Blair Blue

I have a 2011 football calendar (Think you know football). This contains a daily quiz question. The question for 8th March was:- "In 2000, Chelsea accepted a bid of £750,000 from Huddersfield for which player who only remained at the club because he turned the move down?" I was astounded to learn that the answer was "JOHN TERRY" !!! I have long despaired of Chelsea's ineptitude in the transfer market but I find it incredible that the club wanted to offload Terry in 2000. Who was our manager at that time, who was willing to release Terry? Was it Ranieri?

I too don't think we should welcome Mourinho when he returns to the Bridge. His arrogance played a major part in making us the most hated club in the universe and fuelled the criticism that Chelsea lack class. For a further example, see today's letter page in the Sunday Times. So often our players won a superb victory and got little or no media praise, because the papers and TV concentrated on criticising Mourinho's outrageous conduct or comments before or after the match. I can never forgive him for doing that to our players and our beloved club. He claimed it was to take pressure off the players but in fact it was all about his massive ego. Although recognising his successes, I was glad overall when Roman sent him packing. When Inter come to the Bridge, let's confine our wholehearted support to OUR players and to OUR manager, Carlo Ancelloti, who has had to endure appalling insults from Mourinho. It is vital that we let Carlo know that he has our total support. Mourinho is past history.

This match showed how vital Anelka and Essien are to us. Having said that, I thought Sturridge did well - he seems to have self confidence and a good temperament. Yuri Zirkov also did well in his cameo role. Now that he's fit, I hope he starts for us in future games, rather than Malouda, whose confidence seems to have dropped again, having been in and out of the team (perhaps unfairly). I thought Joe Cole looked a lot sharper today, before tiring latterly - he's slowly getting there but his finishing is appalling. Peter Cech did well, after all his recent criticism and Branislav is now a rock solid fixture - probably the best header of a ball in the league. Frank Lampard showed great composure in taking his hatrick of penalties. Drogba should be fined a fortune for his brainless repeated encroachment at the penalties, as should Carvalho for his kamikaze fouling at opposition corners.

I saw him play for Benfica against Man Utd at Old Trafford two seasons ago in the Champions League (as a hospitality guest). He was the most effective player on the pitch. While he does not have the devastating pace of Robben, he is a reliable performer game after game, with a good temperament and, unlike many wingers, he is a good finisher. I thought he was heading towards the end of his career, but if he is only 28, he would be an excellent addition to the Chelsea team. Incidentally, I was most impressed with Old Trafford - both in size and facilities. If Chelsea are ever to become the major force in world football and also become self financing, we require a stadium with a much greater capacity.

Ivanovic did very well playing at right back. He is strong in the air, which will be a great asset, as we seem jittery at defensive corners and free kicks. However, I think his best position is centre back and in my opinion he should be ahead of Alex if Terry or Carvalho are injured. Alex was our one weakness against AC Milan.

But Lampard DOES fit in with Scolari's plans. Scolari has made it quite clear that he values Lampard highly and wants him to stay as his vice captain. Lampard's conduct is undermining our new manager and is totally unacceptable. Our big 3 rivals must be delighted at how the boost that we should be getting from Scolari's arrival is being totally over shadowed by this fiasco. If Lampard wants to join Jose and to play in Italy, he can leave with honour and affection but he should be honest enough to say so, rather than use the ridiculous excuse that his new contract is not good enough. Why won't he tell us his reasons for allowing his contract negotations to drag on for 2 years? Is it significant that he did not exercise his right to give notice to buy out the remainder of his contract within two weeks of the end of last season? By then he was well aware of what Chelsea's final contract offer was. Having not given the required notice, my understanding is that if he goes now in breach of contract he could face penalties, including a playing ban. He will therefore stay for a final year. I suspect his intention all along was to leave in a year's time and get a massive signing on fee from Inter as a free agent. Indeed, Josie was saying recently that the move to Inter was likely to happen next year.

I have been one of Frank's greatest admirers, both as a player and a person. I am one of the few who actually purchased his much maligned autobiography! However, I am extremely disappointed that after 2 years of negotiation, he is still not prepared to sign a new extended contract or, alternatively, ask for a transfer. I suspect that he is angling for a massive signing on fee from Inter, when he becomes a free agent next summer. He is stringing the club along and leaving everyone in limbo. It is appalling that this soap opera is dominating the Chelsea football headlines. With the advent of the Scolari era, we should be entering a period of anticipation of enhanced success and enjoyable football. This should be the main topic in the Chelsea news. The Lampard saga will be a continuing major distraction and source of unrest to both Scolari and the other players if it drags on unresolved over the next year. NO PLAYER IS BIGGER THAN CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB. Despite his outstanding past service, if Frank won't commit his long term future to the club, how can he possibly continue to be vice captain and show leadership to the other players? Stripping him of the vice captainship would be massively disruptive and I do hope that Frank's unwillingness to make a long term commitment to Chelsea NOW, at this critical and exciting start to the Scolari regime, will not force Scolari to take this drastic action. I hope that Frank will stay with Chelsea for a few more years but it is essential that he signs a new long term contract now or leaves now. We can't have another year of discontent and negative stories from the Sun and other papers.

