Chelsea FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 10/11 (mod warning in post #7124)

Johner

He has been very impressive so far(apart from the mistake at Villa ), he is so comfortable on the ball and has to ability to make space for himself. I knew this lad was something special watching him play for the youth team the last couple of years. I never thought he would be brought into the first team so soon and be getting game time, He was our outstanding player in the youth cup win last season - along with C.Clifford. but McEachran really is a special player and hopefully he is going to fulfill his huge potential and I really think he will.

Johner

3-0 down in the reserve game but Fabio Borini scored 5 times:eek: to give us a 5-4 win!

RESERVE REPORT: WEST BROMWICH ALBION 4 CHELSEA 5
Posted on: Wed 20 Oct 2010

Captain Fabio Borini netted an amazing five times to bring Chelsea back from 3-0 down on a cold afternoon in Birmingham.

A nine-goal thriller saw an Ishmael Miller hat-trick put Chelsea on the back foot before Borini pulled two back in the first half.

A further second-half hat-trick from the Italian then secured the Blues victory after the side went 4-3 down after the break.

Manager Steve Holland chose three debutants in his back line as Todd Kane, Archange Nkumu and Ben Sampayo all lined up alongside Rohan Ince, who would later be replaced by George Saville for today's fourth first-time reserve appearance.

Borini sat in the centre of an attacking trio including Jacopo Sala on the right and Adam Phillip on the left. Meanwhile, Conor Clifford, Daniel Philliskirk and Aliu Djalo made up the midfield.

It was a slow start to the game for Chelsea, as we conceded a corner in the opening seconds. Walker was tested twice inside the opening 10 minutes, first smothering a Romaine Sawyers chance and then denying the number 9's second attempt by deflecting onto the bar.

Chelsea retaliated with Borini forcing an acrobatic save from West Bromwich keeper Ryan Allsop after feeding off a Philliskirk ball. Minutes later the Italian won a corner when he volleyed a Kane cross goalwards.

But the hosts took the lead when, with 22 minutes played, Miller stole possession from Walker and tapped in from close range after the Chelsea keeper fumbled an earlier shot on target.

Within seconds of the restart West Brom's number 10 had made it two after chesting down a cross from the right flank and coolly striking into the net with his left foot.

It was a bad start for the Blues, one that was about to get worse when Miller netted his hat-trick only two minutes before the half-hour mark. This time it was a left-footed strike from 25 yards out which curled into the top left when the striker was gifted time and space to shoot.

Borini started the comeback four minutes later when Allsop failed to hold onto a Sala shot and the Italian smashed the loose ball into the net from close range, making it 3-1.

It was only two minutes after Chelsea's first that Borini made it two when he dribbled past the host's defence without being challenged and calmly struck into the net at the far post, despite having two defenders and the keeper between him and the goal.

Not much then happened before the half-time whistle blew, with most of the game taking place in midfield as both sides battled to control possession. Holland made no changes during the break while Miller made way for George Thorne on the other side.

Within five minutes of the restart Borini secured his hat-trick after Phillip was brought down inside the area and our number 9 stepped up to send West Brom's keeper the way wrong way and slot in the bottom left. The game was 3-3 with 50 minutes played.

There were still three goals to come in this closely contested fixture and the first went to West Brom after Walker fumbled again. This time a Clifford mistake gifted Lateef Elford-Alliyu possession on the edge of the box and after Walker failed to hold onto his initial shot, he followed up and finished from close range.

Sala then hit the near post with a corner ball before Borini scored a brilliant goal by drilling with his right foot from just inside the area after feeding off a Phillip ball. Allsop could only watch as the ball flew into his own net.

Now it was 4-4 but Borini still had one goal left in him to put Chelsea in front for the first and only time in the fixture.

Once Ince had made way for Saville to make his debut, the Blues changed from a 4-3-3 formation to 4-4-2, with Sala moving back into midfield.

Not long after Holland's change of tactics, Borini netted a fifth. After finding himself in space and with time to aim an accurate shot, the Italian drilled a brilliantly placed strike into the top left from 25 yards out. Possession had fell to him when a Sala cross was deflected into his path.

It was Borini's seventh goal in four games and the last strike in an enthralling encounter against a tough West Brom side. A brilliant comeback from Chelsea and a great game of football all round.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Sam Walker; Todd Kane, Archange Nkumu, Rohan Ince (George Saville 75), Ben Sampayo; Conor Clifford, Daniel Philliskirk (Michael Woods 88), Aliu Djalo; Jacopo Sala, Fabio Borini (c), Adam Phillip (Bobby Devyne 90).

