Month: May 2016

Manchester United today confirmed that they have appointed Chelsea’s former manager, Jose Mourinho, as their new manager on a three-year deal.

The 53-year-old has enjoyed two spell at Stamford Bridge in the past, arriving from Porto in June of 2004 having just won the Champions League with the Portuguese side. He led Chelsea to the club’s first Premier League title and their first top-flight win in over 50 years in his first season in London, notching up a record 95 points in the process.

During his time in West London he also gave himself the nickname ‘The Special One’ when he said to reporters, “Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one”. In his second season at Stamford Bridge he won the Premier League again, though rumours emerged of a rift with the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich, when Mourinho threw his winners medal into the crowd along with his club blazer.

An uneasy truce was agreed between the two most powerful people at Chelsea and Mourinho led the club to an FA Cup victory in his third season there. A series of publicly known disagreements between the two men continued into the manager’s fourth season, however, and the football world was shocked when he left the club by mutual consent in September of 2007, being replaced by Avram Grant until the end of the season.

A spell at Inter Milan followed, with the Portuguese boss winning another domestic title as well as a cup. He reportedly rubbed the Italian press up the wrong way, however, with numerous high profile feuds with more well-respected managers such as Carlo Ancelotti and Claudio Ranieri. In 2009 he also made suggestions that he was keen to take over at Manchester United in the event of Alex Ferguson’s retirement, saying, “I would consider going to Manchester United but United have to consider if they want me to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson. If they do, then of course”.

In April of 2010 he made history by being the first manager in history to take three different sides to the Champions League semi-finals, eventually going on to win the final by beating Bayern Munich 2-0. He also led them to the Serie A title in the same season, but after the final of the Champions League he was again touting himself for another job, saying, “If you don’t coach Real Madrid then you will always have a gap in your career”.

He promptly rocked up at the Santiago Bernabeu, taking over from Manuel Pellegrini and signing a four year deal with Los Blancos. He won the Copa del Rey in his first season and La Liga in his second, ensuring that from 2003 and 2012 he won at least one trophy every calendar year. As so often is the case with the combustible manager, however, his third season saw problems emerge and the manager suggest it would likely be his last, despite having recently signed a new contract with the club.

Sure enough, June 2013 saw Mourinho return to Stamford Bridge once more. He began his second spell at the club by saying, “In my career I’ve had two great passions, Inter and Chelsea and Chelsea is more than important for me…It was very, very hard to play against Chelsea, and I did it only twice which was not so bad…Now I promise exactly the same things I promised in 2004 with this difference to add: I’m one of you”.

His first season after his return was not such a positive one, despite the club finishing third in the Premier League. They suffered their first league defeat at Stamford Bridge under his management when Sunderland won 2-1 in April and finished the season without a trophy. They returned to form in the second year, however, winning the Premier League and the League Cup, defeating local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the latter.

Much the same as during his time at Real Madrid, Mourinho signed a new four-year contract with the Blues in August of 2015, but things started to unravel rather quickly for him almost straight away. The defending Premier League champions picked up just eleven points from their first twelve Premier League games and were knocked out of the League Cup by Stoke in October. By the middle of December Roman Abramovich had again had enough of Mourinho, and he once more departed Stamford Bridge by ‘mutual consent’.

Now he has been appointed the manager of Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Manchester United. Upon his appointment the club’s Vice-Chairman, Ed Woodward, said, “José is quite simply the best manager in the game today. He has won trophies and inspired players in countries across Europe and, of course, he knows the Premier League very well, having won three titles here. I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome him to Manchester United. His track record of success is ideal to take the club forward”.

Mourinho himself said, “To become Manchester United manager is a special honour in the game. It is a club known and admired throughout the world. There is a mystique and a romance about it which no other club can match. I have always felt an affinity with Old Trafford; it has hosted some important memories for me in my career and I have always enjoyed a rapport with the United fans. I’m looking forward to being their manager and enjoying their magnificent support in the coming years”.

Chelsea Football Club have confirmed that John Terry has signed a new one-year deal to stay at Stamford Bridge until 2017.

There has been some debate surrounding the future of the club captain, as his contract was due to expire this summer and the player admitted in January that he would be moving on from the Blues as they had not offered him a new deal. It was thought by some that Terry’s announcement at the turn of the year would spur the club on to make him an offer, but they declined the opportunity to do so.

