photo credit: gordonflood.com

It isn't a mystery that he wants Chamakh...

Marouane Chamakh and Arsenal are apparently close to a transfer deal even though Arsene Wenger is not confirming anything. Because Chamakh will be able to take a free transfer at the end of this season he can go ahead and sign with someone else, and if Arsenal is smart they'll get this thing done and go ahead and tell the world.

The Chelsea Daily Drivel is a daily update of all the stories concerning our club, the rumours, the opinions and more....
So here is the latest from around the web on Wednesday 9th June 2010 including: Ballack, Joe Cole, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Andrew Driver.

He just won a match for you and yet the fans are still mad at Kaka. I'm not sure why but I think I have an answer as ridiculous as it may sound.

He's had to talk about this alot lately:

"I've spent many years in the world of football, but the worst is that they doubt my injury.

We have been talking about the World Cup alot over the past few months because, well its in a month or so and who wouldnt want to talk about it? But we also must consider the team's future beyond the World Cup. Ade did a great post on some of the possible retirees that will deplete the Spain squad after the World Cup, or maybe after Euro 2012.

Welcome to this mornings Chelsea Daily Drivel. I like to bring you THE important Chelsea stories in and around the web.
A fantastic article from Stuart James in the Guardian about our Academy more....
(Really is a good read, opens up what goes on at the Academy and its alot more than you realise!

The more I am thinking of tomorrow's game, the more I am thinking about where the difference could be, someone to create something out of nothing and someone to step up for Chelsea to be the difference. I believe the with the news on Frank Lampard yesterday being out, I am not sure if Ramires will play next to Mikel and Essien, and I think it is too much of a big game for McEachran in Ancelotti's eyes, so I believe Kalou will get the nod tomorrow to start.

New Blackburn owners Venky Group have wasted no time in shaking up Blackburn Rovers FC. Having only taking over the Club last month there first job seems to have been sacking Sam Allardyce the sack despite the club been mid-table alot like Chris Hughtonbefore his dismissal.

inspired performance by the welshman denies spurs

Before the game I didn't consider that Myhill would offer us too many problems; but he managed to single-handedly take a point back north for his club after an amazing performance denied our players of a single goal. Simply put this will be seen as one of the shut outs of the season as chance after chance was saved; including two double saves.

So as posted on here and in much of the sporting media yesterday and today, the CAS has lifted the ban on Chelsea after an settlement was reached between Chelsea and Lens over Gael Kakuta.
When the news originally broke, the press went to town on Chelsea with one journo even claiming that the fine that will be imposed on Chelsea should be more than the 17m Euros that Adrian Mutu was being chased after (now look whats happened to Mutu since!

Chelsea 4-1 Cardiff. FA Cup Fifth Round Stamford Bridge.
For a second there it looked a bit ropey in the first half, but we came out second half and Cardiff had no answer. We scored three and won 4-1 but at half time it was a very different story.
At half time people around me inside the stand having their usual pie and a pint (myself included) were complaining that we had started well but seem to then take our foot off the gas so to speak.

photo credit: Lee Sie

This matchup could be epic...

John Terry thinks that Chelsea can put a sock in the 1-goal deficit that Chelsea is in with Inter in the Champion's League. However, I think he's also still a little hot over Mourinho leaving Chelsea high and dry after they did everything in the book together.

Nicklas Bendtner who many was quick to doubt last week, has quitened down alot of critics in the last two games with 4 goals. The confident Dane is destined to lead the line for the Gunners in their push for silverware in England and in Europe.

I have found some interesting facts, According to Bettorlogic Player Pro, over the last 50 games the Gunners have a win percentage of 52 per cent without Nicklas Bendtner.

Chelsea went to Old Trafford and got the job done and it's as simple as that. Goals from Joe Cole and Didier Drogba saw Chelsea home and to retake the lead in the title race with just five games to go. Now its all in our own hands once more.
It was always going to be a difficult game against United, but we had the weeks rest to our advantage.

