Chelsea News

Chelsea came into the season as Champions which should breed confidence, but even before the defeat to Burnley the moaners were out in force.

Football fans like to moan and Chelsea fans are no exception, Chelsea fans have moaned quite a lot since the start of the season despite being Champions and its a bit annoying.

Conte this, the board that, blah, blah, blah. But that is how some people enjoy football so each to his own. There is normally one player that fans scapegoat and moan about incessantly. It seems a section of Chelsea fans have picked their new captain Gary Cahill.

Fans have been moaning about his sending off (understandable), his form (seems fine to me) and recently his indirect role in the loan of Jeremie Boga and transfer of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain.

Fans Always Have A Scapegoat

This is not a new tradition for Chelsea fans (every club has their moaners), just the captain seems an odd choice. For a long time it was John Obi Mikel who the persistent moaners would incessantly try and belittle even on the terraces pick as their target of choice.

The focus on Cahill was noticeable last season but has gone up a notch since the start of the season. It has not been helped by his sending off that led to defeat at Burnley, which some would have you believe ruined the career of Jeremie Boga.

Cahill’s form has been up and down at times but in general he is one of our most consistent performers. Whilst his sending off did mean Boga’s first start was just 15 minutes long, it did not end his Chelsea career. If Conte saw a role for him he would have stayed and gotten other opportunities.

My favourite moan is about his indirect role in the Oxlade-Chamberlain transfer. Oxlade-Chamberlain signed for Liverpool after Cahill was recruited to convince him to join the Blues. The tweets have been a mix of genuine moans and humour.

It is hard to believe that Oxlade Chamberlain was inspired by anything other than his desire to play in midfield and a possible aversion to silverware in his decision to choose Liverpool over Chelsea.

Get Behind Our Captain

Cahill has taken on the poisoned chalice of taking over the captaincy from the incredibly popular club legend John Terry and has done a good job in continuity. He is one of the last two Munich veterans still playing for the club.

Whilst that does not make Cahill immune to criticism the pessimism and moaning from some fans has been at epidemic levels since the first day of the season.

Now the transfer window is over and the season starts in earnest, let’s get behind our captain and the club.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9SzK2JBLcY

 

 

Juliano Belletti is a cult hero of this blog despite playing a bit part role during his three years at Stamford Bridge.

Belletti will always be fondly remembered by Chelsea fans for his dedication, his hard work, and his goals. This may seem odd as he only scored five goals for us but three of them were absolute screamers!

Whenever the name Juliano Belletti comes up I think of his song and scream SHOOOOOOT! in the back of my head.

 

 

The Premier League season is about to start and all I see is DOOM, DOOM, DOOM about our chances, you could be forgiven for thinking Chelsea could be relegated.

Rumours swirl and pundits crow but don’t worry our title is more a tip of a hat to the dramatisation of sports media than a prediction. It is clear that the

It is clear that the pain of Mourinho’s last season is casting a shadow over this season’s preparations with fans fearing a repeat of the title then obscurity we suffered in 2015/2016.

Where WIll #ChelseaFC finish in the #PremierLeague this season?#ktbffh #CFC #BPL2017

— FamousCFC (@Famous_CFC) August 10, 2017

Whilst we are not expecting Chelsea to dominate like they did last season, the reaction from fans and the pundits has been way over the top.

Take the reaction to the sale of Nemanja Matic, a good player whose form has been in decline and was not likely to be in an Antonio Conte starting XI.

I am disappointed that he has been sold but be realistic the doom and gloom is premature. Matic was sold for a huge amount of money with a replacement in Bakayoko already recruited.

The Case For Panic

Admittedly the squad is not as balanced as it could be, Chelsea would benefit from a striker that can be guaranteed to score 20+ a season (won’t know with Morata until its too late) and some depth, but there is still quality all over the pitch.

