After being knocked out in the last eight of the Champions League, Chelsea have finished in second place, Carlo Ancelotti has been fired and along with an ageing side; the cracks now visible at Stamford Bridge may be a bigger than they appear.

On Sunday 22^nd Chelsea Football Club made an announcement that stated “Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Carlo Ancelotti parted company with the club today”. Following a loss to Everton at Goodison Park Roman Abramovich made the decision to part company with the Italian.

Why was Carlo Ancelotti’s position being considered at all? It’s a question that has been tabled time and time again by football supporters as Roman Abramovich has picked off, and deemed incapable of controlling his team. Managers including Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Luiz Felipe Scolari and now Carlo Ancelotti did not forget how to manage in their short time at Chelsea; Jose Mourinho conquered Europe with both Porto and Inter, and Carlo Ancelotti is the same manager that won the Champions League twice with AC Milan. Given the time and funds, a world class manager is capable of success in the long term.

The concern for a consistent manager is all the more pressing in the coming season as another African Cup of Nations approaches and Chelsea will be forced to spend the busy Christmas and January periods without the likes of Didier Drogba (if he is still at the club), Michael Essien, (who’s role at Chelsea is almost as key as Drogba’s), Mikel John Obi and our Messi-esque attacking winger Salomon Kalou. Chelsea will be desperate to avoid another dreadful dip in form, and may have been able to do so if Carlo Ancelotti was allowed to prepare over the summer.

Because of the Russian’s trigger happy policy when it comes to who takes the helm of Chelsea FC, we as a club are not prepared for the future. Chelsea are not prepared for the looming, and inevitable departure of John Terry (30), Frank Lampard (33 next month) Ashley Cole (30) and most importantly Didier Drogba (33). The latter has become such a key member of the team, to the extent that Chelsea are hazardously vulnerable without him. This is the same player that has, since his arrival in 2004 only been able to play three of six Champions’ League group stage phases because of suspension the previous year, whether because of a collision in 2005, a slap in 2008, a ‘disgrace’ in 2009 or a stamp in 2010.

Drogba has dived, feigned injury and overheated since his arrival time after time, tarnishing his reputation as arguably the best striker in the world. And why? Didier Drogba needs to win. Whether he’s sulking, moaning or arguing with the officials or team mates, it is because he is desperate to win. A similar (more reserved passion) can be found in John Terry and Frank Lampard and we as a team are not prepared for their departure.

Chelsea need Didier Drogba with them next year, even to play as a squad member allowing a new era at Chelsea, (as dramatic as it sounds, Drogba has shaped Chelsea since his arrival in 2004, and when he leaves Chelsea must be prepared to adapt) whether Fernando Torres is met with a partner under a new 4-4-2 formation, or if the Ivorian is required to develop and nurture a younger version of himself, his departure this summer would be premature and detrimental to Chelsea.

Roman Abramovich has done amazing things for Chelsea, but his inability to stick with one man for more than two or three seasons has left Chelsea in a rut that could ruin them. No manager is able to look more than two years into the future, and as Abramovich reaches out to Romelu Lukaku and Andres Villas-Boas in an attempt to replace Didier Drogba and Jose Mourinho with carbon copies, he has seemingly forgotten that they are not Didier Drogba or Jose Mourinho.

The same can be said for the young Josh McEachran, with the weight of Stamford Bridge on his shoulders the intention is that he will replace Frank Lampard, the fact that they are different players in technique and frame appears to elude the powers that be at Stamford Bridge, and rather than making a new Frank Lampard to play alongside the new Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho in David Luiz, Chelsea should instead look to create a ‘new’ and unique team based on the strengths of new players, and not those of old ones.

Had it not been for the appointment of Frank Arnesen in 2005, a new generation of Chelsea players such as Jeffrey Bruma, Gael Kakuta, Patrick Van Anholt, Ryan Bertrand, Josh McEachran, Nathaniel Chalobah, Daniel Sturridge and David Luiz (whether brought through the Chelsea ranks or scouted at a young age), would not be available to step in and replace the ageing pensioners. Though most of these prodigies are unproven, the potential that they supposedly hold, and the idea that they could link up with the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Brazilian revelations Lucas Piazon (the newest of the new Kaka’s, perhaps based only on looks) and Santos’ ever more expensive Neymar gives some hope for a Chelsea FC a few years from now.

As dramatic as it sounds from a worried Chelsea supporter in a doomsday piece, the departure of Carlo Ancelotti from Chelsea could have an astonishing effect on the club as a whole. Abramovich must allow a manager to stay based on their long term success, giving one manager the time to secure the foundations of Chelsea in a time of vital transition, and not whether they bring the Champions League to Stamford Bridge. The neglect of such a pressing concern could lead to Chelsea hiring and firing another three or four managers in the next five years, spending more and more wildly as Chelsea slip down the table.

