Chelsea have still not done a great deal in the transfer market. Ancelotti has said that he doesn’t need to bolster his attack to retain the title. While it is worrying on face value, this could just be mind games behind the negotiations. Definitely, Carlo doesn’t sound like someone who’s desperate to buy. Honestly, we do have to bolster our attack to retain the title. Our attack is highly reliant on Didier Drogba. Even Man Utd is relying heavily on Rooney. The difference is Rooney is about 7 years younger than Drogba and these details determine the proneness to injury and recovery time. It’s high time we’d got an understudy who is also a fairly established player.

Jeffrey Bruma is on a year long loan to Wolfsburg. I see mixed reactions for this move. Some of us thought that Bruma would get into the Chelsea first team this season. This move also indicates that Carvalho could be staying after all, which is a good thing too. If Carvalho is going to stay here this season, Bruma’s loan to Wolfsburg could end up being a very good move for Chelsea. Wolfsburg are a good team (were champions a season back) and are now managed by Steve McLaren. I’m certain that Bruma would return to Chelsea as a much more matured defender. It is in places like Germany and Italy where you can learn your trade and sharpen your skills as a good defender.

In other news, Joe Cole joins Liverpool. I’m confident that Chelsea did the right thing by letting him go. Also, I’m happy that he didn’t join our ‘rivals’ just in case it turns out to be otherwise. Liverpool have got weaker by replacing Benayoun with Joe Cole. I have no animosity towards Joe Cole ‘the Liverpool slayer’ for joining Liverpool. It’s his career and his choice. Hope it works out well for him and not for Liverpool as such.

The Capello Index is back! I must say that this index is pretty interesting. There are a few indices and models that rate players but I think this one seems to be an improvement over the other existing models. At least it gives me such an impression. The website is not complete yet so the minute details behind each score could not be seen. The legal battle would be on between Capello/FA and the Capello Index website. The website could be removed from the web but I hope this comes with a legal-friendly version with probably no direct reference to Capello. Anyway, check it out while it lasts.

Finally, we’ve started seeing premier league clubs banning vuvuzelas in their stadiums. Some have made it clear but some are still undecided. There is still no news from Stamford Bridge yet. Personally, in Stamford Bridge, I wouldn’t want vuvuzelas. In South Africa, it would have been unfair and even foolish to have banned it there because it’s part of their football culture.. In England, it’s not. It is the chants and songs that are part of the football culture in England. I would hate if the sound of vuvuzelas drown our chants of ‘can we play you every week’ when Arsenal plays . . .

Catch you later!

I also feel sorry for Howard Webb. He is a good referee but on this occasion he got quite a few crucial things wrong. Netherlands should have had de Jong sent off and Spain should have had Iniesta and Puyol sent off. With just 3 minutes to go for the shootout, he got a big decision wrong at that crucial time. The free kick from Sneijder in the 116th minute should have resulted in a corner for Netherlands but he awarded a goal kick for Spain and that attacked ended the Dutch hopes. Looks like a very minor detail but at the 116th minute of a world cup, for a 10-man team, every bit of possession would have helped. Anyway, this is not meant to suggest Spain didn’t deserve or anything. It’s just that Netherlands deserved to be champions as much as Spain did.

Andres Iniesta was always on my ‘great footballer but a despicable character’ list. It’s just that he improved his ranking yesterday. I thought Robin van Persie was the most useless player on the pitch yesterday. He looked like he didn’t want to be there. His useless presence meant Netherlands were always a man down against Spain, which is not an easy proposition. I won’t blame him though. In his kind of form, he’s never going to get anything against Pique and Puyol. RvP shouldn’t have played or he should have been subbed very early.

Thomas Muller wins the golden boot of this world cup, thanks to his three assists which were the tie breaker. I’m happy for Muller to win it than the incredibly lucky David Villa. He is made out to be like the striker of the tournament or something. He’s been poor but lucky while Torres was poor and unlucky. If Villa had won the golden boot, it would have rivalled Anelka’s golden boot in the premier league. Diego Forlan wins the golden ball for being the player of the tournament. That’s a great choice, I must say. He’s not only brilliant and consistent, he’s been pulling his team along and made them punch above their weights. Truly deserved the prize. I wouldn’t have complained if Schweinsteiger got it.

The most important thing is: the world cup is over. And that means: the glorious world of club football is back!

The transfer mania would set in now. So many top players have been linked with Chelsea but you and I know that we’d buy none of them. There were some strong rumours about a Chelsea bid for Fernando Torres, who wants to play in the champions league, which is not possible with Liverpool this season and hopefully a few more seasons. I like Torres. I’d love to see him in a Chelsea shirt. Yes, he’s had a poor world cup but which Chelsea had a great world cup? The fact that he has had a poor world cup can work to our advantage as his price should be most certainly lower now. See, Torres is a top class striker and if he plays for Chelsea, he’d get great supply from everywhere and he should love playing with a selfless striker like Drogba. All this is fine, if he comes at a decent price. I happened to see a piece of news (or junk) about Liverpool slapping a £100m price tag on Liverpool. That’s beyond a bad joke.

Meanwhile, our eternal target Sergio Aguero is still on the look out for ‘a top club that would help him achieve his ambitions’. Quite expectedly, he made a reference to Chelsea and said this:

To be the strike partner of Didier Drogba is a thing many players would love to be. But it’s not just Drogba – it’s Lampard, Terry, Anelka, Essien, and maybe even Fernando Torres. They have quality players everywhere.

That’s nice – the intent and the slip. Happy that he is still intent on playing for Chelsea. He has been in this ‘come and get me’ mode for a few seasons now. And then the slip – see how he drops the name of Fernando Torres, his ex-colleague and friend at Atletico Madrid. Looks like Aguero knows something and I hope he didn’t get that from the tabloid rumours.

Torres wants to go. That’s bloody clear. But where can he go? He wants to play in the champions league, having played for Liverpool he might want to continue playing for a top club and he does get paid a handsome package. Having raised in / played for Atletico, I don’t see him going to Barcelona or Real Madrid. He may not want to join his Rafa at Inter. Out of the other clubs that can afford him, Man Utd don’t seem quite keen. Juventus? AC Milan? They’ve got Pato. I’d be happy if we end up getting either Torres or Pato. We need to wait and watch.

