After a long hiatus, I’m back with another wallpaper for you to adorn your desktop with. This time it’s Branislav Ivanovic of Serbia and Chelsea. The defender needs hardly any introduction to anyone knowledgeable about football.
This is partly a result of my failed attempts to procure something ready-made from the Internet and partly because this guy is a freaking awesome defender. I searched all over the Internet but could not find anything good for poor Branislav, although you could find hundreds of pictures of lady Ana Ivanovic. Not any more. Here’s my latest creation so that future searches for ‘Branislav Ivanovic wallpaper’ don’t return a ‘Did you mean Ana Ivanovic?’.
What does a bored man do when he finally gets some time for himself? He blogs.
Well in my case, I tend to save myself the trouble of writing something and instead, when I have some free time I fiddle with the blog’s theme. Call it stupid if you like, but that’s the way it goes for me. A lazy Saturday made even lazier by the doctor’s pills was spent in searching for a new look for my blog. At least it will remove the cobwebs, if not shoo away the spiders from my site. The 8 legged creatures will be back soon as I’ll inevitably go back to my busy life.
Speaking of life, there’s been a sort of revolution. Gone are the days when I moseyed over to the office after waking up just in time. Now I need to wake up at least 2 hours before I’m expected at my workplace, thanks to my new abode. Yes, I’ve finally moved closer to the city and closer to civilization. And although I have joined the horde of commuters who travel… actually, they just stuff themselves into the local train and hope that merciful Lord will somehow push them out of the tin when they reach their destination. It’s a small price to pay for the convenience that you get by staying closer to the city. For one, you won’t die of hunger. Ever. There’s always some or the other eatery that’s open for a Sunday dinner.
Ah, dinner. That reminds me of the beans that I cooked (burnt would be a better word) today. Yup, yours truly is now trying his hand at cooking food. Don’t laugh or I’ll shove a spoonful into your mouth. Safe to say, I won’t be assisting Sanjeev Kapoor on his show any time in the near future. But at least I can survive for a few days even if all restaurants go on an indefinite strike.
Okay, I think that should be enough for today. After a month, I’ve finally managed to clear the cobwebs from my site and make a blog post. That should set me up for about 2 weeks of busy-ness (is that a word?). And lest I forget, I also need to write an article for The Final 3rd. Don’t want that site to become a carbon copy of mine, crying out for attention while weeping in a corner. 
A small group of football fans have started a new blog – a footie blog with an Indian touch. We call it The Final 3rd.
We’ve got contributors from all over India, yours truly included. Check it out!
That is all.
Follow The Final 3rd on Twitter!
See what I did there? Inspired by Spurs (don’t worry, I’ll wash my mouth with soap afterwards) making good use of the 5-1 scoreline against Ar5ena1, I came up with this little gem of a title. Genius.
*ducks to avoid the dozen or so rotten tomatoes and eggs*
Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, allow me to present my first match review after a very, very long time. Of course, you may ask what is there to review? The scoreline of 7-1 says it all, really. Well, that is technically correct.
Still, I want to write something and a something I shall write. Yesterday was a match that was billed as one of those which could make or break our season. But after the initial hiccup when Villa equalized through John Carew, it was Chelsea all the way. Scoring 7 once in a season is noteworthy. But twice? That, my friends, requires something special. And yesterday it was special. We had Malouda terrorising the Villa right-back all game and bagging 2 goals for the second successive game. And Yuri Zhirkov too decided to join in the attack twice, earning 2 penalties for each foray into the opposition box.
Super Frank was at it again, taking his season’s tally past the 20 goal mark yet again with 4 (yes, four) goals against a hapless Villa side which came into this game as the only unbeaten team in 2010. I guess they had it coming.
Salomon Kalouless came on later and he too chipped in with a goal which must have made Martin O’Neill wish the earth would open up and swallow him. It didn’t.
So 7-1 it was in the end. Chelsea were seemingly on seventh heaven while it was a hellish nightmare for Aston Villa. After a few minutes at the top of the table, Manchester United went back to the top after beating Bolton Wanderers 4-0. And if you’re not aware, we’ll be visiting them in Manchester next week for a game that is billed as the title decider.
