Carlo cleaning out the house

It's been a while since my last post. At times I am unsure that I'll continue "writing here", will see.... World Cup ended and there was welcome break of no footy each Saturday. This however has been replaced with Toronto FC games. Once I've discovered U-Sector, I've never looked back. Been to every game but one and plan to attend as many games as possible in future. In any case, Carlo decided to clean the house. Riccy, Ballack, Deco, Belletti and Joey Cole are all gone. No need to go on repeating about what was said in papers for reasons and reactions. Life is life, let's move on.
Yossi comes this way as Liverpool found a nice way to fund Joe Coles expensive stay. Ramires is on the brink of signing with us, which would be quite welcome move. Mikel can't nor should be playing every single game. Also should mention that he's much younger than 'departed ones'.
Personally I'll miss Riccy the most, he's been fantastic workhorse and made JT look so much better. Hopefully Alex (whenever he is back from his injury) and Ivanovic will be able to deal whatever opposing teams will throw at them.
Community Shield game went in Manure's direction. It didn't surprise me and I was expecting 1-3 scoreline. 4 losses in 4 games for Chelsea in pre-season friendlies... alarming sign or a smoke screen? Time will show.

Championsky!

How sweet it is to be a Champion. Fantastic ending to the fantastic season. It was great race till the end, Chelsea ended up on top, deservedly.
Carlo is proving to be a real deal, finally we have a manager whom can be crowned as a King of London! Finally we see United in the rear view mirror, being second in the league... meaning nothing than a fact that they have lost it.
Well done to whole Chelsea FC organization. This is just fabulous to be a blues supporter, only pity is that I am not in London ;)
But the job is not done yet, we have one more hurdle in front of us, FA Cup final... oh how sweet would it be to do a double! History is being made in front of our eyes...

Spurs down Citeh

Decided to watch Spurs vs Man City last night. It was a typical delayed-reality viewing. Avoided internet all afternoon, disabled sport updates on my BlackBerry... It was a 10pm showing (repeat) here in Canada.
First period was a bit of a snoozer, teams exchanged few chances but nothing came of it. Game did resemble battle for 4th place. Adebayor kept on getting offside (as many Arsenal fans will gladly point out), hard to believe that he's supposed to be highest paid player in England... Citeh are becoming a poster child for a milking cow, only instead of milk they give out cash....
What's up with Mancini and that scarf of his? Ok, you wear it when it's cold, but now? Rest of the Citeh management/ownership also wear that thing... if these people can't grasp when to wear a scarf, how are they supposed to run a team? :)
Man of the match to me was Peter Crouch. The man resembles bicycle frame but he's got magical feet! Lennon started the game, but failed to impress, perhaps his fitness level is off, not sure if Capello will be picking him for WC.
In any case, don't want to go on forever about this game, congrats to Spurs for "almost" making it into Champions League, Harry deserves it. Next season we'll see what Spuds are made off while having to play more games. Welcome to the big boy league kids.

John's perfect answer

"Classy" paper News of the World broke news of alleged Terry's romance with Wayne Bridge's ex- girlfriend. (Everyone knows that NotW is nothing more than bunch of profiteering scum). We surely don't know all of the details, but it's a mess and it's making all kinds of headlines in England. You see, John is married..
With adultery websites booming, it's no wonder there is so much attention to this. Personally, I could care less about such issues. I don't care if my neighbor sleeps with his wife or cousin. I don't care if Tiger sleeps with his wife or some sluts. I don't care if Bill Clinton likes to snowball Monika or not, it's not my business. All I know, footballers are human and expecting them to be perfect is just idiotic. Yes, kids look up to them, but would it not make sense to keep the trash away from papers? Shield them from all the sex talk? Isn't it all about actions on the field?
Speaking of actions on the field, John had perfect answer to all of his "critics", he scored winning goal. Once again he proved that he can put away off field matters, that he can deal with pressure, that he's the best man for the job as Chelsea and England captain.

Somehow we still remain atop the league..

After tie with bottom feeders West Ham, Carlo declared:
“We didn't play a good match. What happened in the first half was not good.
“The second half was better, but we came up against a strong team, a tough team, who put a lot of pressure on our midfield.”
Is it just me or this is becoming a recording...? C'mon Carlo! We all watch games, we all can see that we're not playing well. Since loss at Man City, we've been struggling against any teams that has pressure on our midfield. If not for Frank Lampard's heroics, we'd be talking about a loss.
Carlo also mentioned fatigue. Players are tired... once again, bit of obvious news there, but aren't other teams tired too? Surely, some teams might not play as many games as not every team is competing for all of them Cups, but also let's consider the fact that some teams have injury crisis bar none. West Ham is one of those tams. Yet, we see fully motivated team doing all they can do to salvage every point. We had a golden chance to go 6 points above Man United whom struggling on their own. I am starting to think that Carlo has issues motivating players, could it be language barrier or is it plain and simple as our players getting old? So many of them are playing out of their preferred positions.
How I miss days of Robben and Duff terrorizing defenses. We need someone to step up or purchase someone capable of magic, during winter transfer window. We can only rely so much on our Right/Left Backs to offer width. Yet, Carlo remains adamant that we do not need any new signings... Secretly I hope it's a smokescreen.

