bridge views - the thinking fan's chelsea blog

John Terry rescues Chelsea Ladies to prove wealthy stars have a heart

A nice story for a Monday afternoon – Chelsea captain John Terry has reached into his sizeable pockets to help maintain the future of his club’s women’s football team.

According to a story in the Guardian, Chelsea Ladies – who have made good progress in the last few years – have suffered a cut in funding recently which threatened to overshadow their development. This perhaps isn’t surprising – over the last 24 months, and particularly since the recession took hold, the club have been openly looking for ways to cut costs and it seems that for the time being the Ladies aren’t top priority. It is the first time in five years that Chelsea Ladies have had their budget cut.

Chelsea Ladies captain, Casey Stoney, explained how Terry got involved. “It was a blow when we were told what was happening. I mentioned it to a friend who's also a mate of JT's, and when he was told about it JT came to find me at the training ground to ask if he could help.”

Casey continues: “He ended up putting his hand in his pocket and persuading some of the other players to do the same, so now we can keep going on the same footing we had last year. We need that level of funding if we are going to compete at the top end of the Premier League and do well in the big cup competitions, so the help we've had from the guys has been invaluable. JT has also become president of the women's club and he's been with his family to see us play, so he's taking a real interest.”

Yes, it will be easy for some to dismiss John Terry’s generosity by pointing to his significant wealth. Nevertheless, this was something that he did not need to do. It is great to see these kind of stories make the national newspapers and a pleasant distraction from the stories of drunkenness about English footballers that more frequently make the headlines. Hopefully Chelsea Ladies can take advantage of the efforts of John Terry and the other players who put their hands in their pockets and continue their push up the table – currently they sit second.

I’m happy to admit that I don’t watch women’s football – and I’m unlikely to start in the near future – but I understand the importance of maintaining the game at this level. Regardless, this is another story that is testament not only to the extraordinary dedication of John Terry to Chelsea, but also to the existence of a wider sense of ‘community’ at the club, which stretches well beyond the senior squad alone.

You might also like to read:

• Does John Terry have too much influence?
• Devil’s advocate: should Chelsea have sold John Terry?

Kenyon leaves Chelsea - did he fall or was he pushed?

Capping off a typically tumultuous month for Chelsea, breaking news from the club this afternoon (helpfully released just as we were all out to lunch): Peter Kenyon has left his role as Chief Executive.

Kenyon, who joined Chelsea back in 2003 from Manchester United, will for the time being remain at the Blues as non-executive director (meaning he will still have a role representing Chelsea on various European committees). The announcement was made in a typically pleasant and diplomatic style for this type of story in the last hour on the Chelsea website, but the information we’ve been given so far poses more questions than answers.

It’s tempting to believe that Kenyon was asked to leave – perhaps he has paid the price for Kakuta-gate and the various other public relations disasters that have followed the club over the past few years. Rumours have also suggested that Kenyon didn’t have Abramovich’s faith following the hiring of Scolari in 2008, who was supposedly the Chief Executive’s choice. It has also been suggested that Abramovich personally intervened to dismiss the Brazilian last February, neatly bypassing Kenyon who was on holiday at the time.

All that said, rumours of Kenyon’s departure first surfaced two or three months ago, which could suggest this was more of a mutual agreement. We may never know (I’m sure the papers will be full of speculation tomorrow). But looking forward, there are two more pressing questions to answer:

• Who will replace Kenyon as Chief Executive? Will Abramovich choose an external appointment to ensure someone with experience of the football industry joins the club, or will he opt to promote someone already at the club who he knows and trusts? Internet forums are already rife with speculation that Karen Brady could be on her way.
• What will Kenyon’s next move be? He says he’s got one more challenge left in him and people are already speculating that he’ll move to Man City. If he stays in football, surely he’ll have to resign is non-exec role as it would be a conflict of interest? Furthermore, what knowledge of Chelsea (eg. transfer targets, business plans, skeletons in the cupboard etc) will he take with him?

Look out for a forthcoming posts reviewing Kenyon’s time at Chelsea and what we can expect from the new CEO. In the meantime, what are your first reactions to the news of his departure?

No more signings for Chelsea, another tell-tale sign of a lack-lustre transfer policy

Now these quotes from Carlo Ancelotti today will get the journalists’ tongues wagging this weekend:

“I don’t want to take any more new players because the Chelsea squad is very competitive. I don’t want to sell Carvalho and Deco – they’re both important players”.

Quite a turnaround from the rumours earlier in this week that Chelsea were bidding £38m for Aguero, and a world away from the earlier this summer when the club was linked with moves for every top player in world football along with their wives, tennis partners and kitchen sinks.

