Burnley v Chelsea Preview: A chance to go four clear!

Today Chelsea travel to Turf Moor as we look to re-establish a four point lead over Man United and Arsenal who don't play until tomorrow. Its a chance to get our noses in front once more and put the pressure back on them two.

Chelsea are looking to complete the double over Burnley after our win at the Bridge earlier in the season. We come into the game playing well and scoring goals which can only mean alarm bells will be ringing at the Moor. Added to that today we have the chance to bring back the likes of Drogba and Kalou to the squad as Ancelotti's options are bolstered come 17:30 this afternoon.

I for one today will be calling for Carlo to stick with the same team that played the other night against Birmingham as our football was fantastic.  I would love to see our flowing football on display once more as we look to maintain our grip on the title. With Deco in the Anchor position, Ballack and Lampard getting forward from either side and Joe Cole and Malouda supporting Anelka up front we play much better, more open and flowing football. I think that the only change that Ancelotti may make today will be Alex for Carvalho.

Granted it could be a completley different game as Burnley have a new manager in place after Owen Coyle joined Bolton and Brian Laws has stepped in, and without doubt they will be well up for the game today. Burnley will look to get in our faces and make it difficult for us to play.

Today I think Burnley will look to flood the midfield and make it difficult for us to break them down, but you have to say that it all depends on what team and formation Ancelotti plays today. He could recall Didier Drogba and give him a run out today to get back into the swing of the Premier League. He could employ Didier up front and Anelka wide but it means we lose either Cole or Malouda.

I'm not sure what all of you think but in my opinion Flo Malouda HAS to play week in week out as he provides balance to the side and we look so much better when he is playing. His link up play with Ash Cole is fantastic too and they have a great understanding which causes any side a problem as they both look to get forward. Malouda has maybe taken some time to adjust to Ancelotti's way, but has shown in recent weeks that he needs to be playing..

Of course with the supply Malouda can provide from all areas of the pitch has also benefitted the likes of Anelka and more importantly Frank Lampard. Lamps has his scoring boots back on and I expect to see more of the same today.

Don't get me wrong, this IS no easy game and bearing in mind the situation with the title race at the moment another 1-0 win will do me. But being Chelsea we always want more than that!

Let's hope we continue to play well and by 2000 tonight we will sit four points clear so we can sit back and watch the other two kick lumps out of each other tomorrow!

COME ON THE BLUE BOYS! CAREFREE & KTBFFH EVERYONE!

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News Updates

Mutu!


Well after all the grief we had from the Press and from Adrian Mutu himself after he was sacked from Chelsea for drug abuse, and his protracted claim against this sacking and his 17 million fine, it comes as no surprise that guess what, he has failed a drugs test that was administered by the Italian Olympic commission and I have to say I have no sympathy for him whatsover. Without question he is finished from football and you have to say his appeal should now be thrown out the window!

Shame cause he is a good player!

Eidur!


We also have the confirmed news today that Eidur has signed for Spurs on Loan until the end of the season. I can't believe he has crossed to the dark side! From his own personal point of view its a good move for him as he has had a stop and start career since he left us. It could be the same again at Spurs and I for one will always hold Eidur up there with the Chelsea greatest but for now I am gutted that he will be playing for them!

CAREFREE & KTBFFH EVERYONE!

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Chelsea 3-0 Birmingham: Back on top (it was easy)

I said it was a must win game and Chelsea came up with the goods once more. It was an outstanding display by the boys and put an end to Birmingham's run of good form. Let's be honest here and I mean no dis-respect to Birmingham at all, apart from a couple of early shots on goal and a Cech save in the second half they never looked like scoring.

Chelsea scored early and straight away our initial reaction is to think "Kick on now and get more" and we did in emphatic style!. We looked assured at the back, had fluidity on our midfield where Deco played really well in the Anchor position once more and posed a constant threat to Birmingham with our natural width provided by Malouda and Anelka.

It was great to see Lamps banging more goals in and he took them superb. The quick look up at others around him before he received possession of the ball from Ballack for his first goal makes him stand out from others. The positional sense he has is first class and he knew he could take a touch, compose himself and strike the ball to the bottom corner as he had the time and space to do it. As the ball came into him, he did take a touch, a quick look up and bang into the bottom corner, Joe Hart had no chance (as he didn't with all three goals) and no defenders had time to get near him, which is hard to believe considering the threat he poses in or around the box.

Lampard's second goal was different class again once more. Deco of all people broke down Birmingham possession and drilled a ball out to the right hand side for Malouda. Birmingham had men caught up field and Malouda had time and space to attack their defence. With the decoy run from Sturridge taking one of the defenders away it left a simple option for Malouda and that was Frank Lampard. As soon as the ball broke to Malouda, Lampard was on his bike. He bust a gut to get level with play and the choice for Malouda was simple. He laid the ball off to Lampard who took a touch with his left foot to control the ball and then drilled his shot left-footed hard and low passed Hart to make it 3-0.

