Goodbye Shevchenko | When is Robinho joining?

As we get to the final week of this transfer window, Scolari is busy finalising the Chelsea squad for this season. One thing about Scolari is that he has really made this Chelsea squad more lean and importantly, mean. He did the right thing in trimming the fat by letting go Pizarro, Ben Haim, Shevchenko, Sidwell, Makelele and Boulahrouz. He is still reportedly trying to offload SWP, which is a very good thing. I think he will get Robinho. If we get rid of SWP and buy Robinho, I think we are almost complete. Lack of options in Drogba’s absence is worrying but it is fair on Scolari’ part to expect a striker of Anelka’s stature to fill in for Drogba.

I see rumours that SWP is wanted by Man City for 10m. I think we should not waste time. He should have gone yesterday. I would even take anything over 5m. For all my love for the guy, my math tells me 5m is better than nothing. We don’t get anything from SWP. He is not in the first team. He is not an active and reliable back up for anyone. He is one player who has stayed fit in all the last three seasons but has played so little. That speaks volumes about how much we need him. He is a great professional though. He is very good boy, well behaved and level headed. I guess it’s impossible to hate SWP as a person but if you look at him as a player, we should take that tough decision.

I think we’ll wait on SWP until the Robinho deal is done. ‘Robinho the slave’ has been given the go-ahead by Real Madrid, only he can feel the steel of the gun on his back. Calderon is keen to sound like the finest gentleman but he is gonna get the best out of the deal, if Robinho is to leave. In the match against Valencia on Sunday, Robinho played and he was heavily booed by the Madrid fans. There are more and more things happening at Madrid that keep distancing Robinho from Madrid.

We’ve got to a stage where Robinho’s move to Chelsea is kind of confirmed but for the price negotiations. As we’ve seen since last season, we are not overpaying for anyone any more. We have a solid base, great squad that we can build on and we are only fine-tuning and filling in the gaps. We don’t have to over pay for anyone. In Robinho’s case though, Scolari is very particular so I won’t be surprised if the price is on the higher side.

Shevchenko is gone. I feel sad. I always loved him and I sincerely thought that he could be a success at Chelsea. It was not at all Chelsea’s fault or Jose’s fault or Grant’s fault that he did not shine here. Shevchenko should blame himself and his misfortune for not living up to the expectations. He did not have his heart here in Chelsea. He was not passionate enough. He did not have the winning mentality and killer instinct. He can blame only himself for that. He was also unfortunate with his injuries.

Fans like me have always been supporting him. All that he could say to the Chelsea fans was just an one-liner that he thanks us. I did expect more from him. May be he is now too excited and relieved that he has re-united with Milan. I’m not wishing him good luck, I just hope Milan goes down and out, so that Jose can continue his success in Italy. Sorry Chelsea/Milan fans, I belong to the Chelsea/Inter fans category.

Anyway, is it just me or Serie A is really picking up some interest? I started following Serie A ‘keenly’ since JM joined Inter. At that time JM said that Serie A will compete with premier league in popularity stakes. I didn’t quite believe him. Ronaldinho moved to Serie A. Kaka stays there, at least for this season. Shevchenko is back there. JM roughed up some feathers and created some noticeable noise.

I stayed up to watch Inter vs Roma super cup while the Madrid vs Valencia was also live at around the same time. To my surprise, Inter vs Roma was a great match. It had all the ingredients of a premier league match. The action was fast paced but also had the technique known with the Italian league. One thing’s for sure. In champions league, it won’t be like last season. The Italian teams could pose a much bigger threat this time, with Inter, Roma and possibly Juve and Fiorentina. By the way, JM has left the penalties jinx with Chelsea. He just won the Italian super cup on penalties after outplaying a fantastic Roma.

That’s it. Short post today. Gotta go!