Chelsea Category
Chelsea football club news, Chelsea transfers
Transfer balls: The Sunday Mirror says Chelsea are ready to sell Diego Costa, 27.
The paper says Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho would have sold Costa last summer had he been able to find a replacement.
Andy Dunn says “a Costa sale was closer than most think”.
Dun’s scoop is not exactly new news. In January 2015, Deportes (Spain) said Chelsea had offered Cost to Real Madrid. That news was translated by the Express:
Although it comes as a shock to the Independent’s Jack De Menezes, who told his readers:
Diego Costa to Real Madrid: Seven reasons why Chelsea have not offered their striker for a transfer
Reasons include: he’s good; he scores; having played for Atletico any move to city rivals Real would see him booed and jeered; and “Francois Gallardo – the Spanish journalist claiming Chelsea have offered Costa to Real – is a bit of a character. He was the source of the rumours that claimed Lionel Messi was on his way out of Barcelona last year”.
Back in the Mirror, Dunn adds that should Chelsea not be able to sell Coast in January – and should they not be able to buy a better replacements – the deal will not go ahead. If that speculation is true, then Costa cuts an unhappy figure. Chelsea want him gone, and he is keen to leave.
The Sunday Express says Chelsea will opt for Antoine Griezmann, but he has just signed a new deal at Atletico Madrid. A bid in the region of £50m is touted.
The Sun on Sunday adds that Chelsea flop Radamel Falcao, 29, (formerly known as Manchester United flop Rademal Falcao) is off to Monaco if Chelsea can work out how to end his loan move.
Why thye ever signed the struggling Colombian in the first place is a discussion Roman Abramovich should have with Jose Mourinho (agent Jorge Mendes) and Falcao’s agent (Jorge Mendes).
Anorak
Posted: 15th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Real Madrid have recommenced their tapping up for Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. Real coach Zinedine Zidane tells media:
“Do I see him going to Real Madrid ? Ask someone else. I love the player and that’s all.”
The Mirror says Zidane “has stepped up Real Madrid’s bid to crowbar yet another player out of the Premier League”.
Crowbar? Is the paper’s Darren Lewis deluded? Crowbar suggests a robbery, an attempt to nick the prize. No Premier League club can rival Real Madrid or Barcelona for glamour. They are European football’s ultimate clubs. Real don’t need a crowbar; they only need to beckon.
Zidane is telling Hazard he would be welcome at the mighty Real. A bid is surely inevitable. Zidane adds:
“After Messi and Ronaldo, Hazard is my favourite player. I love watching him because he is a player who creates things and it is often spectacular to see him play.”
He previously said:
“Obviously, there is Lionel Messi and Ronaldo, both of whom are spectacular, but I like Eden Hazard more. I like everything he does on the field. I like his behaviour, his decisiveness and love to see his progress every year.”
Adios, Eden.
Anorak
Posted: 14th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: the Mirror says Chelsea are keen on Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain.
Any move leaves “bad boy striker Diego Costa fighting for his Chelsea future”.
But he’s not fighting. He’s a bit limp. He’s a bit rumbled. The sniping, feigning, cheating and histrionics have been noted. Costa’s not all that good when asked to simply kick the ball, scoring two Premier League goals this season.
Of course, the Blues also have in their ranks failing Radamel Falcao – represented by the same agent Jose Mourinho uses – and Loic Remy, a good player but no star turn.
So Chelsea are looking to Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain.
Well, so says the Mirror, which offers no evidence to supports its claim.
Of course, if you get your news from the Sun, Higuain remains an Arsenal player.
Such are the facts.
Anorak
Posted: 10th, November 2015 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Home And Away: our look at biased reporting on football matches.
The Chelsea website has a review of the Blues match at Stoke City – they lost 0-1. The website makes Pravda look broad-minded and liberal. Let’s look at its words on Stoke’s Charlie Adam:
Charlie Adam kicked Pedro on the half-hour but avoided a yellow card. Again shades of our game here 11 days ago…
The first major incident of the second half was a forearm smash into the jumping Nemanja Matic from guess who? Charlie Adam; with guess what outcome? Words from the ref but no yellow card.
Is that Jose Mourinho manning the keyboard and criticising the ref? We also get this:
Ryan Shawcross was cautioned for sticking his arm into the throat of Diego Costa but Arnautovic escaped for barging into the back of Willian, who had suffered no lasting damage from his earlier slip.
