Roberto Di Matteo A difficult predicament for Roberto Di Matteo. Although he was never expected to get the job on a full time basis, if he wins the Champions League, he will do more than Mourinho, Ancelotti, Grant, Hiddink, Villas-Boas and Scolari did for Roman Abramovich. The problem for the Italian is that should Chelsea [.

Roberto Di Matteo A difficult predicament for Roberto Di Matteo. Although he was never expected to get the job on a full time basis, if he wins the Champions League, he will do more than Mourinho, Ancelotti, Grant, Hiddink, Villas-Boas and Scolari did for Roman Abramovich. The problem for the Italian is that should Chelsea [.

Roberto Di Matteo's gamble against Newcastle last night looks like it could have just cost him the Chelsea job. Having been impressed with his side's display against Queens Park Rangers, Di Matteo made only slight changes to the squad, as he choose to leave choosing to leave Drogba, Lampard, Ashley Cole and Salomon Kalou on the bench.

Juan Mata was instrumental in Chelsea's 6-1 defeat of QPR yesterday after being criticised by member of the media and press for two mediocre performances against Barcelona.
Juan Mata's position in Roberto Di Matteo's side is through the middle behind the front man and ever since he has been playing there, he has been a revelation.

Grazie alla rete di Camara, messa a segno al 10′ della ripresa, del match disputato in casa contro un combattivo Sochaux, il Montpellier conquista i tre punti, nella 31/a giornata della Ligue 1 e vola a +3 sul Psg di Ancelotti, impegnato stasera, al Parco dei Principi, contro il Marsiglia di Deschamps.

Fates. Met.

This past month or so has seen the firings of two high profile managers from two high profile positions in the greater European soccer community.

André Villas-Boas fired on March 4th from Chelsea, one month shy of celebrating his one-year anniversary.

The firing was not a surprise as club owner Roman Abramovich has shown a lack of patience in keeping managers.

What have Chelsea lost? Their minds? Yes. The respect of the footballing world? Absolutely. Their place among Europe's elite for next season? Quite possibly, but that's not what I mean.

How good is their now former manager Andre Villas-Boas? It feels like his time at the highly dysfunctional Chelsea will not serve as a good representation of his skills.

I have had my say on the sacking of AVB yesterday and stand by what I have said. AVB had to go because as a manager of our club he failed to deliver. He failed to motivate the players and to get the best out of them. Chelsea sit 20 points off the top of the Premier League and are in real danger of missing out on a top four finish and going out of the Champions League next week.

Some very suspicious activity concerning Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is expected today in London as the 49 year old is expected to make a second trip to Europe's financial capital for the second time in as many days.

Mourinho who only a couple of days ago was pictured 'house hunting' in London, revealed that he would be returning to the city today for undisclosed business purposes.

AVB spoke last Thursday to a radio station in Portugal with plenty of it being featured in the press in the last 24 hours. In an hour long interview AVB was asked to describe where Chelsea are now and he said:

"We are now in the exact same moment as last year"

I think we are worse now than when we were last year.

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Week 25 – Ligue 1 – Stade Municipal de Gerland

A well rested Lyonnais takes on PSG. The last time OL could afford a week's rest was about a month ago. Seven matches have been played since. While the start to the bunch of matches was full of comebacks and survival stories (and GOALS!

Being a football manager must be a lonely job at times, but the role seems even worse if you are in the dugout at Stamford Bridge.
The manager's position at Chelsea is something of a poisoned chalice, with a dressing room dominated by over-influential senior players and an impatient owner with a itchy trigger finger creating a perfect storm whereby manager after manager is whipped up on high before being flung unceremoniously to the floor.

Revons plus grand. Sogniamo di più, si legge sul nuovo freschissimo sito del Psg. Un sogno a trecento sessanta gradi quello dei parigini che, pezzo per pezzo, stanno costruendo le basi per un dominio solido e a lungo termine in Francia ed in Europa. Dopo un'estate in cui sono arrivati Sirigu, Sissoko, Menez, Pastore, eccoContinua a leggere .

Why Chelsea Need To End Reign Of Player Power - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

When Andre Villas-Boas took over as Chelsea Manager in June 2011, he probably didn't envisage the club's dressing room being his biggest problem during his first season in English football. A dressing room filled with international footballers and seasoned professionals would surely have been an attraction for any potential Chelsea manager following the ruthless sacking of Carlo Ancelotti.

