TomCFC

Well, let's hope AVB is happy with this one!

He's sorely missed indeed.

Chelsea can confirm that the pre-season match against Vitesse Arnhem, scheduled to be played on July 9, has now been cancelled. The club would like to apologise to fans that were planning on attending the match in Holland next month. A full refund will be given to those Chelsea supporters who have bought match tickets, and the club will be in contact with those fans over the coming days to arrange this. Chelsea also extends an apology to Vitesse Arnhem for this cancellation. The remainder of the club's pre-season matches remain unchanged. Chelsea will play an away game against Portsmouth on July 16 before heading to Asia for matches in Malaysia (July 21), Bangkok (July 24) and Hong Kong (July 27 and 30). Chelsea will also play Scottish champions Rangers on August 6 in Glasgow. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2382514,00.html

Disappointing but fair enough - good to see AVB is in control.

I'd like to see Torres given a decent chance to get back into form with these friendlies.

Are we going to be linked with the entire Porto team, even in positions we don't need?!

Will be interesting to see what lineup AVB chooses - hopefully the youth with some new signings.

A fascinating article on his background and dedication to football - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8597265/Andre-Villas-Boas-Chelseas-new-manager-who-has-dedicated-himself-to-football.html

Despite sacking a Double-winning manager?

Agreed.

Definitely fake - it's some sort of viral advertisement. The audio and picture quality wouldn't be so high quality. The time normally displays seconds and it stays at 16:20 for longer than a minute! He's the only person there are the YouTube "user" has only posted one video.

That's actually quite professional and amusing. I'm impressed.

http://www.skysports...7005749,00.html "I'm no dictator. I encourage freedom of choice in football. Players can only achieve their true potential if they are not shackled and are able to stand on their own two feet. Creativity in my players is important. I love the unpredictable part of the game. I strongly believe that players have to express themselves to their full potential, they must be able to make choices during the game. I have expectations and want to look back on a career I can be proud of. I want success. I want to win championships, I want to explore other leagues and embrace different social and cultural behaviour. This job is all I ever wanted. I accept people may view it as a gamble employing someone so young, but if I didn't believe I could succeed what is the point?"

Five reasons Nando will succeed under AVB - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/748118-fernando-torres-5-reasons-he-will-succeed-under-villa-boas

Selling Danny really would be a bad start from AVB.

When you come so close consistently but can't still get over that final hurdle, you really do wonder what we lack. Luck, probably.

We won't win the Champions League. Ever.

The amount of games he lost last season is disgraceful. Only three trophies?

Can't believe he hasn't won a game yet, though. He's too old.

A very positive article, as you'd expect given what he did for Academica. "He will be successful at Chelsea and in two years' time I can certainly imagine him winning the Premier League and the Champions League." AVB on Bobby Robson - http://www.teamtalk....Bobby-influence

We haven't really sung properly for a manager since Jose (expect Carlo's name when we were doing well and Guus on his last few games). I can't think of anything, but I doubt a chant would catch on that quickly.

Henderson - £20m Carroll - £35m Sturridge - £6m?! They're both relatively unproven, so how is Danny - with eight goals in twelve Bolton games - worth so little? We'd make a decent profit but there's no way we should sell him, even if we get Lukaku and Falcoa. I thought we'd slapped a £20m price tag on him anyway?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13879386.stm

Brilliant news!

Exactly! He's always been a world-class striker, but his injuries and lack of form recently certainly haven't been helped by our lack of midfield creativity. Most of his goals for Liverpool came courtesy of Gerrard.