I too pay £6 per month for Chelsea TV but notice that a number of clubs provide a free TV channel, e.g. Arsenal, Liverpool, Celtic, Rangers, Real Madrid - not that I want to watch them! Only Manchester United and Chelsea seem to require a subscription. Should we be lobbying about this? Living in Scotland and rarely getting to games, I find Chelsea TV helpful in keeping in touch with club activity. I get irked by the phone in shows, where the same select fans seem to get on air week after week. The presenters are all quite good, apart from Jason Cundy, who is so full of himself and forever interupting guests and callers. I haven't seen Neil Barnett on air recently - is he on holiday or has he been axed? On a related subject, I find the club website not particularly user friendly, although I gather it has been revamped recently. I also support Charlton Athletic and their club website is far superior to the Chelsea one.

Makele's likely departure/ageing process makes last year's decision (presumably Jose's) to let Diarra leave for Arsenal all the more regrettable. That was a major blunder. Diarra would have been an ideal replacement for Makele. I am still unsure about Mikel and in any case we need two players per position to provide cover for injuries and suspension (the latter happening far too often with Mikel).

We actually have four international right backs. Ivanovich is an international right back. But he is also an international central defender and I suspect that if Carvalho goes, he will partner Terry, in preference to Alex.

As a schoolboy I supported my home town team of Aberdeen (and I still support them). In season 1954/1955 Aberdeen won the Scottish League and Chelsea won the English First Division. They thereafter played a friendly match at Pittodrie, Aberdeen, which the Dons won 4-3. I greatly enjoyed this game and since them Chelsea have been my English team. Up in Scotland we too have many glory hunters, supporting Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs, so it has been hard going supporting the Blues through the many lean times but the last few years have been blissful. I am sad to say that in Scotland, as in England, Chelsea get a very bad press - the bias against us is deplorable. Some of this is envy at our recent wealth but a lot is due to Mourinho. While Jose achieved much for Chelsea, his petulant and aggresive personality has helped make us the most hated club in the land. I used to get so annoyed at him when, after some outstanding performance, the players did not get the praise they deserved. Instead Jose's inflated ego and outrageous comments ensured that he was the centre of attention, often in a negative way. It has been said that he did this to take the pressure away from the players. I think the opposite happened. Such was the criticism and bad feeling about the perceived arrogance of Chelsea/Jose that opposing teams played even harder against us, determined to bring us down to earth. I suspect it is going to take many years before the anti-Chelsea feeling subsides and we start to receive the credit which our performances deserve. I know this is not a popoular view but, while Jose gave Chelsea a significant short term boost, I think his longer term legacy is a negative one. Sorry if I have gone somewhat off the original thread but, in conclusion, I will continue to support Chelsea as passionately in the future. Sadly, my attendances at Stamford Bridge will be very limited. Quite apart from the difficulty of obtaining a ticket, I am most reluctant to book flights and hotels for travel from Scotland in advance when there is the increasing risk of games being rearranged to a different date at short notice to suit SKY or Setanta TV.

Unless he is legally able to buy out the remainder of his contract, I think Chelsea should insist that he remains for the last two years of his contract, even if he is left to rot in the reserves. This is a CRITICAL decision for Chelsea. If we are to achieve our ambition of being the best team in the world, we cannot allow other clubs to pick and choose our best players, when they are under contract to Chelsea. We must be a buying and not a selling club. I know that this would cost Chelsea a lot of money in Drogba's case but in the long term the rewards are massive if we can demonstrate that Chelsea players are the "untouchables" and that moving to Real Madrid, Inter or Barca is NOT an upward step in a player's career. We want to reach the stage of contracted players leaving Chelsea ONLY when the club wishes them to go.

Where are our goals going to come from? Our front three seem to be firing blanks. As far as I can recall in recent matches we have played up front Drogba, Joe Cole, Kalou/Malouda (with brief substitute performances from Anelka and Sheva) and they have not managed a single goal among them. Our relatively few recent goals have come from Essien, Ballack, Lampard and a wonderful own goal (Riise). It is going to be hard to win the Champions League without goal scoring forwards.

An excellent set of ratings. My only question would be over the relatively low rating for Paulo. Admittedly I only saw the game on TV but he seemed defensively excellent and that is his primary role. The Man United forwards are world class and Paulo looked in rock solid control. It was only after he was substituted (for legitimate attacking reasons) that most of the Man U goal scoring chances were created.

I hope Ivanovic is available to play soon. I saw him play for Locomotiv against Aberdeen at Pittodrie in the UEFA Cup late last year. He played right back and had an excellent game. He scored Locomotiv's only goal with a good header from a corner. He seems strong and fast, excellent in the air, with a good positional sense. I think he will be the long term answer to our right back problem.

