Chelsea Go For Scolari

Premiership runners up Chelsea have announced that Portugal boss Phil Scolari will be their new manager taking up his new job from the 1st July onwards.

The Brazilian emerged as one of the favourites for the job so the appointment itself is perhaps no surprise but the announcement coming in the middle of Euro 2008 is very surprising and one suspects that Chelsea rather than Scolari would want the news released now rather than after the tournament.

The man has a fantastic record at international level with both Brazil and now Portugal so it will be interesting to see how he fares in English club football.

So provided 'Big Phil' does not do one of his famous about turns and decides he does not want the job after all then we can look forward to him locking horns in the Premiership next season with Fergie, Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez.

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Man Utd Win Champions League Final Via Penalty Shootout

Manchester United have conquered Europe for the 3rd time in their history by beating Chelsea 6-5 in a nail biting penalty shootout although at one stage Chelsea were on the verge of winning with the penalties poised at 4-4 skipper John Terry stepped up to take his teams fifth and final penalty and a successful conversion would have seen him lifting the trophy himself but he slipped as he was about to make contact with the ball which undoubtedly had an effect on the kick which hit the post.

During the match itself United had the better of the 1st half and Christiano Ronaldo scored his 42nd goal of a great season with a nice header and just before the break Frank Lampard put away his 20th goal of the season to leave the best two teams in England neck and neck.

In the 2nd half Chelsea seemed to get stronger the more the game went on with Didier Drogba hitting the post and Lampard hitting the bar and as the match went into extra time with players from both sides suffering from the effects of cramp a penalty shootout seemed more and more inevitable.

Nicolas Anelka was the unlucky player who had his and Chelsea's 7th spot kick saved by United keeper Edwin van der Sar to send the red and white contingent in the stadium delirious.

It was a little tough on Chelsea who will quite rightly think overall they had the better of the match and in particular John Terry who looked distraught after his penalty miss.

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A Chelsea v Manchester United Champions League Final

Chelsea booked their place in the European Champions league final with a 3-2 victory after extra time over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge last night going through 4-3 on aggregate.

It was the stereotypical game of two halves as after completely dominating the 1st half Chelsea looked strangely out of sorts in the 2nd and did not really get going again until extra time got underway.

Rafa Benitez and his pre match attack on Didier Drogba only seemed to fire up the striker as he netted twice in addition to Frank Lampard converting from the penalty spot.

For Liverpool Fernando Torres scored once more before being substituted and great things are expected of him after an impressive first season in English football while Ryan Babel scored a late consolation.

Over the two legs the Chelsea versus Liverpool semi final provided much more entertainment compared to the other semi between Manchester United and Barcelona but perhaps that should be no surprise considering they are both English Premiership teams.

As the final whistle blew to signal the end of extra time and the match the Chelsea players danced their way around Stamford Bridge while their manager Avram Grant showed a rare glimpse of emotion after having led the club to the Champions League Final an achievement that his predecessor could not quite manage during his tenure at the club.

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Chelsea Right Back In Title Contention

Chelsea produced a fantastic team performance to beat Manchester United 2-1 in a thrilling match at Stamford Bridge and put themselves right back in contention for the Premiership title.

Two goals from Michael Ballack either side of Wayne Rooney's equaliser was enough to give Avram Grant's men the three points and with Nemanja Vidic and Rooney going off injured it was not a good day for the defending champions.

The win leaves Chelsea level on points with United although Sir Alex Ferguson's men still enjoy top spot because of their superior goal difference and no doubt will remain favourites to win the premiership title as they have what is considered to be the easier run in compared to the Londoners.

After the game Fergie was as usual gracious in defeat naming and shaming aspects of recent refereeing performances and there were also rumours of post match bust ups between Chelsea and United players during the warm down on the Stamford Bridge pitch.

Regardless of what happens in the remaining two games for the neutral football fan at least the result breathes new life into the title race and strange things happen when teams are under pressure although Manchester United are old hands at getting over the line so should not be lacking in that department.

You get the feeling that after seeing off the challenge of Arsenal maybe United were a little guilty of thinking they had it all but in the bag and this result will leave them in no doubt that if they drop any points in their remaining games they may well finish as runners up to Chelsea.

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Champions League Semi Finals All Square

After the first leg of the Champions League semi finals we are still none the wiser as to who will be competing in the final in Moscow.

The Barcelona versus Manchester United match which finished 0-0 was not the best game of football you will ever see although that may be a little harsh with what is at stake and on another night the Red Devils may have sneaked a 1-0 away win if Ronaldo had managed to score from the penalty spot instead of hitting the cross bar.