West Bromwich Albion (4-3-3): Ryan Allsop; Gianni Zuiverloon, Joe Mattock (Saido Berahino 57), Sam Mantom, Abou Meite; Paul Downing (c), James Hurst, Steven Reid; Romaine Sawyers, Ishmael Miller (George Thorne h-t), Lateef Elford-Alliyu.

Referee Matthew McLaughlin

Panthro

A lot of the managers have given their opinion about the Rooney situation.
Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea: "I probably will have to answer this question a lot in the future so I want to make it clear now. I don't want other coaches talking about my players and I have a lot of respect for Manchester United and their manager Alex Ferguson that prevents me from discussing Rooney's situation."

Good man Carlo.

DazMarz

Borini is a special kid, I've been saying that for ages, and I really, really hope he gets a few nods this season, tho unfortunately with Daniel ''One Leg'' Sturridge and a few others moving up the pecking order that is unlikely.

Also, I've been having dreams about a front line of:

==Rooney===Drogba===Anelka==

Fat chance tho, I reckon. Rooney will be wearing a blue jersey soon... but not Royal Blue. I reckon more a sky blue...;)

Johner

The Davestator

Bought my tickets for brum v Chelsea on 20-11. Any of you fine people got been to St. Andrews and have any tips on transport, beer etc?

Johner

DazMarz wrote: »

Also, I've been having dreams about a front line of:

==Rooney===Drogba===Anelka==

Fat chance tho, I reckon. Rooney will be wearing a blue jersey soon... but not Royal Blue. I reckon more a sky blue...;)

I know a lot of the posters in here have said they wouldn't like Rooney, but I would be absolutely delighted if we did sign him. He's a brilliant player and him Drogba and Malouda/Anelka up front would be very nice.

Panthro

Johner wrote: »

that left eyebrow of his is heading into orbit one of these days!

Johner

The Davestator wrote: »

Bought my tickets for brum v Chelsea on 20-11. Any of you fine people got been to St. Andrews and have any tips on transport, beer etc?

Was there last year mate, might head over to this one as well. I got a flight to Birmingham and then a taxi to the ground was about 25-30 quid and about 25 mins. I was too lazy to get the train.

Went to The Cricketers Arms for a few pints before, there was a part of the bar for Chelsea fans out the back and there was quite a few there. Birmingham fans were in the main part of the bar but it was fine, they were friendly.

Directions to the pub are. To find the pub (with your back to the away section) walk along the road ahead of you going away from the ground (not the road going right up by the stadium, but the road going towards Woolworths), until you get to Morrisons on your left. You can walk through Morrisons car park heading towards the store then join the road next to it, which is called Little Green Lane. The pub is 30 seconds from there on the left.

The Davestator

Johner wrote: »

Was there last year mate, might head over to this one as well. I got a flight to Birmingham and then a taxi to the ground was about 25-30 quid and about 25 mins. I was too lazy to get the train.

Went to The Cricketers Arms for a few pints before, there was a room from Chelsea fans out the back and there was quite a few there. Birmingham fans were in the main part of the bar but it was fine.

Directions to the pub are. To find the pub (with your back to the away section) walk along the road ahead of you going away from the ground (not the road going right up by the stadium, but the road going towards Woolworths), until you get to Morrisons on your left. You can walk through Morrisons car park heading towards the store then join the road next to it, which is called Little Green Lane. The pub is 30 seconds from there on the left.

Sweet. Cheers for the info. Let me know if you're goin over, be good to put a face to the name!

Panthro

Rooney with literally any two other front men would be terrifying.

Rooney, Anelka, Drogba, Kalou, Malouda, Kakuta, Sturridge, Borini...ahh here...savage.

Johner

Will do mate!

Have a ticket for Blackburn away and will probably head to Liverpool away, tickets on sale tomorrow for members with 13 or more loyalty points, I've got 17 this season think they might be only restricted view left though.

Fiskar

Got mine for Chelsea - Sunderland on 14/11. Happy days.

flights booked as well for the Chelsea - Everton game, now all I need are tickets!

Fiskar

papagormo wrote: »

Rooney with literally any two other front men would be terrifying.

Rooney, Anelka, Drogba, Kalou, Malouda, Kakuta, Sturridge, Borini...ahh here...savage.

Any deal with Rooney is defo going to be a striker in the other direction, odds would be kalou

Lukker-

Fiskar wrote: »

Any deal with Rooney is defo going to be a striker in the other direction, odds would be kalou

I'd doubt it.

