Tuesday 31 January
Swansea City 1:1 Chelsea
At least with Carlo Ancelotti you were never sure what kind of performance you’d get. Sometimes we’d dominate, sometimes stagnate but there was little indication before kick-off which team would turn up. This season seems to have developed a pattern of dire first-half displays, better in the second period but unable to muster many goals.
This time they dominated the first-half almost completely and opened the scoring when Scott Sinclair hooked in a poor clearing header from Bosingwa. 1-0.
Bosingwa was on the pitch at right-back because John Terry is injured so Branislav Ivanovic moved inside to partner Luiz. Gary Cahill sat on the bench with a puzzled expression. Why spend £7m on a player you are not going to use.
We started to hold the ball better in the second-half but with Torres still a passenger and Sturridge struggling to recapture his early form we tried to funnel everything through Juan Mata and he has been feeling the pressure.
Ashley Cole couldn’t stand the strain and picked up two yellows. He will be suspended from the visit of Manchester United at the weekend.
The get out of jail card was played in stoppage time when Bosingwa’s cross deflected in. 1-1. It was ill deserved and for once it looked like Sinclair and Brendan Rodgers might be about extract some revenge for how we squandered their talents.

In other news the transfer window closed with a dull thud. Kevin De Bruyne did sign and there were a couple of late surprises. De Bruyne signed for five years at a cost of around £6.7 when all the extras have been added on.
Philipp Prosenik has signed for AC Milan. It is hard to stand in the way of a young player when someone as glamorous as Milan bat their eyelids but it is a surprise. Philipp has been injured for most of the three years he has been working up through the youth and reserve ladder. We wish him well.
Patrick Bamford signed from Nottingham Forest for about £1.5m with add-ons, &, etc. Patrick has only two first-team games but has been prolific in the FA youth cup.
Rhys Taylor has made such an impression with the Millers that he’ll now stay on loan with Rotherham until the end of the season. After a great 3-0 win in his first game Rotherham have lost three on the trot and are having a miserable season.

Lastly, on a good night to bury bad news, Chelsea announced their results from the last financial year – a £67m loss. That is down on last term and turnover is up but a few factors kept us in the black. Firstly compensation to Carlo and his staff combined with £15m to Porto for permission to steal their boss makes up a fair size chunk of that loss. The wage bill was much smaller with Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and others no longer on the books. That figure will reduce even further now that Anelka and Alex have gone. We have to get used to a future of developing young players and selling them on to bigger clubs to break even if we are to meet the restrictions on losses introduced by Uefa. Without a naming rights deal the size of Manchester City’s ludicrous contract with their state airline or a new stadium, we will slump into the second tier of European clubs.

Wednesday 1 February
John Terry got the worst possible result from the court today as his trial for his much publicised racially aggravated public order offence has been put off until July. Normally we’d be in court in a few weeks look at the tapes with a lip reading expert and go home. But Ron Gourlay waded in and asked for a delay because they intend to call other players as character witnesses and that might interfere with training and then in the summer we have Euro 2012. So John has to wait nearly ten-months to clear his name when the explanation he gave at the time has yet to be contradicted.
The FA Cup game against a rampant Birmingham City will be the lunchtime game on Saturday 18 February.

Thursday 2 February
Not everyone is freezing their nads off in Blighty. Three of Chelsea’s youngest and brightest are in Portugal where England U17 beat the hosts of the Algarve trophy 2-1. John Swift and Jordan Houghton played from the start, while Alistair Gordon played the closing stages.

Friday 3 February
Acting on the principle that British subjects are guilty until proven innocent the FA removed John Terry from his role as England captain, again. It is no doubt a difficult situation for the FA but the principle they are abusing is a fairly fundamental one and their solution doesn’t seem to alter the situation. If John is unfit to be captain because someone didn’t hear any abuse directed at him but complained a week later after everyone said it had happened, then he shouldn’t be in the squad. This half-way of removing the captain’s armband but leaving him in the team suits nobody.
Still, John usually responds to this kind of absurdity by playing out of his skin. What are the odds he’ll score the winner on Sunday having out jumped Rio Ferdinand?

Saturday 4 February
John Terry will not be out-jumping anyone tomorrow; he has a problem with a knee. As if he didn’t have enough problems AVB had to spend half his press conference denying that Jose Mourinho was going to return to Chelsea. Some journalist got a join the dots book of football scandal for Christmas and was just trying it out.
Gary Cahill might finally get a game. AVB’s reluctance to use him at Swansea – to the extent that he moved Ivanovic in to the middle and gave the walking disaster Jose Bosingwa another game to throw away – suggests that Cahill is another player that was a target for the club not the manager. We’ll see what he does about Cole’s suspension. Bringing in Bertrand would be the obvious progression but AVB is likely to be short sighted and play Ferreira instead.
Didier Drogba scored twice as the Ivory Coast finally started looking like a team by beating co-hosts Equatorial Guinea. Sadly it means that we’ll be without our Ivorian pair for at least another week.