I was a tad surprised at Barcelona though they do not seem to be as formidable as they once were and maybe the same could be said of the other Spanish giants Real Madrid as in years gone by these two clubs would be the teams that everyone else wanted to avoid in European competition.

The other semi final between Liverpool and Chelsea ended 1-1 after Chelsea managed a somewhat fortuitous draw courtesy of poor old John Arne Riise putting through his own goal choosing wrongly to head the ball when a welly into row z was always going to be the safer option.

Chelsea may well have the away goal but it is still anyones game as Liverpool are more than capable of winning in London just as Barcelona could well come out on top in Manchester come the second leg so it is still all to play for.

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Avram So Near And Yet So Far

After the departure of Jose Mourinho and the subsequent appointment of Avram Grant it has been a strange season for Chelsea even opposing teams fans who loved to sing f**k off Mourinho would admit to a begrudging respect for the charismatic Portuguese.

The general consensus of opinion was that English football would miss the self titled Special One and that has been proved right although as the domestic and European season approaches its climax Chelsea under Avram Grant are in theory very much in with a chance of a premiership and champions league double although you get the feeling that it is unlikely that even one of those trophies will end up at Stamford Bridge.

The style of play under Mourinho was cited as the main reason for Roman Abramovich deciding to dispense with his services but under the managership of Avram Grant Chelsea are playing pretty much the same way.

As personalities Grant and Mourinho are like chalk and cheese and this will probably be why many fans will never accept the Israeli and be quick to criticise when things do go wrong although in his defence his results albeit over a relatively short period of time are not completely disastrous but at Chelsea trophies are what is required.

After the ruthless way the owners got rid of his predecessor he should not be making himself too comfortable in the managers office unless he can pull a rabbit out of the hat.

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Premiership Title Race Hots Up

As we near the end of 2007/2008 premiership season it appears to be Manchester United's title for the taking as their overall strength in depth has been evident in recent weeks compared to their rivals indeed as fergie's team have kept their heads everyone else around them has been losing theirs for a variety of reasons.

At the time of writing Chelsea rather surprisingly are only three points behind in second place and look like the only team that are still in with a serious chance of winning the premiership title at United's expense although even if they can close the three point gap and equal United's tally of 77 points they still have the handicap of an inferior goal difference.

Arsenal need a win tomorrow at Old Trafford to maintain their interest in the title race and as good as United have been recently I would not bet against Arsene Wenger's team pulling exactly that off unlikely as that may seem it is still a game that could go any way and Chelsea will be no doubt keen observers.

Elsewhere the soap opera at Anfield continues unabated with the latest episode between one of the American owners Tom Hicks and chief executive Rick Parry with the American calling for the resignation of Parry with the turmoil in the boardroom it will be quite an achievement if Liverpool do manage to make it to the Champions League final this year.

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The Spoilt Brat Culture

After the show of petulance from Chelsea defender Ashley Cole in midweek and the less than favourable media attention it generated you would have thought that the penny might start to drop with the big name premiership players but apparently not as Liverpool's Argentinian midfielder Javier Mascherano tried his level best and succeeded to out do Cole's behaviour.

Mascherano nor his club can have any complaints as he was continually confronting, complaining and swearing at Steve Bennett and short of physically assaulting the referee there was not much more he could have done to receive his marching orders.

There seems to be a complete lack of respect for officials in general sure they will make mistakes occasionally who doesn't? maybe it is the fact that referees and linesmen do not earn enough for the premiership stars to take them seriously but the players seem to behave like spoilt brats who don't like it when they cannot get their own way contrast this with the sport of Rugby those guys just get up and get on with the game whether they agree with decisions or not.

Quite often especially during the televised games you can see players overstepping the mark and hurling abuse at the referee or linesmen and it does not require the services of a lip reader to work out what is being said.

I wonder what the late great Brian Clough would make of it all he always use to instruct his players not to argue with the the match officials no matter what.

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Another Grand Slam Sunday

This weekend sees another of those grand slam Sundays as Sky calls them where the big four clubs lock horns as always these games look great on paper but quite often can be an anti climax to say the least hopefully this will be one of those occasions where the actual games live up to the pre match expectations.

This Sunday will also go a long way to deciding the outcome of the 2007/2008 Premiership title race with Manchester United looking as though they have stepped up a gear and you have to say they do look like the team that is best equipped to pull away from the pack given that they have the most strength in depth and that factor alone will probably see them home.

