In the wake of the hostile reception he received from Chelsea fans on Sunday, from my post here asking how the team moves forward from here, I just wanted to know if you personally feel that Rafa Benitez could ever win you over?
Let's face it and it's something we have to accept whether we like it or not, what Roman does is final and there is nothing more we can do about it.
MOSCOW, Russia Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea football club, is to take a
leading role in preparations for World Cup 2018 after Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin
indicated he should "open his wallet" and help pay for the championship. Abramovich, who already
bankrolls the Russian national team, was a prominent member of [.
LONDON, England  Chelsea have announced that Carlo Ancelotti has left the club after a trophyless
season at Stamford Bridge. It has long been expected that the Italian would leave the London club,
despite winning the Double in his debut campaign in England in 2009/10. And Chelsea confirmed the
inevitable decision to part company with [.
MANCHESTER, England  Blackpool and Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday as
Wigan and Wolves scrambled to safety in a thrilling finale to the English season. Blackpool's
fairytale debut season in the top-flight came to an end at Old Trafford where they were beaten 4-2
by champions Manchester United while Birmingham were [.
BLACKPOOL, England  Blackpool dealt a blow to Tottenham's hopes of securing Champions League
qualification on Tuesday, scoring their first win in seven matches with a 3-1 victory at Bloomfield
Road. First half goals from Charlie Adam and DJ Campbell and a late Brett Ormerod strike secured
three precious points for Ian Holloway's side, who [.
Frank Lampard reckons the Champions League should be Chelsea's number one aspiration for this
season. The England midfielder knows Chelsea are seemingly out of the Premier League title race
after some poor form that has seen them drop to fifth and sit 12 points behind leaders Manchester
United. Anyone looking to bet on Champions League [.
LONDON, England Fernando Torres has explained he could wait no longer for Liverpool to reclaim
their place amongst the English elite, and he hopes that Reds fans will eventually come to
understand that he has joined Chelsea to win trophies and further his career. Torres, signed for a
British record £50 million on transfer [.
LONDON, England For Chelsea v Manchester City read it: Roman Abramovich v Sheikh Mansour. This is
the duel of the two mega-rich owners in the English Premier League and all the signs suggest that
the comparative newcomer from the Gulf is winning for the moment. Whether this scion of the royal
family of Abu [.
LONDON, England — Chelsea missed the chance to go top in the English Premier League after Didier
Drogba saw a late penalty saved in a 1-1 draw away to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on
Sunday. Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who'd let substitute Drogba's shot go through his hands
for Chelsea's 70th minute equaliser, [.
BIRMINGHAM, England -Lee Bowyer's first goal of the season gave Birmingham a shock 1-0 victory over
Chelsea on Saturday to cast more doubts over the ability of Carlo Ancelotti's side to retain the
Premier League title. Less than a week after Ancelotti was left fuming at his team's lame
capitulation against Sunderland, Chelsea's season reached [.
Does Arsenal get extra credit for their savvy financial decisions?
Today, the Daily Mail has an article in which Wenger claims winning is all too easy for rich
Chelsea...implying that those wins are somehow less satisfying. Its an interesting question are
all wins created equal?
With the first quarter of football almost over in most leagues around Europe, now is a good time
to measure the current progress of some of the giant clubs on the continent. Actually, analyzing
the success or failure of clubs in general won't be nearly as exciting as identifying a more
specific object of analysis.
After what appears to have been a frustrating time in this summer's transfer market, Rafael
Benitez may be forgiven for thinking that his past may be coming back to haunt him.
In August 2004, at the very beginning of his reign at the helm of the Anfield club, Rafa allowed
England's number one striker to leave for Spanish giants Real Madrid.
The Tottenham faithful often wonder why their team cannot break into the top four in the Premier
League. Before the Martin Jol era, they were told that they needed a great coach. After the arrival
of Jol, it was believed that the squad needed bolstering. Once that was done, things got going -
until blunders became the norm again at White Hart Lane.
Football is a funny game - this is the sport where anything, and I mean
anything, can happen completely out of the blue. For example, no one ever imagined
that Brazilian star Ronaldinho, who was literally unstoppable not too long ago, would suddenly
become as anonymous as he is nowadays.
