Why would Steve Sidwell reject Newcastle and sign for Chelsea?
If the media is to be believed, Steve Sidwell is bound to show up as a Chelsea player on a Bosman by the end of next week.
This raises the all-important question - what the hell is Sidwell going to do at Chelsea, and why did he turn down Newcastle?
Why Chelsea?
For starters, there’s the obvious - Chelsea are in the Champions League and will be challenging for all four trophies next season - he will get his chance to play at the top level.
There are shades of the Scott Parker and Shaun-Wright Phillips moves here - Moving to Chelsea with the hope of playing top-level football, these players essentially put their careers on hold. Parker, to be fair, got injured and by the time he came back there was no place for him in the starting lineup. SWP has taken a couple of years to get a good run in the squad, and that’s come about due to injuries to several players.
There are two other reasons - one, sacking Roeder meant that Newcastle had no one to talk to Sidwell about long-term team plans, etc. In effect, the Roeder move could have effectively pushed Sidwell to Chelsea.
Second, and this will hurt Newcastle fans the most, Newcastle are in the shits and unless there’s some clarity about the new manager and the players he’s going to bring in, you wouldn’t want to bet your career on them.
What will Sidwell do at Chelsea?
With Diarra, Obi Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Ballack and Makelele already playing central midfield, Sidwell will be the extra cog. However, we should keep in mind that Mikel and Essien will leave for a couple of months for the ANC, and Makelele will take an increasingly reserved role at Chelsea (assuming he’s not discarded this summer), so Mourinho will need a midfielder to bring in some backup throughout the season and especially during the months the ANC is being played.
However, Sidwell WILL be distinctly one for the squad / bench, not for the starting lineup. Considering that Chelsea’s bench is already very strong, Sidwell can be the long-term replacement (in terms of numbers) for Makelele, if nothing more.
Chelsea will make more important signings in the summer - especially in the strikers department. With Berbatov sticking to Tottenham, I doubt Chelsea will buy from within the Premiership. I wouldn’t mind seeing them play Scott Sinclair and Ben Sahar more often next season - both of them are good prospects and along with one good striker coming in, should be enough cover for Drogba and Kalou.
Ahmed - don’t think it’s in Sidwell’s best interests to goto Chelsea and be another squad player - and join the other expensive stars on the Chelsea bench. It’s been a mistake made by a number of them.
With Allardyce’s appointment next week at Newcastle - Sidwell should at least talk to Sam (not sure what he thinks of Steve) - but I’m sure Allardyce will talk about the upcoming new revolution at Newcastle.
Newcastle-can’t blame him for not wanting to risk it like you said. Tho i think he might regret it if he moves to a top 4 club and doesn’t get the chances. Really can’t see Chelsea being a good move for him. United/ Liverpool/ Spurs would be a better choice IMO.
Some say he’s overhyped but personally i like him and seen as he wouldn’t cost us i’d love for him to strenghten our squad at United(him along with Bale, Nani and Bent/Huntelaar and we’re set up for the future) Do you think we’re out of the running? Is it known he favours Chelsea or just complete media speculation? *Hopes*
Surely he could’ve been persuaded to go to another club? For heaven’s sake, United need him more than Chelsea do! And MJ loves his midfielders, why haven’t Spurs pulled out all the stops to sign him? I just can’t see how this move makes any sense for either party.
Only those players who have belief and courage to meet challenges in their career join top clubs like Chelsea. This excuse that players such as Sidwell, or SWP are only bench warmers is only a ploy by oppositions to scare young talents from joining Chelsea. I personally like players with guts and courage to join Chelsea. Prime example is John Terry, with conviction came through the ranks and he is now one of the best CB in EPL. Sidwell by joining Chelsea demonstrates that he has the right attitude in meeting challenges to be a good pro at a Chelsea FC.
hahahaa chelski have finnaly realised their level they have to sign arsenal rejects to compete with the rest, uefa cup next season i believe and maybe a good run in the carling cup
wun shun: makes you wonder why exactly Arsenal rejected him doesn’t it when he’s better than anyone in their midfield….because Arsenal don’t sign Englishmen thats why.
Chelsea’s central midfield is Diarra, Obi Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Ballack and Makelele. Makelele nears retirement and Diarra has more than a few problems in qualioty and consistency. Ballack always finds a way to get himself injured. Sidwell will get his chances if he’s good enough.
