Chelsea’s unbeaten start to the 2010/11 reserve campaign came to a crashing halt on Monday evening at AFC Telford’s New Bucks Head. A rampant first half from Wolves led the way to a 4-0 demolition of Steve Holland’s side, which featured more experience and talent than had been available so far this season. Despite expecting a young team, similar to the one used against West Brom in a remarkable 5-4…
It’s been another up and down week for Chelsea’s young loanees, with some finding success, others taking a rare back seat, and one or two falling at the hands of questionable officiating. Just another seven days in football then. We’ll start at the top, and with the good news. Michael Mancienne came off the bench for Wolverhampton Wanderers a week after being forced to sit out against parent club Chelsea…
A stunning strike from Todd Kane in the closing stages secured a share of the points for a youthful Chelsea Under-18 team on Saturday morning in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at Cobham. Dermot Drummy found starting berths for five schoolboys in his starting eleven – including Arsenal trialist Lewis Kinsella – and introduced three more as second half substitutes. George Saville – the only second year scholar involved…
Chelsea’s loan ranks swelled by one more this past week, and an immediate impression was made. Conor Clifford signed an initial one-month youth loan at League One side Plymouth Argyle and just 24 hours after joining up with his new colleagues at Home Park, he put in a performance worthy of Man of the Match in a 2-1 home win over Huddersfield Town. Wearing the number 7 shirt and replacing…
This week’s report is a bumper fortnightly look at not only the young Blues out on loan, but also at those who represented their countries at junior youth levels over the recent international break. We’ll kick off with the national team action, which was headlined by England’s Under-21 team qualifying for next summer’s European Championships in Denmark after coming through a tough two-legged tie against Romania. Michael Mancienne captained the…
For Philipp Prosenik and Jeffrey Bruma, the 2010/11 season started with much promise. Recent news on the injury front has, however, threatened to de-rail their plans for the campaign, one more seriously than the other. With John Terry and Alex both already battling problems which could keep them out of the weekend trip to Aston Villa, Dutch international Bruma may have been in line to partner Branislav Ivanovic for his…
Chelsea’s sluggish start to the Under-18 season continued into the month of October with a 3-0 home defeat against Arsenal on Saturday morning. Second half goals from Kyle Ebecilio, Alban Bunjaku and Josh Rees put a gloss on a scoreline not wholly deserved by the Gunners, who had goalkeeper Damian Martinez to thank for keeping them in the game in spells. After using such a settled team for much of…
In this week’s instalment of the Loan Report, a ten-goal thriller at Chesterfield for Rhys Taylor takes centre stage as we check up on Chelsea’s young loanees. Crewe’s Welsh goalkeeper has been in fine form so far this season and has been one of the reasons for the club’s impressive unbeaten run, which continued on Saturday despite dropping a three-goal lead to end up drawing 5-5 in what was an…
Outings in previous seasons away to Ipswich meant those expecting an entertaining morning’s academy action were left disappointed. Dermot Drummy’s boys secured a third clean sheet of the season in a goalless draw which was unremarkable for almost the entireity of the match. Anton Rodgers’ second half dismissal was a rare talking point, and a disappointing one to boot. Chelsea started with Jamal Blackman in goal behind a backline of…
As we reach the closing days of September, Chelsea’s loanees will be settled in at their homes for the 2010/11 season, and are preparing for the long winter stretch. Many are firmly established in the starting line-up, but for others, the challenge remains to work their way into regular consideration. Michael Mancienne is facing exactly that after a week in which he failed to appear in Wolverhampton old gold and…