Egotistical, Disrespectful, Conceited Chelsea 'Stars' To Blame For Villas-Boas' Sacking

There is a well known saying that 'respect should be earned, not given in life.' It is utterly absurd. Why someone might think that they can start off on such a negative footing with any new person they meet, seems simply ludicrous.

Respect is something that every person deserves the right to be given from the very start, particularly when you do not know them very well, but with the reserved right to be taken away if abused or taken advantage of.

Yet the horrid notion of new individuals having to 'earn respect' when thrown into the unmerciful lion's den that is Chelsea football club, was plainly exposed at the weekend, after Roman Abramovich finally brought down the guillotine on manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Aged just 34, the Portuguese is just making his first tentative steps into the world of management, despite possessing a hugely impressive CV from his time in charge of Porto.

It was nothing short of disgraceful that Abramovich decided to finally call time on his short-lived reign as Chelsea manager, therefore.

Villas-Boas often talked about the 'project' he was running at Stamford Bridge, bringing in a number of young and exciting players, whilst also promoting members of the youth set-up to his first team squad.

"A radical clearing of the decks is in order, but the question of who has the guts to do it remains unanswered."

In turn, it seemed perfectly acceptable among supporters that some of the more senior players at the club, such as Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and John Terry, would begin to find their first team chances increasingly limited.

In an article today, the former Chelsea defender, Alex claimed that Villas-Boas never showed Frank Lampard the 'respect' he deserved, having spent 10 years at the club.

Of course, it would be impossible to comment on what goes on behind closed doors, but what seems so patently obvious is that actually, the person with the lack of respect in that particular relationship is none other than Frank Lampard.

Just a few weeks ago he publicly announced that he was confused at Villas-Boas' decision not to include him in his starting line-ups, and spoke of how he had grown 'frustrated' with what the manager was doing.

Well unfortunately, Mr Lampard, aged 33, you are no longer the centre of attention at Chelsea, and it is about time you and your colleagues began to show some of that respect you seem to be demanding to your managers.

Just looking at the list of recent Chelsea bosses is like reading a who's who of the best coaches of the last ten years, all with an impressive accumulation of honours between them. Yet not one of them seems to have been shown even the slightest ounce of respect by Messrs Lampard, Drogba and Terry.

You could tell that Villas-Boas, who cost Chelsea £13m in compensation and that again in wages, was overseeing a transitional period at the club that would soon see them rising to the top of English football once more. The disrespectful Roman Abramovich, like all his players, of course, was unable to see that and once again chose the short-term solution.

Whilst such conceited players with their egotistical disregard for managers continue to inhabit Chelsea Football Club, their demise will continue. Of course, the same offenders seem to be responsible for England's lack of success in recent times. A radical clearing of the decks is in order, but the question of who has the guts to do it remains unanswered.

Speaking as a pundit for ITV's coverage of the Birmingham versus Chelsea game last night, Roy Keane commented on the Tom-foolery of players like Lampard during the warm-up.

“It's childish... they've just let their manager down,” Keane said. “They should be focusing on trying to win a game of football here tonight. All that carry on reflects what mood must be in the camp. I keep going on about pride, they've let their manager down badly and yet they're carrying on like that in the warm-up.”

Keane often comes out with some controversial comments, but on this occasion, hardly a truer word could have been said.

It is an embarrassing state of affairs at Chelsea. The players and owner continue to make the same mistakes and quite frankly it seems impossible to see why any good manager would ever want to be associated with that club.

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Villas-Boas Is Still The Man For Chelsea

Recent poor form combined with last night's crushing 3-1 defeat to Napoli has left many wondering how much longer Andre Villas-Boas is going to be in a job for. As is always the case at Chelsea, there has been no public backing for the manager from their very silent owner.

Indeed, the night started so well for Villas-Boas and his men – Juan Mata toe-poking a close range volley past the Napoli keeper to give them a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. But by half-time the home side had over-turned the deficit and it was 2-1.

The second half saw relentless pressure from Chelsea, but as was the case with Manchester City merely a few months ago, they were simply unable to break down their opponent's defence and were inevitably hit on the counter attack to give the score a more convincing look.

"Look at Fernando Torres – no one is talking of sacking him with his £50 million price tag."