I’ll leave you with the comment made by a Villa fan that I happened to read on a forum today. Till then, take care and Keep The Blue Flag Flying High!
Villa Fan: Woken up this morning by my girlfriend saying ‘Get up, it is 8′. I thought, ‘Oh no, they’ve not effing scored again have they?’
After finally getting myself a good Internet connection, the last thing I wanted was that thing dying on me. That, dear reader, is the reason for my absence from this place for the whole week. I just got the damn thing working today and now I no longer feel like I’m missing a limb. 
Okay, so here’s a brief recap of all the things that happened and didn’t happen during the past couple of weeks. First off, I got myself a new cellphone – the Nokia N79 that I’d been dreaming about ever since I read its review on GXSaurav’s blog. It’s a sleek petrol black model and I am in complete awe of its beauty, intelligence and all the things that a pretty girl should have. Okay, so that was a little weird, but what else did you expect from a techie?
My New Phone
Then we had a freshers party on the very same day for the latest bunch of recruits. That went well, even yours truly managing to jive a bit. Sunday was nothing special, what with all of us catching up on the several hours of sleep lost during the week. Then came Monday, and I agree with Garfield. It’s the worst day of the week. I just about managed to scrape through it, half-awake. On Tuesday, my Internet connection started acting up and wouldn’t let me log in. The same had occurred with a couple of friends who had bought theirs from that retailer. The next day I went to the retailer and told him about the problem. He asked me to fill up another CAF form and assured that the connection would be re-activated soon. But as expected, his assurance turned out to be holow. 3 days passed by without any action being taken. I’d made up my mind to get this thing sorted out myself, since complaining to the customer care didn’t help matters either.
My Internetz
On Thursday, I got a minor shock. I was out having a cup of tea during lunchtime when a friend called me up to tell me that the speaker from our classroom was missing and the IT guy was calling the Class Rep, which happens to be me. I frantically rushed back since the stupid thing costs Rs.6500, which would have to be borne by the scapegoat. Err, I mean the Class Rep. Thankfully, someone had casually picked up the speaker and kept it in the conference hall. My wallet could breathe easy once more and we enjoyed ‘Chak De India’ after a few initial hiccups.
My Class (With Lights On)
Then came Friday. Usually the Class Rep gets bullied around by the faculty, has to be responsible for every mistake that the class makes and has to do all sorts of stupid things. But call it my luck, that I’d not been subjected to any of that. That was until Friday. It was lunchtime and I had dozed off in the class, as had most of the others. The next lecture was free since the faculty was busy in a workshop. The lights were off, a few cellphones were playing music and the ambience was highly conducive to sound sleep. Then all of a sudden I heard a call to hide the cellphone and the moment I opened my eyes, there was the director standing at the door, turning on the lights. Needless to say, his first question was – “Who is the CR?”. That was the call for me to get ready for a kicking. But thankfully, I just got to hear a few choice words and nothing much happened. My attempts to save my skin and my class, did earn me a few comments of “Well tried!” from my mates, though.
These don't NEED a caption!!
Oh look! It’s Saturday already! Today I was on my own. That was because I’d been watching a movie late into the night and woke up at 11:39 AM, when the rest of my mates had already gone to the academy to play cricket. “No problem, I’ll just get the Internet connection sorted out today”, I thought. So after a quick bath, I caught a bus to the nearest Reliance Web World. The customer service rep over there was a pretty helpful chap named Santosh. It took 2-3 hours, but he managed to get my connection up and running. I was delighted! After that I just needed to get myself a blanket and a new pair of shoes. Did that, and hopped on the bus back to base. On the way I met a few of my mates returning after the match(es). They had won 1 and lost the other. No need to worry, though. Those were just practice matches. The real thing starts next weekend. My class (F) has been drawn in the group containing sections J and H. I’ll keep y’all updated on the results. 