Replaced by a Manchester City side with the funds to join Manchester United and Real Madrid as the best ever in Europe, an Arsenal side whose work and business ethic will surely bring them the sweetest of success in the near future, (assuming that they lose Nicklas Bendtner and buy a cultured centre back) and a Manchester United squad that Ferguson will surely leave in a good state and in capable hands in the near future, Chelsea could well look back at the mid noughties as the pinnacle of the clubs success.

With Harry Redknapp steering a Tottenham side littered with stars (and Crouch) to the quarter finals of the Champions League and Kenny Dalglish revitalising a Liverpool side on the up, it could already be too late, and the departure of Carlo Ancelotti could send the club into a state of potential disrepair.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The European great who now adorns the blue of Schalke has transferred his Champions League pedigree over to The Miners who are now sitting proudly in the last four of the UEFA Champions League. With Chelsea being humbled by Manchester United in the quarter-finals, they lacked a killer instinct in the final third. With Raul being available on a free last summer, did Roman Abramovich miss a trick by not poaching the Spaniard?

Think about it, there is no denying that The Blues are obsessed with winning club football’s Holy Grail. That isn’t a negative aspect by any stretch of the imagination, it’s the complete opposite. Until Chelsea wins the Champions League they will just be known as a big club, rather than a great one. Abramovich implemented Carlo Ancelotti as the man to steer his Chelsea Empire to the promise land but thus far has been unsuccessful. However, the finger shouldn’t be entirely pointed at the manager as he wasn’t the man playing up top this past Tuesday night.

For large parts Chelsea played well at Old Trafford. They kept possession well and there was some lovely link up play up until the final third. Now had Raul been present would things have been different?

There is no denying had Chelsea acquired him last summer, the scrutiny surrounding the move would have been questioning his age, legs, fitness and adaptability to the blood and thunder of the Premier League. It may have been foreseen as just one last hoorah on the part of Raul to acquire his final pay cheque. Well if that was going to be the case, then one or two need to reassess their football knowledge. It would have been a masterstroke.

Sure, it may have taken time for Raul to adapt to English football, but that isn’t the problem. Chelsea want to win the Champions League, so who better to have in your side on a European night than Raul? Especially in the latter stages.

The man’s hunger and desire has to be admired. He opted to move to Schalke when he had other offers on the table. The key for him was playing at least one more season in his beloved competition. There was an opportunity to beat Gerd Muller’s European goal scoring record and rack up at least six more appearances in the group stage. He has not only achieved the aforementioned, but has done so quite formidably. He netted a brace last October in Tel Aviv to equal Muller’s record before smashing it in his native Spain against Valencia in the last-sixteen.

His influence in the quarter-final against European champions Inter was majestic. His link up play with his peers was exceptional and his movement was sublime. For a man of 33-years of age, he needs to rely on his brain rather than his legs, yet he still has the knack for being in the right place at the right time. He has been one of the season’s highlights in the competition, no doubt.

We can be forgiven to think that he would fade into obscurity with Schalke, but when you live and breathe the sport you love as Raul does, there is absolutely no chance of that occurring. He is a prime example, he was born to score.

When Chelsea paid Liverpool £50million for Fernando Torres in January, it was seen as the final piece in the jigsaw for the English champions to clinch their destiny. As we all know, it hasn’t worked out as yet. A reason for that being his similarities to Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. Raul is a different entity, he’s a born goal-scorer. Chelsea want goals, who better to have – even if it was for the short-term. Raul could easily play in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 and would have no qualms. He’s played in umpteen different formations over the years in white, and yet his goals have never dried up.

The emergence of Gonzalo Higuain at Madrid last season shaded the Blancos legend but a change was obviously necessary for both the player and club. Raul has been rejuvenated in the Bundesliga, and despite Schalke languishing mid-table, they have made it to the final four in the Champions League, something which they only ever dreamed of before his arrival.

Chelsea will always be there or thereabouts in UEFA’s prime competition and by a law of averages their time should eventually come, but having Raul’s knowledge alone would be indispensable. A partnership between himself and Didier Drogba would have been harrowing to opposition defences around Europe.

It was only eight years ago that Mr Abramovich contemplated a £71million offer for Raul when he was in his prime. Heck, why don’t he try his luck in the summer with a cheeky offer to Schalke?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

We’ve seen it before – an owner can only take the club so far. There comes a time when his decisions become repetitive, his style stale, his actions predictable.

Roman Abramovich has done admirably well in taking Chelsea from a 4th place finish (the summer he took over) to …. another 4th place finish by the looks of it. In the process there have three league titles, several domestic cups and plenty of Champions League heartbreak, but it feels that he’s come full circle, with an ageing team that looks desperately in need of fresh leadership (or at least unhindered leadership). When you look back at his tenure, you feel that Chelsea peaked a few years ago. Jose Mourinho figured it out, and left.