Ducky's Note: Rathna Prashanth looks at a novel way to solve Torres' striking problem. By getting rid of Drogba!

Legend, proven goal scorer, leader on the pitch- these are some of the terms that describe the powerful Ivorian Drogba, aka the Top Dog of the Bridge. At 150 goals and still counting, not only has he been an amazing goalscorer for Chelsea, he has also been a tremendous athlete.

It seem's their are alot of footie agents looking to jump on the PSG gravy-train now that the club have more money than even Manchester City.
Former Chelsea manager Ancelotti told La Gazzetta dello Sport:

"I have received hundreds of phone calls from agents offering me players ever since I signed with PSG.

With the signing of Gary Cahill, it seems to me that slowly but surely, Chelsea are rebuilding the core of our side. For years, the core of the team has been Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba and we have seen them lead the side to the recent successes we have had. We have seen different players come and go as managers have built sides around them.

After a week of unexplainable boat parties, posing awkwardly next to bird statues and unbearable training sessions over New Year's in Dubai, AC Milan finally had enough, screamed 'BASTA!' and took home the Emirates Cup last night.

It's always nice to win something even if it was only 1-0 thanks to Pato's goal.

Speculation that David Beckham has made a huge u-turn to sign a new deal with LA Galaxy is mounting today, following reports that he has turned down a switch to big spending Paris St. Germain in France. For a number of weeks now, Beckham has been linked with a return to European football with the club that has just appointed former Chelsea boss, Carlo Ancelotti as its new manager.

Why Liverpool have missed an opportunity on Suarez, Graham Poll is beyond a joke and Ancelotti is already top of the table

Liverpool deserve some credit for deciding not to appeal against Luis Suarez's eight-match ban. But what a shame they chose to couch their decision in ­inflammatory language that continued to insist Suarez had done nothing wrong.

The news out of France on Tuesday morning is that David Beckham will not be signing a lucrative deal with Paris Saint-Germain. PSG are currently in Doha for a training camp, and have yet to confirm reports. The club announced on December 30th that former Chelsea manager Carlos Ancelotti would be replacing Antoine Kombouare as coach.

WEEKEND WRAP

Carlo Ancelotti had been jobless for the last seven months, watching reruns of 'The Sopranos' and your aunt's episodes of Coronation Street up until yesterday. Ouiiiii, ce n'est pas une blague... Paris Saint Germain officially decided he was the man to take over the reins of former coach Antoine Kombouaré, who failed to transform the Qatari-owned club into the new Ligue 1 Galácticos!

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea, Thursday 22nd December 2011, 8pm Kick off, Sky Sports 1 & HD1

Spurs are used to playing on a Thursday night this season. Of course the previous fixtures have been in the Europa League, now the Premier League are getting in on the action too.

Pressure mounting on Villas-Boas at Chelsea - SI.com.

When Chelsea selected ex-Porto manager Andre Villas-Boas to be their new leader last summer, many fans were scratching their heads to figure out who he was, and why he was chosen, but people in the game however, had no reservations about his ability to lead the London club back to it's trophy winning ways, as he had led Porto to a treble winning season in 2011 with Portuguese League, Cup and Europa League triumphs.

• Kop That: Liverpool's wastefulness is costing them dear http://t.co/7gu3YRJR 22:47:41, 2011-10-23
• Kop That: Marko Marin wanted by Tottenham and Liverpool http://t.co/JmAEwTQy 22:17:47, 2011-10-23
• Kop That: Liverpool 1-1 Norwich: Daily Mirror match report http://t.co/08wGhCKh 22:17:37, 2011-10-23
• Kop That: Liverpool 1-1 Norwich City: Reds left to rue missed chances http://t.

In what seems to be the first serious rumour of a new manager at the Emirates, ex-Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has emerged as a favourite to replace Wenger. The Italian, who was sacked by the Blues earlier this year, has a mountain of experience both on and off the pitch and enjoyed success as a [...

Andre Villas-Boas is trying hard to change the way Chelsea has played over the past six years and mini-Mourinho is getting closer with every game. In all aspect, it was an aging team that AVB inherited at the Bridge.
Ancelotti started the rejuvenation process, bringing in David Luiz and Fernando Torres.

I posted the other week Enough is Enough and following on from that I still can't believe the negativity towards Chelsea ahead of the new season by some of you fans. I cannot believe or understand where you are coming from at all.
Granted, everyone has freedom of speech and have every right to air their opinions but I really can't understand how you people are not looking forward to the new season.

