The Didier Drogba Foundation held a charity ball at the Dorchester Hotel in London over the weekend, giving the Chelsea striker ample opportunity to dig out his most horrendous blue suit in the name of philanthropy.

The event — attended by Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry and several more of AVB's mortal enemies — managed to raise over $390,000 to build a clinic in the Ivory Coast's capital by auctioning off once-in-a-lifetime prizes, including a Hublot watch, a private Ibiza party with Calvin Harris and a gentle lovemaking session with Raul Meireles.

Welcome to your Weekly Football wrap! From the looks of it, the Valencianos are all ready to celebrate their traditional Fallas festival by burning these "ninots" (puppets) of Jose Mourinho and Barca's assistant coach, Tito Vilanova at the celebration on March 19.

Andre Villas-Boas, new to London, new to Chelsea, new to the English Premiership and, to some degree, new to football management. Having been a professional football manager for only a handful of years and, considering his relatively youthful age (in comparison to others in the same profession), yet to experience any serious issues the Chelsea manager is on course for one now.

On the same day as reports that Chelsea players responded to Andre Villas-Boas harsh critique of their recent performance by giving it right back to him, Porto president Pinto da Costa announced that Villas-Boas is being undermined by players who still exchange text messages with Jose Mourinho.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made history back in February of 2005 when he became the first English Premier League manager to field a starting 11 that didn't include one English player. The reason for this appears to be necessitated by injuries to some of his top players at the time such as Sol Campbell, Justin Hoyte, and Ashley Cole.

Roy Hodgson announced his 23-man England roster for Euro 12 and, of course, there has already been criticism. When pressed on why he selected 18-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, his justification was a bit curious. From Fox:

"He's a very, very exciting player," Hodgson said.

By Chris Wright

As I understand it, the salient bullet points are as follows: Chelsea want to buy Gary Cahill for £7 million; Bolton want to sell Gary Cahill for £7 million, Gary Cahill wants to join Chelsea; Gary Cahill's agent asked for £120,000-a-week wages (presumably on the basis he scores more often than Fernando Torres); Chelsea aren't stupid.

Help me, I'm having nightmares. More, after the jump:

Cold as ice

I'm not even sure this match is as important as what's transpiring around the orbit of England's Once Brave (Twice-Removed) John Terry- henceforth known as EOBTRJT. Jack cooked up some brilliance on the matter, as always, which I recommend you all read at once.

By Josh Clarke

On initial inspection, similarities between Andre Villas-Boas' Chelsea and Edgar Allan Poe seem most abundantly clear in a shared propensity for an excruciating and painfully drawn-out narrative (think Fernando Torres and The Pit and Pendulum).

Valentines Day I hate it. Why? Because it means I have to go to the shops and get a card and other crap for a day invented by people to fleece me of what little money I have. Anyway back to the story. Today saw Carlton Cole show his twitter followers what he had [...] Related posts:

1. Should Cheryl Cole Take Back Ashley Cole?

With underwhelming results on the pitch and discord between the players and Andre Villas-Boas in the dressing room, Roman Abramovich must once again decide whether to keep his current manager or sack him and try another one. This, is the Roman Abramovich Game. This week's contestant: Roman Abramovich.

TweetSo Andre Villas-Boas has been sacked as Chelsea boss following Saturday's 1-0 away defeat to West Brom as In The Stands' Rolly Pelovangu asks is anybody surprised? Chelsea announced that they have parted company with 34-year old Andre Villas-Boas on Sunday morning with the news garnering little in terms of headlines or shocked surprise.

Is this a Dagger which I see before me? – English club Chelsea sack their latest coach. The Stamford Bridge club's owner, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, slayed Andres Villas-Boas after less than a year in charge of the first team. Poor results and a players' locker room rebellion burned the young Portuguese manager.

As the debate surrounding the identity of the next Chelsea manager heats up, skipper John Terry has spoken out in support of former boss Andre Villas-Boas, who was sacked on Sunday.