And I hope this time we fare better in football. Last time around, we cruised to the championship in cricket and even beat the other 2 trimesters. But in football, we were knocked out in the first round. We had put out a make-shift team and I had an absolute shocker that day.
And to make things better, Chelsea have just beaten Wolves 4-0 with a depleted squad. We’re now 8 points clear of Arsenal who got turned over by Sunderland. ManU are playing against Everton as I write this. Let’s hope they lose as well. 
Joe and Flo Celebrate!
Oh well, I guess that’s about it. If I had to rate it, I’d give this week an 8 on 10. Bring on next week, I say! But first, cheers to Sunday!!!
Arsenal beat a team of part-timers the other day. A fan then posted a picture of Arsenal’s new signing Vermaelen and the old Agent Silvestre vying for the ball with an opponent on a forum. The hilarious look on Silvestre’s face provided a perfect photochop opportunity and I duly obliged. Here’s the original picture:
And here’s what the scene looks like after the picture underwent some lazy editing:
Vermaelen (Gladiator) saves Silvestre (Damsel in distress)
I could have aded speech bubbles too, but the picture says it all.
I was so bored.
A defeat at the hands of Spurs is always bitter, but the way we played in the first half, we were just asking to be beaten. The goal scored by Modric was a good one, but Bosingwa should have just gotten rid of the ball. Chelsea came alive in the second half, but never really exerted our authority. A few chances towards the end, good saves from Gomes and the crossbar prevented Chelsea from taking at least a point.
ManU lost to Fulham earlier and had Rooney as well as Scholes sent off. Chelsea could and should have taken advantage of their slip-up. But we didn’t and the gap still remains at 4 points.
As things stand, we’re 2nd in the table but could be overtaken by Liverpool if they win tomorrow. Oh well, let’s just wait and watch. And pray a little, maybe.
Oh joy! I’ve finally made my debut on the Vital Chelsea site, a part of the Vital Football Network.
For the uninitiated, the Vital Football Network is one of the most respected football fan-sites on the Internet, which is managed by the fans themselves. It provides a platform for football fans all over the world to share their thoughts, discuss ideas and make their voices heard. I’ve been a member of this site for a long time and there were occasions when I had the urge to contribute something, but nothing materialized. In the wake of the painful defeat on Sunday, I finally made up my mind, wrote a piece and promptly dispatched it to the site editor. Over there, my moniker is ‘blueklaw’ and you can read the article here.
I must admit, the feeling of seeing my work published was amazing!
Yay!!
Anger is not an emotion I normally associate with a Chelsea defeat. Usually it’s bitter disappointment coupled with an unwavering optimism that we’ll bounce back stronger. However, the events that occured on matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League left me fuming. And it was not just because of the defeat or even the match entirely. Allow me to explain.
In India, the rights for Champions League matches are allotted to Ten Sports and Zee Sports. Now these two channels are like the poor cousins of ESPN-Star Sports, and have to survive on whatever little coverage of European football they are allowed to broadcast in the Indian subcontinent. And how grateful I am, that it’s only a ‘little’. The reasons for this are plenty – poor presentation, lousy commentators (barring a few times when Andy Gray & Martin Tyler commentate), ignorant TV pundits. The list goes on. But the biggest gripe is their shameful bias towards Liverpool and Manchester United. On matchdays, 90% of the time they’ll be showing live mgames of these two teams, while other matches are either delayed or shown Live on Zee Sports. Zee Sports being the poorer of the poor cousins, is not available on my Tata Sky DTH service and hardly any cable operator carries this channel.
So here I was, my DTH box connected to the PC, tuned in to Ten Sports, watching the pre-match scenes at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. They had earlier told us that Liverpool vs Atletico is on Zee Sports, so it was only logical to conclude that Ten Sports will be showing Roma vs Chelsea. You can imagine my surprise when the host informed the viewers, with a sheepish grin I may add, that there’s been a mistake and Roma vs Chelsea is on Zee Sports.
That wasn’t in the script!