You can’t realistically change the whole team in the summer, and you’re unlikely to find a more qualified manager to handle the current Chelsea lot (Andre Villas Boas is the flavour of the month, but to go for Jose Mourinho Part 2 would be one Hail Mary pass too many for the Chelsea owner, who has already tried quite a few of them (his most recent being the 50m spent on one Fernando Torres).

Sidenote: How many goals does 50m buy you, btw? 7m Javier Hernandez has 14 in 22 shots, so that’s nearly 98 goals from 7 Hernandez’s that Abramovich could have gotten if he had spent his money more wisely. Granted that goals don’t scale like that but it didn’t deter critics of another expensive forward, Dimitar Berbatov, to count how much his goals cost in his first two seasons.

The case is incontrovertible. Ancelotti, when left to his devices, won Chelsea the double. When Roman interfered – first by tightening the purse in the summer, and then by loosening it up, putting his pecker in it and jerking it around furiously, Chelsea got nothing to show for it. Ancelotti has previous experience in bowing to a bossy owner’s demands (review his career at Milan under Berlusconi) – he even put it on his CV to help his case last summer (OK, maybe not). But he’s still a very good manager, and if he’s given the right support, he’s the right man to take Chelsea forward.

Roman Abramovich clearly isn’t good enough for Chelsea – he must go now.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Soccerlens writer Oliver Neto looks at what might happen in the clash of Premier League powerhouses, Chelsea v Manchester United, in the Champions League quarterfinals.

Pre-amble

ITV’s reliably philosophical approach to match previews does not disappoint, with Marcel Desailly’s classically Sartrean eye for the irrelevant ambling manfully through his broken English towards a fundamental point before Andy Townsend produces a verbal tackle reminiscent of his playing days to steal the initiative: ‘United are top of the table, but I tell you what, ‘ang on, Marcel, I tell you what, if they can get bodies in that United box and whip some balls into Drogba, Chelsea will fancy it tonight.’. Poor Marcel winces before brandishing a charming Gallic smile of acquiescence. Balls will be whipped in, Marcel, whether you like it or not.

Pitch-side, Carlo Ancelotti, having emerged from a mysterious puff of smoke, unfurls an enormous Cuban cigar before taking his seat in the dugout, putting his feet up and looking serious. Upon being asked to put out the offending item, the Italian replies, ‘This game may be in England, but I think you will find that this is a European fixture. Perhaps you forget my Champions’ League titles with Milan. My team was filled with ageing local heros, we underperformed dismally in the league and played much less attractive football than we were capable of. And I smoked cigars. Things will not change. I have coached AC Milan and now Chelsea. I have powerful friends.’

First-Half

Sir Alex Ferguson’s esoteric vision of a ‘tough’ away tie should have offered a glimpse of what he had planned. United operate a conservative 4-6-0 formation, with Wayne Rooney as a left-winger-striker and Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and academy director Brian McClair packed into midfield. Antonio Valencia breaks a metatarsal in the warm-up but still starts on the right. Nani is benched.

Carlo Ancelotti lines up in what appears to be a straight 4-4-2. ‘They’re going for it tonight, Chelsea’ – Townsend.

10^th minute: After 10 minutes of huffing and puffing from both sides, Paul Scholes’ late challenge (roughly thirty seconds) on Florent Malouda pushes Clive Tyldesley to the brink of commentary box orgasm: ‘Oh, it really feels like a good old-fashioned English Cup tie, this!’. Naturally, thunderous challenges, long punts upfield and endless crossing is just what we want from Europe’s crème de la crème.

16^th minute: Michael Carrick begins smacking 50-yard passes in the general direction of Rooney. Rooney actually gets near one of them, and Branislav Ivanovic is forced to come and help Jose Bosingwa. ‘That’s what we expect from Carrick, for him to stamp his authority on a match like this – and Rooney’s work-rate has been absolutely sensational’ – Co-commentator Jim Beglin.

23^rd minute: Bosingwa gives the ball straight to Rooney, who blasts a shot wide. ‘You just can’t keep Rooney out of a game like this!’ – Tyldesley.

31^st minute: Nemanja Vidic and Didier Drogba go for a 50-50 ball near the touchline. Three minutes of furious shirt-tugging and shoulder-barging later, Drogba wins a throw. The remaining 20 players finish the spontaneous tea party begun during their wait and resume the game. Rooney feels particularly strongly that he should have been allowed more time to enjoy his Fondant Fancy, and makes his feelings known to a pitchside cameraman.

