I’ve been gone for a bit. I needed some time to recover after the fiasco in Moscow. I was having a severe depression spell where the only time I could stop thinking about Chelsea losing the European Cup was when I was sleeping. I tried to distance myself as much as I could.
I never watched Manchester United’s celebrations or re-watched any highlights of the game. I did happen to catch a snippet of Terry’s misery. How dreadful. I couldn’t have predicted the reaction I had after we lost the game. My fondness for Chelsea even surpassed my preliminarily estimations. So there I sat, with my head in my hands and my eyes watering as if was John Terry himself, thinking of how I would have felt had that the Captain kept his ground and nestled the penalty safely in the corner of the net. Avram Grant has also been fired after three runners-up honors. I honestly can’t say I’m upset to see him go. This is all about entertainment and he doesn’t do it for me. I thought he deserved another chance based on his results but in the long run I’m happy about this decision.
Onto a different subject, the performance of the players throughout the season. This is my personal opinion. I am biased and I can’t help with it. I’ll try to back-up my opinions with explanations. These ratings are based on game for game performances. Whether the player played 50 games on 5 games, it is game for game. The players will be rated in order or jersey number.
The Mighty Blues
#1 Petr Cech – 6.6/10 – Petra oh my Petra, Petra oh my Petra! Not his usual dominant and flawless self. His season was hindered by injuries as it was last season. Never really got in a groove and made some stupid mistakes, none worse than the Aston Villa blunder. The big man still had some great saves throughout the year but you have to say he could have done better. If he stays injury free there’s no reason he shouldn’t be back next season to his usual self. We need to keep this guy, he’s still got 10 years under his belt.
#2 Branislav Ivanovic – N/A – Never made a first team appearance. Looking like a waste of money.
#3 Ashley Cole – 7.1/10 – I thought Ashley Cole played well this season. Didn’t have too many bad games in the entire season. Cemented his place as the first choice left-back over Wayne Bridge. I don’t think anyone would complain. The system doesn’t really provide for him to be a huge attacking threat as he was on Arsenal but he’s impeccable on defense. Silenced Ronaldo like nobody else. Also scored his first goal for the club. Good finish.
#4 Claude Makelele – 7.4 – Called on this season maybe a little to much due to the many injuries. Still the person described as the engine. Makelele allowed Lamps and Ballack to push forward without worrying about defensive duties. I’m kind of ready for him to move on however. I would prefer Essien in that kind of position because I believe he is one of the best players in the world. Grant made Makelele an untouchable but I think next season we have to take off his armor and let Essien rotate into that position. Still played great defense, probably would have played better if we could have used him more sparringly and gave him some rest. He’s 35 or 36 and his time is almost done. One of, if not our most consistent player over the last years.
#5 Michael Essien – 7.3 – This is probably the player most effective by my game for game rule. He started the season dismally and piled up injuries, suspensions, and international duty at the wrong time. If I was rating Essien on the end of the season, I would put him somewhere around an 8.5 and our player of the season. He commenced the season with real class of the strongest player in the world that we’ve come to known. Along with Ballack I’m most afraid of losing Essien. When he’s in the midfield he provides everything. He’s a great finisher, a great defender, comes forward with more speed and power than anyone in the world, and his stamina is unmatchable. I hope our next manager gets him back into the midfield where he needs to be.
#6 Ricardo Carvalho – 7.6 – The best defender we have. In the overall picture that is. Just like everyone else, he suffered from injury and suspension. Very consistent defender. Two huge notable blunders, against Tottenham and Manchester United. This probably took .1 off him but it doesn’t change that he’s the best defender we have. I feel very comfortable when he needs to make a game winning tackle. Great player, great season. Third best player of Chelsea’s season for me.
#7 Andriy Shevchenko – 6.2 – We turned the world’s most feared striker in the world into the most un-feared in 8 months. I heard an Arsenal fan of FanZone say that. Sheva didn’t have his breakout year in England that was the hope. Did get his body on the end of some balls throughout the season. Still slow and still not world-class caliber for Chelsea. A real shame his injury happened after his best game in a Chelsea shirt against Aston Villa. Statistically his scoring wasn’t awful but he was dreadful to watch most of the time when he wasn’t scoring.
#8 Frank Lampard – 7.4 – Super, Super Frank. Super, Super Frank. Super Frankie Lampard! The third consecutive 20 goal season for our vice-captain. That’s an impressive feat for someone who is truly a midfielder (unlike a certain Portuguese who dives a lot and missed a penalty against Chelsea). Lampard has a streaky season and struggled to his form with two big injuries. I can only imagine what his goal tally would be had he not been injured. The beginning of season he was on fire and it was only a matter of time before the Chelsea injury bug got him. Still proved he’s our best passer and key for our team. Dealt with the passing of his mother like a real man and scored to get us to Moscow and in Moscow. He was a whizkid at times during the Champions League. I’m confident he’ll remain with the club next season and sign a new contract.
#9 Steve Sidwell – 4.5 – Never showed he should be on team. Belongs on a mid-table team. We need to sell him this offseason to clear up some of the congestion.
#10 Joey Cole – 7.7 – Would have finished the season as my player of the season and above an 8.0 had he not faltered at the end of the year. Cole has the most appearances for the club and was lucky to stay healthy the entire year. At the time I voted him player of the year on the Chelsea website and I have no regrets. He played very well and scored some fantastic goals for us. If he would work on his crossing a bit that would be key. Joey Cole is a true blue and I love his passion. I only expect him to get better. Can you imagine Robinho and Joey Cole on our wings? Brilliant!