What we don’t get is what is reported in the Stoke Sentinel:
Diego Costa was soon penalised for bear hugging Erik Pieters. Costa then got away with a back heel against a fallen Ryan Shawcross as they tussled near the by-line, earning a stiff rebuke from the Boothen End if not the referee…
Howls of derision were being hurled Costa’s way after he tried to foul Shawcross with a barge on half-way, but only succeeded in hurting the ribs he damaged here 11 days ago…
A needless Shawcross hand off felled Costa in no man’s land and rightly earned the Stoke skipper his side’s second booking
Such are the facts…
Anorak
Posted: 8th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Stoke City beat current Premier League champions Chelsea 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium. Mark Hughes has turned a team of bruisers and hoofers into a decent passing side. And what prise does he get? What word on stock City’s achievements in making the PL look a little less like a procession?
Sunday Telegraph: “Chelsea Crash.” Why is losing to Stoke a crash, an accident?
The Indy: Chelsea “in freefall”. Mourinho is”deep trouble”. And Mark Hughes, the former Manchester United and Chelsea player…? He’s nowhere.
The Mail: news is that the players still “back Jose”. And is that Eden Hazard trying to deliver a kiss?
Express: “Jose near the edge”. Is that the same as “the brink”?
The Mail (again): not one but two Joses. No sign of a Stoke city player. No sign of Stoke being good. Just news that Chelsea are “bad”.
Chelsea – we can remember when they weren’t all that good.
Anorak
Posted: 8th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Funny, isn’t it, how newspaper love to talk about a man’s job and have us guess when he’ll be out of one.
The Sunday People says Jose Mourinho will be handed his P45 because Chelsea are keen on hiring Argentine coach Diego Simeone, 45. He is, says the paper of record, set to quit Atletico Madrid in the summer.
That’s too late for the paper, which speculates: “If Simeone, 45, does arrive at the West Londoners, he could be taking over from former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers — who is being considered as a possible interim coach if Mourinho is sacked”
If. Could. This is guesswork presented as fact. What’s odd, of course, is for a newspaper mired by the phone hacking scandal to be talking about a man losing his job for a drip in form. Mourinho’s crime is losing a few matches., The Mirror’s board have other issues but no-one calls them role models or demands their heads. Football is a business like no other. The manager is exposed and rubbed raw by brickbats and thorny bouquets.
There’s more speculation in the Sunday Express, which says Jose is “on the brink” – this is the paper that said Mourinho would sacked if he lost to Liverpool (he lost; he stayed). Lacking any wit or knowledge of world football, the paper sees the next manger as any one of former Blues staffers: and Roberto Di Matteo, Guus Hiddink and Brendan Rodgers.
Mourinho’s mired. Chelsea are playing below par. But don’t believe the hype: it’s not yet a crisis.
Anorak
Posted: 8th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Banned from entering Stoke City’s stadium for swearing at a referee (“You f***ing referees are weak… Wenger is right about you… you are f***ing weak”), Chelsea’s specious manager José Mourinho says he could spend the afternoon at the cinema.
When asked what he’ll do when Chelsea visit Stoke, Mourinho replied: “Maybe I watch a movie. I don’t know. It’s the first time. For me, it’s very similar to going to a cinema to watch a film and somebody tells me I cannot come in.”
This from the man who bemoaned the lack of atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. Watching Chelsea is a lot like sitting in the dark and quiet watching star turns perform to a script. Chelsea’s machine-like quality in a nutshell – only with better parking, toilets and a script based on a conspiracy that makes JFK look like a game of dot-to-dots.
Alyson Rudd adds in the Times:
Mourinho, who also suggested he might sit on a street corner with his iPad to watch the game, has been feverishly preparing instructions for Rui Faria and Steve Holland, his assistant coaches. Neither man has Mourinho’s permission to think for themselves. “They are in trouble,” Mourinho said, should they depart from his script. “I went through every point.”
We had hoped Mourinho would watch the game in a Stoke pub. But calling someone “fucking weak” in that environment would most likely result in less a ban than lengthy stay in a hospital.
Anorak
Posted: 7th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
It turns that Jose Mourinho’s stadium ban does not inhibit his ability to watch his Chelsea side play Stoke City on the telly. The game is live on Sky Sports and the Daily Mail says Mourinho will be able to communicate with his backroom staff from the team hotel.
We rather liked the idea of Jose watching it in a Stoke pub, pint in one hand, bag of dry roasted in the other, yelling at the telly and then yelling down the phone at his yelling coach Rui Faria.