37^th minute: Ramires brushes off Carrick and sends a poor cross into the box, but Vidic’s clearance hits Malouda in the face. The ball falls to Torres six yards out and he powers home a glorious finish. Chelsea are ahead, the champions are shaken and Torres’ Chelsea career is finally up and run… – Oh. Torres was about three yards offside. Nevermind, still 0-0, and there is now something to discuss at half-time.

Half-time arrives with neither side holding any significant advantage, but there have been lots of tackles and the referee has been surrounded by swearing players twenty-six times. So plenty for Marcel Desailly and Andy Townsend to discuss.

Desailly: I like Malouda. A lot. And Drogba. Drogba is playing really well. Did you say how he fought Vidic on the ball? Fantastique. And Evra. Evra is trying but he cannot play. Anelka stop him.

Townsend: Well, it’s been a little bit tetchy, little bit bitty – United come here tryin’a hold the line, keep Chelsea out and they’ve done that pretty well. Chelsea – little bit o’ nerves coming in but they started brightly, good understanding between Frankie Lampard and Ramires…I just think that if they can stop tryin’a pass their way through United and just get it out wide to Malouda, get some bodies in there to support Drogba, they can whip some balls in and put United under pressure. They’re cruising at the moment, United.

Second-Half

No substitutions, except for the chewing gum Sir Alex Ferguson has placed in his mouth, having scraped the previous one off the back of his right pre-molar and shamelessly stuck somewhere in David Luiz’s abundant mane.

47^th minute: Torres gives Chris Smalling the slip and fires a shot which is brilliantly blocked by Edwin van der Sar. ‘Ooh, he’s sharpening his sights!’ – Tyldesley.

53^rd minute: United’s midfield looks flat, Rooney starts throwing his arms in the air and Ryan Giggs and Anderson begin warming up.

56^th minute: Ferguson sends on Ryan Giggs for Valencia, but orders Anderson to keep warming up.

60^th minute: Rooney slaloms his way past Bosingwa and Essien before looping a cross over Cech, only for John Terry to fly in with an acrobatic header away from the waiting Giggs. ‘There’s just no stopping Rooney when he’s in this form!’ – Beglin.

63^rd minute: As Anderson starts tucking in his shirt and jumping up and down on the touchline next to the fourth official, Paul Scholes lunges wildly and Essien and is sent off. Anderson sits down again.

70^th minute: A long punt into the box from Ashley Cole isn’t cleared properly. The ball falls to Lampard in, who hits the bar. Clive Tyldesley screeches in shock that the normally effervescent Lampard should miss such an important chance.

76^th minute: Ancelotti sends on Salomon Kalou to cheer up a sulky Didier Drogba.

81^st minute: Sir Alex casually wanders over to the linesman and mutters something. The foreign linesman evidently doesn’t understand the insinuation, so the United manager holds up three fingers before shuffling off angrily.

85^th minute: It’s all Chelsea by this point, with Kalou making inroads and having a couple of shots saved by van der Sar. ‘Chelsea turning the screw on United – can they hold out??’ – a breathless Tyldesley.

90^th minute: Three minutes of injury time awarded. Ancelotti, impassive, lights a final cigar and asks David Luiz to come down from the stands so as to stroke his hair.

92^nd minute: A long punt from Vidic leads to Rooney shrugging off Ivanovic before playing in Giggs, who hits the side netting after his shot is deflected. The referee whistles for full time. Sir Alex Ferguson is incensed, Ancelotti’s cigar runs out and he does not appear to find the gum in David Luiz’s hair, which by now will probably have solidified into a tough, lumpen mass. Much like the two teams on the field.

Final Score: 0-0

Watch out for the Chelsea v Manchester United preview on Tuesday, and you can win £100 simply by placing a bet through us!

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

With their omnipresent oligarch stirred into transfer action by his Premier league cash cow’s continuing on-field malaise, Chelsea’s money men threw a last-ditch £75 million wodge at the club’s collective problem (i.e. the very real possibility of missing out on £100 million’s worth of Champions League football next season) by shelling out for Benfica’s David Luiz and, in case it passed you by, Fernando Torres – who signed a considerable £50 million, £175,000-a-week, five-and-a-smidge year deal at Stamford Bridge just as the window began to dwindle away.

On the very day that Chelsea also announced the news (with an understandably small amount of  accompanying fanfare) that they had suffered a £75 million overall loss in their previous double-winning season (2009/’10), owner Roman Abramovich approved two speculative deals worth the exact same amount – two deals which, to the outside world, seemed to verge just slightly on the ‘panicky’ side.

With wages, bonuses and the like all factored in, Chelsea’s two deadline deals will end up costing the club well over £100 million. Of course the coincidental timing of the two transactions only serves to exacerbate the outlay, but it sure as sh*t looks like an expensive and knee-jerk way to address the relatively long-standing need for the rejuvenation of the club’s aging (and ailing) stable of players.