#11 Didier Drogba – 6.3 – Easily my biggest disappointed of the year. All this talk about leaving Chelsea really annoyed me but I wouldn’t mind as long as he performed on the field. He couldn’t oblige me. It was when I think back on how good he was against Arsenal and Liverpool that it upsets me because of the comparison to other games. Almost all his the games he played in besides those two he was lazy and awful. I’d rather him leave if he comes back next season playing the same way. It was only fitting that he showed how stupid he was by slapping Vidic in the face in extra-time of the Champions League Final. Almost as stupid as Zidane. The worst player on the field that day.
#12 John Obi Mikel – 7.0 – Definitely showing promise to be a great defensive midfielder. Mikel got a lot of starts towards the beginning of the season and then not enough towards the end. He’s still super young, 21 years old. Give it a couple years and I’d put money on it that he’ll be as good or better than Viera or Makelele. I have a lot of hope for him. Had a lot of very solid performances and is perhaps our most comfortable player in possession of the ball. He still needs to mature, however. Four red cards and two years is a little extreme.
#13 Michael Ballack – 8.3 – Micah! My new favorite player on Chelsea. The Captain of Germany really showed was the first-year hangover in England is all about; played this season with a vengeance of skill that was unmatched. Also my game-for-game player of the season. Came back after a lengthy injury and performed better than anyone would have expected. Every time he scored he would let out a yell of fury and passion I really think this showed what Chelsea FC is all about. Ballack scored some crucial goals and was our attacking engine during his time in the side. Slaying Manchester United also helped his rating. I can’t wait to see him play next season. I really hope he finishes his career and Chelsea and provides many more moments of inspiration for the club.
#14 Claudio Pizarro – 4.2 – Claudio Pisucko. He’s really bad. Great for Madrid and Peru but hasn’t began to touch down for Chelsea.
#15 Florent Malouda – 6.7 – I had really high hopes for Malouda when we bought him and also at the start of the season with some great performances. It didn’t really pan out that way for the Frenchman, he only scored three goals the entire season. Definitely started to show some promise towards the end of th season. I hope he stays with Chelsea another year and we’ll see if he can adjust to the English game and be the French Player of the Year that we bought him as. He’s also great on the international side. Malouda could be great for us, we have to give him a chance.
#18 Wayne Bridge – 6.0 – Only got a couple games under his belt. Better on the attacking side than Ashley Cole. I’m not particularly comfortable with him if we were pinned back to defense or against a top player. He’s rumored to be leaving.
#20 Paulo Ferreira – 6.9 – Ferreira really played pretty well when he was called on throughout the year; he was used quite sparingly, however. Definitely our best defending right-back and he’s a pretty good crosser as well. He signed a new four-year deal with the club this season before the arrival of Jose Bosingwa. I’m thinking Ferreira will be getting around the same playing time next season if Bosingwa lives up to the hype. Ferreira looked to be our best right-back when he played, I thought he deserved more time than he did.
#21 Salomon Kalou – 7.0- He comes from the Ivory Coast, Kalou Kalou. He doesn’t do coke like Adrian Mutu Mutu. He crossed the ball from the left, it landed right on Riise’s head and that’s why we all love Salomon Kalou. I absolutely despised Kalou at the beginning of the season. Every time he would touch the ball I would say, “Hasn’t got a Kalou.” I’ve done a complete 180 on my opinion after this season, however. Kalou seemed to really get some confidence and this helped him have good performances. He was a menace many games and scored some crucial goals for us. Kalou also led our team in assists. His passing and crossing is among the best on our team and I think his vision may be unmatched. His pass to Joe Cole to score against Blackburn = sublime. If his decision making improves next season, he could be a top player.
#22 Tal Ben Haim – 2.2 – The same rating as his jersey number. Easily our worst player. Made a goal-costing mistake every time he played. Ship him back to Bolton.
#23 Carlo Cudicini – 6.3 – Probably the best back-up keeper in the world besides maybe Lehmann. It’s a safe thing having him on the bench.
#24 Shaun Wright-Phillips – 6.1 – Only made it above a 6 because of the month or so when he played great during the Carling Cup Semi-Final against Everton. Wright-Phillips seems like a pretty nice guy but he isn’t quality enough for Chelsea. He may be our most frustrating player. His touch is about as good as Berbatov with no feet. When he’s on, he’s really on. This just doesn’t happen often enough to keep him on the Chelsea squad. I’ll be happy to see him go this offseason even at a severe loss. I don’t understand how he could possibly cost 20+ mil.
#26 John Terry – 7.4 – This rating isn’t and won’t be swayed by the dreadful penalty miss in Moscow. I felt for him so much after we lost the game. Anyone but John Terry. The most passionate and the most true blue player that Chelsea has. Our Captain. It was really hard to swallow that we weren’t Champions of Europe because of our Captain’s miss. He’s still our Captain and I hold no grudge against him. Without Terry we wouldn’t have brought the game to extra-time anyways. That header clearance on Giggs’ shot was WORLD-CLASS. I’ll say thank you for giving us the opportunity to have a shoot-out before I criticize the greatest Captain in the world, John Terry. After all, who stays on the field for 10 minutes with three broken bones in their foot? More injuries plagued John Terry. He’s been quite unlucky these pasts two years and I really hope for the sake of our team that he can avoid these injuries. He’s also rumored to have regained the captaincy of England. Got on form when he had some time to get some consecutive games. Terry had some goal-line saves in the Premier League as well. Always at the right place at the right time. The Terry-Carvalho duo is unmatched by any in the world. Thanks for everything, Captain.