With the Premier League over for another season. Here are some of the things I noticed from the
08/09 campaign:
Like a bat out of Hull
Hull City were everyone's favorite to go straight back down this season. They seemed like a
sweet little feel good story, content to have their moment in the big leagues before quickly
sinking back to lower level obscurity where they could be patronized by football and non-football
people alike for sounding like a thoroughly dull and uninspiring place to live.
With the Champions League quarterfinals a thing of the past, here are eight things I noticed
from the last eight.
The Usual Suspects
So, here we are again. Three English teams and Barcelona square off for the Champions League
semis for the second consecutive year. No doubt Michel Platini will have already dusted off his
Panini stickers and erected a Barcelona shine in his 'salon.
Nicolas Anelka rejoined Chelsea this week after a three week absence. The question to me is,
does it even matter? Do Chelsea even need him? Not only does it even matter, but has Anelka ever
been worth his transfer fee or salary when all things are considered?
Over the course of Premier League history, fans have seen some whacky characters. From Eric Cantona
to Jose Mourinho, certain people just stuck out as people who believed in entitlement. Similar to
the American view of manifest destiny, in football we see players and managers feel entitled to
winning things.
Chelsea FC just hired their new head coach in Guus Hiddink according to the team's website this
morning and this choice baffles my mind. But, then again, a lot of things that have happened at
Chelsea have baffled my mind. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich moved quickly to hire personal friend
Hiddink to take over the squad until the end of the season and he still gets to remain as coach of
the Russian national coach.
Seven months ago Luiz Felipe Scolari was hired to take the manager position of Chelsea, and on
February 9, 2009, he was fired after a lackluster season thus far. The problem with the firing is
that they got rid of the wrong man. Now there are 11 men on the field and only one manager, so
getting rid of the manager is the easy thing to do since you can rarely eliminate three or four non
performing players.
MILAN, Italy AC Milan held onto top spot in Serie A after a disappointing 0-0 stalemate with Lazio
at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. Despite having the vast share of possession and a catalogue of
chances Massimiliano Allegri's men could not break down a stubborn Roman wall of defiance. A bright
spark was AC Milan's [.
While it is undisputed that the origins of modern soccer, or football, originated in Britain, there
is a great deal of evidence that points to this beloved game as having an older history. Where
did...
11am – After failing in my quest to get a good night's rest the night before, I spent the
morning zombified thanks mainly to the hypnotic waffling of Paddy Crerand on MUTV. After a wash and
an egg (though maybe not in that order) I got in the cab and headed for Heathrow Terminal 5.
DORTMUND, Germany — Borussia Dortmund extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 13
points on Friday, blitzing second-placed Bayer Leverkusen with three goals in just six minutes for
a 3-1 win at home. Having already begun 2011 with a ten-point lead, Dortmund hit second-half goals
in quick succession from teenager Mario Goetze [.
BORISOV, Belarus FC Dynamo Kiev confirmed their place in the UEFA Europa League knockout stage with
an impressive display against FC BATE Borisov which enabled them to leapfrog their opponents at the
top of Group E. Previously unbeaten in the section, already-qualified BATE had no answer to a
Dynamo team who looked like scoring [.
Roman Abramovich has wasted little time since the appointment of Rafa Benitez at Chelsea. Within days of Rafa's appointment, both he and Michael Emenalo met for dinner and discussed the weaknesses in the squad that Benitez had identified and it seems he is already acting on advice from our new Interim Manager.
Leo Messi scored his 30th and 31st goal and then set up Pedro for his goal. Bojan rounded off
the tally as Barca missed no step towards the Liga title. Xavi seemed to show no ill effects of his
torn soleus. Which must come as a great relief for both Barca and Spain supporters.
Tenerife were able to equalize after Carlos Puyol's mistake let in Roman but thereafter it was
Barca playing its free flowing brand taking over the game.
Es gibt die Bücher, die kann man aufgrund ihrer Ernsthaftigkeit und ihrer Klasse nur langsam
lesen. Es gibt jedoch auch Bücher, die einen so hohen Unterhaltungswert besitzen, dass ich sie am
liebsten auf einen Rutsch lesen würde. Das Buch „Von Asche zu Asche: Elf Freunde sind noch kein
Verein" von Udo Lindenlaub ist so ein [.
