Hey Chelsitos! Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year. May you all be blessed with peace, harmony, tranquility and joy. Take care of your families. Do well at work place. Pay your taxes. Be nice to your neighbours. Drink less. Smoke less. Be good, responsible citizens. Do all those good things that you wanted but didn’t do last year. Don’t repeat all those mistakes and sins you committed last year. Most importantly, please realise that there are some things in life that are more important than football. Okay, now that I got my new year speech out of my way, let’s talk about football ahead of the new year 2009.
Today being the new year day, I’ve decided that I’m going to talk about positives only. Do I want to talk about the year 2008? May be yes. Year 2008 was one of the most remarkable years for Chelsea, just pipping the year 2007 in terms of sheer drama and excitement. We had a rollercoaster ride to our first champions league final ever. That was a memorable night at Moscow. Though it was a very painful one, a champions league final is something to be proud about. And then, the premier league. Chelsea stormed into the title race with a late blitzkreig forcing Man Utd to wait until the last hour of the premier league to be crowned champions.
Though we had lost both these titles so closely, there was one thing about Chelsea that stood out – the spirit. As it stands now, we are in second place in the premier league. We’re drawn against Juventus in champions league. We are in the hunt. Our ride so far might have been a bit bumpy but no one would rules us out from winning the premier league or champsions league. Chelsea proved in 2008, why they are very dangerous and why Sir Alex always considers Chelsea to be their main threat irrespective what happens at Stamford Bridge.
There may or may not be a signing in this January. But we have made a very important signing in the summer which should see us through. No, I’m not talking about Deco (didn’t I say I’ll talk about positives only?). It is Scolari I refer to. Incidentally, I was today checking the comments posted in this blog on the day Scolari was appointed. We had/have so much faith and trust on this man. Whether he gets his winter budget or not, I’m fairly convinced that he has a fantastic squad full of top professionals and full internationals. With Essien returning and Drogba getting back to his fitness and form, we’ll be once again a fearful force in England and in Europe. Against FuIham, I think we have seen a glimpse of the old Chelsea. I hope that we’re back.
Press is having a field day with the rumours about Roman considering to sell Chelsea. Even worse, that he has a decision to make between his yacht and Chelsea FC. My take is this. As far as I have tracked the global financial crisis, I don’t think Roman would have lost as much as is being quoted by the press. Everyone was hit, he was also hit. When oil prices fell, some journalists spread rumours that Roman lost his billions without knowing that Roman had long liquidated his positions in oil related business. Journalists love to exaggerate. For each and every billionaire, there has been an erosion of wealth in the last quarter of 2008. Roman is no exception. But even if you go by the unsubstantiated press reports, his remaining wealth is about 2300 millions. Not bad eh?
As far as Roman’s concerned, Chelsea FC is a project. He has invested the money, he has spent his valuable time, he has waited so long and he should start seeing the financial benefits from 2010. Given the current economic scenario, football clubs are a better investment option than the ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ hedge funds. The notion that Roman has to choose between the yacht and Chelsea FC is absolutely ridiculous. Chelsea FC is a revenue generating business proposition. His yacht is a symbol of luxury. And it’s not that he has only one yacht okay? He owns several yachts in addition to his airplanes and private jets. To think of selling Chelsea FC at this point of time is downright imprudent. I’d advise you to ignore these rumours and get on with the game.
The transfer window opens. The black suits at Chelsea FC have already said that there won’t be any new signings. I assume that Scolari can sell players and buy from the proceeds. I have a feeling that there would be some Chelsea activity this January without any net cash outflow. Signing or no signing, we’ll be back. We have too much quality and too many match winners not to bring back the fear factor in our opponents. For now, in Scolari I trust. May this year be a trophy-filled one.
Future’s bright! Future’s blue!
46 Responses - Add your comment!
Yo chelsea fans! wish you a great 2009. this is the year we will lift the champions league trophy. we will creat history in 2009.
Hey Guys, heres wishing you all a fantastic new year ahead, filled with joy and happiness and Chelsea FC with lots of trophies!! Hahaha, have a good year ahead folks, and BC, nice job with the theme..looks very classy and stylish [much like what our team play will be like in 2009 eh ?
