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I have read many articles over the last few years that have sought to downplay, disparage or ridicule Chelsea Football Club.

Whilst some of these articles have been well researched and cover valid subject areas, there are a substantial volume of articles by writers who classify themselves as ‘neutral’ that are steeped in bias, are inaccurate or contain only a fragmented representation of the issue.

The content of these articles tends to focus primarily on the club and its activities after the takeover of the club by Roman Abramovich, however in a hostile media environment the past is not immune from the cross hairs of those who wish to portray the club in a negative light.

Examples of this negativity include the continued reference to the club ‘buying the Premier League’ despite the climate of high spending within the league at all levels and a focus on the club’s previously prevalent hooligan element despite this being a problem universal to all English club’s at the time.

In the past, this bias angered me greatly, from time to time dependant on the content of certain articles it still does, but now I have rationalised why this happens and that in reality it is unavoidable in mainstream English media.

Club Allegiances of Football Pundits and Commentators

One of the main reasons for this is that the commentators and pundits that write articles and present or commentate on live matches are hugely influential in the media portrayal of a football club.

A large majority of these figures particularly on television are former professional footballers, particularly those who work for the BBC and SkySports the two main football broadcasters. This is important as these allegiances are normally well known. This means that there is an intangible acceptability that these allegiances can form part of the articles they write or broadcasts that they participate in.

With this in mind it is inevitable that Chelsea will not always receive a totally balanced representation in the media; there are very few former Chelsea players with prominent broadcast careers.

Of those that do exist the role these players at the club was either short or laced with acrimony and dispute. Meaning that these players do not have the same affiliation or connection to the club as commentators such as Alan Hansen (Liverpool) or Alan Shearer (Newcastle) may have to when speaking about their former clubs.

The Club Allegiances of the Viewing Public in the UK

Due to the nature of football support In the United Kingdom on field success for Chelsea has not really transferred into a significant increase in the clubs support in key broadcasting demographics (those over 20).

Therefore Chelsea’s support in the United Kingdom is small compared to other clubs such as Manchester United or Liverpool.
This means that Chelsea fans will represent a small number of the target audience for broadcasters and sports publications, meaning that there is less demand for positive press and no significant threat of backlash, a fear that would in other circumstances act as an editing tool and filter for similar articles/broadcasts about other clubs.

However counterbalanced to this the success of the club there is an interest in reading stories about the club, yet little pressure to provide balance meaning that there is an increased chance in my opinion of Chelsea being the focus of derogative or bias articles than other clubs due to this unique combination.

Love of the Underdog
The club allegiance of fans is supplemented by the love of the sporting ‘underdog’ clubs in the UK psyche; large clubs such as Chelsea are often disparaged for bullying or seeking a competitive advantage over smaller clubs by leveraging the club’s resources.

In the business world this is more acceptable and even encouraged, however in a sport that is torn between its function as a entertainment or business entity this is more confusing.

The media will often reflect public opinion and therefore a ‘bias’ will often appear, fuelled by the fact that when Chelsea play anyone apart from the other title challengers everyone wants the other club to win.

I have been in social environments on countless occasions where a game is being shown and an opposition team has scored a goal against Chelsea and the entire bar, regardless of which team the individual supports has erupted in cheers of celebration of the opposition goal, really highlighting the underdog factor and opposition fan dislike of the club.

When you consider these factors together it becomes easier to understand why it can appear that the media ‘has it in for Chelsea’. Whilst not always deliberate, there are many factors that mean that for a while to come Chelsea will continue to receive a negative media perception.

In the long term this will change, if Chelsea’s success continues the English children of today will grow up supporting Chelsea in the same way as they grew up supporting Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester United in previous generations.

 Former Chelsea players will become more desired as pundits or broadcasters and the influence of foreign markets in which Chelsea already have a large market share of support will mean that in time the media will have to adjust its approach and a balance will be restored.

