It started with a routine event on the pitch, during our first home game of the season against Reading; a player picks up an injury and the medical team, including Dr Eva Carneiro run on to attend the wounded hero. Treatment completed, Dr Carneiro made her way to the West Stand side of the pitch, and from there, to get back to the dug-out, walked past the Matthew Harding Stand….
There’s scarcely been a better or more appropriate time to discuss Romelu Lukaku. Following a frustrating first season at Chelsea, the Belgian returned for the new campaign determined to prove himself and, following some rather terse words towards his permanent employers after departing on loan to West Bromwich Albion, he’s started pretty well, with a goal for his country against Holland and another for the Baggies against Liverpool. To suggest…
Ah, glorious August, when football fans up and down the country are filled with what usually turns out to be misplaced optimism about the fate of their teams over the coming nine months. And speaking of misplaced optimism, TheChels.Net has asked their resident Old Crone to look into her crystal ball and see what might lie ahead. Please note that these predictions may contain a hefty dose of bias and/or…
At what point does it become silly? Another day, another Belgian(ish) played linked with Chelsea. The latest news comes from DH, who suggest that Blues scout Tony White (who does a lot of work in France and the Benelux region) is looking to finalise a deal for Senegalese defender Cheikhou Kouyaté. The 22 year-old, who wore the number 8 for his country at the London 2012 Olympic Games, would not…
There is a moment when you realise that you are a fan of something. Sometimes it’s a creeping gradualisation of feeling. Sometimes it can be triggered by a single event or personality. That match you saw on the TV when you were little. Or that player who had a profound influence on you. I started supporting Chelsea when I was 17, and it was mainly because of Pat Nevin. I…
There is no evidence that any of what follows is actually a fictionalised, poorly imagined account. Any resemblance to real or fictitious persons living, dead or even undead, is either purely coincidental or outright miraculous. Coincidences happen, alright? On the other hand, in a universe far, far away, all this may already have happened. 1. The True Spirit Of Sport: The Pan-Continental League. The year is 2030. The Pan-Continental League…
The arrival of July and of pre-season has inevitably resulted in a hive of activity at Chelsea this past week. As it’s Friday, it’s time to take a look back at a hectic five days both at Cobham and further afield for Chelsea at all levels, particularly on the youth front. The headline act, of course, has been the return to training of the first team squad, minus those who…
On August 4th, Roberto Di Matteo and Gus Poyet will line up in opposing dugouts for a pre-season friendly between Brighton and Chelsea. The match will precede a Premier League campaign that will feature Steve Clarke as manager of West Bromwich Albion and Mark Hughes at QPR, as well as former Blues coach Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool. The number of former Chelsea players – particularly from teams around the turn…
In March’s Volume One of this irregular series, Fabio Borini headlined a wealth of former Blues making waves elsewhere in the 2011-12 season. Volume Two starts with the young Italian as we take a look at the state of play with the summer transfer market in mind. Borini had been the subject of a speculated move to Liverpool to once again link up with Brendan Rodgers, but the likelihood of…
The final year of a player’s contract is always an uncertain time. If they’ve not been extended before the beginning of the final year of their terms, it’s usually an indication that they may well be on their way come the end of the campaign. That was the case with Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Jose Bosingwa at the end of the 2011-12 season and as we embark upon another…