“Tell JT he’s sh*t,” whispers Jose down the phone. “And Ivan’s not fit to wear the shirt… And ‘Big Steve’ says ‘tell Mark Hughes to **** off back to Man United.”
This will be followed by a noisy bonding session with Stoke fans about how they all hate Arsenal.
Before Jose uses his time out to best effect, he says plans have been made:
“We have gone through the most incredible scenarios at half-time winning 4-0, at half-time losing 4-0. In between this we have 1,000 options. Dominating and controlling the game, or not. Having problems with this area or that, having four red cards of the goalkeeper, left-back, centre-forward, winger. We have been through these scenarios and we are prepared.
“What is important that they feel protected by the facts. It’s up to the players to play and the assistants to be with them and be supportive.”
And up to Gary Neville, too, and the rest of the Sky pundit team. Just do as they say, Jose, you can’t go wrong…
Anorak
Posted: 6th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports | Comment
In his ‘JOIN THE DEBATE’ column for the Daily Mail, Martin Samuel focuses on Chelsea striker Diego Costa.
Diego Costa will not be charged by the Football Association for his off-the-ball kick on Martin Skrtel.
Fact. But this is debate, so…
Why? Replays plainly showed Costa pushing his studs into Skrtel as the pair fell to the ground in Saturday’s game at Stamford Bridge.
Costa has previous for violent play, too, and served a three-match ban earlier in the season. Yet the FA line is that referee Mark Clattenburg saw the incident and dealt with it at the time. Really? If he did he was the only one who didn’t believe it deserved action.
In Monday’s Mail, Matt Barlow prised Skrtel for “not making a meal of it”.
The Mail has already published the views of one referee. It employs Graham Poll to tell readers:
When Diego Costa fouled Martin Skrtel it did appear that he made a secondary action with his right leg and kicked the Liverpool man in a violent manner. The incident occurred close to Clattenburg who took no action. Perhaps he missed it completely or didn’t think it violent. Perhaps he thought it fair ‘retaliation’ after Skrtel had caught Costa with a leading forearm in the first half. For me at full speed I doubt whether any referee would have dismissed the Chelsea man; replays might well have led to a red card but thankfully we still trust our referees to get the majority of decisions right.
Might. But… Not that conclusive, then.
Samuel adds:
More likely, Clattenburg and the FA knew after the game that Lucas Leiva of Liverpool should have received a second yellow card, and that to punish Costa — who could have been banned for four matches considering the previous offence — would merely add to Chelsea’s conspiracy fantasies. So it wasn’t justice: merely a balancing of injustices, which isn’t the same at all.
Chelsea benefit from FA conspiracy. Read all about it!
Anorak
Posted: 4th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Liverpool, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment (1)
Transfer balls: The Daily Mail says “Chelsea reject shock £35m bid by Monaco for under-pressure manager Jose Mourinho.”
Go on…
Monaco made a startling approach for Jose Mourinho on Tuesday but saw a staggering £35million bid rejected, according to a shareholder. Alessandro Proto claims he met Roman Abramovich in London in a bid to prise away Chelsea’s beleaguered manager.
Who is Proto?
A statement was released by Proto’s company, Proto Enterprises, to a Spanish news agency stating the meeting had taken place in London earlier in the day.
The Proto Enterprises website tells us:
Proto Enterprises has a track record of various operations, both in real estate and in finance, participation and intervention which today identify and differentiate us in the investment field on an international level.
And:
In a moment of deep global crisis, two aspects which make a difference in the business world are enthusiasm and audacity. Enthusiasm for everything that surrounds us. For the family, for work, for others and for ourselves.
Yeah, it’s a venture capital firm.
Proto Enterprises confirmed its authenticity to Sportsmail on Tuesday night and alleged Abramovich could be interested in accepting should they double the offer to £71m.
Source confirms its own story? How?
The Indy picks up the story:
Abramovich’s refusal suggests that he remains supportive of the beleaguered Mourinho, whose defending champions currently sit 15th in the Premier League table, following six defeats in their opening eleven league matches.
But the Mail says he’d take more money if it were offered. And there is one small matter in this story that is very odd: why would Mourinho want to manage a side with pots or money but hardly any fans. The man loves a big stage. And Monaco ain’t it.
Meanwhile Monaco’s curent boss, Bernard Veronico, should check the print on his contract.
