
To manage “on the continent” is to be beset by uncertainty, one eye ever to windward, awaiting the moment when the mute with the bowstring calls time on your career. So much are we told by the columnists. We icy Albion islanders are not of this breed. We have learned the true lesson of our [...]

They pull a knife, you pull a gun. They send off Lampard, you pull a Ballack. That’s the Premier League way.
If there is an award for most ham-fisted segue into the concept of “Untouchable”, I’d like to claim my prize. But the point is an extremely important one. Just who is irreplaceable at Chelsea right [...]

You’d think that a good 24-hour period of reflection would be needed after losing to Spurs in a competitive final but, in truth, no Chelsea fan with even an iota of self-respect can do other than hold their hands up today and acknowledge that the better team won on the day.Second in nearly every department [...]

High on the seas of the interactive bunfight that we call the Internet, you’ll find a project called A Swarm of Angels. In as small a nutshell as I can fit it, it’s an attempt to wrest control of the film-making process from the traditional fiefdoms of studio and marketing man.
You’ve heard of open-source software, [...]

It’s official. Avram Grant is now as good as José Mourinho.This has come as something of a surprise to many of us, who expected Avram to be the very definition of the stopgap manager; the interim measure before a bright young star appeared on the horizon in a sharp suit. Deschamps, Klinsmann, even the expectorating [...]

As recent transfer rumblings have taught us, playing like a complete no-mark can have a surprising effect on your marketability and price in the English market.A recent Guardian article listed several players, notably Titus Bramble, Lassana Diarra and Tal Ben Haim, as shining examples of how ineptitude or lack of experience can cause your value [...]

Didier Drogba would like to leave Chelsea. This in itself is nothing unusual: history is littered with similar instances.Ruud van Nistelrooy was hardly a spent force when he left United two years ago, and his goal record for Real Madrid is still reasonably impressive. It certainly seems as though Thierry Henry had had his head [...]

Damn you, Chelsea. Damn you to hell. Why couldn’t you just have the good grace to do what everyone was expecting you to do - collapse - and save me any more emotional investment in this season?It was all going to be so sweet. I had my faintly superior, dismissive persona all buffed and ready [...]