Ancelotti has kind of clarified that we’re not buying Kaka, though he would love that proposition. Having replaced Joe Cole with Benayoun, we’re still looking to find someone to fill the boots of Ze German. Strangely, not many midfielders get caught into these rumour stories. About three-fourth of the rumours are always about the strikers, forwards and wingers. While we are looking for a very good midfielder, Ancelotti gets some joy as Essien and Mikel return to full training. If Essien gets to start every single match next season (ala Frank Lampard), we could have a fantastic season and would help a lot in defending our title and progressing in Europe.

Happy to be back with proper football where the champion is decided over 38 matches across 10 months. Happy to be talking Chelsea.

The weather condition provides another clear advantage to the top clubs. The top clubs, though not all of them, have some wonderful training facilites which can keep the training on even under these conditions. Cobham apparently, has the indoor training centre and the artificial pitch. If Chelsea had played Hull City yesterday, it’s clear that Chelsea would have been better trained and prepared for the match than Hull City. John Terry thanks Roman Abramovich for such fantastic facilities.

We had some good sessions indoors and trained at Stamford Bridge on Friday, all the other clubs are like it so we’re no worse off than anyone else, and fortunate to be in the position we are, so we have to be grateful for what we have at the moment. The main concern was the fans getting to the game up at Hull, for us football has come on now and we’re lucky with Roman coming in, we have the indoor centre and the artificial pitch at Cobham, and the groundsmen have had the pitches cleared up at the Bridge.

The re-scheduling of the match was such a disappointment because I was waiting to see the second choice players in action. The wait is a bit annoying for them as they must be waiting for this match. At least they get the benefit of playing in front of the home crowd when they take the field next weekend against Sunderland. That would also mean Anelka is completely fit. I was not sure if he was fully fit if we had played yesterday. It felt to me like he was being rushed in because we badly need one or both of Drogba and Anelka in any starting line up.

With ‘talismen’ like Essien and Drogba not in the line up, this is also a time for Joe Cole to restore some lost pride. Consistency has always been his downer all through his career. He can make magic one day and the most other days have you wondering what does he bring to the team. He is a darling of the fans because he’s English, he’s our ‘skill player’ and he’s part of our great moments. I like him for the exact same reasons. If I keep my sentiments aside, I have to see the value for money/time that we get from Joe Cole is dwindling by the day. He needs to resurrect his career, right here at Chelsea. He’s back from a long injury allright. For starters, if Joe Cole make an return impact like Tomas Rosicky, the king of all football injuries, I’d be happy. Ancelotti says all the right things about Joe Cole. Carlo says that Joe Cole could do better and also reminds him that Capello would be watching Joe Cole’s Chelsea performances.

For Joe Cole it is the same situation [as that of Anelka], he wants to stay and we want to keep him. We are talking with him but I can say only about the technical question. The economic factor is a question for the club. We have confidence in Joe and he is an important player for the squad and for the fans. The fans like him so I think he will want to stay here. For him it is an important moment because he came back from injury and to play well for Chelsea is important, and the World Cup is important. He has a good mental attitude and is in good condition. To play in the World Cup is good motivation. [Fabio] Capello will look at his performances for Chelsea and he has a lot of possibility to play in the World Cup. He could do better. I stayed out one year with an injury and it is not easy to return. You need to have time to play, to improve. It is not easy to return and do your best immediately. I think he is very close, he played very well the last match against Watford and I think also he found it difficult to play in a new position but now he plays well.

I hope that the confusion around Malouda’s ‘ill-translated’ interview has now been cleared. I have always believed that Malouda cannot be a trouble maker, for his team, his manager and the club. He has been a very good professional. The caveat comes now: he is a French player. Almost all French players get involved with mis-quoted and ill-translated interviews. They seem to love creating the ripples across the football world. There are a few exceptions though. And I always thought Malouda is one such exception. He’s now cleared the air in such emphatic way that you’re never going to publish another transfer rumour involving Florent Malouda.

Nothing that you could read today came out of my mouth. I was really shocked and surprised when I came and we had a meeting at quarter-to-12 when I discovered my words. My reaction was to go and talk with the manager and talk with Lamps [Frank Lampard] and the meeting was clear. I did an interview in France and I said I am here in Chelsea to try to do a career like Ryan Giggs and like Javier Zanetti at Inter Milan, which is why I am looking for the future. I have too much respect for the fans to speak in those terms and for me it is clear, the story finished.

Lovely! Please read Malouda’s full response in the club website.

Meanwhile, both Man Utd and Arsenal have drawn their matches yesterday from the jaws of defeat. We’re still leading the table despite having a match on hand. How much I love to be in the ‘match-on-hand’ situation! Man Utd simply don’t worry me at the moment. They’ve lost that bit of fear factor. Nicking a point or three from Man Utd is not such a feat for premier league teams this season. Arsenal downward spiral normally starts in February/March. It looks like it would start this month itself. Starting from the last week of January, Arsenal are playing four crunch matches in succession – Aston Villa, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool. I think we have left the worryzone of December way behind. It’s all very positive now!

Before we go any further, let’s try to understand this better:

1. The ban applies for two transfer windows. It’s not two seasons as some have understood it. So, Chelsea can’t buy in the Jan 2010 and May-Aug 2010. The next purchase can be made only in Jan 2011.
2. We are prohibited from ‘signing new players’. I’d conveniently assume that we are allowed to get players on loan. I’m bloody sure that we are allowed to get players on loan, which should be a welcome relief.
3. Chelsea FC will appeal this decision as strongly as possible. I have a feeling that the intensity of the ban could be reduced after our subsequent appeals.
4. I’d say, this is certainly a lot better than docking of points.

Now, I don’t know what happened in the Kakuta transfer. I don’t know if Chelsea are guilty or not. Irregularities in transfers is something that’s common in football but that’s not an excuse to commit an offence. To give a step-motherly treatment to a certain club and allowing the pioneers to go scot-free is unfair. In Phil McNulty’s words, “If Fifa actually believes Chelsea are the only club guilty of this particular offence in world football, then naivety is being stretched to its furthest point”.

Some rival fans say that we deserved it because we punished Mutu. That’s a childish and silly comment. Mutu made a mistake and he is punished. And if anyone else made the same mistake, they should be treated the same way. That’s what I’m saying here too. If Chelsea is guilty, punish them. Also punish all those big G-14 clubs that pioneered these malpractices and also mastered them. Ah, that brings me to the G-14 discussion. I know this is a FIFA decision but still, do you think such a damning thing would have happened to a G-14 club? How much lobbying would have happened even before the decision was made?