#33 Alex – 7.3 – Very, very solid performances at the back. A definite future replacement for Ricardo Carvalho if we can keep him at Chelsea. Also a scoring threat. Scored three fantastic goals, leading our defenders in goals. No nonsense play, very strong, very promising. Good first season for Chelsea.
#35 Juliano Belletti – 6.5 – Belletti was a weird case. He started the season with great promise, especially in his attacking movement. Always seemed a little slow with his reactions but this wasn’t truly exposed until the Carling Cup Final. His horrid performance put him out of first team action for a while and Ferreira was preferred. Belletti scored two belters from long range and won the Goal of the Season. I’m not particularly comfortable with his defensive performances. Seems a little slow off the draw and not the caliber of the people around him. I’m just hoping Bosingwa is finally the answer to the right-back problems.
#39 Nicolas Anelka – 6.0 – I had high hopes for the silky Frenchman and high hopes for a Drogba-Anelka combination. Both these hopes are now drowned and I’m disappointed. Anelka’s top perk is that he’s a deadly finisher. Except on Chelsea. Anelka never really fit into the one striker role and looked aimless at times. He had a lot of opportunities in front of net and failed all but twice. I believe he hit the crossbar three times. 2 goals in 20+ appearances is not what Nicolas Anelka is capable of. And to top it off, he lost us the Champions League by missing his penalty. I wouldn’t bring this up had he not publicly announced that he didn’t want to take a penalty. I don’t think that’s a good thing to say when you’ve missed. Anelka also complained about his position and Avram Grant after I clearly remember him saying he could play paired with Drogba or out wide supporting him. Once a sulk, always a sulk.
#40 Henrique Hilario – 6.1 – Not a bad third-string keeper. Very unorthodox and kind of funny.
There we are. My player of the season, as I stated, is the Captain of Germany, Michael Ballack. Big credits to Terry, Carvalho, Joey Cole, and Frank Lampard. Not trophies but still a memorable season. If Jose Mourinho comes back to us, I’ll be praising us not winning any trophies(not really). Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!
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Adam i’m a Chelsea fan too, but you don’t have a god damn clue about football and rating players. Next time keep your thoughts and tears for yourself you whiner.
Hi guys..
Did any of u watch the England – USA game??..captain fantastic Terry is BACKKKKKKKKKK with a bang
You are very generous. Didier Drogba doesn’t deserve more than 5 and that too for this 20 mins spell against Arsenal and game against liverpool.
pizarro never played for madrid
thanks for this bc i was waiting for this for a long time.
drogba is 2nd worst after ben heim… he is a disgrace.
your ratings are a mess
petr cech – has the second best record in the league nevermind the world this season, hampered by injuries, still 8/10, without him, none of this was possible
branislav ivanovic – was unfit when purchased and has been playing for the reserves to find form as the russian season ended long ago, he is making strides and will be in the first team next season
ashley cole – is quick and strong with a good eye for the ball, the only defender we have that truly neutralises wingers, a shame he has no attacking instinct but still 7/10
claude makalele – has had his uses but if chelsea are to move on, we should avoid using him in big games, he is old, tired and has limited attacking ability whereas essien has it all and mikel is very young, waiting to be taught nevertheless 7/10
michael essien – may not have been in greatest form at the start but has by far, been our best player, he does it all and his poor form has been down to poor management, nothing else 9/10
ricardo carvahlo – WAS the best defender in the world at one stage, but its time for him to move over, key blunders and some rash tackling is not what we want, so either he goes back to perfectionor makes way for alex
andrei schevchenko – you forget, abramovich is the idiot who forced the ukrainian into the team. mourinho didn’t want him. scheva was never fast, he was known for his ability with the ball at his feet and no-one can deny his quality at set pieces, free kicks and dead balls, came into form then got injured but grant never allowed him to play again, instead shelling out £15million for anelka 6.5/10
frank lampard – given that he missed two months of the season and still scored 20 goals, not to mention his passing ability, 8/10
steve sidwell – came as a free to make up numbers, did well when he was needed but he should go back to reading, make way for young talent 5/10
joe cole – brilliant player, inconsistent in front of goal but he will improve, he just needs abit more quality in front of him, pac would help but with his dribbling, who cares? 8/10
didier drogba – goes down when we want him up sometimes and has not scored enough BUT he has missed almost the entire 2007 part of the season, and the fact we are missing the cohesiveness to push foward, drogba kept playing defender, lack of support from chelsea as well as abit of “i cant be bothered” has still done alot though 7/10
mikel john obi – raw talent, groom him into our holding player, at 21, time is on his side, will be world class in a few years, just teach him to tackle properly, as mourinho said, kick the horse in the back of the legs
michael ballack – people criticise him but after all, he was forced into the right wing, not quite what he likes, now after his performances in the past, how can anyone disrespect such a brilliant player, tackles, passes, runs, attacks, 8/10
caludio pizarro- played for bayern munich, not real, they would never tolerate him. horrible, not even worth the free as we’re wasting money on wages, get rid now, even his goal was poor 1/10
florent malouda – has shown that his feet still have the ability, just needs some formation adjustment 7/10
wayne bridge – offensively brilliant, defensively a liability, time to let him go, bring in some youth with both defensive and offensive qualities 5/10
paulo ferreira – not the best defender but solid and plays like a real defender, tackles, crosses, defends, just has trouble with physicallity of the premiership 6/10
