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I say this with the utmost respect but please stay away from Frank, we have had him before and he should be left alone to manage Cov in the PL as he has worked incredibly hard to achieve that. Don't tarnish him again, last time was hard to watch, leave alone.

Massive win after some pathetic performances under Liam Funny how the gameplan was a bit more simple, let the GK play the long ball and it actually works. Garnacho though, what a waste of money, no wonder why United were eager to get rid of him.

I just see him trying to change alot if he were given the chance here (sort of like Villas-Boas back in the day) and knowing this ownership group, he won't have that much time to build out a squad to his liking. We haven't had a manager survive for 2+ seasons in charge since Conte left.

My son got a call on Friday afternoon to say he had VIP tickets free of charge so he made the 4 hour journey down late Saturday evening He only got home at midnight last night, had a great day for his first trip to Wembley Performance was shite but a win is a win

I'd be keen to see Lamps go for the Crystal Palace job, feel like that would be an interesting challenge.

Analysis Levi Colwill steps up recovery and offers Chelsea a glimpse of what they’ve been missing https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7228816/2026/04/25/levi-colwill-Chelsea-under-21s-middlesbrough-knee/ Levi Colwill has waited an agonising nine months to play a competitive game of football. A near 100-minute outing against Middlesbrough in a Premier League 2 play-off game at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday afternoon was not quite as big an occasion as his previous appearance in a knockout tie for Chelsea, but the centre-back will cherish it nevertheless. Back on July 13, Colwill experienced the greatest high of his career when he was part of the side who beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the first final of FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup. Later that month, he was talking excitedly to The Athletic about his hopes of the west London club challenging for this season’s Premier League title and his chance to play in the Champions League for the first time. Within two weeks, those dreams were shattered. An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury sustained on his first day of pre-season training has kept him out of the senior side ever since. It has been a long and difficult process to return to fitness. He told Sky Sports recently just how tough doing the rehab has been and that, at times, he wondered what the point of it all was. “It’s a humbling experience,” the 23-year-old said. “It shows you what life’s about. I mean, you can never be too high, because it will bring you down. And that’s what happened to me.” Levi Colwill has not featured for Chelsea’s first team in a competitive game since the final of the Club World Cup last JulyJose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images Colwill has been feeling a lot more upbeat of late. Training has stepped up over the past few weeks and, eight days ago, he played 60 minutes in a friendly with Chelsea Under-21s behind closed doors at the club’s training ground. Sources speaking anonymously to The Athletic to protect relationships say Liam Rosenior, who was fired from his job as Chelsea head coach on Wednesday, was instrumental in finding their opponents — West African country Liberia’s under-20s national team. Colwill came through that unscathed, but facing Middlesbrough Under-21s today in a match where something was actually at stake — progression to the PL2 quarter-finals — represented a more significant step. Perhaps an indication of the importance of Colwill’s presence, as well as how much the fixture mattered to the under-21s, was the sight of Chelsea’s co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Sam Jewell in the stands in south-west London. The England international centre-half was made captain for the day, and you could tell he was taking his responsibilities seriously from the get-go, shouting encouragement to his less experienced team-mates in the warm-up. The big question was how he would fare once the game got underway. Admittedly, he was not up against future 2025 Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele as he was that day in the U.S. state of New Jersey last July but, regardless, Colwill looked just as assured as he had in that summer encounter with European champions PSG. It took just 30 seconds for him to demonstrate his defensive qualities, winning a header against Frankie Coulson. Chelsea goalkeeper Max Merrick shouted “Yes, Levi!” as Colwill calmly headed it back to him under pressure in the fifth minute. Levi Colwill has played five times for the full England teamCarl Recine/Getty Images Chelsea’s youngsters had finished top of PL2 and so benefited from a home draw against 16th-ranked Middlesbrough. But, initially, there was no obvious gulf between the sides. Colwill was in the right place at the right time to intercept dangerous crosses from George McCormick and Coulson. He almost opened the scoring, too. The centre-half towered above the visiting defence to head Leo Cardoso’s corner towards goal, only for the ball to be cleared off the line. Chelsea and Colwill’s task appeared to be made tougher when winger Ryan Kavuma-McQueen was sent off before the interval. But it did not seem to deter the returning first-team player. Former Chelsea captain John Terry, also in attendance, appreciated the beautifully weighted pass from his fellow centre-half which put Landon Emenalo in the clear. However, Colwill was less impressed with his own efforts 10 minutes later as he overhit another attempted pass out for a goal kick. “Oh, Levi!” he shouted at himself in frustration. Regardless, he went close to scoring again at a corner — Owen Foster tipped his flighted header onto the bar — before the hosts’ pressure finally told. Mathis Eboue, son of former Arsenal defender Emmanuel, found the bottom corner to put Chelsea 1-0 up just after the hour. Encouragingly, Colwill’s interventions at the back continued as Middlesbrough pushed for an equaliser. There were no signs of fatigue. The ease with which he took the ball off Cruz Ibeh left the latter looking utterly dejected. His leadership qualities were on show, too. Eboue was upset and moaning to the referee for a few seconds after being booked for a rash challenge on Josh Dede, but Colwill walked over, had a few words with his young team-mate to calm him down and patted him on the back. Eboue then walked over to Dede to apologise. The initial plan was for Colwill to get to the 60 to 70 minutes mark and see if he wanted to come off. The co-sporting directors, clearly impressed with all they had seen, departed 10 minutes before the end of the 90 but Colwill chose to complete the match — including over nine minutes of added time. He headed for the tunnel with a big smile on his face, signing some autographs for fans along the way and telling observers he was delighted with how it had all gone. So what happens next? The club will now gauge how Colwill’s body reacts to playing a full game again at long last, but will be encouraged that he was experiencing no discomfort immediately after the final whistle. There may be another under-21 appearance to come, against Tottenham in the last eight on Friday, but his chances of making a first-team comeback before the end of the campaign in a month’s time are fully on course. Sources speaking anonymously to The Athletic to protect relationships say the club see Colwill’s long absence as one of the factors behind why they have struggled to build on last season’s achievements in winning the UEFA Conference League and Club World Cup. Saturday’s game was just a little reminder of what they have been missing — and are about to have at their disposal once again. Simon Johnson has spent the majority of his career as a sports reporter since 2000 covering Chelsea, firstly for Hayters, then the London Evening Standard and finally The Athletic for the past six years. This included going to every game home and away as the west London club secured the Champions League in 2012. He also reported on the England national team between 2008-19 and been a regular contributor to talkSPORT radio station for over a decade.