Until that day comes, Chelsea fans will just have to grin and bear the negativity, smiling all the way as the club continues to make history and not re-live it.

With the lack of first team players available and the slow build up to the season, Chelsea have had a difficult pre-season losing all of the matches at reserve and senior level so far.

Whilst these games are more about the return to fitness than the result, I am sure that the confidence of the players and fans alike will receive a welcome boost should Chelsea get a result in either of the two games that precede the start of the Premier League season.

The first game up is in Germany against Hamburg in a game that I expect will feature the strongest side of the pre-season too far.

However the headline game of the week ahead will be the Charity Shield this Sunday, for Chelsea fans in the U.K there will be no need to provide directions or a guide of the venue. With 7 appearances in 3 years, Wembley can surely now be known as Stamford Bridge II.

This means that this Sunday I will be following my Wembley routine, arrive in London early and head to the Globe on Baker Street, spend 3 hours with the 200+ Chelsea fans that will congregate, singing songs and drinking beer, before taking the short tube journey to Wembley.

Failure to win any games in pre-season will not mean the club is doomed this season, but it would be nice to start the campaign on the right note against Manchester United.

As everyone with more than a passing interest in the game will be aware Chelsea won the Premiership on the 9^th of May.

Hopefully you wont mind if I reminisce on my day watching Chelsea win the league.

The day started with an engineering works affected train journey to London, coupled with two cans of lager to settle the nerves.

I arrived at the first pub of the day at midday to start proceedings with the boys from the Chelsea Football Fancast.

This was the more reserved part of the day chatting to the podcast crew, musing over what the day had in store and feeling the nerves. However a few pints, a reassuring chip butty later and Chidge’s optimism made me feel as though we couldn’t fail.

Next up was O’Neils an Irish themed bar near Earls Court; this was to meet my Dad, who had the all important ticket and his adopted Chelsea family. I was predictably late and had received a couple of only half joiking texts from him saying he was just moments away from selling my ticket  to his mate Clive.

The banter in the pub as with the fancast crew was one of quiet optimism, although this is where I heard the first songs of the day. The pub occasionally belted out renditions of ‘Carefree’ and ‘Who the F%^K are Man United’ to punctuate the discussion that we couldn’t possibly throw it away, could we?

As game time approached we left O’Neil’s and after a short walk through West Brompton cemetery, I was through the turnstiles, with enough time to get a jet pack beer, and join in’ the liquidator’.

Coming out of the tube earlier and on the approach to the ground it was obvious that this was a huge game, the obvious barometer being the plethora of illegal football touts, whose buy and sell’ whispers echoed through the streets.

I had a perfect seat for the game, four rows back bang in the middle of the Shed End, the atmosphere before the game was electric but obviously tinged with nerves and excitement.

For the first time I can remember the old Shed terrace was back, everyone was stood up and roaring the team on, the whole ground was standing up uninterrupted by safety stewards, or others who seek to minimise the entertainment of football spectators.

This is what every football fan loves about football and we had waited three years for another shot.

The game itself was one of true nerves for only 6 minutes, when Anelka scored, the tension eased significantly, however once Frank Lampard fended of Didier Drogba to make it 2-0, the party began in earnest.

At half time anyone caught asking the Manchester United score was laughed at, we were storming to victory, few people seemed to care what Alex Ferguson’s men were up to a couple of hundred miles to the North.

As the second half got underway and the goals rolled in to extinguish any vague hopes of a Wigan revival, this allowed the party to start early and let the fans went through the whole Chelsea song repertoire. Although to answer one query from the home fans, I think those watching in Manchester may have turned off their TV in disgust a long time before the score resembled that of a rugby match.

Not that anyone was aware of the time, but all too quickly the the final whistle and pandemonium. After 3 years of near misses the title, was back at Chelsea and there was nothing that the moaning and mind games of Alex Ferguson could do about it.