This was Lampard back to his best (or well on the way to getting there) and this is a bad sign for the rest of the Premier League. Some people argue that he hasn't been at his best or started off to well but he has been effective in play with the ball at his feet without scoring goals.

One person that impressed me the other night was Joe Cole. He was outstanding, it was his composure on the ball and skill that saw him glide past Bowyer with ease and he while into the box under pressure he still had the composure to look up, see Malouda in the box and stand up a cross towards the back post for Malouda to head home unchallenged from 8 yards.

Joe was immense and his presence on the pitch now is growing from game to game. I have argued on here before that I prefer him to play before Deco and he is finally beginning to prove his worth. Let's just hope that he can continue to get back to the form that we all know he is capable of.

It was a great performance against the in-form side in the Premier League and a performance that put us back on top of the Premier League with a game in hand. Back where we belong!

CAREFREE & KTBFFH (AT THE TOP OF THE LEAGUE) EVERYONE!

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Chelsea V Birmingham Preview!

Tonight we welcome in-form Birmingham to Stamford Bridge. After the stalemate at St Andrews earlier in the season its important (also because of the position United and Arsenal are now in) that we pick up an important three points tonight.

Frank Lampard is expected to shake off the calf strain he picked up during the win at Preston at the weekend but Juliano Belletti is out after the injury during the same game that forced him off.

For the second game running Carlo Ancelotti has announced his "intended" starting eleven for the game tonight and we welcome back Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole and Malouda to the starting eleven, six changes from the weekend.

It looks like Deco will be employed as the holding midfield Anchor man, a position (once he was moved there on Saturday) where he looked comfortable. The only issue I have with Deco playing there tonight would be that he will be under alot more pressure and will have less time and space to play his passes tonight. Of course it all depends on how Birmingham line up tonight, but in the form they are in I expect them to be up-and-at-it from the off so its important Deco realises that he needs to do the simple things right. He will also be expected to at times put his foot in and not shy away or go in too reckless.

Our back five to me is the strongest possible selection we could play. JT and Riccy back next to each other in the middle. The ever so solid Ivanovic one side and Ashley Cole the other, we look solid but also have the extended threat of both of them down the flanks. This is where its important for Deco to sit in and cover if Ash gets caught up field.

With Lamps and Ballack either side of Deco we look strong again in midfield. In my opinion I don't think that Lampard and Ballack get the credit they deserve for just how well they play together and compliment each other. They are probably two of the most comfortable footballers with the ball at the feet in the Premier League or at least up there with the best, and when we get on the ball and play our possession football these two are key.

With Malouda coming into the starting eleven with Joe Cole we are definatley going with the tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation. Malouda and Cole give the side a perfect balance and provide natural width. With the threat of Anelka and the how well he is playing at the moment, its important they they first supply him with the service he needs to his feet and to also get in and around him when he are attacking on the opposite side.

For example if Malouda is in possession on the left hand side, its important that Joe Cole tucks into the middle from the right hand side and vice versa. With the additonal threat of Lampard and Ballack also pushing into Birmingham's attacking third they will have their hands full tonight and whether or not Birmingham can deal with the treat we should be posing tonight is yet to be seen.

One thing is for sure, Alex McLeish has done a fantastic job there. They come into tonight off the back of beating Everton away in the FA Cup which is a great result in itself. They have held the likes of United, City and ourselves at home and Liverpool away in recent games in the League and they won't come to the Bridge tonight and look to lie down. McLeish could possibly name an unchanged side for the 10th successive game. They are well organised and a disciplined side. As with all football matches, at some stage they will have possession so its important that we defend as a team and as a solid unit.

Without doubt, with the way the league has formed in recent weeks, with United playing in the League Cup tonight and with Arsenal at Villa we have to pick up the three points. We have two games in hand and need to make them count. This is another must win game, and with the amount of games we have coming up in such a short space of time, we could really make our statement of intent to the rest of the league tonight.

So come on boys, get out there, get on the ball and play your passes. You will need to be patient as they won't be easy to break down, so tonight remember supporters, we have to be patient too. Right now I would happily take a 1-0 but of course ideally we always want more than that. So to everyone let's get up and at it tonight. Let's make our statement of intent and show this league who has the real class and quality when it comes to the title run in!

Here is the highlights of the stalemate at St Andrews a few weeks ago!




Watch Birmingham City v Chelsea in Sports  

  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com


  CAREFREE & KTBFFH EVERYONE!

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Sponsor the site / Advertise

As the site has grown so much over the past few months with more and more people wanted to advertise their text links or sites I have decided to open up the opportunity for people / companies to sponsor www.chelseadaft.org.

