Mourinho ups bid for Lampard to £10m

According to the Daily Mail, Inter Milan are expected to make a new £10million bid for Frank Lampard and test Chelsea's resolve to force the midfielder to see out his contract.
They had a second bid of £7.95m turned down on Tuesday and president Massimo Moratti is ready to negotiate directly with owner Roman Abramovich to try and bring an end to the saga.
Their manager, Jose Mourinho, is determined to be reunited with Lampard and hopes his old bosses at Chelsea can be convinced to let him go.
Lampard has become increasingly desperate to leave the Bridge after his demands for a five-year contract worth £150,000-a-week were ignored and could consider buying out the last 12 months of his current deal.
Article 17 of FIFA regulations for the status and transfer of players states that a player can do this if the contract was signed before he turned 28 years old and at least three years have elapsed since making the agreement.
The England international would risk upsetting FIFA, however, as the rule also says that a player has to inform the club that he wants to leave within 15 days of the final league game of the season.

But Andy Webster escaped serious punishment when he left Hearts for Wigan after the deadline two years ago and was only banned for the first two games of the last campaign, while the Scottish club received just £150,000 compensation.
Sepp Blatter believes no club should keep a player if he wants to leave.

But Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck insists the club won't change their position and the contract offer to Lampard will remain in place.
He said: 'As is his right, he has decided at the moment not to accept that contract - but there is one year remaining on his current contract and we expect and hope he will honour that contract.
'Even for the course of that year there is still the opportunity for him to stay because the offer we have made him remains on the table.'

Frank will stay says Scolari

Big Phil has said Frank Lampard has told him he wishes he stay at Chelsea despite reports to the contrary.
"I met Frank Lampard and we spoke for 15 minutes, and after this, when we finished, I was very happy because I asked if he wants to stay and he said 'yes, I (will) stay at Chelsea'," Scolari said on Chelsea TV ahead of his first official press conference.
Scolari revealed he has also spoken to striker Didier Drogba who is another to have been linked to a move to Inter. But he could not give a definite answer about the striker's future with the club.
Although the former Brazil and Portugal coach will make every effort to keep hold of Lampard, he is also anxious to bolster the squad before the new season gets under way, so more signings seem imminent.

Deco On Board

Deco became Big Phil's first signing yesterday. He arrives with a wealth of experience in Europe having been at Barca for the past four seasons, signing a two year contract.
This looks a pretty good short term signing for one of the best players of Euro 2008 and as well as being a bargain buy at £8m, I think he can do a job for us over the next two seasons.
A tidy piece of business. I wonder who's next.

Portugal reveal Chelsea fury

Portugal have lashed out at Chelsea for announcing during Euro 2008 that Luiz Felipe Scolari had accepted an offer to coach the club.

Portuguese Football Federation president Gilberto Madail addressed the media on Friday following his team's elimination from the European Championship at the hands of Germany the previous night, and believes the timing of the announcement of Scolari's impending departure had a destabilising effect.
"It wasn't the best moment for us for Chelsea to announce Scolari's appointment," said Madail. "I know Scolari had nothing to do with it and I was surprised not by the appointment, because Scolari is a great coach, but at the timing chosen.
"I wish Chelsea would have consulted us before so that we could have chosen a better time."
Madail conceded that Scolari's departure was inevitable.
"I knew when we entered the tournament that Scolari would leave," he said.
"We respected his wishes. His cycle with Portugal had ended because he wanted a new experience with a club.
"There was nothing we could do. It was a financial issue and we couldn't match Chelsea's offer."
Portugal have also had to deal with the distraction of Cristiano Ronaldo's club situation.
The 23-year-old star is under contract at Manchester United but Real Madrid are hell-bent on bringing him to the Bernabeu for the forthcoming campaign.
Ronaldo admitted after Thursday's 3-2 defeat that he would be discussing his future with United in the coming days.
"I don't know what is going on in Ronaldo's mind and I don't think that contract problems would affect a player," said Madail.
"It's normal for players to have to deal with these issues. I don't think it interferes and I didn't see any problem with Ronaldo."
Leaving the competition at the quarter-final stage was a huge disappointment for Portugal, who had been one of the most exciting teams in the event.
They had shown a lot of flair but ultimately came unstuck against a determined Germany.
"I was very disappointed with the game yesterday," Madail said.
"Everyone saw Portugal is a strong squad.
"There is no way our elimination was fair but the result was fair on the night, Germany won 3-2 and we made mistakes and were made to pay.
"Good luck for Germany but especially the best of luck to Spain."
Now the Portuguese have the difficult task of finding a replacement for Scolari.
The Brazilian tactician led Portugal to the final of Euro 2004 and a fourth-place finish in the World Cup in Germany two years ago.
Portugal will now turn their attentions to qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and will announce at the beginning of next month who will suceceed Scolari.
Madail added: "Whether some like it or not, he (Scolari) left a mark in Portuguese football.
"He is a spectacular coach who made a huge impact and that will remain in the history of Portugal. But life continues.
"(The new coach) will have to speak Portuguese but not necessarily be Portuguese.
"He has to have ambition and be a winner. He has to be someone who the players respect."

Strange they didn't say anything when the announcement was made. Seems they're looking for a scapegoat.

'Big Phil' Named Manager

Luis Felipe Scolari has been named as our new manager. He will take up his duties on July 1.
After saying he would only talk about the Portugese national team until the European Championships were over, an official statement was made last night.
The Club will make no further statement until July 1.
Presumably his first task will be to persuade Lamps and Riccy to stay.