First of all the crowd swayed to ‘One Step Beyond’ before belting out club classics such as ‘Blue Day’ before bouncing to baggy trousers.

Whilst this was going on the youth team paraded their silverware, the FA Youth Cup to a rapturous reception, then one by one the team made its way to the podium for the eruption upon lifting the trophy.

After the trophy was lifted the fans belted out the Queen classic and other champion based songs as the club paraded around the stadium. The music drowned out occasionally by the fans chanting the names of both John Terry and Carlo Ancellotti.

At this point I fought my way through the crowds to find my Dad’s seat and give him a massive bear hug as the celebrations continued. As we eventually left the ground we were confronted by the pandemonium of the Fulham road, all the pubs were full so after a quick trip to the off license we joined  the fans partying in the streets.

I however was not as brave as the fans climbing lampposts or swirling their tops around their heads, after over an hour of singing we made our way home, knowing that we could be doing it all again next week.

Champions of England

Alex Ferguson checks his watch, will he receive favourable timekeeping this season?

With the new season just around the corner, I have had a quick look at the things I think will be unchanged in 2010/2011.

1)      Chelsea will remain unloved by the mainstream media who will crave a Manchester United or Arsenal title regardless of the events on the pitch, scandals and bias articles will dominate the media.

 2)      Celery will remain the fans favourite vegetable.

 3)      Ashley Cole will be booed at every ground he visits (except Stamford Bridge), despite being one of the few England players to perform for England at the World Cup.

 4)      Arsenal will play attractive football that lacks substance, after flattering to deceive they will leave the title race with defeat to one of the Premier League’s minnows.

 5)      Frank Lampard will score 20 goals and still not even be considered for critical acclaim or the Player of the Year award.

 6)      Manchester United will win more than one game in the sixth minute of four minutes of added time.

 7)      Chelsea fans will do the ‘bouncy’ at away grounds around England and Europe

 8)      Liverpool will delude themselves that ‘this will be his year’ until around October, when everyone will reach the realisation that even Roy Hodgson cannot mesh a title contending team together.

 9)      Ten Men will leave to mow a meadow, taking their trusted dog spot with them

 10)   Chelsea will be writing history and not reliving it

It appears that Chelsea have belatedly jumped on the bandwagon to protect the health and safety of fans,  stopping Stamford Bridge descending into anarchy by taking decisive action and banning vuvuzelas within Stamford Bridge.

Fearing the day that Stamford Bridge would become a beehive, with the passionate Chelsea  masses cowering in the concourses during play, only edging to their seats during the interval to ensure there are no beverage related vuvuzela incidents.

Todays official announcement is the most ridiculous and pointless announcement in recent memory, does any really think that Premier League grounds would have been overrun by horn wielding fans come August the 14th? If you believe this then you are living in a fantasy land, whilst there may have been a shift in culture within certain sections of stadia, the spirit of traditional football fans has not been extinguished entirely.

What would have actually happened at Stamford Bridge should anyone have even considered bringing a vuvuzela into the ground, is that they would have been drowned out by fans singing, indignant at this foreign invasion of noise.

Yes there is the outside chance that some fans could express this aggressively, however I think this is remote and laughable that so many clubs have taken this action and banning the Vuvuzela is laughable.

Should Chelsea Take Such Huge Risk ??

 Earlier in the week Richard French highlighted Neymar as one of the more viable transfer options for Chelsea.

This is supplemented by the fact that during the past week reports in the media have been circulating that Chelsea are in the hunt for the Brazilian wonder kid.

If Chelsea want to sign him, it is likely he is special, f he is barely old enough to shave and Brazilian then he must be a really really interesting prospect.

It is reported that Chelsea made a bid for the 18 year old star from Santos, apparently this was turned down but the player’s agent has then clarified that that if Neymar wants to join Chelsea then he will do anything to make it happen.

This suggests that with persistence Chelsea have a fantastic chance at signing the youngster, However, should Chelsea shell out such multi millions to bring teenager who hasn’t even won a international cap?

