Chelsea warmed up for Friday’s FA Youth Cup Semi Final clash against Manchester United with a 3-0 win over Reading on Saturday morning. Goals from Amin Affane, Lewis Baker and Alex Kiwomya secured the win in a match which was barely a contest after a first half red card for visiting goalkeeper Dean Santangelo. He received his marching orders for pulling Islam Feruz back after the striker had closed down…
The Problems At Chelsea
I hope nobody ever doubts my loyalty to the club I have followed since the late 1950s when I was taken as a young boy to watch my team, Chelsea FC, play. In those days I stood on a grass terrace where the West Stand is now. So when I criticise some aspects of the modern day club do not take that as the sulkiness of a new fan. Nothing…
Chelsea Move For Young Duo?
Chelsea have this week been linked with a pair of teenagers from Italy and Spain respectively, with deals to secure the signature of both said to be close. On Monday, Italian website TuttoB.com – the Serie B-specific arm of well-known transfer speculation outlet TuttoMercatoWeb – noted that the Blues have moved to sign Pescara goalkeeper Luca Savelloni for some €2m. On Wednesday, meanwhile, ElCentroCampista.com via Spanish website Informacion.es reported that…
Reserves: Chelsea 0-2 Arsenal
One of Chelsea’s poorest performances at reserve team level in 2011-12 saw the Blues fall to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Arsenal on Monday lunchtime. A team featuring just two of the eleven which beat Fulham last time out failed to impose themselves on a more experienced Arsenal eleven and goals in either half from Chuks Aneke and Hector Bellerín secured three points for Neil Banfield’s Gunners….
Another Fine Mess
Shortly before Christmas, off the back of a poor run but following qualification for the last 16 of the CL, this column wondered if the season could turn out to be something special (see Special Ones Too). And it certainly has, but not in a good way. A slew of defeats, players who don’t seem to be bothered about putting in a shift but are only too happy to collect…
The Loan Report: February 27 – March 4
Gael Kakuta has been front and centre in The Loan Report for much of 2012 and the young Frenchman continued his fine spell at Dijon this week with another goal. Kakuta’s fourth strike of his brief stay in Burgundy had threatened to cause a major upset as the hosts led table-topping Montpellier, but a late equaliser deprived Patrice Carteron’s side of all three points. The game offered little to write…
Under-18s: Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea’s Under-18s staged the latest in an impressive series of comebacks on Saturday morning to earn a point against Tottenham Hotspur. The Blues found themselves two goals down at the break and whilst they weren’t quite able to finish the turnaround, second half strikes by Lewis Baker and Ismail Seremba saw them take a deserved share of the spoils. Some regular faces from the youth cup run were absent ahead…
Return of The Special One?
“They seek him here/they seek him there/those Frenchies seek him everywhere/Is he in heaven?/Or is he in hell?/The demn’d elusive Pimpernel” The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Emma Orczy The arrival of The Special One in London this week on a not so secret visit has sparked a frenzy of speculation amongst the media, who are linking him with not only every post at the top end of English club management…
Chelsea Headed Stateside In Summer
Chelsea’s 2012 summer excursions will take them to the United States as they prepare for the 2012-13 season. The Blues return stateside for the first time since 2009, having remained in central Europe during 2010 and touring Asia last summer. Early reports indicate that matches will be played in Washington (D.C.), New York and Seattle during the second half of July. It remains to be seen exactly how many of…
Book Review: “There’s A Golden Sky”
Ian Ridley’s “There’s A Golden Sky” is about as wide ranging and comprehensive a look at the state of football today as it is possible to cram into 260 odd pages. Ridley writes extensively on football with a style that is fluent, lucid and very easy to read and this, his latest book, is both fascinating and informative. Ridley’s first book, “Seasons In The Cold” written all of twenty years…