Not only do we have a statement on the Official Chelsea Website stating despite press reports Essien will not be returning to action this weekened, we also now have the news that Mikel is a doubt for this weekend and maybe the rest of the season?!.
So it begs the question, "Who plays in the holding role this weekend?

Our backline just possibly got a little stronger
OL aren't wasting any time reinforcing their squad for next year and have hit the ground running, if reports from French journal France Football are to be believed. Though signing players who are still under contract is still not a possiblity till the openening of the summer tranfer window in , the signing of players who's contracts are set to expire this summer is, and Dabo's contract had expired already in 2009.

The Team: Cristiano Ronaldo is one player who I have never liked. I will admit that he was the best player in the world in 2008 when he led Man U to both the Prem and Champions League title. Yet, I also think his contribution to both of those titles is overestimated, and other Man U players' (like Ryan Giggs) contributions to that title are underrated.

Sorry about the lack of posts lately.

Moving to Spain has certainly filled alot of my spare time nad renovations have left me without electricity most of the week.

A key component in the usage of internet.

As some of you know i was at the last match and thoughroughly enjoyed it.

For those few that have been reading me for the past year I'm sure that it's become clear that things have slowed down when it comes to blog entries and production and I'm saddly behind commenting on the Wizards great start this year. So I need a blogger.

Work/Military obligations plus going back to school for another degree have really put a major dent in production and it will only get worse.

After two 3 years of selecting a defender with their first round pick, the Wizards have finally decided to address their scoring issues via the draft by selecting with their first round pick Teal Bunbury son of former Wizard Alex Bunbury.

Here are some articles that talk about this new Wizard.

I slept 12 hours last night, and I still feel like crap. But the cure?! Seeing Red! and our 10th Episode Anniversary, featuring the one and only Shep Messing!

Lots of show highlights, including:

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- Sheps scathing thoughts on Dane Richards (you would think he was a part of our show with that kind of rant!

I have left it for a day or so to enjoy the title celebrations as we all are, but the events surrounding our first penalty award simply cannot be ignored.
I have to say it now and I am sure alot of other Chelsea fans or even the majority of us thought that Didier Drogba's temper tantrum after Frank Lampard grabbed the ball and insisted on taking the first penalty of the game to put us 2-0 up was a disgrace!

Surprising news today that it looks like (if rumours are to be believed) that Miroslav Stoch could be leaving Chelsea to sign for Turkish giants Galatasary for approx 2.5 million.
I thought like alot of you that Stoch was highly regarded by Chelsea and had high hopes for him as part of our future but it seems that with the report in todays Mirror, that this isn't the case and after a successful loan spell at FC Twente where he won the league title, Galatasary are keen to get him.

Somehow, Sportarena has confirmed our new kit for the upcoming season. There is alot of criticism going around but I still like the striped kit though it is a shame the Eagle will be missing from the right sleeve. The second kit (the blue one) I am not a fan of however. The design is boring and I am not a fan of the colours.

he Chelsea Daily Drivel is a daily update of all the stories concerning our club, the rumours, the opinions and more....
So here is the latest from around the web on Monday 21st June 2010 including: Frank Lampard, John Terry and Nico Anelka.
After the whole John Terry outburst has taken up most of the headlines today (make sure you check out my take on what JT had to say ) Frank Lampard took to todays press conference and was asked about JT's conference yesterday.

AEK held its first training session of the season at Thrakomakedones today though with a smaller than usual squad (others will be showing up slowly). Regardless, four of our new signings were present today including Liberopoulos. He sounded confident that we can do something good this season. As happy as I am to hear that I don't know if I'm as confident.

Javier Pastore & Diego Pozo speaking to the media today.

There's alot of speculation in the Argentine media that Pastore will play against Germany.

That's all it is at this point.

Sam Stejskal checks in with the following information regarding the possibility of Blanco's return to the Fire.