Thankfully, I’d noticed a few days ago while channel-surfing, that my cable operator was carrying Zee Sports. I swiftly unplugged the DTH box from my PC and attached the cable wire in its place. A few minutes and adjustments later, I was all set for the match.
However, it just wasn’t going to be my day. At half-time, I left my chair to get myself some refreshments, hoping we’d be able to overturn the 1-0 deficit in the second half. When I returned, i was greeted by a black screen.
What the hell happened?? Arrrghhh!!!
As I switched to another channel, I feared the worst and thought that there must have been a power failure at the operator’s premises. That wasn’t the case. Other channels were there, only Zee Sports had gone missing!! Another channel scan yielded the same result. I’d been left stranded with a stupid cable connection that was of no use to me now.
As a last resort, I fired up my browser and went straight to Justin.tv, hoping they’d have a decent stream for the game. Guess what? They did. And what a stream it was. On my 256kbps connection, it was butter-smooth and re-buffered only 7-8 times during 45 minutes. If only the match had ended in our favour as well.
So what are my views about the match?
This 3-1 loss is the worst defeat Chelsea have suffered under Scolari so far. That said, I still think we’ll top the group and make it comfortably into the last-16 of the Champions League. I just hope the next time it’s a European night, I don’t have to go through this kind of ordeal again.
FIFA 09 for the PC
The next instalment of EA’s football game is here. Where you ask? Apparently the game has released in Europe and has rapidly spread all over the bit-torrent network. Some may have pre-ordered their copies while some might be waiting for it to hit the store shelves in their town. However, the ones who couldn’t wait for the game to release and were not afraid to get their hands dirty, got their hands on it through the generous torrent community. So what we have here is a scenario where people were playing the game one day before its scheduled release. Nice.
Anyways, let’s get down to the interesting part, the things most of you would like answers to. Is FIFA 09 really next-gen, as promised? Does it deliver oh-so-realistic visuals? Have the quirks and bugs in previous versions been ironed out? How does it compare to its arch nemesis – Pro Evolution Soccer? All these and more will be answered!
First Impressions
Okay, I’ll skip the installation part as most of you are aware of it. Started the game, and the first screen asks me to select a language. Did that, and the mandatory declarations about the leagues and the copyrights came up.
I waited with bated breath as the opening cinematic began. Looks like EA have stopped making interesting opening videos since FIFA 2004. Even the video quality was not all that impressive. Not at all enticing. Selected my beloved Chelsea as the favourite team and I was all set.
The Interface
The interface is carried over from FIFA 08, with Adidas Live Season being a new addition. It basically allows you to select a league, for which you’ll get periodic updates from EA. For example, if a certain player is performing well in real life, his stats will be affected in the game as well. And if a player has a dip in form, his game stats will be reduced. Cool, innit?
The much-acclaimed Be-A-Pro mode is also there, with a new camera angle that looks better than the one in FIFA 08. This time around, you can opt to play a single Be-A-Pro game rather than a whole season. The other game modes are the same as in previous releases. Enough small-talk, now let’s get down to business.
Gameplay & Visuals
Sadly despite all the hype surrounding the so-called next-gen features incorporated in FIFA 09, the game did not live up to my expectations. What I expected was pretty clear – smooth, stunning visual quality, fluid player movement, ‘intelligent’ AI, engrossing gameplay. In short, I was looking for something which would make me go “Wow!” and make me want to play the game again and again.
But this was not to be. Now please note, I’m expressing my own opinions here, which may or may not correspond to your views. The first time I fired up the game, I set all details to high including 3-D Grass, Depth of Field and Shader Quality. Then I proceeded to set up my cheap PS-2 controller lookalike. But what’s this? Some buttons just would not get mapped and remained ‘EMPTY’! After a little searching on the Internet, I was able to find a solution for this.
Strike One.
Then I started a quick match and waited in anticipation at the loading screen. Ahh!! Looking good! The match began and being the seasoned footballer that I am, I could’t wait to… what the hell??
Why is the game stuttering??? Is something wrong with my setup? Is my 8600GT graphics card unable to handle the next-gen visuals?
