matt4

I try to stay in touch with the potential transfer targets that CFC's scouts are following in Europe. Often this season its been an exciting diversion between watching Chelsea's erratic performances. Two examples: Have any of you seen Joe Cole working on loan at Lille this season? It's the Joe of five years ago - speeding around the pitch with Edin Hazard, bubbling with confidence, taking the ball through tackles, firing in crosses and grabbing as many shots at goal as Hazard himself. The other champagne brand I've become hooked on is Borussia Dortmund. Chelsea took a long look at their centre back Neven Subotic two seasons ago, when Dortmund won the Bundesliga with a team in which the oldest player was 25. Watching them thump Bayern in Munich earlier this season, all I could see was a young coach Jurgen Klopp, two centre backs Subotic and Mats Hummels, and a team that attacked non-stop with the verve of underdogs proving to the German World Cup veterans in the Directors boxes that a new era had arrived. They're doing it again this season. Do yourselves a favour and check out Lille and Dortmund. This is what we'd love to be seeing at the Bridge right now.

The problem with dropping out of the CL places is that we will not be able to get players like Hazard, Falcao, Moura, etc next season. Hot young talent will follow established managers/coaches like Mourinho as they did from Bayern Munich when he took over at Real Madrid. They will not come to Chelsea to be hood ornaments in part of a three-season rebuilding exercise. Frankly, Man City or Man U are better bet in the transfer market because even though they'll also be outside the CL next season they do have managers with better results in the EPL. It's a business, for brand-name players as well as for brand name clubs. Abramovich will surely be aware of this and be monitoring Chelsea's decline as a commercial asset this season in the European and global sports market. He's a shrewd, tough business entrepreneur with a passion for football and CFC, a logical choice with the right manager given its prime value in maybe the world's richest area of real estate. Now that we're out if the top 4 EPL places I believe he will use our CL matches against Napoli to weight up his next move. Abramovich is the youngest multi-billionaire in what's probably the most formidable industrial sectors of all - the East European oil market. He's a survivor with a powerful structure of business support. Major changes will surely come in the off-season but meanwhile I suspect he is already discussing his options with advisers like Mourinho, Hiddink and super agent Pini Zahavi. Point being - whatever is happening with Chelsea on the field right now is yesterday's news as far as deciding what's going to happen at boardroom and player level at the end of this season. That's my take on it anyway, and as we all know nothing ever leaks from our owner's inner circle until he's ready.