Fulham Broadway

Agree its a shambles. Ten Cates is probably just bearing the brunt of frustration, as personnel feel unable to challenge the real root of the problem. Grant seems to have an invisible wall protecting him. People at the club wont criticise him because; a] Its Romans appointment b] People dont want to jeopardise the huge salaries they're paid. Therefore the only way he'll fuck off is via fan pressure, and on Romans say so.

Nice way to take it out on Norf london

Great pics - did you know there was some Greek bloke with bizarre shoes stood next to you ? Funny about the Chelsea fans singing Panathanaikos. I wonder if there will ever be (blue) flares like that at Stamford Bridge ? Got to admire their atmosphere.

Terry's effort to paint over cracks fails to convince as Ten Cate row rumbles on By Sam Wallace Thursday February 28 2008 After five days of gloom at Chelsea, John Terry yesterday attempted to mend morale by taking players and staff on a paintballing expedition in the Surrey countryside. But there was no danger of a Dulux assassination attempt on the controversial coach Henk Ten Cate as the Dutchman was not among those invited on the trip. It was typical of Terry's no-nonsense leadership approach that after the Carling Cup final defeat to Tottenham, which was preceded by his training ground row with Ten Cate, there was a three-line whip among players to attend yesterday's event. Terry had originally planned the event as part of what he hoped would be the post-Carling Cup final celebrations but, despite Sunday's 2-1 defeat, he was determined not to let the opportunity for some team-bonding to pass. He has taken the Chelsea players on similar activities beforeand believed that after three days of dark mutterings about his relationship with Ten Cate as well as Avram Grant's long-term position and it was just what the club needed. The prospect of around £150m-worth of international footballers chasing each other around woods in goggles and overalls may be enough to bring any club chief executive out in a cold sweat, but Peter Kenyon could see the benefits and gave the plan his permission. The players are all fully insured against injury and, for the top earners like Terry, the value of that insurance is up to £15m. Grant and his assistants, Ten Cate and Steve Clarke, were not invited, although Grant's predecessor, Jose Mourinho, was never a participant in Chelsea's past paintballing trips either. The relationship between certain senior players, including Terry, and Ten Cate is never likely to be smooth, regardless of attempts by the club to play down Saturday's row between the pair. Some Chelsea players believe that the training sessions Ten Cate has put on just don't match up with what they were used to either with Mourinho or at international level. While Ten Cate made a conciliatory gesture towards Terry in a Dutch newspaper this week when he said that both of them were "emotional" characters, some Chelsea players believe that the problem is bigger than that They feel that during Saturday's training session Ten Cate was showing off to the club's owner, Roman Abramovich who was watching on the sideline. When Terry struck a pass a split second after Ten Cate had blown the whistle to stop play, the Dutchman went on the attack and took on the most influential player at Stamford Bridge. The paintballing trip is another indicator that Terry, for now at least, remains the top dog at Chelsea's Cobham training ground. After all, this is the man who invited every single member of the club's staff to his wedding last summer. It will be curious to see how long the peace lasts between Terry and Ten Cate if the Dutchman is to stay at the club longer than this season. Ten Cate may yet be hanging on privately to the hope that Chelsea will bring in his old friend Frank Rijkaard in the summer, although revelations yesterday from Rijkaard's brother Herman suggest that this is unlikely. Although there were many in Ten Cate's native Netherlands who were surprised when he moved from manager at Ajax to No 2 at Chelsea, it is clear that his role at Stamford Bridge is very different to that of most Premier League assistant managers. Understatement To say that Grant takes something of a peripheral role in training is, according to certain sources, "an understatement". He keeps to the outside, giving Ten Cate and Clarke full reign to take the sessions. It is that level of control that persuaded Ten Cate to take the job. At Ajax, whom he left three months into his second season in October, Ten Cate believed he was undermined by the club's technical director Martin van Geel. He was unhappy with the signings of players such as Kennedy Bakircioglu, Jurgen Colin and Laurent Delorge. Most of all, he was infuriated by the sale of Ryan Babel (to Liverpool) and Wesley Sneijder (to Real Madrid) so late in the transfer window that he could not replace them. Elimination from the Champions League qualifiers, and then the Uefa Cup, meant that the Ajax board also wanted rid of Ten Cate. In respect of his short fuse, the man who won the Champions League with Rijkaard at Barcelona in May 2006 was always likely to cause waves at Chelsea. There are those at the club who think that will be a good thing for the famous names and egos on the playing staff. But as Terry led the charge yesterday, Ten Cate will have been left in no doubt who rules the roost at Chelsea, for now. (© Independent News Service