I’m sure Chelsea’s legal department and the battery of lawyers would be working overtime. I’m sure they’ll find a way out. FIFA’s ruling cannot supersede the laws of the European Union. FIFA is just a sports body while European Union is . . well European Union. The ban is in effect an issue of constraint of trade. FIFA can only regulate from a sports point of view, they cannot write a new law or discard a law of the land.

Let’s put this in perspective. I don’t think we’ll be active in the Jan 2010 window anyways. May-Aug 2010 could be a blow. I must say that we’ve got the players to see us through this season. We were done with our transfer activity weeks before the window closed. The current squad is complete and is one which Ancelotti is happy with. If we are not able to buy players in May-Aug 2010, it’s still not a problem. We can get players on loan with an option to buy after 6 months, which would be the Jan 2011 window. Not bad, isn’t? After all, that’s what we did for Anelka. We bought him on loan and quickly converted that into a purchase. Where there’s a law, there’s a loophole. Therefore people, worry not. It will all be fine. The lawyers will have to earn their fees, either on appeal or on finding creative ways to get players on board during the ban. Wouldn’t it be sweet if Kakuta joins the first team after the ban and plays a crucial role in our quadruple this season?

Just when everything seemed to have fallen in place, just when we seemed to settle down, just when we found our rhythm, just when we started to instill fear in the rivals again, this setback is upon us. In a way, this would make the team stronger. The famous siege mentality that TSO brought in, will have to make a reappearance in such times. The Moscow defeat made us stronger. The Ovrebo match made us even stronger. And now, this would strengthen Chelsea rather than weakening it.

So, just chill. We’ll find a way out. If we don’t, Chelsea will hit them hard like a wounded animal. Be afraid, be very afraid!

Drogba talks about his love for Marseille the same way Cannavaro would talk about Napoli. It’s natural that he feels he owes them something. Not sure if he gave this interview or in 2005. Journos know their ways to recycle stories with new headlines. Looks like Scolari has still not made up his mind on Drogba. On the other hand, I think Drogba has made it clear that he wants to be here for now. If he wants to leave, he should be allowed to.

I’m a Drogba fan. I’ve enjoyed his great performances for four seasons. Many think he had one good season when he scored 30+ goals. That’s not true. He has been having good seasons since he joined Chelsea. He did not score 30+ goals in his first two seasons but his contribution to the team was outstanding. Certainly a type of player I would have in my team. But if he himself wants to leave, there is no point in trying to hold him. Since JM left, he has not been the same. And I don’t think Scolari and Drogba would work well together. He is cup-tied and I think he is very important if Chelsea has to go further in the champions league this season. Rumours emerge that Man City are interested in Drogba.

Sell him? It’s my choice but I think if someone offers a lot of money, the club might accept it. He still trains very hard and could be in my side next week – but I make the decisions. If people offer money for my players, it’s down to the club to accept them.

This is as good as transfer listing Drogba. If he doesn’t leave this month I wonder if Scolari would be able to keep him motivated and get anything from him.

‘Chelsea is chasing Robinho’ screams Goal.com. The way I see it, Robinho is doing very very well at Man City. He is a big crowd favourite at Eastlands. I’m sure their attendance has improved since the Brazilian came in. He may not be in love with Man City but he knows that he needs to keep patience. They have failed to bring Kaka but there’s lot more to happen. By Aug 2009, Man City could have a different and high profile team. Chelsea’s spending days are over. We have started couting cash finally. Given all these circumstances, I wonder if Robinho would join Chelsea. Certainly not this month. It’s possible in the summer if Man City gets relegated!

You could not have missed this outrageous rumour that Chelsea wants to get Robinho by exchanging FOUR Chelsea players! This did come up a couple of weeks back but I thought this could not have been anything but a misquote. But now, this has come up again with Marca reporting that this might happen. The players in exchange are Kalou, Malouda, Anelka and Alex/Ivanovic. Chelsea would be at a loss if we do this. This would further weaken the squad and also sends out wrong signals to all the players. Four Chelsea players (you can call them first teamers) for Robinho is an obscene deal. Wonder who will we have in the bench then? If I were Mark Hughes, I’d love to pounce on this deal. Leaving Robinho won’t do good to their promises of bring world class players but getting Kalou, Malouda, Anelka and Alex/Ivanovic would be a great thing for the Man City team. With these players, they could avoid the drop by March. I wouldn’t be able to say this otherwise, even if they had Robinho.

It makes a lot of sense to move ahead and look beyond Robinho. We missed the bus and now it is possible only if we are ready to get our hands dirtied. It would be another saga and even then there’s no guarantee if it will work out way. I hope we look at other possibilities meanwhile and hope Man City gets relegated

I don’t think Carvalho would be around for too long. We should try to keep Ivanovic and Alex as they seem to be the future of Chelsea defence. Somehow, Ivanovic become every team’s choice except Chelsea. From Milan to Fiorentina to Man City, they all want Ivanovic. Ivanovic is a better defender than Alex but Scolari always plays Alex ahead of Ivanovic. It’s a shame if we lose out on Ivanovic, especially to Man City. If at all, he is moving to Man City, we should do a good deal and make the best out of Man City’s situation. Given the current scenario, the Sheikh might offer £10m for a player like me, and that’s only because I’ve never kicked a ball on a football pitch.

Cudicini may not be leaving after all. It is reported that Scolari jumped in to block the deal ala Berlusconi but the difference is Cudicini might be willing to leave. It’s good that Phil has blocked this move but he should also then play Cudicini a bit more than he does now. At least in domestic cup matches or against those matches that are easier on paper.

Villareal are after Malouda. The money they offer is under £7m. I would not leave Malouda until I have a replacement and certainly not for that money. Malouda is not the crowd favourite at Chelsea but he is not a bad player. He is in fact a good player who could not settle in at his new club. Add to that injuries, bench roles and his form – a potential that never turned into performance. I’d keep Malouda unless the price is too good.

Scolari seems to want Manuel da Costa, the 22-year old Portuguese central defender from Fiorentina. Apparently, Scolari knows him all too well, called him up to the national squad and all that. I think Scolari’s vision of the new Chelsea consists of Terry, Lampard, Essien, Brazilians, Portuguese and some youth players. I’m fine with it as long as it’s all done with some time sense, team balance, staff/fan morale and also an eye on the premier league table.