Carlo's first press conference

Carlo Ancelotti faced media for a first time as a Chelsea manager today. He must have surprised some with his good command of English language, which is a bit of scary resemblance to Scolari, whom also surprised few during his first press conference.
Carlo started with usual pleasantries, just as any other managers first press conference, he mentioned how nice 'It is nice to be here', how 'I am very happy to be here' and that he is looking forward to new 'adventure and opportunity'. 'I want today to speak English and learn English. For me today it is important' he added.
'I think in one month or two months I will speak better, it is not easy but I want to do this because I am in England now and I want a good relationship with all the press.' He seems like a determined person and there is little doubt that he will speak english very well. After all, practice makes perfect.
When asked about John Terry, he said 'I think that John Terry is symbol of this team,' with slight grin he continued, 'I don't know if he will be the captain next season..' then after slight pause 'naturally I am joking, I like to joke in the press conference', which borough chorus of laughter. 'He will be captain next time in the future, he is a symbol, he said that he wants to stay forever in Chelsea and we want to keep him forever, it's normal. Now there is a question of Manchester City, the price, for Terry, no price. There is no price for Terry. Terry will be the captain of Chelsea forever!'. This should put an end to ambitious Man City's attempt to lure JT to 'sunny Manchester'.
When asked about Pato or Maldini, Carlo said that he 'don't want to speak the name of the players. The Club controls the market, we have the time, if there is a good situation for us we can do something to improve things. Pato and Pirlo are Milan players'.
When asked if he thinks that there will be many changes, after quick glance at the translator he said 'no i don't think so, Chelsea is a great team now'. He wen't on to mention all of the Semi's we were in past 5 years and added 'If you can improve things, will be better for me and for the club. If it's not possible, I think that Chelsea have alot of chance to win'.
So far so good Carlo.

Chelseas Fixtures for 09/10 Season have been announced

List of potential fixtures in all competitions:

Sat Jul 18 Seattle Sounders A - pre-season

Tue Jul 21 Inter (in Los Angeles) - pre-season

Fri 24 Jul AC Milan (in Baltimore) - pre-season

Sun 26 Jul Club America (in Dallas) - pre-season

Sat Aug 1 Reading A - pre-season

Sun Aug 9 Man United (Community Shield at Wembley)

+----+

Wed Aug 12 International fixtures

Sat Aug 15 Hull City H

Tue Aug 18 Sunderland A

Sat Aug 22 Fulham A

Sat Aug 29 Burnley H

Sat 5 - Wed 9 Sep - International fixtures

Sat Sep 12 Stoke City A

Tue 15/Wed 16 Sep - Champions League group stage matchday 1

Sat Sep 19 Tottenham Hotspur H

Wed Sep 23 Carling Cup Round 3

Sat Sep 26 Wigan Athletic A

Tues 29 Sep/Wed 30 Sep - Champions League group stage matchday 2

Sat Oct 3 Liverpool H

Sat 10 Oct - Wed 14 Oct - International fixtures

Sat Oct 17 Aston Villa A

Tue 20/Wed 21 Oct - Champions League group stage matchday 3

Sat Oct 24 Blackburn Rovers H

Wed Oct 28 Carling Cup Round 4

Sat Oct 31 Bolton Wanderers A

Tue 3 Nov/Wed 4 Nov - Champions League group stage matchday 4

Sat Nov 7 Manchester United H

Sat 11 - Wed 14 Nov - International fixtures

Sat Nov 21 Wolverhampton Wanderers H

Tue 24 Nov/Wed 25 Nov - Champions League group stage matchday 5

Sat Nov 28 Arsenal A

Wed Dec 2 Carling Cup Quarter-Final

Sat Dec 5 Manchester City A

Tue 8/Wed 9 Dec - Champions League group stage matchday 6

Sat Dec 12 Everton H

Wed Dec 16 Portsmouth H

Sat Dec 19 West Ham United A

Sat Dec 26 Birmingham City A

Mon Dec 28 Fulham H

Sat Jan 2 FA Cup Round 3

Wed Jan 6 Carling Cup Semi-Final (1)

Sat Jan 9 Hull City A

Sun 10 - Sun 31 Jan - Africa Cup of Nations

Sat Jan 16 Sunderland H

Wed Jan 20 Carling Cup Semi-Final (2)

Sat Jan 23 FA Cup Round 4

Wed Jan 27 Birmingham City H

Sat Jan 30 Burnley A

Sat Feb 6 Arsenal H

Wed Feb 10 Everton A

Sat Feb 13 FA Cup Round 5

Tue 16/Wed 17 Feb - Champions League first knockout round - first leg (half the fixtures)

Sat Feb 20 Wolverhampton Wanderers A

Tue 23/Wed 24 Feb - Champions League first knockout round - first leg (half the fixtures)

Sat Feb 27 Manchester City H

Sun Feb 28 Carling Cup Final

Sat Mar 6 Portsmouth A orFA Cup Round 6

Tue 9/Wed 10 Mar - Champions League first knockout round - second leg (half the fixtures)

Sat Mar 13 West Ham United H

Tue 16/Wed 17 Mar - Champions League first knockout round - second leg (half the fixtures)

Sat Mar 20 Blackburn Rovers A

Sat Mar 27 Aston Villa H

Tue 30/Wed 31 Mar - Champions League quarter-final - first leg

Sat Apr 3 Manchester United A

Tue 6/Wed 7 Apr - Champions League quarter-final - second leg

Sat Apr 10 Bolton Wanderers H or FA Cup Semi-Final

Sat Apr 17 Tottenham Hotspur A

Tue 20/Wed 21 Apr - Champions League semi-final - first leg

Sat Apr 24 Stoke City H

Tue 27/Wed 28 Apr - Champions League semi-final - second leg

Sat May 1 Liverpool A

Sun May 9 Wigan Athletic H

Sat May 15 FA Cup Final

Sat 22 May - Champions League Final

Fri 11 Jun - Sun 11 Jul - World Cup Finals

Copyright © and Database Right 2009 The Football Association Premier League Ltd / The Football League Ltd. All rights reserved.

Compiled in association with Atos Origin. Fixtures are subject to change.