Thats because ANY alternative, Mr Blobby, McClaren, or Mr Bean, looks a more attractive proposition at the moment. Agree with Badboy - the Dutch thread with Ten cate could work really well -and they're both familiar with Arnesen

Hate to keep harping back to the manager. But ....what has been mentioned in the recent reports was Grants choice of playing eleven, announced to the squad just a few hours before the kick off. With Mourinho, he meticulously studied the opposition, and who would be appropriate to be their opposite number. Maybe 4-5 days prior to the match. Tactics, and contingency plans could be worked, and how openings prised, along with weaknesses breached. I agree we need creative wingers who can be conversley switched from right to left ala Ronaldo/Giggs, but primarily a good footballing brain at the helm. Without that it's pointless.

They all have been and have the potential to be more so. Maybe Kakuta will be introduced, but I wouldn't hold yer breath what with Stoch and Sinclair. Its just anally retentive tactics and lack of spark that needs to be reignited in training routines.

But not as big as us ... Well creatives apart from Kalou and J Cole should be SWP , Pizarro, Malouda, Ballack etc but it comes down to training as well -trying different things, set pieces -woeful against the yids btw etc. Theres a general malaise, and its not helped by Average Grunts lack of dynamism and total inexperience.

To be fair Port Vale are a different kettle of fish. To me it seems like the Ranieri days of possession yet lack of inventiveness in the final third, - not so much pace or lack of creative players, more lack of imagination.

Malouda is a shadow of his former self at Lyon , where he did take players on. Remember his first goal for us ? -and as is the oft quoted mantra ''form is temporary , class is permanent'' etc. As for the slowness, it seems more a lack of inventiveness. The Youth Team is bound to be quicker.

Definitely something we've missed since Robben and Duffs departure. It has to be said since I've been watching some of our best periods are when we've wingers who will take on the right and left backs. Charlie Cooke, Peter Houseman, Keith Weller, Clive Walker. Kalou will take people on, and its unfair to write off Malouda -a confidence player, whose confidence is in the doldrums and who fans see as lazy. I don't believe he is now, he was injured when Mourinho went and needs to regain his ability that was so brilliant at Lyon.

So you say, ''Give him a chance'' on the basis of ''not having to make any decisions'', ''poor selections'', and '' failing in every one of our tough games, bar Liverpool''. Brilliant.

He should have done that a few months ago. Hes more interested in Dasha Zhokova taking him for a ride than Grant.

Not very nice to talk about SWP like that. I think its funny, it's probably on some Japs digicam somewhere. To be honest it's good to have Ten Cates being a bit of a disciplinarian, no player is going to be chastised by Grant, lets face it. I think him and Clarke could be a good team.

Thats just what we feared. With money and Grant learning the job 'as he goes along', there will doubtless be successes, just as the results since hes been there have been fairly good, and we will still be a 'top four' member But it will only be a shadow of what could be achieved with the right management

I genuinely believe the reason Grant is there runs deeper than many of us are aware. Theres a lot of Israeli/Russian politics and favours afoot. Who, or what team in their right mind would appoint Grant otherwise ? -let alone a World Class Club.

They couldn't deny anything because there was a fucking stadium tour going onat the time There is clearly unrest -with players having an emotional bond with Clarke, Ten cates the disciplinarian, and Grant 'the boss', scratching his head in the back ground. No wonder the players are confused.

Would say you're right, and they do trawl the forums to get the general zeitgeist of Chelsea fans. Guaranteed at the moment I would guess, from what I've seen of other Chelsea forums who are all fairly anti-Grunt , they're arses are tweaking, hence the 'crisis meeting'. Its not a deciding factor, obviously that'll be any silverware accrued or not come May, but they need to keep abreast of fans thoughts, and this bad publicity does Kenyons Publicity steamroller no good at all.

Lol thats what I thought. No substance to the title at all. Might as well have read ''Roman eats live Babies''

Top post there young man. When he arrived as ''Director of Football'' I remember posting that he's going to gently shove Mourinho out, like the proverbial cuckoos nest, sidling up to Abramovich with his pretend guffawing chuminess. Cunt of the Highest Order. I always remember 'Arrys first appraisal of him at Pompey -basically ''who the fuck is he? Whats he doing here? He just hangs about''. This view of him later changed , obviously after Gaydemarks strict instructions. Until hes out, any 'crisis meeting' or 'making friends again' will be papering over the cracks.

