News, Roundup - Written by BlueChampion on Tuesday, November 20, 2007 12:33 | 1,534 Views | 14 Comments | Add Comment
Kenyon in India | Grant goes to school
After a couple of utterly sick days, I’m back and I bring some Chelsea news including the shocker that Ballack indeed would be back, Kenyon visits India (no, he didn’t board the wrong flight), why you should be following Luka Modric and why Joe Cole is paying only for Ben Haim’s holiday.
Michael Ballack says he expects to return in December. He could not return at a better time than this. He will have enough match time by the time Essien and Mikel leave for ANC. More than anything, he should be back playing football. As a good footballer, he must be really gutted to be away from the pitch for so many months. And when he returns, I want him to stay injury-free (not sure if he has an option) until the end of this season. I hope he doesn’t go out with something to do with his hamstring or metatarsal.
When England takes on Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday, you should be looking for one Luka Modric. You must know by now that, by all probabilities, he’d join Chelsea in May. He is 22 and he is an attacking midfielder whom they call as a playmaker too. Luka is a nice first first name for a player in the team that you support. Luka, who is currently playing for Dinamo Zagreb, had a major role to play in Croatia’s qualification for Euro 2008 with two matches to spare.
When ‘Abramovich is ready to pay for every one of Modric’s kilos’, he must be special! Roman, in his initial couple of seasons, was ready to over-pay just to get the players on board, who would have otherwise opted for bigger clubs. Certainly, we could not go the Arsene Wenger way. We cannot get some youngster and keep grooming and maturing him for three seasons. We seem to be on a fast track for success. Though we put our foot down and said no when it came to Daniel Alves (unless there is some other story behind it!), we should wait to see if the situation has completely changed. Do we still have to pay hefty sums to get the right players. If Modric is going to cost us more than 5 million Euros, I’ll make up my mind.
A man of words, Joe Cole calls himself. Joe Cole really really wants to sponsor Ben Haim’s holiday because Ben Haim has been playing brilliantly for Chelsea of late. Well, that’s what I want to say but the fact is Joe Cole is hyper-joyed that Israel beat Russia. So he wants to treat Ben Haim. Very good. That shows how badly he wants England to be in Euro 2008.
Grant goes back to school. And the school we’re talking about is in Israel. Call it rigours of modern football that someone who won league titles still has to get a formal license from UEFA. This would mean Avram would flying back and forth, probably missing some of the training preparations and all. His two months of Monday schooling would start from end of Jan and go till end of March. He would be absent intermittently. I’m not too worried. Are you?
And finally, Peter Kenyon has made a visit to India. He was in New Delhi yesterday meeting the officials from All India Football Federation. The meeting was supposed to understand the scene of Indian football. Very nice. Hope there is much more in the future. A short tour to India with matches in each of the metros. I hope the hotels are fully booked and the players choose to stay at my place. That’s taking a dream a bit too far. It’s only a matter of time before Chelsea goes big in India. To start with, they can take a couple of teenagers of ‘football icon’ quality to Stamford Bridge. No, I wouldn’t qualify because of age.
After the meeting Kenyon said:
The purpose of the talks was to get a better understanding of Indian football. The talks were very informative and both sides have taken some ideas away and we will have further discussions in the future about how Chelsea can potentially work to help develop Indian football. There is a very long history and heritage in Indian football that many in England would not be aware of and the AIFF are very committed to building on this. Indians are also extremely knowledgeable about the Premier League and Chelsea in particular.
He could have gone ahead and said a word or two about BlueChampions. But that’s allright ;-)
Catch ya later!
14 Comments
1. james
2. Maysam
about :
Ballack , I am very gald , we really need Ballack .
Luca Modric : I am not sure chelsea plans to buy him, ROman just wants to motivate him versus England , this way Crotia wins england and Russia qualifies.
I am not really interested in him. I don’t think he comes to stamfrod bridge.
Kenyon and India : I am really sorry for Chelsea, we have to make connection with countries whose people at least know how to kick a ball, not india. Real Madrid investments in African and South american countries, chelsea goes to India , it is a joke.
maysam - Chelsea is still a business organisation looking for some kind of benefit in every possible avenue. India is a massive massive market for anything and everything for the sheer population. At least Indians speak and understand the English language better than the Chinese, the only number-wise competitors for India.
You’ll be surprised to know that there are people here who can kick the ball. There is an Indian football league dominated by imports from Africa and Latin America. In certain places in India, there are crowds like 100,000 for a match. That’s more than what you’d see in Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, Camp Nou, San Siro, Bernabeu etc. Probably in another 10 years time, football will be big in India. Look at cricket and the kind of money it generates in India - unimaginable money. If Football becomes as big as Cricket or at least near runner up to Cricket, in India, these clubs can really mint money.
A famous Indian football club Mohun Bagan was established in 1889 much before many of the English premiership clubs were founded, Chelsea included. India qualified for the 1950 world cup in Brazil but could not participate as the players were accustomed to play only with bare feet!
