Quite a few things to catch up. Ballack’s brightest moment yet this year, Drogba’s new bumper contract, Bridge remains a blue until 2012, Ronaldinho to Milan, Robinho to nowhere etc. Also something on the new away kit and the new look official website!

Ronaldinho has signed for AC Milan. That’s sad. I thought there would be a last minute coup by Roman to snatch him. Ronaldinho’s arrival to Chelsea would have helped the team and club in various ways. Ronnie is such a big icon in the game that his association would help Chelsea in their objective of club presence and fan base. I’m still curious how Milan would change their 4-3-1-2 and 4-3-2-1 system to suit Dinho. Where will Ronnie play when they also have indispensable world class players like Kaka, Pirlo and Seedorf? Should be interesting. A news tip to Lampard. Milan has given 28-year old Ronaldinho a three year contract!

In our news, Wayne Bridge has signed a new four year contract that would keep him here until 2012. I can’t tell you how happy I am at knowing this. I like Wayne Bridge a lot. He is a very good left back with some surprising pace. In a flat 4-4-2, a left back like Wayne Bridge can be a brilliant proposition. When there were rumours about him joining Liverpool last January, I thought we were making a big mistake by letting him go. Well done PK and co for tying him down. Something tells me that Bridge would have an impact like Evra had for Man Utd last season.

There is still some rumour about Robinho. God, it’s even more tiring than the Ronaldo tug of war. Robinho knows that he would be redundant if Ronaldo joins Real Madrid. He feels so insulted he needs to wait for another transfer to know his fate. His sudden interest in Chelsea looks very opportunistic. I’d like to know if Ronaldo does not join Madrid, would Robinho still be interested in joining Chelsea? From out side, I don’t think we are desparate for Robinho. We can play without him. It’s not that he is exactly what we have been missing. As I said before, if we are landing him, we need to play 4-3-3 or 4-4-1-1. In 4-3-3, we need to bench one of the world class midfielders (hoping Lampard would stay) and in 4-4-1-1, Joe Cole would find it hard to make it to the playing eleven.

Some news on Drogba. Positive or negative depending on from which side of the fence you’re sitting. For me, it is positive. Scolari is rumoured to have offered a 130,000 pound contract which is almost double of what he has been earning now. Drogba has been unnecessarily outspoken in the past. May be, he just hated the fact that JM was sacked and AG, of all people, was appointed as his successor. That’s no excuse for his mostly misinterpreted behaviour but I think that would at least explain it. I’m happy that he has sorted out his issues with the club.

I think Drogba still has many years in him. I could see Deco and Drogba forming a cunning partnership that can be a headache for the defences. Deco’s style would suit Sheva too provided he stays with us. Last season he was quite good but for the injuries and AG’s mysterious treatment of him. I think Sheva should stay with us and most probably he would because he rates Scolari. One thing that Scolari has brought in for now, is faith and trust in the players and some amount of stability in the camp. Remember this term ‘mass exodus’ that we were once talking about?

Now, two crucial questions to you guys? (1) Do you want Drogba to stay? (2) Do you want Robinho? Let me know.

As at the time of writing this blog, Lampard is still a Chelsea player. I saw some very untimely support from Scolari that he would facilitate a peaceful move for Lampard to Inter. I read it in the Sun so I just gave it a pass. The Chelsea midfield play would be a treat to watch if Lampard chooses to stay. To see Essien, Ballack, Deco and Lampard on the same pitch playing together would be something. Each of these players are unique in their ability and style. A manager like Scolari should relish the possibility of playing all these stalwarts together.

Finally a joyous moment for Michael Ballack. After a season of disappointments and lost finals, Ballack chose start the next season with a, may I say, ‘bang’. He married Simone Lambe in front some very illustrious guests and their three children. Such a beautiful woman she is, I thought Mrs.Ballack can be the first woman to feature in this blog.

The new look official Chelsea website looks nice. After trying something on their own, the webmasters at ChelseaFC have chosen to simply ape the style of other football club websites. Now the newspaper style layout looks rather well. There is this opinion poll on the home page there, which asks us if we want to see Chelsea win the premier league or the champions league. While I would really choose ‘both’, that was not an option there. I chose ‘premier league’, and to my surprise the results were heavily in favour of champions league. Something like 63-37. I always believe that premier league is the real deal. I won’t brush aside the champions league because of the luck factor or because we didn’t it. It’s great to win the champions league but it’s certainly not bigger than the premier league. May be because we have won the premier league twice in the last four seasons, lot of us have set sights on champions league. Remember, these things convey something to the Board, coach and even Roman of what the fans want.

Do you know that the away kit has been released? Let me tell you, it looks awesome, absolutely awesome. It’s a shame that it was not released when I was in London. But now, no force can stop me from buying this lovely black away kit. I’d have loved to see those dark grey vertical lines on the jersey but anyway black jerseys always look good. It was a smart move to leave this jersey with a subdued collar unlike the home jersey. Petr Cech must be a relieved man that he does not have to wear that eye-blinding flourescent orange jersey.

I think Ballack is the best Chelsea model for kits and the like. He has this personality and looks that it’s natural that he is the flag ship in these advertisements. Will be interesting to know from the club which player’s jersey sells the most. The away kit advertisement on the official website features Frank Lampard so we can’t weave our interpretations and deductions for not seeing Lampard in there.

When will I wake up to the news that Lampard has signed a new contract with Chelsea FC? Hope it’s tomorrow. That’s what I think everyday.