Sixteen Leeds fans could be prosecuted for homophobic chanting around Chelsea defeat https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7232681/2026/04/26/leeds-fans-homophobic-chanting-Chelsea/ Sixteen Leeds United fans were reported for consideration of prosecution over homophobic chanting in or around Wembley Stadium on the day of their FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea, the Metropolitan Police has said. There were also 14 arrests for a variety of offences around the game, although the Met said the meeting between the fierce rivals “passed off largely without incident”. Chelsea beat Leeds 1-0, courtesy of a first-half Enzo Fernandez header, in front of 82,542 fans at Wembley to set up an FA Cup final against Manchester City, who progressed at the expense of Southampton on Saturday. The final will be back at the national stadium on May 16. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “Sunday’s FA Cup Semi-Final between Leeds and Chelsea at Wembley passed off largely without incident. “There were 14 arrests in or around the stadium for offences including GBH (grievous bodily harm), ABH (actual bodily harm), affray, assault on an emergency worker, common assault and tailgating. What You Should Read Next Chelsea 1 Leeds 0 – Has Enzo Fernandez redeemed himself? Should Calvert-Lewin hair-pull have been punished? Chelsea will face Manchester City in the FA Cup final after captain Enzo Fernandez scored the winner against Leeds United “A further 18 people were not arrested but will be reported for consideration of prosecution for other offences. This includes 16 Leeds fans who were seen and heard to be engaged in homophobic chanting.” The Crown Prosecution Service designated the ‘rent boy’ chant, often aimed at Chelsea fans and players, as a homophobic slur in 2022, meaning that those involved could face hate crime prosecution. Chants referencing the notorious sex offender Jimmy Savile, which have been sung at matches involving Leeds since his death in 2011 despite him having no connection to the football club, could also be heard around Wembley. Leeds United have called for Savile chants to be formally recognised as tragedy chants so they can be prosecuted as hate crimes. A club spokesperson told The Athletic in March: “The club’s supporters are subjected to these sickening taunts at every match by opposition fans, which should not be happening in today’s game and are a disgrace to the victims of Jimmy Savile’s abuse. Equally, the club disapproves of retaliatory chants from our own supporters.” Cerys Jones Cerys is a London-based writer covering Chelsea for The Athletic, as well as other London clubs and women's football. She joined The Athletic in summer 2025.