Anorak
Posted: 4th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho continues to set the sports pages agenda.
The Sun (backpage): “BLUES BROTHERS”.
Chelsea captain John Terry says Chelsea are United and squarely behind Mourinho. This is unlovely, driven and pragmatic Terry – Mourinho’s vision of football made bone and meat. No shock he supports his manager.
Pages 56-57: “No surrender but players worried Jose has become the…LONELY ONE.”
Andrew Dillon says Jose is “used to fighting the world – but he is not used to the world winning”. We hear from John Terry, who says: “We don’t want to be fighting the world. You want to be loved, as an individual and as a club…”
As we roll our eyes at the charmless JT talking of love, Mourinho recalls words he said in 2004 after his Porto side had won the Champions League. “I had said that one day in my career bad results would come… One day the bad results will come and I’ll face the bad results with all the same honesty and dignity that I’m facing now as European champions.”
Who looks at Mourinho and sees his honesty and dignity? Correct answer: John Terry. Wrong answer: referees, The FA, Dr Eva Carneiro, Barcelona assistant Tito Vilanova, Andres Frisk…
Page 57: “Zola: I’ve a dream”
Gianfranco Zola wants to manage Chelsea. He says he “needs to improve as a manager if I want to get there.” No kidding.
The Times (back page): Terry furious at criticism of Mourinho”
John Terry has words for the player who apparently said he’d rather Chelsea lost than win for Mourinho. “The player wouldn’t be let out of the dressing room,” says Terry.
Cesc Fabregas says he’s not the poison in the well.
Terry blames the messenger and says the BBC reporting the story fell “well below their standards”. When John Terry is the barometer of standards, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself. Or laugh.
The Express (bak page): “Rebels at Chelsea? They wouldn’t get out alive”
Not quite what John Terry said. He never did threaten to murder the enemy in the camp.
Mirror (back page): “BACK OFF”
John Terry has “pleaded with critics not to drive Jose Mourinho and Eden Hazard out of the Premier League”.
Daily Mail (back page): “Jose: I’ll be at Chelsea until 2019:
Looks like Jose’s not leaving.
And he wants to remain in London even if Chelsea give him the boot.
As Matt Hughes told Times readers:
José Mourinho will be permitted to work for another English club if he is sacked by Chelsea under the terms of his contract at Stamford Bridge. It is understood that while the four-year deal he signed last August contains a clause stipulating that Mourinho is entitled to one year’s salary of £9.5 million in the event of his dismissal, there is nothing restricting his future employment.
Sack him and he stays in London? But who would he manage? Arsenal fans can’t abide him. Spurs wanted Mourinho in 2007 after he was sacked by Chelsea. But the severance package prevented him moving to White Hart Lane. Would Spurs move for him again? Would West Ham United?
Anyone?
Anorak
Posted: 4th, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
When Jose Mourinho said Chelsea receive less vocal supports at home matches than their Premier League rival, the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Brenna Boyd did some research. She found that the noise made by fans has no effect on the number of goals scored.
One less thing for Jose to blame for Chelsea’s dip in fortunes, then.
Anorak
Posted: 3rd, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports | Comment
The media narrative is that every Chelsea match is Jose Mourinho’s D-DAY.
Today the Daily Express says Chelsea’s match at Stoke City is the manager’s ‘D-DAY’:
The London Evening Standard said Jose’s D-Day was the match against Liverpool.
The Times of India agreed.
The Bleacher Report says Chelsea v Arsenal was Mourinho’s D-DAY:
D-Day is a pretty regular event in Jose’s life. For anyone wondering if D-Day is just a term to describe a man losing his job, this is what D-Day was:
During World War II (1939-1945), the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region.
The Allied forces had one D-Day. Jose Mourinho’s had three of them this season.
Anorak
Posted: 3rd, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho leads every tabloids’ sports section. The Sun says Mourinho is a “BASKET CASE”. The Mirror agrees, leading with the same headline.
Sticking with the Sun, Jose”s been hit with a “double whammy” of a stadium band and lawsuit. He’s bene hit with a fine for being mouthy (£40,000 in the Mail; £50,000 in the Mirror).
These “basket case” headlines are a pun on a pervious time when Jose was banned from entering the stadium and he sneaked in by hiding in a laundry basket. The lawsuit refers to Dr Eva Carneiro, the now former Chelsea team doctor, whose appeal for constructive dismissal could see Mourinho called before an employment tribunal.
