njegos

I will never forget the Summer (Or was it Winter?) of 2004. I was a 15 year old kid living in Australia who hadnt had a chance to watch Chelsea play since 2001. I hadnt had a chance because Cable TV had bought the rights to the EPL and my dad was too stingy to fork out the $30 a month to allow me the opportunity. That all changed when we moved to a nicer area and he had an interest in the upcoming European Championships in Portugal. We bought a new couch, a new tv and for three weeks awoke at 3 am to watch the football. And what a tournament it turned out to be!! The stubborn Greeks who stunned all before them. The amazing Czechs who showed Europe how Football should be played. The Portuguese and Dutch with their mix of past and future World Class Legends. And the surprising exits of Italy, Germany and Spain in the group stages. I totally forgot that club football exisited for these three weeks until i kept hearing the commentators speak about where players would be returning. It seemed that every team had a tremendous young talent that was leaving to a big European Club. Ide hear the Commentators talk about big Swede Ibrahimovic's pre contract with Juventus. Ide also be constantly reminded of the rumors linking 18 year old Rooney to Manchester United to join the even classier teeanger from Portugal, Christiano Ronaldo. However, one team kept getting brought up much more then others. The team I hadnt seen play since 2001, and who it seemed was buying the cream of the crop from this European Championship. This team was the mighty Chelsea! Unlike now where we seem to buy every Tom, Dick and Harry; The Summer of 2004 saw us buy three players who 12 months earlier most of the World hadnt heard of. 1) Arjen Robben (PSV and Holland) : Was a teenage sensation in the Dutch League but many people thought we didnt need him at Chelsea because we already had Damien Duff. He rocked up to EURO2004 and was alongside Ronaldo the best winger in the tournament. 2) Petr Cech (Rennes and Czech Republic) : Was a starting goalkeeper at 18 in the French League and an under 21s European Champion with the Czechs when he impressed us all as the best of his position at the tournament. Just like with Robben, people asked why we needed him when we had Cudicini? His performances answered all queries. 3) Ricardo Carvalho (Porto and Portugal) : Was the best Centre Back in Europe for Porto when they won the Champions League, and the best Centre Back at the Championships where Portugal reached the final. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All three of these players played instrumental roles in Chelsea becoming a force in International Football, and all three players had seldom been heard of by our fans before they arrived. This had nothing to do with their ability, more with the average football supporters inabilty to look past the big names and search for the diamonds in the rough that could work to a teams strength. Whoever did the scouting that Summer has obviously been missing from Chelsea for the last few years because our purchases have been dire. We have not replaced veteran players with future stars, we have not invested in youth, and worst of all we have deliberately not brought in players to challenge for positions (Cech v Cudicini, Robben v Duff) as not to upset our established premodonnas. Were in dire need of Transfer Plan Revolution. Who agrees?

He was banned from International Football for a year for apperently spitting at an official at the 2008 Olympics (A charge he denies). Since Pizon took over as national team coach of Serbia he has been called up (and given minutes) every game. He is fighting for a spot with Neven Subotic of Borussia Dortmund for a position next to Nemanja Vidic. To give you a clue as to how good Subotic is, hes actually been better then Vidic for Serbia for nearly 18 months. Will be tough for Rajkovic to surpass him, but he would definitly be eligable for a Work Permit now! We should take this up with UEFA. Racism shouldnt be acceptable anywhere. We shouldnt turn a blind eye just because the player in question is White.....

ahaha

I wouldnt have him anywhere near our starting 11. After his poor performance at the World Cup ide never call him up again. Same with Marko Pantelic (Olympiakos) and Nenad Milijas (Wolverhampton) who had equally bad tournaments. Other players I havnt mentioned that could still figure for the national team are : Goalkeepers/Defenders : Bojan Saranov (Maccabi Haifa) : Young goalkeeper for 09/10 Israeli Champions. Uros Cosic (CSKA Moscow) : 18 year old defender that is the closest player we have to Vidic at that age. Russians already trying to give him citizenship. Pavle Ninkov (Toulousse) : Recently signed for the French Club from Red Star Belgrade. Vujadin Savic (Bordeaux) : Young tall centre back whos now a starter for the 09/10 French League Champions. Still learning his trade however... Ivica Dragutinovic (Seville) : Maybe a little old, but has always been a great player for us. Nenad Tomovic (Lecce) : Right Back on loan from Genoa. Marko Lomic (Dynamo Moscow) : Average defender from Russian League. Dusan Basta (Udinese) : Average defender from Italian League. Midfielders/Attackers : Filip Djuricic (Heerenveen) : WATCH THIS SPACE. . The boy had a pre contract with Manchester United and was personally invited by Fergie to watch the team play at Old Trafford. Wasnt able to get a work permit and instead left for Heerenveen, made his debut at 17 and has been labeled the new Cruijf by the Dutch media. He is the future of our national team along with Adem Ljajic. Ljubomir Fejsa (Olympiakos) : Young player recently signed from Serbian champs Partizan to Greek Champions. Radosav Petrovic (Vitesse) : Always seems to be picked by the national team coaches even tho hes nothing special. Recently left the Serbian League. Bosko Jankovic (Genoa) : One of our more creative strikers who has had major problems with injuries lately. Could have been special, but i feel his carreer is over now. Really solid team you got there, except for upfront. Yep we are really struggling up front. We used to be known as producers of great strikers but it seems all the talent that is emerging these days are defenders! Hes crap. Good shot stopper but sucks at absoloutely everything else. Hasnt helped his cause by moving to Partizan from their bitter rivals Red Star Belgrade after claiming hed never do such a thing. Theres no way he can play for the national team without been booed by half of his own supporters. Yeah and American coach refused to take him to the under 19s World Cup or something claiming he wasnt good enough. Two years later he was named the best defender in Germany at age 20, followed by a League Medal the next season! Dont know if he would have chosen America if Serbia and Germany showed interest tho. I can understand Vieri leaving. He was born in Italy, came to Australia when he was 6 and then left when he was 16. However Simunic was a dog act. Brought up through the Aussie system and even had a free scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport before choosing Croatia. All that money could have been spent on other players. His Grandparents live in South Perth thats correct!. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyways my Serbian starting 11 : -----------------------Jorgacevic------------------------ ----------Subotic--------------------Vidic--------------- Ivanovic--------------------------------------Kolarov--- ----------------Stankovic---Kuzmanovic--------------- Krasic-------------------Ljajic---------------------Tosic- -------------------------Lazovic--------------------------- All in all 7/11 of the starters will play in the Champions League and 14/23 of the squad. Thats pretty impressive for a small nation. We will probly still fail to qualify tho ahahah