Sunday 5 February
Chelsea 3:3 Manchester United
Judging from the general grumbling before the kick-off a point would have been a positive outcome – judging by the general grumbling after the final whistle this felt more like a defeat than a draw.
The bad news from the team sheets came in the form of Jose Bosingwa at left-back instead of Ryan Bertrand and with Florent Malouda ahead of him it was clear we were not getting any attacking momentum down the left.
This squad looked really thin; with Terry, Cole, Lampard, Ramires and Drogba all absent for one reason or another Lucas Piazon was named among the subs.
After some bright Chelsea pressure and a couple of corners United wanted a penalty when Young wriggled into the area and flung himself to the ground. Possibly mindful that they only beat Stoke City midweek with the help of a couple of penalties United’s tactic for the rest of the season is clear: dive on sight.
Then a couple of minutes later Welbeck is played in and Cahill slides in, takes the ball off his toe and brings him down. United want another penalty and a red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity. Denying a goal by robbing the player of the ball is still ok with Howard Webb who noted that contact was outside the area. Still, if they keep asking eventually he’ll give one.
We didn’t look capable of anything, Torres kept fluffing the ball back to United and if it wasn’t for Mata and the impressive Essien we’d have nothing. As this mostly nothing was going on the ball fell to Sturridge who cut to the byline and played a wall pass off Jonny Evans and in. 1-0.
It will be classed as an own goal by Sturridge’s intention was clear.
They forced one save from Cech before the break when Young cut inside and Rooney nearly had a tap in form Cech’s save.
The second-half had barely started when blam – Mata sticks it into the top corner on the volley. What a goal, we have been starved of those special moments for a while but this was a cracking goal, we have come to rely on the little Spaniard for inspiration but this was above and beyond. The break started in fairly ordinary way but when Ivanovic won the ball back and fed Torres the cross was fizzed, the marking nowhere, the volley precise. 2-0.
We didn’t have to wait for a third Sturridge again skinned Evra and from the free-kick David Luiz headed goalwards, the ball looped in from Ferdinand’s shoulder – 3-0 and general delirium.
That positive feeling didn’t last. It seems we don’t yet have confidence in AVB’s sides’ ability to hold out, there having been one too many last minute equalisers this term.
Their fight back came when Evra ran into the box and ran across Sturridge looking for contact. Naively Daniel tried to win the ball and Evra was delighted to fall over it. For once Wayne Rooney didn’t flop it into the ’keeper or fire wide. 3-1.
The second penalty a few minutes on is a disgrace. Danny Welbeck dived because United were trailing and, as so often in the past, it worked. Until retrospective bans are handed out to stop cheating like this United will keep doing it. It is very hard to consistently come up with play that opens up defences and as the season drags into the business end of winter it is so much easier to fall to the ground and have the referee do the job for you. Webb couldn’t be blamed because from his angle the con looked convincing but Welbeck knows he is a cheat and a fraud. 3-2.
And you knew what was coming, AVB’s sides cannot hold the ball obviously don’t train for this situation, as soon as we should be getting tight and closing the game down we go hell for leather in the opposite direction. It is naïve in the extreme to play suicide football against Wolves or Genk but for god sake realise there is virtue in scruffy wins.
This time Andre Villas-Boas took off Sturridge for Romeu and the whole thing fell apart. He moved Mata out wide from his drifting role and all cohesion disappeared from both attacking and defending. We sat with our pants round our ankles and invited United on.
The sickening equaliser came surprisingly early as Rooney’s shot was parried by Cech, Ivanovic didn’t close down the cross and Luiz stood still and watched as Hernandez headed in unmarked. 3-3.
We have watched too much of this kind of shit this season. All the while we’ve been cutting AVB slack because it is a new league for him and a rebuilding job, obviously it would be unfair to expect miracles but signs of improvement, effort or imagination would help.
Torres had time to be played in seven-yards out only to cut inside and get in a tangle and lose the ball when even the United defenders had been waiting for him to shoot. Fernando, is it better to belt that effort wide or at the ’keeper rather than attempt to cut back and fumble the chance. Have some self-respect and put your laces through the thing.
Mata’s late free-kick was brilliantly turned round by their flaky ’keeper completely lacking in confidence, so that is another favour we’ve done them and the newly revived stickman also parried a late Cahill drive to keep the scores level.
You could, if you were a blind optimist, say that this was a good point won with the spine of our team absent and that they had to cheat to get back into it. But that would be to ignore the fact that this is a woeful United side that gets by on reputation and soft penalties and this just keeps happening to us. We’d be joint top if Mourinho was in charge of the side for the last ten-minutes of each game this season. Every time AVB brings on a player to shore things up defensively we ship a goal because whatever defensive shape we had usually goes out the window.
What is even more sickening is that those wankers in the media and their sad echoes in public bars the length of the land have another log to put on the pitiable whine that it is never over against United.

