Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola says former manager Jose Mourinho's expected return to the club 'should be good'. Asked about the Special One's imminent return to Stamford Bridge, he said: "Well, it looks like it. He's certainly a great manager, he knows the players, he knows the atmosphere, so... it should be good.
The date read 19thMay 2012. It had just gone 23:20 local time when an eerie silence fell upon the Allianz Arena in Germany's capital city of Munich. He stood at 6 feet 1 inches and had the look of a man possessed, this was to be his night, his time to be written in the history of the club.
Gianfranco Zola says the pain of Chelsea's Champions League Final defeat to Manchester United four
years ago will help them as they take on Bayern Munich tomorrow night. When OTP caught up with the
Stamford Bridge legend, we asked him whether Chelsea can defy the odds in Europe one last time and
defeat Bayern in [.
Diego Maradona's footballing ability was put to shame by Dennis Wise. That's according to
Gianfranco Zola, who played with both of them. We suspect that Zola immediately clocked on to OTP's
mischievous line of questioning when we asked him which of the pair was the better player. He told
OTP: "I think Dennis Wise was [.
Gianfranco Zola has laid one of football's great urban legends to rest by confirming that he didn't
appear in the music video for Bonnie Tyler's 1980s classic Total Eclipse of the Heart. Myth and
Wikipedia has long claimed that the pint-sized forward featured in the power ballad video. But Zola
says it's not [.
Juan Mata is quite simply "El Mago" or "The Magician". 18 goals and 31 assists in all competitions so far this season, he has become the one player Chelsea simply cannot do without in his two years at the club.
Speaking at the launch of the Adidas "It's Blue, What else matters?
Little Pea improvisation Manchester United just about had enough to see off Stoke City at Old
Trafford. They recorded a less than convincing 2-1 victory, but both of their goals were absolute
beauts. Javier Hernandez opened the scoring with this cheeky backheel. Shades of Gianfranco Zola.
Nani secured the win with a left-footed curler from [.
Which Of The Promoted Sides Has The Best Chance Of Staying Up? - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
Last season's promoted sides were a revelation. Swansea dazzled the league with an adherence to
short passing football stronger than Elton John's adherence to ill-fitting wigs, Norwich showed a
tactical flexibility rarely seen in England before while QPR relied on more prosaic methods to
fashion an impressive escape from relegation, almost causing one of the biggest upsets in British
football history against Manchester City in the process.
Like other ‘80s phenomena including the video recorder and the ZX81, George Graham is now
almost viewed almost with a degree of scorn by a modern generation of Arsenal fans. But just as we
shouldn't forget the impact the video market and Clive Sinclair's opening stab at bringing
computers into our homes have had on our lives, the same applies to George's managerial tenure at
Highbury.
Now it's my personal opinion that people have under estimated the job that "Bobby Di Matteo"
has done so far at Chelsea. Think about it for a second, in arguably (if you believe what the press
are saying) the most ego filled dressing room in the Premier League, with masses of experience and
big personalities that have reportedly seen off previous managers, he has gone in there done
fantastic.
Partizan Belgrade starlet Lazar Markovic has delivered a snub to Liverpool by revealing his
‘dream' move would be to their Premier League rivals Chelsea.
The 17-year-old striker is being followed by a host of clubs across the world, and is largely
recognised as one of the most exciting young prospects in Europe.
Lots of news around the Premier League and Europe and it all starts with Tottenham's unfortunate
crashing out of the Champions League yesterday at Real Madrid 4-0... Here's what else is in Butt's
Brain: Zola believes Chelsea will topple Manchester ... Continue reading →
Kenny Dalglish has already began to put his stamp on Liverpool by hiring Steve Clarke as his
first team coach. Sammy Lee will remain as assistant manager,
"It is important we have good backroom staff and Steve comes into that category," Dalglish said
on Liverpool's website.
Kenny Dalglish has already began to put his stamp on Liverpool by hiring Steve Clarke as his
first team coach. Sammy Lee will remain as assistant manager,
"It is important we have good backroom staff and Steve comes into that category," Dalglish said
on Liverpool's website.
The rapidly emptying seats in the away section at Anfield on Saturday said it all.
A section of West Ham's beleaguered supporters voted with their feet as their side slipped to
another disappointing loss against Liverpool.