What do you guys think of our current squad list? Im opening this topic because the forums a bit slow atm because of the Summer break and would like to here your thoughts on where you think Serbia stand on the International stage. Also I will use this spot to keep you up to date on how Ivanovic and Rajkovic play during their national team matches. My Top 23 : Goalkeepers Bojan Jorgacevic (Genk FC) : Our number one atm. Was about to get called up to the Belgian National team before finally recieving an invite from our coach. Zeljko Brkic (Udinese) : Best goalkeeper in Serbian League whos now signed for Udinese but is heading on loan to Siena. Andjelko Djuricic (Leira) : Considered the best goalkeeper in Portuguese League for 09/10 but has recently lost his form. Defenders Milan Bisevac (Paris St Germain) : Strong few seasons in France has seen him sign for PSG. Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) : What more to say? Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund) : Recently won the German league in the process forging a great combination with Matt Hummels. Slobodan Rajkovic (Chelsea) : Young player whos won two Dutch titles in the last three years. Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United) : Worlds best defender Aleksandar Lukovic (Zenit St Petersburg) : Recently won the Russian League his first season in the country. Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City) : Signed from Lazio but spend most of 10/11 season out with injury. Ivan Obradovic (Real Zaragoza) : Average season for average team. Midfielders Milos Krasic (Juventus) : One of best wingers in Serea A. Adem Ljajic (Fiorentina) : 19 year old that had a pre contract with Man Utd until his work permit fell through. One of rare teenagers in Serea A to have a starting spot. Zdravko Kuzmanovic (Stuttgart) : Former Fiorentina player whos now a star player for a struggling team. Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan) : Our captain and most experienced player. Still a starter for one of best teams in Italy. Nemanja Matic (Benfica) : Former Chelsea youngster who spent a year on loan at Vittesse before been traded to Benefica for David Luis. Gojko Kacar (Hamburg) : Utility player who has yet to find a postition to make his own. Milos Ninkovic (Dinamo Kiev) : Our most creative player but is yet to prove himself in Ukrainian League and Europe. Has great potential. Dusan Tadic (Grongingen) : Considered the best new signing of the Dutch League and close to agreeing deal with Ajax. Scored 7 assisted 24. Only four players in Europe had more assists (Ozil, Messi, Hulk) Zoran Tosic (CSKA Moskow) : Manchester United reject that never got a chance. Went out on loan to Koln in 09/10 . Was then sold to CSKA and considered one of best wingers in the Russian League. Attackers Miralem Suljmani (Ajax Amsterdam) : Biggest transfer fee in Dutch history when he signed for Ajax. Had a poor first two years but since Suarez left has scored 14 and assited 13. Milan Jovanovic (Liverpool FC) : Was one of the best strikers in the Belgian League but failed to get many games at Liverpool. Danko Lazovic (Zenit St Petersburg) : Top scorer for the champions of Russia. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are many other players but I personally believe this is our best 23.

These monkey chants are about a million times less offensive then the racism that is directed towards other ethnicities in the Balkans. We Serbs (like the rest of Eastern Europe) are 10x more racist against other Eastern European nations than we are against Blacks/Asians etc. Why would we hate them? Weve never had any form of contact with these people. They never did anything to us, and likewise weve never done anything at all them. The monkey chants and throwing of Bananas are definitly disgusting, but theyre in no way a form of racism. Theyre a form of extreme stupidy and distatesfulness. FIFA should crack down more on White v White racism because that is way more dangerous. The stuff that Polish and Russian (for example) fans would say to eachother in a game is way more racist, extremist and dangerous then anything that that fans of these nations would say to a black man. Likewise for an Ireland v England game. I can guarantee the stuff shouted in the stands at one of these games is worse then throwing a banana a Brazilian whos only been living in Europe for two years. Lets not stop there. In Africa, a game between Algeria and Egypt who are both of Arab stock but belong to different clans evokes far more extremism and racism than a Czech/Hungarian/Albanian doing a king kong impersonation. Same thing in Asia. You dont think the Japanese and the Chinese are shouting vile things about eachother during games? Or the Malaysians and Singaporeans. Racism should be stopped everywhere. But its impossible when there are all these double standards.