 No doubt that spending such huge amount on teenager is a gamble but there are also positives. As he is still in his early stages of his career and yet to mature,, he will get plenty of time to adjust himself with the English game and the weather. 

 Also, we all know that manager and higher management are looking to build the team for the future rather than the present, as our star players move towards their twilight years in football.

Ancelotti brought Kaka and Pato to AC Milan and they have turned them into real world class players.

Therefore I trust Carlo Ancelotti if it is his wish to sign Neymar then we must trust he can turn this raw talent into a masterpiece., 

Neymar is really one of the exceptional talents of the game today, he has speed, skills, vision, can play with both feet and can play in number of formations as well as all the other requirements to become a star player, including natural Brazilian flair.  

This is the style that Roman Abramovich and Carlo Ancelotti must be seeking, given a chance Neymar could become a superstar and more than repay the clubs investment, becoming a prized asset.  

Yet  every coin has two sides, if we sign him and he comes to England then he will be considered as a celebrity even before he plays a single game, we all know what media is capable of doing.

The burden of expectations might cost him in the recent years few Brazilian players have come to Europe to play in England. There was of course Robinho but we all know what happened to him,

I believer there are many more positives and negatives regarding this transfer but I cannot spend all my days trying to convince you.

In short if Chelsea can sign him for not more than 25 million and give him enough time to adjust without putting any burden, then CHELSEA MUST SIGN HIM…… but only time will decide…….

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When the announcement came that Joe Cole’s contract was not to be renewed by Chelsea, most fans were bitterly disappointed whatever the background circumstances and dealings were.

After the initial shock the two questions were who would replace Joe Cole in the Chelsea squad and where would he go next?

The protracted answer to both questions was the unofficial swap with Liverpool involving Yossi Benayoun; in which Chelsea paid an undisclosed sum for an older and slightly less talented player than has departed.

This does not mean that Yossi Benayoun will not do a good job for Chelsea and achieve success, however he will be replacing a local boy and fans favourite Joe Cole, a player that grew up on the terraces of Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have reportedly paid £5m for 30 year old Yossi Benayoun who has a decent Premier League record and undoubted talent, he will likely take the role of squad player, with the ability to step up when required. This patience and lower wage demands (assumingly) are likely to be the main advantages to his signing by Chelsea.

On the opposite side of the coin Chelsea have lost and Liverpool gained a 28 year old flair player, who cost his new employers only his inflated contract reported at over £90k per week. Joe Cole is likely to expect a regular place in the starting line up, in a position of his preference to showcase his skills, he will also most likely be hoping for his first injury free season in at least a couple of years.

In the terms of the winners and losers in this deal only time will tell, however I believe that if Joe Cole stays fit and is given a central role he will be successful at Anfield meaning that Joe Cole and Liverpool would have got the best part of the deal. However should Joe Cole fail to recover his form or match fitness then Chelsea will have acquired a solid squad player and shed a much loved injury ridden midfielder who does not quite fit into the current tactical set up at Stamford Bridge.

It is not often that I get drawn into writing about transfer speculation, I normally leave that to others that you will see writing here in the coming days and weeks during the build up to the start of the season.

On this occasion I feel compelled to write about the players that Chelsea should resist the urge of chasing in the coming weeks.

In defence and attack Chelsea have strength and depth and potential match winners, it is for this reason that I see no real need for the procurement of any ‘Marquee’ signings at the club in the coming weeks.

Amongst the big names that have been suggested the three below would constitute a step backwards as the club strives for financial stability.

Fernando Torres

Although a proven Premier League talent, Fernando Torres with a hefty price tag and legs seemingly made of matchsticks would not be a shrewd investment for Chelsea Football Club.

Whilst it is likely that an injury free Torres, would be a real weapon for any side, I do not believe on the current evidence that this is something that will occur in the next 18 months.

