Chelsea

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.

After John Terry has his super-injunction overturned last week, The Daily Telegraph has revealed the identity of the Premier League manager seen leaving a brothel in December last year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/news/7151797/Avram-Grant-Premier-League-bosss-brothel-visit.html

Of course as with John Terry, Avram Grant's name has been all over the internet which is probably why the Telegraph decided to publish.

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.

As far as first steps on the road to potential Champions League glory go, this was a fairly uninspiring start for Chelsea.

Carlo Ancelotti will pleased with the three points – which were secured with a strike just after half time from Nicolas Anelka – but he will know that his side can play much better than this. The Italian could counter that at this stage it is points, not performances that matter. And these points were gained without the likes of Didier Drogba, Jose Bosingwa, Joe Cole and Yuri Zhirkov.

As the world of football reels from the shock of Chelsea’s 18-month transfer ban, thoughts will now begin to turn to the long-term implications of Fifa’s decision.

The penalty handed down yesterday by the organisation’s Dispute Resolution Chamber isn’t completely unprecedented – Roma were banned from signing players during the January 2006 transfer window as a result of their pursuit of Auxerre’s Philippe Mexes – but there is no doubt the Blues are the most high profile victims to fall foul of Fifa’s attempt to stamp out club’s questionable practices in poaching young talent.

Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka struck in either half to give Chelsea a comfortable victory over neighbours Fulham at Craven Cottage as Carlo Ancelotti maintained his impressive start to life at Stamford Bridge. The Blues continued where they left off against Sunderland in midweek, spraying the ball across the pitch and dominating possession. Fulham’s players found themselves chasing shadows for much of this contest. But despite Chelsea’s seemingly iron grip on possession, Mark Schwarzer was an untroubled spectator for the majority of the first half.

FA Community Shield: Chelsea 2 Manchester United 2 (Chelsea win 4-1 on penalties).

Carlo Ancelotti must be delighted with his first trophy in English football.

At half time, his Chelsea team should have been punished with a three or four goal deficit in what was a lethargic, uninspired and generally drab display.

However the former AC Milan manager ruffled some feathers during the break and restored his side's spirit and skill to recover against Manchester United, claiming the Community Shield 4-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time.

As Guus Hiddink stood clasping the FA Cup on a sweltering May afternoon at Wembley he could reflect on a job very well done. When he took charge of Chelsea in February the club was in danger of going into free fall. But the Dutchman has ended his short tenure at the club in the best possible fashion, winning the club’s fifth FA Cup and their first trophy for two years.