Quit the game, reduced the detail level to minimum and started a new match, hoping for better results. Damn. Not again.
After much research on the Internet, I found many unfortunate souls plagued with the same problem. A solution was found, but the game was still not smooth enough, though playable.
Strike Two.
Okay, so I can manage with a handicapped controller and laggy visuals, but glitches in gameplay? Not at all tolerable. The first glitch is, that after managing to get my controller working, whenever I pass the ball to a teammate, the ball bounces off him, as if the right-analog stick is pressed in some direction. Secondly, goalscoring is insanely easy! It’s as if the keepers have been picked up from a pub team!! Then, in a bid to improve the player physics, they’ve made it such that in a crowd of players, the ball just keeps bouncing off players until someone manages to get control of it. Imagine that while trying to clear the ball in front of your own box surrounded by opposition attackers.
Strike Three. You’re OUT.
My Verdict
Let’s start with the good. The players look absolutely breathtaking, much more realistic than ever. The crowds have been considerably improved. Overall visual quality is pretty nice, with some subtle touches such as sweat on the foreheads of players. The ambiance is well-maintained by the chanting of fans and the crowd noises. There are loads of licensed leagues, teams and players to chose from. The Adidas Live Season is a good concept. The ability to use the mouse to play the game is quite innovative.
Now for the not-so-good. The gameplay is definitely not next-gen. Players can still move only in 8 directions and the fluidity in movement is almost absent. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not so intelligent. Apart from the visual elements, the game is not a big leap from its predecessor. Rather, it seems like 1 step forward, 2 steps backward. After all, it’s not just tricks & flicks that make up a football game. The core element, that is the gameplay, the feeling of actually being in the game, is lacking.
FIFA 09 is a good game, but after so much hype, I was expecting more than just a visual upgrade. There are several bugs that need to be ironed out and more than once, you’ll get the feeling that EA has short-changed PC gamers.
If I had to rate it, I’d give it 7 out of 10.
Issues, Issues!
Okay, so that’s enough FIFA-bashing for now. In short, it’s not a bad game at all, but it’s not great either. So if you love the FIFA series and don’t care too much about gameplay or simply want to soak in all the visual goodness, you can very well go and get this game. Otherwise, in my opinion it would be wise to wait until Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 releases, and compare both games to pick out the one that suits your taste.
More Screenshots!
It’s been a while. The blog stares at me with a disillusioned look in its eyes.
“You said you’re serious this time. You said you’d take good care of me. What happened to your promises?”
Without saying a word, I click on the ‘New Post’ button, as if overcome by a deep sense of guilt. Words usually don’t come easily, but this time it’s different…
A lot has happened since I last sat down to utter my frivolous thoughts on these pages. So what better way to reignite the flame, than by updating what’s happened in the past few weeks? Here we go, then:
And all is well with the world!
Alright now, I’ve got a few confessions to make:
Phew… That’s a load off my back!
Well, well, well! What a day it’s been. Not only did I post some of my old creations here, I also started and completed another wallpaper! Normally I take a long time to come up with an idea, and even longer to actually start working on it. But today everything fell into its place effortlessly and the result is here for all to see.
© Abhishek Pancholi
The photograph shows Frank Lampard celebrating his goal in the UEFA Champions League final in May 2008. Initially I had planned to write ‘Frank Lampard’ in the image, but forgot all about it during the actual Photoshopping.
So, what do you think? Not bad for a lazy sloth, eh?
Yesterday I dug up an old sketch from my hard drive. Today I present to you, two wallpapers I created nearly a year ago using Photoshop. If you’re a Chelsea fan like me, you’ll love ‘em!
The first one has been made using the pictures from Chelsea’s FA Cup victory over Manchester United in 2007.
© Abhishek Pancholi
The second one shows fans’ favourite, Joe Cole.
© Abhishek Pancholi
That’s it for now! You lot enjoy these and in the meantime I’ll see if I can find some other interesting stuff hidden away in some corner of my hard disk!