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Ramires and Luiz

Monday 23 January
Rumours on twitter that Bobby Tambling, all time record goalscorer and all that, is in hospital in Ireland. We wish him well.

Tuesday 24 January
Norwich City reserves 3:3 Chelsea reserves
Lucas Piazon put us ahead in the first half but we needed two well taken late strikes from Islam Feruz to dig us out of our second-half hole. Bring your boots and gloves to the next match as injury and loans mean we struggled to find a goalkeeper. James Russell, Canvey Island’s stopper and youth team goalkeeping coach stepped in and pulled off a late save to keep things at three each.
Alex will not be going to QPR simply because our aspirant neighbours were unwilling to pay premiership wages. Where does that leave us? Well, Carlo over at PSG might take him, if not AVB has some major bridge building to get on with.
Meanwhile Anton Ferdinand has been urged to shake hands with John Terry before the game on Saturday. God knows why, if he wants to act the injured party like a six-year-old and sulk – let him. The police seem to believe that all the tension of the afternoon can be released with a handshake. We remember Sepp Blatter had the same idea a few months back but it didn’t catch on.
Meanwhile, the growing anger that the game will kick-off at 12 and is not on the telly threatens to boil over into open revolt, riots and running battles with Bill in the streets – apparently it was their idea.
Talking of injured parties Mario Balotelli’s agent has been explaining how hard done by he feels. The mentally-all-there Italian has been sent off three times since he arrived at City and his agent says he feels persecuted. He has a point on an afternoon when he was charged by the FA for stamping on Scott Parker, his English team mate was let off a blatant forearm-smash in the same game.

Wednesday 25 January
Kevin De Bruyne looks to be the next one in as Genk officials are apparently in town to finalise a £7m-ish deal. The expectation is that Kev will be loaned back to the Belgian champions until the summer.

Thursday 26 January
A moron sent Anton Ferdinand a bullet in the post as a threatening gesture ahead of Saturday’s game. We honestly thought this kind of stupidity was reserved for the sectarians north of the boarder.
Let’s be clear; whoever sent this cartridge is not a Chelsea fan.
They cannot have supported Chelsea when Paul Canoville played or Ruud Gullit, Gianfranco Zola or Didier Drogba. You cannot support a football team with players from so many different countries, so many different backgrounds and be racist. If you are still a racist given the nature of the club you support, we invite you to leave.
Given that level of stupidity it is hard to criticise Anton Ferdinand while he mulls over whether to shake John Terry’s hand. The simplest advice would be to grow up. Wayne Bridge looked a complete dick when he refused JT’s handshake over an alleged affair with his ex. That childish gesture has blighted his career ever since, managers don’t want to take on a player that sensitive to stories in the News of the World.
Buried under all that news Lucas Piazon signed a contract extension until 2017, so the nippy Brazilian will be around for a while to come.

Friday 27 January
Cote D’Ivoire 2:0 Burkina Faso
Didier set up Salomon this time for a sweet strike and the boys progress to the next round.
Alex will spend the next few years in Paris with PSG. Carlo Ancelotti completed the deal for £4.2m and has bought a talented and adaptable defender who has been a great servant in his time here. It is a shame to let him go for so little.
Kevin De Bruyne can expect a warm welcome from the boss. Andre Villas-Boas went out his way to explain that signing the young Belgian was not his choice: “You have to speak to the people from the club about that. It’s not within my immediate projects. He’s a player the club has scouted for some time. I’m a manager who respects club policy.”
He added: “A club has to look to the future, whether it’s with this manager or another. He’s a good bet for the future.”
Is there a hint in there that he feels he’ll be leaving soon, if not it is worrying for a couple of reasons. Firstly it suggests that AVB is not in control of signing players and, if he isn’t, we might as well give up now, and it might mean that in future managers will look elsewhere – who, after all, wants to work somewhere where they buy the players and you take the flack.
Meanwhile Kaby Djalo has left us for Cyprus and AEL in Limassol. Kaby is Portuguese by birth and won a FA Youth Cup medal during his time here.