Football in India is certainly not even 5% as popular as Cricket. But the Football following and playing, is certainly on the rise over the last few years. It could be an entirely different situation in 2017. I’m completely in favour Chelsea investing time or money in India, simply because this is an untapped market with tremendous potential for Football.
4. TrueBlueInd
Hi Guys,
Ballack getting back is certainly good news for us..He can cetainly boost our midfield..
Jose had some trouble accomodating both ballack n lamps in his midfield..I would really like to see how grant accomodates both in his favourite 4-3-3
Grant going for his license n stuff from jan to march..hmmm..I dont know what to say..well..I guess its necessary as far as Fifa rules n regulations go..will It affect the team??..I dont think so
Chelsea n India..thats a good combo..The Football Association back home is poorly run n theres a serious lack of sponsors for the game..Chelsea can certainly brighten things up..But the major role has to be played by the administrative body.
I know for a fact that a huge chunk of the Indian Population watch Football.Chelsea, Manchester united,Arsenal and liverpool are household names in most cities.We set TV viewership records during the last Football world cup.Argentina n Brazil are very popular in India
We need Good sponsors to come in and support the game.We need more money to come into the game.That can only happen with big names like Chelsea being a part of the set up.In fact it would be great if more big clubs like barca, real, man u etc come into the picture.We have the talent, it just needs to be nurtured properly.
Another major issue as far as sports in India go is the attitude of the parents.Most of the parents prefer to push their kids towards secure futures as doctors, engineers etc.Lots of talented Boys n Girls give up sports because of lack of support from the families.
However, with more money coming into sports i believe parents wouldnt mind their kids taking up a career in sports.
I just hope Chelsea can work with the AFC n AIFF to help develop football In India
Cmon Chelsea….
Chak De India;)
5. TrueBlueInd
Oh..another piece of info..the Durand Cup(Oldest Football Tournament in India) is the 3rd oldest football tournament in the world.it was started in 1888.
Only the English FA-Cup and the Scottish FA-Cup are older than it.
6. SuperBlue
bluchamp and trueblue, are u from india?
Hi SuperBlue
Yes, I’m from India. Know more about us from the intro page.
8. nitesh_chandra
ballack…another cement sack…he will add nothing in fact he will keep conceding free kicks just outside the Chelsea box…
9. TrueBlueInd
Hi Super Blue…
I am From INDIA..:)
10. JoseHoliday
What happened to England , I hope, does not happen to Chelsea
11. jiday
England not qualifying is not news,i have always known these guys to be a bit below average(not the players,but always the coaching crew),they need to leave that archaic futbol of cross and hopeing someone nodds or gets a touch on the ball.Cant they just fucking change and add a little style and spice to their futbol?As long as they dont use mourihno or a foreign coach,there will always be trouble for them.
Up Chelsea,ballack comes back and we are ready for the loss of players to African nations cup…,boss grant really should start featuring pizzaro and sheva,we have to start preparing the team for the playerswe are gonna lose to Africa nations cup…
Kenyon in India,i ust hope he knows what he is doing!!!(are we changing chelsea to a cricket club?)
12. Varoon NAsa
hey guys im frm india…………
and India has a huge potential in football……. and dats why chelsea see a gr8 untapped opportunity in india
Hell yea im a Proud Indian
and….
a Proud Chelsea supporter
13. Michael Mariens
I think that if Chelsea invest in India, it can only see a win, win-game for all parties concerned.
Both Chelsea and India can benefit from the partnership.
There is alot money, if you consider the population size of India, with a nation that boasts 1 billion residents, if Chelsea could just get 5% of the Indian population to support Chelsea that would be what 50 million new Chelsea supporters, which would provide Chelsea with lots of wealth.
The talent side of the deal.
With a population of 1 billion residents, it is impossible to believe that there aren’t any good football players in India. What Indian wouldn’t want to play in and live in England, while making lots of money and living the lifestyle of a celebrity.
ps: I can’t believe, or this is hard to believe that India with its huge population could only qualify for one of FIFA’s World Cup’s when they really don’t have any competition in that part of the world. C’mon with teams like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afganistan HOW DIFFICULT COULD IT BE TO QUALIFY?
14. TINA/TEH
HI MY FRIEND
I`M REALLY GLAD BALLACK`S BACK I DIDN`T KNOW BOUT IT.I HOPE CHELSEA CAN GET BETTER RESULTS NOW THAT HE HAS HIM.AND BOUT PEOPLE WHO THINK BALLACK JUST KICKS IN A TERRIBLE WAY.THEY JUST HAVE FORGOTTEN HIS IMPORTANT AND BEAUTIFUL GOALS.SOME DUMB ENGLISH PEOPLE DONT KNOW BOUT HIS SKILLS ENOUGH.I`M SURE HE WOULD PROVE THEM.
Hey BC ..u r blog roxxx…r u indian??
nice to see ballack back in the team….he will prove wrong all his critics for sure….
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