]
HAppy New year mates, and yeah we hope it turns out to be the year we are looking for. The theme is good.
Happy New Year to all you guys in Europe.. still more than 6 hours to go here in sunny Los Angeles.
Love the positive attitude BC, it is what I’ve been trying to maintain as well. Scolari is going to field the strongest starting XI in their FA Cup match vs. their League One opponent, even though I’d like the younger players to get their chance, this is good because Scolari has his mind on trophies… and the FA Cup is another trophy we should win. Nice theme also BC!
Happy new year guys and HAPPY NEW YEAR to Mr ROMAN…please ensure Mr Roman gets my message and please he should sanction some money for January Transfer.We need to strenghten that Chelsea Team for the champions league.Have a lovely new year guys…..cheers
BC – This new website looks good .. thanks for your efforts. Just my thought, if you can move the Name and Mail labels to right side of text box
Folks – Another news on Drogba ..
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1711/chelsea/2009/01/01/1035622/chelsea-slap-didier-drogba-with-100k-fine
BC if you must change the theme at least make it Dark blue and not sky blue
happy new year to all. great new theme. love the flash of blue . . for once there is blue in bluechampions lol. keep up the goodwork.
Hi Denver – The blue in the header is closer to Chelsea blue. It is no way sky blue. Time to check your monitor display!
I want a 3:0 victory at old trafford as a gift from my players.
Happy new year.2009>A BLUE YEAR
CFCIR – As a noble new year resolution, you should stop capitalising all your comments. Your comments are so readable when they are not in caps. Only now you seem to be talking. We have heard you shout too often
3-0 to Chelsea at Old Trafford? Don’t you think you’re being a little too optimistic. But if it happens, I’ll go crazy. I think that would be another draw. Probably a 1-1 with more chances to Man Utd than Chelsea. Hopefully, Drogba would unleash himself in that match. Ballack should start against Man Utd. Deco should be in the bench.
BC: Man!You soooo great.I really love this new look making things so new and so real.Hope our team gets new and real.
Shout out s to all of ya love ya alll.
Hahaha…3-0 at Old Trafford, that ought to make Carrick and Rooney and Fergie shut up about them being in competition nall and actually play the game…Yea, that is a bit too optimistic but hey if it happens, that’d be the New Year gift Chelsea FC deserves [and a news to Man U that 2009 wont be as sunny and bright for them as 2008 was =) ].
chelsea has the ability to cause manU problems, especially with many of their defense struggling with injuries and form.
I don’t care how we win at Old Trafford we just need to do it, by any means. It’s a must win game for us. 3 points, nothing less. We’re really going to find out what we’re made of in this match.
A winger for a full back ?
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1711/chelsea/2009/01/01/1035894/chelsea-to-swap-malouda-for-romas-cicinho
Malouda for Cicinho? Why do we need a right back now? Because he is Brazilian?! We have Bosingwa, Belletti, Ivanovic (can play as RB) and Ferreira (can play as RB) and at a worst case scenario, we would have Essien too! Why Cicinho?
The second transfer gossip is about Wayne Bridge . 12 MM pounds to Man City. It is good money and good for Wayne also .
Ivanovic can also play as left back ,so it becomes optimal for chelsea also ..
What the Hell ?? We have a proper defence, a very well balanced RB position ( Bosingwa, Belletti and P. Ferreira says it all doesnt it ?) ! Then why are we so adamant on getting a player just because hes Brazilian !? I dont believe this rumour, Goal.com always likes to guess…Hell they even think Arsene Wenger will go to Madrid and Cesc Fabregas will follow (knowing that he was a Barcelona man, this rumour is hilarious =D)
If we have to get any brazilian at all, let it be Wagner Love, atleast he’ll bolster up our strike force, instead of add numbers to our already strong defence/midfield.
Guys – Your thoughts on David Silva .. Is he a good player to replace Malouda. He is not a winger, but a midfielder who can play on both sides. Since 4-1-4-1 is his fav formation, I feel he can fit him as the width is mainly provided by full backs.
May be costly and just coming out of an injury..