BlueCo Out!

The league is filled with innovative managers right now and going with Jose, Conte could be disastrous. Last time Jose had a good stint was when he was here 10+ years ago. Tuchel is different because he was at a top club recently and as England manager, is watching plenty of the league and is on terms with the tactical evolution in the league. Also, we don't know if Madrid are considering Jose. We just know that Jose has been pushing. https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/former-real-madrid-manager-informs-115000214.html

Simeone would be a dream appointment. His personality is precisely what this group needs - it would make or break some of these. He defo would fall out with too many of the 6, 7 or 8 year contract princesses and the sporting directors though.

The repetitive narrative in the media about us reappointing Frank is a joke surely? I mean he has already shown in 2 spells here he isn’t really cut out for managing a big club in the PL. He was barely cut out for Everton. Plus he doesn’t have the personality or authority to challenge the owners or sporting directors. He’s not got enough merit as a manager in the bank to do so, probably why they have him on the list. Would be a daft appointment given the sheer amount of work needed to change things at the club. He’s done well getting Coventry up but the links are ridiculous, be it pure speculation or that he is actually on the shortlist again. Suppose they’ll probably announce him on a 10 year deal though.

no is not

🔵🗯Maximum European Connotations: If Aston Villa finish 5th and win Europa League - Top 6 UCL if whoever wins FA Cup also finishes in Top 6. 7th and 8th get Europa League spots. 9th Place gets Conference League. If Palace also won Conference League, they would be in the Europa League.

🔵💥Joe Cole tells Frank Lampard to stay away from Chelsea job: "Frank should stay away from it. The temptation for Frank, because he loves the club, would be to come back and give it another whirl." "If I was him, I wouldn’t go to Chelsea. In any job, you’re being judged on your results but [at Chelsea] you don’t have full control over what you can do. That’s insane."

Bang on the money mate. I can’t believe im torn between wanting us to lose so it doesn’t yet again paper over the cracks of win because it’s a trophy and in the end of the day, that’s what we play for. Fucking unreal.

there are only 30 players playing in all of Serie A this season valued at £30m or more (Citeh, for comparison, have 20 just themselves) so many of the following could well be gone from Serie A next season: Lautaro Martínez Kenan Yıldız Alessandro Bastoni Nico Paz Rafael Leão Christian Pulisic Rasmus Højlund Marcus Thuram Nicolò Barella Federico Dimarco Manu Koné Scott McTominay Pio Esposito Khéphren Thuram Éderson Yann Bisseck Moise Kean Wesley Santiago Castro Alessandro Buongiorno Charles De Ketelaere Strahinja Pavlović Ange-Yoan Bonny Dušan Vlahović Bremer Donyell Malen Jonathan David Mile Svilar Evan Ndicka Matías Soulé madness

Do FA Cup winners qualify for the Europa League? https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/do-fa-cup-winners-qualify-europa-league/j0z19reeukewnx086stxc89g The winners of the FA Cup automatically secure a spot in the following season's Europa League group stages. However, their Premier League finish could also affect the qualification scenarios. If the FA Cup winners finish inside the top four thereby qualifying for the UEFA Champions League — or fifth, which qualifies them for the Europa League — then the Europa League qualifying spot offered to the FA Cup winner will be reassigned to the next-highest-ranked Premier League team.