Saturday 28 January
Queens Park Rangers 0:1 Chelsea
After the grope-the-public exercise outside (honestly, what was point of that? Was a crazed Chelsea fan going to bring a bazooka?) the rest of the afternoon was a bit flat. Punishing all of the class because two boys cannot behave the FA decided that it Anton and John were not going to shake then nobody would be allowed to.
Branislav Ivanovic made a welcome return at right-back with Malouda in for Frank. Gary Cahill made the bench.
Nothing happened in the first-half, at all.
QPR were dreadful throughout and the longer you watched them struggle the more you realised why there were so many gaps in the home seats. Not even QPR fans will pay to watch this rubbish.
Chelsea dominated, simply because QPR were hardly there. Mata’s cross resulted in the penalty. All the commentators since have said soft call or dive but really what is the difference between Clint Hill blundering into the back of Sturridge and David Luiz on Helguson. Except, of course, the latter, everyone agreed, was a nailed on penalty and Luiz was a joke and that brave Clint Hill was harshly done by a Chelsea con. Same old Chelsea, always…
Mata put away the penalty with ease and that was that. They mustered one serious shot on target with the last kick of the game but Cech pushed the ball wide.
The real worry is the injury to Ramires who was carried off after appearing to twist his knee. He could miss a vital part of the season with Europe in the near future.
Thankfully, we don’t have to travel up to White City again this season. Given that we have family members unfortunate enough to support them it is probably best for all concerned if they are relegated at the end of the season and we have a few years apart.

Norwich City youth 2:1 Chelsea youth
A bit of a sloppy start left the side two down at the break and unable to find a leveller despite, substitute, Ismail Seremba scoring late on. He had a beautiful lob ruled out for offside as well.
Ramires looks to have a meniscus tear and will miss at least four weeks.

Sunday 29 January
As a reward for yesterday’s plunder – all the papers have labelled us cheats – we will play Birmingham City at home.
Brighton and Hove Albion go to Anfield while Spurts will be knocked out at Stevenage

TV's and football – a comfortable revolution?

A couple of decades ago, television coverage revolutionised football in the UK, and particularly the English Premier League. Indeed, televised coverage of games is now the primary way to experience live football, with viewing figures for matches featuring the top teams dwarfing the numbers able to physically attend the stadium. Indeed, such is the influence of top flight football coverage you could argue that the importance of televised games for both fans – and the pubs that host them on match days – has changed the way that we look at TVs in the U.K. Take a look at the TVs on offer from major high street suppliers like currys.co.uk, and then think back to when you first saw that new technology. When high definition TV’s and then 3D TVs first came onto the market, it’s pretty safe to say that the first place you saw these new gadgets was in your local pub, displaying televised coverage of, if not football, then some other sport like rugby or cricket. But just what effect has the new central role of TVs for spectating sport had on the way that we interact with the game

As mentioned, TV coverage has democratised football in a way, providing vastly increased access to the biggest fixtures for both the geographically remote, and those who could never afford the season tickets which are so often necessary to secure a seat at the most important games. As well as providing vastly increased access to these games, modern televised coverage also – arguably – presents a better view of the action than you are ever able to get inside the actual stadium.

Think back to the first time that you saw a close up, slowed-down replay of a penalty box dive on a high definition TV. While modern camera placement and editing techniques have made the most subtle of contacts – or indeed absence of any contact – discernable in a way that is often blocked to a referee just five yards away, it is the technology of high definition TV that allows us to get the full benefit of the zoomed-in, close-up broadcast.

Now 3D TVs have brought revolutionary depth to the way that set pieces and corners are viewed, and again, combined with the multi-angled display and replay, it is now possible to see the most minute detail of a penalty box incident in a way that you might well miss even if seated directly behind the goal.

Add to this god-like vision of close up replays the fact that heating, decent food and alcohol is available in the local pub – in contrast to conditions in the stadium – and the transformation of the spectator experience in the modern game is entirely understandable. It is little wonder that many teams in the U.K. now feel the need to limit coverage of certain important European ties with obscure teams in mid-winter, for fear that fans will stay at home or in the pub rather than face travel, queuing, and the full force of the elements. But just how good would the televised coverage be without fans in the stadium? For a further discussion of the impact of media on sport, try looking at: http://www.ahfcchat.com.

From the glory of the back-to-back title under Mourinho, through the ridiculous reigns of Grant and Scolari, and ending with the FA Cup victory with Hiddink at the helm, Chelsea Chronicles – volume one – provides the reader with an articulate and hugely entertaining insight into True Blue life.

Remember Asier del Horno? How about Maniche?!! There’s a tribute to Super Frank (Sinclair),a homage to Tones Bar and a fiendish assessment of Peter Kenyon’s abilities as a CEO interspersed with European travels to Transylvania, Sofia, Turin, Moscow and plenty more besides which get that ‘Over Land and Sea’ touch and make you feel a part of the constantly unfolding drama.

The surreal meeting with Avram Grant in the “So Bar” a couple of weeks after he had been fired is worth the purchase price alone, as is the genuinely touching tribute to the late, great, King of Stamford Bridge, Peter Osgood which wraps up this excellent first volume of Chelsea Chronicles and makes it a must-read title for Blues fans old and new.

“Now I understand the true meaning of Glorious Unpredictability.” David Cameron

” Gate 17 wearing David Moyes masks in the Imperial after the Cup Final win over Everton – I’m still crying with laughter at the photo – brilliant stuff.” Kerry Dixon

“I’m just glad I’m not in it, God help me if Chelsea Chronicles – volume two – ever gets published.” Ronald Gourlay

The truth is, after a couple of ropey performances that were error strewn with his positional sense, many have been calling for him to be removed from the center of defence and placed in the holding role.

