bcarroll

Am i right in saying steven taylors contract expires in the summer.. If it does he'll come for something like 3 to 4 million rather than the 9 million the Daily Mirror were quoting.

Suffering today...Went on bit of a bender yesterday on a Monday of all days..

Apologies hutch!

Skysports Football Chelsea eye Blues chief Montgomery could be in line to replace Arnesen Chelsea are lining up a swoop for Birmingham's head of recruitment Paul Montgomery, skysports.com understands. Montgomery has emerged as one of the most highly-rated recruiters in English football and he was a key appointment by manager Alex McLeish in 2008. He has good contacts in England and abroad, which has been demonstrated in recent months with the likes of Alex Hleb and Nikola Zigic being lured to St Andrews. Montgomery's hold on the domestic market is also very good, with lower league signings such as Scott Dann and Roger Johnson now shinning with Birmingham. Chelsea are looking for a replacement for Frank Arnesen, who has confirmed he will be leaving at the end of the season. Former Barcelona technical secretary Txiki Beguiristain is thought to be one name on their list, but now Montgomery has also emerged as a candidate. And even if Chelsea opted for Beguiristain or another foreign chief to replace Arnesen, Montgomery could still be wanted by Stamford Bridge bosses to enhance their scouting resources. A former European scout with West Ham and Rangers, Montgomery is also highly respected on the continent and was previously offered a position with Barcelona.

Roger Johnson Pienaar/Srna Cheap (both out of contract in the summer) Lukaku Buy and Loan Back Schweinsteiger (Summer) Lineup Cech Ivanovic R.Johnson Terry Cole Essien Mikel Lampard Pienaar/Srna Drogba Malouda

The rumours of unease behind the scenes at chelsea are what gave this rumour legs. Such as question marks over why Ray got the road and comments from Ballack saying Carlo wanted to keep him etc.. There may well be perfectly legitimate reasons for these but they all point to the fact that Roman and his righthand men are calling the shots in the areas of contract renewals, tranfers, staff etc..with minimal input from Carlo. Things which essentially pushed Jose out the door.

Hopefully the fans give him a rousing reception tomorrow night and let him know he has our full support!

By ROB BEASLEY Published: Today Add a comment (0) CARLO ANCELOTTI has astonishingly admitted: I am not the boss at Chelsea. The Italian, who led the Blues to the Double last season, confessed he lacks total charge of Roman Abramovich's team or team affairs. Ancelotti claims he is merely a technical director for the Premier League leaders, not the main man like Sir Alex Ferguson at rivals Manchester United. He explained: "You compare me with Ferguson, it's a different position. "Ferguson has total control of the team. I have just technical direction. Full stop. OK?" Ancelotti spoke out with Chelsea reeling after Saturday's 1-0 reverse at Birmingham - their third league defeat in four games. He was attempting to counter continuing criticism over the shock departure of assistant coach Ray Wilkins and the controversial appointment of his successor Michael Emenalo. So he hit back defiantly at suggestions Ferguson would not have entertained such interference from above. But his candid comments have backfired, sparking more wrangling for the champions amid spiralling speculation about the Italian's future and talk of a growing crisis at Stamford Bridge. The revelation is seen as final confirmation of what has long been suspected about the Abramovich era. That the ins and outs at the club, including players, are decided not by the coach but by the board. The coach is expected just to accept it and get on with it. Chelsea were openly agreeing yesterday that Ancelotti is employed as a coach, NOT as a manager, and that he is quite content with that. The Blues also claimed Ancelotti was used to such a role after his eight years at AC Milan, where Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has always been the real man in charge. Chelsea described reports that contract talks with Ancelotti had stalled as 'absolute rubbish', stressing he has 18 months still to run on his current deal with both sides agreeing to talk about the future at the end of the season. Yet sources in Italy dispute the comparison with Milan, saying Ancelotti was never treated in the same fashion as he has been at Chelsea. It is true, though, that the 51-year-old coach has openly adopted a 'This is football' mantra to the Wilkins scenario and his role at the club. And he is still willing to accept the blame for Chelsea's recent below-par results, insisting he is desperate to get his top-of-the-table team back to winning ways. Ancelotti added: "Obviously, when the team doesn't win, people put more responsibility on the coach. But this is normal. "This is my job. If the team are not doing good results, it is normal to have more responsibility. "So I am ready for the criticism. This is the life of the coach. "Yes, this is a difficult moment but we are capable to move on quickly. It's true we played really badly against Sunderland. But it is true against Birmingham we played very well. Everyone who saw the game says this." He was also adamant Chelsea's second successive defeat since the departure of Wilkins was in no way down to his assistant's exit. He insisted: "This is not the reason we lost. We lost because in four games we have scored just one goal. We have to improve, to stay more in focus. We didn't score against Birmingham because we were unlucky. "We conceded just one opportunity and they scored. "We had 10, 12 opportunities to score but we were not able to take them. "We have lost three games in four and this is not good for Chelsea. For this reason, I take my responsibility. "But I'm not worried about the team. We are able to play good football. "We just have to move on and look forward to the next game."