Over pages 52-53, the Sun’s Steven Howard says “fed up stars can put Jose in his place”. Howard reasons that with Mourinho banned from Stoke City’s ground for Chelsea’s weekend visit the players will show what they can do without him. In Howard’s world there are no TV cameras (the game is live on Sky), phones not any other way the Chelsea manager can watch the match and communicate with his staff – those coaches he works with and who he picked to work with him.
Howard wonders what will happen should Chelsea win well at Stoke “without” Mourinho. In Howard’s view of football the only thing that matters is what happen in the changing room at half-time and the pre-match warm up. Those many training ground sessions and talks count for nought.
The Express says the Stoke match is Jose’s D-Day. This is the same Express that told us the Chelsea v Liverpool game was Mourinho’s D-day and that he’d be sacked should his side lose. They lost. He was not sacked. It was not D-day.
The Mirror says the Stoke game could save “Jose’s career”. Wow! Not just his job at Chelsea but his entire career.
Dave Kidd says it’s all over – “Mourinho will be brought down by players lacking conviction in his methods”.
So. Mourinho is on his way, then. The Mail says he’ll be replaced by a “dream ticket” of Carlo Ancelotti and Claude Makelele (sacked from managing at Bastia after just 6 months).
Live the dream.
Anorak
Posted: 3rd, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester United and Manchester City want to sign 18-year-old Anderlecht midfielder Youri Tielemans says the Daily Star. In the paper’s “exclusive” we learn that United and City will have to pay £30m, for the “star”.
Paul Hetherington writes:
City’s strong Belgium contingent is headed by skipper Vincent Kompany and Kevin De Bruyne, an instant hit since his record £56m move from Wolfsburg in the summer.
Kompany and De Bruyne are the only Belgians in City’s first team squad.
For good measure this scoop also name-checks a load of other clubs:
Tielemans is also being linked with possible moves to Chelsea, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund.
But Spanish organ AS told us Tielemans had signed for Atletico Madrid:
The Express, sister paper to the Star, said the young blade was worth £14m and was heading to Arsenal or Chelsea:
The Star’s “exclusive” was the Mail’s story a week ago:
And that price is falling on the Express:
And in March the Star said he was on his way to Chelsea, snubbing Liverpool:
In May Youri Tielemans – a player linked by the tabloids bullshit.com to the six biggest clubs in English football – signed a new five-year contract with Anderlecht.
Such are the facts.
Anorak
Posted: 2nd, November 2015 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Jose Mourinho has been sacked. Either that or else the Daily Express is about as reliable as Diego Costa’s hamstring.
On November 1, Adam Skinner told us that if Chelsea lost to Liverpool, Mourinho would be sacked.
Chelsea lost 1-3. Mourinho has not been sacked.
Over in the Mirror, Simon Mullock had news:
The Blues were beaten and the issue is now when owner Roman Abramovich will make the change. Sources in Portugal believe Mourinho may not be in charge for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev.
Not exactly steeped in facts is it? Number of sources linked to and mentioned by name: none.
What utter balls.
Anorak
Posted: 2nd, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
More Jose Mourinho career news in the Express, which leads with an incredible insight into the mind of Blue’s owner Roman Abramovich.
In “ROMAN’S AGONY”, we read that the Russian billionaire is “agonising over the prospect of sacking Jose Mourinho”. Oddly, Tony Banks follows that by saying Abramovich “desperately does not want to axe the manager:
From a mind in turmoil to a mind resolved in the time it took to read a Daily Express paragraph. Wow!
Inside the Express and over two page, Banks’ reports on Chelsea’s home defeat to Liverpool is headlined “The Special One is at a standstill”. Even in defeat, Jose remains the star turn.
The Sun leads with “CAP IN HAND”, a pun on the apparent news that former England manager Fabio Capello “heads the list of big-hitters keen on the Chelsea job”. He, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti are “ready to listen to offers”. Chelsea fans must wonder why their club is picking manager from a vintage merry go round. Over two pages, readers learn that “IT’S TIRED, OLD JOSE” – but he’s still younger than the Three Degrees of Desperation lining up to replace him.
The Mirror leads with news of the Chelsea first team player who said he’d “Rather Lose Than Win for Mourinho”. Who is he? Why did he say it? The Stamford Bridge poisoner is also the Mail’s lead story. He is the paper “mystery player”.
Over two pages inside the Mirror, we learn that Mourinho will remain at Stamford Bridge because “there’s no one else who can step in and sort out the mess”.