Okay, you know that Man City are eyeing 28-year old John Terry. Scolari is eyeing 24-year old Robinho. If Mark Hughes makes an exchange offer for swapping these two stars, what do you think Scolari’s stance would be?! Of course, I wouldn’t swap Terry for anyone but what do you think Scolari would do, given such a situation. By the way, you may not rule this out. With Man City, you may not rule anything out, including an offer for Scolari himself.

Wayne Bridge was allowed to leave but we have not yet filled the place. Ashley Cole is certainly not the injury-free type of player. We should have a decent left back as a backup for Ashley Cole. If there is a any truth in this rumour about Cudicini leaving, I’d be sad but I’d also think about replacements. We had Hilario start 16 matches in 06-07 including home and away ties against Barcelona but I doubt if Scolari would play him and get the best out of him. If Scolari decided to leave Cudicini for Spurs, at least he could have commanded a better price! £1m for Cudicini? He is one of the best keepers in the premier league. I would only rate Cech, van der Sar and Reina over Cudicini. He is a first choice keeper in most of the teams. We could have certainly got a better bargain. He is worth £5m to £6m in my books. Should have done better there.

With Joe Cole also injured out for the season, we will be short of three players for the rest of the season. This means we should be getting reinforcements. Or Scolari would fill these gaps from the reserve or youth players at his risk. He has some hidden gems to replace Joe Cole. He can use Fabio Paim and the like. Or he may opt never to play the 4-3-3 for the rest of the season so he won’t miss Joe Cole much.

For those who thought that Scolari would offload Drogba this month, his stance on Drogba is very clear. He says that Drogba not being chosen was a tactical decision. There were some matches when Drogba was chosen ahead of Anelka but there were no stories about Anelka being shown the door. It’s just that anything about Drogba makes some spicy news. Allright, Drogba had a couple of poor matches. Tell me which Chelsea player did not have a couple of poor matches this season so far. Only Frank Lampard comes close but that’s because he is Frank Lampard.

There are rumours that we’re after Valencia and di Maria. I know very little about di Maria. I’ve heard that he is young, quick and dribbles well. I’ve seen Valencia in action. He is a very good player. Is he Chelsea material? Well, he can be. Can he be consistent? Possibly. He is a good option to have in the team. If not anyone else, a player like Valencia who gets to join Chelsea from Wigan, would have all the hunger, desire and determination. And he is worth, hold your breath, £20m says Steve Bruce. With Man Utd, Real Madrid and Chelsea chasing, any player would be worth more than £15m, wouldn’t they?

And for you folks, Roman Abramovich has clearly declared that he has no intention of selling the club. He’s even gone a step further. He is suing Times for publishing a front page news that he is considering the selling of Chelsea. Think about those stories of Roman choosing between his yacht and Chelsea. Rubbish. Rubbish. Rubbish.

Meanwhile, Peter Kenyon has talked about the positives of Man City’s rise. For once, I agree with him completely. In fact this quote from him looks like an excerpt of an article I had written earlier on this topic:

We are delighted not to be the richest club any more and other clubs may spend more without having as much success on the pitch. This would dispel the idea that we have just bought our titles. We have taken sound financial decisions recently regarding trimming costs.

Well, he also said something about best players not being available mid-season. Hope Anelka would not mind it. I mean I’m kidding. I know Peter was talking also from the players-being-cup-tied angle.

That’s it for now. See you later. Oh wait, I can’t finish this without talking about Kaka story right?

Berlusconi once again proves what he’s made of. He is a politician first and anything else later. He managed to take full mileage out of this whole issue at the cost of imperial wrath. At more than £100m, it would have been a wise decision for Milan to sell Kaka and get three of four quality young players. Kaka wants to be in Milan and that’s his choice. As I said earlier, this transfer would have been good for football, on the whole. Poor Man City! Now, who’ll they be after? Messi? Aguerro?

It’s going to be a exciting finish to this transfer window too.

If they have a good deal, no problem for me. I think it’s better you ask Peter [Kenyon], because Peter knows everything that has happened. I don’t know what has happened yesterday, today, and I have a meeting after training with Peter when I will ask about what has happened, if we have a deal or not. If any club wants to buy some players from Chelsea, offer big money because if you play in Chelsea you are very good and we need to receive a big offer. After we will discuss internally and if the player agrees, it is no more my job. I am a coach. Money is not my business, it is a business for the board and owner, not for me.

Though he almost sounds that transfers happen without his knowledge, I think all he is trying to say is that if too good an offer is received, it becomes more of a board decision than a manager’s decision. Interestingly, he does not refer to his role as that of a manager. He calls himself a ‘coach’ which sounds inferior to a ‘manager’. He comes from the continent and he seems to stick those principles and practices. Looks like he has no problem in Wayne Bridge leaving for Man City. That means the cover for Ashley Cole would be Ivanovic or Paulo Ferreira. Or it could be someone who might come in. While I was thinking in those lines, Scolari surprises us with this:

Now is the time for transfers, for speculation, everything. Now is the time, every day in the newspaper 10 players come, 10 players out, we expect [this] and we say something when we receive offers, or we offer for some players to come to Chelsea. Until now, nothing. If I want players, I never say to the press before I say to Peter. Any name in the newspaper is speculation, managers that want to sell players. With my mouth, nothing. I am happy with my players here, I don’t want other players.

Only a few weeks back, he said this:

We lack an organiser who can get hold of the ball, get forward and energise our front line. I just have players who work on the ball. Deco, Ballack and Lampard can all shoot but I don’t have a player who can dribble. There is no point in me weeping or moaning or seeking blame. I have to find a solution – and that is what I will do.

He had openly said that he wanted a ‘dribbling playmaker’. Now with the sale of Wayne Bridge, he’d have about £12m to spend. But today he clearly says that ‘he is happy with his players and he doesn’t want other players’. I’m not sure if he really means it. I think he would sign a player or two from the sale proceeds. Who else is up for sale? Not Paulo Ferreira, because Wayne Bridge is going. Ferreira has played as full back on either sides and even occasionally played as a centre back.

So Scolari retains his countryman. I don’t say this with my tongue-in-cheek. Between Wayne Bridge and Paulo Ferreira, it makes sense to transfer list Wayne because Paulo would never fetch something like £12m. As money is a matter of big concern, Wayne is on his way out. But, it’s also a gamble from Scolari. If, God forbid, Ashley Cole is not available for something like a champions league semi final, would you feel confident about Ferreira taking the field against the one of the best players in the world? As I said, that’s a gamble, unless Scolari has other ideas.

