Taken by me at M&T Bank Stadium. Jealous?

Alright people. Back from what felt like the longest international break in....well, ever, Chelsea will take on Wolves at the Bridge tomorrow, and will do so with what would have to be called a diminished lineup.

Non Chelsea-related post: Well, not really. We play Voyeur's men in a little more than a week.

Quite hilarious advert from the Arsenal in support of their fundraising campaign this term. Cesc as a cute and cuddly pony is spot on; Theo as a lion, not so much. Never thought I'd say this, but well done Arsenal.

Non Chelsea-related post: Well, not really. We play Voyeur's men in a little more than a week.

Quite hilarious advert from the Arsenal in support of their fundraising campaign this term. Cesc as a cute and cuddly pony is spot on; Theo as a lion, not so much. Never thought I'd say this, but well done Arsenal.

Earlier in the week, both the Guardian and Independent reputable members of the British media in my view claimed Chelsea were ready to throw around £40 million at Atletico Madrid for striker Sergio Aguero in the January transfer window.

Move forward a couple of days.

Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou and Abdoulaye Meite were both in the Ivory Coast squad to face Germany in Wednesday's international friendly (2-2 draw). Neither was available for Saturday's World Cup qualifiying win over Guinea after the two went all hyphy on each other in training. The two have since made up (awww).

"Those that doubted football's cruelty ought to have been on hand here in Paris."
-David Hytner of the Guardian, following Ireland's 1-1 draw (2-1 aggregate loss) to France on Wednesday.

Applaud these men.

This is obviously a non Chelsea-related post, but I don't care.

Way to go, kid. Lee Sawyer, a midfielder who had been with Chelsea since age 9, had his contract terminated on Nov. 12 after being returned to the Blues by his loan club, Southend United, at his own request.

That move kind of backfired, eh? Sawyer had numerous discipline issues while at Southend, including being banned for a match after missing a team meeting.

Outlets across the board reported Saturday that Chelsea have launched a preliminary bid for Everton kiddie Jack Rodwell. The number I'm seeing and I'm rolling with the Independent on this is £14 million.

Wow. Of course, it was rejected by David Moyes & Co. who value Rodwell at £20m. Hmm, a hefty sum that.

You guys know the deal by now. Former Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini suffered career-threatening injuries in a motorcycle crash last week. Cudicini, now at Tottenham, had successful surgery on Friday and is expected to make a "good recovery." Excellent news.

We at Chelsea Offside wish you the best, Carlo.

Just a few short weeks ago, Chelsea appeared the strongest team at least squad-wise in the English top flight. How quickly things can change.

Following this weekend's international break, the list of those on the treatment table has grown exponentially and not simply from lining up for their respective countries.

Off a defender, off a post, in the net. Mr. Anelka took care of business away for France, making their trip to South Africa look pretty likely. As Jack posted earlier this week, Nico likes being the supporting striker, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like to let it rip on occasion.

Also in action today, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, and Paulo Ferreira all played as Portugal won 1-0 against Bosnia, as Hilario, who won his first callup for Portugal, didn't make the bench.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has flown back to England after sustaining a thigh injury on international duty in Qatar. Lampard was preparing for England's friendly against Brazil this weekend.

Sexy.

An FA spokesman: "We can confirm that Frank Lampard picked up an injury to his left thigh whilst training today and will be returning home this evening.

Bosingwa ruled out for three months
Via the official Web site: "Chelsea Football Club can confirm that José Bosingwa underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this week. His recovery time will be approximately three months."

S***. At least we have an in-form Branislav Ivanovic to continue in his absent.

With the match against Manchester United obviously grabbing headlines last week, some of you may have missed this shocker. The News of the World broke an exclusive on John Terry's dad, Ted. Apparently the man is selling cocaine out of a wine bar. And they even have undercover video of a transaction.

Super Frank gets the digital treatment from EA and adidas.

In following with this week's pattern of posting hilarious pictures, photoshopped or no, we bring you this marvelous offering from the Sun. Luckily, the accompanying interview is not half bad. Thanks to reader Chelsea for the heads up.

Q: When Nicolas signed did you feel, Didier, you had to prove you were better?

While Chelsea were cleaning up on the field, David was, too in the stands.

In what surely has to be considered one of the great moments in Stamford Bridge history, if not footballing history, the man we all now know broke out the ol' toothbrusher for a quick cleanse in the final minutes of Sunday's 1-0 home win over Manchester United.

Photo says it all, really...

See the full magazine front here.

Regarding refereeing decisions: I don't want to hear it...

