Bridge Hints At Departure

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

Times

Wayne Bridge hints at departure after losing place to ColeWayne Bridge is considering his future as a result of his disillusionment at being dropped from Chelsea’s past two matches. The England left back is disappointed at being overlooked by Avram Grant as soon as Ashley Cole returned to fitness and may be open to offers during the January transfer window if his situation does not improve. The 27-year-old is particularly upset about not being given an explanation for his omission by the first-team coach after playing in three successive matches in the wake of his own recovery from an ankle injury.Bridge feels as though he has been punished for his poor performance for England against Croatia last week, which could be explained in part by him suffering from illness at the time. Although he accepts that he played badly, Bridge thought he had done enough for Chelsea this season to keep his place, particularly as Cole had been out for six weeks with an ankle injury, but after not even making the squad against Derby County, he failed to get on the pitch in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Rosenborg.Bridge attracted strong interest from Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at the start of last season, but was persuaded into signing a new four-year contract 12 months ago after José Mourinho pledged that he would be given a fair chance to make the left-back spot his own. The former Southampton defender fears that Grant will not give him the same opportunity and feels that his efforts in recovering from a series of injuries over the past 18 months have not been recognised. By his own admission, Cole has not lived up to expectations at club level since his controversial move from Arsenal last year, whereas Bridge has been playing the best football of his career when fit.Andriy Shevchenko also expressed unhappiness at his continuing inability to make an impact at Chelsea yesterday, though unlike Bridge he is unlikely to have many suitors during the transfer window because of his poor form and £130,000-a-week wages. The Ukraine striker had hoped for better things after the departure of Mourinho, particularly given Grant’s close relationship with Roman Abramovich, the owner, but there has been no improvement in his fortunes, starting only four of 14 matches despite enjoying a clean bill of health.“We had good results last week, so it’s difficult to complain, but I’m not happy,” Shevchenko said. “I have failed to fit into the team, but what can I do? I come to the training or match, and then I go home. I’m not interested in what’s going on up there in the offices.”Shevchenko may be given more playing time when Didier Drogba is absent during the African Cup of Nations in January, but such are the concerns over his fragile confidence that Chelsea are searching for a more reliable replacement. Nicolas Anelka is favoured by many at the club as a short-term solution, though Grant is concerned about adding another experienced player to a three-pronged strikeforce with an average age of 30.Grant would prefer a younger striker, such as the 23-year-old Brazilian, Vágner Love, of CSKA Moscow, but will be heartened to hear Drogba claim that he is not at his best, after scoring twice against Rosenborg. “I’m not unstoppable,” Drogba said. “I felt bad after the first goal and then I scored again, but sometimes that happens and I did not feel 100 per cent in the game. But that’s OK because I was able to give enough for my teammates.“We have shown a lot of character to recover from the difficulties which we experienced the last time we played Rosenborg. We were a bit down and that didn’t help our game, but now we’re playing better than we were a few weeks ago. The best answer to criticism or bad times is always on the pitch.”

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Drogba not unstoppable? Certainly looked it the other night, and in his last few games. Bridge is a good player, but I do believe Ashley Cole is the better of the two.

[True_Blue 469]

NO NO NO please stay Wayne,i will call Roman to dump that Arse cunt.He can never replace you

[ironhorse 0]

Hihe is good but he is not as good as ashley cole , he gets caught out to much , but he is a 100% heart player , so i hope he stays , but its obvious he will be a squad player at cfc , but he will walk into must teams , at left back its cole for me , but stay wayne

[captainmarvel 1]

no quotes from Bridgey at all! I don't believe it

[coco 1]

i hope he stays as he's a committed player,but you have to see it from his point he's played for 3 matches then gets dropped straight away when cole is fit again,so im sure his head is down a bit ,so keep it up and keep battling wanye !

[Steve 10,227]

i hope he stays but if he is gong to get more game time somewhere else then so be it...

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Well he is getting a run out today, so AG is apparent he doesn't want to lose the players.

[misschief 24]

Had a decent game imo. I'd hate to see him go, he's always been a favourite of mine and one of the better LB's in the country.

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

I think Bridge is better going forward than Ash, but Ash is a better defender.Bridge does get a better quality of ball into the box and is always willing to get bombing up the flank, whereas Ash I still think he's getting to grips with our play, he has yet to discover the form he had at Arsenal but he always gets the nod for the big games.They both have their qualities and I wouldnt want to lose either.

[Elliott 7]

This article is a load of bollocks. No quotes from Wayne to back it up, and then it continues to ramble on about some other shit.

[manpe 10,861]

This article is a load of bollocks. No quotes from Wayne to back it up, and then it continues to ramble on about some other shit.

Exactly. A shit article.

[Steve 10,227]

true with aboive