Nevertheless it is rare Brazil produce mean fighting machine centre-backs. That said Luiz samba style ways had led me to believe he would be better suited at right back, mainly because he can pass and cross (Mr Boswinga), and his lack of positional sense would not be affected if in defensive midfield.

But wait a minute; was that not the same curly-haired Robert Plant wannabe in defence at Carrow Road on Saturday? Indeed it was! And yes that was David Luiz who was calm in possession, effective at set plays and strong in the tackle and quick in recovery. I know it was only Norwich I can hear people think, but hold in mind it is the same Norwich with Grant Holt in the forward line who gave JT a torrid time at the Bridge last August. Dave had to be at his best on Saturday, and he was, right in the heart of the Chelsea defence.

2. Fernando needs more than just time.
“He needs a run of games”, is the normal sentence frequented when passing up the name of Fernando Torres. Unfortunately for Nando, games and minutes is exactly what he has been receiving, especially since Drogba’s departure to Africa. It is now 15 hours and 19 minutes sinceTorres scored for club or country, which is an obvious sign he is getting match time. The more fearful statistic is he has only managed a shot total of 41 in 31 appearances, which is a clear indication the creating of chances are not being crafted.

His confidence might be shot, it certainly didn’t seem that way at the beginning of the season, but Torres has been frustrating to watch at times, namely because against Sunderland he looked lively and against Norwich, not so much. Either way minutes on the pitch are good for him as well as taking shots to score goals, and that’s something the team as a whole needs to work on. Most of his chances are fashioned by him and are rarely gilt edged, maybe that is something the team as a whole should take responsibility for.

3. Time for Malouda et al to move on.
Follow Malouda, louda, louda, Follow Malouda…  (out the door!). I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking why Malouda was used to replace Lampard on Saturday, and then played in the middle instead of Mata?

But while I was wondering what he was doing on the pitch I questioned what he was doing at the club. When AVB took over in the summer he pertained every member of the squad had a chance to prove themselves. It seemed a sensible argument at the time, mainly because you just can’t offload an entire squad in a single transfer window.

The problem is with the keeping of some members, the squad has become deflated in motivation and the long term goals are hampered. I mean, how are Chelsea supposed to grow if we continually allow Malouda et al to fizzle whimpering shots into row Z, and then loan out the likes of Kakuta. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Kakuta is a world beater, but I am a firm believer in giving players a chance to prove themselves, just like AVB.

Of course this weekend wasn’t a sudden realisation that we needed to rid of Malouda, but considering Anelka has disappeared and Alex departure is imminent, I find it surprising that we are not trying to usher a couple more others out the door, notably Kalou and Bosingwa.

4. Creativity is still on the order.
The last transfer window saw a hot pursuit for Luka Modric and Juan Mata. Mata’s arrival immediately allowed a spark of creativity to unlock tight defences as well as providing the width to expanding the play. Much to Mata’s brilliant efforts and form this season there’s still a need to add another creative force to the squad. With Frank Lampard hitting the twilight of his career and looking like he’ll be utilised as a bit part player as each season ticks over, it is even more apparent creative players are becoming a rarity at the moment.

An out and out winger would be preferable, to allow Mata to play more infield or even switching Sturridge further into the middle, however, a creative advancing midfielder to dictate the play and make key passes is also needed. Saturday’s performance begged for another luxury player, those who can switch the play in a heartbeat and make the opposition defence uncomfortable.

5. 4-3-3 isn’t the only way forward.
The 433 formation has often been Chelsea’s main course of action throughout the years and a massive component to the success.

The problem that any team suffers once you use the same style for such a long time is that teams begin to figure out defensive structures to easily guard against conceding. Ancelotti suffered the same symptoms in his last season at the helm and Norwich played very similarly to that of Carlo’s last few games.

Norwich were very happy to concede possession in front of their goal and flood the middle areas of the pitch. The lack of urgency to switch and stretch the play caused the impotency in attack, even though chances were created and AVB has arguably shared a better success employing the 433 system than his predecessor.

What Chelsea needs to realise is that there are different variations of 433, particularly with the two holding midfielders we adopted against Man United earlier this season. It perhaps would be equally efficient to use a 451 and allow Torres the support he so much desires from an advancing midfielder. Better still, playing two up front would allow Strurridge a central berth he so badly wants and Torres to share goal scoring duties which would be to his benefit. 433 works, but so can 41212 or even 442.

Chelsea reserves 2:3 Wycombe Wanderers reserves
Jacob Mellis scored both the goals as the reserves played a loosener. Wycombe were too big and too experienced opponents for a young Chelsea team but there were positives in a game where we dominated possession and chances.

