Monday, August 15, 2011

Bringing success, glamour and trophies back to the Bridge

The legendary Ruud Gullit joined Glenn Hoddle's Chelsea on a free transfer from Serie A Sampdoria in July 1995 and went on to play 64 times for the Blues, scoring seven goals. At the end of his debut season in the Premiership he was offered the player/manager's job after Hoddle agreed to take charge of England. Chelsea, under new leadership, beat Middlesborough 2-0 in the 1997 FA CUP final becoming the first foreigner to win the title. The Blues then subsequently reached another high of ending the next season in second place and the quarter finals in two cup competitions. According to speculation, Gullit was sacked in February 1998 the following due to a possible contract dispute.

15 August 2009

Drogba scores the winner against Hull City after expertly chipping the ball over Myhill. He was then shown the yellow card for taking his shirt off while celebrating his goal.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Top Ten worst signings

1) Andriy Schevchenko (AC Milan)
2) Robert Fleck (Norwich)
3) Juan Sebastian Veron (Manchester United)
4) Chris Sutton (Blackburn)
5) Winston Bogarde (Barcelona)
6) Brian Laudrup (Rangers)
7) Scott Parker (Charlton)
8) Adrian Mutu (Parma)
9) Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City)
10) Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow)

Is Fernando Torres bound to breach the Top Ten? We hope not!

The Winston Bogarde transfer flop

Although a player of immense physical strength and comfortable as a central defender and left back he received almost no playing time for Chelsea.  In fact, no Premier League appearances in his last three seasons combined.  Only weeks after signing his contract, newly appointed manager Ranieri wanted him to leave.  Bogarde demanded that his contract at Chelsea be respected due to his diminishing prospects elsewhere.  He only appeared 11 times during his four year contract, earning himself 40 000 pounds a week during this period.   Chelsea won a domestic trophy during his tenure and a bonus payment was due as was the agreement in his contract, despite Bogarde not featuring at all for Chelsea that season.  His contract ended in 2004.