Fulham Broadway

Dear God No. I know it's the Mirror, and it might be bollocks, but it looks as though he's staying put. My theory is that Roman is out of touch atm, what with his new woman, and not attending games. Avram Grant to be handed £100m spending kitty. Roman Abramovich is ready to defy the wrath of Chelsea fans and hand Avram Grant a £100million summer spending kitty. Abramovich was not present to witness Grant being jeered mercilessly by home supporters after Emile Heskey's late strike at Stamford Bridge dealt the Blues' title dream a devastating blow. The Chelsea owner was back in Russia on business and is not expected to return to the UK until next Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg at Liverpool. But despite the torrent of abuse once more directed in Grant's direction, Abramovich is grateful to the Israeli for stepping into the chaos caused by Jose Mourinho's abrupt departure and steering the Blues in the right direction. And the billionaire wants to bankroll Grant and give him the chance to prove himself with his own team, with AC Milan's Kaka, Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Bayern Munich wing ace Franck Ribery heading the list of Chelsea targets. Out could go Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko, while the club would be happy to offload Florent Malouda, Juliano Belletti, Claudio Pizarro, Steve Sidwell and Tal Ben Haim. An insider said: "Roman feels Avram has done a great job in bringing calmness to the situation, even though it has been with the squad Jose left behind. "We can still win the two major trophies, and the only difference from before Wigan is that it requires United to lose one of the other games, not just draw it."Things can always change but Roman believes Avram deserves the chance to show what he can do with his own team." // //

Nevin reckons Rijkaard will be here next season, and he's often right; http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...sea/7349700.stm

Using the Rolls Royce metaphor again. Grant has taken possession of a supreme piece of engineering . Fine it'll drive just as it was ..for a while..... Without maintenance and servicing it'll slowly get fucked. btw Grants best quote ; "I kept the good things, but changed the staff and the training, and we are moving forward. Almost all the players are better than they were and I am proud because it shows."

Oh right -never quite sure what hes up to. Wel, l whoever is in charge of transfer policy it needs to be sorted out. Maybe Abramovich has had a hand in Sheva, -and Sidwell, Pizarro and Ben Haim were possibly a result of Abramovich tightening the purse strings. Whatever or who ever is responsible , a team with such resources should not be buying as many pigs that have arrived since Abramovich

On the face of it the worst case scenario Chelsea will finish second in the Premiership, and end up beaten CL semi finalists. A pinnacle most fans of other clubs can only dream about. Scratch beneath the surface though and it's a shambles. No1 disaster; the disposal of Mourinho like a used tissue, and the the appointment of a very bad actor. Mourinhos arrogance, and he was by the way, rubbed off on theplayers, and fans alike, -it instilled a belief that you cant replicate or ape with a fat shyster trying to dress the same, waving his arms about. Secondly who's in charge of the fucking transfer policy ? OK we've always bought the odd mutton dressed as lamb, but Arnesen is conspicuous by his absence as he hides away counting his millions. Malouda, Sidwell, Del Horno, Ben Haim, Boulahrouz, Pizarro the list goes on and on. Abramovich - I get the impression, and I may be wrong that since his divorce he's not been giving the club his full attention. OK other owners dont, but what we have is the Greenbergs, Bucks, Kenyons etc all vying for their personal power and fortune, and as a consequence it's a fucking mess. A lack of cohesion and team ethics in the boardroom has led to it being replicated on the pitch. To me it's a tragedy that the potential is there to have cleaned up in three tournaments this year and it's been squandered. Terry isn't half the captain that he was under Mourinho, and all the players seem to be possessed with their individual aims rather than a strong team bond. This is evident in goal celebrations not being as enthusiastic, and with Lampard and Drogba eyeing the Italian and Spanish horizons. I hope fans that say Grant was just a stop gap appointment are right and we can start afresh with a new manager sooner rather than later

Fucking hope so. Amazing insight of the Special Needs One; - "We need to win the games against Everton and Manchester United," added Grant. "If not, it will be more difficult'' I've had enough of this ''next level'', can we go back to the last one please ?

Gives another dimension to pearl necklace Just come across (not literally), now that would be sick, Specials official Youtube site http://www.youtube.com/OfficialSpecials

Theoretically we can, but realistically it's pissing in the wind. Ferguson isn't going to chuck that away now, and that ManUtd game could be the end of the unbeaten home run. Agree about Di Santo and let that Stoch play a part as well.

There is the flip side that we can concentrate all the energies on the CL now

Think you're right, even the hierarchy couldnt put up with the scousers dumping us out of the CL. One of the problems at the moment is Kenyon, Buck, steadfsatly refusing to say they were wrong, or indeed their paymaster. They cant tell the King hes in the all together. Just listening to Grunt on BBC R5 -incredible how that stilted 'I'm naeve, and have to speak slowly' has suddenly changed to very fast garbled explanations and denials in adequate English. Still talking absolute bollocks though and stating the obvious.

Ferguson apparently rang Steve Bruce twice before the game -old reds etc. and four players sprinting into the box on the break paid dividends for them I suppose in reality the challenge was doomed once Man Utd beat the gooners at the weekend. But the rot set in with other games the 4-4 yids debarcle, but the blame for the lack of ability to adapt as games progress, can be laid firmly at the feet of Abramovich and appointing a fellow jew on the flimsiest of evidence that he was capable.

There seems to be a generation missing of Chelsea fans, coinciding with the sanitisation, Taylor Report, Premiership inception. One things for certain there are no groups of lads and indeed lasses, aged 14-17 attending now, that used to be rite of passage for so many. Simply unaffordable for 99%. As for Grant he's not even trying to do a passable acting impression of being a manager anymore. All he cares about is pulling the wool over Abramovichs eyes and getting his weekly wage of well over £100 000 a week. The fat fake fucker has cost us the Carling, FA Cup, and now the Premiership.