Speaking after the club’s final Premier League game against Leicester City on Sunday, Terry made an emotional speech in which he appeared to cry and said that he wanted to be at Stamford Bridge next season. He said, “Everyone knows I’m Chelsea through and through. I am looking forward to next season under the new manager and hopefully we can make it a successful one”.

Some of the question marks surrounding Terry’s future revolved around the situation regarding the club’s manager. Guys Hiddink arrived in December on an interim basis, replacing the sacked Jose Mourinho. Antonio Conte was confirmed as the next manager at Stamford Bridge earlier in the year, but he won’t take his post officially until he has led Italy to the European Championships in France this summer.

Conte favours a system that employs three centre-backs, suggesting that there could yet be room for Terry in the Chelsea squad moving forward. However the club confirmed last Friday that it had offered the former England captain a ‘different role’ at the club in their one year contract. It has not been made clear what that different role entails, though the fact that Terry has agreed to the contract suggests that at least some playing time will be part of it.

The 35-year-old made his Chelsea debut in 1998 and has so far gone on to play 703 games for the club in all competitions. During his time under the ownership of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich he has won four Premier League titles, three League Cups, five FA Cups and one each of the Europa League and the Champions League.

Chairman Bruce Buck said of Terry’s decision to sign the new contract, “We are delighted John will spend another year at the club. He has been the leader of the Chelsea squad throughout the most successful period in our history. He recently reached the 700-appearance mark, which is testament to his professionalism and dedication as well as his undoubted talent”.

Incoming Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has admitted that he is feeling ‘stronger’ after a judge acquitted him of any wrongdoing in a match-fixing scandal that has enveloped Italy.

The Italian, who will arrive at Stamford Bridge after leading his home nation to the European Championships in France this summer, was in court accused of turning a blind-eye to match-fixing whilst he was the manager of the Italian club Siena in 2011. However the judge in the case in Cremona dismissed the case, saying that the accusations had no basis.

The 46-year-old has been confirmed as the manager to take the Chelsea hot-seat from the end of the Euros, with the West London club needing someone to permanently replace Jose Mourinho who was sacked in December. The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ led the defending Premier League champions to their worst start to a campaign in the top-flight since the 1960s, resulting in Guus Hiddink being brought in to replace him.

The bookmakers don’t have a huge amount of faith in Conte, with the Italian more likely to get the sack than win the league as far as the odds are concerned. But the man himself believes that the torment of his trial will make him stronger. Writing on his Facebook page he said, “Today finally draws a line under this ugly story. Four years ago, a search of my house at 5am ushered in a nightmare period that at times I felt would go on forever. Those who stood by me, and who know me best, know how much I have struggled with the idea that my name might be associated with the shameful world of match-fixing”.

The former Juventus player became their club’s manager after his time at Siena and in 2012 he was banned for ten months after he was found guilty by the Italian Football Association of failing to report match-fixing allegations in two matches involving his former club. The ban was later reduced by a sports tribunal to four months, but to some extent the damage had already been done.

Cone continued, “I thank my family and the many people who never believed even for a moment the words which presented a false image of my lifestyle,” he added. I am a sportsman and I know no other way to achieve success than through sacrifice and total dedication. It was a terrible experience and I have faced it head on. To all those who never doubted my honesty, I want to express my gratitude, and reassure them that I have emerged from this testing time as a stronger and more highly motivated person”.

News has emerged that celebrity Chelsea fan and broadcaster Jeremy Vine took a father and daughter who support Leicester out for lunch before the two clubs met in the final game of the Premier League season yesterday.

Vine, who takes his own daughter to all of the Chelsea games, enquired on Twitter before the match about whether or not there were any father and daughter Leicester fans attended the season’s curtain-closer at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. The appeal went onto Facebook and Colin Hood and his daughter Charlotte were eventually picked.

The broadcaster presents a daily show on BBC Radio 2 and admitted in February that he ‘loved’ Leicester and the fairytale story of their season. The Foxes were seven points away from safety last Easter, eventually going on to avoid relegation and finish in fourteenth place last season. The club controversially sacked Nigel Pearson and appointed Claudio Ranieri in his place.

Under the Italian the Leicestershire club soared to the top of the table and remained there for most of the season, having their unlikely title win confirmed when Spurs could only draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago. Ranieri was Chelsea manager when Roman Abramovich bought the club from Ken Bates, with the Russian sacking him despite the fact he led them to second in the league.