I have my web feed added to the Chelsea News Now network and Chelsea News and each of my posts are featured within minutes on their websites.

What I am offering on here is in exchange for yearly sponsorship I am giving you all the opportunity to:

• Have your company advert / details as a permanent advert on the site. 
• Also a weekly post on the site / 52 per year to advertise yourselves or your product.
• A text link on the bottom of every single post I write on here to advertise your product even more!

I am happy to offer a 6 month term) or 12 month term and will accept a donation as payment via my donate button on the site.

So, if you are interested or know anyone who would be please ask them to get in touch asap!

CAREFREE & KTBFFH EVERYONE

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Business as usual - The Chelsea Football FanCast #102 is available to download now!

 
Despite the absence of both African players and Chidge, who is working in California, it’s business as usual for two teams. Not only did Chelsea knock Preston North End out of the FA Cup in a businesslike fashion at Deepdale, but the Fancast team bring you this, the latest edition.

The finer points of the match are discussed, and the Man of the Match and Chant of the Match, Guinness and Celery Moments are awarded. Once again, a true team performance is duly appreciated – so much so that there is no one player who truly rises above his colleagues.

Injuries to Belletti and Lampard are a worry, especially with both of them in such outstanding form. The Chelsea faithful, six thousand of them were in good voice throughout.

In “We’re out to show the world the way to sing!” for some illogical reason it’s West Ham who bear the brunt in a rousing version, two rousing versions in fact, of “Bubbles”.

The team review the latest Chelsea gossip, transfer inactivity, Essien’s unfortunate injury and speculate on whether we should be concerned about finding ourselves in third place in the League.

Dr Martin answers questions on the loudest song heard at the Bridge and the prospects for an all-English Chelsea team in ‘Dear Mart’. In Chidge’s absence the team share the duties of reading messages from listeners in "You're on CFFC", notably one on the subject of over-zealous stewarding.

The Chelsea Football FanCast: Business as usual despite the absentees.

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Latest News

Drogba.

Some great news for us Chelsea fans, not so for the Ivory Coast in this years African Cup of Nations, is that Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou will be returning to the Chelsea squad early after their exit in the Quarter Finals to Algeria.

This is great news for us as it bolsters the squad in time for a run of games we have in the next two weeks which can go a long way to define our season.

Cup Draw.

Another fantastic Cup draw after beating Preston 2-0 on Saturday. We have avoided the Premier League clubs once more and have drawn Cardiff at the Bridge. With United, Liverpool and now Arsenal out of the competition you have to say we are clear favourites to retain our title. But, there is still some way to go but this draw helps us out alot!!

Essien.
It was bad news for Chelsea with news that Michael Essien will be out for 4-6 weeks after injuring his knee when he was out with the Ghana squad for the African Nations. This is a major blow for us. Mikel is still away, Belletti picked up and injury on Saturday so we are exposed in that position. Let's see what happens tomorrow night. Best wishes to Essien for a speedy recovery and to get back in the team asap!

Joe Cole & Anelka's contracts.
It has been worrying times for me with news of these two's contract talks stalling with Chelsea. Of course as soon as the news broke about each of them the rumour mill kicked into full flow with City and Spurs being rumoured to be after Cole and Anelka looking to leave. I personally think this is rubbish as Chelsea know just how important both of them are to us. Joe needs to get back playing his best as he has stuggled since he has come back into the team and Nico just needs to keep doing what he is doing. At the moment there is nobody better and a more consistant performer in the Premier League. Sort them out asap Chelsea!

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Preston 0-2 Chelsea

Well that was job done at Preston at the weekend. The only downside to the game was Belletti and Lampard's injuries that they picked up. It was a very professional performance from the lads in what could of been a difficult tie away from home. As I said previously in my match preview it was Darren Ferguson's first game at home in charge as manager and it was no easy game.

But I think you have to agree we made it look easy. Ok Preston fans don't get me wrong, you had a fantastic chance to level it up at 1-1 towards the end of the second half..but apart from that you didn't really have another look in.

We looked solid and played our possession football. Preston couldn't cope with our movement for the whole 90 minutes. As expected they were up for the game and got in our faces to their credit, but our class and quality showed in the end.

For me once again Deco started off with his recent standards, losing the ball, getting bustled off of the ball etc. But, once Belletti went off injured and he was moved to the Anchor man role he played really well. Granted he won't have the time and space he had in the game on Saturday in the Premier League, but on Saturday he was calm and composed and stuck to playing simple effective football.

As I predicted (should of put a bet on!) Anelka and Sturridge came up with the goals as we strolled to a 2-0 win, but let's be honest it could and should of been a whole lot more!


CAREFREE & KTBFFH EVERYONE!