Many will now be questioning whether Villas-Boas can continue in his job, with talk of him having lost the support of a number of players, but the fact is, it would be simply foolish to sack him now.

The first and, in my opinion, the most abundantly obvious reason not to call time on the Portuguese's time in charge is the quite staggering amount of money Roman Abramovich lavished in trying to bring him to the club. After all his success with Porto, the Russian oligarch shelled out £15 million, no less.

It broke all records for compensation paid for a manager. At that cost, you do not want to be pulling the trigger less than 12 months later. Look at Fernando Torres – no one is talking of sacking him with his £50 million price tag.

Of course, money is not the only reason Villas-Boas should keep his job. Whatever anyone says, he is a very good young manager who undoubtedly has a bright future in the game. He was the man all Chelsea fans wanted in charge, so make the most of having him.

It is true, Chelsea's Champions' League hopes hang in tatters right now, but unlike Arsenal, the situation is still salvageable. Likewise, their current standing of fifth in the Premier League does not make good viewing for fans, but they must accept this is a transitional phase for their side.

Many of the players who were such a big part of their success four or five seasons ago have either left or are now well over 30. The Frank Lampards, the Didier Drogbas, the Ashley Coles are simply not the players who can bring success back to Chelsea.

Villas-Boas' transfer policy, therefore, has been shrewd. He has brought in the likes of Juan Mata, Gary Cahill and Romelu Lukaku in an attempt to add a bit of youth to his ageing side. Furthermore, adopted a more inclusive approach to young players like Daniel Sturridge who were already at the club.

The final point I will make, though, is success takes time – whatever Manchester City and Chelsea fans of old will tell you. Villas-Boas simply cannot walk into Chelsea and undo all the problems that were already there. He is a good manager, but he is not a magician.

Just one look at the team he fielded against Napoli last night proves that this is not 'his team', most of the players were already at the club and the manager cannot be blamed for their mistakes. In 18 months time perhaps we will be able to look at the Chelsea team and say whether Villas-Boas is doing a good job.

Until then, he must absolutely keep his job. It would be a mistake to let him go, and I could really see it coming back to bite Chelsea one day. The club need some solidarity and some structure, the chairman needs to back his manager.

If they do that, maybe, just maybe, success for Chelsea is not too far around the corner.

And the window slams shut!

It is one of the most exciting days of the footballing calender. Rumours and speculation everywhere, and millions of pounds exchanging hands up and down the country. Yes, it is transfer deadline day.

For all the hype and excitement however, this one turned out to be something of a let down. Unlike last January, there were no astronomical deals – at least, not of the same calibre of Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll.

But there were some very shrewd moves. Following their humiliation at Old Trafford, Arsenal fans will be among the most delighted with the final day's activity. Not only were deals for Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos wrapped up, but other big names, such as Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun, also arrived at the Emirates.

Indeed, the Arteta story became the big story of the night – at one point it looked off, but was miraculously reignited at the very last. It was not until the deadline had passed, that the deal was officially confirmed.

Another intriguing bit of business that we did not know about until after the 11pm deadline, was that of Raul Meireles to Chelsea. Both Liverpool and his new employers know about leaving it late – the deals for Torres and Carroll were just as 'last minute'.

Although Liverpool fans will be aggrieved at Meireles' decision to leave Anfield, they will be no doubt buoyed by the return of former hero, Craig Bellamy. He had looked set for QPR earlier in the day, but once he was released from international training, he made a beeline for the Merseyside club.

Joe Cole was allowed to leave the Reds on loan. At one point his loan move to Lille looked set to be hijacked by Aston Villa, but it turned out he had his heart set on a move to France which would see him making the one-and-a-half hour commute from his home in London.

QPR might have missed out on Bellamy, but having secured Joey Barton last week, they remained undeterred. It looks like they have done some of the best business on deadline day in the Premier League thanks to their Malaysian backing.

Shaun Wright-Phillips was quite possibly the biggest name to arrive at Loftus Road, while the likes of Anton Ferdinand and Jason Puncheon were also snapped up in the end.

Tottenham Hotspur are often one of the most interesting sides to keep an eye on as the deadline approaches each time. Reports that Luka Modric would be leaving were quickly dismissed by Harry Redknapp, who then moved quickly to bring Scott Parker in from West Ham.

A whole host of Spurs players then left the club, with Jermaine Jenas and Alan Hutton heading to Aston Villa, while Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios moved to Stoke City.