Gonzovision

Fiskar wrote: »

Any deal with Rooney is defo going to be a striker in the other direction, odds would be kalou

I don't think that would make any sense. He won't be going to Chelsea, can't see it happening.

MUSEIST

gonzovision wrote: »

I don't think that would make any sense. He won't be going to Chelsea, can't see it happening.

Please god let us dodge this bullet. I would much rather us sign an even younger player like lukaku, aguero or neymar than that overweight greedy shrek lookalike. I hope he goes to city and causes all sorts of problems for them. Where do you fit tevez, balotelli, adedayor and rooney into your team without losing balence?

Gonzovision

Lukaku is the player we should be after imo. Young, powerful and lethal and by all accounts has a good head on his shoulders. Will be a world beater without a doubt.

Johner

MUSEIST wrote: »

Please god let us dodge this bullet. I would much rather us sign an even younger player like lukaku, aguero or neymar than that overweight greedy shrek lookalike. I hope he goes to city and causes all sorts of problems for them. Where do you fit tevez, balotelli, adedayor and rooney into your team without losing balence?

Rooney is a special player, and really a greedy shrek lookalike? His looks have nothing got to do with his footballing ability. He proved last season that he is a world class player and he's only just turning 25. Now I don't think we will sign Rooney at all but I think if he did he would be a brilliant player for us.

I think we will sign Lukaku in a year or two, he looks like he could be very well the next Drogba!

pistolpetes11

Johner wrote: »

Will do mate!

Have a ticket for Blackburn away and will probably head to Liverpool away, tickets on sale tomorrow for members with 13 or more loyalty points, I've got 17 this season think they might be only restricted view left though.

Just picked one up for the liverpool match there , anyone heading over let me know , cheers

GavRedKing

The Rooney debate is interesting. On one hand I think he would suit our 3 up top system but on the other hand he wouldnt be playing through the middle as I dont think he has the ability to replace Drogba. Who does TBH.

as i said before, if we could get him for cheapish 20-25 million then Id say why not, he would offer us another angle.

That said, I wouldnt lose sleep if we didnt get him or even if we didnt try get him. With Sturridge, Kakuta, Borini coming through we have enough quality youth to set us up for the future.

Johner

You sure it's not restricted? Only tickets available now are £42.00 and that would be severly restricted which I doubt you could see a thing.

Ticket prices
Tickets for this match are priced as follows:

Adults £45.00
Juniors (under 16's) £22.50
Seniors (over 65) £34.00

Restricted View Adults £44.00
Restricted View Juniors (under 16's) £22.00
Restricted View Seniors (over 65) £33.00

Severely Restricted View Adults £42.00
Severely Restricted View Juniors (under 16's) £21.00
Severely Restricted View Seniors (over 65) £31.50


We have received an allocation of 2948 tickets.

pistolpetes11

Johner wrote: »

You sure it's not restricted? Only tickets available now are £42.00 and that would be severly restricted which I doubt you could see a thing.

Ticket prices
Tickets for this match are priced as follows:

Adults £45.00
Juniors (under 16's) £22.50
Seniors (over 65) £34.00

Restricted View Adults £44.00
Restricted View Juniors (under 16's) £22.00
Restricted View Seniors (over 65) £33.00

Severely Restricted View Adults £42.00
Severely Restricted View Juniors (under 16's) £21.00
Severely Restricted View Seniors (over 65) £31.50


We have received an allocation of 2948 tickets.

Yeah it is , just noticed that afterwards , dont care really , going to be a cracker, mine was 42

Johner

What do we reckon the team will be tomorrow? i'm thinking Kalou and Zhirkov might get the nod maybe giving Anelka or Malouda a rest possibly Anelka. I don't think Bosingwa will start but I hope I'm wrong. I reckon it will be,

---

Cech

---

Ferreira-:(----Terry

---

Ivanovic

---

Cole

---

Mikel

---

---

Essien

---

Zhirkov

---

--Kalou

---

Drogba

---

Malouda--

Wolves are in terrible form and I expect us to win handy enough tomorrow. 3 or 4 nil please.

growler

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2193059,00.html

boswinga in

good that Drogba's back :-)

Johner

Thank god not Ferreria! Good to see Bosingwa back starting.

GavRedKing

Good news for Jose and delighted for Drogba

In other news, deloighted Rooney is staying with United, alot like the Gerrard situation a few years back when he wanted more $$$$$$$$.