I would love to see Scolari rotate his players. If he’s going to wait for injuries and suspensions to bring on second choice players, some more would show impatience and would like to move elsewhere for first team opportunities. With Bridge out, our set of second choice players are Alex, Ivanovic and Ferreira. Alex is a want-away player. Ivanovic was want-away player. Ferriera does not add too much value now. There is a strong case for Scolari to keep rotating his players to keep them happy and engaged.

One bright spot is that Scolari has talked about using the youth players. He says Mancienne, Bruma and Sawyer are all training with him. That’s good news. If I had seen the names Sinclair, Fabio Paim and Di Santo, I’d have been happier. Capello picking Mancienne must have been a bit embarrassing for Chelsea FC. We should have considered players like Mancienne for matches against league one and league two opponents. Even with 4-0 up in 70 minutes, Scolari brings on only Ferreira, while he should have handed a start to Ferreira and subbed him with someone like Mancienne. If we haven’t used these youngsters in the first half of the season, I doubt if we would use them in the busy business end of the season!

There are also some other interesting Chelsea rumours. Here are the big ones:

Cash from Wayne Bridge sale to fund the purchase of Luiz Fabiano: Why Luiz Fabiano is my question! When Scolari has Drogba and Anelka, he is unwilling to play them together and he’s even gone on record with this admission. That would mean he’s not going to play a two-striker formation. With Drogba not leaving (surprisingly no transfer rumours surrounding Drogba), why would we need another striker of Fabiano’s calibre? I would dismiss this rumour.

Ben Arfa to be bought from Wayne Bridge sales: Ben Arfa is young and he is a left winger. He is quick and fiery. Known to be a troublemaker. Is it Ben Arfa that Scolari needs? I’m not too positive about Ben Arfa. I don’t think he can bring anything better than what Malouda or Kalou can. I’d say, let’s stay away from him.

Alex to be sold to fund the purchase of Kleber: Alex was rumoured to have handed the transfer request. After that, Roman was supposed to have had a talk with Alex to iron out things. I hope that must have happened already. With Bridge going out, Alex is in fact, very crucial. For that matter, all the defenders that we have now will have to be retained because of Wayne’s move. And to sell Alex to AC Milan for Kleber? 28-year old left back from Santos. I’ve never heard of him. If anyone of you know, let us all know.

Malouda to be swapped for Cicinho: Yet another Brazilian finding his name in the rumours concerning Chelsea. As far as I know Cicinho is a right back, a brazilian type I mean. Why another right back, that too of Cicinho’s quality? If Scolari thinks that Cicinho can also play as a winger, I’m not sure if it would work.

Roman keen to sign Yuri Zhirkov: With his own business connections, Roman can land Zhirkov in London if he really wishes but 25-year old Yuri is quite an important player for CSKA too. As a versatile left sided player, he could fit as a replacement for Wayne Bridge as well as Malouda. I would take Yuri ahead of a Fabiano or a Ben Arfa considering who we exactly need now. Only rumour that excited me today. I’d check how this one progresses.

Funnily, there is no ‘dribbling playmaker’ in any of these rumours. May be some of our playmakers learnt to dribble since Phil made that comment! Also I see that four out of five rumours involve a Brazilian or a Portuguese. One thing I want to say is that these are rumours. It’s not that I believe in all these. Some come true, some don’t. I just have given my tuppence on the rumours. That’s it.

And finally, we’ve got a match to win tomorrow. One good thing about tomorrow’s opponent is that they are not Bromley. After Barnsley and Burnley, a game against Bromley would have psyched me out. I remember Southend United eliminating a full-strength Man Utd from league cup few seasons back. Even without this anecdote, Chelsea won’t take Southend lightly because we’ve been ‘upsetted’ twice by lowly opponents in the last 12 months. Scolari can say whatever, but he needs to win this match, win this rather comfortably. I’d have been more comfortable with a premier league opponent than this league one team. I think the Chelsea team are becoming a bit complacent quite easily or even plain lethargic at times. Against a league one opponent, at Stamford Bridge, I feel jittery. I know it’s a shameful thing to say, but that’s how I feel.

Some players would not play the game tomorrow due to injury, suspension or rest. Cech, Terry, Ballack and Bosingwa may not be playing. Some youngsters could be played. Drogba would surely play. No matter who plays, we gotta win. Scolari wins no brownie points by winning this match but if he loses this one, it would be another black mark on his short Chelsea career. It wouldn’t be a disaster though if we drop out of the FA Cup. The crowd at Stamford Bridge would demand a performance to offset the disappointment against Burnley. Kick off is at 15:00 UK. Doubt if it’s televised. Knock them over, Phil! Chelsea to win 3-0.

There would be a feeling of deja vu with all these opponents. We have had epic clashes with Barcelona when they were at their peak of form, including that unforgettable night at Stamford Bridge. We have met Porto quite a few times in the champions league in the recent seasons. Bayern were knocked out by Chelsea in the 04-05 quarter finals which saw the bad blood between Michael Ballack and John Terry. Juventus is managed by Ranieri who was given the boot by Roman after a semi final finish in the champions league. Panathinaikos is coached by Ten Cate, who also had a Chelsea connection when he was deputising Avram Grant.

In each of these matches, there is a bit of home coming involved. Deco could visit Camp Nou. Ballack could play at Allianz Arena. Carvalho could set foot on Estadio Do Dragao. Ranieri and Ten Cate could get a warm welcome at Stamford Bridge.

If you ask me, I’ve got no preferences but I’ll tell you we should not draw Porto or Panathinaikos. Yeah, you read it right. We should avoid the lightweights. We should draw a top team and we should beat them. That would bring the belief back into the team that we can win it. I’m not assuming that this belief is not there already. Let me say, it has taken a beating. A couple of uncharacteristically inconsistent months, I think, might have put a big dent on Chelsea’s belief.

Because we finished second in the group, we will get to play the first leg at Stamford Bridge and the second leg at Camp Nou . . er . . in the away stadium, I mean. Going by the current home and away form, you might think that this could be a blessing in disguise. If you do so, you’re as naive as I am. What is our away form made of? Who have we beaten away? Wigan, Stoke City, Hull City, Man City, Middlesbrough, Blackburn, West Brom and Bolton. What about Europe? We might have to travel to Camp Nou or Stadio Olimpico do Torino or Allianz Arena. There are light years between the away games that we played in the premier league and the ones that we might have to play in the champions league. So, to be very honest, I’ll conclude that, even in our current away form, playing the second leg away is not a very positive thing.