Tuesday 17 January
Fulham youth 2:1 Chelsea youth
A bit of a backward step for the academy; Adi made several changes from the side that played in the youth cup last week and his young side passed up a host of chances to win this. The goal we did manage came from Swedish/Bosnian wonder kid Anjur Osmanovic.

Alex had been given permission to speak to QPR. No fee has yet been agreed but a fine, successful Chelsea career is to come to an end in the hoops of disgrace. Alex has been a brilliant servant of Chelsea football club. It will always be to AVB’s discredit that two players as valuable as Nicolas Anelka and Alex were made to play with the youth team for asking for a transfer.
Josh McEachran and Patrick Van Aanholt are out on loan. Josh, to everyone’s surprise, has joined Swansea City and links up again with Brendan Rodgers. Patrick will take part in the Vitesse Arnhem experiment that is going steadily at the moment. Vitesse sit sixth just seven points from the top.
Everyone’s attention will be focussed on Swansea for the rest of the season. Josh has shown such promise and 18 games between now and the end of the campaign should develop him into an automatic first choice for next term. It worked for Daniel Sturridge last year at Bolton.
Patrick is in a different situation, he has demonstrated time and again that he is ready for this level but is perpetually stuck behind Ashley Cole. We wish them both well.
Meanwhile the BBC is reporting that we have signed three brothers from Luton Town. Dasilva wins Rio and Cole (12) along with their older brother Jay (13) have been snapped up by the academy in a deal that could bag the Hatters £1m if all three make the first team.

Meanwhile, in late news: QPR thrashed Milton Keynes, a side two divisions below them, by one goal to, erm, nil. So we’ll be back down there the weekend after next.

Thursday 19 January
Sam Walker has joined Yeovil Town until the end of the season. Huish Park is getting a very good ’keeper and one who is starting to get noticed. Yeovil’s manager, Gary Johnson, had Sam at Northampton earlier this season said: “I didn’t want to lose Sam because there’s a few clubs who know about him, so I’m pleased he’s back working with me.”
Reports emerge, in a thoroughly reputable newspaper and one unconnected in any way to phone-hacking, that Chelsea’s board attempted to buy the 75% majority it needed for the CPO vote last year.
It couldn’t be true though – Abramovich gives the impression of a man who doesn’t mess about. If he were determined to get a majority we’d already be on our way to Battersea Park.

Friday 20 January
The CPO AGM was almost as extraordinary as the summer’s EGM and passed off without actual fisticuffs but it is a sign of how far we have come that the CPO’s annual shindig gets reported at all. This year the board were elected and that was it. They wanted to sell more shares and expand the board but both resolutions were voted down when the new chairman, Steve Frankham swung the proxy vote against the bids. So, the CPO will do no new business for a year and another EGM will be scheduled to give shareholders an opportunity to voice suggestions.

Saturday 21 January
Norwich City 0:0 Chelsea
What a washout: we are treated to the same recipe for a soggy pudding of a performance topped off with a creamy swirl of racist chanting. Since the draw with Tottenham we’ve stunk, it seems that this team, set up this way cannot exercise control over a match against any opponents; cannot create enough chances, cannot take those we do and can do little or nothing to protect our goal from average teams.
This performance came on a weekend when we knew at least two of our direct rivals at the top would drop points. So obviously the squad was pumped up and eager to close the gap.
Gary Cahill sat in the stands for this one so we’ll have to wait a week for his bow. Daniel Sturridge was back on the right with Lampard and Ramires behind and Meireles in the holding role.
Norwich City had answers for our early probing and Holt and Morison cut through our back line three or four times without reply. The best moment of the first-half came when Torres remembered his lines and stabbed an effort that Ruddy in the home goal tipped round the post.
Lampard hobbled out of the action after a little more than half-an-hour, to be replace by Malouda.
The second period started much as the first with Norwich finding early space before we started to impose ourselves. Torres swiped at one from a corner but missed the ball before poking and excellent chance wide after Bosingwa had wriggled into the box.
Mata was playing his socks off again and had a low effort saved shortly before Meireles got away with a two handed block.
Torres and Meireles were replace by Lukaku and Essien and the rangy Belgian made an impact running hard down the right he muscled defenders out of the way before his cross is cut out and apart from a few fluffed efforts from Malouda that was really that.
To put this afternoon into perspective this is the first time Norwich City have kept a clean sheet this season.

The racist chanting happened on the train on the way home, just to add a charming note to a miserable day.

