[size=6]MARIN TO SIGN[/size]
Posted on: Sat 28 Apr 2012

Chelsea Football Club have today (Saturday) agreed to sign Marko Marin from Werder Bremen.

Both clubs have agreed a fee and the 23-year-old midfielder has agreed personal terms.

Marin, a German international, will join Chelsea in the summer.

As well as this, IMO it surely strengthens the rumour of Salomon Kalou heading to AC Milan. Malouda will surely be off to PSG at the end of this year, which means, contrary to man people's beliefs, there is technically a spot for Hazard or Willian, both of which we've been seriously chasing. We could even go for both if Sturridge is let off. I personally wouldn't like him to leave, but these two talented youngsters would be worth it.

Wouldn't mind Sturridge at the Lane tbh.

As well as this, IMO it surely strengthens the rumour of Salomon Kalou heading to AC Milan. Malouda will surely be off to PSG at the end of this year, which means, contrary to man people's beliefs, there is technically a spot for Hazard or Willian, both of which we've been seriously chasing. We could even go for both if Sturridge is let off. I personally wouldn't like him to leave, but these two talented youngsters would be worth it.

Would occupy the bench again IMO. Bale and Lennon don't look like moving. Either way, if we sell him, we'd get a good profit from it.

Would occupy the bench again IMO. Bale and Lennon don't look like moving. Either way, if we sell him, we'd get a good profit from it.

If Tottenham don't get Champions League football, I would not be surprised to see Bale go. Not sure about Lennon. Personally would be surprised to see Sturridge leave Chelsea though.. although the lack of game time under RDM + a massive ego could be a problem.

The signing of Marin looks like a good one for us. Replacement for either Malouda or Kalou, I think Malouda's time is done but I wouldn't mind if we decided to keep Kalou (although selling him would be good business, would pick up a decent price)

Good move if he can adjust tot he Premier League, the guy is tiny. At least this means that Chelsea can play Mata in his preferred position and Torres may get some service.

I think Malouda's time is done but I wouldn't mind if we decided to keep Kalou (although selling him would be good business, would pick up a decent price)

I will never turn my back on my country

OPENING UP ... John Terry reveals all

Exclusive By PAUL SMITH
Last Updated: 05th May 2012

JOHN TERRY has vowed never to turn his back on England and insists he has no issue playing with anyone if Roy Hodgson selects him to play.

JT on AVB

THE Chelsea skipper has a great deal of sympathy for Andre Villas-Boas and admits he is still in contact with the club’s axed Portuguese coach.

But John Terry has vehemently denied that players did not lift a leg for AVB.

The Blues defender said: “Naturally, I have a great level of sympathy for Andre.

“I certainly didn’t want to see him out of a job and the players have to take a certain amount of responsibility.

“But it’s absolute rubbish to suggest the players never lifted a leg for him, it simply isn’t true.

“Given the results since AVB left he must be sat there scratching his head in disbelief.

“I’m still in touch with him and it won’t be long before he returns to management.”


JT on RDM

JOHN TERRY believes stand-in Roberto Di Matteo should get the chance to stake a claim to be permanent Chelsea boss.

The skipper said: “I genuinely hope that Roman Abramovich talks to him about the job.

“He really cares about Chelsea and has done a tremendous job for us. He ticks every box in terms of what is required.

“Robbie is passionate, so committed to the club and he has been first class since taking over in difficult circumstances.

“The owner saw something in him to entrust him with the job in the first place.

“It will ultimately come down to the owner, but I’d like to think Robbie will be considered.

“The players have really responded to him, and the training and organisation are first rate.”

In an explosive SunSport interview, Terry finally breaks his silence on:


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England, the captaincy, Fabio Capello, Roy Hodgson and Harry Redknapp.


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His infamous red card in Barcelona.


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His hopes of lifting the FA Cup for a record fourth time with one club.


Rumours were rife Terry was ready to quit the national team after FA chiefs stripped him of the captaincy for the second time.


Their decision led to the controversial exit of manager Fabio Capello on a point of principle after they failed to consult him.


