By Chris Wright

Much like the first-string's executive decision to stop playing after 45 minutes, it seems like the Chelsea media bods also forgot to bring their 'A' game at the Bridge yesterday...

I distinctly hope that someone in the club's marketing department was flogged with barbed wire until the first light of dawn for this grave dereliction of duty.

Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola featured on Skysports' Goals on Sunday programme yesterday after sitting in the stands for Chelsea v Sunderland at the Bridge. He was asked for his opinion with the situation with Fernando Torres and his lack of goals at Chelsea. Zola was impressed with Torres but felt that he finds himself out of position far too often and it's costing him.

This afternoon is a must win game for Chelsea and it really is as simple as that. We cannot afford to drop points over the next few weeks as we need to try and close the gap to the sides above us now in the league.
AVB and his Chelsea players have a job on their hands this afternoon as a rejuvenated Sunderland side under new man-manager Martin O'Neill travel to the Bridge with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Winning at Swansea has proved a bridge too far for most teams this season, but Arsenal are 1.8...
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Ruddy nora and crikey hell! What about that, then? An absolute thunder-punt from everyone's favourite Smart Car-driving, Oyster card-carrying Evening Standard columnist/community support worker/international superstar footballer/all round good egg. If I was describing it using the medium of retro beat 'em, Street Fighter II, I would conclude thusly: sonic boom + flaming hadouken x hurricane kick= that goal.

So AVB speaks of Cahill and one possible other signing, dependant on value for money in this window which leads me to ask "Who is the second signing?".
You do have to wonder who it would be coming into the club as we have to consider the players who are due to be leaving or reported as doing so as early as this month or the end of the season when their contracts expire.

Today's post is written by Neil, a QPR supporter who we met up with before the game last Saturday. These are his thoughts on the game and the Emirates experience.

I got the chance to visit the Emirates stadium as I have always wanted to, as iI had heard a lot about it and it always looks great on TV.

As we told you earlier this week, the München Men have been biding their time at a training camp in Doha. Bastian Schweinsteiger recovered well enough from his shoulder operation (which quite honestly, left a sexy scar!) to play in their win over Al-Sailiya last night.

Anxiety is mounting among Chelsea fans as to whether the club will offer their icon Didier Drogba a new deal that would keep him at the bridge longer. Drogba's contract is set to run out this summer and according to coach Andres Villas-Boas he is hopeful that Drogba will sign a new contract with the club.

It has become very hard for analysts and pundits to predict Chelsea results as their roller coaster form has led to inconsistent results for much of the season. However, could Chelsea's performances be linked to the supposed rift between senior players and the coach?

Chelsea did win last night's game against Wolverhampton 2-1 and despite that making the news, more controversy was raised during AVB's post match press conference where the young tactician denied there was a rift between him and some senior players after both Frank Lampard and John Terry were not seen celebrating with him.

Eddie Johnson's quest to revive his playing career appears to have hit a major snag after he was reportedly dumped by Mexican club Puebla because he was out of shape.

According to Medio Tiempo, Johnson showed up for Puebla training camp before the New Year, but he failed to meet the team's expectations of fitness and sharpness and was let go.

It's headlines like this we wake up to this morning with The Sun claiming from their so called "Chelsea source" that there is player unrest and AVB has lost the dressing room.
The basis of this information has come about because apparently Nico Anelka was banned from the club's Xmas do by AVB so the players organised a separate one and didn't tell AVB for Anelka.

How many times this season have we looked like we can beat anyone and then in an instant struggle to win games?. It's so frustrating once again this season and Saturday against Fulham proved to me once again that when sides come to the Bridge and line up defensively, we struggle to break them down.

If you're a Blues fan, this just hasn't been a good month. Draw Spurs and now you are in 4th looking up at Man City... Then, despite 12 shots on goal, you can only find the back of the net once (thanks Torres for missing yet again), as Dempsey scores his 9th of the season to pull back a point for Fulham at the Bridge no less.

