the equalizer in today`s FA Cup Quater final against Tottenham Hotspurs.Spurs really came for a fight and we were not in our best shape. Something kept telling me though that we would not lose that game. I was right.
Hey if anyone has a baby boy this season i recommend the tot be christened Frank Didier Kalou. Ok Didier did not score but his well placed header provided the chance for a fantastic volley by Kalou. Plus Drogba`s been simply magic this season.
Did i say before that Essien be kept out of the 18 yard area? That boy is not a defender.When will Jose realize this. Jose should tell him to please stay clear of the box as much as possible. He is a briliant midfielder but his instincts are not of a defender.
Chelsea have shown within the last few days that they are not just a pack of preening overpaid primadonnas but a team that can rise to its feet when close to defeat. We are the Champions for God`s sake.The earlier these clubs realize that the better. I see us beating Spurs 2-1 in the replay.
The Hand And Flower pub on Kensington High Street was the impromptu last minute venue of the match.No regrets however: Charming barmaids;extra cold Kronenbourg 1664 ;Kalou levelling for us barely 5 minutes to go....Wasnt bad at all.

Chelsea Crisis

Oh men of little faith!What`s all this talk of Jose Mourinho leaving Chelsea this summer.The grapevine is abuzz that our Jose is not up to scratch and that Abramovich is intent on bringing Guus Hiddink in as a replacement.Ok Chelsea at the moment seems to be a shadow of the Chelsea of the past season but i do not think that warrants Jose to be sacked.Unfair critics may argue its Mourinho`s fault people like Ballack are not performing to expectation-that a good manager should be able to get the optimum best out of his players.Agreed.But you can take a horse down to the brook but can`t force it to drink.Managers can plan and plot all they wish but once the whistle goes its up to the players.I dont buy that guff that Ballack is so much similar to Lampard that its adversely afffected his play.What is the logic in that?

What is happening to Chelsea right now is not peculiar.Every club goes through this kind of affliction at some point.United were nothing special last couple of seasons,Arsenal had a not too salubrious start to the season and are just finding thier rhythm(ask Liverpool fans)To me Chelsea`s woes started with the sale of Gallas then compounded by the injury to Petr Cech and John Terry.The problem is basically that of defence:No cohesion,no understanding or any discernable sense of duty or purpose!

This will pass.It might be too late for this season though.Cech will be well and Terry will be back.That Micah Richards kid would be a salivating prospect at right back if we can prise him away from City.It will be dangerous to panick now and sack Mourinho.Changing Managers like disposable diapers do not augur well for clubs.Not in England anyway.The continentals are known for that but we all look at Real Madrid these days and wonder if that is the same club that won the European Championships a record 9 times.

Will someone please tell Essien to stay out of the box? Anytime he is 20 yards of the Chelsea goalmouth something calamitous happens.He is a strong midfielder with hard tackles and what have you but heck let him stay there.Was not going to mention it but lowly Wycombe too took advantage of Chelsea`s defence or lack of it yesterday.No prizes for guessing who was in the box when the goal happened.Yes ,one Michael Essien.

Chelsea Can Kiss The Championship Goodbye

Jose Mourinho is not one given to pessimism or humility but anyone who saw his interview after the Reading game last week would see his countenance was that of a man on the verge of despair and hopelessness. The Special One is not that special after all. Jose said that much,well according to some redtops.I however heard him question the quality of his players. He said it was only one player scoring and playing well (most definitely Drogba) and that it was obvious that Chelsea lacked quality players. His hopelessness was expressed in the cynical way he touched on Joe Cole`s injury. He wondered if the injury was going to go on forever.

Oh my! But same players won the title twice Jose. The new ones that aren`t playing well you bought them remember? Forget all the talk about Chevchenko being pals with Abramovich , if Jose did not want him i dont think Chelsea would have bought him. Jose would have us believe anyway. Might be it was just a wrong choice of word. Or Jose meant that the quality of display was low and not that the players lacked quality. Anyhow something is clear, Chelsea are not playing well this stretch of the season. The sale of Gallas is now haunting the team.Injury to John Terry is another pain in the neck. Not to mention the Petr Cech drama. Juxtapose these and what you get is a potent potential for calamity.

Perhaps more than any other unit, the need for total understanding between the defence is crucial to match results. An understanding born out of playing together day in day out. This is lacking in Chelsea at the moment. That own goal by Essien in the Reading game says it all. What was he doing there ? What was Ashley Cole trying to do? There must have been more understanding in the Tower of Babel.
Of the regular back four we play now,with due respect only Carvarlho can be regarded as an experienced Chelsea defender(Championship winning back four). Ashley Cole is [money grabbing twat or not] quality but new and needs some time to really gel with the unit.Geremi is not a defender, he is a midfielder now seconded to defensive duties. The rest i dont rate!

So we have a situation where arguably the best goalkeeper in the world is out of action, midfielders are used as defenders, a new left footed defender thrown into the fray and a proven quality defender with driving force is crocked. Basically Chelsea have a back problem: Acute Spinal Paralysis. A problem so grave it might have cost us the Championship already.

In all frankness and honesty the Championship was won and lost on teusday night when Chelsea could only manage a goalless draw against Aston Villa. Manchester United may as well go ahead and place an order for the celebratory bubbly. Tons of it . For come the end of the season, the League title is heading north. Sighs

London Derby:Chelsea 1 Arsenal 1

Chelsea versus Arsenal was always going to be an exciting affair.Both clubs had a lot riding on that match:Chelsea had the record of winning at Stamford Bridge to protect while Arsene Wenger opined that the outcome of the match would determine if the Gunners could still nurture any realistic hope for the Championship this season. The encounter between the two London teams not only lived up to expectations but a cup final couldn`t have proved any more exciting. Ok i would have been happier if we won,but a point apiece is a fair result considering the brilliant display by both sides.

Seemed a lot of Arsenal supporters decided to invade the Bush Ranger on Goldhawk Road,Shepherds Bush (apparent due to the thundering celebration when Arsenal went ahead).The usually genteel and sedate ambience in there was shattered by a din of noise i thought "Oh my!We have so many traitors in west London here today".
Michael Essien`s riposte makes essential viewing.It should take its rightful place in football how-to manuals worldwide.Even my Arsenal-supporting friends had to acknowledge that goal.

And that 5"0 barmaid in The Bush Ranger!? Ummm she brings the notion of the chesty barmaid into the 21st century.Talk of being well packaged and served.I did not tell you that.OK?

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1

Honours were shared yesterday when we went down to Old Trafford.Were they? Probably not.I think we won. Of course Mourinho reflected this view too. By drawing at Old Trafford Chelsea gained a point on Arsenal while staying `as you were` with regards to United. Ferguson would have loved to win that match most than any other encounter.Peter kenyon`s remarks earlier in the week that Chelsea was leapfrogging United in the world stage was not well received by the old soldier. So to win at home would have been a salient way of showing United were still a potent,dominant force. But they didn`t. No matter what Fergie says to the Press, he knows there are new boys on the block or should that be on the throne.The facts are evident,Chelsea won the last two Championships back to back and are favourites to retain the trophy.

With Arsenal languishing in sixth position and Liverpool stuck in mid-table this season`s trophy is a two-horse race{United and Chelsea}
and i bet my bottom dollar that come end of the season Terry will be holding that cup.