It has been an eventful week for the Blues as they won their first game in the post-AVB era by defeating Birmingham City 2-0 in the FA Cup amidst non-stop rumors that the likes of former Liverpool gaffer Rafa Benitez, Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, and Real Madrid's former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho are all potential candidates for the Stamford Bridge hot-seat.

Ashley Cole has never been the People's Favourite Footballer, but there's a fair chance he's working towards it. Cole arrived at the London Chest Hospital yesterday with QPR's Shaun Wright-Phillips to visit his friend, stricken Bolton player Fabrice Muamba.

From 2-0 up and sleepwalking toward three points to 2-2 and then, amazingly, 4-2 this was not the way any of us expected this match to play out. And if you did, you're a weird soul. Nevertheless, it's a crucial win as we inch closer to the top four.

Relief.

I'm not sure that we've played a more bizarre game this season.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

It might not have been pretty, but some gritty defending combined with a clinical finish from Didier Drogba has given Chelsea the upper hand in their UEFA Champions League semifinal against Barcelona.

Chelsea held serve on a rainy night at Stamford Bridge in the first leg with a 1-0 win over Barcelona.

Are we really less than 24 hours from contesting a second UEFA Champions League final? It really is hard to fathom. Tomorrow, we seek atonement not just for our loss to Manchester United in 2008 but for all the cruelty that has beset us in this competition over the past eight years. It is time, my friends, for the last act of a legendary generation.

By Chris Wright

1. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find him maybe you can hire: Didier Drogba. Didier...f**king...Drogba. Nine cup finals, nine goals and a winning penalty in a Champions League final.

2.

ARSENAL legend Ian Wright has apologised to Gunners fans after labeling them "mugs" in a rant about Ashley Cole on Twitter. Wrighty backed Cole's decision to quit Arsenal and join Chelsea after the they lifted the Champions League trophy following a penalty shootout win over Bayern Munich last night.

ARSENAL legend Ian Wright has apologised to Gunners fans after labeling them "mugs" in a rant about Ashley Cole on Twitter. Wrighty backed Cole's decision to quit Arsenal and join Chelsea after the they lifted the Champions League trophy following a penalty shootout win over Bayern Munich last night.

And so it finally came to pass. Nine years after Roman Abramovich arrived at Stamford Bridge and spent like no other owner before him, and Chelsea win the one prize that always eluded Roman's riches. Ironically, this comes just a week after Sheik Mansour's Manchester City won the league on even greater resources than Chelsea have been used to.

England will be making another change to their Euro 2012 squad as Gary Cahill will miss the tournament due to two jaw fractures. The injury occurred during a friendly against Belgium when Cahill collided with goalkeeper Joe Hart. He will be replaced by Martin Kelly. This is one of several injures in the past week for England as Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard were also ruled out.

Frank Lampard will grab the headlines. Fernando Torres deserves to share in the spotlight. The maligned striker capped an excellent shift with one more killer pass, this time to Ashley Cole who went on to set up Super Frank for a trademark finish with only minutes to play. I don't want to wager on just how big this result could prove to be, but I reckon pretty damn in the grand scheme.

Frank Lampard will grab the headlines. Fernando Torres deserves to share in the spotlight. The maligned striker capped an excellent shift with one more killer pass, this time to Ashley Cole who went on to set up Super Frank for a trademark finish with only minutes to play. I don't want to wager on just how big this result could prove to be, but I reckon pretty damn in the grand scheme.

After watching Fernando Torres' performance yesterday for Chelsea I thought to myself "He's had a good game today". Then I saw the report of Ex-Liverpool Phil Thompson on Skysports "Soccer Saturday" and couldn't believe what I was reading!. Thompson is quoted soon after the game saying:

"He's not anywhere near.