Being up in Scotland, I seldom manage to get to games. I am reluctant to criticise players based solely on TV viewing but am totally unimpressed by Mikel. He seems slow, cannot tackle, cannot shoot, poor in the air for his height, shows little creativity going forward and on too many occasions has let the team down by reckless challenges, leading to sending offs. He also disappointed in the African Cup of Nations. It seems to me that he only gets games because Chelsea have spent (wasted?) so much money on him. Can those of you who actually manage to attend games and see him play live, convince me that he is a "star" and worth a regular place in the team? I personally would have kept Diarra as a better replacement in the holding role for the ageing Maka.

Being up in Scotland, I seldom manage to get to games. I am reluctant to criticise players based solely on TV viewing but am totally unimpressed by Mikel. He seems slow, cannot tackle, cannot shoot, poor in the air for his height, shows little creativity going forward and on too many occasions has let the team down by reckless challenges, leading to sending offs. He also disappointed in the African Cup of Nations. It seems to me that he only gets games because Chelsea have spent (wasted?) so much money on him. Can those of you who actually manage to attend games and see him play live, convince me that he is a "star" and worth a regular place in the team? I personally would have kept Diarra as a better replacement in the holding role for the ageing Maka.

I do not think Grant has received fair treatment from the fans. The level of negativity and abuse on this website from day one has been unjustified, especially during the period when his record with a depleted squad was excellent. Sadly, since the atrocious performances against Spurs in the Carling Cup and against Barnsley in the FA Cup, his reputation and relationship with the fans is now beyond recovery. However, more important is his relationship with the players and fellow coaches. It is worrying that during games there seems to be no communication on the bench among Grant, Clarke and Ten Cate. Did anyone see last week's reserve game on Chelsea TV? Grant and Clarke were both there but sitting well apart. Grant was on his own and Clarke was sitting rows away, alongside Di Matteo. I would have expected the Head Coach and his Assistant to be sitting together and discussing the performance of the players (particularly the members of the first team squad, who were being given match practice). If there is not harmony amongst the management team and with the players, the situation cannot continue. Only Roman and Kenyon are in a position to know where the problems really lie and what action is required to rectify matters. In the meantime, until such action is taken, all true Chelsea fans should rally behind the management team and the players. Public criticism or demonstrations by the fans against Grant and the players will only play into the hands of our many enemies in the press and will only help opposition teams. PLEASE, LET'S REMAIN PUBLICLY POSITIVE AND UNITED IN OUR SUPPORT OF EVERYONE AT CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB.

Being up in Scotland, I seldom manage to get to games. I am reluctant to criticise players based solely on TV viewing but am totally unimpressed by Mikel. He seems slow, cannot tackle, cannot shoot, poor in the air for his height, shows little creativity going forward and on too many occasions has let the team down by reckless challenges, leading to sending offs. He also disappointed in the African Cup of Nations. It seems to me that he only gets games because Chelsea have spent (wasted?) so much money on him. I note in this thread that some posters want Mikel to play tomorrow. Can those of you who actually manage to attend games and see him play live, convince me that he is a "star" and worth a regular place in the team? I personally would have kept Diarra as a better replacement in the holding role for the ageing Maka.

From my viewing of yesterday's game, admittedly only on TV, it appeared to me that the Chelsea team were mentally and physically drained. This is not surprising considering how many consecutive games the same players have played in recent weeks. Due to many injuries and the African Cup of Nations, Grant has had no opportunity to rest players. The international mid week break also did not help. I think he and the team have done remarkably well to win so many games and avoid any defeats in this period. I think the criticism in this forum is way over the top. Contrast this with yesterday's defeat and poor performance by Manchester United. They had only one major star player out, Rooney. Imagine how they would have fared if they had suffered the massive player losses that Chelsea have coped so well with. I think we will see a big improvement in Chelsea's performances when Drogba, Essien, Terry and Lampard are back in the team and fully match fit. I also think Ivanovich is going to be a major asset. I saw him play earlier in the season in the UEFA Cup against Aberdeen and he was excellent. Please stop this negativity and give whole hearted support to the manager and the team!

Although you have to admit that Alan Hansen has some w*nkish characteristics as well. Well obviously - he played for both Aberdeen and Liverpool, so he's clearly suspect As an Aberdonian, I must object to this unwarranted slur on the good name of Aberdeen Football Club! Alan Hansen never played for the Dandy Dons. His Scottish club was Partick Thistle.

I didn't see quite all of SKY's coverage of this morning's Champions League draw but am I correct in thinking that the other four British clubs had a spokesman interviewed but that there was no Chelsea interview? Surely there was a Chelsea representative present? As far as I could tell, there was only one sentence about Chelsea's draw from Ray Wilkins right at the close of the programme. Compared with the considerable time allocated to each of the other British clubs and their opponents, I find this anti-Chelsea bias hard to take.

I find it somewhat hypocritical for Petit to criticise others of "thinking of themselves". If my memory serves me right, didn't Petit think only of himself and opt out of playing for Chelsea in Israel some years ago? A few other players also opted out, resulting in an early exit from Europe for Chelsea.