Of course if we're being oh so politically correct about Paki or Yid, 'Pikey', is as equally offensive when talking about the travelling community. But we're not are we ? Brad Pitt speaks what is known as ''Hyper-Gyp'', donchaknow.

Ok SIdwell ? ben haim ? No one really stood out but for me tossup between Joe Cole and Lord Percy Carvalho. Carvalho just shades it. Imperious, the proverbial rock.

Its not, as you oh so correctly pointed out. Well done. Good goal though

Lots of reports in various outlets today that say hes destined for the Bridge. The rumour appears in this morning`s Sun. Spain`s 'Marca` is also on the case. The Sun claims that Chelsea have already been in contact with Villa`s representatives. Maybe with a pinch of salt though as the same reports (Telegraph) state that Drogba is joining Mourinho at Inter with the same certainty, and that Shevchenko is on his way back to mental uncle Berlusconi .

Oh ''of course'' , silly me. It tends to be forgotten about due to the media labelling it as a tiresome boring final.

Good news if true - Petr Cech has made an incredible return to light training - and set his sights on being fit for Chelsea's Champions League showdown with Liverpool. Mirror News 1 hour ago

Didnt Grant say a while back there were a couple of his Israeli chums he wanted on board ?

When he beat a few players and blasted it ? -yeah I agree. Drogbas FA cup winner the 1-2 with Lampard as well unless they are calling that 2006-7. It's all pretty subjective but the move that lead to Ballacks against the spammers, with the control of the volley does it for me.

With over 100 goals already scored this season, it's a tough task narrowing it down, but eventually whittled it down to eight. In chronological order, they are: a) 3 October 2007 - Didier Drogba v Valencia A vital winner in the Mestalla, this was as much about the assist as the finish. Drogba rounded off a superb Chelsea counter-attack when he raced on to Joe Cole's piercing through ball, played to perfection with the outside of his right foot. Drogba shrugged off the challenge of his marker, and shot into Santiago Canizares's far corner with his left foot. 20 October 2007 - Alex v Middlesbrough His first goal for the club, Alex was given the chance to shoot from a free-kick after Michael Essien was fouled 35 yards from goal. Frank Lampard knocked the ball to one side and the Brazilian unleashed an unstoppable rising drive that swerved away from Mark Schwarzer right into the top-left hand corner of the net. c) 27 October 2007 - Didier Drogba v Manchester City The second in a comprehensive 6-0 win, Drogba's second nomination is similar to his first, in that it was another fine finish, supplied by a beautifully incisive pass. This time Lampard was the supplier, bending a ball through the heart of the City defence beyond the reach of Micah Richards, and the Ivorian placed his finish perfectly across Joe Hart. d) 31 October 2007 - Andriy Shevchenko v Leicester City With time running out, and Chelsea 3-2 down, Essien played a one-two with Claudio Pizarro before rolling the ball into Shevchenko, with his back to goal, on the edge of the Leicester area. The Ukrainian instinctively turned his marker and pulled the trigger with his left foot. The result was an unstoppable drive that flew past the Leicester keeper and into the roof of the net. e) 26 December 2007 - Alex v Aston Villa (pictured) A second nomination for the centre-half, he collected the ball on the edge of the centre circle before playing the ball to Shevchenko and continuing his forward run. Shevchenko turned his man and fed Alex on the edge of the area. The Brazilian danced around the defender's challenge, and powered his low shot home to give us a 3-2 lead. f) 12 January 2008 - Juliano Belletti v Tottenham Hotspur Picking the ball up, Belletti was allowed to advance deep into the Tottenham half before letting rip with a powerful drive that left Spurs goalkeeper Radek Cerny clutching at thin air as it flew past him into the top corner, bending slightly on the way. g) 23 January 2008 - Joe Cole v Everton Cole, so often the provider this season, turned goal scorer when he cleverly brought down Florent Malouda's inch-perfect 50-yard pass with one touch, and with his second sent a well-placed half-volley beyond Tim Howard at his near post, confirming our presence in the Carling Cup final. h) 1 March 2008 - Michael Ballack v West Ham United Bouncing back from cup final defeat to Spurs, we hammered the Hammers on their own patch, with a superb first half display, rounded off by Ballack's powerful drive. Nicolas Anelka fed Lampard, who bent a cross into the Germans path. Ballack caught the ball expertly on the half-volley, and managed to keep the trajectory low enough to find Robert Greens bottom corner. So what's your choice? Do you think the official website has missed out any other worthy goals in their shortlist? If you want to vote, go to the official website. For me it was the Alex 35yarder and Ballacks at West ham

Cant load that for some reason -and where do you get that staying power ? maybe that viagra stuff works. Talking of 80s darlings.. http://images.salon.com/july97/sharps/carlisle970722.gif

Maybe -but the fact remains the FA bow to Rupert Murdoch, and footballs No 1 fans are sat in armchairs. Apart from inconveniencing fans who have made other arrangements , the TV revenue way exceeds what the club would have to pay for the fans travel/tickets.

Lol Kenyon is a puppet/muppet -anyone else reckon he wanted Mourinho to stay but just went along for the cash ? -his paymasters pull the strings and he puts the gloss on it. Even if we fail to Part the Red Sea and lose to Liverpool methinks the owners will stick with Rabbi Avram, sadly.

Now on Bank Holiday Monday at 4pm. for TV. Sky are determined the title goes to ManUtd