Juliano Belletti celebrates his goal against Tottenham
Okay, so I haven’t been able to post anything in midweek, not even about Paul Scholes’ shocking but utterly hilarious handball incident in the UEFA Super Cup. Call it my lack of interest or my laziness, but I just coud not get myself to post anything meaningful here. All that is about to change though, because the 3rd week of the Barclays Premier League has just ended. This weekend, 18 teams were in action while Manchester United were busy embarassing themselves in Monaco and hence their fixture has been moved to a later date.
A short and sweet wrap-up is right here:
● A stylish Arsenal team swept aside Newcastle United 3-0. Robin Van Persie scored 2 goals before he hobbled off, injured again.
● West Ham United thumped Blackburn Rovers 4-1.
● Yet another own-goal scored by a Middlesbrough player almost cost them two points, but Tuncay Sanli saved their skins with a late goal, as Boro beat Stoke City 2-1.
● Hull City were hammered 0-5 by… Wigan Athletic!!! Wigan’s new Egyptian recruit Zaki scored a brace in that one.
● Everton crashed to a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Portsmouth.
● Bolton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion played out a drab 0-0 draw.
● Aston Villa and Liverpool were also involved in a 0-0 borefest.
● The prodigal son returns… That’s what they’ll be thinking at Manchester City, as Shaun Wright-Philips returned from his misery at Chelsea and scored 2 goals to inflict a 3-0 defeat on Sunderland.
● Finally, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1, with both goals coming from defensive errors and mistakes.
A look at the table then:
Team standings after Week 3 of the Barclays Premier League 2008-09
So that’s about it, then. No change at the top, with Chelsea leading Liverpool on goal difference. Spurs get their first point of the season, so do West Brom. There’s an international break coming up for the World Cup qualifiers, so there’ll be some time before the next update.
Till then, I’ll be hoping to post something useful over here!
2 games, 2 goals!
So another week, another round of matches done and dusted. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will the title be decided after 2 rounds, but early form suggests that Liverpool’s luck might just be an added advantage to them. Despite being second-best for most of the game and going down by a goal, the Reds somehow managed to nick all 3 points in the end. The big four except Arsenal, all won their fixtures this week. Here’s how it all went:
• Fulham shocked Arsenal with a 1-0 victory over the Gunners. Arsenal look very lightweight in midfield and their defense isn’t in great shape either. Arsene knows?
• Everton beat West Bromwich Albion by 2 goals to 1. Despite being very, very good in the Championship and being tipped as the most likely candidates to survive in the Premiership, the first two weeks of the season haven’t exactly given a reassurance to WBA.
• Same old, same old. New faces, same disjointed performance. Tottenham Hotspur lost again. This time going down 1-2 to Sunderland. French stiker Djibril Cisse scored on his debut for Roy Keane’s men.
• Stoke City turned the tables on Aston Villa by beating them 3-2. Villa were coming on the back of a good win against Manchester City, but the newcomers swiftly brought them back to earth.
• Newcastle United beat Bolton 1-0. Michael Owen scored, so apparently he is not injured. Yet.
• As mentioned earlier in this post, Liverpool rode their luck to win 2-1 against a spirited Middlesbrough side that went ahead thanks to the new leaner, meaner Mido. An incredibly lucky deflection brought Liverpool level and Steven Gerrard scored in the dying seconds with a good half-volley to win it.
• Blackburn and Hull City drew 1-1.
• Manchester City bounced back from their on-field and off-the-field problems to hand out a 3-0 thrashing to West Ham United.
• Manchester United beat Portsmouth 1-0. Darren Fletcher on the scoresheet. That tells you a lot, doesn’t it?
• Finally, Chelsea beat a plucky Wigan side 1-0 thanks to a sublime freekick from Deco.
Here’s how things stand at the moment:
Team standings after Week 2 of the Barclays Premier League 2008-09
Here are the highlights of the Wigan vs Chelsea game. Don’t miss Deco’s freekick!!
Anoher week gone by. Chelsea on top. Can’t wait for the next round!
Andriy Shevchenko.
AC Milan legend.
British record transfer.
Chelsea flop.