saloman kalou – holds the world record for most offsides but is learning as can be seen, fast, good dribbler, a few years will see him become starting quality for a lesser team, but not quite what chelsea need, or he hasn’t proved it yet 7/10
tal ben haim – just get rid of him 1/10
carlo cudicini – made good contributions for when he played 6/10
shaun wright-phillips – when he was at manchester city, he was one of the most fearsome wingers, chelsea hoped he would carry his form over but he simply hasn’t. Poor decision making and movement has caused him problems, but there is no reason why he can’t regain form and take the strating spot his pace deserves 6.5/10
john terry – mr. chelsea, our leader, not the best season but throws his body on the line, our version of nemandja vidic, did you see him in the 1-0 loss to arsenal, monster. as for the penalty, he may be a captain but he shouldnot be expected to take a penalty, especially with scheva on the bench, 8.5/10
rodrigo dias alex da costa – three years on loan to psv has given him freedom to develop offensively, if i had my way, he would start instead of carvahlo. a goal threat and not bad with his feet one for the future 7.5/10
julliano belletti – he was a midfielder who showed some defensive ability and was converted to right back, not successfully in my opinion, we would have been better off using him on the wings, he was bought in simply because sevilla wanted us to overpay for daniel alves, a temporary measure 5/10
nicholas anelka – brilliant for bolton and france, anelka isn’t much of a goal scorer but always a threat, would benefit from rijkaards 4-2-2-2 or diamond as he needs another striker to play off or play in. You can criticise his penalty but ronaldo the world player, did exactly the same thing 6.5/10
henrique hilario – two stunning saves against fenerbache, there when needed 6/10
except for the salomon kalou part, i couldn’t agree more with you trueplatinum.
Didier Drogba should receive 0 for his Champions League melodrama
Woops. Replace Madrid with Munich.
Trueplatinum – Your ratings all refer back to passed times and are based on merits of passed seasons. It’s a season review for 07/08 not for 04-08. Essien being rated a 9/10 can only be a two things: ignorance or rating included his performance last season.
And Macedon, I’ll never hide my passion. What’s the point of passion if you have to hide it? You’re a disgrace.
To be honest : It was a bad season ,
After the victories , trophies ,the chase and high of the past few seasons,
it’s a bad season, ending with Terry crying in Moscova
and me limp in front of the telly
good article adam. Any reasons why the precision level for ratings is 0.1 ? too precise ill say…
what a waste of your time. half of the players you rated good are going to leave. It adds my frustration.
are you joking? how can you give him a low rating for this season unless you are thinking about the silly suspensions he got for the season. The majority of his matches (when he his deployed in midfield) are consistent which is more than can be said for most of the team.
he was even a prospect for world team of the year.
Drogs would have had a better season and you would have given him a higher ranking if Chelsea had the right manager. And if TSO does return (I’ll believe it when I see it), so will the Drogs of 06-07.
Nihongo – I didn’t want to give players the same rating that didn’t deserve it.
Trueplatinum – Essien lost his starting spot for a couple games when he came back from the African Nations Cup because of his bad form. He only started playing well towards the end of the season.
adam mikhail, who would you say has been our best player this season if not essien?
i admit, he did have a bad run of games, especially in the carling cup final, but when not injured and playing in midfield, has done well, and can still improve, he and joe cole are joys to watch
Do you guys know that Alcides will be back from PSV, he and alex were at PSV….. what do you guys know of him?? is he good??
guys for some reason I think Roberto Mancini would do a great job I dont know why, remember that good run of form they had in the Seria A. plus he is young and attacking minded!!! the key to rebuilding Chelsea is to rediscover an GREAT defensive recored… I thin Roberto Mancini could bring that,; also he can get the kind of flair players we need, as if seem likely that lamps will leave so this would be a good time to get Diego(my first pick) or Van der Vaart, we can also look in getting young playes like Veloso and Joao from Sporting Lisbon. And in mid field Quaresma and Dos Santos.
19@Denver .. i saw him play against Spurs in Uefa Cup and he had a good game but i dont think he’s good enough for us we have to much defenders and i rate Ivanovic more than him def:Terry,Carvalho,Alex,Ferreira,Ivanovic,Bridge,Bosingwa,Belleti.. so i think Chelsea will sell him or sent on loan again in PSV for another season..
as for Roberto Mancini i dont know why but i just dont love this guy and i dont think he’s the right man for us .. i read some news that it was players revolt that Moratti sacked him so if we cant manage Inter players how he can do that with our players i dont know if u know that we are the team with most captains : Cech(Czech R.),Terry(England),Ballack(Germany),Drogba(Ivory Coast),Shevchenko(Ukraine)
if he cant cos i made a mistake
so what we need is a manager with strong personality ..
Good article AM,
Looks like BC already knows that you will select Ballack as your Player of the Season and thats why only his photo appears in the blogs homepage…
I’m sorry but apart from his first few games Malouda should be down there with Ben haim and Pizarro in the ratings – he is shocking…too slow, too weak, cant dribble and run with the ball at the same time, cant beat players, average crossing and passing ability. I dont know why he played on the wing instead of kalou or phillips towards the all important end of the season. I know neither kalou or Phillips can cross a ball or have a clinical end product but atleast they have pace and can cause teams problems. How we paid 13m for him i dont know.
also, what are the odds Anleka will score in a penalty shootout to win france the game in the euro’s.