Steve lol i’m sorry but you just said Steve Sidwell is better than Cesc Fabregas. Think before you open it.
Yeah, wun shun, haven’t you noticed that all Arsenal rejects tend to be English? AW sells anyone with a British accent, while of course he has inexaustible patience with the likes of Aliadiere. Of course, this is going to continue. I heard that he sold that Muamba kid (England U-19 player) to Birmingham, while he didn’t sell them the Danish kid (Bendtner). That Frenchman is so pathetic.
They did’nt sign him if he was’nt good enough. Why pay 17.5M for OH when you can get a better player (long term) on a Bosman. Last year SWP single handed destroyed the arival of Baros. he was to good for westham and then there is so much more to say. focus on the subject thanks….
to everybody with a memory of a goldfish, “the pathetic french man” did give chances to english players i.e francis jeffers,richard wright,cashley cole,stuart taylor,jermaine pennant,matthew upson,paolo vernazza…but if you remember correctly they all cocked up(cashley cole was a good playa and he made it but was a greedy little fool). and he is still giving chances to english players i.e justin hoyte and theo walcott, if he didnt have faith in the english playas,why would he pay 12mil for theo…we’re not all foolish enough to shell out ridiculous money for dud strikers (shevchenko comes to mind).
forgot to mention…well done on winning the F.A cup and carling cup…great return for 500millin pounds…oh how i wish my club were like chelski
the only money spend last year was on shevshenko…wun shun. Chelsea lost the PL title to indjuries and not Man U.
How did you come up with the Figure of 500 million?
Lindenhann DK- “the only money spent last year was on shevchenko” (that quote proves to the world that chelski fans really do have the memory of a goldfish). Let me remind you that khalid boulahrouz,salomon kalou,john obi mikel and cashley Cole(gallas+5mil)were bought last summer.
Chelski did NOT lose the title bcos of injuries but bcos of their stupidity, last summer jose moan-ninho was complaining that he had too big a squad, he was responsible for cutting down the number of players in the first team squad to 24. By january he was complaining that he ddnt have a big enough squad of players. when you are the “special one” it doesnt mean that injuries will not occur to ur team, any decent manager knows that throughout the season players will pick up injuries thats just the way it works, thats why people have back up. chelski got rid of their back up(i understand that some of the lads that had their contracts terminated were not world class but they were familiar with moan-ninho and his tactics).
man-u(towards the end of the season, no neville,silvestre,rio and vidic missed games too), arsenal(no gallas for 3 months, clichy missed the start of the season, henry has been blighted by injuries, RVP has not played since january),Newcastle(i dnt know where to start), these teams all had injury problems but i havent heard them complain as much as chelski.
And lastly i apologise for saying chelski spent 500mil on players,but they have spent more than the other three big teams put together
im a chelsea fan and have been for over 22 years,wun shun some of ur comments were harsh…but true i dont blame mourinho for everything but the buck stops with him. I think he must have known that gallas would leave or that even if he stayed he wouldnt have played with all his heart, he should have signed another player, the only position as far as i could see that he was unlucky over was the goalkeeper. but all in all, fair comment wun shun
well sed wun shun
gd point wun shun
This stuff about injuries makes me lauugh
Mourinuo has no one else to blame but himself, he has had all the money in the world to spend and to be in the position they were in January was just ridiculous.
I rememeber utd last season, It was about time chelsea luck ran out with injuries.
Going back to sidwell, i think he has a made a mistake by joining chelsea. He will get games here and there especially during ASN. But cant see him maintain it for too long, Then again you see people like geremi pooping up once a month and still picking up there £30,000 wages. So it cant be too bad
Lindenhann DK, dude u’ve got to be kidding me….. better long term prospect than OH!!! OH has played for so many years for BAYERN MUNICH, a european powerhouse…. sidwell is less than 2 years younger and has had one year in the premiership with reading for christ’s sake….. its amusing how chelsea fans try to justify their team’s business by criticizing others!!
SIDWELL THE IDIOT PICKED MONEY OVER PASSION, WHEN HE CAN’T GET A 1ST TEAM POSITION HE WILL WISH HE CAME TO THE TOON