That said, if Torres’ pricey acquisition in particular conspires to win Chelsea the elusive trinket that Abramovich has been lusting after so zealously for all these years (the Champions League), then maybe £100 million will soon seem like chicken feed.

Abramovich was desperate to sign Shevchenko for Chelsea

With a net spend of just £7.8 million or thereabouts, it’s a feasible argument that Liverpool, by adding both Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll to their midst, did rather well out of the bi-annual deadline day farrago that engulfed the footballing world yesterday – with the sole caveat being that they were forcibly co-erced into relinquishing their fervent hold on to the aforementioned Señor Torres.

How manager Carlo Ancelotti will re-configure his system to incorporate Torres remains to be seen (4-1-3-2…4-1-1-3-1…0-0-10?) though it’s worth nothing that there will be an ominous spectre hovering over his head when it comes to bedding in his new superstar – an ominous spectre that has perhaps come to characterise Abramovich’s oil-soaked tenure in West London, the £30 million signing of Andriy Shevchenko.

For all intents and purposes, that was the last time Chelsea paid big money for a big name.

Shevchenko arrived at Chelsea for a hugely inflated fee. A once-undeniably world-class striker, hampered by sporadic injuries and potentially on the wane as a footballing entity.

As a result of Abramovich’s myopic, ‘damn the expense’ pursuit, he left the club having made just 40 (mostly substitute) appearances in four-and-a-half seasons.

I know it’s just a bit of baseless conjecture at this point (crucify me for it if you so wish…), and I genuinely wish Nando all the best, but I’m just saying…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Morning all. Throughout January Soccerlens is going to be bringing you a daily round-up of the morning’s various goings-on. Be it juicy morsels of spurious transfer gossip or real, actual bona fide news, rest assured, we’ll have it covered.

Here’s this morning’s batch.

Drog days are over…

There’s a bit of a rip-snorter doing the rounds in this morning’s gossip columns, in which Chelsea’s misfiring heavyweight Didier Drogba is the latest name being linked with the vacant striker’s position over at Real Madrid.

Several sources (including the Times) are suggesting that Drogba may be one of the big-name casualties of Roman Abramovich‘s summer overhaul at Stamford Bridge anyway, with the Daily Mirror reporting that Real coach Jose Mourinho has caught wind of this and is now running the rule over a cheeky bid for his former talisman after balking at Emmanuel Adebayor‘s £15 million price tag.

Question is, would the Drog come any cheaper?

Comolli’s on the case…

The Sun seem to reckon that Liverpool’s chief football strategist Damien Comolli is flying out to Amsterdam as we speak to meet with Ajax striker Luis Suarez and his representatives and give them the ‘hard sell’ over a move to Anfield.

If everything goes to plan and Comolli justifies his contrived job title, then the red-top are prophesizing that a £20 million deal will finally be struck between the two parties before the week is out.

However, should negotiations fall through, there is also talk of a ‘plan B’ being on the cards, i.e. a £6 million bid for PSG forward Guillaume Hoarau.

Adam, but lost ‘im…

On the subject of Liverpool, it seems that the club are edging closer bit-by-bit to spiriting Charlie Adam away from Blackpool’s collective grasp, though the Seasiders have vowed to fight until the very end to keep hold of their influential midfielder.

The Mirror seem certain that Adam asked his manager Ian Holloway for permission to join King Kenny’s revolution before their game at Sunderland over the weekend, only to be talked out of handing in a written transfer request by the increasingly cantankerous Blackpool boss.

With Liverpool apparently ready to go as high as £5 million, this particular strand looks set to rumble on until the last few hours of the window.

Lass to the Lane, Roman to Real?…

Tottenham have been told that they will need to stump up £18 million if they hold any reasonable chance of landing French anchor Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid before the end of the month – with the Spanish giants reluctant to let the midfielder leave the club on loan.

However, there is talk of a short-term loan deal for Roman Pavlyuchenko potentially being thrown into the mix as ballast – which Spurs hope will knock Diarra’s asking price down by a couple of quid at the very least.

The best of the rest…

• AC Milan have completed the signing of Dutch left-back Urby Emanuelson from Ajax on a four-and-a-half-year deal…

• Arsenal have officially confirmed their interest in Southampton’s £10 million-rated wunderkind Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, though Arsene Wenger has vowed that he won’t pay over the odds for the prodigious forward…

• Chelsea are still hoping to sign David Luiz from Benfica, but are still haggling over Paulo Ferreira‘s value as they attempt to offset the Portuguese side’s weighty £26 million valuation…

• Sunderland are very close to wrapping up the £4 million signing of Stoke striker Ricardo Fuller, and may also make an audacious bid for Porto frontman Hulk as they look to restock their attacking options…

• In further Sunderland news, Inter midfielder Sulley Muntari is now all but certain to join the Black Cats on loan within the next few days…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Morning all. Throughout January Soccerlens are going to be bringing you a daily round-up of the morning’s various goings-on. Be it juicy morsels of spurious transfer gossip or real, actual bona fide news, rest assured, we’ll have it covered.

