The Loan Report: January 31 – February 5

February 5, 2012

After two or three weeks of transfer window activity and impactful performances, things quietened down this week on the loan front with a handful of names taking more of a backseat role after hitting the headlines throughout January. There are, however, two new names to cover from now on. Excitement over Kevin De Bruyne’s €9m arrival may have been tempered by the fact he is unlikely to be seen in…

Read More >>

Blue Reckoning

February 4, 2012

If ever there has been a decisive moment under AVB’s reign then this surely is it. We sit a massive 12 points behind the Manchester clubs and 7 points behind Tottenham. There are rumours that Mourinho is seeking a return to the Chelsea managerial post. Fernando Torres is being written off after a 1000 minutes without a goal. John Terry is once again being treated incredibly poorly by the FA…

Read More >>

Can They Kick It? Will We Ever Find Out?

February 2, 2012

op·por·tu·ni·ty Noun: A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. When discussing youth and reserve team football and player development, everything comes back to this single word. Opportunity. It might arise through merit, or it may be through fate, but without it, a player cannot prove himself worthy. Opportunity is, at times unfortunately, at the behest of circumstance. Rarely in the upper echelons of the game is…

Read More >>

Dutch Loan For Lalkovic

January 31, 2012

Chelsea’s young Slovakian winger Milan Lalkovic is set to join Dutch Eredivisie outfit ADO Den Haag on loan until the end of the season, according to breaking reports. The Under-21 international revealed on his personal Twitter account earlier in the afternoon that he would be heading out on loan and reports in the Netherlands this evening, most notably from reputable outlet Voetbal International, state that his destination is The Hague….

Read More >>

The Loan Report: January 23-29

January 30, 2012

A slight quirk of fate in this week’s Loan Report saw two Chelsea youngsters appear in a league match for the first time in their native countries. Patrick van Aanholt’s maiden Eredivisie experience was all the sweeter as it came away to PSV Eindhoven, the club at which he spent his formative years before moving to England. Gael Kakuta, meanwhile, made his Ligue Une bow away to Lyon as a…

Read More >>

Milan Swoop For Prosenik

January 30, 2012

Chelsea’s teenage Austrian striker is set to join Italian giants AC Milan on a free transfer in the summer, according to multiple reports today. Prosenik, the son of former international Christian, has been with the Blues since 2009 but has managed just 25 total appearances for the youth and reserves teams (and just five goals) in a career heavily upset by injuries. After suffering a concussion and memory loss in…

Read More >>

Kaby Departs For Cyprus

January 26, 2012

Chelsea’s Portuguese Under-20 international midfielder Kaby will today end his career with the Blues and join Cypriot team AEL Limassol. The Guinea-Bissau born teenager, who will turn 20 next month, is out of contract at the end of the season and is therefore eligible to agree a Bosman free transfer move to any club outside of the UK. It remains to be 100% confirmed whether the move to Cyprus is…

Read More >>

On B Teams, the EPPP, and Change

January 25, 2012

The subject of B team football within the English football league structure is a complex one with no lack of sensitive issues. Andre Villas-Boas has twice this season added his name to a series of high-profile names who have called for a restructuring of the way young talent is developed in this country. Naturally, the issue causes some consternation, and perhaps quite rightly. There are many valid points to be…

Read More >>

2012 Chelsea Pitch Owners AGM Report

January 24, 2012

The Facts The CPO AGM took place in the Harris Suite of Stamford Bridge at 11am on Friday 20 January 2012. Having established a quorum, the new Chairman, Steve Frankham, declared proceedings open. A meeting which was always lively and occasionally boiled over into hostility against the board took questions from the floor right from the start. The first speaker, David Sadler, wanted to know how ordinary shareholders could put…

Read More >>

The Loan Report: January 16-22

January 22, 2012

This week’s Loan Report features a clutch of players who were involved for the first time with their new clubs this weekend, headlined by Dijon’s Gael Kakuta. The French Under-21 international swapped the Reebok Stadium in Bolton for Stade Gaston Gérard and wasted little time in making an impression for his new club, grabbing a debut goal en route to beating Istres 2-1 in the French Cup. Kakuta grabbed a…

Read More >>