But isn't he a back 5 (ie 3 CBs) obsessive? Amorim 2.0 I loved that first (first for him) EPL title under Conte, but I hated the system after that it is so 'gimmicky', so often produces ugly AF footie, and the EPL knows how to so often rip that scheme apart now, post Conte same for modern CL teams facing it it is a huge reason why Conte is shite in European footie no euro trophies as a manager The closest he got was the EL final in 2020 (a cough cough covid final) Big Rom's 74th minute OG blew it for him The final was originally scheduled to be played on 27 May 2020 at the Stadion Energa Gdańsk in Gdańsk, Poland.[6] However, UEFA announced on 23 March 2020 that the final was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He never made it to a CL final Those 2 great Juve sides in 2015 and 2017 who lost to Barca and then Real Madrid, in the CL finals, respeectively were led by Massimiliano Allegri, not Conte Poor Juve (2 wins, 7 losses), Benfica (2 wins, 5 losses), Atletico Madrid (zero wins, 3 losses) Reims (zero wins, 2 losses) and Valencia (zero wins, 2 losses) in CL finals 23 finals only 4 wins 19 losses Chels, if not for Moscow 2008 (GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR), would have the best undefeated record in CL finals (we should be 3 wins, zero losses) the only 2 undefeated teams in multiple CL finals are Forest, 2 wins, zero losses and Porto, 2 wins, zero losses then 4 teams: Feyenoord Aston Villa PSV Eindhoven Red Star Belgrade are all 1 win, zero defeats in CL finals and the only other 'in multiple CL finals' teams with losing records in CL finals are Borussia Dortmund with 1 win, 2 losses and Inter Milan, 3 wins, 4 losses

I'm sure that was the case when Stoke lost to City. Unless they've changed things - Stoke City F.C. in European football - Wikipedia

If anyone is stupid enough to offer £100m for Enzo Fernandez and we don’t accept it, I will be concerned. I don’t think we will regret it at all. He’s basically playing as a number 10 for 3 seasons and yes whilst his goals and assists have been meaningful contributions the last 18 months, for this so called all round top midfielder we were supposed to be getting, definitely not shown that enough and when he has played deeper, games just pass him by far too much. I get his performance today was good but he doesn’t do this often enough to warrant this status he seems to get. He was arguably a huge part of one of the worst midfield performances I have ever seen against Brighton in contrast as well as multiple poor performances throughout the season where teams just run over him. The interim coach can blow smoke up his arse to the end of time but he has shown time and time again over the course of the last few seasons he doesn’t really have it in him to perform at the highest level. He isn’t ever going to be a world class player. In an oversaturated transfer market to get close to what we paid for him is a massive win. He isn’t going to go to Man City or Real Madrid and become a world class player all of a sudden, not a chance.

Honestly an older head like Jose, Conte, even Tuchel is probably better suited than every manager we are linked with at present. Especially for this squad. Never mind tactics, its the personality we need to get right more so than anything else. They would tear strips off of these and boy do they need it. The fact Madrid are considering Jose isn’t a surprise, given the personalities in that dressing room and how their seasons finishing. Needs to bring a few of them back down to earth, ie Bellingham, Vinicius Jnr, Mbappe.

This group winning an FA cup would be nothing short of a miracle. But it would also further reinforce the delusion at ownership, board and sporting directors level that the project is working. Beating Leeds should really have been a foregone conclusion though. The fact nobody was entirely convinced before the game screams that there are huge, huge issues. European football at least. But still, wholesale changes are needed/coming. Hopefully for the better.

Are you sure? This does not say that: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Cup The winner of the FA Cup qualifies for the next season's UEFA Europa League. If the winner of the FA Cup has already qualified for a European competition, then the Europa League place goes to 6th or 7th place, depending on who won the Football League Cup.

Winners of the FA Cup automatically qualify for the EL. City are guaranteed a CL place, so the honour, win or lose, goes to us.