News round up after quite some time. I’m not going to talk about those transfer rumours about Dos Santos and the like. I would wait to see them develop a little more. There’s news about Drogba and Terry playing the champions league final, Cech’s future with Chelsea, Grant’s show down talks with Roman and guess while watching which teams did Essien fall asleep :-) Read on.

It would be an understatement if I say I’m bloody relieved. Both Drogba and Terry would somehow play in the champions league finals. It’s not a disaster if they don’t play but the odds would be lot different if they are not there. In Alex and Anelka, we have superb replacements, at least on paper. But I want to see Drogba and Terry play in the finals for two reasons. One is these guys hate losing, they’d do their everything within their might to win the trophy. Another is, whether we win or lose, they deserve to grace the pitch when Chelsea play their first champions league final ever. Being the architects of the ‘Blue Revolution’, it would be terribly sad if they are unable to play in the finals.

Here is Drogba confirming his participation:

I took a blow to my knee that was operated on (back in December), and it hurt at the time. I put ice on it immediately. But there is nothing serious. I will be at training this week. I have spoken to him [Terry] – he will play in Moscow. No-one wants to miss this gigantic match, the match of our careers. That’s the case for me anyway.

It’s nice of him to confirm about Terry too. While Drogba has clarified this way, Grant does not sound very knowledgeable of the situation. While Drogba was saying ‘there is nothing serious’, we’ve got Grant saying ‘don’t know how serious’.

We haven’t had training today nor yesterday so we will have to see at training tomorrow how they are but John Terry I think will be okay. With Didier Drogba, I don’t know how serious it is but I think he will give everything to play in this game.

Quick trivia: Saw that image of Drogba & Terry? Can you spot the match in which that picture was taken?

Didier is all geared up for this champions league final. Is that because he wants to win for Chelsea or because it would improve his CV ahead of his rumoured move to AC Milan? Let him contribute to the win, irrespective of th personal mileage he would get from it. Drogba was upset that we lost the league title and he knows exactly where we lost it.

Losing those eight points [Villa, Everton, Spurs, Wigan] has been massive for us. It is far too many for us to lay claim to being champions. It is certainly proof of too much complacency and a lack of concentration on our part. Each time we had the result in our hands but sometimes we mentally finish games before the final whistle. Manchester United deserved their title. They have been rewarded for their consistency. We have made too many mistakes, including on Sunday when we let Bolton equalise 30 seconds before the end of added time.

That was bang on. I wonder how we could repeat that mistake four times, including one against Bolton in the final match. Those were not primarily technical errors, those were a matter of discipline, awareness, complacency and concentration. Okay, you let in a late goal and then the manager talks to the whole team about how to prevent it next time. It happens again. And again. And again. Surprise. Again.

This week almost every paper carried a ‘Cech to quit’ story but there is also a denial statement from Cech even on the official website. Cech’s agent could not have been more clear when he said there are top European clubs looking for Cech’s signature at a very high price. Cech’s denial was very emphatic. He had cliched stuff like ‘my focus is on champions league final’. Also he says that he hopes that the club will sit down with his representatives for contract extension discussions at the appropriate time. The moment someone talks about their representatives, it can’t be an outright denial right? Or is it another age old gimmick to help his agent on the negotiation table, without upsetting the fans? He has been getting 50k pounds a week which, if you consider his worth, what others are getting at Chelsea, what he could get at other top clubs, is not very high.

I believe Cech is one of the top three goal keepers in Europe, who is not at his best at the moment. His 07/08 season was the worst I’ve seen Cech perform. I’m not trying to say he was poor. He is simply not at his best. Compare his performances in 04-05, 05-06, 06-07 and 07-08. This season he has done more blunders than ever before. Some of them have been very costly too. But that should not stop him from getting a much improved contract at Chelsea, which he deserves. He is certainly a ‘must-keep’ player and I’m sure all efforts will be made to keep him.

Among other papers, Telegraph reports that the talks to be held between Roman and Grant on Friday would determine if Grant would stay as Chelsea coach next season or the champions league final will be his last match as Chelsea manager. It’s hard to believe that such a sensitive decision would be taken five days before one of the most important nights in Chelsea’s history. I’ve also learnt that, with Roman, I can expect anything.

Did you know that Essien slept off while watching that explosive champions league semi final between Barcelona and Man Utd? I’m sure the UEFA cup final tonight between Rangers and Zenit would be more interesting. I’ll be watching the match rooting for Rangers!