Sunday 21 January
Didier Drogba scored for the Ivory Coast as they overcame Sudan 1-0 in their opening game of the African Cup of Nations.
Meanwhile, Manchesters City and United beat Tottenham and Arsenal, we are prepared to bet that neither side will play as poorly against us. City were lucky not to finish with nine-men as both Lescott and Balotelli assaulted Tottenham players without punishment. Both incidents were straight red-cards and it’ll be interesting to see what the FA decide to do about it.
After the match yesterday the squad flew off for a spot of warm weather training in the med but poor Frank has had to stay in London for tests on his calf.

andre villas boas, stoke city, the britannia

A patient approach towards Norwich City at Carrow Road this weekend allowed Chelsea to fail in gaining the initiative in closing the gap on the league leaders, after a lackluster attacking performance allowed Norwich to record their first clean sheet.

This weekend’s clash against Norwich City was a primitive opportunity to recover lost ground knowing fellow Champions League qualifying hopefuls and title contenders were playing one another on Sunday. The failure to claim all three points is a mere summary of the inconsistent campaign that Chelsea have played out so far this season.

The key element of Chelsea’s season thus far this season is of patience. Patience in asking when a run of significant results will be collated. Patience in when Fernando Torres will finally reach regular goal scoring form, and patience with waiting for the exile of deadwood members of the squad.

Yet it was the patience throughout the passage of play Chelsea used at Carrow Road that offered a sense of frustration after the final whistle. A 0-0 score line was a fair result that justified an equal encounter, yet the feeling of leaving almost empty handed and a lost opportunity was very much present.

The match was reminiscent of the away trip to Wigan, with sense of automatic victory by just turning up seen in the players, only for the very performance being detrimental to the expected outcome. Saturday’s approach was very measured and calculated, with no speed to the buildup of the opponents penalty area much like against Wigan, only this time the elusive finishing touch was running amok within the strike force of the Chelsea attackers.

Norwich City earned their first clean sheet since their return to the Premiership, but whilst they were well organised, tight with zonal marking and possessed a goalkeeper in inspired form, the clean sheet would usually symbolize a battling defensive display, but for all the Blues comfort in possession, Norwich were equally comfortable with guarding their penalty box.

The first half had a prerogative of a confident looking Chelsea guiding the ball around the backline and controlling the midfield area with the ball, but lacking a definitive cutting edge when entering the final third. Chances were few and far between with only the attempt from Torres flicking the ball around a defender towards the far past, producing a good save from the keeper to tip it for a corner.

Patience in Chelsea’s play invited a sense of inevitability of securing all three points, yet the same patience typifies the Chelsea fans character this season, with the hope each weekend that a genuine Blue machine will turnout. The visit at Carrow Road begged for more urgency with the play, a quicker speed with the passing and more dynamism on the wings, yet this was missing even in the second half.

Improvements were made and chances engineered in a Chelsea dominated second half but finishing was poor and a heightened sense of urgency only arrived in the latter stages of the match. A sense of needing to win and the importance of three points did not appear to be instilled in the players from the kick off.

Nothing should be taken away from Norwich’s performance who competed with a stalwart defensive performance and leading from the frontline. Grant Holt was a constant threat and dogged the Chelsea defence throughtout the game. Even when Chelsea were controlling large passages of play in the second half, Norwich continued to close space when defending crucial areas of the pitch.

Chelsea’s continued struggle to find a consistent form stems mainly in the approach towards matches. It has been a frustrating season for fans especially with never knowing what kind of Chelsea will turn up, but patience is a virtue as they, and with the current patient passing style adopted by Chelsea so far, fans must also be patient with the team before we can start taking games for granted and expecting a guaranteed win.

Back to league business this week, and business was duly taken care of by the Chels at the Bridge against the in-form Sunderland. Not a completely convincing win but a win never the less, and thanks to our rivals all mucking it up comprehensively, we are now 4 points clear of Arsenal in 4^th and 8 points off the top. Oh and a certain Fernando Torres is beginning to look like his old self!! 40/1 to win the Premier League? We might just have some of that!

We’ll be discussing all the ins and outs of the win against Sunderland as well this week’s Match Awards – the ‘Fannies’ – for Man of the Match, Chant of the match, Guinness and Celery moments.

And of course, unless you are living in the Amazon rain forest and have yet to be discovered, you know that this is Dr Mart’s last show before he departs to ChelTelAviv for a couple of years, so there is a distinctly Dr Mart flavour to proceedings, including Dr Mart’s ‘60 Second Fan’, Dr Mart’s personal favourite in ‘Shall We Sing A Song For You’… and the last ever ‘Dear Mart’.

Don’t forget, if you want the chance to win a Chelsea shirt signed by the players, and earn money for checking out football content on your mobile phone, sign up to Qustodian and enter your team as Chelsea. More details in the show. Click here to sign up: http://bit.ly/ffc-chelseafancast

The Chelsea Football FanCast: Dr Mart’s Last Stand!