But Terry said: “I’m not going to throw away my international career for anyone, I am proud to represent my country, I will never turn my back on England.


“I was baffled by these rumours about me quitting. I even had players coming up saying they heard I was going to quit.


“But I never considered quitting. I was deeply disappointed by the FA’s decision to strip me of the captaincy as it meant the world to me.


“But sometimes you just have to accept these things and move on.” Prior to the FA informing Terry he was being axed as skipper he received unequivocal support from Capello.


And after the decision was taken by the FA Capello resigned on a point of principle.


Terry said: “I was extremely disappointed the manager decided to quit.


“From day one he stood by me and said he knew the English law and the English way and you are innocent until proven guilty and I respected him for that.


“Clearly he didn’t agree with the FA and had his own personal reasons for standing down.”


Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was immediately installed as the bookies favourite to succeed Capello.


Fans, players and his fellow managers threw their weight behind him.


But last Sunday it emerged the FA had only approached West Brom’s Roy Hodgson and barely 72 hours later appointed him.


And Terry said: “I always thought Roy Hodgson was a genuine candidate and I was surprised no one really mentioned him.


“Clearly all the hype was for Harry Redknapp but the FA have taken their time to appoint the right man to lead us to success and I think this is a great appointment.


“I spoke to Bobby Zamora who worked with him at Fulham and he always spoke highly about Roy. And the Liverpool lads have also publicly supported him.”


One of the major issues raised when Hodgson was finally unveiled by the FA on Tuesday was partnering Terry with Rio Ferdinand, amid rumours the pair were at odds over Ferdinand’s brother Anton.


Hodgson said his priority was to speak to both players ahead of selecting his first squad.


But Terry insists there has never been an issue of his making.


He added: “I don’t have an issue playing with anyone and never have done. I don’t pick and choose who plays for England and if I’m selected to play it won’t become an issue either.”


More recently, though, it is the red card Terry got in Barcelona that has been the biggest topic of debate.


Despite issuing an apology to the Chelsea manager, players and fans for being sent off Terry has not spoken about the incident until now.


He said: “I had a tussle with Sanchez in the first leg and he went off for a few minutes early in the first half when he ran into me.


“His movement was good and he nearly got in a few times. But he went into my ribs a few times so he clearly knew about my injury.


“That said, it was my fault. I put my hands up after the game and offered everyone involved an apology. It’s not in my character to do that and not in a game of that magnitude. I’m a fair player, I’m a strong player and I do like a tackle but that’s not me.


“I was more disappointed that I gave the referee and the linesman the opportunity to put the team and club in that situation.


“Clearly the result helped me but if the lads had gone out I’m not sure I could explain how I’d have felt.


“I think I was probably fortunate in a way because I didn’t have to deal with the consequences of that.


“Given how emotional I was when I missed that penalty in the final against Manchester United it’s not something I want to think about.


“Obviously a couple of days after I had to deal with the heartbreak and disappointment personally but sometimes things are not supposed to happen and maybe I was never meant to play in this final.


“To be honest I feel far more sorry for the lads missing out over receiving yellow cards. I think it’s a bit harsh to miss a final after collecting three cards in about 14 games.


“I feel far more compassion for those players than worrying about feeling sorry for myself.


“All I hope is if there is any justice and given the bad luck we have had in the Champions League over the years, that we go on to win it.


“That would be a fantastic achievement and one the players, supporters and owner deserve.” In the event they do win it, Terry has confirmed he will lift the trophy alongside vice-captain Frank Lampard.


The skipper said: “I was touched by what Frank and Didier Drogba said after we qualified. But when we won the Double under Carlo Ancelotti I insisted that Frank lifted the trophies with me.


“I said then we were creating history and he should be part of that.”


For Terry today’s FA Cup final clash takes on greater importance particularly as he would become the first player in history to lift the FA Cup for a fourth time for one club.


He added: “It’s a massive competition for me regardless of the circumstances. As a kid I grew up dreaming of lifting the FA Cup and I can honestly say the last one you win is just as good as the first. You never get bored of lifting the FA Cup.


“The fact I would create history is obviously something very special but probably something I will look back on in time. You tend to appreciate personal and collective success more when you have finished playing.