Now back to AC Milan for one last hurrah.
These lines efectively sum up Shevchenko’s career during the past few years. He arrived at Chelsea from AC Milan for a hefty amount and a massive reputation as Europe’s finest striker. He left yesterday with his reputation diminished and his confidence shattered. Not to mention being branded the Premier League’s most expensive flop ever.
The good old times...
The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but it appears to be a regular sale rather than a loan move. Whatever it is, it’s definitely something which will benefit both parties. Chelsea seem to have offloaded one of the highest earners at the club, thus significantly lowering the wage bill, Shevchenko on the other hand, will be hoping to rediscover his old form on the familiar hunting grounds of Italy.
Like most others, I had pretty high hopes from Shevchenko when he arrived at Stamford Bridge. But he failed to live up to the expectations. Injuries and the team’s unfavourable playing style hindered his game. But no one can point a finger at him for not trying. The man gave his all when playing in a Blue shirt. It wasn’t lack of effort by any means. His first season in English football didn’t go too well, and injuries took their toll on his second. I waited 2 years for him to finally come good and silence his critics, but guess it just wasn’t meant to be. Although he scored some cracking goals, most notably the one against Sp*rs, he just could not justify his price-tag and age was also catching up with him.
Did ya see that? Did ya? Did ya?
Anyways, he was one of my favourite players at the club. Never whined, nor complained about how he was treated at Chelsea. And if there’s one thing that’s missing in today’s footballers, it’s dignity. Sheva may not have shown his true ability, but he carried himself with dignity, unlike a few others at the club (Drogba, I’m looking at you). And now he has left in a dignified manner, without uttering anything against Chelsea, instead just expressing his delight (or was it relief?) on his return to Milan.
Here’s wishing him all the very best for his future and hoping that he’ll be remembered as an AC Milan legend, rather than a Chelsea flop.
So the first round of the Barclays Premier League is over and most of the results were quite predictable. Here’s a roundup of this weekend’s action:
And this is how the table looks like after the 1st round of matches:
Team standings after Week 1 of the Barclays Premier League 2008-09
Take a bow, son. Take a bow.
Bosingwa looks like the real deal and could be the solution to the right-back problems that have plagued us for so long. As for Deco, the man has got a point to prove to his former club Barcelona and boy, is he on the right track! A man-of-the-match performance in midfield topped off with a debut goal. What more could you ask for?
Overall, Chelsea were a delight to watch, probably the best performance I’ve seen from them in a long time. Felipao seems to have removed the shackles from the players and given them a lot more freedom to express themselves. And the outcome was there to be seen. As they say, ‘It’s just like watching Brazil!’.
Hopefully there’s a lot more to come from this team over the course of the season and we’ll be at the top again, come May. CAREFREE!!
After an agonizing few months of close-season, the Barclays Premier League is now back in action! Saturday saw a host of new-look sides battle it out for that “perfect start to the season”, including 2 members of the so-called ‘Big Four’. And today the remaining 2 biggies will enter the fray.
The Barclays Premier League Trophy
On this blog here, I won’t be devoting too much space to each and every side in the premiership. Sure, there will be a weekly round-up of results and the points table, but I’ll be concentrating more on the happenings in and around Chelsea FC. Blue Is The Colour, ya know!!
Stamford Bridge
Today’s opening fixture sees the FA Cup winners, Portsmouth, visit Stamford Bridge. I can’t wait!
Chelsea have put an end to the uncertainty surrounding Frank Lampard’s future by officially announcing that the England international has put pen to paper on a mammoth 5 year contract. So now all the speculation linking him with a move to Italy and joining up with former manager Jose Mourinho at Inter has been put to rest. Good news for almost all Chelsea fans, I reckon
5 more years!
I won’t get into the entire story of contract talks stalling, Inter’s advances, Lampard’s demands from the club or even Frank’s deafening silence on the whole subject. You’ll find loads of news stories on these all over the web. But what has embarassed me most is the way in which the club has announced this today.
