A pearce-ing scream: The U21 coach is taking over for the Holland friendly
The players are all coming out of the woodwork. After keeping miserably silent and not offering
an ounce of support for their former manager. Man, those must have been the toughest five years of
their lives? But they're now tweeting their approval of Harry Redknapp as favourite to lead the
Three Lions.
Chelsea published their accounts yesterday and revealed that Chelsea had to pay £28m on "changes
in the first team management structure" by sacking Carlo Ancelotti and hiring Andre Villas-Boas as
his replacement which is just insane.
In addition to this, Football Finance Analyst Andy Green has calculated that Chelsea and Roman
Abramovich have paid out around £64m in the last four years on managerial changes alone!
So, Fabio Capello quits as the England national coach. This is, perhaps, unsurprising
considering the dog's abuse that he has taken while leading the national team through an almost
flawless qualification campaign, before finding that the decision over who would take the England
captain's arm-band was taken away from him without consultation.
Andy Carroll who has come under intense fire from the Liverpool faithful the past few weeks for
his inconsistent performances, responded to his critics by scoring in Liverpool's 3-0 win over
Wolves yesterday.
The £35 million signing from Newcastle opened the scoring for the Reds, to take his tally for
the club to 7.
An anthology based on the Mark's writings for CFCnet and the legendary cfcuk fanzine, Chelsea
Chronicles - volume one - captures in heartfelt, humorous, diary-format prose a period in Blues
history when many fans couldn't quite believe what was going on at Stamford Bridge.
From the glory of the back-to-back title under Mourinho, through the ridiculous reigns of Grant and
Scolari, and ending with the FA Cup victory with Hiddink at the helm, Chelsea Chronicles - volume
one - provides the reader with an articulate and hugely entertaining insight into True Blue life.
Chesea used to make an easy dinner out of trips to places like Norwich. They would travel,
feast, fill themselves up and return to London with 3 points in the bag. What was once an easy task
has now become a stressful endeavour. Chelsea travel to grounds like Carrow Road hoping for 3
points rather than expecting them.
The inaugural UK Football Academy (UKFA) symposium at Emirates Stadium on February 8th has been
renamed The Gary Speed Football Congress by UKFA founder, Raymond Verheijen as a tribute to the
manager alongside whom he worked last year to elevate the Wales football team to new heights.
As a player and a manager, Gary Speed was a model professional who embraced a forward-thinking
approach and modern methods.
New year celebrations for Chelsea fans were cancelled after the Blues suffered a humiliating 3-1
home loss to Aston Villa yesterday. Not only has this loss pushed Chelsea down to 5th position in
the league, but coach AVB has also conceded that his primary target now is to ensure Chelsea
challenge for a top 4 finish.
Florent Malouda isn't happy with his current bit-part role at Chelsea. He's ready to reevaluate
life in London, and apparently is weighing potential moves should his ambition not be met.
Is any of this shocking? Not really.
Not of the avant-garde
Malouda spoke of recent frustration with his lack of match time after Monday's 1-1 draw with
Fulham.
We haven't done one of these for a while but here are some interesting links.
Jonathan Wilson on Villas-Boas.
"Rome wasn't built in a day," Brian Clough once said. "But then I wasn't on that particular
job." It's a great line, but the truth is that the majority of managers need time.
Clock ticks for André Villas-Boas as Guus Hiddink waits in the shadows | Richard
Williams
Roman Abramovich may be compelled to act sooner rather than later if it appears Chelsea are
heading for the Europa League The old immutable law of the ex ensured that Glen Johnson would be
the man to pop up with the late winner that helped his current club beat his old employers on
Sunday.
Guus Hiddink is unemployed. He likes Chelsea, a lot.
So, is a return to London in some capacity other than manager represent good business for the
club and Roman Abramovich? Yes and no.
London calling?
Hiddink resigned his managerial post this week following a turbulent near two-year spell in
charge of the Turkish national team.