Of course the speculation will be that this isn’t a decision that Ancelotti (or the club) have made, rather one that’s been made for them. It’s rather in vogue at the moment to suggest that Chelsea are unable to attract the best players in world football, even if indeed every other English club has traditionally had exactly the same problem.

That aside, I’m hugely disappointed, and maybe even angry, at this announcement. I’ve maintained for two or three summer transfer windows now that Chelsea are one – just one – quality player short of a guaranteed challenge across the board. That might sound like the moan of a spoilt Chelsea fan (and there is probably a bit of that) but from my perspective the club hasn’t made enough of an effort or, more specifically the right kind of effort, to find that player. It doesn’t have to be a ‘marquee’ signing – the club needed to make a concerted search to find a player in the right mould - the same way we found Robben and Man Utd found Ronaldo back in 2004.

It seems that instead Chelsea have an ‘eggs in one basket’ strategy. Last season, they chased Robinho for three months, playing chicken with Real Madrid over one or two million pounds, before the shirt-on-website deal finally destroyed the deal and Madrid refusing to deal. It was the last day of the transfer window, the club hadn’t built enough time in or pursued any back-up options and as a result the team lacked cutting edge up front, significantly damaging our challenge on all fronts.

This summer it’s not so clear what’s gone on. Regardless, if Ancelotti is speaking the truth, the net result will be the same (yes, Zhirkov looks a good player, but I’m sure he’s not what we or the club had in mind). Hopefully however, this is a ploy to help force prices down – after all, there’s been plenty of gossip to suggest that we’re unhappy with the prices quoted for the likes of Aguero and Ribery. But if that is the end goal, you have to question the wisdom of Bruce Buck saying we wanted to make a ‘marquee signing’ in the first place – an unwise move if you are on a budget.

For now, let’s tell ourselves this is just a PR move to give us a better position at the negotiating table. After all, you only have to look back a few months to find a precedent for Carlo taking a creative approach with the truth…

How disappointed are you at this news, and what does this mean for the club? Is this down to money or is Chelsea just not attractive enough for top players? Or do you still think we’ll make a signing? Post a comment…

Other posts you might like to read:

• With no younger signings, we’ll need to get more from our older players. Will injuries be key?
• Could the Real reason why Chelsea haven’t made that marquee signing be the Ronaldo transfer?

The Mutu case: when good values are worth millions

When Chelsea sacked Adrian Mutu back in 2004, it seemed a bold and unprecedented decision.

What other club would be prepared – or able – to dismiss a player because of entirely unacceptable behaviour? There are countless incidences of footballers, who live constantly in the media spotlight and are role models to thousands of young people, behaving badly and yet receiving no condemnation from their clubs. Joey Barton springs to mind.

Back in 2004 however, Mutu supposedly refused his club’s offer of support to help him rid his life from drugs and, as a consequence, he was told to leave the club because of breach of contract. He was also given a worldwide seven month ban from the game from football. Chelsea were prepared to stick by their values and write off the £15m they had paid for his services – an admirable stance that deserves some credit.

Today however, it was announced that they will get at least some of that money back when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled against Mutu’s appeal over the compensation package FIFA had judged he owed Chelsea. The Romanian now owes Chelsea just over £14m – a nice little nest egg to add to the transfer kitty.

Could injuries determine Chelsea’s success in 09/10?

Chelsea’s injury record over the past two or three seasons has made fairly sickening reading, with Petr Cech’s horrific injury at Reading 2006 kick-starting a lengthy – and ongoing – queue for the treatment table at Cobham. 

I discussed yesterday the potential impact of Bruno Dimichelis  joining the club, suggesting that reducing the number of injuries could be his most significant contribution. And, looking back over the last campaign in particular, that could well be the case.

Essien himself, the previous season’s player of the year who suffered torn knee ligaments, ended up playing 11 premiership games while Joe Cole played 13 and Carvalho just 12. That’s £50m worth of talent that have played just a quarter of a league season each. Drogba and Ballack also suffered early season injuries, making only 24 appearances, and John Terry, Deco and Ashley Cole all had niggling problems. Peripheral players suffered too, with Ferreira not available for most of the season.

Having suffered a number of injuries to key players for three successive seasons, Dimichelis will have to evaluate what, if anything, could be behind what looks more like a worrying trend than poor fortune. One wonders whether Mourinho’s policy of playing top players week-in, week-out in all competitions during his three and a half year tenure have had a long-term impact on the squad…

It looks like Ancelotti has plans of his own to tackle the problem however, and we might see the return (without meaning to sound derogatory) of more ‘tinkerman’ tactics. Speaking last week, Ancelotti hinted that he will look to use the full depth of the squad over the coming season: “I don’t want to choose my first team. Chelsea is a great team because it has 25 great players, and for me it is impossible to choose the first team. It may be that I never want to choose. I want 25 players that can play well for Chelsea”.