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Preston v Chelsea: Team named and preview

In a couple of hours we take on Preston in the next round of the FA CUP and with new man Darren Ferguson in charge it will be no easy game. Carlo Ancelotti has taken the unusual step of already naming the starting eleven for the game with no Ashley Cole (out through injury) and Joe Cole and Florent Malouda are rested.

The boys taking to the field confirmed are as follows:
Hilario, Ferreira, Alex, John Terry, Zhirkov, Belletti, Ballack, Lampard, Deco, Anelka and Sturridge.

On paper it looks a strong side and to me indicates a switch back to the 4-Diamond-2 formation that we started the season with. Its nice to see Hilario and Ferriera getting a game. Ferreira and Zhirkov will be expected to get up and down the wings today to feed the ball into the likes of Anelka and Sturridge. With those two up front we have amazing pace to burn and we need to ensure we play to their strengths. Anelka can be your link man as you all know but I prefer we play the ball into him ahead of him to run onto and the same with Sturridge.
Juliano Belletti will play the anchor man in midfield after a very impressive display and will look to feed Lampard and Ballack. Now for me someone who DOES need to show us what he is made of is Deco once again. For me the jury is out with him and at the moment he doesn't come close to a start in our first choice 11. If he can get on the ball and prove to be as effective by keeping it simple and looking to play his passes rather than his flicks and tricks, thats a start as far as I am concerned.

All in all we look solid today, have the quality and class to ease through to the next round, but remember this is the FA Cup and anything can happen. So we need a good start, an early goal and then enjoy ourselves.

I predict a 2-0 win. Anelka and Sturridge on the scoresheet. COME ON THE BLUE BOYS
CAREFREE & KTBFFH!

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Gate 17 January update bulletin

The League ... our bread and butter

Despite having pulled the Black Cats' tails seven times last Saturday, Chelsea go into the weekend in 2nd place with the Arse having played a game more leading the pace. To be fair, since Chelsea murdered Arsenal at the Emirates, Arsehole Whingers boys have been on an impressive run of form recently, which makes the meeting between both sides at the Bridge on February 7th a mouthwatering prospect.

Worth pointing out here that whilst I've had a few gobby Gooners giving it the large one this week, if Manure beat Hull at home tomorrow they will leapfrog both Chelsea and Arsenal and top the league outright ... why do United have this opportunity? Because they were embarrassingly beaten at home by Leeds in the third round of the FA Cup and so get to play a rearranged league game against the Tigers.

cfcuk FANZINE new issue
cfcuk 106 ... is on sale now pick up a copy at the next Blues match you attend it's only £1 ... Hurry Up!

In February's bulletin we'll have details on the much heralded cfcuk CHELSEA FOOTBALL FANZINE book which will be the next Gate 17 title to be published in August.

FA Cup Round Four

Preston North End v Chelsea ... Preston Blue Brian Hudson has a very firm feeling in his underpants about Chelsea visiting his hometown. Brian fancies Chelsea to score five and few would argue after last weekend's goal-fest. The draw for the fifth round is on Sunday at 6pm ... expect Chelsea to be in the hat.

CHELSEA HERE CHELSEA THERE ... the DVD

If you enjoyed reading Chelsea Here Chelsea There, a DVD is now available which features 30 minutes of highlights from the 1-1 draw with Arsenal which the book is based around. In glorious grainy low definition you can now marvel at King Kerry's goal, Dale Jasper's near miss and the 25,000 Chels packed inside Highbury. Also on the DVD is 30 minutes worth of the epic 4-4 league cup tie with Sheffield Wednesday from the same season plus a few other tasty morsels ... you will only be able to get this DVD from the cfcuk stall on match-days ... price £5

Also available from the stall we still have a small number of Kerry Dixon signed copies of Chelsea Here Chelsea There left not forgetting the 3 for £20 book deal across all titles.

http://www.facebook.com/l/e9916;HTTP://WWW.OVERLANDANDSEA.NET

If you can't make the games, signed copies of all titles are available at http://www.facebook.com/l/e9916;www.overlandandsea.net ... postage is free in the UK

If you like what we do here ... don't forget to invite your Chelsea Facebook friend's to join the Chelsea Gate 17 group ...

CAREFREE and UTC

MARK

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The Magnificent Seven! - The Chelsea Football FanCast #101 is available to download!

 
The Magnificent Seven! - The Chelsea Football FanCast #101

The boys are ecstatic having watched the Chels put 7 past Sunderland in an awesome display of ‘total’ football. It’s all about the ‘Magnificent 7’ brought to you by the Chelsea FanCast’s very own magnificent 7!!

A very happy podcast as the regulars run the rule over Chelsea’s first 7 up in the league since Wallsall in the 80’s. The boys ask whether the outstanding goal fests in the last two games playing 4:3:3 will consign the 4:Diamond:2 to history, and so much for missing the Africans, as we could have scored 15!!