David Silva would be perfect actually..would solve our LWM problem…hes a bit too expensive as of now although he fits into my FIFA 09 tactics well ! LOL [although i had to pay alot of cash + 10% of salary per goal ] …Although he isnt Absolutely required..i think he will fit well
David Silva is a good player. Many would say he is better than Malouda. But you know grass is always greener on the other side. In 82 games for Valencia, he has scored 14 goals and 12 assists which I won’t call fantastic. In the last two seasons, Malouda got 17 goals and 9 assists in 79 starts. In fact this season Malouda got 4 goals and 5 assists in 19 starts! Salomon Kalou has 20 goals and 20 assists in 63 starts.
David Silva is a good player but we would never be able to judge him fully unless we watch him week in week out. All that most of us get to see is the highlights, some key matches and the like. The same bunch who would be rooting for David Silva or whoever to replace Malouda, will start ridiculing the new player too, after some time. Malouda is a good player. Scolari should get the best out of him.
Happy New Year to everyone, may this year bring all us chelsea heads a lot to cheer about. Hopefully we will see some silverware at the end of the season, alongside beating Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd and showing everyone what chelsea is all about. Hopefully we will see 2/3 good players come in, 2 wingers and a striker would be awesome, alongside our youngsters (Kakuta, Sinclair, Manciene, Woods, Stoch, Di Santo) given a chance to display their talent. Let this year be the year when chelsea thrives on all the tough competion, beats Juve and goes on to meet Barcelona in the finals and displays the same ruthless style of play that made players like Ronaldinho and Xavi admire our spirit and attacking power. Hopefully this will be chelsea’s year to come out and make a bold statement and shut all the critics up once and for all. God Bless all. Chelsea4Lyf!!
Cicinho!Ridiculous sounds too strange.Why him?Does Scolari not see that there is Ivanovic,Belleti and Bosingwa who is in the Premiership X1 second squad.Oh someone change Scolari’s mind.We do not need a right back.Anyway my thoughts on David SIlva, quiet an outstanding player but I don’t think he would do well in our league considering his statistics but hey no one can tell the future.Guys i have been scouting(what i do when i’m less busy) and came across a slovakian midfielder called Hamsik.Man this guy is excellent a star in progress seriously.Slovakian players have an eye for goal wherever their position is.Considerably i would compare him to my future star Stoch, very selfish for all setpieces and man my favourite part he’s just like a clone of lampard very intelligent on the ball.Wish chelsea can purchase him, what are your views.
Bringing in Cicinho would be a waste, it would rather be good we keep Malouda.Why don’t we rather invest in our youth players available.If Scolari knew he needed a right back, why didn’t he then keep Mancienne.Bad choice i think Scolari is not thinking about Chelsea’s future.It’s hard time Chelsea involve its starlets.
Rumours:Mancienne to West Ham on loan(Zola badly needs the lad whilst Chelsea are delaying in developing the young star)
Sahar’s loan to Utrecht cancelled because chelsea failed to come into an agreement which was a good chance for him to progress right.
Sinclair to be loaned to Birmingham(way tooo bad for him, we should keep him.A real star in progress Scolari fix him into the squad,we need his pace)
Bertrand wanted by Tigers for 2mm pounds(would be a bad move if Scolari allows this lad to go.If Bridge goes i wish he would be second to Ashley Cole.Our greatest left back in our youth system).
Guys this all shows that our youth are really good.But they need development from their parent club.Jonny Evans even starts whiles Rio is benched, Rafael in place of Neville.Scolari time to use your resources instead of 27+ Cincho.
1-2 our Chelsea boys on top against a seemingly lackluster United team that is struggling to score goals as are we. This is the match the boys have been waiting on and we can do it by all means. Rafael has been shown to be exposed in certain ways by Downing and I’m sure that our wing-backs have enough class to do the same if the young Brasilian gets the start against us. We do have to be aware of Ronaldo though as the goal machine looks as if has slowed down a bit, but that is just all the more reason to keep an extra set of eyes on him. We should do fine as we are not playing bad football at all, it is just the end product that needs to be rectified and hopefully we see a Drogba/ Anelka partnership in the game! It is wishful thinking though as I think Scolari just might choose to pack the midfield again with five men, which to me is suicide being that we’d be inviting all the pressure.