From This is London; Roman Abramovich continued his inquest into Chelsea's Carling Cup Final shambles on Tuesday by holding the third in a series of crisis meetings. The owner, who witnessed the bust-up between captain John Terry and assistant coach Henk Ten Cate at a Stamford Bridge training session in the build-up to Sunday's showpiece, called the warring pair together for clear-the-air talks. Point made: Henk Ten Cate (centre) talks to Roman Abramovich as assistant manager Steve Clarke looks on Manager Avram Grant and chief executive Peter Kenyon also had to attend the meeting. This followed his post mortem on Monday into the 2-1 defeat by Tottenham, where the club's board, coaching staff and senior players were asked to explain the debacle. Defeat had prompted Abramovich to enter the dressing room straight after the final whistle. The embarrassing flare-up between Terry and Ten Cate had also been seen by astonished members of the public who were on a stadium tour. Tuesday's meeting was the third time Abramovich has flexed his muscles in the wake of Chelsea's humiliation at Wembley. The billionaire was so dismayed at his side's capitulation that he was already in the dressing room to speak to the players before many had even left the pitch. Monday's inquest was at Chelsea's Surrey training camp and manager Grant was left under no illusions that he must deliver either the Premier League title, Champions League or FA Cup if he is to survive beyond the summer. Lonely figure: Avram Grant has had to explain his team's Wembley failure Abramovich's decision to take a much morehands-on approach will serve only to increase the pressure on Grant, chosen by the Russian to succeed double title-winning boss Jose Mourinho. As if to emphasise that Abramovich intends to keep far closer tabs on team matters, he even stayed behind at Chelsea's training ground to watch those players not involved on Sunday, including Ashley Cole, Andriy Shevchenko and Claudio Pizarro, take on an Arsenal youth team in a practice match. Those who played at Wembley took part in a light session yesterday having been given Monday off. Despite questions over Grant's tactics against Tottenham, there is also a feeling inside Chelsea that too many players simply did not perform on Sunday and that not all the blame should be shouldered by the manager. All concerned have the chance to make amends when they take on West Ham at Upton Park on Saturday, no doubt under the increasingly watchful eye of Abramovich. Talking again: Terry, Lampard and Ten Cate His greater involvement even includes Chelsea's pre-season plans, with a lucrative trip to Russia now on the agenda. Sportsmail can reveal that Chelsea are considering a proposal to fly to Moscow on their way back from their Far East tour to play in a four-team tournament on the weekend of August 2 and 3. After posting losses of £75million last year, Chelsea are aiming to join the global gravy train by becoming the first English team to play in Russia as part of their pre-season programme. It means Chelsea's players could spend nearly three weeks on the road as part of their pre-season preparation. A final decision is unlikely to be taken before the end of this campaign. CSKA Moscow are thought to be one of the teams involved in the project which will be run along the same lines as the prestigious Amsterdam Tournament. PSV Eindhoven have also been approached. PSV have strong links with Chelsea after Brazilian defender Alex was 'parked' with the Dutch club for three years before he finally obtained a work permit to play in England. Chelsea have yet to finalise plans for their pre-season tour and they are thought to be waiting on the increasingly unlikely prospect of playing in the Community Shield on Sunday, August 10 before they make a final decision. They have been investigating the possibility of a pre-season tour to China for the last 18 months, but club sponsor Samsung would prefer them to play three games in South Korea. The club's spin doctor once brilliantly claimed that 'threequarters of the world is already blue — now for the other quarter' but perhaps their ambitions should remain a little closer to home after the Carling Cup failure. Grant hit more trouble on Tuesday when he was warned he is in danger of missing out on the pro - licence he needs to continue as a Premier League manager after pulling out of the latest coaching class in Tel Aviv on Monday following the Wembley defeat because he was called on to explain his side's shortcomings to Abramovich. Israel's head of coaching Amnon Raz accepted his explanation but made it clear Grant would jeopardise his chances of finishing the course if he was absent again. Raz said: 'He called me to say he had a busy schedule and could not attend and I imagine he probably had a good enough reason. But he will have to be careful because if he misses many more, it will be the end for him. He has to be here for at least 70 per cent of the classes, or he doesn't get his licence.'

Good win -looks good for the future with the policy of Youth coming through maybe becoming reality in a few years.

''Drunk, Naked, and walking round with plastic parrots'' We've all been there ? Havent we ? Am I on my own here ? http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/latest/200...89520-20331941/

We need some fresh exciting wing pace, and Sinclair has that. Discouraging for him to be out on loan let alone anything else. I dont buy all this ''Oh it gives them experience'' malarky every time. Its good for the big four to do it, but not for the Premiership, and rarely for the player involved.