Home comforts have rarely been in evidence at Cobham during the 2010-11 academy season, but in the final league match of the year, Chelsea gave a warming performance to those braving the December weather. A five-star performance crowned by a Billy Clifford hat-trick saw Dermot Drummy’s boys defeat Norwich 5-1 and pick up just a second home win of the campaign. With the fixture falling in between two proposed (and…
On Wednesday night, Carlo Ancelotti opted to field a near full-strength side in a meaningless Champions League tie against Marseille. Josh McEachran was the sole ‘youngster’ to be afforded a start, with the likes of Patrick van Aanholt and Gael Kakuta left kicking their heels on the substitutes bench, undoubtedly frustrated. It rankled with Chelsea fans, who felt the occasion to be another opportunity to give the next generation some…
This week’s loan round-up will be a considerably quicker read than usual, as inclement weather and FA Cup eliminations meant that many of the young Chelsea loanees were left without action this weekend. Sidelined because of snow were Adam Phillip and Michael Woods as both Yeovil’s trip to Hartlepool and Notts County’s home tie with Bournemouth were called off, with the latter being a very late cancellation. Woods had joined…
Chelsea’s Reserve team returned to action on Wednesday night in front of a rare public viewing, and rewarded those hardy souls making the trek to a cold Bishop’s Stortford FC with a 2-1 victory over West Ham United. Steve Holland was able to call upon three of last night’s first team substitutes, handing Jacob Mellis, Billy Clifford and Jacopo Sala starts, whilst Fabio Borini was able to return to the…
League One was the focus of loan attention this week, as Conor Clifford extended his stay at Plymouth Argyle for another month, whilst Adam Phillip took his first steps in professional football. Phillip’s path to professional football hasn’t exactly been a typical one, having been discovered relatively late as a 15 year-old playing Sunday park football. But after two serious knee injuries in three years, he this week joined Yeovil…
After a meeting between Chelsea officials and Gael Kakuta this week, it seems there may be light at the end of the tunnel. The 19 year-old French winger, who is out of contract next summer, arrived back in London on Thursday for talks over a new deal, cutting short his international break. Reports in France this morning (emanating from L’Equipe) suggest that those talks lasted four hours and were ‘fruitful’,…
Reports emerging out of France today indicate that Gael Kakuta will return to London from international duty to discuss a new contract at Chelsea. The French Under-20 international featured last night against Montenegro and was due to continue his involvement during a training camp in Clairefontaine to take part in a friendly against Orléans tomorrow. However, he has been given permission to leave the team camp and head back to…
The past seven days have been amongst the most productive so far this season for Chelsea’s young loanees, with two players scoring their first goals of the season. Let’s delve in. With another week of double-header action, Jack Cork and Ben Gordon both used the extra match to find the back of the net, the latter for the first time as a professional. The left-back had come close to opening…
Chelsea’s tough 2010-11 academy season continued on Saturday morning with a frustrating 2-0 defeat at home to Fulham. Despite a hard-working performance in far from ideal circumstances, Dermot Drummy’s young charges were unable to get the upper hand on their opponents and ultimately came up short against a stronger unit. The team took on a more experienced look than last time out at Cobham against Crystal Palace, with Ben Sampayo…
Since losing 4-0 at Wolves last time out, there’s been a few bits and pieces of news on the Reserve team front, so we’ll take a look at what’s been going on, starting with today’s win over Bayern Munich. With the schedule for the second string still far from ideal, Chelsea have continued to look for friendlies against a wide range of opposition, and the first foreign opponent of this…