Belletti, a revelation in the holding role, Lampard, Cole x 2, Anelka and even Malouda are the stand outs in an exceptional team performance and feature high up in the Man of the Match award. “Rafa Benitez, we want you to stay” is the strong candidate for both the Celery moment and Chant of the match but is chased hard by some very welcome, noisy and celebratory terrace songs from the Bridge. For the Guinness moment, it’s hard to look further than the combination of JT’s 40 yard pin point pass and Ashley Cole’s sublime touch and finish or as Dr Mart repeatedly puts it, in the style of ‘Rainman’: “Cole’s Goal”
A Mick Greenaway classic get’s an airing in “We’re out to show the World the way to sing!”, and this one requires the most drunk and loudest mouth to lead the singing. Surprisingly, it’s Stu who assumes the role not Chidge!

ChelTel casts his eye over the latest Chelsea gossip, including Joe Cole’s stalling contract talks and the possibility that Carletto might actually be telling the truth about not buying in the January window.

Dr Mart answers questions on the legendary Babs, World Cup FanCasts, Chelsea’s Greatest Dane, and the last game with the West Stand’s ‘benches’ in ‘Dear Mart’ and Chidge picks the best of the posts from the Facebook group from an array of names that the boys think he has made up! Posts this week include laughing at the Bin Dippers, the forthcoming CFFC website, and new fans in Newfoundland.

The Chelsea Football FanCast: The Diamond is dead; long live the 4:3:3!

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Chelsea 7-2 Sunderland: Thats more like it!

Well its been a couple of days since our demolition of Sunderland at Stamford Bridge and to be honest I am still buzzing. Ok granted as I pointed out in my preview their team was hampered with numerous injuries and this is no disrespect to Sunderland at all, but we scored seven and it so easily could of been more. With a world class save from Fulop to push Anelka's stunning shot onto the cross-bar then the post. With saves from Anelka, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard, Fulop did well to keep the score in single figures.

In my preview I mentioned that Anelka would be back and predicted that maybe just maybe, Carlo Ancelotti would stick with the tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation with Joe Cole and Malouda either side of Anelka and my god did it work on Saturday.

Anelka was outstanding. He was everywhere on Saturday and when he is on form he is up with Drogba as one of the best strikers in the Premier League. In the 4-3-3 formation he plays really well as the link man to the boys wide and our midfield. He took both his goals well and looked hungry for the game which is only good for Chelsea in the coming weeks.
Once more Malouda was solid and played well. Took his goal really well and these days always looks calm and collected in possession of the ball. He provides great balance to the side with either Ashley Cole or Zhirkov getting forward to support him. Speaking of Ashley Cole WHAT A GOAL. First of all I have to it has been somewhat overlooked but what a fantastic first time ball from JT over the top to Ash. But to be fair his first touch was sublime, his second to fool the defender and the flick to finish was outstanding and if someone like Messi had scored a goal like that the football press would be raving about it for weeks.

Ash has been playing really well of late and has proved he is the best left back in world football and his goal on Saturday goes to prove he is back to his best. It was nice to hear the crowd chanting his name too!

The fourth goal from Lampard was good again. I mentioned that in the 4-3-3 formation (compared to the 4-diamond-2) the formation allows Lamps to get forward from deep alot more and his goal was the perfect example of that. The ball is played out wide, the defence are too worried about Anelka and Jole Cole in the box, so much so that Lampard steals into the box and volleys the ball home from 6 yards to make it 4-0.

JT and Ashley Cole were taken off to be rested at half-time and Alex and Zhirkov came on. Our fifth goal came from a fantastic cross from Joe Cole right onto the head of Ballack who headed home from 8 yards. Great cross and header and I have to say Ballack had a good game on Saturday too. In fact everyone played well. Our sixt goal came from a Zhirkov cross which Fulop couldn't punch away properly and the ball came to Anelka outside the box who took a touch and then half volleyed the ball into the empty net to make it 6.

Our seventh came from another move down the wing which was a major part of our game on Saturday, and Anelka drilled a cross into the box, Lampard 8 yards out gets his head to the ball and guides it into the bottom corner to make it 7.

The only downside to Saturday was the way in which we conceeded the two goals. Ex-Chelsea Bolo Zenden took his goal well. Ball played up to Kenwyne Jones who outmuscled our defence and headed the ball down to Zenden who has time and space to angle his shot into the bottom corner, Cech no chance.

Their second deep into injury time was a bit of a shambles as we couldn't defend a corner properley and that bloke Darren Bent who has a nasty habit of scoring against Chelsea poked the ball home from close range. I think we would of done better if JT and Ash were still on, but to be fair it was game over at half time. But a clean sheet would of been alot better!