The Mirror’s John Cross needs to buy the Sun, which already has three names and hasn’t even got to Avram Grant.
But before Jose goes, the Mail says Eden Hazard “wants to leave”. In all, the Mail gives over five pages to Jose’s job. Martin Samuel points out that Chelsea players are not performing to their potential. The idea of Hazard heading off the Real Madrid on the back of “one brilliant shift” is fanciful. But it is “easier to change one coach than 11 players.”
Jose will stay. He’s the best man for the job. After all, what would the tabloids do without him?
Anorak
Posted: 2nd, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Which current Chelsea player told a BBC journalist after the Blues were soundly beaten by an average Liveprool side at Stamford Bridge yesterday he would “rather lose” than win a game for his irritated manager?
This is all coming via freelance journo Dan Levene, who covers Chelsea affairs on a regular basis…
Which is shocking – if true, of course – and not to mention absolutely pathetic.
For the record, the quote seems to have been mentioned in passing on the radio and so far hasn’t really been picked up by any other major news outlets barring the Daily Mail and a smattering of other websites. Take that as you wish.
That said, this is how it usually starts…
Anorak
Posted: 1st, November 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
José Mourinho is on the backpages. And the Chelsea manager is mocking the tabloid Press:
Mourinho says:
“What I’d like to understand is why some people can be so excited with somebody losing his job. It’s sad. The Brendan Rodgers situation, he was almost winning the Premier League. He was the manager of the season. He won the award from Barclays, the Managers’ Association and everything. And suddenly, you were working hard until he was sacked. It’s strange. I don’t belong to this world. I’m too emotional. I hate people losing jobs. Not just in football but in everything.”
He’s right. All managers do their best. Getting the sack is brutal.
You might spare a thought for Anders Frisk. This from 2005:
The 42-year-old refereed Barcelona’s controversial 2-1 first-leg Champions League win over Chelsea in February. Blues boss Jose Mourinho said his Barcelona counterpart Frank Rijkaard talked with Frisk in the referee’s changing room at halftime. The London club was also unhappy when Frisk sent off striker Didier Drogba in the second half.
…
Uefa has branded Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho “the enemy of football” as they asked referee Anders Frisk to reconsider his decision to retire. Mourinho criticised his display against Barcelona in the Champions League. Frisk quit after receiving death threats, and Uefa referees’ committee chairman Volker Roth accused Mourinho. He said: “We can’t accept that one of our best referees has been forced to quit because of this. People like Mourinho are the enemy of football.”
Rijkaard said of Mourinho: “What he said was a pack of lies, very serious lies, and it is not the first time.”
Chelsea – 15th place in the Barclays Premier League; 11 points from ten matches – could easily finish in the top-four finish and secure Champions League football for next season.
Mourinho gets it. He tells media:
“Chelsea is a big club — the club I chose to come to, a club [where] I live in a very specific way, with respect. Liverpool is a big club. Manchester United is a super-big club. Last season Liverpool won nothing and didn’t qualify for the Champions League and they are still a big club. Two seasons ago United didn’t qualify for the Champions League — not even Europa League — and won nothing and they are still a monster club. That is football.”
And the sack?
“I’m not worried about [job security]. I don’t spend one second of my day thinking about that. I worry about results, about winning against Liverpool, about qualifying for the next round of the Champions League, about recovering positions in the table and going back to where Chelsea has to be.”
In short: one game at a time.
Anorak
Posted: 31st, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports | Comment
More Chelsea balls in the Daily Mail, which leads with a series of photos of Jose Mourinho talking with Eden Hazard. The media narrative is that Mourinho is on the “brink” of the sack. Having stuck the Chelsea manager on the precipice, the same media then talks about how he can be saved.
The Sun’s back page tells of “Mourinho D’Day”.
He’s on the brink. That’s Thierry Henry’s cue to say that Jose can be saved.
Having seen the Sun’s masterclass in tabloid repotting – create the drama then offer the imperilled star an escape via an ‘exclusive’ opinion piece – the Mail connives.
On this tabloid we see the same photo of Mourinho in conversation with Hazard, Chelsea’s star player. Now, thought, we are offered context:
Mourinho is portrayed as clueless, asking his players to help him. Hazard, coveted by Barcelona, is seen symbolically walking away, leaving Mourinho his his agonies.
What went before or comes after we have no idea. The Mail has selected the pictures to fit the narrative.