There is the unrest about the sale of players like Chalobah, Ake and other promising youth players. These players need game time that they were not going to get at Chelsea, it is sad to see them go but we were holding them back.

Let’s see what the next generation can do.

Much has been made of Arsenal having a million players in their squad but how many are realistically going to play more than a few cup games.

Our rivals are strengthening and our squad is not yet complete. The loss of Costa, Matic, Terry and Ake leave us without a proven striker and back up in defence and midfield but there are still 3 weeks of the window left.

We are not confident, but nowhere near panic, let’s take some time to see what happens once Morata has got settled and Hazard is back from injury.

Let’s enjoy the new season!

The Grenfell Tower Chelsea Stamford Bridge to Wembley walk is a great example of the football community coming together. This weekend a group of Chelsea fans are walking from Stamford Bridge to Wembley before the Community Shield game against.

Their aim will be to raise money for the Harrow Club who are supporting victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Grenfell Tower Chelsea Stamford Bridge To Wembley Walk

Shortly after the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire two Chelsea supporters, Jim Cowan and Leighton Evans, were at the scene dropping of clothes, shoe and food for the short term needs of the survivors.

Finding the experience very emotional, the pair vowed to do something else to support the medium to long term needs of those affected.

Leighton, who lives in Dagenham, grew up in the shadow of the tower and lost friends in the fire and is keen to do what he can to support those who survived it. Jim, who lives in Nottingham, is from Hammersmith and spent many of his formative years with friends in the area.

Both Leighton and Jim agreed to nominate the Harrow Club** as the charity for the event as it is based in the community, has real, hands on experience and does not spend disproportionate amounts on expensive offices and highly paid executives

Taking inspiration from the words of a song popular among Chelsea supporters*, the two decided to organise a walk from Stamford Bridge to Wembley on the morning of the FA Community Shield on Sunday 6th August.

Starting from the Peter Osgood Statue at Stamford Bridge at 9.00a.m. the pair will be joined by five other fans all raising funds for the Harrow Club, an organisation based in the community around Grenfell Tower playing a key role in supporting victims.

The walk is highly personal and a way of supporting an area and people they love. For further details please contact Jim Cowan at jimcowan800@yahoo.co.uk

Support them at https://lnkd.in/d9uTRwa

Text 70070 stating the code SBTW99 followed by your donation amount (eg SBTW99 £10).

Danny Drinkwater to Chelsea is one of the most concerning rumours of the transfer window for Chelsea fans.

Drinkwater is a fine player, but not a player considered to be one of the league’s best in his position so will struggle to get game time at the Bridge despite the pressure that battling on multiple fronts will create.

Whilst he is an England international that has won the Premier League and played in the Champions League he is far below the level of ambition fans want the club to be pursuing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qsYNCpkP2Y

Drinkwater to Chelsea would see him become a squad player, a filler and blocker to the development of our own midfield talent without adding much more.

With three years on his contract at Leicester, he would not be cheap and there must be better options to replace Nemanja Matic.

Drinkwater to Chelsea The New Steve Sidwell

The parallel to this would be when Chelsea bought Steve Sidwell and to a lesser extent Scott Parker tot he Bridge. Sidwell was a highly rated player that had impressed to earn a move to the Bridge.

However Sidwell was never able to cut it at Chelsea, he made just 15 Premier League appearances in his first season (mostly from the bench) and never looked likely to hold down a regular place in a team of superstars including Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfQjbsHV5Gw

He was sold to Aston Villa after one season for just £5m and had nine years in the Premier League and is set to return for Brighton in a couple of weeks.

Sidwell like Drinkwater is a fine player with many talents however, he was not quite good enough to play for a top four side.

If we sign Drinkwater I hope he proves us wrong, but at the moment the prospect of Drinkwater to Chelsea seems like an expensive mistake.

 

The Melayro Bogarde Chelsea rumours are standard transfer gossip, after all, Chelsea racing with Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal for a 15-year-old prodigy is hardly something new.

