ChelseaFCSW6

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

Talks With Hiddink Over Temporary Post

Chelsea have confirmed they have been granted permission by Russia to speak to Guus Hiddink about becoming their temporary manager.
Hiddink revealed earlier on Tuesday he was in talks with Chelsea about replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari on a short-term basis until the end of the season.
The Russian Football Union do not want Hiddink to quit his role with the national team and they will him to share the roles.
Former PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid chief Hiddink is happy to take charge of Chelsea on a short-term basis as he is keen to lead Russia to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"Chelsea Football Club can confirm it has officially approached the Russian Football Union (RFU) for permission to speak to Guus Hiddink to become the club's temporary coach until the end of the season while continuing to be in charge of the Russian national team," said a Chelsea statement.
"That permission has been granted and Chelsea would like to thank the RFU for their co-operation."
If all goes to plan Hiddink could take charge of Chelsea for the first time in this weekend's FA Cup clash with Watford.

Monday, 9 February 2009

Board Lose Patience With Big Phil

Ray Wilkins has taken temporary charge of Chelsea after the Premier League giants sensationally axed Luiz Felipe Scolari as manager.
Pressure has been building on the Brazilian after a series of poor results - particularly at home - has seen us fall well off the pace in the title race, and the board finally lost patience after Saturday's toothless 0-0 draw with out-of-form Hull City at Stamford Bridge.
A statement issued by the club on Monday afternoon said: "The Chelsea board would like to place on record our gratitude for his time as manager.
"Felipe has brought many positives to the club since he joined and we all feel a sense of sadness that our relationship has ended so soon.
"Unfortunately, the results and performances of the team appeared to be deteriorating at a key time in the season.
"In order to maintain a challenge for the trophies we are still competing for we felt the only option was to make the change now."
The club have already started their search for a replacement, with former Blues player Wilkins appointed as caretaker boss for now.

Chelsea 0 Hull City 0

Big Phil is under mounting pressure after his side was held to a dismal 0-0 draw by Hull City.
The Brazilian was subjected to jeers from the Stamford Bridge crowd, who were angered at seeing their side deliver yet another alarmingly uninspired performance on home soil, but perhaps they should have been grateful for the point.
If either side deserved to depart here with regrets, it was Hull. The Humbersiders might have arrived in west London having failed to win in the league since December 6, but they more than matched us and, with sharper finishing, would have notched a famous victory.
Our hopes of remaining competitive in this season's title race, meanwhile, look increasingly desperate. We are now two points adrift of third-placed Aston Villa and will fall within range of fifth-placed Arsenal if they win at Tottenham.
This performance matched last weekend's meek defeat at Liverpool for ineptitude and Scolari must wonder how he can inspire a revival.
Ricardo Queresma, debuting after signing on loan from Internazionale, did little to suggest he is the missing ingredient and much of the home side's play was predictable.
An early goal would have settled Chelsea's nerves but Scolari's side is painfully devoid of cutting edge.
The point was highlighted by a dreadful second-minute miss from John Terry, who had merely to lift the ball into the unguarded net from six yards after Frank Lampard's in-swinging free-kick had been spilled by Matt Duke. Instead he spooned over the crossbar.
That set the tone for a typically toothless first half from The Blues. True, there were moments of sheer bad fortune - as in the 19th minute when Queresma's fine curling shot was tipped aside by Duke - but for the most part the hosts were wasteful.
Alex might have done better than head over from Lampard's 22nd-minute corner, while a midfielder of Michael Ballack's quality should have hit the target with a 20-yard free-kick, instead of skimming the side-netting.
Throw in a handful of heroic blocks from Hull defenders and Chelsea's frustration as they trooped off for the interval was understandable.
That said, it might have been worse. Hull were largely in containment mode but they did cause the odd flutter of anxiety: Geovanni screamed an instinctive volley fractionally over from 25 yards, while Kevin Kilbane was unfortunate to see a thunderous header kiss the post.
Hull took heart from those near misses and continued to impress with their neat, incisive football. Only their finishing remained awry: Craig Fagan, for instance, had a gilt-edged chance to fire his side ahead in the 53rd minute when he beat John Mikel Obi to a loose ball and sprinted clear.
The 26-year-old spotted Hilario off his line but chipped tamely into the goalkeeper's hands.
As the seconds ticked past, so Chelsea's patience was stretched to breaking point. Didier Drogba was deployed from the bench just past the hour - although Scolari's decision to take off Queresma was greeted with chants of "You don't know what you're doing" by sections of the home support - but still Hull looked the more likely scorers.
The Bridge held its breath when Geovanni's clever pass found Marney in yards of space in the area but the former Tottenham winger could only drag his low shot past the right-hand post.
There was not even a grandstand finish from Chelsea, who by the end were doing little more than firing hopeful long balls into the Hull area, praying for a break. They might have had one when Andy Dawson appeared to handle Kalou's shot in the area, only for referee Lee Mason, who up until then had done very little to let the game flow, to wave play on, while the Ivorian shot later straight at Duke after a rare slip from the City defence.
There was still time for Hull to carve out one more chance, Fagan slipping the leash and bearing down on goal, only for Terry to save his side with a last-ditch tackle. Maybe it was more than we deserved.