What we know: there are twats behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea reject Ancelotti resignation reports By ESPNsoccernet staff November 21, 2010 Chelsea have dismissed rumours of Carlo Ancelotti quitting the club as "absolute nonsense" after it was claimed that the Italian manager tendered his resignation and saw it rejected by the board. Ancelotti has kept quiet over the sacking of assistant manager Ray Wilkins in recent days, with Wilkins seeking legal advice over what he called an ''undoubtedly unfair dismissal''. However, it was suggested that the Italian was far from happy over the way that the issue was handled and wanted to quit the club he only joined just over a year ago. Chelsea have moved to deny the rumours and, although an official statement was not released, a club source was quoted as saying that the rumours were ''absolute nonsense''. Opposition scout Michael Emenalo was promoted to Wilkins' job by owner Roman Abramovich last week and, while he insisted that ''nothing has changed'' on Saturday, Ancelotti has revealed his displeasure at the current situation. Ancelotti told the Fulham Chronicle: "You have to compare me with (Sir Alex) Ferguson, it's a different position. Because Ferguson has total control of the team. I am just technical direction. Full stop." Chelsea won a league and cup double under Ancelotti in his first season, but they have struggled to recapture that form so far this term. Having lost just four games last season, the Blues have already lost four matches this campaign, including three of the last four and lost two Premier League games in succession for the first time in over four years when they fell 1-0 to Birmingham this weekend. Rumours of Ancelotti's departure and a series of bets placed have seen his odds to leave the club drastically reduced.

FourFourTwo NEW NEWS: Chelsea have dismissed rumours of Carlo Ancelotti quitting club as "nonsense". The power of t'internet, eh? #fb 3 minutes ago via Echofon Tweet from FourFourTwo

ANCELOTTI SLASHED TO LEAVE Carlo Ancelotti - cut to 6/4 to leave next. Sky Bet have cut Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti's odds to be the next manager to leave their Premier League post from 10/1 to 6/4 after the online bookmaker saw a steady influx of bets on the Italian. Ancelotti, who steered the west London club to a league and cup double in his first season, has struggled to recapture that form so far this term. Chelsea only lost six matches on their way to the title last season but have already lost four matches this campaign, including three of the last four. Despite a 1-0 defeat to Birmingham this weekend, the champions are still top, albeit with a superior goal difference than second-placed Manchester United. Rumours of Ancelotti's departure and a series of bets have seen his odds drastically reduced. Sky Bet football compiler Ryan Coombs said: "We've seen a lot of interest in Carlo Ancelotti to be the next manager to leave the Premier League this season. "In the space of three hours we have seen his price tumble from 10/1 into its current 6/4 chance." West Ham manager Avram Grant still retains favouritism at 5/6, while Roberto Mancini is 4/1 and under-pressure Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is fourth favourite at 7/1.

If it turns out these rumours are true who could blame Carlo!

Or maldini is giving us a dig out at the back for a couple a weeks..

Alot of murmurs on google that carlo may have resigned nothing reliable though. Just type his name into google and see for yourselves.

Huge sigh of relief!

If hiddink doesn't take the job who else would want it!

What kind of w**kers do we have running this club? This had better not be true

We should rest as many of our big guns as possible except probably essien whose suspended for the newcastle game. I think we should start with something like: Turnbull Paulo Bruma Ivanovic PVA Ramires Essien MacEachran Sturridge Anelka Kakuta

Adam Johnson came out and said last week that if he doesn't start gettin more game time he may have to leave. Just watchin the city game vs fulham and he's on the bench again. Just wondering would us making a move for him in january be beyond the realms of possibility. He would have to kick up a fuss at eastlands and demand the move if anything was to happen.

Schweinsteiger, Lukaku, Centre Half if our injury situation is not resolved.

Give Ramires a break hopefully someone will remember you're comments in 12 months time. Its very easy to blame him when we're having a blip. Look at Drogbas, Maloudas, Ivanovics contributions in their first season for chelsea and see how they turned out. All he needs is time and maybe a bit more time in the gym. With the injuries and the return of alex the team more or less picks itself. Cech Bosingwa Alex Ivanovic Cole Ramires Mikel Malouda Kalou Drogba Anelka Turnbull Bruma Paulo PVA MacEachran Kakuta Sturridge

Whats the story with drogba and cole? If they're out I would like see something like this. Cech Paulo Bruma Ivan Zhirkov Mikel Ramires Malouda MacEachran Anelka Sturridge Kalou will more than likely start though. Diamond might make us more compact until we see the return of lamps and essien

Ivory coast say Drogba still has malaria not good for saturday. Chelsea totem Didier Drogba is still suffering from malaria, say Ivory Coast officials By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER Last updated at 11:01 PM on 17th November 2010 Comments (0) Add to My Stories Under the weather: Drogba Ivory Coast officials claim Didier Drogba is still suffering from malaria. The Chelsea striker was declared fit by his club last week and played in the defeat to Sunderland on Sunday. But he turned up for international duty and immediately ruled out of the friendly in Poland. 'The player underwent tests that revealed the persistence of malaria,' read a statement from the Africans on their official website. 'Didier Drogba has been declared unfit to take part in the friendly match against Poland.' The 32-year-old is likely to be assessed again ahead of Saturday’s trip to Birmingham at St Andrew's. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1330675/Chelsea-totem-Didier-Drogba-suffering-malaria-say-Ivory-Coast-officials.html#ixzz15acoinye

I thought jermaine pennant bought them all..