What makes the news interesting is that if he was to sign for the Champions he would not be the first Bogarde to wear Blue and he would arrive hoping to repair his family name at the Bridge.

Melayro Bogarde Chelsea Connection

Melayro Bogarde is the nephew of former Chelsea player Winston, who fans may remember from the early noughties.

Winston Bogarde signed for Chelsea on a free transfer in 2000 from Barcelona as a highly rated Dutch international. He had also played for Milan and Ajax having won the Champions League, La Liga and the UEFA Super Cup amongst a host of honours in a glittering career.

His time at Chelsea did not go so well, his career quickly unravelled despite signing for Gianluca Vialli on a four year £40k per week contract. When Vialli was sacked and Ranieri arrived a few months after his arrival he was deemed surplus to requirements.

Ranieri quickly looked to move on and sell Bogarde but no-one could match his wage demands and he refused to move even on loan unless he got paid the same.

This meant he quickly became a pariah at the club, training with the youth team and playing zero minutes for the club in his second and fourth years at the club. In fact his only appearance after his first season was a League Cup game against Gillingham.

Bogarde became a poster boy for the peril of long contracts and refused to give up what he had been promised despite no prospect of getting a game.

He fulfilled his contract to the letter banking his £40k salary every week until he was released in 2004.

Some criticise Bogarde but he did not make the club give him a four-year contract on that salary and despite the embarrassment part of us is impressed by his stoic refusal to bow to pressure.

Winston Bogarde is a part of Chelsea folklore for all the wrong reasons, could the Blues be about to sign his nephew and restore the family name.

As for Melayro Bogarde Chelsea rumours the kid is highly rated, he would face the challenges all our youth prospects do, we just hope he does not ask his uncle for contract advice.

What can we say football is funny, why not get Bogarde on the back of your next Chelsea shirt, fans may appreciate the irony

 

 

Critics of Chelsea always find a way to criticise Roman Abramovich but it is worth thinking about what would have happened if Abramovich had not bought Chelsea back in 2003.

Here is a video that looks at what may have happened had Abramovich liked lawn bowls instead of football.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unRuUTkp164

Don’t forget to pick up the latest Chelsea shirt here 

Alvaro Morata has signed for Chelsea and we are all excited to see what he can do and hope he can replace Diego Costa in presence and goals.

Here is a couple of videos showcasing his talents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXIB4y6In0Y

Excited by the signing of Morata why not get the latest Chelsea kits and adorn his name on the back – GET THE SHIRT

The Antonio Conte contract extension is a bit of a fly in the ointment for football those looking to destabilise Chelsea Football Club and revel in the demise.

The rumours were that due to the Blues missing out on Lukaku that he was miserable and unhappy and potentially about to walk out on the club to return to Italy. The contract extension is the strongest rebuke of this you can get.

It is possible that promises have been made to him about the ability to sign a replacement for Costa (should these rumours also be true), however, this is probably just another story that came from nowhere to get clicks.

The Rumour Mill

Basically, the rumour mill is “journalists” trying to join the dots between their rumours to come up with new sensationalist theories. Some of them are entertaining but mostly they are designed for clicks.

At the risk of sounding like Donald Trump, the media have always enjoyed trying to take Chelsea under Roman Abramovich’s ownership down a peg or two. It is the British way romanticise those struggling and vilify them if they make it to the top.

The signing of this new contract is a mockery of the latest attempts to undermine the club. I am sure the moment something else doesn’t go the Blues way the rumours will start up again as its a good attention grabber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctBUxTdE4gY

Reaction To Conte Contract Extension

Conte signing a new contract is great news, he was a breath of fresh air and transformed the way we play. Having him lead the defence of the title he masterminded is an exciting relief and the right course of action.

Look forward to seeing how the squad comes together in pre-season and let’s all remember “In Conte We Trust”

Get the latest Chelsea shirt here