I don’t mind drawing the biggies because by the time these knock out matches are played, we might have Essien and Carvalho back. Plus, we might have some surprise signings in January. The same logic holds good for our opponents too. But as long as we are at our full strength, we can beat any team in the world, including the red-hot, in-form FC Barcelona.

My wild guess: Bayern Munich.

Kenyon was quite categorical about it. He didn’t say ‘it’s upto Scolari’ or ‘we will see who Scolari wants’. Scolari may have some players in his mind for January but using the press Kenyon has conveyed the message to Scolari. We’re not sure yet if Scolari can sell someone and use that money to buy or he is free to buy free agents.

Isn’t that what Chelsea said last December as well but went ahead and bought the goal machine, Di Santo and Ivanovic in the winter window. The season before that we didn’t buy anyone in January because Jose stole Roman’s chocolate, and Roman wanted to punish him. Scolari’s denial is substantiated with a claim that ‘We never do because the types of players that we’re looking for are normally unavailable in January. They’re either cup-tied or just not available.’ Well, I can’t quite believe that. You look at the problem and look for a solution for this season. I’m not saying we should sign players in 10-year contracts in January. In 06-07, Sir Alex signed Henrik Larsson on loan for a short period and that made a difference for them.

Our type of player (whatever that means!) may not be available but does that also mean we have no players in the market that are better than a Malouda? C’mon. Also I wonder why we should be so worried about players being cup-tied. We’ll get most of our players for later stages of champions league (that is, if we beat Cluj next week!). The real trouble is in the premier league. That’s where we need players that can make a difference. The current squad with our players returning from injuries, is more than enough for the champions league. It is for the premier league that we need reinforcements. So, I don’t see being cup-tied a problem for the Jan purchases.

We also expect some of our key players to get back, more importantly – Drogba, Essien and Carvalho. To get these players back on the team sheet is like signing a new player. Look at these names. Drogba, Essien and Carvalho – if these guys were there for Arsenal match, do you think they’d have seen the match crumble under our feet? With these players, do you think we’d have played the final thirty minutes without a shot on goal? With Carvalho there, we even might have prevented those two goals.

I have always said that the core of Chelsea is what keeps Chelsea going strong. For me, the core consists of Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Essien, Cech and Carvalho. I can even add Mikel to this list. I will not add Joe Cole to this list. So this core group is what drives Chelsea to success. This group can’t take defeat. They hate to be dominated. They have a personality. It is important that this group plays for us as often as possible. When we miss three out of these six key players, it’s certainly going to impact us and it won’t be too easy to replace them.

We weren’t missing Essien in defensive midfield, thanks to some amazing performances by Mikel. But we did miss him in the midfield. That was evident on Sunday. When Deco has a bad game, we don’t have a good replacement or substitution for him. Our strength has always been the goal-scoring midfield. Even when we won back-to-back titles, none of our strikers scored 25+ goals. When goals come from everywhere, you don’t need to have a striker who scores in every second match. We are missing Essien in midfield and attacking midfield considering that he can also play as the right sided midfielder. He’s gonna be back only in March 2009. Sad.

Carvalho is expected to be back this weekend. That’s some relief. This relief is no reflection on how Alex and Ivanovic are playing. They have very good. Personally, I’ve been more impressed with Alex than Ivanovic. Alex looks more complete than Ivanovic. And also with Alex, the scope for error is very very minimal which I can’t say for the Serbian. Be it Alex or Ivanovic, Terry is not at his best if he does not have Carvalho by his side. We have seen enough matches to confirm this. Such is the intimate understanding and trust between Terry and Carvalho that they defend and they even attack without having to look for what the other is up to. Carvalho can make an appearance against Bolton this weekend. Good.

I’m really looking forward to the return of Di Santo. May be I’m hyping it up a bit too much about Franco. I’m highly impressed with whatever I’ve seen of him and I think he can help us with the plan B thingy. He is expected to be back by 14-Dec. Even Belletti could have replaced a terrible Deco that day but he was not available due to injury. Belletti is also expected to be back this weekend though he may not start unless Scolari wants to drop Deco. I don’t think Scolari would drop Deco. This man Deco was the only Scolari purchase. Scolari had everyone persuaded that Deco will provide that creative edge to Chelsea and also convinced us. I still believe that Deco would be special for us. It’s just that he had a run of a few bad games.

Given that our forwards don’t deliver, given that we bother more about how we play than what we achieve, given that Scolari is unable to influence the match proceedings, no signings in January does not sound like good news.

Ray had a long illustrious playing career spanning 24 years and a managerial career of about 14 years so far. He is certainly a very equipped guy for this role. One thing where he could be better than Clarke is his communication and personality. He talks rather well. He knows to choose his words. One of his responsibilites is also to deal with media. In press conferences, Scolari says what he wants to but does not really come out on top. May be, with an interpreter, Scolari could be a great speaker. In English though, he needs some support, to talk to the media and to the players.

Not just that, Ray could be taking care of the details under the framework devised by Scolari. He could be the one fine-tuning the way we defend the corners, arrange the walls, take those quick free kicks and also studying the opponents for their strengths and weaknesses.

I was on the pitch a lot more as a coach when I was with Luca. I think I will probably be helping Felipe more with background work, preparing team talks, preparing videos, or should I say DVDs these days. So I will be preparing those on set-pieces, how the opposition play, that type of thing.

I’ll deal with a little bit of media as well because it is amazing how tired you can get when you are learning a new language. I can remember that many years ago when I was in Italy, I was trying to speak the language at the club and would go home mentally exhausted. And when you are manager of a big club like Chelsea, it is hard enough getting the team in the right shape, let alone dealing with everything outside of it. So whatever he wants me to do, I will be happy to do it.

When JM was around, one of his biggest pluses was supposed to be his ability to study and assess the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. That made the job easy many a times. We might find our players doing the right thing every time but there was a lot of back ground work behind it. Ray, with his wide experience as a player and in management, could fill that gap created by the absence of JM and Clarke. In the absence of Clarke, Scolari’s back room staff lack the experience in English league and English football in general. Ray Wilkins would be just what the doctor ordered. Will wait and see. You can read his interview in the club website.