“I just think the midweek defeat against Newcastle might serve as a good kick up our backside. We had lost one game in 16 games prior to that and there is good cause to say you can become complacent.”


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JOHN TERRY’S fee is being donated to “Help Harry Help Others” of which Terry is an ambassador. See www.hhho.co.uk for further information.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4298504/John-Terry-I-will-never-turn-my-back-on-my-country.html

Secret to the Chelsea revival has been Roman Abramovich's antsy-pants

UEFA Champions League

Dan Jones 08 May 2012

"A sale has been arranged to an individual we know nothing about." This was the typically direct, slightly terse reaction of the late Tony Banks - Labour politician, one-time sports minister and Chelsea FC fan - in June 2003, when news reached him that a 36-year old Russian businessman by the name of Roman Abramovich had rolled into Stamford Bridge and bought the club, who had just finished fourth in the Premier League.

It was a reaction shared by pretty much everyone who followed English football. The limit of what was known about Abramovich was that which could be gleaned from his entry in the Sunday Times Rich List. He was a post-Yeltsin oil and industry tycoon with no public profile whatever in England — in sporting circles, at least.

His purpose in buying a heavily indebted club like Chelsea was wholly unclear. The most that could be said was that a) he was a genuine football fan and b) he was richer than God — or at least, richer than any other club proprietor around.

In the nine years that have followed, Abramovich has revealed himself. Only partially, and very slowly, it is true; but he is there, nonetheless. He does indeed love football. He is not richer than God, nor even than Sheikh Mansour; but he has consistently been prepared to bankroll whatever and whoever he thinks will propel Chelsea a little further towards pre-eminence in domestic and European football.

If he does not always spend the money in the right places (Andriy Shevchenko, Andre Villas-Boas, Fernando Torres) that has not — a brief flirtation with parsimony around 2006 aside — put him off backing his own footballing instincts.

Abramovich wants to win. And, in the last nine seasons, trophies have come. Three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups and two Champions League finals — one of them coming up in eleven days on May 19 — is not a bad haul and is only bettered over that period by Manchester United (four Premier Leagues, one FA Cup, three League Cups and three Champions League finals, one of which was, as Chelsea fans know all too well, successful).

Yet for all that accumulated success, it has been a bumpy ride. The only managers who have been wholly successful are Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti, and both left the club under a cloud having fallen out with or disappointed Abramovich.

It says rather a lot that unless Roberto di Matteo wins the European Cup a week on Saturday, he is not guaranteed to be appointed as full-time manager next season.

The sheer restlessness of Abramovich’s ambition has often seemed to undermine his efforts to make Chelsea the best team in Europe. Sacking Ancelotti to hire Villas-Boas and disrupting the team with the purchase of Torres seemed to have backfired spectacularly this season. As recently as March, disaffection and mutiny was sweeping through a first team. Elimination from this season’s Champions League at the hands of Napoli beckoned; a finish outside the top four looked highly likely, which would have accounted for next season’s European competition, too.

And yet, strangely, it has been Abramovich’s antsy-pants that have saved Chelsea’s season.

It is almost literally unbelievable to see how far the club have transformed since the Russian sacked Villas -Boas and promoted Di Matteo. No player symbolises it more than Torres, who has emerged from the most embarrassing slump in recent footballing history to look like a genuinely dangerous striker.

Abramovich has always been a generous and emotionally engaged owner undone by his own impatience. But improbably — incredibly — the billionaire’s chief folly, his impatience, may well have saved Chelsea’s season. Ain’t that a thing?

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/football/secret-to-the-chelsea-revival-has-been-roman-abramovichs-antsypants-7722635.html

Di Matteo given board assurance

11 May 2012-PA Sport



Roberto Di Matteo has been reassured no decision would be taken over his Chelsea future until after the Champions League final.

Caretaker Blues boss Di Matteo was reportedly resigned to being snubbed in his bid to land the job full-time, regardless of the outcome of next weekend's final against Bayern Munich.

But speaking at the official launch of the club's partnership with the Sauber Formula One team, Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay told Press Association Sport: "The club said from day one when he came in as interim manager that we would assess things at the end of the season.