Thursday, 5 February 2009

Quaresma To Shine

Chelsea's new signing Ricardo Quaresma will take the Premier League by storm, according to his compatriot and new team-mate Ricardo Carvalho.
The Blues centre-back has welcomed the arrival of Quaresma, who joined on transfer deadline day in a loan switch from Inter Milan.
And Carvalho has hailed the move and thinks the Premier League will have to be on their guard.
"Quaresma is a very fast and explosive player who is a real warrior on the pitch, so he will be able to handle the physical nature of the Premier League," he said. "But at the same time he is a very technical player and can score goals, which will be good for us.
"He will be a huge help to us at this time of the season.
"He is a very attacking player and that is what we need at Chelsea at the moment."
Carvalho also insists that Quaresma has always been interested in the Premier League.
"At different times with the Portugal national team he would always ask about English football and was interested in what it was like," he continued.
"He could have come here last summer but he ended up going to Inter Milan with Jose Mourinho - but it has not worked out for him there.
"(Luiz Felipe) Scolari knows Quaresma well and this is an advantage for us.
"He also knows a lot of players here already, but he will need time to adapt.
"He will add more pace, which is important. Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba will love playing with him because he gets a lot of assists.
"We have to be strong between now and the end of the season after the defeat to Liverpool. I just want to get back to help out."
Quaresma has been given the squad number 18.

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 0

Fernando Torres struck two late goals as Liverpool revived their flagging title hopes with a deserved 2-0 victory at home to Chelsea.
The Spaniard headed home in the 89th minute after we had been reduced to 10 men by a red card for midfielder Frank Lampard and then made sure of a league double over the The Blues with a second in stoppage time.
It was a bitter blow to our title hopes although we could have few complaints as we barely mustered a shot on target even before Lampard was harshly sent off by referee Mike Reily for a tackle on Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.
"After the Lampard sending off they had more possession, more quality, more chances in front of goal, but until then, no," Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari told Sky Sports.
"I want the referee to look at that decision on TV and change his decision. It was a foul by the other player not Lampard."
Liverpool, who had drawn their previous three Premier League matches, moved back above us into second place with 51 points from 24 games, two points behind champions Manchester United who have played a game fewer.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had come under increasing scrutiny since his outburst at United manager Alex Ferguson last month and their rival's surge to the top of the table.
His decision to axe striker Robbie Keane from the squad looked baffling during a tepid first half, but Torres burst into life to spare him further inquests.
"He showed that he can score important goals and it's great to see him back so hopefully he can score more between now and the end of the season," Benitez said of Torres before adding that Keane was not leaving the club.
Torres, who has missed important chunks of the season with injuries, had been largely anonymous for most of the match as Liverpool toiled to break down the visitors.
He had not scored a league goal since October but chose the perfect moment to show what a lethal striker he is.
Cech had saved well from Alonso and substitute Yossi Benayoun after the break as Liverpool drove forward but he was powerless when Torres glided into space at the near post to head Fabio Aurelio's cross into the net.
There was a huge sense of relief among Liverpool fans, who have seen their side's attempts to win a first league title since 1990 stall in recent weeks, and they were celebrating wildly deep in stoppage time when Torres struck again after Benayoun robbed Ashley Cole.
Our only shot on target came from Salomon Kalou 16 minutes from time and the team trudged off at the final whistle with their title hopes fading rapidly.
"We were not good today, they were better for all the game," Scolari conceded. "We need to look again, and try again because we have many games and we need to fight until the last game."

Another awful display by the notorious Mike Riley.
How can Ickle Stevie get away with that disgraceful lunge on Kalou and not even get booked, then Frank gets sent off for nothing.
The red card will be rescinded but it's too little too late.
We didn't deserve to win the game but with 11 men on the pitch we'd have probably got a draw.
I hope Riley gets demoted. He deserves it.