Rotation aside, there has been some good news on the injury front for Blues fans over the past couple of days, first with Ancelotti confirming the importance of Joe Cole in his plans (having suffered a setback in his recovery)  and then with Essien insisting yesterday that his long period on the sidelines last season has made him stronger as a player.

United finished seven points ahead of Chelsea last season – I’ll let you decide whether you think having a fully fit Essien and Cole – both entirely unique in the Chelsea squad - could make up that difference. Either way, hopefully it won’t be long before we find out.

Chelsea are getting it right on Terry

The Terry saga is causing a bit of a stir, isn’t it? Not surprising really – if it were to happen (and I’m still far from convinced that it will), it would probably be the most remarkable transfer of the summer, perhaps more extraordinary than Owen’s move to Utd.

We’ve already posted on the gossip and what Terry brings to the club. We’ll probably post on it again. But one thought that has occurred to me is that, for once, Chelsea might be playing their cards right with how they’re dealing with this one.

The board and Ancelotti have unquestionably made clear their commitment to keeping JT a the club and, if reports are to be believed, are refusing to be held to ransom by the club captain’s wage demands.

So on the one hand Terry should be left in no doubt that he is wanted by the club, and should he end up staying we could almost legitimately say a move was never on the cards. If he does end up forcing a sale the price needed to prize him away from Stamford Bridge will be kept high. It will also send a further clear message to current players, prospective players and other clubs that Chelsea won’t continue an unrestrained open-wallet policy. Finally of course, if the unthinkable does happen, fans won’t be able to blame the club for not making a concerted effort to keep our most successful captain.

Now that we’ve all had the chance to think about it a little more, I’ll put a proposition to you: perhaps getting good money for Terry will allow that little bit more freedom in the transfer market and help us to get the creative influence we desperately need in attack. If it meant we could sign Aguero or Ribery (and secure a solid English replacement for JT like Upson or Taylor), would you let Terry go?

Credit where credit's due

Football clubs get a lot of stick for the conduct of the players, the amount of money spent and the trouble fans can get themselves into.  However, Chelsea have finally got a bit of credit for some of the great community work they do.  Today Chelsea are hosting a Celebrity Sports Day for Right to Play - a charity that uses sport and play to help children facing poverty, conflict and disease in 23 countries across the developing world.  Confirmed attendees at the event include Terry, Lampard, Essien, Cech, Ballack, the Coles and Drogba.  What a great initiative.

Ancelotti's First Day in Charge

Some good news - Ancelotti faced the media today, showing off some not too shabby English, and even chucking in a joke or two to keep the journos amused.  Even better news, Ancelotti reiterated that JT will remain a Chelsea player: "he said he wants to stay, there is no problem for him for us, the story continues - Chelsea and Terry".  He went on to compare Terry to Maldini, high praise indeed.

Worryingly, Ancelotti once again took the opportunity to reiterate that he's joined us to win the Champions League, so whatever the fans may think, it seems definite that we're prioritising Europe over the Premiership this year.  He also commented that he "would like that Chelsea have an identity to play, and this identity we want to build".  This harks back to earlier comments Ancelotti made that Roman was unable to recognise the Chelsea side, and that they lacked personality.  This is crazy - we might lack world-class wingers, on a consistent strike force, but personality we have in droves (the home-leg against Barca was some of the most committed, disciplined and driven football I've seen in years).  Team spirit is one of our greatest assets.  Let's hope he spots that once pre-season training gets going.

Back to the good news again - Chelsea also announced today that they've completed the signing of Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow for £18M.  He's very versatile, able to play left-back and left-midfield, so provides much needed cover and competition following the departure of Wayne Bridge.  He's only 25, so adds a bit of youth to the side.  Given his versatility and our need for genuine cover on the left, he's probably a better buy than Johnson would have been.  Combined with recent purchases of Sturridge and Turnbull, it seems like we might have abandonned the policy to buy ready-made stars (that the team may or may not need), and instead to focus on building a team for the future.  It remains to be seen whether they're good enough to take us to the title next season.

Let us know whether you think this is a good start to Ancelotti's reign, and what you make of the Zhirkov signing.

Some tasty-looking friendlies next month...

Chelsea have just announced a pre-season friendly game against the mighty Reading.  Exciting times.

But what had slightly gone under the radar (for me at least) is the two tasty looking friendly fixtures against Italian opposition in July...first Inter (22nd) and then AC Milan (24th). Its almost as if they knew Carlo was coming to Stamford Bridge...

I for one am looking forward to seeing Jose back on our screens for a day or two in and around the Inter game. Tickets to the States, anyone?