Here’s this morning’s batch.

Duck hunting season opens at Chelsea…

Having staved off Roman’s wrath for the time being with a thumping 7-0 victory over rudderless Ipswich at the weekend, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is apparently about to be handed the necessary funds to finally land AC Milan starlet Alexandre Pato before the January transfer window ebbs to a close in three weeks’ time.

According to the German website, 4-4-2, the 21-year-old Brazilian striker is known to be keen on a move to the Bridge to reunite himself with Ancelotti (whom he served under for a year or so at the San Siro back in 2008/2009), though Chelsea will have to stump up around €30 million in order to even open a line of communication with the Serie A giants.

Ancelotti will also have to wait for Milan chief Adriano Galliani to return from Brazil, where he is currently trying desperately to flog his buck-toothed show-pony Ronaldinho to former club Gremio.

Third Gunners’ stint for Sol?…

Unhappy with his peripheral lot at Newcastle, veteran centre-back Sol Campbell is said to be pining for a third stint at Arsenal and may get his way as Arsene Wenger continues to source cheap, reliable defensive reinforcements.

Having witnessed current first-choice pairing Sebastien Squillaci (who also twanged a hamstring during the game) and Johan Djourou being systematically dismantled by the near-immobile Luciano Becchio over the weekend, you can’t really blame the Frenchman for his roving eye.

The Daily Express seem fairly certain that 36-year-old Campbell will be moving back to the Emirates on a five-month loan deal, similar to the one he signed with the Gunners at the tail-end of last season.

Where art thou Becks?…

In short, no-one knows what the hell is happening vis-a-vis David Beckham‘s protracted loan move to Tottenham, not even Spurs manager Harry Redknapp who now seems to think that ‘insurance issues’ may scupper any bid to sign the LA Galaxy man on a playing contract.

It seems likely that Becks will now be moving to North East London to train with Redknapp’s side until the MLS gets going again in a couple of months’ time, though if anyone knows their way around ‘insurance issues’, it’s old ‘Arry.

Birmingham line up ‘three-and-a-bit’ big name signings…

Brum are hoping to add the sum total of about 3.25 ‘big name’ signings to their roster over the course of the next week or two, with both Robbie Keane and David Bentley almost certain to join from Tottenham’s reserves and Kenny Miller and Pablo Mouche set to follow on shortly after, arriving from Rangers and Boca Juniors respectively.

All in all, it looks like Big Eck is going to be shelling out somewhere in the region of £8 million for the four new faces, two of which (Bentley and Mouche) will be joining on six-month loan deals.

El Diego claims Premier League interest…

Argentinian barmpot Diego Maradona has claimed that he will be travelling to England next month to hold talks with an as-yet anonymous club about taking over at the helm – with West Ham being touted by many as the most likely destination.

So said ‘El Diego’:

“In February I will be travelling to England to listening to a formal proposal from a team from there who wants to talk to me. If they convince me I might accept the position. I’m not desperate but I know that some day I’ll be the coach again of some team.”

What could possibly go wrong?

The best of the rest…

The agent of Manchester City striker Jo has claimed that he has received five bids for his client in the past two weeks. The Brazilian had been linked with a loan switch to Olympiakos, though it seems that the quintet of offers have emanated from France, Spain and Russia…

Fiorentina are trying to engineer a ‘pre-contract’ agreement with the agent of Bolton striker Johan Elmander, who’s current deal at the Reebok expires in the summer…

Aston Villa are ready to up the stakes in their bid to sign Newcastle bruiser Joey Barton by throwing midfielder Nigel Reo Coker into the deal as a like-for-like makeweight. Good luck with that one chaps…

Blackpool have rejected three £2 million bids for Charlie Adam, with Blackburn, Sunderland and Birmingham all thought to be courting the Scottish schemer…

West Ham are ready to sack Avram Grant and hand Sam Allardyce a six-month trial to save the club from relegation, i.e. should he succeed in avoiding the dreaded drop, Big Sam will get to keep the job on a full-time basis…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It’s fair to say that everything in the Chelsea garden isn’t exactly ‘coming up roses’ at the moment, with the tangled tubers of power and influence seemingly beginning to undermine authority at Stamford Bridge once again, a pattern we’ve seen repeated several times during the club’s recent history.