"We've not changed our approach.

"Robbie is completely on board with that and the last person who's going to put any pressure on the team at this stage is me."

Gourlay refused to confirm whether Di Matteo had done enough to make it onto any shortlist, despite admitting the Italian had overseen a "fantastic turnaround" in Chelsea's fortunes since being handed the reins just over two months ago.

Even before reaching the Champions League final and winning the FA Cup, Di Matteo earned the backing of most supporters to be appointed Andre Villas-Boas' permanent successor.

Gourlay said: "We take the fans' views into account in most instances.

"But, at the end of the day, we'll look at the complete picture and we'll see what the owner and the board think is the best way forward for the football club in the future."

Failure to win the Champions League would certainly give owner Roman Abramovich an excuse for dispensing with Di Matteo, who would have failed to achieve his minimum target of qualifying for next season's competition thanks to a lowly sixth-placed finish in the English Premier League.

"It's certainly not where we set out to be at the start of the season," said Gourlay, who refused to go as far as some of Chelsea's players by branding such an outcome a "disaster".

"I don't think we talk about disasters at this stage because we've still got the opportunity of turning this into the most historic season for the football club."

However, Gourlay all but admitted it could not be considered a successful season if Chelsea ended it out of the Champions League for the first time since Abramovich bought the club nine years ago.

"If we won the FA Cup and Champions League final then, yes, we would've turned around our season and it'll be a fantastic end to a season which has, in parts, been very, very difficult," Gourlay said.

"We'd sit down and we'd look at the whole season and we'd try to correct the things that went wrong in the first place and make sure we learned from any mistakes."

One of those mistakes was the doomed reign of Villas-Boas, who was charged with transforming the way Chelsea played and paid the price when it all went horribly wrong.

Going back to basics has paid off spectacularly for Di Matteo, but Abramovich appears wedded to the idea of getting the Blues to play more like Barcelona.

Gourlay said: "The goal is to play the way that we want Chelsea to play. We've made no secret of that.

"We want to play attractive football, we want to make sure we're in the top competitions, we want to make sure we're competing in all areas with the elite teams around the world, and we want to do it the Chelsea way."

As well as the 'Barcelona in blue shirts' mantra, there has also been talk of Abramovich wanting a mass clearout of the old guard this northern summer to create a 'hungry, young team'.

Gourlay said: "Our strategy is to get the right balance.

"Speculation about major clean-outs is certainly not coming from Chelsea Football Club."

Any cull would likely include 34-year-old Didier Drogba but Gourlay revealed fresh contract talks with the striker would take place after what could be his final game for the club in Munich.

He said: "Didier and the rest of the team are completely focused on what we've got to achieve in the next week and, once that's finished, we'll sit down."

Gourlay was speaking ahead of the first F1 race to see Chelsea's crest appear on the Sauber team's vehicles, this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

He said: "It's a very unique tie-up.

"Formula One, during their season, will probably touch on half the global population.

"So, it's a huge awareness driver. It fits completely into our corporate social responsibility programme that we do around the world."

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1105137/Di-Matteo-given-board-assurance

Chelsea plan Drogba talks


10th May 2012 CHELSEA chief executive Ron Gourlay claims the club are still talking to Didier Drogba about his future.

Ivory Coast star Drogba is out of contract next month and is demanding a new two-year deal.

But the Blues are only prepared to offer him an additional season and it seems likely the 34-year-old hitman will be leaving Stamford Bridge.

However, Gourlay reckons further talks may yet persuade Drogba to extend his eight-year stint in London.

Gorlay said: “We continue to discuss with Didier the situation.

“Didier loves this football club, we love Didier and we’ll continue to have the conversations.

“Didier and the rest of the team are completely focused on what we’ve got to achieve in the next week and, once that’s finished, we’ll sit down.”

Drogba has smashed 156 goals in 339 appearances since moving to Chelsea from Marseille in 2004.

He has won 11 honours with the Blues, including three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4308839/Chelsea-plan-fresh-talks-with-Didier-Drogba-over-new-deal.html