I stopped reading when i got to

Would love him at Chelsea. But were honestly pulling the piss if we think 22 million pounds is enough for him when Liverpool and Man Utd are paying stupid money for Carrol , Henderson etc

Hes of Serbian ethnicity. Left for Germany from Bosnia when the war started. He was an excellent player prior to this year, but had a bad season at Werder. Definitly not worth 30 million euros however....

Milos Krasic from Juventus? Besides Alexi Sanchez probly the most dominant attacking threat from midfield in Serea A last season. Eden Hazzard from Lille is also an extremely gifted winger/attacking mid who plays exactly the same way as Sanchez. And since we observe the Russian League alot I wouldnt mind having a look at Zoran Tosic (CSKA) for a left winger spot. Absoloutely bagging in the goals since he left Man Utd, and destroyed Australia in his last international friendly. Im so nostalgic for the days of Robben/Duff/Cole :(

We need a left and right winger in the mould of Nani and Valencia.....

Holdens American? Woah!! Theyre getting better and better...

Like every English player Stuart Holden will be sold to us for an inflated price well above his value (Henderson, Carrol). Banega is an amazing player ide love for us to buy, but he isnt a Sneijder type player...............More a Xavi/Modric style. I believe we need an attacking midfielder in the mould of pre-2010 Lampard. So Pastore would be my pick! PS. Marchisio definitly isnt Chelsea material. He isnt even Juventus/Milan/Inter material....

haha nah nothing like that. Just would have enjoyed the mystery. Either way he was awesome in the La Liga aswell as a World Cup and Euro contender. Came to the Premier League when he was on his last legs and the league was known as the retirement centre for European Football. Definitly wasnt up for the pace of the league, but at least it introduced me to Chelsea!!!

Knew I gave it away =(

I have read many rumours on Serbian forums that Chelsea are planning on bringing back Slobodan Rajkovic this season? If anyone is unaware of him, he was picked up by Chelsea as a 15 year old more then 5 years ago from OFK Beograd. As he was from a non-EU nation it was difficult for him to get a work permit in the UK so he was loaned out to Dutch clubs. He won the League with PSV in 08, the League with Twente in 09 and recently enjoyed a season with Vittese (Along with former Chelsea player Nemanja Matic). He has also started putting in strong performances with Serbia even when competing for a Centre Back position with Vidic (Manchester Utd), Subotic (Dortmund) and Lukovic (Zenit St Petersburg). As weve loaned Mancienne out, and Ivanovic is seen as a right back. Is it time that the kid recieved a shot? He could learn alot from John Terry (Same style), become his direct replacement in a few years, and then form a strong partnership with David Luiz for the future. What do you all think? PS. I didnt think Matic was given a proper shot (He was fantastic in the Dutch League last season), but it was very good business for Chelsea because we got a player of David Luiz's quality in return. Hopefully the Portuguese League and a historically great team like Benefica could be a stepping stone for Matic to mature......and come back to Chelsea in the future!!!

Lets just say he was FAR more successful in La Liga =) I pretty much just gave it away...

Maybe someome from my Serbian side married a German, Russian or Irishman? Could be Ballack, Smertin or Duff? =p btw......I live in Australia these days. Are there any other Aussie supporters on the forum?

Amazing with Porto. Hope he does the same with us. Feels like deja vu.........."The second coming of Mourinho?"

Hello. Just wanted to introduce myself to the rest of the Chelsea fans!!! I joined the forum in 2009 while on holiday in London, but its taken me a while to get into it. Ive been supporting Chelsea since 2000 (One of my relatives used to play for the club but he shall remain nameless) and my favorite players have been Franky, Robben, Zola, Carvalho and Essien. Im also a big fan of the Serbian national team so I have soft spot for our boy Bane Ivanovic!!! Im a huge smart arse and dont take my football as seriously as I did before, but one thing I do love is OUR club. So i expect to piss a few people off with my extreme views on Chelsea and its players, but I know the English have the best sense of humor in the world.......So please dont take me to seriously! Anyways im glad ive decided to come back on the same day as the arrival of Villas-Boias (un-intentially of cors), and I hope this is the beggining of a new revolution for Chelsea! Other changes I would like to see is the replacement of the old guard by new emerging talent from Europe (Hulk, Hazzard, Lukaku etc), the signings of established stars (Modric, Sneijder etc), the introduction of Chelsea Youth players (Kakuta, Rajkovic) and the DEMISE of John Terry (I told you ide be controversial). Hope to have a good time here! Njegos