Coupled with the inescapable fact that the playing staff have been going about their business half-cocked for the last few weeks, a healthy dose of staff upheaval has seen relations become ever-so-slightly frayed betwixt the administration and the ownership of late – with manager Carlo Ancelotti cutting a bemused figure throughout before finally admitting that he’d ‘be the last to know’ should any major changes be brought about by his Russian proprietor.

However, after watching helplessly as his assistant Ray Wilkins was unceremoniously replaced by a semi-qualified scout a fortnight ago, Ancelotti has reportedly been informed by his immediate superiors that he will be allowed a say in the process of attempting to find a successor to sporting director Frank Arnesen – who, earlier in the week, announced that he will be leaving Chelsea for pastures new come the end of the current season.

One of the possible like-for-like candidates already being mooted to ease into Arnesen’s imminent void is former Barcelona technical director Txiki Begiristain – though there are rumblings that owner Roman Abramovich may choose to scrap the position (or at least ‘down-grade’ it, thus syphoning away any executive power) which would, in essence, allow the Russian to become even more directly influential in terms of the day-to-day running of the club.

Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich

During his five-and-a-half years at Chelsea, Arnesen rejuvenated and restocked the club’s scouting network and helped to stabilise the academy – wherein the young players hauled in by the scouting dragnet continue to be prepared for the rigours of first-team football.

With such a strong base already in place, Abramovich is thought to be giving serious consideration to the idea of reneging the capacity of the sporting director (essentially a combined ‘recruitment and development’ position) at Chelsea after Arnesen’s departure and bumping up the roles that chief executive Ron Gourlay (who could be charged with handling transfers), club director Eugene Tenenbaum and chairman Bruce Buck currently play in the club’s ongoing corporate maneuvers.

It is also uncertain just what Abramovich’s potential new air of boardroom machismo may mean for the immediate future of Ancelotti who, like so many of his predecessors, is understandably addled after being effectively (if only temporarily) cut adrift within the confines of a global footballing conglomerate.

Should the Chelsea hierarchy have actually made bona fide assurances to Ancelotti that no decision over Arnesen’s replacement will be made without him sanctioning the appointment, then surely such affirmation suggests that the double-winning Italian can still count on significantly long‑term future stretching ahead of him at Stamford Bridge – though who can possibly account for the whimsical mind of a power-bent Russian oligarch?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

As Sunday afternoon slowly leeched away into Sunday evening, Chelsea suddenly found themselves prompted into quickly quashing the growing rumours that a minor dip in his side’s form and a recent, supposedly critical, undermining of his administrative authority had left manager Carlo Ancelotti dallying over his position at the club.

Ten days ago, an apparently unwitting Ancelotti was rendered powerless as erstwhile assistant Ray Wilkins was ruthlessly removed from his staff by the club’s hierarchy and, with the malaise of having to watch his side toil to yet another defeat at the weekend beginning to settle, bookmakers started to report a ‘huge surge’ in betting on the Italian coach’s imminent departure amidst spiralling internet speculation.

Ancelotti himself then fuelled the conjecture by publicly admitting that he wasn’t in ‘total control’ of team affairs at Stamford Bridge after the club’s powerbrokers shunted former scout Michael Emenalo into the void left by Wilkins without seeking their manager’s consent:

“It is different because (Manchester United manager Sir Alex) Ferguson has total control of the team. I have just the technical direction, full stop, okay?

[The Wilkins situation] is not the reason why we lost the games. We lost the games because in four games, we scored just one goal. We have to improve there, to stay more in focus, we have to continue to play like we did against Birmingham.

Obviously criticism can happen when the team don’t win. There is more responsibility on the coach but this is normal. This is my job. If the team is not doing a good job, it is normal to have more responsibility. I don’t have a problem,

Am I prepared for criticism? Yes, I am prepared. This is the life of the coach. This is a difficult moment but I think we are capable of moving on.”

Just before the close of play, Chelsea released a brief statement (via Sky Sports News) in a bid to temper the fevered speculation:

“Ancelotti is contracted until 2012 and speculation about his future is total nonsense.”

All well and good, but it’s worth noting that several well-placed counter-reports also surfaced pertaining that Ancelotti had indeed sought council from the League Managers Association (who are effectively his ‘union’ reps) over what options were available to him regarding his immediate future.

Ray Wilkins was mysteriously sacked by Chelsea ten days ago

Whereas it would be verging on flagrant sensationalism to suggest that Ancelotti is in the process of tendering his resignation at Chelsea (who, lest we forget, are still sitting at the summit of the Premier League), it’s hard to argue that the developments of the last fortnight or so have once again unearthed the fallibility of the club’s knotted power structure.

According to the ‘high-ranking’ Chelsea source being quoted in this morning’s Guardian, Wilkins was dismissed as a direct result of several first-team players complaining to owner Roman Abramovich of being ‘unconvinced’ by the former assistant manager’s ability – and sadly this kind of ‘cloak and dagger’ dispatching/appointment of staff is far from being an entirely new concept at Stamford Bridge, especially during the Russian oligarch’s ongoing tenure.

