Hold on, calm down, deep breaths.... hear me out, then shout/speak/swear !!

Before I start my reasoning, if you can call it that, I want to say how much I love Robin to bits, he is just the kind of Captain the club needed after being diddled somewhat by the last few. His goals this year, in particular this season, have potentially saved us from a major crisis.

Fascinating article in the Sun today about how today about how Andre Villas-Boas laid down the law to his Chelsea players.

Between the defeat to Liverpool in the Carling Cup and the trip to Newcastle, AVB met with Chelsea's four most senior players: John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech.

Fascinating article in the Sun Thursday about how today about how Andre Villas-Boas laid down the law to his Chelsea players.

Between the defeat to Liverpool in the Carling Cup and the trip to Newcastle, AVB met with Chelsea's four most senior players: John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech.

Anelka's Chinese deal done and Shanghai plan Drogba move too

Chelsea veteran will earn £6m-a-year

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-11 11:34:05 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou's imminent January departure for the African Cup of Nations, along with the sale of Nicolas Anelka to Chinese Super League Club Shanghai Shenhua has left manager André Villas-Boas facing a possibly head-scratching dilemma.

The loss of these three household names could force goal-shy Fernando Torres back in to the equation at Stamford Bridge, a move which some would consider a risk.

Breaking news today on Official Chelsea. Nicolas Anelka and Alex have handed in transfer requests to the club and these have both been accepted!
To be honest it comes as no surprise as both players have been the subject of rumour and speculation lately.
Alex has been talking of moving to Italy since back in the summer and hasn't featured a great deal this season so far.

Rumours abound that Liverpool may be looking to sign Nicolas Anelka in the January Transfer-Window, either on loan, or to buy him for around £4 million.
The former Liverpool striker, under Gerrard Houllier, is out of favour and soon out of a contract at Chelsea.
Since the arrival of Villas Boas and the purchase of fallen-Red, Fernando Torres, Anelka has found himself way down the pecking order, behind young Daniel Sturridge who is beginning to find the net quite frequently.

It's official, Anelka and Alex will be leaving Chelsea in January. The Duo have become srplus to needs at Stamford Bridge and Coach Villas-Boas has confirmed that the club had received their offers to leave the club in January.

I would not quite call this a loss for Chelsea, but rather a step in the right direction as both players are indeed past their prime.

Over the weekend we heard AVB confirm that Alex and Nico Anelka have both submitted transfer requests to the club that have been accepted and they are now training away from the first team squad until a move has been completed.
Yesterday however, news broke all over the media that Chelsea and AVB are also willing to listen to offers for a further FOUR more players in January!

As we all know AVB is planning a clear out starting in January and continuing next summer after the club confirmed that transfer requests have been accepted from Alex and Nico Anelka. Over the weekend stories also broke that AVB is prepared to listen to offers for Drogba, Kalou, Bosingwa and Ferreira.

Anelka's car is clamped DURING a match

Chelsea striker ticketed after he is refused entry to club car park

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-07 23:00:44 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

I think if I was John Obi Mikel I would be worried. The fact that Oriol Romeu has come to the club, worked hard and has impressed so much to cement a regular start in the Chelsea side week in, week out - it's no wonder really.
Chelsea fans have a divided opinion of Mikel. For me the defensive instincts and qualities he has shouldn't be forgotten.

The Twittersphere was alive last night with the scoreline London 2-0 Manchester, as both City and, more spectacularly, United failed to join Arsenal and Chelsea for the knockout stages of this season's Champions League.

The response from dejected mancs has been that this scoreline is of little relevance; the red and blue halves of Manchester still make up the top two in the Premier League, and the Londoners don't really have a chance of conquering Europe anyway.

The Twittersphere was alive last night with the scoreline London 2-0 Manchester, as both City and, more spectacularly, United failed to join Arsenal and Chelsea for the knockout stages of this season's Champions League.

The response from dejected mancs has been that this scoreline is of little relevance; the red and blue halves of Manchester still make up the top two in the Premier League, and the Londoners don't really have a chance of conquering Europe anyway.

• Kop That: Why Spurs can be title challengers and not just pace-setters this time http://t.co/aEjve4ai 23:20:37, 2011-12-07
• Kop That: Rejoice! Peter Crouch has revived The Robot http://t.co/hgmSfzWX 23:20:32, 2011-12-07
• Kop That: Anelka's car is clamped DURING a match http://t.

I love Nico Anelka as I think the bloke is class. I have said it before time and time again on here and posted my tribute to him and his time at Chelsea the other week.
Since then, we obviously heard the news that he handed in a transfer request last week that has been accepted by the club and is now training away from the first team and will not be involved anymore.

I love Nico Anelka as I think the bloke is class. I have said it before time and time again on here and posted my tribute to him and his time at Chelsea the other week.
Since then, we obviously heard the news that he handed in a transfer request last week that has been accepted by the club and is now training away from the first team and will not be involved anymore.

Story featured today in The Sun
It's been confirmed that Nicolas Anelka has signed for Shanghei Shenhua on a reported £6m a year contract for two years. The club released an official statement on the Chelsea website here saying:

Chelsea Football Club and Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua have agreed terms for the permanent transfer of Nicolas Anelka in the January transfer window.

Just like I said yesterday, AVB has come out and rejected claims made by the media the other night that Chelsea were prepared to listen to offers of around £20m for Fernando Torres.
He said:

"It's not true, he is not available at any price.
Everybody wants to be involved all the time but Fernando is pushing for a place with Didier Drogba.

AVB in his comments about Didier Drogba leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January made a point that I believe to be quite interesting. He said:

"Of course, Anelka will not be available anymore but we have Sturridge, Lukaku and Fernando competing for that place when Drogba will be away.

AVB in his comments about Didier Drogba leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January made a point that I believe to be quite interesting. He said:

"Of course, Anelka will not be available anymore but we have Sturridge, Lukaku and Fernando competing for that place when Drogba will be away.

Everton are bringing back USA star Landon Donovan in January. Nic Anelka is going to China. And Mario Balotelli is in a fight in training once again. Tons of news around the Premier League, but as the fixture list gets ... Continue reading →

NICOLAS Anelka's departure from Chelsea to Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua got me thinking: how far the game has evolved in the world's most populous Country?

Ever since the formation of China's top flight division in 1994 and its subsequent re-branding 10 years later (From the Jia-A League to the Chinese Super League), the far-east nation has pumped vast sums of money into its Football Association and the results of this are now beginning to show.

By Andrew Crawford, writing from Shanghai. Andrew has written for The Independent and When Saturday Comes, while also maintaining Wild East Football the only English site covering Chinese football, and he'll be featuring "Letters from Shanghai" on AFR to help track the growth of the league, as well as the stars playing there.