@ 21. SH.IBRAHIMI PSV released him from his loan …. thats what i meant…. I too Think Ivanovic would be great but he will not get the nod ahead of Alex…. senior player and used to the EPL…. But Ivanovic is very quick and reads the game well so i think he will adjust to the EPL easily when he gets his chance!
with regards again to Alcides….remember that Ricky has a good chance of leaving because Jose will bring him to Inter… so that is one of the EPL’s best defender gone… I think we should give the nymber 6 to ivanovic if Ricky leaves
so we are looking at a back line like this:
Paulo Ferreira
Bosingwa
John Terry
Alex
Branislav Ivanovic
Ashley Cole
Wayne Bridge
Alcides….return from load
Ricardo Carvalho….might of going to inter
Where is the rating for Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Roman Abromovich?
Henk Ten Cate sacked…………
With his sheer versatility, Essiens should be the player of the season. The other two close contenders are Ballacks and Joeys, but the presence of Lamps somewhat diminishes Ballacks importance and Joeys should really work on his crossing and finishing to be anything near to world class.
Without prolonged injurys, I guess Terrys and Cechs should have given a close run to the above.
Essien , keep it up!!!
Shocking!!! yeah !!! Just now I read it. Ten Cate is sacked!!!
Ten Cate sacked..it means Rijkard won’t be next mnager…
our club has become a circus now….which manager would like to work on such a slippery wicket…
stevo clarke is still there man dont worry( very good assistant)…. remember Ten cate had rows with a lot of the first team members of the team so maybe it was a prevention method! maybe who every is coming will have his own assistant, so they (chelsea) whats to give them the freedom to mold the team in their own way
Wow. I am stunned about Henk Ten Cate being sacked. I truly did believe he was safe when he said Peter Kenyon told him he was. You gotta wonder how much John Terry is influencing the upstairs after that yelling match they had.
is Chelsea going fucking crazy? How long are they gonna keep us in dark? Sacking Cate is sheer madness.
I mean with his arrival had chelsea improved its attacking play. I would have kept him for another season. It all seems like a child´s play now. How many impulsive decisions are we yet to concieve?
I think jose took intelligence with him. Rest is just a circus show now.
ten cate sacked!!
If it is true that Ten cate is sacked, this is better for Chelsea, they may be opening the way to Frank R. I have been away for a few days so i havent read the news.
But guys the better man is going to stay and that is Steve Clark.
Ten Cate left Barca because he had to, he was almost sacked as well, Ajax could not see the back of him soon enough, so when Chelsea came to him it was mana from heaven.
Dont be uspet, had he stayed maybe a few of the players would fight with him, he is a bully, I think this time Chelsea board is on the ball. Chelsea needs a guy that commands respect by achievement just like J Mourinho.
I personally not upset at all, maybe he will join his mentor Average Grant in Happoel lol.
Shocked that Hen Cate is sacked. Chelsea played with style after he was there.
Need a no nonsense boss like him to control the egositic players like Drogba , Anelka.
if henk is gone, it simply signifies him and rijkaard cant be in the same place
from what i’ve heard, he just left, no sacking no ultimatum. and now scolari is having his name thrown in the hat
whatever happens, i don’t think we’ll know until the end of euro 2008 when hoards of players will be moved around
we hear mourinho rumors, i’d love to see him back but would look like a media scam and make us look like a joke
rijkaard did well with barca but out of everyone linked scolari looks like the prime target and i think he’d be perfect. Plus the face he is brazillian and speaks portuguese, he would be sure to bring in some samba sensations
Get Laudrup
Grant, Ten Cate, Clarke; which of these three remains? CLARKE! Will Roman let him have a well deserved shot of managing Chelsea and get Zola to coach? Or, is TSO really comming back? Who needs a soap opera when you’re a Blues fan.
doesnt surprises me any bit… as soon as i read kenyon told cate before firing grant that grants sacking would not affect him i knew he is gonna be fired. it always happens the opposite way what kenyon says. remember support to jose 1 day before he left??
anyways cate was just here to help chelsea because Grant was inept, useless in short no manager stuff. No coach works with 2 assistants coaches and when we had steven clarke we never needed hank ten cate.
thankyou cate but no thankyou. you with grant enjoy.
guys if we take so long to get a manager… all the other teams will sign the star players!!!!! Dos santos is going to spurs because spurs have agreed a fee of 12 mill for him with barca!!! damn!!!!!!!!!!
Well if we want Scolari we’re going to have to wait til after the Euros. I’ll wait that long for a manager of that quality.
Well being a Chelsea fan is not so boring after all !
We have sacking left and right !
Rumours abound !
$$$$$$$$ in the bank to splurge !
and a host of players to cull and we wait for juicy outbursts from them !
Confusion , manuevering in the boardroom
We are certainly catching up with Real Madrid in these aspects
All we need is a Real type election !
is it some sort of indiacation of Mourinho’s return…
Grant and Ten Cate both out…Clarke still there…and Mourinho’s appointment at Inter still not made public…hmmm…I think Mourinho is all set for a return…no matter what happens but Chelsea is sure to rule tabloids for next few weeks or even months…so get ready for a high voltage drama…wow what a soap opera Chelsea is…always has something to offer to its fans and world…
it seems to me like one long psycho thriller now…..
and it seems to me that homer simpson is in charge of chelsea….
chelsea website has confirmed ten cate was part with CFC…is this a good news ? as there is a possibility for JM to make a come back
@50. IwasMissingJose
Yes he was he got the sack after 8/9 months.