Stoke are another side who will be thrilled with their work for the day. The Potters not only confirmed the Crouch and Palacious deals, but moved to bring in Cameron Jerome from Birmingham.

It is impossible to mention all of the deals that went through on deadline day, but some of the other big Premier League deals included Wigan landing Shaun Maloney from Celtic and Manchester City finally wrapping up their deal for former United player Owen Hargreaves.

There were several big moves in the Championship as well. Brighton perhaps caused the biggest shock when they signed former Valencia and Spain international Vicente. At only 30 years of age, he still has a lot to offer, and could be massive in the second tier of English football.

West Ham continued to shell out the big wages – taking David Bentley from Spurs and Guy Demel from Hamburg. Both top, top quality players. Former Norwich loanee, Henri Lansbury also moved to the club on loan from Arsenal.

Sven Goran Eriksson dug into his deep pockets at Leicester to bring in Jermaine Beckford from Everton for a fee believed to be around £3 million. They did have a bid, believed to be around £6 million, rejected by Rangers for Nikica Jelavic. The Glasgow club announced they had also turned down a £9 million bid, which could very well have been Leicester as well.

One big player who will be staying put is Gary Cahill at Bolton. He had been linked with potential moves to Arsenal and Tottenham, but in the end nothing could be done. It means he stays at the Reebok Stadium where he will now be joined by David Ngog and Gael Kakuta, who both saw their deals finalised on deadline day.

If it has not been an explosive day, it would be fair to say it has still been a fascinating one. With deals getting going right from the off, and running right up to the window slamming shut, for some, it has been a very, very tiring day.

I doubt that I am just speaking for myself when I say thank goodness it is all over. Time to get a cold class of water and head to bed for the next week! Goodnight everyone!

Scotland Must Stay

A perpetual habit of Ipswich Town's always seems to be letting a good or promising player go each summer for relative peanuts. In recent seasons, especially, it appears to have become a worrying trend at Portman Road.

There are endless players that you could easily go into detail about, but the latest one to keep an eye on is Jason Scotland. Admittedly, the former Wigan striker did not exactly set the world alight in his first season with the club, but then again, nor did former manager, Roy Keane – he still got another half a season.

Reports this week suggest that the Blues and Swansea City have already begun negotiations which would pave the way for the Trinidadian to return to Wales, and indeed, Premier League football.

Now usually that would spark a certain degree of interest from the selling club with the potential for a big amount of money coming their way. Last season when Jon Walters went to Stoke, it seemed a mutually agreeable deal – Town picked up in excess of £3m for the player, and the Potters got their man.

This summer, in fact, Connor Wickham smashed all records with his £8.1m move to Sunderland. Sure, it was sad to see him go, but at least there was a tasty incentive for Ipswich Town fans at the end of the day.

With Scotland, however, all looks to be very different. He looks set to join a group of players such as Alan Lee, Jon Stead, and Jordan Rhodes, who despite doing what appeared to be a decent job, were unmercifully pushed out of the door.

Like those players, Jason Scotland is not a bad player – he has proven many times before that at Championship level he can score goals. Actually, a lot of goals.

When such a situation occurs, it looks a pretty safe bet that there is not going to be a lot of money involved. If Town even recoup what they paid for him it would be remarkable.

Of course, a lot of fans will argue that with the arrivals of Michael Chopra and Nathan Ellington, as well as Priskin offering an alternative option, Scotland will not exactly be the first choice at the club. Maybe too, there could soon be another arrival in the striking department with reports earlier in the week that bids had been placed for two unknown players.

The fact is, though, Scotland has been at the club for a season now. In that season, he did manage to notch 10 goals – more than any of the other strikers at the club, and only bettered by the now departed David Norris, a midfielder.

Supposing Michael Chopra was to bag 20 goals this season, Ellington a further 10 – wouldn't 10 more from Scotland be a welcome contribution?

It is also worth considering that he played much of last season as a lone striker. Early indications from this pre-season are that Paul Jewell is looking to play two up front, meaning that if Scotland were to play, there would be someone to share the work load with.

Furthermore, Jewell himself is even said to be happy with how the bulky forward is performing in pre-season so far.

It really does beg the question: how the hell could he ever be allowed to just slip out the back door?