Vine wrote about the day on his personal website, saying that his daughter Martha, who is twelve, seemed to get on well with Charlotte, 8, with the two girls ‘going off to look in clothes shops’. He was also delighted to find that many Chelsea fans congratulated the Leicester supporters, saying, “All in all it’s been an incredible day – heart-warming that Chelsea fans felt so good about Leicester’s league victory”.

The BBC presenter continued, “We have our own rebuilding job to do now! Martha and I had a great time speaking to Colin and Charlotte, and a memorable lunch in the sunshine… and yes, we have promised to support Leicester in the Champions League next season. For as long as our own team aren’t present!”

Hood, who was a Leicester mascot for the club’s game against Liverpool in 1974, had an amazing time with Vine and his daughter. He said, “The whole day was superb for both me and Charlotte, we got on so well with Jeremy Vine and his daughter Martha, the lunchtime of two and half hours just flew by and we never stopped talking”.

The Leicester fan was also delighted by the way he and his daughter were treated by Chelsea fans and Jeremy Vine himself. He said, “Jeremy was very complimentary about Leicester and our season…As we sat amongst the Chelsea fans in our Leicester City shirts, all those around us wanted to congratulate us and shake us by the hand, they were genuinely pleased that we had won the Premier League, as they couldn’t, and ahead of Spurs!”

Hood compared his experience to the fortunate manner of Leicester’s season as a whole, saying, ”This experience was like Leicester’s season – beyond belief, reality and something we will never forget”.

The Football Association have confirmed that both Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will be fined for failing to control their players during the clubs’ recent 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge that ended Spurs’ slim hopes of the title.

The match, which was dubbed as ‘The Brawl At The Bridge’ by the press, saw twelve yellow cards issued. Nine of them were shown to Tottenham players, the most one side has been issued with this season. The fines are for two incidents that took place during the game and one that happened after full-time.

Mousa Dembele, the Spurs player, had already been banned for six games earlier this month after video footage appeared to show him attempting to ‘gouge’ the eye of Chelsea striker Diego Costa. There was also an incident when Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino had to step onto the field of play in order to separate his defender Danny Rose and the Chelsea winger Willian, with the two players seemingly about to confront each other.

The other incident the FA have taken exception to involved Rose once again, with an altercation taking place that resulted in Chelsea’s interim manager, Guus Hiddink, being pushed to the floor.

Chelsea have been ordered to pay £375,000 as this is the fourth time that the West London club have breached the Football Association’s rule on mass confrontations since November of 2014. It is the third time that Spurs have breached the same rule, so they have been fined £225,000.

Both clubs have been warned about their future conduct by the Football Association, with the organisation keen to clamp down on what it perceives to be unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Incoming Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has been cleared of any wrongdoing in an investigation into match-fixing allegations dating back to 2011.

Conte, who will take charge of the Blues after he has led Italy to the European Championships in France this summer, had been accused of turning a blind eye to a match fixing scandal five years ago when he was in charge of the Italian side Siena. He denied he had done anything wrong, though he did serve a ban connected to the case in 2012.

The 46-year-old was acquitted by a judge in the Italian city of Cremona, owing to the fact that the judge felt the accusations against Conte were baseless. His ban in August of 2012 was originally for ten months, though an Italian sports tribunal later reduced that to four months. He was banned for ‘not reporting alleged match-fixing’ involving Siena during the 2010-2011 season, though he was manager of Juventus at the time of said ban.

Juventus have had their own problems with match-fixing in the past, of course, having their Serie A title stripped from them and getting relegated to Serie B at the end of the 2005-2006 season after being found guilty of match fixing alongside Lazio and Fiorentina.

Conte, who became the national coach of Italy in 2014, will take over at Chelsea after the Euros. The Stamford Bridge club had been searching for a new permanent manager since the owner, Roman Abramovich, sacked Jose Mourinho for the second time last December. The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ had led the club to their worst start to a top-flight campaign since the early 1960s, when a win was worth two points instead of three.

Guus Hiddink was appointed on an interim basis for the second time during his career, having previously arrived in West London to replace Luis Felipe Scolari when the Brazilian was sacked in 2009. The news that Conte has been cleared of any wrongdoing will be a relief to the Chelsea hierarchy, with the club keen to avoid any more controversy.

Both Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho himself are currently in the middle of separate lawsuits involving Eva Carneiro, the club’s former doctor who felt she was belittled and humiliated by Mourinho in the aftermath of Chelsea’s opening game of the season, when the Portuguese manager suggested she was naive to enter the field of play to treat the winger Eden Hazard, despite the player appearing injured and the referee calling the medical team onto the pitch several times.