Such are the facts.
Anorak
Posted: 30th, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Chelsea balls: The Sun sticks its napkin into its collar, picks up a knife and fork and tucks into Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. Stoke – a Premier League playing at home – beat Chelsea on penalties in the League Cup.
The Sun’s back page tells us that the result means Jose Mourinho is “on the brink” of leaving Chelsea.
Jose Mourinho is “clinging to his job by a thread”. Chelsea did a “crash ‘n burn”. Chelsea “plumbed new depths”.
To recap: Stoke City are a top-flight side playing at home. They won in a penalty shoot-out.
The Sun’s match reports goes:
It cannot be disputed his [Mourinho’s] players gave their all for him last night. This time, unquestionably, they threw everything at it.
Sure, they showed new levels of commitment, determination and dogged resistence [sic] as they clawed their way back from the loss of a sensational Jon Walters goal. Of course, they kept going to deservedly snatch a stoppage-time equaliser through sub Loic Remy. But that should really be a given from the reigning champions.
Can a team plumb news depth by playing as champions should? Apparently, yes.
Anorak
Posted: 28th, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
How boring is Jose Mourinho? Don’t bother answering. It’s a rhetorical question. The Mail says the Chelsea boss is a huge bore.
Michael Henderson states:
Not many people are listening any more. Mourinho, who was never as interesting as some lickspittles imagined, has become a bore
So boring is Mourinho that he occupies most of the Mail’s back page. Chelsea were knocked out the League Cup by Stoke City – but both clubs are overshadowed by the boring one.
Matt Lawton’s match report is headlined:
“THAT PUTS JOSE ON THE SPOT”
Chelsea lost on penalty kicks. But the pun plays second fiddle to Mourinho’s first name – like all legends he only needs one – the mad bore.
Also in today’s entertaining Daily Mail – these stories all from just TODAY:
Jose Mourinho walks out of Chelsea post-match interview after refusing to answer ‘negative’ question about team’s defending in Capital One Cup defeat by Stoke – Simeon Gholam
Guus Hiddink hints at interest in Chelsea job if Jose Mourinho leaves, saying ‘top class football is always attractive’ – Adam Shergold
Loic Remy wants Jose Mourinho to stay at Chelsea and has backed the boss to lead Stamford Bridge club to top four finish – Press Association Reporter
Chelsea have lost HALF of their 14 games since Eva Carneiro row… where has it gone wrong for Jose Mourinho’s champions? – Jonny Singer
Mourinho still the right man for Chelsea, says Remy – Reuters
Loic Remy tells Chelsea not to sack Jose Mourinho – Press Association
Defiant Mourinho doesn’t need ‘assurances’ as Chelsea exit Cup – Reuters
Jose Mourinho’s job as Chelsea manager hangs by a thread… but Blues boss insists he does not need further reassurance from owner Roman Abramovich over his future – Chris Wheeler
Stoke 1-1 Chelsea (AET: 5-4 on pens) PLAYER RATINGS: So, who played his heart out for Jose Mourinho? – Chris Wheeler
Under-fire Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has no luck once again as holders crash out – Press Association Reporter
In any other business, Chelsea’s suffering boss Jose Mourinho would get a sabbatical to save him – Martin Samuel
Get a load of all those lickspittles on the Mail’s payroll.
And get a load of some other Henderson bon mots:
Like some footsore wanderer, beset by vagabonds, Jose Mourinho stands at the crossroads, looking for the path that will be his salvation. In vain, alas. One sign reads ‘disgrace’, the other ‘despair’. And both lead, as night follows day, to ‘dismissal’.
Jose inspires journalist to 19th Century epiphany!
Charged on Monday by the FA with misconduct, following his latest acts of petulance on Saturday, when Chelsea lost their fifth league match of this wretched season at West Ham, Mourinho is once again wearing a face longer than a day without breakfast.
All over by brunch!
It appears, from his extraordinary behaviour in the past three months, that he wants to be released from his bondage at Stamford Bridge, and it shouldn’t be long before his wish is granted.
Jose in S&M Hell!
Will angels pluck a thousand harps to send him on his way? Will the tears of loyal supporters run like rivers along Fulham Road? Hardly. It has been clear for some time that many Chelsea fans find his narcissism as tiresome as the rest of us. When he goes, next week, next month, next year, it will be with everybody’s blessing.
Jose in Homer-erotic reverie!