Classy from Rooney holding the club to ransom, now that he has more $$$$$$$ the clubs ambitions must have changed for the better :rolleyes:

Sgt Pepper 64

gavredking wrote: »

Good news for Jose and delighted for Drogba

In other news, deloighted Rooney is staying with United, alot like the Gerrard situation a few years back when he wanted more $$$$$$$$.

Classy from Rooney holding the club to ransom, now that he has more $$$$$$$ the clubs ambitions must have changed for the better :rolleyes:

Now then, lets not forget John Terry and the Man City unpleasantness
and Cashley Cole - and yes, I am a chelsea fan, but needs to be said, let he who is without sin, glasshouses etc

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Now then, lets not forget John Terry and the Man City unpleasantness
and Cashley Cole - and yes, I am a chelsea fan, but needs to be said, let he who is without sin, glasshouses etc

Terry never said he wanted to leave and Ashley, well there was Real Madrid speculation but he never said he wanted to leave.

Granted Ashley wanted to leave Arsenal and he has justified leaving Arsenal as he is playing better now then he was with Arsenal and is winning trophies too.

Sgt Pepper 64

gavredking wrote: »

Terry never said he wanted to leave and Ashley, well there was Real Madrid speculation but he never said he wanted to leave.

Granted Ashley wanted to leave Arsenal and he has justified leaving Arsenal as he is playing better now then he was with Arsenal and is winning trophies too.

Yes he played it better than Rooney no question. He just never came out and publicy stated his love for the club and how he would def sign a new contract, when it was well known that Man City had put an offer in for him

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Yes he played it better than Rooney no question. He just never came out and publicy stated his love for the club and how he would def sign a new contract, when it was well known that Man City had put an offer in for him

Terry said he thought about the City offer but it never got past that.

The main difference is that Rooney said he wanted to leave United so it was down to him wanting to leave.

My main gripe is with the no ambition statement and then when more moeny is waved around he signs. You can guarntee that Gill and SAF promised they would add to the squad but this was always about money from Rooney IMO of course which makes him worse then Terry, Cole, and even Gerrard.

Gonzovision

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti says it is up to French teenager Gael Kakuta to decide whether he wants to stay or not after the club offered him a new deal.

The 19-year-old signed for Chelsea in 2007 from Lens but then suffered a broken ankle.

He was banned for four months by FIFA in 2009 for breaching his contract with the French club in order to sign for the Blues.

But this fine and Chelsea's subsequent ban on signing players for two transfer windows was eventually quashed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

However Kakuta's future is again on the agenda with his current deal set to expire next summer.

'I don't discuss the salary of players,' said Ancelotti. 'Technically, it's best for Kakuta - he's young, he's trying to improve and we're the best team for him to stay with.

'He has to take a decision to sign or not. We're sure he'll sign because he's an intelligent player and an intelligent man.'

A bit worrying that he hasn't signed yet. I'm sure there are plenty of clubs sniffing around him. It would be nice to get it sorted so he could concentrate on his football and try break into the first team. Although from seeing him this season, perhaps his temperament, application and consistency need serious improvement, no doubt he has the quality but he still needs to prove himself at this level. Doesn't seem to possesses the determination and attitude of McEachran.


In other news Connor Clifford has joined Plymoth on loan for one month.

chelseavera

I see Conor Cliffords gone on loan to Plymouth - but only for 1 month. Hopefully he makes impression and gets a loan in the championship or something.

Johner

Peter Reid is the manager there isn't he?

chelseavera

Johner wrote: »

Peter Reid is the manager there isn't he?

Yes .... suppose as a 'gutsy' midfielder - might be good to play under him for a while!

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Johner

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Zhirkov, Anelka, Drogba, Malouda.
Subs: Turnbull, Ferreira, Kalou, Sturridge, Bruma, Kakuta, McEachran.

smuckers

Bossei and Malouda excellent Drogs well off the pace tho as is Essien

Johner

Not a great performance but 3 points, Drogba was shocking, Bosingwa was excellent though great to have him back.

Gonzovision

Tough game in fairness, Wolves were very good. Cech was excellent today, his handling was impeccable.

Panthro

Bosingwa was unreal today, Ashley wasn't too far behind him in the performance either.
Pretty solid team performance overall, Essien was his usual fantastic self.
Had a giggle at Doyle getting stroppy with Ivanovic, Doyle and Stearman did well for Wolves actually.
Drogs was off the pace but hopefully that wall pick up again soon enough.
3 points in the bag, happy days.

Raedwald

Good to see Jose back, looked very good throughout the game.

Drogba poor enough i thought found it difficult to get going really.