Chelsea have a rich history of letting ‘player power’ hold a far-too influential sway when it comes to their board room decisions.

Former Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli

As far back as 2000, manager Gianluca Vialli was sacked as manager just five matches into the new season (and four months after winning the FA Cup) when French defender Frank Leboeuf told the world’s press that many of Chelsea’s first-team players ‘had a few problems’ with the Italian’s particular strain of coaching methods.

Leboeuf was dropped for his insolence but, crucially, Vialli was also ruthlessly denied of the ‘last chance’ he’d been promised to deliver the league title to Stamford Bridge for the first time since 1955.

The manner of Vialli’s dismissal laid down a blueprint which was repeated ad infinitum during the next decade of Chelsea’s history, a decade that has included both unparalleled success and seemingly unbridled managerial upheaval.

Mourinho still deems Terry, Lampard et al to be 'his players'

When Abramovich bought into the club in 2003, he quickly sought to bring in his own man at the helm and replaced Claudio Ranieri with Jose Mourinho a year later.

The Portuguese egotist was the perfect fit for the Russian billionaire’s burgeoning global marketing enterprise and all seemed symbiotically rosy until Abramovich and his close circle of ‘yes men’ got ideas above their station and started meddling in first-team affairs.

In potted terms, it all came to head in 2007 and Mourinho walked after a Champions League tie with Rosenborg, leaving in his wake a formidable legacy and a newly devout band of smitten followers within the Chelsea squad – players he still, three years down the line, describes as ‘belonging to him’.

All but one (Ancelotti, as yet) of Mourinho’s permanent successors have outwardly seen their fate dictated by Chelsea’s ‘old guard’, indeed Phil Soclari (July ’08 – September ’09) directly cited the influence that ‘problem players’ Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Petr Cech had on their supposed superiors for the manner in which he received his premature marching orders – with the chummy alliance between John Terry, Frank Lampard and Abramovich being blamed for Avram Grant‘s untimely departure the year before.

The relatively rapid turnover of the club’s managers, combined with the hovering spectre of the need for instant ­success has undoubtedly allowed certain senior players (being the only constant during a sustained period of flux) to ascend to prominent positions of influence.

Terry, Lampard, Drogba and a few other selected remnants of the Mourinho-coddled ‘boy’s club’ appear to have forged a direct line to the owner over the past few years – a line of communication that often bypasses, and therefore completely undermines the control of, the club’s supposed figurehead, i.e. their manager.

It is ultimately telling that both Manchester United and Arsenal, where a single patriarchal figure is allowed to reign supreme over the team’s fortunes, haven’t experienced managerial turbulence (or even speculation on the subject – bar Fergie’s retirement) in any magnitude even approaching the levels that Chelsea seem perfectly willing to allow to perpetuate.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

3 points in 4 games is not what Chelsea supporters have come to expect in the past couple of years. This is not a pleasant moment to be a supporter of Chelsea but, although there are few positives to be taken from the last 3 weeks, it’s not all bad news.

There are a lot of excuses which could be made for the recent away form. Frank Lampard’s continued injury, for instance, would cause chaos for any club in the world. The absences of Bosingwa, Terry, Alex, Zhirkov and Essien, not to mention the understandably weakened form of Drogba all add to the excuse pile. Ray Wilkins’ sudden departure will also have played a part, no doubt.

However, these seem like the types of excuses which might be used by other teams who have other, more deep and fundamental, problems. The truth is, a club like Chelsea should not be so badly affected by these misfortunes.

Chelsea supporters should, during this difficult stage, at least be pleased that Carlo Ancelotti is honest. He has said that the Sunderland performance was awful and has, rightly, put the defeat to Birmingham down to extreme bad luck.

In a league like the Premier League these misfortunes and bad runs do occur – they did last season as well, and Chelsea still won the Premier League. Something which can be said after the Birmingham game is that, if Chelsea play like they did at St Andrews every week for the rest of the season, they wouldn’t lose many more games.

The one main thing which should not be overlooked is the fact that Chelsea are still top of the table.

In addition, despite what a lot of people will claim about Chelsea’s away form, The Blues have the second best away record in the Premier League and are the joint-top away league goal-scorers.

We must also not take for granted how difficult the away games have been so far this season. From the 6 away games so far this season Chelsea have 10 points. This is not an acceptable statistic for a team like Chelsea but, from these equivalent 6 games last season, Ancelotti’s men had only achieved 6 points. Tottenham and Everton are the only teams left to play away this season where Chelsea didn’t win last season.

It’s not a particularly pleasant time for Chelsea, but it’s certainly not all bad news.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News