So all in all it was a fantastic performance and a message to the likes of United and Arsenal that we have the squad to cope without the African players and we are well up for the run in. It was a majestic performance and a dominant show of force. Let's hope that we can take this performance into the next game. Same again please boys!

CAREFREE & KTBFFH EVERYONE!

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Chelsea V Sunderland : Guess who's back!

Well its been a while and with a little bit of luck on our side for a change in the last week or so we still sit at the top of the League. Arsenal and United missed their chance to put pressure on us and now its our chance to put pressure back on those two. We finally have some Premier League action and the great news is that Anelka is back fit and raring to go!. With the African boys away we need Anelka more than ever as he will possibly lead the line on his own or play up with Daniel Sturridge today.

I personally prefer him to lead the line himself with Malouda and Joe Cole playing either side, but I guess its down to Carlo and the way in which he prefers to play. I predict that Anelka will be on fire today due to the time he has been out of the side and will score. You can check the value on Anelka with online betting sites to see if you agree with me. It will be no easy game as Steve Bruce has gone to Sunderland and steadied the ship and in Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones up front, they will at some stage in a game cause problems.
They are missing Michael Turner, their main man at the back after his red card and subsequent appeal about that card was rejected. If they hadn't of appealed then he would be playing today, they did and he was given an additional match ban which does us a favour. I believe that Sunderland are weak at the back and we are all looking for Anelka pace and quality to expose them today. If Sturridge plays it will add to their problems at the back as he is lightening quick.

It will be interesting to see what Carlo does with our midfield today as in the cup the other week he deployed Zhirkov in a narrow midfield role and he played really well. Thats the beauty of our squad. We can either go with the 4-3-3 formation that brought us all the success we had under Jose' or we can stick with Carlo's 4-diamond-2 formation. With Deco not match fit and returning from injury we have (apart from Mikel and Essien) a fully fit midfield to choose from.

The other week in the cup Juliano Belletti played the holding role in midfield. I like Belletti alot like the rest of you but I am not sure he can do that much of a good job in the Premier League week in week out while Essien and Mikel are away. I think the pace of the game will at times pass him by if he plays there, thats why I would prefer Ballack playing that role today. I would play 4-3-3 today and play Zhirkov and Lampard either side of Ballack with the front three as I have mentioned earlier in the post.

I think this selection and formation provides us with a balance in midfield and natural width on the left and right. Malouda and Joe Cole can drag the defence out wide which will allow Lampard and Zhirkov to run from deep into the space which can cause Sunderland all sorts of problems.

We just need to ensure that we are solid at the back today. No silly mistakes. Cech needs to be at it from the off and he needs to get the confidence of the defence back and he can start by doing that today.

Its another must-win game and we HAVE to stop missing chances to get three points week-in-week-out. If we can put some kind of run together of the next 5-6 games we could be clear of the others and with that punters will look to spend their betting bonuses on Chelsea as we would be back in control of the Premier League. Let's hope that the boys hit the ground running today and get up and at it from the start.

I predict a Chelsea 2-0 win with Anelka and Lampard on the scoresheet so make sure you look for online betting sites and get a bet on today.

CAREFREE & KTBFFH EVERYONE!

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John Terry and reports in the Daily Express

Hi all. Its been abit quiet latley due to our game being called off last Saturday but one story that has been published this week has pulled my chain! Its this rubbish from the Daily Express about a "quote" from JT that he, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba are possibly more important at Chelsea than the Manager.

What a load of shit! The fact of the matter is that NO PLAYER IS BIGGER THAN THE CLUB. Players and Managers come and go but the club remains. We had our team before JT, Lamps and The Drog and will have our team once they retire or move on so for the Daily Express to come out with this is a load of nonsense and if you ask me a possible law suit could be on the cards.

JT himself has released a statement on CHELSEAFC.COM which states the following:
'I was surprised and disappointed to see that some of the newspaper reports of my interview I gave to Chelsea TV have been taken completely out of context. The suggestion that mine or my team-mates' influence is the only reason for the club's success in recent years could not be further from the truth, and if you refer to my actual quotes, you will see that I said nobody will ever be bigger than this club, players or managers. I have always had the utmost respect for each of my managers, and am grateful for what each of them has done both for me personally and for Chelsea Football Club.'

So once again the newspapers obviously have nothing else better to do at the moment than to stir up more bollocks about Chelsea. Everyone knows that JT would never of come out and said anything like that. He adores the Club, the Fans and the players. The thing that winds me up is that the same reporters will be out in South Africa come the summer trying to get support behind the England team for the World Cup and to get behind JT to lead us onto glory.