All in all, 3 points is all that matters.

Johner

Ashley Cole has been brilliant all season, he is defintely the best left back in the world at the moment imo.

Johner

5 points clear.

Essien

Johner wrote: »

5 points clear.

Let the rest of 'em worry about second, we'll just keep doing the business

the_monkey

Not sure I'm happy that Arsenal beat city, I would have preferred a draw,
we could worry about Arsenal now, how the f*ck did they beat city 3-0 at Eastlands when we couldn't do SH*T against them ??

then we own Arsenal ?????

frustrating .....

MEanwhile Fergies PR stunt worked nicely for united's 1st away win of the season ...

Lukker-

the_monkey wrote: »

Not sure I'm happy that Arsenal beat city, I would have preferred a draw,
we could worry about Arsenal now, how the f*ck did they beat city 3-0 at Eastlands when we couldn't do SH*T against them ??

then we own Arsenal ?????

frustrating .....

MEanwhile Fergies PR stunt worked nicely for united's 1st away win of the season ...

Cos they got a man sent off after 4 mins? Once Arsenal took the lead City were f*cked cos they couldn't play the counter. We were unlucky vs. City, the game was seperated by a moment of brilliance from Tevez on the counter and then they had 10 men behind the ball for the second half with the second best defense in the league and with us missing Lampard.

Johner

Clifford played a full game for Plymouth on Saturday. According to a few reports he did very well, they won 2-1.

Johner

Loan roundup,

LOAN INTEREST
Posted on: Tue 26 Oct 2010

It has been a busy period for Chelsea men both at and away from Stamford Bridge, and the games continue to come thick and fast for our group of loaned out players.

There are nine young Blues currently operating away from the club, in four English leagues, the Scottish Premier League and the Dutch Eredivisie, where we begin.

Nemanja Matic, Slobodan Rajkovic and Matej Delac are all with Vitesse Arnhem, who sacked their coach Theo Bos last week after a poor run of results - they sit third bottom following the weekend's 4-1 defeat to Utrecht.

Delac, an 18-year-old goalkeeper, is yet to feature at first team level, but midfielder Matic has played six of 10 games, and defender Rajkovic four.

Back in England, Michael Mancienne is our sole Premier League representative, though the terms of his loan deal meant he sat out Wolves' weekend visit to the Bridge.

The 22-year-old (pictured in action against former Chelsea team-mate Franco Di Santo, now at Wigan) did not start a game in the league until mid September, and has now taken his appearances to four after putting in an important shift in central midfield at West Ham last weekend.

There are two Chelsea representatives in the Championship, with Jack Cork and Ryan Bertrand at Burnley and Nottingham Forest respectively.

Life is rarely dull at Turf Moor, where Cork has played in 11 of Burnley's 13 league games, starting eight and impressing fans with his energetic displays, though Saturday's 4-0 home defeat to Reading was labelled by fans as his first 'indifferent' performance.

He is expected to maintain his place in the side for Wednesday's trip to Aston Villa in the Carling Cup.

Bertrand was suspended for Forest's 2-0 weekend win over Ipswich due to five yellow cards, but is another to have impressed on loan, this being the first league game he had failed to start.

Forest occupy mid-table having drawn seven of 13 matches, but have lost just twice.

Conor Clifford made his Plymouth Argyle debut in League One at the weekend after signing there on Friday, helping the south coast side to a 2-1 win over Huddersfield.

Speaking afterwards on Saturday, he explained the whirlwind 24 hours he had experienced.

'Craig Noone picked me up from the train station and I stayed with him last night,' he said. 'Basically, I went into the dressing room, put on the kit and went out and played.

'I didn't know anyone's name, but the lads were good to me. They looked after me on the pitch and helped me through it."

'It did feel a bit awkward that I was starting, and other lads who had been training all week weren't.

'But I'm here to play football and it was brilliant (Argyle manager) Peter Reid threw me in.'

In League Two, Rhys Taylor continues to hold on to the number 1 jersey at Crewe, despite the return to fitness of established goalkeeper Steve Phillips.

'He manages to get something in the way all the time,' said Crewe manager Dario Gradi, who has picked the Welshman in every league game this season. 'I think he is an excellent young keeper.'

Finally, up in Scotland Ben Gordon is enjoying life under the guidance of manager Mixu Paatelainen. After making his debut away at Rangers in August, he has now accumulated 10 starts.

smuckers

I thought Essien had a very poor game gave the ball away too many times in first half, improved a little in the second half, no one had an outstanding game, Bosingwa excluded.