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Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
In this week's review section, we congratulate The Czech Republic, The Republic of Ireland,
Portugal and Croatia on Euro 2012 qualification, while Guus leaves Turkey and Suarez makes the back
pages for the wrong reason.
Guus Hiddink is pondering a move back to England after Turkey sacked the Dutchman following
their failure to reach the Euro 2012 Championship Finals, going down 3-0 to Croatia on aggregate in
the play-offs.
Grab your Euro 2012 Kits at Soccer.com
No disrespect to other clubs, but Sunday's Premier League clash of titans at Old Trafford was a
meeting between the two finest clubs in England over the past decade. And, for once, it didn't just
live up to the media hype it transcended it.
Did that really just happen?
"Chelsea should have won more trophies with their squad because the quality is there. The
ambition was there and you can see what the club has spent on players."
-Michael Ballack in today's The Times
Is he right?
All the above points are fair ones from the former Chelsea midfielder.
ESPN Soccernet is reporting that Turkish National team manager and former Chelsea manager Guus
Hiddink has told Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich what everyone else has been saying all along:
Stability is the key to winning. Abramovich, who has hired...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.
Guus Hiddink has told Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich that stability is needed at Stamford Bridge
and that he should stop sacking managers when they don't bring immediate success.
Rob Kinnan PhotographyBob Bradley was relieved of his duties as the United States Men's National
Team coach today. It is said that an announcement is forthcoming on his replacement. With the
United States taking on Mexico in a friendly August 10th, it suggests that U.S. Soccer already had
a plan in place.
Hate 'em if you want but no one does NASL-era nostalgia like the Cosmos and I ain't mad at that.
You use what tools you've got.
I just wonder why the Earthquakes weren't milking this cow years ago. Why not flaunt George Best
scoring the illest goal of the disco era? How about some footage of Guus Hiddink running the
midfield back in the day cut with a clip of him running things from the touchline now?
Andre Villas-Boas is Chelsea's new manager and I have to say I am really excited about the
appointment after seeming for so long that Roman Abramovich would entrust his beloved Chelsea to
Guus Hiddink once again.
The appointment of Villas-Boas seemed somewhat out of the blue as the news broke that he could be
leaving Porto.
Villas Boas- What can we expect? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Yet another season gone by, and the post-season review brings back moments from the seasons long
gone. Arsenal, living up to their tag of chokers, relinquishing yet another strong position in the
league inspite of showing flashes of absolute ingenuity, Chelsea losing steam in the December
period, (not because of the Cup of African Nations though) and then firing their manager for
avoidable and trivial errors and then the Big 4 similar to the 2009-2010 season, were given a real
run for their money by hugely improved sides like Tottenham and Manchester City.
Spain's era of dominance may have only just begun - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Always the perennial underachievers, the last few years have seen that theory put to bed.
Though the senior team went out in the second round in the 2006 world cup, their previous group
performances were electric and a sign of things to come, only hiccuping when faced with a certain
purple patch conjured by the majestic Zinedine Zidane and assisted by a blatant dive from the then
golden boy Thierry Henry.
The Chelsea coaching turnstiles have churned once more.
The Blues have become somewhat notorious in recent years due to the high turnover rate at the
managerial position. Since Roman Abramovich took over the club in 2003, there have been
seven different Chelsea managers. That's seven managers in eight years, or a new manager
every 1.
Andre Villas-Boas is Chelsea's new manager and I have to say I am really excited about the
appointment after seeming for so long that Roman Abramovich would entrust his beloved Chelsea to
Guus Hiddink once again.
The appointment of Villas-Boas seemed somewhat out of the blue as the news broke on Tuesday that he
could be leaving Porto.
Shortly after releasing himself from FC Porto, Andre Villas-Boas, has officially been confirmed
as the new Chelsea manager in a pretty surprising week after the media were linking the Blues more
with Guus Hiddink instead of the Portuguese young manager.