Why Chelsea may be a Bridge too far for Cahill

Gary Cahill is set to go to Chelsea in January. But I'm not sure if he will be able to cope at the highest level in the Champions League­­­­­­­­­ and at a top-four team. Just look at Yakubu's goal for Blackburn against Bolton the other night to see proof of that.

Why I can't understand Bridge wasting his talent when he should be playing

For the first time in 19 years I won't be playing professional football over Christmas. No more tiny nibbles of turkey because you're training in the afternoon. No more refusing a glass of champagne with your lunch.

Arsene Wenger has admitted that he can't find a solution to Arsenal's defensive injuries within the squad as the busy Christmas period arrives, and thinks that playing his centre-backs out of position will only make the problems worse and will reduce their attacking options as well. "It's difficult," Wenger said, "because first of all we [.

Dalglish not bothered by possible Suarez ban

"We'll cross that bridge if we have to cross it," says Liverpool boss

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-20 12:03:01 from: The Mirror

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

By Chris Wright

Just a few hours after getting done over by Chelsea at the Bridge, Man City celebrated their Christmas party just down the road at the Anaya nightclub in Mayfair.

Sadly, there were no Azerbaijani cults, Bengal tigers or Dwarf darts on the night just a good ol' fashioned fancy dress theme and, as with most fancy dress parties, some of the guests went all out (Joe Hart, Owen Hargreaves, etc) and some skirted by on bits and bobs nabbed from their kids' bedrooms at the last minute (Edin Dzeko).

By Chris Wright

There was an incident that was missed by referee Mark Clattenburg during the first half of Chelsea's 2-1 win over Man City at the Bridge last night that has sparked a fair bit of debate in internet circles this morning, despite not really being mentioned in the national press, in which Yaya Toure both 'kicked' ('nudged' being a fairer assessment) Juan Mata as he sat on the turf then slapped the Spaniard around the head for good measure a few minutes later.

Tweet My Goal: City's unbeaten record goes the way of Lampard's uneaten record

Manchester City are no longer unbeaten after a thrilling night at the Bridge. Chelsea 2-1 Man City: Leaders get Lamped Here's how it unfolded on our @MirrorFootball feed :

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-12 22:13:26 from: The Mirror

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

VietNamNet Bridge – Big spenders Ninh Binh are hoping to sign footballing superstars including Rivaldo and Guti ahead of the upcoming season.

"After the 2011 season, the managers were looking to improve our squad for next year. Ninh Binh look forward to signing stars such as Rivaldo and Guti to play in the V-League," said Pham Van Le, head of the Ninh Binh Football Delegation.

By Chris Wright

Just when Chelsea needed it most, Didier Drogba turned up and put in one of his best performances in a good couple of years to inspire his side to a 3-0 victory over Valencia at the Bridge last night, scoring two goals and filing an assist (for Ramires) to see the Blues comfortably and safely into the knockout phases of the Champions League in the process.

By Chris Wright

Just when Chelsea needed it most, Didier Drogba turned up and put in one of his best performances in a good couple of years to inspire his side to a 3-0 victory over Valencia at the Bridge last night, scoring two goals and filing an assist (for Ramires) to see the Blues comfortably and safely into the knockout phases of the Champions League in the process.

I love watching Roma, and i hope Luis Enrique is given something most are not given in this society.The time to implement a vision and a standard.But in a world where results trump process the embattled Spaniard may find his vision is a bridge too far.In the city that gave the world the addage"Rome wasn't built in a day" The Guardian's Paolo Baldini gives us a perspective of what it must be like for the troubled Spaniard this Morning.

The last few weeks have been pretty brutal for Seattle Sounders fans. Finally, it appears as if some good news is on the way. Multiple sources have confirmed that Mauro Rosales' extension has essentially been finalized and that it could be announced very soon. The contract is expected to pay Rosales somewhere in the neighborhood of Alvaro Fernandez and Fredy Montero, but it is unclear whether or not he will count as a Designated Player.