We at the Chelsea Offside wish Joey Cole a happy 28th birthday.
Celebrate it with a goal against the Mancs, my boy.

Chelsea has turned the swag on of late (no souljaboytellem), wouldn't you say? Since the defeat to Aston Villa (five matches): 19 goals scored, 2 conceded. The real test, however, comes today when the reigning champions three times running visit Stamford Bridge. Manchester United travel to the Bridge for a 1 v.

Here's a look at how Chelsea has fared against Manchester United at "Your Ad Here" Stamford Bridge over the past 20 years.

8-8-8. Kind of weird, that. Since the turn of the century: 4-1-5.

Date Day Competition Result
13-Feb-88 Division One L, 1-2
24-Feb-90 Division One W, 1-0
09-Mar-91 Division One W, 3-2
15-Dec-91 Division One L, 1-3
19-Dec-92 Premier League D, 1-1
11-Sep-93 Premier League W, 1-0
26-Dec-94 Premier League L, 2-3
21-Oct-95 Premier League L, 1-4
22-Feb-97 Premier League D, 1-1
04-Jan-98 FA Cup L, 3-5
28-Feb-98 Premier League L, 0-1
29-Dec-98 Premier League D, 0-0
10-Mar-99 FA Cup L, 0-2
03-Oct-99 Premier League W, 5-0
10-Feb-01 Premier League D, 1-1
20-Apr-02 Premier League L, 0-3
23-Aug-02 Premier League D, 2-2
30-Nov-03 Premier League W, 1-0
15-Aug-04 Premier League W, 1-0
12-Jan-05 FL Cup D, 0-0
29-Apr-06 Premier League W, 3-0
09-May-07 Premier League D, 0-0
26-Apr-08 Premier League W, 2-1
21-Sep-08 Premier League D, 1-1

As we proceed, to buy what we need.

Diddy knows what is up. As you should have already heard, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has agreed to freeze the two-window transfer ban on Chelsea, as well as the four-month playing ban on Gael Kakuta. These bans, imposed by Fifa's Dispute Resolution Chamber, are temporarily lifted until the club's appeal has been heard and ruled on.

Via the official Web site...

Tell us your background as a player in Scotland.
My footballing background goes back many years. I was a player in my younger days and I had a number of trials around some of the local teams, but never really made it onto the big stage. I was a big fan of football as well.

This two men are one and the same.

Guess where I found this pic. On a Barca web site, of course.

New Atletico manager Quique Flores remembers the Blue machine well, Michael Essien all too well. Furthermore, a win will take us through to the group stages. Oh, and Didier Drogba is back to terrorize Europe.

I'll have that.

This man may be the fulcrum in 09-10.

If No. 4 isn't up for goal of the season, the whole list is a sham. That was truly as elegant as team goal as I've seen. Sheer audacity and brilliance. (P.S. Only Spanish commentary could enhance this display) Bonita Gol.

No talent ass clowns.

So it's Bolton at the Reebok on Saturday.

I think we can safely say we're not going to see a repeat of the midweek thrashing we threw at Wanderers in the Carling Cup. Wednesday's match was the third consecutive demolition at Stamford Bridge 13 goals scored, none conceded. The Blues are in a rich vein, eh?

Duders. I think it's been obvious over the past couple of months that my productivity levels with regard to this blog have fallen. New commitments have forced me to stretch myself a tad too thin. Of course, my quality of writing is still pristine you know it to be true but I really want to start bombarding the people with a plethora of intelligent, insightful, satirical, comedic, humorous, pompous, demented, borderline insane material.

Via the Guardian (of course), following our 5-0 demoltion of Blackburn on the weekend ...

"The oversimplified reading of a diamond formation* suggests that any success is significantly dependent on the excellence of attacking full-backs. Yet Chelsea were without Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa when they obliterated Blackburn at the weekend.

It's the question of questions. It's been said that even the Grail knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade pondered this query of course, this was before that two-timing b**** killed his frail ass when she attempted to flee with the Grail.

Don't cross the Seal! Anyway.

Carlo's been steamrolling opponents with his vaunted diamond midfield of late.

It's a celebration, bitches.

Via the Guardian ... "The competition may change, the advertising hoardings spinning to proclaim Champions League or Premier League or Carling Cup, but Chelsea's swashbuckling home form remains a constant. A tenth consecutive win here, achieved gracefully and impressively last night, has propelled Carlo Ancelotti's team into the quarter-finals.

This man struggles to sell hard copies.
He certainly doesn't have any trouble bulging the ol' onion bag (no Tommy Smyth) against the Blackeyes.