The London club's moving in swiftly right after reports suggesting that Inter Milan were in
talks with Villas-Boas few days ago, while the Italian giant failed to capture the former Jose
Mourinho's assistant, Roman Abramovic's side made the breakthrough and have unveiled the new coach
on their official website.
By Chris Wright
Bit of an update to the rumblings we bought you this morning, with the news that Andre
Villas-Boas has (very nearly) resigned from his post at Porto and is almost certain to take up the
reigns at Chelsea before the week is out.
Porto have released the following statement:
"Porto were notified of the intention of Andre Villas-Boas to resign from his contract with the
club by triggering the release clause (€15 million) immediately.
Massimo Moratti: Whither my next coach?
With Leonardo's exit, the Inter coaching job has opened up. So far their search has
foundered.
Andre Villas- Boas is Chelsea bound. Fabio Capello's son confirms Inter made an approach for the
England manager but he's bound to the FA.
It's seems that it will only be a matter of days now until Chelsea reveal that Andre Villas Boas
will be the new Chelsea manager after, according to reports, Guus Hiddink couldn't come to an
agreement with Chelsea.
I posted yesterday about the Hiddink / Villas Boas possible link up as Director of Football and
First Team Coach and it seems that this was partly right until Villas Boas "reportedly" threw a
spanner in the works.
On face value, it seems like a match made in heaven. The young, dashing Porto manager that looks
set to be given a chance to harness Chelsea's millionaire's into a trophy-winning unit it all seems
very familiar doesn't it? The Guardian even report that he will earn the exact same salary as
Jose Mourinho did during his time in London.
According to reports in Portugal, the best young manager in football, Andre Villas-Boas has
accepted an offer to become manager of Chelsea. Chelsea have reportedly agreed to pay the £13.2m
release clause to get Villas-Boas out of his contract with Porto.
Porto president Pinto da Costa said the club could not prevent Villas-Boas leaving should
certain financial conditions be met.
According to reports in Portugal, the best young manager in football, Andre Villas-Boas has
accepted an offer to become manager of Chelsea. Chelsea have reportedly agreed to pay the £13.2m
release clause to get Villas-Boas out of his contract with Porto.
Porto president Pinto da Costa said the club could not prevent Villas-Boas leaving should
certain financial conditions be met.
Bookies have slashed the odds on Andre Villas-Boas becoming the new Chelsea manager over the
weekend and this morning from 8/1 - 11/10 and have reportedly suspended the betting!.
After weeks of speculation about who the main man was going to be at Chelsea, it seems there could
be two arriving at Stamford Bridge with Guus Hiddink coming in as Director of Football and Andre
Villas-Boas as the new First Team Coach.
Bookies have slashed the odds on Andre Villas-Boas becoming the new Chelsea manager over the
weekend and this morning from 8/1 - 11/10 and have reportedly suspended the betting!.
After weeks of speculation about who the main man was going to be at Chelsea, it seems there could
be two arriving at Stamford Bridge with Guus Hiddink coming in as Director of Football and Andre
Villas-Boas as the new First Team Coach.
So after weeks of speculation and news that Chelsea have had a bid turned down for Luka Modric,
Real Madrid have slapped a 40m Euros price tag on Kaka and after Guus Hiddink reportedly said to
Roman Abramovich to go and buy Wesley Sneijder, I was wondering which one out of these three would
you prefer to see at Chelsea?
I've managed to post very little on the subject of our manager search; the absence is probably
bordering on conspicuous by now despite my distaste for diving into pure speculation. There's
nothing sinister about it though, the situation seems to be ever-changing, I'd be writing a half
dozen posts a day if I attempted to cover every twist and turn.
I've managed to post very little on the subject of our manager search; the absence is probably
bordering on conspicuous by now despite my distaste for diving into pure speculation. There's
nothing sinister about it though, the situation seems to be ever-changing, I'd be writing a half
dozen posts a day if I attempted to cover every twist and turn.