But German fan (DeutscherFan
), how can you be so sure that Steve is going to stay?
I feel Dorgba and Steve both are similar. They both have been telling that they want to leave. But they both gave their best when they were on and off the pitch that season. Drogba is unpopular because he has to speak a lot with press and takes a lots of pressure. Steve on the other hand speaks less often with press. From inside they both share the same opinion. I wish if one leaves, both leave, as they both are not satisfied. Let Chelsea start completely new, rather than we having to see players and staff walk out one by one in future. it would be really embarassing and degenerating.
Was denkst du?
@53
but atleast you agreed that it was a simpson show…lol
i believe that chelsea already picked a manager and that manager has chosen to fire ten cate….is clarke next????
chelsea fc said this:
‘and in the light of any forthcoming appointment, it was clear this was the correct decision for all parties.’
this means that the next manager has chosen to terminate ten cate’s contract….is it rijkaard or is it the special one who has done this??
Giovani Dos Santos has said he wants to play for Chelsea!! 100% hell b e a chelsea player next season
Giovani Dos Santos has said he wants to play for Chelsea!! 100% hell b e a chelsea player next season
Giovani Dos Santos has said he wants to play for Chelsea!! 100% hell b e a chelsea player next season
@ 59 Den….
“Barca aces claims Blues option”
Your right Dos Santos spoke highly of us, and said we have been tracking him for sometime now and he would like to player for us…..read for yourselves!!!!
“Yes, they spoke with my representative and they have always been following me, watching my way and they are interested in my services; I would like to play there, they are a great team.”
http://sport.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/05/30/Prem-Giovani-on-Chelsea/
Going by the logic of the above comments :
Ten Cate was cleared away cos of the next manager’s stipulation that the Dutchman be gone, well that means Roman has already chosen a manager but we don’t know who he is ? Why not ?
Can’t be Mancini , gotta work out his own details from Inter and at CFc if it were the case and Cate wouldn’t be a priority for him ; Cate would only be an afterthought.
As for the rest , like Scolari,Rikjaard ,Lippi, Deschamps ,Hughes , O’Neill why bother putting Cate’s fate first when you could just put in a little clause in ur contract to bump him away or let him vanish as soon as the season starts… letting him find another job first .. well they’re all football men aren’t they ? they can at least .. have the courtesy..
So again Cate’s going may not really mean that there already is a a manager lined up at all. He just may be a pawn ,his sacking a smoke-screen to throw everyone off scent ?
But then again throw everyone off what scent?
Then it’s gonna be have to be something big that Roman Bro and Co; have in mind !
Mmmmmmm…… Funny that JM hasn’t signed for Inter yet….
At the same time who said we needed a big-time coach ? RA might be playing with everybody and saying ” Let’s get a young one to warm the bench next year, no need for me to get a headache, gotta go to my dacha yacht and have gooda time witha my darlinga”
I am not in any hurry for victories anymore , my astrologer said no CL league final for Chelsea either next year .. maybe the year after next.. so chill amigo’s “
But get Cate out of there for being so brazen to say he is safe !
I’m about 99% sure that JM will go to Inter, and I really dont even want to think about club footy right now.. Euro 08 is coming up and i am sure we can tap up talent there
ADAM MIKHAIL, how can you rate the Moscow loss a FIASCO ? Our boys gave their lives on the muddy field. We should be proud of what they did there. After the game i felt like we had won the Champions League, not Man Utd.
Your season review is probably the worst piece of thrash i have ever read.
We don’t need fans like you on the stands.
Hey maybe we don’t need a manager at all…. Roman can be the manager ! He was 75% the manager last year with Mr AG puppet anyway…and the team was on auto-pilot anyway…
Steve Clarke can do the training exercises…..
There’s no law against it , is there ?
OR
all the posturing might be disguising that fact that Ronny buck tooth might be on his way to SB !with Eto, Messi , and lotsa other guys who can juggle balls….
well Roman might be thinking if we can’t get JM back for a few years might as well have some Super Fun in the meantime… it’s not like we’re gonna get demoted to the Cola league with these guys…
Super fun… that’s the luxury of billions and Kenyon will have a field day hailing the new era and marketing opportunities …
Oh yeah Blues? You really felt like we were Champions of Europe with John Terry in tears? The performance wasn’t the fiasco but the way the result happened was devastating and certainly a fiasco. I can’t think of any worse way to lose then our captain, Terry slipping on the game winning penalty kick. F-I-A-S-C-O
what a crisis. Now if the fans of same club start pointing fingers to each other, i´m afraid, what critics might already be talking about. Embaressment.
@64: we were not champions, admit it!!!
@65: it wasn´t a fiasco either, its called bad luck!!!
sorry that was for @63 and @65
An official JM friend told this evening that jose are talking to roman to prepare his way to back to chelsea fc.
things are looking very very bad at d club,
Mancini is officially sacked, go to http://www.inter.it
clarke is also getting d axe
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1023030/Coach-Clarke-Stamford-Bridge-axe.html
so no chance of jose comin
i wonder how will we get a new manager
moreover we r on d verge of losing our targeted trio, n to add to d frustration carvalho n jose have d same agent jorge mendes,lamps has not yet signed a contract
d club is in a real mess
HELLO chelsea fans. i think next season you spend league with out a manager and arsenal will beat you and bridge.you must ready yourself for uefa cup.
only fool managers come to chelsea.You send off jose(your best manager).we dont sack wenger until 30 years.he will die in arsenal.But you can not hold a manager only for 8 months.We will see you next season.