Two things happened yesterday at the Bridge which hopefully will be a sign of things to come for the reason of the season.
I wrote earlier last week that in order to stop the rot and the supposed slump we were now in, AVB had to decide on the best eleven and stick with them and play them week in, week out.

Three points? A clean sheet? At the Bridge? What the hell?

Rebounding (Latent NBA Reference)

Well, that was certainly nice to see now wasn't it? After almost a month and change of suspect performances, last-minute defensive lapses, and whimsical finishing that made us all shudder, we put in a comprehensive 90-minute shift that should quell a few of the naysayers.

Daniel Sturridge scored yet again in front of AVB at The Bridge against Liverpool last weekend. What more does he HAVE to do to earn a permanent place in Chelsea frontline? AVB has so far persisted with both Torres and Drogba while only allowing Sturridge to shine as an impact substitute or on the right of a front three.

Dalglish backs Villas-Boas after win at the Bridge

The Liverpool boss insisted no one in football would be questioning the Chelsea manager

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-11-21 09:44:28 from: The Mirror

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

In pics: Glory at the Bridge

Liverpool are celebrating a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Maxi Rodriguez and Glen Johnson and here are some great snaps from a great day in the capital.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-11-20 19:59:22 from: Liverpool FC

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

Goals:
Maxi 33'
Sturridge 55'
Johnson 88'
Another big game, another tactical master-class from Dalglish.
Instead of reacting to Chelsea, keeping it tight in the hopes of breaking through on the break, just like last year's trip to the Bridge, we saw a completely unexpected line-up and Barcelona-esque heavy, high pressing in the first half.

Serie A champions AC Milan have cooled down talk of Chelsea star Didier Drogba joining the club. Drogba who is out of contract with Chelsea next summer, has been consistently linked with a move away from the bridge.

Now, however, Milan Vice President Adriano Galliani has cooled down talks of the Ivorian star joining the 7 time European champions.

One thing you have to agree about Fernando Torres, he has never hidden away from his struggles he had at Chelsea last season. When questioned about it at the time, he answered every single question about his form and the doubters time and time again.
This season we have seen a very different Fernando Torres.

This photo of Zentralstadion (Central Stadium) in Leipzig, Germany, was taken in December 2005, a little over a year following the opening of the stadium. It was built within the site of the huge original Zentralstadion, built in the 1950s, one of Europe's largest venues holding over 100,000 spectators.

Well the first 24 hours after the Smith announcement has brought some interesting fall out.

• Nick Thomas tweeted that Paul Bravo is not a candidate for the job.
• The Rapids asked for, and were denied, permission from the Portland Timbers to speak to John Spencer about the job.
• ESPN's Jeff Carlisle dug into the story a bit to find out what the real issues were.

A horrible story is developing in New York City. Pedro Sosa, the National Golden Gloves champion for 2011, is in critical condition after falling from a bridge following a car accident. The same accident resulted in the death of his sister.

Sosa and his sister got out of their car to check on a pileup that occurred on the Cross Bronx Expressway.

Since April 10th we have lost 5 and drawn 3 games away from home, a dismal and painful run of games that has seen our defence and confidence take knock after knock.

The abject display in August at Old Trafford saw a very humbling score line result in cries for Wenger to walk now, before we fell apart at the seams was the cry of the naysayer's.

Hall Road Rangers manager Martin Thacker is facing a real problem following goalkeeper Adam Nicklin's decision to return to his former club North Ferriby United.
Nicklin has teamed up again with former boss Billy Heath, who himself departed Rangers to take over at Ferriby.
So, Rangers have no recognised goalkeeper on their 1st team books and will be bringing someone new in for the fixture at Queensgate tomorrow.

We had some welcome news from the club today with the news that Ramires is back and available for selection for the Arsenal game. We have missed Rammy lately. He has missed games against Everton at home, away, Genk at home and QPR and in especially his energy.
The little fella has been in great form this season, scoring goals and playing a big part in our season so far.