Chelsea’s performance has been best of the first round of champions league football. That has caused a roar in the press, creating some euphoria about Chelsea being the best in Europe and the firm favourites for the champions league. I know how champions league is won and lost. I would care less at this stage. It was so pleasing to see Man Utd and Arsenal draw their respective fixtures while even the others did not have it easy. Admit it with some modesty, we are the best in Europe and we are the firm favourites. Isn’t that what the press is also saying now?

Frank Lampard wants Ronaldo to play so that we can beat them when they’re strong.

We’re good enough to deal with United at their strongest – we shouldn’t want them weak. If they are strong, we still want to beat them.

That’s the spirit. I like that.

It’s been a while since we had a poll. Here you go. On the Chelsea vs Man Utd match. What do you say?

Group B has Inter, Werder, Panathinaikos and Anorthosis Famagusta. JM must be smiling. Inter will cruise even with the away results. Werder taking the second place. The team from Cyprus is there to give guaranteed points. Ibrahimovic has a good chance be the top scorer of the competition. Group C has Barca, Sporting Lisbon, Basel and Shakhtar Donetsk. The question will be, who progresses alongwith Barca and I think the answer will be Shakhtar, don’t ask me why.

Group D now. D for Death? It’s Liverpool, PSV, Marseille and Atletico Madrid. Oh I love this group! That’s exactly the kind of group I wanted to see Liverpool in. In the last season, Liverpool started very poorly in the group stages and got themselves out of jail later on. Even in the qualifiers this season, they were plain lucky. If their form continues this way, they’d drop out. Anyways, I’m kind of sure that Atletico would top the group. The second place could be a three way battle where I hope to see Marseille edge out Liverpool.

Group E has Man Utd, Villarreal, Celtic and Aalborg. This looks like a tough group but I think Man Utd will have no trouble. Villareal to take the second place. Celtic will go down fighting, again. Good luck to Aalborg. Hope they get a point. Group F is another tough group. Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest and Fiorentina here. Okay, you’ll disagree here. I think it’s gonna be Bayern and Fiorentina. Bayern are disappointed at their recent European performance and Fiorentina will make us take notice in Europe as well as Italy.

In Group G, we have Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kiev. The Arsenal fans would call this the group of death but I won’t agree. If you can’t beat Porto, Fener or Kiev, you don’t deserve to call yourself a top club in Europe. This Arsenal team have had some very poor away games. If they don’t sign any new player by the end of this transfer window, I’d put some money on them not progressing. Expect a strong Fener to cause a ripple. Need to see if Quaresma stays at Porto. If yes, they can be a serious opponent. I’d love to see Porto and Fener progressing.

Finally the Group H that has Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg and Bate Borisov. Pretty staight forward. Madrid to top and Juventus to follow. Zenit might be missing Arshavin by then. And Bate? C’mon, let’s end the discussion here.

Chelsea have got a good draw. On paper, Chelsea are far superior to their group stage opponents. There are no long distance travels. The farthest is to Rome and that’s ok, we’ll get used to the Stadio Olimpico, before we get to the finals. More importantly, no pointless travel to Russia and no sub-zero temparatures. If you see Arsenal’s group, they need to travel to Turkey and Russia and play in hostile or unfamiliar environments.

The group stage games will be played on 16/17 September, 30 September/1 October, 21/22 October, 4/5 November, 25/26 November, 9/10 December. I haven’t checked in the betting sites but I think Chelsea will start as the favourites for the champions league, just like in the premier league.

In the UEFA club footballer of the year awards, Chelsea have swept three out of the four awards. Cech has won the goalkeeper award and that beats me. Clearly, it should have gone to van der Sar who kept clean sheets in the quarterfinals and semi finals including one at Camp Nou. And to top it all he won the penalties for his team in the final! The defender award is to Terry. This one also puzzles me. Last season was nowhere near the best of Terry and especially in champions league, he wasn’t shining so much. The midfielder award went to Frank Lampard. Completely agree. No better choice than Frank. The forward award goes to Ronaldo?! He scored in final allright, but he wasn’t the best in the last champions league. The best forward of the last champions league was Drogba. Period.

Finally, SWP moves to Man City. It’s not just a win-win situation, it’s a win-win-win situation. That is, for Chelsea, Man City and SWP himself. This has come a season later than it should have. I feel sorry for SWP that he couldn’t come good at Chelsea. He has been a very lovable bloke all along and a thorough professional. My heartfelt thanks to him and I wish him all the luck with Man City. By the way, that’s third player this season that we’ve sent back to his previous club!

My patience is being tested with this Robinho transfer. I’m getting tired of waiting for him. C’mon, even SWP is gone, the Chelsea mega store has started selling Robinho shirts and what else needs to happen before he appears in blue?!

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!

If Sheva really wants to move to Milan, I’m sorry for him. Didn’t he tell the fans on Chelsea TV interview that he can still be a Chelsea legend? If he really wants to stay at Chelsea, we should let him. Like JM did, Scolari should allow Sheva to start in a string of 20 matches or so, that is unless he doesn’t get injured. He can certainly come good. He might have lost his pace but his intelligent movements and finishing skills are still there. His downfall at Chelsea has something to do with his mind. He lacks confidence and hence has that fear of failure. If Scolari is ready to motivate Anelka and Malouda to bring out the best from them, he can do the same with Sheva too.

That Fabio has joined Chelsea, is what all the papers claim. The one that I’m waiting for doesn’t say that yet. I’m tired of refreshing the club website to see if this is true. Let me know if it’s there. Just to comfort you, this news is already on FIFA.com and on the official website of Sporting Lisbon. So, it’s done deal. I don’t think Fabio comes in for the bench role. With his loan being for a one-year period with an option to buy, we need to test him to decide whether we need him or not. Last thing I want to see is Chelsea sending him back to Portugal, only for our rivals to pick him up and make him a world player of the year. So we should play him enough to see what he can offer. I’m sure that the league cup is all about the Fabios and Santos. But we should have them play in the premier league too. I was terribly upset to see SWP come in at the 80th minute when we were leading 3-0 against a surrendered Pompey. That was exactly the time to bring on Di Santo. I hope Scolari uses these chances to show us these starlets.

Guardian reports that Real Madrid has set a price of £32m for Robinho. I’d it’s a bit too much for Robinho. If you ask me, I would not go beyond £20m. But now that we have Darren Bent going for £16m, Carrick for £18m, Barry being quoted at £18m and Arshavin at £20m, I can’t blame Real Madrid. We are in an inflated market. I would be a hypocrite to use the term ‘inflated market’ because we’ve had our share of polluting the transfer market. Whether we should go for a £32m Robinho should completely depend on how much Scolari wants him. Scolari might say that he has spent only £8m so far, which is on Deco. We saved about £8m – £10m with that bargain deal. He might want to use that money in Robinho’s deal. By all probabilities, Peter Kenyon with return to London with Robinho.