And as far as transfers are concerned, I really don’t want to see Wayne Bridge depart to Manchester City as he is quality and most importantly reliable, but if it is true the Manchester City are going to offer us 12 million pounds for his services then we should jump at that right away. Although we don’t have another “natural” left-back to replace A. Cole, Ivanovic is more than adept at playing either wing-back position, which in turn would sort of free up some of the CB competition so that Alex (if need be) can receive more playing time and we can also integrate some of the young talent we may have waiting in the wings. And to add to that, we should only buy a player that is suitable to the creativity cause and by all means, CAN WE PLEASE FOR HEAVENS SAKE SCRAP THIS CICINHO BUSINESS!
Happy New Years Chelsea fans! We aren’t going anywhere!
David silva is a good player but he is not good enough for EPL .In La Liga he is always injured.I prefer see Vagner love at chelsea.
I wish rumors about Hatam Ben Arfa was right.He is very talented.Just look at his games in CL in champions league vs Liverpool.
Hatim Ben Arfa is good young player. he has good speed, dribbling skills . If he comes in I wonder if it will impact our other youngsters – Scott Sincliar and Stoch
Wagner Love – I would prefer a loan with an option to buy . After Jo & paluyicencho ( pls my spelling), bit cautious ..
The cicinho stuff has appeared in other news papers also and scolari wants to use him as winger..
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2009/01/01/chelsea-lining-up-swap-deal-for-roma-star-cicinho-115875-21008210/
Did I read , we have to pay 5 MM plus Malouda . Never seen Roma play, so don’t know if he is that good.. Hey even Bayern is targetting Malouda and they have good players which can be swapped – Ribery, Bastian and Podoloski ..
Luis Fabiano is the other striker that scolari is looking to add for ? why ? instead of spending 20 MM , should be go for Zaki or even pay more and go for tevez
Folks .. Your thoughts ??
Tevez will never happen!
Zaki is entirely overrated!
Paying 5 MM plus Malouda for Cicinho is a rip off!
Ribery is priced at 50 MM and is more likely a summer acquisition if anything (hopefully)!
Quoting cfc
I say malouda is a gd player and if we HAVE to swap him i would swap him with sheweinsteiger at bayern munich, not another right back (cicinho).
Tevez is worth 34million pounds so i say we should go for 10 million zaki, i am egyptian and i love the way he plays, he can hold the ball up amazingly and he has a good right foot and finish.
Worst case, if we need a winger we should use scott sinclair ive always wanted to see him play, he is young and he is a great talent – shame we are wasting it…
UP blues! and a happy new year to everyone on this site!
what is positivity thingy of beating man utd 3-0 at old trafford. this is a far stretch as our problems are still with us and the game may have come too early. anyway, any win against manure will surely make me go crazy. however, we must balance our expectations as we may jolly draw or lose the match. lets get the reactions right in all departments of our game and take it right through the 3 remaining cups. all we need is a performance better than last seasons…….
hopefully with the renew enthusiasm and response LFS mentioned of the players on tuesday, i believe we shall rise to the occasion
wishing you all a happy new year!!
I think you should highlight the “Recent comments” tab by default rather than “Recent entries” in the home page
Quoting BlueChampion
kool man !! good job right thought the year!!
all the best to all chelsea fans around the world
Quoting Splinter_Cell
I agree 100% with your points
http://www.goal.com/en/news/710/manchester-city/2009/01/01/1036430/manchester-city-close-to-completing-wayne-bridge-transfer
bridge to city!!! are you mad!! if we need money Ferreira should be first to go plus Bride can play as a left winger
malouda for Cicinho cazy … are we stock piling RBs now Menez would be a better swap!!
I need to see Stoch, Sinclair in the FA cup match !!
