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 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 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