Madmax

England Under-21 defender Ryan Bertrand is determined not to stand still this season as he looks to eventually make an impression at Chelsea "It all depends what your position is at a club, and who else is in that role, but going out on loan is a fantastic thing to do," he said. "You go out and play games instead of sitting still. It is important to develop. Going out on loan has benefited me." Bertrand feels seeing the likes of Gibbs and Wilshere following in the footsteps of James Milner and Adam Johnson into the senior set-up can only work as an inspiration for all of the Young Lions squad. "It is massively important," the Chelsea defender said. "You see the boys who have gone up and done well, then managed to stay in the England team, it has benefited them really well. Source : Teamtalk

Delac? He's on loan till the end of the season at Vitesse ...

I still don't get it - why would someone shag Rooney? Unless ofc they're into anime ...

Apparently, us and City are interested in this 27 year old GK from Cagliari - imscouting And, this 17 year old GK from Athletic Bilbao tuttomercato

Ancelotti backs Rooney handling "A coach has to look if this problem is involved on the training ground and if the players are able to maintain this problem outside of the training ground," Ancelotti said. "The coach can do just that." "This is personal behaviour that refers to the personal character of the people; if they can separate the things. "A top player is able to do this. It is possible I think. It was a fantastic example by John Terry and Ashley Cole last season." "I'm not interested if a player goes to sleep at eight o'clock or 12 o'clock. I'm only interested if a player can do 100% when they are training. I didn't control, when I was in Italy, what happened outside the training ground." Link

The classic glass half full - half empty argument still rages on ...

France striker Nicolas Anelka has confirmed his retirement from the international game having being handed an 18-match ban by the French Football Federation for his antics at the World Cup. Anelka has now reiterated that the ban means the end of his international career and that he will never pull on the blue shirt of France again. "I have retired officially. I am 100% sure that I will not return," the striker confirmed to France Soir. "There was no chance that I would return to the national team after what happened on June 19 in Knysna. "If members had read the newspaper, they would have realised that I have turned a page. Anyways, I already play in Blue every weekend with Chelsea." Link

Or burnt?

I love this guy. He's a really classy person and is exactly the kind of guy we needed after the Mourinho era. We're lucky to have him.

The links to the Malouda, Sturridge and Zhirkov profiles aren't working. This message shows up : "Oops, the page you are looking for cannot be located."

West Ham look awful at the moment, which is good news for us obviously. Our injury situation scares me more than West Ham tbh, especially if the reports of Mikel being injured in the Nigeria game are true. The midfield and defence will be interesting and I guess we'll only know more by Friday, hence I'm also delaying my Prediction League post till that time

Official site says nothing about Mikel's injury in the international match report, but then again, they are slow with these things, or maybe they are waiting for confirmation of an injury. In case we lose Mikel, I reckon Carlo will drop Essien back and will hand Bena a start alongside Lampsey. But things could be very interesting if Bruma/JT somehow can't start and Essien has to drop into defence.

As of now, only Ivanovic and Bosingwa look highly unlikely for the game, JT and Bruma will be available

Lampard fit for West Ham In an interview yesterday, Ancelotti said, "For sure, Frank will be fit for the West Ham game." Link

"There was a lack of contact between the players and the club. It was much like an office - to training and goodbye, to a match and goodbye. I am Brazilian and I can't offer my best performance if I'm not happy in every aspect of life. "That was my problem. I am a special footballer and I need to be happy when I'm playing. That was the case at Real Madrid but never at City. Perhaps I should never have left Real Madrid. "My destination was Chelsea with Luiz Felipe Scolari but, at the last moment, City appeared and I accepted. I did not decide the transfer. Correspondence is always between clubs and I am not responsible for what anyone will pay, but Mark Hughes called me and insisted I joined the club. He was decisive in my move." "Manchester is a sensational venue for football but an awful place to live ... the winter, the cold and the dark nights. It's very hard for a young Brazilian. "The Premier League is one of the best in the world, without a doubt. The stadiums are always full and the atmosphere is incredible, but not every footballer is able to play in England. The character can be difficult for a foreigner. Full story I still don't understand how this joke of a footballer is wanted by clubs like AC Milan. What a tosser. And to think it could have been us tearing our hair out over him! Like they say, whatever happens, happens for the best ...

Let's see how much stick he gets from the papers now.

That's not for me to say. How do you know that people in the UK would still support Chelsea if the situation you mentioned were to arise?

No problemo

Woah easy mate. I was being sarcastic. I pointed out that our squad is complete but was called a blind Chelsea fan in return for it, and hence thought I would warn you what some would say if you defends the club's squad strength and size.

Don't say that. Otherwise you're just someone who blindly supports Carlo to show you're a true supporter who doesn't moan.

More to come from the Blues, says Frank Lampard. Story

First of, I never said anything amounting to that, so don't make it look like I did. I've had my moans about Kalou in the past for instance, but I'm equally quick to defend him when he does well. But it really does get my goat when people on here only seem to point out what's wrong with the team rather than cherishing what's right with it. At the end of the day, what is true is that your or my opinion doesn't matter because neither of us is the manager, and Carlo is, so to keep moaning about the defensive cover or lack of it time and time again is not going to help. Not to mention, it starts getting on others' nerves after a point of time. So sure you can state your opinion, and nobody here (including myself) has stopped you from doing so, but in the end, it's not your (or mine) opinion that counts. You've got to move on at some point. Regarding my so-called 'contradiction'. If you've read my posts here, you wouldn't have noticed me rooting for Kakuta's involvement in the team. Sure he's a great talent and all that , but imo he ain't ready yet, neither for that matter is McEachran (unless you're talking abt the Carling Cup or the FA cup). I think Bruma is ahead of both of them in development terms, and in terms of whether the team actually needs them or not. Talking about Benayoun, I'd be very surprised if he plays on the wings, he is a central midfielder so I don't know why you think he's purchase is going to stop Kakuta's development. Don't let everyone talking up Kakuta fool you into thinking he's made it . Just because my line of thought is similar to the club in this matter doesn't make me someone who 'will just blindly agree to whatever carlo is doing just to show they are faithful supporters who don't moan' as you put it. It's all in your head and how you interpret things.

Piet de Visser at work?

BPL's huge Asian market helps in this I'd reckon. It's by far and wide the most watched league here, and though Man Utd and Liverpool (believe it or not) supporters outnumber Chelsea supporters, we're catching up real fast.

Silva? LOL