In complete contrast is Arsenal who despite topping the table recently have been stuttering of late while Chelsea have put some results together after the disappointment of losing the Carling Cup final which leaves us with Liverpool who are not title contenders at this stage having had something of a troubled season both on and off the pitch Rafa Benitez's team were written off even by their own admission some time ago so securing a Champions League spot will be their priority.

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Football Has Gone Mad

We had some further evidence this week if any more were needed of how much the game has changed over the years some would say for the worst and how the obscene amounts of money that are in football these days threatens to kill off the smaller clubs completely.

League Two side Rotherham United have gone into administration for the second time in as many seasons after being denied time to find new funds by the courts the club now faces another 10 point penalty which effectively puts an end to their promotion hopes for this season as they now stand in 11th place with eight games still to play.

The smaller clubs that have gone into administration over the last few years must accept some responsibility over how they are run financially although in their defence they would argue that lower league clubs have always had to sell their better players to survive and that with the advent of football academies clubs such as Chelsea can go around the country cherry picking the best young talent free of charge which is something that angered numerous clubs in recent seasons.

While that was happening we hear that Chelsea and England Midfield star Frank Lampard and his new contract negotiations have apparently hit a stumbling block with the player rumoured to be holding out for two hundred grand a week now this is not an attack on Lampard but I'm sorry no player is worth £200,000 per week it is too ridiculous for words but unless the governing bodies step in and introduce some sort of salary cap for players then it will no doubt happen sooner or later.

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Who Will Win The 2008 Champions League?

This years UEFA Champions League is now hotting up nicely with the draw having been made for the quarter finals.

English footballs big four comprising Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all feature with the latter two sides drawing each other meaning with the addition of a premiership game sandwiched in between they will actually play each other three times in the space of seven days.

Manchester United will again meet Italian side Roma who will no doubt be eager for revenge after the seven goal drubbing they received at the hands of the red devils last season.

Chelsea will probably be satisfied with their draw against Fenerbache and a trip to Turkey which nevertheless will be no walk in the park.

Quarter Final Draw

Roma v Manchester United
Schalke 04 v Barcelona
Arsenal v Liverpool
Fenerbache v Chelsea

For what it is worth my prediction will be Man Utd, Barcelona, Liverpool and Chelsea to win their respective ties and go into the hat for the semi final draw.

A lot of focus seems to be on the English teams but I have a feeling Barcelona may well be one of the sides contesting the Champions League final on May 21st 2008 in Moscow.

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The Year Of FA Cup Shocks

The FA Cup this year has seen quite a few shocks, upsets and giant killings as some of the old romance of the competition seems to have returned Barnsley are arguably the story of this years competition thus far after dumping the mighty Liverpool out of the competition at Anfield in the last round they then proceeded to knock Chelsea out at Oakwell winning 1-0 again although the game itself was entertaining enough it was not quite like watching Brazil as their song goes.

The other shock from yesterday came at Old Trafford where Man Utd lost to Portsmouth 1-0 who would have thought that Man Utd and Chelsea would both end up being knocked out in this round i wonder what sort of odds you could have got on that outcome prior to kick off?

Sir Alex was not a happy bunny in the slightest and roundly criticized the referee's performance as well as the referees chief Keith Hackett for not doing his job properly his anger seemed to center around the no nonsense treatment Portuguese star Ronaldo is getting from opposition teams and the lack of protection Fergie feels referees are giving him.

Maybe one or two decisions could have gone their way but it is not often that you see a referee award a penalty to the away team at Old Trafford and there have been many stonewall penalties waved away over the years with the refs usually bottling it.

I have a feeling that it may well be Harry Redknapp's men that are destined to lift the FA Cup this year.

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What A Refreshing Change!

Most neutral football fans would not have been unhappy with the outcome of the Carling cup final between Chelsea and Tottenham as it made a welcome change to see a club outside of the big four of Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool lifting a trophy.

This was the first time Spurs had won anything since George Graham won the same trophy nearly ten years ago and the appointment of Juande Ramos seems to have transformed the clubs season to such an extent that you cant help thinking this will not be his or Tottenhams last trophy.

Chelsea on the other hand did not deserve to win and are in danger of finishing this season trophy less which would be ironic given the way the club or rather the clubs owner stubbornly dispensed with the services of former manager Jose Mourinho additionally the attractive football which Roman Abramovich was so keen to see at Stamford Bridge has not been all that evident since Avram Grant took charge.

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