AlanMcGuinness's blog

As I walked away from Stamford Bridge this afternoon having watched Chelsea beat Stoke City 2-0, my mind was already racing ahead of me.

Would we get Tottenham in the semi finals or would we have to wait until the final?

I switched on Five Live, made my way home and found out that it would be the latter. A semi final against Martin O’Neill’s talented Aston Villa stands between Chelsea and back to back FA Cup finals.

BBC Director General Mark Thompson thinks the current generation of journalism students will be entering a world that is full of opportunities.

Last night Thompson delivered the second Bob Friend Memorial Lecture at the University of Kent, which awards a scholarship in the former Sky News presenter’s name to a first-year undergraduate student every year.

The BBC should be given credit for being decisive about its goals and future direction, says Director General Mark Thompson.

Thompson, who delivered the second Bob Friend Memorial Lecture at the University of Kent last night, defended the corporation's decision to axe 6 Music and the BBC Asian Network.

The BBC can improve its journalism in a number of areas, Director General Mark Thompson said at the second Bob Friend Memorial Lecture last night.

That was the rebuttal issued by Peter Mandelson on the Andrew Marr show this morning in response to allegations in the new-look Observer.

The paper is serialising a book by its chief political commentator Andrew Rawnsley - The End of the Party - which charts the fortunes of the Labour party under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Chief among the allegations is that Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary, became so concerned by reports of Brown's explosive temper that he looked into the matter and told the PM: 'This is no way to get things done'.

On the pitch, John Terry is the embodiment of the power, passion and dedication that marks out any great leader. Throughout his career at Chelsea and for England, the 29-year-old has put his body on the line. Managers across the world would kill to have some like Terry in their team.

There is no doubt that he is a fantastic player, but as a man he leaves a lot to be desired.

This is something I have been working on for a few months now, when I had the idea of writing an ebook or something similar on my experiences following Chelsea from the arrival of Jose Mourinho in 2004 to the present day. Let me know what you think.

I will never forget the night of April 30th 2008. Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool, 4-3 on aggregate. It meant we were going to Moscow and the first Champions League final in our history. The atmosphere at the Bridge that night was unlike anything I have ever heard, then or since. It was incredible and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The Matthew Harding Stand was literally shaking and my vocal chords took one almighty pounding.

After the pain of the semi final defeat in 2007 and the five-hour coach journey back from Anfield this was sweet revenge. If you had said to my Dad 20 years ago that he would have the chance to see his team in a Champions League final he would have thrown his head back and laughed. But in 2008 it became sweet reality.

Over the last few months Gael Kakuta has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Dogs may be man's best friend, but their relationship with the environment is much more frosty.

BBC journalist Brian Hanrahan was there when the Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago. In this text piece and accompanying video, he recalls what he saw on that night.