Some kind soul has uploaded our new manager's first full interview with Chelsea TV to Youtube.

Based solely off the interview, I like the guy.

Points of interest:
- The proper way to pronounce "Villas-Boas"
- Already referring to Chelsea as "we," even when discussing recent years when he wasn't here
- Acknowledging the work that Ancelotti and other past managers have done for the club
- Sounds like he really wants to focus closely on man-management as well as the team management
- Just seems very aware of the situation at the club and eager to impress and do well but keep the focus on the team rather than himself

As I've said already, this appointment already has me excited for preseason and seeing our Blues in action once again.

This article was written by Pete South, follow him on Twitter @peterwsouth.
UPDATE: VILLAS-BOAS HAS SIGNED A THREE YEAR CONTRACT WITH CHELSEA
Andre Villas-Boas has resigned from his post as Porto manager amidst widespread speculation he will be installed as the next Chelsea boss, with a Portuguese news agency claiming the 33-year-old paid the €15 million release clause in his contract that allows him to leave the club himself.

Per gli allenatori godere di buona stampa è fondamentale, ancora più che per i calciatori. Solo così si capisce perché gli stessi risultati, con squadre di potenzialit finanziarie e tecniche simili, vengano valutati in maniera diversa. Il secondo posto di Ancelotti in Premier League con il Chelsea è stato quasi unanimemente in Italia giudicato un [.

Chiuso il campionato di Serie A, impazza il toto-allenatore. Alcuni tecnici saranno confermati, altri prepareranno le valigie. Molte panchine cambieranno, a partire da quella della Juventus, che ha gi salutato Delneri e si prepara ad abbracciare una vecchia bandiera come Antonio Conte, protagonista della promozione del Siena.

The Good

- It's over. Speaking personally as an Arsenal fan, that means the loosening of a feisty nutcracker on my testicles, but I believe it's much the same for most teams. Team and fan burnout is bound to happen eventually, and it's time for the body Duracells to undergo their yearly recharge.

NEWELLS 1 ALL BOYS 0
BANFIELD 1 GODOY CRUZ 1TIGRE 0 LANUS 3ARGENTINOS 0 OLIMPO 1HURACAN 0 ESTUDIANTES 2INDEPENDIENTE 3 COLON 1QUILMES 2 RACING 0VELEZ 2 GIMNASIA 0RIVER 1 SAN LORENZO 1ARSENAL 2 BOCA 2
CONTRATAPA Nº 74: OTRO BLOOPER DE CARRIZO DEJA A RIVER EN PROMOCIONATLETICO DE RAFAELA ASCIENDE A PRIMERA DIVISIÓNTÉVEZ GOLEADOR DE LA PREMIER LEAGUEMARADONA: "PARA JUGAR CON AUSTRALIA TE DABAN CAFÉ VELOZ".

Chelsea's season has ended without a trophy, and whilst Ancelotti believed he may find out "this week" about his fate, owner Roman Abramovich had other ideas and wielded his axe not even twenty four hours after the final day defeat to Everton.

Ancelotti's departure is a shame on two fronts.

Unbelievable.

Outro.

Classless.

I can't emphasize that enough. Sure, many of us figured the end was nigh for Carlo. After months of speculation, the double losses to United in the CL and PL essentially sealed his fate some weeks ago, with the remaining matches on our schedule an overall exercise in futility.

Now I am only blogging about this story because of the intense speculation about Ancelotti and this meeting he is having this week about his future. I have gone on record to state that I believe he should stay at the club and have the chance to rebuild and take on the challenges next season as in the two years he has been here, he deserves to.

I think all of us have been left tonight with the same feeling about the game today. The feeling we have is that it's typical of our season. We made a great start, suffered a dodgy patch through the middle of the game, got ourselves together and back in the running towards the end but let it slip in the final moments!

Ferguson gets charged with a 5 match ban when he made negative comments about a referee.

Now, he gets charged for a positive comment he made about Howard Webb before last weekend's game against Chelsea.

Even closest rivals Wenger and Ancelotti have expressed their surprise at this latest charge.

This morning in the Daily Mail, the pundits and reporters have had their say on Chelsea v United this Sunday and let's cut to the chase, they have written Chelsea's hopes of winning the game and or the title. However, Claudio Ranieri has spoken of his old side and believes if Chelsea wins on Sunday, we will win the title.