Therefore even if a deal was infact possible, the club should focus on developing the talent that it has at its disposal or invest in younger talent that will cost less and draw a lower salary.

Kaka

A ridiculously talented footballer that Chelsea simply do not need, the transfer fee and salary make the signing of the former Carlo Ancelotti charge unsustainable.

I also feel that he would struggle in the Premier League, but fortunately this pipe dream will never come to pass.

Robinho

Its ok the last one is a joke, I just want to remind people that not all big name players live up to their reputation, at the time many were devastated by the transfer chaos that took place two summers ago but I think Chelsea were the winners in that transfer saga.

With a club the size of Chelsea there is the temptation to try and sign every star of the modern game in the Real Madrid ‘Galaticos’ style, however as the mixed fortunes of Real Madrid show, success is built on squads and not neccessarily stars.

There have been departures, some may argue that the loss of Michael Ballack and Joe Cole will leave a whole in the club. However the return of ‘new’ signing Michael Essien means that these losses will not be as hard as many will fear.

There is no doubt that a few players will need to come in to replace the players that have left, but in my opinion we need squad players, or young players that can be developed, rather than overpaid and overhyped ‘superstars’.

For the second successive season, Chelsea scheduled at least one pre-season friendly, away from home against Championship opposition.

These games against Reading in 2009 and Crystal Palace this season took place relatively close to Stamford Bridge and attracted thousands of Chelsea fans eager for a return to any football after a summer without domestic football.

These normally low-key affairs have been transformed by the abnormally large turn out from the Chelsea faithful, singing loudly and with a veracity that belies the occasion, these games have taken on a carnival atmosphere.

This is increased by the fact that unlike most games during the season; almost any fan can get a ticket as demand from opposition fans is nowhere near enough to fill the ground.
Also unlike the games held overseas or during the season, these games are priced at under half the price of a normal CFC match ticket, meaning that families and those priced out of Stamford Bridge can afford a Chelsea day out.

Crystal Palaces are one of the teams that have been struggling financially recently, going into administration within the last 12 months this fixture against Chelsea attracted over 21,000 fans in a major cash life raft for the Championship side.

With these factors in mind I hope that next year without the shadow of a World Cup affecting the fixture planning, the club will merge the needs of the commercially driven overseas tour with the gesture of a local pre-season friendly that benefits Chelsea fans and the host club alike.

The World Cup is over and the clubs players have already reported back for pre-season training in preparation for today’s pre-season game against Crystal Palace.

With this being the first game of pre-season it is unlikely to feature a full strength team as the players slowly ease into what for many has been a perilously short pre-season.

It seems that during the planning phase of pre-season common sense prevailed over the temptation to chase the money. A lucrative U.S or Far Eastern commercially centred tour has been shunned for a more sedate home and European based fixture schedule.

Whilst Arsenal and Liverpool have adopted similar approaches to pre-season, our perrenial title rivals Manchester United and their neighbours, the new kids on the title chasing block Manchester City, have both elected to flog their wares in the United States over the summer.

Chelsea travelled to Club America Last Season, but this year are staying closer to home

Whilst there is commercial merit in such tours, there is also the fact that this allows many existing fans to see their side in the flesh. Last years U.S tour allowed many long standing Chelsea fans to see the club they love for the very first time.

However with the top sides potentially facing over 50 games during a gruelling season, these factors are outweighed by the need to protect players and optimise the clubs chance of on-field success.

This seasons tour is a lean towards to the pre-seasons of my youth, these constituted a few early tune up games against lower league opposition, moving onto games against mid-level European sides at home or potentially a low key Scandanavian tour.

Yet the days of Kingstonian FC versus Chelsea may be over, there has been a welcome return to at least one home based pre-season game in the last couple of years, with Reading last year and Palace this year.

Pre-season may have changed but after such a great campaign last season I am sure that both fans and players alike are chomping at the bit to get back into the swing of the season.