I like Hamsik aswell
I would be gutted to see Bridge leave, why not sell Ferreira
why is scolari trying to turn us into the damn Brazilian national team!!! our team is already good, let me stop I done want to start ranting so early in the year
site looks good
everyone on here knows my choice would be podolski, ben arfa would be a real god send, could make an even bigger name for himself at chelsea although i would prefer someone that can provide height in the box
selling wayne bridge? in doing so, we should buy young talent to back up at the left back spot, bertrand is not redy for the top flight but id like to see someone like insua, drenthe or marcelo here, odds are we would get marcelo I believe, solely because he is brazillian
wayne bridge can contribute to chelsea but if we want to grow, he is one of the players who needs to step aside
whatever happens to him (BRIDGE), wherever he goes, his legacy will live on – THERE WAS ONLY TWO MINUTES TO GO, IT WAS WAYNE BRIDGE’S GOAL THAT SENT US OUT OF CONTROL, AND KNOCKED THE ARSENAL OUT THE EURO!!!
I love the guy!!! he just fits chelsea
He’s the ONLY fecking guy who can cross. why not try him as a winger
guys our corner looks dark
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article2087454.ece
now we are after this guy Yuri-Zhirkov
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1103934/VIDEO-SPECIAL–Yuri-Zhirkov-Hes-got-bags-skill-hes-raved-native-land-Chelsea-getting-January-sales.html?ITO=1490
these guys never stop do they, the play is good though but my god they should have more respect
Yuri Zhirkov
Totally forgot about this man! Perfect way to spend the money we received from Man CityThe guy can tackle and replace an injured A. Cole as well as be used as a creative outlet! Can’t believe I actually forgot about him haha.
Hope this is true… great options this player could potentially give us as well as not being cup tied for Champions League and already can be considered a potential Ballon D’ior candidate at the “perfect” age of 25!!!
And more importantly… THE MAN IS NATURALLY LEFT FOOTED!
Quoting Vinton Lindo
did you watch his videos? I watched that match!! he was great !! i couldn’t believe how he just ran through! and scored!! thats the player we need and attack minded left wide man
precisely… Denver
for all the reasons pointed out in his playing. Let’s hope it’s all true because we sorely need a creative outlet that is different from the type of players we already have. And most importantly is that Joe Cole can keep his right flank, we’d have a talented left winger who is Ballon D’Or material and the man can play any position on the left hand side! Left-back, left wing… in my head… him and Ashley Cole would terrorize teams up and down the pitch, not to mention he has the stamina of 3 men haha. Would be a wonderful purchase and wouldn;t be too expensive… lets hope we do get a hold of him
Quoting Oh My Blue
Point taken sir! There you go! Recent comments in default display! Thanks for the tip.
yea how can we forget abt zhirkov…maybe selling bridge and buying zhirkov can be a gd thing…however given that man city backstab us…shouldn’t we demand more for bridge as he is a gd left back…zhirkov can play as a winger or an attacking midfielder and even a left back…so he will be a gd buy…maybe we need to get a striker too…no need many buys for the summer
12million for a 28year old leftback is quite steep, especially one who isnt 1st choice international. Bridge is a gun though and will florish at ManCity.
Yuri Zhirkov is a perfect fit though, the problem is i always thought he would have been priced out of a move because he was too good for zenit to sell. He can play as an auxillary wing back, think of bosingwa but down the left, the defense isnt so good but fast and creative. he would do excellent in the left.
Zhirkov is a great winger. That said if we buy a winger like zhirkov it might be hard to play many of our players
as it stand in a 442 with bosingwa providing the width down the right we would have ballack/deco/mikel/essien/lampard/joe cole all vying for the central roles.
It might be interesting to see how scolari would field such a set up. The best thing scolari would do is get the team used to maybe 2 or 3 formations that can be changed on the fly, his 4141, a 433 and a 4222 would allow many variations depending on the team. With very little in the way of subs to change the formation. Ie in 4141 if mikel/lampard/ballack/deco/j.cole in centre, sub off a CM and chuck in malouda for a 433, then sub off lampard for a 4222 and so forth.
With Bridge on his way out and a lot of rumors of Malouda and Alex leaving, I think we’ll be getting some new faces in. Zhirkov looks like a great investment and seems like he would fit in really well with Chelsea. Another player I’d like to try and sign is Amr Zaki, he’s a big powerful player who is more than capable of handling the rigors of the premier league, and his goal scoring capabilities are already proven in England. He’s cheap and we could use a strong physical player to contribute in our attacking third.
Malouda+Bridge=out
Zhirkov+Ben Arfa=IN
I like ben arfa,he is very talented.Marseile is ready to offload him for 10m.