Stamford Bridge””’ARSENAL 4:CHELSEA 0
ADEBAYOR/NASRI/NASRI/FABREGAS
Eto’o: yes Rijkaard: No!no! no! It’s shocking to hear lovers of Chelsea advance this name. The Dutchman certainly has no idea of the modern techniques of Defence and counter-attack which are largely responsible for his gross failure in Barcelona.Chelsea should have credible technical assitance to crosscheck my argument and save the club another embarassment of approximative peformance next seaon.
Didier Deschamps is certainly ideal.
yea Mr Gunner, i hope that old man will stay there forever and win you nothing. You guys got no money to keep your own players, so its you guys going down to cola-league.
Player of the Season Ballack?! Got to be joking…he started playing in late-December and is nowhere near the top scorers/assists. Lampard scored 20 and was highest in assist & he missed several matches due to injury, Riccy had a terrific season at the back, especially when JT was unavailable and Ashley and Joey both had decent seasons. Drogs was the second highest goalscorer and he played less than half the matches – he scored a brace v Arse-Anal, brace v Red Scousers in Semi Final and Carling Cup Final – and several assists. We lost v Arse-Anal & Man U away when he didn’t play.
Lamps was undoubtedly the Player of the Season, Riccy, Ashley, Drogs & Joey the other contenders. Drogs getting almost the same rating as Shevchenko (!?) is utter rubbish…
It was a game-by-game analysis. Ballack had very few bad games and didn’t take long to get into good form after a year long injury. Frank Lampard had a pretty good season but I wouldn’t put it in the category of Michael Ballack. His form wasn’t always there; only 10 of his 20 goals came in the Premier League(4 against Derby and a couple from the spot). FYI, Salomon Kalou led in assists, not Lampard. Not that stats are truly defining of the player and his contribution but just to let you know.
The main problem for Drogba was when he wasn’t scoring. He had polar opposite performances. If he scored, he played well. If he didn’t score, he played awful. We lost to Arsenal without: Terry for most of the game, Carvalho, Drogba, Essien, Malouda, or Ballack. The loss cannot be blamed on the absence of Drogba when so many others are gone. The Man-United loss we were missing the following: Carvalho, Drogba, Lampard, and Ballack.
You can’t really downcount Ballack’s rating because he’s injured for half the season, his first game back he makes a noticeable impact, I would name him as my player of the season for his contribution. He scored important goals when needed like against Fenerbache to calm the team down and Man United when everyone was loosing their teather and not stepping up to the mark.
Adam makes an effort and has obviously thought about it alot so theres really no need to go and say his personal opinion is wrong, i’d give Drogba a 6.3 for his arrogance and stroppiness even if he scored 100 goals, badly needs to be sold and get someone with a better attitude into the team.
@70 gunner—
you wish! 4-0 could never happen, even at emirates. as long as chelsea has 11 men on the pitch, arsenal will not score. it will be 3-0 at the bridge, lampard/robinho/dos santos.
you took the words out of my mouth joe – “i’d give Drogba a 6.3 for his arrogance and stroppiness even if he scored 100 goals”. that says it all really. maybe you could be good friends with roman & the red scousers, eh? “i don’t care how many trophies jose win, he’s just an arrogant twat!” so, we have to give ratings to players/managers on whether they are arrogant or not? we won 5 trophies in 3 years without ballack and the season he started to play OK (considering his vast wage bill!) we end up with nothing. it’s all about winning trophies that matter, drogs has done that time and again for us – fa cup final, carling cup final twice when we won and this year when we failed to win. drogs was the reason why we knocked out the red scousers this season and qualified for the champs league final, and he was the reason why we were in title race after we went 1-0 down v arse-anal at home and he scored 2 to beat our london rivals and keep the unbeaten home record in tact, which also meant we helped arse-anal become trophyless.
ballack hasn’t helped us win any trophies yet and until he has done that for us i couldn’t care if he’s a “decent” and “charming” bloke or not – the same as torres with red scousers. ballack has lost in 2 champions league finals & the world cup final – maybe he’s our unlucky #13!
77@Syed,
Ballack scored the penalty in the Champions League Final, and yet Terry and Anelka missed the penalty and you called him the unlucky #13? What a bloke comments. Be fair to him and to all players on your judgement of words. If you have that kind of mentality, you should be thinking Terry and Anelka is our unlucky ones to the clubs. You are a type of fan who never appreciate players that have given its best just like if God had given and done all the things and decided what is best for you but you still felt it is not good enough or unsatisfied.
It only makes sense for an Arsenal fan to come to this blog and brag! Look at the way they have won the last to preimership trophies! Their victory over us in Moscow was brilliant! No,… that was Manchester United that won the last two prems and beat us on penalties for the CL. What did the gooners win with their “beautiful” football last season? What did they win the season before? Dang, Arsesnal sure hadn’t been the same since Viera left! Granted, Arsen Wenger has a contract that will last until doomsday. But, without an imposing midfielder, the gooners are a fun bunch of boy scouts that can’t hold the lead in the league.
Chelsea will be without manager next season and Red Devils will get CL & EPL & FA & Carling & …….. .And chelsea will spend another season without a trophy.