There was an announcement on the club’s official site today that a ‘World Exclusive’ news was to be announced at 5 PM GMT. That probably got lots of people wondering whether we’ve secretly signed up someone like Kaka or Robinho? Or are we moving to a new stadium? Several questions arose, some of which were straight out of a football fanatic’s fantasies! The club had successfully managed to create all sorts of hype and hoopla while raising expectations to an unreasonable and an unrealistic level, I’m afraid.
And when the clock struck 5 (or 10:30 PM IST), the ‘big’ news was made public.
“Frank Lampard has signed a new 5 year contract with Chelsea.”
Err.. What? Excuse me? Is that all? Is this what all the hype was about? Okay, so he’s finally signed a new deal. After holding the club to ransom over his demands. After a brief flirtation with Inter. After staying silent for so long that supporters started doubting whether all that badge-kissing was just out of habit rather than his love for the club. Well anyway, it’s a good thing for Chelsea and even better for Frank Lampard. After all, who in the world would offer a 5 year contract worth a rumoured 150,000 pounds a week to a 30 year old? Maybe that’s why they called it a ‘World Exclusive’.
The 30+ club
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that he should have left, but I feel Chelsea FC have embarassed themselves over this saga. After refusing to budge from their earlier stance of awarding only 2 years contracts to players over the age of 30, they’ve now left themselves open to demands from other players who fall in the same age bracket. Take Michael Ballack for example, who now has 1 year left on his contract. Would he not be within his rights to demand a contract of a similar length, if not a similar payscale? Ballack is a great player, but he’s not Frank Lampard so he’ll probably be given short shrift. Doesn’t bode well for dressing room harmony, does it?
Agreed, Lampard has been here for 7 years and has been a brilliant asset, but all this haggling over a new deal has left a bitter taste in my mouth at least. Well let’s just hope that we don’t have to witness any more such tedious dramas which ultimately lead to the club bowing down to a player’s demands and making a ridiculous spectacle of it all. Here’s wishing Frank Lampard all the very best and hoping that he continues to score 20 odd goals every season for the rest of his career at Chelsea. CAREFREE!!!
We lost on penalties for the second time in 3 months. And in virtually identical circumstances. I hope I never have to witness another penalty shootout involving Chelsea again.
Shevchenko misses the decisive penalty
Leading by a goal to nil, we started the second half in much the same way – relentlessly attacking the opposition. But after blowing up some clear-cut goalscoring chances, the writing seemed to be on the wall. Possession & shots on goal stats were looking nice for Chelsea, but the one stat that matters the most – Goals Scored – still showed only 1. And that was to be our undoing.
Lokomotiv equalized in the 84th minute through a freekick which Cech completely misjudged. Lokomotiv 1-1 Chelsea. As the whistle blew for the end of 90 minutes, my worst fear was about to come true. There’s no extra-time in such matches, they directly go to penalties. Took a deep breath… and jumped with joy as Cech saved the first penalty!! Lampard scored for Chelsea, and soon the score looked like this:
Lokomotiv - X O O O O
Chelsea - O O O O
Time for the last penalty kick, reminding me of that heart-breaking night in Moscow on the 21st of May, 2008.
Wayne Bridge stepped up to take it. And missed. Another England defender misses the match-winning penalty for Chelsea. At this point, I’d lost all hope of a win. Sudden death beckons.
Last time it was Anelka’s penalty that was saved in ‘sudden death’, this time it was Shevchenko. Game over. We’ll now play against AC Milan for the 3rd spot. Damn!!!
Okay now, so after celebrating the launch of my new blog with a sumptuous meal of pav-bhaji, I was beginning to think that I’m coming back to my senses again. Wondering what to do next, I realized – “OMG!! It’s Chelsea vs Lokomotiv Moscow tonight!!! I gotta see it!!”. Thus began my search for a live stream of the match on the Internet and thankfully, it ended pretty soon too. As I write this, the first half has ended and the second half could begin any minute now. We (Chelsea) are leading 1-0 thanks to a brilliant goal by Essien. I’m off to watch the second half, will post a review of the match & the stream when I return!