By Chris Wright

With charges, arrests and general controversy beginning to stack up, we are once again indebted to Taiwan-based media group NMA who filter out all the bull plop and present us with nothing but the clear facts using their trademark subtle blend of retina-searing imagery, dizzying overly-literal metaphors and featherlight grip on the actual incidents being discussed.

It has indeed happened. We have reached the magical plateau of 40 points, and are thus unlikely to be relegated. Three cheers. As for this fixture, it was a right odd one, with the Chels looking equal parts sterling and benumb, particularly in defense. Chances, there were a fair few for both sides.

It's official Chelsea have completed the signing of Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill. Cahill was repotedly bought for a fee believed to be in the region of £7 million and is set to be presented at Stamford Bridge sometime this week.

It is still not clear whether Chelsea gave into Cahill's obscene demands of a £100,000 weekly wage in addition to a £4 million signing on fee as the fine details of the deal are yet to be revealed, however, what is certain is that Cahill is happy with the deal.

With the news that Gary Cahill has finally signed for Chelsea and after already asking you guys what the signing of Cahill means for the likes of David Luiz, I am wondering what you the Chelsea fans believe is now our best starting back four.
It's important to remember that AVB intended to play a high line in the Premier League with defenders who are also technically gifted.

In the summer of 2006 Manchester United were written off. Chelsea had just won the league with ease and added one of the best players in the world for each position to their squad. Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko joined them, whilst in contrast we sold our top scorer, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and didn't replace him, and brought in Michael Carrick, who was hardly the midfield general the fans had been hoping for.

We're off to Carrow Road tomorrow. My suggestion? Take the morning train.

It's a fixture that promises to be kind of fascinating. For one, it wasn't easy at Stamford bridge at the end of August; it sure won't be easy in Norfolk, either, with Norwich undefeated in four and currently in ninth.

Another frustrating day out and about for the Chels, who, despite a heap of possession and a fair few scoring chances, failed to break down a resolute Norwich City side at Carrow Road. Good result for them; us, not so much. That, as we said in our innovative preview, is another golden opportunity wasted.

It was, in short, a poor afternoon. Let's just say our trip to Spain couldn't have come at a better time. More, after the jump:

Begging for Mercy

I'm a hazy mess. Well, not a mess per se. But, disappointed by what was without a doubt a toothless display of our ineffective style that sums up our season.

Remember Yuri Zhirkov? The man with a big reputation as one of the upcoming stars of European football joined Chelsea for a fee of around £18m in 2009 and being honest, did little really to cement his place in the team or force his way in. I think we could realistically, count on one hand the amount of games he played well in for Chelsea.

Saturday Liverpool - Manchester United 7:30am - Fox Soccer A highlight encounter in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup, even if Liverpool are 7th in the league to United's 2nd. "Liverpool have been struggling for form recently, and if we play like we did at Arsenal then I can't see why we can't get a very positive result," former United striker Ashley Cole told the club's official site.

People have complained that this website is dominated by WAG's so to counteract our lager-swigging, tit staring, lad-mad reading hard exterior shell, we have decided to give something back to the ladies... Andy Andrew Cole break it down... And don't worry ladies... Related posts:Should Cheryl Cole Take Back Ashley Cole?

Chelsea drew with Swansea tonight 1-1 with a late late Jose Bosingwa goal. Ashley Cole was also sent off for two bookable offences!. Not the result we were looking for!.
Here's the goals.
szólj hozzá: S1-0C
szólj hozzá: S1-1C
KTBFFH

By Alan Duffy

Swansea City 1-1 Chelsea Premier League 31th January 2012

A last-gasp Neil Taylor own-goal saved Chelsea from another disappointing defeat on Tuesday night, after Swansea gave the home fans another superb display of pacy attacking football.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

FIFA is considering a number of rule changes that could have a major impact on the international game going forward.

The major proposal that FIFA's board is facing would allow teams to use a fourth substitute in extra time in an attempt to cut down on player injuries.