Imagine that, if England won the World Cup and JT stood there with the Trophy high above his head. What would the newspaper headlines be then eh? "John Terry leads us to World Cup glory... and he thinks he is now more important than the Royal Family!"..........

Sports reporters with nothing else better to do... GET A GRIP!

KTBFFH & CAREFREE

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Gate 17: January Bulletin

Yeah yeah it's snowing here in London SW6 so here's the January 2010 bulletin for you to enjoy.

The League ... our bread and butter and Number 1 priority.

Chelsea remain TOP OF THE LEAGUE and we are all still having a laugh ... but the noose is tightening as the Blues nearest rivals, Manure and the Arse appear to be scoring for fun whilst our goal machine the Drog has now left for the ANC.

Next up, weather permitting, are low-flying Hull City. It's an early kick-off at the KC Stadium on Saturday so fix-up look sharp.

cfcuk FANZINE new issue
cfcuk 106 ... on sale for the first time at Hull pick up a copy at the next Blues match you attend it's only £1 ... Hurry Up!

Next month we'll have details on the much heralded cfcuk CHELSEA FOOTBALL FANZINE book which will be the next Gate 17 title to be published later this year.

FA Cup

Watford were brushed aside 5-0 in the FA Cup 3rd Round ... nice to see Stuzza get a couple of couple of goals and Frankie boy score that screamer. Preston away in the next round ... and our mate Up Norf in Preston Big Bad Brian is getting very excited ... all his dreams come true.

December Competition

Win a Chelsea year-book signed by Joe Cole

We had almost 300 correct replies to the question ...

'what was significant in Chelsea's history about Boxing Day 1999?'

and the answer ... The Blues became the first British club to field a starting line up, against Southampton at the Dell in a League game, which contained no British or Irish players. Here's the team ... De Goey, Petrescu, Thome, Leboeuf, Babayaro, Ferrer, Deschamps, Poyet, Di Matteo, Ambrosetti, Flo. For the record Chelsea won 2-1 with Tore Andre Flo scoring both goals for the Blues.

The winner is Gaz Greville ... who added to his entry that it was her first Blues away game! Nice one Gal my old China plate, enjoy the book.

CHELSEA HERE CHELSEA THERE ... the DVD

If you enjoyed reading Chelsea Here Chelsea There, a DVD is now available which features 30 minutes of highlights from the 1-1 draw with Arsenal which the book is based around. In glorious grainy low definition you can now marvel at King Kerry's goal, Dale Jasper's near miss and the 25,000 Chels packed inside Highbury. Also on the DVD is 30 minutes worth of the epic 4-4 league cup tie with Sheffield Wednesday from the same season plus a few other tasty morsels ... you will only be able to get this DVD from the cfcuk stall on match-days ... price £5

Also available from the stall we still have a small number of Kerry Dixon signed copies of Chelsea Here Chelsea There left and with Christmas in mind the 3 for £20 book deal across all titles on sale could help fill Santa's sack.
http://www.overlandandsea.net/

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Introducing : GATE 17

Follow Chelsea FC? Join the Chelsea Gate 17 group ... Gate 17 is the fabled entrance to the Mathew Harding Upper Stand home to the likes of Seagull, Roper, Young Dave, Ossie, Marco, Baby Gap Brian, Ugly John, Big Chris, Lemon ... all the characters associated with books written by Mark Worrall.


Other Gate 17 notables include Chelsea historian Rick Glanvill and Dave 'Stamford' Chidge of Chelsea Football Fancast fame.

The Chelsea Gate 17 Facebook group is regularly updated with news, views and photographs from match-going Blues fans ... ENJOY and if you ENJOY tell your true Blue friends to come and join us.

Click here to head straight to GATE 17

Carefree & KTBFFH everyone!

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Chelsea 5-0 Watford & 4th Round Draw - We'll take that!

Well I called for a fresh start to the new year and a good performance and that's exactly what we got!. From the moment Danny Sturridge nipped in at the far post to prod the ball home we all knew we were right on the money and Watford knew they were in for a long afternoon.

Within 30 mins we were 3-0 up and cruising and we were playing flowing football. This was exactly what we needed to shake off the cobwebs and get our game back on track. No disrespect to the Hornet's and their fans but on paper before the game we should of walked it and that was exactly what we did!

With two from Sturridge (which will do his confidence the world of good with a big month ahead for him), Malouda, Lampard and (he looks like he just got out of School) Zhirkov it really was a fantastic display.

Carlo reverted back to the tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation with Joe Cole playing one side of Sturridge and Malouda the other. Watford couldn't cope with our possession and our movement and it was like the Chelsea of old. We were playing a full pace, dominant and at it from the off.
Belletti played in the holding role and Zhirkov played the other side of midfield to Lampard and it worked well. I am not sure this is the way forward in the Premier League, but bloody hell it worked on Sunday.

