Editors Corner

Why The Media Hate Chelsea Football Club

I have read many articles over the last few years that have sought to downplay, disparage or ridicule Chelsea Football Club. Whilst some of these articles have been well researched and cover valid subject areas, there are a substantial volume of articles by writers who classify themselves as ‘neutral’ that are steeped in bias, are inaccurate or contain only a fragmented representation of the issue.

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Chelsea Board Show Little Class Or Stability In Ancelotti Sacking

Less than three hours after the final game of the season Chelsea have sacked Carlo Ancelotti.

The timing and significance of this decision are shocking and show a huge lack of respect to a man who has shown humility and determination in his two seasons at the Bridge.

I am not saying that his management this season has been exemplary; far from it at times he has seen the time appear one dimensional without a plan B.

He did however win the double last season and this should have at least earnt him a few days grace  after the end of the season to clear his thoughts before being fired.

Unfortunately this was not a view shared by the club and the Italian has been punished for failing to win any silverware this season, particularly the ever elusive Champions League trophy.

As a fan who has supported the club for over 15 years it seems crazy that 2^nd place in the League is a sackable offence.

This decision raises some worrying questions about the direction the club is taking and how future managers will be able to attain stability in the future.

The Mourinho generation of players such as Terry, Lampard and Drogba are reaching the end of their careers and the club need a manager to bring through and mould a new generation of players to keep bringing the club success.

Today Abramovich made it clear that failure is not an option and this will be punished, this will not give the new manager time to develop a new team or put his mark upon the squad, there cannot be many managers that would want to walk into that.

Times may have moved on but it still seems a bit of a farce that despite our success, the club has gone through seven managers in the last seven years, it is vital the next manager is given time to build.

Now attention will turn to who will replace Ancelotti  and the future direction of the club, however before this kicks off in earnest I would like to thank Carlo for his two years at the club and the double.

Thank you and good luck Carlo.

Chelsea FC – 2010/2011 A Quick Season Review

The 2010/2011 season was the 105^th in the club’s history and the eighth since Roman Abramovich brought the club in 2003.

The club entered the campaign with high expectations having ended the 2009/2010 season as champions and FA cup winners, the first double in our history.

Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti entered the season in a secure position having achieved success in his first season at the club.   

Following this success was always going to be difficult for the Italian.  Particularly given the  media speculation that only a Champions League trophy would satiate Roman Abramovich’s expectations.

Pre-Season Transfers

Despite the departure of a number of experienced players such as Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Ricardo Carvalho, the summer did not bring a raft of new arrivals.

After a In the end only Brazilian midfielder Ramires and former Liverpool playmaker Yossi Benayoun made making any waves on the transfer front.

In pre-season things seemed ominous as Chelsea only won once in a run that included a Charity Shield defeat against Manchester United at Wembley.

Premier League

A poor pre-season did not stop Chelsea starting with a bang, picking up where they left off as West Bromwich Albion and Wigan were on the receiving end of six goal hammerings in a opening sequence that saw the Blues win their first five games of the season.  

This came to an end as Manchester City were victorious but Chelsea still ended October in a strong position five points clear at the top.

November saw a change of fortunes after the sacking of Ray Wilkins on the 10^th of November. The club went six Premier League games without a victory in a run that included defeats to Arsenal, Birmingham and a humiliating 3-0 home defeat against Sunderland.  

Bad results caused a crash in league position as confidence levels plummeted, a home victory against Bolton in the last fixture of 2010 was welcome relief but the year ended with  stop the club ending the year in fourth position.

In the New Year abhorrent form improved into mediocre form but still featured defeats against Wolves and Liverpool.

The club entered March and a fixture against leaders Manchester United in 5^th place and a season in tatters. There was a real danger of Chelsea failing to qualify for the Champions League.

The first half of this game had more of the same as Wayne Rooney gave United a half time lead. Yet January signing David Luiz put himself on the road to cult status with an equaliser before Frank Lampard scored a penalty to give Chelsea a huge victory.

This victory inspired a run of seven wins in eight matches including wins against Tottenham, West Ham and Man City to set a title decider against United on the 8^th of May.

This game was eagerly anticipated but it took just 37 seconds for Javier Hernandez to take away the dream and a 2-1 defeat handed Manchester United the title.

The club finished 2nd in the league which considering the poor run of form in November and December is a good achievement, the signing of David Luiz in January was a success but the big gamble on Fernando Torres has yet to pay off.

Improvement in the playing squad and a change in playing style is likely to be required to challenge in what will be an incredibly competitive season next season.

Champions League

The group stages of the Champions League were pretty standard winning a group containing Marseille, Spartak Moscow and minnows MSK Moscow.

The first knock out round in February was completed with relative ease as two away goals in the first leg from Nicholas Anelka allowed Chelsea to cruise in the quarter-finals setting up a tie with perennial rivals Manchester United.

The first leg at Stamford Bridge was dominated by United and this seasons scourge Wayne Rooney got the only goal to take advantage of a poor Chelsea performance.

Needing to score in the second leg Chelsea fell behind again with Didier Drogba equalising to give a brief moment of hope only for Park Ji-Sung to extinguish it with a goal within a minute of the restart.

Another season of Champions League heartbreak and the quest for the jewel in Roman’s crown goes on.

FA Cup

Starting their defence with a seven goal thrashing of Ipswich, two 1-1 draws led to a penalty shoot out which Chelsea lost following a miss from Ashley Cole.

This ended almost three years unbeaten in the competition and continued a poor run of penalty shoot out form for the Blues.

Carling Cup

Chelsea fielded a weakened side as they crashed out against Newcastle with the only bright sparks the performances of Patrick Van Aanholt and Josh McEachran. The latter coming on as a substitute and orchestrating the midfield and giving an indication that he could be a star of the future.

Yossi Benayoun Returns For Chelsea

In a piece of great news, Yossi Benayoun returned to the Chelsea first team after months on the sidelines through injury as a half time substitute.

This marks a fresh start for the Israeli who has been frustratingly been unable to feature in large parts of the season due to a torn tendon.

He came on with Chelsea chasing a goal against a resilient Wigan side and played his part in a hard thought one goal victory over the Lactics.

Lets hope he can play a real part in a push in the last couple of months of the season.

Drogba Confronts Fan After Draw Against Stoke

At the end of the draw against Stoke on Saturday much was made of the confrontation between Didier Drogba and a Chelsea fan as the Ivorian made his way to the tunnel. I was about 10 yards from this so called confontration and can tell you that for all the posturing and media gossip nothing of consequence happened.

Having heard a Chelsea fan question the decision to take a short corner in the dying moments Drogba decided as our American cousins would say ‘to call him out’ and after a few seconds of gesturing and Drogba calling the fan to pitch level the two exchanged a handshake and Drogba was guided away by Paulo Ferreria.

Much ado about nothing in all honesty, both sides were frustrated, the fan was not criticising his performance but one aspect in the dying moments, the fan in the end showed a level head and did not get drawn into a confrontation and no damage was done.

Here is one angle (not taken by eChelseaFC)