Harsh, you say? Not harsh enough. In terms of pots won, Mourinho has been a remarkably successful manager. Nobody can take those titles away from him, and nobody ever will. Yet, apart from the supporters of Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, who can say, hand on heart, that the teams he has sent into the field have raised spirits?
Well, aside from every single Chelsea fan, how about this chap, who writes for the, er, Daily Mail:
And still Henderson goes on:
Mourinho’s teams are not designed to delight, or even entertain.
Or as the Mail’s Pete Jenson outs it:
He ends:
Besieged by foes, he sits in his bunker, cursing all who would doubt him. But not many people are listening any more. Mourinho, who was never as interesting as some lickspittles imagined, has become a bore. We are approaching the final act, not with tears but mocking laughter. To borrow from My Fair Lady: ‘Poor Jose, how simply frightful. How humiliating. How delightful.’
Editorial meetings at the Mail must be a riot. Hendeson v the Mourinho Lickspittles – hundreds of them all writing about the most boring man in the world.
Anorak
Posted: 28th, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Chelsea balls: the media continue to guess about Jose Mourinho’s future at Stamford Bridge.
You might see English football’s champions losing matches as a sign of the Premier League’s strength. But the narrative is that the top teams who spend the most must always win. Anything less than the predictable procession has the media’s nodding heads demanding the bigger club’s manager is sacked. So it is for Jose Mourinho. Chelsea have lost five from 10 matches so far. They are nine points off a Champions’ League berth. There are 28(!) matches to go.
It would be nuts to sack Mourinho. But all papers have an agenda. Just look at the Mirror’s back page: Stoke beat Chelsea and the entire back page is dedicated to the losing club’s manager.
Having decide that Mourinho must go,. the paper pick his successor.
The now dire Daily Telegraph says Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola is not free until next summer. Carlo Ancelotti is “expected to reject a return to Stamford Bridge on a temporary basis”. But former Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink could fancy it. You know, maybe. The Daily Mirror says Ancelotti, 56, would consider the Chelsea job if he was offered it on a permanent basis.
That’s news to the Times‘ Oliver Kay, who says:
One persistent whisper in football circles is that Ancelotti, out of work since his departure from Real Madrid, is the obvious go-to man should Abramovich find himself looking for another interim manager (or even a permanent one). Those close to Ancelotti insist otherwise; the Italian does not look back on his second and final season at Chelsea, which culminated with an unedifying dismissal in a stairwell at Goodison Park, with the slightest fondness.
In other words: no-one has a foggiest what will happen next but to some it’s fun to guess when a man will lose his job.
Pathetic.
Anorak
Posted: 28th, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
The Metro hates football. To it the game is simply about getting clicks. Why else would you describe an injury to a professional player as “hilarious”? Diego Costa was injured playing for Chelsea at Stoke City in the League Cup. This is how the Metro reported the fact:
A man getting injured at work is “hilarious“.
The paper tells us:
Chelsea striker Diego Costa was hospitalised and is facing a spell out injured during the Capital One Cup clash with Stoke.
Costa is in hospital. Hahahahahaha. Jamie Sanderson finds that “hilarious“.
Costa came off after 32 minutes with a rib problem and Sky Sports say he was taken to hospital, and it’s now claimed he faces missing the clash with Liverpool at the weekend. But how did Costa sustain the injury?
Dunno. How? We’re ready to hold on to our sides. This is going to be hilarious.
Blues boss Jose Mourinho revealed the reason in his post-match press conference, and it’s pretty bizarre and frankly a bit funny.
Only a bit funny now.
So writes Jamie Sanderson in his story based on a tweet about Mourinho’s sardonic response to the treatment meted out to his feisty striker.
Anorak
Posted: 28th, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: André Villas-Boas is looking at the Chelsea bench. He’s not vying to replace Jose Mourinho. Villas-boas is looking for sign Radamel Falcao for Zenit St Petersburg.
Why?
Falcao was poor at Manchester Untied and he can’t get into a failing Chelsea side. Why would Zenit want him?
Falcao is on loan from Monaco to Chelsea. That deal would have to be torn up for Villas-Boas to get his man, also on loan. The story is rooted in the Daily Telegraph, which recalls that Villas-Boas and Falcao shared a treble-winning season at Porto, including winning the Europa League.
It’s a real fall from grace for Falcao. Little over a year ago he was being linked with move to Real Madrid.
He was an “ace”:
It’s a short carer in top-flight football.
Anorak
Posted: 27th, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports | Comment