The Hammers were 3-0 down within 38 minutes and the fans who did stick around to watch the rest of
the game chose to voice their anger and frustration at what has been a nightmare season for the
London club so far.
Ep. 39 Oh Didier! by Off The Post on Mixcloud David Cameron getting one over Angela Merkel at the
G8 Summit. David Luiz conducting an interview for Italian TV half-cut. Michael Essien and Salomon
Kalou making the female physio the filling in their grind sandwich. John Terry wearing shin pads
even though he took no [.
Gianfranco Zola has taken time out to speak of Chelsea. He has talked about our plight this season,
the arrival of Torres and Luiz and the future for us.
He said:
To be honest they've lost important players throughout the season, like John Terry and
Frank Lampard to injury and Didier Drogba who had had malaria for several months.
Gianfranco Zola has been part of the FA CUP Trophy tour in Asia this year and has spoken to the
Football Associations very own TV channel about the importance of the competition and what it means
to him.
Speaking openly he admits he never realised just how important the FA Cup is in this country and
what it means to fans all over the world.
Everyone who is a Chelsea fan is well aware of the situation regarding the proposal the club has
put to the CPO (Chelsea Pitch Owners) last week. If you missed it, check it out here and my take on
things too.
Surprisingly enough, and to his credit he even says so himself, John Terry has decided to give his
view on the situation rather than keep quiet and he raises some interesting points.
After my last post on here and the fact that Guus Hiddink's agent has said he will still be in
charge of Turkey for their two Euro 2012 qualifying games in September, I just wonder now if Roman
Abramovich will turn to Mark Hughes or Rafa Benitez?.
I mentioned about Hughes on here the other day and being an ex-Chelsea player and fan favourite, I
wonder if that will hold any sway with the board.
West Ham United's relegation from the Premier League has been on the cards for some time. This in
itself prevents the Hammers' demotion from being a surprise, but a look at the club's squad
suggests a bottom placed finished was unexpected and something few predicted at the start of the
season.
When Avram Grant replaced Gianfranco Zola as manager in June 2010, optimism at Upton Park was
genuine.
Steve Clarke has spoken of his excitement at joining the coaching staff at Liverpool after the
former Chelsea assistant manager was appointed as first-team coach at Anfield.
Clarke, who played over 500 senior matches for St Mirren and Chelsea, was assistant manager at
Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho, and also at West Ham United under Gianfranco Zola.
Worryingly for West Ham United, Avram Grant's side is seeming to be in a pattern of repeating
what Portsmouth did last season on the field. That is that they're frustratingly unable to get all
three points. So far this season, the Hammers have played 13 matches. Out of those, they've won
just once, lost six and drawn six.
Watford manager Gianfranco Zola (l) and Tottenham Hotspur assistant manager Steffen Freund monkey
around prior to the pre-season friendly match between Watfod and Tottenham Hotspur at Vicarage Road
on 5 August 2012. Image: Pete Norton/Getty Images Europe.
Watford aren't my club, but when I heard the news that Sean Dyche had been given the boot by the
Hornets' new Italian owners to make way for Gianfranco Zola, I found myself strangely furious on
Dyche's behalf. How dare they breeze into Vicarage Road and and with breathtaking arrogance treat a
club legend so shoddily - especially one who had worked so diligently and in difficult
circumstances to engineer an improbably lofty position in last season's Championship table.
It was a disappointing night for Liverpool U18s after they crashed out of the FA Youth Cup losing
3-1 to Swansea City on Tuesday night.
Mike Marsh's charges were boosted by the inclusion of Raheem Sterling and Brad Smith in their
starting line-up, but they were second best to Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.
The man who always finds a job: Claudio Ranieri (By Dominic
Vieira)
Whether you think he's world class or not, it's clear Claudio Ranieri is a
lucky manager. Since the Italian retired as a player in 1986, he has rarely experienced
unemployment.
My name is Sam Allardycias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
...and for my next trick FC Basel will take Radoslav Kovac from this club and
actually pay money for the privilege. You read that correctly. Radoslav Kovac is off to Switzerland
and it's not to join Dignitas.
After quitting Fulham yesterday, Mark Hughes had been installed last night as 8-1 for the Chelsea
manager's job. I am not so sure. Everything is pointing to Guus Hiddink coming back to Chelsea
after tonight's game between Turkey and Belgium and I still predict that will be the case, but can
we rule Hughes out of the running as easily as that?