@syed-der…interesting name, by the way! pens are lotteries & if you consider scorin pens to be the be all and end all of football, then ronaldo is the worst player in world football, surely? he missed 2 pens in the semi final & final of champions league…yet is on course to be world footballer of the year. terry had a brill match with fantastic goal-line clearances and was one of the main reasons (along with lamps) why we won back-to-back premiership titles and dominated the league.JT is a CB and it takes a lot of courage to take pens (did Rio take any pen?) and he slipped, which was very unfortunate ( goalee did not save it – and he would have scored) – Anelka was a different case – he’s had a shocking season scoring 2 goals for us & one of the worst pens i’ve ever seen taken – and he’s a forward!
from January to May Michael Ballack was the best Chelsea player. But for the whole season this award goes to Ricardo Carvalho. even though he was also injured at times he played consistently well from August to May.
FYI: Ballack didn’t play in the 2002 World Cup Final because of a yellow card suspension he picked up before scoring the winning goal in the semifinal versus South Korea.
Quoting Syed
The thing about Jose Mourinho is that he didnt cry and go off in a strop if he wasnt allowed to take a free kick and he was sacked because he wasnt cutting the bill.
drogba gets paid enough money to not strop and perform 100% every game and during the season like adam says he’s either brilliant or rubbish and in my opinion more of the later, you missed Drogba’s bad points like getting sent off when it mattered the most, not semi-finals, finals is where it counts and he was shocking on the night.
Its hardly Michael Ballacks fault Chelsea lost the premier league and Champions league, his first season like many players it takes a year to adapt to the premierleague and when he got back this eason he was one of the best players, scored his penalty in CL and performed at vital moments just like Drogba but Ballack did it consistently this season. I think the reason that Chelsea have stopped winning is that Man Utd have caught up with us and thats why we’re trophiless this season but it cant be just blamed on Ballack so its pathetic blaming it all on him.
Football players are payed enough money to have the right attitude, an ego is well liked in football but having a strop when it matters the most is not needed, having the right attitude could get you a promotion or it could get you the sack in real life so why not on the football pitch? Thats why attitude matters towards ratings.
no-one can deny the sheer quality of michael ballack, he didn’t find form before because mourinho deployed him in the rigt of midfield, now that he is playing in the middle with lampard and essien, he just runs riot. Lampard likes to poach in and around the box, essien makes the runs we need and ballack distributes unless he finishes himself
but he isn’t player of the season because he has had some bad games where he just dissappears which is the problem with a 3man central midfield
ballack has scored important goals….essien has scored more and provides more prescence as well as position coverage
lampard has made his contribution but it hasn’t been his best season at all, all three of them are capable of more
Can’t really compare Ballack with Drogba.
Ballack is leader and Drogba is loser.
Every one in the team – Calavaro, Essien, Cech worshippes Mourinho but they don’t foul mouth about the club . Drogba is confused and doesn’t know what he wants. History is going to record that he was the culprit of the Champions League final and seen afterwards with his jumbo headphones.
Now also he doesn’t know whom to chose – Milan , where he wanted to play for a long time or Inter .. personally I think he should go to Inter, so that sheva can play at Milan.
To Adam Mikhail
– First, i didn’t say what john terry felt at the moment, i said how i felt.
– Second, a FIASCO is a complete and utter failure. Especially one which is embarrassing because of the ineptitude leading to it.
– so saying that the chelsea display in moscow was a fiasco is very STUPID. You are degrading the job our boys did there. You should be proud of how they played, not embarrassed. Chelsea did hold all the cards until the penalties but were unlucky (NOT INCOMPETENT) to win the game.
And one more thing : would you have praised Drogba if he nailed that 20m shot in the net instead off in the post(in the final)? I know you would have done that.
So shut up Adam.
As much as you want to glorify what happened in Moscow, you can’t. In football finals, there are two polar opposites. Winning and losing. You either win, or you lose. There’s no in between. So my subjective opinion is that everything went wrong. Chelsea FC lost their first ever Champions League Final.
I guess your mind is too simple to understand what I said about you feeling like a champion, so I’ll try again. When you saw John Terry crying on the field, did you think to yourself, “I’m a Champion of Europe!” If the answer to that question is yes, go to a psychiatrist.
Would I have praised Drogba? Of Course! If anyone on the field, including Tal Ben-Haim scored the winning goal in extra time of the Champions League, they would get lots of praise from me.
reckon you should give Pizzarro a break. The guy scored three goals in a few matches, whereas Anelka scored two in twenty!! And this leaving aside the fact that Anelka is already an experienced Premiership player and this is Pizzarro’s first season in England. Hope that with an adequate pre-season (as far as I recalled, Pizzarro missed Chelsea pre-season due to the South American cup) and with some Premiesrship experience, he will be back to his best Munich form. Also, the guy is definitelly a better professional and has much more personality than Anelka – just remember the penalty shoot outs at the Community Shield and UEFA Champions League: both Pizzarro and Anelka missed their chances, but Pizzarro took full responsibility to be the first shooter, whereas Anelka…well, we all know what happened.
I think adams ratings are dead on except for cech’s low rating(he is an awsome keeper and starts for czech,he also is one of the top ten goalie’s). Jose did make a bad comment and deserves to be punished for saying that. Ballack just one the Euro Cup and scored numerous goals. His comment about drogba is half-correct. Drogba is good and a big icon for the blues, but after his champs leag finals performance I wouldn’t care if he left or not.