Download it today! http://podcasts.footballfancast.com/chelsea_fancast/

Tuesday 10 January
Spare a thought for poor Paul Clement this morning as news breaks that he has been forced to take a job in Paris. Yes, Paul will be turning up for work with Carlo Ancelotti and Claude Makelele at Paris Saint-Germain for the foreseeable future. PSG’s owners appear to have no idea what they are doing; sacking a popular ex-player as manager, flashing money at a French club and expecting the Champions’ League to fall into their lap. Still, if they give us ten million for Florent Malouda and we’ll give them a break.
Arsenal have employed a bloke who looks like a fat version of Thierry Henry, only with a beard. It won’t last.
Lionel Messi has won the Ballon D’Or for the tenth straight year.

Wednesday 11 January
Norwich City youth 0:0 Chelsea youth
(Chelsea won 2-4 on penalties)
Too much to cover in a weekly diary but well worth a watch on-line; skip the first-half. Jamal Blackman deserves special mention after Norwich had wafted their first penalty he saved their second brilliantly down to his left and suddenly we were 0-3 up in the shoot-out and hosed. Spare a thought for Danny Pappoe who was returning from a knee problem that kept him since October and, with barely half-an-hour gone, he twisted it again and had to be subbed.

Thursday 12 January
Gaël Kakuta has finally got the switch he was looking for and will play for Dijon in the French first division. No official word on the Chelsea site or details of the loan but he will stay in France until the end of the season.
Swansea confirm that they have reached an agreement over Josh McEachran’s loan for the remainder of the season but there is no confirmation of when Josh will be allowed to leave with AVB certainly keeping McEachran ahead of Saturday’s home game with Sunderland.

Friday 13 January
Ben Gordon’s loan to Kilmarnock for the rest of the season has been confirmed. Ben was with Kilmarnock for a spell last season as well as time with Scunthorpe. This year he had a brief stint at Peterborough.
AVB conformed that the club has received a bid for Alex but refused to say that it was from Fulham or that it was only £2m.
He reiterated that Frank Lampard was still part of his plans; Manchester United had been linked with Frank as the papers resort to simply making this shit up in an otherwise slow transfer window.

Breaking newts … Gary Cahill is on his way to London … according to Sky Sports News … personal terms have been agreed … lunking defender to have medical tomorrow …

Breaking news II (voice over: If you thought breaking news couldn’t get more exciting, CFCnet pictures brings you breaking news II rise of the Ivory) … Coast, who beat Tunisia 2-0 in a friendly in Abu Dhabi. Salomon Kalou opened things up and Didier sealed them from the spot. The Elephants look strong enough on this showing to win the Africa Nations Cup, which means the boys will be away until the middle of February

Saturday 14 January
Chelsea 1:0 Sunderland
Our nerves can’t take much more of this: three times Sunderland flew through our defence in the last ten minutes. We could do nothing to stop them, we failed to defend, hold the ball, block, tackle anything really than just watch the Makems play round us. The sickening equaliser has become such a feature of the play that it was genuinely a surprise when they didn’t score and we somehow left with the points. But there were positives in that Torres looked to be getting back to his best – providing, arguably, the assist of the season – and the biggest cheer of the day for Michael Essien’s short cameo. You have to hope that Michael’s third serious knee problem means that he comes back bionic.
The game started with Stéphane Sessegnon waltzing forward unopposed but the chance went wide. Torres bouncy castle of a header was the best we’d managed before we exploded out of nowhere again: Meireles had a shot blocked and we eventually worked the ball out to Mata on the right – what happened next could have been goal of the season – Torres’ Spun off the back of the defence and executed a perfect scissors kick with such power that the ball to smacked off the bar and in off Lampard. 1-0.
Surely we would go on and rack up a cricket score of blistering goals? Er, no, this was the same performance as the previous five – we were unable to score more than one, never appeared to dominate, never looked in control at the back and we had our opponent’s wastefulness to thank for a clean sheet.
We didn’t create too many more chances in the first-half Torres had a header blocked; Ashley Cole tried to sneak on in as everyone anticipated a cross. It was Sunderland who came closest when Sessegnon fed Bendtner who dragged just wide. Torres almost repeated the exact move at the other end but half-time saw us with just a slender lead.
Phil Dowd had a quiet game until it came to giving penalties. First Torres was bundled over in the box around the hour, then Cole was accused of barging Bendtner in the back and it is hard to argue and then Torres, again, cuts inside a defender into the box and is clearly flattened by a defender’s knee; nothing doing for Dowd, who booked Fernando for diving. Meireles then tried to chip Mignolet in the Sunderland goal but the ’keeper was just quick enough to cover back.
We didn’t really have control of the rest of the match and were overwhelmed at the end when Bendtner missed the last offering from a frazzled defence.
Frank Lampard’s goal is his 181st and moves him just 12 behind Kerry Dixon and 21 behind Bobby Tambling’s 202.
That is not the only positive – Essien’s back and will require a few games for the old bullishness to return, Gary Cahill passed his medical and agreed personal terms so he is pretty much in the bag and Fernando Torres is starting to look like the player who started the season.