An independent source with knowledge of the situation said that "it's more likely than not" that former Fire forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco will sign with the club this summer.

Well friends, the time to say goodbye has arrived.

Let me begin by saying that I've enjoyed every day that I've spent on the blog talking about the national team & Argentine football with you all.

My decision to no longer blog was not a rushed decision or have anything to do with Argentina's latest world cup failure, as humilliating as it was.

Iniesta's name is the one on every tongue these days, and the man himself is being kept very busy. Sunday he's scoring the most decisive goal of his career and winning the World Cup with Spain; Monday he's arriving in Madrid with the rest of the national team to an incredible welcome from the fans, not to mention meeting with the royal family; Tuesday, its straight to Barcelona for a press conference.

The old adage, England invented the game and the Brazilians mastered it. You wouldn't believe that if you watched the World Cup in South Africa, as both sides crashed out relatively early. Both are pondering the question of whether the nationality of a national coach is important, and if it is important, how much so?

AEK arrived in Sydney at 8pm local time.By the time the players had cleared customs it was another hour.About 200 AEK fans were on hand to greet the team,the Original boys from Melbourne joined their Sydney brothers and with others coming from all over Australia.The players looked very tired after their 20 hour flight but with the singing from the fans,the boys were made to feel very welcome.

Sengkang Punggol are crap. If they fell any lower they'd be in Malaysia. Success for them is not losing two straight games. A big name player usually has 17 letters in his first name.
But in at least one respect they are miles ahead of any other SLeague side. Not many teams have fans that keep a blog regularly updated.

There was alot of excitement around here when the Revolution drafted Michael Videira in the second round of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. It wasn't just that the Hermann Trophy finalist also happened to hail from the neighborhood.* Nor was it the fact that he was a Portuguese-American playing in a region rich with people of Portuguese descent.

The Rafa Marquez Press Conference is scheduled for this afternoon, 1:15pm, live and direct from Red Bull Arena. If you are on Spring Break or can manage to coincide your lunch break with the conference, you can catch the announcement on MLSSoccer's live stream of the event.

For those who are not able to get the boss from looking your way, no fear!

(Photo: robertolinck.com)There seems to be alot of questions regarding the newly-signed Roberto "Betu" Linck. Personally, know I definitely had some. So, naturally, I did what any curious mind would probably do: ask someone who knows.*(*Am I the only one who thought that bringing back Squire Fridell - you know, that middle-aged, white-haired guy - for the Toyota ads was genius?

Now forgive me Wigan fans if you are reading this but you have to take certain things into consideration. In the last 2 Premier League games you have conceded 12 goals and haven't scored. Chelsea have scored 14 goals and haven't conceded so you have to say that everything points to a comfortable Chelsea win and let's not forget the last time we played each other!

Ok, so we lost at Old Trafford to our old enemy Man Utd 3-2, but there were alot of positives to take from the defeat.
Roy Hodson's Liverpool team gave Utd a good old run for their money and they were made work very hard for their victory.
We matched them for posession, gave them precious few goal-scoring chances, except the ones that Berbatov scored from and on another day, it could have been at last a draw.

A late Nacho Scocco thunderbolt from the best part of 35 meters out,salvaged AEK 2-2 draw tonight at the OAKA.Our performance could be best described as mediocre,as the team only played "football" for 35 out of the 90 minutes.
Bajevic made afew changes to the team that accounted for Hajduk Split during the week.

As always with any game people have their opinions. There is plenty of opinion being written since Thursday in the Press and on other blogs so I was wondering about handing over to YOU THE FANS, like me who have your opinions and to hear your voice.
I am reading alot of different opinions coming from Arsenal fans on the game.

Chelsea are being reported in the Daily Mail this morning interested in Sunderland's England under 21 midfielder Jordan Henderson. Henderson has received plaudits for his form so far this season and has impressed Fabio Capello to the point of maybe making it into the next full England squad.