Once the dust had settled, we waited for the draw for the fourth round. At one stage every lower league side were dwindling away until somewhere near the end we come out away to Preston. This will be their cup final and other game against a Championship side in the Cup. Have to say I am well happy with that as it could of been alot worse!

So, its moving on now to the fourth round as we look to retain the FA Cup!

CAREFREE & KTBFFH!

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No Booing Please, it’s the 100th Show! - The Chelsea Football FanCast #100

The boys have reached the landmark of the 100th Chelsea FanCast, which cheers them up from Chelsea’s recent disappointing form. But hey, it’s the FA Cup and we stuffed Watford 5-0 so everything is ok!

A very special extended show to celebrate the 100th FanCast. The boys review the 5-0 thrashing of a bankrupt Watford, and dish out the Guinness moment to Super Frank, Man of the Match to JT, Chant of the Match to the Matthew Harding Lower for “She Fell Over”, and some consolation to the Watford fans for their ‘ole ole’ as Watford managed to put 2 passes together in the Celery moment.

Rather than pretend December didn’t happen, the boys discuss why Chelsea only won 2 games in 8 and ponder the Diamond formation, missed chances, Frank Lampard and tinkering. The recent spate of booing is given short shrift as decidedly not ‘Proper Chels’ at a time when we are top of the league and should be having a laugh. No problem, don’t panic, it’s what we like to call “Glorious Unpredictability”!

As it’s the end of the year, nay decade, we look back at some of our favourite Chelsea moments from the most successful era for the club, and also recall some of our favourite shows from the last 100. Jason Cundy, Alan Hudson and Tales from the Shed win hands down in the popularity stakes, with Chidge being Celery Terrorised during the post FA Cup Final show running them a close 4th!
Chelsea’s most often sung song gets an airing in “We’re out to show the World the Way to Sing!”, and Chidge gives a special rendition of the version he spontaneously came up with in the ladies toilet at the Millennium Stadium at half-time in the 2002 Cup Final!

Dr Mart answers your questions in “Dear Mart” and Chidge picks the best of the posts from the Facebook group in "You're on CFFC", including a groveling apology for the boy’s no-show in the Malt House before the Fulham game!

Finally, thanks to everyone for listening to the last 100 shows and to Putney Station for allowing us to sing loudly. Without you there would be no show. Thanks and UTC!

The Chelsea Football FanCast: Keep it Blue, Keep it Carefree and Keep it Chels. Up the Chels for the next 100 shows!

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Chelsea v Watford: A Fresh Start

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

Today the blue boys take on Watford in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge as we look to defend our Trophy we won against Everton last season. Today is also a chance for Chelsea to make a fresh start to the new year, and get our form back on track.

This started with the win against Fulham, but with Championship opposition in Watford coming to the bridge, its a chance to get our game back on track and really get the confidence back. It will also be interesting to see how Ancelotti lines up today with Kalou, Drogba, Essien and Mikel now away at the African Nations Cup. Its important that we maintain some sort of stability so I don't see Ancelotti making alot of changes today and in the coming weeks, apart from those forced upon him.

For me he has to decide upon his first choice defensive five and stick with it for the time being. Hiddink came in and barely rotated the squad and we went on an amazing run that finished off our season on such a high and now Ancelotti needs to do the same.
For me at the moment it has to be Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Carvalho and Ashley Cole. He has to stick with these players for the game today and the coming games in the Premier League.

The midfield is more of a dilemma. Ballack needs to play in the holding role as he can be effective from there. With the play in front of him he can read the game better than anyone, and can pick his passes or play it simple, so thats that position sorted. Lampard has to play just in front of him with Malouda (who I am reading is unhappy about being rotated for the big games and missing out) so it gives the midfield a perfect balance.

Now I have been saying for a while that Joe Cole can be the key to our success, and I have to say being honest I have been disappointed. Joe is busy on the pitch as always, but hasn't really done alot to show us all what he can do and what he is capable of. Its about time that he starts with the World Cup on the horizon he isn't doing his self any favours at the moment. But, due to his workrate, I would still pick him in front of Deco any day!

Now up front is the problem. Daniel Sturridge will be the main man in Drogba's absence and with Anelka injured he needs to take the deflected goal against Fulham and his involvement to give himself some confidence. This is his big chance and there is no question he needs to take it. But, its next to him that we are weak today. As I have said with Anelka being out, Fabio Borini will more than likely start and its another chance for him to impress. Once Nico returns from Injury it will be him and Sturridge as the main men in the Prem until the rest return.

But back to today, we are stronger than Watford, we have more quality than Watford and we should win today no question. So its time for the lads to get out on the pitch today and put on a great performance and get the right result and hit the ground running in 2010.

Come on the Chels!

Carefree & Ktbffh everyone!

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