Man City have signed Kompany while Arsenal have signed Silvestre. So funny. Arsenal have also let Hoyte go and their fans are fuming. Man Utd haven’t signed any. Liverpool’s got Robbie Keane but he has shown no signs of anything special. We’re better off, aren’t we? We’ve got three new faces in the first premier league match – Scolari, Bosingwa and Deco; and all these three are featuring in the premier league team of the week. And to top it all, there is not even one Man Utd player in the premier league team of the week.

Some news on the upcoming match. I see Wigan players coming up with some words of confidence. Some really strong words such as ‘win’, ‘victory’, ‘three points’ and the like. Wigan has never been a problem for us. While the Red clubs are all worried at the sight of Chelsea this season, it’s strange to find Wigan talking like this. I can’t blame them. Teams play with football with an intention of winning the match, no matter who they play. Even otherwise I don’t expect to them to tell the press ‘we’re gonna be stuffed’. But I’m not sure if Wigan would play to win. If there words are any indication, they should play an open game instead of parking the proverbial bus in front of the goal. But I fully expect Wigan to go eleven behind the ball and not even venture into our half. They need a goal from the heaven to disturb our customary clean sheet, leave alone winning the match.

And finally, some interesting football topic. Juande Ramos says that one of the most unpleasant things that exist in the game is the overlapping of the business end of the summer transfer window with the early weeks of the premier league season. I’m sure I’ve thought this way before. Why don’t we complete all the transfers and close the transfer window before we kick off the season? Of course the January window would be right in the middle of the season. That’s ok. With most of the important transfers happening in the summer transfer window, it is plain logic that we close the window before we start the season. What do you say?

Two Chelsea related deals have supposedly failed yesterday. One was of Ivanovic and other was Robinho. I would not have been happier if both had gone through. I want to retain Ivanovic. He seems to be a good player, a versatile defender with a nose for goals. Some really big European clubs are after him and that’s a good indication of how he’s rated. He’s not even made his professional Chelsea debut but he wants to join Milan. To be plain, that’s like being a bitch. I don’t want players to stay at Chelsea against their wishes. We have a great club with great ambition and world class players and staff. Players like Ivanovic should know where they are and try to give their best to the club instead of trying to move even before making the professional debut. Now that Chelsea and Milan have failed to come to a conclusion, Ivanovic should get his tail behind his legs and start showing some respect for the club that he plays for.

On Robinho, Calderon has told Robinho exactly what I was telling Ivanovic above. He’s just said, ‘game over, get back to work’. We have heard this before. Both clubs might be claiming that a deal is not feasible and suprisingly, literally the 11th hour, you’ll see an image of smiling Robinho and shining Kenyon displaying the shirt no.24. I’ll wait on Robinho. But I won’t be too worried too. You know, sometime last season, the Daniel Alves deal was going on pretty much like this. Alves wanted to leave, he made some very damning statements on Sevilla, he was publicly pleading Sevilla to join Chelsea, and then finally the deal broke and now he is in Barcelona. It was a question of money then. It was a fallen out JM who was trying to buy an expensive player. Now it is the new manager and the new star arrival who are keen on signing Robinho. I guess we’ll go all the way to steal him from Madrid. Now the offer for Robinho can also be improved because Mutu has been ordered to pay Chelsea £14 million for his cocaine-shortened career at Chelsea. So we got more money to waste

Some Chelsea fans believed that we succumbed to the pressure from Lampard and offered him a bonanza deal. Firstly, all that we know officially is that it’s a 5-year contract. We don’t actually know the weekly wages. The press has been quoting various figures from the air. Anyway, I agree it’s a stretch for a 30-year old footballer. Let’s admit it. We’ve not been very prudent with money we have, thanks to Roman, we did not have to.

Consider these: we paid about £24 million to buy SWP and pay him in the region of £70k per week, we bought Sheva for about £30 million and pay him about £130k per week, for Ballack we were paying him around £130k per week for many months he couldn’t play. Now we have a Frank Lampard who keeps himself fit, stays out of injury, plays every single match for Chelsea, works tirelessly, scores 20 goals per season and numerous assists, has won titles with/for Chelsea – c’mon, I would stretch it for him. I had mentioned before that Chelsea FC should not be submissive to Lampard and his agent. Apparently, Lampard’s request has not been met. There have been compromises on either side. You might say Lampard should be quite happy with this compromise but see what Chelsea could also get out of this deal.

Our loooong wait is over. I’m excited that premier league football begins tomorrow. Tomorrow matches are Arsenal v West Brom, Bolton v Stoke, Everton v Blackburn, Hull v Fulham, Middlesbrough v Tottenham, Sunderland v Liverpool and West Ham v Wigan. If Liverpool loses points against Sunderland, we can safely say that they are out of the title race, this time as early as the first day of the premier league. Tottenham should start strongly for all the hype that’s been created by/around them. Let me say, I’ve bought the hype.

My prediction of the final standing of the premier league table is this:

1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Liverpool
4. Tottenham
5. Arsenal
6. Aston Villa
7. Portsmouth
8. Everton
9. Man City
10. Newcastle
11. West Ham
12. Blackburn
13. Sunderland
14. Middlesbrough
15. Wigan
16. Fulham
17. West Brom
18. Bolton
19. Hull
20. Stoke

Come up with your list. Let’s see how we differ and let’s see in May 2009 how accurate we were.

I’m almost done with the preview post for the Portsmouth match. I’ll publish it tomorrow. It’s going to be a challenge when it comes to what formation to play and whom to play. I’m almost confident that none of us are going to agree with the other as I’ve already seen setups that are distinctly unique.

Before I go, I’ll give this piece from Roy Keane:

This year for me it’s Chelsea. I always felt that United would do it last year, but I fancy Chelsea this time. There’s no African Nations Cup, they’ve got a new manager, they’ve bought one or two new players and for all the ups and downs last year at the club, they still nearly nicked it. If United get a top, top striker they’ve got a chance, but my gut feeling this year would be Chelsea.

I’m yet to see someone who with some conviction says that Man Utd will win the title this season. No one, really. I’m sure Man Utd are feeling the heat already. They’ve gotta be afraid, very afraid!