John Terry used his speech during Chelsea’s end of season celebrations to confirm what the club’s fans have wanted to hear: That he would like to stay at Stamford Bridge past this summer.

There has been some debate surrounding Terry’s future, with the club’s hierarchy leaving it very late to make any sort of confirmation regarding whether or not they would be offering him a new contract. That appeared to be solved last week when it was announced that the Blues had offered the club captain another year long contract.

There remained confusion heading into yesterday’s match against Premier League champions Leicester City, however, with Terry stating that the offer he’d been made was in a ‘different role’ for the club. His contract expired at the end of the season and in January the player himself said that he would not be staying as the club hadn’t offered him an extension.

35-year-old Terry was close to tears as he addressed the Stamford Bridge crowd after the defending Premier League champion’s final game of the season against the Foxes yesterday afternoon. The supporters were chanting, “John Terry, we want you to stay”, causing the centre back to reply, “We all want the same thing. I want to stay, the club knows that, the fans know that”.

Terry didn’t play against Leicester, having been suspended for the last two games of the season after being sent off for two bookable offences in the club’s 36th game of the league campaign against Sunderland last weekend. He did join the guard of honour that the West London club gave to Leicester’s players, however, and also joined his teammates in the traditional end-of-season lap of honour after the game.

A Chelsea spokesman said of the club’s offer of a new contract on Friday, “With it coming so late in the season, this is a big decision for John and his family”. It has left the former England captain time to consider his options, with neither the player himself nor the club confirming what the new role offered to the player would entail.

Terry also had some good words to say about his outgoing boss Guus Hiddink. The Dutchman was brought in on an interim basis to replace Jose Mourinho, with the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ having been sacked by the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich, last December. It came on the back of the Blues enduring their worst start to a top-flight campaign since the 1960s.

With Antonio Conte due to take over the reigns of the management position at Stamford Bridge as soon as he’s led Italy to the European Championships in France this summer, Terry believes that the West London club will be back fighting at the top of the table next season.

He said, “This has been a difficult season, we are where we deserve to be in the league. The fans have stuck with us. Thank you. I can assure you we’ll be back fighting for this title next year. On a personal note, this has been tough for me, very emotional. Before I sign off I’d like to say thank you to Guus Hiddink. He is a great man”.

Terry has so far notched up 703 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions since he made his debut for the club in 1998. During that time he has won four Premier League trophies, five FA Cups, three League Cups and one each of the Champions League and Europa League.

John Terry has confirmed that the new contract offered to him by Chelsea Football Club earlier in the week is for a ‘different role’ at the club moving forward.

The 35-year-old centre-back’s contract is due to expire at the end of the season and Chelsea were keen for contract negotiations to remain behind closed doors. However Terry admitted in January that they had not spoken to him and he would not be staying beyond the summer. This led to protests from some Chelsea fans, with numerous supporters holding up banners in support of the club captain during the game against Liverpool on Wednesday night.

It was believed that the announcement of a new contract offer by the club yesterday would stave off any potential protests at the final game of the season at Stamford Bridge tomorrow afternoon. That has now been put in some doubt, with Terry taking to social media platform Instagram to say, “The contract extension the club has offered me is a different role and I hope everyone will understand I want to take the time to consider it carefully before making a decision”.

It has been a season of disharmony at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho, the manager beloved by Chelsea fans, was sacked in December after leading the club to their worst start to a top-flight campaign since the 1960s. The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ was involved in a high profile disagreement with one of the club’s doctors, Eva Carneiro, after she entered the field of play to give treatment to a seemingly injured Eden Hazard on the opening day of the season.

That disagreement was believed to have caused something of a ruction with the squad, most of whom were quite close to Carneiro. It has also led to legal proceedings against both the club and Mourinho himself that are still ongoing. After Mourinho’s sacking some sections of the Chelsea support made their feelings known to the players over the fact that they felt they weren’t playing well enough to deliberately get the Portuguese manager sacked, with Fabregas, Hazard and Costa amongst those targeted.

Mourinho was replaced by Guus Hiddink on an interim basis until the end of the season. The Dutchman, who arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2009 under similar circumstances when Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s owner, sacked Brazilian manager Luis Felipe Scolari. That year he won the FA Cup with the Blues, though this year they were knocked out of that competition by Everton in the quarter-finals.

