Just returned from the UK this morning. Really sorry that I couldn’t blog while I was there at London. Staying just about 20 mins from Stamford Bridge, I did quite a lot of things, in footballistic terms – the Stamford Bridge stadium tour, Chelsea megastore, my pictures and videos etc. But okay, that’s for another post on my experiences at the Stamford Bridge. Now let me quickly catch up with the footie stuff last fortnight.

Spain won the Euro 2008. Fair play to them. They were the better team and thoroughly deserved the trophy. As I had commented earlier, Germany lacked some real stars apart from Ballack and Schweinsteiger. May be it’s time that these German internationals had plied their trade in some ‘major’ leagues in some really big teams. Hats off to Xavi and Iniesta. They were simply magnificent in every single match. They made the difference. And yes, as you know, a certain Fernando Torres does not need more than one chance to score.

So Ronaldo stays on? What a shame! I thought Man Utd would be poorer this season without him but anyway I don’t expect him to score 50 goals and assist another 50 this season. It’s a win-win for the Man Utd rivals. That’s why you find poor old Arsene Whinger talking about Ronaldo saga adding his bit. May be that’s his one way of making Arsenal fractionally stronger – by the weakening of other rivals.

One of the funny developments is that Ivanovic could be on his way out without even making a single appearance for Chelsea. Not sure how many of you knew this – Crespo’s contract with Chelsea has expired and he has been released. News is that Crespo wants to sign a new contract with FC Inter as looks forward to play under Jose Mourinho, the manager he admires the most. I’m sure Lampard won’t go the same way. He should stay.

While Deco’s signing is a fantastic news, it’s intriguing why it is just a 2 year deal. He is not a Maldini or a Figo. Deco is just 30. For a creative midfielder, he has another 4-5 years of football in him. He relies of skill and accuracy than pace and strength. Such players have longer shelf life than the rest. With a two year contract, the wasteful transfer ding dong would start as early at the end of year one. I respect Deco a lot. He has been a winner all along. He has a superb football brain and single handedly he can dictate the pace or style of the game. I’m very excited at his arrival but I just hope it should result in Lampard’s exit.

Deco’s signing surely means that we would lose one of our midfielders. We currently have Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Mikel, Makelele and Sidwell. It could well be the last two. Sidwell is already linked closely with Aston Villa and Maka could find a good club in France. Currently the first team squad strength is 27 and the Club has confirmed its intentions of bringing this number to 25, being 22 outfield players plus 3 goalkeepers. With Deco’s signing, we are now 28 which means we expect to see three go out. If we are signing one more, the outgoing number would be four and so on.

And finally, on the first day of this month, we celebrated the fifth anniversary of Roman’s era. The ‘Blue Revolution’ would not have happened without Roman. To the disappointment of our rival fans, Roman is not just another billionaire who treats the football world as their biggest casino. He certainly loves football and has a passion for the game and for his club. His relationship with Chelsea fans has not always been smooth but no one really despises him like the Man Utd fans did to Glazers, Liverpool fans do to Hicks or the Arsenal fans do to Kroenke or Usmanov. There are still many many Chelsea fans who believe that we should have got an owner with lesser wealth. But fans generally like him. He is hardly available for interviews and interactions but through his actions he has been communicating with the Chelsea fans quite clearly – the investment on players, in bringing the special one, in investing in the training facilities, in sacking his buddy Grant – his communication is quite strong and clear. I just hope that the relationship between Chelsea FC and Roman continues as long as possible.

Some time in the next couple of weeks, I’d publish my travelogue on Stamford Bridge visit with pictures and videos, my impressions on the Blue Revolution DVD, and my general impressions on the London city. Stay tuned.