Terry’s contract negotiations are, therefore, merely the latest in a long line of problems the club has endured this season. They have dropped more points compared to the previous season than any Premier League team before them. The club has already announced that current Italian manager Antonio Conte will be their permanent head coach for next season. Conte will arrive in West London after taking Italy to the European Championships and favours a formation that allows for three centre-backs, leading some to speculate that Terry could yet extend his playing career at Stamford Bridge.

The former England captain, who is suspended for the visit of new Premier League champions Leicester City tomorrow, has so far made 703 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions since his debut in 1998. Whether he decides to continue a career at the club away from the football pitch remains to be seen, though Hiddink said on Friday that ‘t’s good to have big players in a club who are big personalities’.

Chelsea Football Club today confirmed that they have offered their current captain, John Terry, a new one year contract to stay at Stamford Bridge.

There has been a huge amount of speculation regarding Terry’s future in recent months, with the player himself confirming that he’s keen to remain at Chelsea but that the club hadn’t opened negotiations with him. The speculation appears to have been put to bed, with the club confirming this lunchtime that they’ve offered him a new deal.

Terry and his agent, Paul Nicholls, met with the West London club’s chairman, Bruce Buck, and director, Marina Granovskaia, to discuss a potential offer at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground earlier this week. A club spokesman confirmed as much, saying, “Marina Granovskaia and Bruce Buck met with John and his agent this week and offered him a one-year contract extension.
‘With it coming so late in the season, this is a big decision for John and his family and it is something that they are now considering”.

During the club’s match against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday night some Chelsea supporters attempted to stage a demonstration, with banners held aloft demanding he be kept at the club for another year. It’s unclear whether the demonstration made any difference to the situation, though it’s unlikely to be the case seeing as it’s believed the meeting over the former England captain’s future took place earlier in the week.

Terry couldn’t play for the Blues in Wednesday night’s game, having been sent off for a second bookable offence during Chelsea’s match against Sunderland last weekend. As he’d previously been sent off earlier in the season the usual one match ban was extended to two matches, meaning he’ll also miss the season’s final game against the new Premier League champions Leicester at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The announcement of the new offer should quell the anger of Chelsea fans, with some supporters’ groups planning to sing his name throughout the game against the Foxes as well as holding up more banners and signs in support of their captain. There were fears that it might overshadow the end of a disappointing season for the defending Premier League champions.

Antonio Conte, the Italian manager who is due to come in as Chelsea’s new head coach after this summer’s European Championships in France, favours playing with three at the back and is believed to be planning to introduce that system to his new players during their pre-season campaign. That might allow Terry to play for longer, given that the two defenders alongside him could do a lot of the running for the 35-year-old.

Guus Hiddink, Chelsea’s interim manager who will depart the Stamford Bridge club after this weekend’s game, admitted during his press conference earlier today that he’d been telling the club to ‘cherish’ their legends. He said, “I talk to the people inside every now and then. I’m always in favour, generally speaking, that players, ex players – I’m not talking about John now – have a lot of influence in the culture of a club”.

”When the players say goodbye to a club they love”, Hiddink continued, “And come back, in whatever task, I’m in favour. Maybe that’s also for John in the future. I don’t know. He is already 21 years in this club. I saw an image of him recently coming in as a youngster. It’s huge, 21 years. That’s why they become legends. You must cherish those legends for the future as well”.

Terry made his Chelsea debut in October 1998 and has so far made 703 appearances in all competitions for the club. During that time he has won the Premier League four times, the FA Cup five times, three League Cups, the UEFA Europa League once and the UEFA Champions League once also. He’s been Chelsea’s player of the year on two occasions, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year once and has been featured in UEFA’s Team of the Year four times.

The defender’s career has not been without controversy, however. In 2010 a super-injunction was imposed on the British media by the High Court refusing to allow them to cover allegations that Terry had had an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the former girlfriend of his Chelsea and England teammate Wayne Bridge. Perroncel denies the affair to this day, though the allegations were enough to see Terry stripped of the England captaincy.

Then in 2011 the police investigated allegations that Terry had racially abused Anton Ferdinand, the Queens Park Rangers player, during a match between QPR and Chelsea. It was alleged that Terry had called him a ‘f*cking black c*nt’, though Terry always strenuously denied the allegations. The police charged him with using racist language, though the judge in the case later found him not guilty. The Football Association, however, charged him with using “abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour”, charging him £220,000 and banning him for four matches. He announced his retirement from England international duties on the eve of the FA’s hearing.